In a night of total darkness, a man lay alone in his bed. Nearly ten minutes ago, he woke up from a dream. “Something is outside the window. Can’t move. Who are they? I am scared. I am not scared anymore.” The man was still fully conscious as he was carried into the beam of light.
Disorientation takes effect as soon as he boards the craft. While the beings walked him to their destination, other rooms were visible with terrifying sights. These rooms contained things that looked incomprehensible! They arrived at something that resembled a table to an Earthling’s eyes. The surgery was very short and left no visual signs of any kind. An implant was now in his brain, but he would have no memory of these events the next day.
William Aris has been a superhero for over two years without realizing it. Today is the day he finally figures it out! He had accidentally been saving peoples’ lives just by giving good universal advice that anyone would give. Unfortunately, these powers of persuasion would also get him into a lot of ridiculous social interactions that he did not understand.
Friday Morning: Our oblivious hero is getting his normal coffee-before-work at the Possibly Good Coffee House. A guy [that no one knows his name] approaches William.
“Doctor says if I have just one more piece of bacon, I will die! But I LOVE bacon!”
“Please tell me you’ll never eat another piece of bacon! I am worried about you!”
“Yeah, you’re absolutely right. I’ll never eat a piece of bacon again.”
The whole room gasped. None of them knew the guy’s name, but they surely knew about his infinite love for bacon. Everyone was confused. Katie Nightfire, the manager of the coffee house, comes over to William.
Katie: William, are you OK today? How’d you get him to do that?
William: I don’t know. I am starting to wonder about some things that are happening in my life.
Katie: What do you mean?
William: Hmmm Katie, could you tell me completely honestly what you think of me?
Katie: I think you are really cute! I was hoping you would ask me out for quite a long time now!
The whole room is shocked again! No one ever knew Katie to date anyone despite all the suitors that would ask her out constantly. At this point, the patrons at Possibly Good Coffee are all staring at William in disbelief. He asks Katie if they can talk about that later and stumbles out the door to work.
Third floor offices. Nothing special, just cubicles and small rooms. A partially spilled house coffee sits on the desk. “Do I have brainwashing powers? Katie couldn’t possibly love someone as insignificant as me!” Mr. Aris needed help. He needed objective witnesses to help him figure out why his conversations have been going this way.
William: Coworker, could you please spend the day helping me with a personal project that has nothing to do with our jobs?
Coworker: Certainly! What can I do?
William: I want you to tell me your honest thoughts on what happens each time I talk to someone other than you during our work day.
[Becca, a peer from another department, walks into the room.]
Becca: Coworker, nice tie! William, any chance you have those stats for me yet?
William: Yes, I can send them over. Becca, we both [William points at Coworker then back at himself] think you are a super nice person, but could you please insult me for the next 30 seconds and be as mean as you can possibly be with each insult?
William was not familiar with most of the words that followed, but coworker laughed heavily for an excessive amount of time. As Becca is leaving, a supervisor comes in hastily.
Supervisor Jack: [Yelling] Which one of you printed this image of a cartoon character that we have not purchased any rights to use?
William: Don’t be mad.
[Jack’s demeanor immediately deflates]
William: Also, please don’t yell at anyone and always treat people with respect.
Supervisor Jack: Sure thing, Mr. Aris.
[Jack exits]
William: Coworker, what are you thinking about these conversations you witnessed?
Coworker: It looks like people really listen to you. I think they are easily persuaded by your words. Too easily though. Do you have superpowers?
William: That is what I am starting to believe. It would explain a lot of recent events in my life, but I definitely didn’t have such abilities as a kid or even in high school.
Coworker: Where do you think they came from?
William: I do not have any idea whatsoever.
To everyone else, Coworker was thought to only be a nickname. Only Coworker knew it was on the birth certificate. Jack went on to have an incredibly close relationship with all of his family and friends. Becca had very little stress for the rest of her life after getting all of those carefully selected insults out of her system. William held onto the mantra he has repeated to himself since he was very young: “Whenever confronted with choosing good or evil, it probably made sense to choose good.” Katie Nightfire spends most evenings sad that she is not with the only person she ever loved. This love existed brightly before the alien abduction ever took place, not that Katie is aware of that element of the situation.
ONE YEAR LATER…
Interlock is on his shrine of contemplation when he is interrupted by another. People constantly visit the estate to make requests to the superhero. Some requests are good. Some are evil. Many are hard to determine.
Levia: Interlock, your grace.
Interlock: I like to be spoken to like a peer. I do not see myself as superior to anyone.
[William would make statements about his own feelings. He always had to avoid asking others to act or not act in certain ways.]
Levia: I have been sent to ask for your help in Xirasta’s war. If you merely spoke to the enemy commander, our war would come to an end.
Interlock: I am not a weapon to be used by a country to conquer their enemy! I do not participate in any wars! I only fulfill requests that I feel confident will not cause harm to anyone. I cannot live with the guilt of incorrect decisions!
Levia: Saving lives is altruistic! It is the right decision!
Interlock: Tell your leader this — if both heads of state agree to meet me in person at the same time, I will ask them to reach a fair peace deal. Governments never want to agree to this offer. They only want to use me like a tool and often try to deceive me to get my help.
Interlock would not fulfill requests if he had any doubts about it being a universally positive action. One of the primary morals he developed was not to participate in any wars throughout the world. Although this angered many visitors, they knew it was because Interlock always needed to be certain he wasn’t causing harm to anyone. How could they hate him for that perspective?
[Another evening at the estate]
Katie Nightfire is walking up to the bronze door that opens to the main hall. She is nervous about what to say. Returning from a mission within the last hour, Interlock was still in his full military-issued costume. A gold and pink outfit with black trim established quite a presence in any room. This was extra evident by the fact that every room in the estate was decorated with fascinating gifts from countless places. On most of his accepted missions, he would find himself being given gifts of gratitude that could not be refused politely. Katie enters the ancient-looking hall. In the dark atmosphere, their eyes focus on each other immediately.
Katie: William! You never came back to finish our conversation. You have the power to demand anything you want! Well I have a demand! You can’t leave me wondering! I need the truth!
William: Katie, I am sorry. It’s now clear to me that not returning to speak with you sooner is objectively one of my incorrect decisions.
Katie: Stop with all the moral argument jargon! I need to know HOW YOU FEEL! Do you love me?
William: Of course I love you! It is my powers I am scared of! How can we know if your feelings for me are naturally occurring or derived from my powers?
Katie: I have loved you since before your powers manifested. I have an important memory that proves it to me! The first time I tried to flirt with you upon realizing my feelings, I refused what you asked for. You asked for your usual house coffee, and I said “No, we don’t have any coffee left” as a sarcastic joke. It took you a little bit to realize the sarcasm before you laughed. The way you smiled at me at the end made me hopeful that you liked me too.
William: You’re right. No one makes jokes like that to me anymore. That memory could help me pinpoint when this all started.
Katie: Can’t you see? I didn’t fall in love with Interlock! I fell in love with William Aris, the man that appreciated my coffee every morning, the man that laughed at all my little jokes.
William: There is yet more truth I owe you. Living with these powers terrifies me. I have become quite distant in my personal interactions for fear of accidentally influencing others.
Katie: I can’t accept that excuse! You deserve love too!
William: Katie, I believe you! I agree with everything you have said. I am still not ready to be close to others. Not until I learn more about these powers that torment me so.
Katie went home abruptly. They both found themselves wiping away tears that night.
[Present Day]
Katie Nightfire has a good life in every way other than her love life. Up to this point in their lives, both Katie and William have only ever loved one person. They both had feelings for each other long before William had superpowers. Maybe they could put the pieces together with more time. For now, Katie is taking a sabbatical from the Possibly Good to go on some introspective adventures of her own.
Interlock’s conscious mind remains in total darkness of his entire alien abduction experience. Continuing to go on regular missions, William finds himself traveling more often than he is home at the estate. If he felt confident the mission was good, he would take it. If he had any doubts, he would avoid it. Affirmations would often be rescue operations and would take him to dangerous distant places. To mitigate this danger, the military supplied Interlock with his durable costume. Underneath the bold shining colors, he was as frail as any other human. Although Interlock’s thoughts are mostly devoted to determining what choices to make to help others, there was a suppressed (but substantial) portion of his psyche that knew the only thing he wanted for himself in life was to marry Katie Nightfire.
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