Over the course of the week, I dedicated myself to understanding my power. I tested it on classmates, strangers, even random strangers in the street. What I discovered was meticulous and terrifying: short-term memories could be erased or altered almost perfectly, but long-term memories resisted, often resurfacing unpredictably. The fresher the memory, the easier it was to manipulate; older memories became unstable, partially overwritten, or distorted, how long it lasts depends on the psychology of the person and the weight of the memory, erasing memory was easier than planting new memories or distorting pre-existing ones, fresher memories were always easier to manipulate.
I also learned there were consequences. Overusing the power caused mental strain, headaches, dizziness, even vivid hallucinations. Physical fatigue followed, as though my body was draining energy to fuel the mental manipulation. Worst of all, reality itself sometimes warped for me: I couldn't always separate what was altered in others' minds from what I remembered as truth. The moral implications pressed on me like chains.
Meanwhile, the rest of the friend group began noticing strange changes in ourselves. One by one, each realized we had a power.
Vanzz discovered an uncanny instinct for decision-making: when faced with danger or uncertainty, he could almost predict the safest course. It didn't always reveal outcomes but allowed him to avoid disaster with unnerving precision, but it wasn't always reliable at times the instincts pointed towards two different options.
James realized luck seemed to bend around him. Small flips of chance, like tossing a coin or choosing a line at the store, almost always favored him, but not consistently. It was subtle, but powerful if used strategically.
Joel found he could influence emotions. Not control people, but nudge them, amplify or diminish feelings that already existed: anger, fear, desire. Amplifying emotions was easier to do. It was chaotic and unpredictable, but dangerous in the right hands.
The following week, we met at our usual hangout after months apart. The air between us was tense, each silently aware of the new reality.
Joel leaned in, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Follow me, I'll show you something."
The rest of us exchanged glances, shrugged, and followed him into a small restaurant. We sat in a booth with a clear view of a couple in the corner, quietly arguing.
Joel focused on the girl. Watch this.
Suddenly, her annoyance spiked. Words sharpened, voice rising. Her gestures became abrupt, violent. Before anyone could react, she slammed the man's drink onto his lap. "You're pathetic!" she screamed, storming toward the door.
Joel laughed, almost hysterically. "You saw that? I just turned a small argument into World War III!"
Vanzz shook his head. "No way… that was you? It happened too fast to be natural, and that was not cool"
Joel leaned back smugly. "I don't make them do anything. I just amplify what's already there. That was pure potential energy, she was annoyed, I just cranked it. It's much harder to create a spark than to turn it into a blazing wildfire."
I narrowed my eyes, watching the girl intensely. Concentrating, I whispered under my breath. A few seconds later, she stopped mid-step, confusion written across her face, then returned to the man she had been arguing with, hugging him like nothing had happened. "see that… I fixed it".
James exhaled, impressed. "Holy shit… you guys are messing with minds. This is insane."
I shrugged, almost giddy. "I can't force anyone. I can only erase or distort short-term memories, effectively. Planting memories is much harder if it's not logically consistent with their psychology. Long-term memory distortion or planting is like scratching over wet paint. Mess with it too hard, and it peels back. Worse, it's exhausting, all i did was make her aware of how out of proportion and cruel her actions were."
Joel smirked. "Still terrifying. You can turn a whole room upside down in seconds."
James leaned back, flipping a coin midair. "Mine's subtle, but it's real. See this?" The coin landed exactly as he predicted. "Not perfect control, but it bends chance toward me. Three times in a row, same outcome. It doesn't make the impossible happen, just nudges little probabilities in my favor."
My eyes widened. "That's… absurdly useful. Casino tables, stock trades, nudging probabilities just to favor you a little can change your entire life for good"
Vanzz stayed quiet for a moment, hands clasped on the table. "Mine's instinctual. Sometimes I feel a pull. Like my gut knows which choice keeps me alive. But it only kicks in during real danger… it's harder to consciously activate it and sometimes it splits two paths tugging at once. I have to trust one. Fail, and… well, failure can be fatal."
I leaned back, impressed. "That's pretty cool, One decision, one moment, can change everything. Literally everything."
Joel looked unimpressed but remained silent and James nodded in agreement with Ducce's words.
The week passed with each of us testing limits. I experimented meticulously: whispering instructions, forcing classmates to forget small details, noting how memory faded, sometimes rebounding. I made mistakes, misremembered facts, creating small social conflicts which were counter intuitive, but each taught me the nuances: timing, focus, mental energy, and the psychological toll.
Joel experimented socially, subtly inciting small reactions and seeing the ripple effect. Vanzz learned to trust his instincts, feeling the invisible tug before near-misses or note worthy decision making moments. James tested probabilities in controlled scenarios, small bets, dice rolls, and outcomes consistently bending toward him.
By the end of the week, we all understood: powers came with limits and consequences. The moral weight of using them pressed constantly, and mistakes could be catastrophic. Yet, we couldn't ignore the intoxicating sense of control, the edge it gave them in a world that had often treated them as powerless.
We were blinded by the need for influence, power, control, especially Joel and me. It was temptation, the ability to bend reality, manipulate affection, rewrite short moments of existence itself.
That night, I was walking home, mind racing with thoughts of Thea, when a sharp blow struck me from behind. I stumbled, hit the pavement hard, the world spinning around me.