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Aberrant: The Middle Children of History - Teen Dreams


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It was starting to become too much. She was burning herself out with all this ruling business. Over the last year she'd taken back her kingdom, (queendom actually, damned sexist terminology!). She had gained the respect and real loyalty of her army and it's officers. She had exposed an unofficial food embargo imposed by Utopia and gotten it reversed. To keep it from being tried again she had begun to get her people organized, and taken steps to eventually make her people self sufficient by offering strong incentives for people to become farmers, and take up other occupations that the land needed desperately.

And that was just the official acts of her reign. Then there was all the behind the scenes stuff that she been doing. She left clones doing the day to day business of the state while she expanded her powers to warp and do other things. She'd gone from warping to the moon and back, out to the edge of the solar system, then eventually to near by stars, and now she could stretch herself and go anywhere in the galaxy or beyond. She still had room for improvement, but her trips weren't limited to nearby stellar destinations now so she could start the real work of finding her people a new home. There was war coming and it didn't take a sphinx to know it. Someday in the not too distant future she would need someplace for her people to retreat to and she would be ready.

But not today. Today she was sick of it all. It was one thing to have a metabolism that didn't require sleep and that could keep going at a frantic pace for months on end. It was another to be a teenage girl and never ever have a day off from worrying about a nation of nearly 10,000,000 people. What had been the final straw had been Neese, her steward, bringing her an article in a school newspaper that her niece had written about Elspeth. Last summer when the girl had been visiting on vacation Elspeth had walked into the thrown room to discover the girl looking wide-eyed around at the palace furnishings. The young American school girl had been awed by her, and Elspeth for her own part had seen in the girl a chance to sit and talk for a brief time like a real teen. That had been an interesting experience, but it was impossible to separate herself from her duties and she'd used the girl, knowing that what she wrote would be picked up by other news agencies and reprinted around the world. Elspeth saw a sympathetic writer and used the girl manipulating her into asking the questions that Elspeth wanted the public to know. She wasn't proud of it, in fact it made her feel dirty, especially when the girl thought Elspeth was just being friendly.

Now here it was, the article. Neese presented it proudly, both of her niece's work, and of her Queen. In a way Neese had come to be like a mother to her, not that she would ever admit it, nor would Neese ever try to offer even the slightest bit of advice, but despite trying to keep her distance, the woman had grown on her. Elspeth almost refused it, not wanting to be reminded of how she'd manipulated the girl, but seeing the pride on the older woman's face she couldn't do it. She took the paper and began to read as she drank her morning tea.

Most of it was what she expected, the questions she had manipulated the girl into asking. What she didn't expect was that the article was surprisingly well written for a baseline teenager, but more than that, the article captured an aspect of her she tried to hide from others.

Quote:

"Elspeth was all these things and more. It was like sitting and having a conversation with a tornado. She was a force of nature wrapped up in a beautiful human seeming package, but there was a sadness in her so deep I wanted to cry just from feeling it's edges. Storms and forces of nature don't have friends, they have people who fear them, people who respect them, people who envy them; but who loves a tornado? Who is there for Elspeth when she's sad, or hurt, or just needs a hug? I would love to have her powers, I would trade my silly troubles in a heartbeat if I could be like her, but I don't envy her the loneliness of who she is, I think it would crush me like a giant stepping on a ladybug. Elspeth, if you ever just need a friend or a hug, I'm here for you."

She took a sip of the tea to give herself a second before responding. When she was sure she could speak without sounding choked up, she said, "Thank you Neese, she's very talented. She will have a brilliant career as a journalist, I've seen it." Without another word she laid the paper on the table and left the room. When she'd closed the door behind her she teleported. The silence and emptiness of space somewhere out between Sol and Alpha Centauri seemed appropriate to her mood. She wanted to cry, but you can't cry in space. A tear formed but turned to ice the moment it left her cheek and the protective aura of her quantum signature. It would float there in the void for all eons lost between the stars. She screamed her frustration and inner pain into the void making not a sound. She wasn't sure how long had passed before her self-pity turned into resolve and a plan formed in her mind. A smile crossed her face and she returned to the palace, a new adventure planned.

Back in the palace she created two clones. The three Elspeth's smiled at each other knowingly. One of the clones spoke, "Have fun. We will keep an eye on things while you are gone. We always do."

The real Elspeth grinned back, "I have the utmost confidence in you!" The three smiled, each displaying the pain of loneliness in that expression of strange solidarity.

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It would be the middle of the night in America right now, but that was ok. Elspeth was always at the height of fashion, but that was a relative thing. What she had been wearing for the last four years was mostly formal attire since she was constantly moving in top political circles. You just couldn't wear jeans and a casual blouse when taking tea with the Emperor of Japan's children, or the Queen of England. It just wouldn't do. So it was mostly dresses, and expensive ones at that. Or rather, it was only her suite of Eufiber being modified to look like expensive dresses. The living colony of microorganisms could mimic just about anything at Elspeth's direction.

Unfortunately, she had no idea what to wear while being a 'normal' American teen, and so it was time to do some shopping! Not that she could do any shopping in the middle of the night, or at least not anything resembling traditional shopping. That wouldn't stop the teen nova, not one with her abilities at least. She grinned at the thought of what she was about to do. It wouldn't be stealing since she wouldn't be taking anything out of the stores, but she imagined that the authorities wouldn't be any too happy with trespassing. She willed herself invisible and then focused her thoughts on Houston Texas, or more precisely, on the Galleria. It was a large three story mall on the west side of the city and someplace she had been once as a little girl. Her mother had come here as part of a diplomatic embassy regarding off-shore oil drilling. At age 7 she had been left to roam the mall on her own for a few hours while the conference was taking place in the Transco Tower just down the street.

It had seemed hot to her, hotter than home and the humidity was terrible, the people around her had been sweating profusely. Inside the mall was like stepping into another season. Some adults had wondered what kind of parent would allow a 7 year old child to wander alone and had asked her where her mother was. They had walked away smiling. Even at 7 she could turn away criticism and charm people with her nova charisma and it wasn't like she could be over powered, she was as strong as an olympic weightlifter. She had enjoyed the trip, it had been a lesson in cultural differences. At the time she had been into the Artemis Fowl books and had wandered around playing with the adults by astounding them with her vocabulary.

She smiled to herself at the memory of those childish carefree days. Now she was here to recapture a bit of that carefree feeling. She appeared along one upper tier of the three story mall and looked around. The lights were off and all the stores locked up for the night, but it was as bright as daylight to her vision and metal gates would never stop someone that could teleport. She looked up and down the mall until she spied a likely store, it was a Hot Topic. She might not have much time to be a teen, but she wasn't completely unaware of what was popular. The store had recently had a resurgence in popularity and the dark angstly look that it was known for was in vogue again. There was a part of her mind that couldn't stop analyzing and processing data that knew the look was popular again partly because it had been 15 years since it was last popular and it was just the cycle coming back around, but that it was more. There was a war coming and people could feel it even if they didn't consciously know what it was they were sensing. All the clues where there, it would just take the baselines a few more years before it was 'in their face'. The unconscious psyche of the people resonated with the dark colors and grim outlook that the fashion represented.

Times like this she almost wished she didn't have the nova intelligence, it took some of the fun out of her 'window shopping'. She teleported into the cramped store and wandered around looking at the mannequins and displays. She picked and chose a pair of tight dark colored jeans that she liked the look of and shifted her Eufiber to mimic them, but then added several ivory buttons up the outside of her legs to just above the knees. It added a certain flair that the plain jeans lacked. Her artistic sense told her it would look good with a pair of knee-high boots with buckles up the sides. She wasn't quite ready to commit to the boots in the store, they just didn't have the right look... too shiny and too clunky looking, so she moved on and popped back out into the mall and began to walk. Before she could find boots she saw a blouse she really liked in the window of Lanes. It was a faded dove grey and tailored at the top, flaring at the bottom, and somewhat low cut. She added it to her outfit and moved on. As she went she added small things to the outfit, but finally finished it off when she found the perfect pair of boots. Knee-high just like she pictured with buckles up the sides and very fashionable, so she molded her Eufiber and set the color to a light grey to complement the blouse. She found a mirror in a store dressing room with no cameras and became visible. It didn't matter that the lights were out, she could see perfectly. The new outfit was comfortable and fashionable and would be perfect for her little adventure. Of course it was just a start, she'd have to look through magazines over the next few days and develop other 'outfits' but that would be fun, or maybe she'd make a habit of coming to the mall and shopping like this.

There was just one thing left and that was her face. No clothes would disguise her, she was too famous and very very obviously a nova. She activated one of her less powerful but still useful talents and became far less remarkable in an instant. Even with the power activated she couldn't completely hide her beauty, but now she looked like a striking baseline rather than a powerful nova. A few changes to her physical features and changing her hair to black instead of blond and she was finished.

It was turning light outside when she exited the mall looking like a different person. To kill some time she caught a cab down the House of Pies an all night restaurant that an internet search said had some good breakfast. Her backpack didn't have books in it but instead was stuffed with stacks of American $100 dollar bills. She always kept a few hundred thousand on hand at the palace in case of emergency or necessary bribes to foreign officials. She had dipped into the fund for this little excursion, but she didn't regret it. She was already more relaxed than she'd been in ages. No one in the restaurant had oooh'd and aaaah'd that a nova walked among them... sure she'd gotten some ogling, but not more than any pretty unaccompanied teen girl would get from the restaurant's males. It was kinda nice actually. She did avoid reading their minds however; she didn't want to spoil her good mood.

When she was done she headed back toward the Galleria. Just down the road from it, there was a building full of swank loft condos. They had been built nearly 25 years before and were getting older, but because of their location they were pretty exclusive. The area had always been a bit upscale, but a few years back this area had undergone a renewal and now it was a hot area to live in. A new school had been built a mile and a half away from the loft. It was a good choice. She was waiting at the door when real estate agent arrived.

"Good morning miss. Waiting for someone?" The man spoke politely but not really interested in the answer. He thought the girl must be the friend of one of the condo owners. Besides, he was here to show a condo, the penthouse condo in fact. If he made this sale there would be a nice fat commission and he really wanted the new carbon nanotube golf clubs. Henry down at the country club had shaved three strokes off his game with the Tiger Woods III. He could picture himself on the course grey hair covered by a plaid golf cap and wearing matching shorts, blue polo shirt and his old golf shoes. Elspeth was amused to note that the man's mental image of himself was about thirty pounds lighter than he really was, and it had considerably more hair under that atrocious golf cap. She almost visibly shuddered at the thought of wearing such an ugly plaid.

She smiled politely at the man, "Yes, I am waiting for you. I believe my mother called you to arrange a showing this morning? She couldn't make it so she asked me to come by in her place. I'll be living here with her so if I like it she will too, she trusts my judgement." Mentally she added a memory of the supposed phone call to the man's mind and had her imaginary mother mention that her daughter would be there with her."

"Oh, you must be Elspeth, your mom mentioned you might be with her. Pleasure to meet you, I'm Donald McIntyre with Premax." He was suddenly much friendlier now that she had been upgraded in his mind from shiftless teenager to potential commission.

Elspeth smiled. It still didn't feel natural with this new face, the muscles obeyed, but the shape of the mouth and the bone structure beneath the skin were different so it just felt a little off. "No problem Mr. McIntyre. Thanks for showing it to me."

The older man lead the way and tried to make pleasant conversation, but he obviously wasn't good at talking to kids. After a brief elevator ride they arrived at the penthouse condo; penthouse wasn't really a great description since the building was only six stories tall and surrounded on two sides by much taller business offices. It did have excellent security however, as Mr. McIntyre was pointing out with far too much emphasis on trivial details. Elspeth was familiar with the company that did the security and could probably have told the man more about it than his sales brochures. She waved that away. "Thank you. I'll just look around for a bit if you don't mind."

McIntyre was not very pleased to be cut off, but thought of his new golf clubs and swallowed his pride. These teenagers today were so rude, they had no respect for their elders!

Elspeth almost laughed hearing the thought. It was a novel experience for the world's most charming person to be deliberately rude to someone, but it's what the man expected so it's what she gave him. The condo was nice. It had top of the line finishes for when it was built, which of course looked quite dated 25 years later. It was not a good layout for a mother and daughter as it only had one large bedroom and the rest of the loft was completely open. This too was dated, the big open floor plan craze had moved on and now the trend was for more cozy small spaces. She thought that too said something about the worlds psyche. The home as a metaphor for the womb... she had actually published a paper on it in the British Journal of Psychology a couple years ago under the pseudonym, Fred Ian Schlip.

Of course, there would be no mother with her, and if she needed a mother she could always create a clone temporarily and have it shapeshift into a mature woman to play the part. She would have to do that later today anyway when she went to get checked into the new school. Some things just couldn't be mentally adjusted. There would be too many people at the school to alter all their memories. Far easier just to have her 'mother' there to do the paperwork. She thought about this and planned as she moved through the empty space of the loft condo. This situation on the other hand would be easy. There was only McIntyre and he had such an easy mind to manipulate. She was careful not to do anything that would be against the man's free will, that was a line she did her best not to cross. It was something she realized when she was taking back her kingdom from Jarutu. She could have sat somewhere safe halfway around the world and just rewritten Jarutu's mind one memory at a time until he was her most devoted and loyal subject. It wouldn't have been real though. She had wanted what was hers, but destroying a persons free will was just wrong. Editing their memories, deleting one here, or adding one there, that wasn't so bad as long as you didn't make them do something that went against their principles. That was her compromise between expedience and ethics.

McIntyre wanted to sell the condo and he couldn't sell it to a kid, so he'd have a memory of Elspeth's mother Cathrine coming into his office to sign the paperwork and do the closing. No harm, no foul as far as Elspeth was concerned, and he'd get the new golf clubs he wanted. Two hours later he left with the down payment for the condo, in cash. He was practically giddy.

Elspeth on the other hand tisked looking around at the condo. There was a ton of work to do. The place needed to be remodeled badly and there was no furniture at all. This time she'd have to do some real shopping and spend money, but that would have to wait till after school....

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School didn't turn out to be all that terribly interesting. She spent most of the morning sitting in the school office waiting as her 'mother' filled out stacks of paperwork. Then spent another hour being assigned textbooks, a locker, and shown where her classes would be. By the time she was settled the school day was over. She took all her textbooks home with her. Between her photographic memory and her mid-range nova intelligence she would know enough about each subject to ace any test the teachers could give her. Given her charisma she could probably teach the subjects more effectively than any of the teachers, but that would ruin her disguise and negate the point of her being here. Normal teens couldn't out teach their teachers.

After school she spent rest of the afternoon shopping for furnishing for the condo. At each store she and her mother looked through the samples and placed orders. Some were easy, the appliances were purchased from Best Buy just a couple blocks from the condo. She picked all satin black which was the currently trendy color. She combined her artistic genius with her intelligence and mixed in just a bit of precognition to make sure her purchases would help the condo resale for more than she was spending. A tidy profit would make her feel better about the time she was wasting here.

She couldn't help but think of it that way. Back in Sierra Leone she still had the foreign miners to deal with, the government to run, she needed to find a planet for her people to retreat to when the war came and a dozen and a half other things to juggle. When she thought about it, it gave her a guilty feeling like she was avoiding her responsibility. She had a pair of clones back home who were looking after things so it wasn't like she was a abandoning her people, it just felt like it.

She sighed and decided the only way to make the feeling go away was to do more shopping, so that's what she did, right up until the stores closed. 2.5 million dollars spent, but she now owned a nice condo in one of the nicest areas in Houston and was sure she would make a profit on it when she was done. All in all it was a good day. So what she didn't expand the horizon of her abilities to warp beyond the galaxy? She was getting close. She could feel she was on the cusp of a break through and given the past experience with increasing her warp distance she thought she just might make it to the Andromeda galaxy if she tried hard enough. That would be far enough away that no one from Earth would ever bother her people. Well not for a few thousand years at least and by then her people would be well enough advanced to defend themselves.

She nearly growled at herself as she realized she was doing it again. Focusing on the problems she'd come here to get away from... for a while at least.

She took her purchases home, the ones that she and her mother were carrying at least. Almost everything had been scheduled for delivery in the morning, and of course the contractors wouldn't begin arriving until then either. They would tear up the place, pulling out the outdated cabinets and counter tops and appliances.

Elspeth burned a couple hours taking her time with unpacking the few things they had purchased and carried home themselves. Then another couple hours napping which didn't come naturally to the young nova. Afterwords, she got up full of energy and very bored. It was only midnight and she had a good 7 or 8 hours before the deliveries began to arrive and tomorrow was Saturday so she didn't even have school to look forward to.

She picked up the math textbook and began to flip through the pages one at a time committing them to memory. She could barely believe they still used paper and ink for this. 27 years into the nova age and school still had not gone completely digital. It was a disgrace. She would be fixing that in Sierra Leone. She made a note to herself to look into the education system and make sure the textbooks were digital media. There just wasn't any sense in this antiquated book method.

She sighed... she was doing it again.

Sure enough by morning she welcomed the first delivery man as a savior. She had gone through every textbook committing them to memory. Monday she'd take them back to the school with her and leave them in her locker for the rest of her vacation; she wouldn't need them again. She was starting to think the vacation was a bad idea, so far it had been little more than boredom. Could she actually be missing the craziness of ruling a kingdom?

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