First Player/Deus Ex Machina

Edison once said 'To invent, you need a good imagination, and a lot of junk'. He was damn right,too. But I bet he never thought someone like me would come along.

So you've got your telepaths, your speedsters, guys who can juggle minivans. Those kinds of mutations, people can sort of wrap their head around. You can see how they'd help them survive more easily. Me. I'm... well, I'm a little different.

I'm an inventor. That's my superpower. To create whatever I want. No blueprints necessary, straight from my brain to the lab table. I know it doesn't seem like much of a power. Kinda crappy, when you think about it. But, it's only when you really think about it that the implications set in. When full realization dawns on exactly what my powers mean, people take a few steps away from me. I don't really blame them. I reiterate. I can create anything. Think of the most horrific machine in your imagination. Got it? I have about five different ideas of making it happen, without putting any real effort into it. I'd get it to you within a week. What's worse, I'm compelled to build things like that. It may not seem like control should be a factor for someone like me. You should try being me for an hour though.

Of course, that's not the only part of my ability. The flip side is, I don't know what to call it, techno-vision, maybe? I see how every machine I come into contact with works. It's like music to me, as natural as breathing. This scientist guy I saw a long time ago said I can 'perceive mechanical energy', but I just say 'I see things in a weird way'. I can't even explain how I see the world. It's like trying to describe a color to a blind person. How do you describe red to someone who's never seen it? It's like that with me. You have to see how I see, to understand it.

It goes without saying, this ability of mine has gotten me into trouble more than once. When most mutants' powers manifest for the first time, it takes them by surprise. Something strange happens. They fall through the floor, they blow up a few things or something like that. Me? I built a CD player. Doesn't sound like a big deal, right? Except CD players weren't invented for another three years. CD's didn't even exist. I wish I'd patented that. But my parents completely freaked out when they saw it. They thought it was a weapon at first. It got tossed in the trash and chalked up as one of my 'little accidents', and life went on.

Now every mutation has a drawback. For me, it's sleep, or more specifically, lack of it. As soon as mine switched on, I found out I couldn't switch it off. My mind's constantly working. My subconscious is running a mile-a-minute. I snatch bits of sleep when I can, but any deep sleep results in my brain cramming an invention into my dreams, and I'm fully awake again, that need to build gnawing at me like an addiction. Ever found it's hard to sleep with stuff on your mind? That's me. Every. Single. Minute. Of every single day. It's like ADD multiplied by a thousand.

But I've been drinking this nutrient paste for awhile. I swear, it looks like guacamole, but it tastes like bananas and grapes. Anyways, it dulls my senses just a bit. That urge to constantly be creating something. It helps me sleep too. Nowhere near as much as a normal person sleeps, but enough to seem normal.

So, what was the point in spouting all this? I mean, I can't say it's getting anything off my chest. Most of this is common knowledge unless you don't know me. But my darker, deep-seated problems are things I'm just not gonna' get into right now. That wouldn't really make ror a fun story. I guess this was just a little trip inside my head.