CHIP OFF THE OLD BLOCK (4 page)

Shuffling up the scattered papers, he
placed them back in a file folder, shoving it over to the right
side of his desk. Leaning forward, with clasped hands on top of his
desk, he asked, “I have the standard tests to arrange, but why
don’t you start by telling me what abilities you are capable of
performing that you think I might be interested in?”

“
Okay Doctor, It’s been
called the Geller Effect, but what he plays with, I do quite well,”
I arrogantly touted. “Then there are other tricks I do that he
can’t even pretend to do.”

Leaning back in his chair, Dr. Tober
removed his glasses and tiredly rubbed his big, round eyes. “Uh,
what exactly do you do, Arthur?” Stifling a yawn, he replaced his
glasses.

I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t
impressed. I was exactly the person the Doctors were discussing in
the lab, but he didn’t seem at all interested. True, there couldn’t
be that many people, if any, who had all of my abilities. I suppose
Dr. Tober would have to be leery in his position. Who knew what
kind of nutcases wandered in off the streets? I would just have to
prove my uniqueness.

“
Telekinesis, teleportation,
pryokinesis, astral projection, levitation in any form, and a kind
of matter transference I doubt you’ve had any experience with.” I
elaborated, ticking them off on my fingers.

“
Uh, yes Arthur, well
perhaps you would consent to a small, uh, demonstration for me?”
Looking skeptical, he started fiddling with a pen on his
desk.

“
Certainly, Doctor.”
Shifting in that unwelcoming chair, eager to flaunt my talents, I
glanced around his office. Filing cabinets, a few pictures, lots of
framed diplomas. Not much else. Ah, the wastebasket, full of
crumpled-up papers. Mentally focusing on the wastebasket, the
crumpled-up papers burst into orange flames. Creating intense heat
took so little of my concentration.

Throwing the pen, Dr. Tober sprang from
his chair. “My God, man!”

“
Relax Doctor, I can control
the flames.” I mentally shut down the fire and it fizzled with a
small WHUMP. Simple if you remove all the oxygen from that spot.
Although I’d had some interesting times while learning that
trick.

The good Doctor was plastered against
his file cabinet. He didn’t look nearly as disinterested or
skeptical now. Thick, grey smoke drifted through his office,
causing him to lean over coughing.

“
I’ll open a window, Dr.
Tober.” I gallantly offered, nodding toward the window.

He removed a handkerchief from his suit
jacket’s breast pocket, covering his nose and mouth. Big eyes
blinking rapidly, he mumbled, “Uh, the windows don’t open above the
second floor, and we’re on the fifth floor.”

I mentally focused on the window set
into the wall behind his desk; glass, thick, wire-reinforced. The
window began to dissolve, allowing a stream of fresh air to flow
inside.

“
What did you just do?” He
demanded, jerking his head toward the window.

“
Relax,” I told him
nonchalantly, “I dissolved the window into a screen. Don’t worry;
I’ll change the window back.” I tried to relax into that
torture-device-of-a-chair with my left ankle crossed at my right
knee.

Still staring wide-eyed at the window
turned to screen, he reached out and picked up his phone, keeping
his distance from me. “Doctor Burns, grab Gordy and get in here
right now!”

Judging by his reaction to my
demonstration, he might not be as immune to the unexpected as I
thought. Returning the handkerchief to his pocket, he gave me the
LOOK most people do when I’ve used abilities that they don’t have,
as if I was a cockroach crawling across their hand.

The door burst open and in rushed the
tall woman from the lab, followed closely by the short, round and
now puffing man. She shot me the same funny look she had in the
lab.

With his underlings at hand, Dr. Tober
returned to his chair, introducing us around. He gave a brief
description of my demonstration. Dr. Gordy peered intently into the
trashcan at the glowing embers, while Dr. Burns hesitantly walked
over to the window, gently touching the screen. She turned, staring
at me with skepticism, distrust and a touch of fear.

Telepathically I said to her, *No Ruth,
no hoax.*

Startled, she asked,
“Telepathy?”

“
Yes.” I said, gazing back
into her beautiful jade-green eyes.

Looking suspiciously at Ruth, Tober
said, “But I heard nothing. Gordy?”

“
No sir, not a word.” Gordy
confirmed, also staring at Ruth

Hands on hips, she stated, “Well I
did!”

“
Of course, Ruth. I was
speaking only to you.” I told her with a smirk.

She started toying with her necklace,
glancing from Dr. Tober to Dr. Gordy. She looked like a deer ready
to bolt.

With a smug, arrogant smile I
continued, “And I read your mind Doctor, and now I know everything
about you, down to your smallest, little secret.” Telepathically I
said, *Don’t worry Ruth, I won’t discuss your sex life.* I gave her
a lewd wink.

Her hand flew to her mouth and she
blushed furiously!

Dr. Burns, are you all right?” Dr.
Tober asked with a concerned look.

“
Yes Dr. Tober, I’M FINE!”
Ruth hissed through clenched teeth. She was trembling with
indignation.

Tober‘s analytical eyes and Gordy’s
puzzled ones bounced back and forth from Ruth to me.

By her mannerisms and her speech, I
could tell she was from an affluent background. She was fighting to
maintain her composure. Aloud I said soothingly, “Relax Doctor,
calm down.”

Clearing his throat, adjusting his
glasses, Dr. Tober reminded them, “Mr. Merlin has come to the
Institute so we can conduct some tests.”

With teenage boy exuberance, Gordy
asked, “I’d like to see the pyrotechnic demonstration again, sir.
I’ll gather more paper.”

“
No need Doctor;” I assured
him, “I can burn the ashes for you.” The trashcan burst into a ball
of yellow flames.

The Doctors stared transfixed at the
smokeless fire, as I sat with a satisfied smile.

Gordy asked suspiciously, “Hypnosis?”
He held his hand toward the fire. “I can feel the heat!” he said
with surprise. Suddenly the flames intensified, the fire doubling
in size. Too close, Gordy’s jacket caught fire, flames rising
quickly. “Ahhh!” he screamed, staring in shock at his flaming
arm.

Thumping my foot to the floor, I jerked
upright, mentally shutting down the fire with a WHOMP! Gordy’s skin
was badly burned, the pain beginning to register. I focused on his
pain receptors, blocking his pain and ordered Tober, “Better get
him to the hospital; he sustained a second-degree burn.”

Tober was already on the phone and
seconds later two men in lab-coats rushed through the door and over
to Dr. Gordon.

I told the two men, “He’ll feel no pain
for several hours, which should give you time to get him treated.”
Helping support Gordy, trying not to cause more harm to his injured
arm, they slowly guided the frightened man out of the
office.

I was stunned. I rubbed my forehead,
trying to figure out what just happened. I didn’t mean to hurt Dr.
Gordon. Maybe I had been showing off, but the fire shouldn’t have
leapt up like that. Once I mastered my abilities, I had had no
trouble controlling them. So why had I lost control now?

In the doorway appeared two men in
uniforms, wearing guns. They were guards or more likely soldiers.
The uniforms marched over to Tober’s desk and stood at
attention.

Stiffly rising to his feet, Tober
stared down at me, declaring, “I’m sorry Arthur, but I’m afraid
we’ll have to detain you.” With military precision and steely eyes,
the guards drew their weapons, pointing them at me. One guard held
a pair of handcuffs. Tober confidently continued, “We are primarily
funded by our government, and I’m sure they will want to question
you at length. You seem to be the man we have been searching
for.”

Staring down the business end of the
guards’ weapons, with a wolfish smile, I slowly rose from that
non-lollygagging chair and mentally focused on the guards. Their
at-attention stances melted to loose-limbed stances. With idiotic
smiles on their faces, the two guards ambled over, handing me their
guns, and the cuffs. I holstered their guns back on their belts,
ordering them “Nice of you to stop by men. Now, please go take a
break.”

“
Yes, sir.” They saluted and
did an about-face, marching out the door. As they were leaving,
Tober yelled at them to return, to no avail.

With that deer-in-the-headlight look
again, Dr. Burns shakily asked, “Was that a form of
hypnosis?”

Being a bit peeved, I gave her a curt
nod along with an icy, grey-eyed glare. Realization dawned on Tober
and Ruth that I could as easily have had the guards turn their
weapons on themselves, or even the Doctors. Tober paled and plopped
boneless on his plush office chair.

Trying to gather his wits, defending
his actions, Tober stammered, “You must realize Arthur, I meant you
no harm, but you are a very valuable speci-, er, I mean asset to us
in our research.”

With self-righteous anger I glared down
at him from my six-two height, “Doctor, I came to your Institute
for several reasons. First, I thought your team would treat me
differently and take my abilities seriously. You can’t detain me,
or hold me one second longer than I want to be.” Shaking my head at
his stupidity, I continued, “Don’t you realize how I arrived in
your office? I teleported into your office, after listening to your
conversation in the lab.”

“
But there was only Dr.
Burns and Dr. Gordon when I left.” Tober blustered, fumbling for
his handkerchief.

“
Oh yes there was, Doctor,”
wagging my finger at him. “I was there, you just couldn’t see
me.”

Nervously shifting from foot to foot,
twisting a woman’s wedding band on her right hand, Dr. Burns sent
me that funny look again.

Peering down my nose at her, I said,
“Yes Dr. Burns, you must have felt my presence.”

With handkerchief in hand, Dr. Tober
removed his glasses, wiping his enlarged eyes again.

I continued my lecture, “If I work for
or with any Institution or Government, it’s because I want to. No
one can force me to do a damn thing.” I had expected this type of
treatment, but it still disappointed me that they wanted to treat
me like a lab rat. So much for believing in the humanity of
man.

Tober studied me for several seconds,
calculating, then hesitantly asked, “Uh, Arthur, could you please
excuse us for a few moments? I must discuss this with Dr. Burns, in
private. Uh, we have a cafeteria on the second floor. Perhaps you
would wait there for us, maybe have a spot of tea while you
wait?”

“
Where at on the second
floor, Doctor?” I relented with a heavy sigh. I knew I had to give
them a second chance.

“
Uh, the whole east side of
the building.”

Trying to impress on the Doctor’s their
inability to detain me, I gave them one last grey-eyed glare, then
teleported to the second floor, into the stairwell outside of the
cafeteria.

Entering the cafeteria, I saw my two
guards sharing a table. They gave me the same idiotic smiles and
waved. Giving an acknowledging nod, I ordered a cup of really
bad-looking coffee, and sat alone, waiting.