The House of Thaniel

Keza tells the story of her first mission with the super-powered government group, The Infurians.  Part of a series of short stories.  Written by J.A. Pringles
By J.A. Pringles | January  23, 2017

The House of Thaniel

From the Journal of Keza Rahm

June 18, 1998
I’m not sure why I’ve decided to keep this journal, but I suppose today is a good day to begin.  It’s 10 a.m. here in D.C., and I’m about to go on my first assignment.  Look at me!
Officially, I joined the National Guard as part of a special unit. Unofficially, I’m part of a group of powered humans.  They call us the “Infurians.” Our leader is Tom, also known as “Vesuvius”.  His fire-based powers made national headlines a few years ago, and he was one of the first of the powered to be a public figure. He wears an armored suit whenever I’ve seen him.They say it’s to hone his powers, but rumor has it that he cannot survive without it for very long. A couple guys told me that without it, he would likely combust in a short period of time.  Lot’s of gossip around here.
I’m the first official woman on the team, so I think they are a bit fearful of putting me into a combat situation.  That, or they don’t trust me.  I’ll go with the former.  It’s probably the latter.  It’s the latter.
They are also leaving me in the dark a bit about this first assignment.  I’m not sure if they are trying not to scare me, or if they really aren’t sure about the details. It was surprising, then, that Tom came to me a few hours before we left.
“Keza, I’d like to talk to you for a minute.”
“Sure, Tom. What is it?”
Tom stared at me for a moment, quiet in his armored shell.  It was nearly impossible to read his emotions through his containment suit, as even his voice was altered.
“i know you’ve been training for a few months now, but I don’t know if you are quite ready for this.” he said in his metallic voice. “However, we may need your abilities for this assignment.”
“I know. I’ve calculated a 78.94% chance of failure as well.”
“What? Really?”
“No…I’m just joking.  Sorry. I guess I’m a bit nervous”
“Oh,”  He paused, “Listen, you are going to stay out of danger. Harold and I will go in and speak to the family.  I want you to stay behind.  Use your abilities to mask your appearance, and keep your mental defenses up at all times.”
“Got it.  But, uh, I’m still not sure I understand the assignment.”
He paused again. His armor a motionless statue. He’s kind of creepy.
“We don’t really know what’s happening, Keza.  All we know is that a small area outside the infection zone has certain peculiarities, and we are going to check it out.”
“What kind of ‘peculiarities?'”
He went on to explain about the low crime rates in Artiss, a town formerly rife with exceedingly high crime. Though Artiss is small, it has been associated with severe criminal behavior since the early 1950’s.
Though the entire area is mostly made up of the working class, Artiss has seen a burst in sudden wealth in several local families there.  And while no criminal activities are purported for the wealth (as-of-yet), the circumstances seem to be extraordinary.
Two of the families have won large lottery prizes, even though they each had only purchased one lottery ticket in their history; striking both times.  A third family struck it rich in Las Vegas, after a few nights on the town, and very little gambling experience. Several other families have also come across minor wealth in the past year or so, all from various sources, seemingly unrelated to each other.
But the most odd was the Thaniel family, whose fortunes dwarf those of the other families combined.  The father, an uneducated craftsman, has suddenly taken an interest in the stock market, and has struck several times over.  He turned a small investment into a fortune.
Each of the families have generously donated to help others in the town, which may explain some of the reduced crime rates. However, even domestic violence rates and other violent crimes have disappeared, seemingly overnight.
None of these occurrences seem to be alarming individually, but combined they do create an anomalous picture.  The town is also located about one hundred miles outside the “infected” zone; the area where all of the recorded super-powered humans came from, including all of the Infurians.
Tom has left, and I’m sitting here in my room, uneasy about the mission. I’m not sure what to think;  is it a powered individual, perhaps infected and unreported, taking advantage of their abilities?  Maybe it’s nothing, I don’t know.  I really just want to do my job and not let anyone down.
We have a few hours before we leave for Artiss.  I think I’m going to practice my light manipulation a bit.  I’m still having trouble ‘disappearing’ from every angle, but I won’t need that today…at least I hope not. I will mostly be outside the homes, listening to Harold and Tom speaking with the families.  No one should be able to sense me, so if anyone has mental abilities. they probably won’t even know I’m there.
I just can’t get something out of my head that Tom mentioned.  He told me about the Thaniels and their three children…one set of twins, and a newborn baby boy named Callix.  Callix was born two weeks after the infection first broke out.  He had a severe deformity, and he died about a year later from complications.  The next day, the first family struck it rich, Followed by another family a few weeks later.  Michael Thaniel quit his job soon after his son died. Maybe he did so out of grief or depression, who knows?

Tom left me a photo of the boy.  I stare at it the image… I can’t get the photo out of my mind.  I’m just going to leave it in my journal for now, and hope to have some real answers when I get back.

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June 21, 1998
It’s been a few days since we returned from Artiss.  This is the first time I’ve had time to write about the trip.  There isn’t much to report about, really, other than some of my nerves at being out in the field for the first time.
It turns out that many of the circumstances were semi-coincidental, and easily explained.  Michael Thaniel, told Tom about some investment advice and really took to it. Though  technically uneducated, he came across as quite intelligent, Tom said. The other families also had logical explanations for their fortunes, though I don’t remember what they were.  It’s not really important, I suppose. They were good enough for Tom and Harold, and for the bosses upstairs, so that’s all that matters.
The crime rate adjustments were also detailed by generous donations; several programs were instituted to offer anyone a good paying job that was able to work.  They also instituted a minimum care act, helping out even the most desperate citizens in the area.  It seems difficult to believe, but its hard to argue with results, right?
It was really a waste of time, to be honest, except for the fact that Tom reported that I handled myself well and professionally.  The upper-ups seem ready to give me more field work, so I guess I should be thankful.
I’m not sure if I’m going to continue with this journal or not.  I read that you shouldn’t read your older entries, but I read my first one anyway.   I must say it was pretty disappointing reading, haha.  I thought that I had written more than a few paragraphs, but perhaps it just seemed like more at the time.
I’m a bit puzzled as to why I left a few blank pages before leaving this bookmark.  I don’t know why, but I can’t seem to bring myself to write on those pages, either.
This photo bookmark is also a bit clumsy, but I guess it will do for now. I’m not even sure where I got this blank photograph, anyway. Something keeps telling me to throw it away, but I keep fighting the urge as if its somehow important.  Instead, I keep staring at it, as if the blankness is trying to whisper to me. Sometimes i swear I see something, but that fades from my mind before I can identify it.
That’s it for now.  Hope to have a more exciting entry next time.
-K

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What if yesterday was really tomorrow?