ASBO-Boy - 715

INTERVIEW NO: = = 774526100 = = = MONDAY MAY 2ND 2016 = =
SUBJECT: Nia Jones, Positive Other, PROBO Awarded.

GWEN: Are you comfortable? Do you want a drink?
NIA: I’m fine, thanks.
GWEN: In that case, we’ll crack on. I’ll just ask a series of introductory questions first. Can you tell me a little about your family?
NIA: Umm, well, we live in the Uplands. I think my Father came from Llanelli before the Walls went up and my Mother came from Crofty. They both work in Singleton Hospital as Managers.
GWEN: Excellent. As you know, potential candidates for the Elementals are screened from a young age. Your academic profile and your civic reputation are spotless. I would, however, like to know more about your powers…

“Is this who you are?”

Nia blinked in the light. She felt dizzy and disoriented. There was no way of telling whether she was standing up or sitting down.

“Is this who you are?”

Nia felt her body flooded with energy. Her power was working overdrive and it ebbed from her skin in euphoric waves, as it did she felt the presence in her mind become stronger. The disembodied voice gasped with delight and suddenly –

“Have you ever thought about leaving Swansea?”

Nia blinked again and looked around. She was in Brynmill Park sitting underneath The Tree. Lying next to her in the grass, on top of that tartan picnic blanket, was Mike. He’d asked her this question before.

“Nia? Are you alright?” He sat up, concerned. She shook her head and grabbed a cucumber sandwich. It was bland and nothingy, but then again all cucumber sandwiches tasted like that. She smiled. This is a memory.

“Mike?” She asked, “You’re an idiot, you know that right?”

Mike shrugged, “Yeah. You keep telling me.” His body weight shifted slightly and she felt one of his broody moments coming on. The gesture was so intuitive that it brought back a flood of warm nostalgia. She grabbed his hand and pulled him towards her. She couldn’t remember ever being this forceful, but sometimes you have to get your kicks where you can. Without a drop of her original fear, she leaned in to kiss him –

“Wow.”

She was back in the white space again. Suspended in nothing. The disembodied voice was floating there beyond the light. There was something familiar about it that she couldn’t put her finger on –

“Show me what you saw. In the Forbidden Place.”

Something exploded nearby. Falling rock landed all around them and Nia flinched. They emerged in a room with recognisable walls and a large steel door. Mike was ahead – weren’t they just…? – he was carrying somebody, the forms seemed to blend together.

Around them were cans; vast containers filled with god-knows-what –

“No.”

The room was empty. At their feet was a run-off for a drainage system, in the distance she could hear water –

“No.”

The floor was smooth stone. The only sounds came from the falling rock behind them. Mike was urging them onwards now, he turned to look at her and she saw the figure in his arms. She was an ASBO, small, mousy; Nia recognised this girl, it was as if she’d met her in a dream –

She was back in the white space. This time it was different.

All around her, she could hear crying. It was a sorrow so pure that it made her feel cold and small.

“They lied.” The phantom voice whispered, each syllable laced with grief and anger. The words echoed in her head like thunder.

“When the Walls fall you will remember.” The voice ground into her mind with a violent, white pain; Nia felt her sanity starting to tear. “You will remember by the word Pantheon. You will remember me and all that you have seen. Truth will be my gift to you. I will break them, I will grind this world into dust.”

NIA: I want to help people. My power lets me do that. It feels liberating watching people grow stronger.
GWEN: And you want to use it to help people?
NIA: Yes. I’ve always wanted to stop crime. It’s irrational. With a system that provides for everybody, why do people need to break the law?
GWEN: So, you believe the system works?
NIA: Yes, more than anything. The fact that we’re having this conversation – the fact that I’m going to be able to help people, thanks in part to you guys. It’s all proof.