Chapter 3: The Learning Curve

Location: Air Traffic Control Tower in Cordova International Airport

"Hey Dan", Sal waves as he enters the room. "Looks like you finished your coffee brake," Dan responds from his desk, as he studies the monitors. "Well, we have to find ways to stay awake if we want do our job right," Sal retorts. " I don't think going for a coffee break that takes fifteen minutes is doing your job" Dan cracks back with a slight annoyance in his tone "Now get back to work." As Sal takes his seat, he notices a beeping on the monitor.

The radar picked something up on the atmosphere, some kind of unregistered aircraft. "Weird" he thought to himself, there weren't any planes assigned on this flight path. "Uh Dan", Sal asks "You didn't tell me that you updated the flight path?" Dan looks up from his seat "What do you mean changes?" he replies "There were no changes in the last 15 minutes". Sal then starts to panic, as he continues to observe the radar. "If there are no planes on this flight path, then what the hell is in the sky?" Dan, now looking alarmed, comes to Sal's monitor. Just as he said, an unknown object was detected in the air space. "What the hell" Dan utters under his breath". "By the rate the radar picks up, no small plane should be moving fast under this air space!"

Dan observes the radar patiently. It continues to slowly beep until it suddenly halts. "Looks like it went out of range" Sal comments, "Should we call it in?" Dan continues to contemplate on what he just seen. Where was that object coming from? Was it some kind of experimental aircraft made by the Cordova Science and Research Department, or could it be something else entirely. "Let's not report it", Dan conclude, "Better for us to not look into things we can't explain. And besides It's not like anyone would believe us."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"I CANT'T BELIEVE THIS IS HAPPENING!" I shout as I whiz through the air. I've been racing on the sky for thirty minutes straight, yet I feel like I could make laps around the globe. I curve through another flock of birds, disrupting their usual V shaped pattern. I was intoxicated on my weightlessness, taking in the world from above. As I was about to continue flying, I notice my phone vibrate again. I check to see my Dad's latest message. "I'm almost home, are u back yet?" I curse myself for forgetting dad and start to panic. I have no clue where I am right now. I could have been traveling for miles, maybe ending up in a different country. Regaining my composure, I decide to fly lower to see check my location.

As I descend, I hear a load noise coming behind me, like an engine or a turbine. I look around to see myself facing an airplane, catching me by surprised. I hit it head first, rolling on the side of the plane until I hit it's tail wings. I try to gather myself, feeling a slight pain on the spot the plane hit me. I look around to witness the plane slowly losing stability, and realize the horror of what I've done. My mind starts racing on what to do next, on the edge of panic. "If those people die, then its my fault" I realized. My breath becomes hazy, trying to calm myself. I know what I have to do, and I hope I have the strength to do it.

I race towards the falling plane, increasing in speed as I chase it. I have no time to spare. I can see the city skyline below me, the target of the weakened aircraft. I glance at my surrounding to see where I could land the plane. It looks we are near the coast, and that gave me an idea. I race under plane, bringing it's weigh on my shoulders. I try to focus my energy on the plane, like I did to myself. As the gauntlet's energy slowly envelopes the aircraft, I start to stabilize it on a straight formation. I aim the plane on the waterfront, preparing myself and the plane for a water landing. "I hope this works!" my thoughts filled with panic and dread.

I feel the adrenaline rush, with the thought of me failing in the back of my mind. Nothing else matters in this moment except getting these people safe. As we descend down on the water, I prepare myself for an awful plunge. My body submerges completely as I land the plane on the water. I feel the plane glide over me, as it starts to slow down. I emerge from the surface, as I finally feel relieved to see the plane in one piece. As the floaters extend out of the plane, I sprout out of the water and head straight home.

I make way to the city outskirts, on welcome of my home. Although the gauntlets momentarily let me breath underwater, it didn't make my clothes water proof. I try to sneak in the house, trying not to make a sound. "Your late", my mother says, making me yelp with surprise. I look to see my mom and dad in the table, startled by my appalling appearance. "Son, why are you wet?" my dad asked me. I stare at both of them, noticing my mom bothered by the fact that I'm wetting the living room carpet. "It was raining hard going to the bus stop" I lied, "It rained really hard for a few minutes then stopped." I observe my parent's gaze studying my appearance, looking to see if anything was out of the ordinary.

I hide my hands on my back, which my mom found especially suspicious. "What are you hiding behind you?" he finally ask. My faced with with dread as she focuses on my hands behind me. "It's nothing, I just like to put my hands on my back." I try to inch myself towards the stairs but my mom stands up. "Show me your hands Arthur" she demands, anger dominating her tone. "You have not been answering our texts and our calls, so if you are hiding something, I demand to see it now". I can feel her anger, as I look to my dad if he can rescue me from the situation. "If you aren't hiding anything Arthur, just show her your hands" my dad says calmly. I start to panic again like what happened at the plane. I can fly and carry planes, yet I feel powerless in this situation. Do I make a run for it, or just come out with the truth?

I look at my parents and remember how worried they were for me, not having any contact with them for the a few hours. I let in and decide to show them the gauntlets. "Yeah the thing is", as I begin to remove my hands from my back, "there is something wrong with my arms." As I show them my hands, they look at me with a confusing expression. Where they surprised on what were on my arms, thinking of ways to ground into eternal damnation? As I wait for my judgement, my dad breaks the silence. "What exactly is on your hands?" he asks. I check to see where my gauntlets should have been, only to see my arms back to normal.

"But I just had them on me" I thought to myself, "was it just my imagination?" My dad sighs with relief, "Look Leslie, the kid seems tired, I say we let back to his room so he can go to class tomorrow." my dad responds. I see my mom's face as she eases her expression, although tainted with slight frustration. "I'll let this go for now, but we will talk about this soon" she declares. I sigh with relief as I climb up the stair and go to my room.

As soon as I close the door, the gauntlets manifest itself back on my arms. "So it wasn't some dream" I thought myself, which oddly gives me a sense of little comfort. I then wash off the sea water and hit the sack, as the day's events finally takes a toll on me. I start to wonder what I could do with these gauntlets, and how much fun I can have with them, as I silently drift to sleep.