VECTOR IN DC

Tom lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, still in awe of the success of the previous day's heist. He had planned the robbery and Leo's crew had executed it in style, and now he was reaping the rewards. When he first got into business with Leo, he had wondered what it would be like to live the life of a criminal mastermind, and now that thought had become a reality.

As he lay there, lost in thought, he heard a beep from his laptop. He got up and walked over to his desk where the laptop was, curious to see what it was. Although he had been expecting his share from the previous deal with Leo, he was still surprised to see a large sum of money credited to his offshore account.

Tom couldn't believe his eyes. He sat down at his desk and stared at the laptop screen, still in amazement of what he had received as his cut from one operation.

As he sat there, his mind raced with thoughts of all the things he could do with his newfound source of income. He thought about the things he could buy if he kept this up and accumulated a fortune. He could buy a fancy car, a big house, and all the luxuries people normally yearn for. He could even retire early and live the rest of his days in comfort.

Nah! For most people, yeah. 

But for Tom, these things didn't hold much appeal. He had grown up in a wealthy home in his previous life and had already experienced luxury to almost the maximum.

He knew that he had to be careful with the money, and not let anyone know about it. He didn't even have a friend he could share things with. He would have to keep a low profile and lay low for a while. But that was a small price to pay for the life of comfort he wished to have.

Beep!

The sound of his burner phone drew him out of his thoughts, the screen lit up and displayed the name 'Leo'. He answered the call as Leo spoke in his usual calm and relaxed tone.

"Hey kid, I just wanted to give you a call and let you know that I went ahead and transferred your cut from our job yesterday, over to your offshore account," Leo said.

"I just saw it and I have to say, I'm impressed with the amount from one job. I wasn't expecting such a large sum," Tom spoke honestly. He couldn't help but wonder what Leo's cut must have been if his was this huge.

"It all depends on the job and the client. I'll let you know if another contract requiring your expertise comes up," Leo said. "Later kid, stay out of trouble till then and also take care of that big brain of yours."

"Sure," Tom replied as he hung up the phone.

Tom closed his laptop and lay back in bed, a huge smile on his face. He closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, content in the knowledge of the success from his first job as a criminal mastermind.

… 

Tom sat in the middle of his basement, which had more than enough space for a home gym. His eyes were closed in concentration as he had been working on developing his telekinetic abilities for months. He had made good progress, but he was still far from perfecting them.

He focused on the dumbbells in front of him, which each had different weights to test his strength and control. He willed both dumbbells to lift and they rose to a reasonable height just above his head, with his mind alone and without any hand gestures.

Encouraged by this small success, Tom pushed harder. He attempted to lift up a random car across the street through the window, but it was to no avail. He wasn't strong enough to lift a car yet, but he was determined to get there.

He continued to focus on just one dumbbell, this time it was the lighter one. He willed it to move faster towards him and it began to fly across the room, heading straight for Tom's chest. Tom could feel the sweat on his forehead as he struggled to create a deflective barrier in front of him that would be strong enough to withstand the dumbbell's impact.

The dumbbell seemed to hit a dense air wall, which appeared like a thick glass-like structure in front of him, at the last minute. It created water-like ripples in thin air around the spot it hit. But it was sent flying in another direction, luckily he was in the basement and it crashed into some boxes. He definitely broke something within those boxes.

He was barely able to create a barrier that was strong enough to withstand the dumbbell subconsciously, but he couldn't help but think of himself as insane for attempting such an experiment. It could have led to excruciating pain and internal injuries.

He did it over and over again in hopes of improving the strength of the barrier. But each time he did it, his heart skipped a beat faster, fearing that it wouldn't be strong enough. He had to steel his resolve, knowing that the barrier would only be as strong as his mental will.

 Tom kept up this exercise until he was confident in both his deflective barrier and himself. His heart no longer skipped each time he saw the dumbbell approaching him at top speed, his subconscious had grown accustomed to the fact that it had to protect him from external harm.

He moved on to training the precision of his telekinesis. Tom placed a pen on the floor and commanded it to levitate in the air and move in front of a book that he already had floating in mid-air. At first, it was difficult for him to hold the book in place while trying to control the pen to write the words he had in mind. He would have to take it word for word as he formed the sentence.

As he trained, the movements of the pencil became more controlled and precise. He was able to direct it to stay on a specific margin line and spell out words to form a sentence. It was mentally exhausting and took a lot of focus and concentration for him to be able to do this, but he hoped that it would become easier for him as he gained better control over his powers.

It was a thrilling experience for Tom, who had never experienced such control over his powers before. Although it drained him mentally, he now had the feeling of his powers being an extension of his mind.

Tom continued to train for hours, pushing himself to the limit. He knew that mastering his telekinesis was crucial if he wanted to be able to use it in real-world situations in order to survive in this crazy world he nor lived in. He trained himself to control multiple objects at once, and even projected his powers to move distant objects till he felt depleted. 

By the end of the day, Tom was exhausted, but he felt a sense of satisfaction and self accomplishment in the fact that he had made progress in moving a step further in perfecting his telekinesis.

The fatigue he felt that day was unmatched to any he had ever felt before, but he always knew this was a stepping stone. He understood that each time he pushed himself to the brink of exhaustion while training his powers, it would help build up his stamina and strengthen them.

Each time he used the powers he had awoken a few months back, he always had a pit in his stomach like he wasn't using them to their full potential. He knew there was so much more he could do. He could feel that telekinesis was just the tip of the iceberg, it was very frustrating knowing that there was so much more he could do, but he was currently limited by his lack of mastery over them and his current weakness.

The thought of him being attacked by one of those psychos in this crazy universe and not being able to protect himself due to his current weakness, was a thought that kept nagging at the back of his mind. He tried to shrug it off each time. The possibility of him, being a criminal mastermind which he had become not too long ago, and an hero in an unexpected instance, having his operations traced back to him, he would need to be strong enough to defend himself and escape capture.

He had come a long way in his training, and he knew that with continued practice, he would be able to gain full mastery of his powers. Tom went to bed that night with a sense of purpose, determined to continue training and perfecting his abilities in whatever way he could.