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The skies over New York were cloudy, the sun was low, and the air was electric.
Like, literally, arcing with electricity.
Underneath a sheltered plaza during a hazy evening, the tenured professor Dynamo found himself trapped just a few feet away from the escaped convict, Seven. The street lamps were all burst open with hot, shattered glass. The grass around the trails leading to the plaza were charred completely, craters of burning soil defacing the property around the pair.
Dynamo was a smart man, a safe man. He was only outside now to move some literature back to the library now that it had stopped raining. He didn’t expect another visitor to be already out causing property damage now that he, too, was safe from the rain.
After spotting the bursting of underground wiring creating a dangerous spark just next to him, Dynamo quickly dropped the books while he was still on the steps and made a mad dash for an open, covered space. He felt that while the cause of the shock may have been a stray lightning bolt, the lack of booming thunder caused him to worry that there might be a great electrical fire waiting for him if he had rushed back into the building. While the safety of his campus and his physical work was of utmost importance to him, nothing in the world could replace the mind of Dynamo himself. He had to find somewhere to observe what was happening before he properly called for help.
He didn’t realize the spark had been following him.
So now, there he was, confronted with the being that had (probably) caused all this damage, its face glowing violently as Dynamo had backed up into a support pillar trying to inspect it. With the lamps destroyed and their high-voltage currents drained, the glow of Dynamo’s face was all he had to see with. He tried to look past the hissing, radiating figure, thinking of how to escape. But damn it all, his curiosity was getting the best of him. Who was this? WHAT was this?
Arcs like tesla coils formed as idle static danced between its shoulders, a tick tick tick crying out from the meter on its back. Enclosed wires circled with pulses, letting idle shocks trail off behind the figure from exposed cabling. A distorted, husky breath began to sound from somewhere in its chest… was it… laughing?
“Ah, so good to meet you, Professor.”
Dynamo tensed his mechanical digits and buckled his knees. He tried to center his mind and his gravity all at once, dumbfounded that this thing knew him. Or at least, knew he was a professor. Maybe it wasn’t all that odd that it knew that.
“Did… did you cause…” Dynamo’s hand waved, his duffel bag of research instruments and teaching supplies rattling. “All of… this?”
Seven looked in the direction of the waving like he had no clue what he was talking about. He tilted his head up in interest and let out a “hmm,” turning to face the burned and ruined sections of courtyard. An idle ZAP left somewhere in the current of the lamps grounded itself, making a loud noise and a huge spectacle. Dynamo yelped as the electricity jumped, Seven raising his eyebrows as well.
“Well, it seems I took part in causing it, yes. Are you familiar with my work?”
“You’ve done this more than once?!”
“Why yes, Professor Dynamo, but never on your grounds.”
Seven smirked down at the frightened soul, tilting his hat up to taunt him.
“I certainly would’ve noticed you here before. Are you a previous student?”
“ Student? Hah, I wouldn’t dream of spending my time idling around in a chair when I can just learn from experience.”
Immediately, Dynamo began to theorize. So, whoever this was seems to have some power over electricity. They seem to be human enough to talk and have enough experience to know who he was and what human society was like. They have a reputation of some kind, and learn from experience. Perhaps they obtained a vocational education.
“You seem to be star-struck, sir nebula. What’s got you so wound up?”
Ah. Hm. Dynamo was already losing his footing here. The curious piece of him that walked into that rift in time and space was pushing him to actually Q-and-A this violent ne'er-do-well. He loved questions and their answers.
“That would be… well, I figure you would’ve been able to tell.”
“ No, really, tell me .” Seven’s cooing tone mocked Dynamo, who could tell he was being ribbed, but brushed it off.
“So you’re… like me.”
Dynamo figured this person would’ve probably encountered something mystical that made them like this. Maybe the storm hit them and turned them into a lightning rod.
Seven glanced down. “I’m a bit skinnier.”
“In terms of the composition of your being , not your body.”
“Ah, yes.” Seven backed up and displayed himself, extending his wingspan.
“ You are part… space. Thus, you’re stuck in that body you built yourself to feel human. I’m much more grounded, and get to keep my skin.” He smirked.
Dynamo adjusted his glasses. “How do you know me this well?”
“I know a lot of things, Professor.”
“Then- then what’s…” He was going to ask about his birthdate. But why would this thing care to keep that information on hand? He wasn’t even keeping track of his age, really. If it knew all of his details, it would just cause him to panic and lose his senses. He figured sometimes not knowing was better than knowing, even if it went against everything he loved (which was learning.) He came up with something else.
“...How old are you?”
Seven snickered, which sounded more like a transformer buzzing to life. He didn’t expect that question.
“How old do you think I am?”
He squinted. Not really, but it was clear he was staring at Seven’s body. Seven felt a weird sense of satisfaction being examined like this. His mouth opened to let out a hot breath, the ticking on the meter sounding off again. Like a geiger counter.
“You’re not young. If you are, you’re overgrown.”
Seven chuckled. “Just consider me beyond age.”
Now, Dynamo had an incurable hunger for knowledge. He was a clear case of ‘curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.’ He had pushed for years to study, and teach, things like metaphysics so he could understand the nature of human existence in such a vast universe. His study of Quantum Entanglement had actually proved useful when he walked right into the rift that condensed him into the cosmic body he was today- and was lucky to find his wife willing to help him on the other side. Something he never found out underlying his lust for learning was a desire that burned true within him, one he did not find time to study, but found himself constantly craving.
He loved to feel small. Before he was even condensed, he always found himself reading papers and studies about the vast universe the human race resided in. He found it so charming that he was allowed to exist; the existence of conscious being able to study themselves was a miracle above miracles. He felt that he was blessed by fate to spend his time truly understanding why anyone existed- and with what happened in Central Park, he never fell out of tune with his beliefs.
Learning he was in front of something that might be infinite was… exhilarating. Dynamo thought back to his early years in college, spending his nights and days studying for the excessive amount of classes he took. He remembered the reverence he held for his professors, taking notes while wondering if they, too, felt lucky to exist in a world filled with possibilities and knowledge. It wasn’t possible to be older than the universe. It wasn’t possible to be in the universe, really. Did this stranger know that?
Dynamo was breathing heavily. His chest echoed with each breath, his cavernous body feeling oh-so warm and full. Seven observed and guessed this was some kind of panic response, judging by the longer than usual silence.
He finally spoke up.
“Beyond age-”
Seven quickly interrupted him. “Yes, beyond age, beyond measurement, beyond reason, I certainly am unique.” Seven closed the distance between them.
“Unique from you, too.” The chain on his wrist rattled as it reached up to adjust Dynamo’s spectacles for him. Seven used this opportunity to stare into the star in his head.
Dynamo shifted his stance, but did not run away. He felt that all the mystical things around him were meant to happen. But why did it always feel so… enticing?
Seven was busy marveling at the power trapped behind that glass. How lovely would it be to siphon every last bit of energy stored in that head of his. Was it even possible? His body was running on something to get it working, but the interview he listened to never discussed the mechanics of his body. Since his extremities floated off of him, it was clear there was some kind of scientific mechanics, (like, physics or something) keeping his parts on him. Was it possible? Would it crush his form like it ruined Dynamo’s? He’d lick his lips if he had any tongue. His own, not Dynamo’s- why was that thought even there?
Dynamo realized how close they were. “Please give me my space.”
Seven obliged, but reluctantly. “You’ve got plenty in your head,” he cooed while backing up.
There was a pregnant pause between them as Dynamo looked him up and down, Seven maintaining eye contact. Seven sighed loudly, trying to get his attention back.
“Sorry about this. It’s… nice to see there’s someone out there with circumstances like mine.”
Dynamo was realizing he liked to feel vulnerable. And Seven is not a stranger to feeling like he wanted to crush anyone that opposed him, reach the very highest peaks of power and feel it course through his body. Seven wanted to get that star out of him and study it as much as Dynamo did.
Seven responded, “I’m nothing like you.”
Nothing like them… yeah. The professor began to remember the scope of mystic energy. From what he knew, almost everyone on earth should have experienced something mystical like this. Maybe not becoming as abstract as the both of them. Whatever this stranger experienced, it might not have been as willing as what Dynamo experienced.
“I’m better than you.”
A chill ran up his coat. Dynamo’s mind flashed to the person he liked to feel most vulnerable around. His wife.
How was he going to explain this to his wife? That he had a near-death encounter with something just like him and he didn’t run away? No, no he wouldn’t make that mistake again. He needed to back up before he walked into another rift.
Dynamo reached to his side and tugged on something attached to a carabiner on his bag strap. Seven smirked at the idea of them getting into a confrontation.
“Whoever you are, you are quite… interesting. But I don’t like how much trouble you’ve caused here, and I do request you leave.”
Dynamo didn’t want to fight. But Seven sure wanted a chance to break open that helmet of his and see what would come of it.
Seven balled up his charred hands and gave- or, revealed, a wicked grin. He was ready to fry this man paralyzed, rip his head off, and watch New York City fall to its knees. He looked around to the destruction he had already made, and noticed lights in the distance. Getting closer.
Well, as much as Seven was looking to make an impact, he wasn’t willing to get caught for something as minor (to him) as this. Seven growled in annoyance, arching his back while holding back a scream. Once he was distracted, Dynamo quantum entangled behind the pillar and began a sprint for his life, away from the campus. Seven tried to reach out for the orb, and when it slipped through his fingers, he knew he should find somewhere else to torment.
“Be seeing you soon, Dynamo.”
Seven paced backwards, the lightning from his fingers guiding him back to the wires that he had used to escape the underground current he was dancing through. He watched Dynamo’s back as another loud buzz of electricity sent him back into the wires, draining some of the power from the building where Dynamo taught.
Dynamo huffed as he paced through his thoughts, not sure how to explain that he was really turned on by the idea an older- a waaaaaay older being knew about him, came to visit him, and mentioned that he would be back to visit again. He was kind of glad to be a robot right now- he would be flushed, sweaty, and probably have a little tent in his pants. Right now he just thought about saying something to those lights walking towards him.
“Hey! Something supernatural just happened on campus!”