InFamous: The Wrong Choices For The Right Reason

Chapter 2: Not Alone.

An inFamous Story

By The Vegna

Rating: (T)

Disclaimer: The main characters of this story are from the video game inFamous and therefore they are all owned by Sucker Punch. Others are my own original characters.

Catch up: Cole's wedding goes off without a hitch, as he and Trish become Husband and Wife. However, a strange guest approaches Cole in private. His name is Alden Tate

'Are you a friend of my Dad's?'

'No. I'm just here to see the reception and talk to you'

'I'm sorry, Alden, but I should probably get back to my wife now.' Cole was getting a bad gut feeling about this guy and he had spent too long resting anyway. As he stood to leave, Alden said 'You know, I hear there have been some pretty bad blackouts in this city recently'. Cole froze, as alarms rang in his head. This guy definitely wasn't here for the wedding, but playing it safe was the best way to play it, for now. 'Yeah,' he said with his back still turned, 'In a big city, you tend to have a few blown fuses every now and then.'

'Ah, yes. That is true, but I must say. They have been a lot worse since around, oh five years ago.'

'Really, I haven't noticed that much'

'Oh come now, Cole. Most of these have been happening around your home. You must have noticed!'

Cole was getting sick of this man's smarmy hints, but it wouldn't be smart to make a scene, not least on today of all days.
'I'd like you to leave now, Mr Tate,' turning to face this elderly invader,' and I don't want to see you ever again. If I do, the police will arrest you for harassment.'

Alden laughed, his white teeth reflecting the sun. He only smiled at Cole, 'Oh, I am certain you do more to me than 'send the police', but you misunderstand me.' He motioned Cole to come closer, but Cole kept his distance. 'Fine, don't move then, but promise me that whatever I do, you will just smile and act like it's a magic trick.' Setting his ebony cane in front of himself and the bench.

'If I agree, will you leave me alone?' Cole growled.

'I assure you that any participation of myself in any way, will be entirely due to your own choice'

'Heh, fine' Cole knew what his choice would be after this.

'Ok then. Watch the cane, Cole.' Alden's brow began to crease, as he started focusing. He then removed one hand from the top of his cane, the black stick began to wobble slightly. Then the other hand left the handle as well, whilst the wood's shaking ceased and it became still. Cole was surprised, as he saw the cane stay upright of its own accord, he had never seen this kind of trick before. Looking to Alden, he saw the man raise his right arm towards the cane, stopping about ten inches from the handle. As Alden expression intensified, he watched as Alden's hand moved to the right and left, the cane leaning to mirror his actions as it pivoted on its base. After a few times, the wood began to shudder again, Alden reached out to grab it and collapsed into the bench.

'Smile, Cole. The guests can see us,' Alden rasped. Cole turned to see his mother and father watching from the buffet table, with shocked expressions plastered of their faces. He produced a weak smile and began to clap very obviously, as they began to follow suit with the shock on their faces turning to wonder. Cole faced Alden, moving closer to the tired, old man. 'Nice trick, but how's that going to stop me from throw you out of here?'

'Heh heh, I'm disappointed that you haven't connected the dots yet, Cole' Alden slowly brought himself to sit upright again, his breath becoming less ragged. 'I have powers just like you, albeit on an entirely lower level than your magnificent abilities.'

'What!' Cole moved closer to Alden, disbelieving his own ears.

'You couldn't have thought you are the only person on the planet to have powers now, did you' Alden's hungry grin returned to his face, 'My my, you are big headed, Cole. We aren't as unique as you may have feared, in fact I come from a large family of Conduits, like us.'

'Conduits? In fact, never mind.' Cole began to shake, as he quickly sat next Alden 'How many of you are there?'

Raising a wagging index finger, Alden tssked at Cole 'I'm afraid I can't just tell you, Cole. I don't even trust you enough to tell you my favourite colour. But,' Alden lifted himself out of his seat 'As I said before, if you want me to participate in your life from this point onwards, is entirely your choice.'

Alden began to walk down the path towards the street, Cole jumped up to follow him. 'Wait, can you help me with these powers?' Walking parallel to Alden's slow trudge.
'Maybe Cole, but you must understand that I work in secret, away from the chance of the Government monitoring and discovering people like us.'

'How do you know they don't already know about me?'

'Hahaha, because we make sure that they don't. Have no fear, Cole. Even if you choose not to join me, I assure you that you and your family will be completely off the Government's radar. Think of it as I act of good faith, though it will help if you keep the power outs to minimal' They had reached the road, as a black Cadillac slowed down beside them. 'Well, my ride appears to be here, I'm glad we had this talk, Cole.' The door opened without Alden's interaction, as he sat inside, letting it close by itself.
Frantic, Cole knocked on the window, calling 'How am I supposed to contact you?' The window slid down to show Alden's wrinkled smile 'Take this gift and turn to page eighty four, then it's all down to you, Cole,' Handing a wrapped, brown rectangle to Cole, before sliding the windows back up again. The pitch-black Cadillac drove of immediately, as Cole watched with his mouth agape.

His first thoughts were to tear open the package, but he decided against it as he knew Trish would want him back by now. Pocketing the gift, he set off in a jog back to the reception.

Zeke patted down his suit, as he stood up in front of the eating guests. He tapped the side of his glass lightly with his fork to grab their attention, as he prepared himself for his own personal feat for the day.

'Now, can I have your attention please, ma'ams and men. Now as ya'll know, the best man's gotta make a speech for the happy couple' patting Cole's shoulder to his left 'So here goes. I've know Cole for 'bout as long as he's been in the big city, making him as close as family to me as a brother. That also fulfils any brother's dream that his bro goes bald before he does.'
The crowd laughed as Cole gently punched his 'brother' in the shoulder.
'But seriously though, what any man is proud of is to see his own brother find the true person in this world that completes him in soul. The girl to be there for him, and he to protect her and I pray from the bottom my heart that you two will enjoy many, many years of happiness and to remember that love is a bond that no force on earth can ever tear a couple, like you two, ever apart and that you'll never be alone again.'

As the crowd cheered, he remembered and stood up again 'Oh and congratulations on the little Cole or Trish we'll be seein' soon. FYI, Zeke's a great name for a boy' He laughed, returning to his seat and receiving a kiss from his own fiancée, Sarah. 'You were great up there, honey.'

'Ya think, I wasn't so sure at the end.'

'No, it was beautiful. I hope that our best man can keep up to the same standards on our day.' she said, leaning towards Cole. 'Don't worry, Zeke'll make sure I say all the right things'

Cole laughed, 'You guys sure you don't want Dwight to do it instead. I mean I'm fine with all that 'blood is thicker than water' stuff.'

'Nope, if my brother can't even keep his hands off my Zekey's car, then he's going to have to be happy with being just a groomsman. Anyway, it's only fair after today anyway.' Hugging Zeke's right arm tight.

'Don't worry man, if I can do it, you'll have no problem at it' patting Cole, before returning to his fiancée.

Cole turned back to his wife, as she kissed him gently. Pulling away she smiled, as Cole brushed a strand of hair from her face, looking deep into her eyes. 'Cole, we're finally married.' she whispered, though the joy in her voice was hard to conceal.

'I know,' Cole replied softly.

'When our son or daughter is born, we can't stay in that little flat anymore,'

'Don't worry, I've been thinking how I could use my 'problem' to help us, I've been taking a course be to an electrician. People'll pay good money for a decent electrician in a city like this, that means I'll be home whenever I have to be and we can get any place you want.'

'Thank you, it'll be perfect.' Tears were beginning to form in her eyes, but Cole brushed them away with his napkin.

'I wish I didn't have to do that.'

'Its okay, Cole. I know you can't help, but I just hope our child won't be able to short out a car as well.'

'Don't worry, I'm going to find away to fix my 'problem'. But that doesn't matter now, Mrs MacGrath.'
Trish smiled and kissed Cole again. 'I've never been happier.' she sniffed before starting her meal. Cole smiled and began to bite down on his salad.

'Ok everyone, here come the bouquet.' Trish called as the bridesmaids and other young women began to gather, pushing each other for a better position. Trish turned away getting ready to throw, Cole and the rest of the men backed safely away from the swarm. 'Three...Two...ONE!' She heaved the flowers overhead into the crowd of screaming girls. One called out louder than the rest, Cole recognised the scream, as a smiling face emerged from many the pouting looks, it was Amy Dailey. She rushed through the crowd, as her boyfriend who Cole hadn't met gave a look of 'help' to the men in the row, only to receive many cheers and pats on the back as a hyperactive Amy hugged him, flowers still clenched tightly.

Cole smiled at Trish, as she rolled her eyes and walked over to him. With a kiss and a held hand, the two ran towards the white limousine at the path. Cole's dad opened the door for them, with one last father hug for the couple each, before letting them in. As the limo rolled away, the crowd waved with as much energy as they had left, before they disappeared at the turned corner.

Cole turned to his bride 'So, as for the honeymoon, I've saved up for about a year.'
'Oh Cole.'
'Don't worry, we may not have much, but we are going to stay for the next week at the Praça Hotel, in the Historic District,' He smiled, revealing the room key from his inside pocket. 'Just imagine: jacuzzis, spas, room service and Zeke knows a guy who works there, so we're in the presidential suite.' pointing at the 'P' on the wooden key chain.
'Oh Cole, it's 'sniff' perfect.' She wrapped herself around her husband, happy to just rest in his arms as they were driven there.

Cole opened his eyes to a perfect morning, to see beside him a sleeping Trish. Her face bore a still slight smile from the wedding night, bringing one to his face as well. He rose from the silk sheets, making sure to recover his new wife. Yawning, he searched for the bathroom, dreading this part of his morning routine.

Finding it after checking two closets, he quickly turned the shower dial, trying to be quicker than the water as he prepared himself. He gathered a towel, soap, even shampoo which he didn't need, trying to avoid it for as long as possible, before placing his toothbrush between his teeth to stop himself from waking Trish.

After a one breath, two breathes, three, he jumped into the water, ready for the reaction. It seared every inch of his body the water ran over, as sparks danced across his skin. Where ever there was water, the sparks were, stinging Cole's skin as his body grew redder from the reactions taking place. Grunting into his toothbrush, Cole began to rub the bar of soap over his painful body, electricity following and bursting the suds. He could barely take it as he tried to cover every area, but he was beginning to reach his limit. The only worse thing that could happen than the sparks was when the sparks stopped. He could draw too much attention, but he could see the sparks lessen as his vision blurred. Knowing he was as clean as he could safely get, he jumped out of the shower and tried to dry his body before it got worse. He normally wouldn't go in that long, but he didn't wont to smell for his first day of married life.

Steadying his self on the sink, he waited for the darkness to wash over. Slowly, his vision became clear again. He quickly turned the dial back, flinching from the water as it stung his hand.

Drying the hand off, he looked at the shaver socket in the wall, he decided he had to take a little if he could confront Trish. Checking he had a dry, if a very pink and sore, hand, he placed it next to the socket, as he let his energy seep into it. Searching through the wires, he sensed the spark and pulled on it, just lightly enough to take the edge of his pain.

He smirked as he remembered back, about three years ago, when he could only take huge amounts of electricity at a time, blacking out power sources across the building at times, as the single thin blue arc entered Cole's hand. Priding in his control, Cole decided he had taken enough, his skin becoming a lighter shade of pink.

He turned to face the mirror, he began to rub his chin, the shower had burnt off most of the hair, like on his scalp, but it was still enough to warrant shaving. Picking up the hotel's razor, he cleaned the rest of his face of any follicles. Smiling at his clean face, he paced back to the bedroom. Cole's favourite jeans were under a pile of clothes that had been removed from the bag, but the events of last night had cut the sorting off. Pulling them out, he threw the dark green pair on with one of the grass coloured shirts Trish had bought him.

Relaxing into an armchair facing the bed, he thought back over the last twenty four hours. Alden's words had echoed through Zeke, he wasn't alone in the world, there were others like him. Cole knew he couldn't hope for his powers to just go away, so maybe he could at least get some answers. He searched in the pile of wedding clothes, pulling out the package. Quietly, he unfolded the wrapping paper that covered it, disposing the brown paper into his pocket. It was a fairly small book, with the words:

Philosophy and Self-Understanding: The guide to unleashing all that you can be

emblazoned in gold text across a plain blue cover. Cole turned it over, but there was no description on the back or author for that matter. He thumbed through, it was mostly a combination of quotes and religious stuff that he didn't immediately understand. Meditation popped up a few times, till he reached page eighty two, where it contained a post-it note and a single quote. He looked at the note first, it read: Warehouse 2, St John's Street, The Warren. Monday 1:00 PM. They were giving him a week to meet them. Cole turned back to the page, reading the quote:

"Every man is guilty of the good he did not do."

— Voltaire

'Hmph' Just what Cole needed, they were nuts as well. He wouldn't be able to do anything for a week anyway, he had a honeymoon to enjoy. Cole pocketed the book again and headed for the door. Maybe it would be clearer after breakfast.