The initial rush of linkage faded quickly, but it left behind a crystal clarity of information. I knew, in a that I had never known before. I understood perfectly what the computer was doing as it flashed through its bootup sequence in the blink of an eye.

Whoa.

Experimentally, I shifted the cursor over towards the internet browser. The slightest twitch of the mouse had it open and ready faster than I could track. That wasn't normal. The computer usually took ages to load, and even then opening the browser usually took half a minute or so. Had my glow improved the computer somehow? The moment the thought formed, the answer presented itself. Yes, yes it had. The specs which presented themselves to me were so far beyond anything reasonable it wasn't even funny. I called up the specs of Titan - I remembered Mrs. Knott mentioning it once as the most advanced non-Tinkertech supercomputer - and compared them.

Mine were better. Significantly.

I sat back in the squeaky office chair and contemplated that. The Hebert house computer, an ancient clunky thing dating back years, was currently souped up to the point that it was effectively tinkertech. Was this my real power, then? Improving computers and connecting to them? I was at once elated and somehow unimpressed. On one hand, it still wasn't an Alexandria-tier power. I wouldn't be going around and beating up Nazis with it. On the other, everyone banked online nowadays. If I learned how, maybe I could take down the gangs from that angle; steal their money right from under them.

I smiled as I thought about that. The image of Lung going to go buy something only to find that his account was empty was an appealing one, albeit not quite so much as the image of me planting my fist in his face and driving him through a wall or two.

I'd need to learn how to do that, though. I looked down at the computer. I'd need a different computer, as well. There was no way I could risk anything I did being traced back here.

Which begged the question: how did I disconnect? Was my enhancement permanent? Could I only do one computer at a time, or many? For that matter, I hadn't tried adding it to anything other than computers, so could I do something like add it to a gun to improve it somehow?

Too many questions. Time to prioritise. Can I disconnect?

As it turned out, that was easy. It was just a matter of pulling the glow out of the computer and back into me, and the moment it was withdrawn the ancient tower block wheezed back to its normal, clunky self. Reconnecting was just as easy. The glow seemed to know what to do once I added it, like it was taking the computer as an indication of the kind of thing I wanted it to do, then taking it further. It made me wonder what would happen if I added the glow to a weapon or armour. Would I get a super-sharp edge? Super-hardness? Something else?

I jumped out of the chair and ran out into the kitchen, grabbing the knife again. I pulled out the glow and tried to force it to bond to the blade. The light rippled along the knife's length, hovering around it, but it didn't sink in or do anything that made me think it was actually making a difference. When I ran it across my finger like before it was just the same. I withdrew the glow and sighed. Maybe it only worked on technology? What was the line, though? Would it work on something with only moving parts, or was it solely electronic technology? Or was it really just computers?

I chewed on my lip as I drew the glow back in. What to do now? My eyes fell on the open door of the study. I couldn't use the home computer like that again. If someone was keeping an eye on data-traffic - something I found I understood the concept of much better now than before I'd made the connect; it was like the difference between someone explaining what 'blue' was like and seeing it for yourself - then a suburban neighbourhood suddenly having data-traffic you'd expect from NASA before the Simurgh killed the space programs would be pretty goddamn obvious. I was pretty sure it would be possible to set up some kind of workaround that made it look like I was somewhere else, but it would be best if I used a different computer altogether, and I'd need to know more about programming in general.

I still had a little over $200 in savings. Enough to buy a reasonable laptop, and with my powers I could make it a thousand times better. Everything started to click into place. Was I actually some kind of computer-tinker? Maybe. That would be cool. Maybe I could sell my programming abilities as well, help Dad out with the bills. Maybe one day I'd even be able to work with Armsmaster or Dragon!

I was almost jumping with joy, but I had to do this right. Calm down, Taylor. Plan first, fantasize about heroism later.

First, buy a laptop. There was a tech store on the Boardwalk that sold them, and the lower end of their range was within my budget. Second, finding information on programming. I could probably look that up online, and if I couldn't I was sure I could do enough as I was to make some money to do so. If worse came to worst I could do odd jobs around the neighbourhood. After that, I'd play it by ear.

I grabbed my purse from under my bed, wrapped up in a coat and set out, only pausing to scribble a note saying that I'd gone to the library, just in case Dad came back for whatever reason.

The bus ride into town was as uncomfortable as normal, although it was less crowded than usual. I got a few disapproving looks from an old lady huddled at the back. She probably thought I ought to be in school.

I jumped off at a bus stop near the end of the Boardwalk and made a beeline for the tech store, sandwiched between a cafe and a boarded-up place that I remembered as a toy store from when I was smaller and overshadowing both. I pushed open the door.

There were four aisles, separated by head-height partitions. Apart from the bored-looking cashier, a long-haired teen obliviously listening to something on a pair of headphones, the place was abandoned. I was a little surprised at that, considering that it was coming up to Christmas, but then I realised that it was still midmorning. Anyone who wanted to buy gifts would probably turn up later.

It didn't take long to find the laptop section. Most of the computers were out of my price range, but the lower end was within it. I found the cheapest one and picked up the empty box to take it to the checkout. I was just handing over the money when the door slammed open behind me. The cashier went white. I glanced back and saw a man in a dark balaclava raise a pistol in my direction.

An ice-cold clarity washed over me. It was as if the whole world was edged in glass.

"Get down on the fucking floor," he said. I complied, folding my hands behind my head and going down into a kneel. He brought the gun up towards the cashier. "Open the machine and gimme the cash."

I could hear the cashier fumbling above me, then the sound of the till opening.

"Hurry the fuck up!"

Coins clattered. There was a muffled curse. I could hear footsteps behind me. He'd have to come almost right up to me to grab the money. He had been holding the gun in his right hand.

He'd made a mistake in not making me move away. He probably thought there was nothing I could do to him, skinny and a girl as I was. I just needed to bide my time, and when he got close I'd jump up, knock the gun away and then it would be him against my power-enhanced strength. He wasn't all that big. I regretted not testing it properly earlier, but if I was going to be a hero there was no way I could just let this slide. Sure, I wasn't an Alexandria-type cape, but I was sure I could take this guy.

Distantly, I noted that I should probably be more afraid than I was, and certainly shouldn't be thinking this clearly. Maybe it was like the pain-numbing?

"He-here," came the voice of the cashier above me. More footsteps. I guessed that the gunman was about three metres away. Now two. Now one.

Now.

Everything happened at once. I gathered my legs beneath me with a little hop and then surged upwards, spinning as I did so so that I was facing him. As I did so, I brought my hand up under his so that the pistol pointed upwards into the wall. It went off almost next to my ear, but although the sound was loud it wasn't deafening, nor did it disorient me. There was a strangled scream, almost a squeak, behind me.

As one hand lifted the pistol upwards, I took advantage of my opponent's momentary distraction to land a good, solid gut-punch. I missed the kidney I was aiming for, but he wheezed, which bought me another precious moment of distraction.

I clamped my hand down on the wrist of his gun-arm, digging my fingers into the underside. His hand spasmodically opened, dropping the gun.

"Get the fuck off me, bitch!"

The other guy was taller than me, but not by much. He was heavier, though, and he used that, pushing down on me. His free arm grabbed mine, twisting it painfully. I couldn't let him get to the gun. I pivoted to the left, going with his push. He overbalanced and I managed to turn so that when we fell he was on the bottom.

My arm was free again, and I brought it around in a open-palmed slap to the ganger's temple as hard as I could, hoping to stun him. It stung me, but by the way his eyes suddenly went unfocused the blow had done its job. I rolled off and grabbed up the gun from the ground, scrambling back and pointing it at him.

"Call the cops!" I yelled to the cashier. He poked his head above the counter and his eyes bugged out. It would have been almost comical, if it weren't for the situation. I'd never used a gun before. I vaguely remembered something from a TV show about holding pistols with both hands and did so, keeping it trained on the would-be thief as he climbed up, slowly and cautiously with his hands in the air. I made sure to keep well out of reach.

"Move," I said "Away from the counter. Now."

I stepped back. He followed, slowly. "Stop. Move up the aisle, keep your hands on your head. Look away from me. Stop halfway up. Have you called them yet?" I addressed the last to the cashier as the ganger complied.

"Y-yeah. How'd you do that? Are you a cape or something?"

A frisson of fear ran down my spine. Had I outed myself already? Had I been too good? "No, I just to self-defense."

"It was badass," he said, and I could hear the stars in his eyes. It was kind of disturbing, actually. The guy had to be older than me. "It was like something off the TV. I'm Adrian, by the way. Adrian Santos. Thank you so much. I was terrified."

"Y-you're welcome," I said, not quite sure how to deal with all this. I could feel the ice-cold clarity I had had in the fight slipping away. I had to fight to keep my gun-arm from shaking. "I'm Taylor."

It took another five minutes for the police to arrive, and they took the ganger into custody quickly and efficiently. Apparently he was a suspected member of the Empire and this moved him from 'someone to keep an eye on' to 'someone we can nail'. An officer who introduced himself as Roger Bailey took the pistol as evidence and told me that what I'd done was 'commendable', and that he wished there were more people like me who were willing to step up to the plate in times of danger. He recognised me, as well. Apparently he had family up north and they'd mentioned the news bulletin about me going missing. "You should learn to keep out of trouble, young lady," he said with a smile. "First you fall down a cave and next you're stopping a robbery. Keep going like this and you'll be fighting Lung in a couple of weeks."

I smiled back. "I'll try," I assured him.

I ended up giving a statement and finally got around to doing what I came here to do, buying the laptop off of Adrian, who was still looking at me like I was Alexandria herself.