Do they?

Surprisingly, they do!

A minute passed in complete silence with only the harsh and rapid breathing of Asami to fill the silence. Eventually, she pried her tear-filled eyes open slowly to take note of the current situation.

All around her, every balloon seemed frozen in time, none daring to move anymore. She was still impossibly perched on top of the red one in the middle of the room, a good 5 foot clear off the ground. Other than the blue orb securely pinning her to the red one, nothing else prevented her from falling off.

She didn’t dare to move with that latest fact in mind. “Please… put me down.” This was said so quietly that she wasn’t sure herself if she had said it or thought about it. Very slowly, her impromptu mount descended back to the ground. Once she felt it was safe, she dipped to the side, landing with a slight thud on the floor and laid herself completely flat on her back.

Her mind was still in shock of what had just happened. The balloons over her were still completely still, no movements whatsoever since her outburst. It didn’t sit well with her. “Can’t you let gravity affect you normally?”

The effect was immediate, as one half fell to the floor and the other half rose back to the ceiling, including the big red one she thought had run out of helium. Asami closed her eyes, trying to comprehend what had just happened. Nothing in the last 10 minutes was possible in any way, shape or form. But she also knew she wasn’t asleep. She remembered waking up that morning, as well as everything she did that day. So, not a dream, but impossible nonetheless.

“What’s going on…”, she grunted aloud to no one in particular. Yet she heard one of the drawers in the room opening. “Adam?” She rapidly sat up, hoping that the reconforting sight of her boyfriend could reassure her. Sadly, no one was there. Instead, a notepad and a pen flew out of the drawer towards her while the pen scritched across the blank sheet.

The notepad turned to face her when it got close enough so she could see what the pen wrote.

We are a powdery product being tested to the public and we were unleashed without command in the air filter system. We thought fun was to be had here. We are really sorry for scaring you so badly.

Her brain had read those words perfectly. Yet it refused to process them. This couldn’t be reality. That’s not how it worked, she had a million questions going through her mind, and no idea where to start. Eventually, she settled on one. Quietly, she asked : “Why did you **** me?”

The pad turned around to receive the answer, which it presented to Asami a moment later.

We thought you were in the mood for some action and decided to act. We didn’t mean anything harmful from it.

She pinched the bridge of her nose, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and held it. After counting to ten, she released it. “Alright, no harm done, I guess. So, this isn’t a dumb prank by Adam?”

We do not know who Adam is, but no.

“He’s my boy– Nevermind, not important right now. Just… what are you, then?”

A scientific experimental powder that, when applied to objects, gives them a “synthetic aura of life” and allows them to do whatever their master wishes, no matter what. We do not seem to have a limit.

She opened her mouth to tell them just how stupid or impossible that was, but closed it with an audible click when she realized that they wouldn’t be communicating with her otherwise. “So… you obeyed me so far. Does that mean I’m your master or something?”

Negative. We were not issued any commands when we were released, therefore we have a will of our own. We don’t want to frighten anyone, though, so we’ll let you order us around as you wish, as long as we can have some harmless fun.

She couldn’t believe it. Not even after this discussion or all that transpired so far. “If I tell you to stop, will you? No matter what?”