Magnetism

I remember the day everything in my life changed very clearly. Unfortunately, significant pain has a way of burning details into your memory even more strongly than pleasant experiences.

The tv was blaring in the background, and I was paying little attention to it as I scarfed down a sampling of dollar menu items from a nearby fast food joint.

I lived a pretty solitary life back then at 28 years old. I worked alone at my own consulting firm that specialized in structural engineering. It paid well and kept me busy, but spending half a decade alone with my thoughts had taken its toll on me. I would never have admitted it back then, though. Roughly 5 years before that day, my fiancé Kate dumped me. I remember her saying, “David, you’re not going anywhere with your life, and you’re holding me back too.” She wanted to move to Seattle and make a new life, and I wanted to stay in Missouri. I was working under a structural engineer that planned to sell his company to me when I got my professional license. I thought Kate would see how big of an opportunity that was, but she didn't. So we parted ways, and she packed up and moved to Seattle.

I never heard from her after she moved, but I did hear some gossip from mutual acquaintances I bumped into over the years.

According to them, Kate quickly realized she couldn’t afford to live in Seattle and moved back near her family in northern Missouri, where she got a job bartending.

Things worked out better for me in some ways. I ended up getting my professional license 2 years later and bought out the small engineering firm I’d been working for. I made back the money I spent in 6 months and made 6-figures from there on out. Kate was right, I wasn’t going anywhere when it came to relationships or places, but I definitely proved her wrong on the career side of things.

Kate never gave any inclinations that she wanted to get back together. Although I deeply missed her, I knew I was ultimately better off without her. Though I never could get the courage to try and find new love. I hated dating apps, and my life provided few opportunities to meet women.

During a moment of self-reflection about all of this, everything changed. I vividly remember collapsing onto my living room's hard, cold tile as something in my brain seemed to short-circuit. It felt like I was stabbed in the eyes with ice picks. I passed out almost instantly with oversalted french fries strewn about around my comatose form. I woke up 14 hours later in rough shape. The headache was gone, but I felt a strange pulling sensation in two directions. It felt like a weak thread connecting me to two points. It felt like a new sense. I tried to focus on the threads, but my body wouldn’t let me yet. It reminded me of trying to look at a bright object before my eyes adjusted.

It took several weeks for my new sense to start adjusting. In that time, I began to notice the other part of my new sense. I had precisely 40 new sensory receptors (I assumed at the time). 20 of them I could move around anywhere in my body and activate/deactivate them a will. I also had 20 external sensory receptors tied to the internal ones. I had no idea what they did, but it felt like I could send them to whatever was at the end of the strange pulling sensation at the end of the “threads” I noticed earlier.

I considered that I may have been crazy, but I really didn’t think I was. The sense seemed so natural. It reminded me most of touch and seemed like it functioned similarly, but I had no idea what the purpose was. So I had to follow one of the threads and find out.

I loaded up my pickup for a road trip. I wouldn’t stop until I found the end of one of the “threads.” I chose the thread leading North and followed it for 2 hours. The closer I got, the stronger its pull got. I drove into Kirksville, Missouri, and started getting an idea of what the thread might have been attached to. Kate lived in Kirksville, though I had no idea where in Kirksville she lived or worked. That was until I pulled into the parking lot of a bar where the thread felt the strongest yet and walked through the door. I saw Kate immediately. She had dyed her long curly brunette hair a deep red. She wore a slightly more revealing version of the typical black and white stereotypical bartender’s getup, but with black booty shorts instead of pants.

She didn’t notice me come in, so I snuck over to an empty table away from the bar. I felt kind of like a stalker and really wanted to leave quickly, but as I looked toward Kate, I felt my new sense completely clear up, and I immediately knew how to manipulate it. What I initially thought of as sensors would more reasonably be described as electro-magnets though that's not entirely accurate either. The thread I felt was actually a weak field connecting me to Kate for some reason. The 20 external “magnets” were intended to be placed on her body. I could act more or less “feel” the magnets running against her body. I could feel the curve of her perky tits, between her legs, and I could even move the magnets inside her body anywhere I wanted. The magnets were “deactivated” as I was trying things out. Kate didn’t seem to notice anything odd. She kept mixing drinks like nothing was happening.

As a test, I activated one magnet. The magnets had to work in tandem. I instinctually knew that they operated under a master/ system. The master magnets I could position anywhere on or in my own body, and the magnets I could place anywhere on or in Kate’s body. I visualized a master magnet on my hand and a magnet on hers and then linked them.

I could immediately feel the magnets activate. I could feel the pull on her hand, but there wasn’t an equal and opposite on my hand. I didn’t feel an attraction to get closer to her, but the same wasn’t true for Kate.

Kate suddenly felt a strong desire to walk in my direction. She stopped mixing drinks and stepped from behind the bar. I didn’t plan far enough ahead to have an excuse for being at her bar. With my heart pounding, I quickly devised a shoddy excuse as she approached my table, and recognition shone on her face.

“David? Is that you? What are you doing here?” She asked, surprised but not accusingly.

“Kate!? I was in town to visit a worksite for a client and decided to stop at a bar. I never expected to see you back in Missouri.” I said with fake surprise, “it’s nice to see you, though.”

Kate stood in front of my table momentarily, awkwardly holding out her hand for a handshake. I slowly stood up and shook her hand, thinking about how weird it was to randomly greet my ex-fiancé with a handshake.

When my hand contacted hers, I felt a slight surge of power run through my palm, and Kate shivered in what looked like pleasure. This was confirmed when she refused to end the handshake, and her face took on the pleased expression of someone who had just tasted their favorite ice cream or had a pleasant massage.

Kate spoke in a much happier tone, “it’s really good to see you too. It’s been years!”

People started looking at us funny after she spent 30 seconds awkwardly holding my hand. Out of curiosity, I added another magnet to our hands and activated it briefly. Kate elegantly but still obviously stifled a moan as she squeezed my hand a little tighter. I quickly deactivated the magnets, then she frowned slightly and slowly let go.

“Sorry, I don’t know why I shook your hand! It’s always a little weird seeing your ex in public.” Kate said, slightly embarrassed. “I need to get back to work, but can I get you anything to drink?”

I declined and told her I needed to be heading out. We exchanged all the usual goodbye pleasantries, and I walked out the door. A crowded bar wasn’t the place to test this out. But, after seeing her reaction from a mere handshake, I knew I needed to think this new ability through a little before using it carelessly.