Super

Kat stopped in her tracks while returning to her train seat. What was this...presence at her side? She had always felt the world differently, but never like this. It took her breath away. As well as she could, she recovered and walked on, sparing only the slightest look at the man who she had felt so strongly. He appeared normal. A dark suit, complete with vest and decorative handkerchief, looked quite stylish on his slim frame. He did not seem to notice her, his head of short black hair bent over an old book. Kat did not see his face.

What did she sense from him? Intelligence, arrogance, but something entirely new eclipsed the ordinary perceptions she had of people, something dark and light and impossible to understand. She decided to risk another glance at the strange man, just a peak over her shoulder to see what he looked like. She turned her head carefully, and got a perfect view of his face grinning straight back at her.

Then night slid over her and everything disappeared from view. Her second sight, if one could call it that, flooded with him and her. She could sense nothing else, not even the train around her. For the first time in her life, Kat was lost.

"Hello there," the voice sounded from nothingness.

"Where am I? Who are you? What the heck is going on?" Kat shouted back, spinning on her heel in the darkness in the vain hope of seeing something. She spun back again to see the man standing calmly in front of her, still grinning unbearably. He had to be lit somehow, for she could plainly see him, yet the room around her did not appear any more visible.

"Well aren't you demanding. It is a very dangerous thing to presume the right to know anything. But, this conversation would not be very productive if I didn't tell you, and I don't waste my time." As he spoke, he sauntered slowly closer, hands clasped casually behind his back.

"Where are you? On the train, physically speaking. Mentally, you are in my own little world."

"Just what does that mean?" Kat asked angrily.

"I replace the sensory input you receive from your body with my own information and reroute the orders you send to muscles into the little avatar I have created in this world." Even when speaking plainly, he tended to verbally swagger.

"Alright, so how are you doing all this?" Kat asked tight lipped.

"As to your second question," he continued, seemingly oblivious to what she said, "who am I? Hhm, I'll try to keep it simple." He stepped closer, just inches from her body, taking her measure. Kat held her ground.

"I am...a genius," he stepped around her, so near his shoulder brushed hers, "a man," the word came out thick with meaning, "and," his voice whispered in her ear, "I'm exactly like you."

She swiveled to face him, brows knit together, but he had disappeared.

"You wanted to know what is going on," his voice laughed from nowhere, "you balked as you passed me. I may be handsome, but even I rarely knock the breath from someone. I believe you have an ability that you cannot explain. Am I warm?"

Kat clamped her mouth shut, swallowing the gasp of surprise that had risen in her throat.

"Well, my dear, I'm here to tell you that you are not the only one."