Waking up, Alfred scratched his head. Looking around with eyes that seemed to lack any form of rest he barely managed stagger to his feet.
Shuffling over to his computer desk he pulled open the top drawer. Pulling out his Conglomerate issue flip phone and stuffing it into his pants pocket.
Turning on his computer and finding his way to the job listings took as long as.alfred took to get to his computer in the first place.
"Recommended Jobs:
-Solve alien dispute - 1000
-Terminate corrupt senator - 400
-Stop the illegal flow of skooma - 300
-Terminate the plague doctor - 250
Other jobs here: >link<"
"I cause all this nonsense? Seems like I'd be doing pretty good if I didn't… Alright! Let's not focus on the past and instead focus on this "alien dispute!""
Clicking on the job posting it gave him an immediate prompt.
"Solve alien dispute - 1000:
The race known as hylotol are a sea-dwelling, knowledge-centric, and generally peaceful race. The hylotol equivalent of yourself is currently pushing his radical ideals on to the general population. The hylotol's have six main depositories, all of which contain their history and culture. These are built on volcanic vents for power and have oxygen ventilation in order to keep their relics safe and dry. You have already claimed two of these and have sabotaged the records in your path towards total domination.
Remember: operate within minimal disruption, you're here to mend accidents, not make them."
"Accept!"
Pressing to accept the job Alfred confirms his choice, a total of five times…
"Seems like they don't want anyone to take the wrong job, reasonable, albeit excessive."
Getting up, Alfred prepared for the job in every way imaginable.
-Getting suited up for the job
-Taking the suit off to shower
-Eating the pre-made food provided by work
-Brushing his teeth
-Taking care of "other" things in the bathroom
-Putting his suit on
-Putting on a tuxedo instead
-Grabbing his phone
-Stuffing his key under the welcome mat
"That should be everything I need… I can't actually go out in this clothing, it's ridiculous."
Heading back into the house he put on a pair of white dress pants and a grey dress shirt.
"Too formal…"
Shaking his head, he went back over to the closet for the last time. Grabbing a loose black sweater he left it unzipped making it look like a dress jacket.
"Time for a first impression! Even if it isn't my first job it's my first "real" job."
He once again grabbed his phone and headed out. Shaking nervously he looked back at his cottage, now walking faster in order to remove the temptation of falling back into bed.
Finally making it back to the oak bridge he saw the slab glowing in a gentle, teal light. While it didn't look particularly inviting it wasn't too unappealing either.
Stepping onto the platform he once again got a shockingly fast change in scenery.
He stood on a beach, with no buildings, or civilization as far as the eye could see.
"Right, before I do anything. I should probably check out how my new abilities work. I can try telepathy on a crab or something later, but now, IT'S TELEPORTATION TIME BABY!!!"
With a grin akin to the Cheshire cat's Alfred rubbed his hand together, focussing on what he thinks would be equivalent to phase shifting.
Opening his eyes, Alfred looked around confusedly. Only to realize that he was as a matter a fact, four meters away from his original position.
"Maybe I should try it with my eyes open this time."
Focussing once more, Alfred manages to see the very ground simply jolt backwards.
"YES! I HAVE SUPERPOWERS!!!"
After the initial excitement, Alfred spent an entire afternoon training his ability to move instantly.
He then spent the night practicing with his mental block. He could use this to create a barrier around his body which could be somewhere between airtight or netted, providing ultimate diversity.
The world seemed to ignore him as he ignored the world. His training was interrupted by one of the most unexpected things Alfred had ever come across: hunger.
"This… How did I get through the last mission without any food then? How's it possible to actually forget about such a simple bodily function?"
Dismissing it as a result of confusion, Alfred quickly moved on to the next sensible course of action: getting himself some food.
Walking over the nearby dune he analyzed the surrounding forest, finding nothing.
"I don't know what I was expecting… I've never even been inclined to learn survival skills, let alone hunting. Let's try looking for berries or anything edible then."
Realizing his own stupidity Alfred moved into the forest. He made sure not to dwell on his mistakes.
The moment he arrived in the brush he encountered the first nonplant life he'd seen so far, a rabbit.
"So life here evolved normally on land… but made super knowledgeable fish people as well? I mean there's no real reason for it to have gone any other way but it's a tad surreal for some reason."
Clearly unknowing of the existence of humans the rabbit bolted. It was the first a human had ever set foot on the planet and seeing a brand new species suddenly appear would be jarring to any form of native life, let alone a rabbit.
Realizing his chance, Alfred used his ability to bend space to appear in front of the rabbit.
"Hah, I got you!"
Making a weird, disgruntled noise by exhaling through its nose the rabbit squirmed about in his arms, attempting to bite him.
'This'll be perfect for me to test my powers on.'
Walking back to shore with his new rabbit "friend" Alfred soon realized that he still lacked food and warmth.
"Ah, right. I kinda went into the forest for that in the first place… Well, there's no better time than the present for me to test out my superpower, let's see if this little guy knows where some food is."
Holding up the rabbit to his face Alfred looked into the animal's eyes projecting his thoughts as much as he could.
'Bring me to food!'
It's at this point the rabbit froze, looking into Alfred's eyes in complete shock.
"Wait that reaction… something has to be behind me!"
Preparing his shield Alfred blinked forward and turned around, seeing nothing but the edge of the forest.
"So I actually got through to it? Let's try this again, but prepared for a rabbit's reaction."
Setting the rabbit down Alfred got on his knees, remaining eye contact.
'If you can understand me nod your head.'
Shakily the rabbit tilted its neck upwards and then fell to the ground, evidently motion sick.
"Sorry about that, I thought there was something behind me so I teleported. I didn't think that you could get motion sick from that."
Seeing the rabbit's condition Alfred frantically apologized. Remembering that it could only hear his thoughts via telepathy Alfred proceeded to facepalm.
'Hey buddy, let's get some food before you get FED up with me.'
Note:
I used the hylotol race from a game produced by Chucklefish Studios. That game is called Starbound and it's one of my personal favorites. I'm only using their likeness as material and am in no part stealing their property. Check the game out, it's good.