When Alex comes to his senses, he finds himself staring into Ku-Tu's eyes.
"How are you feeling?" Asks Ku-Tu.
"Ugh," Alex winces in pain as he rubs his temples. "My head."
"A small side effect, but worth it," responds Ku-Tu.
Alex clenches his fist, streams of crackling electricity and sparks of energy envelop it.
"Visually impressive," remarks Ku-Tu. "Come, let us test your abilities."
-----
In a well-lit room filled with numerous scientific gadgets and measuring devices, Alex stands in front of a metallic target.
"Go on," encourages Ku-Tu as he looks at the readout on a nearby computer screen.
An arc of electricity discharges from Alex's hands and strikes the target.
Ku-Tu looks at the readout, then looks at Alex, then looks back at the readout.
Raising an eyebrow, Ku-Tu questions Alex. "This is what your instinct guided you to?"
"Yes. Why?" Alex replies.
Ku-Tu stands up, grabbing a block of wood from a nearby desk.
Approaching Alex, Ku-Tu holds the block of wood in front of him and says, "go ahead. Unleash your wrath on this piece of wood."
Alex closes his eyes and concentrates, summoning power from deep within himself.
Streams of crackling electricity and sparks of energy encircle Alex.
Alex suddenly opens his eyes, and then, with a Kaa! , discharges bolts of raw electrical power at the block of wood.
"Yaaaaa!!!" Alex screams as he musters all of his energy, focusing every iota of his willpower to destroy the block of wood.
After a few moments, Alex stops, completely spent.
"Not even a scratch," remarks Ku-Tu as he hands the block of wood to Alex.
Alex examines the block of wood and cries out, "what? How is that even possible?"
"The total energy output is small, on the order of millijoules," explains Ku-Tu. "Which is to say, your energy output is roughly on the same level as a static electricity shock."
Looking distraught, Alex vocalizes. "Wha… what a weak power."
"No," corrects Ku-Tu. "There are no weak powers, only weak users. I will think of a training method to maximize your combat strength."
"Scarcity is the mother of innovation," muses Ku-Tu.
-----
2 months later.
Alex has kept a relatively low profile in the last 2 months. His Twitter account has returned to normal, with him sharing tweets of him living the good life: private jets, yachts, young models, and expensive restaurants. Compared to before, however, Alex's Twitter account experienced a significant jump in followers; these all fans Alex obtained from The Successor. The public is completely unaware that Alex has secretly awakened his superpowers.
-----
Malger Manor - on the outskirts of New Amsterdam City.
Alex is in a large training room wearing a Shaolin-style kung fu uniform. Beads of sweat line his forehead, and streams of crackling electricity encircle him, as he practices a martial arts form.
The air in the room is dry and heavy, charged with static electricity. although ionized conductive channels in air tend to cause minor discomfort to people, Alex seems to be completely unaffected by it.
With a hi-yah! Alex punches a test dummy, discharging static electricity energy upon contact. The dummy flies back twenty-feet before smacking the edge of the room.
An intercom buzzes.
"Sir," a pleasant female voice remarks. "Just a reminder that you're meeting your father at the private garden today."
Alex looks up at the intercom and replies, "thank you, Marsha."
Alex suddenly clenches and unclenches his fist, a white towel flies off the towel rack and into his hands.
-----
Private garden - Malger Manor - on the outskirts of New Amsterdam City.
Ryan Malger crouches down in the dirt as he carefully trims some rose bushes. Men in black suits with black sunglasses, holding assault rifles, wait a respectable distance away.
"It's getting cold," Ryan comments.
"Let me help you with that, Father." Alex replies as he clenches his fist.
Ryan's fur-trim parka, carelessly strewn forty feet away, picks itself up and flies through the air toward Ryan, gently wrapping around him.
The guards quickly rush toward the father-son duo, but Ryan waves them back.
"Thank you," says Ryan before asking, "how is your training coming along?"
"I'm practicing a new technique Master Chiang developed," Alex replies. "Do you want to see?"
"Show me," commands Ryan.
Alex focuses, and a small sphere of crackling electricity is formed. The sphere quickly collects dust and dirt.
"Well... that's nice," Ryan says slowly. "But what's the use?"
"It has great utility," responds Alex.
"Do you see the guards over there?" Alex asks as he motions toward the men in black. "Watch."
Alex concentrates, creating a large sphere of static electricity forms over the guards. The sphere quickly collects particles of dirt, dust, and lint into a large cloud. Only shadowy forms can be seen through the cloud.
Ryan bursts out laughing as the guards quickly approach.
"Are you ok sir?" A guard asked worriedly..
"Yes. Yes," Ryan nonchalantly replies while looking at Alex meaningfully.
Alex stops simulating his powers, and the cloud of dust begins to settle.
"Please. Give us some privacy." Ryan casually waves off the guards.
The guards walk off a respectable distance away, but this time on the other side of the father-son duo.
As he watches the guards walk off, Ryan remarks, "an obscuring power. How creative."
Ryan continues, "son, I'm going to put you on the board of the Malger Foundation."
Alex immediately replies, "I refuse."
"Don't be so hesitant. There's no job expectation, and it'll only be one day a week. Less if you're busy ." Ryan says with an emphasis on the word busy .
"Why?" Alex asks.
"Your uncle wants to take advantage of your fame to attract more donations to the Foundation," Answers Ryan. "And I agree."
"Son, let me tell you how charities work," Ryan says patiently.
Ryan explains, "to get out of capital gains tax, we have two options- either move to Puerto Rico, or to donate to a charity we control, such as the Malger Foundation.
"Once money goes into the charity, you can trade stocks, real estate, tulips, crypto-currencies, whatever you want; and profit tax free. Then, you can make your children, friends, and so on, board members with no job expectations and pay them...
let's say $250,000 a year?"
"Ok." Alex nods his head in agreement.
"Charities are purely a tax scam." Ryan smirks. "And if someone wants to reform the tax code to attack 'charities', they would lose 100% of their support, and instantly lose any election."
"In short, charities are tax evasion schemes that will get you public praise, it's a win-win."
"Ok. I'll do it," Alex says. "But I would like to borrow the use of some buildings for a few months."
"Why?" Asks Ryan.
"Payback," Alex replies.
-----
2 weeks later.
Fourteenth floor - Malger Building - in the city center of New Amsterdam City.
Thames Knottley, a middle-age white man with a short haircut and "coke-bottle" glasses, paces around nervously in the reception area of the Malger Foundation. Thames is an intermediary, or rather, he is an intermediary's intermediary.
An intermediary serves as a "firewall" between the black, white, and gray areas of the law, and the corporations and individuals who wish to use their resources. It is an intermediary's job to prevent people, especially law enforcement, from tracing the job back to the original party that commissioned it. An intermediary only adds one layer of protection to the "firewall," while an intermediary's intermediary adds two. Trust is the key attribute of the intermediary business. An intermediary has to be trusted to commission the job, and an intermediary has to be trusted to not "throw their clients under the bus."
As an intermediary's intermediary, Thames' service is expensive: the bill consists of the price quoted, plus a markup from Thames' subcontractor, plus Thames' own markup- this is not even including Thames' monthly retainer fees. Thames also has the headache of making sure that his subcontractors can satisfactorily execute their duties in a timely manner.
Thames, however, has an exceptional reputation; initially earned from the days when he was a young US Air Force (now Space Force) captain. Thames refused to give up any technical information on the ARCTIC spacecraft, despite mind control attempts and having the stuffing beaten out of him by goons of Dr. Technicality.
Today, Thames is meeting the most important potential client of his intermediary career. Because Thames' service is so expensive, he doesn't actually have a lot of clients. He actually has to keep his day job as a mild-mannered engineer. But, if all goes well, Thames can actually be freed to live his "dream life."
There is a buzz on the intercom, and the secretary quickly glances at it before saying to Thames, "Mr. Malger will see you now.."
Standing up, the secretary guides Thames through Malger Foundation's walkway and toward a corner office.
The sign on the office door reads, DIRECTOR , followed by a smaller sign that reads, Alexander Malger .
-----
The secretary knocks on the door, and then says in a respectful tone, "Sir. Mr. Knottley is here."
"Please let him in," responds a voice from beyond the door.
The secretary opens the door and motions for Thames to walk in.
After Thames walks through the door, the secretary silently closes the door behind him.
Thames enters a tastefully decorated office.
Sitting behind a large mahogany deck is Alexander Malger, his potential client.
"Have a seat, Thames," Alex says while motioning toward a chair. "Let's get down to business."