Alycia woke up the next day to a clean and tidy house. She had spent the entire day cleaning yesterday, trying to take her mind off her newfound ability. However, the more she tried, the more she found herself in deep thoughts about it. All of a sudden, Alycia felt scared and alone. She felt frightened of herself, it was like she did not even know her own body.
Were there others just like her? If there were, they would be filthy rich. Maybe all the rich people in the world have this ability and kept it top secret, she thought. Was this permanent as well? There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but there was no one to turn to. Nobody would believe her anyway. Even if people did believe her, she might end up being exploited by them for money.
Or maybe... It was just a huge coincidence and misunderstanding. A system error could have happened twice when she touched the two electronics and somehow, the money was transferred both times. That does not explain the strange surge of feeling in her when it happened though.
Unable to keep these thoughts out of her head, Alycia went to do her grocery shopping, trying to muster up the courage to try out her ability later that afternoon. Maybe it won't work anymore, she thought, with a tinge of disappointment. As much as she felt afraid, the ability seemed too good to be true and some part of her felt glad she possessed such an ability. Alycia was experiencing an extreme mix of feelings these days.
She was so deep in thought that she did not even hear her phone ring. Snapping out of her thoughts, she managed to pick it up at the last second before it stopped.
'Hello? Alycia, this is Fiona here.' The voice on the other end said.
'Oh hi. What's up? Did Mark need anything from me?' Alycia asked, thinking that her boss may need more information on that disastrous day when two customers ran off without paying the bill.
'No, that incident is all settled now. The police managed to track them down. I am just worried about you. You look so tired that day. Is the nosebleed still there? Are you feeling okay?'
'Yeah, don't worry about me. I was just tired and feeling slightly heaty that's all. I am fine now. How about you? Did Mark give you a hard time over that incident?' Alycia asked, concerned.
'Surprisingly not. I guess he understands it's not our fault. But then again, it may have been because you replaced the money.' Fiona replied laughing.
'Yeah well, less trouble is always better. We just have to be more alert in future to these kind of customers.'
'Listen, can I come over and visit you in the afternoon later? It's my day off today. I don't really have anything to do and I know of this good pizza place we can order delivery from.' Fiona said.
'Oh yeah sure. I don't mind, it would do me good to have a bit of company. Besides, I could really do with someone to talk to.' Alycia said cheerfully. The thought of having a friend over for a chat cheered her up considerably. 'So I will see you later ya? Text you my address.'
Most of her friends were either busy with their jobs or their families. At her age, people tend to be busy working to climb up the corporate ladder or busy with taking care of their new babies. Alycia used to hang out with her friends quite often every other week but nowadays, it was down to just once or twice every year and usually with their children in tow which made the meetings less enjoyable. It wasn't that Alycia was anti children but she just wanted to hang out with her friends without somebody yelling, screaming and demanding attention beside. Plus, Fiona was a genuinely nice person to talk to and Alycia felt happy hanging out with her.
Looks like Alycia will have to try out her ability at night, instead of the afternoon, after Fiona leaves.
It was after dinner time at Alycia's place. The two of them had spent the whole afternoon chatting about everything. They had pizza delivery and wine for dinner. It had been such a great day. Alycia could not remember the last time she had so much fun with a friend.
Feeling slightly high, under the effects of alcohol, Alycia debated seriously if she should confide in Fiona about her ability. After a few moments of consideration, she decided against it as she did not want to say something she might regret under the influence of alcohol.
Alycia was not sure how Fiona would react. Would Fiona even believe her? If she did, would she treat Alycia like a freak? Or worse, continue to be friends solely because Alycia could conjure up free money. Alycia did not want to jeopardise their friendship.
They had a few more glasses of wine after dinner as well and Fiona stayed at Alycia's house till almost midnight before bidding each other goodbye. With her alone at home again and under the effects of alcohol, Alycia suddenly had the courage to test out her ability again.
She sat herself in front of the computer with her bank account logged in. Alright, this time l want another $20 000, she thought to herself. Focusing hard on that thought, she placed a finger on the monitor. The strange feeling of energy surged through her body again and in a blink of an eye, her bank account numbers had changed to $40 000. Alycia felt her heart rate increase.
Focusing hard again, she willed the computer to log in and log out of her bank account without touching the keyboard at all, just touching the screen. It did as she wanted. Then, she willed the computer to restart at the touch of her finger. The screen changed to the shutting down screen and went black before restarting. 'Okay, looks like I can control this computer just by touching it. What about other functions?' Alycia thought.
Alycia launched the Solitaire game on the computer, and placed her finger on the screen. Before her eyes, in very quick motion, the cards on the screen moved so fast until it became a blur. In 3 seconds, the game showed her that she had won.
Sitting back in disbelief, Alycia did not know what to feel. It seemed like she could control computers to do whatever she wanted.