The air was crisp and breezy. The campus was not buzzing with activity like it was early in the day. No, instead it was near silent with only a couple of students wandering about, likely off back to the dorm or on some sort of late-night errand.
It was not late enough for no one to be up and about but it was late enough for most people to have somewhere to be.
The breeze felt chilling in a way that was too unnatural, as if it was a chill born for me specifically but I knew that was not the case. It was my own mind and feelings that had the world seeming so cold.
My fingers hovered over the device in my pocket before I took it out. Fingers gliding over the frame with a familiar ease that was utterly foreign but natural.
I took a deep breath and let the cold air linger for a moment before leaning against a nearby wall near the dormitory. Sliding against the wall till I was near level with the ground. Holding the small device between my hands as my mind settled with cold detachment.
I did not have to do this; there were many options I could take, routes and plans that could fix all of this. No collateral, no harm, no pain, everything just being wrapped up in a neat little bow.
It would just cost me. Parts and devices with price tags I would never dare to use, time that feels like it was slipping away, scrutiny that might fall like the blade of Damascus, so many options but all of those prices were not things I wanted to pay.
So I chose the easy way.
The ruthless way.
Ultimately, an evil way.
The price I picked was just my moral compass. I let out a laugh that bubbled out with an almost harsh edge.
Not quite hysterical but filled with bitterness.
What Moral Compass did I really have? That price had been paid a long time ago; I just hated that I was the kind of person I was.
I plugged the monitor into a nearby outlet near me. I shifted the screen away from the nearby camera so that only I could see what I was looking at. I wanted to be on camera, I needed an alibi and while I was hoping for all of this to be written off as an accident, I was not going to leave it all to chance.
To the world, I looked like a teen watching a small tv with a bland smile. Someone who was enjoying the night breeze and just wanted to relax from the world around them. An ordinary sight on an ordinary night.
As the screen came alive before me, the truth of it all was far less harmless.
I was tapped into the power grid of the building now, the screen displaying the entire building's power lines, every single outlet and power box shown on the small display before me.
I turned the knobs on the side of the display and selected the outlet in our shared dorm. The outlet that still had a faulty PC plugged into it. I then turned another knob, and the outlet I picked started to malfunction, bleeding electricity into the room in a near-uncontrollable fashion.
Causing a fire.
I took another deep breath, letting the cold air filter out the thoughts of flames flickering in my mind.
This should not work; the power grid would flick a breaker when an outlet went out of control like this. It should not work, but it does. Just like the seemingly stupid boxing glove arrow.
Devices that pushed aside rationality to get the result they desired. That was what a Tinker did and I was starting to get a better handle on what that meant.
I was now officially an arsonist.
I did not care if others were caught up in my plan to cover my tracks. Hell, I did not even check if Phill was in our dorm, for all I know, I might have just sentenced the boy to being near cooked by electric current and then being consumed in fire as the world burned around him.
I could have checked; it would be easy. Just a couple of steps and maybe a tense conversation with a boy I did not quite like being around. Yet, I did not do such an easy action. Walking into that dorm and walking right out to huddle outside would be odd, maybe even suspicious if someone tried to look deeper into this.
That was not something I was willing to risk.
Besides, his being there or not did not really change my actions. I would trigger this fire even if I knew he was in there for certain. It was better for my state of mind if there was uncertainty.
I pushed a button and the small monitor. It no longer displays the power grid but a random show it was picking up from one of the many satellite channels.
The sitcom played out softly as I mindlessly stared at it. Letting the soundtrack and lights play out to further my act. Someone might ask what I was watching later if I really was investigated, but I could not bring myself to pay attention.
My mind was too focused on my surroundings instead.
The feel of the air around me, the quiet discerning night, the steps of students wandering around, and the ticking of a clock only I could hear.
This quiet moment was going to fall into chaos, it was just a matter of time. So I ignored the show despite it being a part of my alibi.
I had done enough; if the plot unraveled, then it did, I could still thrive even if I was caught in the end.
It did not take very long for the results of my actions to show their prints.
The fire alarm blared, and students left the dorm with manic energy as fear burned in their veins. I looked up with a stunned, confused look as I shifted my device to show the camera what I was watching.
I was not sure if my little act was all too convincing, but I knew it did not look too off to the average viewer. It was not like I was going to have Sherlock Holmes hunting down every clue over this.
I let the feigned confusion break away as I unplugged my gadget and walked briskly into the center square with the rest of the gawking students.
I looked up and saw what I knew to be true.
Bright flickering flames coated my dorm room, the yellow and orange light fanning out erratically as they poured out of the window and tried to consume more material to feed itself.
The fire seemed to light up the dark night, chasing away the chill it brought but for me that chill just settled even more into me.
I looked on with that cold, cold detachment as I saw my work. The fire was heavy and was spreading quickly, but for now, it seemed to be contained in my room.
A small bang was heard, and the window frame shook as the explosion sent a slight vibration. I was not expecting that but I did remember that Phill had a collection of pressurized containers to breathe in nitrous.
I forgot about that for the most part as they seemed so minor with his other drug habits but those bottles probably exploded, wrecking the room further.
Lucky, that would reduce the faulty pc to broken bits, not quite slag but unreconizable.
"Fuck, FUCCCCCCCCK! MY SHIT!" I heard a familar voice scream out from nearby. I looked over at Phill, who arrived with a dazed-looking blonde hanging near him. She was probably holding onto him previously but let go as the near apocalyptic rage poured off of the rich kid.
I raised an eyebrow as I was not expecting this much anger at his random shit going up in flame before reconzition lit up. He was not worried about the electronics and the limited edition shit he had. He was upset that his stash went up in a blaze; hell, he might be worried that they would be found and his parents would catch wind about it.
Knowing what he was worried about, I let out a snort, which drew his attention.
I let out a wince as his heated glare locked onto me. I should have known better than to draw his attention right now.
"Hey fuckwit, what the hell did you do to our dorm!" He snarled out at me as he bounded towards me. I took a step back to get away from the dude. I may have powers now, but none of them would save me from a pummeling if he did take his anger out on me. At least not yet.
"I didn't do shit! I was outside when the fire started. I should be asking you what the fuck happened. You have all that shit in our dorm, maybe that started the fire!" I snarled back, nervous energy bleeding off of me as I tried to push back with words to get him to back off.
Words I praticed in my mind leaking out of my mouth. Ironically his vivid rage managed to make those words sounds just a bit more sincere. I was dreading having to fight the guy and that dread was plain to see.
I wanted nothing more than to run from this but Phill would probably catch up quickly. I was not exactly the most physically fit still, I was not going to roll over. I would probably lose and lose badly, considering the differences in our builds, but giving in was never an option.
He did not even pause for a moment to consider if my words were right. He probably did not even care if he was right; he just wanted to work off his aggression.
A punch was thrown out quickly and connected to my gut, for the second time today, I had my breath forcefully thrown out of my body. I let out a pained wheeze.
It looked like he was going to go in for another punch so I gritted my teeth and leaped forward into a tackle.
He was not expecting that as I knocked him over, but soon another fist hit my side as he tried to force me off of him. I gripped onto the asshole and played dirty, biting him on his bicep.
Blood filled my mouth, and the hot liquid coated my mouth, making me gag for a moment before I let go forcefully as he managed to kick me off of him.
I rolled back, feeling like my ribs broke from that hit, a snarl on my blood-soaked lips and I got a glare in return from the prick as he snarled back.
"WHO THE FUCK BITES SOMEONE IN A FIGHT, FREAK! I KNEW YOU WERE A PYCHO!" He shouted out as he went to continue the fight before someone stood between us with a glare of his own on his face, and he separated the two of us.
"Enough! This is a school and you two will behave like it!" The man shouted out in a bellow. I recognized him as one of the security guards responsible for on-campus protection. I relaxed slightly at that, as I really did not want to deal with more pain right now.
I was already struggling to breathe without pain shooting through me.
Phill did not seem to take this newfound interference very well as he almost tried to continue but the guard glared at him and managed to get Phill to cool down.
Phill looked away before watching me with red eyes filled with rage as he clutched his bleeding shoulder.
"Good, both of you come with me to the infirmary to get patched up. You're not off the hook for the fight; there will be consequences for this, but we need to treat your injuries." He sternly ordered as he gestured for us to follow.
I stood up quickly, keeping the guy between me and Phill. The guard seemed almost amused for a moment as he led us away, but that broke away as he returned to his stone-faced visage.
"Now, I heard that it was your dorm that is burning right now. Do you have any information to provide on that?" The guard grilled.
Phill opened his mouth to say something, but looked away quickly. He wanted to blame me, but he really did not have anything to stand on just yet.
Good, with a proper investigation, it will show it was Phill's computer that caused it. Even if that was the farthest thing from the truth.