Episode 2.3: Not Your Problem

"Nobody tries anything, nobody gets hurt!" One of the robbers shouted, pointing his gun at the few remaining customers.

Your hand moved instinctively towards the book, as you contemplated summoning a spirit from another world to put an end to this sad attempt at robbery.

Plenty of things could go wrong though. You couldn't choose which spirit you brought into your world and might end up summoning an eldritch horror, inadvertently killing everyone at the store or driving them insane. Or the robbers might notice the glowing book in your hand, connect the dots and shoot you dead before your summoned spirit could stop them.

Even if nothing went wrong, and you successfully stopped the robbery, what would you achieve? Save a few thousand dollars for a multibillion-dollar chain store that didn't give one single solitary fuck about its employees, and regularly lobbied the politicians to keep the minimum wage as low as possible?

Not my fucking problem. You hated your job and felt no loyalty towards your employers whatsoever. You wouldn't risk your life, or out yourself as a superhuman, just to save a couple of thousand dollars for a corporation. No one had connected you with the incident at the docks. But if you stopped a robbery at the place you work, you would draw a lot more attention, and be under a lot more scrutiny.

"Don't try anything!" The robber with the gun shouted at you again, while his partner emptied the cash register. You played the role of a scared teenage girl, while silently studying the masked robbers. They appeared sloppy, inexperienced, and not particularly good at their job. Perhaps it was their first time robbing a store.

The disappointed idealist buried deep inside you wanted to play the role of the hero and stop the robbers. But the more cynical, pragmatic part of you handed over the money without protest.

Not my problem. You silently repeated the words, as you watched the robbers make their escape.

---

[] You go after the Freaks next.
[] You go to school, and hang out with friends.
[] You summon more spirits, and train with them during the weekend.
[] Write In

Episode 2.4: Training Session

Objectively speaking, you weren't particularly good at being a hero.

On your first night out in costume, you accidentally caused the deaths of over thirty people. They were violent gangbangers, sure, but even then heroes weren't exactly supposed to play judge, jury, and executioner.

At least, not without official sanction.

You were lucky that there were no civilians at the docks that night. If you had summoned the Kelpie to stop a school shooting or a bank robbery, it would have been an absolute bloodbath. You badly needed to learn to control what you summoned, before you ended up hurting the very innocents that you wanted to protect.

"You can do this, Ciara!" You grit your teeth in determination and gave yourself a pep talk. You might not be good at being a hero right now, but you would definitely get better.

Your power had two major limitations. One, you couldn't choose which spirit you brought into your world. Two, you had trouble controlling the stronger spirits.

You couldn't think of any way to overcome the first limitation. However, you had a feeling that you might mitigate the second limitation through training and bonding with the spirits you summoned.

You were still in the closet about being a superhero and wanted to keep your civilian life separate from your costumed life for as long as you could, which meant you had to be careful not to interact with your summoned spirits in public.

Thus, you put on your secondhand hoodie, nondescript cloth mask, and cheap sunglasses that served as your costume; then made your way to the nearest park on a Friday night.

Once you confirmed that you were alone, you touched the book and called forth a spirit from some distant world.

[Roll 1d3. Summoned spirit = Combination of first three rolls]