Broker

Side-Sketch: Karmic Threads

Ollie poked his head out from behind the curtain, “Am-Am I really the pick to do this?” He glanced back behind the curtain, “Jessica! There’s a big difference between being better at casual conversation and d-doing something like-” He is cut off as a black boot punted him out onto the stage and he stumbled forward, rubbing his backside and letting out a sigh. “Fine, fine…”

“Uhh! Hi! My name’s Ollie Anders, Codename Riot.” He scratched the back of his head, “I’m a Licensed Hero on er… Team Otis-” He sighed, “-You already know all this,” He quickly pulled a notepad out of his back pocket and began flipping through, “Uh… Oh right!” 

He bowed, “Thank you everyone for reading Broker! Welcome to this little behind-the-scenes sketch where we explain a bit more about how some things work in the world!” He coughed, “Today is about… well… me?” He checked his notepad again, “I mean, my ability.”

He coughed into his fist, “My ability is called Karmic Threads!” He said, pointing at his eyes which start to glow for a moment before they fade. He put his hands on his hips, “I can see the karmic connections between other people and even manipulate them to a degree, creating all sorts of effects. The stronger a connection is between two people, the more intense the reaction when I pull on the thread but also the more strain it puts on my mind!” He gestured and a picture of Sonya popped up.

“I should probably not tug on Miss Chernovna’s connection with Marc Mallory aka Otis. Not only could it have catastrophic consequences, it would probably kill me,” He huffed and shook his head, “But what does tugging on a thread mean? It means I can manipulate the bond between those connected by a thread. Usually this introduces a simultaneous and sympathetic emotional response between those connected by the thread. If that thread happens to go through multiple people at the same time, it could really spread fast,” He coughed, “Like the mundane connection between a bunch of people in a shopping mall,” He said nervously.

He put his hands on his hips again, “The emotional response is basically me temporarily altering the nature of a thread. I can instill a sense of unity, disunity, heck, I can even plant the seeds of romance,” He frowned, “Really bad idea, not advisable,” He said, shaking his head before dismissing the picture of Sonya.

He held up a finger, “That emotional response is just the tip of the iceberg. I can make other abilities work in sync, spread around mental or physical strain, coordinate, and at its most potent I can even cause the abilities between two strongly linked people to merge.” He gestured again and a picture of Alex and Cass appeared, “I did this during the camp raid with Alex and Miss Cassiopeia.”

The image vanished and he checked his notepad again, “Now what about the threads themselves?”

“The threads can come in all sorts of shapes, sizes, and colors. Some are more complicated than others. A single act between two people can result in a thin thread of a single color. A deeply complex relationship between two people can create a thread with all sorts of colors wound into it,” He explained, holding a finger up before adjusting his glasses. “Light gray is the most common, a vague connection created through proximity. It can either change into something more or dissolve on its own,” He explained.

“White is a pure connection, simple, usually friends and acquaintances have these. Blue is often associated with tragedy between the two people, someone they knew died and they had a bond over it, something like that,” He tilted his head, “Green symbolizes a strong affability, longtime friends and people who have formed strong immediate bonds have these,” He crossed his arms, “Red is the exact opposite, the relationship is hostile and their bond is antagonistic towards one another,” He let out a breath, “Black means an intense hatred, something that goes beyond simple tragedy and antagonism. A pure enmity, black is extremely rare to see in most people.”

He frowned, “Some colors can become mixed based on particular acts. A dark red thread, for example, suggests a violent crime or more likely a murder took place involving the two people connected. Threads don’t show up for dead people, by the way, which means that the thread I see is connected to a loved one who was influenced by the death,” He said sadly, “I see dark red threads a lot these days,” He scratched his head before brightening. “Anyway, I hope that he-” He blinked, “Oh right!”

“Silver and Gold threads!” He said with a big smile, “Those are special. Silver threads are a supernatural bond of some sort created by someone giving up something extraordinarily significant for the other person. It’s pretty easy for me to tell which side did the giving, too,” He said with a thoughtful nod, crossing his arms again. “Finally there are gold threads. I’ve only seen one of those before, but if silver is an extraordinary bond from giving, I can only imagine the amount of devotion that comes with a gold one…”

He trailed off before clearing his throat. He checked his notes one more time and frowned, “I uh… I can use the threads to attack too,” he said uncomfortably, “Only against people, though. Monsters don’t possess Karma.”

He fell silent for a heartbeat before brightening, “Right! Anyway! That’s my bit! Uh… we’ll host more of these… I think?” He shrugged, “If time permits.”

He scratched the back of his head, “So uh… bye!”