Conundrum

Part 4

JessLainsley

Robin woke up and groaned, her shoulder ached and her head was beginning to form a headache, much to her dismay. She sat up and looked around the little cell, taking in her surroundings, not that there was much. Her hands sat in her lap, cuffed together. Robin sighed and pulled a small iron lock pick from her wrist, feeling a little light-headed as the metal left her body. She picked the cuffs and proceeded to stand up, only to fall to her knees with her light-headedness. Again, she tried to stand and head to the door to get out, her nausea and fatigue tried to stop her, but she prevailed, mostly by leaning on the wall. As Robin reached the door, a woman walked by and stared at her for a few seconds before unlocking the cell door.

"Come on... where did your cuffs go?!" The woman grew agitated and Robin would have fought her, but her head was pounding and she nearly fell over again.

The woman grabbed Robin's arm and slapped a new pair of handcuffs on her wrists and dragged her down the hallway with little to no protest from Robin. The woman opened a door and plopped Robin down on a seat at a table, before closing the door and taking a seat herself.

"Name?" The woman started.

"...Robin..."

"Last name?"

"Smith..."

"Age?"

"21?"

"You don't seem too sure of that," the woman stopped writing on her notepad and stared at Robin, who was now fidgeting with the handcuffs.

"I want these off..."

"And I want a nice break, but that's too bad because we both don't get what we want. Age?"

"I told you... 21..."

"Mmmhmmm. Alright, what is your power?"

Robin's eyes widened. How could this stranger know what she had? How did people seem to know who she was when not even she knew. Everyone knew her, except her.

"I... I... don't have one."

"You would not be here if you didn't. This is a place for those who use magic, and we have had several reports of you using some. So, I ask again, what is your power?"

Robin stared down at her lap, feeling all the substances in her body ready for use.

"I... don't know."

"Pardon?" the woman asked, looking up at the girl and frowning at the shakiness in the girl's shoulders.

"I... I don't know. I... don't even know who I am..."

The woman raised an eyebrow, to her, it seemed like this girl was quite the actress, but something else in her mind told her that this girl was telling the truth and was just as shook up at having a power and being like California in an earthquake. Robin brought her hands up and wiped away a tear that was beginning to fall down her cheek. The woman pulled out a pair of glasses and slid them on.

"Listen sweetheart, I hate drama and tears and all that crap, so let's cut to the chase. You used magic and you are under arrest for it. That's all there is to it. I want to know what your power is, and how you came to get it, I've heard many things about magic and I want things set straight. So, answer my questions, what is your power? And how did you get it?"

"I... I can manipulate different things in my body... like water, iron, blood if I wanted to... and I can shape them into things..."

"Alright... and how do you do this?"

"I'm not sure... instinct I suppose."

"Instinct," the woman scoffed and adjusted her glasses, "Miss Smith, I truly hope you are not lying to me, I cannot stand liars."

"I'm not lying! I swear! I don't remember how I got my powers! I don't even remember anything up until two years ago. I have dreams about men in white lab coats and things poking me and people muttering over me with machines beeping, but I don't know what it was! I woke up in a hotel with a woman who said that she was a friend and that my name was Robin and that she found me after I was in a car accident, but I have not seen her since! She got me into college and a job, but I don't know anything from my childhood or anything like that. One day, I figured out I had this power and I can't even remember how, please, you have to believe me," Robin sobbed.

The woman stopped writing and peered over her black glasses at the girl opposite her. She was plain and seemed to be telling the truth.

"How did you get out of the cuffs earlier?"

"C-Can I show you?"

The woman rolled her eyes and sat back in her chair. Robin took a deep breath and concentrated on her fingers where suddenly water was coming through and hardening in the air into little picks. Robin then grabbed the picks and worked her way out of the cuffs with them. The woman's eyebrows shot up and she leaned forward, but as she grabbed one of the picks it turned to liquid and fell through her fingers.

"How...?"

"I don't know... I woke up one day and I had these... I'm not sure if I was born with them or if it was given to me... but..."

"Enough. I will take you back to your cell... where you will stay if you don't want a bullet hole-"

"My body repels metal."

"What?!"

"Well, it absorbs it... To make up for what I use. I am very anemic."

"I... see. How does your...?"

Robin pulled up her sleeve where there were very tiny scratches that were barely noticeable on her skin. The woman inspected them through her glasses and sighed.

"And this is to show me...?"

"I did that with a watermelon knife."

The woman's eyes grew wide, "Why would you do that to yourself?"

"To experiment. I've seen watermelon knife marks, and they are not that, when I looked at the blade, it had dissolved. Weapons are not effective."

"Well, I am sure a bullet-"

"Would do nothing... I remember something from my time at... the lab or whatever and it was a loud bang and a pain, then nothing."

"You probably passed out."

Robin pulled down the shoulder of her shirt to show a small circular scar that was again, barely noticeable. The woman had seen her fair share of gunshot wounds and that looked like one, but miniscule in size and noticeability. The woman stood and grabbed another pair of handcuffs and put them on Robin.

"I will talk to my boss... see what we can do with you. You don't seem too dangerous or hostile, but that does not mean you are not harmless. You will stay in your cell unless you want to be in a world of pain, got me, Miss Smith?"

"Yes... ma'am."

The woman nodded and hauled Robin off to her cell then promptly went to her boss about what had happened.