Cupid vs. Pheme

Chapter One

Cupid

It might be a result of being spoiled as a small child. Or maybe it's the natural outcome of never having other siblings to compete with. I've also wondered if my cherub-like smile has contributed somewhere along the line.

Whatever it is. I have a gift.

A superpower really.

I know what you're thinking. No, I'm not a goddess. I don't have supernatural powers that make people fall in love whenever I choose, or even have the power to predict who will fall for whom. I think you can figure out, too, that I'm not a naked baby floating in the air aiming a bow and arrow indiscriminately at unsuspecting people. Although, I did gain second place in our regional archery competition this year, but I digress.

Have you watched The Mentalist? Psyche? Then you might know who Patrick Jane and Shawn Spencer are.

If you do, then it'll be easy to explain my special gift. If those two could culminate in the perfect being, that being would be me.

I have the easy charm and expert observational skills of Spencer, and the deep psychological predictive and analytical skills of Jane.

That's right. I'm a master manipulator.

I noticed my gift early on in life, back when cookies were currency and nap time was the enemy. I practiced dutifully as any great artist might, to improve and perfect my skill. And perfect it I did. Soon, I could have all of the cookies a kid desired, and never did I have to submit to nap time.
After, harder challenges, curfews, allowances, the use of Mum's car, all became child's play to me.

And then came a moment, you might say it was an epiphany, a defining point, where I had to make a decision.

Do I use my superpowers for good, or for evil?

Being ever the hopeless romantic, I made the obvious choice.

I, Riley Turner, am known to many in this town as Cupid, love expert extraordinaire, and cloaked vigilante of the night fighting the crimes of loneliness.

No, I realise that description is slightly over the top, but I am cloaked, as in no one knows who I am. I'm famous as cupid, but my identity remains a secret while I conduct my business. Said business being of course, that of assisting the sad, the lonely and the lovesick into a state of pure relationship bliss with the partner that they pine for.

I can be contacted by phone or email, and I don't charge exorbitant fees because seeing my client's happiness is its own reward.

So that's why you've found me here today, sweating in a fat suit and roller blades on a hot Blackridge summer day, scouting out my latest targets, a skinny skater boy in a skull t-shirt and jeans with messy black hair, and the girl of his dreams, the cute blonde girl in front of me on this park's circuit.

Why a fat suit? It's a part of my wardrobe of many disguises, part of the reason why my identity as cupid has remained a secret so far. But right now, I hate it. This costume includes a blonde wig, a trashy sort of fake contrast to my tan skin, a skirt so short that no self respecting girl should wear in public while roller blading, and a ton of make up. I'm Chloe today, a biggish girl who happens to be extremely competent at roller blading, so much so that she is known by all here in the park, and I'm receiving smiles and greetings from everyone as I glide effortlessly past. It's hard to smile cheerfully through the building discomfort of sweat and itchiness beneath my suit, but I can already see that today is going to be worth it. I'm noticing the secretive glances the pretty girl in front of me is sending my client as she makes each turn, and the tell tale sign of a blush on her cheeks. It's a match made in heaven.

Looks like this job will be a synch.

Pheme

I'm Pheme.

No, I'm not a woman who goes around telling everybody's secrets like in Greek mythology, but I am, however, what I like to call a reputation agent.

My real name's Aubrey Thompson, and my job is simple. People pay me to fix up their reputation where they've gone wrong. I realized at a young age that people often base their information on what they see on the internet, meaning that the internet has the power to build people up, and tear them down. I also happen to be really good at anything to do with computers. If you put these two factors together it makes a weapon that would be incredibly dangerous in the wrong hands.

Luckily, it's not in the wrong hands.

I have sworn to only use my secret weapon to help, not hurt people, an idea that my friends made me go along with. Friends that are the only people that know who Pheme really is. Friends that I often need on my many different projects to help people rise from the ashes of a bad reputation.

So here I am, sitting behind the screen of my computer, working on a project of mine with my friends.

This is how the entire deal went down; Popular kid goes to party, kid gets drunk, kid vomits on one of the most popular girls in school, and now is struggling to recover from the whole ordeal.

Classic, this is what happens when you decide to drink underage.

We had just found the main video that was spreading the story faster than wildfire, and after a few hours working on it, it was gone from the internet. Hopefully forever.

My friend Scott taps me on the shoulder.

"You know just getting rid of the video isn't gonna fix the problem right? A lot of people have seen it, they're not just gonna forget about it."

"I know." I said, turning around to look at my friends.

Of course, I could never be Pheme by myself, and more often than not, I have to call on my "team" to help me get the job done.

We all have our jobs. I handle the tech stuff, Scott observes people and predicts reactions and consequences of all our actions, Tim is good at science and often covers the more physical aspects, and Alfie, who is very good with music, which is surprisingly useful for planting subliminal messages.

Together, we are team Pheme, but since I am the leader, I get the title.

We build people up, and fix their social disasters. We are well known, although only by the name Pheme, never by face.
We are the information agents of Blackridge.

And we're damned good at it too.