Theory

Equilibrium

There is a thing that exists in this universe, yet doesn't. That thing is equilibrium. Equilibrium is the attempt of energy to balance itself out. Water diffuses itself in osmosis, hot particles warm cold particles until they are the same temperature, gases diffuse into a room. Yet, the very action, the motion of trying to bring two energies at rest, creates more energy, like a pendulum. One fall to try to bring it back to the center creates the energy to make it swing again, making the pendulum stuck in continual motion and never equilibrium.

The world is much the same way. When we try to make things better, we make things worse. We try to make peace but go to war instead. As much as we want life to be predictable, the more unpredictable it will be.

Chad sat in his room, looking at the ceiling fan spinning slowly above him, trying to equalize the hot and cold air in the room. It had been a week since the encounter with the Teleporter and the pirates, and they were no closer to getting the code. He didn't get it. He thought life as a superhero would be simple. You blow something up and get your way, and life is very merry. Apparently, however, problems are still big enough to encapsulate bigger people. Chad still had to wake up at 6 AM every morning. He still needed coffee to get through the day. He still had to wait in lines. Chad still had to wait, period. Life was still a drag.

"I can't seem to figure it out," The hacker said. I've only managed to translate a couple lines, and it still doesn't make sense. We need to find those pirates."

"No can do. They've been untraceable ever since the encounter. In fact, there has been no pirating activity by the group at all in the past week."

The puzzle hurt their minds. The best they could do was so little, and putting in more effort and work seemed futile. They could only groan as they droned on their work to crack the code. Just the grind every day, no inspiration to why they're still doing it. The workflow had hit an equilibrium, the work went nowhere, no motion or progress was made, the trail was cold.

There had to be a catalyst to set this back into motion.

An explosion rocked the room as the wall of the computer room Chad was in exploded. Hmm... I wonder who's making their entrance?

A man stood in the clearing of the explosion. Even though you could not see his face clearly, his strong silhouette and voice gave away who he was.

"I'm looking for someone," the Teleporter said.

"Who?"

"A man that can break my powers."

Chad stepped forward.

"I think you found the right guy."