Aaron LLewelyn worked through lunch so he could get off work a little early. He wanted to get to the park before the late afternoon strollers and joggers got there. It was better when there were no witnesses. He got caught a few times in the past but he always managed to keep his identity secret. Even that video of him that was making the rounds on Youtube was unrevealing, too distant and too fuzzy. That, like many things, made Aaron laugh. He especially liked the comments that the video was 'so fake'.

He jogged easily on the trail until he was sure he was alone, and then he sprinted at full speed across the lawn. He knew he was running faster than any Olympian ever, but he didn’t know why. It had been just about a year since he noticed he was different. His workouts at the gym suddenly became easy. His newfound strength, agility and speed made most any physical task a cake walk.

He figured his metamorphosis had to do with all those reports of monsters that started making the rounds at about the same time. People were seriously freaked. That was why he fought every instinct to show off and kept his abilities secret.

There was a huge ancient acacia in the park. Aaron headed for it and leaped surefooted onto a lower limb. Then he spent several minutes swinging from branch to branch like Tarzan. He reached the crown of the tree and paused a moment to enjoy the view. People were starting to get off work. He saw a woman strolling down a trail, probably taking a short cut through the park. There was a man following her. He wore a cap with the bill pulled low, and a jacket with the collar turned up. Aaron had a bad feeling.

The cap pulled down, collar turned up man rushed the woman, grabbed her purse and made off with it while she screamed for help. Damned shame. Somebody should do something.

"Hey," Aaron said, "I'm somebody!"

He dropped to the ground and landed in a perfect three point stance even though the fall should have maimed him. He took off in the direction of the purse snatcher. The bad guy had a lead of at least one hundred yards, but Aaron could close that gap.

Aaron saw his quarry exit the park and dart across a busy street, dodging traffic. Aaron entered the right-of-way at a trot. A cab nearly ran into him, but he managed a pommel horse style flip over the hood.

"Damned fool!" the cabbie yelled.

"Yep, that's me," Aaron said.

The purse snatcher went down an alley. Aaron followed. A nearby clock tower chimed 5 o'clock. The alley dead-ended in a sheer brick wall, three stories if it was an inch. Aaron grinned as he entered, noting the way in which the purse-snatcher, who had caught site of him entering the mouth of the alley, was backing away, clutching the purse to his chest. Aaron still couldn't quite make out the guys face, and he was wearing gloves. But he looked kind of scrawny. No match, really.

That was until the man suddenly crouched and leapt, up up up and onto the ledge of the building roof behind him. It was done with a silent grace that astounded, leaving the man peering down into the alley at Aaron. Whoever he was, the punk had the temerity to wave the purse tauntingly at Aaron, then he backed away and disappeared from view.

Aaron stopped and gaped. The purse snatcher was a Newman like him. Better, actually. Aaron could never get that kind of altitude even on his best day. "Cool!"

The taunting was worrisome. Was the scrawny man attempting to lure Aaron into following? "If you think I'm that stupid," Aaron said, "you're right." Aaron leaped to a window sill half way up the neighboring building and then leaped onto the roof in pursuit. He didn't have to run far. The purse-snatcher was waiting for him atop the roof, standing near the massive swamp cooler used to 'refrigerate' the air for the buildings residents. The purse held aloft in one hand. 

Now that Aaron could see him better, he realized how small the guy was. If he was over four and a half feet tall, Aaron would have been surprised. But with the cap pulled low, and the gloves, the guys identity was still a mystery. Barely twenty feet separated the two men, and a light breeze ruffled the smaller man's jacket. 

A sound issued forth from the man. It sounded for all the world like someone dropping a ball into a bucket of water. A sort of 'plunk', with electronic undertones. "INFORMATION:", the little man said in a polite but very serious tone of voice. "You are Aaron Llewelyn, TI8859714?" 

Aaron took a step back. "You're freaking me out, dude. Yeah, I'm Aaron. Who the heck are you?"

In response, an amber beam of light lanced out from beneath the little mans cap, sweeping across Aaron in a clean, swift  arc before winking out. "Confirmed." the little man said. "Greetings to you, Aaron Llewelyn. I am Zen." The purse-snatcher stepped forward and raised it's head, revealing glowing amber optics in a smooth robotic face. Or mask. Something, anyway.

Aaron lifted the little man's cap a tad to get a better look. Then he laughed. "You're a robot! When all this newman stuff started I knew life was going to get interesting, but this! I mean... you're a robot!  So, Zen, what are you programmed to do? Dance?" Aaron danced 'the robot'. He wasn't half bad.

The smooth, featureless faceplate regarded Aaron's antics queitly. When the young man was done busting a move, Zen replied. "I am programmed to seek you out, Aaron Llewelyn stroke The Fool. Once I have done so, I am required to give you this teleport bracelet." The little creature reached into it's jacket pocket and produced a slim, black and silver bracelet. It opened the device with a snap and extended it to Aaron. "Information: please apply the device to your wrist." 

Mother never warned Aaron about taking teleport bracelets from robots, but he knew she would not approve. She mentioned candy and strangers on several occasions, but never teleport bracelets and robots. They probably counted as the same thing. He knew the wise thing would be to politely refuse the offer and then run like heck, but if he did that he would never find out what would have happened.

"Sure thing," Aaron said as he took the bracelet and snapped it around his wrist. The device clicked firmly shut, flashed a light-blue color, then rippled, vanishing from sight. Aaron could still feel it on his wrist, he just couldn't see it any longer. "INFORMATION," intoned Zen. "Prepare for teleport."

Aaron snapped to attention and saluted the small robot. "Ready, willing and able, Zen."

There was a peculiar vibratory sensation, followed by a biting cold so deep it made Aaron gasp. He wondered idly if he'd been shunted somewhere out into deep space. From somewhere, and everywhere, he heard Zen chime a single word: "Teleport," and the world around him folded into a radiant white light, as though he were a star being born. 

And in a sense, he was.

...to be continued in Issue 1