[ Wp ] Nerds and artists take over the world after everyone is given superpowers based on imagination .

The Beginning. 
 
 When they first brought me in to work on the device, its purpose became clear after a few hours of flipping through specifications; nearly seven hundred pages of cutting-edge computer science and biology, intrinsically coupled in a manner that was not only advanced, but elegant. Holding Master ’ s Degrees in both fields, I was shocked by the sheer genius of the design, only to conclude it must have been outsourced. Genius was in the eyes, but the man who ’ d hired me tilted his head like a confused dog whenever I ’ d asked a question. There was no way he wrote the document, and I doubted he knew who did. I wondered if the author was still alive. 
 
 “ So, can you make it work? ” The man asked. 
 
 Offended, I just shook my head and smiled. “ You hired me, remember? ” 
 
 “ Look, you fucking geek. You already have half a million dollars. You ’ ll get the other half when this damn thing works. Can you do it or not? ” He asked again, his lip curling in contempt. 
 
 “ Take me to it, ” I said. 
 
 When I first saw the device I just stared in awe, admiring its beauty, amazed it had actually been built; it was a work of art, a masterpiece. I walked around, inspecting it from all angles, matching the hardware to the visual model I ’ d built in my head after reading the specifications. My body started to tingle and the hair on my arms stood upright. 
 
 “ Well? ” The man said. 
 
 “ I have to update the firmware. I need a quiet room, a computer, and a coffee. ” 
 
 He gestured toward the door, and left the room; I followed. In the hallway, a young brunette in dark-framed glasses and a jet-black pantsuit walked toward us, taking notes on a clipboard. The man asked her to bring a coffee to office 7D, to which she nodded and made a note. As we walked on, I noticed three or four wires along the ground, originating from the room we ’ d just left, leading into a small office at the end of the hallway. 
 
 We entered. 
 
 The office had gloomy gray walls without windows. There was a desk, a chair, and the wires, which fed into the back of a laptop computer. An old copy of the specifications sat on the desk as well, ruffled and coffee stained, as if it had been referenced hundreds of times over, maybe thousands. It had the off-white color of an old treasure map. 
 
 “ Come back in 3 hours, ” I said. 
 
 The man nodded and left. 
 
 A few minutes later, the door opened, and the women entered. She placed a large coffee mug on my desk, and walked away without speaking a word or making eye contact. She left the room and closed the door. This time, I heard the sound of a motorized lock and a loud thud. 
 
 We ’ ll, I ’ m stuck here, I thought. I took a heavy gulp of coffee and got to work. 
 
 Nearly three hours had passed when the door re-opened, and the man entered. 
 
 “ Just in time, ” I said. 
 
 He walked around the desk and looked over my shoulder, watching as I hit the enter key. A small progress bar slid across the screen. When it finally reached one hundred percent, a message appeared: “ Firmware Update complete. ” 
 
 “ So? ” The man asked. 
 
 “ Let ’ s go see, ” I replied. 
 
 When we returned to the room with the device, I reached around back, and flipped a small switch to power it on. The LED ’ s illuminated and there was an eerie buzzing noise, similar to the white noise emitted from a television. Two long cables extended outward from the machine, with electrodes at each end. 
 
 The man stood in the corner of the room, watching intently with a devious smirk, eagerly awaiting the result of my test. 
 
 Grabbing one cable with my left hand, and the other with my right, I fastened the electrodes to my temples. 
 
 A surge of nervous excitement overtook my entire body, the same tingling I ’ d felt earlier, only this time more amplified. I took a few deep breaths to calm my heartbeat. Once I relaxed, I closed my eyes, and let my imagination run—inspired by the overwhelming beauty of such a remarkable scientific marvel. Focusing as hard as I could, I waited until the perfect scene materialized in my mind ’ s theater. 
 
 “ Press the green button, ” I said. 
 
 There was a loud snap. Instantly, my body ceased-up and my knees buckled. The man gasped as I fell to the floor. It felt like I ’ d been struck by a bolt of lightning. 
 He ran over and helped me to my feet. “ Whoa, ” he said. “ Did it work? ” 
 
 “ Stand back, ” I said. 
 
 Dangling my limbs and shaking my head, I tried to shed the lingering effects of the shock. They subsided quickly, so I closed my eyes, and again, began to concentrate. 
 A strange feeling of building energy set-in, and the device started to shake vigorously. I held out my hands, feeling a subtle whirlwind circulating within the room. Small fragments of metal emerged from the floor and walls, spinning with such velocity, they felt like bee stings when they hit my bare skin. 
 
 I turned my palms to face one another. As I moved them closer together, the fragments pooled in between, slowly taking the form of a small object. After twenty or so seconds, I lost focus, and heard a clank on the floor. 
 
 We both looked down, amazed to see a chrome handgun—one I ’ d just manifested out of thin air, using the new powers I ’ d just programmed into my genetics—the ability to manipulate technology with my mind. What a remarkable device, I thought, what power. 
 
 “ It works, ” I said, as I picked up the gun. “ Don ’ t worry, It ’ s not loaded. ” 
 
 In a dash, the man ran over to the machine, mimicking the process he ’ d just witnessed. He attached both electrodes to his temples, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate. After a few seconds, he reached out and pressed the green button. 
 
 Nothing happened. 
 
 He pressed the button a few more times; nothing happened. 
 
 “ Damn it! It ’ s not working. What ’ s wrong? ” he yelled. 
 
 “ Sorry, ” I said. “ I just re-calibrated the device, it only works if you have an IQ over 120— ” 
 
 Without a blink, he lunged toward me with fire in his eyes, cocking back his fist. I lifted my right hand, pointed the gun at his forehead, and pulled the trigger. 
 
 “ Also, I lied. ”
