Your Average Everyday Mind-Reader

Idea: Character

Genre: Superpowers

Whenever a story has superpowers, there is generally two routes: 1) Having superpowers in this world is not atypical, and the person can use them however they chose, or 2) this person’s powers are unique, and uses their greater abilities to become a hero of some sort. In the first route, where superpowers are about as common as having red hair or so, a superpowered person might take up a completely regular job. Maybe they can teleport, so they decide to help deliver things. Maybe they can heal people, so they work at a hospital. They have little to no worries about hiding their power. Meanwhile, in the second route, the superpowered person needs to keep their powers a secret, and often takes on some alternate identity when they want to use said powers. They then will use these powers to help others, fight crime, and save the day.

But there is a third route that is much less explored. A middle ground — where the character must hide their powers, but instead decides to use them in their everyday life. This might sound boring, but it means that this character has an unknown advantage over their peers, and is simply seen as amazing at their job.

I think the most appealing power for this would be mind-reading. Mind-reading is often portrayed as horribly loud for the poor superhuman, instead of focusing on the awkwardness of invading other peoples’ privacy in the most intimate way possible. It would be impossible to lie to this person, impossible to keep secrets from them, yet to an outside, this character is only extremely perceptive. The character could breeze through any exam, maneuver through any conversation, and know the best way to flatter or insult someone. Any relationship around them could be examined with chilling accuracy — does that guy really love his girlfriend? Does that friend secretly find them annoying?

And, what kind of career might this person go into? They could become a very successful businessman, a fantastic psychologist, or even, should they wish, attain a major position of power — perhaps even become president. Without dressing up as a superhero or hiding in the shadows, this person could pull the strings and make major changes to the world as we know it. And would they be good? Or become corrupted with power? Could they handle the stress? Or would they break down? Would they be like a helpful mentor to those around them? Or would their meddling backfire in the worst possible way?

Every wishes they could peek into another person’s mind once in a while. In this story, a character actually could.