Trouble at the Local Wal-Mart (Open)

There were a few things that Meld knew about her recently acquired blue veined hand. First, it had influence over electronic objects and seemed to be able to turn them on and off. Second, more often than not instead of simply turning said object on or off it liked to completely destroy them, not in any obvious way like an explosion but more in a smoking never going to turn back on sort of way. Third, and most importantly perhaps, that so far she hated it! It didn't ever seem to do what she told it to do, it was weak and fleshy in a way that her previous bladed titanium hand certainly wasn't and it made her life difficult by shorting out any object she touched that she didn't want shorted out. She wasn't even willing to touch her computer with it because she couldn't afford to have to replace it, which hampered her while using it as she could only use her right hand.

That was why Meld had come to Wal-Mart. Wal-mart had lots of electronics, all those lovely display models just sitting on shelves trying to entice people to buy them. Well, she certainly wasn't there to purchase anything but it seemed the perfect opportunity to practice on the control of her newest addition. Maybe once she stopped destroying half the things she touched she would actually come to appreciate the potential that the hand offered her. If only she could learn to control it, it might actually prove to have some uses, such as making stealing cars so much easier. Imagine being able to simply touch the ignition of a car and have it start regardless of whether she had a key and without the inconvenience of trying to hot wire it. But first thing was first: Learning to control the new power.

Walking down the isles of the store, Meld didn't even try to be inconspicuous. No matter what she desired, being unnoticed was pretty much beyond her at this point. Oh, she knew how to be stealthy with some moderate skill, but in a crowded box store like this that was entirely impossible. After all, she was a woman with metal limbs and a metal tail not to mention how many times her or her actions had been on the news. Luckily the scurrying humans avoided her, for the most part and for those few stupid enough to make derogatory comments in her direction, a murderous glare effectively dissuaded them from doing or saying anything else. Thus it didn't take Meld all that long to get to the small appliances isle. She took a deep breath, preparing herself mentally for the experiment to come.