Simon Latimorr was a simple happy man, once upon a time. But Simon had long since become something else, something peculiar, and no one really knew why. You see, Simon had the power to relieve the stress, the conflict, the unhappiness from others. Only these things did not simply disappear, no Simon was more like a vacuum that sucked up all the trash that caused people to be miserable. Unfortunately, Simon was unaware of this ability, only that everyone else seemed to be at peace, and he seemed to be tormented by unwelcome, often foreign, thoughts. Simon gathered their most unmanageable thought forms. Those which they had little to no way to resolve, other than to stay the course and be mindful of opportunity. These thoughts translate as suspicions, doubts, and worse things, spontaneously manifesting in Simon’s mind.

Most people ordinarily did not have the patience to take life as it came, find hope in tomorrow, and contentment in the day. Sadly this was no longer a luxury of Simon’s either, as he knew not how to purge himself of these unusual thoughts. On the other hand, things seemed to be changing for the people around him. Though Simon was to distracted to notice the change in their behavior, or that they had become strangely attracted to his company. That they were always attempting to find reasons to be near him. They Invited him to after work socials. Offered to help him with his tasks at work. Inconveniently managed to gather around him during breaks. They even brought him unsolicited gifts during the day. In fact, anyone looking in from the outside would imagine Simon to be a fortunate man, favored by his… associates. But Simon only felt harassed by their efforts, their very presence seemed to make him more irritable.

As time went by, Simon began to instinctively distance himself from people. Calling in Sick Days and Holidays, until he had gone through all the benefits of his ten years of employment to the same company. But every day people would show up out of the blue to check on Simon, to see how he was feeling, or bring him groceries. Soon Simon had no choice but to take an extended personal leave. As it had become clear to him that his boss had no intention of even considering Simon’s termination. Even She showed up at least twice a week to check in on him. He’d even stopped pretending to be sick, but she would only end her visits with, “I hope you feel better soon Simon, we all miss you, and everyone’s been pitching in so don’t worry about getting behind.”  It almost maddened Simon, though he had no idea why, only that something was up. There had to be a reason for their behavior, after all, he had never made any efforts to befriend anyone. Even his neighbors and landlord made every effort to assure him he had nothing to worry about. They had some kind of schedule, and took turns checking if he needed anything.

As an experiment, Simon decided to stop paying his rent, but his landlord simply assured him that he had no need to worry himself over it, or that it had been mysteriously taken care of. This made him even more determined to find out how far this conspiracy went, so that he might get to the purpose of it. So Simon started making request of his visitors. People who seemed had every desire to insure his well-being, and find excuses to spend more time with him. It just made them feel right to be a part of Simon’s life. At first he made passive request, like mentioning how he hated his TV, and had been thinking about getting a 60″. Or saying how nice it would be if he had a new refrigerator, one that made ice. It wouldn’t take long before those things would show up. The delighted party, that was able to fulfill his request, basking in his company smiling the whole time. While the delivery men happily took their time installing the product, and making sure everything was working correctly. As things went on in this way, Simon began to feel an easiness come upon him. His restless, often confusing, thoughts were somehow satiated by his indulgences. Each time his desires were met he felt it. He began to take comfort in the fact that he was in some way controlling these people. That, regardless of whatever it might be that they wanted from him, they were willing to give far more than they appeared to be getting in return. All he had to do now, was figure out how to manage his… followers. He’d need to discover who they were, and what they had to offer. Then he could develop a schedule to delegate the time he spent with each of them, according to their usefulness.

As Simon spent the time to get to know them, to create a schedule, finally it occurred to him. Time… these people wanted his time. For some reason they needed to spend time with him, and no matter how much he gave them they always seemed to try and steal just a little more. But why? That was what he did not yet understand, the thing that eluded him. But that was what it appeared to be. They would do almost anything in their power to spend more time with him. So be it, he decided, this would be the life he would live from now on. Instead of finding contentment in his own labors, he would find it in the labors and devotion of others. What other path was there for him, how else could he quiet the whispers in his mind.

Simon was but one of many potential WyldCards, with abilities which presented in unusual ways. In ways too subtle to detect. In ways that could be mistaken for madness. People unwittingly abusing their powers, and/ or being trapped by them.