Sunlight is one of the reasons there is life on Earth.

If there were no sunlight, there would be no life. We wouldn’t be able to see. There would be no plants. There would be nothing to eat. There would be no oxygen, we couldn’t breathe. There would still be water, which is a compound of oxygen of hydrogen. But there wouldn’t be any free oxygen in the air that only appears when there is life and photosynthesis.

Moreover, it was just so relaxing to sit in the sun. But that was not why I was sitting in the sun watching clouds float by. This was the latest task I had received after wishing for the power of photosynthesis from the system.

Photosynthesis as the name suggests is the process of a plant using photo, which is light, to synthesize its food, which is glucose. Almost everyone on the planet knows that, but not many people know how the plants achieve such a feat.

There are two types of chloroplasts in a plant. One that absorbs red light in the wavelength of 700mm and another that absorbs light in the wavelength of 680mm. The rest of the light gets reflected, giving the plants their natural green color.

The first chloroplast absorbs this energy and gets excited. When that happens, it releases an electron that keeps transferring the energy further and further in a chain that ends at a molecule of NADP or Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. The electron provided by chloroplast tells this NADP to bond with a molecule of hydrogen to form NADPH+. This is an unstable molecule that then quickly bonds with phosphate absorbed by the plant from the ground to create a molecule of ATP. Even if NADP sounds strange to most, almost everyone should be familiar with ATP, the fuel that our body consumes. The plants use this ATP molecule or molecules along with a lot of carbon dioxide, water, and other minerals to create glucose. So plants don’t directly convert sunlight into energy. It only acts as a power source for the electrical circuit inside a plant.

I didn’t know this when I wished for photosynthesis from the system. Thankfully, the power worked a little differently from the above.

[The Daily superpower system has heard your wish!]
[Photosynthesis is a superpower that can help you absorb sunlight and use it directly as energy in the body to power other superpowers. At lv-1 you can only absorb 1% of sunlight in a one-meter radius around you.]
[Task level: F]
[Stay under the sun for two hours.]
[Would you like to accept the task to acquire the ability? Yes/No]

I knew I would need an alternate source of energy soon. But I had my reservations about this power. The worry of turning green was substantial though pointless due to disguise. I was more inclined toward improving my body for the time being so I wouldn’t run into problems like diabetes in the near future. However, with my food source along with my relationship with my mother entering a cold war, I decided to get my energy from somewhere else. I didn’t want to get into trouble again over a few more calories.

Now I was venturing out into alternate sources of energy. At first, my mind wandered straight toward electricity. I saw the mobile phone charging and pondered if I should just ask for that power. Then my mind asked me what I’d do if the system task was to get an electric shock. And how I would store that energy in my body. I was still a human after all. Backing down, I looked at my other options and sunlight was the only reliable one I found. It was not as if I could drink gasoline and go gas, gas, gas, like a car!

Choosing photosynthesis, I started reading about it. Then midnight struck. I asked for the power, got the task, and went to sleep. Another task couldn’t be completed in the night. I was starting to finalize my decision to sleep early and wake up early.

If my worry was about my skin turning green then the system description of the power removed it, released me, and tamed my mind. Agreeing to the settlement offered by the system, I vouched to become more than just a plant lazing around. All I needed to do was to pay the system two hours of sunlight, and it would make me Piccolo in return. The power would allow me to absorb sunlight in a meter radius around me. A meter radius meant the absorbing area was in a spherical or a semi-spherical region. However, it only absorbed 1% of the sunlight for now. I could still move around acting human, even though I wasn’t gonna be in a few hours. Humans could absorb sunlight, just not for the reason I would be.

Some time passed. I looked at my watch, its backlit screen was unreadable black in the sunlight. I pulled my wrist in the shade of my head and even then I had to squint to read the squiggles. I could have just used my phone, but hell, I was getting impatient. I had been sitting in the sun for almost an hour and a half. It had felt like a relaxing Endeavour for the first fifteen minutes then my skin started burning and I had to look for shade, defeating the purpose of bathing in the sun. So there I sat with my back to the sun and my arms and legs pulled under my shadow, waiting for the hell to end hell when my phone started ringing. It was Kartick.

I picked up the phone and asked, “What do you want?” Surprising was the timber of my voice. It was hard and rugged like the sound of an iron brush on a wet floor.
“Huh, is that how you talk to a friend who called you up on a lazy Sunday afternoon?”
I let out a defeated sigh. “What do you want? I’m busy.”
“Stop whatever you are doing.” He sounded in a hurry. “We are going out today.”
Repressed memories surfaced in my mind. “I won’t go,” I said shaking my head. “You’ll get me in trouble again.”
“I promise it's nothing like that. We are only going to the theater.”
“No money,” May sound like an excuse, but it was the truth.
“Did I ask for your money?” He sounded offended, which made me slightly nervous. “Have I ever asked you for money for anything? Who treated you to burger and coke in the canteen last time?”
“That was on your birthday.”
“Huh?” He coughed to hide the embarrassment or to change the topic. “What about that time we went to eat at the dhaba? Did you pay anything?”

“You didn’t either,” I shouted, but the memory also brought a smile to my face. “We dinned and dashed motherfucker. The owner ran after us with a knife.”
“I saved you didn’t I?”
“We survived because the man was overweight and couldn’t catch us or would have been served as the night's special dish and he would have called it rascal fry.”
“Ha ha, man you are funny when you are in the mood. So are you coming or what?”

I was not abhorrent to go out with Kartik. It was his appearance that was the problem. My parents were already somewhat convinced that I was an addict and Kartik’s eccentric character and small frame only added to their worries. That being said, I’d had enough sunlight for a morning.

“When will you be here?” I asked.

“I’m here,”

“What?” I managed to say before someone started blaring a horn in front of my house. I had a bad premonition that proved true when I looked over the roof railing and saw the idiot waving at me from the street.
“Come down. Let’s go!” He said blaring that horn like he was in a traffic jam.

I looked at my watch. It was 11:38, still more than twenty minutes left for the task to complete. The theater was half an hour away on bike anyway. I could get the skill on the way.

“Stop being an idiot and come inside. I’ll be there in a minute.” I told Kartik on the phone before ending the call.

Putting the phone in my pocket, I pulled the chair back inside the house and then rushed down the stairs like I was gonna miss a train or something.

By the time I reached the ground floor, Kartik was already standing with my mother and making her laugh. A task I found impossible to complete. If it ever showed up on my system, I would just wish for another superpower instead. Kartik had none of my problems. He could make anyone laugh. It had more to do with his mindset than his character. He wasn’t afraid of making jokes.

“Hey, what did you do? Aunty tells me you are taking drugs. Is that true?”
“What!”
I already had a headache thinking about how to make my parents believe I wasn’t doing drugs and now she told him, the loudspeaker. My life was over.

I glanced at the two of them. Both my mother and the douche looked at me expectedly. They wanted an answer.
“No, I don’t do drugs,” I said calmly. They didn’t believe me. My mother had her suspicions. Kartik was having fun. I guess, it was not the answer they were looking for.

“Can you go out for a minute I need to talk to her for a sec,” I told Kartik.
“You can say anything in front of me, man. I’m your friend.”
Yes, that was exactly why I didn’t want to talk in front of him. “Just go, please.” My mother didn’t ask him to stay either.
“All right, but be quick all right.” He said on the way out. “I don’t want to miss the movie. I heard it’s a good one.”

I nodded to assure him I’d heard him. Then there was only my ma and I left in the room. She stared at me like a jailer ready to accept a prisoner’s confession. I could hear my heart pounding. It was a sign of anger. I didn’t know whom I was angry at, my mother or myself.

“You know what you are doing?” I wasn’t asking a question, but letting out my frustration. “I’ve told you many times I’m not doing drugs. Drugs are not the source of every problem. It’s one thing for you to hold this delusion but to tell him! You don’t know him like I do. He’s gonna tell everyone that I do drugs and I’ll be so embarrassed.”
My mother let out a snort. “Maybe that’s how you’ll understand.”
Was she not hearing me? “Did you not hear anything I said?” I questioned or was it a statement? “You know what. Fuck it.”
“What did you say?” She looked like a lioness ready to pounce at her prey. I should have been scared, but I’d had enough of it.
“Oh, you heard that, huh? Good for you. I don’t care anymore. Do whatever you want to do. I’m leaving.”
“I’m only thinking about you, Sahil.”
“You say that but you don’t listen!” It was loud. It was violent. It was aggressive enough to scare my ma. She stepped back in panic or fear. Did she think I would hit her?
“I’m listening,” She said with a slight tremble in her voice which I didn’t hear.
“No, you don’t.” I was too tired of the same nonsensical conversation and today she crossed a line. She shouldn’t have told Kartik.
“You are just gonna believe whatever you want to believe no matter what I say. That’s all right. Maybe I deserve that.”
“Where are you going?” I heard on the way out, but I didn’t want to talk to her anymore.

I went to my room and found Kartik sitting there on my bed.
“Hey, where’s your laptop?” He asked me as if he didn’t hear anything.
“Abhey took it,” I indulged him.
“What? Why? He isn’t harassing you, is he? Boy, he’s the devil. You should stay away from him as much as possible.”
His words, the fright, seemed so familiar. Then I remembered and it made me chuckle. “Abhey has the same opinion about you,” I said and opened my almirah to find something to wear.

Eventually, I changed into a black T-shirt and blue jeans. I jumped into my canvas shoes, sprayed some deo and we were out of the house. I didn’t see my mother on the way out and found it equally relaxing and disappointing.

Maybe I was expecting to have another conversation with her. Guess, it wasn’t to be.

Kartik had a 250cc red Fazer which was considered a sports bike at my place since everyone else was either driving a commercial 150cc Pulsar, Splendor, or Platina. Ours wasn’t a posh city with Mercedes and BMWs parked on every street. You might see one of them outside some factory where the owner was visiting, or chance upon one on the highway. Mostly everyone commuted by bike and those who had cars owned either Fiat sedans or Suzuki hatchbacks.

“Do you want to drive?” Kartik asked me knowing I couldn’t drive. Usually, I would just punch him on the shoulder and we’d be on our way. Today I snatched the key from his hand and grabbed the handle.

“Get out of the way,” I said. He knew I was serious because he got a bit nervous.
“I was just joking man,” He said trying to snatch the key from my hand. Kinda reminded me of my fight with Abhey, when I was trying to snatch his phone to delete the embarrassing recording. Now seeing Kartik struggling to get the key from my hand, I learned the importance of height.

“Don’t be impulsive. We only have one life.”
“Now you know that.”
“So are you giving back the key?”
“First show me the tickets,” I said which made him suddenly very quiet.
“You don’t have any tickets do you?” I knew it.

I kicked the air to show my anger. I was angry. Angry at my mother, angry at myself, angry at kartik for trying to trick me. But what was the point of being angry? It was not like anger was gonna solve my problems.

I threw the keys to him and sat in the backseat. Kartik looked at me in confusion inviting a raised eyebrow from me.

“What?” I asked. “Drive!”
“I thought you weren’t coming.” Kartik struggled onto the driving seat, started the bike and we drove away into the sun.

We were on the way when the system informed me that the task had been completed. Even that didn’t make me happy. I had almost forgotten about the task. Soon we reached our destination. We were at the mall, the only place nearby with something to do on a Sunday.

Kartik paid for the parking space and we parked in the basement parking lot. I got off and pulled my handkerchief to wipe the sweat covering my face. I found it odd. I shouldn’t be sweating this much after riding on a bike, even though it was more than thirty-five degrees out there.

Then Kartik got off the bike, looked at me, and got startled by something.

“What?” I asked in annoyance.
“You are… red.” He said in concern.

We passed a few confused glances at each other before I looked at his bike mirror and saw that he was not wrong. Not only was my face red like a buffoon's ass; but I was also hyperventilating and sweating profusely. I was so hot that steam was coming out of my head like I had just run a marathon. My mind worked out the reason and I could only blame myself for this.

When our body absorbs sunlight it uses some of it to create vitamin D and whatever it can’t use escapes from our body as heat. Now the superpower was sending all the sunlight it had absorbed in one meter radius directly into my body. The excess energy was heating me up.

“It’s the sun.” I hid my anxiety and told Kartik. It was also the truth. “Don’t worry about it. I’ll be fine now.”

It was a problem albeit a small one. There was an easy fix. I just needed another power that could store this extra light energy so it would not heat me up. But who was to say that power wouldn’t cause another problem to me?

I shook my head and put the thought to the back of my mind, deciding to cross the bridge when I got to it.