Eddie Boom's Questionnaire

I'm from New York City. I get good work here. The other thing is people know how to mind their fuckin business over here. I've been to Pennsylvania tons of times to get fireworks. It's stupid that they're illegal here, I shouldn't have to suffer because overconfident idiots don't stay in their lane. Anyway, I don't live in Pennsylvania because the Amish are fuckin creepy. Also, driving is stupid because why the hell would I drive when there's a perfectly good free public transportation around here. I don't live in Jersey it's just the worst parts of living in a city without any of the benefits. Can't do shit without some Karen crawling up your ass about it. I went to Connecticut once. Now I'm not afraid to die because I already know what hell is like. So yeah. That's why I'm still in New York.

Eddie Boom: Mind your fuckin business. 

Proctor: Miss...oh dear me, ahem... MR. Boom, answering these questions is for your own benefit. There is no telling how answering these simple questions might help you in the long run! Please consider answering truthfully for your own survival.

Eddie: ...

Proctor: There's no shame in whatever line of work you take part in. And if you're concerned about confidentiality, this information will not disseminate beyond your fellow Contractors and Harbingers. 

Eddie: I think maybe you should stop trying to get me to answer this question. For your own survival. 

Proctor: Fine. Then how do you spend your pocket change? 

Eddie: I spend my money on chemical reactions. Can I go home now and get back to that?

Proctor: Of course. Have a wonderful day getting back to that, Mr. Boom.

Eddie: Yeah, fuck you too.

Fire is the most beautiful thing in the world. It's the whole point of living. What gives me the most joy in my life is watching the pieces of the world explode and crumble and dissolve into flame. I want to be the cause of that forever. I want to be a living bomb, an impossible bomb that survives its explosion. That said, I'm not afraid to die. The flame is the only thing that matters so obviously who gives a shit if I die trying. I don't. No one else will give a shit if I die either. Live by the flame, die by the flame.

I've killed people for the fire already. I don't mind doing it again. They'll make such pretty flames.

Knocks and The Fonz have let me crash at their place sometimes. Guess they never met the right girls or whatever. Knocks bothers me about my grades sometimes. Buzz and I hang out sometimes. 

Eddie refused to elaborate further on his associates. We elected to hire a private investigator to assess the risk of selecting Eddie as a contractor.

Alonzo and Henry Claude-Schaffer AKA "Knocks"  and "The Fonz" are Eddie's adoptive parents. They took him in after he caused the fire that killed his parents. They are members of the mafia, although Henry continues to work as a social worker. They seem to be affectionate guardians to him and they've been married for 15 years. They have an insurance fund set up for him in case he starts fires. Eddie appears to be either too oblivious or in denial about having loving married parents and having been formally adopted. 

Buzz Noel is a childhood friend of Eddie Boom. They bonded over their shared love of science and Eddie seems to have made a marked improvement in his grades in the latter half of high school in order to attend the Columbia University engineering program alongside him. They have been sighted participating in date-like activities although Eddie seems to be unaware of the fact that he is dating Buzz. It seems that Buzz also has plans to propose to him after they finish college via a grand gesture involving engineering. 

Since I have my Gift now, I'll answer this. With the understanding of course, that I will smoke you like bacon if you even THINK of telling another soul about this. 

My childhood was fine. I already told you what happened to my parents. Their names were Audrey and Edward Boom. I remember we went to museums sometimes on the weekend. I think they thought my interest in science was cute. She would borrow books from the library and we'd read them together me and look at the pictures. There were a lot of books with whales. I think she wanted to study whales, because she looked happy but sad when we read them. So I think with the science stuff, she was...I think she was trying to give me something she couldn't have. My dad came home late a lot, but he always gave me and my mom hugs and kisses when he came home and he'd join us when we were reading the book. 

My dad was a bus driver. My mom was a nurse. She was pregnant with my little sister when I killed them. Her name was supposed to be Josephine.

My parents were good people and I messed up a good thing. I messed it up bad. 

So then I was with Knocks and the Fonz. They were annoying because they wouldn't leave me be after my parents died. Knocks said unless I had somewhere else to be that wasn't foster care, the streets or juvie, I was gonna stay right where I was. And I mean I ran away to live on the streets many times. MANY times. But The Fonz would always find my dumbass somehow and drag me back to a warm bed and good food. But I kept running away because I didn't want to owe them anything and they hadn't told the police it was ME who killed my parents and I didn't want them to be next. Anyway they never kicked me out even though I was a little piece of shit to them most of the time. We whittled down my burning need to only once a day with a match with a lot of work, therapy, and causing a house fire every month or so. I mean, helping out with the business is the least I can do after all they've done for me. Well sometimes it was their house, but they have really good insurance. 

Obviously I didn't fit in at school. I was a crazy loner schizo pyro so I was in detention most of the time for one. And my grades were pretty shit except for science. So yeah, no friends. Well, I met Buzz in middle school in the Engineering club. I mean I wasn't there to win prizes or anything so nobody else there gave a fuck about me except for Buzz because he's a weird ass little nerd with no sense of social self preservation. I think he didn't think he was worth the fuss. I mean his parents treat him like shit so why would he treat himself any different?   

When I got my acceptance letter to Columbia, Knocks, the Fonz, and Buzz were there. We all hugged and and we danced and played good music. Knocks cried like a little bitch even though I was only a subway ride away. We made a cake and ate it together. Miraculously, we didn't burn it. So yeah. Those are my people.

But I need the fire too. 

I would hate it if fire suddenly didn't exist anymore. I think I'd lose it. Like, I think I would just fully retreat into my mind and give up on reality. I mean fire no longer existing also implies that there's been a fundamental shift in the nature of physics, so there'd probably bigger things to worry about, but then I'd be really goddamn upset and I couldn't even blow up anything. Well actually, I might end up eventually making a deal with God or the Devil to get it back after a little while.

If for some reason, it's just me who couldn't blow up things. I think that would feel like starving for the rest of my life. Not big on that.

if anything happened to Knocks or the Fonz or Buzz, that'd be the worst thing. I think if they were gone if they were gone, I might end up burning everything. I might burn up the whole country. I might burn up the whole fricken world. What would be the point not doing it if they weren't around anymore anyways? 

No, I think the worst thing would be if I hurt them, or god forbid, killed them all. I can't do that again, I just can't. That cannot happen ever again. I have these stupid powers now, but if I hurt them, I will cut off my own hands and feed them to wolves. Starving for the rest of my life would be worth keeping them safe. 

My bombs, obviously. I've worked very hard on them. I have spent YEARS perfecting the craftsmanship, the engineering, the chemistry to customize the different flavors of bombs. Each one of them is a darling little masterpiece sprouting miraculous fires. I'm very proud of them, they're all such good girls and boys.

My chemistry book that my parents gave me. It's the only thing I have left because it was the only thing I was holding when I burnt down the building. 

There's a little picture in my apartment of Knocks and the Fonz gave me, they're both holding me and Knocks is giving me a kiss on the head. We're all laughing and smiling. I love that goddamn picture. I love it because they told me to bring it with me wherever I am to remind me how much they love me. They're such sappy motherfuckers. I guess that makes me sappy too, though. 

This one's kind of weird, but I also have a marble that Buzz gave me when we were little. I dunno, it feels like a promise when I hold it. 

The biggest problem in my life right now? I've got a few, not blowing up myself and everyone I love is a big one. Well I guess that's not really an immediate problem, but more a worry. Also Being broke right now is another problem, but that's temporary. I'm doing pretty bad in my non-science subjects at school but I'll figure that out. I told Knocks and the Fonz that I was going to use the contract to get more control over exploding things and I will, but so far, I've just enabled myself. I'm having issues with Buzz but I don't want to talk about that. I think the biggest problem have is I have this power now that I've always dreamed of, but I'm afraid to use it. I'm afraid I'll lose control, especially if I'm in a house. Actually now that I think about it, I've had actually no problems blowing up things outside of houses and... shit I'm gonna end up needing to go to therapy about this aren't I. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck.

I try to wake up really early before the sun. If I'm in the dorm with Buzz I have to kinda peel him off of me cause bro is like a giant squid hunting a sperm whale in his sleep. He usually would wake up a little bit but I've Pavlov dogged him to falling asleep again after mentioning peanut butter sandwiches (long story). I haven't had to do that in awhile though since living in the library then back with Knocks and the Fonz. Anyways back to the subject,  I like it that early in the morning, it's dark and quiet. I'll go outside to watch the sunrise from the fire escape and then I'll light a match. Might take a walk or not, depends on my mood. Then I'll go back to bed and wake up sometime in the afternoon because the time between 7am and 12pm is hot garbage. Knocks has been kicking me out of my bed by 7  though which sucks. I feel like a zombie half the time now. Whatever, what was I saying? Oh yeah, then I brush my teeth and wash my face in the morning, I only shower at night and honestly, I don't trust people who shower in the morning. Like, what you're gonna go about your day in this city and then sleep in the filth of it for 8 hours? Gross man. Absolutely gross. Anyways, then I slap on some clothes and before I head out I always check on my little bombs and my little plants. They're very cute and need looking after.

My biggest regret? I bet you think it'd be that I killed my parents, right? You'd be wrong. 

I'm not really a regretful sort of person because for the most part, I do what I want when I want to. I don't really regret killing my parents because I was a little kid and it was a mistake. I mean I do feel like shit about it, but it was a mistake. Besides, I think regret is more about the things you didn't do rather than things you have done. And I think it has to be a conscious choice to not doing something. To regret something, you have to have known better and not done it anyway.

So what do I regret? It's pretty simple, really. There was this girl Jordan who I met on the streets. She was so fucking smart. I had Knocks and the Fonz looking out for me even though I didn't realize it yet, but I don't think she had anybody. We didn't talk much at all. One day I stopped seeing her around altogether. I don't know what happened to her. I know CUNY Hunter has quite a few Jordans there. I hope she's one of them. I think it could've been nice for the two of us to have been friends. 

My gifts might seem like the gift of a fire elemental. That's true. To get into the details of it though, my power is a combination of two things. One, it is the ability to ionize energy through heat. The second component is being a conduit for explosive chemical reactions. I like to think that my powers come from inherent potential. I have always had an affinity for fire and a proficiency for chemistry. I have equal parts reverence and fear for fire, I think with the same sort of zeal other people might have for God. So obviously I don't need a god, I have one already and it's realer than the ones most people pray to anyway. I like to think of my Gifts as fire embracing me back for my loyalty and my love. Harbingers don't grant my Gifts. They unlock them. They were always my Gifts to have I think. I feel more like myself once I have them. They don't encumber me, they liberate me. That's how I know they're mine and that they were always mine to begin with.