18+ Humanity Awakened

[Wolfbane]

Since the dawn of man there have always been exceptional people who have led and advanced the species, but there exists a group of individuals with abilities so special that they defy all human potential. These people are called Channels, individuals with extraordinary powers and ordinary lives. A Channels' powers are as diverse as any other human quality, spanning an infinite number of possibilities from the exceptional to the fantastic to horrifying beyond reason. In order to avoid open conflict with the rest of humanity the Channels have always isolated themselves from the rest of the species, living in a parallel world and dealing with any exposure quickly and quietly. This is not a policy of oppression but necessity as almost all know Channels have been feared and hated and many human legends and monsters have been inspired by them. Vampires, werewolves, witches and necromancers, all have been misremembered encounters with Channels. The Channels have evolved their own sub-civilization scattered throughout the world and for thousands of years they have maintained a careful balance between keeping their secret from their "normal" brothers and sisters and giving themselves a place and time to use their gifts.

But this balance could not last forever. More Channels appeared over the centuries as the global population increased and the mutation that causes them has become more and more common. The Pact of Secrecy, the Channel law that forbids them from revealing themselves, has become harder and harder to maintain. Exposure was inevitable and in 2012 it finally happened.

A sixteen year old boy in Chicago Illinois was a Channel that had the power to manipulate earth and stone. He had become frustrated at the restrictions holding him back and angry at his own people for being so cowardly as to hide their gifts. He was too angry to be calmed down and powerful enough to know he could not be stopped so he decided to show humanity who he really was. He used his powers to raise an entire city block and all of its people from the earth, move it over the Chicago skyline and send it crashing down, killing hundreds and tearing a hole in the skyline no one could ignore. With no way to cover it up the Channels decided to reveal themselves.

Three months after the disaster, in May 2012, the Channels appointed one of their oldest and wisest members, an ageless Channel named Elspeth Adrastia, to make an announcement to the world known simply as The Revelation. A public decree that Channels existed, that they had always existed, and that the disaster was caused by one of their own and that they were ready to account for that and become part of the world. This sent shockwaves throughout the world. Despite Elspeth's intentions Channels were seen as destructive monsters, a threat to all of humanity that must be destroyed. Shocked and angry Channels all over the world that were suddenly exposed or did not agree with The Revelation, did not help wit this. At an emergency meeting of the United Nations it was decided that a global initiative was needed to counter this threat. A Special Defense Division, or SDD. Elspeth was present at the meeting and wholeheartedly agreed, hoping that she could help guide these new feelings in a positive direction. She had spent hundreds of years teaching young Channels how to use her powers and entrusted the SDD charter to one of her most trusted students, Jakob Daynes. He headed what was known as the Daynes Treaty and every country who joined it would have an SDD branch accountable to a global branch run by Jakob.

At first things went well. Dangerous Channels were subdued as gently as possible and nonviolent ones were given help and counseling. The SDD had both Channel and Normal members and was generally seen as a positive organization. But now, in 2016, things have started to go wrong. The SDD have gotten more violent. Its Channel members have been under more and more scrutiny. Violence against both groups has increased, ranging from individual squabbled to full blown race riots. The groups in question are Humanity United and the Future Imperfects; Humanity United are radical pro human and anti channel supporters who believe that channels are not only lawless but think of humans as lesser. They think that channels are freaks of nature that no god would make. They will block streets, roads and major highways, spew their views on any media outlet and harass channels, channel supporters and even people who don't pick a side. Race is also used if it means that they win in the end. The leader of HU thinks that without violence and hate their "true belief" will not be heard. This group will bring up race, creed, and even the police to further their goals.The Future Imperfects find it essential that both people should be able to live in harmony. Everyday people need Channels just as much as they need them. The relationship in their eyes are symbiotic; Channels can provide support to the police to help in crimes that may prove too dangerous for officers as well as try to apprehend some of their violent brethren. The leader of this group believes that true tolerance and equality means that both parties have the same rights and deserve the same respect. She believes that having Channels in a crisis and natural disasters would save countless lives. Even nonviolent Channels have become targets of racism. Even Elspeth, the face of cooperation and temperance, has come under scrutiny as her true motives have come into question. All of these changes started with Jakob and while they have happened over four years Elspeth has noticed a fundamental change within him. He's gone from passionate but compromising to tyrannical and fearmongering, calling for harsher measures against all Channels and much of the world has fallen in line.

You are a Channel during this period of crisis. A new law has been passed in all SDD countries requiring Channels to be registered with the SDD. The official message is to improve services and mend relations throughout the world but there are whispers of this being the first step in making Channels second-class citizens. Some conspiracy theorists even warn that this is a Nazi style "final solution", with predictable results. How will you react to this, what do you think of it and most importantly, what will you do next?



RULES:

Do NOT counter pick other people's choices. That is uncool and not fun at all. The only time this is acceptable is when we do it, because host advantage. Really though, the only time is okay if one side is has less people.

No overpowered characters or intense mastery. All of our characters either don't know they are a channel or know of one power.

It's going to be 18+ so expect violence, swearing, sex., mentions of drugs. Our characters can hardly control their powers so this enables us to really show it. Not to mention it makes it so much easier to write without censorship. If you're young ones want to read this then just let them know ahead of time.

No god mode or scripting (any scripting will either be done by us to further the plot or with permission from the two parties in question.) all of you should know that. Usual RP roles apply if you don't know those rules Andante made a really good FAQ on the forums.

Rivalries or hate among characters is good but not among writers. No one is allowed to flame or try to sound superior to anyone else. I hate safe spaces however we are all writers. I for one will help anyone who needs or wants advice.

All of you will have the option of who you side with in this RP. This is your choice.

We expect good posts, 2-3 paragraphs and PM correspondence between both parties if there is a lot of dialogue.

We also understand that life gets in the way so lets us know if or when and we will park your character somewhere as well as script them so they don't hold anyone up. We're pretty cool and understanding so if you need to tell this why you aren't posting then don't be shy. If you even need to talk about what is bothering you then shoot me a PM I don't want to speak for the Simus and T incase they don't want to hear it hahaha. Don't be afraid to get creative just don't go overboard as well.

Cast List:
Wolfbane as Cass Strander and Vivian Mossheart
Simus as Alice Siram and Jess Segan
T.Rakinson as Adrian Ramsleigh​

 

[Wolfbane]

The faint pattering of a keyboard could be heard through the dominant sound of the stereo bouncing off the living room walls, amplifying the music through the house. At this moment a figure sat at a desk staring in front of a computer for hours on end thinking of what else to put down on the virtual paper. The paper was about half full before the cursor hovered in place without a hand to guide it. Stumped, the figure got out of the chair and walked down a dark hallway whilst lighting a cigarette. With a turn of the corner the figure entered a red room with photographs drip drying off lines. Eyes viewed every edge and line of the picture and every curves of the subject. It was a look of fascination not romance. To capture the innocence in such a way is truly an art. The set from this past job came out next to perfect. A picture; capturing a moment or person at the current stage forever and will always be so. Time encapsulated in a small wrinkle of time from now to here knows when. This set is one of the few times he likes and opted for posed instead of candid. Most people don't know much emotion truly shows in the heat of a moment, in that natural setting. That's what makes the picture; a smile that is brighter and truly genuine, sadness that reaches out of the picture and grabs your own heart to make you feel it's pain. Whereas posed shots when not done well seem contrite and almost amateur if the photographer has no love for the art.

Ash was slowly climbing up the crooked rod, wasting all the deathly chemicals infused in the coffin nail. He took a deep breath inhaling all the smoke before exhaling it making the red light dance with the smoke. Satisfied with his work so far, Cass glanced at the time on phone and flipped on the TV to check the weather.

"Alright Lisa, give me some good news and decent weather!"

"Hello and good morning! Today and the rest of the week will be a little warm but not too bad. So get there, enjoy some fresh air and take a dive in the pool!" The pretty meteorologist gave a bright smile and laughed thus causing Cass to do the same at his TV crush. The tele was then switched it off while toying with his phone. His finger slid down into the V section and stopped at the letter and began to type up a new text forgetting he accidentally deleted all the previous messages from before. The pseudo sound of a type writer began to arise from the phone.

"Hey girlie, how's work treating you?"



"Hey! No running near the pool! And you, Brooke and Mike! For the love of all things good, no making out in front of the children, yeah? I see enough of that on campus."

The shade was making the already cool week and more importantly work, even more bearable. No walking in blistering hot sidewalks, no overcrowding in the pools and no short tempered gym staff. Because of all things mentioned she can sink into her chair and let the shift go by. There was a muffled sound of a bing indicating a message. She reached under her towel and took it out to find out it was her best friend Cass. Well, best friend among other things.


"Hey girlie. How's work treating you?"

"Can't complain with this weather. Although I'm tired of snarling at the guys and girls who stare at me in this damn two piece."

"Maybe it's the fact that you look like you just broke through the punk scene. Not all,people are like me you know. Sure some people like that plops but most can't help but stare. Like Jim Morrison said, people are strange. You still up for the concert?"

"If people were more like you'd life would be so much better. Dude, you know I'm up for that concert! plops, I can practically feel the vibration speak to my body. As for people staring, they be hatin, yo! fluffin' jealous that I'm inked AND sexy!"

"I suppose that's one of the reasons. You're a geek, you know that?"

"You like it, don't you? Pick me up some food and bring it to me? You know you can't say no to your girl. You know my favorite!"

"Food? I suppose for you. I'll be there before you know it. Here and gone..."

Her phone went back under the towel and she began to trace the lines of the Geisha tattoo simply pondering about the concert ahead.

You might be thinking to yourself why would someone would hire a girl with her arms covered in tats, gauges and a distinct personality. The answer is ethic and the fact that she took out her gauges, bracelets and respects the staff and her boss. Vivian always says to question authority, however, that is only when it doesn't go with your morals. In real life you have to respect your boss if they respect you and treat you fairly. Her boss allows her work without covering the ink as long as she takes the rest off and acts like a professional. Don't live up to a preconceived stereotype or notion. She may look like a waster but she is far from it. Better to not say a word and let people think your stupid than to open your mouth and prove them right. Same concept different instance.

The water was gently rocking back and forth reflecting the sun's rays giving a sheen to the chlorine blue. This with the sound of splashing made her head dangle over the back of the chair with her eyes closed. Before she could let out a big sigh she opened her eyes to the sight of warm eyes, a beard and even warmer food, and a sigh turned into a smile.

"Sorry about the wait. Traffic was killer."

"Traffic? You of all people don't have to sit in traffic. Even though you are early."

"Will you shush. I don't like subjugating people to my talent, to say the least. In fact the only talents I want people to see is my photography and writing. Well and you of course." Cass leaned for a kiss which Vivian did the same, causing wolf whistles from familiar faces.

"Cass and Vivian, for all things good, no making out in front of the children, yeah?" The two teens who made out before tried to splash water on them.

"Take off Brooke. You're just a salty potato because Mike didn't bring you warm food at your job!"

"Oh Viv, if you knew what else he brought to my work!"

"Nope, Naw. Don't fill us in. In fact, the only thing that's going to be filled in as my spot. Catch you two in a bit." Two fingers waved away and goodbye from her forehead as the two went inside the building and made their way to the cafe corner where they both sat down and brought the food out of the brown neatly folded over bag and onto the middle of the table before hands on either side grabbed what was theirs and began to eat the fairly pricey meals.

"You got me fracking Panera. You know how to woo a girl."

"We have a sandwich and a drink each. got you the Italian combo and a coke while I got myself chicken caesar three cheese. Oh and I also got you a chicken Cobb salad." Cass took a sip of his sweet tea watching Vivian eat faster than usual.

"I heard about all the protests about the new Channel registration act that's in effect. It's getting more and more heated by the day. What did you do?"

"I registered a few days ago. It was a little tense to say the least. There was a crowd with signs with plops like 'Humanity first' 'The impure can burn' a lot of vitriol coming from the hate groups. Not so much for the other protests that have sound concerns. I did it to show I'm not a threat nor someone who likens themselves to good. My ability is non violent and passive. If I had an offensive power I'd still use it for good if need be. However, I highly doubt I got new toys. I do however think that violent protests against channels is going to cause a civil war. A civil war unseen in history. You will always have radicals in any creed and race. That's just a fact unfortunately. Multiply that the other side has powers of all kinds. It's going to come to a head soon."

Ever since the act was past a week ago protests both peaceful and violent have been popping up left and right. D.C is one of the main states to have a lot of them ever since it went public. The feeling of the people was split; there was peaceful gatherings that respected boundaries, the police and of course the Channels in question. The sides talked and gave their points on why they feel how they feel and some even changed their minds. Most however have erupted; full blown non discriminate violence. There are two main sides to all the chaos; Humanity United and Future Imperfects. Humanity United are a radical pro humanity group that will stop at nothing to get Channels put in chains or put down. Going so far to harass anyone who agrees or supports the Channels. They always turn to violence to get their message across and will strike at business who are not anti channel, go on any outlet and tell the world how it should be. This hate breeds intense violence among the people of D.C. Future Imperfects however are more peaceful and dedicated to true unity. Making sure both Channels and normal everyday people feel safe around each other as well as trust one another. It has not been easier though; Humanity United supporters have attacked the other side and more and more fighting is happening.

"I don't like being on a specific list to which I can be checked up on but it had to be done I suppose."

"Man, its all going to hell. Even being close to a Channel has it's scares. Not for me of course, but it is generally scary. But then again maybe it's because I've got someone to come in and save me." Vivian poked Cass' hand and laughed with a green leaf half way sticking out of her mouth making the moment twice as adorable.

"Maybe so, little bird. You set for the concert?"

"Dark room full of entranced people? 80's synth/ synth pop? Melancholy melodies as well as dance tracks? Hell yeah I'm set. The doors open at 7, right?"

"Yeah, so if we arrive right at 7 we will get good spots as well as see the opener. You want to take the rapid transit? Faster and you can look at the darting scenery."

"That works perfectly. No need to spend gas money and we don't have to drive. Hell yeah! Whelp, looks like I need to get back." The two got up, shared a quick kiss and went their separate ways until they see each other again that night. As the sun abandoned it's post it was drowned in black. Naked feet traversed the carpet and found their way into torn jeans and black boots that were sloppy with laces halfway out and the tongue sticking out. They spun on their heels and stopped at a closet for a tank while the arms reached for a leather cuff more than one bracelet and her flat .45 casing gauges. The phone dinged soon after, letting her know he was there.

The two made their way to the transit with hands in their pockets and a conversation between them. It it only took them 20 minutes to arrive at their destination. With passes bought the two boarded the Washington metro above ground station. The dark yet active city life darted passed them giving a momentary glance through the window of other people's lives. The chattering of the train car from the outside and the isolated echoing of the other passengers made Vivian relax and smile. Streaks of neon lined building added the right amount vibrance to the sky, adding the perfect style to this night.

They finally arrived at the venue and made their way after flashing their ticket stubs that will be added to their collection. The booming of numerous of different voices and the music of the openers made it very difficult to converse, but that didn't matter between these two and/or people as them. Cass was in his own trance just as Vivian was in her own. When the opener ended and the main liner began to play. The different universe collided and the two began joined their energy. The waves of the synths spread throughout the venue drowning everyone in joyful unity. There was no alone person. At that very moment they were all one; cast away the differences the walls, tonight they were all unified.

As the song played the two got closer and closer to each other, dancing to each others' rhythm and as the song hit the first chorus the two embraced and sweetly danced to the music, her hands around his neck and his on her hips as they sway to the mellow electronica. She simply looked into eyes before the two kissed and held onto each other so tightly no one could separate them. All while they lose themselves into each other Vivian retreated into one recent conversation.


"Well? When are you going to tell him?

"Tell him what?"

"Uh oh I don't know that you love him. You've been together for a year and that's including how long you've known each other." The two girls continued to shop in the clothing store, Vivian rolling her eyes each time she sees a Patti Smith or Joy Divisions Unknown Pleasures on shirt in a clothing store where most customers don't even know who Patti Smith or who Joy Division are.

"I... will. There just hasn't been a good time yet! But with the up coming Trust concert I'm going to change that!"

"Does he even know? I mean it."

"Look, Brooke. You don't have to say I love you to mean it." A hand came up to her necklace and she started to feel the outlines of the steel celtic knot owl from Cass for her 18th birthday. She bought him a steel Celtic knot wolf head for his 21st birthday and when he got hers he told her that she was his guardian in the dark just as he was her protecter. Both of which are true.

"It helps! I told Mike after our second Valentine's day. Cass bought you that necklace and practically said he needed you. If that's not romantic I don't know what is. Mike got me a big ass 100 dollar teddy bear but what you got makes the panties drop."

"I do really love the necklace, you're right. And yes, it does make the panties drop. I just think it's the word is overused nowadays and it's muddled it's meaning."

"You know he cares about you a lot right?" Brooke's tone went serious as they stopped near the jackets.

"Yeah, of course I do."

"I hope so. Anyway, let's back to shopping!" For a moment Vivian wondered Brook's point; does she really know? Sure you can guy your partner things but what would you do for them? This troubled her in the back of her mind for the remainder of the day. What would she do for him? The fact that she hadn't thought about it all this time also concerned her. The pair is so joined somehow at all times they just don't think about it.

As the song and as well following subsequent playlist ended, the crowd funneled into one jam packed line until they made their way out the door and poured out onto the street. Vivian tightly held his hand and smiled when he interlocked his. There was not a single word spoken between the two. The sound of Uma Thurman in Pulp Fiction played in her head, 'you know you've found someone special if you can just shut the fluff up for a minute and enjoy the silence'.

It was about an 45 minutes before them as well as a tag slog group went down stairs into the subway and waited for the train. As the tag alongs talked amongst themselves Vivian's heart raced as she worked up enough moxie to tell him the phrase; the series of words that everyone wants to hear from their partner. The whites of the subway lights were getting closer telling her to just get it over with. Cass let go of her hand to answer a call giving her some time to gather herself. She took a mental deep breath and turned to him before the sounds of screaming could be heard. A woman a few feet next to her was just mugged and now the robber was making his way over to them. Before she knew it she was pushed out of the way and onto the tracks, shocked what just happened.

Hearing the commotion after he hung up, Cass began to look for Vivian to find her on the tracks. The horn of the train was no blaring and he needed to get her to safety. He quickly jumped down onto the the tracks and helped her up. When he faced the train it lit up his whole body. Vivian tried to crawl over to him but was held back by the people from the concert. Cass simply looked at her and smiled before getting struck by the front, causing him to fly back further than normal. Almost as if a strong and powerful gust of air threw him due to divine intervention. By the time the train stopped people helped Vivian get his body out of the tracks.

His head was cradled in her arms as she kneeled over him sobbing while holding him close. Wet stains pooling on his face and shirt as someone called 911.

"God damn it don't do this! Come on Cass wake up! We're the castaways, the couple thrown under the bus at all times! We're Clearance and Alabama in True Romance, Han Solo and Leia, we're fluffing Bonnie and Clyde! Don't you fluffin do this!" She brought his heavy head up to her chest and clenched him even closer. "I... Iove you! You hear me! God damn it, why didn't I just say it to begin with. I don't want to take this plopsty and plastic world by myself. I'm your guardian in the dark and you're my protector remember?! Don't you do this to me!" She rocked them both back and forth before the paramedics showed up, gently pulling her away and trying to revive Cass. 15 minutes passed with no luck. Not caring if she is hindering them she pushed out and began to scream and beat on his chest. The angrier she got the lights began to flicker violently before the ground beneath them cracked. Cries turned into soft moans of sorrow before she felt faint breathing on her cheek. She yelled for the EMTs and she got into the ambulance with them headed for the hospital.

 

[Simus]

Another protest. Always another protest. Sometimes it was Humanity United screaming about their rights and freedoms as "natural" members of the species, sometimes it was Future Imperfect staging a peaceful demonstration for a good reason but someone, somewhere always got out of hand. The other side shows up, the cops show up, the SDD shows up and then people get hurt. Then it ends up on NBC news and the world sees it from their little windows of TV,s computers and phones. That was what Alice Siram was up to now, at 8:30 on this Tuesday night with her parents and her best friend Jessica Segan. Normally Jessica wouldn't be here so late. It was a school night and 6:00 a.m always came too early for both of them. But Jessica's mom was working an overnight shift at Target and Jess needed to be looked after. This had happened a lot over the last few weeks during Target's remodeling and it was starting to get to Jess. Her mom worked so hard for her and it wasn't fair that they saw so little of each other, or that her bastard of a dad didn't love her enough to stay married to her mom. He was always good with child support, generous even, but it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough for a sixteen year old girl. So Alice's mom and dad picked up the slack. They never complained. They loved Jess, they always would and they would always take care of her but she couldn't help feeling they had a low opinion of her. How could they not when she had such a low opinion of herself?

Alice watched the news report with barely contained apprehension. Most of the protests were just outside the SDD registration centers and while no one had as yet been killed or died from injuries the protest had been increasing in size and number ever since the SDD Registration Mandate was passed a week ago. What had started almost as a public debate had gotten increasingly hateful and violent and it looked as if it was only a matter of time before people started dying. The whole situation reminded Alice of Deus Ex: Human Revolution. Augmented and "normal" humans outside LIMB clinics, augmented police and warbots violently suppressing riots and Adam Jensen trying to get to the source of it all. But here there was no Adam Jensen, no structured conspiracy for the player to unravel, no David Sarif or William Taggart to cleanly embody the ideas of their entire group and certainly no Hugh Darrow to explain everything away at the end. It was just a mess. A big messy mess that they were all living through and had to somehow come out on top of.

"Hey mom?" Alice asked after her dad muted the TV at a commercial break. "Are you sure it's a good idea for Jess and I to get registered?" Her mom was sitting on the living room couch between the two girls while Alice's dad was over in his chair to the left of the couch. Alice was on her mom's left and they turned their bodies to face each other. "I mean, we're supposed to go in a week and with all of these protests I'm just not sure if it's safe to go. I'm scared of these people."

"I understand sweetheart." Her mom Amy said. "I'm scared of them too. I think we all are. They're frightened, desperate people who are raising hell because they don't know what else to do. But that's no reason not to get registered. In fact if you don't get registered the protesters win. They're trying to keep people out."

"Future Imperfect is trying to keep people out Mrs. Siram." Jessica said from Amy's other side. "They don't trust the SDD or their registration process and they think it's unfair to turn peoples' natural right to use their abilities into a privilege like driving or fishing."

"Exactly Jess." Amy said. "They feel the SDD wants people like you and Alice to need permission to exist so they protest at the registration centers. But Humanity United doesn't even want to give you guys petmission. They just want to lock up all Channels, registration be damned. Notice that they're the only ones who have tried to actively hurt people so far and that's only been extriemest groups so far. If you guys get registered you'll be eligible for all kinds of services that would help both of you and neither group wants that for different reasons. That means if you stay home and deny yourself what the SDD is offering you you hurt the exploration of your own powers and show both groups that their tactics work. Is that what either of you want?"

"No ma'am."

"I guess not."

She put an arm around both girls and they nuzzled up to her shoulders. "Listen to me: You girls are gonna be just fine. We have an appointment, the SDD knows we're coming and they will keep us safe. And we're gonna keep each other safe. Me and dad Alice and your mom Jess, we all planned this out together. I promise you girls have nothing to worry about. Besides, I guarantee you guys that registration will become law sooner rather than later and volunteering for these things is always the better way to go."

"She's right guys." Alice's dad Simon said. He'd been waiting for his wife to finish talking and stood up so he could see them better. "These protests are scary but they can and will be kept under control. People don't get arrested for violent protesting and then go back out the very next day. There have been three major protests in the D.C area in the last month at three SDD centers and there are over a hundred places you can go to get registered. Given that data how likely is it really that you're going to run into trouble?"

Neither girl had an answer. They looked to Amy. "Doesn't sound like very many does it?" They both shook their head.

"So some of this is hype then. The protesters know they're on the news and they want us to be scared."

"And if we get scared enough not to register then they continue their protests."

"Huh...well in that case screw them. I say we get registered."

"That would be my suggestion." Amy said with a smile.

"Thanks mom." Alice said smiling.

"Yeah, thanks Mrs. Siram." Jessica said with just as big a smile. Amy pulled them both into a hug and they reciprocated. "No problem." She said. "Now, it's late and you both have school tomorrow. Jess, I'll take you to school tomorrow with Alice and then drive you home so your mom can get some sleep. She's off tomorrow night isn't she?"

"Yeah. She texted me and said she was."

"You think you both would be up for dinner with us?"

"Yeah, I think she'd like that. I'll let her know. Thanks a lot Mrs. Siram. Really, I really appreciate you and Mr. Siram looking after me while mom works nights and I know she does too."

"You're always welcome here Jess." Simon said. "We all know how hard it's been without your dad and how hard your mom works. She's always welcome here too, whenever she's got time."

"Thanks." Jessica said with a sad smile. Her dad had divorced her mom three years ago when Jessica's powers over computers had manifested. Her parents had been having some problems for years but Jessica always felt she had been the breaking point. That her powers had driven her dad away. Her mom, Alice and her parents had offered a million other suggestions to try and give her perspective but none of them could ever be confirmed by the man himself and all of them hurt a little for that reason.

"Anytime sweetheart." Amy said, giving Jessica another hug. "Go get some rest. This'll all look better in the morning."

Both girls were already in their pajamas. Fleece footy pajamas. Alice's were white with black skulls and Jessica's were blue with white snowflakes. Right now the girls only had their bottom halves covered and had the top half tied around their waists to stop them from getting too hot while they were awake and T shirts to keep them covered. Now that it was bedtime however they put them on the rest of the way and zipped them up, warm and ready for bed. After getting a third and fourth hug each by both parents they headed upstairs, Alice leading the way.

 

[TheGreatPumpkin]

Jim stood on guard as he watched the channels registering closely. He was stationed at one of the many Channel Registration Centers across the US and the marines weren't the only ones there. Around him stood a mix of police, SWAT teams, National Guardsmen, State Defense Forces and SDD employees. His job was to make sure that neither Imperfect Future or Humanity United tried to pull anything to serious. It reminded him to much of Nazi Germany, and now he was an SS. This wasn't to say Jim didn't like the marines or his country. He loved serving America and grew up with stories on how Ronald Reagon destroyed communism and a plethora of other equally patriotic stories. But he new that this was wrong, that America screwed the pooch with this one.

Normally SWAT teams could handle the situation, but apparentl things were going bad. As he looked out the window of the Humvee he saw several broken windows and turned over cars. Jim looked at the rioters in disgust. He was all for protesting, but Humanity United was in his opinion a mix of methed out conspiracy theorists, violent thugs, and just a bunch of assh*les. The governor felt that after 4 days of rioting across the city, 48 arrests and after 5 people died in a burning apartment building, then it was nessassary to call in the calvary. Except in this case the calavry was an infantry regiment of marines. Fortunately for Jim he wasn't being thrown right in the action, the marines sent over were to be used as a last resort. In case shots were fired or the police lines to the Resistration Center were broken by rioters they were to stay in reserve. For now his job was to check the channels entering the building for weapons or explosives and provide reinforcements to the SDD guards there.

Jim stepped out of the Humvee and listened to his squad leader bark out the orders. Jim wasn't really paying attention, his mind was on other things. He was secretly a channel. His gift was a "wee-bit" less subtle than others, to put it bluntly he was a monster. When he is severely injured he morphs into a horrible ogre-like monster. Although he hasn't figured out how to control it, he knew if someone saw his transform he was screwed. He always wondered why he had to be a less green Hulk, when others got to have super speed or read people's mind. When briefing ended, he went to his post, he at least heard that much. Nothing much happened from what he could see, or at least nothing happened that required him to get involved. There was the occasional dumb protester who tried to charge a cop, only to get sprayed and carried away by the police into a squad car. After about 2 hours he could see the police to start to form a shieldwall, as the protest started to turn into a riot. Bottles were being thrown and Humanity United started to lash out at the peaceful Imperfect Future. Feeling nervous Jim checked to see if there was a round in the chamber of his weapon.

"Can you be more discreet about that?"

Jim jumped slightly as he heard the slightly conjested sounding voice behind him. It came from one of the employees behind him. She was of average height and had a thin bony face and a friendly smile, that let you know everything was gonna be alright when it wasn't. Her face was plastered with freckles and she was wearing a hat that said "Imperfect Future". Jim was shrugged and fired back.

"Can you be more discreet about yourself?"

She frowned slightly and welcomed the next person to the registration table. Jim shook his head as he looked at the lines of people lining up to sign away their rights. Although he was a channel himself, he didn't approve of this law. For all he cared the SDD could screw off and go back home.

"God I wish I could just go home now."

As Jim muttered into a incoherent rambling a white truck pulled up in the middle of the crowd of protesters. A bearded man dressed in hunting camouflage climbed on top of the hood of the truck clutching a microphone. He put the microphone to his lips and started yelling about how the Channels were going to destroy all of humanity.

"CHANNELS ARE NOT HUMAN! CHANNELS DO NOT BELONG HERE! THEY ARE NOT HUMAN...SO THEY DO NOT GET HUMAN RIGHTS! SINCE THE DAWN OF TIME CHANNELS HAVE BEEN DESTROYING HUMANITY! EVEN NOW THEY PLOT AGAINST US!"

Jim lifted his M27 slightly upward in case things went south. He felt someone shove past him and saw the freckle faced employee rush towards the bearded man. Jim couldn't hear what she was saying, but it had an affect on the crowd. Pro-human protesters started shoving channels, spitting in their faces and yelling slurs. Despite that Imperfect Future stood there refusing to fight back. Jim had to give them credit for that. The bearded man pointed towards the woman and two similarly dress men packing hunting rifles grabbed her and threw into the back of the truck. The bearded man grabbed her and showed her off to the crowd.

"THIS IS A TRAITOR! SHE HAS SOLD HERSELF TO THE CHANNEL MENACE! SHE IS NOT WORTHY OF LIVING! SHE IS NOT HUMAN! WHEN YOU SUPPORT THEM..YOU SELL YOUR SOUL TO THE DEVIL! BECAUSE THEY ARE THE EMBODIEMENT OF EVIL! NO GOD WOULD CREATE SUCH MONSTERS! AND LADIES AND GENTLEMEN SHE MIGHT AS WELL BE THE DEVIL!"​

The bearded man drew a silver handgun from his jacket and pushed it into the woman's temple. One single shot and it all went to hell. Men in hunting fatigues lifted their shotguns and rifles and fired onto the channel supporting protesters. The police tried to evacuate the civilians from the incoming fire while the soldiers and marines fired onto the terrorists. Jim sprinted towards the enemy and fired at them.

"pl*ps! Where are they coming from? I can't get a clear id on them!"

Jim tried to aim for the terrorists but the crowd was to thick. Several vans and trucks drove into the crowd with armed men jumping out of them clutching rifles shooting at both civilians and military targets. Jim laid down suppressive fire as enemies poured out of a minivan as soon as he got a clear shot, He gunned down three of them, their blood pouring onto the street. As he turned a corner he ran into one of the shooters. The man's face was obscured by a bandana and he clutched a semiautomatic carbine in his hand. The assailant tried to hit Jim with his rifle-butt, but he blocked it with his own weapon and kicked the man to the ground. Stomping on his neck with all his might Jim pressed down and fired 3 rounds into the man's skull. The figther's bandana came loose and he saw a familiar bearded face. It was the man from earlier who shot the SDD employee.

"Have fun in Hell you son of b*tch."

After about an hour of fighting the terrorists surrendered and allowed themselves to be detained. Jim conversed with one of this fellow marines.

"Damn, amazing how quickly things can turn to pl*ps, huh? I mean just one guy and now dozens of people are dead."

"Yeah bro, I heard SWAT teams had to drop a few guys taking potshots at a group of channels from an apartment building three blocks down."

"Situations like this make me forget I left Afghani-"

Jim was cut off when a teenager shoved pass him sprinting away from two men. He grappled with one of pursuers, but the other one grabbed the boy. The two wrestled on the ground and several police officers started pulling the man off of the child. Then the boy starting glowing. The brightness increased until he looked like a flaming ball of fire and the aspalt started to melt around him. The thug combusted into flame and the several police touching him did the same. Jim shoved the man to the ground and he ran away. Jim wasn't worried about that though. The ground around the teen was starting to melt and several people standing near him caught on fire.

"Motherf&cker! Somebody stop that kid, he gonna kill us all! Quickly somebody!"

Everyone ran out of the area as the boy started to scream as the light got more intense. Then suddenly he exploded and the shockwave shook the groud causing car alarms to go off and knocking people over. The boy was gone and there was only a crater in the ground. By then most of the marines and police officers had gone to a safe distance, but to many already died.

 

[T. Rakinson]

The room, though darkened, was hardly devoid of energy. The violent scraping of tire against blistered tarmac, accompanied by the occasional horn and torrent of profanity pushed in through the shuttered windows, filling the space with an irritable background noise. Occasionally the rattling of a tram could also be picked up from two blocks over; a staple of Michigan City’s bustling soundscape.

The small apartment bedroom was producing little noise of its own in contrast, only the quiet background hum of a radiator hidden behind a stack of cardboard boxes could be made out. Yet on account of all the miscellaneous battered old furniture littering the room in an unorganised layout, the sound would gradually reverberate all around the room, finally wavering out above the single bed in the far corner of the room.

27 seconds ahead of itself from the night before, a digital alarm clock sprung to life on the scratched bedside table, triggering a rustling beneath the covers of the bed. When the alarm persisted a hand connected to an arm lashed out from within the sheets and pounced on the device to slam the snooze button, only to freeze upon doing so, as if confused. After remaining like this for a few moments, the exposed arm retracted back into the cover before throwing it forwards, revealing a young man with a bewildered expression. In an instant he was up, and darting over to the nearest of several assorted dirty mirrors.

The young white-Arabic man studied his reflection for a long time, becoming almost as fixed in place as any of the surrounding furniture. He quickly adopted a concentrated expression, looking as though he was trying to remember something, occasionally looking into the mirror again as if for reference. Over time he began to look frustrated, worried, and finally distraught. Finally he spoke, in a quiet, wavering voice.

“He’s gone”.

Adrian returned to the bed and sat down, his face in his hands. He felt moisture build on his palms. Was it sweat, tears? It had been so long since he’d felt either, and he didn’t care to check. Both would have been appropriate, as the man began to logically comprehend his situation.

He was alive again. A body, an identity, an unshared mind of his own.

All he felt was sorrow.

For this body was not naturally his. He had invaded it, taken it from its real owner, and now it was clear that this had come at a terrible cost, because that person was now lost.

Now, he was the sole occupant of the late Mustafa Amjad’s body, a man officially employed at the Marathon Gas station 2 miles down the road, with family and friends across the state. He didn’t want to think about that. It didn’t help to sully the direness of his situation.

As it was however, Adrian had access to all of Mustafa’s memories; it was impossible for him to explain it in much detail, but everything about his host, save for his own conscience, was available to the new operator. Stored across both the conscious and subconscious repositories of data throughout his brain were the man’s memories, acquired skills... and abilities.

All he needed to do was find them.

***​

He started the search through his shared conscience on that last detail; that his former host had the power to manipulate the mind, not as how Adrian was doing now, but on a more offensive level, causing hallucinations and other forms of sensory disruption. A quick search concluded that he was unable to tap into those abilities. Mustafa could though; he had given himself a name in relation to it. One he seldom used aloud, and never within earshot of others. As Adrian began to sift through the branching neural pathways, the name gradually revealed itself, uttered in a vision of the man stood alone in a shadowy, decrepit alleyway, moments away from making an attempt on his own life.


“-a Channel”.


The word triggered a burst of information that washed through his neural pathways and make his frontal lobe sting briefly. As the pain passed, Adrian quickly concentrated to intercept the now receding memories, before analysing them for further information. What was revealed to him made the foreign mind recoil from the shocking events that had been altering the world for the past few years.


From what Mustafa had observed across several news articles of varying viewpoints over the recent years, an array of enhanced humans collectively known as Channels had been exposed to the world, prompting worldwide registration and political frenzy. The first contact had apparently caused major controversy... but there the information trail hit a dead end. But not in a structurally finite way as could be exampled by the many other data strands available to him; the path unnaturally proceeded into a fortified deposit of the subconscious.


As much as he tried, Adrian could not bypass the mental blockade barring the path, suggesting repressed images or events were held beyond it. Though it had manifested some time ago, he was untrained in his ability, so perhaps with time he could muster the strength to break through. The simpler solution was for him to simply go out into the world and look up the fresh history of the exposed Channels, so that he could unlock the memory in a less forceful manner. That seemed like the best way to proceed.


Before discontinuing his internal probing, Adrian stopped to quickly contemplate the risks of this goal; for him to block the knowledge of the Channel’s exposure meant that Mustafa’s conscience had been dedicated to protecting his mind from whatever information it included. But the thought passed, and as Adrian began to assemble his focus at the cerebellum to regain motor control, his being was focused on a specific goal.


He would find a way to bring Mustafa back, wherever he was locked away in his own mind now.​

***​

Once Adrian had fully dressed himself (after washing just his face and hands; he was both uncomfortable going any further in this body and had been unable to turn on the shower) in his blue employee uniform, he went over to the tiny apartment’s makeshift kitchen area. He then fixed himself up a bowl of nearly-stale cereal before going to sit on an ancient-looking couch situated in front of a coffee table. Though the taste would normally have been dull, to him it felt immensely uplifting; though physically he felt only slightly peckish, on a cognitive level his mind rejoiced at the detection of long-overdue nourishment.

Between savouring the mouthfuls of his breakfast the young man took a look at his new personal cell phone. It was clear he wouldn’t have access to any internet search engines on this device, so he began to stalk the messaging service for hints to the Channels notorious discovery. He didn’t expect much and subsequently wasn’t disappointed when nothing came up; his main plan was to access the computer at the Marathon Gas station, where Mustafa had been -or seemingly still was to others- employed.

However seeing all the saved contacts left Adrian feeling saddened again; the friends and family of his host knew nothing about what cruel fate had befallen him. Not only did this renew his guilt for occupying this body and pushing Mustafa into the deep recesses of his own mind, but for the first time in months he thought about his own friends and family, back in the life he had lost years ago.

By now his parents probably took him for dead; perhaps it was better that way, rather than them discovering the wretched entity he’s become; the shade of a dead teenager imposing itself on a stolen body. Even now he wanted to keep his distance, knowing that one way or another, he’d never return to them as their son. Not to mention how before his hospitalisation he had effectively emancipated himself when his mother had shattered his aspirations for a fantastic political career.

It felt like such a petty conflict now to have between blood relatives, and in a moment of weakness he wondered if the purpose of his power was to allow him to see them once more. But he stopped himself from heading further down that train of thought, not wanting to disrespect his younger self’s decision.

As for his friends... they had been there for the earthquake just as he had, but he had no memory of seeing or hearing about them. He tried to maintain an optimistic attitude though, and promised to himself that he’d search for them too.

He quickly put the phone away and finished his breakfast. In his mind there was only a rough idea of what Mustafa’s job involved doing, and he’d need to run through them on the journey there so that people wouldn’t grow suspicious before he could use the computer. Grabbing his new bus pass, wallet and keychain, Adrian finally made his leave of the run-down apartment and made his way downstairs and out into the streets of Michigan City.

 

[Wolfbane]

The lights of the encroaching danger began to engulf his body just as the sound drowned out the screams of Vivian and the people around him. Most would feel dread and sadness in their final moments, their life flashing before their eyes. All that he could do was stare at her face and memorize her features like it was the first time… or the last. All the moments of her smiling and laughing took the place of her crying. There wasn’t enough time to use his powers so he just accepted his fate. Maybe it was his time or that he was indeed her protector. Either way Vivian was safe and sound. That was all that mattered to him and made him calm down. One could say that he was throwing himself away for a silly reason but that could not be further from the truth. If he didn’t throw her out of the way and she got killed then he would never forgive himself.

As he turned he was blinded by the light at the end of the tunnel. The impact made him fly back breaking three ribs before the train stopped when everyone screamed and waved for the train to stop. However, something was different. Right as he was hit he felt a gust of air take the brunt of the hit sling shotting him back but still making his heart stop in his place. 15 minutes passed but to him all he remembered was a feeling of gentle limbo; it drenched him in warmth like a warm hug from your mother.

“Do you want to let go? Do you want the light to engulf you?” A voice came from the light, both male and female, alternating lines.

“I can’t let go, I don’t want to. I want to be with her no matter what. Is it my time?”

“No, but it will get hard. Cass, you are a survivor. No matter how much you say we look down on you never forget that we watch over you and have plans for you. Judgement is coming and it will be horrendous. Goodbye Cass. We love you and we hope with these words of warning we won’t be seeing you again. If we do meet again however, hope it’s in your dreams. Once again, we love you just as we love all our kids. Your kind is no exception, always remember that.”

Cass reached out before feeling his heart come back to life as if being jump-started by a car battery. He took a new breath and gripped her shirt before passing out while being put in the ambulance. The two locked hands tighter than ever before now that one of them was pronounced dead for a good 15 minutes, which would spell out certain death for most people. Cass drifted in and out of consciousness as the sedative and pain killers kicked in. The moments he was awake was filled with humming with broken tears and sobs as Vivian held his hand and rocked back and forth.

They had finally arrived and she was peeled away from his side as they set him up in his room leaving her in the waiting room still shaking after the ordeal. It had been at least an two hours before the doctor called her from the waiting room and lead her towards the room.

“Ms. Mosshart. Someone must be watching over your two because Cass at worst has three broken ribs and bruising. If it was anyone else they’d be dead. We’re still baffled at how he survived. His vitals were controlled and he should be safe. It will take some time to heal but we have a decent cafeteria here, okay coffee and great staff.”

“Thank you so much, doctor. You have no idea what it means to me.”

“That’s our job. But still 15 minutes without a pulse and coming back is nothing short of a miracle. There was a picture of you in his wallet which looked pretty worn. Maybe you can say your love for each other brought him back. If you need anything you can ask the nurse or call me in if you see me. There is a button if he needs assistance or more sedatives. If you would be so kind to excuse me I have to take this call.”

“Of course, thank you again,” Vivian made her way to his room and shut the door as she adjusted the lights to keep him even more comfortable. The chair next to him moved even closer before holding Vivian and letting her sink back into it. It was 1:20 in the morning and she had no intention of going home and leaving him. She plugged her headphones in and tapped her news app to see what else was happening; First was the them on the news and what all happened and the user footage shook and cut for a second just as she screamed over his body. What the hell was that? Did she start his heart or was it a miracle? There was no way she did that right? If she did, then did she cause the violent shaking and the indent under Cass? What the hell actually happened? Is she a Channel? There was no way of finding out now and all that matters was Cass and being his guardian in the dark.

The news switched to the anti and pro Channel protests during the registration. Now, the Coast Guard was called, which is normal to call them at first then the Marines which made things worst. On top of it the police are out in full force as well as the SDD. All of this is a culmination of sheer violence. The world is all going to hell real fast. It didn’t help that Humanity United has been egging all the parties affected. On top of that Future Imperfects were, in her eyes, trying their best to stay nonviolent even against the Humanity United. This isn’t just civil unrest; this is super charged with people who are not just humans but Channels.

Before she knew it her eyes were drooping and she gently curled up next to him making sure to not put pressure on his ribs. Night turned to morning and she was woken up by the touches of Cass who despite his injuries was smiling. Without a word Vivian began to burst into tears as she wrapped her arms around him and losing herself in the fear of the previous night.

“I was so fl*ffing scared! I thought I lost you forever and I was doomed on this planet! It was all my fault!”


“Hey, no it wasn’t. It was my choice and If I had to do it again I would.”

“Damn it Cass, I love you! I’m so sorry I never told you. Don’t ever leave again, you promise?”

“Viv-I”

“You promise?!?!”

“I promise. I also love you too. You already know you didn’t have to tell me.”

“No, I do. We do so much with and for one another it would be awful if I didn’t woman up and say it. I was waiting for when you took me home. I thought I wouldn’t ever get to hear your voice or laugh again. No more jokes and deep conversations and no more concerts and smoking to music. Most of all, I couldn’t handle the thought of never seeing you again!”

Cass held her tighter than he ever has before, letting her sob. The pain of three broken ribs was drowned by the pain killers and the fact that Vivian, one of the strongest girl he knows is sobbing her heart out. He hooked under her legs and sat her on his lap with her head next to his chest letting her know that he isn’t going anywhere.

“What all happened?” Cass looked at all the machines hooked up to him while gripping at his injured side.


“You’re heart stopped for 15 minutes! The chances of you coming back were zero. The doctors said you have three broken ribs and some internal bruising but that’s the extent of it." Vivian showed him the clip all the way through as she fought back tears reliving it all over again. They let the clip play and Cass paused it after she was holding him before the footage froze for a second.

“What the hell was that? Why did it cut?”


“I-I don’t know. All I remember was screaming and pounding your chest. After we lifted you up there was a small dent in the ground right under you.”

“A small dent in the ground, huh? Like an impact?”

“You don’t think I did that right? What do you remember?”

“Well I remember getting hit but something pushed me back taking the most of the impact. Like a gust of wind. After I woke up from being dead my heart felt like it was jump-started with two car batteries."

“Holy pl*ps Cass, you don’t think?” There was a slight pause as they both stared at each other while pondering the exact same thing.

“Am I a Channel? There’s no damn way. We need better footage.” Vivian pattered away before finding a better angle showing her screaming and pounding Cass’s chest causing the area around her to quake for a moment before he came to. They rewound the footage and looked at him getting hit, noting the way he flew back when he stuck his hand out for her, despite Cass not remembering what he actually did up until the wreck. The whole scene was surreal to say the least; from the crash to the shaking objects and hole in the ground. Could Vivian have caused all the commotion and essentially brought Cass back to life?

“Holy pl*ps, V. What if that was you? We need, well I, need to heal up before we can do anything. Any news on the protests?”

“National guard as well as the Marines and police are on the scene clashing against Humanity United along with Future Imperfects who are trying their best to remain peaceful and respectful. It’s heating up that’s for sure. If this gets any worse there will be violence unseen in history.” She flipped the TV on to the first news channel and they began to watch on as the protests rage on. The sad fact is that the protests are shields for people who want to wreak havoc, steal anything of value and cause general mayhem and violence. The fire was far from burning out.

 

[T. Rakinson]

"That'll be... $32. Yeah, 32." the cash registrar tallied in a nervous voice, avoiding eye-contact with the customer and instead focusing on the till. The woman didn't seem to be bothered though, and handed him a small wad of notes consisting of tens and fives. He cautiously selected their change and passed it over, momentarily making eye contact and then looking away in disdain. Once the customer had left the building Adrian finally looked up again, the aching in his body subsided once again.

This job was proving to be a greatly discomforting for the young man, on many levels. The unfamiliar currency had been simple enough to pick up on; cents made up dimes, and dimes made up dollars. Instead it was the panic that came with every transaction, no matter how brief. He hadn't actually spoken to anyone except Mustafa in what had literally been years, and he felt out of touch with the whole system, with both his speech and visible body language. Every customer felt like a new intimidator, and his mind spiked with every word that he spoke. It was a level of anxiety Adrian had never really dealt with in the past, and in the past two hours of his shift at the till it had been growing worse.

On several occasions he'd been tempted to sneak around the back of the station and light a cigarette, a habit both he and Mustafa had practised in the past, but he held firm against the temptation. As cringe-worthy as it felt for him to recite even in his head, nicotine could be really dangerous to him right now, as he was still growing acquainted to his new body. Fortunately he'd found that with some internal tinkering he could suppress the physical craving for the smokes, so he had figured that it was just a history of taking them had conditioned him to associate them with a calmness and comfort.

Adrian glanced at the industrial clock that hung on the wall to his left, gauging how long it would be before the end of his turn on the cashier rotor, so he could move into the backroom office and access the computer. With luck he could then find out what had happened in the short public history of the Channels.

Unfortunately he wouldn't be moving for another two hours at minimum; the station seemed to be short-staffed today, and he was only aware of only one other employee who looked almost as confused as he was about their job. Adrian had considered speaking to him to catch up on current events before remembering that he was meant to be upholding the role of his former host. And a brief check through his available memory stores showed that Mustafa and the teen had not gotten off on the best foot, after an incident involving some pocketed till money and a few racially-fuelled threats, so he'd given his co-worker a wide berth.

The breakthrough to the gap in his knowledge never did come from the computer however. Roughly 18 minutes before he'd break away from his nerve-wracking experience at the till the answer drove past the station window and parked up next to a fuel pump. From opposite doors of the SUV two figures stepped out, absorbed in conversation even as they began to prepare the pump. Adrian observed them from the corner of his eye, slightly concerned that one of these customers may become problematic.

The significantly larger individual of the pair, a Hispanic, middle-aged man sporting stylish glasses, a worn leather duster hat and long, dyed black hair. He wore a jean jacket with torn sleeves, exposing a pair of muscular arms that loudly slammed close the door of the SUV without visible effort. During this movement his jacket lifted slightly, and Adrian could have sworn he caught sight of a gun holster on the man’s belt.

His company made for a much less imposing figure; a sparsely tanned young woman dressed in near-identical clothing who wore a pair of aviator sunglasses that covered a comically large amount of her face. Her hair was a darker brown and was currently tied back in a bun. After their vehicle had been refuelled, she climbed back into the SUV whilst the guy made his way over to the store. As he did Adrian read on the counter display the hefty cost of their refuelling, and concluded they were in the process of a long journey.

The man briskly walked into the store, moving out of Adrian’s view to traverse the refrigerated aisle. He picked out some frozen burgers and then began to walk over to the till, simultaneously reaching into his breast pocket for a wallet. He reached the till, handed over his items, and looked at Adrian through his glasses, offering a polite smile.

“What will that be my friend?” he began, catching Adrian off guard with a formal but friendly English accent. It took him a moment to shake off his brief surprise before scanning the items and responding with the bill. “$93 for the fuel and food.”

The man nodded and began fishing out the money, making Adrian relax. The guy actually seemed quite friendly. He made topical conversation as he retrieved several notes. “I took out a few big bucks at the start of the trip. Gone through $200 just getting this far! I’m really glad the trips almost over.” Adrian nodded as he listened, a smile creeping up on his face. It was fondly reminding him of his own road trip across America, which had been a great experience in spite of his circumstances.

After picking out two pinkish-coloured notes, the man shook his head in disdain. “Right, so I’ve got two fifties here, and I want to make you an offer; you can keep the change if you let me put up this poster-” he plucked out a piece of folded card from a back pocket, and unfolded it before passing it to Adrian “-up on some of the pumps.”

Adrian took the paper and read it, quickly engrossed in it by the title:​

Chicago Memorial Event​

Join us in Chicago, Michigan, for a week-long ceremony in tribute to those lost in the 2012 massacre.
​

• Meet brave survivors of the attack and hear their first-account stories of heroism and bravery

​

• Live performances from dedicated tribute bands, including the award-winning Sinners to the Stake

​

• Daily seminars on Channel Awareness provided by the Wisconsin Chapter of Humanity United

​

• NEW THIS YEAR- New monument to be revealed; The Pillar of Endurance, engraved with the names of all who were lost on that fateful day 4 years ago.

We hope to see you there, as part of a worldwide community united against a common threat.​

Adrian’s eyes grew wide as they made their way down the paper, and by the time he knew about the memorial he could feel tears pushing their way outwards. It was hard to tell, but the mental barrier had just been softened by this information.

He handed the poster back to the customer, keeping his head low. He heard a sigh of disappointment, and the ruffling sound of the poster being tucked away again.

“Look. I won’t insist on this, but this poster, and what it’s representing? It’s important. People need to be properly educated on what those bastards can do. Maybe if they see what happened at the place where it all started, they’d understand...”

“No.” Came the reply. The vendor looked up to see an annoyed expression on the man’s face. But he held firm in his defiance. “I don’t agree with what you’re trying to promote.” He withheld from going any further, but he could already tell that he and his company did not see eye-to-eye.

“Fine.” The man growled, the friendliness of before now washed away. Unfortunately he didn’t seem interested in backing down, and retorted with a sharper tone. “Oh, I can tell where you stand. Throwing yourself in with the idealists, thinking those aberrations are going to save the world?”

“That sort of attitude won’t encourage them.” Adrian replied in a feeble tone, noting that he really lacked the information to create a proper counter-argument.

“One of them killed thousands of people in a temper. Cut all of those lives short, because they weren’t happy with the world. A feeling people can have every day. We did nothing to provoke what happened!” The man was visibly furious now, and now Adrian just wanted him to go away.

As unpleasant as this encounter had become, the barriers in his mind were rapidly eroding away, and he needed to be ready if the information escaped, or he could lose it to the shadowy depths of his subconscious, an area he was unfamiliar in traversing. It was making him stressed, and suddenly he felt the urge to loudly end the argument.

“Just stop there, and get out of here. Take your poster and go!” He shouted in frustration, and at that moment a warm feeling briefly washed through his mind. The man randomly turned to look at the SUV parked outside. It was stationary, and had made no sound, but for some reason his temper seemed to wane as he looked in its direction. He turned back to look at Adrian with a somewhat softened expression.

“Look... I’m sor... I’ll keep hold of this-” he tapped the pocket containing the poster “-and get going. Keep the change.” With that he picked up his food and walked out.

Adrian didn’t track his movement. was confused and his expression showed it. Something told him that the warm sensation he had felt just before the argument had ended was responsible, but he couldn’t trace its origin. Was Mustafa’s power still active? Had the Channel himself caused something to happen, or... had Mustafa himself done something? The ideas began to take his focus away from his cerebellum, and suddenly his legs gave way, causing him to fall and slam onto the counter, knocking him out.


Numbness had spread through his cerebellum, forcing Adrian to withdraw into his thoughts. As it was he felt wide awake within his own head; no thanks to a building static sound that grew impossible to ignore. He darted around, tracking its source, though he had a good idea where he’d find it anyway.

His prediction proved correct as the wavelengths reached their peak frequency as he approached the barrier from before. Its endurance had almost given out, with the once-solid construct now vibrating in a nigh-intangible state. Adrian gently brushed on the barrier, and though it flickered colours of warning he was able to pass through it without any resistance.

As he emerged into an enclosed, chamber-shaped neural structure, a tsunami of compressed information bombarded him, scorching his neural form and almost throwing him back through the barrier, but he held strong against the blast without losing ground. In response to this, his form began to passively assimilate all the unassertive data in the chamber in order to regenerate its structure, but this was only a temporary solution, and the tsunami showed no signs of declining.

Adrian needed to retrieve the data quickly, but as it was, even all of his available focus couldn’t interpret the information fast enough; it was as though he lacked the processing power to do so.

His main advantage now was that even in its weakened state, the barrier prevented the information from escaping, trapping it in the chamber with him. Whatever material it was built from must have a unique trait that denied varying forms of data from passing through it, like lead confining radioactive particles.

He waded through the maelstrom towards the barrier, except when he reached out to touch it this time he commanded it to respond to its touch. At first it seemed to resist, reading Adrian from before as a foreign conscience, but as he pushed his damaged arm through it the material yielded to him. He couldn’t tell if it had done so out of obedience or sympathy.

He focused on analysing the material, and in a rushed effort he was able to reverse engineer it for his own purposes. With great focus he was able to shape its mass to form protective armour around his neural form. Once it had encompassed him, all the tsunami could do was harmlessly rebound off of him. but it still rushed around the chamber in a frenzy.

The barrier now seemed to be in sync with his form, and offered a solution. From the wall emerged two constructs of human shape, but otherwise had no discernible features. They seemed to observe the Channel for a moment, before turning to face the rest of the chamber. They slowly raised their arms, and involuntarily Adrian’s form began to do so as well. He could only watch as suddenly from all of their palms a pulse flashed into the chamber in a spherical wave, petrifying the maelstrom whenever it touched them. Soon the pulse had created a dome in the chamber that had captured and nullified all of the data.

Adrian felt his arms unlock, and he walked over to the dome, marvelling at its contents. He reached out to touch the barrier, and on contact all of the data inside suddenly revealed itself, presenting a morbid tale to him through a horrific vision. It felt as though a dark presence seemed to enter the chamber as he watched.

How he had hidden it from Adrian was baffling, but Mustafa had lost his brother Aahil, years before. Apparently his brother had been in Chicago during the event, just like Adrian. It seemed the other man’s body had not been recovered, much to Mustafa’s despair, especially as he had arrived in the city as emergency aid. Adrian could only watch as he ran through collapsed streets littered with building debris, desperately calling for his brother’s name.

Next, the vision turned to other memories; Mustafa driving a car at an absurd speed towards an unknown destination, with tears running down his face. This switched to him stood once more in Chicago during Autumn, watching a funeral procession from afar, his body as rigid and as lifeless as the scenery and his face obscured under a black cap. After this the scene turned into one set in a dark, decrepit alley, and now he had a first-person perspective of the memory.

Only he’d seen this vision already. And he didn’t stick around to re-watch it, for the message was already clear to him.


The next thing he could feel was a smooth paper rubbing against his nose, which felt moist and itchy. After a few moments he was able to open his eyes, and after blinking his vision into focus he could make out the person responsible. It was a woman whose face was partially obscured by a veil. Her eyes indicated a concern for his well being, and she seemed to relax as he sat up. They were in a large office that had a door leading off into a private bathroom.

“What happened? Jake said he thought you’d been involved in a scuffle.” Her voice seemed to hold personal concern, and a dashed search through his memory stores brought forth the reminder that this was his host’s sister-in-law and manager Aamilah, the widow of Aahil. He began to search for more information about her whilst focusing on the conversation.

“It wasn’t like that. I argued with a guy, but he left and I just felt dizzy all of a sudden.”

“Did you use your power?” Her question caught him off guard. How could she know about Adrian? Why was she so calm about this information! It took him a few moments to postulate that she was referring to Mustafa’s powers, and with that realisation he calmed down again. It had skipped his memory, but his host must have told her at some point. He gave a confessional response. “I think so. He looked outside and then left.”

Aamilah gave a sigh of relief, and carried the conversation as she finished wiping away the blood and went into the bathroom to bin the paper. “Look, I’m sure you felt cornered, but if you’re concentrating so hard on using your power that it makes you black out, it might be better if-”

“It wasn’t that that made me collapse.” She walked back in whilst fixing him with a sceptical expression, waiting for him to elaborate. “I was just shocked after the argument. He’d been talking about Chica-“ he paused, concerned that he was being insensitive about the topic she might still be struggling with.

Fortunately it was interpreted differently by Aamilah, who took a seat on the other side of her desk.

“I see.” A brief silence was cast over the room, both of them avoiding eye contact before Aamilah spoke again, her voice still quiet.

“Do you remember when we last talked? What we discussed?” Adrian internal research fished out an interaction from just over a fortnight ago, one he partially remembered witnessing himself. Aamilah had suggested that Mustafa officially register as a Channel. He remembered feeling a mixture of hope and panic at the possibility of being discovered by others, and now he mainly felt guilt for giving subjective advice against the suggestion to his host. Despite that he made sure to play the part and still appear unconvinced on the idea, referring back to the poster he had seen.

“I remember, but I think it’s too dangerous. What about the risks? Some people out there would try to kill me if I came forward.” This was met with a twinge of irritation from his manager, although it didn’t seem to be directed towards him.

“The news always misrepresents the registration events, which is surprising given the government seems to want to really promote them. Now I’m not saying that they never turn nasty, but the news mainly reports on them if there’s been an outbreak of violence. I’ve visited some of the less newsworthy events, and things remain orderly enough. You’d just have to travel to get away from some of the protestor hotspots.”

“I still don’t know about it.” Adrian responded in a monotone. His encounter earlier was making him hesitate about making any significant decisions. Before he’d felt confident that he could get by with Mustafa’s memories, but it was becoming apparent now that he needed to look to the future along with the past. The world had changed and he needed to adapt in his own way.

“Well think about it in a positive light. If you register the SDD can help you hone your ability... it might help you to recover.” This caught Adrian’s attention. He didn’t know how to use Mustafa’s ability, and with the obvious benefits aside he was concerned he’d accidently let them lose again without any control, like he’d done today but with more damning consequences. For Adrian that was a winning argument; nobody else needed to be lost because he couldn’t restrain himself.

Outwardly he gave a conceding sigh. “That is a good point.” He stood up, testing his body for any pain other than his throbbing head. He looked at his manager, an optimistic smile creeping onto his face. “So where would you recommend that I go to register?”

 

[CapObvious]

"Fifteen minutes, guys. Fif. Teen. Minutes. Can you believe it?!" Simon heard over the dull roar of voices and the radio in their bus. It was nearly time. The first time Apollo would perform for a group outside of a local bar. For a crowd larger than fifty people. A brief pang of fear made his stomach uneasy, but he stifled it quickly.

No, this was truly it. This would be what would get the two of them off on the right foot. The first true step to making Apollo a household name.

Maybe it would even get peoples minds off of the whole Channel business. At least, he hoped it would. The world around them seemed flooded with so much useless hate that anything that could distract seemed like it would be a blessing.

Simon wrung his hands as he remained sitting on the seat, his eyes to the floor, feeling uneasy as all the images of the Channel riots he had seen on the news came to mind. He shuddered before shaking his head, trying to focus.

"fluff, this isn't the time." He said under his breath, exhaling as he reached to scratch his head, before another voice rang out above the roar.

"Hell no it isn't." He looked up to see Koda standing in the doorway, and he made a face. "You heard that?" She smiled, letting the rail support her weight as she leaned against it. "Of course." She chirped, then made a face of her own. "Don't be surprised. Should be used to it by now. But don't change the subject." She stood straight, and began making her way down the aisle, grabbing onto the rails above the seats as she did so. "You heard the man, fifteen minutes. Well. Probably ten now." She stopped in front of him, grabbing onto the rail above, and tapping her foot on the floor beneath. Their eyes met, and her face turned more serious in nature. A look he wasn't used to seeing stain her features.

"Nervous?" She asked softly, watching Simon's hands wring again. He chuckled. "Only a little. When we get out there I'll be fine. Right now though..." He sighed, shaking his head again. Koda sat down on the seat across from him, folding her legs underneath her. "I know what you mean. This isn't the usual bar or pub. This is big." She said, reiterating Simon's thoughts from before. "But that doesn't affect us. We're no different just because there's at least a thousand more people out there than we're used to."

Typical Koda.

"Not helping." Simon said, chuckling, while Koda joined him. "Seriously, get up. It'll be fine." Simon stood, and Koda took him by the shoulders, looking him dead in the eyes.

"Everything is going to be just fine." She said with a reassuring smile, gripping his shoulders tighter. He smiled softly, exhaling shortly after. "You're right. Let's do this."

"FIVE MINUTES!"

---

Koda and Simon stepped out onto the stage to a good sized crowd. It looked like Koda's quip ended up being true. There was easily a thousand people standing in front of the stage, all of the clapping and whistling. Simon starting faffing around with their equipment, getting things ready as Koda stepped up to the front, handling getting the crowd settled and ready for the performance.

Koda got them going a few times, causing a great bout of laughter as she worked her charm, allowing Simon to have a minute to set up the small act.

That was right. Act. Apollo was more than just a simple band, as the people were soon to discover.

"Damn it." Simon said, grunting as he fiddled with the electric keyboard the group before had left on stage. Koda turned to look to him, making a convincing face. "What are you breaking over there?" The crowd laughed, and Simon looked back, feigning frustration. "Damn thing won't turn on." Koda looked to the crowd, making a mocking face before looking back to Simon. "Well, how about we let the professionals fix what you fluffed up, and give these people what they came for?" Simon looked to the crowd, making a face of horror. "plops. I didn't realize we were being watched." Simon stepped forward, waving awkwardly. Koda continued. "How about we do a small number to get things kicked off. We have an hour, hour and a half here. Might as well get things rolling now, right?" Simon looked to her, scoffing. "Well, there's not much I can do without my keyboard, Koda."

She smiled, "Thankfully we have a few songs for them that don't need you faffing about on a keyboard to do." Simon folded his arms. "And what songs would those be?"

Koda looked to the crowd and began to play away on the guitar, causing the crowd to cheer, and Simon to start to groove slightly. "Oh. You meant that one." He started moving to the front where Koda was, dancing as he made his way. Some of the women from the crowd called out and a few whistles were heard, causing Koda to shake her head. "Why do I take you anywhere?"

Simon laughed and looked out to the crowd with a smile. "You're about to find out." Koda spoke up after, shaking her head. "We'll start off with a cover of a song I'm sure you all will know well. This one is called, Billie Jean."

Spoiler: Billie Jean Cover

The pair began to sing, and the crowd seemed to begin take to it immediately. The song wasn't their own, but they felt the spin they had put onto it was more than enough to show these people what the two of them were about.

Koda continued playing as the two of them sang along, the people before them becoming a mix of dumbfounded and supportive, cheering and whistling as their voices weaved and flowed around each other, filling the air with a haunting melody that seemed to change the upbeat nature of the song and bring forth a deeper meaning.

And they loved it.

When the song finally came to an end, the crowd began to roar their approval, their meeting of their hands almost deafening to Simon and Koda. They looked to each other and smiled, pleased that their first part went so well. They bowed slightly as the roar died down, and Simon began to speak up. "Well, I think that went well, don't you?" He said into the microphone, looking to Koda. The crowd called out approvingly, and Koda picked up where he left off. "Don't make his head any bigger folks. He already has a tough time getting on and off our bus." Simon shook his head as he waited for the crowd to go quiet.

"Anyway..." He said, giving Koda a meaningful look. "I think they fixed up that keyboard in the back, so we may actually get to play something that's ours. How does that sound?" He began to step back for the keyboard, while Koda continued. Simon barely picked up what she was saying as he started moving the keyboard around, her set up for the next song weaving in and out of his mind. "...But we want this to be a fun time for everyone. There's enough pain and anger outside of this festival, with the whole channel thing and humanity and blah blah blah..." She made a mocking gesture with her hand as she spoke. "Those problems don't exist here. They don't matter. All that matters, right here, in this moment, is the music." The crowd roared their approval, as Simon finished preparing.

Simon began to speak in to the microphone, before a loud call rang out from inside the crowd.

"THERE WILL BE NO PEACE. NO ESCAPE FROM THIS plops. UNTIL THE CHANNELS ARE ERADICATED." After a moment of silence as the crowd tried to discern the source, a gunshot rang out.

Bang.

The crowd dispersed and wrapped around itself, trying desperately to both get away and find the culprit of the action. The shouts of confusion, horror, cries of panic, all of it stained the air as the world seemed to collapse.

Bang.

Another shot, serving to confirm the first had indeed happened, and sent the whole area in an uproar. The security started gunning for Koda and Simon, who were both ducked down on stage. The culprit was tackled and brought to the ground, while the security tried to regain control of the situation. Simon and Koda we're being hauled out of there, but Simon refused to go. "Damn it, let me go!" He called, wresting himself free as he ran toward the edge of the stage. "Someone get my kit from the bus. Now!" He called, before jumping off the edge and running into the crowd.

Simon tore through the crowd and found one of the victims, bleeding profusely from her leg. There where others around her, family, security, all of them crowding her. Simon knelt down next to her, taking his jacket and bundling it up and pressing it to her wound, trying to halt the bleeding until he could get some actual medical equipment. The people around them were all watching, getting their phones out to call various people; family, professionals, anyone they felt should know about what had just happened.

Koda had jokingly mocked him for bringing a medical bag on the bus before they left, but he was sure she'd be singing a different tune after this.

Irony once again never failing, he heard rushing footsteps behind him. "Simon, I have it!" Koda called among the murmuring, coming up behind him with his bag, while security followed close behind, ready to pry them both away. "Mr. Crowder, we have to get you out of here. Leave this to the para-" Simon called out, his frustration getting the better of him. "There's no fluffing time. She'll bleed out before she makes it to their tent. Especially while trying to get through the traffic of people trying to escape." He looked back to her, her face stained with her tears as it mingled with her make up, making it run down her face. "Don't worry. I'm a trained professional. Everything's going to be fine." He smiled assuredly, before he began to dig out his supplies. Koda spoke up, sitting down next to him. "Are you going to get the bullet out?" She said, looking at the wound as he started cleaning it. "No. The stress from the situation as well as the fear around her could lead to many different scenarios that would end up making matters worse." He began cleaning the wound up, so he could see what he was working on, but continued to talk as he worked. "The bullet could move, I could hit something more important on the way in and out. I could end up doing more harm than good." He replied. "It would be best to only stop the blood flow, until we get her to a safe place for them to work on her."

Koda looked to him, and he looked back, his hand rested gently on the girl's leg as he compressed the wound. "This isn't some Hollywood movie, Koda."

"Umm..." Simon heard coming from the girl, but ignored it, chalking the sound up as a grunt or sound of pain. Koda spoke up, taking slight offense to Simon's tone. "I was just asking." He replied immediately, still not looking to the girl. "I know, I know. I was just-"

"Simon!" He heard from behind him. He turned to look to the girl, who was looking to him in disbelief. He looked to her leg, worried, and then went silent.

No one said a word. Not Simon, Koda, or the people who surrounded them. They were all watching her leg.

Well, actually...

They were looking at Simon's hand.

His hand was glowing a bright yellow, and emitting heat into the girl's leg. He watched in disbelief as he slowly removed his hand from her leg. As he did so, something small and hard came into his hand, and fell to the floor as he let his hand drop.

The bullet, smashed from the impact it had from entering the girl's leg, had come out on its own. His eyes darted to the wound, but found nothing. Her leg was healed. A small mark from scarring remained, but the wound was gone. He had healed her entirely.

What. The. fluff. Simon thought, looking to his hands. He looked to Koda, who looked back to him, in-credulousness staining her face. He then looked to the others, who all stared at him. He wasn't sure what to do. He felt the compulsion to run, as he was sure the people would swarm him in seconds. As time seemed to restart, he felt someone grab him around the neck.

He reached instinctively to grab back to work them off of him. Instead, he found it wasn't someone trying to choke him.

The girl was hugging him. He could hear her thanking him a hundred times over, sobbing in his ear as the people around him started to clap. Small at first, but then grew louder. Simon and Koda stood to their feet, slowly, looking around at the group who seemed to be pleased with their efforts.

However, they were the only ones.

Suddenly, the sounds rushing footsteps came around. Simon turned to see they were being held up. By officers with guns. Not just officers, but the SDD themselves.

Damn it all.

"Step away from the girl." One of them said, his gun trained on Simon's head. Simon gently placed his hand on the girl's stomach, pushing her behind and away from him. Simon raised his hands, complying with the armed soldiers who seemed ready to blow his head off at any moment. Koda looked to him angrily. "You're just going to let them take you away? You saved her life!" He nodded, not moving any further. "There's already been enough violence today. I won't let there be any more on my hands."

Koda looked to him, then back to the officers, who seemed to be preparing to take him away. Koda stepped in front of Simon and spoke loudly. "fluff that. Get to the bus, Simon. They're not taking you anywhere." They're attention shifted to Koda, and Simon shouted out for her. "Damn it, get back. She's safe. That will be enough to clear my name."

"They don't care about what you did." She said, her hands reaching out behind her. "You're a channel. You're a menace to society. They want you in chains. Or dead."

Koda started stepping back, her hand grabbing Simon by the wrist. The SDD began to shout at her to move, or they'd open fire. Koda looked back to Simon, with a face as if to say "I told you so." She looked back, gripping tighter to Simon's wrist.

"But they won't be getting anyone today." Koda said, as he sprung into action. She reached out an arm toward the stage, and clutched her fist, before pulling it back toward herself. Koda's body seemed to dissipate into nothing more than a black mist. Before Simon could say anything, his body did the same.

Their bodies shifted to a new location than where they were prior. Koda had seemed to have teleported them to the stage somehow, leaving the crowd and SDD clamoring to figure out where they had went. "What the hell did-" Simon attempted to get out, before Koda interrupted. "No time. Let's go." They raced off back toward the bus, but Koda quickly decided against it. "There's no way we're getting that thing out of here." She looked around for a moment. "Damn it Koda. Think." Her eyes caught the sight of a pick up truck, small, non-discript, perfect for a getaway.

"Get in!" She called gunning for the driver's seat with Simon close behind. "Where are we going, Koda?" Simon demanded, getting in the passenger seat. Koda shifted the gear and got them moving off toward the exit, her focus set on the backroad they were currently riding on.

"Anywhere that isn't here."

 

[Wolfbane]

The morning quickly came and the tears on her face have long since dried on her cheeks as she was enveloped by the warmth of his arms despite his injuries. You would think that she was one who was almost killed, not him; The fact that he was alive let alone holding her was beyond amazing and kept occupying her mind. While Cass was sound asleep she quietly sobbed outside taking a long drag of one of his coffin nails choking back smoke as the pain ate away at her even though he was alive. It was the fact that he was gone for 15 minutes that ate at her the most. For her the thought of being alone without the person that gets her on the deepest level is and was a scary future. Vivian will always be her own woman, her own person, but without Cass she would be fractured just as he would be without her. Some would say that they like two cigarettes lighting one another up that they burn down to the filter but instead without each other they would burn up in a fiery devastation. More and more tears ran down her cheek smearing her already messed up make up and sad eyes glared at her reflection from the trash can and a soft voice could be heard


“Have you ever met someone that enters your mind and stays there for every moment of idle? The type of person that makes everything right in the world and simultaneously freezes everything around you,” she said as the smoke in her hand trembled. Everything came rushing to her and she screamed in her hands making the trashcan shake a split second before stopping. Her insides have never hurt this bad. Tear ridden eyes looked up at the night sky and continued to slowly stream tears before trembling hands barely lifted her up onto her feet. Once again she was in his room with him sound asleep. Her purple and black flannel shirt was unbuttoned and her boots slipped off before curling up by him. As she began to nod in and out of sleep she could feel his thumb run over the trail of tears as if he knew what she was going through. She grabbed his hand and kissed it before falling asleep.


That was the night of and now the morning had come and the bustling of their floor could be heard. Cass reached down for the remote and turned the TV on to the news immediately catching the latest story; Channel Registration Day is coming up in a week. Was it the best choice for Channels? No, but it is the safest. Maybe it will put some people at ease and prove that most of them want to be trusted and turned to instead of hidden terrorists and super weapons. However it seemed to increasing tensions on both sides of this conflict. One side wants them to disappear while the other side views it as unfair that they have to out and subject themselves to violence, threats and harassment. All of the action is right in front of the building so anything could happen, especially a war. On top of all of that, Vivian may be a Channel and will be in the thick of it. His vision was diverted when his girlfriend walked out of the bathroom with bedraggled hair.


“How’d you sleep, boo?”


“Like pl*ps, but what’s new,” her voice adopted a sensual sleepy tone before turning towards the TV, “Jesus, it’s heating up to an all new level. Cassy, If I’m supercharged then I will be that. How can we find out if I am when we are stuck in this place?”


“Well, let’s at least establish what happened and entertain the thought; it happened when I-“


“Please don’t say it. It seems like it happens when I get angry or focus on something as hard as I did then.”


‘What like the Hulk?” Viv softly punched him on the shoulder making her smile.


“Not like the Hulk, asshole. Maybe I just try focusing on something and seeing if it happens?” She outreached her hand and pointed a finger at the foam cup and narrowed her eyes. There were a few minutes of silence before Cass began to laugh making her do the same. As soon as she looked towards him the cup flew across the room and smacked the food trey so hard it slammed against the wall. Their mouths opened in disbelief.


“Oh plops. V, you just used the Force! You’re a jedi master, yo!” He was giggling at the fact that she just pushed a cup without laying a finger on it.


“You can call me Luke. This means I should register especially since it just happened.”


“Wouldn’t it be funny if I got a second upgrade? Maybe I just swipe my finger or make a gun!” He whistled and sliced the air creating a small pocket of air and a high pitched noise that made them both grit their teeth when hearing.




“What? Why is it that this seems like someone is writing this?” Cass scratch the back of his neck confused at the fact that he was gifted a second power in such a short time, as if in a comic.


“I know I would like to discover them as soon as possible.” A laugh exited Vivian's mouth making her lip ring slightly shake.


“Looks like I’m going back as well. What’s the worst that can happen? It can’t get any worse can it? I think they will discharge me early if I promise to take it easy. It’s only a few broken ribs,” He clenched his jaw as well as his side as he sat up to better face her. She rolled her eyes as he groaned in pain, obvious that it wasn’t any better.


A week had gone by and now it was time to be discharged from the hospital that had been their home. Cass hobbled out of the sliding doors with his arm around Vivian’s shoulder and they were dropped off to his place where they retrieved his car and she drove them down to town hall to register. When they pulled up they were blocked by a line of Humanity United supporters and were then redirected by an officer. Finally they found a spot and made their way towards the building sound of screaming and chanting getting closer. A heavy pit could be felt in both of their stomachs as they walked. It had been a few minutes and now the two walked down the aisle with angry and understanding eyes glaring at them, like an eyesore, an orphan, a cancer and people cursed by the lord above.


The inside was packed with people just like them filling out paperwork with faces either filled with relief or fear. Fear for the people they called friends or loved ones or relief that they can finally come out of hiding. Like a murderer finally getting caught. Vivian had put on one of Cass’s white shirts exposing her tattoos making her hard to miss. One look at the girl and she sticks out, even amongst the other people her age in the state. The line slowly moved closer to the desk but she couldn’t help but feel eyes staring at her. She slowly turned and spotted two girls with presumably their mothers looking at her with a mix of curiosity and nervousness. She is hard to miss and sometimes she has a no nonsense attitude about her. She took one of her gauges out and put her finger through it with her tongue sticking out; it was a mix of playfulness and annoyance. This at least warranted a laugh from the more lighthearted looking girl, which made the waiting less monotonous. She threw her gauge up from the hip and snatched it out of the air to put it back in before the line finally got to them. Cass looked away from the wall that he gazed into during his daydream and spotted a man with black curly hair who looked a combination of confused yet knowing he was supposed to be there. He looked of middle eastern descent but Cass veered his attention to a finger poking him in the side before realizing it was Vivian to let him know that it was their turn.




Both grabbed a pen and filled the papers out before eventually finishing and turning it in and making their way back near the door to talk amongst themselves while they wait for more people to leave in case the crowds outside got rowdier. Before they could even get out the door a fight had broken out between two people of the opposing sides thus causing a bigger clash, having some of the violence spilling in. Now it was a fight drawing in the channels themselves. The SDD stepped in trying to separate all parties shortly after.


Vivian clenched her fist and lunged forward before being held back by a strong arm.


“Don’t even think about it. We were already on the news once. Let this play out, we can always slip away. All we would need is a quiet corner so people won’t see.”