JUNE 16th, THURSDAY, 2018, 10:06 AM

----

A stream of sand arrived at The Cinder in the Conduit District of NYC. It formed a swirling vortex of grain before forming into a person. Jen stood in front of the double doors of the bar, her uniform ragged and her posture tired. It had only taken a couple of minutes to arrive, luckily. She might've passed out from the fatigue. Jen slowly pushed open the door. The pub was an old, creaky building where most conduits came to blow off some steam. Few conduits were in the pub. She recognized a few. There was Vernon, sipping coffee from a mug, drumming his fingers on the table. Several glass shards were surrounding him. And over in the corner was Tom, a light ember dancing around his nimble fingers as he bit into a sandwich. Jen pulled up a seat by the bar. The bartender was a middle-aged man with a beer belly. He wore a green coat and a white shirt with a set of dark shades over his eyes. He was clearing up a blurry glass with a wet tissue. The lamps hanging from the ceiling gave an orange lighting to the whole place, reflecting on the glasses in the back of the bar.

"Hey, Zeke." Jen said, sighing. She drummed her fingers on the hard wood table. The grain formed some interesting patterns.

"Hey, little miss." Zeke said, placing a hairy arm on the bar, placing the glass and the wet tissue aside. "How're things doing over at the Market District?" 

"Oh. Okay, I suppose." Jen muttered absentmindedly. "I guess." She seemed pretty preoccupied with tracing the grain of the wood.

Zeke shook his head. "Don't look like that to me." Zeke said. He pointed a finger at the TV hanging on the wall. An anchorwoman stood with a clean suit at the alley she was just in. Several paramedics were in the background. A couple of conduits were still on the scene, walking about. "-report of another Syndicate attack-" Zeke nodded toward her.

"Oh. It's, uh.. just.." Jen said. "That was pretty messed up. Seeing that guy get his powers taken away. He was screaming so loud. And I'm pretty tired from that tornado. You see that? Just.. I need some rest." 

"Hard to miss the tornado that completely wrecked that district." Zeke said before placing down the glass. "I'll get you a drink." Zeke balked off. "Don't give me the-" Jen sighed, watching him walk off into the back room. "He'd totally going to get me the strong stuff." Zeke. He was a pretty good bartender over at the Conduit District. He owned The Cinder. Apparently kept a pistol under the table for protection. He was a good man. She remembered hearing some stories about him. He was apparently best-friends with a conduit. Something along those lines. He absolutely loved to tell the story, but Jen never asked for it, so she didn't really know it. It was some far-fetched story about an electric conduit. He seemed pretty full of himself, so she doubted he actually did any of the things he told stories about. But he was a great bartender and spoke with his customers quite a bit. Most conduits liked him, and just about all of them would never think of killing the norm. He served some great stuff.

Zeke came back with a massive glass. Jen reluctantly took it. "And.. great. I know this is your most expensive stuff, Zeke.." She sighed, and sipped it. "Thanks, Zeke."

"No problemo." Zeke said, staring at the door for a customer.