[b][u]6:23am, Thursday, August 19th, 2019[/u][/b]

[i]The sun rose over Seneca Glen. It slowly illuminated Market Street, glinting off of the three- and four- story buildings. "Get Your Caffeinated Drinks and go to Work Slightly Less Dead Inside for Only $3!", read a chalkboard sign on a sidewalk. A small trickle of locals were already wandering into the coffee shop. A few doors down, prep cooks were smoking out back before their shift at Mawmaw's. The First National Bank's clock claimed the temperature was a pleasant 68 degrees Fahrenheit. Market Garden - one of four local bars, and the only one that actually served cocktails, was dark. Flyers advertising live music and local bands littered the telephone poles, neatly ending at the four-story, block-wide department store/general store/gas station, Hayt General Store.

On the low side of town - farther down the ridge Seneca Glen was nestled in - Mueller's Kickboxing gym was fairly quiet. Not too many of the town's residents were fans of the punishment associated with 6 am workouts. Past the river and the parking lot for Seneca Glen State Park - 19 Waterfalls! - Market Street turned into State Route 14. Here lay Finger Lakes Community College, up on a winding road atop the ridge. Farther along State Route 14, past the ancient Stimson Barn (before it burned down and got bought up by the state), was the sprawling Melakron Plastics plant.

The opposite side of town - the high side of town - Market Street abruptly ended in the "suburbs". Just before pure residential housing, there were a series of duplexes and apartments. City Hall was up here, as was Seneca Glen High School and the local clinic. There were quite a few bed and breakfasts, as this part of town was the right combination of high enough to see the lake while still being close enough to actually get to the lake. Then Seneca Glen gradually faded into neatly gridded streets filled with one-story houses. At least, they were neatly gridded where the ridge didn't interfere with the city planners' dreams. Abruptly, civilization ended in favor of chainlink fences and warning signs on either side of the road: "DANGER: FEDERAL RESEARCH FACILITY. KEEP OUT! TRESPASSERS WILL BE PROSECUTED.", followed by the abstract logo of Simmons Federal Arboreal Research Lab.

It was a normal day.

It would be a normal day, every day, for the forseeable future.[/i]