[img]http://cdn.playbuzz.com/cdn/7053067f-3a41-442b-82ed-afe0c548f1a0/0377346d-c163-4793-8d96-0b4f0175f458.jpg[/img]

[i]“The world is a vast place filled with a variety of people each with their own dreams, goals, motivations, likes, dislikes,  friends and foes. What is it that makes us tick, what is it that makes us come together to achieve a common purpose? It is said of those who believe in the God of Abraham that the world was once nothing but darkness and that the good lord spoke light into existence. From then on the story of humanity began and despite our supposed initial fall from grace in the garden of Eden we managed to make progress over the centuries growing better making life easier for the following generation. However it seems this trend has come to an end and some of our old barbaric ways have come to surface again.  People are turning against each other once more because of difference’s a common theme throughout history whether it be gender, race, class, or of course now genetics. Once again we are waging war, slaughtering each other like animals all because of fear and misunderstanding, it makes me wonder for those who believe in a God who created everything was it worth it to make light out of the darkness or would it have been better if we’d simply been left in the abyss.”[/i]

[h1][b]Volume One: Hunted [/b][/h1]

[b]San Francisco, California - Jonah Hanes - Jonah's Apartment[/b] 
“These people are monsters! They are far too dangerous to be amongst the rest of us in society! These past few months have been some of the darkest days of our nation in recent times. The vicious Energy Attack, the plague that’s ravaging the nation, and now these people if you can even still call them that manifesting these horrendous abilities. I’ll tell you one thing it is not ordinary for men and women to have traits like these. These monsters can summon lightning bolts down from the sky, walk through walls, and dominate the minds of others by force among other devious abilities.” 

The man speaking was the infamous Benny Stein, who had a popular talk show that was attracting more viewers thanks in part to his focus on discussing the Energy Storm & all the tragedy related to it. He was sitting on his signature leather black couch. A Starbucks cup could be seen in his right hand that he would periodically pause to take sips of as he continued his rant about the dangers of the Energy Plague & the Altered Humans it had created. 

The man viewing Stein’s broadcast was someone who shared similar if not more harsh views than Stein himself. Jonah Hanes, a high ranking agent of Liberty. An organization that was funded as a joint venture with recruits from both the Department of Homeland Security & the CIA. Jonah reached for his remote and pressed a button turning the television off. The sound of the television flickering was heard as the screen switched off. 

“We live in a mad world when Benny Stein is one of the few people with the balls to say what needs to be said on live television about this new threat we’re facing.” Jonah muttered to himself as he rose up from the black metal chair he was sitting in. Truth be told he didn’t have much time to squander these days due to his high ranking position in Liberty. Getting up the intelligence officer made his way into the kitchen of his lavish high rise San Francisco apartment. Retrieving a bottle of deer-park water from the fridge he twisted the cap open to take a few swigs of the ice cold refreshment.

A satisfactory sigh emanated from him as he washed down the hydrating liquid. There was a stigma that many people in his profession had an issue with problematic drinking of alcohol. Jonah was not one that fit that particular stigma, despite the grim realities he encountered on a daily basis in his line of work. He was not a man who frequently imbibed in the consumption of alcoholic beverages preferring to have all of his wits at all times. He’d deemed it essential & more then necessary for him to be in maximum operating condition at all times with the heavy burden on his shoulders that came with a leadership position at Liberty. 

“This country is really going to hell in a basket and good men & women are being “cancelled” for speaking the truth about what’s going on. Our enemies probably mock our disorganization & weakness within our own borders.” Jonah remarked to himself before stepping outside to his balcony taking his beverage with him. 

He was welcomed to the brightly shining rays of the California sun. His eyelids shut and he inhaled the fresh summer air allowing himself to briefly bask in the sun’s light. After so many years entangled in a never ending war against the most vile elements of America he’d learned to stop & appreciate the small things in life. The sun beaming down on him, clean summer air, and ice cold water. After a few seconds of appreciating nature he decided to get back to work. Taking a seat at a glass table he had setup on the balcony he reached for his MacBook which had been outside charging. Propping the computer open he headed to a word document to pull up the project he was working on prior to taking a brief interlude to watch the Benny Stein talk show.

He’d finished typing up & submitting report about a field mission he’d carried out last night. Him & his primary partner Angela Fields had to bring in a dangerous Altered human that was causing a ruckus in China-Town. After a disagreement over a restaurant bill turned violent the target started tearing apart the restaurant unleashing shockwaves from his hands. Initial police response had proved futile when the man ha unleashed a shockwave sending the police cruiser that pulled in hurtling through the air. Luckily Jonah had been stationed nearby with Angela wolfing down some orange chicken & brown rice during this super powered outburst.

While both police officers in the cruiser that had been flipped through the air had survived, they were both in critical condition. The incident had found it’s way onto youtube and was racking up views. Luckily Angela with aid from other police nearby had managed to get onlookers away from the scene allowing Jonah to neutralize the target. “Alright well everything looks good I’m done with that. I swear no matter low Long I’ve been doing this, the paper work is my least favorite aspect.” Jonah complained to himself after a few more glances to ensure the field report was completed.

Thinking about those two lawmen fighting for their lives in critical care enraged him. He regretted following orders to simply detain & arrest the target rather than dish out some a brand of justice with some more permanent consequences for the rowdy superhuman. He’d been instructed to take the target in alive at all costs especially since the beginning of the scuffle was going viral on youtube. As Liberty wasn’t an organization whose existence was known to the public he understood why it was best for Liam Thiago to still be breathing. Even though he was currently imprisoned in a superhuman detention facility that the general public and for that matter a good portion of the intelligence community didn’t know existed. 

He had a very black & white view on right & wrong that had little room for morally gray stances. In his opinion men like Thiago who walked around with unrestricted unbridled uncontrollable rage didn’t deserve the same freedom as everyone else. With the added factor of superhuman abilities, he felt his right to be free member of society should be revoked. Taking a few more swigs of his water he was briefly startled by his iPhone buzzing in his pocket. Setting the cold drink down on the table he retrieved his phone from the confines of his pocket. He squinted, eyeing the caller ID to see who was calling him before making a conscious decision of whether to answer or not. Upon seeing that it was none other then his partner Angela Fields calling he swiped to the right of his touch screen to answer.

“Hello Agent Hanes speaking, how may I help you?” 

“Jonah please we’ve been working together for three months, I’d of thought by now I’ve earned the pleasure of being on a first name basis with you.” Angela retorted with a slight chuckle that let him know that she was most likely rolling his eyes at his overly professional answer seeing as how he had her number saved.

“My apologies Angela I spent the majority of my life engaged in a professional manner. What’s going on, I finished submitting the field report about Thiago.” 

“I didn’t call to see if you did your assignment like some high school teacher. I’m calling to let you know that the suits down in Washington finally did. If you recall three weeks ago we learned that a method had been devised to determine whether or not someone has abilities by testing there blood. An Emergency order’s being issued by the President to make the blood testing of every American citizen mandatory.  Not only that but for those that are revealed to be Altered Humans that information will now be incorporated into they’re drivers license, State ID or whatever primary photo identification they have. As we speak he’s addressing the entire country on live TV, informing them that these Altered human tests are both mandatory & will begin immediately. This is going to make our jobs a hell of a lot easier.” Angela exclaimed with a hint of relief in her voice.

“It’s about damn time, this whole situation is unprecedented. We’re dealing with people in our society who are manifesting abilities that use to be reserved for the pages of X Men comics & cartoons. On top of that it seems almost all the people who are getting powers are minorities so damn near everything we do is being labeled racist. Growing up I remember a time when trying to enforce the law & keep this country safe wasn’t met with disdain & character defamation on twitter & chatsnap.” 

“It’s Snapchat Jonah Snapchat, not chatsnap, my parents are thirty years older then you and they know what snapchat is, my mom actually has one.” Angela teased her fellow field agent about his lack of social media awareness. 

“Well as you know I don’t really have time to spend browsing the web & building my digital profile considering I’m working to keep this country from tearing itself apart. As much as I’d like to watch the President I used my leisure time to watch the Stein show again. Seeing other people who are just as concerned about this whole fiasco as me with the same views is one of the few things helping me retain my sanity, so you’ll have to be both of our eyes & ears for everything he’s announcing. I’ve got to get off the phone & analyze the latest message from Reaper to see if I can get any new leads. I’ll be down at headquarters within the hour, I’ll see you soon Agent Fields.”

After a click he slid his phone back into his pocket and turned his attention back to his laptop. Closing the window he was in he pulled up his google chrome browser which had about seven tabs open. Sliding his fingers across the touchpad he opened up a tab that had youtube featured. He then slid his cursor over to his note pad widget in his docks and opened it up to allow himself to take notes while viewing the video. Pressing the space bar the paused video resumed allowing him to pick up where he left off. The Video was titled “Reaper Talk 5 - The Revolution Begins.”

The video showed a dimly lit room with a man wearing all black wearing a skeleton mask. The individual speaking & whom the video was titled after was a man only known as Reaper. Clearly the mask & his name derived inspiration from the Grim Reaper himself. Although the man who the agent was watching was no supernatural entity who ferried deceased souls to the afterlife after they’re passing. There was no doubt in Jonah’s mind however that this man was and would be responsible for innocent lives being carted off to death with the viral violent & villainous message he was pushing.

Reaper claimed to be one of the Altered Humans & was spreading a dangerous radical message. Reaper Talk was the name of his video series that had been circulating on youtube as well as instagram, twitter, facebook & other popular media channels. He claimed that the Energy Storm that struck the United States was a divine punishment from God himself including the horrific plague that was ravaging through the streets & causing a Government shutdown. 

“Ladies & Gentlemen.” The masked man spoke in a very eloquent manner as he addressed any & all potential viewers to this message. “If you’ve been watching my previous video’s then you already know how I feel about America’s well deserved punishment. It is time for us to rise up against our oppressors, and use these powers we’ve been equipped with to escape our bondage. For too long our people have been disenfranchised, abused, oppressed, enslaved & tortured for natural traits we were born with. Victimized & villanized for our genetics, & routinely harassed by law enforcement for the color of our skin. Disproportionately targeted & arrested for a multitude of crimes many of which are benign in nature at at unfair rate compared to our fairer-skinned counter-parts. But now that’s all over, the universe has spoken & passed judgement loud and clear. Powers & abilities once thought to be limited to the likes of the last son of krypton & mild mannered wall crawling photographers fighting an eternal never ending war against crime have been granted to us for a reason. To usher in a new age of peace & prosperity, to take back the land which our ancestors were enslaved on, or for others robbed of. That is why WE have the power and they have the fear. He who orchestrates all that occurs in the universe has cast down his rage on the land of the free. Free for all unless you grow up sounding & looking like me! Well I say enough is enough we must come together brothers & sisters, powered & non-powered to fight the good fight. To bring down this crooked institution which employs vicious discriminatory practices to unfairly torment us & trample over freedoms which we are guaranteed in theory but not do not actually have in reality. Many news outlets are reporting on the school in Chicago Illinois that was swallowed into the ground.”

The screen changed to show the very school Reaper was talking about. Exactly a week ago a high school in Chicago Illinois had been the victim of the most vicious act of violence related to everything going on since the Energy Storm itself. A massive sinkhole had opened up and the entire high school was swallowed during the middle of a school day. 729 deaths had been reported including students & staff, Department of Homeland Security had determined that the culprit was an altered human with the ability to manipulate the earth & movement of tectonic plates with his mind. George Sanchez a student who Homeland Security had found out wasn’t even a legal citizen. George as well as the rest of his family were illegal immigrants who’d snuck across the border to unlawfully enter the country.

Among the many people who had recovered from the Energy Plague and came out with powers he was one of them. From information that had been uncovered & circulating through various media platforms he was a loner. He’d endured relentless teasing & bullying from his peers a good portion of which was racially discriminatory. In the past similar situations had ended up with students coming into possession of weapons and opening fire on other students seeking revenge for there supposed mistreatment. However George Sanchez had a far more destructive weapon then any gun he could have procured, he was equipped with superhuman powers.  The whole country was in an uproar in the past three months many lives had been lost, & the atmosphere was filled with tragedy.

As a result of just the Energy Plague many hospitals around the country were currently packed. Several states were urging people to wear masks when out in public to shield themselves from the spread of this airborne virus. Various lockdowns had been instituted across the country, with the CDC & Science Community urging people to limit all travel to only essential movement. Various entertainment venue’s & other non essential operations had been effectively shut down across half the country. The mass murder Sanchez had committed with his powers had sent the country in an uproar. Between that event & the energy plague that was already ravaging the nations schools across the country were all shut-down. But more then that the fear that people had about these Altered humans had rose to extreme heights. Many were calling for blood, while others insisted on fighting for the rights of these Altered Humans. Many claimed that George Sanchez was not a representative of all the people who’d been gifted these powers. 

Jonah was among the multitude who believed these Altered Humans were dangerous & the vicious murders in Chicago only further cemented those beliefs. This masked radical trying to incite a revolution, a superhuman race war only further divided the citizens of this nation. The screen had shifted back to the dimly lit room, the camera now focusing on Reaper. “The only thing that truly makes me sad about what happened in Chicago is the fact that Sanchez is in federal custody & that more people didn’t die. “ Laughter erupted from Reaper before he resumed speaking. “This is the power we’ve been granted, if but one of us can swallow buildings imagine what we can do with ten of us standing side by side. A hundreds. Thousand, ten thousand, a million!?! It is time for us to rise up and unite to bring down the American dictators. They call us Altered Humans, why Altered? I think a better name is Enhanced, because that’s we are. We are great, we are powerful, we are ultimate!!!!! Oppressors beware for your time is up, soon all who are like me will hear my call & together America shall fall.” The video ended and Jonah’s face was red with anger.

“That bastard.” Jonah hadn’t even noticed his teeth grinding together, hearing him speak with so little regard for the lives that had been lost by Sanchez’s brutality was maddening. Jonah was writing down notes from what he’d observed in the video in his notepad.  Furiously typing away at the keys at the conclusion of the video. The world was truly going to down the drain and no matter what he wouldn’t rest until he did everything in his power to save this great nation.