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[b]San Francisco, California[/b]

The GPS on Thomas’ phone informed him that he had just entered San Francisco. He had finally finished his twelve hour drive, having spent a night in a motel while halfway there. Thomas was excited as he saw the beach, something he had never seen growing up in Phoenix. He had come into this drive with anticipation over starting a new chapter of his life. He had finally moved away and was stretching his wings.

That positivity was tempered by the negative feelings that also prompted this relocation. Since the death of his father in the energy storm, Thomas had found that there were too many painful memories in Phoenix. He had hoped that by moving away it would leave his negativity behind.

Thomas’ stomach growled, telling him that it was hungry after the long drive. Thomas pulled his large pickup truck into the parking lot of a Starbucks, one of several he had already seen since entering the city. He put on his mask before heading inside to grab a coffee and a croissant. Thomas went back to his truck, sitting in the front seat. As he chowed down on his baked good, his phone began to ring.

Thomas answered, it was his mom, just checking in on him. She had calculated the length of the drive, and knew he was to arrive in San Francisco around this time. They spoke briefly, Thomas’ mother still worried about him moving to a new city by himself, especially with all the political unrest happening. Thomas managed to ease her fears by promising that he would be safe, before ending the call.

As Thomas finished his food, he thought back to what brought him here. While Thomas knew he had to get out of town, he wasn’t sure where he would go. Fortunately, Thomas’ boss at work had a cousin in California who was opening up a mechanic shop, but had been stopped by the plague. Now he was looking for good employees who still wanted to work. Even though he would be sad to see him go, Thomas’ boss secured him a job at the shop in San Francisco. So, Thomas packed up most of what he owned, and drove northwest to San Francisco.

Due to the abrupt nature of this move, Thomas hadn’t been able to find an apartment. But that didn’t deter him as he was recommended as his new boss Luke would allow him to use his guest room until he found his own place. Thomas was really glad that he was doing that as most people were trying to avoid others with the energy plague going on.

Thomas decided to head to the mechanic shop first. As soon as he pulled up to it he spotted Luke, his boss’s cousin, outside wearing a black mask. They had previously spoke over a video call, so Thomas knew what he looked like.

“Hey Thomas, you made it,” he said with a friendly voice.

[color=#E3E854]“Yeah, it was quite a bit of a trip,”[/color] Thomas replied, the smell of coffee on his breath stuck in his mask.

“Well come on in. I’ll show you around the place.”

Thomas got out of the truck, and then began to tour the shop. It was small, but not a bad size for a first business. All the machines and tools seemed to be current and quality. In the corner, a small flat screen TV was attached to the wall, currently left on a all day news channel.

Luke had to run to get something, leaving Thomas in front of the TV. Rumours were abounding that California was preparing to go into lock down. Thomas considered himself lucky that he had made it to San Francisco before everything was shut down. But he wondered if that would include his new place of employ.

A new program began, this one hosted by a middle aged white man in a grey suit. Thomas didn’t pay him much heed as he waited for Luke to come back. That was until he saw that he was talking about an altered registry. A shiver went down Thomas’ back. Known only to himself, he was an altered, though he managed to conceal successfully.

“And now there’s rumour of a blood test for altereds. Mandatory for everyone to see who are these deviant individuals,” the man said.

“What a load of crap,” Luke said as he re-entered the room, “If there was a blood test they would already be doing it. What do you think Thomas?”

Thomas paused before speaking, [color=#E3E854]“Yeah, its dumb. Plus shouldn’t these altereds be heroes like the X-Men or something?”[/color]

“Ah, but you forget the whole: the world hates and fears us.”

Hates and fears us. That is how Thomas felt right now. These were scary times he was living in, especially when you were different, an outsider. Things really did look shitty to Thomas at that moment.