[b]Washington D.C - President David Forrester - White House Press Conference [/b]

“Ladies & Gentlemen, men & women of this proud brave country. It’s with a heavy heart that I announce these laws that must take place in order for the continued survival of our great nation.” David Forrester, the President spoke. The brother of Nathan Forrester, CEO of Forrester Corporation he was hardly anything but a man of the people. Thanks to his family’s uber wealth he responded the major corporations & corporate conglermate’s that ruled America with an financial iron fist. He was making an announcement of some new laws that would be passed to address the situation with the enhanced humans. These laws were most needed especially after George Sanchez’s vile use of his ability to create a sinkhole that enclosed his entire high School in Chicago resulting in the deaths of 729 people including students & faculty.

“These measures are known as the Emergency Enhanced Act. In addition to the mandatory blood tests, these laws will also accompany them to ensure our nation makes it through these tough times. As I’ve said before I’ll say again I want nothing more then to keep my promise to the hard working American people. I will stop at nothing till I MAKE, AMERICA, SAFE, AGAIN” David spat out getting an eruption of positivity & claps from several in the attendance of the White House. Investigative Journalists, Reporters, Critics, and regular citizens alike had joined in the chorus of claps to President Forrester’s announcement.

Although he wasn’t the man the nation had chosen to be their leader, quite literally in-fact. He’d lost to Hiliary Clinton in the popular vote, but against all odds the electoral college had voted to select him to be next person for presidential power. Many felt the Republican Party had pulled a fast one letting the electoral college pick him despite loosing the popular vote. Rumors of various conspiracies had spread like wildfire across the four corners of the country of how David Forrester had truly attained power. The mysterious aura that surrounded & oozed around the Forrester Family didn’t help. Like the infamous Rothschild family who had massive influence & control over the banks, the Forrester Family had been in power & wealthy for centuries.

As far as back as the early days when Columbus had first “discovered” America so to speak for the British immigrants. They’d been known, a family who was the complete definition of “old money”. It was known that they’d had a massive hand in slavery & the transatlantic slave trade back in the day. Not ones to settle for over-seas money, they’d made a great deal of profit & secured quite a bit of land from actual slavery within the confines of the new world as well. They and the people they represented fought to the bitter end to maintain slavery during the Civil War. They were staunch against Abe Lincoln’s efforts to free the slaves due to the economic repercussions they’d face. Even now in the present the fact that their family was still enriched & wealthy in America despite their iron tight hold to maintain slavery was a strike against them. However their known infamous acts of evil didn’t end with trying to maintain & expand slavery during the 1400’s to the Civil War. Oh no in more recent times they’d played a major financial role in investing in prescription pain killers, and as a result were implicated in the opiate crisis that was roaring through the nation.

As the number of addicts rose & the amount of over-doses rapidly increased the Forrester Family name & The Forrester Corporation were dragged through the mud with Purdue. Like the Tobacco Companies who pushed to make smoking nicotine specifically cigarettes mainstream & downplayed  the addictive damage inducing & cancer causing effects of their product they acted similarly with prescription pain-killers. They’d worked with Purdue to surprise any scientific information about the dangers of opiates, and their vile addictive nature even when used in cycles & periods of time prescribed with medical oversight. The pattern of devious behaviors & projects the Forrester Family had their grubby hands in with money didn’t stop with those two incidents in history. So you could see why people who were more curious then the average American layman were curious about how David Forrester managed to wiggle his way into Presidency during the recent 2016 election. 

“As for these laws.” The President was speaking again and people were listening intently. Political writers were speaking writing down every word the leader of the free world spoke as he went about explaining these new laws being passed for America to control it’s superhuman situation. Journalists where bubbling getting ready to ask questions, & others in the crowd where just there in present to listen to their leader speak about how he planned to lead the country to deal with this situation. “Altered humans will be required to declare their status on their driver license or whatever form of ID they have, Altered humans will NOT be allowed to be sold or consume alcoholic beverages due to the danger of superhumans being intoxicated, Altered humans will not be allowed to consume marijuana or any illicit drugs for the same reasons as their ban on alcohol consumption, Altered humans will have a curfew and will not be permitted to be roaming the streets from the hours of 10PM to 8AM under no exceptions, Altered humans will not be allowed to be present at any educational facility including all schools & college’s neither as student or faculty regardless of age. Altered humans will not be allowed to use their abilities in public for any reason or face federal prosecution. Altered humans will not be allowed to utilize their powers during the the commission of any business or financial activities.  Altered Humans will be temporarily barred from certain profession’s where their inclusion right now is detrimental including law enforcement, practicing law, all forms of medical practice, the educational system. Altered humans are not considered a protected class like race, religion & gender and can be banned or removed from any private or public business for safety measures without warning at will. Altered Humans are banned from using all forms of public transportation including privately owned such as Uber & Lyft. Altered humans are not allowed to engage in ownership or possession of guns or other weaponry.” The President continued on delivering the series of restrictive laws that were being passed against Altered humans in tandem with the mandatory blood tests.

After the President’s announcement of the laws multiple hands shot into the air. An invisible tension so thick it could be cut with a knife was felt in the atmosphere. The mandatory blood tests were one thing entirely, but these other laws being enforced under the guise of emergency powers were restrictive. They were quite frankly combating the rights that Altered humans had as American citizens. There were some who were questioning if these new rules came from a place of heartfelt security in the country or from a place of deep seated hatred.  One factor that some felt these laws were rooted in was racial bias, especially considering that thus far all advanced humans in America belonged to racial minorities. Along-side the Blood Tests these laws were in effect immediately, and the President had finished his statement with a declaration that the National Guard would be mobilizing in all fifty states to ensure that these new laws & regulations involving altered humans were enforced & followed promptly.

The Forrester Administration had wasted no time swinging the metaphorical hammer of justice down against these advanced humans. With these new precedents being carried out, there was sure to be those among the altered who might be further pushed towards the Reaper’s agenda which was starting to look slightly less radical with the new rules being pushed by President Forrester. Of course considering that in the past month an advanced human in Chicago had used his abilities to snuff out the lives of 729 Americans it was hardly surprising. The icing on the proverbial cake was the national guard was being mobilized in all fifty states. With the rapid spread of the Energy plague ravaging the states many had discussed rumors of military involvement to enforce the proposed government lockdown & quarantine regulations to prevent the further spread of this deadly virus. Despite the rising number of cases over the past three months, U.S Soldiers had yet to march the streets armed to the teeth in body armor & impenetrable vehicles patrolling the states. 

[b]San Francisco, California - Floyd Banker - Fuck all that shit Forrester Saying[/b]
Floyd wasn’t the least bit concerned with the political climate surrounding Altered Humans. Yeah he knew about the kid who dropped his high school into a hole. Plus he was no stranger to the activities enhanced humans were involved in thanks to being an avid twitter user. So yeah he didn’t use traditional news media, social media was a fine substitute to him. Besides unlike what he saw on the evening news, there was no filter to the information spread online. Really it had a more authentic feel in his opinion, especially since it was coming from the people not outsiders in suits reporting on the situation.

Life in California the past seven months had been interesting. It hadn’t been an easy choice to just up and leave his home-town of Atlanta. But he needed a change of scenery, and a different pace to his life. Plus recreational marijuana being legal and readily available here was another bonus. He thought about that specific aspect of why he moved as he took some deep inhales from a fat filled marijuana cigar he was puffing on.

“Floyd pass that shit c’mon puta!” Rita Salzaras protested, as Floyd was doing what he did best. Smoking the marijuana himself without sharing. At the sound of her voice ringing in his ears he passed the cigar to her. She promptly snatched it from his hand and took a few deep puffs herself. “Ahh ya that hits the spot. Sheesh you smoking this weed like you bought it or something, you gotta roll the next blunt.” She retorted with anger in her accent.

“Okay okay jeez Rita calm down, you act like you going anywhere. Yo fine ass finna be right here in the crib with me, yeah I hit it a couple more times before I passed It but shit we got enough weed. “Floyd responded nonchalantly wondering why she was worried about him chiefing at all when she was connected & had pounds of weed. After a few more minutes of going back and forth Floyd had rolled up another one for them to smoke. He looked around for a lighter but mentally face-palmed realizing how silly it was for him to look for a lighter. With a simple motion flames erupted around his finger tips which he shot forth to spark the marijuana. “Yeah that never gets old, I ain’t Neva aint nevaaaa gotta worry about a lighter again.” Floyd exclaimed with the upmost satisfaction to having a permanent lighter for his smoking habit.

He was enjoying his day right now, kicked back using his literal ability to disperse flames from his finger tips to light up. Not only that he was fucking the Rita Salzaras, who’d played a big role in him being able to move up in the drug game in California. He’d came out here wanting to boost his illicit revenue to really rise up financially shipping pounds back home to Atlanta. But getting entangled with Rita meant he could get his hands on other stuff than grass. He wasn’t ashamed to say that he was moving white girl & pain pills now making way more money. Although the risk was greater, thanks to his newfound abilities he found himself adjusting just find.

Of course shooting flames wasn’t going to keep him out of prison & off the fed’s radar. Quite the opposite really since he figured being a human flame thrower was an attention drawer with how the feds were cracking down on people with powers. Lucky for him and perhaps unlucky depending on how you looked at it unlike Rita his power wasn’t necessarily just shooting fire. Ever since he’d a sexual fling with Luna right after recovering from the energy plague his life had been on a wild ride ever since the past two months. He seemed to pick up something from every different person he encountered, and at first he wasn’t able to notice that. He figured he’d lost the superpower lottery to take a page from the tropes, but it turned out he might be the overall winner. As ecstatic as he was to be living his literal power dream, it brought up the age old moniker of being careful what you wish for.

Since plunging himself into Luna’s warm embrace, and trysts with her throughout the late night he’d been plagued with horrific nightmares. The thing is these nightmares weren’t just horrid dreams filled with dark confusing events. No these were extremely lucid visions of future occurrence’s, of real bad things that were coming to past in the world. At first he thought that taking a break from cannabis was triggering the usual lucid dreams that come with any tolerance break. But A he hadn’t slowed down on smoking recently quite the opposite. And B once he witnessed the events of one of his nightmares on the news play out scene by scene the same way it did in his dreams he knew that the extra spring in his step he felt from getting over the energy plague wasn’t just overall satisfaction from recovering from the deadly illness.

His mind drifted away from the smoke session & to the details of the nightmare he’d experienced this morning. Of all the dreams he’d experienced so far, this That’s so Raven moment was the worst.

He recalled seeing the streets of Atlanta, Georgia. They were filled with people roaming about, the city was bustling with life as always. He was back home and it was May of 2019, about a year from now. He was at a baroque at his homie Juice’s spot and they were talking about plans to take their marketing business to the next level. “Man this shit really finna be some major, we going next level with this shit, the streets is ready for this shit, after all we been through we finna be on top.” Juice spoke elated about the progress their business ventures was making.

“Hell yeah I mean my super powers playing a big role in that my dawg, Tres always use to say I was a magic man, but I never thought that’d really be the case.” Floyd beamed happy about the role his powers had played in him & Juice getting a major big break in the entertainment & music industry.

“Shit I ain’t hating man, I swear with all the luck you’ve had over the years I think you’ve had powers before the energy plague shit, the real luck being that you was able to get pass that blood test shit. I mean shit you see what’s been happening to the rest of the Altered people, shit. Been telling y’all to get the fuck out the country before it’s too latest his some modern us vs them bullshit.” Juice spoke leading the conversation down a darker tone that Floyd found somewhat uncomfortable with his own status as an Altered Human.

It was clear from the vibe of the conversation in the vision, that although he managed to use some of his luck to skirt through the testing. The situation for Altered humans a year from now in the vision was bleak. But the focus of the dream wasn’t about the cryptic conversation he had with his friend about him skating Liberty. The dream had taken a plunge for true darkness shortly after that. The vision had continued relatively normal with him, Juice & others in their business & inner circle smoking some weed, having some cold stiff drinks, mingling with some gorgeous instagram models, & jamming out to some new tunes. Within an hour the entire sky was filled with darkness, and then it happened. The vision began moving at a rapid pace, skipping time constantly. One minute he saw his lovely city of Atlanta the good, the bad, the ugly. Then there was a new way of seeing his home town he wasn’t use to. The destroyed, the eradicated, & the remains. 

It all happened so fast in the blink of an eye. He’d never seen some a graphic brutal scene of such desolation in reality. The entire city was engulfed in flames, people running for their lives in every direction. Buildings on fire, crumbling to the ground. The blood of innocents spilled, the entire city of Atlanta all the way to the metro area engulfed in massive explosions. This was like the Energy Storm but worst, it wasn’t just energy beams raining down toppling a few buildings. No the entire city of Atlanta was disintegrated, but it didn’t stop there. These explosions weren’t just taking place in his city, but other major American cities. LA, Chicago, Vegas, New York City, New Jersey, D.C, all engulfed in simultaneous explosions. Millions of people dying in a blink, but it didn’t stop there. Because unlike the Energy Storm whatever he was witnessing wasn’t just happening in the United States. The entire world had succumb to this fate, all around the world civilization crumbled. The entirety of the human race was slaughtered. Blood spilled across the globe, every major city in every major country toppled. Buildings collapsing, rivers of blood, every city engulfed in flames, destroyed countries, streets littered with corpses. The earth flooded with dead bodies, dismembered, many disintegrated. It was if some major event had occurred all round the world at once, and everyone fell victim at once. No one was prepared, the entire world’s intelligence community was unable to see this coming. 

This brutality, this globe spanning massacre was something he’d only imagined in his worst nightmares. It Brought back feelings of true fear that had been cousing through his veins when learning about the biblical apoylcapse back in Sunday school when Jesus was suppose to return for the believers. But in this particular vision he didn’t see any glowing crosses in the sky, nor did he witness a chorus of angels coming down to the earth. No this was just pure destruction & eradication of the human race. There was no one who was spared from this horrible fate, he was witnessing the end of the world.

As the bloody vision was nearing an end, a battered and beaten man was see walking through the remains of New York City. The entire city was wiped out, and lifeless as was the rest of the world. The skies were gray, and radiation resonated through-out the entire atmosphere of the planet. All life or the bulk of it was gone from the earth. The man continued truding forward through the remains of the big city stumbling into what remained of a parking garage and collapsing onto the ground. Reaching into his tattered sweats he took out a radio and set it on the ground. A Buzzing could be heard as the radio was locked in a battle with heavy static. Finally a voice could be heard speaking through the radio. “Hello if your hearing this you have survived, not that means much. What is survival anymore, there everywhere. It’s bad enough that the entire planet was wiped out. But then they came out, then they began coming out hunting us down. For anyone listening you know what I’m talking about, they’ve managed to track us down under-ground. All around the world, they’ve burst into the fallout bunkers. For those of us lucky enough to make it under-ground or happen to be in a protected area right when the bombs went off. Sometimes I think that we the remnants had it the worst, at least they were all gone in a flash. Of course I can’t say I’ve never been disintegrated, maybe it was worst. But knowing that only 5 percent of the human population is around and that those monsters are out there tearing us apart limb by limb metallic demons with no souls. Picking us apart, hunting us like wounded animals. Well if your out there all I can say is this as pointless as it is we need to find each other, fight. We’ve lost everything, but not our hope if we’re all going to die we’re going to go out with a bang. No matter what we stand togther we fall together, it’s funny we were all worried about that energy storm, those superhumans it made but in the end the real monster was the one we crafted…the one who anyone hearing this broad-cast knows of very well, the real monster…that it’s looking like humanity won’t live to stop…KIVA.” Right as that word was spoken the broadcast eded.

Tears rolled down the man’s face, Floyd was in sheer agony watching this horrific journey. HE had no idea who this man was, why he was roaming the ruins of the desolate New York City and the bone chilling name KIVA what it meant. What was going on, if all his visions had come to life so far, then what did this one mean. As if it couldn’t get any worst the man leaned up to push the radio aside when a spear flew forward from out of nowhere and pierced the man’s skull/ Blood splurged from his cranium as the man fell to the ground dead. In the distance the sound of metallic whirring and a cold dark laughter could be heard. As the ear shattering metallic empty souless laughter grew louder the vision faded to black. Moments later Floyd woke up shooting up in the bed covered in sweat, nearly whacking Rita who was laying in bed next to him passed out. 

Floyd was breathing heavily looking around to see the world hadn’t ended. Civilization hadn’t collapsed and there wasn’t a sole beaten, battered & weary man walking the streets with a damaged radio. “Puta!!! Banker, aye what’s going on?!” Riya protested about Floyd jumping up out of his sleep and nearly smacking her. Rita caused some flames to appear in her hand, shooting a stream past Floyd’s face causing him to jump back startled.

“Hey shit calm down what the fuck was that for”!” Floyd barked back at his cartel accomplice upset about her sending a column of flame past his face to catch his attention.

“I should be asking you god damn it, dream that bad you almost woke up and whacked me sheesh. What the pussy was so good you had a dream you woke up without it.” Rita teased leaning forward to kiss Floyd.

Back in the present Floyd saw another column of flame brush past him and snapped out of his day dream.  Turning to see once again that it was Rita again using her powers to catch her attention. This time it wasn’t about him waking up from his sleep rapidly in fear but something more mundane. This time it was her who had been chiefing on the weed, and taking too many hits. “Damn you really are high as fuck right now aren’y you.” Rita laughed and passed the blunt to Floyd who accepted gladly.

“Shit hell yeah it’s some good shit, see I ain’t say nothing when you was over there being Cheech & Chong with the wood, now make sure you give me the same behavior,.” Floyd said in a joking tone as he hit the backwood a few times. It felt so surreal sitting up in his apartment with Rita getting super baked on Zaza when he knew that the potential end of humanity itself loomed over his head. He mentally cursed about the visions he’d been experiencing, what with it being so horrific that he couldn’t even focus on the smoke session he was having with Rita. As he was hitting the blunt he froze and almost dropped the backwood on himself hearing a word that caused him to almost freeze him.

“God damn I know we’re fire proof but your bed’s not Floyd. You want the fire department coming here, we got too much damn weed in the house and we’re fucking mutants, what’s wrong with you, you sure you not on some other shit baby.” Rita asked wondering why Floyd was being so jumpy today. She noticed what seemed to startle him was something to do with the television. She didn’t get it because they weren’t watching a horror movie, they were just watching the news. Something about CyberCorp, some major tech company & the biggest rival to the infamous Forrester corporation. Those two technological titans were in a race to be the company to develop supposed world changing technology for the American Government. “Hello earth to Floyd, a bunch of old white scientists talking about there projects can’t be that scary what’s wrong with you?

But Floyd wasn’t listening, and it wasn’t because of the weed. He as staring at the television screen brows scrunched as he was looking at the title of the broadcast. He had no idea what it really meant, but it gave him an horrible feeling. The title on the news broadcast was a simple read, but one that caused him to feel as though he was frozen in time. The title was “CyberCorp unveils it’s newest project, state of the art tech defense that will be sure to change the world, Project KIVA”.