[hr] [center][h1][b][u][color=fff79a]Zeke Salazar[/color][/u][/b][/h1][/center] [hr] [color=fff79a]"Wait… what? They're letting me go?"[/color] Zeke shook his head in front of the office manager. He had been called in there a few moments ago; Zeke had assumed this was something about how good he was at this job, but now, he's going to lose it. Of all the times to become an unemployed person, it was right when the economy was taking a hard downturn because of the plague and the storm. "Yes, we are." The manager, a white man with blonde hair and steely blue eyes, folded his fingers together and spoke with a neutral expression. "I'm sorry." [color=fff79a]"You're sorry?"[/color] Zeke scoffed. He briefly turned away before planting his hands on the table, looking at his manager straight in the eye. [color=fff79a]"You're sorry, my ass. I bet you're happy now that I'm gone. You're lucky my mother won't be beating you with a chancla."[/color] "No, Mr. Salazar." The manager replied, still neutral in his tone. "The company is laying you off because of… this." Holding up his phone, the manager played a video showing Zeke conjuring a pair of stars and floating them around before detonating one. "Mr. Kont sent me this footage." [color=fff79a]"Kont…?"[/color] Zeke gritted his teeth. His friend that he showed his powers to. Who now turns out to be a filthy traitor that threw him under the bus for no reason at all. Maybe he hoped to get a promotion in his stead. "From the way you described your… Altered abilities to Mr. Kont, it would appear that you're not just a fire hazard, but also a radiation hazard." The manager lurched forward, hands still folded. "We can't endanger our workers in this company." [color=fff79a]"Is this a joke?"[/color] Zeke angrily scowled at him. [color=fff79a]"I've worked here for five years. I get Altered abilities and suddenly I'm a liability?"[/color] "The PR department recommended it." The manager coldly replied. "Though… we are willing to erase that footage, provided if you peaceably leave today." [color=fff79a]"Hmph."[/color] Zeke pointed a finger at the manager. [color=fff79a]"In that case, do it now."[/color] "Not until you leave, Mr. Salazar." Zeke shunted away the thought of shoving a star down the manager's throat. That was a shame, though. [color=fff79a]"Fine."[/color] Zeke turned away, slamming the door shut as he went to his desk and began to gather his belongings. "Zeke?" Another of his friends in the office ran up to him, visibly worried. "Its barely 10am, where are you going?" [color=fff79a]"I'm fired."[/color] Zeke replied in a matter-of-fact way. [color=fff79a]"Because I'm different."[/color] "Nonsense!" The woman retorted. "You're one of the best! Why would they throw you out?" [color=fff79a]"Because, Linda."[/color] Zeke looked down on her, virtue of their ten inch height difference. [color=fff79a]"I'm an Altered. I make stars and apparently I'm a fire and radiation hazard. Okay? You happy now?"[/color] "No, I'm not…" Linda shook her head. "That doesn't change a thing about who you are, Zeke." [color=fff79a]"It changes my employment options."[/color] Zeke replied, shoving his laptop into his bag. [color=fff79a]"The law may just say that we can't be in medicine and law enforcement, but that's just on paper."[/color] "I'm so sorry, Zeke." Linda touched his wrist. "I hope you get a new job soon." [color=fff79a]"Thanks Linda."[/color] Zeke replied. [color=fff79a]"Take care here while being under the capitalist overlords."[/color] … A few minutes later, Zeke went into the corridors of the office building, briskly walking with a suitcase and backpack. Then… There he was. Kont. [color=fff79a]"Hey, Kont."[/color] Zeke pretended to act friendly as he came across his former friend, still trying very hard not to throw a ball of plasma at his face. "Hey, Zeke-" [i]*Smack*[/i] Kont was slammed against the wall by a punch fueled by the flames of betrayal and pain. "Ow! What was that for?" [color=fff79a]"For throwing me, your loving friend, under the bus, Kont."[/color] Without another word, Zeke walked away, leaving all of that behind him. Kont might press an assault charge… but he can't care about that anymore. He deserved that, and more. Soon enough, Zeke was in the parking lot. He got in his car and drove away, not once looking. It looked like that was all for today… It wasn't. When he had gotten some distance between himself and the city center, the news flew abuzz with a slew of destruction wrought by a giant woman. Zeke blinked as the titan exhibited not one, not two, not three, but four… no, how many was that, even? He couldn't remember how many, but there were a lot. And he watched as one of the buildings that got destroyed turned out to be the one he had just left, the place from which he was fired. [color=fff79a]"No…" [/color] There were quite a few people he knew that died right then and there. Linda, the manager, even Kont. That last one may have been a traitor, but he didn't deserve to die. Either way, it looks like we will have to go to a few funerals in the coming weeks… and talk about his luck of being fired right in the nick of time. Maybe, just maybe, he should also visit some old friends. [hr] [center][h1][b][u]Karagoz Dimirci[/u][/b][/h1][/center] [hr] [quote]"Why didn't you turn around? Those people did n-not deserve to die, they were simply following orders..." One of the copies spoke up with a nervous tone. Maybe the question would be sufficient for him, but she knew better than that. Ideally, Michele wouldn't have to witness any murders as she had seen more than enough of her fair share back in Brazil, but this was different, much more different. The war between the Altered and the normals was only getting started, and Michele knew for a fact it was only going to get worse from this point on. "Look, I don't mean to tell you what to do, but we can't allow ourselves to contribute any more to this division. It will make it worse for us.”[/quote] "Orders, orders, orders…" Karagoz repeated in a seemingly vain attempt to grasp reality as his right hand twitched like a cymbal. "Almost my whole life, I've followed orders… Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria… I've only ever bow-ow-owed…" The flames intensified, his hands weaving the fire into the shape of a dragon's gaping maw. "What are we going to do, if not to fight back? This is only the beginning! We were oppressed and looked down upon since before we gained these… gifts. And now, now that we are the superior race, they will step down upon us even more, take every opportunity to bury us in the ground, until we are rounded up in camps and slain! The only way… is to fight." To Michelle, the way he spoke, the tone of his voice, it would make it clear that this man was completely mentally unhinged. A loss of mind, brought upon by the horrors of war and the annihilation of family and friends. His mind was shattered and drifting apart… "If you are not for us, then you are against us…" Karagoz muttered from beneath his gas mask. "But… you have one chance to turn away. Go." The flames slithered alongside him. "Before I change my mind…"