Chapter 1: New Arrival
Tessa Vento looked out the rear window of the SUV and watched the unchanging landscape pass by her. For the last 20 minutes all she had seen was farmlands. She glanced at the reflection of her green eyes in the window and turned to look out the front of the vehicle. Ahead of the SUV, about half a mile, she could see structures behind a giant fence. As they drove closer, the fences became taller and the structures more defined.
"How big is this Complex that we are going to?" She asked the security officer in the front seat. The officer was a petite woman at about 5'6" with medium length brown hair and a bored expression on her flat face. She wasn't driving the vehicle, it was self-automated and there was nothing to keep the women entertained, so she also had been bored for the past little while. She turned to Tessa.
"It is 520 acres with a 9 foot fence covering the entire thing. When we get there, you will receive a tour of the complex before your meeting with the Principal." The officer said in an uninterested tone and then returned her gaze to the front of the vehicle. Tessa leaned her head against the headrest and returned her gaze to the passing farmland and relaxed.
They passed through the main gate and parked at the administration building, Tessa only knew that because it was posted on a placard at the front of the building. She got out of the SUV and the security officer went to the rear and retrieved Tessa's 2 suitcases. Tessa followed the women into the building.
They walked down a long hallway passing several doors along the way. At the end of the hallway was a set of double doors, which the officer went through and Tessa followed. Inside was a conference room with a long oak table in the middle and about 20 chairs around it. The room itself had fake wood paneling and florescent lights making the room seem...dull. At the end of the table descending from the ceiling was a screen that was blank. There were no windows but there was a door in the opposite wall from where they entered. The officer put the bags on the table and turned to Tessa.
"Your guide will be here in a moment. Your bags will be delivered to your room as well." The officer walked back to the double doors, opened them and then was gone. Tessa sat near her bags and waited. Ten minutes later the single door from the wall behind the screen opened and in walked a man. Rather a young man. He seemed to be 19 years old, tall, lean with perfect blonde hair and a bright white smile. He wore a white polo shirt tucked into a pair of khakis with a crease so sharp Tessa was sure she could cut fruit with it. He walked up to Tessa with a smile and his hand out.
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"What do you see?" Anthony asked Raz as they leaned against the East fence. From their vantage point, they could see most of the complex. The East fence sat on a hill that allowed them to see the entrance as well as the farmland outside of the fence. The Complex was a huge fenced in area that had living quarters, a gym, cafeteria, labs and huge open spaces for people to walk around in. Currently, there was about 30 of the 300 'students' milling around in various spots around the complex.
"Not much, same as usual," Raz said as he handed the binoculars over to Anthony and resumed leaning against the fence. Raz stood at 6'5" and was just a little taller than Anthony who was 5'11". They were both toned from years of rigorous physical training.
It was sunny outside without a cloud in the sky, but Raz and Anthony were oblivious to the weather. It was Tuesday, and like every Tuesday new people would come to the Complex. Since they were younger, Raz and Anthony would come to this portion of the fence and watch the new comers come in. They would place friendly bets on what abilities the newcomers had and how long they would survive until the first breakdown.
The breakdown, that is what Raz and Anthony call it, that moment when you first get to the Complex and you realize that there is nothing left for you outside of the fences. Even if there was, you have no way of getting back to it. It hits almost everyone eventually. Raz, Anthony and a half dozen others haven't experienced it yet for various reasons.
Rashad, which was Raz's real name, and Sean, Anthony's first name, had been friends since they were 7. Since the first day, they came to the complex. They had been forced to be roommates and decided they had better be friends because they had no one else since the Cataclysm.
The Cataclysm was an event that changed the face and power of the planet. On June 8th, 2021 a meteorite fell from space and crashed into the Limerick Generating Station in Pennsylvania causing a nuclear explosion that wiped out the state. If that wasn't bad enough, the meteorite was laced with an unknown mutagenic property; meaning that the fallout didn't kill victims immediately.
In fact, people were given a clean bill of health in the surrounding towns and cities of Pennsylvania. They called it a miracle and continued to test people for years afterward with no side effects. Then in 2026 the effects finally showed themselves.
It started in Erie New York. A mother gave birth to a little girl. The little girl, known as Rebecca, wasn't breathing when she came out of her mother. The doctors worked on her and finally were able to breathe life into her. At the same moment she took her first breath, her mother took her last. They thought it was a coincidence until it started happening more and more. Babies were being born not breathing and then finally taking their first breath and their mother taking their last.
Then there was the case of Raz and Anthony. They were born in Virginia, Raz in Norfolk and Anthony in Richmond. They were born on the exact same day, October 31, 2027. At exactly the moment they took their first breath, 2:28 am, both of their parents died simultaneously. They were the first recorded evolutions, as a scientist would later classify the new predicament.
The children whose mother died at their first breath started to develop powers at age 5 such as flight, strength, speed, telekinesis and a whole list of others. Scientist started calling them Second Steps. The Federal government decided to get in front of this new situation and started to organize the Complexes around the US to teach and "train" the children to use their new abilities. So on January 30, 2032, the complexes opened and children were brought there to learn.
Now in 2045 Anthony and Raz had just turned 18 and were about to be sent to The Division. The Division was the place where highly capable Second Steps went after training to protect the country. Anthony and Raz were unique. They were considered Orff Tempus, Time Twins, because of the nature of their birth and the end results of their parents. They were the first and only occurrence of this, as far as they knew, ever happening.
They were unique for another reason. Second Steps only had one power, Evolutions had 2. Anthony had started to grow hair at the age of 5. At 1st, scientist thought that he had a paracentric inversion mutation found in Hypertrichosis. After several tests, they ruled that out; especially when the growth stopped and it began to resemble fur. His senses also seemed to be higher than normal and he healed abnormally fast. He could get cut and the wound would be healed within minutes not even leaving a scar. The drawback was that he was in constant pain. So much so that breaking a limb or being electrocuted barely fazed him.
Rashad's abilities also started to manifest at age 5. He was running around with some kids at his school and time seemed to slow down. They were playing dodgeball and he would later report to a teacher that it seemed that the balls were slowing down in the air. He could easily see where they were going to hit and sidestep them. Then when he was the last member of his team, he devised a way to eliminate the remaining 3 players by drawing them close and then throwing 2 balls to hit 3 players.
Rashad's speed and strategic mind only increased as he got older, but if it wasn't for Anthony his humanity might have been gone a while ago. It seemed the more he thought out a problem and solved it, the less he cared about the people around him. As if his mind was slowly turning off his emotions so that he could process raw data without letting the "human" part of him be a distraction from the goals he set.
