Day 48

[from GodMode]

For the next couple of days, Jun continued to ponder the meaning of his brief encounter with the strange hooded girl. What reason could there be for him to have to delete the GodMode app? And furthermore, why would he even want to? In spite of the girl's cryptic warnings, he had continued to make liberal use of the app, and it had only served to improve his life, with no apparent drawbacks. It didn't even seem to drain his phone's battery. Whatever this app was, and whoever had made it, it was truly a miracle, and Jun was not willing to give it up just because a stranger had told him to. He had, however, abstained from telling anyone about the app. It was his own little secret.

As he walked home from school on Friday evening, Jun was once again experimenting with the app. He had discovered a "BARO_SHIFT" function that created localized weather conditions within a 200-yard radius, and as it was raining heavily that day, he was using it to create a localized dry patch that moved with him as he walked. It was even better than having an umbrella, and since it affected entire streets rather than just himself, he didn't get odd looks from passers-by who might otherwise notice that he was the only bone-dry person in the vicinity.

Speaking of which… Jun suddenly noticed that the street around him was suddenly deserted. The cars driving past, and the people on the sidewalk around him, had all completely vanished. This was very strange indeed. Jun navigated to the main menu to open another function, "VISION_SHIFT", which he had found allowed him to look around the entire city without physically moving, like a ghost. He wanted to see just how far this sudden desertion extended to, but before he could, he was interrupted by a voice.

"So you're the heretic who's been abusing the powers of God," said a sneering voice from behind him. Turning round, Jun found himself confronted by two people, a man and a woman, wearing strange black-and-green robes. Both of them were staring at him with visible contempt on their faces.

Before Jun could ask who they were, and what they were talking about, he suddenly felt a great weight pressing down upon him. As the pressure intensified, he was dragged to the ground by it, lying flat on his back with his arms spread. He clutched tightly onto his phone, but the force pushing down on him was now so intense he could barely lift a finger to tap the screen, let alone raise his arm up so he could see it. It took him only a moment to realize what was happening: whoever these people were, they were using GodMode to manipulate gravity. They were trying to crush him to death.

The woman stepped over him, holding up her phone and sneering down at him. "Only we, the chosen few, are worthy of wielding this divine power," she said. "You, who are not, shall be put to death for your heresy."

The pressure crushing down on Jun grew even greater, and he felt the air start to squeeze out of his lungs. As he gasped for breath, Jun finally realized why the strange hooded girl had warned him to delete the app. She had known that this would happen, that these people would come for him, whoever they were. She had tried to save him. If only I'd listened to her, he thought desperately.

"Leave him."

Could it be…? Jun could not see, as he could not move his head, but that voice sounded just like the girl in the white cloak. Had she come to save him? If she had, she would have to be quick about it; as Jun continued to struggle for breath, it was starting to become hard for him to stay conscious.

The robed woman grinned. "So the false shepherd has come for her stray lamb," she said mockingly. "You are too late. In a few moments, this heretic will be history, and then you will be next!"

A moment later, Jun heard a sickening sound, and found himself being showered in a thick red liquid. At the same time, the crushing pressure lifted completely  from him, and though his body ached too much to move yet, he could finally breathe again. Managing to lift his head, a horrifying sight met his eyes. A large spike had suddenly shot up from the ground at an angle and speared the robed woman straight through the chest, killing her instantly; the liquid he had been showered in was her own blood, pulled towards him in the instant before gravity returned to normal. Had the strange hooded girl done this? It had to have been her: there wasn't anyone else it could have been.

"You bitch!" cried the male, his attention now focused on the murderer of his companion. "Burn in the flames of hell!" Navigating to "TEMP_SHIFT", he swiftly began raising the temperature around the girl to unbearable degrees. A second before the tarmac beneath her spontaneously ignited, the girl activated "USER_SHIFT", dodging well out of the way, before activating "GROUND_SHIFT". A large hole opened up in the ground beneath the man, sending him plummeting downwards, then before he could react, the chasm slammed shut again. A fountain of blood squirted up from the ground as the man was instantaneously crushed.

Jun did not move, remaining on the ground as he tried to come to terms with whatever had just happened. Two people, seemingly religiously-motivated, had attempted to kill him, only for the girl who had confronted him two days ago to viciously murder them before they could do so. And now she was walking towards him. In his present state of shock, Jun immediately began to panic that she might kill him next.

The girl did not attempt to kill him. Instead, she knelt down beside him. For the first time, Jun could see her face, and he noticed that she was rather beautiful, though her face was cold and expressionless. "I told you to uninstall the app," she said.

Jun forced himself to try and calm down, but it was hard, given the circumstances. "If you'd told me that people were going to try and kill me, then I would have!" he retorted.

"I wanted to keep you out of this entirely," said the girl, "but that is no longer possible."

"What is "this", anyway?" asked Jun. "Who were those people, and-" Jun felt a sudden stabbing pain in his side and fell silent, gasping in pain. The crushing had taken its toll on his body.

"Hold still," said the girl. "I will heal you. And since you are now part of this, whether you want to be or not, I shall explain everything to you." Navigating to "HEAL_OTHER", the girl activated the app's healing effect and held her phone close to Jun. Gradually, he felt the pain in his body begin to fade away.

With her other hand, the girl swept back her hood, fully exposing her face and head. She was about the same age as Jun, and even with her blank expression she was rather beautiful. She had long white hair that complimented both her cloak and her expressionless demeanour. "What would you like to know first?" she asked him.

Jun still couldn't quite speak, but this gave him a little time to decide which of his many questions he wanted answered first. Eventually he settled on, "What the hell is this app?"

The girl's answer was simple. "It is a miracle."

Day 47

[from Sonic the Hedgehog Returns]

It did not take Sonic long at all to reach Knothole, with the other Freedom Fighters in tow. Antoine had calmed down by the time they arrived back, his flashbacks swiftly fading away. As Sonic and the others skidded to a halt inside the main square, they were greeted by the village's two other main residents. Rotor Walrus, the group's main technical expert, headed straight for Sally. "Did you get the plans?" he asked.

Sally held up the flash drive containing the plans. "They're in here," she said. "I'm going to analyze them with NICOLE shortly, but first I'd like you to scan it, and make sure it doesn't include any nasty surprises from Robotnik." NICOLE was a sentient computer that Sally had received in a mysterious package one day. Though small, it was powerful enough to crack even the toughest of Robotnik's encryptions. Recently Robotnik had taken to bundling viruses in with his plans to try and shut NICOLE down from the inside, and while it hadn't worked so far, Sally wasn't taking any chances.

Rotor took the drive from Sally and headed off to his workshop, with his young assistant Tails in tow. "I'm gonna hit the hay," said Bunnie, stifling a yawn, "I need a power-nap. No pun intended." Bunnie's arm cannon may have been powerful enough to wreck Snively's robot, but it used a lot of energy, and firing it always exhausted her. For this reason, she usually restricted herself to firing it once per day, and only in dire emergencies, as had been the case back at Scrap Brain Zone.

"And I shall start preparing supper!" declared Antoine, before heading off towards the kitchens. Antoine's shell-shock may have reduced his effectiveness as a soldier, but he was still an excellent chef. Most of the time.

"It better not be escargot again, Ant!" Sonic called after him.

Sally remained in the square, with Sonic. She had something important to discuss. "So," she said, "Charles believes these plans are for some kind of powerful super-weapon. What do you suppose it could be?" "Charles" was Sonic's uncle, one of Mobius' top scientific minds prior to Robotnik's coup d'etat. He, like almost all of Mobius' other citizens, had been "Roboticized" - turned into a mindless robotic servant. Except Charles had not become mindless. By a stroke of good luck, he had retained his free will, and now worked for the Freedom Fighters as a double agent, passing them information about Robotnik's schemes. It was he who had alerted them to this new super-weapon, whatever it may be, and told them where the plans were being kept.

Sonic merely shrugged. "I dunno, but he seemed pretty rattled when I talked to him. He reckons it's gotta be both new and big. Really big."

"That’s not really very helpful," said Sally.

"Well, that's all he knew," said Sonic. "Apparently there's been a lot of activity lately in Buttnik's research centres, so he reckons maybe it uses some fancy new tech Buttnik's invented, and there's some kinks that need working out."

"That would make sense," said Sally, looking pensive. "But then, if it's something we've never seen before-"

"Sally!"

Looking up, Sally saw Rotor running towards her, the flash drive in his hand. It had only been a couple of minutes, and his hurried pace and concerned expression told Sally that something was very wrong. "What it is, Rotor?" she asked.

Rotor came to a halt a few feet away, resting his hands on his knees for a moment while he recovered his breath. "I checked the flash drive," he said eventually. "Not only were there no viruses on it… it's not even encrypted."

"Not encrypted?" repeated Sally, surprised. "I don't think Robotnik's ever not encrypted something…"

"Well, maybe ol' Blubber Boy just forgot this time," suggested Sonic crudely.

"Or maybe… maybe he wants us to see what's on this drive," pondered Sally, as she took the flash drive from Rotor. "He wants us to see what he's got in store for us."

"Then let's take a look already!" said Sonic. "The sooner we know what it is, the sooner I can wreck it!"

"I think we should gather everyone else here," suggested Sally. "If this really is as game-changing as your uncle suggests, then it might be best if we all knew about it."

"I'm on it!" said Sonic, before whizzing off through the village. A moment later, he returned with Bunnie, Antoine and Tails in tow. Bunnie was still half-asleep, one long ear flopped over her face.

"Wha-wha's goin' on?" slurred Bunnie.

"We're going to analyze the plans, see what Robotnik has in store for us, and then figure out a way to stop whatever it is before it does whatever it's supposed to do," said Sally.

Bunnie clearly did not comprehend this in her tired state, but nodded anyway. "Sure, sure, just lemme-" With that, she toppled over sideways and was asleep before she hit the ground.

Day 46

[from ARK]

Dear Diary,

Today I received some excellent news. After almost three years, the construction of my greatest creation, the Space Colony ARK, is finally complete. It is fully furbished, and ready to be inhabited. We've secured the use of the United Federation's shuttles in order to transport personnel and goods to the ARK, but they won't be allowed to dock there permanently, so anyone wishing to return to Earth will have to make use of the ARK's escape pods. I have made sure the pods have been tested rigorously, and they are guaranteed to be able to withstand re-entry.

Due to the logistical difficulties involved in travelling to and from the ARK repeatedly, most of the scientists I have recruited to join me aboard the ARK have agreed to take their families along with them. The ARK has more than enough capacity for them all, and is equipped with every convenience they could possibly require, including a state-of-the-art medical facility. While it may not seem that homely, I still hope that they will all feel perfectly at home aboard the ARK.

That being said, however, Jenny still refuses to join me aboard the ARK. She simply does not feel comfortable with the idea of living on the station, thousands of miles away from everyone she has ever known save for myself. I can empathize with her, but I do not share her fear of isolation; indeed, I will be perfectly content to continue my research amid the infinite solitude of space.

Julian also wishes to remain behind, so that he can remain with his friends and complete his education here on Earth. I admire his dedication to bettering himself intellectually, and so I will honour his desire to remain on Earth, as well as that of my wife. While I would like for them to join me on the colony, I will not force them to do something that would make them unhappy. I am certain that someday, Julian will grow into a great scientist like myself.

As for Colin and Meredith, I have not contacted them yet regarding whether they wish to join me aboard the ARK. I'm sure they are still busy dealing with Maria, who is still in the hospital. I don't know whether the doctors have found out what is wrong with her yet, but if there is anything I can do to help her, I will more than willing to lend my expertise. My granddaughter may only be a few months old, but already she means the world to me.

While I wait for news regarding Maria's condition, I shall begin the preparations for my journey to the ARK. This of course means packing up my current experiments and unfinished research papers, so that I may finish them on the colony once I reach it. There is still much to do before I am ready to leave for the ARK.

***

Dear Diary,

Today, I was finally able to speak to Colin and Meredith. The news regarding Maria is much worse than any of us could have feared. She has Neuro-Immune Deficiency Syndrome, an incurable degenerative disease that will slowly destroy her immune system, causing her to grow more and more frail until it finally claims her life. There is little that can be done to even treat her, let alone cure her.

Colin and Meredith were both in a state of shock, and so was I, when they first told me the dreadful news. However, the disease will not kill her right away, and in the right environment she may still lead a full and happy life. To that end, Colin and Meredith begged me to take her with me aboard the ARK. I was uncertain about taking such a young infant to the colony, but in the end I could not say no to them. The colony's isolation means it is free from diseases, any of which could prove fatal to Maria with her condition, and with the state-of-the-art medical facilities located there, she can be cared for even better than here on Earth.

What is more, we have not given up hope that a cure could yet be found in time to save her, as well as the other unfortunate souls suffering from this disease. With the collective scientific knowledge of those who will be aboard the ARK, myself included, such a cure surely cannot remain outside our grasp for long.

The first personnel shuttle will be leaving for the ARK tomorrow. Aboard it will be Professor Francis Montclair, Professor Alexander Gibson, and their families. Professor Gibson is a good friend and colleague of mine, and specializes in the field of medicine. Perhaps I will be able to enlist his help in attempting to develop a cure for Maria. In the meantime, however, all I can do is continue to prepare for my own departure, which will now be delayed until Maria is well enough to leave the hospital. If she ever is well enough to- No. I cannot allow myself to think in such a manner. She will pull through, and someday, I will cure her, and all those inflicted with that terrible disease. It is my duty as a scientist, as someone who has dedicated himself to the betterment of humanity, to achieve this. For her, and for everyone on this planet, I must do this.

Day 45

[from I Watch You Sleeping]

I wake to the sound of my alarm clock beeping. Still half-asleep, my arm flails across my bedside table and my hand presses down about half-a-dozen times before I finally hit the snooze button. I look at the clock. It's 7:15am, just as it should be. At least I haven't overslept, but considering how tired I feel, that's not surprising.  Rather reluctantly, I slip out of bed, stretch my back and prepare to get ready for school.

God, I hate Mondays.

***

After a quick shower, I pull on my school uniform, grab my bag, and head downstairs into the kitchen for breakfast. My parents are already there, as is my annoying little sister, Natsume.

"Hey, Ken-chan! Ready for school?"

"I keep telling you, don't call me that," I tell her as I sit down at the breakfast table.

"Now, Ken, dear," says my mother, "it's just her way of showing her affection." Affection. Yeah. Right. My mother places a plate in front of me, with a couple of slices of buttered toast on it.

"Well, I wish she wouldn't," I say, picking up a slice. "It's annoying, and in front of my friends it's embarrassing."

Natsume seems to find this amusing. "You mean friend," she says teasingly. "I mean, Raiden's the only friend you've got, right?"

I slam my fist down on the table angrily, causing my plate to jump slightly, and glare at Natsume. "That's not true!" I bark at her. It's kind of true, though. The only other real friend I have is Sakura, I guess. But hey, the truth hurts.

My father immediately puts down his paper and glares at me in turn. His glare is a lot more fearsome than mine. "Kentaro!" Crap. My parents only call me Kentaro when I'm in trouble. Kentaro is my real name. Everyone just calls me Ken, though, except Natsume, who insists on "Ken-chan". Ugh.

"I will not tolerate that sort of behaviour at the breakfast table!" my father snaps. "Do you want me to confiscate your PS3?" My father always threatens me with that. It always works. Being unable to play video games when I got home… I dunno how I'd cope with that.

I heave a defeated sigh. "Sorry, Father," I say. "Sorry, Natsume."

Natsume beams in triumph. "That's okay, Ken-chan~" She's just doing it to wind me up now, I know it.

I eat my toast in silence, and thankfully, Natsume does the same. I've almost finished when the silence is broken by my mother snapping her fingers, the look on her face telling me that she's just remembered something.

"Oh! I nearly forgot!" she exclaims. "Ken, dear! This arrived for you in the mail this morning!"

She hands me a brown envelope. A letter? Who'd send me a letter? If my friends had anything to tell me outside of school, they'd just text me, or message me on Facebook. This must be important. I look at the front of the envelope. There's no sender's address, just "Ken-chan" scrawled crudely in red ink. This means that whoever sent this must have walked up to our front door and shoved it through the letterbox. It must be very important indeed.

For some reason, though, the writing on the front sends shivers down my spine. Red ink tends to have that effect on me. It just looks too much like it's been written in blood. Especially when it's a giant "F" scrawled across your test paper. Thankfully I don't get too many of those.

My thoughts are interrupted by my mother gasping rather loudly. "Oh, look at the time!" she exclaims. "You two are going to be late for school if you don't hurry up! We wouldn't want that, now, would we?"

I shake my head, a half-eaten piece of toast clamped between my teeth. Sasaki-sensei would be very disappointed if I came in late. Nobody likes to disappoint Sasaki-sensei. I quickly polish off the rest of my toast, then grab my bag and head out the door. Just before I leave, I grab the letter from off the table and stuff it into my bag. If it's this important, I should probably read it as soon as possible, so I guess I'll open it once I get to school.

***

Like most Japanese high school kids, I walk to school rather than being driven there. Thankfully it's only a short walk away. I started my third and final year of high school last month; Natsume's in her final year of middle school. Thank God I'll graduate before she arrives.

As I pass through the school gates, I pull out my phone quickly to check the time. I've got a few minutes left before homeroom. That should be enough time to read this letter. I slip my bag off my shoulder and lean back against the brick wall of the main building. Usually I'd stand here and watch the sunlight streaming over the treetops, of the students trickling in through the main gates, happily chatting away. But today, I have a letter to read.

I take the letter out of my bag. Again, the red lettering on the front gives me chills. I ignore it, tearing the envelope open. I take out the letter inside and read it.

HI, KEN-CHAN! I'M WRITING THIS LETTER TO CONFESS MY FEELINGS TO YOU. I KNOW YOU'LL FEEL THE SAME WAY, SO I KNOW YOU'LL ACCEPT THEM. I LOVE YOU, KEN-CHAN. I'VE ALWAYS LOVED YOU. YOU'RE SO HANDSOME AND SMART… YOU LOOK SO PEACEFUL WHEN YOU'RE SLEEPING… HOW I WISH I COULD BE LYING THERE BESIDE YOU… PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE ME, KEN-CHAN. I BREATHLESSLY AWAIT YOUR REPLY.                xxxxxxx

I fel my heart pounding in my chest. What… is this? Is this some kind of practical joke? Yeah… I bet this was Raiden. This is exactly the kind of stunt he'd pull. And yet…

I notice something else in the envelope. I fold the letter up, place it in my school bag, and reach back inside the envelope.

This looks like a…

No. It can't be.

It is.

It's a photo of me. In my bedroom. Asleep. It appears to have been taken through my own bedroom window. I reel back, a horrified gasp escaping my drying lips. …who? Who took this picture? How? And most importantly… why? And why send it to me?

There are more photographs inside the envelope. I take them out with a shaking hand. They're all the same. Me. In my bedroom. Asleep. In every single one of them. This is… insane. I guess I was wrong about this being Raiden. He would never go this far. But then…

If this wasn't Raiden…

…who the hell was it?

I jump as the bells ring out to signal the start of homeroom. Damn. I better put these photos away before somebody sees them. I quickly stuff them back inside the envelope, then stuff the envelope back in my bag, along with the letter. Then I pick up my bag and make my way over to my classroom.

Day 44

[from CC BattleGrid]

It took Corey a little while to fully awaken from the anaesthetic. Almost as soon as his brain realized that he was fully conscious again, he quickly turned to look at his left arm. Running almost from his elbow to his wrist was a long metal plate fused into the back of his arm, with an OLED touch-screen and six small slots built into it. This was a Chip-Based Cybernetic System, or CC System, the must-have augmentation for anyone. Corey had just turned thirteen, the minimum age at which one was allowed to get a CC System installed, and getting the system was his birthday present. He'd wanted one ever since his older sister Alexa had had one installed, and seeing it finally bolted to his arm filled him with joy.

"Awesome!" he exclaimed. "My very own CC System!"

"Indeed it is," said Dr. Gibson, the man who had performed the installation. "I should warn you, once the anaesthetic wears off your arm will probably ache for a few days, but after that you shouldn't experience any problems with it."

There was only one thing really concerned Corey. "How soon can I battle with it?" he asked. Like his older sister, and many kids his age, Corey was obsessed with the popular game CC BattleGrid. He'd never been able to play it before, for obvious reasons, but with the CC System now installed in his arm, he was eager to get started.

Dr. Gibson chuckled. "You can start playing CC BattleGrid right away, as well as any other CC System apps you might want to use. Of course, first you'll be wanting this as well." He handed over a small headset, with a built-in holographic projector that projected a display in front of the user's eyes. This was the holovisor, the crucial second part of the CC System. It linked wirelessly to the wearer's System, displaying all kinds of audio-visual feedback. In a BattleGrid game, the holovisor not only displayed the user's remaining health, but also produced a wide range of virtual-reality special effects to create an unparalleled sense of immersion. It was this that made the game so immensely popular.

Corey sat up on the edge of the bed and put on the holovisor. It had already been linked to his CC System, and as he put it on it whirred into life, the CC System logo suddenly superimposed over Corey's view of the world. It faded away after a moment, leaving only a 24-hour clock and battery indicator in the bottom-right of his field of vision. The holovisor's technology truly was incredible; he almost couldn't tell that he was wearing it at all.

"Well, that should be everything," said Dr. Gibson. "If you have any problems, or any further questions, don't hesitate to contact me. It's unlikely your body will try to reject the system, but if it does, then the sooner we can catch that, the sooner we can fix it. Understand?"

"Yes, sir," said Corey, nodding.

"Alright then," said Corey's father, who had brought him along, "let's be heading home, huh? I'm sure your sister will be waiting to congratulate you… and to battle you, probably, knowing you two."

"Yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to my first battle!" exclaimed Corey. "Thanks, Dr. Gibson!"

"No problem, kid!" said Dr. Gibson. "You be safe now, okay?"

"I will!" said Corey. "See ya!"

***

Sure enough, when Corey and his father arrived home, Alexa was in the living room waiting for them. "Hey, so you got your System installed!" she said, as she spotted the gleaming metal panel on Corey's arm. "Let me have a look!"

Alexa headed over to examine Corey's System. It wasn't much different from hers, apart from the colour; Alexa's was a shining purple while Corey's was a plain metallic grey. "Cool, isn't it?" said Corey.

"Sure is, kiddo," said Alexa. "You're ready to become a proper CC BattleGrid player now. Speaking of which, I said I'd give you your first battle, didn't I? Unless you got so anxious to try it out that you decided to battle someone at the Installation Facility?"

A small part of Corey was suddenly annoyed that he hadn't done just that, but outwardly he chuckled. "Nope!" he said. "I wanted to wait until I got home, so I could face you like I promised! Besides, I don't even have any Chips yet!"

"Oh yeah, that reminds me," said Alexa. "Here, I'll give you this old starter pack of mine to get you on your way. I don't really need it any more, I got hundreds of Chips now."

Alexa handed over a small case containing twenty-five Battle Chips, the regulation amount for battling. "Thanks, sis," said Corey, flicking through them quickly. They all seemed like fairly low-powered Chips, but it was only a starter pack, after all. He'd earn more powerful Chips once he started battling.

"Alright, I hope you're ready, kiddo," said Alexa. "You know the rules of BattleGrid, right?"

"Of course I do!" said Corey. "I've been watching you battle for months now!"

Alexa chuckled. "Alright then. Let BattleGrid commence!"

Day 43

[from Street Racer]

JADE CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT

INCIDENT REPORT: DATED 12TH FEBRUARY 2015

Another major street-racing incident occurred two days ago in the industrial area of the city. After talking to witnesses and examining CCTV footage from the area, we have put together this approximate timeline of the events that occurred.

At approximately 6:13pm on February 10th 2015, an orange-and-black Nissan 350Z driven by a man believed to be known street racer Jason Diaz parked outside an industrial unit in the Bronson Flats industrial complex. He left his car and began making phone calls, and at 6:15pm, while he was still on the phone, a red-and-white Audi TT, driven by an unidentified white male in his mid-20s, parked up alongside him. The driver of the TT exited his vehicle, and after a brief conversation with Diaz, the two men both began making phone calls.

Over the next 45 minutes, a number of individuals, some of whom have been identified as known members of the street-racing scene and many of whom were driving heavily-modified imports, gathered at the location of Diaz and the unknown male. These included a female thought to be Diaz' girlfriend, Tara St. Clair, driving a green-and-white Mazda MX-5, a female who has since been identified as 23-year-old Morgan Smith, driving a blue Subaru Impreza, and a known associate of Diaz known only to the JCPD as "Bouncer", driving a yellow-and-black Ford Mustang. Investigations into Bouncer's identity are currently ongoing.

At approximately 7:01pm, those gathered at the site began to prepare for an illegal street race. Witnesses report that the race was to be three laps of a makeshift street circuit through the Bronson Flats complex. At around this time, Diaz and St. Clair were seen arguing, reportedly regarding whether or not St. Clair was to compete in the race. St. Clair was then seen briefly arguing with the driver of the Audi TT, before Diaz led her away and spoke to the man himself. The subject of their discussion is not currently known.

By 7:16pm, Diaz, Bouncer, Smith, and the red-and-white Audi driver had paid their entrance fees and lined up at the start/finish line. St. Clair stood at the roadside holding a chequered flag, alongside an unidentified Asian female using her smartphone as a stopwatch. At precisely 7:18pm, St. Clair waved the chequered flag and the race began.

Early on the first lap, the Audi driver had a minor collision with Diaz and span, leaving him several seconds behind the other racers. By the start of the second lap, Bouncer was in the lead, with Smith and Diaz shortly behind.

At some point during the second lap, as Diaz attempted to pass Smith on a straightaway, the front-left side of Diaz' car clipped the right-rear side of Smith's, causing the latter to lose control and spin at an estimated speed of 120 miles per hour. Smith's car then struck a tree at the side of the road head-on at approximately 100 miles per hour, before bouncing back into the road where it was then struck by the Audi, who had braked and swerved but been unable to avoid it. Smith is thought to have been killed immediately upon the initial impact with the tree, and was taken to hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival. Although the Audi was also damaged significantly by the impact, the driver reportedly escaped with only minor injuries and was able to continue the race.

Once it became apparent to those present that Smith had been killed, the race was swiftly abandoned and most of those gathered had dispersed by the time the emergency services had arrived. It is thought that Diaz and Bouncer kept the prize pool for themselves despite the race's abandonment. Of the witnesses that we spoke to, two believed that Diaz' collision with Smith had been deliberate, and one also believed that his collision with the Audi driver had also been deliberate. This is consistent with several previous reports of races involving Diaz, in which he has resorted to shockingly dangerous tactics when not in the lead. Sadly, with Diaz' current whereabouts unknown, and with little or no evidence to prove that the crash was deliberate, we are unable to obtain a warrant for Diaz' arrest, although he remains wanted in connection with this and numerous other street racing incidents over the past eighteen months.

Day 42

[from Electron]

No more than half an hour after the call had been made, a black car arrived at the scene of Aaron's Awakening. By now, a small crowd had gathered round to behold the destruction, and one or two intrepid reporters had also arrived, only to turn back around when they learned of the nature of the incident. If this man had Awoken, then he would soon come under the protection of SHRED, meaning that revealing his identity would become a federal crime, carrying a hefty prison sentence. Not to mention the other possible consequences of revealing a hero's true name.

The car parked up a short distance from the ruined house, whose inhabitants had already been taken to hospital as a precaution, and given assurances that SHRED would pay for their temporary accommodation as well as the repairs to their house. The two totalled cars were also going to be paid for. Most Awakenings were, fortunately, not as expensive or potentially dangerous as Aaron's had been, but when they were, the infrastructure was at least in place to ensure the resulting mess could be cleaned up.

The car door opened, and out stepped a tall black man in a sharp suit. "Alright," he said, stepping forward and flashing his SHRED badge, "let's see what we got here."

He was quickly pointed in the direction of Aaron, who was sat quietly on the curb. He had gotten over his initial shock, but was still coming to terms with what had just happened. As the agent approached, Aaron looked up nervously. "Am I in trouble?" he asked.

"Depends on your definition of trouble," said the man, before holding up his badge again. "Martin Barnes, Superhero Regulations Department. I'll be taking you in to be processed, but first I wanna know…" He glanced over at the partially demolished house, the totalled car still lying amidst the wreckage. "The hell did that happen?"

Aaron shrugs. "Beats me," he said. "You're the superhero expert, right?"

Martin squatted down so he was face-to-face with Aaron. "Go through the whole thing from the beginning for me," he said. "It started with a near-death experience, right? What'd you do, crash your bike?"

"How did you know I-" Aaron paused, then looked down at himself, remembering he was still wearing his biker leathers. He noticed for the first time that, despite the powerful bolt of lightning he had been struck with, they were not the slightest bit melted or singed. "…right. Well, uh, not exactly."

"Whatcha mean, 'not exactly'?" asked Martin.

"Well, I was riding my bike to the store, to get some beers, and then there was this big bolt of lightning. I guess it must have hit me, and then I came off and rolled under a parked car or something. When I came round, I tried to get up, but my hand was, like… stuck to the car or something. At first I thought someone had superglued it there, for a prank, but when I tried pulling it free, my other hand got stuck as well. I kept trying to pull them free, and then… I dunno what happened. There was this big flash, and then the next thing I know, the… car's in the house…" He looked totally perplexed as he finished.

Martin casually gestured at the other car, which was now being loaded onto a tow truck. "And the other car?"

Aaron shrugged and shook his head. "I think it was about to run me over - I dunno, I was still shocked from the first thing - but then suddenly, it… I dunno, it's like it… crashed into thin air or something." He have Martin a concerned look. "Is the driver okay?"

Martin responded with a shrug of his own. "I dunno, man, I only just got here," he said. Turning his head, he called out to the driver of the tow truck. "Hey! What happened to the driver of that car?"

"Uhh, I think he got taken to hospital," said the tow truck driver. "He seemed more shocked than anything else, he'll be fine."

Martin looked back at Aaron. "There you go," he said. "Nobody got hurt. Kinda lucky, really, I mean-" He glanced back at the destroyed house and let out a low whistle, before hurriedly turning his attention back to Aaron. "I mean, not like it was your fault or anything. Awakenings are pretty much uncontrollable, nothing you coulda done about it." He took yet another look at the devastation. "Well, anyway… given the level of damage, I'd say you're easily a Tier 3, possibly Tier 4, depending on what your power actually is. Right now, I'm thinking either psychokinesis, or something to do with magnetism. We'll have to check that out back at HQ."

"So is that where you'll be taking me?" asked Aaron.

"Yep," said Martin. "Don't worry, any loved ones you have will be informed of what's happened, though you're probably not gonna see 'em again for a while. Hope you understand that." Aaron nodded. He didn't have a girlfriend, and his parents lived in another town so he didn't see them that frequently to start with. Indeed, now that he thought about it, there weren't that many people in Aventura that would notice his sudden disappearance. All the better, really, if he was going to have to conceal his identity from now on.

"Alright, let's get going, then," said Martin. He stood back up again, then starting shooing the crowd. "Alright, show's over, get outta here," he called out. "Nothing more to see here, folks, go home. Everything here's taken care of." As the crowd started to disperse, Martin gestured to Aaron. "C'mon, let's go."

Aaron followed Martin to his car, a rather new-looking Mercedes-Benz. He instinctively opened the back door, but Martin said, "You can sit in the front, y'know. You're not under arrest or anything."

"I'm not sure whether that's a good idea, considering, eh…" Aaron glanced down at his hands briefly.

Martin grinned. "I don't think your choice of seat's gonna matter much if your powers choose to go haywire again," he said. "But, if you insist…"

Martin got in the driver's seat, and Aaron settled into the back seat, buckling himself up. As the car pulled away, Aaron suddenly remembered something. "Hey, wait… what about my bike?"

"What about it?" asked Martin, adjusting the rear-view mirror.

"Do I get a new one?" he asked. "Wait, what about the rest of my stuff?"

"We'll take care of your things, don't worry," said Martin. "But as for your bike… well, let's just say you won't be needing it anymore."

"Why not?" asked Aaron.

"Let me put it to you this way," said Martin. "You ever seen a superhero ride a motorbike?"

Aaron had to pause for a moment to think about it. "No, actually," he said eventually, "I don't think I have."

"There's a good reason for that," said Martin, "the reason being they're not very safe. So if you need transportation, we'll get you a car."

Aaron didn't seem too enthusiastic about this idea until he remembered which famous hero drove a car. "You mean like a Batmobile or something?" asked Aaron. "With all the gadgets and stuff?"

"Depends," said Martin. "If you need a car like that, then yeah, sure."

"Why wouldn't I need a car like that?" asked Aaron.

"Let me put it to you this way," said Martin. "Does Superman drive a car?"

"No," conceded Aaron. "But Superman can fly, and I can't."

Martin smirked, looking right into the reflection of Aaron's eyes in the rear-view mirror. "Can'tcha?" he asked. "You know that for certain?"

Aaron shook his head. "No," he admitted. "I don't."

Martin nodded, turning his attention back to the road. "We'll see," he said. "By the way, I don't think I caught your name."

"Aaron," said Aaron. "Aaron Price."

"Nice to meet ya, Aaron," he said. "You seem like a nice guy. I'm sure you'll make a fine superhero."

"We'll see," said Aaron, a little skeptical.

"We will," said Martin, nodding.