My name is Max Carter, and I live in Milwaukee. I would say I'm among the top 10,000 in the world when it comes to power, which, considering there are around 8 billion people in the world, is impressive.
Things have changed so much since all in a single year, and well surprisingly, the people of the world mostly got over it quickly. Maybe it's the human ability to adapt to things we have no control over.
It was rough at first when the challenge gates appeared. The world didn't know how to handle the situation but since the gates didn't pose any threat other than blocking areas and getting in the way of roads, sidewalks and some buildings, things went back to normal fast in just about 3 weeks.
Once word spread about what could be gained by completing the challenges inside, and how even if you died in a low-rank gate you would come out unscathed, there was a rush to complete them. This got much worse as time went on and people knew it wasn't bullshit. People were suddenly able to do incredible things. They gained strength beyond human limits, speed as fast as race cars, and toughness that made bullets look like BBs.
However, the amount of damage people could do increased dramatically. We already had a lot of crime, but now that anyone could gain that kind of strength, things got bad. The U.S. government locked down all the gates they could find, but there were too many of them, and they didn't have the manpower to watch over them all.
The government needed people in law enforcement and the military to gain power from the challenge gates too, but they were already stretched thin, and the public was also scrambling to get stronger. After three weeks, the government required all U.S. citizens to register if they went through a gate and report their levels. From there, high-level citizens were offered spots in a new law enforcement group called the Sentries.
It offered high wages and, later down the line, allowed the ability to take on high-level gates. However, if you were deployed to take down an individual who had gone through the challenge gates, you had to kill them. No prison could hold them. That was the only way to deal with them. Witch cased public outcry.
Since I was one of the most powerful at the time, I was offered the deal, and I accepted. I never should have. The amount of bullshit I must deal with on a daily basis is insane. Every politician wants my support. Everyone wants to know my opinion on this or that. Do I support this movement or that movement? On and on...
If I had to give my honest opinion I would say. "I DON'T CARE!" and that "Most people don't!". I never got involved in politics before, it was all bullshit anyway, and a third of the population agrees with me on that. But now that I'm a Sentry, I'm at the whims of whoever's in charge. I must join parades, be there at public events, and I can't even pick my own team to challenge the gates with. I found that the best way to handle things is to not say anything on any topic.
I'm not an emotional person, and to be honest, I think I'm a little sick in the head. When I killed someone for the first time, I barely felt anything. Even though he killed a lot of people, you'd think I would feel something, right? No.
Maybe that's just who I am. I don't care about the world around me, country pride, political ideologies, or opinions, because I know where this is going. Anyone with a brain does. The gates keep rising in level, our powers keep growing, and there's no sign this is going to stop.
So, I've decided: I'll keep getting stronger so I can survive the future, and protect the people who have my back, just like I'll have theirs. Because the only future I see in this world is war and ruin.