Shaun led me to a meeting room with a projector that had [welcome to the S.U.Z!] with an awkward group picture of the other 3 members on the right.
"alright" Shaun grabbed a remote and clicked to the next slide, [what is the S.U.Z?] "The S.U.Z or Surged unit Z, is a group of 3- now 4 surged that look over Zap City. They do things like stopping surged related crimes." He clicked to the next slide that had a photo of another Surged.
The Surged was a young man in his twenties, but he had gray hair, and his pupils were dilated and red. The Title of the slide said [Surge insanity.]
"Surge insanity is a… disease? Disorder? We don't quite know yet. But it's a process that takes at least a week to happen, so far the reports of these cases are low."
I nodded and he continued
"Victims of Surge insanity or 'Patients' as higher ups want me to call them, have two common similarities." He put up a finger "one is that the Patient always gains gray hair. The second is that the Surge ability of the Patient is always either one that many would consider "bad" like a soundwave voice or laser's whenever you open your eyes, or an ability that would be seen as really hard to control. Like a really complicated ability."
Surge insanity… that's what happened to grey. So, it wasn't just a crazy schizo.
Shaun cleared his throat and continued, "Patients have a body that is far more durable than a human or a surged. He believe this is because of the detachment of the soul from the body, no longer needing it."
Dang this is boring! I understand this information is important but I just wanna go home I've had a long day!
He went to the next slide, [what do the S.U.Z solve?]
"The S.U.Z also goes to crimes that the regular police force can't handle, usually ones created by the surged or Patients."
I raised my hand "do surge related crimes happen that often?"
Shaun smiled "I'm glad you asked" and went to the next slide.
This one had a graph in the middle, a timeline with a red mark in the middle "that red mark indicates when the surge happened." the left said [amount of crime] and the line went up exponentially after the red mark.
"Our research shows that some people have gotten rather confident in their crime causing abilities after the surge. So yes. This is a valid worry."
wow, there are a lot of overconfident assholes out there.
"now" he clicked to the final slide "the good part"
[salary]
I smiled
Okay I won't bore you on the details, but let's just say this job would gain me a LOT of money. Like, enough to let me live a stable life for at least 2 years.
"Are you interested now?"
It's not like I have a choice, like it or not I got pulled into this with no sign of being able to leave it.
"You think I can refuse after that whole sparring thing? I'm in."
He smiled "your training begins tomorrow."
_________
I need a car…
After Shaun gave me a tour of the building and its key areas, I left the building and I'm now standing on the sidewalk, Rideless.
I look down at a paper in my hand with my id, the address to my apartment, and an envelope filled with money my parent gave me.
At least these survived the station.
A taxi turned the corner, and I waved it down.
As it stopped in front of me, a middle aged man with a cigar in his mouth glanced at me and opened the doors.
"Where to kid?" he said as I sat down.
"Uhh Wabash street?"
The man sighed "it'll cost ya kid, that's about 5 blocks away."
"I don't mind I have the money"
The guy pulled out his cig and set the car to drive "fine by me."
I pulled out my phone, which now had a crack in it, and checked my messages. I saw about 10 from my mom asking about the accident.
[mom: are you okay? I saw the station thing on the news, and you were in there! I would hate to see my baby boy hurt!]
I groaned and the driver looked at me through the rearview mirror.
"Text from an ex?"
I quickly said "what? No! it's my mom."
"ah" the driver put a cigar back in his mouth "she worried about you because of the station accident?"
I nodded and looked at the rest of her text. They were all something along the lines of [hello?!] and [please respond!] I sighed and texted her back
[I'm fine.]
Not even 3 seconds later she responded
[oh my god you're okay! Never worry me like that again!]
[yeah just a bruise or two] I was unscathed due to the surge, but I don't really want to reveal that to her right now, her heart might actually stop from the stress.
I checked my other contacts, and saw something from my dad,
That's surprising
My dad went on a whole 'self-discovery journey" which is a fancy way of saying he left us, he still calls me for my birthday but other than that I barely keep in touch with him.
[hey my man! your mother told me about the station, are you okay?]
I stared at this text for a while, I don't know how to respond.
[yea]
That's all he needed, or deserves.
I messaged a couple other family members and friends before the car abruptly stopped.
"Were here, Wabash Street, right?"
"Yeah this is the place" I recognized it from the photo on the website
"Alright that will be 35$"
I looked at him in awe "that much? That was like a 5 minute drive!"
"The meter doesn't lie kid" he pointed at his taxi meter, and it indeed said [35$]
I mumbled something along the lines of "what a friggin scam" and opened the envelope my mom gave me.
After paying for the overpriced ride, I got out and looked at my new home. A structure with 3 floors that had about 10 doors on each of them. on the second floor a man was outside looking at the road, he saw me and waved.
"Hey dude! I'm guessing your new here?"
It was getting dark so I couldn't see their face, but I yelled back
"Uh yeah! Where do I check in?"
The person chuckled "to the left in the place that has a giant check in sign?"
I looked to my left and indeed saw a smaller building with [check in] on an illuminated sign.
"Oh…" I left the person and walked into the reception.
It was a relatively small space; a wooden chair was off to the left next to an atm and a dying plant.
"I'm guessing your Jake?" an older woman was behind a desk, clicking on a computer.
"Oh, uh yeah" I nervously walked up, and she clicked a few things on her computer. She then turned her swivel chair around, and opened a nearby drawer. She pulled out some keys and slammed them in front of me.
"Room 210 rent is on Saturday."
I grabbed the keys and thanked her, she just looked back at her computer and started typing again
What a weird lady.
The apartments had elevators, but I walked up the stairs, its only 1 floor. I reach the second floor and the person who greeted me was still out on the balcony, it had fully become dark at this point, so the apartment front lights illuminated us.
It was a girl; she was wearing a robe and some shorts along with a shirt that said [go joules! Shock and rock!] she had a rather slim build and short amber hair.
She stared me down as well and then gasped "what happened to your hands?!"
I didn't notice it before, but my hands had light burn scars on them from that power move. They healed over the day, but they were still noticeable.
"Oh, uh I was a part of that station thing" I scratched my head, and her eyes widened
"Ooo! Are you a surged?" I stepped back in shock from the fact she figured it out so quickly "t-um yeah?"
The girl grinned and shook my hand, it stung from the burn marks
"I'm Macy, I'll tell you a secret" she then got close to my ear and whispered
"I'm a surged as well, pretty sure were the only ones here that are!" she stepped back and looked at me for a reaction.
I was still stunned from the first part, so I just spat out "Jake" and walked past her
"Jake… okay Jake it was nice to meet you!"
Why are there so many weirdos in this city!
I walked up to room 210 unlocked the door.
The inside was pretty small, just 2 rooms. one was a dining room and kitchen while the one behind it was a bedroom.
Not bad for what I paid but those neighbors…
The kitchen had a stove, a fridge and a toaster that only fit one slice of bread. I check the fridge, and it was empty. I'll have to refill it.
And get a car.
And get more clothing.
And get more dishes.
Now I wish I would've prepared for an attack from a mysterious insane guy.
I put down my backpack next to the twin bed and laid down on it.
It wasn't much but it was a home.
A home sweet home.