1 - Kyle Murphy

Despite Kyle’s best efforts, or perhaps because of it, they were about to be late for school.

How did this happen? What will you do, if anything, to try to make it in time?

Kyle cursed again as he pumped harder on his bicycle pedals. First day of school and Dan pulled this stunt to motivate Kyle to finally get hi license. "If you had yo license I wouldn't have to drive you around. You're old enough and finished drivers ed last year. I see no reason that I should drive you"

So no he was running late. If he had known he could have taken the bus, which he might have to do anyhow once it starts snowing, or just left earlier to get there on time. He cursed again as he knew he was sweating and would totally sting for the first day of the new year. Its not that he didn't want to learn but right after he finished drivers ed at the end of junior year is when all the weird things started happening and he still wasn't confident that putting himself in a thousand pound machine that might glitch at his touch was a good idea.

As he pumped the pedals his thought wandered back over the summer. It had all started when the drone started acting up. He had tried to fix it and return it to school but any time someone tried to reprogram it their system got infected with some weird computer virus. In the end he had been forced to pay for the drone, as well as help to restore the crashed systems. That had resulted in him working at the local tech shack all summer.

Besides learning the joys of low end tech support and all the junk people tried to dump on them or claim they had ruined he had also been learning more about his new abilities. The drone, which he had taken to calling Glitch, turned out to be a help there. The drone had built in cameras and a microphone which seemed to allow it to "See" and "Hear" but thank goodness it didn't have a speaker and was forced to "Talk" via text messaged on it LCD or to it's remote. Some how Glitch seemed to know more about what was going on with Kyle than he did himself and the thing had been tutoring him on how to access and consciously control what he could do.

As he rounded the last corner on the schools long driveway and saw the gates ahead Kyle took a moment to slow down and unzip his jacket. It had been too cool in the morning but now he was hot. He had moved here midway through the previous school year and hadn't had a lot of luck finding new friends. The robotics club had been a great place and at first he was excited. Then Glitch came along and now he just hoped they weren't still mad. Thankfully most of the students affected had been last years seniors and moved on , still that was not a mess he was looking forwards to rehashing. All he wanted to do now was finish high school and if he was lucky get into a decent college. Glitch kept laughing any time he tried to make plans for the future up but wouldn't explain saying "You'll see"

Teenagers on the cusp of adulthood weren't typically given to superstition and other such easily-dismissed thoughts. But if there were a chance for hindsight years from now, the Awakened ones of the Class of '26 might be able look back to as early as their first day of school to realise that change was in the ether. Perhaps it was the greater weave of fate that pushed against their coming back, as if delaying them, keeping them away from the penumbral shores, from what was about to happen.

But they wouldn't have known that of course. To them, the situation was simply that they would be late. Kyle had to pump ever so much harder on his pedals to climb the gentle incline of the long driveway as buses and cars whizzed past him, but he was certainly going to be earlier than the remaining stragglers on foot. At least he wouldn't be as sweaty as the schoolmate on the skateboard! But would any of these last few be on time? If Glitch were with him it would have flashed him a snarky emoticon.

Kyle presses on, accelerating through the gates and off to one side e of campus. Riding straight up to the bike rack he hopped off and slipped the lock into place. Loosening his jacket to cool off as much as possible before school and grabs his phone to recheck his first class, though hes double checked several times already this morning, and runs for it. Weaving through the scattering of other last minute arrivals Kyle smiles at the absolute randomness of life.

The bicycle though was absolutely suited to navigating past the last bottleneck at the main gate, which was jammed with cars held back by two school buses which had for some reason pulled up side by side, effectively blocking anyone from reaching the drop-off. Kyle was certainly faster than those on foot, and reached the walkway of the student parking lot where the thoughtfully sheltered bicycle racks were, one of the nice touches the school admin had installed. No class in the first lesson despite the timetable, because it was superceded by morning assembly at the auditorium!

"Have a seat." Despite the serious formality of the title of Doctor, Veritas was generally regarded as a motherly figure amongst the staff, more youthful in appearance than one might guess her true age to be, though her chopped bob and bangs, slightly streaked in grey, gave her some kindly gravitas to match.

The counselling room was furnished with soft armchairs and a table for the counsellor, carpeted but enclosed with no natural light. A small shelf sat to one side with a tray of glasses and a water flask.

Today though the shelf was partially blocked by a third person in the room."Ms Nixon will join us today as well, as part of the school's efforts to improve our care programme." The woman looked as proper as she did yesterday, again in nearly the same shade of grey suit. In her hand was a tablet and stylus.

"How are you doing at the moment Kyle. I am concerned about what you may have experienced at yesterday's blackout. Can you tell me a bit about what's going on with you right now? I'm ready to listen if you're willing to share." So that’s what the school was calling it, a blackout.

Her tone was gentle, but nonetheless probing..

"Have a seat." Despite the serious formality of the title of Doctor, Veritas was generally regarded as a motherly figure amongst the staff, more youthful in appearance than one might guess her true age to be, though her chopped bob and bangs, slightly streaked in grey, gave her some kindly gravitas to match.

The counselling room was furnished with soft armchairs and a table for the counsellor, carpeted but enclosed with no natural light. A small shelf sat to one side with a tray of glasses and a water flask.

Today though the shelf was partially blocked by a third person in the room."Ms Nixon will join us today as well, as part of the school's efforts to improve our care programme." The woman looked as proper as she did yesterday, again in nearly the same shade of grey suit. In her hand was a tablet and stylus.

"How are you doing at the moment Kyle? I am concerned about what you may have experienced at yesterday's blackout. Can you tell me a bit about what's going on with you right now? I'm ready to listen if you're willing to share." So that’s what the school was calling it, a blackout.

Her tone was gentle, but nonetheless probing..

Kyle signs and grumbles inwardly. Ever since his parents accident people keep trying to get him to talk about how he is doing or feeling. Kyle is pretty sure he doesn't work like everyone else. First of all he is not 100% convinced his parents are dead, as they have yet to recover any bodies, though he is pretty sure it is what happened. Still, so what? Most people seem so intent on focusing on the tragedy they ignore how Kyle is actually doing, which in his opinion is pretty well. Sure having to leave his siblings and moving in with his uncle was an adjustment but he would be out of school by the end of the year and he could go anywhere he wanted to then. Seems to him most kids fled home for college or a job as quick as they could. Now Kyle and his siblings actually tried to stay in touch.

Jerking his wandering thought back to the present as he realized he had been quiet too long, councilors liked to read waaaayyyyy to much into things like that. Kyle shrugs as he replies. "First day back and there were a few glitches. It's not like a blackout is all that rare. I'm not afraid of the dark or anything so it was not biggie. Just stand sill until the lights come back on." and he shrugs again. "It nice to have events like that. You know, it give memorable experiences so we have things to look back on once we graduate besides long hours in class. "

As he talks he examines "Ms Nixon" surreptitiously. From his point of view she doesn't really seem the type to gain a kids trust. Too stiff and formal. She may deserve respect he guesses but as far as Kyle is concerned Doc Veritas at least put forth the effort so had earned his respect.

The same disconcerting feeling Kyle had yesterday as his eyes darted to Nixon even as he recounted his version of the affair was amplified, for the guidance counsellor from the Board of Education revealed no expression throughout, save for the occasional scribing on her tablet. This was regardless of what Kyle said or how he said it, nothing seemed to garner a response.

Veritas was in contrast warmer and much more assuring in her manner. "Stress can sometimes make events feel distorted. I am glad you handled the situation so well Kyle, Ashford is proud to have a senior with your maturity. Did you talk to anyone else about it? I trust you were able to speak with them in the same way."

But there it was. All savvy teens were alike, able to give an account to an adult to get out of trouble. The question was whether Kyle had gone too far in trying in his version in saying how memorable it was, and whether Veritas believed him at all.

Kyle had the feeling though that the version of the story he chose to tell was somehow important to himself personally. That it would shape how he dealt with his newly experienced reality in some way.

"I have the impression that there is something you would like to tell me, but you are unsure whether you ought to or not. Since talking about it might be difficult, tell me instead why you are hesitant. Is it hard for you to explain it in a way that you think it ought to be understood? Are you struggling with how it makes you feel right now? Or are you afraid of what might happen if you reveal it?" Veritas nudged Kyle along with her usual gentle affirmative tone, which would have felt entirely safe were it not for the fact that Kyle could not ignore the presence of Nixon still sitting in the periphery.