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    1. Meleck 5 yrs ago

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4 yrs ago
Current I read the status bar to laugh and feel old!
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4 yrs ago
Saw the Space Opera advert and started singing, "and these dreams, they all seem empty, like my concious seem to be. I've spent hours, Only lonely..."
4 yrs ago
People confess to me all the time. I’m a faith leader. There is very little the surprises me any more.
4 yrs ago
Was just called a Boomer. Just remember I will retire before you and my music did not have Beber in it.
4 yrs ago
Was just called a Boomer. Just remember I will retire before you and my music did not have Beyer in it!

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Juan

Location: Chicago (Testing Center – Union Station)



Marie had managed to get Juan packed and ready to go. One suit case, a couple charger packs, his laptop, and his iPad, plus clothes for a week. Everything they asked he tended to say something like, “Yeah.” Which mean he was not listening.

They had made it to the train station only to find that because of the law, they needed to be tested to see if they were Enhanced. Marie was fine, she had not developed any powers and she had not even been sick. Juan picked up every cold, flu, and
Their parents had arranged for them to head for LA to stay with some family there. They were being sent to get them out of Chicago, Juan to keep him out of trouble since he had developed powers, and Marie because she had developed a different set of powers over the last six months that had nothing to do with the pandemic. This made for boy problems. The family already had their hands full with Juan and they did not need another child in the family at this crazy time.

Marie leaned over and whispered into Juan’s ear. If they find out you have powers they are going to hurt you. That registered in Juan’s mind. He hated people hurting people and most importantly people hurting him.

They were brought back into a little exam room where a phlebotomist grabbed a vial and drew Marie’s blood. The nurse had left their paperwork on the desk and had to step out.

“Now”, she said. She grabbed the vial and put his label on it as he disappeared. She shoved it into the rack. Standing in the corner, Juan froze.
Marie pulled her sleeve down and pulled her left one up.
The nurse came in she asked, “Where is Mr..” she looked at the paper. “Rosa” she continued.
With hand motions and pointing, “He had to go to the bathroom after they drew his blood.”
“Could you draw mine? We have a train to catch and traveling with Juan is hard enough,”
Marie smiled.
The nurse did the second draw. This one would leave a bruise. She took the cotton ball and Band-Aid.
“I always get a little lightheaded after that, can I have a moment?” she asked.
The nurse gave her a compassionate; grow-up look and nodded taking the vials and heading out the door. “Go that way,” the nurse pointed to a different waiting area.

After a moment and the hall was clear, Juan reappeared. They headed to the waiting area, luggage and all. Juan kept to his iPad, trying to ignore the guards with guns that were around. Marie tried to flirt with the young ones, they were male after all. In about 15 minutes, the results of the test were in and both of them were “Negative” with their government-issued “We are not the bad guy’s” cards.

Marie looked at Juan and said, “These are better than a driver’s license. I bet we can use them to get on the train without all the other papers.” It had her driver’s license number, social security number, and other information like the date they were tested. Juan’s read State ID Number”. They did not have to provide much information other than just showing the train eTickets she had printed offline. She figured that it was because of the heightened security in Chicago. But it bothered Marie a bit.

6:45 pm the train pulled out of Union Station. Because of Juan’s size and needs they were quickly moved to a private room with a bathroom. It might have been Juan politely asking a very nice woman if he could touch her boobs. This quickly got them moved to a private lower room with its own bathroom. They could sleep on the bench seats.

The trip took 58 hours from Chicago to LA. Twice they stopped and got off of the train as it fueled and for some unknown reason for a couple of hours. They got a pizza delivered at a couple of stops and bought junk food from the station vending machines.

Making it to LA they saw the news that Mayor Chen had offered sanctuary. One phone call to family and they had room to stay in San Francisco till she could get a place for them.

Juan tried like hell to ignore all of the people at the train station.


Bubba



Location: Bubba’s Condo West Side of San Francisco
Time: Two days before Mayor Chen went crazy



Sitting on the dining room table was a chemistry book, a guide to crystals, and different resource books.

Gold = [Xe] 4f14 5d10 6s1

Xe = [Kr] 4d10 5s2 5p6

Kr= 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6

That meant that gold was: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 4s2 3d10 4p6 4d10 5s2 5p6 4f14 5d10 6s1

Hydrogen had been easy, Helium no problem. Carbon took some work (1s22s22p2) picturing the lattice work and holding the image of the electron orbitals in his mind at the same time was no easy feat. He tried to create dirt til he found out how damn complex it was. He could create water. But now it was the money, Bubba was trying to create Gold.

Like a freshman in college, Bubba felt like he was cramming for an exam. He had kind of heard all this when he was back in college. He heard the moans of his chemistry teacher and his Lab Assistant. That was back in the days when, well back in the days where he lived that type of life.
Bubba was quite charming when he put his mind to it.

Now he wished he had actually paid attention in class. He had his football degree. A fine diploma hung on the wall, first one to go to college. His major was sex and he graduate high up in his class. He had made his way through three sororities.

“Focus on this stuff, Bubba,” he said out loud. When he could get his hands on a computer geek, he would have him write a program to visualize this stuff on a tablet.

He had a diamond about the size of his thumb laying on the table. That had taken him two evenings of hard work. Now sweat ran down his forehead and back as he focused. He built the image of the atom layering each new level pushing away the ambient atoms and molecules that were trying to pollute his creation. Protons and neutrons, then the electron orbitals. Once he had that he started picturing the lattice structures, then the layers, finally the size he wanted. This took time and energy.
A lot of energy when he was learning something new. He found it got easier when he practiced.

He wanted to make money in case Alexander could figure a way out of this.



Bubba and Alexander Chen



Location: Bubba’s Condo West Side of San Francisco
Time: Two days before Mayor Chen went crazy



As the ambulance’s siren scream echoed off the walls of the hospital, Alexander looked up and asked, “Did they get the shooter?”
“Put the mask back on,” his medical resident housemate said to him, “You’ve got at least a couple broken ribs and possibly a collapsed lung.”
He winced and smiled up.
“Good luck trying to cut through this,” he said,” He had two bulletproof vests on.
The first had a hole about the size of two fingers. The second was barely intact. But he wasn’t bleeding. He just wanted to be dead.
Now he would need to replace both of the vests.

“Did they get it on video?” the other girl showed CNN showing the window breaking and his body laying on the floor. Fox was showing the entire video, even showing the video in slow motion.

The chief of police sat in the front of the ambulance, He called back, “You’ve had quite a day!”
After a moment, he looked back, “No, they did not get the shooter. But he left the phone.”
“I told you they would go for a body shot. They wanted to send a message to others so they needed the head. Body shots give you more area. Shooting me in the legs would be pointless,”
Alexander said, “Remind me to approve drones for you.”

When they arrived his girls played their parts perfectly. He had to look dead. They even moved his legs, dropping them to make him appear dead. Getting him into Trama 2, his girl worked her magic. He’s lost a lot of blood, we need to get him into I.R. so we can get a central line into him. This was not her first rodeo and people moved. When they got down to I.R. Bubba sat in a white coat and scrubs with a bag beside him. There were three scanners in operation. He was waiting.

Bubba smiled at Alexander and said, “You are the luckiest bastard to have us.”
They moved off the gurney and got the vests off. They did a scan with a wand to make sure that the lungs were okay. The broken ribs showed.

A little blood product splashed on the floor from a prior trauma as Alexander was changed into different clothes.

“Seattle Seahawks?” Alexander said to Bubba with some disgust. They put him into pink sweats and a sweatshirt with a white-haired wig, red high heels, a red purse, a wedding ring with a rock on it, and a cane. The girls put on lipstick and the cheap dark glasses they have when you have a headache or an eye exam.

Bubba was adorned in Oakland Raiders colors with a big honking gold chain with a basketball. He picked Alexander up, placed him into a hospital wheelchair, and took him from the room. Outside the chief of police reported that the mayor was under close guard a few minutes later the girls fed a story to the first-year resident who had been on for about two weeks and that he could make a statement.

Dr. Andrew Scott nervously stepped up to the microphones and made a report on the condition of the mayor. That he was being transferred to the ICU in critical condition.

Bubba and his momma who fell and needed an x-ray made their way down to one of the electric Mustang GT’s - black of course with tinted windows.

Bubba lifted Alex, placing him into the passenger seat and buckling him in. He even kissed him on the cheek like you would your Mama. He folded the wheelchair and placed it in the trunk.

Two cut pieces of electrical tape made the license plate different enough to make the feds burn time if they came looking.

Bubba drove them to one of his former girlfriends' apartments that were on the first floor of a junky apartment building. She had been killed in the attack. The place was bad enough that the roaches moved to Oakland. It had underground parking and no cameras and people did not ask a lot of questions. Bubba handed him a bag containing his holster and two 40 caliber Glocks. His service sidearm and his backup.
There was diet coke in the fridge and a television.
Bubba said, “Someone will check on you later. They will have a key, don’t shoot them.”

“There is a greasy spoon around the corner if you get hungry,” Bubba said. Bubba then dropped a handful of 20’s in Alexander’s lap.
“Don’t worry, we got you,” Bubba said as he headed out.

With no phone, no wallet, T.V. pundits fighting over if he was doing the right thing. Commentators saying they aimed too low. A few agreed with him as did some Federal Judges. He had enough.

Bubba headed out in his wig, ball cap, and the stolen wheelchair. He made it to the restaurant without much trouble. To the people in the hood, he screamed undercover cop. Alexander was fine with that. He had only seen one patrols go by all evening. There was work that still needed to be done in the city. The city, hell the world need him.

A kid held the door as Chen tried to get through. A second helped him over the threshold. Not everyone was bad. Chen was counting on that.
The restaurant was the kind of place you would see prostitutes, drug dealers, and the poor working-class come to get a bite. The food was a heart attack on a plate. The fries were to die for.

He sat there watching the world. Contemplating how David was going to survive let alone slay Goliath.
Alexander Chen

Late in the Evening



Location: Alexander's penthouse suite.



Chen sat in his wheelchair watching the destruction and fighting that was taking place in Oakland. The sky glowed with police ambulance lights, helicopter spotlights, and fires. Chen had chosen this spot specifically to watch the madness. Mainly because if a sniper wanted to shot him, it would need to go through the glass at an angle. That meant two things. The first is it would not be an easy shot. The second was that the bullet would either deflect and miss him or it would slow down after hitting the glass.

He started doing the math. 3500 feet per second, the glass would provide about 10% reduction in speed and deflect the bullet about two to four degrees. Which meant it would still be a fatal shot, but not easy to make. One of the boys from Quantico sniper school he thought. He used his binoculars and scanned, night vision would have been great for this. Chen knew what was coming, every agent knew if they went too far afield they would be disconnected from the Agency. He knew too many secrets.

His phone rang, Chen lifted the phone and placed it on speaker. A male voice asked, "Mayor Chen?"
Chen reached over to a glass sitting on the table and took a sip. He knew this was the tagging call made from a burner phone.
"Marine or CIA?" Chen asked.
"Can't tell you that, Sir," the voice said.
Chen lifted his glass to the sniper team and said, "Two innocents at my 5:00. Happy hunting."
A red dot appeared and wiggled a bit on his chest where his heart should be. The wall of glass exploded and the bullet hit Chen like a baseball bat being swung by someone in a moving car. It reminded him of getting shot in the back but this hurt a hell of a lot more.

Alexander had left the back of the chair seat free, because a good electric wheelchair costs about as much as a car and it had taken time to get on that let him stand up even.

Alexander was thrown back on the floor. There was no big splash of blood and no explosion.
The phone had fallen to the ground and the women in the other room screamed in terror.
Alexander laid there motionless barely breathing.

Within five minutes his place was swarming with cops, his cops. Fifteen minutes and the paramedics were rushing Alexander off to the hospital. His building had the slowest elevator ever known to humankind.

The videos and audio hit the media bigger than his earlier announcement. The official news reports were he had been ship by a high caliber round by a hunting rifle and was not expected to live. In the ambulance, his two caretakers kept him strapped down so he could not move and a police car cleared the way.

Two news crews caught the whole thing on those little high-tech drones and audio of the whole thing thanks to a tip for an unknown woman.

Alexander Chen

Late in the Afternoon




Present: The city's attorney and Councilwoman Choi
The three were speaking in Chinese.



"What the fuck were you thinking?" the lawyer asked. He was a caucasian man in his late fifties. His suit was rumpled but his shoes were polished shined like a mirror. His tie was half undone and hanging off of him. The guy was absolutely brilliant and complete ass.

"I've had lawyers from three federal agencies calling me and chewing my ass because of your stunt," He yelled at Alexander.
Slamming his hand down on the desk he continued, "They have been threatening everything from an IRS audit, to prison, to a damn CIA Sniper Team if you don't fix this. Most of the country agrees with the President, Hell, I agree with the president. What are you thinking?"

Councilwoman Choi's turn being the good cop, "Alexander, I've known you and your parents your whole life. We are worried about you."
This was the part where Choi suggests that his injuries might be affecting his mental health and maybe he should step down. "

Alexander sat their behind his desk and kept his hands folded listening to them.

"Do you think that the Federal Government is going to just use this to see who has powers and who doesn't?" he asked. "They have to do genetic testing which means they will have everyone's DNA on file. Parts of Langley have been asking for this for years. So if someone has the potential to have powers what will happen to them? What are they going to do with these people? If the CIA is involved they will turn some of them into supper assassins or soldiers and use them on jobs we never hear about or to fight wars."

Alexander switches to English to make it easy for the FBI team that had probably bugged his office or were listening through the glass after his stunt, "By the way counselor, the CIA is not allowed to go after domestic targets legally. So, if I get a bullet to the head or have a mysterious death, take one of the copies made and placed in the dead man drops like I taught you and let the news and those other parties we talked about know. I am sure that the FBI would love to fry a sitting president for violating the laws by assassinating a civilian in a wheelchair."

Switching back to Chinese, he says softer, "I know they want to protect people, but they are going about it the wrong way. These are people with families not animals to be rounded up. This isn't Mao's China or Stalin's Soviet Union, this is the United States where people are presumed innocent till found guilty and given due process. Someone has to stand up and speak for them or they will be like the Jews in Nazi Germany."

"He wants to play ball with you," the lawyer said to Alexander, "just name your price. Want a cushy desk job in Hawaii watching the girls run around three-quarters naken on the beach? Or a job as an alcohol tester in Kentucky.. Want to have an Embassy desk job in china Just name it and turn this ship around."
"We care about you, qīn ài de," Choi said in a very maternal tone.

"Let me think about it overnight," Alexander said in English. Alexander already knew. Girls are no good when your body doesn't respond and the alcohol crack was dirty pool. So they knew about his drinking problem. They had gotten to Choi as well.

He wanted to walk again and be a full man, not some dude stuck in a chair because he was shot in the line of duty.
He wanted to pee standing up and crap in a toilet. Not having to use some stinking plastic tube into a bag and needing two people to help him. He did not want to need to take two additional changes of clothes with him when he went to work just in case he crapped himself. Nobody got that, except for those who were also stuck in the chair. So Forrester could go.. He stopped that thinking. It would only lead him back into the bottle..

He smiled and said, "I will let you know."
Alexander Chen and Bubba

Mid Afternoon



Alexander sat at his desk with a quartz crystal decanter of Scotch. Contemplating if he should jump off the wagon, he was interrupted by his phone. He got a text from Philip, an FBI analysis at Langley, VA. A friend he made in the agency. It read, "Are you and your family alright?"
It was a code that something was up. Alexander did not talk about his family and when he did it was with first names or Sir or Ma'am. It was some weird Asian thing he grew up with. That and his parent's place was far enough out of this horse shit that they were okay, till they weren't.

Taping a message back a message, "Mom is fine, Dad is worried about his garden. I'm trying to keep everyone calm so we can focus on rebuilding the city. How are you and yours?"

The reply came back, "You know my Dad, he needs a bath. The nursing home is having a hard time taking care of him. He got into the planters and started digging. Now they are charging me extra to clean it up. Might have to send him your way. Well, Got to run."

They had come up with this code when they wanted to pass information. The agency had information that the President was dirty and they were not going to be able to keep him in check and he was aware that people were covering it up. The worse part, the jerk may be sending someone in to deal with the problem.

He set the phone down and pulled the stopper from the decanter.

"Don't do it," Bubba said in a tone that was firm and authoritative.
Alexander poured three fingers into a glass and looked at it.
"Three years you've been sober, don't throw it away," he said like a preacher talking to a dying man.
"Whatever it is, we can get through it," he continued.

"Things are going to get a whole lot worse," Alexander said and started to lift the glass.
"Stop," Bubba yelled with a look of anger. The glass exploded in a way that was not natural. It was like the bottom was there and then disappeared. Then the sides just broke. Along with it was a pop that sounded like a 45 cal. handgun being shot.
Sweat ran down Bubba's forehead as the Scotch and glass ran down Alexander's hand and arm.
"What happened?" Alexander asked with a bit of frustration.

"I'm one of them, man," Bubba said walking towards Alexander.

Alexander's secretary came running into the room, "Get some towels and a first aid kit. My glass broke." He waved his good arm at her. After she left, he looked at Bubba with a surprised look on his face.

"Don't give me that look, man," Bubba said.
"You knew I got the shit, kept me home for a week," he continued.

Alexander nodded. He had been around Bubba had not got the virus. Just something worse, sober.

"Alexander, tell you what we are going to do," He said taking a towel and cleaning some of the mess up.
"We are going to give your pretty little secretary, the scotch to pour out. Then we are going to go for a ride after we make sure you are not bleeding," Bubba said like a kindergarten teacher to a student.

She came in and started to fuss about Alexander's hand. There was no blood.



They drove a few blocks away from the mayor's office then parked it in some shade. Bubba turned his seat.

"You are one of the smartest guy's I know," Bubba said and you are going to fix this. He waved his arms indicating the whole mess the city was in.
"You are going to make it so that that I don't have to get stuck by no needle," he continued.

"You want me to stand up against the President's orders?" Alexander said.
"He will just bring the Coast Guard station, the Air Base, and the Marine Base. Half my cops are either missing or hospitalized," Alexander said trying to point out the obvious.
"Put your fuckin' lawyer hat on and think," Bubba said with some anger.
"Is what this ass hole doing right?" He continued.
Alexander leaned back and thought for a few moments then he asked Bubba, "Is what was done in the city right?"
"No, you dip shit. It wasn't. But fuckin' all us for one bitch," he said then paused.

"I voted for your ass twice, you'z got to do the right thing," Bubba said then continued, "I'll leave you to thinking."
Bubba turned and drove them around the city. He pulled through a McDonalds got coffee and two number ones and a coke for Alexander.



When they got to the FEMA camp, Alexander told Bubba to stop by the news vans.
"You know, your fucking me," Alexander said with a bit of anger.
Bubba smiled and said, "Your a politician and I kissed you first." It was a joke between the two of them.

Bubba parked him and then got him out of the vehicle in his chair. Three of the national news had crews there as well as two local.
Alexander got set up and Bubba got them over.

"Ready," Alexander asked the crews. When they were set he nodded. They were expecting the mayor to fall inline with the President's plan after all he was a former FBI agent.

Alexander started, "Good Evening. I am Alexander Chen, the Mayor of San Franciso. By my Executive order, I am declaring San Francisco to be a sanctuary city for those that have powers and want to work with me and the people of this city," he paused for effect.

"The crimes that happened here were the result of people misusing their powers and harming innocent people and taking innocent lives. These people should and will be punished for their crimes. The Constitution which we swear to defend when we take office as politicians, does not allow us to act in fear and taking away the rights and liberties of others without due process. We have seen laws like these proposed by the president before: the segregated south so many years ago, the Red Zones limiting minorities' ability to get fair housing, business loans, and a chance for a better life, and the internment of Japanese American's during World War II, all of these laws have been ruled unconstitutional in the courts. These will be as well."

Again he paused then resumed, "The President's plan as did these other laws violate the basic premise of the Constitution and are a Federal overreach and abuse of Congressional and Presidental power."

Again he paused to let that bomb explode then continued some more, "As a people, we do not condone mass murder, looting, sexual assaults, and murder. Nor should we act in fear and dehumanize those that might use their new gifts to make life better for all of us."
He paused for another moment, "So, if you value freedom and liberty.. If you wish to help make a better society, with powers or not, San Francisco will welcome you with open arms. We need people willing to do the right things and the hard work this country has always."

He paused and looked at the camera, "As of now, I am ordering all federal testing facilities and government offices close within my jurisdiction under the power given me during this pandemic. These federal operations are endangering the lives of the Citizens of San Francisco. This order will be revisited in six weeks. Thank you."

Alexander wheeled himself to the van as the reports fired questions at him.
In the van and with the doors closed, Alexander said to Bubba, "I am probably now a dead man."
"We'll see," Bubba said.

Alexander knew that he bought a day or two till the courts would be involved. His phone went wild. He pulled the battery and said "Just drive" to Bubba. He loved emergency powers. The best part was the president's actions gave them to him to use.

The reports were getting close and pounding on the windows trying to get him. He made them their advertising money and gave them sound bites. They wanted more. But they had all they needed.

Dad at the nursing home was probably going crazy at this point.

Ai only have one. Just because of dynamics and getting my head into the game.
Alexander Chen





A single beep sounded in the back of the special “limo” that Alexander rode in. It’s was diary black with tinted windows. The back lowered and the door raised high enough to allow his wheelchair in. Alexander looked down at his iPhone.

Turn on the TV, the text read. Alexander called up to Bubba, an African American man who came to the bay as part of one of those semi-professional football teams hoping to be noticed and drafted into the NFL.
That call never came. Bubba liked to say, “He got my sorry black butt out of jail.” With all the charm a man from Louisiana can give. Bubba was officially Alexander’s driver five days a week. Outside of the office, he was Alexander’s right hand and A.A. Sponsor. "Turn on the TV," he said. Bubba reached up and flipped a switch a small TV came to life feeding a news report. Right now, the news was feeding Alexander information and perspective that his people could not give living in the midst of the crisis. Right now, his rivals were having a field day with how he was managing the crisis. Afterward, they would come after him for letting law enforcement had too much power.

He got his money shot, him holding a little girl as they loaded people into his official vehicle and rushed a group of injured people to the hospital. It did not hurt that the little girl was black. It was the scene played on all the major news networks and made some of the major papers around the world.

Andrew and his driver drove through the city looking at the damage and repairs. Stopping at places that were in hard-hit, places where resources were needed, places where people lingering, he put up an image of trying to help them. He called and got food and water, and medicines delivered.

In his mind, the term domestic terrorism kept popping up. This was the largest domestic terrorist attack in the US and the most damage San Francisco had seen since “The Big One.” But he could not call it till Homeland Security gave it that label.

Right now he had been fully briefed by his departments and now he was doing spin control.

Pacific Gas and Power had called for mutual aid and over the last couple of days and gas service was starting to get back to normal. The electric grid was up but some damaged buildings were taxing the system. His Police Department was doing its best. Other departments had come in to help curb looting and crime. He had been calling for people to remain calm and to watch out for each other.

An H-S Precision PLR with all the FBI bells and whistles would take care of a fair amount of the crime problem from his suite. One tap, one thud, and one problem solved. But the game at this level is played in a different way. He now had people to do that for him.

Bubba pulled up at a school that was serving as a rescue and relocation center. The Red Cross, Salvation Army, and other agencies were in the area meeting the basic needs. Until FEMA was set up, he was mostly in charge (His Emergency Manager was actually in charge). He got to be the PR face and make the tough decisions as it was his butt on the line.

He rolled out of the vehicle and waved to the media who had come for the photo op. He had answered a few questions with a message of stay calm and help each other out.

After a few moments and pictures were taken, Bubba picked up his wheelchair carried him across a rubble field to the door of the school.

Alexander got to work. Meeting victims, listening to stories, assessing needs and costs. Mostly being present and standing in the chaos trying to calm it down.

He had placed an emergency order placing a curfew and other emergency orders in place. The bridges into the city were blocked only allowing emergency personnel and supplies into the city. This was being handled by the USCG's Golden Gate Bridge Unit. Search and rescue were being assisted by the Coast Guard, Marines, and the Air Force. The Marine Base was handling securing the southern end of the city, while the air force was patroling and providing cover. The Ports were closed and the Coast Guard kept private boats away from the city.




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