Amidst the rubble of a war not long past, the stars seek to raise a new generation. Blessed with celestial powers that have begun to make their reappearance, the Gifted are individuals whose shoulders the future of the city rests on. Will you overthrow the dysfunctional government or work to keep it in power? Or will you undermine the whole game and play to your own advantage? No matter your motives, Hyperion is yours to shape.
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E
rratic driving, loud noises, rushed workers, and gawking tourists. The daytime activities of the city were always so predictable. Everyone seeming to rush to some unknown destination, one after the other. Not anything like the strange transformation that took place after the sun set. Bright lights, sounds of drunken cheers, and amusement around every corner.
This was the city that Ren was used to. The kind of place where one could have the greatest night of their life and in five minutes turn it right back into a shitty day. And Ren planned on having just as much fun as he could. A few of his seniors from his university had invited him out drinking. The night had started out just as many had before it. With a bar. Well that is a series of bars. After being rejected by the first few establishments the group had finally found a bar willing to house the already buzzed group of students. An unlinked crowd among the bar scene, but a welcome source of revenue none the less. The night actually seemed to be going rather smoothly for the young man. Until a fight had broken out between the group of boys, causing a stir and getting them thrown out once again. Although surprisingly enough Ren had managed to stay out of it. After all he barely knew more than a handful of the group, and even they weren't people he would consider good friends.
So the night seemed to end there. With half the group dispersing to find another bar, and the other half tending to their bruised friends. Ren still standing there in front of the bar processing what happened in his drunken state. He continued to stand there for another minute or two before deciding he may as well call it a night. His buzzed state of mind sending him on autopilot walking back toward his home. But the alcohol only got him so far, as the previous excitement and exercise finally caught up to him. Causing him to take a break and spill his guts into a nearby trashcan. After taking a few minutes to recompose he looked up from the can and noticed a nearby coffee shop. The light still buzzing open even at the late hour. Once he wiped his mouth clean he quickly rushed across the street and into the nearby cafe. As he approached the counter a young lady began to come out to take his order, but before she could get a word out Ren quickly spoke up. "Coffee. Black." He said as he dug into his pocket and pulled out a few crumpled bills, tossing them on the counter and turning around. "Keep the ch.. change" He stuttered out as he quickly made his way to toward the back and sat down at what he assumed was an empty table.
Owner of @_Home, net cafe located in District 4, seeking to maintain what peace that can be held onto, however long that may last. Currently a stray cat to the other districts.
[attr="class","PlotContentStyle"] Reyna rubbed her temple and continued to drown herself with coffee to nurse a headache of her own. She had taken the night off along with the rest of her staff of @_Home to take up an offer at the Valhalla out of the kindness of the owner. Due to most of her workers being a few years younger or just college drop outs at the tender age of 20, the outing gave the woman a run for her wallet as they made sure to aim for the top shelf. One or two was fine and dandy but a bottle's worth was starting to weigh its toll on her. Thankfully her rowdy bunch didn't get too wound up to cause a ruckus but that wasn't the end there. While Reyna held herself to two glasses, the brazen youths took on four. She had to get some encouraging assistance of the owner and put in some shift leverage to get them to leave. However, as they were a touch drunk, Reyna also had to spend the next few hours afterwards to serve as an escort to get her workers home. Something happening to them or found passed out in a city alleyway didn't suit her well.
Four whole hours was spent hailing a cab and setting her staff of 4 to their homes with the last of it getting a shower and change of clothes when her morning desk receptionist felt like throwing up on her shall and blouse. Reyna returned to the Fourth district to start making amendments to her net cafe but derailed for some very late night coffee. Coffee spots were a dime a dozen in the city so it wasn't that hard to find a place after walking a block for mild fresh air.
At the main counter, Reyna sat with a cream buttoned up blouse with a tan scarf tied around under the collar for decoration, pants as black as the coffee served here as she sat at the counter with her head propped up by an arm. "Last time for a long time of doing that again," she grumbled while downing her cup and setting the mug atop a stained napkin. "Another cup of coffee please," Reyna ordered then side glanced at the young man who staggered in. Off her peripheral vision, Reyna could have sworn one of her workers dared to come back so late, making her scowl at them unintentionally.
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O
ne by one Ren watched dimmed lights across the city begin to flicker out. As if to remind him of how late it already was, and how he should be home himself. But he was sure if had he not stopped for something to perk himself up, that he wouldn't make it home at all. With a heavy sigh the young man adjusted himself in the small chair. His hand reaching down into his pocket to retrieve his phone.
His eyes were glued to the small screen now laying on the table. His finger swiping across every few moments to open up a few message boards. However every page seemed to be filled with the same panicked messages. - Camellia? - Another war? - Who's doing this? Everyone seemed to have questions but no one had an answer. The whole situation left a bad feeling in Ren's gut, and the more he read the more worried he became.
However he was quickly snapped out of his thoughts by the soft tap of his coffee being set down in front of him. He quickly picked up the mug, smelling the gentle aromas of the beans. As he looked up to thank the waiter, he noticed she had already walked away. Most likely due to the fact he had interrupted her when he entered. But his gaze continued to linger in her direction, only to notice he wasnt alone in the little shop. And instead was treated to the company of a woman only a handful of years older than himself. Noticing a soft scowl adorning what he could see of her face, he spoke up. "what's your problem?" As he finished speaking he raised his mug to his lips and took a sip. Only to immediately scald the roof of his mouth. He spit out the coffee, his face turning a soft red with embarrassment as he wiped his mouth.
Owner of @_Home, net cafe located in District 4, seeking to maintain what peace that can be held onto, however long that may last. Currently a stray cat to the other districts.
[attr="class","PlotContentStyle"] Reyna sighed at the youth. What nerve of this punk! He one of those stray dogs that got nothing better to do at night? Yes, he did seem like it to her. Her reached for her coffee cup and gripped it firmly while trying to look her best to be like the 'no nonsense' librarian or teacher that ensured there was a huge gap between teachers at the top and students at the very bottom. The waitres of the joint came over to refill her mug at this time after serving him his coffee.
"what's your problem?"
Reyna glared at him haughtily for his remark. What's his problem!? She was just about to give her own rebuttal of how slob like him show just go home than go skulking around at night when he took a drink of whatever coffee he ordered. The stiff air crumbled and deflated slowly as Reyna looked a little more concerned than pensive. It looked like he just burned himself just now by the pained reaction. Her head turned away as she tried to drink from her own coffee to salvage some stature and an answer. Her frame suddenly went ridged as she bit into the lip of her coffee mug and set it down slowly with a loud clunk no the table. 'It's too bitter!!' The woman cried in her mind.
Now she sat hunched over at the counter with a hand groping for the creamer and tearing four packets of sugar to remedy this toxic poisonous taste. Her spoon clinked and clanked loudly from mad stirring then set down for a recovery gulp. "Ugh," a disgruntled groan left her before addressing the challenge left hanging. "I thought you were a worker I sent home. Forget about it." Reyna tried to sweep the whole thing quickly under the rug despite her own short comings of neglecting to adjust her coffee before drinking. A level of embarrassment hiding under a paper thin mask of seniority.
Thinking she lost him at that, Reyna looked away to avoid eye contact by pretending she had some news on her phone to read. The first thing on it though was a blog post she made in question about the city wide hacking some time ago under the handle cozykettle.
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R
en continued to wipe his face clean of the spittle and roasted bean water. His boastrus attitude taking a back seat to the sudden pain he was experiencing. Although in a roundabout way the coffee still did just as he had intended; a little jolt to wake up. Albeit not quite the way he expected.
And no sooner than he had cleaned himself up he noticed a small ruckus from the woman across the cafe from him. His brow raised slightly as she furiously dumped one sugar after another into her cup. It was almost enough to get a laugh out of the young man. However he didn't quite get the chance as she finally spoke up. Her bland attitude and simple answer left the young man rather dissapointed. A small sigh escaped his lips, as he could tell the woman wasn't going to be any fun.
He grabbed his mug once again, raising it to his lips before coming to a sudden stop. His brow twitching slightly ad he realized he almost made the same mistake twice. With another sigh the young man stood up, walking towards the counter. "Ice." He said holding out his mug to the young barista, only to get another dirty look. "Please?" He muttered, causing her to sloppily toss a few cubes into his mug. As he wiped away the small splashes of liquid on his hand a glowing screen caught his attention from the corner of his eye. A soft snicker coming from his lips as he walked back to his table. Sitting down he pulled his phone back out, placed it on the table and opened up the messageboards once more.
Owner of @_Home, net cafe located in District 4, seeking to maintain what peace that can be held onto, however long that may last. Currently a stray cat to the other districts.
[attr="class","PlotContentStyle"] She huffed and took a small glance to see if the guy was still looking at her. The second she saw his head turn, she took turned away and tried to play it off as poorly as possible. Another sip of the mellowed bitter coffee helped soothe the fluster in the coffee shop and start rebuilding a personal bubble. Her finger tapped and scrolled on the touch screen while over hearing the young man ask for some ice. Funny how if he wanted ice, he should have ordered an iced coffee, Reyna thought in commentary but had to honestly wonder if this shop even did that late at night. It's just one server so who knows of their skills beyond serving a black brew.
Reyna sighed and looked down, the screen reflecting in her glasses, upon the registration site. Who would have thought that massive hacker would have a website all prepared for the set up. She clicked on it out of curiosity with denial ready to fire off if someone caught her for it. The blocks all listed off basic information such as home address, contacts, and a block to describe what powers someone had. It all looked too easy to fill out. How exactly would the government know someone was lying by false accusations of abilities?
Reyna ended up staring at the page longer than intended before swiping left to go back to a few screens and bring up the blog she typed after work when the announcement first came up. To her genuine surprise, someone did answer back to it. Not at all caring who it was and more concerned about having someone to talk about it anonymously, Reyna typed away and drank her coffee in wonder of this person's thoughts on the matter.
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atisfied with his message Ren smiled softly. His finger swiping through several more pages. With his free hand the young man raised his mug to his lips, sipping the dark liquid with gusto. He didn't mind that the taste was dark, as a matter of fact he preferred it that way. But it being over roasted made it taste bitter, causing his face to scrunch up slightly.
As he began to swipe from one page to another a slight nagging feeling began to come over him. From the side of his view he looked back toward the woman across the cafe. His actions unintentionally mirroring her own as he typed the registration site into his search bar. As he scrolled through the pages he began to shake his head softly. Caught off guard by how straightforward and buricratic everything seemed. "Who would fall for this..." He muttered quietly to himself. Taking another sip of his coffee he continued to scroll through the pages, not quite convinced that it could all just be a prank.
But his thoughts were cut off rather abruptly by a sudden buzz from his phone. The notification popped up the young man jumped slightly, quickly opening his settings and changing them. His eyes darted back over his shoulder, glancing at the woman quickly to make sure he hadn't been found out before typing his reply.
Owner of @_Home, net cafe located in District 4, seeking to maintain what peace that can be held onto, however long that may last. Currently a stray cat to the other districts.
[attr="class","PlotContentStyle"] Her fingers tapped away at the screen while sipping away on the sugar induced coffee. Reyna looked engrossed with the conversation of this odd bird that it helped keep her mind rolling and mood less soured from earlier. The woman found it interesting at the different thought angle of the strange hacked message. "That's a sharp thought," she muttered into her mug with expectancy to chat more but her inputs may as well start a spiral turn in where the chat was going.
A loud vibration easily carried through the quiet cafe earning Reyna's attention against toward the patron at the booth. He scrammed as if he was getting caught during a college lecture, making her giggled a bit at his knee jerky movements. She watched his head turn and her eyes shifted back to hiding behind a convenient coffee sip. "Hmm, I should order something while I'm at it. Miss, do you have any food to offer to go with the coffee?" The girl running the place came over with meek look to them. "Sorry, our kitchen is closed for the late hours. What we offer is whatever's left in the cooler display case."
A disappointed sigh left her. This wasn't good, even a gas station would have more than this! Who keeps a cafe open but shut down the whole kitchen!? Reyna groaned at this and got up, leaving her phone and coffee at the counter to check out the case. Inside were some left over slices of cakes of random types and pre-made sandwich rolls and bottled waters. Selection was pretty dim with nothing much left to offer. "I'll take the egg salad sandwiches and one of those cheesecakes. Um, oh, might as well, the BLT and that slice of blueberry cobbler for that guy in the booth." Late day sandwiches and cake, some dinner-breakfast this was. She quickly paid the lady without delving further on explaining her whim of random act of generosity and went back to her seat as the meals were divided out between the two.
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T
he conversation between the two continued back and forth. Without a word even being spoken. The young man now glued intently to his phone. Having forgotten about his original plan to antagonize the woman through her blog. And instead being much more focused on the topic at hand. After all he had been itching to talk about it for a while. But seeing as how it was a bit of a touchy subject at the moment, he couldn't manage to bring it up. But now that he had stumbled down the rabbit hole his mind continued to wander. His fingers tapping away as he started to read through other boards. Their pages filled with strange conspiracy theories and blatant racism toward the gifted individuals. It was enough to cause an uneasy disgust in the young man's gut as he tried his best to skim through the waste.
But after a few minutes with no real answers to anything he gave up his search. With a few swipes he returned to the woman's blog, typing up a reply before returning to his coffee. But after a few sips more he quickly finished the drink, a quiet burp escaped his lips. His arms reached outward to stretch as he mentally began to prepare himself for the walk home. Only to have something completely unexpected happen as a sandwich and a cobbler were suddenly brought to him by the waitress. "Oh, I can't pay for th-" He was suddenly cut off by the girl abruptly walking away from him, still upset about his actions earlier. As she left she gestured toward the woman at the counter.
With a soft sigh Ren reached forward, picking up his phone and the slice of blueberry cobbler. He walked over to the counter and sat one seat over from the woman. Slightly embarrassed he scratched the back of his head softly. "Thanks." He said as he raised his fork, slicing down the tip of the cobbler and placing it in his mouth. "Sorry.. for. Well earlier..."
Owner of @_Home, net cafe located in District 4, seeking to maintain what peace that can be held onto, however long that may last. Currently a stray cat to the other districts.
[attr="class","PlotContentStyle"] Reyna sullenly ate the chilled sandwich and still wished there was something a bit more to it. Maybe a side of smoke sausages or something but it was mostly sad pieces of chilled bread and mildly salted egg mixture. She wiped her lips with a napkin and sought out the salvation of taste with the cheesecake when some shuffling creaked the seat next to her.
Her fork paused in stabbing into the dessert's corner as her head turned to find that boy in the booth joining her. Seeing the meal she ordered for him in tow made her smile as her fork finished cutting into the slice. "I hope you're not allergic to berries," she opened up to his apology. Reyna was more glad to see him in a better mood as it also helped her own. Between them sat her phone though in the open screen of the text conversation to someone by the name of bluebird. "Don't worry about," Reyna continued and ate her cake. "It's been a rough night so just thought to share. A bit of coffee can't be all your dinner, I hope."
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is hand moved with swift precision as it angled the fork back into the sweet desert for another bite. A lackluster defence for not replying to the woman immediately. After all he hadn't really planned to get this far. Or how to approach the subject that he had been the one chatting with her anonymously. Both of which were due to the alcohol that continued to reek of the young man.
But after a few silent moments Ren began to compose himself. Glancing over at the woman. "I suppose we have something in common then." He said with a halfhearted chuckle in an attempt to break the ice. But without anything more to go on he quickly found himself going quiet, his eyes darting around for some sort of stimulus. Eventually noticing the open board on her phone. His hand raised softly pointing a finger toward her device. "So what are you chatting about?" As soon as the sentence left his mouth Ren felt like kicking himself. His fork quickly scooping more food in his mouth to silence himself. "Shit... why did i bring up the phone." He thought to himself as he stared forward hoping the woman would just ignore the comment.
Owner of @_Home, net cafe located in District 4, seeking to maintain what peace that can be held onto, however long that may last. Currently a stray cat to the other districts.
[attr="class","PlotContentStyle"] "We do?" Reyna raised a brow before taking another bite, her fork constantly poised over her dessert. The young man never exactly answered her of what was there something to find in common about. It could be many things such as being in the cafe at night but this was all just based on the here and now of their location. She shrugged it off to being something strange and he did smell slightly of booze now that he has sat closer to her. His head then moved and her eyes followed to what he was talking about.
"About that odd virus," she replied openly enough. Everyone saw the odd message throughout the city. Someone had to have slept in or just off the grid to not hear of it. It also helped that whoever she was talking to on the chat board helped her relax a bit to be more open on the topic than being weirdly secretive. "I can't seem to make sense of it and the timing. Like, something big may happen soon." The virus spam had that ominous presence to it. "I wonder if even the police and detectives are trying to figure out who sent it."
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R
en found a soft red tint filling his cheeks with embarrassment as the woman spoke up. His slurred state of mind making him rather awkward. "I just meant to say my night hasn't been all to great either." He said as he took another bite of the delicious desert. "This defiantly helps."
His attention snapped back to the woman as she began chatting again. Her rather abrupt confession about the chatroom catching him off guard. As he began to wonder if she had figured out he was Bluebird. The fact he hadn't been replying anymore making him even more obvious. But he brushed it off as paranoia. As she hadn't seemed to address the fact. "If the government has anything to do with it, then why keep the police out of the loop?" He sat down his fork, turning toward his late night companion. "I'm Ren... by the way." He said nervously, gently holding his hand out toward the woman.
Owner of @_Home, net cafe located in District 4, seeking to maintain what peace that can be held onto, however long that may last. Currently a stray cat to the other districts.
[attr="class","PlotContentStyle"] "Point taken." Reyna nodded after having a small chuckle at the youth. He wasn't as tough or moody as she expected him to be. Her opinion on him changing fluidly as they enjoyed their midnight snacks together. The phone conversation didn't seem to track much of her attention after the screen remained the same for some time. Whoever she was chatting with must have gone to bed by now. Having Ren here to talk to felt just enough to make the time go by.
"Reyna." She set her fork down to shake his hand lightly in their exchange. "I actually own a net cafe around here." Saying this much of what she does, Reyna left it open for Ren to do the same before carrying on about the oddity that the police weren't involved in the slightest. "You would think the police would be involved. They work for the government and all that. Guess this means that it's someone else within the current government that this did." Whatever that could mean. Talking about it was like grasping straws. Neither one of them could be experts on this and Ren didn't seem like the type to suddenly be an underworld crime boss for someone so young. "If this person just wanted the dangerous ones, why not had advertised being that instead of being open arms about accepting information."
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