— Day 1 —
Parksville, Erbaine
Palisade National Park

Somewhere in the Palisade National Park, a girl climbed up into the arms of an oak tree on a Saturday in late spring. It was nearly noon, and the sun was filtering into the green boughs, slipping through to the river below. The forest was quiet, aside from the sound of dancing water mingling with the distant thunder floating up from Parksville Falls.

Terra Langley was at a crossroads. No longer a child, but too uncertain to be an adult. Half past seventeen, and high school was ending with her barely managing to graduate. Letters and numbers would always be a dyslexic mystery to her, it seemed.

She wanted to work, but didn't know what to do. She wanted to try her wings, but didn't know where to go.

She knew she could get a job easily at the park—she was one of the best guides you could find west of the Palisades, despite her age, and her cousin Lui already worked there—but working at the park meant working within walls. And she didn't want that. She had lived here for nearly ten years, and she didn't want to just settle down and pretend to be like everyone else.

A warm wind blew through the oak tree, carrying the piney scent of the east. . . and a flood of memories. The Hinterlands.

Home.

There was another reason she could never be happy making her livelihood in the park, in the shadow of the Palisade Mountain Range. Because she'd always be on the wrong side of the fence, staring at a barricade built by time and heartbreak that she could never surmount.

"Isn't that what they say? You can't go home again?" She muttered bitterly to no one.

The alarm clock function on her watch quietly beeped in reply. She sighed. It was time to go; it was noon, and she'd promised Lui that she would help feed the wolves at one o'clock.

"I wish something would happen," she murmured as she reluctantly began to climb down the oak. "A sign. A miracle. Anything. Something."

And something did.

Terra didn't know what hit her. In an instant she couldn't breath, couldn't think. It was like being struck by a wave of pure energy. She flinched so violently she nearly fell from the tree, and clutched blindly at a branch. Her vision was going mad. Colors she had never seen before danced before her eyes. She didn't know if her heart was pounding, or paralyzed. Every cell in her body seemed to be writhing, singing, transforming.

And then she opened her eyes, and could not believe what she saw. The sky was blazing, so bright it was nearly white. . . and it was lit by two suns.

I've gone insane.

There was a sickening feeling in a pit of her stomach as she felt the tree branch she was clinging to give way. At least, she thought it was breaking. Either that, or she was slipping into it—falling through it—and that didn't make sense, did it?

The next thing she knew, she was tumbling through the grass and dirt as if it was water. . . and then suddenly she was in the water.

She was being swept down the river.

The tributary of the Palatial River that flowed by Parksville was beautiful, but swift, cold and dangerous, and this particular bend was known to be especially hazardous. The fact that Parksville Falls, steep with sharp rocks at the bottom, was a scant two hundred yards downriver might have had something to do with it.

Any other day, Terra would have been able to swim to the bank and haul herself out of the current before reaching the falls. But she was in shock, she was weak, and the wind had been knocked out of her lungs. Before she could do anything beyond thinking "don't drown," the roar of the falls was upon her.

It's a fifty foot drop, and there is nothing to grab, no rocks to hold onto, except the ones at the bottom that are going to be the last thing you ever feel, she thought, full of cold dread.

You're dead, Langley. You're dead.

She braced herself for the drop, raising her eyes to the sky, and then saw something that she would never forget.

One moment, the vaporous air above the cusp of the falls was hopelessly empty. The next, a tree branch was stretching out through the mist, reaching for her.

She lunged for it. One hand slipped off, but the other held, and it felt like a tight, rough rope was coiling around her wrist, keeping her from falling. Except it wasn't a rope.

She glanced down against her will, and saw the clouds of vapor hissing below, waiting to kill her if she didn't do something.

Keep it together, Terra, the teenager thought desperately, her heart beating triple time. Keep it together, and get yourself to the riverbank if it's the last thing you do.

Before her brain could register what was happening, the branch swung away from the falls, pulling her with it, and came to a stop over the rocky terrain on top of the cliff. The vine that was circling her wrist loosened, and Terra fell to the ground.

— Day 1 —
Burg, Boriel

Twenty-four year old Stephen Byers lovingly caressed the cover of the old record he had in his hand. There were plenty of CDs in the small music store which was nestled under the shade of the city‘s tall skyscrapers. Discs in much better shape than that beat up old thing in his grasp. But there was something about vinyl. Something about placing it on an old-fashion player, and hearing it sing, just like in the Old Days he never had a chance to see. Placing some money in the cash register, he bagged it and put it on the counter to take home after he had locked up the place.

Just then, he heard the bell ring as someone entered the store. “We’re closed,” he said, as he put a few things away under the counter. “It’s the weekend. The manager just asked me to come to clean things up.”

The person cleared their throat.

He looked up in annoyance. Then his expression softened as he saw it was his 17-year old sister, Julianne. She had a black eye. “What happened to you? Who hurt you?” he began to get angry. “Tell me where he is! I’ll--”

“Will you relax?” she said, rolling her eyes. She hopped up onto a stool and crossed her arms across her chest. “I hit him first. No big deal. Happens all the time.” She started going through some of the records in the bin next to her.

“I just sorted those,” he told her.

“So, sort ‘em again,” she snorted. “This the new shipment?”

“Yeah.”

“Hmph. Pretty cool. Lot of new stuff. 'Bout time.” She gave a mock bow, and then winked. “You have my approval.”

Stephen gave a quick, short laugh. “So glad to see my lil sis take such an interest in my job.”

“Someone has to look out for you. Make sure you make the right choices. Eh, that’s why little sisters are born. To serve their brothers. Isn’t that what you told me when we were kids?”

He laughed. “I suppose it is.”

It was silent for a few moments.

“So… what was it this time?” Stephen asked, concern in his voice.

“What was what?” She flipped back some of the hair from her eyes.

“You know what. The fight.”

“Meh. He accused me of being a Pacifist.”

“You are a Pacifist.”

“And proud of it! That’s why I hit him!”

He shook his head.

“Hey, just because I think nations shouldn’t send their soldiers out to get killed, that doesn’t mean I can’t teach some big-mouthed punk a lesson. It’s not going to cause a war to hit some kid in the eye. It’ll just cause him to go crying home to his mommy.”

“Or hit you back,” Stephen reminded her, touching the bruised spot on her face.

“Just a trophy, bro.” Julianne winked, moving his hand away from her face. “Believe me, his is worse. Good hitting runs in our family. You’ve got the magic too. I’ve seen you fight enough to know that. Pretty cool knowing that I have a bro who can stand up for me in the, ahem, rare cases I can’t handle it myself.”

“Or rather, it’s good for me to know I have a sis who can stand up for me when I can’t handle it. As is more likely,” he joked. “Well, what can I say. I guess we’ll bring peace to the earth one fight at a time.”

“Yeah,” Julianne replied, looking at a record by an obscure group called The Moonwaves. “But hey. At least we’re fighting together.”

It was at that moment it happened. The event that changed their lives forever. All the glass in the windows and display cases exploded. The lights went out. Stephen and Julianne were floored by some massive force. Julianne’s skin tingled, then she went numb and limp. Cold air rushed through the windows, forming ice on everything around them. Colder and colder it got, as more wind blew in.

Wondering what was going on, Julianne looked up. But only for a second, for when her eyes saw the incredibly bright light radiating the outside, something suddenly blocked the light, rushed toward her, and she felt a sudden thud against her head. Everything went black, and she knew no more.

~Riella

Erbaine, Parksville,
Wolf Rehabilitation Center
– Day 1 -

The Wolf Rehabilitation Center in the Palisade National Park, was like it always had been. Teaming with animals, newcomers and old-timers, needing care and feeding, and bustling with energy, happiness and life. All of those who worked there were cheerful, busy at this hour of lunch, but ready. Loretta Vang was no exception; in love with every animal, and sensitive to their plights, she had come to work here by request of the manager. 17 and athletic, she rushed around, grabbing bottles and mixing formula’s, hurrying to feed one small wolf pup which cried to her from his kennel.

There was hardly a place she would rather be at this moment. This was her life, so far, and she was happy to admit it. It was one of the few things that she did that made her feel needed, and useful, and helped to cure her loneliness, due to two distant and working parents. She brought the baby wolf into her arms, and tipped the bottle to his lips, watching with a soft chuckle as he sucked desperately. “You aren’t starving little silly, take it slow.” She said to him.

The Small wolves were always fed a little before noon, in advance to feeding time of the larger animals. She was usually in charge of nursing the puppies, and today was the same. She loved doing it, not only to watch the precious little things, but because she had a passion for doing it.

Loretta paced about with the pup in her arms, moving around the counter which lined one wall. Set upon it were all the accessories for feeding the wolves, and at the left end, were a stack of 3 large animal carries. This was like her workshop. The place she cleaned up and messed up, every day she could make it to the center. Though she was incandescently, at times, happy here, there was a small part of Loretta, a tucked away buried part in the corner of her heart, that wasn’t completely contented. She felt this twinge once again while watching the wolf. There was something more…beyond the mountains maybe or just somewhere in the world, that pulled at her. Maybe it was the loneliness she suffered from that faintly wished to pull her to someplace where someone waited to quench that feeling. Maybe it was her want to help other animals…she didn’t know. But it was there and she fought with it at times…

Swallowing down a dry part in her throat, Loretta left her thoughts, and was brought back to the sound of the baby animal sucking at air. He had emptied his bottle and finished lunch. When she pulled the bottle away he barked, in a high pitched way. “Aw, you’re done now! You shouldn’t be hungry anymore.” She said with a grin, knowing he was.

She swept over to the window, which was close to the left side of the counter, that his cage was beneath and opened the door, putting him in gently. As she stood again, her green eyes fell upon the trees outside, and noticed, strangely, that the wind had begun to pick up. She wouldn’t have normally thought this odd, but it had been eerily calm this morning, and the wind was almost at gale force. She could hear it rushing about. One eye brow shot up with curiosity and right at that moment she heard the clock behind her knock 12 noon. The dinging seemed to ring in her mind, as her eyes, fixed upon the outside, widened. Suddenly the forest was lit up, as though the sun had come nearer to the earth, or blown up in magnitude. It was a frightening and captivating sight, and she couldn’t pull her gaze away, though it hurt to look at. As the brightness grew, the ground began to shake, and she was forced to look away as she stumbled back.

Loretta watched in stunned horror as all the lights in the room suddenly went out; burnt out, went black, or exploded. A thousand thoughts were rushing through her mind….she didn’t understand, but nothing prepared her for what happened next. She felt a wave…a wave of something invisible hit her. For a moment it seemed to choke her and she couldn’t breathe. It seeped through out all her limbs, and she felt herself trembling from the force. Her skin felt like a thousand needles were being inserted into her, and she let out a loud gasp of urgency. The world shook again, and she stumbled, her hands flying from her neck to clutch something and keep her balance. But she fell, cracking her head against the counter and collapsing to the floor.

The last thing she felt was the rushing of pain to her skull and the final thing she heard was the pitiful whimpering of the terrified wolf puppy…then everything went black.

-Day 1-
Arenico, Edge of Downtown Diabolis
-Doran Fleet-

Space… it fills voids, crosses expanses, and its very easy to fall through. That was something Doran Fleet had found out very early in life. You fall into empty space… you catch yourself…. Or you get hurt. Simple as that.

If only all of life was that simple. He doubled his speed as he jogged across the flat roof of an old store that was scheduled for demolition sometime in the coming weeks. ‘Wiggy’s Fine Antiques It had been, according to the faded sign on the front. It was the last building standing between a mostly empty lot and a brand new casino that was going to be built on that exact spot. The store also served as his usual start point for deliveries in this area. Wiggy had been piling junk against the back wall of the store for years before he went out of business. He still lived there, the old coot… collecting his junk in the rundown building, and hoping that the city wouldn't actually come and knock it down.

He brought his mind back to the jump at hand just before he launched himself off of the building and extended his hands to grip the drain-pipe that ran up the side of the next building. It was a four story apartment building, but this drain pipe was strong, and he scrambled up it with all the agility that was born of years and years of dodging police, thugs, falling bricks, and having to survive in a city the size of Diabolis.

He had a knack for finding footholds and hand holds that no one else could see… for moving through the urban landscape, and even non-urban landscapes, at high speeds, carrying delicate packages. To him, open spaces and long jumps were life. Nothing beat the thrill of running at break-neck speed over a roof, jumping down to land two floors below through an open window, dashing down a hall, hurling yourself out the opposite side of a building to latch onto a clothesline that only Might be there, then dropping to land in a garbage dumpster and climb out just before the truck hauls it away. Oh yeah, he does something like that… every day.

It had almost become such second nature to him that his mind began to wander while he was performing the more ‘normal’ of the jumps and runs that he did. He even found himself spacing off during a wall run last week, and had to abort it at the last second. He gave his head a shake as he mounted the top of the apartment building and continued on.

A half hour later would find him still running, this time much deeper into the heart of the city, on his second delivery of the day. This one was heading to a building he had never visited before, near the center of the city. The wind whistled around him as he stood on the top of the southernmost of a pair of shorter skyscrapers.

He walked to the edge, and sighed, glancing across the gap once more. Seven feet? He thought to himself, Nah… more like 10. He chuckled, baking up from the edge and crossing the roof of the building he was on. He bounced from foot to foot, took a breath, and ran.

He didn't know that this run would be the last that he would ever make when… normal.

As his foot planted itself on the very edge of the building, and he felt himself leaving all manner of solidity behind, time seemed to slow down for him. From this point in the city, he could look out in any direction and see the surrounding desert. It was as beautiful as it was harsh, a barren wasteland that you dared not enter on foot without a substantial supply of water, or a death wish.

But as he gazed north, across the roof of the building he was leaping toward, he saw something he would never forget. Even from here, he could see the Palisades marching like soldiers north and south, and where they met the horizon, the most brilliant light he had ever seen was piercing the atmosphere. It looked like a giant finger was pressing the sky down to earth.

Even as he gazed, the depression expanded and seemed to be spreading out in all directions at once. He saw a bow wave of what could only be described as light and energy lance out in all directions. It moved faster than he could contemplate, for he hadn't been staring for even a second when he saw the dust rippling in the distance as it was pitched up into the sky. The ground seemed to ripple as he stared, and he felt himself slow in mid air as he heard a high pitched noise of shattering glass. The building behind him and in front of him seemed to shatter into a million pieces, the glass of the top 50 floors propelled out and away from the wave of energy.

And suddenly… he was falling, tumbling, clutching nothing but empty air… and that brought him back to his thought… you catch yourself… or you get hurt…. In this case… you die. He spun in mid air and was suddenly gazing as the ground as the sky bleached white and the air in front of him was filled by a blinding light. He was still falling…

The ground was not far ahead of him now… he knew that… and then he saw it. Concrete… stone… rock… pebbles… He seemed to see the particles of the surface as he impacted at 120 miles per hour into it. He expected to feel pain, He expected to scream when he hit. But all he felt was… nothing… and his last conscious thought was that Wiggy wouldn't need to worry about the city knocking his store down any more….

— Day 1 —
Parksville, Erbaine
Snodgrass' Home Basement

Fred Snodgrass looked contemplatively at his Linux laptop, bearing a script of what he would say when he confronted Terra. Today was the day he would ask her to the prom.

Today. Not tomorrow. Today. Not putting it off any longer.

Fred turned to Reggie, his pet project from last semester. It was imbued with knowledge, and responded to nearly everything that Fred normally asked. For the 47th time, (as he counted with "x"s on the wall) Fred asked Reggie- "Reggie... do you think that Rose will accept my invitation to go to the prom?" and Reggie replied in a monotone, robotic voice, "Master, of course she will accept."

Fred had pre-programmed Reggie to respond to these kind of questions before he would embark on asking Rose out. 47 times. 47 different days. If I fail today... ungh. . Pushing the thought out of his mind, he quickly turned once more to the 2 foot tall, metal-clad robot. "What should I tell her? Should I be cool? Calm? Neutral? Psychotic? What?" to which the robot, again in a monotone voice, replied, "Master, you should tell her that you want to go out with her to the event. You should remain calm. You shouldn't act like you do in class. Act normal. ."

Patting Reggie on the head, Fred donned his tux (the jacket was missing... ah, well. Much ado about nothing) and put the robot, a quick script of what he would say to Terra, and a couple (2 ) brownies into his backpack. He walked down to Terra's cousin Lui's house (ten miles away. O_O). By the time he arrived, he regretted bringing the brownies, and wished he had instead brought a cold water. Gasping for breath, he hid behind a rose bush and started looking over his script. Panicking at the moment to come, he clicked a button at the top of Reggie's head, and he promptly said, "Master, calm yourself. Act normal. Script or no script, it will not matter, she will say yes or she will say no." He noticed that the brownies were sqooshed against the side of the backpack.

Standing upright, he walked up to the door of the house. No cars littered the driveway. Fred knocked on the door. He saw lights and the TV on and running. He rang the doorbell, no answer. Fred looked at his watch- 11:45. The prom is at 8 pm... He knocked harder... still no answer. Crouching down, he grit his teeth and mouthed, "She's probably hiding from you, for all you know. Who wants to go to a prom with someone who's more skilled in robotics and technology... (a car zoomed by, with a guy and his girlfriend blasting music and holding hands)... than someone who has a cool car and shades?" He glared at the car.

Knocking no more, he ran to the field three blocks away from Terra's home. The field was covered in flowers and weeds, waving to the direction of the wind. He quickly unpacked Reggie. "Reggie, if she's home, why didn't she answer? Why can't I seem to ever talk with her in normal terms, rather than helping her with homework or trying to explain the complexities of a computer virus? Why can't I?"

There was no reply from Reggie, due to the fact that the robot was never programmed to answer a question such as that. A squirrel eyed Fred in the eye, then made a squeaking noise that resembled a mocking laugh.

It was 11:58.

Fred Snodgrass stared at a flower for the next minute or so, then stood up. "There's always tomorrow."

It was now noon.

A sudden wind came upon the field of flowers; daisies released their offspring into the air, surrounding Fred in a flurry of white "fluff". The next second, Fred was thrown back some fifteen feet, Reggie moreso. A translucent tan color emitted to his left and right- to the sky, it looked as if the sky was afire with a yellow hue. lFred thought it looked as if a sandstorm had erupted and he could see right through the waves of dirt, with a sun directly above his face. The weeds and flowers and the grass were ripped from their roots, flying directly into his face. His hair whipped back and forth like a bullwhip. Reggie slid farther away; Fred ran to catch him. The second he stood in the air, he was thrown another ten feet, landing on his stomach with a crunch. At a loss for breath, he crawled to Reggie, threw him into the backpack, and squinted. As soon as it had come, the wind had stopped. Fred threw his face into the ground. He felt for his backpack- it was empty. In front of him stood Reggie.

"I think you really just need to try and stop acting intellectual and... perhaps try flowers," (Fred found himself covered in the remains of flowers that had been ripped from the ground).

Fred looked at Reggie, astonished. the robot was acting independent of his commands. A self aware robot, Fred thought. The scientific breakthrough of the century?

He looked above, and saw two suns.

--Day 1--
Judicia, Erbaine
Capitol University
(1 hour before the Supernova)

Doctor Lewis Dreyman was at his peak, in top form. He was lecturing with passion, with style, with skill, with prejudice...well, the last was a given in any of his speeches.

He leaned on his desk and looked over the class, "The government has only given us vague notice that there's going to be a supernova in the solar system next door. No statistics, no graphs, no nothing. Just a vague warning that maybe we should stay inside on the day that it happens (which, coincidentally, is tomorrow)."

Lewis shook his head. "What could be their motive in doing this? The basic tenet of Western Civilization is that if you're not sure about an event that is potentially harmful, you give it the benefit of the doubt."

One of the students in the middle row of the class seemed to be absorbed in his computer; definitely not paying attention. Lewis inwardly sighed in frustration. How could he teach the class if they refused to be taught? "Liam!" He said, fixing his gaze on the student. "What is your opinion on the fact that the government has refused to issue warnings about the incoming supernova from Beta System? Do you think that they are justified in their stance, or are they simply playing political games?"

--Day 1--
Judicia, Erbaine
Capitol University

Connor Dreyman was a genius. Only sixteen and already in college, he was the type of person to value intellect over almost anything else. He thrived in the classrooms, often getting into debates with the teachers whenever he thought they were incorrect (which was often). Despite his superior attitude, he was very charismatic. He kept his body in good shape and was a very good-looking young man. All the girls secretly crushed on him, and all the guys secretly admired him. And he seemed to know this and kept their attention whenever he good, manipulating them often to get them to do what he wanted while making them think that they wanted to do it for him.

He never asked anyone to do his school work for him, however. He didn't trust anyone but himself with academics. He worked hard at his studies, determined to be the best. His father demanded the best, of course. He had to be the best.

On this particular day, he was attempting to persuade a certain teacher over to his side. He wasn't as good at persuasion as his father, but his charisma helped. The teacher was nodding slowly to his explanation, beginning to see the logic. Before Connor could start to feel triumphant, however, the room was filled with a brilliant light. Women screamed, men shouted, Connor lifted his hand to shield his face, squinting against the light. He felt a tingling sensation hit his fingers, traveling through his hand and down his arm into his shoulder and chest. He looked down at his hands, staring at them in disbelief as they were glowing ever-so-slightly. A wave of energy hit him then and he flung up his hands in defense.

His desk flew up in the air, hitting the ceiling and then slamming back down. In fact all the desks had been flown into the air before crashing to the ground, the screams getting more intense. Connor didn't have time to wonder what had just happened, he jumped to his feet and ran for the door, wanting to find his father to make sure he was alright.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

--Day 1--
Parksville, Erbaine
Green Hills Highschool

It was time for Catherine to go up there. Her legs felt like jelly, but she made them move. Step by step, up the stairs, to the center of the stage. Why had her teacher picked her to represent their class in front of the whole school? She wasn't even okay off-stage, much less on.

Across the stage now, right to the microphone. Catherine tripped and almost fell flat on her face and felt herself turning red. The audience tittered, and she felt worse. She had to keep going though. At last, at the microphone. She hastily took it off the stand and dropped it on the ground. The feedback SCREECHED out of the loudspeakers and the audience complained loudly.

Catherine looked over to her teacher for encouragement. Even Mrs. Phelps looked embarrassed. Man. She picked up the microphone and looked around uncertainly. "H-hi. Hi everyone. Um. Yeah, so our class l-learned about Emily D-Dickens. This week. I mean, semester. For literature." Her speech was slowly falling out of her head. She looked around, her face hot, in a panic. She looked down at her notes, but they were all blurry. "Um, she was an artist. An author, I mean. She wrote things...all the time."

She didn't know what to say. She couldn't think. It would be best to make a quick exit. "I-I...thank you." She tried to get off the stage, but she was still holding the microphone and and fell onto her stomach, stupidly not dropping it. All she could hear was the audience laughing and laughing at her as the lights began to flicker and...

What? The lights were flickering? Catherine stared up at the ceiling, not getting up, just fascinated and frightened as suddenly, the lighting fixtures on the ceiling began to crash to the floor.

Screams ensued everywhere. She could vaguely hear the panic and the teachers ushering the students out of the gym, but she couldn't move. Wouldn't move. The lights were going out as they fell, one by one. What was happening? And then it was dark.

-Day 1-
Arenico, Diabolis
Downtown, On the Roof of a Casino
Diabolis. City of pleasures. Home to aristocrats and vagabonds, dreamers and hopeless, gentlemen and thieves. A place where greed and trickery reign supreme. Where money is the answer to everything. Where fortunes are made - and lost - in an instant. Lives are changed, for better or worse. A man can go by one identity by day and another by night. Diabolis, where evidence of wealth is slathered on every paving stone, every street corner, every high-rise hotel. Where palaces of gamboling send pulsing rays of color into the night sky, enticing passerbys to enter in, throw the dice, stake their entire livelihood on a single stroke. Diabolis, the city which knows no sleep.

What is it that draws people here? What allure would cause a man living thousands of miles away to come here, only to lose everything he owns to a game? Could it be the same reason my brother Doran and I stepped off the train all those years ago? I wanted to start over, leave my former life behind and become someone else instead. I thought I could make something of myself. Win a small fortune along the way. And then Doran and I wouldn't have to worry. We could be together, and nothing, not even the court systems, would ever separate us again. Everything would be perfect.

So thought Gideon Lock as he sat, perched like a gargoyle on the roof of the Grand Arcadian. Gusts of desert wind tore at the flaps of his black trench-coat. Two dozen stories below, pedestrians bustled about, oblivious to the fact that the young thief on the rooftop above was about to pull off another of his heists.

Gideon smiled to himself. Perfect, huh? Pff. Boy, was I wrong.

Brushing long, dark hair out of his eyes, He turned to the boy crouching next to him. Edwin was sixteen, two years younger than Gideon, but had risen admirably to the role of second in command ever since Doran had left the Hopeless. Short, smart, and nimble as a squirrel, he was the perfect comrade to have on this mission.

Trusting the jumbled mishmash of loud music to hide their voices, Gideon asked, "No signal yet?"

"No," said Edwin. "But it shouldn't be long now. They've been in there for a while."

"Good. We really need this. If all goes well, none of us will go hungry for a year, maybe more."

"Just for a microchip?"

Nodding, Gideon pulled the tiny, flat square from his pocket and laid it in his palm. "It's information our client wants. All we have to do is plug this into the central computer, and a program on the chip will do the rest." Gideon wondered what sort of information could be worth the kind of money he'd been offered, but in Diabolis, it was better not to ask questions.

Edwin frowned. "That's too easy."

Gideon's eyes surveyed their target, a building adjacent to the Grand Arcadian. The flashy structures surrounding it made it appear an unsightly blemish upon the landscape, with no lights, no distinguishing architecture, and rows and rows of unremarkable square windows. Not many people would give it a second thought, but Gideon knew better. "It would be easy," he agreed, "except that computer in question is in a government facility, equipped with one of the most advanced security systems in country. If Boomer can't figure out how to disable it, we're going to have to bail out fast."

"Boomer'll come through,"said Edwin. "He's never failed us before, and...there!"

Far below, within a third story window of the darkened building, a light flickered on - then disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Gideon grabbed Edwin's arm. "That's the signal! Let's go!"

Edwin streaked out in front, being the fastest of the two. Gideon watched as he leaped the gap between rooftops and tumbled onto the roof of the government building across the way. Gideon watched to make sure he was safe. Then, sucking in a deep breath, he took a running start and felt his feet leave the Grand Arcadian behind.

It was amazing how much time those few moments of weightlessness could hold. Suspended between the two rooftops, dangling precariously above the waiting jaws of certain death, he absorbed his surroundings - the blinking lights of the city, the ant-like pedestrians perusing the concrete walkway far below, the wind as it buffeted his hair, the lively beating of his heart. Had he not performed this reckless stunt hundreds of times, he would have been terrified, paralyzed by the thought of falling short and plummeting into the void. But as it was, he felt only exhilaration. Freedom. He had long since forgotten what it felt like to fear. Here, alone with the air, he had left Diabolis and all its problems behind. And for a moment, he wished he could never come down.

And then it happened.

Light seemed to explode all around him, accompanied by a rushing wind and the deafening sound of millions of windows shattering. Gideon yelled and shut his eyes, blinded, feeling for sure that something had happened, that he was dead, or dying. Edwin's frantic scream of "GIDS!" was lost in the roar. And he was falling.

He spread out his feet instinctively, and felt himself land on something. A step, of some sort. Opening his eyes the slightest bit, he saw Edwin, peering over the edge of the roof, holding a hand out for him. Shaking himself out of his shocked daze, Gideon grabbed it. Bracing himself against the building, he hauled himself up and collapsed, exhausted, next to his friend.

The light was still there, and chilling screams of terror echoed throughout the streets. Edwin's eyes were as round as moons. "Gideon," he whispered. "What's going on?"

Gideon didn't answer. He was staring over the edge of the rooftop, toward the place where he had fallen.

The walls were sheer plates of metal. There was no step in sight.

--Day 1--
Judicia, Erbaine
Capitol University
(1 hour before the Supernova)

Liam Styre was bored. His class was boring, he didn't want to be there, and furthermore, he was bored.

He sighed and clicked around on his laptop, his mind only halfway on the project. He was working on a paper for another class, finding quotes and such to incorporate into his post. It was a welcome distraction from the loud, droning voice of his professor, Dr. Lewis Dreyman. What was he even talking about, anyway? Some big, impending disaster like he always did? The same disaster Liam had heard about a thousand times? Yeah, that was it.

He glanced at his good friend Laramie out of the corner of his eye. She seemed to be listening intently to Dr. Dreyman's speech. He pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled on it. Do you find this at all interesting? he wrote. Then he passed the paper over to her and waited for her to respond.

Liam turned back to his paper, yawned again, and thought about what he'd do when this was over. Go home and lounge on the couch watching TV, probably. He'd need a mindless activity to help him recover from an onslaught of lecturing and discussions and...

"Liam! What is your opinion on the fact that the government has refused to issue warnings about the incoming supernova from Beta System? Do you think that they are justified in their stance, or are they simply playing political games?"

Liam blinked twice. Was he just called on? He wrenched his eyes away from his laptop, caught beneath Dr. Dreyman's stare. Yes. He had been.

"Um... well..." Liam hesitated, then stood, folding his arms and inhaling deeply, fully prepared to give his opinion. "The government hasn't told us about the supernova because there isn't going to be one. It's just that simple."

Day 1
Burg
1912 Sandhill Lane

Robert Johnathon Lowell yawned and leaned back in the enormous Lazy-Boy sofa that took up more than half of his small living room. He fumbled around for the TV remote, which ended up being wedged between his leg and the arm-cushion to his left. What could he watch? It wasn't even ten o'clock, and he didn't have to go to work until three today. He wished his boss hadn't insisted on him taking the morning off; selling shoes was much more interesting than channel surfing through little kids' programs, nature documentaries, and other shows that didn't come near to interesting him. He yawned again as he began flipping through the 200s...the 300s...the 400s...there had to be something better for him to do. Switching off the TV, Bob tossed the remote back into the recesses of the Lazy-Boy's cushions and headed to the kitchen. Digging through the mini-fridge, Bob managed to find the makings of a sandwich and half a can of (flat) root beer. Shuffling into his small, grey bedroom, he plopped onto his unmade bed and stared off as he munched. His room needed a serious make-over. If he wasn't too lazy, he'd give this room a fresh coat of paint, install a ceiling fan with a real light (instead of just the desk-lamp he had hooked to his headboard with a clamp) and get some decent curtains up. Or at least new shades, ones without holes in them. Some crumbs tipped off of his plate, and as he brushed them off of his bed, Bob groaned; he still had the same Spider-Man sheets he had had since he was seven years old. Yikes. He was probably due for a new set. And something other than a pillow from the old sofa in the living room (which he hardly ever used anymore since he got his Lazy-Boy five years ago). Finishing off the soda, Bob went back to the kitchen and threw his plate in the sink. As he headed back to the living room, a thought nagged at him: You used to like living alone, Bob. What's happened to you?"Uh...I still like living alone. Really, I do." Oh, yeah? It doesn't seem like it... Bob threw himself onto the Lazy-Boy and wished his boss would call him in early anyway. This was dull.

**

"Come on, if you don't sell three more pairs of shoes before you leave, you're fired!"

Bob took a deep breath to keep from yelling at his boss. Self-control, Bob, self-control...

"I already sold four pairs today. Isn't that enough?"

"You usually sell seven."

"You said that was an extreme for which you are grateful."

"Well, I'd better keep having reason to be grateful...or you're fired, Lowell."

Bob nodded and shuffled off. Jason O'Brian, the owner of O'Brian's Shoe Store and Bob's boss, could be really unfeeling sometimes. Unfeeling and illogical. Still, the job payed well and Bob enjoyed it when he was on his boss's good side, which he usually was. Today must have been a rough day for O'Brian. At least the man had let him come to work after all. Oh well, it wasn't yet twelve; he had plenty of time to sell.

"Excuse me, sir. Do you have this pair of shoes in another size?"

Bob stopped to take the pair of retro sneakers from the woman. "I can look. What size do you need?"

"Seven and a half."

"Be right back."

Bob hurried to the back of the store to search through the stock on hand. After several minutes of searching, he at last came up with a box and...only one size seven and a half sneaker.

"Where on earth...?"

There it was, on the shelf where he'd found the box. Only, it was pushed back farther than the box had been, and, despite being almost 6' 2", Bob couldn't quite reach it without a ladder. He wheeled one over, climbed it, and reached for the shoe.

"And that, my friends, is how shoe sales happen." he smiled to himself, tipping forward a little on the ladder. Suddenly, the dark room was illuminated. Then the light started to hurt Bob's eyes. Now it was burning...Bob shielded his eyes from the bright light, but now the light- heat- whatever it was- was burning his skin too. Bob realized with a start that he was falling, falling...the ladder was out from under him, his back, then head, hit the floor. A sharp pain seared his spine from the fall and yet...almost as soon as it had come, the pain left him, though the terrible heat and light shone around him still. He could not open his eyes, and his skin felt hotter than sunburn. Finally, after an amount of time that Bob could never measure, he was at last able to open his eyes and peer around him. His skin was rather cool and the room was dark once more. The only thing that convinced Bob that he hadn't fallen and hit his head too hard, and had imagined the entire thing, was the fact that every single box of shoes had fallen to the floor, piling on top of him and spread across the cement floor. Bob pushed the boxes off of his chest and legs and stood up. His eyes blurred and the floor seemed marred as though by millions and millions of footprints...

Bob cautiously stepped over and around the piles of shoes and went to find O'Brian. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he was about to find out.

Boriel, Somewhere outside of Burg,
Baron Vike’s Manor House
-Day 1-
Many things might come to mind when you hear the name Baron Vike. You might assume he is a Baron and descended from the legendary Vikings, or, you might think that he is a Baron and he likes to hike, and vike is simply miss-spelled or miss-said. Or you might get it right…he is simply who is named suggest, Baron Vike.

He is a strange young man, locked away in his ancient looking manor house, every day pouring helplessly over books about the Dark ages, wishing to be living within the times the pages and drawings hinted at. This was an obsession of his…a passion, a strange thing which ate at him. He wasn’t content here, oh no, this twisted world full of its technology, which he wasn’t ignorant to, but despised, wasn’t his time. He belonged back in the days where everything was simpler. Where people lived on that they had…and when kings ruled. That was it, he thought once again, his head snapping up and his eyes sweeping the room.

The Kings. The Splendor in which they lived. The power they controlled…the fear they had earned. That was what his heart craved for. He wanted to be like the kings of old. Fearsome, powerful, unstoppable. With a growl of frustration he began to pace his study, moving about in a line across the scarlet carpet, his boots scuffing the black swirls etched into the fabric. Such a discontented man he was. He had absorbed himself in what little of the olden world could….but it wasn’t enough. He went to a massive book shelf, and hauled out a book which looked 500 years old. It then was slammed into his long oak desk. He had to read more…how could he fulfill his dream? How could he take this modern world, and thrust it back in time?

As he sat and began to read, the large grandfather clock in his study donged 12. Normally he wouldn’t have noticed…normally he wouldn’t have cared but right then he did; because a brilliant light had begun to come in, through his large window, which was heavily shaded. He looked up, two thin brows rising with curiosity. What sort of trick is this? He thought, at first, thinking with disgust it was the work of something computerized…but the glow got brighter, and began to sting his eyes.

He flinched and stood going to the window, and throwing open the curtains. The light was now so intense…so terrifying, he couldn’t see. He tried to stare through the window but it was like the whole world was white. All he could make out was that the sky had two suns…around the silhouettes of these suns was a ring of yellow and blue, and the second sun seemed to be molding and moving and growing brighter by the minute.

Then the world gave a violent shake, and he was thrown back several feet and onto the floor. But the floor wasn’t there….no….he was going into the floor, through the floor, down, down…and then suddenly everything went black. It was like someone had put a blanket over his head…but no, visions were forming. Yes, of a grand ball, of a king high on his thrown, of a peasant village, and a knight and a battle. His heart gave a lurch, as he witnessed, for a moment, the ages which he longed for. But it was like he was frozen. He couldn’t move his limbs. He couldn’t reach out to the sights playing before his eyes.

“No!” he cried, very much to himself, as he was then pulled out and away from what he saw, and he was again in his own world. The light had vanished, or at least lessened, but from what he could see, lying on the floor, his room had been shaken. Things were laying about; broken, disheveled, and the window, was shattered. The glass was around him like a snow on the first day of winter…he felt some of the shards on his hands and arms, and he could see them glittering on his clothes. But the sight didn’t really sink as it should have; he was in a dazed shock. The creaking of his book case tipping partially brought him from his stupor.

The Massive would case was coming toward him, going crush him. He was going to die? Going to perish after everything he had dreamed!? After everything he had just been shown!? The thing fell and he felt the beginning of the intense and agonizing pressure of its weight. But then things stopped. He thought back a few moments…just as he had seen it begin it’s toppling…the bookcase then reversed. The books put themselves slowly back onto its shelves, it rose up by several feet, and in a flash he had moved out from beneath it. It made a sickening shudder and then fell to the floor, shaking the very foundations of his home. Glass went flying everywhere and he stood among the shards, his eyes widening, and a laugh beginning to form in his throat. “Time…” he said, softly. “I can bend…time!”

--Day 1--
Judicia, Erbaine
Capitol University
(About an hour before the Supernova)

Doctor Dreyman gave Liam such a look. "Even the government, Mr. Styres, has admitted that there will be a supernova. The discrepancy is whether such a nova will affect earth." He looked to the rest of the class, addressing all of them, "Science has proved that there is a high likelihood of such a result to the nova. The question is, why wouldn't the government care about its citizens? They're too absorbed in political games, that's why."

He moved behind his desk and lifted up the class textbook, tapping a page number. "As you can see on page 37, many nations of the world mistakenly believe that what their citizens does not know can't hurt them. Moreover, as in the case of The Trader's Republic, they do their best to cover up the problems with their nation under the pretense that their citizens do not need to know about the problems because they would only scare them."

He turned back to Styres, who seemed to be on the verge of zoning out. Again. "Does this seem to be the case to you with our government, Mr. Styres?"

--Day 1--
Judicia, Erbaine
Capitol University
(About an hour before the Supernova)

"First of all, my last name is Styre, not Styres." Liam said quickly. He knew he was being terribly impudent, but he didn't care. "And--"

He stopped when a tingling sensation spread over his arms and into his shoulders.

"And..." He said again, but the tingling sensation continued. "What is going on?" he muttered, brushing his forearms as if that would make the feeling go away. He collected his thoughts in spite of the distracting chills. "If the government was very worried about the supernova, they would do something about it. They would make preparations."

Liam did the best he could to ignore the weird feeling that had now spread to his back. "This happens all the time. The government is being calm and level-headed about the whole thing, whereas the general public is freaking out. Even if there is a supernova, would it affect us?" Liam spread his arms apart. "That's the question. And I'm inclined to believe that it won't."