Fantasy The Anomaly Configuration

[taliaangeni]

In 1952, archaeologists in Crete, Greece found a puzzling mechanism. It was gold, square and had a beautiful design but no key was able to open the smooth surface. Unlike other artifacts found in Crete, this box didn't look old. No dents, scratches, nothing. It was named the Anomaly Configuration.


In 1954, scientist were still puzzled by the artifact and opened it up to the world to try, hoping that someone would find a solution. They put the Anomaly Configuration at Riverbank College. It was highly probable that someone would steal the item so for that reason the box was put into a guarded room. The person who entered was searched and searched again upon leaving. After years of hoping to find an answer, the wonder of the box died down. The only people who visited were tourists.


In 1985 the Anomaly Configuration was opened. His name was Teddy Colt. He was 32, a tourist, and a psychologist. He disappeared. The box also disappeared. Days after the box was opened, people noticed strange things happening. It was reported that Susan Johnson saw her neighbor, Kyle Cuttler, set his cat on fire just with a touch. Anne Berry reported to doctor after doctor that she heard strange voices. They threw her in the loony bin. Soon the news stations and newspapers were filled with stories of the same bizarre happenings. President Ronald Reagan enforced cops and military to kill on site any of these people with...powers.


It's 2017, 32 years after The Anomaly Configuration was opened. Gifted people are in hiding, or doing their best to hide in plain sight, away from The Liberators. The Liberators goal is to extinguish people with powers.

 

[taliaangeni]

“Here’s the deal. You get four days with him. On the fifth, I’m coming for him.” Neal Connor stated to the woman sitting in front of him. He had arrived just ten minutes ago and the woman couldn’t stop crying. The living room looked too bright and happy against her unkempt appearance and her crying echoed in the large room. It was too early in the morning for this. He had work in an hour. “Do we have a deal, Ms. Lee?”


“Yes! Of course, we have a deal!” Ms. Lee wiped the tears from her face.


“Great. When the money’s in my account I’ll bring him.” And with that, Neal left the house. An old, beat up, burnt orange van sped around the corner and stopped in front of him. Checking the watch on his left wrist, “Just on time.” The door squeaked in protest as it opened. Neal jumped in and looked at the driver, “Ready for the blood, Chauncey?”


“Always am, my man.” Chauncey had a shocking head full of orange hair and the brightest blue eyes…not that Neal looked at eyes that much to know if they were bright or not. It was shocking to see someone so… bright in their career bracket. Crime scene cleaners. There was a whole list of shit they had to jump through just to get into the building to clean. Special uniforms, specific training, odd hours, and they dealt with everything from suicides, murders, un-attendant death and tear gas cleanup.


Even though we were cleaners, we still had contact with the families of the deceased. During training, the teachers had stressed that we needed to show compassion to these people. For Neal, it was a big monetary gain. Go in, show some sympathy, and give them his card for further support. Women were his usual callers. They always wanted to talk. Seven out of ten times they wanted his services.


“Dude, we’re here. Get your shit together,” Chauncey said. He meant mentally: get my mind together before the entrance and physically: get my gear together.


After suiting up, they both entered the two-story home. On entry was the living room, or what had been. Blood had been splattered along the walls, almost as if the killer had artistic skill. Furniture was overturned and soaked in blood too.


“The Liberators,” Chauncey said as he laid the cleaning supplies in the middle of the room. “Two abnormals lived here. Neighbors gave ‘em up.” He shook his head in disgust.


Neal knew Chauncey wasn’t…different. He also knew the guy, the bright-eyed guy, had a heart as huge as Texas and thought abnormals should be given a chance.


“Let’s do this so we can get outta here,” Neal didn’t want to be here a second longer than necessary.

 

[Misty Gray]

​

Katrina was having that dream again. The one where the Liberators had captured her and were torturing her before intending to kill her. The alarm rang out loud in her ears as she shifted from the dream world into the waking world. Reaching her arm out to slam her hand on the alarm clock, she repeatedly felt nothing beneath her hand. She eventually opened her eyes to see her hand was phasing through the alarm clock. "It was just a dream," she told herself and took a deep breath to compose herself. When her hand returned to normal, she slammed it down on the alarm clock to shut the noisy thing up. Thankfully, her roommate had been up and out of their dorm much earlier so she couldn't witness the embarrassment. These dreams were becoming more frequent.

As she walked across campus, she noticed Nathan in the distance and quickly changed direction. Her ex was becoming a pain. Sure, the University was on his way to work, but he really didn't need to cut through the campus grounds to get there. She was tired of telling him they were over. Dodging Nathan made Katrina slightly late to practice, but she soon recovered and jumped up on stage to rehearse. She'd been given the role of Christine in The Phantom of the Opera. A lead role she had been desperate for but now it was overshadowed by her worries about Nathan and her powers. Regardless, she battled through the rehearsals without drawing any attention to her inner distractions.

When she was done with rehearsals and lectures, Katrina had a short window to get to the restaurant and start her shift at work. Hopefully today she wouldn't "drop" any plates - by drop she really meant let them fall through her hands. No, there would be no mishaps today. Her favourite colleagues were in and she'd had a good day singing the songs she loved.