To Be Human: Volume One

One

Two Years Later...

Location: City of Haven, Downtown Streets

Date: April 27th, 2037

Time: 14:36

   The city of Haven was a bustling metropolis, a city like no other in North America. One of the biggest, and the fastest developing by far. Its name suited was it was advertised to be, a safe Haven for those with powers, a place they could live free of a fearful and judgmental society. Its name was derived from the very thing it was supposed to be, a safe Haven for people with abilities in a world where they were not yet fully accepted or integrated with society. 

   Of course, not everyone in Haven had such abilities, not even close. Most who did were barely touching their potential, weak and untrained abilities, many of such people barely knowing what they could theoretically do, then again, that was the point. It was safer that way. It was a city of twenty million people, most of the population were regular people living amongst the others. For people with abilities, it was the city to live in. It was not so different from any other that it seemed obvious to go to, it was merely its marketing and open doors to people of all kinds that made it that way. Yet, to those people it was home, it was a safe spot where they could have normal lives, living in blissful ignorance of all else around them, leading peaceful lives. As if Haven was truly that.

   There were tens of thousands of people rallied near the town centre in one of the many town squares, which overflowed and drained down a massive road six lanes wide; a major road in Haven's downtown lined by a wall of skyscrapers. All were businesses and apartments, all closed like the roadway, with traffic being rerouted and riot control forces backed by ample security, the street was in chaos. 

   Helicopters flew overhead above the buildings, many of them from various news stations trying to capture what was happening before them. Drones flew lower, over the horde of people, making their way back and forth, monitoring everything below. It was impossible to maintain order in something like this, but all attempts were being made.

   An elderly woman in her sixties stood on a large podium in front of all the chaos. A line of riot control APC's surrounding it, with a battalion of riot control police in front of it, all keeping her and her associates guard from the beckoning crowd. Realistically, they could overrun the security easily, but those in the front would be trampled, and many would be hurt especially from the many water cannons pointed toward them from the tops of the APC's.

   The woman was speaking into a microphone, her voice echoing through the street, loudspeakers blaring the sound, aided by the many drones that flew among the crowd, each equipped with loudspeakers of their own so that everyone could hear. She made no attempts to calm them, just to speak over them, trying to appeal to the crowd with her words over her actions. She was giving a usual speech of progress, security, and condolences to the families of a recent attack which saw mean dead and wounded by the hands of a rogue ability user. 

   Yet another event that tore at the relations of those with abilities and those without. Much of the crowd was with her, most were against her. They saw through her façade, hers, and those she worked with. High class business types who had no idea what it was like out of their ivory towers, on the ground levels with all the rest who actually suffered from these events when they happened.

   The town square itself was half a kilometer wide, surrounded by tall skyscrapers made of glass which bounced and reflected the sunlight around in every direction, keeping the city well lit and visible. Shadows seemed to perfectly cover the sidewalks of the roads but not the roads themselves, leaving the pedestrians canopied in the hot summer months, but not damaging visibility and light for the drivers as the glass sued semi-reflective surfaces to keep the light in, but not so strong that it was blinding.