Riley Smith, a 25 year old male office worker

I rubbed my eyes and arched my back, stretching it to work the soreness out of my muscles. I lowered my hands and glanced at the clock. A few minutes past noon. I stood from my desk and locked my computer.

"Time for lunch, Smith?" I turned and looked at Jason Faulks, my cubicle neighbor.

"Yeah, have to take it soon or I'll miss it. Meetings all afternoon, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Jason said. "Wish I had the luxury of getting out of here, but I'm a bit too busy. it'll be a sandwich over my keyboard for me. Hell, I'll be lucky to get out of here before 7 tonight."

I nodded, but really wanted to roll my eyes at him. Jason was a world class kiss ass, and had his eyes set on a promotion, any promotion, and made sure people were aware of it. I was sure he talked shit about me and my 'lack of motivation and devotion to the company'.

"That's a shame," I said. "Hopefully things clear up a bit so you don't work yourself into an early grave."

"Sure. It'll all be worth it once I work my way up a bit. I'll have the money and authority to really make some changes."

I wasn't sure if he meant at work or in his personal life, and really didn't care all that much. "I bet. I'll be back in a bit."

With that, I made my way to the bathroom. I relieved myself and then washed my hands, glancing into the mirror as I scrubbed them. I sighed as I looked myself over. I had bags under my eyes from the lack of sleep I had been getting for the last few weeks, thanks to a big project that I had been given, and my eyes were a little bloodshot from staring at my monitor all morning, but other than that I wasn't too bad.

I had short brown hair, brown eyes, and just the right amount of scruff on my face. If I could ever manage to catch up on my sleep again, I was actually alright looking. Not in the best shape, mind. I was pretty average build, with just a bit of muscle, and just shy of 6' tall, but I got my fair share of attention from ladies.

I finished up with my hands and dried them, then left the bathroom and made my way down and out of the building. Fortunately, our office building was close to a number of options for lunch. It only took me about 10 minutes to walk to a plaza with a number of options.

My phone buzzed, and I pulled it out to see a call from my roommate, Scott. I answered it and lifted it to my ear. "Hey, what's up?"

"Washing machine shit the bed," Scott said. I could hear the agitation in his voice, which was telling. He was a hard guy to get a rise out of. "I'm fucking shocked, you know? I only told Marcus that the thing was a piece of shit a hundred times over the past couple of months."

I chuckled and shook my head. "At least it's on him to fix."

"Yeah, sure. So we'll probably have a new one around the time we're moving out of the place," Scott grumbled.

"Laundromat for us for a while, then?" I asked. That actually sucked, since neither of us drove. The idea of having to haul laundry onto public transit or walk to a laundromat with it wasn't appealing.

"Yeah, a while," Scott said. "I'm gonna try and have a chat with Marcus. Make it very clear we need that shit replaced ASAP. We're gonna start to hold rent if he drags his feet."

"He'll just kick us to the curb," I said, looking around before dashing across the street. "It's not the best apartment, but it's an alright deal. He'd be able to fill the vacancy quickly enough."

"Yeah, maybe, but he's also kind of a shitty landlord. I won't hesitate to camp out for a bit and tell people that if he pulls that shit. Besides, he has to give us some notice before he can us out."

"I'd rather not rock the boat," I said.

"Yeah, I know. It's cause you're a doormat. Just trust me, and if he tried to fuck us on this, then we're not gonna pay rent."

"Alright, alright. I guess..."

"Good. We can discuss options for laundry later tonight. Maybe we can coordinate or something so we don't both have to always sit around a shitty laundromat. I dunno."

"Sure. We can discuss it."

"Alright. Cool. See ya later, man."

With that, the call ended. I shoved my phone back into my pocket and continued on my way. I arrived at the plaza and started looking around, trying to decide what I wanted to eat.

Before I could make my decision, I heard the screaming. Shouts of alarm and pure panic from a few buildings down. I cast a quick glance and saw some people running away. My heart dropped, wondering what exactly was happening. Then I saw the... effect. Something like electricity, but in a variety of colors. Each bolt came with a sort of distortion which could just barely be seen behind them. The second I saw that, I turned and started running myself.

It was a reality bomb, or something close enough to one to be concerning. Everyone knew the signs for those things. People who got caught in the radius was either never seen again or was changed fundamentally, more often than not.

I hadn't seen the effect until the screaming started, which was a bad sign. They tended to have a large range, and if I was this close to ground zero, my odds of escaping were pretty awful. Still, that didn't mean it wasn't worth trying. I ran as fast as I could, my legs starting to pound within seconds. I could hear the commotion behind me grow worse as the people in front of me started to realize what was happening and run for themselves.

Each step I took seemed almost pointless, as I heard the crackling of the weapon behind me. A few more steps, and I could feel the faux electricity on the back of my neck, making my hair raise with its proximity. I took another step and a half, and before my foot could touch ground it hit me.

When I came to, I could hear a steady beeping, and everything around me had a sterile smell. I hadn't spent too much time in hospitals, in my life, but I could recognize the smells and noises.

The beeping became more quickly paced as my breathing ramped up and panic set in. I had been hit, caught in that blast. I was either in another world or my body was no longer my own.

It took agonizing minutes before I could bear to open my eyes and see what had happened.