***** Heather Heights Elementary School *****
"Well, the world isn't the same as it used to be," Old Man Joe drawled, pushing his thick glasses up his nose. The history classroom was stuffy, smelling faintly of chalk dust and boredom. "Let me tell you a story," he said, polishing a lens with his tie.
A couple of centuries ago, the world wasn't inhabited just by us. There were beings living along side us: the Tsuki. They were special beings, gifted with abilities one may even say godlike. The legends claim they could walk through fire or speak thoughts directly into a person's mind. They were peaceful, protectors of man, yet we feared what we couldn't understand. So, we did what terrified humans always do. We waged war."
Joe paused, the silence in the room heavy. A few kids were sketching in their notebooks, but Lloyd, leaning against the cold windowsill, was listening. He always found these old tales thrilling.
"We drove the Tsuki away, forever. Never to be heard from again... or so we thought. But their legacy didn't die. Over the years, special individuals have awoken, given birth to a new pathway for humanity: The Enhancers—indirect descendants of the Tsuki, their last gift to the world." Joe smiled, his gaze settling on a shy girl near the front. "Like Tiffany over there," he continued, nodding toward her. Tiffany blushed, sinking low in her seat. "An Enhancer with near-complete domination over telepathy. A truly marvelous, and truly terrifying, demonstration of what humanity could become."RIIIIING!!! The closing bell screamed, shattering the classroom's focus. It was the last day of school, and the sudden rush of noise and excitement was contagious. Everyone was ready for summer vacation.Lloyd grabbed his backpack and sighed."What's wrong?" Annabelle asked, stopping by his desk."Nothing," Lloyd replied, forcing a smile. "Just thinking 'bout the new cookies Granny's gonna make me gobble." He knew how weak that sounded, but he couldn't shake the image of Tiffany's face when Joe had pointed her out. Godlike. "LLOYDDD!!!!" His little sister, Lisa, screamed his name, barreling through the open classroom door. She was three, a blur of boundless, excited energy, already blabbering incomprehensible words about the walk home. "Guess she's ready to go home," Lloyd chuckled, hoisting her onto his back. The town was quite busy this month, already bustling with preparations for the summer festivals happening the following week. Annabelle was the first to leave the crew; she had extra activities to take care of. Lisa and Lloyd got home early. The apartment was quiet—too quiet. They spotted a folded note on the worn kitchen table. "Will be late today, big meeting ran over. There's food in the fridge. Heat it up and eat up. Love you both, Mom." Lloyd set Lisa down. He opened the refrigerator and pulled out the pan. "HMMMM, lasagna," he said, placing it in the microwave. "Guess that will do." After the meal, Lloyd settled Lisa in her room, helping her draw a wobbly picture of a purple horse for her homework, and waited until she was sound asleep. Then, he sank into the couch. He picked up the remote, flipping the TV on. "Ready to binge watch this," he murmured, reading the title on the screen. "Three seasons, huh? Interesting." Hours passed. The house was dark when his mother, Emily, finally entered, the click of the lock echoing in the silence. "Lloyd, are you still awake?" she whispered. "Thought you'd be in bed right now." "Mom, it's summer vacation," Lloyd said, turning the volume down. "I can stay awake for at least one night." "Big words from a young mouth," Emily teased, walking over to kiss him on the top of his head. Her warmth was familiar and comforting. Lloyd turned the TV off. "Goodnight, Mom." "Goodnight, young man," she replied, teasing him with a smile, before heading to her room. The house settled back into silence, the last night of true, uncomplicated peace. Instead of going straight to bed, Lloyd slipped into the small storage closet his mom let him use as a workspace. He flipped on a small, caged lamp, illuminating a cluttered desk piled high with wires, soldering irons, and discarded circuit boards. He picked up the object he'd been working on: a four-legged, palm-sized rover built from old toy components and a repurposed phone battery. He had been trying to get the central gyroscope to stabilize its balance. It was his masterpiece so far, but it kept tipping over. Lloyd carefully adjusted a tiny weighted spring with a pair of tweezers. He pressed the power button, and the rover's LED eyes glowed green. It took a wobbly step, then another, the balance system struggling. He frowned, recognizing the faulty resonance in the movement. He knew the problem wasn't in the hardware; it was in the code he'd written to govern the tilt. He plugged a small terminal into the back of the rover and began typing on his laptop, lines of code flashing in the dark. This was his sanctuary. Here, the world was predictable, governed by physics and logic, unlike the vague, scary concept of 'Enhancers' and telepathy that Old Man Joe had introduced. He worked until his eyelids grew heavy, finally figuring out the loop error that had plagued him all week. He powered the rover down, tucked it safely beneath a cloth, and stretched. The clock read 1:30 AM. This was his normal. This was his world.