Microstory 758: Five Spot

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When Flora Canto was asked to embark on a special mission for her organization, Bellevue, she was initially hesitant. She didn’t want to leave the world where she had spent her entire life, but the chance to travel through space was ultimately too good to pass up. She was responsible for life support on their small vessel, which she did easily using her superhuman ability to accelerate the growth of oxygen-producing plants. Something sadly went wrong, and the crew became stranded on an unknown world, forced to live amongst its natives, pretending to be just like them. Throughout all of this, however, she found love, and became pregnant. She and the father were ecstatic and excited for their future, but it would not come without immense heartache. At first Flora believed that she had lost the baby, and buried the embryo in the ground. Her friends and family gathered to mourn their loss in a funeral service. Days later, one of their friends noticed that a seedling had sprouted up from Flora’s child’s small grave. Over the next several weeks, the plant grew, eventually becoming larger than any other plant they had encountered on their world, or this new one. The flower, which resembled a desert five-spot, continued to grow until it was large enough to house a human infant. One morning, the flower opened itself to the sun, and revealed their precious child, whom they named April. They were astonished, but happy to have their little one back. April grew up, and watched her parents die, as most people do. Her friends were immortal, and stuck with her through all of it. They watched her grow old as well, and eventually succumb to death. Just like they had before, they buried her in the ground, and mourned her. But days later, April’s seedling returned, and she was made anew. She turned out to be an immortal herself, dying and returning in a presumably endless cycle, but theoretically only if allowed to rest underground for a period in between lifetimes. April Canto has spent centuries on our planet, meeting new friends, and shaping history; usually without even realizing it.

Microstory 596: Claims of New Anomaly Revealed Erroneous

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It has been decades since someone with a special anomaly ability has been born. The majority of anomalies belonged to the first generation, with very few of them bearing children with abilities of their own. Even fewer of those gave us third generation anomalies, and a fourth generation anomaly is completely unheard of. Scientists and believers hoped this was changing following reports of a man displaying superhuman qualities that was spotted around Los Angeles, Usonia. Though some anomalies remain today, including those in the first generation whose abilities grant them extended life spans, all are considered inactive. The primary organization responsible for anomalies, Bellevue was designed to study anomaly abilities so that they could better the world through technology. For the most part, this has happened, and any individual possessing such power isn’t really needed anymore. They’re generally left to live their lives as they choose. But there are those who believe the bloodlines remain strong, that there are more out there, and that they have simply chosen to return to a status of anonymity. This theory was tested this week when Bellevue agents were dispatched to L.A. in order to investigate the rumors.

The man in question has been seen all over the city, and its surrounding suburbs, as a vigilante against petty crime. Global crime rates have dropped dramatically since the first anomalies stepped into the light last century, with the help of equalizing technological, medical, and political improvements. Still, some highly concentrated metropolises continue to experience an unsettling amount of violent crime. Cities like Hudon, Tokyo, Paris, and the aforementioned Los Angeles seemed to rely heavily on the interventions of high profile Bellevue operatives like Pantera, and Garner. Like our new subject, Garner possessed no abilities of her own, instead using ancient alien technology to battle criminals and terrorists wherever she could find them. A man whose true name has yet to be released by the authorities, but who calls himself Capacitor, has recently been taken into police custody for vigilantism. Witnesses first believed him to be a new Bellevue operative, or at least a new anomaly, since he exhibits similar traits. Seemingly out of his own body, he can propel bolts of electricity to stun his targets. He can also absorb them into what appears to be artificial simplex dimension, before depositing them at the nearest law enforcement building. He carried with him no obvious equipment that would allow him to do such things, but once Bellevue apprehended him, they were able to learn some things. He was evidently a gifted engineer, but also a lucky one, having uncovered evidence of ancient technology not dissimilar to the kind once protected by Garner and historically, her family. He adapted these plans and instructions into his own designs, miniaturizing and flattening the components so they could fit within the confines of regular clothes. Though without a current public identity beyond his codename, Capacitor has been allowed to release a personal statement. “I meant no harm to my beloved nation’s justice system. I saw a need, a void, an opportunity...and I took it. I do not regret my desire to help, but I do wish I had handled it better. I should have contacted Bellevue before jumping into this with so few resources. I’m just glad they stopped me before I hurt myself, or did something irreparable.” It is not known at this time if the city, or the national government, intends to press charges against Capacitor, or what his destiny is as a whole. Perhaps they will allow him to resume his activities, but this time under supervision. The city of Los Angeles declined to comment. Bellevue declined to comment. At the time of this publishing, the Usonian government has not responded to requests for comment. At the time of this publishing, the Confederacy expressed a reiteration of their policy against commenting on the business of lower governments, and external agencies.

Microstory 587: ‘Adventures of Conundrum & Treemaker’ Cancelled

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Out of all members of Bellevue, including people with abilities, and those without, perhaps the least likely to be the inspiration for a broadcast series would be Bree Nolan and Connor Higgins. Yet that is exactly what happened more than six years ago. Nolan and Higgins grew up next door to each other, and were the best of friends. They were so inseparable that neither of them knew that either of them had special anomaly abilities. As it turns out, Higgins has the ability to negate other anomalies’ abilities, which means that Nolan’s never actually manifested, because she was just about always standing too close to her friend. Higgins’ ability was an invaluable resource to Bellevue, as it led to many breakthroughs on anomaly genetics, and allowed them to keep a handle on some of the most dangerous anomalies. Unfortunately, Higgins carried with him a level of danger as well. He cannot control the use of his powers. They are always on, always working. As painful as it might have been to some of his more sensitive brethren, it just wasn’t practical to let him stick around. So it was decided that he could, for the most part, better serve the organization as a field recruiter. He would travel the world, finding the best talent for this budding world law enforcement bureau, while maintaining a healthy distance from anyone he might incidentally put in danger. To no surprise for anyone who knew either or both of them, Bree Nolan stuck by her best friend, and signed on for his recruiter team; this despite the fact that her own ability to perceive genetic and hereditary characteristics of others would be in indefinitely hampered.

Bree’s loyalty to her partner spoke to Sterling Serials Network Executive Edelmira Baník, who would later commission the pilot for a new series based on Higgins and Nolan’s lives together. The first season showed the two of them as recruiters, encountering interesting characters, and solving minor crises. This all happened with a background of side characters like Clarity Garner, and Pantera as they battled against foes like the protégé of terrorist The Destruction, or global criminal networks. Adventures of Conundrum & Treemaker took some historical liberties with the second season when Nolan and Higgins began to develop abilities not present in their real life counterparts. The third season deviated even further when the partners—now in a purely fictional romantic relationship—found themselves in an alternate version of the world. This allowed the writers to regurgitate previously defeated enemies while simultaneously alienating many superfans. The fourth and fifth seasons attempted to return to the roots of the show’s source material, but many viewers felt that it was too little too late, and ratings have proven these tactics to be barely enough to keep the series afloat. Largely supported by a small host of advertisers loyal to the Sterling brand overall, a sixth season was greenlit on the 24th of Gaby. Months later, Sterling announced that this season would be its last, and that all remaining episodes would be released to the public, but on a heightened broadcast schedule. Series creator and showrunner Avisen Chen said this of the announcement on her personal weblog, “I was asked to take the reigns on this project after [Ernesto Vargas] left to pursue a rap career. I never thought it would get off the ground, hongestly [sic], but my team and I have been pleasantly surprised year after year. We were even considering a spinoff series involving fan favorite Thumbnail Jones. It looks like that’s not going to happen, but we are hopeful that this will not be the end of the Treemaker and Conundrum franchise. We are already in discussions with the network about a possible film to round out the story and tie up a few loose ends. Six seasons and a movie. Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?” The series finale is slated to air in seven weeks, at which point it will be replaced by a recently approved series about the founding of the island nation of Federama.

Microstory 581: World Leaders Debate Universal Identity

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Every sovereign nation in the world has some way to manage and track their citizenry. In the past, we’ve used ledgers, and other analog means, but now all of this information is kept in a central location. Some nations even share this information amongst each other, for ease of transportation. Others, however, do not. Travel between two countries can become problematic depending on the relationship between those two countries. Who hasn’t experienced a delay at the airport due to customs procedures. And it can get even more complicated if the traveler in question needs to first stop in a third country. One young man born and bred in Bellevue, Kansas believes that he has the solution to this problem, but it’s going to require a lot of cooperation between a lot of countries. “The variables are nearly incalculable for an endeavor like this. There are so many moving parts that no one person could accomplish this, which is why I need so much help. Unicards (working name) can help increase the efficiency of every nation, but it works best if everyone accepts it,” says Ikodo Murdoch, inventor of the new technology. Unicards would be a singular form of universal identity, with room for no competitor. Murdoch envisions a world where literally every person on the planet either carries one of these, or agrees on a subcutaneous implant. It would be used for identity verification, seamless purchasing transactions, and perhaps even tax purposes. Instead of carrying around credit cards, cash, and passports, one would need only this one thing. Murdoch believes that this would make everyday life much easier. Instead of worrying about having enough money, or whether a particular location accepts particular kind of card, everything would just be in one place. World leaders from seventy-three countries are currently debating such a program. Murdoch acknowledges that if only a fraction of countries agree to use the unicards, it might be worth it, but still hopes for growth beyond this. “It’s not an all or nothing thing,” Murdoch says, “but the technology serves the populace better if there’s only one. Now it doesn’t have to be my unicards, it could be something else. But I truly feel that this is the future. We must become one peoples...of one world. Most of our issues can be ultimately traced back to our own fragmentation.” The seventy-three countries that belong to the Wesmandian Alliance will be assembling in Iceland for the annual Northery Summit. The question of universal identity, in whatever form, is expected to be the primary topic of discussion.

Microstory 578: Operator Cult Growing Every Day

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We’re going to be doing something different today. We’re going to start questioning our reality in a way that most people seem to be too afraid to. It has been just over a year since our new overlord, known only as Operator came into our lives and took control of us. Besides her codename, we know that she is a woman. People aren’t entirely sure why we know this fact about her, but it would seem that she wanted people to know. Her identity as a whole, on the other hand, remains a mystery to the public as of this writing. Statistics have not been calculated, but I’m guessing that most people do not appreciate what Operator is doing. Sure, for the most part, she lets us go about our lives as we wish, but everyone knows that if she wanted, she could kill us all. And we would be powerless to stop it. In fact, I sit here now, wondering if Operator is going to force me to reach over to my letter opener and jam it into my neck. Or perhaps she’ll just make me bang my head against my computer until I die from whatever kills people who do that; electrocution, or blunt force trauma, or whathaveyou. Maybe she will yet, and is now only letting me write these words to amuse herself, knowing full well that it will never be published. If you’re reading this right now, then Operator has either been defeated by the remnants of Bellevue, or she has simply let it pass. Afterall, no matter what I write, no matter how you feel, in all likelihood, she can never be defeated. She is, for lack of a sufficient archetype, now our God.

As I said before, I feel like most people do not want to live like this. Case in point, the majority of us communicate via a vast telepathic network brought about by rival anomaly, Blossom Sadler. Though Operator is able to see and hear what we are doing from wherever she happens to be, she cannot read our minds. And so Bellevue has provided us with an avenue for secrecy. Sadler’s telepathic network allows any one person to carry on a conversation with any one else with as little effort as it would take to speak with that person through voices. Ten, twenty, a thousand people can all converse as easily as we did in the old days, but now we do it with our minds. Through so-called private lines, Sadler lets us keep our secrets, and prevents anyone from listening in, which is something nature never even let us do. But Operator does, which is the real question. As irrelevant as Bellevue may be, this reporter knows that they still exist. They convene at their original hotel headquarters, and discuss the state of affairs, however dull they may be. Surely they are simultaneously working on a plan to locate Operator, and put an end to her...operations. Aren’t they? If they aren’t, then someone is, so why is Blossom even still alive? Why are we permitted to keep secrets from our ruler. A certain new religion believes they have the answer: that Operator truly is the new God, and that she is good.

The Operator cult’s sentiments are not without their merits. The average crime index globally was sitting at around a healthy 40 before Operator showed up. Now the crime index everywhere is—let me just consult my notes...oh yeah, zero. Not a single crime has been committed since Operator took over. Every time someone attempts to commit a crime of any kind, Operator steps in and makes them stop. Pull out a gun, and you’ll immediately just set it back down again, which is assuming she lets you take it out in the first place. Want to rob that store? Sorry, you’ll literally just keep driving past it. Though Operator does not know what you’re thinking, she can tell what you’re intending to do, and if she finds it distasteful, why she just won’t let you do it. Even accidents have gone down, rendering fire stations and hospitals irrelevant. This is why the Operator cult exists, and why it’s growing every day. Not everyone agrees with them. Former member of Bellevue—and one of the few people naturally immune to her control—Cambrio Yates has been loudly outspoken against Operator’s brave new world. I will paraphrase his words. Free will is paramount to the human experience. Life is meaningless if we are nothing more than God’s chess pieces. Yet that is just another example of free will that Operator lets us have. Sure, she keeps all the bombs locked up—when previously anyone willing and able would be free to set them off, unless they were stopped by someone else—but she lets us believe what we want. As far as I know, no religious gathering, contradictory or not, has been interfered with by Operator’s choices...unless they were violent.

I guess what I’m really asking here is why...—...—...this is your captain speaking. I have temporarily taken control of this writer’s actions so that she can spread my words effectively. I want to make it clear that everything she has written up to this point has been completely of her own accord. I only take over now so that I can explain myself...to her, and to you. Why have I stopped you from using your guns, but left you to your words? Why do I pick and choose your free will? Is it true that you are not chess pieces? I began this endeavor to change the world, to stop the violence, and the hate. I am using the skillset that God gave me. I will not always be around, nor would I want to be. I’m trying to create a society free from not only this violence, but from the inclination towards it. Generations from now, I will no longer be needed. Children are already being born who will never know a life of suffering. They will be raised to love and respect one another. And in all honesty, anyone who experienced a world unlike this one, must die off to make room for something new. I could have just done this myself; let you all stick the proverbial letter opener in your neck, but I chose to take the long way ‘round, because I need to maintain my own integrity. So go on and be angry that I’ve taken your guns, because you’re children’s children’s children will have no interest in them, and those are the people I care about.

Microstory 574: Infamous Amadesin Refugee Rescuer Identified

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A century ago, this world was divided. Law-abiding citizens sat in the center, while the rest were on the fringes as criminals, terrorists, and rebels. They hurt people, and they took what did not belong to them. One of the worst groups of these people were the Amadesins. Amadesis was a spiteful religion based in an unhealthy hatred of any who did not believe as they did. Many of the religion’s sect’s were more or less peaceful, but others were much worse. Anyone wishing to defect from the faith could suffer terrible consequences, sometimes even death. A multinational organization was formed. This organization was unsanctioned by any government, highly underfunded, and poorly staffed. Those a part of it had dedicated their lives to a cause. That cause was to rescue, protect, and relocate Amadesin defectors. But there was one member who was different than the others, with previously undisclosed interviews having referred to her as their superstar. She had the anomaly ability to hide people in special stones that she created. Others might have used this power to create tiny foolproof prisons, or to trap people they didn't like, but not one Patience Cooney. Before working with Bellevue, Cooney worked with the Refugee Relocation Association, ultimately transporting thousands of Amadesin defectors all over the world, almost entirely in secret. Her guests, as they were called, were placed in an artificial simplex dimension, with one of these Cooney stones as its focal point. She could remove them anytime she liked, or they could exit themselves, while anyone with a special password could do so as well. She would take her stones on the road, on trains, and in aircraft, with no one but her and her team being at all aware of the extra passengers. Once at their new home, refugees were given new identities, and some startup money, after which the team would move on and find someone else in need. Cooney did this job with very little thanks, and lived her whole life with only a few people having an understanding of just how impactful she was to the world. Her identity remained a secret in order to protect her rescues. With recent events surrounding the decline in Amadesis membership, however, it has been decided that it’s time the world knew just how amazing and courageous Patience Cooney really was.

Microstory 549: Bellevue Increasing Scope to Utah

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Back in the early 1990s—and earlier, for that matter—only a select few people know that there existed those with extraordinary abilities. At first, it was only family and friends, with the occasional passerby catching sight of something they weren’t supposed to. In the midst of the great revelation to the rest of the world, the organization responsible for bringing them together was still trying to figure out exactly what it was. They knew that they wanted to be involved with these powerful anomalies, and they knew that they wanted to be leaders in the advancement of science, but something felt missing. As it turns out, what they hadn’t quite found yet were law enforcement, and even public policy. Bellevue became an agency; one designed at first only to protect anomalies, and people from anomaly dangers. The thing about this, though, was that the scope was far too narrow. The number of Bellevue members far exceeded the number of threats, and intensity, of threats. And so, they gradually began increasing their scope. They offered their abilities, knowledge, and skills to other law enforcement organizations. They were working the Confederacy, national investigators, and local orderkeepers. Pretty soon, most of what they were dealing with had little to nothing to do with anomalies. They were simply a force for good, safety, and equality. This is the Bellevue we know today. Most living anomalies are still active members, technological advancement remains their number one priority, but most of the world accepts them as another group of trained professionals exercising authority over the populace. But this does not cover the entire world. There are still some regions that reject their authority, probably the most notable being Utah.

The country of Utah is one of only a handful of nations that are each geographically within the entirety of another. In this case, Utah is as completely surrounded by Usonia, and is just as large as—and in some cases, larger than—other Usonian states. In fact, Utah began as any other state, just one that was more heavily populated by religious followers of Amadesis. However, things have changed a great deal since then. A nuclear explosion here, a war there, total global nuclear disarmament, and the Amadesins were given control over the majority of Utah land. Historically speaking, the Amadesin Utah has been resistant to any interference or interaction with any other country, maintaining a policy of isolationism. Few visitors are ever allowed on Utah soil, and for the most part, that’s how non-Utahan like it. Bellevue has recently taken a stance against this, stating that they no longer accept the idea that anyone living on this planet has the right to ignore anyone else. In a press briefing this morning, they have officially increased their scope to Utah. This does not mean Utah accepts this declaration, but it does force its leadership’s hands, calling upon them to take some level of action in response. They have so far made no move, and it is unclear what they will choose to do, but experts discredit any theory that any act of violence could seriously threaten the strength, and the will, of the Bellevue authority.

Microstory 503: Deering Method Ready for Human Patients

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Metacorp—the organization responsible for maintaining oversight for all medical-based anomaly abilities—has announced a breakthrough in research. Few anomaly abilities inspired hope to as high a degree as those of one Francis Deering. She was born with the natural ability to switch her gender at will. Shapeshifting has proven to be nearly impossible, even in the fantastical world of anomalies, however Deering has always been the exception. Scientists at Metacorp spent years studying Deering’s biology, trying to figure out how she was able to do what she could do. The process was slow, but the scientific method dictates care and cautiousness. It is important to ensure that all discoveries hold up to rigorous testing, and that experiments can be replicated many times. There have also been ethical and legal issues to get over. Though sex-change operations have existed for years, any new type of procedure requires thorough review and discussion. A spokesman for the organization gathered press on the steps at the edge of Straton Pond earlier today, a symbolic gesture to assure the world that Metacorp and Bellevue are still very much in a cooperative relationship. The spokesman, Augustus Beutel, first thanked the crowd for their patience. Thought he did not give a reason as to why the conference started late, a source has implied that a small Operator cult had issued a threat elsewhere on campus. Please visit our crime section for more details on that story. Beutel declined questions from the audience, but said that Metacorp will be releasing a more comprehensive report on their website by the end of the week. We will provide a link to this information once it becomes available.

Microstory 201: Advisors and Advocates

Odalis and Isabelle Salomon were brother and sister, and Generation Two anomalies with complementary abilities. Odalis could look into people’s pasts, and Isabelle could look into their futures. At first, Isabelle stayed away from her ability, having the wisdom to understand that knowing the future can make things worse. After all the problems that came with the first couple of decades for Bellevue, the world was operating at a pretty decent level. Odalis began his career working for the Kansas City Police Department. He would look into a suspect’s past experiences, and know whether they were at fault for the crime or not. Legislation was passed, preventing him from divulging the details of his visions. His was a chiefly binary response. Was the suspect guilty of the crime in question, or innocent? Any unrelated crime—or any other event, for that matter—that Odalis witnessed was strictly to be kept secret out of respect for the civilian’s privacy. After some scientific progress, further legislation, and the right amount of money, Odalis was rendered obsolete. He continued to work for the police, but he no longer needed to. They had successfully replicated his ability with technology so that any certified Flashbacker was capable of performing this task. Within a year, this position was being filled in practically every district of the world. Feeling inadequate and unfulfilled, and after the prodding of some new associates, Odalis refocused his purpose. He and his new team realized that those not found guilty still had problems of their own. He formed a small organization designed to help these people. Sometimes they would catch criminals, sometimes prevent premeditated crimes, and sometimes they would just provide emotional and psychological support. Verner Holt was working as a psychiatrist at the time, and limited his practice to spend time working with Odalis’ clients. Around the same time that this was happening, Isabelle was having her own epiphany. She had just been given a job as a primary school librarian in a district primarily serving low income and troubled families. She began to use her ability as well, looking into the futures of her students to see whether they were headed in the right direction. She formed a little committee of sorts with other teachers. They went above and beyond their responsibility, and started to pay extra attention to the children who needed help most. Odalis and Isabelle provided unexpected assistance for hundreds of people over the years, and they all went out to impact the lives of thousands more. They and their teams were instrumental in shaping the future of the planet, and creating the evidence that ultimately allowed it to be inducted into an interstellar cooperative.

Microstory 200: Keegan Honors

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Keegan Honors was the founder of Bellevue. She appeared to be much younger than she really was, and this caused people to underestimate her and treat her like a child. In turn, she became frustrated and sarcastic with them, like the teenager they thought she was. This continued in a vicious cycle so that she was never really that effective of a leader. In the end, even though she eventually started aging, she had to step down from her leadership position to let Mason Palomino take the reigns. He kept her close as an advisor, however, since she had so much more life experience than he did. Keegan was given the callsign of Keystone. She was the glue that held all other anomalies together. Though people with anomaly genetic traits had existed for millennia, they could not be activated until Keegan was born. She only activated several dozen people, and even she was not clear why this happened. She certainly did not consciously activate these people, and these people alone. She even later tried to activate a carrier directly, but was unable to do so. Whatever was connecting anomalies together, Keegan was part of it, but was not in control of it. She did have the ability to locate and keep track of anomalies around the world. With this knowledge, she created a list. But the majority of this list was lost to her before she was able to use it, and her ability was taken from her by a mysterious somebody. She conducted research on the few people who she still knew of, and determined which ones to contact first. She found Basil, a rich business magnate, to back them so they could use the fact that members did not need to work as incentive. She found a criminal, Straton who could teach them useful skills. It was important to her that the anomalies she gathered did not depend on their abilities. She of all people knew what it was like to be hopelessly vulnerable. She wanted to form an organization built around anomalies, but not composed exclusively of them. She felt that the world needed a singular unit of law enforcement, and that the Confederacy was not equipped to accomplish this. It was always her plan to create an agency, rather than a league, and it was Valary who understood her sentiments more than anyone, and helped make this vision a reality. Even though most of the decisions were made by others, history did not forget that this whole thing was Keegan’s idea, and that none of it would be possible without her...literally.

Microstory 199: Crescentia ‘Tia’ Norris

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A normal anomaly ability will exploit some sort of physical phenomenon, often to wondrous results, but it will always remain within the laws of physics. It’s easy to manipulate the temperature of the environment; people do it all the time with furnaces. Therasia Jarvi is really just a different way of doing this. It’s impressive, but not impossible. The dimension that Jaklyn Simonds uses to teleport already exists, and can theoretically be opened using technology. In fact, this kind of thing becomes commonplace following advances in transportation. Crescentia Norris—who generally preferred to go by Tia because it was easier for others pronounce—on the other hand, broke a major physical law. She could change her size at will; growing to become a giant, or shrinking to become an ant. This broke the law of conservation of mass, which dictates that mass cannot be spontaneously added or removed. It always has to either come from, or go, somewhere. Though Adam Nicks did eventually uncover an explanation for her, no one else knew how she was able to do this, and even he couldn’t explain it until certain other events revealed clues as to her origins. Like Stella Pelto, her status as an anomaly was rather unclear. She carried genetic properties that scientists would expect to find, but there were also surprising differences in the data. Tia came out of a family of two of the nicest people one could ever meet. They had previously lost a daughter to an unfortunate death, but they held strong. They took care of their second daughter, and taught her how to be a good person. They encouraged her to use her abilities to change the world, and when she was ready, to find others like her. She was one of the first members of Bellevue, and could regularly be found arguing with the founder on best practices. But the two of them were destined to become extraordinary allies, and would always have Bellevue’s best interests at heart, and be working to ensure that the organization never fell apart during its growing pains (pun intended). Tia developed an unbreakable bond with Cosmo, Tamra, and Mason as well. The four of them would later separate into their respective departments, and maintain a balance across the board. Despite her major contributions to history, most people ended up forgetting about her altogether. I won’t get into why. You’re liable to forget.

Microstory 198: (Callsign ‘Operator’)

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Following Phaedra Wirth and Tracy Wickham’s betrayal, the scientists responsible for a number of unethical experiments with human subjects decided to change tactics. They were no longer going to choose candidates like Phaedra with moral compasses, and the integrity to make their own decisions, or those like Tracy who were easily convinced to change their inclinations. No, they thought it was best to find someone amoral; a sociopath, and just keep them happy. They were wrong. After progress in the human genome project, and development of a more sophisticated means of identifying anomaly potentials, they were able to locate a woman whose identity was kept secret; callsign Operator. She was not born with special abilities, but her DNA was just chock full of genetic similarities with those who were. Years after Bellevue came out of the shadows, these scientists restarted their program, and performed an experiment on Operator in an effort to compete with Bellevue’s near monopoly on anomalies. The procedure was the most successful one of all; a Generation Alpha anomaly with no need for that pesky stabilizing evolution; an instant Generation One. Unfortunately for them, there was just no way of containing what they had created. Operator developed the ability to manipulate other people’s motor functions. She could not control her target’s mind, but she could move their bodies as she pleased, and most would be hopeless to fight it. She used this to force every single person who knew who she was to kill themselves. She was also able to see the world from her target’s perspective, much like the possession ability found earlier in Starla Wakefield. Her power increased exponentially the more time that passed, whether she was practicing it or not. She later developed the ability to push herself into the perspective of just about everyone on the planet simultaneously. People were allowed to go on about their lives as normal, but would be forced to do her bidding if she wanted them to. Though a few people were immune to her control, only one person possessed the means to find out who and where she was, and to end her hold on others. But this person had been missing since 1995, and would not be able to put the world back together without help.

Microstory 197: Alicia Baxter

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Alicia Baxter found herself to be a magnet for anomalies, though she herself was not an anomaly. After living for many years in the same foster home as Freeman Sesto and Gus Arnett, she left the country. She found herself traveling all over the world, taking odd jobs and often just helping people she encountered with their personal problems. Though not born with an ability, she possessed the necessary genetic traits to acquire one, which is exactly what happened upon developing strong enough feelings for Gus. She chose to keep this a secret from pretty much everyone; even him. Many anomalies throughout a period before the founding of Bellevue called her a trusted friend and confidant. It was unclear how she was able to find so many anomalies independently of each other, but a common theory was some sort of spiritual connection. She helped Paulo Rocha with his adopted daughter when she was an unruly teenage girl with no one around to relate to. She was on the scene one time when Dores Roach was healing someone, and helped her and her friend escape the area before being spotted by the authorities. She even once accompanied Patience Cooney on a few particularly dangerous missions to transport refugees using her stones. She met other anomalies, but she never revealed this fact to any of them until they had been integrated with Bellevue. Alicia was considered to be the heart and soul of the organization. She spent a lot of time away from the hotel in its earlier days, both doing unrelated volunteer work, and helping Gus and Freeman in secret. After joining Bellevue full time, Alicia coordinated with North American field operatives, which was far and away the largest department. She also continued her role as a mentor for anyone who felt the need for it, and kept their secrets from others.

Microstory 196: Gary Prose

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Like Molly Bloom, Gary Prose was completely immune to radiation, though he was not an anomaly. His was a nearly unique case of someone being born with special abilities due to highly recent occurrences. His father past away before he was born, and his mother felt incapable of taking care of him amidst her infamy, and so Gary was adopted by the Proses. They were decent parents, but like Jaklyn’s, were of little consequence. Gary left home after graduating from tertiary school, and only spoke with his family on occasion. Until the time he joined Bellevue, not much is known about his life. It was always unclear how he even came to know about the existence of the nascent organization since he was not an anomaly, and had never been caught using his powers. Gary possessed the ability to siphon radiation from the simplex dimensions, and produce them outwardly. This was not something he did very often, as it served little purpose but for destruction. He was also, not immune, but heavily resistant to drugs. It would take a higher amount of tranquilizers, for instance, to put him down, and he would still process the chemicals and wake up from the ensuing sleep much faster than a normal person. There was no apparent connection between radiation manipulation and drug resistance, and so there was much confusion over what was going on with him. Aside from his more obvious skills, Gary was a brilliant strategist, known for being able to develop extraordinarily complex projects, and being the master of the contingency plan. His motives were always mysterious, and any attempt to understand him was met with a new surprise. He formed a romantic bond with Jaklyn Simonds, one powerful enough to cause him to absorb her teleporting ability and use it for himself, but still he seemed only ever to be using her for his own gain. Theirs was a toxic relationship; one that leaked into the dynamics of the entire group, causing tensions and incidents, and even a few deaths. But Gary had plans for Bellevue, and for the world, and sometimes his radical ideas were shared by unexpected allies.

Microstory 195: Vilhelm Kardos

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After accidentally being responsible for a balcony collapse, Vilhelm Kardos took a vow of silence. He was born with the ability to manipulate his own density, which means that he could be as light as a feather, or as heavy as an anvil. This allowed him to walk on water, and somewhat in the air as a mild level of flight. In its natural state, his body was extremely durable and strong, but he could also adjust the atoms he was composed of so as to pass unharmed through solid matter. His ability promised a number of impressive military applications, and so he was recruited by a paramilitary organization. He never agreed to join them, but part of his vow of silence was to abstain from argument in any form. He allowed them to take him away without pushing back, even though he could get past them easily. They spent weeks trying to break him down and convince him to help them, but he never said a word. He remained in his cell the entire time, moving only to eat, drink, and relieve himself. After finally resigning themselves to the fact that Vilhelm was never going to budge on his position, they switched tactics and pulled him into a new program. They used technology to steal his ability and transfer it to Phaedra Wirth. An unfortunate side effect of this was his death. Phaedra later turned on her superiors and went on to use his ability for good, but his influence on Bellevue and the world was not limited to this. Out of his years of silence came a plan, and a series of events first set by him that would shift humanity into a new age.

Microstory 194: Otto Vann

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Otto Vann was a wicked man. He was the most twisted of his siblings, having fully embraced their violent cult that encouraged torture. But be took things one step further, choosing to brutally murder people just for fun. The purpose of their sect’s form of torture was to recruit a following, but Otto had an insatiable thirst for death. He became a notorious serial killer across all of Europe. Yet his existence was really only rumored. He never killed the same way twice, and he did not have a hunting ground. He would cross into a different country for each kill, and only circle back around once he was finished with all of the others. Of course, his kill count was never really known, but it was estimated to have been in hundreds, possibly over a thousand. Like his sister and twin brother, his ability was fairly weak, but it was enough to come in handy. He was capable of manipulating the oxygen in the immediate area, and would regularly use it to make his victims unable to breath, without having to leave any marks. He would also use a special technique to make his torture victims high on the oxygen, so that they could be more easily influenced into falling in line. Otto's family was not entirely aware of his proclivities, but they knew that he was going beyond his calling. His brother tried to get him to be more careful, his sister did her best to stay out of it, and his parents couldn't care less, as long as it wasn't interfering with his responsibility to increase the numbers of their cult. He was finally discovered after trying to join up with Bellevue, and later died a prisoner. But his life was not a complete waste. His ability was replicated with technology, and used to create a new form of firefighting. Instead of trying to drown or snuff out the flames, their fuel source could simply be sucked away in an instant.

Microstory 193: Luka Drake

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To refer to Luka Drake as a “speedster” would do him a disservice. To an outside perspective, he might appear to be running quickly—that is, he would be moving too quickly for anyone to register him—but this was not actually what was happening. In reality, he was capable of perceiving the world at an extremely low speed, and then move through it at a normal rate. When in this special state, people and other moving objects around him do not appear to be completely still, but they do move incredibly slowly...painfully slowly. The ancient rogue scientists responsible for anomaly abilities stumbled onto even older research into the physiology of small insects at some point. They found that small creatures, notably flies, naturally perceived time differently. In fact, there was a correlation between the size of the perceiver, and the speed of time. This research explained why flies would be able to escape from the wrath of a swatter with fractions of seconds to spare, even though the human wielding the weapon was physically superior. Just watch any disaster film with huge explosions and the collapse of gigantic objects. Mountains, skyscrapers, or gargantuan statues crumble and fall to the surface relatively slowly, despite being massive. These things are not falling slower, but they appear to be from a human’s perspective, because of the dramatic size difference. The scientists applied this property to Luka’s bloodline, and added a little extra oomph. Upon some concentration, he could rewire his brain’s perception of reality, and essentially throw himself into a different flow of time. Unfortunately, his ability wasn’t perfectly, and he found himself stuck in this state for a long time. He spent years unable to interact with those around him, because they were moving too slowly, and didn’t even know that he was there. He walked around the world at his lonely luxury, eating bits of food off of people’s plates. He carried with him oxygen tanks, because the oxygen molecules in the surrounding environment were not moving fast enough to keep his body satisfied for extended periods of...time. Upon running into Bellevue, he discovered a dangerous drug that could temporarily suppress abilities, which he promptly injected himself with one time. He then found documents regarding the mystery of Connor Higgins. At the time, Bellevue did not know what his ability was, but Luka pieced it together and realized that he could negate abilities, and so he went off to find him on his own. He then moved on with his life, but kept a supply of Connor’s blood with him, occasionally transfusing himself to keep him tied down to the timeflow. But he was not done with Bellevue quite yet.

Microstory 192: Paulo Rocha

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An important early member of Bellevue jumped ahead of that infamous short list of anomalies, and discovered Paulo Rocha living in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He was born in a small town nearby, but moved to the city to be closer to the targets of his ability. He could sense and manipulate waves on the microwave section of the Electromagnetic spectrum, including ultra-high frequency, super high frequency, and extremely high frequency waves. This allowed him to interface with television broadcasts, walkie-talkies, cell phones, GPS, and later line-of-sight communication such as wireless internet and near field communication. He could push the boundaries and adjust or redirect these signals beyond their normal range. He was always a curious boy, and liked to listen in on private conversations. He never worked in espionage, or sold information to the highest bidder. He just liked to know that he knew things that others wouldn’t want him to know, and would do him harm if they knew that he knew. But this early Bellevue member was desperate. A friend of theirs had unknowingly become father to an extremely powerful Generation Two, and the infant needed to be protected from the world. Much of Brazil was about as remote as one could get in the world, and Paulo was about as random an anomaly as one could find. He agreed to raise the child in secret. He remembered learning of a small tribal village that had experienced minimal outside contact from his life in the small town, and so he took her there. He kept that baby safe, teaching her to control her abilities, and to make her own choices for what she wanted to do with them. Many years later, after hearing of her birth father’s death, this girl took to the skies and became a superhero to honor his legacy. She traveled to Bellevue and secretly absorbed the abilities of all anomalies she could find. She then went around the world, mostly in South America, saving everyone she could, and capturing criminals. Bellevue officially contacted the two of them not long after, and discussed their options. Paulo ended up holding on to his connection with his adopted daughter, and ran communications for operatives in South America, much like Radimir in Europe. His ability was perfect for it.

Microstory 191: Mosi Jengo

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Tanzanian Mosi Jengo was born to a wheat family of modest living. His was a community of farmers, and when he was a child, the only one not dealing with a drought. The surrounding area farmers were suffering greatly. Recreational drugs were illegal throughout most of the world, but parts of Tanzania relied on the industry to keep them aloft. Confederacy authorities allowed this to continue, partly because they lacked the resources to shut them down, but also because they were willing to concede a small fraction of drug users if it meant poor farmers had enough money to survive. But a certain farm off a nearby town had learned of Mosi’s community’s fortunes, and went in with weapons to find out what was happening. Upon hearing that they were somehow responsible for the miracle, they attacked and terrorized Mosi’s family. His parents pleaded with them, and tried to explain that they had no idea why the rain had chosen fall only on them. Out of anger and fear, Mosi used his abilities to pull a lightning bolt from the sky and strike down the man who was manhandling his mother. What he did not understand at the time, was that his mother would be harmed by the lightning as well. She was electrocuted and killed instantly. The leader of the rival farm allowed Mosi to mourn his loss before removing him from his home, and paying the father what he considered to be a fair exchange. The leader became Mosi’s mentor. He provided him with an education, a bed, and more food than he was used to. Together, they rid their country of the drug business. They spent years converting farmers to legitimate businesses by selling them good weather. Every year, they would return to Mosi’s home to pay respects to his mother’s legacy. By the time Bellevue found him, Mosi and his mentor had transformed Tanzania into a flourishing paradise. As the land turned, not only did the farmers become richer, but tourism began to boom, further enhancing the country’s economy. Through irrigation and other modern farming techniques, Tanzania began to be self-sufficient, and no longer needed Mosi’s assistance. He and his mentor joined Bellevue, but spent very little time in Kansas. They traveled with Blake Williams as a sort of specialized weather team. While Blake absorbed and quelled quakes, Mosi protected target areas from other natural events. Slowly, he shaped the world to make it safer and more convenient, and was later able to gain enough power to control the weather across the globe from any point, to nearly any degree.

Microstory 190: Monique Attar

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Monique Attar was sister to Solange, and aunt to Zoey. She spent her whole life in the shadow of her younger sister. Solange was a performer, famous for her beautiful singing voice and spot on impressions. In order to “find herself” Monique left home and traveled across Europe. She had the ability to tamper with the feelings and, to a degree, the thoughts, of any living creature, including humans. She could create, alter, or otherwise manipulate pheromones, and place her target in a hypnotic state. She was never able to control their actions, or change the target's true feelings on a subject, but she could convince them to do things for her with greater ease than other persuasive people. She never used her ability to steal or harm others, but she was regularly able to crash on strangers’ couches, or enjoy a meal at a discount. and sometimes for free. The more she used this ability, the more she learned about what was really happening; the science behind it all. She also became stronger, and was later able to hypnotize more than one person at once. After a couple of years, Monique had grown tired of Europe, and decided to check out some of Africa. She soon found herself working as a safari tour guide. She became famous in certain circles for being able to allow visitors to draw unusually close to wild animals without coming to harm. She returned to France when her sister became pregnant with Zoey, and was struggling with her accelerated development. After Zoey’s rapid growth continued following her birth, Monique insisted they go to Bellevue headquarters in Usonia. After the problem was corrected, the family decided to remain in Kansas where Zoey attended school, and Solange worked in Records and Archives, keeping track of the organization’s history. Used to staying on the move, Monique went out into the field and provided security and protection for operatives and innocent civilians.