The diner was still smoking when the first news vans rolled up.
Zeke sat at the curb, wrapped in a blanket that smelled faintly of burnt coffee and cheap detergents. His hair stuck up in every possible direction, static still dancing along his scalp like a faulty Christmas light. He tried very hard not to sneeze again. The last time he sneezed, three car alarms went off ,and an elderly woman's pacemaker beeped out of rhythm until a paramedic smacked it back in the sync .
So yes- he was holding his breath, looking like a teenager trying not to exploding public. Maya crouched beside him, her sneakers scuffed with ash ,thumbs flying across her phone.
" do you realize," she muttered without looking up, " that you've already trended on Twitter ,Instagram and oh... God, someone made a tiktok filter of your lightning sneeze.
People are literally recording themselves sneezing with fake sparks. # thunder cold is at fifty thousand posts."
Zeke groaned and pressed the blanket over his face. "Great I am a meme. That's exactly what I wanted when I pictured my heroic debit."
You pictured a heroic debut?" Maya arched an eyebrow, finally looking up. "Wow. your standards must be real low if this counts."
" Low is all I can afford right now,"he muttered , peeking out at the swarm of cameras across the police tape.
Flash bulbs popped every time he shifted. "Seriously, why are they still here? I literally almost fried this place. Shouldn't they be running away from me?"
Maya tilt the head, thoughtfully. " Oh, you are dangerous. No question. But you're also kind of ... adorable dangerous. Like if Pikachu had anxiety and bad hair."
Zeke gave her the most unimpressed look possible. "Thank you. That clears up everything."
A Different Kind Of Trauma
Around them, paramedics treated shell shocked patrons: a woman clutching her toddler, a cook still trembling with his spatula in his hand, a trucker being bandaged where flying glass had nicked his neck.
The sheriff's departments strung up yellow tape, while deputies tried to shoo away gawkers with phones.
But through it all, whispers rippled. Words carried even if people tried to keep them quiet: "mutants," "alien," "superhumans."
Zeke hunched lower under the blanket. The words stung more than the cuts and bruises on his arm.
"They are looking at me like I'm some kind of freak," he muttered.
Maya stopped typing. For once, her sarcasm holstered itself. She studied him, eyes softened. "Zeke... you saved lives in there."
"Yeah. While nearly electrocuting myself."
" Heroism is messy. Nobody tells you that part. They just show you the edited highlight reels." she nudged him with her elbow, gently enough not to spark another accident. "Besides, who cares if you are a freak? Freaks are cooler. Normal's boring."
Zeke chuckled despite himself. " You're really bad at pep talks."
" Thank you. It's a gift."
Meanwhile, a black SUV pulled up just beyond the police line. It's tinted windows reflected the flashing red and blue of squad cars. Out stepped a tall man in a dark coat, silver streaking his temples, jaw carved from granite. He moved with a kind of quiet authority that made even the sheriff straighten up.
Agent Marcus Camden.
The sheriff rushed forward to greet him, but Cadmen's eyes were already fixed on Zeke.
The gaze was sharp, assessing, the kind that made you want to confess to things you haven't even done.
Maya noticed first. "Uh -oh. You've got government face incoming."
" Government face?" Zeke whispered.
" Yeah, like... serious , stoic ,definitely- has -a -top -secret -file- on -you kind of face."
Zeke groaned again. " I'm not ready for men in suits."
Cadmen cut through the police tape with nothing more than a flesh of his credentials. Deputies who had been stone walling reporters suddenly stepped aside like stage curtains . The man carried invisible gravity.
He stopped in front of Zeke, staring 0down with eyes that had seen too many things they wish they could forget.
"You're Carter?" his voice was low, gravel scraped against stone.
Zeke swallowed. "Depends, who's asking?" "Agent Marcus Cadmen ,Department Of Strategic Oversights ." He paused deliberately, gaze flicking over the blanket, the sparks flicking along Zeke's fingertips.
"You're alive, that's... unexpected."
Zeke blinked. " Um thanks?"
Sparks and secrets
Cadmen crouched down, eye level with Zeke, lowering his voice so only he and Maya could hear. His presence was unsettling - calm, but dangerous, like standing next to a coiled spring.
"Listen carefully," Cadmen said.
"The thing you fought tonight wasn't random. NeoGeneX built her. And if they know she's awake,they would come for you too."
Zeke felt his stomach drop.
" NeoGeneX...? like, the evil science company from the news?"
Cadmen's mouth twitched ,almost into a smile, but not quite.
" They'll call themselves 'biotech innovators.' Don't buy it. They have been experimenting for years. You're not the
first accident - and you won't be the last."
Maya crossed her arms. " Hold up . Are you saying he's, what, Patient Zero in some kind of science projects?"
Cadmen didn't answer directly. His silence was heavy, enough to make Zeke's chest tighten .
A nervous spark leapt from Zeke's palm, snapping against the curb ." So... they made me?"
Cadmen shook his head once." Not exactly. But you are part of the small puzzle. And if they have unleashed what I think they have..." his gaze drifted to the Diner's broken window, the scorched counter, the frightened faces inside. His jaw tightened. "...then the board just made their move."
Meanwhile In The Shadows
High above the wreckage, a drone hummed silently, recording everything. It's lens zoomed in on Zeke ,on Maya, on Cadmen's stern face.
Miles away,in NeoGeneX headquarters, Dr Evelyn Cross leaned forward in her sleek leather chair as the feed streamed onto a wall of monitors. Her smile was thin, almost amused, like a cat watching a mouse learn it was in a maze.
"Well, hello again, Marcus."
She tapped her pen against the armrest.
" let's see how far you'll go this time."