It's Dangerous

A man in an Armani suit sipped a steaming cup of espresso as he looked out the window of his high rise office. On the street below, a corporate security team escorted a teenager into an armored vehicle while a crowd gathered to film it on their phones. Silently, rather than wonder what the boy had done, he wondered what he was capable of doing, and more importantly, what he was worth.

He set down the small cup and sat down in the plush leather seat behind the mahogany desk. Time to make a few calls.

The future hadn’t arrived like they thought it would. There were no flying cars, no colony on Mars. It was discovered quietly in a hospital when a newborn child hovered half a meter above her crib a decade ago. Doctors termed her an anomaly, scientists used the word outlier. They didn’t know it actually arrived a decade ago, and that outliers were cropping up everywhere. It happened fast and became the new normal even faster.

Outliers became ‘metas’ and the world changed. At first there was wonder, but then came the fear, and fear brought legislation. In those ten years, governments had created entire departments dedicated to monitoring Meta activity. Every child suspected of carrying the Meta gene could be screened. Abilities were documented, categorized, and assigned threat levels. Specialized schools were created to teach young Metas how to control their abilities. Even more specialized prisons were designed to contain them. Officially, they said it was about safety, but unofficially, everyone knew it was really about money. Some Metas were simply worth enough money that the word choice became difficult to define. Mega-corporations maintained private Meta divisions. Wealthy individuals hired Metas as bodyguards, investigators, and personal security. Government agencies recruited them into classified programs. Military contractors offered lucrative contracts to those willing to sign away years of their lives. Most of them looked like good opportunities, until the fine print was read.

Just as the word Meta was defined, the word human was redefined, and Metas no longer fell into that category. Most quickly learned that having a useful ability means someone, somewhere, will eventually come looking for them.

The future came quiet, and regardless if you’re Meta or Human...

It’s Dangerous.