The Agency
“They eat guinea pigs in Peru and Bolivia.” Jimmy said as we drove downtown. “In fact, guinea pigs were first domesticated there as a food source around 2000 B.C.”
“You’re kidding.” I say, shaking my head.
“Nope. 65 million guinea pigs a year are eaten by Peruvians and Bolivians.” He said, turning down a side street. ”In America, you can get cute little outfits for your pet guinea pig.”
This was our nightly ritual, as it had been for the past three weeks. Driving downtown, while Jimmy spouted useless and trivial facts. The man was a walking, talking game show.
“In China, St. Bernard meat is the prefered dog meat. In America, people spend at least 50 bucks a month to have their St. Bernard’s bathed and combed at professional pet salons.” He said, pulling the car to a stop. ”They can even get their nails painted at no extra cost.”
“What the fuck does a dog need its nails painted for?” I asked, shaking my head again. Jimmy just shrugged.
“It doesn’t. But it makes the owner feel better that their pet looks cute or some shit. Mostly it’s rich bitches that do that kind of thing.” He said, opening up the car door.
We both got out of the car. Jimmy had parallel parked it on the corner of the street we were on an an allyway. “Did you know that a coconut is actually the seed of the coconut tree? It’s the largest seed in the world.”
“Crazy shit, man.” I responded. Some people might think I just respond to Jimmy out of habit, but I’m genuinely interested in what he has to say. Most of what comes out of his mouth is very interesting. And he knows that it catches me, he knows he’s got me hooked. I’m addicted to his trivia.
“What’ve we got tonight, Jimmy?” I asked him as he pulled out a small device. It was an iPod, slightly modified. And by slightly modified, I mean it wasn’t an iPod anymore. It had a special antena in it that picked up special energy waves. That’s what he called it, special energy. Energy emitted by individuals who were extraordinary in some way. Energy that was unclassified, unlike anything that science could explain.
“Looks like a Fiery.” He said, a bit of a smile on his face. “Damn, I love Fieries. They’re always so much fun.”
“How aware?” I asked.
“Not at all.” He said with a little bit of a chuckle. “Completely untapped.”
“Where?”
“She’s up on the 14th floor. I’m running a scan on the building to get her room number.” He said with a nod. After receiving the room number, he’d transfer the data to the Agency. The Agency would then analyze the data and determine if she was a potential asset or a potential threat. If she was a potential asset, the Agency would attempt to trigger her power. Too little of a power, and she would be considered for an internal job at the Agency. If she had enough power, she’d be recruited into the ranks of those who fought to keep the country safe. Too much power, well, she’d be considered a full blown threat, and she’d be neutralized. That is, she’d be taken to a special place where her powers would be completely stripped from her and she’d go back to living life as a normal, boring person.
“Anymore in the area?” I asked.
“Nope. Time to move to the next grid.” Jimmy said, yawning a bit. “Then we can call it a night.”
The Angency ran the world these days. It all started happening after The Explosion. The Explosion was the result of scientists meddling with stuff they didn’t understand, all centered around experimentation with anit-matter and particle accelerators. No one knows exactly what happened, but a massively catastrophic explosion centered at the Large Hadron Collider wiped out most of the Earth on that side of the globe. Humanity and civilization as we knew it came to a stand still. Economies collapsed, riots ensued, natural disasters increased ten fold, there was food shortages and some sort of strange, new energy never before seen or even conceived by humans was discovered.
The Agency was born out of necessity more than anything. The last remaining world leaders got together and formed it. The population of the earth was just under 1 billion now, the rest killed off by either The Explosion, or natural disasters, or other man made catastrophies. The world became run under one government. Money was done away with, and every human was given the necessities to live, while they were rewarded with leisure and recreation by excelling in their jobs.
Soon, though, it was discovered that this new energy deposited itself around the globe. And it was attracted to living things, plants and animals and humans. The energy could be harvested from the side of the Earth that had been destroyed and used as an infinite power source. It emitted nothing harmful.
The side effects it had on plants and animals was that it made them grow larger, made them more nutritious.
The side effects that this energy had on humans, well… It gave humans abilities. Powers that were once thought to be impossible. People could control things like fire, water, air, sand, dirt, plants, and electricity. Some people could read minds, others could make things move with their minds, and others still had precognitive dreams.
The Agency learned this, and knew that this was bad news. Because however peaceful the new world government seemed to be, there was a behind-the-scenes war being fought. Rebels exist perpetually, and now these rebels had the potential to be very, very dangerous. People with abilities had to be found, and they had to be controled.
The easiest way to control someone is to have them work for you. So the Agency started recruiting people with abilities to work for them. People who were strong enough became military personal, police officers, and emergency workers. People who had weak powers were generally given desk jobs. Those who couldn’t control their powers, or who used their powers criminally were generally caught. They would then be neutralized, given a treatment that would clense them of the special energy attatched to them. Criminals were then jailed. Those who just couldn’t control it, or didn’t want power, were sent home.
Jimmy worked for the Agency, and had been working for them ever since his special ability was discovered. He was a Shocker, someone who could control electricity and electronic devices.
Me? I was just a normal human being, no special abilities. I didn’t even work for the Agency. But Jimmy was a close friend, and I was a journalist, and he would take me along on his assignments. They made for a great vlog.
We got back in the car to head to the next part of the city that Jimmy had to inspect. I was recording the whole night with a camera that had been implanted in my eye. Later, I’d go in and edit the video, add a sound track, and upload it to my journalism vlog. Hopefully, we’d see some action tonight. People always loved disaster. I wish I’d been there to vlog The Explosion.
