Altered

Honking and gunshots rang out from the highway as several people in body armor and masks run away from an armored vehicle they just robbed, some carrying carriers of vials while others take chances to shoot at their pursuers. While running, one of them is tackled, grunting as they hit the ground, tackled by a young adult to the ground as the vials shatter, this assailant who wincing as he cuts his hand on some while getting up "I don't think those are yours." His friend scoops down and helps him up, gritting his teeth. "I think we should probably get out of here!" The first one nods as both run off, narrowly avoiding bullets fired their way as they jump into the ditch and slide down. "Don't bother with them, they're just a couple of nutcases… besides, they're probably on a timer now."

Hi, my name is Levi, a not so interesting college student in a red, loose jacket studying to be a bit more interesting game designer. I traveled to Aurora city just for that, leaving my family and… acquaintances behind, but I've met plenty of new ones too! There's people like Will, an… ok, he's just a bully… and so were those "acquaintances" back home. William (he hates being called that) leads a pack of bullies, generally causing a lot of trouble, and is second in command on the basketball team. The ace of the basketball team is Alexander, though everyone just called him Alex. He tends to bathe in glory and doesn't really give Will much grief unless he starts to push things too far… They're friends and roommates, and Will will probably leave you battered bloody if you suggest their relationship has "benefits." And then there's Mint, her mom's a pretty big scientist or something, but she's about as much of a tomboy as you can get. Her pet always by her side is a genetically engineered thing called an Animorph or whatever…or Amphi-something… it looks like a big brown rabbit ferret thing. She's obsessed with biology, though she's also part of the e-kart racing team. Will say it's interesting since self driving tech has made the need for a driver obsolete, these things can't just be handed off to an AI apparently… I guess racing games aren't enough. Anyways, it's just another kind of boring day as I make a boring ride on my boring hoverboard to and from college and my apartment every day… and sometimes the arcade.

Though… sometimes boring is probably better.

BANG, BANG! SCREEEEEEEEECH!!! I twisted my head towards the highway above as I coasted along the side path, only to see some people jump down and run, and… "W-WATCH OUT!" I tried to swerve, but I was going to fast and plowed right into one, my world spinning to the sound of glass shattering as I screamed and tumbled down, getting covered in glass and glowing liquid as I tried to get up, cutting my hand, looking to see guns pointed at me. "Leave him, we've gotta go!" They started to run as I hear a bullet whiz by me, turning and seeing more guys with guns as I grab my board and run to the ditch, hopping on my board and riding down the concrete slope to the flat bottom, swerving my board to get away as fast as I could go in a panic. No arcade today, I was headed straight home.

Getting to the apartment, I was out of breath…that was probably the most exercise I had in months, years even… I got out my phone and "OUCH!" dropped it…my hand was really tore up. I got most of the bigger shards out and picked up my phone again, that heavy duty case doing it's job well as I used it to unlock the complex door, making my way up the stairs with hoverboard in hand, heading down the 3rd floor hallway to my room, the door sliding open after I tapped my phone to the panel. Turning on the shower, I undress in front of the sink, putting my clothes in a bag to wash in a bit before taking some tweezers to any more glass shards I find before stepping in, the water and eventually soap stinging the cuts as I washed myself clean before bandaging my cuts, dressing in loose PJs, and taking my clothes to the washroom, where I pop them in and pull up the settings on my phone. "...I guess I should be thorough." I select the heavy cycle with steam and click to add stain lifters and more soap, just to make sure all that glowy stuff gets out, watching as my clothes start to tumble as I head back to my room. Getting back, I order some delivery shrimp scampi from a nearby restaurant and take my time enjoying it. To be honest, I think it tasted pretty delicious, though that could also be the near death experience talking. As I turned off the lights to go to bed, I let out a sigh. "I'll visit the doctor tomorrow to make sure I'm not infected with anything from that, and then it'll all be behind me…" As I go to sleep, I feel uncomfortable, but I push on… it's probably those cuts, but I can't help but wonder what happened there, and what those vials were… You know, it'd be pretty cool if this was the start of some sort of super hero story, wouldn't it?