hashuan

:::... West Oakland, California, USA …::: “So you’re really going to do this?” Liliana plated herself another scoop of leftovers and turned back to her roommate. “Alone?” “I have to learn what this guy knows, Lil.” Serena had her breakfast set next to her laptop, browser tabs open to a few different maps. She was trying to figure out the straightest path from California to Kansas. Roadway navigation apps weren’t going to cut it. She needed a bird’s eye view. Liliana stood with her fork, leaning against the countertop. “But what if it’s a trap or something?” She took a bite as she looked at her phone, scrolling through clip after clip in her feed showing Serena as a superhero the previous night. She turned her eyes back to her roommate - messy hair, glasses, five-foot-nothing and barely more than a hundred pounds. “I still can’t believe this is real. This whole thing freaks me out.” “I’ll be careful.” Serena took her last bite, then got up to wash her dish. “I’ll get there early

:::... University of Toronto Campus, Ontario, Canada …::: Amy Fournier put her hands in the pockets of her coat as she strode across the quad. Though the day was overcast, the temperature was unseasonably warm, and the sight of so many students wearing t-shirts and shorts in mid-March was surprising. Her thesis meeting with Professor Sila had gone smoothly. But that wasn’t a surprise; things had gone almost disturbingly smoothly for her since she found that little stone last month. Even though she was constantly preoccupied with questions about the mysterious artifact, she was finding that managing her course load and her social life was easier than ever. However, something seemed a bit weird at her meeting. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on. Just then, she spotted a familiar face up ahead and walked up behind him. “Noah. Question for you.” Noah was one of the sharpest and most well-put-together boys she’d met over the course of her four years at Uni. He had a stout

:::... Alameda, California, USA …::: Liliana pushed her way through the crowd that surrounded the charred remains of the warehouse. Andrew followed closely behind, trying to keep pace. Everyone was chattering about the incredible flying woman who’d saved them from the fire, but Liliana just wanted to find her best friend.  "Serena!" Liliana called out, her voice growing hoarse from shouting. "Serena, where are you!?" Her heart raced as her eyes darted from face to face. Andrew was trying his best to be stoic, but doubt was creeping in. They’d both watched Serena run right into the heart of the fire. If she wasn’t one of the people that the flying woman had rescued, then he didn’t see how she could have survived. "Maybe we should check by the entrance again," he suggested, trying to put on a brave face. Just then, Liliana’s phone vibrated. She fumbled into her purse and pulled it out, breathing a huge sigh of relief when she saw Serena’s name on the lock screen. “Oh my god, it’s

:::… Oakland, California, USA …:::   “She’s nice enough I guess, and she’s not ugly. But I don’t know, I never really thought about her. I mean, she seems kinda boring.” Darian wasn’t one to mince words, so when Liliana asked for his opinion of her best friend and roommate Serena, she shouldn’t have been surprised at his blunt response.   “What!? She’s not boring! You just have to get to know her!” Liliana crossed her arms.   “Hey, it’s best if she knows the truth. Tell her that if she put in more effort, she’d have an easier time getting a date.”   “I’m not going to tell her that!” She stood up straight again and slung her pack over her shoulder. “A simple no would have been fine, Darian. You don’t have to be a jerk.”   “I’m just being honest,” he stated flatly.   Liliana humphed a non-reply and turned to walk away. Her shift was over and she did not want to hang around the restaurant any longer than she had to. Besides, she had some Friday night plans to discuss with

:::…. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil ….::: It was a sweltering Friday morning. Camila Pereira sat lost in thought on the metro towards Vidigal, headed over to check in with some of the families she had been assigned. Her parents hated knowing that she often traveled unaccompanied to some of the most dangerous places in the city. They understood her desire to help the underprivileged, but they’d always urged her to study nursing or teaching. Camila never listened. She wanted to make a real difference in people’s lives, and for better or worse, she’d always felt that social work was the best way to do that. Though she’d only been working at her NGO for a little less that a year, her dedication had already garnered her many accolades from her supervisors. Her track record as a 24-year-old was as good as someone who’d been in the field for decades. And now, her ability to make a difference had been greatly amplified by the strange magic stone that had appeared by her bedside just the other night.

:::… Oakland, California, USA …::: Serena Agbayani sat at her desk, still trying to wrap her head around the strange events that had transpired over the past week. One minute she was a normal girl just trying to establish herself in her first post-college job, and the next, she had these strange, surreal powers that could have come straight out of a comic book. She hadn't told anyone, not even her brother or her best friend. The mysterious stone that had granted her the ability to transform had also led her to understand that she should keep her identity a secret at all costs. In fact, the stone had provided quite a few “understandings” since Serena had first made contact with it. It seemed to have an intelligence or a soul of some kind. Not that the stone was alive in any real interpretation of the word, but more that her interaction with the stone had allowed her to make a connection to a current that flowed through the circuits of reality. There was an order to the way things