Bruce Overton had been with the Raven City Police Department since he graduated from university at 22. He worked his way up through the years and now held the rank of Detective in the Organized Crime Division. He was good at his job. The intuition that he developed over the years allowed him to peer into the minds of criminals around the city. After years of investigating some of the worst scum in Raven City, he was one of the best around. He had long since turned down the position of Chief Detective. He loved his job but there were bad days. Days when he would clock out and head to a bar that police frequented to drink away what had happened that day.

The world changed since the arrival of the World Spike. That damned object brought out the worst in humanity. In a city as large as Raven City, crime was expected. The day that Bob snapped his fingers was like handing out loaded guns to the population. The majority of people were too worried about their own safety and did their best to hide or run. People that were on the edge, people who were just maintaining, it was the little push they needed to cross the line from tax-payer to criminal. He heard horror stories from fellow officers around the precinct. Everyone had it bad. The departments were overworked and understaffed. The Mayor of Raven City wrote a blank check to the police departments throughout the city. They no longer had to worry about fighting for over-time pay. Now they worked too many hours. A few couldn’t handle the stress and quit, choosing to be with their families. Bruce didn’t hate the quitters, they were the lucky ones. But somebody had to stay. People like Bruce, people who weren’t married and didn’t have kids, they were the unfortunate ones.

Early on Bruce decided to sleep in his office. Within the first few hours after the World Spike he went home and brought all the clothes he could back to his office. The locker rooms had a shower and he could make a run to a nearby restaurant for food. During that first day they pushed on their contacts and informants to find out what the gangs were up to. Informants were a vital part of the job, providing valuable information in exchange for small favors or protection from the police. The day of the World Spike, his informants all but disappeared. They weren’t at their jobs, they didn’t show up to their support group meetings, and their families hadn’t seen or heard from them.

Reports of gang movements came in from across the city. Wanted criminals were appearing in broad daylight. From all accounts they were consolidating their territories. It was a smart move. Secure what you have before making a move against anyone else. The first breakthrough came from a train conductor. A woman and two men boarded at a downtown station. The conductor had noticed when the woman traveled up the train to sit near him. He thought nothing of it until the two men followed the woman into the car and began to harass her. Audio and video from the train recorded the entire altercation. The woman protected herself using what had to be one of her powers, golden flames that surrounded her fists. A report later from a local hospital said that she nearly killed one of the thugs. After interrogating them both, they found out that they were new recruits of Powerless.

The thugs didn’t know much but they knew enough to make Bruce nervous. Finneas Killian, the leader of Powerless, was generally a lazy man as far as crime bosses were concerned. He held a firm grip on his territory but didn’t make much of an effort to expand into the area of another gang. He simply sat where he was and profited from the ventures that his subordinates ran in his name. Luckily for Bruce, Finneas didn’t have the ambition to live up to his potential. Until now. Whatever powers that Finneas gained allowed him to attract more than just the scum of society. Now he was recruiting people in droves. Finneas took his disdain for how society treated him in his own life and made it a rallying call throughout the city. They preyed on those whose powers were generally unhelpful and boy where there a lot of those.

Due to the nature of what Bob called the Great Changing Machine, powers were based on the personality of the individual, at least that's what scientists were saying. The overwhelming majority of people were ordinary. They were content with what they had and never aspired to more than that. But now they saw that a small portion of people around them turned into super heroes within a matter of minutes. So those people became targets. ‘Why are they so lucky and I have nothing?’ It was a common question asked among those with weak powers. Finneas focused his entire organization on approaching the newly disenfranchised. He showed that they weren’t powerless, that together they could be powerful. He gave them a purpose and a place filled with people who thought just like them. And they loved him for it.

Name Bruce Overton

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Class Detective

Level 5

Experience 1200/4000

Traits

Intuition

Your hunches are often right. Your hunches occur more often and are more likely to be correct.

Experienced Interrogator

When speaking to a suspect or criminal they are more likely to tell the truth.

Trained Eye

Clues relevant to your current investigation are highlighted in red in your vision.

Bruce closed his status screen and checked his watch. The digital face ticked over to 7:00am. He leaned back in his chair, staring at the computer screen covering one wall of his office. Mug shots, profiles, recent sightings and information of all sorts were shown on the screen. In the middle of the screen was an active map of Raven City’s western district. Different lights and markers notated recent sightings and arrests of gang members as well as reports of gang activity. Bruce took a bite from a nearby sandwich while thinking to himself. ‘Something has to give. Too much movement. Someone is going to make a mistake.’ A commotion could be heard from outside his office. Raised voices and hurried footsteps broke his concentration, causing him to stand up and leave his office, which opened up into a sea of desks and computer monitors. Bruce turned to see an officer running towards him.

“Detective Overton! A high school kid came into the lobby downstairs. He’s saying that the Crisis Shelter is being overrun.”

“What are you talking about. Overrun by who? We haven’t had any calls even close to there.” He tried to get the young officer to calm down with no success.

“Powerless, sir. They were sighted moving in force towards the shelter. The kid said he tried to call in but he couldn't get a signal.”

The Crisis Shelter wasn't exactly listed in a phone directory and you couldn't just walk into the place off the street. The shelter represented a permanent solution for those that had been targeted for abuse. Every citizen had rights under the world government but corruption still exists, even in a modern utopia. At the shelter they found peace and safety where they could live out their lives under the protection of highly trained personnel who shot first and let the coroners sort the mess.

As Bruce stepped back into his office, the young officer followed him in. He zoomed in on the address of the Crisis Shelter. Nothing had been reported for the last few hours. It was a black spot on the map. With all the efforts to control the animal population throughout the city they were beginning to ignore reports of gunfire or power usage and investigated only eyewitness accounts. His Intuition told him that it was a perfect opportunity to move on a sensitive location like the shelter. He turned back to the waiting officer.

“What’s being done so far?”

“There’s a SWAT unit being prepped to respond and off-duty officers are being called back. We put a request in for a military unit from the central blockade but no response so far.”

Bruce thought for a second before grabbing his coat, keys, and grabbed something from a nearby cabinet. “Come with me, son. We’re going down there.” he back called over his shoulder.

“What’s that, sir?” The officer pointed at the object wrapped in a black cloth.

Bruce unwrapped the object which was a pair of sleek black revolvers inside a brown leather shoulder holster. Bruce put on the holster and his coat before turning to the waiting man. “These are my first and second level up rewards. Hopefully they’ll be enough to make a difference.”