Leaving the questioning facility, Alex began his long walk home. Normally he would have inwardly complained the entire walk, but this time Alex was showcasing an enormous smile.
It was a creepy sight.
‘It happened. It really happened!’
Alex thought.
‘My own BSA…’
That fact brought Alex an enormous amount of joy.
Unfortunately, he didn’t have a lot of time to bask in his joy because of the people who took him away for questioning and information gathering. But after the long and arduous pseudo-kidnapping was finally over, it hit him.
‘A BSA!’
A Blood-Specific Attribute. Anybody from anywhere knows what a BSA is.
‘What should I do now? Who should I tell? Mom? No. She wouldn’t care’
Almost like a fingerprint, a BSA was entirely unique to the user. It could range from something as useless as a flashlight on the tips of your fingers to something as versatile as telekinesis. Although something as complex as that only comes once every 100 years.
‘Ok. Ok. Calm down. Don’t get your hopes up… ohhh but I totally have a physical BSA!!!’
There are three confirmed categories a BSA can fall under. Physical. Mental. And Hybrid. Although BSA’s are largely unique from person to person, almost every BSA user can be assigned to one of these three categories.
Although there were three categories, the number of BSA users in each one was vastly disproportionate. The rarity of the groupings goes as follows; Mental, Physical, and Hybrid. Meaning Alex just obtained the second rarest BSA type.
Stopping in the middle of the street Alex just couldn’t hold back his excitement.
“FUCK YEAH!!!!”
Passerbys be damned, Alex had really gotten all he’s ever wanted. Rarely did any of Alex’s dreams come true. This time they had.
Eventually, Alex returned to his shitty apartment in the southern district of Morgan. Not forgetting to piss off everybody around him with his loud celebrations.
The city of Morgan is the largest Human settlement in the entire Human domain. Due to this fact, Morgan is divided into four districts based on the four cardinal directions. North. South. East. And West. As far as anybody knows, this is done mostly out of convenience.
And big surprise, Alex was situated in the most impoverished district. The South.
This explained what was in front of him. A dilapidated, 2-story building built from the cheapest materials imaginable. Concrete and Wood. If the concrete wasn’t damaged in a particular area, the wood was rotting. If the wood wasn’t rotting, the concrete had a human-shaped crater in it. Almost every single part of this building was a health code violation. And unfortunately, this included the smell.
It was a complete shithole, but Alex didn’t really mind. For someone like Alex, it’s always been this way.
Alex walked up the stairs to the second floor and stuck his key into the lock with a practiced precision that could only be acquired from repeating that gesture a thousand times.
Entering his apartment Alex took in the familiar sight.
A bare-bones kitchen, a patchy sofa facing a small projection screen, and a cott… All in the same cramped room.
The walls didn’t look much better than the outside, however, some somewhat tasteful decoration was hastily placed over the largest stains. The floors were ‘technically’ hardwood. But at this point, the scratches lining them made it hard to notice the separations between each laid plank.
Smacking his palm with his fist, Alex remembered something.
“Ah. I forgot to pick up dinner.”
Alex set his keys on the makeshift table adjacent to the entrance.
“Hahaha... who cares.”
The terrifying smile on Alex’s face only grew wider as he turned to the heaviest object in his apartment.
***
About half an hour later, Alex had a frustrated look on his face.
“Please don’t tell me I imagined it”
Alex wasn’t entirely insane, but it’d be safe to say that after living in such conditions for so long… he had a few screws loose.
“This sofa weighs… Well fuck, as much as a sofa”
Struggling to lift the sofa, Alex eventually gave in to gravity and decided to carefully set it down. Even if that’s what he decided, the sofa slipped from his hands and slammed onto the hardwood floor.
SLAM!
“Goddamn it! I just had that repaired!!”
Alex had never once repaired his floor…
Alex began to mumble to himself.
“I know it happened. It wouldn’t be possible for me to just imagine all of those obnoxious people surrounding me in the gym. What if-”
Suddenly an agitated voice resounded beneath him.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP! I’M TRYING TO POUND MY GIRLFRIEND DOWN HERE!”
Alex’s sofa shenanigans and mumbling managed to anger his neighbor below him. Alex had never met the guy, but he always found his angry side amusing.
Alex shouted back,
“Girlfriend my ass! I know it’s your hand you annoying fuck! Why don’t you mind your own goddamn business?!”
This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.
Alex ignored any response that may or may not have come from his rowdy neighbor. Instead, he headed toward the only other door in his tiny apartment. The closet.
“Ah! I think I may have an idea…”
Alex had an idea so idiotic and so unbelievable that only a crazy person would even think to try it. Luckily Alex was halfway to crazy-Ville.
Approaching the closet, Alex grabbed the doorknob and gave it a twist.
‘This better work. I fear opening this thing might let the rats know there’s more to life than just this tiny space.’
Alex pulled on the handle and with a terrifying creak that would fit in more with some archaic machine, the door to the closet opened.
The closet was much less of a ‘closet’ and much more of a hole in the wall with a door attached. But Alex wouldn’t know how luxurious a normal closet was.
A cloud of dust exploded in front of him, entirely blocking his vision. However, Alex didn’t need to see.
He reached forward and grabbed an incredibly light box. Then, he swiftly closed the closet door.
COUGH! COUGH!
“I HATE THAT STUPID CLOSET!”
Fanning the contaminated air in front of him, Alex was eventually able to stop coughing.
In his hands sat a brown shoe box. But clearly, the brown shoe box wasn’t his goal.
Opening the box Alex found two 8-lbs weights. It was hard to call the things ‘dumbbells’ because of their pathetic weight, but I mean, what else would you call them?
Explaining why Alex had the ‘dumbbells’ in his closet would be a waste of time. Just know the previous owner left all of his shit in there when he moved out.
Alex’s prior expression of disturbance was nowhere to be seen. Replacing it, was a face of pure delight.
“This explains a lot.”
BSAs are a strange phenomenon. They seemingly have been around since the beginning of time. But even so, they are not as straightforward as one may think.
A BSA cannot be detected in the blood of a person before their awakening. Even after an awakening, only its presence in a person’s blood can be confirmed, not its traits. What does that mean? It’s up to the user to figure out what their BSA is, simply because there’s no way to check.
Some people may even go through awakenings and never quite figure out what their BSA actually did. That being said, the average time from a BSA user’s awakening to figuring out what their BSA could do is about a full year. That’s not to say they’ve fully mastered it after that year, just that they have figured something out.
There are three reasons why it may take so long to learn of one’s own latent ability. One. Depending on the BSA there can be prerequisites or conditions necessary to fulfill their use. Two. The BSA’s ability is too theoretical or too difficult to actualize. Three. The user is an idiot.
At the very far left of the bell curve sat Alex. The guy who figured out his BSA in two days…not to say his condition was very hard to figure out.
“Weights.”
Alex had his arm outstretched with both 8 lbs weights resting on it. Not only that, but his arm had been outstretched with the cumulative 16 lbs of weight for a few minutes now without feeling so much as a burn in his arm.
Alex smiled his creepy smile.
***
Ella stood up from her desk, neatly organized her files, and exited her office.
It was finally closing time.
“Later Josh, good work today”
Josh(an obvious extra) nodded.
“Right back at ya, couldn’t have done it without your help.”
Ella smiled in response and made her way to the exit of the Blood Specific Attribute Department.
The BSAD was a total and complete maze of white. If a random person with no knowledge of its interior was placed in its center they would surely die of dehydration before managing to find an exit. And that’s neglecting to mention that the tight security measures would have finished them off long before that.
The first few security processes were done perpetually. The identification badge hanging from her neck was constantly being scanned through sensors built into the walls and without it, the place would instantly go into lockdown.
The other security stuff was mostly just guards and magnetically sealed doors. Just the typical lame mumbo jumbo.
Continuing down the white corridors and occasional offices, Ella was thinking hard.
‘That new awakened earlier. Something was different about him’
The I.D card hanging from her neck read, ‘L BRANCH: BSAD Supervisor: Ella Steinbeck’
‘I can’t quite put my finger on it… his report didn't match up with what I saw. I didn’t sense any physical landmarks in his blood… Could he be a hybrid? Well I hope I can get another look at that guy’
With that pestering thought, Ella waved goodbye to the last guard standing by the exit and made her way home.
***
Alex stirred from his sleep on his shitty mattress(if you could call it that).
Groggily he looked to his left, then his right, and then jolted upwards.
“BSA!”
It was like Christmas for Alex. He barely managed to go to sleep the night before. He was just too excited.
Quickly Alex bolted out of bed and made for his shoes. Rather sloppily, he began to tie thick double knots… or what resembled them.
‘Just you wait, world.’
Alex then ran for the things that would provide him with a leisurely life. His weights.
Acquiring a BSA could lead a person down multiple career paths. It’s highly dependent on whether a BSA proves to be useful, but usually a job that requires a BSA pays better. Alex didn’t know much, but he obviously knew this.
Alex suddenly stomped on the floor.
“Hey, neighbor!”
A brief pause marked the calm before the storm.
“What the fuck do you want you loud asshole?!”
“I just got my BSA! So, suck it loser!”
“I’ve already known that dipshit! You haven’t stopped screaming about it since last night!”
“HAHAHAHAHA!”
Alex stomped about a dozen more times before finally slamming the door to his apartment, marking the end of his verbal assault.
***
Ella arrived at her job just like she did every other morning. A large coffee with a shot of espresso in one hand, and a heap of folders in the other.
Following the normal procedures, she made her way to her office(albeit slowly). Until a familiar voice stopped her in her tracks.
“Supervisor Steinbeck of L-Branch”
A tall man wearing a navy suit and sunglasses (indoors) stopped Ella in her tracks. Looking up and down at the man she noticed a few things. First of all, the coffee breath. Not great. Secondly, the sensation of his blood. Frightening.
“Chamberlain Victus of the Drawrin family, What brings you to our facility this morning?”
With a nonchalant look that screamed pride, he responded.
“Just looking for a chat with the new leading Supervisor of this fine branch.”
“Well then, right this way. I was heading to my office anyway”
With a new person biting at her heels, she continued her convoluted journey back to her office.
Sitting down at opposite sides of the desk, Victus snuck a glance at the office. Clean. That’s how he would describe it. Despite being the Chamberlain of the renowned Drawrin Family, even he was impressed with how orderly it was. However, what really caught his attention was Ella herself. Frightening.
“So then. What can I do you for? Mr. Victus?”
Slicking his hair back Victus responded.
“Ha, right to the chase I like that. But Ms.Steinbeck, why bother asking? I think you already know why I’m here”
Indeed. She knew exactly why someone of such high esteem was at her branch. He was clearly already making the rounds.
Families like the one Victus is a part of(The Drawrin Family) are constantly looking for fresh meat to increase their might.
Calling themselves a ‘family’ is somewhat of a lie though. While there are blood ties within a family, the majority of a family is made up of outsiders. Why? Well, they weren't bunnies were they? Especially with the decline in fertility of recent years. Logically the best way to flex their power and grow as a family is to find other powerful people to join their ranks. The BSAD was the best place to find up-and-coming BSA users.
“ I do know why you are here. How were Branch-K’s pickings this year?”
“Subpar. We found a few Mentals with some interesting talents, but overall it seems like there are fewer and fewer with useful ability.”
A long silence permeated the small office space. An almost suffocating feeling of awkwardness encapsulated one of the two until it was almost unbearable.
Finally, Ella cut through it,
“There is one I am keeping my eyes on. But his traits as well as his effectiveness, are unknown.”
“COUGH- Unknown? How are you recommending somebody whose prowess is ‘unknown’?”
“Are you aware of my BSA Chamberlain?”
“Well… Yes but-”
“I’m certain he will be coming back sometime later today. Why don’t you have a talk with him?”
Victus let out a long sigh.
“Normally I wouldn’t let anybody talk to me this way nor would I trust something comparable to a hunch… But because it’s you…Will do, Supervisor.”
“Alright then, if you’d like to take a seat and wait for him, go ahead. I’m busy so please feel free to sit in silence.”
Cutting her off, Victus felt as though he was due more conversation.
“Hey not so fast.”
Ella annoyedly glanced back up from the papers in front of her.
“What?”
“How are you so sure he’s coming today?”
Ella sighed and pulled a remote control out of a drawer in her desk. She pointed it at the wall and with a click the projector on the wall began to hum.
Depicted in the humming visage was what could be described as a homeless person. He was stupidly waving toward the camera with two weights in his hands and shouting something in front of it.
“Wait a second, that guy?! That’s the guy?! What a joke! What’s he even doing?”
“Haha.”
Victus had never heard Ella laugh. Not in all the years he’d known her.
“I don’t really know. I saw him on my way in. I think that the guards won’t let him through. What a funny guy.”
Ella smiled.
***
**
*