A gentle breeze agitated the grass into pleasing waves. A sight which brought some comfort to the exhausted scientist. Expensive and fruitless experiments had Simon at the end of his wits, he made no promises, but his reputation had perhaps brought more grant money and investments then he could handle. Despite the world-class spas and resorts of his collagues being at his disposal, he always returned to the same grassy field at the bottom of an abandoned railroad track enbankment. It was a beautiful day by any standards, a perfect spring day complete with blinding sunlight and the occasional cloud.
He mused with indignation about the politicians and senators who compared his work to black magic. His work was just on the edge of reality, with only the shakiest grouding in conventional science. The implications of his work though, were such that money would pour in from investors worldwide. His critics cried "cold fusion", and he could not, for them, or for himself, completly dispel their accusations.
A rail maintenance vehicle coasted by behind him on the supposedly abandoned tracks, an unexpected distraction which left him distracted and uneasy as he walked his usual route home. But something in the distance caught his eye, a jet black spark arced from a man's shoulder near the library. He was sure he was the only one who saw it, the mysterious figure concealed the anomoly well. But those black sparks, he hadn't seen one in over five years, and then only in a laboratory. The distraction of the surprise rail car was now the least of his worries as he gazed into a distant burst of sparks, of a type which he swore had long since been annihilated from existence.

~ April

***

She blinked her eyes and tried her best to focus on the object falling. She just couldn’t figure out what it was. Occasionally, whatever it was would catch the sunlight and she’d have to avert her eyes. A car suddenly pulled up to the curb outside the window and she was momentarily distracted. When she looked back the mysterious object was nowhere to be seen.

Catherine decided that she wasn’t quite ready to leave the library yet, so she opened her book and began reading. Her eyes traveled down the first page and the words every choice is a world made new for the chosen, seemed to jump out at her.

She made a mental note to write the quote down in her journal. Ever since she was a teenager she had made it a point to collect quotes and articles that she found interesting or provoked some emotion in her. She couldn’t decide what it was about this particular line that she was drawn to, it just felt like the truth. Something she had been seeking her entire life and still was only finding bits and pieces here and there.

Chapter 3

He limped hard, his human joints beginning to bear the load his augmentations could no longer. The relentless Arizona sun jolted his fading power levels, but burned his wounds from the landing. What troubled him the worst though was his burned out modem. The modem was his most critical implant, it was his link to...everyone. There were a thousand different powerful officials watching his every move through their displays. Having disappeared from their view, half of them would be mobilizing to recover their lost agent, while the other half would be mobilizing to terminate him as an intolerable security liability.
Having made his peace with his dire situation, he paused to flatten his torn mission patch against his suit - "Spcl. Alv" was all that remained of his name badge. Struck at the irony of the condition of his patch reflecting accurately the condition of the mission, he tore it from his suit and tossed it aside - it would bring him nothing but unwanted questions where he was going. A city that, like all others, knew nor cared of this particular dangerous game their government played, or of his role in it.
The battered mission specialist set out towards the city - the remaining distance he could not cover during his decent, he would cover on foot. Even in the furious radiation of the Sun, his energy level would not hold out forever. He knew that once his energy was depleted, his options would become very...limited. Nevertheless, the first thing Alvin needed to know was how long had he been away. "The day's newspaper was the best way to be sure" Alvin thought to himself, and he limped toward a large public library.

~April

***

She slowly slid her finger along the book spines, each cool to the touch as she walked down the aisle. Her gaze fell to a stain on the worn carpet and she stopped abruptly. Without looking, she grabbed the book her finger rested on and quickly took a seat at a table near the window. She looked down to view her prize and had to shift to shield it from the glare of the sun.

Catherine loved this Saturday morning ritual at the Phoenix Public Library. Always a hopeless romantic, the idea of serendipity excited and fascinated her. Even though her method wasn’t entirely serendipitous, she still found it thrilling. This week she had grabbed a lushly green book, and upon closer inspection she found that it was actually a tree on the cover with green foliage. She smiled as she read the title: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver.

She was still smiling as she noticed movement out of the corner of her eye. She turned towards the window and watched as something that glinted in the sun fell off the nearby canyon. Her smile faded and she shuddered, witnessing its slow descent.

Chapter 1 - Kevin

Sparks.
A furious cloud of spars erupted from his shoulder. And it didn't bother him so much that his arm had blown a processor. Not as much as all the power it was costing him.
When he fell, he saw the wasteland, and the city it bordered. He decided in those precious seconds as he was falling to steer himself towards the city. Neither region promised a softer landing; the landing didn't worry him. What happened after the landing is what mattered. And landing near people sounded better to him than landing far away from them. He still wasn't quite sure why, but he had made up his mind.
The landing cost him dearly - overextended servos and pulverized sensors all through his legs, nevermind the crippled arm. But he never doubted he'd survive. Rather, he was already calculating his course of action before he even landed.