What they don't tell you about OHs is that there was no such thing as legit OH births for at least a century; calling them a natural by-product of human evolution was propaganda designed to explain away their rise in population as the decades wore on. Interestingly enough, it used to be an accepted fact that the first OHs had appeared in Madrono City due to a compound amusingly known on the streets as O-Zone flooding the streets. The formula for the experimental compound leaked onto the Bleednet and people started making it and taking it often as dares to see who could survive its highest highs. Only 1 out of every 3rd person to take the drug would manifest any paranormal abilities—the highest high—while those who didn't convulse and die. I'll spare you the gruesome details of what happened, but let me just say that it was very messy. A second, less dangerous, version of O-Zone hit the streets after that; things escalated from there. Suddenly OHs were birthing OH babies and a lot changed from then on. Things came to a head when Madrono City—remember, this is only the second city built on Izanami—had to be walled off and turned into the first OverHuman-only prison in 3088. People can call this a tragedy or shriek that this was some kind of cruelty, but I’d argue that it was needed. These days being an OH is almost fashionable, arguably due to the rise and popularity of Captain Steel; equally arguable to me is that it was that culling of our bad element that allowed our people to prosper. I only wish there was more that could be done about OZ-2, it’s still on the streets and it’s still just a new form of Russian roulette that crosses class borders. It’s hard to be surprised at its continued proliferation; if you're living in the slums and some elite offers you money to take this drug, and this does happen, why wouldn't you take it? Some people have called this a lottery and it's not hard to see why.

-Justice Jones, OverHuman pundit, and commentator.

Roxanne shouted, completely throwing out all sense of decorum around grandmother; she couldn’t help it. She ran over to Wes and hugged him as he was standing up. He hesitated at first, feeling awkward, but he too returned one in kind. She pulled back to look at him, this had to be the trippiest thing of her day. It had been a few hours to her since she'd last seen him. An awkward kid not taking care of himself because of a traumatic event, that was her last memory of him.

Now here he was, this 21-year-old man.

The thought hit her like a ton of bricks, suddenly he was this adult. And now she felt weird. "Dude, you look great!" She blurted out, suddenly feeling very embarrassed about the fact that she was still 16. She couldn't quite understand why; this was Wes. So what if he was gorgeous, it was still Wes!

He blushed somewhat and quickly said, "Thank you, so do you! This is…so nuts!" Wes had his hands on his hips, completely astonished. "I saw you on the news and—damn it is you! You have to tell me everything!"

"I'm going to let you two talk for a bit," her grandmother said with a wave. She pointed to Roxanne and said, "Come see me upstairs when you're done, okay sunshine?"

Roxanne held out a finger toward Wes and said, "Give me a minute, okay?" before she followed Millie out. Grandmother was halfway up the stairs when Roxanne called out, "Grams...?"

Millie stopped mid-step and turned around, "Yes?"

Roxanne bit her lip. "I'm sorry, about the way I acted earlier..."

"Aw, c'mere," Grandmother replied as she descended the steps. Roxanne met her halfway and they embraced. "We can talk more about it later," Millie said. "I'm just happy you're home."

"Me too."

"Go see your friend." Grandmother shooed her back down and resumed her climb. Azonne had been trying to get her attention silently for minutes now; tired of the flashing icon, Roxanne answered.

"Yes?" She whispered.

Did you notice any of that?

"Any of what?" She asked, impatient.

Azonne stayed quiet for a micro-second. Go back in there with that man, I want you to start cycling through different EM wavelengths in your vision. Something is off and this would be good practice.

"What?" She hissed. "You want me to, what? Scan my best friend?"

A deep scan preferably.

"No!" she raised her voice an octave higher. "I'm sorry, I'm not going to do that, it’s Wes; are you kidding me?"

Roxanne, he was previously corrupted, you remember that?

“Oh, nice—you know, it’s becoming obvious why the last roommate didn’t trust you; know what I mean?”

I am unsure how to take that.

“Take it however you like, I’m not scanning my friend; end of.”

Roxanne please, this is not-

"Alright, that's enough," and Roxanne interrupted it by taking the rings off her finger. She huffed heavily as she shoved them both into her pocket. The tickle in the back of her head, which she hadn’t realized was there until now, had dulled. She shrugged that off, still feeling hot over the exchange. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and walked right back into the kitchen.

*

"What happened to you Rox?" Wes asked her. They sat opposite each other on the kitchen island, Roxanne had a glass of water in front of her. She had offered him a drink for himself, including an awkwardly offered beer, but he had refused. She told him everything that had happened to her and he listened with rapt attention.

He asked very few questions, fascinated by her time in the Bleed more than anything, even positing that perhaps she was mistaken about how long she was actually in there. Roxanne was disappointed to see that adulthood brought about a mansplain-y attitude about her experience. The old Wes wouldn’t have done that, she was certain. The Wes I knew like a few hours ago anyway. Now she was annoyed.

"What would have happened if you didn't accept?" he asked.

"It kind of choose me, to be honest."

"Really?"

Roxanne nodded, “At least that’s what they told me. That, and the mere act of me being there had already set other things in motion so I kind of had to.”

“Such as?”

“The freedom of that…thing, for one.”

Stunned, Wes asked her: "Pretty manipulative, don't you think?"

Roxanne surprised herself by agreeing but added: "I was always going to accept though, I know that now."

"Say you didn't though," Wes said. "Would it have still just dumped you out 5 years later? That sounds messed up..."

Roxanne looked at him, it wasn’t something she had considered. Was it messed up? Sure; it also didn’t happen. "It doesn't matter," she said. "I want this," she chuckled slightly. “Plus it chose me, isn’t that wild? Me, lazy old Roxanne Belmonte.”

“Pfft, you weren’t lazy; anyone with two cells to rub together knew that. Me? Now that’s lazy; your lazy powers paled compared to mine.”

“Ha!” Roxanne beamed, felt like old times despite it all. “What should I call myself?”

“What? You're Solar Flare, are you kidding?" he said.

"Hm?"

"That's what they'll call you," Wes replied. "If they aren’t already; you were dressed just like the alien."

“Her name was Azonne,” she said, sharper than expected.

“Sorry? I didn’t mean to offend.”

Roxanne waved him off, not sure what bothered her. It hadn’t affected him the same way it affected her. To take her mind off it, she reflexively attempted to search for herself to confirm if she was now being referred to as Solar Flare, having completely forgotten she was no longer wearing the rings. She felt naked; she was also stubborn so in her pocket they remained.

"This is just so slay,” he said after a moment more of silence. "I just can't get over it: you're right here, in front of me."

"It's pretty slay for me too, man. Seeing you like this just all of a sudden is…I don’t even have the words. You're like this...grown-up now."

Wes got quiet all of a sudden, he stared at the floor. "I'm sure my dad would not agree with that," he said, finally.

"Still bad, huh?" She asked him.

"Well it never got better," he replied and looked up. Half of his mouth shifted upward in a crooked smile. "It was really bad for a bit there; after you vanished right in front of me. The cops had a lot of questions, but I obviously didn't do anything and we had a good lawyer so...

"The nightmares stopped at least, not long after you left."

"You had nightmares?"

“Didn’t you?”

Roxanne shrugged, “Kind of, yeah. But,”

“Mine were bad,” he interrupted her. “Took a lot of therapy, some experimental drugs; no big.” He shrugged, some of that old pep simmering under the surface. Roxanne lowered her eyes.

“…I didn’t realize you were having nightmares.”

“It’s not like I said anything,” he told her, shrugging again.

“Still, I was basically harassing you yesterday; that day; ugh. I was being selfish, I’m sorry.”

“It’s whatever, really.” He leaned back, not interested in getting in the weeds. “Oh! Guess what? I’m…engaged.” He grinned.

“No kidding?” she asked. When he nodded she lightly punched him on the shoulder, ”That’s so amazing! What’s her name? How did you meet her?"

"Her name is Jessica and, believe it or not, it was at a charity thing."

"No!" She pretended to gasp.

"It's true."

"You hated those things!" She teased. "You really are an adult!"

Wes rolled his eyes and laughed. "My mom introduced us, just two bored rich kids at a party they hated being at."

"So you bonded."

"She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me, Rox."

Roxanne smiled, “I’m really happy for you; I can’t wait to meet her.” A silence fell between them, the enthusiasm present at the start of their reunion had fully dissipated.

Wes was the first to speak up: "I spent a long time searching for you, you know?”

“Did you?” Roxanne felt her heart tighten. All of this was outside her control yet she could do nothing else but feel guilty.

Wes nodded, “It was tough for me when you left Rox, but I'm glad you're back." He smiled.

"I’m glad this wasn't as awkward as it could have been,” she said back with a grin.

“Ha!” He exclaimed and stood up. "I should get back home." Roxanne stood up to join him and escorted him out of the kitchen and to the front door. Before he walked out, he turned to face her.

"It just hit me, you'll probably need my help to get a job."

“Why do you say that?" She asked.

"Well, I mean your file probably lists you as a secondary school dropout," He replied. "That's no good. You'll probably need a sponsor just to make sure you're not chipping away in one of the mines, or worse. You probably deserve better than that."

“Um, thanks.”

Wes grinned and held his arms open for a hug. She stepped into it and this held a moment before he broke off and bounded down the stairs. A black grav car was waiting for him on the curb, no doubt summoned by his AUG. Roxanne went upstairs and, having discovered her room still intact, opted to crash rather than see grandmother. For one, she didn’t care what time the clock said. For another, she was dead tired.

It had been one hell of a long day.

***

The ride home for Wes was a blur, the entire day followed suit. His father came to see him, checking to see if his investment paid off. Wes let him know what he thought about that; the look on the old man’s face was worth it. The rest of the day bled into the Long Evening until he was here in front of the bathroom mirror. When did I get home?

He stared into a mirror trying to replay the entire day and he couldn’t. He could only pull a superficial image: his face bathed by passing neon light from the car ride home. It was a strange image, almost like he was outside his body at that moment; helpless while the transient lights danced on his features. Wes glanced up at the reflection, sweat had pooled upon his brow; he wiped his face. He looked at his hands afterward and they looked covered in soot.

Wes slapped the edge of his sink, frustrated. Why can’t I remember? The air was so still in the bathroom, the only light filling the room was moonlight from Izanami’s two satellites Izanagi and Mikoto. He looked up again at the mirror, there was black sweat pooling around his eyes. He shut them tightly; bits of memory started to hit. Strikes and flashes that hit him in the stomach. Wes Gibson became a passive observer of his own life, a bystander. He saw himself exit the car and enter the lift.

He was stumbling as if he had just learned how to walk. Like he had been drugged but Wes knew that couldn't be true. When he reached their room, his body stood over Jessica while she slept. She usually napped until he came home; she loved being woken up by him. It was their little ritual.

His body stared at her for a couple of hours, swaying slightly as if about to lose its balance but always righting itself. It lurched over, closer to her face. Wes’ body bent over her, stock still, inches from her nose at a perfect ninety-degree angle. This startled her awake but a hand shot out quickly across her throat. His limbs came to life as if he had just remembered how to use them.

The other hand joined in; both clasped hard with ten fingertips clawing into her skin. She gasped and choked. She fought. Wes was unmoving save for the amount of force he was driving at her throat.

Eventually, Jessica would only shudder one final time, her fingers clawed at the air while the last bits of her breath dribbled free of her body. Wes removed his hands from her throat and studied her. There were deep indentations where his fingers had been; discolored a dreadful shade of green, red, and purple. He looked down at his hands, they were trembling.

Wes coughed up black bile, suddenly he was looking at himself in the mirror again. Black fluid spread across his face; oily tendrils branched off itself and onto clean skin. Soon his face had the appearance of black varicose veins that gnarled and enlarged across his skin. The reflection spoke:

"So selfish," it said. "She’s never been your friend. Just us. It’s always been us."

Wes tried to speak but he couldn’t. Suddenly he was in the mirror, and the abyss was staring back at him.

***

Roxanne was woken up by the flashing lights in her room. Grandmother’s voice boomed in, “It’s already crossed into The Long Evening, dear.” Roxanne groaned, she wasn’t sure if she had slept at all. The dreams were strange, not her own; she wondered if they got imprinted when she accepted the mantle. The lights continued flashing, still tinted red as if she had never left. Roxanne sat up quickly and said "I'm awake," causing the lights to stop blinking.

"You remembered?" she asked Alice.

Of course.

She smiled and looked around for her pants, finding them tossed onto the floor beside the bed. She pulled them up and felt around the pockets, the rings were there; nestled in the right back pocket. She reached in to grab them both and let them sit in her opened palm. She studied every little shape carved into the smooth golden metal.

She ruminated over her choice last night to take them off. It was stupid, yeah; childish? A bit. Roxanne ruefully shook her head and slipped each ring onto her fingers. Her HUD faded into her peripheral vision while the uniform crystalized over her instantly.

Good evening, Roxanne. I’ve done some calculations to try and parse out why you did what you did and-

“I did it because I was annoyed,” she interrupted. “It was childish, I’m sorry.”

Oh. Well, I also apologize for upsetting you. We must act quickly, Roxanne; may I show you something?

Roxanne nodded, curiosity piqued by the bluntness. It was a replay of last night, her first encounter with Wes in the kitchen. It was in her perspective, of course, but paused.

"You record what I see?" She asked, unsure how she felt about it.

‘Record’ is a crude term but yes. It is what allows you to join your predecessors once you pass the mantle.

"Okay. So what am I looking for?"

The reason I wanted you to cycle through your different visual spectrums. I saw it but I wanted you to see it. To get you more comfortable with the Sight.

"Okay...," she felt so embarrassed by her reaction last night. Roxanne looked at the image of Wes in the visible spectrum and then tuned down to infrared; nothing special. She decided to go up rather than down and found herself in ultraviolet next; again nothing. X-ray was followed, which also showed nothing. Roxanne swapped over to Gamma radiation; she almost tripped backward.

There, frozen in the frame, like an ancient ghost photograph. A dark monstrosity lived hunched over the shoulders of Wes Gibson. Roxanne resumed the footage and black drool dripped off every one of its teeth. Each nightmare eye, too many to count, blinked independently of one another at strange intervals as if following a rhythm only it could understand.

"No..." was all Roxanne could get to come out of her mouth. It was the creature, the one from her nightmares. The Nameless, somehow already attached to Wes and she let him walk out her door.

"Next time just spit it out," she said.

Noted. You need to find him before it’s too late.

"And kill him you mean."

It is what must be done.

Roxanne didn't argue, she'd already gotten tired of it and it was still in its infancy. She thought of grandmother and immediately pivoted to speaking to Alice:

"Hey let grandmother know I've stepped out, but I'll be home soon. Eventually. Maybe. Um, leave the last part out."

The AI beeped in acknowledgment of a message received. Roxanne wanted to avoid having to walk out her front door and flying away in front of everyone, so she did the sensible thing instead and opened her window. Roxanne charged out the window and angled up and behind her in a half-loop so she could clear the brownstone. The Gibson penthouse wasn't very far and she knew she'd be there within minutes.

The thought of what she might find over there gave her terrible anxiety; she couldn't shake the feeling that any consequences seen today are surely her fault. She wondered if she should call Lady Steel, certainly a more professional hand helping out wouldn't hurt. No, this was her mess and her purpose, she could handle it. In theory.

Roxanne approached the penthouse cautiously from above. Should she go in from the front in normal clothes? After all, things could be fine. No need to panic anyone if things are good. This attempt to fool herself didn’t pass the mustard. She saw what she saw and it wasn’t good already; maybe a step below disaster at best.

Roxanne opted to land on the roof. The entire building was run by a direct sub-mind of Central One itself, bypassing its security wasn’t going to be easy. It was the kind of hack she’d never try on her own, but these days she had the best possible tools for the job. Azonne worked fast and Roxanne watched the hack happen in real-time; it was impressive. The kind of hack she only had accomplished in her dreams.

She entered the stairwell cautiously, it was dark and the safety lights had not kicked on quite just yet. Roxanne could see just fine regardless; there was only a single stairwell. At the bottom was a utility closet, no doubt housing spare parts for the clean bots that were always hard at work. Roxanne knew the door on the other side led into the Gibson penthouse directly, just across from Wes' old room. They used that exit frequently any time either of them needed to sneak out.

The hack to this door was easier than the last, although Roxanne wondered if maybe she should have tried to see if she was still encoded into the system; too much of a risk to take. The door slid open with a sigh and Roxanne entered the hallway. Here too was dark, and still no safety lights.

The air inside was still and the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up on their ends. She cycled through her visions and, not getting anything, she left the hallway and entered a grand dining room. Someone with blonde hair sat in a chair facing away from her. She called out, "Hello?" and, having received no answer, she again cycled spectrums. In her gamma vision, a shimmering within reality was taking place; she didn't like it.

Corruption saturates this place.

Roxanne nodded, she was right. The shimmering was an effect born of its presence in the very air. Roxanne's aura shined brighter as she took steps toward the chair. She held a fist close to her face as she reached out. She spun the chair around revealing Jessica, Wes' fiancé. She was dead. Her face was blue and her eyes had sunken in; she was stiffening as part of rigor mortis.

Roxanne recognized her because Azonne had pulled up a photo of her off the net to compare with the corpse. Roxanne choked out a panicked cry, she'd never been this close to a body before. Her body cried out for her to run but she couldn’t. Roxanne explored further into the penthouse, no doubt the Nameless was still here.

Next was the living room, there was a massive white and red sectional that surrounded a large silver encrusted table with a diamond glass top. Roxanne walked over to it and stared into the reflection before turning to study the room. "Wes?" She said aloud, not sure what she expected to hear back. This room was empty, beyond the door were the grand staircase and the main foyer.

From just beyond the doorway came a voice, "Roxanne...?"

She followed the sound and stepped out of the living room and onto the balcony of the grand staircase. A figure was at the bottom, hunched over just a hair shy of the elevator doors.

"....Did you see what I did Roxanne?" Wes asked.

Roxanne, do it now.

She ignored that and walked down the staircase, "Talk to me, Wes." It was all she could think to say. She was nearly there, he was still hunched over and on his knees; it was like he was sobbing.

"I don't know how this happened," he said. "Can you help me?"

Just another step, "I hope I can; I want to." Roxanne reached out and touched him on the shoulder. He twitched and looked down at the hand briefly before returning his gaze downward.

“Actually, I think I’m alright.”

Roxanne! Warning!

Wes stood up casually. Roxanne took her hand back, startled. He turned to face her and his eyes were black like two tiny molten pools of tar. Thick black veins were stretched across his face and bulged like putrid pustules. Roxanne gasped; she took a step back as the air contracted around them both. A microsecond passed in pure silence before a concussive gravimetric pulse thunder clapped between them and sent Roxanne flying.

She flew backward into the grand staircase, shattering it. Both staircase and balcony came crumbling down on top of her like a heavy downpour. Large debris would break apart against her aura but the sheer force of the blows had dropped her face-first to the floor. Her ears started to ring; she could still hear Azonne screaming warnings at her, faintly.

"Iii cancancan helphelphelp youyouyou, thoughthoughthough," Wes said, lower pitched and laced with acid. "Iii alalalwayswayways enenenjoyjoyjoy thesethesethese firstfirstfirst meetmeetmeetingstingtings."

Roxanne got up to one knee but still kept her gaze down. It was clear to her that this thing wanted her to say something, probably anything. There was a part of her that found it ridiculous that this entity seemed interested in banter so she didn't oblige. Regardless, she knew what she needed to do at this point; it was time to put her money where her mouth was.

She raised a fist, her ring sparked; a wide beam of intense plasma energy caused Wes to stagger backward. He let out an inhuman shriek that caused Roxanne to wince; she had to make this right. Wes sizzled and staggered down to both knees while Roxanne tried to focus. Through gritted teeth, she concentrated. She was trying to visualize a pure separation of corruption and host; maybe if she could visualize it then perhaps she could will it so.

With all this awesome power and shared experience, was anything truly impossible? Roxanne aimed to find out. She felt sweat streak down her face, suddenly she was plagued by doubt. Not her own, this was Azonne. She continued to implore Roxanne to turn up the heat. Azonne droned on, warning her of the danger; it was distracting.

Roxanne, it isn't working! He's starting to stand!

Azonne was right, but Roxanne wondered what came first. Concentration broken, Roxanne felt her knees give way as Wes stood and raised both his hands in front of him forcefully. Thick black gunk collided with Roxanne and engulfed her. Wes swiped his right arm left and sent her crashing into a wall, then swung his left arm right and threw her into the opposite wall. The entire penthouse shuddered as more support had been taken out.

Roxanne was thrown to the kitchen, she landed hard and rolled into the appliances, crushing them. Instantly, the goop still attached to her clung to her surroundings and stuck her in place. Roxanne found herself slipping out of consciousness as the tumble caused her head to rock around in terrible ways. She heard his footsteps approach her while her head pounded; her vision grew darker. He grabbed her face so that she could look at him, he studied it and his face twitched and contorted as if he were confused.

"Strangestrangestrange," he said. "Sacksacksack ofofof fleshfleshflesh strangestrangestrange tototo useuseuse," He grinned, it looked painful. “Butbutbut feelfeelfeel strongerstrongerstronger keepingkeepingkeeping fleshfleshthingthing aliveiveive.”

Wes looked like the veins had shifted to force the mouth movement and a part of Roxanne was almost grateful for the blackness that was coming. Roxanne shut her eyes and drifted off to unconsciousness. Wes cocked his head, almost insulted. But then he patted her head, slow and condescendingly.

"Yesyesyes, sleepsleepsleep." they said. "Funfunfun tototo bebebe hadhadhad; muchmuchmuch tototo learnlearnlearn."