My Phone's alarm took longer than usual to wake me up. Hopefully it was one of the middle alarms rather than the 'panic-time' alarms

"Today is Monday, the 7th of August [2006.] The time is [5:30] AM"

Fuuuuuuck It's already almost Six AM. I've got less than… shit- an hour and 30 minutes until the rush.

I get up and quickly got into my suit, which I had left out just before sleeping in case I was later than usual like today. Of course, I made sure to check my closet to make sure I had enough suits to get me through the week- which I did as usual. I normally would have also checked my backup suit in the drawer but I was pressed for time. I hated suits, they were so hard to maintain just for appearances sake. Dry wash is a headache when compared to how most other clothes can just be machine washed. Unfortunately I had to go and be a Chief Financial Officer, meaning good impressions were actually important. Not that I would complain about making 100k a year, and I more than earned the position, I just didn't see myself in this kind of job. Of course I started my job at 9 so I technically didn't have to start on my way yet. It was just The Rush that forced my early bird behavior. Losing track of time could get you killed in Neo-Atlanta. Ok, that wasn't totally true- but it could get me killed considering my commute. It was both how I could afford to get up at 8 and get there before 9 when coworkers even closer barely got there before 9, yet also why I had to wake up before 6 despite that fact.

I quickly packed up my laptop, I usually brought it from work since my workout routine didn't exactly take up enough time to last me until I slept. I had my side project- and it is a side project, not a hobby- but that wasn't the kind of thing I would do unless I had the next day off so I could work on it through the night. I refused to have a hobby, those were just an admission you didn't know what to do with yourself. They were basically a way of saying "The life I've made for myself holds no meaning to me", and I wouldn't fall into that trap.

Getting out of the apartment complex always took the most time out of my commute. I lived on the 6th floor and there wasn't even an elevator, just a bunch of stairs. It was good cardio meaning I didn't have to have it in my workout, but it was inconvenient in all other areas. Now it was just a matter of crossing the street to the sidewalk and travelling the rest of the block to my job's office building. I checked my watch and it showed at just after 6 AM. I was good for today, but I still cut it closer than I would like. I could already see the makeshift costumes of empowered wannabe 'heroes' and 'villains' though for me the distinction is pretty much academic considering how they all behave once it gets to 7:10. They were all almost as nervous as I would imagine any civilians that were dumb enough to be here when the rush started would have been. Despite the obvious danger they posed I had time, and while I still picked up my pace to a slow run I still took in time to observe my surroundings.

The construction crews had been late today, not quite finished with packing up their equipment and leaving despite the imminent chaos. It was obvious by how they were looking at the windows of the building rather than the entire object that this was just a test for the glass itself. Good luck with that, it would break just as much as any other glass when all hell broke loose. It was better to focus on it breaking safely rather than trying in vain to make it withstand who knows how much force of a blow from the empowered. It wasn't my company's money though, so who was I to judge? I did notice some of the buildings had a different color than normal, perhaps someone was trying a new material? It was a better venture than the glass, but I doubted anyone could match up to the concrete and other materials that were already well established. Not that it stopped me from taking a mental note of the attempt. The building and empowered weren't what held my main interest though. What I looked at where the doomed cars. Having done this for about 4 years I realized that it wasn't purely stupidity that caused cars to get parked here. Some examples, such as that- oh definitely not some idiot, that's a model that doesn't come out for another two years. That was definitely some company preforming a safety test. That car was broken down, so probably an attempt at insurance fraud. If they'd bother to read their policy they would realize they would be wasting a car and getting nothing for it. I don't get how people were dumb enough to think that insurance companies wouldn't take the empowered into account when making their policies. Almost all of the ones I read stated somewhere that leaving a car where an empowered fight or catastrophe event that was already known to occur or had warning of ahead of time would be null and void. Then there were people who just didn't know what they fate they had condemned their car to, leaving a brand new car like this one parked in the street while doing who knows what. This was a smart people day, apparently, as I only found two fraud attempts and one ignorant person car.

Finally, at 6:20 I made it to the front of the building. Almost a whole 3 hours ahead of time, later than usual but still more than good enough compared to most other people who hadn't even gotten here yet. I might even have gotten here before my boss.

That's what I thought at least, then I saw her. Standing in front of the door waiting for me, boring straight through my skull with her stare. Ex-supervillain Amanda Smith: the only one to take her fight to the government. Shit on the F.D.D.I along with their goons. While also trading blows with Paragon himself. Yet after all of that still get acquitted by the supreme court. The Steel Shark herself.

My boss.