Hubris

Welcome to the earth of 2002. It's April 2nd, 2002 and the world is changing. To most people, it's for the worst. Ask the average person for good reasons to promote humanity's survival or, indeed, to guess at our chances of survival and you're unlikely to get a pretty answer. Everywhere you look, you see decayed civilisation, decadent people driving cadillacs in donkey-cart economies, the fin de siecle slowly being replaced with the belief that it is a fin du globe. The old answers don't have the same power they did, the old orders are failing slowly but inevitably ... and nothing new seems about to replace them.

We can destroy ourselves by cynicism and disillusion, just as effectively as by bombs.
- Kenneth Clark

Something has, and that something is you. You've woken up (or will awaken) with strange gifts, wondrous powers that defy the logical and rational universe you've been brought up in. Powers that are awesome, terrifying, miraculous ... the power to change the world, even if it doesn't want to be changed. This is yours, be it a gift, burden or curse. This is power. What you do with it is all that matters ....

If I am honest and sincere, it is because of my beliefs, my ideology. For me, there is a unity of ends and means. Every means must be good in itself no matter in what stage of struggle. Freedom is inseparable from struggle.
- Cheddi Jagan

Hubris is an Unknown Armies campaign set in 2002. In this setting, the PCs play people suddenly and inexplicably endowed with super human abilities. Why do you have them? Who else has them? What can you do? What do they mean? No one has answers to give, just many more questions.

This game will be set in the city of Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. While the broad outline of the city will remain the same, the GM reserves the right to change any facet of it as the game demands. If you have been there, just pretend you never have.

Only the downtown map has been reproduced on this site. The other pages are at the ww.mbta.com site and linked to there.

The Boston Sun - Aril 2nd, Evening Edition

Odd News And Odd Happenings - Your Information Column by Jane Cecilson

Well, the city has had some fun over the past few days. How fun, you ask? Well, fun in the Nightmare on Elm Street manner.

The police are keeping silent about the odd events, but the death of half the patrons the night of the 1st at Ed's Pub and Tavern near the university is a bit hard to notice. One waitress, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that some guy tried to hit on a pretty girl and she "ripped his heart right out of his chest by looking at him and everyone just starting trying to kill everyone."

If that's not enough, a group of self-described gang members from Someville High got assaulted trying to sell cocaine. They were rushed to Somveville Hospital, but only one of the 8 survived. He claimed they got attacked by a glowing red giant.

Even stranger, all the fish as Brynes Pet Emporium near the harbour, famed for it's marine pets, vanished sometime last night. The other animals were still there. No one has come forward with any clues, but Mr. Maxwell is offering a $5,000 reward for any information about whoever did this.

According to the city's newest detective, Lance Christensen, "Mrs Flamwell said something about being attacked by the gang, savd by a giant who killed them and saved from the giant by" *looks in his notepad* "a hero in a red teenchcoat who saved her life and blew the dirt in the alley away with a magic wind."

He suspects the city might need to check it's water supply but refused to comment further on the case.

And if you think this is strange, a man is said to have put a sword into solid metal at a SCA convention in Britian and walked away claming to be Merlin. His friends claim that Arnold Blackwell never claimed that before, but are at a loss to explain what happened.

Even odder, up north there were reports of a flying, white "ghost cat" around Trail, British Columbia. And these are just the reported and official stories.

As far as we're concerned, this is shaping up to be an April Fools to remember!

If you know of any other strangeness in the city, feel free to contact me at jane@bostonsun.com.

The Boston Sun, April 4th Early Bird Edition

BUS CRASHES NEAR SUN OFFICES [Nestled in the back pages]
Clark Kent

After the April Fool shenanigans, things were quieting down in our city, or so we thought. Last night, a hijacked bus crashed near our offices. What made the hijacking by Eddie Moore unique was how it was stopped. A transient apparently strung out on some drugs, Eddie was unable to stop the bus from skidding into a bus stop.

According to him - and other witnesses on the bus - the girl at the stop glowed and floated over the bus, evading harm. The infamous 7’ tall psychopath calling himself Wrath appeared on the scene, along with someone in a strange bandanna and trenchant who had been seen with Wrath Tuesday, as well. They saved the passengers while the flying girl held Eddie captive. He claims she was a angel.

One of the bus passengers, on condition of anonymity, said that “If she was an Angel, she should have been able to stop the bus from crashing in the first place!”

Unfortunately, a man with a sword arrived on the scene and somehow shorted out all TV cameras present. Some blurred photos by staff photographer Peter Parker survived but aren’t very useful. The bus exploded after Wrath rushed back in to save the driver, but the strange people apparently were not hurt much by their proximity to the explosion.

They all left, one flying, one apparently flying a bike and the other two by leaping building. Police have put out a warrant for any “unusual activity.” If you find out anything, you can contact Sun reporter Jane Cecilson at 534 - 3429.

The Boston Sun, April 5th

The Robber Stoppers - Men Or Menaces?
An Editorial by J Jonah Jameson

What is our city coming to? Masked vigilantes are capturing criminals while our police force looks on and does nothing! Other editors may refuse to see the signs, but I will lay them out for you, by golly! If these people are really super humans, what does that mean for us? Well, I’ll tell you what it means: War! This is our world, not a world for pansies flying around in tights who have a strange obsessive compulsive need to wear their underwear on the outside of their pants. Humanity isn’t going to sit idly by and let these costumed hooligans run around and try and take over the job of our police force.

It is this journalists opinion that the city pass laws forbidding these so-called heroes from acting in our city. We don’t need mass property damage or riots in the streets against this insanity! I call upon the politicians of this city to speak out against these masked heroes and their evil. This is a city for humans, not for some strange freaks! Pass laws against them, arrest them and, if need be, dissect them! This is our world, and we need to stand up for it and be heard!

Let the Harvard professors whine about how it’s not possible or the future of human evolution - we can see what’s happening with our own eyes. And we can do something about it, for all our sakes and for the future of the human race! Let’s see these flying nut cases try and break our laws and get away with it. The law applies to everyone, regardless of race or colour or religion or if they can fly or glow! Let city hall hear your voices for the future of humanity!

Homo ... superius?
An Article by Eldrond Windchaser, PhD, of Harvard, for the Boston Globe

The day will come when, after harnessing space, the winds, the tides, and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of Love. And on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, we shall have discovered fire.
- Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Last night was a profound night for many Americans. Indeed, it was a shocking night for the world at large. A man who apparently was unharmed by bullets was stopped from plans to demolish the First National Bank on Highland Avenue. The people who stopped him could fly, shoot energy, move things without touching them and bend reality, according to some reports. What is implicitly true but not explicitly said is that they were not human. They wore no secret armour and did things that geneticists can barely conceive of making possible if some of the stories are true.

Even if they are just advanced humans, they exist. Something very new is on the world now, and no one knows what it might mean. Is this the new evolution of mankind or are they something entirely new that may one day supplant us? We don’t know. All we have right now are questions, and perhaps an overwhelming fear of the answers. If they are indeed the next evolutionary step after us, I hope they can survive us because we won’t go gently into that good night. We’ll rage, and cause a light that might kill even them. Perhaps I’m just tired, writing this at two in the morning, but I see little hope for them in our world unless people try to accept them for who they are, not what we want them to be.

I’m afraid for them, and of them I must admit, but most of all I’m afraid for the Earth if we go to war against them. Why is it so hard for us to accept the unknown? If we could answer that question, we might be able to answer the one that this new breed of humans represents. They take a big risk in letting us know the exist, in fighting against the more evil minded among them. Super them might be, but human they still are. And a reading of history should make them afraid, for them and for us.

UPROAR OVER LAW (Boston Sun) - For reasons undisclosed at present time, the mayor has declared a state of martial law in effect for the city of Boston effective at 7pm on the 5th of April. He advises rveryone to remain calm. When asked if it had anything to do with flying people, the Mr. Mayor declined to comment. The law allows the mayor to impose a curfew and the ubiquitous military men seen around today to enter any home without a warrant. Critics accuse the mayor of giving into paranoia.

HOUSE FROZEN (CP) - Vancouver gets little snow normally but after last night the inhabitants of this Canadian city were confronted with the sight of the suburban home of Kathy and Phillip Harpur frozen to solid ice by unknown means. No one has been able to get out or in so no one knows if the Harpur’s are dead or alive. Their son Ken, currently attending Harvard University, was unable to explain it. “No one hates mom and dad! It makes no sense.” His sister, Xantha, is travelling Europe and couldn’t be reached for comment.

ILLEGAL HACKING OR SOMETHING STRANGER? (New York Times) - An odd glitch in city computers last night caused all menial workers in the city to gain a one time bonus of $10,000 in their bank accounts, drawn from their employer or the city or bank finds. As of this morning, it seems to have occurred throughout the United States and most of North America and Europe to various extents. The reason for it is unknown but attempts to recover the money have met with limited success.

MAN INCARCERATED (CP) - A man living in Ottawa, Canada, who claimed to be able to summon up a fire elemental that “rolled dice and hates me” was taken to the Brockville Psychiatric Institution for examination earlier this week. Despite some fears he exhibited no unnatural abilities and seemed convinced that the world was a lie he had invented. One of the doctors - on condition of anonymity - said it was one of the worst cases of hubris she’d ever seen. He is being kept under heavy sedation.

AN AMERICAN HERO? (AP) - A man calling himself "Stars and Stripes" has been seen in New York and claims to be a defender of “Truth, Justice and the American Way.” Reports abound of a “stripe attack” and stopping criminals by singing the national anthem. He wears a red, white and blue costume and says that he’s a hero because “America needs me.” He's currently talking with Hasbro about a toy line.

DEATH OF “MERLIN” (AP) - The man calling himself Merlin in Britain was delivered to the police last night dead. Or at least the head was. It was delivered to police wrapped in a bow tie. The body was found five hours later with multiple fractures and internal injuries. No one is sure who killed him - and given his reported ability to alter molecular bonds - no one is sure how his assailants could have succeeded. The police are reportedly concerned about the possibility that people like him will be killed just for being different.

SCHOOL BURNINGS (London Times) - 15 elementary schools in Britain have been destroyed over the past 5 days. No one knows who is causing it or why but parents are up in arms and demanding the government do something to stop this terrorism. Most of the schools were burned to the ground but one of them reportedly looked like someone had hit it with a nuclear bomb. Authorities are afraid that some child has gained some of the questionable powers people have been claiming to have and is taking it out on the educational system. Opposition government critics cited this as proof that the educational system is in need of a drastic overhaul.

ILLEGAL WAR? (AP) - Consistent rumours from Pakistan claim that Israel is using someone - or something - “not human” in their current war against Palestine. Sharon denied it in a press conference today and said it was just an attempt to discredit Israel. However, the ban against reporters has continued and shows no signs of abating.

The Boston Sun, April 7th

Just what is in the city water supply?!
An Editorial by J Jonah Jameson
According to stories, an army of 100 skeletons marched on Boston Harbour last night. According to others, they were stopped by a glowing giant, the same one who killed and wounded various citizens of our city! Are we to be protected by murderous vigilantes who hurt people one moment and defend them the next? Where were the police, or the military during this uprising, I ask. Aren't we under martial law for a reason? Or were the military still cowering from their last encounter with walking skeletons?
A Boston Sun staff artist's conception of the alleged skeleton man.

If our only defenders against insanity are evil outlaws, what does that say of our city, or of justice? This paper believes that the use of such unnatural abilities should be outlawed and those who use them hunted down. Surely our government can find out where live and deal with them. It’s time to stand up to this darkness and insanity and say “enough is enough!” Stand up for your rights and get these freaks who are destroying our city banished from this country! This is America, and freaks like that are not Americans! Freaks who dress up as skeletons and try and frighten the people of this city have made a grave error - we do not give in to cowards.

PROF TAKES LEAVE OF ABSENCE (Boston Globe) - Professor Marvin Edgebright, known for his pessimistic view on the future of humanity and a world-renowned biologist, is taken a leave of absence due to unspecified family troubles according to Harvard. The professor was unable to be reached for comment but the medical facility was closed for repairs today, making one wonder what did happen.

STUDENT MISSING (Boston Globe) - Naomi Otsuki, an attractive 22 year old of Japanese decent who was studying genetics at Harvard University has gone missing. According to Harvard, she was working in the medical building during a chemical leak and vanished during the confusion afterwards. Her current whereabouts are unknown, but officials wish to question her about the chemical leak as well as some stolen laboratory equipment, saying she might know who took it and was silenced. Her parents were away on vacation in Canada and unable to be reached for comment.

JUICY TIDBITS - Your Gossip Column (Boston Sun) - Cameron Lancaster, famous former oil baron who became rich by making crazy decisions and taking risks at a rate that left other millionaires gasping, has apparently come up in the world again. Seen eating at the posh Day’s Inn restaurant, Mr. Lancaster just said that he had become involved in an important business venture that could involve the “super human element” of the city. He refused to give more information at press time and his son, a private investigator in the city, didn’t return our calls. Mr. Lancaster’s business partner, one John Smith, was unavailable for questioning.

OFFICER FIRED (Boston Globe) - Special Detective Lance Christensen was taken off duty but with pay this morning due to conflicts with his superiors. The infamous detective handled many odd and strange cases around the city and apparently clashed with his superiors about the nature of the unnatural actions in the city and how to deal with them. He refused to talk to the police about it.

AFRICA BECOMES EDEN (Boston Globe) - There is no longer a Sahara Desert. Even though it defies description, the entire continent of Africa has been transformed literally overnight into an Eden of fields and forest surrounding the villages and cities of Africa. Observers of calling this an act of God, but a Roman Catholic Priest - on condition of anonymity - said "The works of Satan can be confused with those of God. Part of life is to suffer, as Adam and Eve did when they were cast from Eden. To remake Eden is blasphemy." Observation of the flora and fauna finds it suits Africa perfectly, as it must have thousands of years ago. Walking through woods based on ones that had existed millennia ago, one can't help but wonder if they'll meet creatures long extinct. It is a terrifying and humbling experience.

No miracle has ever taken place except under conditions which science can accept. Experience shows, without exception, that miracles occur only in times and countries in which miracles are believed in, and in the presence of people who are disposed to believe in them.
- Ernest Renan

Boston Globe, page 3

To the world:

We are Eugenics, The Society for the Furtheration of Humanity through the Selective Destruction of Hindrances to Social and Physical Evolution. We are super human and we exist. To prove our existence, we have turned Africa into a Paradise. Doubt our power and we will lay waste to other lands as easily as we transformed Africa. We do not bluff. If this missive is not published, there will be consequences. You have been warned: the days of humanity are over.

Master J.

The following fax was sent to our office this morning We are publishing it solely for the benefit of readers and not because we believe in this Eugenics group or what they claim to be able to do. - The Editor.

I do not know what I may appear to the world; but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the seashore, and diverting myself now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst the great ocean of truth lay all undiscovered before me.
- Sir Isaac Newton

Boston Sun, the bottom of page 3

Unlike other papers, we do not give into terrorist acts. This paper is late this morning because, in a strange typesetting error, a certain fax was included in our paper we did not plan to print. It has been removed. - The Editors

MILITARY CALLS IN THE BIG GUNS (AP) - With recent events in the city of Boston including the assault of a military helicopter by a flying woman, the President authorised the use of a secret UN task force that he claims he didn't even know about until Sunday evening. Called the Lawless Justice Reserve, all President Bush said was that they were authorised to do whatever was necessary to capture super humans. When asked whether this including using nuclear weapons on American cities, the President refused to answer.

CHURCH OF ETERNAL TRUTH COMES UNDER FIRE (Boston Sun) - The so-called Church of Eternal Truth, which has one building set up near the harbour and claims that the so-called super humans are actually Gods, was fire bombed Sunday evening. According to Brother Daniel Reynolds, who joined the church last evening, there were no casualties. “The Church has no wish to press charges against the misguided. History has shown that people would rather destroy the truth than embrace it, as Christ’s death on the cross shows. The perpetrators will be dealt with by the Gods.”

It is interesting how we forget that freedom itself is a form of imprisonment until we see those freedoms taken away from others. It seems to me that there are no inalienable rights, just privileges handed down to the next generations and taken as rights. ... In claiming super humans aren't human, we need to first figure out what being human means. It's more than just being born: a child raised in a jungle would arguably not be human until he or she was socialised. What the super humans show us is a simple truth, one that we may learn if we accept them. Being human is not something you are, it is something that you earn.
- Excerpts from an anonymous letter to the Boston Globe.

LJR SUCESS! (Boston Sun) - The Lawless Justice Reserve has succeeded in capturing three super humans in the Boston area yesterday afternoon, including the infamous Fire Girl and her friend who had been responsible for the BUC disaster. While all three super humans were examined, apparently “Fire Girl” and “Ghost” escaped the installation despite attempts to keep them there. Authorities believe they may be returning to Boston, but the police refused to tell this paper what their plans would be to detain them.

CAN JAILS WORK? (Boston Globe) - With the escape of 2 of 3 captured super humans, the experiences of the Lawless Justice Reserve should open all our eyes. Many super humans can’t be held in captivity, as we understand it. So how can our ordinary justice system deal with such threats? The simple answer is that it can not. Are we to execute or permanently drug super human criminals? The answer to that question is worrisome, since execution of that nature, without appeal of any kind, would violate their basic human rights. But is such a violation necessary in order to preserve our society against the danger such beings represent? We don’t know, but this reporter suspects it won’t be long until congress is forced to declare super humans not human in order to be able to deal with them using inhuman - or all to human - methods. It seems we are going to enter a new age of witch burning and hysteria, whether we like it or not.

PAYMENT REQUESTED (Boston Sun) - Having figured out how much damage was done by the girl being dubbed Fire Girl by the press and an escapee from some military complex called Ghost by the same press, The Boston Utilities Commission is demanding they pay $15, 000 in damages caused by their illegal entry into the power plant and the subsequent battle between them and 1 escaped convict aided by two other people. BUC spokesperson Abel Maglovich said that they did not expect repayment to be made, but felt asking for it was a must. “These people can’t just wreck public utilities and get away with it!” The BUC is also pressing charges against the police, asking for $10,000 due to gross negligence in the line of duty.

SUPER HERO DEFENSE FUND ESTSABLISHED (Boston Globe) - Marshal Vanderbelt, partner of Vanderbelt, Johnson and Johnson, is setting up a defense fund for super heroes to help meet any legal expenses they acquire. While he did not mention the BUC by name, the implications of the funds establishment were quite clear. “That was no normal power blackout, no matter what certain parties might claim. It was engineered for evil purposes and stopped by Fire Girl and Ghost,” Mr. Vanderbelt said to the press. While he refused to give reasons for establishing the SHDF, his daughter was placed in the hospital last night in critical care after suffering an accident at home during the black out.

AFRICAN WAR BEGINS (AP) - With national boundaries eradicated by the creation of a new forest-continent of Africa, Egypt and Libya joined forces to subdue Chad and Sudan before the other nations could make adequate use of their new-found wealth. Reports of battles, civil wars and secessions come from the rest of Africa as well as the old orders break down and nations struggle to remain nations when many roads are gone and places suddenly isolated overnight. The future of this continent seems to have become very precarious, making some wonder if this creation of an “Eden” was a gift or curse?

Boston Globe Editorial, Wednesday April 10th, 2002
A NIGHT TO REMEMBER

It happened again. And this time, the city could not ignore the truth. The power plant shut down - to be more precise, it melted. While casualties have not been reported yet, most of the staff from the plant has been accounted for. The city is still here. Some people caused a core meltdown of the power plant and this city didn’t become the next Chernobyl.

The reason why is quite simple: the super humans. Yes, three of them are said to have caused the meltdown, but they also contained the energy. How? No one really knows. We know nothing about them save that the three who caused the meltdown were apprehended by the woman calling herself StarChild (name courtesy of Jane Cecilson, Boston Sun), an albino named “Bender” a member of the Lawless Justice Reserve and a fourth man who has yet to be positively identified.

Our city was saved by them. The LJR claims that the return of power to the city downtown was also aided by these same super humans. They even intervened in the military stand off with looters to save lives later, according to many witnesses. Yes, lives were lost. Yes, people got hurt and they caused a lot of property damage. (Maybe that’s what we get for having kids grow up reading comic books.) But the city has been saved. Not all super humans have evil goals, it seems. These ones, perhaps, may even be called heroes ... for they have saved our city from their own kind. We owe them thanks.

As such, this paper is holding a Thank you Party at noon today at the Oldfield Gardens. Any proceeds raised will go towards repairing damage to the city caused during the night. We ask that the heroes be there, so we can thank them for what they did.

The newspaper does ivrything f'r us. It runs th' polis foorce an' th' banks, commands th' milishy, conthrols th' ligislachure, baptizes th' young, marries th' foolish, comforts th' afflicted, afflicts th' comfortable, buries th' dead an' roasts thim aftherward
- Finley Peter Dunne (Mr. Dooley), Observations by Mr. Dooley: The Newspaper.

Boston Sun Editorial for Wednesday, April 10th, 2002
WAR IN THE CITY!

“Heroes” have saved our city, it seems. From “villains” who tried to take it over. This seems to be accepted as an indisputable fact. Even this paper can not deny that many lives were saved when the power plant went down. But that is the beginning of the story.

The middle lies in looting, and the rioting last night when the power failed, civilisation crashed and we all put on animal skins and ran around like savages. Well, not all. Just a few who forgot about laws and decency in their urge to take things they had no right to. The military showed up and shot at the rioters. According to Commander Elijah Brown, they fired warning shots, and over their heads.

Then, to the astonishment of men already tried beyond human endurance this past week, bullets began to vanish in front of Macy’s. Vanish into thin air. The spooked soldiers fired at the blank zone, even as weapons vanished from hands, and struck something. It fell, and people behind it got shot.

The unidentified hero of the foursome who helped the plant came rushing into the scene, obviously trying to aid whoever had vanished the bullets. The military shot at him, in self defense. He vanished moments later, with another who wasn’t identified but looked “like a ghost,” according to an onlooker.

Sounds familiar, doesn’t it? What gives these so-called heroes the right to interfere in the military of this city and cause the deaths of innocents? Are these the actions of a hero trying to protect a city? We think not! Saviours on one hand, destroyers on another. We have been lied to, people of this city.

We forget that the villains were defeated so quickly, with minimal loss of life. Astonishing, really. Perhaps even, dare we say it, staged? Yes, the heroes have “saved” us, but why? What is in it for them?

The moving hand writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.
- Fitzgerald, Omar Khayyam

POLICE RECORDS WIPED (Boston Sun) - An unidentified man brought in for questioning regarding his role in the robbery of the Crown Royal bank on 4th and 8th by a super human along with a group of military-trained followers attempting to fund some radial group. The man brought in for questioning refused to hand over his ID and told the police to leave him alone. According to a police spokesperson, “then all Hell broke lose.” The coffee machine apparently attempted to strangle a constable with it’s cord and “all technology more advanced that a toaster tried to kill people.” The man escaped during the confusion and the records the police kept of criminal activities have all been wiped from the computer system, which is apparently “refusing to give them to us until we install more RAM,” Said Inspector Brown, who helped bring the suspect in.

NESSIE LIVES IN THE BOSTON HARBOUR! (Boston Sun) - Harbour officials have been worried over a surprising number of damaged hulls for no apparent reason recently. However, long time Boston Resident Mac Schomaker claims he's seen the reason: a gigantic dinosaur like creature he described confidently as a cross between the Loch Ness Monster, who he claims to have seen buying videos from a hotel in Scotland once, and Ctuhlhu of HP Lovecraft mythology. As one harbour patrol officer said on condition of anonymity "It's nice to know some things never change." We're hoping for Big Foot to be seen next, ourselves.

WHY IS THE PRESIDENT SILENT? (Boston Globe) - The existence of super naturals can no longer be dismissed as fancy or collective delusion. They exist, as the police can confirm after two of them and a member of the LJR brought one and some bank robbers into custody. What is perhaps more surprising than their accepted existence is that the president as issued no statements about them and seems to be pretending Boston doesn’t exist. If the city continues as it is, it’s likely a total breakdown in order could occur. We need help - Boston is still part of America, and we need more than the National Guard fencing us in like plague victims. Silence isn’t the answer.

FAMILY THANKS INDIAN GOOD SAMARITAN (Boston Globe) - Mary Nicholson asked our paper to thank the mysterious indian woman who helped her when her son Christopher, 7, fell off the rof of her house while playing hide and seek. "Both his legs looks broken and I was trying to get through to the hospital when this woman just stepped out from between two buildings and calmed me down," Mary said. According to her, the woman touched Chris and he stopped crying, his legs "knitting back together before my eyes." Christopher doesn't seem to recall much of the incident, but says the lady looked sad and had a "nice smile." Mary's husband Charles was relieved and asked that this paper express their thanks to the woman for saving their child.

SILENT NOISE (Boston Globe) - The beleaguered BUC was unable to explain the reasons for then city’s mysterious loss of communication with the rest of the world yesterday. According to a BUC spokesperson, it was “probably those so-called super heroes who wrecked our plant.” As no is sure how to contact the heroes this information could not be verified. If anyone knows anything about this odd event, and who (or perhaps what) caused it, our information hot line can be reached at 344 - 3344.

INSURANCE COMPANY DRAWS FIRE (Boston Globe) - Jenkin’s Insurance Firm drew heavy criticism from other firms and the city for refusing to accept that the destruction of the BUC power plant as payable under their claims. They attempted to pass it off as an Act of God, which drew fire from Mr. Mayor, who called it “a cheap attempt to not have to pay the BUC. Whether we like it or not, we have these people in our city. An insurance company that won’t deal with such claims is one I wouldn’t do business with.” On the other side of the issue, Daniel Reynolds of the Church of Eternal Truth claims that it was “An act of Gods, not just the act of one God” and said it was a step forward in the Church’s attempt to obtain legal status in the city.

BROTHER IN A COMA (Boston Sun) - Jenny Zerkowitz has asked this paper to help her find out what happened to her brother. Delivered home by an unknown person in a deep sleep the night of the sleketon riot dowtown, he hasn’t woken up since and remains in the hospital. Jenny is asking for anyone who knows anything about what happened or is wrong with her brother to call her at 342 - 4921. She said her family is also offering an unspecified reward for information about what happened to him.

HERO PARTY BOTHERED BY PROTESTORS (Boston Globe) - The well intentioned attempt to bequeath the heroes of our city a substantial cheque for their valiant efforts in protecting it Tuesday evening were interrupted by terrorists claming to be from Eugenics. In the ensuing confrontation one of them was executed after attempting to murder civilians and altering the city weather patterns, causing it to snow. The other villain absconded with the body of the dead woman and the ceremony was cancelled earlier than planned.

“THERE’S ONE BORN EVERY MINUTE” (Boston Sun) - But not at OUR paper! These heroes cause more disturbances than they stop, even committing murder at a banquet in their honour! And a super baby - yes, baby - did the crime. Are we to sit idly by while our city is taken over and debased by these creatures? No! This is a city for humans, not super humans - and if we have to prove that to them by force, then that is what we should do! A demonstration is being held all day in front of city hall - let your voices be heard!

The Boston Globe, Friday April 12th, 20002
There will be no paper today. This is being printed off in limited circulation by 5 people, hence the reason it is one page. The city has been struck by ... something. We don't know what. We don't know who survived, or died, or what happened. We will report when we do.
- The Staff

“We hundred have survived. Of all the faithful we were the chosen.”
“Yes, Brother Daniel.”
“We have survived the fire of the gods, the death they have brought to the ungrateful and those who doubted their power. The city has been cleansed.”
“Yes, Brother Daniel.”
“This is not Sodom. Nor Gomorra. This is Boston. But our crime was theirs - we were not hospitable to the gods. We spoke out against them, we disbelieved in them. No more! They have shown their power, power that is not meant for man, and proven it. We are as dust to them, but they still deign to come among us, to help us. They are the gods!”
“They are the Gods!”
”They are the sun that warms us, brethren.”
“They are the fire that burns.”
“They are our damnation.”
“They are out salvation, Brother Daniel.”
“They offer us hope, brethren.”
“Hope in the midst of death.”
“Hope because we survived, and know - we know that ... ”
“They are the Gods!”
- First Service of the Church of Eternal Truth AF (After the Fires)

“See, the man has become like one of us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might reach out his hand and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”--therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from which he was taken. He drove out the man; and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim, and a sword flaming and turning to guard the way to the tree of life. (Genesis 3:22-24)

The following conversation eventually makes it into survivor legends, said to have occured near the damaged city hall, where a young girl pulled an older woman out of the rubble:

“Are you all right?”
“Are you?”
“I can’t find my mommy and daddy.”
“They’ve gone on, child. Along with everyone one else who was here.”
“You’re not dead!”
“No. No, I’m not.”
“Are you - are you one of them?!”
“I’m one of me, child. But yes, I suppose I am. I was trying to stop ... what happened. The inevitable, it seems to have been.”
“Why did they die?”
“Everyone dies, child. Sooner or later. Even heroes - especially heroes.”
“They killed my parents!”
“I know. Believe me, I know. They had good intentions, though. That might count for something.”
“They - ”
“They were trying to stop the riots. They made mistakes, like gods and men have done since time began. It’s often those who are good who cause the greatest of evils.”
“That makes no sense!”
“Truths don’t have to make sense. They just are. And you are, right now. The dead are gone and passed - you’re tears won’t bring them back. It’s not right, or fair, but life goes on. That’s what it does, maybe all it can do .... we go on.”

If you gaze too long into the abyss and the abyss proceeds to makes faces at you, you should become worried
- Alcar

The difference between a good man and a bad one is the choice of the cause.
- William James