Anniversary Issue

The young female reporter looked seriously into the camera, and started speaking.

“As practically everyone on the planet knows, today is the 5th anniversary of the momentous day when superhumans began appearing. “S” day, as it came to be called, was the biggest moment in the history of the world, and so today we are pleased to present this anniversary edition, interviewing some of those who were among the first transformed ..... Roll tape.”

The Nevada desert ....

“You know the hardest part of being a speedster? Finding a good codename. I mean, nobody was sure if the comic companies would sue if you used one of theirs, so you had to really work at finding one that wouldnt get you in trouble.

so I finally decided on Ripp, cause I ripped a hole when I started running. I dont know if I was the first, but I was definitely up there, you know?

At first, it was pretty frightening, but after I got a handle on what I could do , it was a lot of fun, at least for a while. Now, there are so many heroes, well, it just isnt as much fun anymore.

Its kinda funny, I’m maybe the fastest man on planet Earth, but all I want to do now is just ... slow down.”

*********

A junkyard somewhere outside of Jersey City, New Jersey.

“Come in, but mind the mess.”

The man who welcomed me inside looked a little like every mad scientist in every bad movie I had seen, and I could see he wasn’t kidding about the mess.

“So. You want my story, huh?”

I nodded.

“I was always a smart cookie, but when “S” day happened, it was like my brain exploded. I became the smartest man in the world, and you’d think that would mean I would get all kinds of positive things happen because of that, but it turns out I have one serious drawback.

I have more ideas than enough, but I cant stay focused on any idea long enough to make the idea real.

So here I sit here, surrounded by a junkyard full of half-finished inventions, and none of them will probably ever see the light of day.

Just goes to show, “smart” isnt all its cracked up to be ...

*******

Alert, Northwest Territory, Canada

“Normally, I dont entertain visitors, but for such a special occasion I’m willing to make an exception.

So you wanna know what “S” day means to me?

It was the last good day I had, that’s what it means.”

“Yeah, I’m super strong now. So strong I break stuff without meaning to. And I’m invulnerable, goody, except it means I cant feel anything , making it even harder for me to keep my strength under control. For a while, I tried to ignore the ramifications of what happened to me, tried to see the upside, and use my power for crimefighting just like the superheroes in the comics. But whenever there wasnt a bad guy to stop, I couldn’t turn it off, couldn’t live a normal life. “

Tears ran down his face.

“And its not just ‘stuff’ I’ve broken Its ..... people. So that’s why I live here now. Where I cant hurt anybody.

Worst thing is, I dont know if I can die. I havent aged a day since “s” day. I can’t find anything that even hurts me. I might go on, and on .....

So that’s what “S” day means to me. Now get out of here. “

*******

The tape ends, and the camera once more focuses on the young reporter.

“Well, as you can see, 'S’ day changed many lives, and not all of them for the better. This is Lois Lancer, reporting”

Once the camera light went off, Lois took off her mike, and went back to her dressing room. Once there, she pulled out a locket from a drawer and looked at the picture inside. It was the picture of a rather dorky young man, with bad teeth and thick glasses.

She sighed, and put the locket back in the drawer and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She thought about “S” day, and how like the people she had interviewed it had been a mixed blessing for her. She got a useful if subtle ability to make people like her, but the cost was the body and gender she had been born with, as she had been a boy named Clark Connors up until “S” day.. Even now, five years later, she was still struggling to adapt to the beautiful young woman she saw in the mirror, and even the ability she had gained seemed hardly worth it sometimes.

“I had just wanted to be liked.” she thought, and then shook her head, and realized she would have to put the pity party away, and focus on her next broadcast.

So she plastered a smile on her face, and prepared for the future.