CoSS, Simplified

(3) The Karaoke Bar and the Cowboy

TJ's was a karaoke bar where a good majority of the specially skilled people hung out. Few "normal" people attended because they felt vulnerable or overpowered. Jade was a so-called normal person. However, her profession dealt with the members of the "secret societies." She was a counselor for them, and one of the very few regular humans with such a job. Her training, schooling, and wit landed her that position.

Jerrod met Jade through that job. He had been going through events that he did not want to think of right now. This was a time to drink. He approached the bar where Jade sat and pulled up a chair beside her. "Already drinking without me?"

Jade smiled. "You took too long." She turned toward the bartender and signaled an order of the same drink she had. Then she faced Jerrod again. "So how was work?"

"Eh. . .same shit. Eddie's acting like an idiot again. It's a bullshit job. That's why I can't wait until I get into CoSS. I'll be able to call the prick and say that I quit."

Jade laughed while Bobby the bartender raised Jerrod's drink. The three of them all knew what that meant. Bobby - who had the skill of perfect swiftness and accuracy - always wanted Jerrod or himself to do a trick. Bobby either tossed the empty cup and filled it from a distance without error or Jerrod would use his own ability. With a small smile and shake of his head, the telekinetic gestured with his finger, which caused the glass to float right to him. Bobbie threw his hands in the air and cheered while a second bartender rang the bell behind the bar. It was always fun times here.

Jade shook her head at the little show and sipped from her drink. Once the cheering settled down, she said, "You know I've been having a higher volume of cossers calling in. I usually get about ten or eleven a day, but lately it's been in the twenties."

Cosser was the vernacular name for those with special abilities. The more formal term was Sociite or Kais, the latter supposedly being derived from the original Japanese name.

Jerrod cleared out half his glass quickly. The drink relaxed him. He faced Jade. "Really? What do they call in about?"

"All different things." Jade paused and mindlessly kept sipping from the drink. "Like for instance, today two different ones called in, asking if their skills were a blessing or a curse. I guess the recent higher taxes on their institutions are making them depressed."

That new tax law annoyed Jerrod too. Every school, training program, or job for cossers increased in costs by twenty percent. Even buying a book or bettering one's skill cost three times more than a learning book for regular humans.

"Yeah, then I can see why they'd be calling," he said. "A lot of cossers are trying to better themselves, and the system is just screwing them over." He finished his drink and asked for another. He could not help but think back to when he could have turned into one of those rebels. He almost did.

Someone not far from Jerrod interrupted his thoughts when he or she slammed a hand down onto the counter. That caused the bar to quiet down and everyone to turn to this new person who happened to be dressed like a cowboy.

A woman in the background adjusted her telegadget as Billy began to approach the new patron. The cowboy looked as though he had been walking for miles and not eaten in days. He breathed slowly yet heavily.

Before anyone else said anything, the woman with the telegadget shouted, "Guys, duck down! He's about to-!"

"Siro says hello," the cowboy said as he drew his pistol faster than any eye could catch. Even the super quick Bobby could not avoid the powerful bullet that struck him.

Some people screamed, others jumped over the counter, and a few attempted to attack the cowboy. Jerrod's first reaction was to telekinetically move Jade out of the way. She gasped as the unseen force took her and flew her into the bathroom, locking the door. That maneuver was beyond illegal, and only government agents could obtain a license to move people.

When Jerrod turned back to the chaotic scene, he noticed that all the ones who attempted to strike the cowboy fell back violently. He only had seconds to assess the situation. The perpetrator appeared to have some sort of force field surrounding him. Jerrod extended a hand to try and push him back. However, the cowboy did not budge. He just turned from the bar stand and started to slowly walk toward the exit. His eyes stared down at the ground ahead of him, and he paid no mind to anything around him.

Jerrod cursed under his breath and tried to knock the man back with his forces again. When he received no result, he lifted a table and rushed it toward the oblivious man. That only caused the table to break with no damage to the shooter.

Meanwhile, out of Jerrod's line of sight, a golden-haired man dressed in green flipped two small bottles and mixed their contents in one glass. He stood up and tossed the concoction onto the cowboy before he had the chance to flee. For some reason, the force field provided no protection. The cowboy's eyes rolled to the back of his head before he collapsed face first onto the floor.

Jerrod froze and stared at the fallen man. Everything happened too fast for him to comprehend the details of what occurred. He glanced up at the man in green who flipped his bottles again and slid them into his pockets. He tipped his black hat down as a polite gesture to Jerrod and then turned to leave.

Jerrod wanted to call after him, but too many people scrambled to the motionless cowboy. Others did not seem to have witnessed what the one in green had done. Too much had been occurring at once. Well...whatever power that man had - Jerrod had never seen it before. Maybe the mysterious one was just a scientist.

Ah, it should not matter now. The authorities had just arrived.