City Hall

Alex and Tom were making their way towards City Hall, attracting attention as usual. Alex had his sunglasses on, hoping they would prevent this situation but there were many other reasons for the attention.

For one, Alex was dressed like a child who just grabbed whatever clothes were on top of the pile. In Alex's case he was just wearing whatever clothes he had available as this was the only clothes he had available after last night, with his usual clothes being in the wash. He wore navy blue sweat pants, a green tank top and old sneakers that used to be white but were now mostly brown.

The other reason for the attention was Tom. His eyes were just as strange as Alex's and drew plenty of looks, the yellow color making them resemble the eyes of a snake. His short brown hair and pale skin made his eyes stand out even more. Unlike Alex, Tom had a regular set of clothes on with his entire ensemble being mostly black with a single horizontal stripe of white on his jacket.

After walking for some time, the City Hall finally came into view. The building itself was nothing special, just a two story building with a bit more width than any other buildings near it. It was slightly less damaged than most of the city but not by much.

The two young men awkwardly walked through the front doors of the City Hall, Alex with a limp thanks to his injury. There were chairs pressed against the walls and a woman sat behind a desk on the opposite end of the room from the front entrance.

Alex felt nervous as he approached the desk, the woman sparing only a glance at the young men who had entered before going back to whatever she was doing behind her desk.

"Fill out these forms and return them to me when you're done." The receptionist said with a monotonous tone as she placed some papers and a pen on the edge of the desk near Alex.

"Oh, alright..."Alex said in a soft voice as he and Tom moved to sit down.

Since they were the only people in the room apart from the receptionist, it was as quiet as a library. Neither Alex nor Tom was willing to speak for fear they might disturb the receptionist, until Alex whispered something after a few minutes.

"I can't see anything. These sunglasses make everything so dark that I can barely see the words on this page..."

"Just take them off, there's no reason to wear them in here." Tom whispered back.

Alex thought about it for a moment and then took off the sunglasses, handing them to Tom.

"That's much better, I've been taking my eyesight for granted all these years, even a pair of sunglasses makes me feel debilitated, imagine actually being blind..." Alex whispered.

The receptionist had heard everything the young men had said since the room was so quiet and was mildly irritated by their conversation.

'Just shut up and finish the form, it's not hard to do. Why are you even wearing sunglasses to begin with, and what were you saying about letting people see you?' The receptionist thought as she looked up at the young men, intending to glare them back into silence. Instead, upon seeing the boy without his sunglasses, she felt a jolt run through her spine as goosebumps appeared on her skin.

Alex was filling out the form like he was told when suddenly he heard a voice coming from beside him. "What is the purpose of your visit today, Sir?" The receptionist said with a serene and respectful voice and a friendly smile on her face.

'Is she being respectful because she saw my eyes?' Alex thought before replying.

"I'm here to get my ability evaluated." Alex tried to speak with confidence but it was obvious to those around him that it wasn't natural.

"Then could you follow me?" The receptionist said as she took the forms from Alex, pretending not to have noticed his act of confidence.

The receptionist walked over to a door beside her desk and stood there waiting for Alex to follow. Alex stood up and gestured for Tom to follow, which he did. They followed the receptionist into another room where a small round metal ball sat on a pedestal in the center.

There was a monitor on the other end of the room, which the receptionist quickly walked over to while speaking.

"Please place your hands on the device while I activate it." She said while gesturing to the metal ball.

Tom remained by the door while Alex walked over to the pedestal and placed his hands on the metal ball, which lit up with a white light after a few seconds. For almost two minutes Alex held his hands on the metal ball as it hummed and glowed before the receptionist finally said something.

"You can remove your hands now, Sir."

Alex did as he was told while the receptionist moved her hands around on the touch screen monitor. The sound and light coming from the metal ball faded after a few seconds and Alex went to stand beside Tom.

The receptionist had a shocked look on her face and her hands began shaking as she looked at Alex. When Alex's eyes met hers, the receptionist quickly looked away like she had done something she shouldn't have.

Alex saw the receptionist's strange behavior and asked, " Is everything alright?"

The receptionist responded with a shaky voice. "Yes, Sir. I was just a bit surprised is all. It seems your ability is... Unique.

"Hah! See, what did I tell you? I knew it would be Unique considering what it can do!" Tom said with excitement.

"I guess you were right after all." Alex said with surprise and excitement in his voice.

"It was kind of obvious man, how could it be a regular ability when you're able to..." Tom stopped speaking and looked at the receptionist. "Ah right, we should probably talk about this later."

The receptionist had an expression on her face that looked like she had just been caught doing something she shouldn't. "I'll make your new ID card so you can be on your way, Sir." She quickly said before heading back to her desk.

She checked the form Alex was filling out before and typed some things on her computer. A few seconds later there was a humming sound coming from below her desk as she bent down and grabbed something.

She placed a black card on the desk, which Alex quickly picked up and examined. Unlike his previous ID card that was white and had his name, date of birth and image on it, this one was black and simply had his name on it.

-Alex Rune-