Beginnings — Dean Murray

Coffee has been on the run ever since she defected from The Company. It's only recently that Her nominal allies in the Resistance have only recently begun to trust her and she's finally got access to the secret weapon that's allowed them to stay half a step ahead of their bigger, more technologically-advanced opponent.

Croaker isn't much to look at. He's certifiably insane and has at least thirteen separate documented personalities, some of which would like nothing more than to see Coffee and the rest of the Resistance dead. On the plus side, some of those personalities can see into the future and one of the weaker ones seems to be trying to warn her that events are approaching a pivotal decision.

The Company rode the last pivot point into ascendancy, and the one before that produced a being of godlike power who's still shaping the world in ways the masses don't begin to suspect. Croaker's fragment of personality has finally produced a location and a day. It could be another of the hostile personalities' elaborate traps, but it's not the kind of lead she can ignore.

'Beginnings' is designed as one of a series of loosely related stories set in a world where shadowy operatives with advanced technology hunt down 'potentials' who have the ability to manifest powers and abilities which have so far defied explanation.

2600 words.