Fate

A lot of things would be different for me right now had I decided not to take the shot. The one thing that wouldn't have been different however, is my ability. Let me explain; a few days before I took the shot my uncle called me (From now on I'll refer to him as Johnny, though that's obviously not his real name). Johnny is my mom's brother, and he's the one member of my family who's always looked out for me, despite it all. He's a doctor, and works in a hospital in Seattle. He was calling me because a job had just opened up at the hospital, and he said that he could pull the right strings to make sure that I ended up getting that job, were I interested in applying. At the time I was still trying to figure out whether or not I was going to take the shot, so I told him I'd think about it, and call him back in a few days. A few days later I had made the decision. I was going to take the shot. As I've said before, I wasn't taking the shot to get an ability, I was taking the shot to kill myself, hoping that it'd shock my Parents and my brother into getting their lives in order. So if I ended up taking the shot and killing myself, there'd be no need to accept that job, might as well let somebody else take it. I had called a lot of people that day, Johnny was the last one. I told him that I wasn't interested in taking the job, that an opportunity had just opened up for me closer to home, he told me that the offer would always be open if I changed my mind. I took the shot right after I hung up.

So how, you ask, does all of that add up to me still having an ability even if I hadn't taken the shot? Well, the hospital that my uncle works at just so happens to be the very same hospital where the "promicin epidemic" started. When I turned on the news that morning, every station was reporting on the events at that hospital. The newscaster was saying that word had come in that half of the people at the hospital had died the previous night, apparently, due promicin poisoning. I called my uncle on his cell phone as soon as the news went to commercial. After trying to get a hold of him all day, he finally picked up the phone. He was okay, he said that the police had sealed off the hospital, refusing to let anyone out. He told me that the first thing he suspected was that, somehow, someone had figured out how to create some sort of undetectable "promicin virus" and let it loose on the hospital. After testing himself, and some of the other people in the hospital, he found that he was right: He, and all the others he had tested, were promicin positive.

So what if I hadn't taken the shot that day? What if I'd called my uncle to tell him that I would take the job, and make the move to Seattle? It's hard to say exactly how things would have went down, but one thing remains certain: I would have been working in that hospital that night. I would have been "infected" with promicin, and I would have gotten my ability.

Fate is a funny thing. I'd like to believe that there's no such thing as "destiny", that I'm in control of my own life. But even if I had decided not to take the shot, even If I had never gotten a hold of promicin in the first place, I was apparently "destined" to get an ability. I really haven't been doing much with my ability beyond personal experimentation. But if I was "destined" to get an ability, then there has to be some higher purpose for me than sitting in my my house alone, seeing how many "adaptations" I can force on myself. Isn't it my responsibility to try and help people? The realization has dawned on me that, I'm probably immortal. My power isn't voluntary, whenever I encounter something, anything, that my body can't deal with, I instantly adapt to it. I'm quite sure that as soon as my body starts deteriorating from the aging procesess, my body will once again adapt, and permantly halt the aging process. So if I can't age, if I can't be physically hurt, and I'm pretty sure that I'llnever get sick again...then there's nothing left that can kill me, not even natural causes. So now I don't have any excuses not to use my ability to help people, in whatever capacity I can; even the selfish reasonings no longer apply, because there's absolutely no risk involved, because even if some psycho tries to kill me, the attempt would just make me stronger.

I've been hearing on the news that Seattle is still under quarantine, and that Jordan Collier and his followers are currently in control in the city. They say that the quarantine will be lifted next week. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with my ability. One thing is for certain though: as soon as the quarantine is lifted, I'm going to Seattle to see my uncle . I think I'll finally take him up on his job offer.

Also, an Adaptation update:
I already wrote about my adaptation allowing me to see in total darkness, but a week ago my eyesight got a whole lot better. I was at a baseball game with some buddies, we sat in the cheap seats. As soon as I tried to focus my vision to try and tell what was going on, I could suddenly see the field like I was sitting in the front row. After some experimentation, I realized that if I focus my vision, I can see as far as I need to. When I got home from the game I focused as hard as I could, and was able to "look" all the way to the other side of the city. Every time I try, I can look farther and farther. Honestly, I'm kind of freaking myself out with this; just the other day I was able to read over the shoulder of a guy reading a book, in a park, on the other side of the state.