We'd all given up on trying to fix society. Then he showed up.
"What price would you pay to achieve your wildest dreams?"
"What risks would you take to change the world?"
For a select few, these questions aren’t hypothetical. They’re an offer.
We wager everything in the Contracts, our morals, our humanity, our very lives.
But the Harbingers pay, and their Gifts transcend cash and coin.
Think you’ve got what it takes? No judgment if you chicken out.
Who wants super powers anyway?
Yesterday I went on online and watched this bartender, Alex, light a cigarette with a snap of his fingers, no lighter. Did it under the observation of a bunch of scientists too, so that’s that. He’s officially Illuminated.
Of course “magic” has always been around. It wasn’t a secret. All those myths, legends, religions, and folktales; they’re all true. Well, sorta. Some of them are make-believe. The rest have been told and retold, twisted each time to suit the monarchy or Disney or what-have-you.
Nowadays it’s different. Now you’ve got a cell phone with a 4K camera in your pocket. All you’ve gotta do is snap the video, post it to CryptoLeak, and you’ve got millions of views. And while the ambitious and greedy scramble to capitalize, you can sit back and watch all the debunkers and conspiracy theorists debate whether or not the whole thing is a hoax.
Never ceases to amaze me. All this technology and people still can’t tell what’s real and what’s a scam.
I hear fire-finger Alex’s bar is doing good business now, but it won’t last. What can he do that anyone with a lighter can’t? No, it won’t be long before the novelty wears off and no one cares about Alex’s little party trick. If he’s lucky some aristocrat or senator will hire him as a Jafar, pay him to stand nearby at parties and press conferences.
The truth is, even if people like Alex are one-in-fifty-thousand, they’re still a dime a dozen.
But you— people like you are different. You’re hungry, curious, and a little vicious. Your untapped potential is off the charts, if you play your cards right.
What I'm saying, friend, is you’ve got talent. Real talent. Trust me, I’ve got a knack for spotting that kind of thing.
So, what do you say?