"That's a wrap", the director yells. "Alright, let's pack up everyone."
The Director then transfers Kyren's pay to his bank account. A payment notification of $800 pings on Kyren's phone, he thanks the Director, and glances at his phone.
"Rent is due in a few days, but I am not worried about that because I have been saving my previous payments." Kyren thinks to himself. "The troubling issues are with the utilities, food, wi-fi, and basic necessities."
Kyren usually works 8 to 10 days a month, depending on the length and budget of the movie. He is paid $600 to $800 per stunt day, depending on the risk level.
Kyren's payment averages around $6000 to $7000 a month before taxes. But with taxes, union fees, and insurance, his net take-home is closer to $4200 or $4500 a month.
Kyren tries to save money for emergencies, for example, if the GAA were hot on his tail, but with rent, utilities, food, wi-fi, basic necessities and repairs. Sometimes he's left with only $100 or $200 at the end of the month.
The following day is Kyren's last day of stunt work for the month, even though six days remain.
SILVERDASH STUDIOS - BACKLOT - SUNSET
Kyren meets Juno near the exit of the studio, where Juno had been waiting for a while as Kyren was talking to the Director.
"Bro, are you ready to head out so we can go have a look at the alleyway?" Asks Juno.
"Actually, that's a fantastic idea, you fled the scene, whimpering like a terrified child." The voice whispers in Kyren's mind, "I didn't even get time to gaze upon our masterpiece when we covered the walls with that poor soul's ashes."
"What's wrong, bro? Why aren't you responding? Is that creepy voice spewing nonsense inside your head?" asks Juno.
"Yeah, it is." Says Kyren, "Recently it has been acting up ever since the alleyway, but don't worry I am in control."
"No doubt from me, bro, I know that you are stronger than that voice inside you," Juno tells Kyren.
"By the way, after having a look around the alleyway, I want to stop by the mall and buy a new jacket to replace the one I burnt yesterday," Kyren tells Juno.
The alley was quiet when Kyren and Juno slipped in, its walls still scarred with the melted asphalt and twisted brick from last night. The air carried the faint metallic tang of ozone, sharp enough to sting the tongue.
Kyren and Juno scanned every inch of the scene. Kyren replayed the moment again in his head—the hydro-kinetic sneer, the kicks, the flood of rage, the voice that screamed LET ME OUT. The moment he had lost control. The moment he had disintegrated a man.
Now the alley was cordoned off, but not by police tape.
"Shit," Juno whispered, tugging Kyren back into the shadow of a rusted fire escape. "GAA, probably Division Four or Division Nine."
Six armored operatives in matte-black suits moved with surgical precision across the site. Their visors flickered faint blue as they scanned the rubble. Kyren recognized the gear—energy filters, designed to analyze residual energies. If they were here, they weren't guessing. They knew exactly what had happened.
Kyren's chest tightened.
"They're looking for you. They'll find you. Kill them first." The voice surged harder than ever, whispering in his skull like lightning in his bones:
Six of them. Easy. Burn them to ash before they track you down. You've killed before, several times—why not again?
Kyren dug his nails into his palms, shaking his head. "No. Not them."
Juno glanced at him sharply. "What?"
"Nothing. Just—stay quiet."
The lead agent, The Phantom, crouched, scanning a scorched wall. His modulator rasped: "Residual static. Omega surge pattern."
Aegis replies, "Cross-reference grid. If this was uncontrolled, we're looking at a target more dangerous than most registered Stormborne."
Kyren's heartbeat thundered. Juno's hand touched his sleeve, grounding him, but it wasn't enough. The voice pressed harder, "You'll never be safe while they breathe."
For a second, Kyren swayed forward. His fingertips sparked faintly, betraying the war raging inside him.
Juno hissed: "Ky, don't."
The word snapped him back. He exhaled hard, forcing the current to die down, hiding his hands in his pockets. He met Juno's eyes, saw the unspoken plea there—Stay human.
One of the agents turned their way, visor glinting. Kyren froze. The light lingered, then passed.
"Clear the sector perimeter," the Phantom barked. "No witnesses. No chatter. Whoever did this—if they're not registered, we'll find them. And when we do, Division Four won't miss."
The team moved deeper into the alley.
Kyren and Juno slipped back the way they came. Only when they reached the busy street did Kyren finally breathe. His hands still trembled, and the voice still whispered.
"You can't hide forever. Sooner or later, they'll see you for what you are."
As they were moving, a hand gripped onto Kyren's shoulder. "I saw you walk away from the alley. What were you doing there?" Ironveil asked them. "Don't you know that that is a restricted zone?"
Juno gripped onto Kyren's sleeve tightly. "Shit," he breathed.
"Just… cutting through," Juno said quickly, slipping into a practiced, casual tone. "Didn't realize it was closed off."
The agent's gaze lingered on Kyren. Not Juno — Kyren.
"You look nervous," he said flatly.
Kyren's throat went dry. He forced a crooked smile. "The GAA makes everyone nervous."
"He doesn't believe you. He sees you. Tear his lungs out before he—"
Kyren clenched his fists in his pockets. The voice hissed louder, and for a flicker, sparks crawled faintly across his knuckles. Juno stepped half in front of him, voice steady: "We'll go. Won't bother you again."
Ironveil leaned closer, as if trying to pierce Kyren's head with his eyes. The air between them felt charged, a hair from igniting.
Then the Phantom barked from deeper in the alley:
"Sector sweep's done! Pack it up — we're moving out."
Ironveil didn't move immediately. He stared a beat longer at Kyren, suspicion thick, as though he'd caught a whiff of the storm beneath the skin but couldn't name it.
Finally, he straightened. "Go. And don't come back."
Ironveil looked towards the alley, yelling back at the Phantom that he was on his way, when he turned back at Kyren and Juno, they were long gone.
"…Something about that one. Felt wrong." Ironveil thinks to himself.
Kyren, swallowed by the city's night, kept walking. His jaw ached from holding back the storm's scream.
"You almost killed him. Next time, don't hesitate." The voice whispered to Kyren.
Location: Hollywood, Kyren's apartment.
Kyren and Juno both sit on the couch panting, "dude, that was really close, had we stayed any longer, that agent would have figured out something." Juno mutters.
'Ky, I told you to calm down and not to draw unwanted attention."
"I'm sorry, bro, I didn't expect to run into anyone in the alley and most certainly not the GAA." Says Kyren.
"Ya, Ky, I get what you are saying, my heart was about to jump out of my chest," Juno says.
"Wow, you really are an astonishing actor, I didn't sense even a single bit of fear from you," Kyren tells Juno.
"But, Dude, this isn't good, the GAA knows about the power surge and worse, they also know that an omega-level Stormborne is hiding in Hollywood," Juno yells.
"Dude, keep your voice down", Kyren tells Juno. "The good thing is that they don't know my identity, so if I lay low for the meantime, they are bound to move on eventually, thinking that their target has already moved on to another city, thinking that the target was just passing through Hollywood."
"Bro, don't you think that you are being way too optimistic?" says Juno. "But your idea isn't wrong; if you don't do anything that points them in your direction, they are bound to move on."
Juno tells Kyren that he doesn't understand why Kyren insists on doing dangerous stuntwork that might make him lose control and expose himself to the world.
KYREN SAYS
"Dude, I already told you that when my adrenaline is up, that's when I am most in control of myself, that's why I do stuntwork, that thrill helps me to remain sane."
"That's why last night in the night alleyway when I lost control momentarily and unleashed the power surge, in that single moment of action, when I had just realized the power surge, my adrenaline spiked up and I regained control of the surge, thus preventing it from destroying the entire block and focusing it on the hydrokinetic jerk."
"Ky, you really are on a whole other level than most Stormborne. I think you can even go toe to toe in a one vs one match against the low-ranked members of the Magnus Circle, like Bastion Break, Lumen Vox and Ember Queen," Juno tells Kyren.
"Wow, you really think so, Dude, you do know that the Magnus Circle are the seven most powerful Awakened ever, Earth's greatest heroes," Kyren exclaims.
"Ya, you really do, but you can't win a single round." Juno laughs.
"Jerk, you got me all worked up for nothing", says Kyren.
"Dude, don't sell yourself too short, even if you can't win a single round, going toe to toe with even the weakest member of the Magnus Circle is a really strong feat," Juno tells Kyren.
"Thanks, man." Says Kyren.
Juno tells Kyren that they were in such a hurry to get away from the GAA agent that they forgot all about buying the new jacket.
Kyren tells Juno not to worry about it and that they would buy the jacket another time, and also that his finances weren't looking very good unless Juno was willing to buy him a new jacket.
"I really like you, bro, I do have the money to buy it for you, but I won't spoil you, " says Juno, "think about that next time you are about to lose control, think about the repercussions, like burning your only jacket, so I won't spoil you."
Juno puts his hand behind the couch and reaches for something, and pulls out Kyren's investigation board. "Still haven't found anything about your mom's work—or why your entire family disappeared off the face of the Earth on the day of the storm under completely different circumstances.
Kyren believes that his parents, most especially his mom, somehow knew about the Storm before it occurred, and the fact that part of it would strike in the Nevada desert at the exact time he was there with her.
"Well, it doesn't help that your mom's work mysteriously disappeared after she went missing, no doubt the GAA was behind it", says Juno.
"I don't even know what happened to my uncle, and I can't make out what the stuff inside my mom's old journals means", says Kyren.
These journals were handed to Kyren by an independent private lawyer, an Awakened with ghost-like abilities, the lawyer secretly worked for his parents.
"If anything ever happens to both of us, and Kyren is left all alone, hand him these journals and tell him that they will guide him in our place."
These were words from Kyren's parents told to him by the lawyer as he handed him the four journals, five years ago, a few weeks after the Storm struck the world.