The Conduits

Prologue: The Big Bang

Summary: This is the story of the lives of a few new conduits and their struggle to thrive in the ruins Empire City will they rise above the others and claim their turf or will they fall to the chaos of Empire City?

Disclaimer: I do not own inFAMOUS only my OC that will appear.

Author's Note: Bad summary I know. This starts at the beginning of inFAMOUS so the first conduits you will see will be of the reaper faction but there will be more later on as the story progresses. Cole will come in and out of course considering he'll be the main hero of Empire City and Cole will be the good moral version. Rated T for language, violence, drugs, and some other stuff that may/may not happen later on.

-Jack's POV-

Shade and I were making our usual rounds of dealing the various drugs that were given to us by our dear employer. All and all it had been an average day. The regulars bought from us trying to get us to make a deal with them so they would get more for less. We declined as always earning a few strings of foul curses, flips of the bird, and occasionally a knife drawn each. Yep, just the average day of a drug dealer in Empire City at least no one pulled a gun on us this time, which did tend to happen time to time.

My name is Jack Lynch. I have short sloppily cut dark brown hair and brown eyes. I am eighteen years old and have been at this illegal job for four of those years. I have been somehow swindled into the drug trade by a stupid mistake I had made when I was ten, maybe twelve, it was somewhere around there. Then again if I hadn't screwed up like that then I would have never met Shade, my P.I.C. (partner in crime) and best friend.

Shade had years of street smarts under her belt. She's been at this far longer than I had. She never told me her real name and it seemed like no one even knew it at all, they just all called her Shade. She was quite popular amongst those of us who were stupid enough to take this job in the first place. She was my age but shorter than me but she had a total of ten years of this crap amazing isn't it? I'm surprised she hasn't earned enough money to get out of this shit. Then again if she left I'd have no one to talk to. Unlike her I had very few friends amongst the employees.

It was dawn and our night shift was over finally. The sky was a lovely pink orange that bathed everything else in the color, including Shade. Her black hair shined with the pink orange light and her normally pale skin was shining beautifully. I shook my head violently. I shouldn't be thinking like that. She was my partner nothing more, right? Well I did always kind of like, like her. I guess it wouldn't hurt to just ask and I don't think there are any rules against it with boss-man. I mean Taylor and Jay are together right? So it would be fine, but what if she didn't like me back in the same way? What if she thought of me as only a brother? I groaned.

"Jack are you alright?" I hear her ask concerned. Her blue eyes locked with by brown ones. I bit my lip.

Ask her out! My inner thoughts ordered.

But what if-

Stop being such a baby and DO IT!

I took a deep breath. Fine, I'll try.

"Um…Shade I was wondering if...well if. That, well if you," I tried to get my words straight but I was suddenly nervous about it all and the words came out as word vomit.

"What's that?" she asked looking behind me.

"Wha-"was all I was able to get out as a bright blue light flooded my vision. I winced and turned away. I could faintly make out a silver metal barrel as it rolled towards us. The next few moments were all a blur. Screams, explosions, complete and utter chaos assaulted my ears. It was all so loud I thought I was going to go deaf. Black inky tar looking stuff showered all over me. It was foul, sticky, and it stung as it blinded my vision. I opened my mouth is yell but it went down my throat. I feel to my knees coughing up the terrible tar. I could feel myself slipping further and further as the lack of oxygen was getting to me. The tar had made its way into my lungs and was suffocating me and there was nothing I could do to stop it. My last thoughts were, 'I never even got a chance to ask her out.' Then all went black.

-Shade's POV-

Everything's drifting, fading in and out. My body feels heavy like someone had strapped weights to them. Lights come and go, someone's carrying me. My head rolls to the side I see red, a red hoodie I think, looked like there was something white paint on the hood. My head rolls over I see another red blur carrying someone else. They looked familiar, but couldn't put a name to face; I could barely even make out the face. There's a ringing in my ears I couldn't focus. Pain pulsed through my body a foul stench plagued my nose. Nausea tightened on my stomach, the bile rose in my throat. I'm dropped to the ground my knees landing on cold concrete. I can barely support my own weight as I slowly drift forward. An arm wrapped around my midsection keeping me up. My head rolls the bile creeping slowly up my throat. It burned as it finally splattered to the floor. The smell was back ten fold now. I try to open my eyes, to wake up all the way. Everything was spinning or was I spinning? I couldn't tell. A black spot stained the ground. Was that inside me? I didn't have time to think about it. I was lifted back up my head snapping back.

I faded in and out trying to remain conscious my body becoming heavier and heavier and the world blurrier and blurrier. I could feel myself being placed on cold floor. I could hear the sound of someone walking through water. The noise got louder and louder. Someone was coming. I couldn't move my head to see who it was.

Poor darling, shhh…don't worry mother is here.

The voice echoed in my head. Mother? I've never had a mother before. A hand ghosts over my face trailing from my hair to the bottom of my chin sharp nails scraping against my face but they didn't break the skin. It was comforting.

Mother is here.

The voice was as gentle as the thin nimble fingers stroking my hair lovingly. I relaxed the pain slowly easing away the pain in my body. I felt tired so very heavy and tired. I wanted nothing more than to slip into unconsciousness.

Mother is here

The voice repeated and I felt myself slip further and further. The last thing I was able to even comprehend was the feeling of being lifted into someone's lap, my head resting on a chest, and soft lips kissing my forehead then all slipped to the sweet oblivion relaxing in Mother's arms.

Please tell me what you think and I'll try to get the next one out which will be better I hope.