"Evolution teaches us that all things can be traced to the same simple cell. How we all came to be, and how there is so much diversity then? It is because there is a moment, when two specimens of the same species take separate paths. One goes to land, the other water, and we have elephants and sharks. Despite how much they might have resembled one another at some point, in the end they become two separate entities all together."

-Mohinder Suresh

Dr. Linda Frey tried to keep her emotions on the positive side as she worked to figure out how to turn on the SmartCart system. The school had decided that it was time to drag the faculty into the 21st century, be it even by kicking and screaming. As such, each classroom on campus now has a SmartCart, which included a TV projector, overhead projector and computer.

Personally, Linda liked the cart; she just wished she could figure out how to get the damn thing from being on overhead projection to computer projection. She was a Com teacher, not a technician!

"Want me to give it a try, Dr. Frey?"

Linda looked up in surprise, nearly banging her head on the top of the inner cabinet. "Carter?" She questioned, looking up at the young man she knew so well. However, every molecule of her being was screaming that this wasn't the normal Carter she knew.

Her Carter wore baggy shirts and had his hair in his eyes. Her Carter stuttered, and liked to stay in the shadows like a good little wall flower. Her Carter sure didn't stand up and volunteer to help with anything while the whole class watched!

But this Carter, dressed in a purple velour pullover, hair spent back, did not act like the Carter Dr. Frey knew. No, this one was smiling at her, arms crossed, amusement written plainly in his eyes. Most startling was the fact that he could get a full sentence out without tripping up.

Not that Linda would draw attention to the fact.

"Carter! You didn't stutter!"

On the other hand…

Carter laughed. A deep, rolling belly laugh that had him nearly doubled over. Linda, as well as the rest of the class, could only watch as he clutched the table to his left. He took a few steady breaths, calming his nerves before looking over at his professor.

"That I did. Mind if I try?" Not waiting for an answer, Carter gently pushed Dr. Frey away from the SmartCart, getting down on his knees and fiddling with some of the switches.

"Carter…w-what…"

"Now you sound like I use to." Carter said, pressing a small button on the remote. Instantly, the image being protected on the big white screen shifted to the startup page on Windows. "There you go, Dr. Frey."

"Y-Yea…thank Carter." Linda managed to say as the young man strutted back to his desk, leaning back in his chair. She had the feeling Carter was resisting the urge to kick his feet up and relax.

"Your welcome." Carter said with a smirk. "Now, let's get this class underway, huh?"

&&&

"Just one more stroke…" The man thought, sticking his tongue out as he moved his ink pen towards the large sheet of heavy paper he was working on. Using one hand to adjust the overhead light, he carefully lined up the ink pen with the previous pencil line he had drawn…

"Lee!"

The man, startled, jerked forward, the pen skittering across the surface of the poster he had been working on.

"Lee, are you not done yet?"

(Lee Malion- Boston, Massachusetts)

Looking up at his boss, the younger man grimaced slightly as he tried to move and hide the error that even now was permanently staining itself to the poster surface. The last thing he needed was his boss finding out he had ruined another poster.

Lee Malion was a graphic artist, and his look fit his profession to a T. He was strikingly thin, with pronounced cheekbones and long wiry fingers. All the better for him to grasp a brush or pen, and dexterous enough to suit his needs. He was wearing a dirty, stretched out white shirt and a pair of khakis. His black hair was spiked up, the tips done in a metallic purple, and he had several piercings, not all in his ears.

"Just…about." Lee muttered, looking at the poster he had been working on. The graphics company he worked for had been commissioned to do up some promotional art for some grunge band, and Lee had been assigned the job. It was simple work really: Draw some evil looking junkyard dog growling and baring its fangs. The image would be scanned, and someone else would add the type and the background. An hour job, at most.

That was 2 days ago.

For some reason, the young artist just couldn't settle on a design he liked. Each one just didn't meet his taste, forcing him to start over again and again. It was driving him nuts, but in the end it had been worth it. The picture he'd drawn this time was perfect.

That is, until his boss had walked in. Now, the perfect junk yard dog had a perfect black line running up its brow, from eye to barely past the line that marking out the top of its head.

"I was." Lee muttered, running a hand along the sparse hair that covered the very tip f his chin. "Now…not some much, huh?"

His boss looked over his shoulder, shaking his head. "What? Looks, fine to me. Come on, we have a deadline!"

"There is a mark…I have to do it over…"

"We can have the computer guys fix it." His boss said simply, moving to snatch the poster off the desk.

Lee was too quick though, catching his boss' wrist just before his fingers could come in contact with the poster board. "What do you mean, have the computer guys fix it? I'm not turning this over to the tech guys!"

"Yes you are." His boss said, struggling out of his grip. "This company isn't going to lose this contract just because your ego won't let you have other people help on a project. Now sign the poster and hand it over."

"My ego!?! This isn't about my ego! This is about me trying to do this perfect…"

"Nothing is perfect, Lee. Not even you. Now, sign the poster."

"No."

His boss shrugged, snatching the poster off the desk. "We have your signature in the computer anyway, I'll have them fix that line, then add your signature." Lee glared at him, moving to grab back the poster, but his boss shot him a glare. "Lee…let it go." Moving towards the door, he looked back at the graphic artist. "Touch me again, and I'll have you designing Happy Meal Bags, got me Lee?"

Lee nodded after a moment, his glare never wavering as his boss left.

&&&

(Carter Daniels- Flint, Michigan)

Rolling his neck, Carter tried to pay attention to what Dr. Frey was saying. She was talking about Theory X, Y and Z, and how they affected the working environment. But for some reason, Carter just couldn't concentrate.

Every time he lowered his head to begin taking notes, he swore that someone was watching him. He knew it was silly, but even if they were watching him, why should it matter. Probably just some hottie finally noticing how good looking he was.

'Or how you're a freak'

Carter raised an eyebrow.

'Where the hell did that come from?' He thought. No one thought he was a different. Not at all. 'Well, they might. But for the better, anyway. New and improved, just released for the first time, Special Edition, ribbed for her pleasure Carter Daniels. Supplies are limited.' He chuckled silently. 'No one things you're a freak, even if you are…stop that!' Shaking his head back and forth, the student tried hard to get back on task.

"Do you disagree with me Carter?" Dr. Frey asked.

"Huh?" Carter replied, looking up stupidly.

"You were shaking your head when I was talking about Theory Z. Do you not agree that it came from Japan? Because if you do, I think there are some Japanese guys that are going to be mad with you."

The class laughed at that, and Carter shrank down in his seat just a little, before remembering that he was Improved Carter. There was no reason to be nervous. 'Especially since I saw to it that I don't anymore!'

"No professor, not disagreeing with that." Carter stated. "Just wondering if you were going to go into more detail about Theory Z?"

Linda was intrigued. She had been just about ready to quiet the class down, knowing how Carter didn't like being the center of attention. And he really didn't like being the butt of a joke. But, from all appearances, he was perfectly fine at the moment. Deciding to seize an opportunity when it appeared, Linda pressed on.

"What sort of detail, Carter?"

Carter smirked. "Well, you were talking about how Theory Z is a combination of Theory X and Theory Y. But it's more then that. I mean, it also has a large part in giving broad tasks with overt freedom for the team. In Theory Z, a task is assigned, like make a new computer chip, and the team is told when to do it. That's all. And then they get to together and do it. And they almost always end up going beyond what was s-suspected."

Freezing mid thought, Carters eyes went wide.

"Carter?"

"Sorry…just…lost my trait of thought." He said simply. "Anyway, by allowing a t…t…t…" Carter slowly grew frightened, struggling to finish the sentence. "…team, to d…d…" He gulped, glancing to his right towards a few students near him. They all looked impatient, wondering why he didn't hurry up…why he was taking so long…why he was so stupid… "I…I have t-t-to go!" Carter cried out, snatching up his bag and notebook and hightailing it out of the room.

"Carter!" Dr. Frey shouted, rushing to the door only to find him nowhere in sight. "Carter…"

&&&

"What the hell is w-w-w-wrong with you!?!" Carter exclaimed. He was in the stairwell, seated on a landing. "You're n-n-not like this anymore! You f-f-f-f-fixed it…" He hung his head, grabbing at his scalp and painfully tugging at his hair. "You're n-n-n-n-n-not like this anym…m…m…more!"

Squeezing his eyes shut, he could feel the hot tears burning behind his eyes. He had been normal…he had been like everyone else. And now, it was being taken away from him. Why? He'd changed, and for some reason all the implanted emotions he'd given himself were fading away.

His mind flashed to a story he'd read in high school, 'Flowers for Algernon'. In it, a near retarded man had been given extreme intelligence, only to go back to what he had once been. Carter had never really understood the torture that man went through…until now.

"What's wrong Carter?" Looking up, Carter couldn't do anything as the fist buried itself in his jaw, knocking him into the stairs. "Seems your upset." Carter groaned as Hank Delpine and a few of his bible-thumping cronies walked towards him. "Let me guess…you had missed me while I was away. Grab him."

The two other guys grabbed Carter, hauling him to his feet and restraining him. Hank looked him over before delivering a vicious punch to the gut, Carter letting out a cry.

"Tell me something Carter…the only thing I remember, before waking up in that loony bin, was coming to see you. Then…nothing." Hank grabbed Carter by the chin and dragged his face up to stare at his own. " Something tells me we didn't sit around and have a prayer circle. You've never been one to pray, have ya Carter." Another punch, right to his face. "Well, I imagine you are praying right now. God won't answer though…he doesn't answer prayers from people like you." Hank's knee came up swiftly, driving up into Carter's groin and making the young man bellow in agony. Hank began to rain blows down on the restrained young man, his voice never wavering. "So tell me Carter…what happened here on Monday? What did you do to me, huh? Drugs?" Hank punched him once more in the gut. "Come on Carter…you have to have something to say."

Carter slowly looked up, something in his brain finally snapping into place.

"Oh yea…" He whispered, hands beginning to glow. "I've got something to say, Hank."

&&&

"What do you mean, you haven't seen him?" Linda Frey asked.

Kelly looked around the office, a bit nervous. "He never showed up for class…Carter always shows up for class. That's why I came to see if he was talking to you."

"Maybe he just went off to think…he got real nervous in class today…"

"Nervous…Carter?" Kelly asked, surprised. "You're sure?"

"Yea." Linda said. "He was acting all funny…then he suddenly went all Carter-like, you know?"

"Carter…"

"Dr. Frey!" The two women turned to see a young man standing in the doorway of Linda Frey's office. He looked to be in a panic, and was out of breath. "Carter Daniels was found in the stairwell…he doesn't look good."

"Carter…" Kelly whispered, before taking off for the stairwell. Fast on her heels, Linda joined her, the two women leaving the Com department and heading for the stairs.

As they entered they entered the area, they were shocked to find paramedics all over. Two of them were carrying one of Hank's friends, the young man babbling in fright. Another paramedic was giving Hank a sedative, while the third in the group was being forced to lay on a stretcher, the man screaming.

And there, in the middle of the landing, laid Carter, his battered body limp. His head was towards them, curling towards his chest slightly, his arms sticking straight out. His legs twisted the other way, one sticking straight back, the other following the opposite curve of his head.

"Carter!" Kelly screamed, leaping down the last few steps and rushing as the medics to cradle her friend's head in her lap. "Carter…oh God…"

"K-Kelly…" Carter whispered.

"Carter...I'm here…"

"…what's happening to me?"

Coming in the Following Weeks

(Description Written to Howard Shore's 'Requiem of a Dream remix')

As the Heroes come together, one has been left behind, to fend for himself.

(Shot of Carter laying in the stairwell, his body twisted into the Helix Symbol)

When evil comes searching for him, he will learn that he can not stand alone.

(We see Carter in a parking garage, Mr. Bennet holding a gun on him)

In order to survive, in order to fulfill his fate, he will need to turn to those he will one day protect.

(We see shots of Kelly and Linda.)

For evil…is also evolving

(We see Lee Malion staring around his apartment, drawings of monsters, demons, and other figures all over the walls. His eyes glow for a moment, and the papers begin to shake.)

For Carter Daniels, everything is about to change. But before it all ends, before Carter can learn his true potential…

(We see Carter and Kelly leaping off a bridge, diving into a river)

…he will need to learn the truth of his family.

(We see Carter looking through a file, growing pale.)

Bennet: He can never know…never. If he ever learns about this..he will come after us…and nothing will be able to stop him.

(We cut to Lee looking down at the city)

Lee: This..is my hour.

(We cut to Carter)

Carter: Not if I can do anything about it.

(Carter let's out a scream, hands glowing as he tacking someone and everything goes black)

Elsewhere

"Everything is connected"