The Seer's broadcast continued, its unnerving personal confession—of being a "normal person" driven by the desperate need to save his own family—still echoing in the minds of billions. The terrifying, undeniable reality of the East China Sea island, and the chilling countdown to the China earthquake, had already shattered global normalcy. But then, the Seer dropped another bomb, one that sparked a vastly more fragmented, nuanced reaction across the bewildered populace.
"I will not be the only one to receive such gifts," the Seer's voice resonated, its tone shifting to a profound, almost mystical revelation. "There will be many other humans who will awaken to powers entirely different from my own."
A hush fell over the world, but this time, it was a more complex silence, laced with a thousand different thoughts.
In an apartment in Buenos Aires, Argentina:
Maria, a retired teacher, clutched her rosary, her eyes wide as saucers. "Powers? Like saints?" she whispered, her voice trembling. "Is this... a new miracle? Are we truly in the end times, and God is sending us champions?" Her fear of the disasters was immense, but now, a flicker of fervent, spiritual hope ignited within her. She imagined benevolent figures, protecting the innocent.
In a crowded subway car in Tokyo, Japan:
Kenji, a cynical salaryman, stared at his phone screen displaying the masked figure. "Right," he scoffed, despite the terror still simmering from the island's emergence. "More superheroes. He's just trying to give us hope to control us. Next, he'll ask us to form a 'Justice League' for him." Yet, even as he spoke, a part of him, deep down, wondered. What if? What if someone could actually fly? Or stop a tsunami? The thought was absurd, but also tantalizing.
In a coffee shop in Berlin, Germany:
Lena, a university student, felt a surge of adrenaline, mixed with a thrill she couldn't quite name. "Oh my God!" she breathed, her eyes lighting up. "Are we talking X-Men? Avengers? This is... insane! But also, kind of amazing? If the world's ending, at least we'll have real powers!" Her phone was already buzzing with friends sending memes, fan art, and wild theories about what kind of powers might emerge. It was a macabre excitement, a desperate search for wonder in the face of doom.
In a small town in rural Oklahoma, USA:
Jed, a grizzled farmer, spat tobacco juice onto the dusty ground. "Powers, huh?" he grunted, shaking his head. "More freaks, you mean. Just what we need. Who controls them? What if some psycho gets fire powers and burns down my fields? The Seer's already playing God; now he's making little gods? This ain't gonna end well." His distrust of authority, even a digital one, remained firm, morphing into suspicion of this "new breed" of humans.
In a bustling market in Lagos, Nigeria:
Mama Ngozi, a resilient market vendor, felt a pang of both fear and a strange, quiet optimism. "They will be strong," she murmured, watching the broadcast on a communal TV. "Like the ancient spirits, but in human flesh. Perhaps they will fight the earthquakes, stop the floods." Her people had always believed in forces beyond the mundane. This was simply another manifestation, terrifying but also potentially empowering. She imagined them as protectors, a new shield against the chaos.
The Seer's words about the Gifted triggered a complex tapestry of human emotion. From wide-eyed wonder and nascent hope to cynical dismissal, religious fervor, and deep-seated suspicion. Humanity was not unified in its reaction to this new revelation, but the discussion had begun. The world was about to be changed, not just by disaster, but by the very evolution of its own kind, and the thoughts of every person, for better or worse, had begun to turn inward, wondering: What if it's me?