[PI]

The Shine could have been salvation for humanity. Should have been, but we were never very good at evading conflict. Who knows how long ago it was, but in an age of wireless devices and ubiquitous information we lifted our gaze from our screens only to see the sky ignite, consumed by a cold, variegated blaze. It lasted only a few hours, but took only a few minutes for the world to see. It didn't take much longer for people to want a closer look, to crave a caress of the gentle flame.

And then they flew. They flew so far and so fast, and swiftly they were joined by others; and then they fell, very slowly at first, but much like a boat in water they sank further the more that joined them. It didn't take long for people to work out that the sinking related directly to how many people flew, or to notice that flying wasn't the only option available to us. Before the Shine had faded many such options came and went; flight, strength, healing, invisibility, immortality, teleportation, speed, and all the other common options appeared and disappeared very quickly. At first some thought the powers only lasted a time, related to how long the Shine was present, but it swiftly became apparent that the potency of powers was inversely proportional to the number who selected that option.

That's when the more obscure powers started cropping up; at first it was just salarymen who decided they wanted to shit gold, or kids who decided they wanted to control animals, but before a quarter day had passed things started getting weird. Rapid drops in temperature, the ground shook frequently, clocks would stutter and people died. Many people died. In half a day an 8-billio