[ WP ] A literal smart bomb is detonated in a major city .

I had to leave it halfway, I might write some more if you like it. 
 *** 
 
 When It happened, Mark was eating pizza with his friends in his apartment. Suddenly, in the midst of transporting a slice of pepperoni pizza into his mouth for subsequent ingestion he felt a prickly sensation in his head. Not quite a headache, just some slight tingling. At first he tried to ignore it, but the sensation grew more intense until it was bordering on pain. He got up and placed his Playstation controller on the glass table, which was covered with empty pizza boxes and beer cans. 
 
 ” Oh wow, headache out of nowhere. I ’ m gon na go wash my face, cover for me until I get back Raj. ” 
 
 ” Hm? You too? I ’ ve had this weird feeling for a while now, almost as if someone was tickling me from the inside of my head. ” 
 
 The other three looked at Raj. The slim Indian transfer student was holding his forefingers to his temples, rubbing them vigorously in the hopes that it might drive away the weird pain, which was getting worse every second. 
 
 ” Me too, man, ” Mike said. ” What are the odds of all of us getting a headache at the same time? ” 
 
 ” Think there might be something in the air? Maybe someone decided to unload a bunch of neurotoxins in our ventilation system, haha. ” 
 
 ” Shut up Jam. Not funny. ” 
 
 ” It ’ s getting worse. Maybe we should leave the building for a while to see if it ’ s really something like that. ” 
 
 ” What? fuck that, it ’ s freezing outside, ” Mike objected. 
 
 ” Look, people usually don ’ t get random headaches at the same time as everybody else. I think this might be dangerous. ” 
 
 Mike groaned and started getting up, brushing potato chip residue off his shirt. Raj was already putting his coat on, looking like has was in pain. 
 
 Mark decided to follow suit. As the four exited the building, they saw a couple of other people outside in jackets, standing in the way of the descending snow. One of them, a man with a blue jacket jogged towards the four. 
 
 ” Hey, any of you experiencing headaches? All of us suddenly got- ” The man didn ’ t finish his sentence because he had dropped to his knees and was screaming like a primal animal. Mark, Raj, Mike and James were all busy doing the same thing. The intensity of the pain had jumped up a couple of orders of magnitude without a warning. It felt like someone had jammed a nuclear bomb inside Mark ’ s skull and then pressed the button. Through his blurred vision Mark could see that the companions of the blue jacket were writhing on the snow-covered ground. Everywhere around him he could hear screams, some close, some distant, each one full of suffering. It seemed like the apocalypse had arrived. 
 
 He tried to form a coherent thought but it was impossible. The pain teared apart his brains, put them in a blender, and cooked the resultant goo in an oven. Tears were flowing down his cheecks and onto the ground, but he didn ’ t pay them any attention. He couldn ’ t take it anymore. He sensed his cosnciousness starting to slip away, through the cracks in his mind that had just appeared. All he wanted now was to die so the pain would stop. To die, to die... 
 
 And then it was over. The pain dissipated, and he was in control of his mind again. At first he didn ’ t move, didn ’ t do anything. Partly because of the absolute bliss that followed the disappearance of pain and took its place, partly because he was scared of the possibility of the pain returning if he did anything. Slowly, he opened his eyes which had been pressed shut so hard that they hurt. He seemed to be upside down, judging from the standing figures in front of him. He knew one of them. Raj noticed that he had opened his eyes and walked to his side. 
 ” Mark. Everything okay? ” 
 
 Mark didn ’ t respond immediately. Instead, he propped himself up on his elbows, rolling to his side, and then with a great deal of effort managed to place himself in an upright position. 
 
 ” Yeah, everything ’ s... fine. ” He observed the people around him, some still laying down on the ground, some on their phones. Probably talking to their loved ones, to confirm that they ’ re okay. 
 
 ” What was that? And why did it end so suddenly? ” 
 
 ” I don ’ t know at the moment, ” Raj responded as the two of them helped James and Mike up. ” I don ’ t know of anything that had the power to cause such intense pain - and then suddenly cease it. Right now, with the information I have it ’ s hard to say what is in the realm of possibility and what is not. ” 
 
 Mark quickly played Raj ’ s response over a couple of times in his head, and came to a conclusion. 
 
 ” Raj, you ’ re talking in an unusual manner. ” 
 
 ” Yes, I noticed it too. It feels like it ’ s easier to find the right words to say something as clearly as possible. ” 
 
 ” Not only that. Your accent is... well, I don ’ t notice an accent. ” 
 
 ” You don ’ t? ” Raj frowned like he was in deep thought. James chimed in: ” Yes, I took note of that too. I ’ m still somewhat groggy, but it ’ s obvious. You speak like someone who ’ s lived in the States for his entire life. ” 
 
 ” That ’ s odd. But we should go inside now. It ’ s cold and we are inadequately clothed. Neither do I believe that we face an immediate danger of this happening again. I expect the news to produce a report within a few hours, although I don ’ t think they can sufficiently explain this phenomenon. ” 
 
 ” Agreed. Besides, some of the pizza might still be warm. ” 
 
 ” Did anyone take their phone with them? I lost all sense of time during the flare up. ” 
 
 Mike took his phone out and unlocked it with a smooth curved move of his thumb. 
 
 ” It ’ s 17:59, meaning that we ’ ve been outside for approximately half an hour. ” 
 
 ” And I thought this whole affair had only taken five minutes. Funny, isn ’ t it? ” he remarked and chuckled. Once they were back inside, they turned on the tv and started browsing the net looking for something relating to the incident. After about an hour the news reports started pouring in. 
 
 ” A peculiar and distressing occurrence happened today when a white van exploded on the side of a road in downtown Manhattan today. While the physical damage was minimal, a significant amount of radiation was released in the process. At the exact same time, according to eyewitness accounts and surveillance recordings, thousands, of people, possibly many more, appear to have experienced gradually intensifying headaches which culminated in a burst of pain that left the victims immobile for a brief period of time. The scale, as well as the reason of the incident are as of yet undetermined. The New York Police Department has declined to comment on the explosion. ” 
 
 ” Well, ” said James, ” I don ’ t think we have an option other than to wait for more news, considering that we ’ re neither equipped nor trained for this kind of a situation. I really hope there are no long-term effects, though. It would suck to get a brain tumor at this age. ” 
 
 The four friends talked about It for a bit more, and then they left. Mark was again alone in his apartment, which his friends had made look like a shrine for Dionysus. 
 
 Since he had no choice but to wait for more news regarding the incident, he decided to finish a piece of homework that he had been writing for three days. What he discovered was amazing. He had expected this essay to take at least another day, but he finished it in an hour and a half, and that included all the polishing up and editing. The words just flowed through his fingers onto his screens. He didn ’ t have to look up many of the concepts he used, they were clear as day in his mind. Even stuff that he had read years ago suddenly popped into his mind when it was relevant. He had an entirely different level of comprehension, an ability to connect the various dots and construct a coherent argument with them. It was a good essay. Best he had ever written. Not only were his linguistic abilities improved from yesterday, even his memory was better. He could still recall with perfect clarity the exact discussion him and his friends had had after the headache attack, down to the various tones used in the conversation. 
 
 However, as he probed his memories, he found that the perfect recall didn ’ t extend further than earlier that day. It got him thinking. Was it possible that the explosion that had happened kilometers away had increased his intelligence? It was something worth investigating. He reached for his phone, and just as he got hold of it Raj ’ s name appeared on the screen and the familiar tune started playing. 
 
 ” Mark here. ” 
 
 ” Answer me this. Do you feel any smarter than before? ” 
 
 ” Yes. I was just about to call you to ask the same thing. It appears as though the incident we witnessed earlier today might have somehow altered our intelligence. I finished my essay in one and a half hours, and it was excellent too. ” 
 
 ” I ’ m experiencing the same thing. The math problem that my professor gave me seemed impossible just yesterday, but as I tried it a moment ago I found out that I could do it with ease. ” 
 
 ” Have you called Jam and Mike yet? ” 
 
 ” No, you were the first one because to me you seemed somehow more alert right after the incident, so I thought you might be experiencing the same... symptoms as me. ” 
 
 ” If everyone who fell victim to the headaches became as intelligent or even smarter than we are right now... ” 
 
 ” The implications are enormous. Come to my place the first thing tomorrow, and we ’ ll try to figure out what ’ s going on. ” 
 
 ” Alright. Until then. I ’ m going to call Mike, you call Jam. ” 
 
 ” Agreed. Bye. ” 
 
 
 After the phone call Mark laid down on his bed and wrapped himself tightly in his sheets. He couldn ’ t help but feel excited. What if he was now a genius? What if everyone else was too? He didn ’ t sleep that night because of all the scenarios that were playing out in his mind. 

