Esper Encounter, San Antonio, 1991

"Yeah, mom called me Maria Martinez so I'd grow up to be a superhero." So says Maria two blocks away from the Riverwalk in San Antonio. "I'm not sure about 'hero,' but I'm never short of work. You know the Alamodome?" I nodded. "They moved up the opening date to 1992. You're welcome." The work of one kinetic esper has effectively doubled the manpower and machinery working on the new building. Maria is one of five hundred confirmed espers in the United States. That number is steadily growing, not just in the US, but around the world. Some are predicting that all of humanity will become espers by the year 2040. Others are that the power will increase only in proportion to the population. The truth, and what that will mean for humanity, is uncertain, even to pattern espers.