Karen Maitland’s life changed in a matter of weeks.  First her apartment was broken into, and all her valuables were stolen, including her school computer with all her schoolwork on it, several University coding projects were almost done, and backed up on an external hard-drive, which was also stolen.  Her mother’s lethargy turned into Leukemia and she was hospitalized and put into chemotherapy treatment.  And to add insult to injury, the scholarship she had been counting on was from the GameDen, which folded and disappeared overnight, leaving no one to complain to when her check from them bounced. 

            Others might have folded, or panicked.  Karen managed.  She took two jobs, both at twenty hours a week.  Having no time to wait for her insurance to finish with her claim, she bought an off lease, older computer and started scrambling to catch up on her coding.  She also spent at least an hour a day at her mother’s side, helping her get through her illness, and went to her classes.  This left only an hour or two for her to sleep.  Caffeine became her best friend when the naps she allowed herself failed to refresh her.  Karen turned to colas and worked her way up to energy drinks, even popping pills and caffeinated mints to keep her going. 

            The day of her C++ exam came and she’d had no sleep for two days.  She shouldered her school bag, filled with notes, bottles and pills.  Just before entering she took a handful of pills and washed them down with a bottle of Bawls.  Twenty minutes in, she had a seizure and was rushed to the hospital. 

            The level of caffeine in her system should have killed her.  It very nearly did.  The molecule instead altered her nervous system, allowing her to move at superhuman speeds.  She was even able to affect minds, and give that speed to others that part of her mind unlocked by the reaction, and she no longer needed to sleep.  Only one catch:  she started to have seizures again if she let her caffeine level sink too low.  She had all of the powers of a superhero, but none of the time to be one. 

            Bawls International came to her rescue.  Not only did they give her as much of their Bawls Gaurana as she could need, but they sponsored her so she wouldn’t need to work.  She was able to continue her schooling, make her mother’s bills while she was in the hospital, and join Paragon’s heroes patrolling the streets.  Caffeine Queen was here to stay.