He took one puff of the magic. Then another. Max immediately craved a third. Could something be called magical if its powers waned this quick?

His lips wrapped over the 

vape

. Then all he could see was the purple glow. The room had gone black. Suddenly it was very quiet. The machines had stopped humming. The voices of the others cut through the darkness. The air was already growing stale. The chatter sounded strangely intimate through it.

Suddenly Max didn't want to take that hit. Before the lights went out, he wanted to. But now vaping wasn't on his mind. He went out into the main kitchen area, using his cellphone's flashlight feature. Nobody was there. He kept going to where the customers sat. People were gathered speaking in hushed tones. Every other person were using their phones as flashlights.

"Anyone know what's going on?"

"Blackout."

"Yeah but what for."

Max was listening. Not saying anything. He imagined the power would return soon. It always did. The people seemed nervous though. More so than any blackout he remembered. Usually the lights would go out for a minute or two. That was normal. It hadn't been a minute yet. Max was still calm. But he enjoyed this nervous atmosphere. Made him feel more alive. More connected with the people. He shut off his phone's light and took it all in.

"I'm checking the outage map on IGS' website now."

"You see anything?"

"Not yet."

"I'm checking the news. Someone look at 

Twitter

."