NG Writer Guild Colab :: Authoria ::

[gumOnShoe]

:: TNT ::

My first memory is of pitch blackness. A blackened world, where no light pierced through, where hope is but a thing of the past. When you think about it, my memories of the dark aren’t that different to what the world is like now. At least in memories I didn’t have to worry about choking to death by going outside without a mask on.

The darkness was the only thing I knew in the beginning. To this day it is all I know. Whilst a few people have power in their homes and have fluorescent lights that mask the darkness and provide them with a false hope, most have given up.
I gave up not long ago. But then something dawned on me. Everyone was convinced that someone would save them, but no one was prepared to save themselves.

If I could save myself, I could teach others to save themselves as well. All I needed was something to save myself.
Then like a knife ripping through the fabric of my reality, a single beam of light pierced through the darkness that had been the basis of my life. I found the answer. I found my salvation.

Something, that had been long forgotten by the peoples of the world. Something, that would give the masses hope and teach them to break the bonds of enslavement we had placed our wrists when contact was first made.
I decided I would lead humanity out of the slavery we had entered after we had made ourselves second rate citizens by giving into the demands of the Athorians.

All I needed to save Humanity was to find a way to spread my message…that was where the problem was. I had now way to spread my message to the rest of the world.

I needed help, I was sure of that. But who could I turn to? There lay only one answer. I had to put my trust in the being who had delivered me my salvation. I had to put my trust in him and act as he saw fit.

All I needed to do…was wait for him to talk to me.

It was three days later when the message came through to me. It was sent by a mode of messaging that I had forgotten existed.
I awoke the morning of the message and looked at the clock tower that was outside of my house. It was dawn. At least it would have been if the smog and pollution hadn’t blocked out the sun centuries ago.

I dressed myself and looked once more out of the window. The glow from the clock face was the only illumination that could be seen. And it was poor at best.

The dim light revealed the shadowy outlines of the buildings and homes that littered the landscape. I knew what I would find if I went outside. The streets would be full of litter, excrement and God only know s what else.

I left the window and left my bedroom and walked into the rest of my apartment. It was small but it was all I needed. It was also my home. It consisted of three rooms. A living room kitchen combined into one, my bedroom and the toilet.

I made myself some breakfast and then went to sit down on the one chair that sat in the centre of the living room area. The day before I had turned the chair around, so I could face the door out of my apartment.

I sat and watched the door waiting for contact so I could know what to do. One hour…two hours…three hours…then the message appeared.

A small envelope was pushed under the door. It was brown.

I pushed myself out pf my seat and walked over to envelope. I bent down and picked it up and read what was written on it.

[gumOnShoe]

:: Scribbler ::

Roberto,

I know that you have been waiting for quite some time now. Do not try to understand, just believe. I hope that what you said earlier was true; that you wanted to free the masses from slavery, to overthrow the Athorians, to bring us back to where we were, originally.

Before you act, you must make contact with an old companion of mine who goes by the name “Dread.” You will find him at the “Perfect Grain,” an inn not too far away from the town library. He will be seated at the sixth seat from the door, wearing a crimson hood. He is a mammoth of a man so you shouldn’t have too much trouble finding him. Converse with him and he will tell you the rest. He will be a valuable asset to you on your journey.

Godspeed.
Elijah

---------------------------

I knew exactly what I had to do. It seemed a bit too easy but Elijah always knew best. I reached for my satchel and made sure to grab my mask. The air was getting thicker and warmer as the sun’s rays attempted to penetrate the polluted air. It was unbearable.

As I opened the front door, I turned around and looked at my quarters. This would probably be the last time I see anything so appeasing. Full of hope, I closed my door, locked it, and stuck the key in my satchel. Now, I had to make my way to the first floor.

Since the Athorians took over, our technology has varied in different locations throughout the planet. For instance, my apartment uses a primitive elevator system. A rope and pulley enables the elevator to move, only when pulled by the person riding the elevator. It is slow but it works. The entire planet has been miserable for almost half a century now. This can not go on any longer.

As I neared the first floor, I heard a multitude of voices. They were looking for someone; I didn’t quite catch the name though. Inconspicuously, I treaded toward the front door, on my way. As I reached for the door knob, one of the individuals shouted something, signaling for me to turn around. What could they want? Who were they?

[gumOnShoe]

:: Coop83 ::
--------------------------------
As I turned around, the voices were identified as three men, wearing the uniforms imposed upon them by the Athorians. They were now administrators, wearing uniforms akin to prison guards. How the Athorians must have laughed, when they discovered that they could control the human race and not have to bother to control us themselves.

'Pass card,' one of the men barked at me. I knew the rules, that no-one was to leave or enter a building, without presenting their pass card. However, the note from Elijah was weighing heavily on me and it had slipped my mind. I handed it over, where it was checked. My retina was scanned and my palm read by laser. This was one of the only pieces of modern technology, the Athorians had aforded us out here. The rest of it was primative.

'You may go,' a second man told me, thrusting my card into my chest. No words of thanks, no 'have a nice day', not even a smile. Not everything was bad, then.

I set off down the smog-filled street, looking for the 'Perfect Grain' inn, a couple of blocks away from the place I called 'home'. That was a concept foreign to us, since we now lived the lives of slaves. I passed the library and noticed the building of my destination come into view out of the smog, which seemed to be getting thicker in recent days. I walked in and got my card checked.

I stood in the doorway and looked about. Sure enough, a man in a red hood was sitting at the sixth seat on the left from the door. He was occupying a little bay to himself. I walked up to the bar and ordered a drink. He did not move as I walked past. I payed and went to his table.

'Anyone sitting there?'

'Depends on who's askin'.' He looked up at me, his rough, unshaven chin making a mean face at mine.

'Elijah said you'd have some thing to tell me.' He took a swig of his beer and moved around the bay, keeping his back to the door.

'Well, in that case, you'd better pull up a seat.'
------------------------------

[gumOnShoe]

:: gumOnShoe ::

------------------------------

I did as directed and sunk into the surprisingly comfortable wooden chair. His appearance immediatly hit me as the door closed and the air shield snapped back into place. He was a large man who showed little wear for the times that surrounded him. His hands were just as dirty and rough as mine, but deep within his eyes was a spark that said quite plainly that he was his own master. He motioned to my face and after thinking for a second I realized what I had done. I removed my mask, which I had become so accustomed to wearing that I often forgot it was on.

It was true what some of them said. The hardest part, the worst part was becoming used to it. It was the one danger that I knew existed, that I constantly saw sucking the life out of those around me. Complacency was our doom. Our inability to assert ourselves was our true downfall. I knew this just as well as everyone around me, though I was the only one who would admit it to himself.

"Are you sure it was Elija that sent you?"

"Well, he gave me this," I responded as a pulled out the letter, keeping hidden in such a way as to not draw attention toward myself, yet still show it to this man that held in his large hands all my hope.

"Put it away, I believe you. The only question that remains to be asked now is what you believe."

"I believe that we lost a game we were never ready to play. That our people are dying on the inside and that there must be a way to leave this retchid existance in the past. I can't live like this, like a caged animal. I know I must do something, but I am at a lost for what to do. I am only one person"

"Sometimes one is all that matters." The man in the read cloak got up and walked out of the bar with out saying another word. I would have chased him, but the last thing I wanted was to draw attention to myself. Looking down I found a pendant laying where his hand had last been. I opened it up to find a small scroll tied shut with thread. I quickly pressed both inside my breast pocket and then left heading back to what I would like to have called my home.

[gumOnShoe]

:: The Doctor ::


The doors swung shut behind me, and the subtle tang of unprocessed air was back. I pulled my mask on and stepped out into the street, the guards didn’t give me a second glance. I didn’t see anyone on my way back, but the scrap of paper remained safely within my hand the whole time. Hell, it was probably nothing dangerous, I knew Elijah well enough to know he wouldn’t keep anything incriminating written down. But still, better to be safe. Cover all your exits my son As my father used to say. That was back near the beginning. I couldn’t remember a time when the Athorians weren’t here, but at least the air was still clear when I was a kid. Work shifts weren’t so bad either, I figured that was because our new “masters” were busy setting up their dictatorship. One thing I never knew though was the light. My dad used to tell me stories at bedtime, how the world was before the darkness, the way clouds only partially covered the sky. He said they were beautiful then, in their own way. That was one thing I could never understand. Every time I looked up into that boiling brown storm that had once been the sky I only felt sick.
Some workers had been up into the lower atmosphere of course, I met a couple in the bar once. According to them those had been among the happiest days of their lives. Even working double shifts in battered and leaky protective suits, they told me that at the end of the day, when the guards had gone back to the surface, they would just sit at the edge of the pylon. Just sit in a group, and watch the sun go down. Then, they said, was the only time they had felt truly free.

I pulled off my mask and bent down for the retina scan. No guards here, but you still couldn’t get in without the proper identification. I waited for the affirmative blip and pressed the number for my apartment.
The elevator ride was a short one, I only lived on the third floor, but I still had enough time to knock the dirty sand from my boots and brush the dust off my jacket. The streets were getting more and more like a desert these days. Another gift from the Athorians. Their waste disposal systems were efficient, but not without a small degree of waste run-off. This came in the form of a bitter-tasting water vapour (although how anyone could still call it water was beyond me), that was what swirled in the atmosphere above us. The sand was just the crap it condensed into afterwards, scattering over the streets and forming drifts in the corners of buildings.
I yanked the door open and entered my apartment. After locking it behind me and checking the shutters I opened my hand.
The paper was crumpled, nearly torn in a couple of places. It was only now I realised how tightly I had been clutching at the tiny relic. No rush, I thought no point in jumping the gun. More wise words from my father.
So I poured some tepid water onto the last of my coffee granules (from the black market of course) and stirred with one of the corroding metal forks I had been allocated at the beginning of the year.
Only then did I sit down on the couch (four blocks of industrial packing foam I had taped together) and untied the message.

At first I thought there was nothing on it. One side was blank, the other seemed to be smudged with ink. I took a sip of the coffee and looked closer. No, not a smudge, writing. It was small, too small to make out clearly, but certainly a message of some description. I got up again and rummaged through my work bag for the scribing iron, this was like a tiny, and very precise pneumatic drill, the head no bigger than that of a pencil. It wasn’t this bit that interested me though, I took hold of the pistol grip and thumbed a lever on the side. The magnifying scope clicked out, and I carried the device back to my seat. This time I could clearly make out words. The scope could only focus on one or two at the time, but that was better than nothing.

My friend, I know it has been some time since we first met, perhaps too long. The point is that you are willing to take the opportunity I presented to you at our last meeting. How do I know? I have my ways. Best not to try and figure out everything for yourself just yet. We are few in number, and I won’t pretend the task will be an easy one. All the goodwill and virtue in the world amounts to nothing if we have no means with which to implement it. I have a task for you. Before we meet again I must be sure you can be trusted. Forgive me this one doubt, but we both know what could happen if they ever found out about us. During the next work shift you will abandon your group, take the pylon IX freight lift to the warehouses beneath the city. There will be guards, but also workers. Stay inconspicuous and you should be fine. Past the loaders there will be several supply officers, one of them is a friend. You will know which when you see him. You will approach this man and ask for order 13-37, he will reply that it has been held back, you will then ask to discuss the details in private. He will give you your task.

The message was signed “E.”
I dropped the paper into the waste disposal chute and pulled the shutter up, glancing at the glowing chrono outside. It was 11:52PM already. The next shift started in eight hours. I would need some sleep. If the message from Elijah was anything to go by, tomorrow would be one heck of an interesting day.

[gumOnShoe]

:: Mick The Champion ::

I made my way back to my home, I needed good and proper rest. As I lay on my un-comfortable regulation mattress different ideas began to slosh around in my head, the only rule I’ve known is the Athorian one…is it possible things could get worse under our resistance faction? Perhaps the old day’s have been romanticised – people still bled and cried back then…didn’t they? Man must stand on his own feet for once. Thinking must stop, sleep must commence. If I fight, at least I’ll…die…on my…feet.

Awake now, I take a glance around my room. It seems dull, yet I somehow feel I’ll miss it. I suppose I’d better explain my job to you – I shoot rats. No, that’s not a metaphor or clever wordplay. Me and a group of other workers take the trams to the financial district and shoot rats with dart guns. The rats annoy the bosses, conglomerates were more than happy to bow down before the Athorians, as long as they were able to eat the crumbs that fell off the dining table. So it was to be made sure that these people had an easy life, I heard if you go past Pylon IV they even have air filters. I put on my mask, and left the house.

I travelled with determination past the dreary smog-filled landscape that was the only world I knew. At the tram station I made sure Gerry didn’t see me, we usually talked while waiting for our usual pylon VI...or was it pylon IV? I was never good with Roman Numerals, I was quite dependant on my fellow workers to point out which one we rode.

I made my way to Pylon XI, the nullifying humming sound began – this tram was basically empty. There was what appeared to be a manager sitting at the bench, reading an economic paper, he passed it to me “The Elijah programme, masks and the Athorians: An economic miracle”

It starts “Due to said masks which brainwash the lower classes…”

Br-ainwash? I look up at the face of the manager. “Elijah?!” My chest grows tight, the world is spinning around me, and I collapse to the floor in a heap.

[gumOnShoe]

:: MystWilliams ::

Suddenly a surge of agony flared up my nostrils. My heart throbbed within my head as I felt my entire body begin to flush with heat. The normal subtle flowing of blood through my veins immediately began to rush like a powerful, sleepless river - the sensation made me twitch.

As my tense body began to slouch back on the hard surface beneath me, I began to open my eyes. As my lashes curled upwards and I prepared myself for a numbing burst of light, I was surprised with darkness - pure and utter darkness. I panicked, feeling constricted and confined by my sudden blindness I reached for my eyes, but my hands grabbed my chipped and battered, once porcelain-like, mask. I moved my mask slightly to the left, and a stark yellow light pierced my eyes with a jolt of pain.

I began to push up on my forearm to a sitting position, and with my travel my heart journeyed down my throat. I looked around, and found myself in someone’s bedroom. The room was cool with a constant breeze, and dark in nature. The walls were a dark maroon red, and the furniture black as coal. I felt unusually awkward.

I lifted myself to my feet and looked around the room. It was large for a bedroom, but easy enough to see it was empty. I began to focus in on noises coming from a level beneath the one I stood on. Chitter-chatter as it were, not longing was I. In fact, I was almost frightened to leave the room.

I turned around and found a mirror behind me. I was wearing a suit. I had never owned a suit. Bewildered, I brushed my fingers down the smooth collar. A tie and a different mask lay on the dresser top below the mirror. I touched the soft tie, and then picked up the mask. The mask was different than my own, something I have never seen before. Instead of the plain, beige and weathered mask I was used to, it was flamboyant with colours and designs and still maintained its fresh porcelain feel. I gently brushed my fingers down the face of the mask as I felt a smile creep up my cheek. They say you can tell the character of a man by the condition of his mask.

I heard a knock at the door and called, ‘one moment,’ with a stutter. I took off my mask and threw it in one of the drawers. I placed the new mask above my head and slid it over my face. I opened the door.

‘Aren’t you going to join us Foreman Salvatori?’ the older man said with a questionable face. His mask was in his palm. It was not often one would reveal their face to someone they did not know or trust.

He had many defiant features, mostly because of his age. He seemed to be in his mid fifties, and the more than few grey hairs he proudly cared for seemingly were getting the best of him. His eyes, two eyes that were very unique in their own way, swirled of grey and blue - somehow familiar.

I had never been given a title before either. I looked down at the tie, and decided to leave it in its place. ‘Lead the way – uh, I am sorry, what is your name again?’ I felt it was better not to reveal anything other than what the man felt he already knew - at least not until I knew what was going on.

‘Call me Marcus, sir.’

‘Lead the way Marcus.’

Proper, as it were, was not my forte, but it seemed I was going to have to adjust for a little while.

The hallway was amazing. Most Athorian homes were very modern, but this home was a classic. It was hundreds of years old, but kept more carefully than the average child. My natural assumption was that I was in the home of an aristocratic Athorian, but somehow the nature of the building made me feel otherwise.

Marcus led me down the wide staircase and I looked down upon many people chatting with one another. Then suddenly, Marcus stopped.

‘What are you doing?’ I whispered.

He blared with a powerful voice, ‘Welcoming… Foreman Salvatori!’ And the people of the foyer clapped. ‘Mingle, sir.’ Marcus whispered as he turned towards me.

‘Mingle?’

‘Yes, introduce yourself, eat, discuss, have a pleasant evening.’

I nodded, and he walked back up the stairs.

‘And do not worry Roberto, he will find you,’ he finished before turning a corner and vanished from my view.

I stood there, looking over the many people. I was not sure if it was a party, or meeting of some kind. I felt overwhelmed, and I just stared at everyone still halfway down the staircase. I took one deep breath, and began towards the ‘mingling’ attendees.

Christ almighty, where in hell am I?

[gumOnShoe]

I walked down the stairs and stopped at the bottom. I looked around the room to take in my surroundings.
The walls were painted in pale green and gold colours. Tapestries hung from the walls depicting stories from human history. On the far side of the room a huge Tapestry that took up almost a full wall hung.
Even though I wasn’t close to the tapestry I could see one symbol in the middle of it. A triangle with an eye in the centre placed within a circle. It was an Athorian symbol.
My stomach churned. If there was an Athorian symbol in this room then the house probably belonged to an Athorian, whatever the Architecture of the building or the decorations in the hall said about the owner didn’t matter. No Self respecting Human would have that symbol in his home.
“An interesting piece isn’t it?”
I turned round and found myself facing an elegantly dressed man with slicked back blonde hair. His eyes appeared to twinkle in the light of the room as he smiled gently.
“Do you know why this Tapestry is here and what story it tells?” he continued
I shook my head.
“The tapestry tells of an Athorian prophecy. The prophecy says that the Athorians will end up being destroyed by a race of “inferior” beings”
He smiled and placed his hand on my shoulder as he continued.
“The prophecy says that when the Athorians are at the peak of their power being known to them as Frenark will be their destruction. It’s their version of the apocalypse really.”
I swallowed the saliva that had built up in my mouth as I prepared to talk.
“And why is it here?” I asked
The man smiled and took his hand off my shoulder,
“Forgive me” he said “ I’ve been terribly rude. My name is Jarris Kingsley.” He offered out his hand. I grasped it and replied “I’m Roberto Salvatori”.
“Roberto?” he replied “Sounds like you were originally from the Pannici Section of Europa districts.”
I cast my mind back to my childhood. My parents and I had lived in the Pannici section of what the history books called Europe. Pannici was the man who had created the sector in which I had lived as a child. He was also responsible for the invention of the Anti-matter engine. It had been hailed as the most important discovery in science as it meant Anti-matter could be sued to create power in a clean and safe way.
The sound of Jarris’ Voice snapped me back to reality.
“...was a great man” I could only assume he was talking of Pannici.
“Yes he was” I replied.
“It’ll do the Athorians justice if this Frenark person ever shows up. You know what’s odd about this Frenark thing though? Frenark seems to be Athorian for the name Elijah. Odd don’t you think?”
My heart jumped…Elijah? Frernark? Was the Athoiran prophecy coming true or was it simply a coincidence?
I cleared my head as Jarris continued to drone on about the Athorians. Suddenly what sounded like a fan fare could be heard from all around the room.
The door at the top of the stairs opened and a man stood in the middle of the doorway wearing a green suit with an orange tie.
He stood at the top of the stairs as everyone below looked up at him.
“Good evening” He said in a quiet baritone voice “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Elijah, and I am your host for this evening. If you would all follow me I will show you to where you will be dining.”
He walked down the stairs with a quick pace and walked straight past me and through an arch to the left of me.
“ Shall we be of then?” asked Jarris.
I simply nodded and walked off after the man known as Elijah.

[gumOnShoe]

:: Scribbler ::

A million thoughts were racing through my mind. Could this be the Elijah I was after? Could he really overthrow the Athorians? Could this all be over by tomorrow? My thought pattern was cut short as Jarris tapped my shoulder, motioning for me to take a seat near him. The chair was made of oak with a satin finish. The seat was a covered cushion with silky fabric laying atop. It was comfortable and appeasing.
There must have been at least one hundred waiters; no one was left waiting. The beverages included wine, chardonnay, brandy, champagne, gin, martini, etc. Basically anything you could ever want. This was almost like a dream come true, except it was all real. Elijah remained seated at the distant “end” corner of the table. At the other end, was the individual I met at the Inn. He looked different in a red suit. His complete outfit composed of a red suit with a blue tie. Red must have been his favorite color. He was clean shaven and slightly balding. He didn’t look as menacing.
Jarris leaned over and pointed toward a man sitting just seven seats down. “That’s Howard Jaspers, he’s one of the superiors. He’s been fighting the Athorians since the beginning. Older than dirt.” His final affirmation was correct. Howard did look old. Very old. His face was full of wrinkles and his nose and cheeks were cherry red. Must have been from the alcohol. “’Been doing this for three years now, how long have you been fighting?” “What?” I asked with a puzzled look.
“You see son, you are here either because you want something, or have already found that something but just don’t know how to get it. Elijah is here to help you with that. So, how long have you known E.” I didn’t know what to say. Again, thoughts rushed to my head. How did I get here? Why did Elijah ignore me? Who is Jarris and what does he want?
As I opened my mouth to speak, Elijah rose and began to speak…

--------------------

Elija

--------------------

'Ladies and Gentlemen,' Elijah began. His soft, but firm baritone quietened the general hubbub of the room and all eyes focused on Elijah. 'I bid you all welcome to this evenings gathering.' He paused to take a sip of wine from his glass. 'Most of the faces here, I recognise, but there are always new initiates, who come to swell our ranks,' He glanced about the room at several people. When his gaze fell upon me, I gawked at him like an average looking boy being noticed for the first time by the most attractive girl at school. 'The person sitting to your left has been selected as the person to bring you up to speed as to our dealings and goals, but you will find more about that later.' The man sitting to my left was Jarris.

'But enough about that, for now, we dine!' Suddenly, the Butlers went from standing in the background, to full 'battle stations', serivng each and every one of us with a large plate of exquisite meats, exotic vegetables and indescribable tastes. I had never eaten anything so marvellous in all my life. I wanted to try everything, but not look greedy, so I took portions edging on the small side, but I did have enough to tide me over amply. During the main course, Jarris leaned over to me and declared 'I guess Elijah answered your question for me, eh Roberto?' He nudged me in the ribs and laughed heartilly. I managed a half-smile, entirely overwhelmed by my surroundings.

The meal went on for some courses after, but Jarris and myself were still in a business like mood, when the diners disbanded. Jarris lead me into a room off of the main corridor. It was as if I was standing in an endless blackness. Jarris lead me into the centre of the room, even though I was tentative about my movements.

'Don't worry Roberto, this is a hologramatic projection suite. It places us directly within a scenario, which we shall use here to tell you about our goals of life.' He looked up at the ceiling and spoke loudly and clearly 'Computer, load program Tutorial 1.01'

[gumOnShoe]

:: gumOnShoe ::

The door closed behind the two of us and the last glimpse of the real world faded from sight. A green grid glowed below my feet and then the squares began to move up my body. “The computer is taking image of each of us to be used for later calculations, all to maintain the feel of reality,” Jarris informed me.

I remained silent as the grid disappeared into nothingness and white pricks of life began to revolve around the room. I soon lost all sense of perspective as gravity seemed to wink out of existence.

“Computer program loaded,” came the distant voice of a woman as a several large book shelfs appeared from no where surrounding them.

“This is the library,” said Jarris. “All of the history of the Athorians and their conquests are within these books. All of us have read many and there is no difference between any of them. The Athorians came and conquered, they subjugated, they stole all the resources they could and left. Feel free to come here whenever you like, but you too will find what we all have. So ask the question that’s in your mind.”

“What question?”

“The obvious one. What makes us any different?”

There was a long silence.

“Well?” said I.

“Well what?”

“What makes us different?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Absolutely nothing.”

“Then how do we win?”

“What if we don’t win?”

“Then I have no reason to be here.”

“Everything has a purpose, everything. Remember that.”

“Then why am I here?”

“Your questions are the answers. How am I supposed to know why you are here.”

“I am here to free my people.”

“As were the millions of others in these books. One man is never enough to stop anything.”

“There are more than one of us in this room.”

“Are two enough to fight an armada of space ships.”

“Its better than nothing.”

“Nothing is all that it may be, and you must remember that. It is our mortality that makes us strong, our drive to survive. The only thing different in these books is the Athorians. They grow more complacent as the years pass. They have relaxed. One thousand years ago, this planet would have been in complete slavery.”

“Then you are saying that they will fail here.”

“No, I am saying we have the chance. If we act quick enough, silent enough. Computer load Tutorial 1.02.”

“Processing,” said the voice as the books disappeared and they were replaced by constellations of stars. Below them was a planet. “Program loaded.”

“This is Athoria…”

[gumOnShoe]

The Doctor


My surroundings span away again, replaced with another wire mesh that promptly took on shape and texture. To tell the truth, I wasn’t impressed. This planet looked lot like what I had seen of our own, meandering streets and spires in every direction, brown clouds, but no sand.
“I don’t get it.” I said.
“Get what?” I looked around once more and flung my arms in the air. This was all getting way too weird for me, there were still so many questions left to be answered, hell, I could hardly take it all in myself.
“This whole fiasco. Yesterday I was just a normal worker, living off the nuts of the Athorians like anyone else, all of a sudden I get into all this secret agent stuff, and before I can even get on with what I think I’m supposed to be doing I go spark out and wake up here!” I whirled around, my outburst had shaken me a little, but it had seemed to shake those whirling thoughts into something more steady and practical. I didn’t care that I might be about to make an ass of myself.
“Why are you showing me this? It’s more like some kind of f**king mind game than a “briefing” or whatever you guys think it’s supposed to be. Why show me Athoira, if that’s what it even is?”
Jarris was silent, he looked impatient but I got the feeling something much more calculating was going on behind those dull grey eyes. When he spoke it was with a deliberately slow tone.
“I am doing this to show you the reality of our situation. We are humans correct?” I nodded. Then I caught something strange in Jarris’ expression, it was only there for a second, but deep down it touched something I didn’t even know existed, and certainly didn’t like. It was as if he was mocking me. He looked at me like my dad used to when I asked him a silly, entirely juvenile question. But this expression held none of his love and fatherly contentment. Then he was talking again.
“And as you can see, the Athorians come from a world not entirely unlike our own. You mustn’t hate them. Among them are those who would help us. Just be careful who you trust.”
“And what if” I looked up at Jarris “I don’t trust you?”
That complacent expression shattered into a mask of fury.
“Can’t you see!?” Jarris almost screamed at me. “That’s why we can’t stand up to them! You and your stupid, stupid doubts, it’s no wonder humanity fell if we all used to think like you!”
I stared back at him. Something here had gone horribly wrong, this wasn’t the kind of man Elijah would work with. Or would he? What did I actually know? Nothing. That’s what it came down to. In the background I noticed the hologram melting away.
“Look Jarris, I might have gone along with this at first, but I was confused. I don’t know what’s going on here, and I sure as hell don’t want your version of it. Let me see Eli, let me see him now.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t possible. Bringing you here was a mistake, you aren’t a suitable candidate.”
“Well then I guess I’ll have to find him myself.” I shoved the older man out of the way and headed for the outline of the door. I heard him stumble, then he was in front of me again, some kind of gun in his hand.
“Robert, don’t make me do this.” His eyes blazed, sweat beaded along his hairline.
I held still for a moment, then swiped at the gun with my left arm. It caught Jarris unawares, he lurched to his right as I brought my right hand over to grasp the top of the weapon. He cried out, then I had his wrist under my arm, the gun pulled free when I gave it a sharp twist with both hands. Jarris fell back, I let him slip, then turned, levelling the weapon at his head.
The old guy looked fit to nuts himself, sweat poured from his brow, his whole body shaking as he nursed the sprained wrist.
“Now,” I panted “get up and open the door, then take me to Eli.”
I suppose it didn’t matter that I had never held a gun in my life. This one looked complicated, a guard over what I assumed was the trigger and a long rectangular barrel protruding over that. The dark metal glinted menacingly.
Jarris got up slowly and pressed a button, the door slid open. It looked like I was alright, for the moment. Then I noticed my hands shaking uncontrollably. So did Jarris. He grinned, all the fear draining out of him like a man awoken from a nightmare to find the sun up and shining.
“You don’t know,” He said “It doesn’t even matter anymore, you can go back.”
Then he sprang at me, a hand clamped over mine, squeezing with superhuman strength. I screamed as I felt my bones splinter, the gun bending under them. Jarris yanked my toward him and planted a fist squarely into my solar plexus. It felt like someone had rammed a hot spike through my chest. That was the last I could remember as I bounced off the floor, my body a throbbing mass of pain.

When I awoke it was back in my apartment. It was a day later, according to the chrono. I was fine. No broken bones, not even a twinge or bruise to show for it.
I sipped a mug of water as I sat on the couch. I was clearly going insane. No way could I fob that one off as a dream like in some cliché’ horror story. There was no way I could think about anything, trying made me want to tear the hair from my scalp.
I contemplated suicide for a few minutes. You reach a point when no amount of explaining can help you get your head around a situation. Better just to quieten it all.
Then my call box toned. I ignored it, then stood up and pressed the button to answer. Anything was better than thinking.
“Roberto?”
“Yes.” I responded.
“There isn’t much time. You didn’t show up yesterday so I checked your work logs, there was no record for you since yesterday. Listen, I think I may know what’s going on. Whatever happened, just come down to the bar as soon as you can. I’ll be waiting.”
I said nothing. Pondering what to do next.
“Elijah?”
The call clicked off. I glanced out the window, a man in a black raincoat hurried away from the building. That was the Elijah I knew. A nobody. Not some suit-wearing toff.
Perhaps that gave me some kind of reality to go back to. Or maybe I just didn’t want to sit alone in my apartment anymore. Whatever it was, I got dressed and hurried downstairs. My mask was nowhere to be found, so I pulled my jacked across my mouth and dashed out into the street. It was raining, so the air wasn’t too bad.
I pushed the bar doors open and crossed the lobby into the customer area. Eli was sitting at the counter.

[gumOnShoe]

:: Mick the champion ::

“Roberto?”
I was extremely worried when I heard Elijah speak, revolutionary fervour seemed to have been drained from him – he sounded almost shy.
“Eli, what’s going on? I saw you on the tram reading that odd journal, and then I appeared…”
“First of all, you got on the wrong pylon. You went on Pylon XI, you were instructed to go on IX.” He said it as if I should have known.
“I don’t understand? Why were you on the wrong tram?”
“Oh shut up you retard!” he snapped back at me in a tone reminiscent of a serpent’s hiss.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I was taking the tram to the other station, on my way to the financial district. My name is not Elijah. I’m your boss – Mr.Black”
I got a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach, and felt a horrifying un-welcome ring in the very core of my ears. Without second thought, I sprinted out of the pub through the lobby and out the front door. I ran, and ran, and ran. I blotted out the pain I could feel in my chest and collapsed in a back alley ditch, panting like a madman. With the amount of pathetic drunks in the city, at least I wouldn’t seem out of place.

That man in the bar couldn’t have been Elijah…why did he change so much from when he was at the house earlier – was it a different person? Was Mr.Black just trying to lure me out? Mr.Black…I’ve never heard of him. My mind trickled back through this whole experience, what really stuck out was the big man at the “Perfect Grain Inn” saying to me “The only question that remains to be asked now is what you believe." What did I believe? Where was that party? Are the revolutionaries whom I was supposed to be joining merely out to take the place of the Athorians?

I knew I couldn’t go home – this man knew where I lived. A sudden thought came to my head – and everything made sense. The man who knew everything, who always helped me no matter what, who probably instilled the idea of rebellion in my head in the first place…was my father. It was time to go and see Dad. I stood up clutching my frail chest and hobbled off down the street.

[gumOnShoe]

:: Myst ::

I slowly walked along the streets, but the rain stopped, and the air thickened. I needed my mask before I inhaled the toxins and dust that would cause my lungs to explode – not literally, but that was the pain I felt when feeling the air of the streets travel down my windpipe.

My mind was a dizzying array of images that I tried to sort out as I walked towards the nearest building. I knew I had to visit my father, but I’d never make the walk without a mask.

I scanned in and entered the building – I hated how the Athorians always knew where I was. The thick smoke of the entrance seemed like child’s play as I swept through it squinting for an open table. I walked past a couple of unmasked patrons, and they did not hesitate to stare me up and down. Their eyes were blood shot red, and I knew they were needled to suppress their emotions. My eyes scouted the room, and I saw one guard sitting in the opposing corner. It was never eerier to feel like all the eyes of the small lunch-in were on me. I felt powerful – oddly.

I sat, waved for a drink, and thought.

First, it was my desire to work alongside Elijah. Then I met the man of the red hood, a name I couldn’t scavenge from my memory; The Pylon IX, or XI – whichever it was. The party, that mask, the tutorial, Jarris…

Jarris! I thought. It was him who suddenly jolted the goose bumps of my skin. That look was all I could remember. That glimpse. That mocking expression. I was certain the evening was real, but then I thought about that tutorial. Everything in that tutorial room seemed real as well. Maybe the entire experience was a façade. Then it hit me.

I suddenly sprung from my seat, and as I passed another table on my way out I snatched one of the dazed patron’s masks. I heard a shout in my direction, but I ignored it. I stared towards the guard as I made way for the door. He did not budge; he just watched the mask in my palm. I threw open the door and walked towards my left.

I quickly checked the inside of the mask and was happy to find no engraving or strip code. It was either an unregistered mask, or was newly acquired and yet to be witnessed at a ‘head count’ assembly. It could have been an illegal mask simply for getting away with the dirtiest. I wasn’t even aware of the extent of underground activities the city had encountered at its worse.

I placed the mask on my head and slid it over my face. I felt the suction-like silicon grip the sides of my face, and the strap tighten to the back of my head. I slid my fingertips down the front of the mask, and picked up my pace throwing my hands deep in my pockets.

I knew my father’s wisdom would help enlighten the situation, but I felt I needed to make one more stop before heading in that direction. The streets seemed busier than the norm: a desert wasteland. I looked towards the sky and saw the chrono. I assumed it was about time to replenish. I kept my stare above as I watched the brown and engulfing clouds seem motionless in the sky.

I began walking towards the rush and noticed a few eyes behind masks glance my way.

Groups of people began rising from under the ground in the near distance. The Underground Metro System was the place I knew I had to go. I quickly weaved throughout the inclining crowds and journeyed down the stairs two-three steps at a time. An abrupt jolt of air discharged towards me as a train bolted by at the bottom of the steps. The high pitch squealing twitched my ear momentarily before the sound reached a point so high I could not recognize it.

I looked around the uncared for docking bay of the UMS, which had only recently been put back online when the Athorians realized it would improve the quality of our slavery, and I thought back to when I first met Elijah. I remembered an advert sign of some kind – it was a face. I tried to think back to where I had seen Elijah knowing the sign was behind him at the time. The UMS bay was so large and interconnected that I could walk for hours before finding the sign I desired. So I thought harder, looking for any clues in my mind.

Bay 6, E-139, I remembered.

I looked above and to the right and read Bay 4, E-138. I looked around figuring that either the two tracks I had on my mind were parallel or connecting routes. Across the way I noticed a train come to a stop two tracks down. The train read ‘Traveling E-139’. I quickly headed towards its direction knowing I was only two bays away from where I had met Elijah. I jumped on the train just as the doors closed behind me.

I watched the graffiti walls pass by as the train picked up speed. Two bays would only take seconds to travel, and I made sure to punch in the bay I wanted to get off at quickly. It was not long before I was stepping off the train right into the view of the sign I sought. The thought of Elijah standing calmly in front of it crossed my mind. I remembered his head towards the ground, and his hands deep in his dark jacket pockets. The marking on his mask (his right temple) is what always played with my curiosity: it was a symbol that seemed similar to an ‘M’ and a connecting cross.

The sign was a bright red that glowed in the darkness of the UMS. I stared at the masked face on the left side of the advert sign – I gave particular notice to the eyes of masked man, and then I read the bright white text on the right.

‘We Are Humans…’

I almost choked. I was right. Jarris.

[gumOnShoe]

:: Tri-Nitro ::

As the realisation dawned on me I fell to my knees and stared at the sign and read the text over and over again in my mind.
“ We are humans” it read. It was as though a door in my mind had swung open and opened up to an entire new way of thinking. An entire new way of life.
This was what Jarris had been trying to tell me in that holographic suite. This was what Elijah and the resistance fought for. It was so simple that I had not even begun to comprehend it. In my mind I had pictured an underground resistance that would stop at nothing to overthrow the Athorians by using blood thirsty tactics and explosions to take out every single Athorian that had ever set foot on our precious planet.
But they did not do anything like that. All they strived to do was to let the truth be known. The Athorians had not enslaved humanity. Humanity had enslaved itself.
A childhood memory drifted to the surface and I recalled a time where my father had been trying to teach me what it meant to be human.
“ Roberto” he had said “ No matter what you must always remember that the Athorians are no different to us. They have weaknesses like any other human and like any other human these weaknesses can be exploited.”
I had replied by giving a nod to show I was listening when in reality I didn’t care. I was a child and didn’t want to listen about the Athorians. As far as I was concerned everything I had been told about them being the reason humans lived in a world of pollution and darkness was true.
I looked up at the sign one more time and the words “ We Are Humans” stood out like a beacon shining down onto the darkness, illuminating everything around me so I could finally see the truth that the darkness had hidden from my eyes.
The understanding of what Jarris had been talking about ran through my mind as I adjusted my perspective of the entire world and what had enslaved the human race.
Ignorance of the truth was what had enslaved the human race…and now there was a group of people that were trying to let the truth be known.
The sound of the train released me from my thoughts as I watched two spectral orbs glowing in the darkness draw closer.
The train pulled up and I stepped on as the doors opened and sat down and waited for the train to leave the station.
“If only Jarris could see me now” I said out loud to myself.
“ I can assure you that I can see you now Roberto. And from the look on your face it seems you managed to work everything out without instruction.” came a reply from behind me.
I turned around and there with his arms folded on his lap was Jarris in the same jacket he had been wearing at the party. My mouth dropped as I stared at him.
“I must say I’m impressed. Considering how you were acting in the holo-suite I would have thought you would have not even bothered trying to work it out on your own. Seems I was wrong.”
He stood up. And walked over to me.
“ Seeing as you have worked everything out, I think it might be a good idea for you to go and talk to Elijah.”
I stammered my reply as Jarris sat down next me.
“We get off at Workstation VII.” he said as the train pulled off.

[gumOnShoe]

:: Scribbler ::

“We must be quick on our feet upon arrival, time is a luxury we do not possess,” explained Jarris. “Elijah assured me you would understand, at first, I was skeptical but now, I can see that he was right. Judging from the other night, you clearly have never handled a weapon. How are your fighting skills?” Not only did I not know how to handle a weapon but fighting was not my forté. “Underdeveloped,” I replied. He grinned and looked away. What did that grin mean? Did he have something in mind for me? Was he going to take advantage of that or was he going to help me?

Moments later, we arrived at Workstation VII. As I marched toward the door, Jarris clutched my shoulder, “There’s a problem. That man over on the far right has been eying the both of us since the beginning. I think he’s on to us. You get off here; I will take care of him and meet up with you later.” “But where am I supposed to…” I was cut off by Jarris’ push. I fell off the train as the doors closed. Was this a ploy employed by Jarris to overtake Elijah? Was he really trying to protect me? I had no idea where to go and this part of town, I was unfamiliar with. I looked around, hoping to maybe see a familiar face. No luck, instead, I saw a man, dressed similarly to the man who was on the train; he was looking at me. nuts! Now what? Again, I looked around, for a possible exit, there was nothing. He started walking toward me, one hand on his concealed earpiece, another in his right pocket. I started running and he followed…

[gumOnShoe]

:: Coop ::

The man strode toward me, an evil twinkle in his eyes.

'Wrong station, Sir.' He quipped, withdrawing his hand from his pocket. It had a rather hefty looking brass knuckle on it. All I could do to avoid the first swing was duck. Fortunately, the weight of the weapon took him past me and gave me a few precious seconds to run. I had no idea where I was, so I took the first path I could find.

'You can't run forever!' His footsteps began to follow me, through a network of service tunnels. I turned the corner and found myself face to face with a solid wall, his footfalls getting nearer.

Trapped.

He appeared around the corner and looked straight into me, the eyes of a predator, just before it kills the prey.

'Pathetic. I'd have thought you'd have given me at least a little sport.' He advanced upon what was my cowering form, but something in me snapped. I stood up to my full height, bunched my fists and prepared to meet my fate, as any man should. As any HUMAN should.

As he walked up to me, something from out of the shadows dropped onto him. A dark figure grabbed the thug's right arm, placed a boot on his ribs beneath and pulled. There was a sickening crunch, as the man's shoulder dislocated and he screamed in pain. The dark figure then reached down and snapped the thug's neck with one easy movement. Then he looked at me.

'My apologies Roberto, but I couldn't risk you like that.' I stared at the corpse, in disbelief.

'Buh?'

'Let's get out of here, I'll fill you in on the way.'

'But Elijah, you just killed him.' Elijah bent down to the corpse and slipped off the brass knuckles. He passed them to me.

'Kill or be killed, my friend. Take this, it may come in useful.'

He escorted me through the network of tunnels and we emerged in a primative squat. It was big enough to house three people comfortably. He sat down on a chair and indicated me to do the same. I did.

'So, tell me what you have learned, Roberto.'

'We are the pawns of the Athorians, because we do not know what they are. I know what they are, but I don't understand why they are.'

'What are they?' Elijah steepled his fingers and looked over them at me.

'The Athorians are Human. There are lots of us that believe in images of huge muscular quadrupeds, with claws, tentacles and other horrible things. This I do not understand either.'

'Simple. If we knew the Athorians were just human, humanity, as a whole, would suddenly revolt and overthrow them overnight. They use holograms of Aliens which look menacing to be the 'PR Image' of Athoria, their home planet.'

'How did they manage to get a foothold on so many planets?' I had so many questions to ask, I just carried on.

'That, we're not entirely sure of... it's some sort of mind control, but I have no idea-'

'Why we don't believe in these aliens?' I cut in, sensing the flow of the conversation.

'Exactly.' Elijah smiled over his fingers at me 'You really are a fast brain, when you need to be, aren't you?' Elijah stood up and walked about the room. He pulled a scrap of paper off the wall and handed it to me.

'Here is a map of the local tunnels. Use it to return home and continue your life, so as not to arouse any more suspicion than is absoutely nessecary. You have had a lot of answers, so go and think about them, I'll be in contact in a couple of days.

I stood up and left.

'Don't forget to destroy that, when you've finished. You might try to remember it.' Called Elijah after me.

The journey home was surprisingly quiet.

[gumOnShoe]

:: gumOnShoe ::

So that was it I thought after I got off the subway and climbed up to road on which I lived. The brown clouds looked just as dense as ever, but somehow they weren’t as oppressive. The sun laid above them and with it a breath of fresh air. As I walked down the cracked and stained cement sidewalk towards my home I understood. For once I understood what was going on. I wasn’t some menial beast that did nothing more than what was told. No yoke could hold me anymore. Though I would wake up in the morning and go to work as usual I would be free. A spark had been kindled deep within me.

I smiled.

For the first time in what seemed ages, I smiled and I enjoyed it. I laughed to myself, until I could no longer contain it. I felt the urge to run, to dance, to sing.

… so as not to arouse any more suspicion than is absolutely necessary.

Remembering suddenly, I calmed myself down. There was no need to be caught, especially after what just happened. I left the street as I came upon the building that I was seeking. I looked back onto the street before opening the door. As happy as I felt, I could still see their sadness, their weariness. All of them slumped in their walk, careful, jumpy even. One day they would know what I know. One day they would be free. I would make sure of it.

The wooden floor boards creaked under my steps as I moved deeper into the building. I found the stairs that led up to my room and followed them. I was at the top. Left, right, right left. There was my door on the right. The paint on the wall was flaking off, exposing the drywall underneath. I took off my mask and looked left before entering. Searle, my cross the hall neighbor, was sitting on his bed looking at the floor.

“Goodnight Searle,” said I as I made to open the door.

“No different than the day, Roberto, no different from the day. Just as bad,” he replied.

“I wouldn’t bet on it.” I couldn’t manage to keep the happiness out of my voice.

“Something happen to you?” he questioned me.

“Nothing worth retelling, but tomorrow is looking brighter to me more than ever before.”

“Nothing huh? Doesn’t seem like nothing.”

“You’d be surprised how much seems like everything when its really nothing. Long day ahead tomorrow though. I have to get my shuteye.”

“You’re crazy Roberto… really f**king crazy,” I started to close my door with an attempt to look tired. “NIGHT YOU CRAZY f**kER!!”

I still couldn’t help smiling. One day he would be thanking me. I vowed one day we would all see the sun set over the horizon.

[gumOnShoe]

:: TheDoctor ::


I still didn’t have a clue what any of this was really about. It seemed like the world had gone out the window while I slept, and all that was left was this surreal blend of the inexplicable. At least I didn’t feel like I was going crazy anymore.
But then it started again.
A call came through the next morning, it was Jarris.
“Robert, you should leave your apartment. It’s Elijah, he’s coming for you.”
“What?” I mumbled. The haze of sleep was still fading, and my thoughts were back to being scrambled after the heroic sensation of the night before.
“He isn’t what you think. He’s dangerous. Just stay away from your apartment, I’ll call you again.”
He clicked off, and this time I didn’t see anyone leaving the building. It must have been an external call, those weren’t entirely uncommon. Having just talked to Eli the day before, I could hardly believe he would bear any ill will against me. That being said, I could neither trust him nor Jarris to tell me the entire truth.
In the end I decided to play it safe, I quit the residential block and headed for the bar. It was raining again, but this time I had managed to find my mask, it had been wedged between my toilet and the bathroom wall all this time. The neon-blue tones of the chrono smiled down on me as I made my way up the street.
It didn’t really come as a surprise when I found Elijah waiting outside the bar. He was wearing a rain coat again.
“I wouldn’t go in there,” he said. “Jarris is waiting for you.”
“And which one of you should I trust?”
“Regardless of whom you trust, you’ll still die if you go inside.”
I shifted nervously and glanced around. Several men in yellow trench coats were approaching from down the street.
“What’s going on Eli?”
“You’re being watched. Monitored. It’s all a very interesting little game.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“Don’t you find yourself forgetting things nowadays, making impulsive decisions, doing things you might not normally?”
“Like what?”
“You decided to find me again. Out of the blue, just like that. This was what triggered it all off, they started probing you, nudging you in random directions. What about when Jarris beat you up? Weren’t you going to speak with your father later that day? And now you’re back to the sole purpose of saving the human race?”
I thought about it. To tell the truth I had forgotten most of the major twists that had happened over the past few days, but when I thought back to them, they didn’t seem particularly out of place.
“Yeah, so what?” I finally replied. “And who are “they”, you keep mentioning them.”
Eli stepped away from the wall and circled around me, the men in the yellow coats were almost upon us.
“Big brother, the machine, the low men, whatever you want to call them. Some prod you this way and that via different forms of stimuli, the others… don’t agree.”
The men now stood directly behind Eli. There were three of them, all seemingly identical in appearance. Triplets? I thought.
They simultaneously drew weapons from inside their coats, long-barrelled firearms that looked a darn sight more dangerous than the one Jarris had held at the party.
“Run to the alley on your right.” Eli said, then stepped back in a fluid motion. He grabbed the gun from the man on his right and twisted it, the metal groaned as it bent and splintered. Eli moved with the supernatural speed and strength Jarris had when he attacked me. He swung the mangled gun at the assailant on his left, disarming this one with an incredible blow that clearly broke both the thug’s arms. All this happened in the blink of an eye, but despite the element of surprise and Eli’s incredible, almost mechanical efficiency, the third man was still faster. He lowered his weapon and a fizzing cloud of blue sparks exploded from the barrel , punching a football-sized hole through Elijah’s chest and throwing him across the street. I ran. There was no time to do anything else.
A section of the wall behind me disintegrated as I dodged around discarded piles of junk and festering trash, there was a short fence ahead, and the bar’s back door to the left. I rammed into the door, the wood made a snapping sound but held fast. Footsteps echoed behind me and I instinctively dropped to the concrete as the door was torn off it’s hinges and thrown into the building, tearing itself apart from the sheer velocity. To continue down the alley was suicide, I ducked through the doorway and took a right down the dimly lit corridor. I thought I heard another shot somewhere outside, although I couldn’t be sure where it came from. A second door blocked my path, this one gave under my weight and I was outside again, a small yard. Glancing around frantically I spotted some pipes leading upward to my right, there were plenty of footholds. I scrambled up the ten feet or so to the roof of a neighbouring building, sprinting past a comm. antenna before leaping the small gap to a balcony of someone’s apartment. The sliding glass door was locked, I had no choice but to drive a fist through it. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins like a drug by now, I hardly felt the glass as it slashed a shallow, but long cut into my forearm. The next room was much like my own, a little more furnished, but the small space still spoke fathoms of the squalor found in this area of the city. I reached for the door, and then my head exploded with pain. Someone had been on the other side, presumably in just as much of a hurry as I had been. The side of my face throbbed where the wood had struck, but my vision was starting to clear. When the yellow and purple haze dispersed I was looking down the barrel of a gun. Elijah was at the trigger end.
“Eli…?” I moaned. He hauled my up with his free hand and shoved me out the door.
“Eli, I thought you were dead, what-“ he struck the back of my head with something, probably the butt of his pistol, all I knew was it hurt like hell. Black spots flared up across my vision, I felt my mind bending yet again under the weight of this new confusion before I blacked out.

[gumOnShoe]

:: MicTheChampion ::

I followed the sewers for hours, searching for a way out – and my mind for answers. In amongst some moss growing un-controllably on a wall, I noticed some odd graffiti on the wall; it read “Athoria” and displayed a large arrow indicating further down the sewer. Somewhat excitedly, I ran now. Nothing could stop me. I came to an odd door, displaying a “do not enter” sign.

Inside, there were various monitors looming over the room and an elderly man sat in a chair. Through librarian glasses he stared at me, his eyes as though they were trying to work out pi down to the last digit. “Have a seat, Robert.” The man seemed like an elderly version of Elijah. Reluctantly, I sat down. “Elijah…?”. The man smiled tenderly, “Elijah was my son, my creation…those foolish Athorians would not allow such research”. I stroked my hand through my hair…Elijah is some sort of robot…this explains a lot. Although not really. “Jarris?” The old man seemed to look as though he had gotten a foul taste in his mouth “…I had to turn to that fool for funding.”

“Why are you In a sewer?”
“This isn’t a sewer, young Robert.”

I suddenly felt a surge of pure rage pulsate through my body. I’m sick and tired of being manipulated, I feel as though I haven’t made a proper decision of my own since I met that d**n Elijah! Nothing adds up! As though taking actions into my own hands for the first time, I smash the old doctors head against the side of a control panel…to my horror – he isn’t a robot.

His head seems to burst against the sharp corner, and bits of shrapnel from his skull and parts of brain and blood flicker through the sky like a firework display. Elijah is a robot, rather – Elijah is a type of Robot and Jarris funded the project… “The Elijah Project”.

I now turned my attention to the monitors in the room…

[gumOnShoe]

:: Myst_Williams ::

The illuminating monitors shocked my eyes with a sudden surge of pain. They gleamed to the back of my skull as I struggled to focus. My head began to spin as I stumbled to regain my balance. My palm hit the desk. I killed a man.

I stared at a single grain in the wood of the desk and found my focus. I looked back up at the bright monitors, trying to make some sense of the symbols, numbers and words it portrayed.

I played everything through my mind again. Contemplation was the key to unlocking any door, my father used to tell me. I thought of how Eli was shot the first time, a hole through his chest, and at that time he was helping me, but was rushed, vulgar. Then he attacked me, angry, intense. I woke up to a different man, he seemed calm, and cool, collective - while the raging attacker entered and put first strike on Eli and not me. The raging man was Eli, Eli died twice in that corridor, and three times to my best memory. If Eli was a robot, funded by Jarris, who was that man I met so long ago in the UMS. He was no robot, he bled. I recalled the events.

Suddenly the man standing in front of the flashing sign made a move. After staring at me for several moments, I felt awkward, as if I should remember who he was.

‘Roberto?’ he asked as he slid one hand around my arm, ‘a moment of your time.’

I nodded. He led me to a more shadowed corner of the UMS system.

‘Do I know y-‘ I began, but was soon interrupted.

‘No, you don’t know me, but I know you. Time is not to my leisure, so just listen and remember my words.’

I looked at him peculiarly and simply nodded, feeling comforted by his presence – again, as if I should remember him.

‘Pretensions are trivial. Nothing is what it seems. Life itself is a temptress. Your world is, and take me literally Roberto, unto itself. Remember my words, and ask yourself, “Who am I?”’ He looked to his right and then to his left, ‘that is all I have time for today. Watch the chrono Roberto, watch it as if it were your lifeline.’

I watched him as he began to slip past me, but stunned by his powerful words, I did not move. He attempted to squeeze by in a rush, and his arm got caught on the corner of some crappy workmanship. I heard his shirt tare, and watched him grab his arm. I quickly apologized and he looked at the small amount of blood in his palm. ‘I will be fine. A scratch.’ He smiled. And then, like a wisp of wind, disappeared in my blink.

I looked down at the ground. ‘Pretensions are trivial,’ I muttered. If that was Eli, than he died today, fighting a replica of himself. If it wasn’t, than he may be my missing link in this mass confusion, or, as it was said, interesting little game.

‘Nothing is what it seems,’ I repeated aloud trying to find the clue hidden so deeply in the words. The statement means that everything out there isn’t what it seems to be, but why repeat a similar remark as the one before. ‘Nothing, is what it seems. What it seems to be is nothing.’ I said, ‘but what do I see as nothing that in fact has significance?’ Many things raced through my mind, none of which made sense at the moment. I moved on.

‘Life itself is a temptress.’ Why say temptress, and not tempter? Life tempts people everyday, it tempts free will, but are we really free? Do we control our will? Or is our hand being forced. Who leads the Athorians? Who is it that molds our shape, and forces our hand? Who is it that tempted us to give up our freedom? Who betrayed their own? We are all humans. So many things raced through my mind.

I leaned my forehand on the back of my hand, ‘My world is unto itself.’ I did not even know what that meant. I could not even take in the power of the statement. I thought of everything in my world, and the world around me. Did the world somehow revolve around the recent events in my life? Why am I so significant? Who am I in this game? A pawn? Maybe something more… a queen. Temptress.

I pictured the chrono in my mind. It was my light ever since I first met Eli so long ago. It was my lifeline. I looked at it every morning and every night. Sometimes I wondered what it was I was looking at; what it was I was looking for, but somehow, it was always comforting – it made each day a little easier.

I slammed my fists in aggravation, not coming to any finite conclusion. I had to find the real Eli, the human Eli, the one from the UMS. I knew now who created the replicas, to fool people. It clicked. The replicas were scouting for possible rebels; the Athorians were weeding them out - one by one. That had to be it. I wished to God that the real Eli was in safe hiding, and looking for me, because I was afraid I would die before I ever got to solve this puzzle – win this interesting little game.

I looked around for an exit. ‘What next?’ I heard a noise after my words, and I c0cked my neck to the left. I listened.

[gumOnShoe]

:: Tri-Nitro-Toluene ::

What I saw as I turned my head surprised me. A small rodent was standing on top of a footstool. Its sleek body looked somewhat muscular as it cleaned itself. Its jet black fur glistened in the light that was provided by the monitors.
Next to stool the rodent was sitting on was a metal beaker that was lying on its side. I took a guess that somehow the rodent had knocked over the beaker and the sound I had heard was metal hitting the cold floor.
I started to turn my attention away form the rodent and beaker when my eyes caught a glimpse of something on the table. A single piece of paper, with only one word written on it.
I pulled it over the desk and heard the rustle of the paper as it moved across the uneven surface. My eyes fell on the word and I blinked.
I stared at the word as I formulated as many connotations and meanings of the word that I could think of.
Then,it hit me. I understood what I had to do.

[gumOnShoe]

:: Coop83 ::

I continued to rummage through the junk on this workstation in the hope I could find something to help the pain in my leg. I must have accidentally touched a button, because the screens suddenly came to life.

I don't know why, but I turned around and looked at the back of the door. There was a jacket hanging up there. I walked over and had a quick look through the pockets. This produced a data-card and a small, sleek hand gun. Standard issue for these parts, I guess. I stuck the gun in my pocket and found a drive to insert the data-card.

<Access Granted> The computer chimed at me.

While this had let me gain access to the sewer systems, my attention was drawn to a flashing icon in the bottom right, indicating new messages. I touched the icon and up popped a message.

"Roberto,

I am sorry for the deceit, the lies and the treachery. They have all been nessesary evils. You are in a bad state and need fixing up. The attached file is a map. Follow the bluebird and you will find all you need to get working again.

You will find me eventually, I promise you.

E."

A map flashed up on the screen, indicating where I should go along the corridors of the sewer system with a blue line. I really had no choice but to go there. If I didn't, I'd die for sure.

Square I couldn't help but think of the word which had triggered my brain. May be I'd find Elijah (or one of his cyborg friends) at the town square

I left the room, passing the guy I'd killed. I felt sorry for his death, but not guilty. I made my way through the sewers almost to the end of the road, when I noticed this junction had a large inlet pipe, pouring gallons of water in every second. The pool below looked deep and I needed to head straight across the crossroads. There was no ladder down, so my only option was to jump.

I did not jump, so much as topple into the deep, fetid pool. Using my good leg and both of my arms, I managed to half-wade, half-swim across to the other side. The pain was excruciating, but I made it. I staggered down the last few yards of corridor and opened a service hatch into a room, where three people stood. That was the last thing I saw, as I passed out.

'Uh... What happened? Where am I?'

'Why don't you rest a while, you are still drowsy from the drugs.' There was a dim light in the room from over in the corner, where someone was working at a bench.

'Drugs?'

'We needed to keep you in a coma for several days, to prevent you dying, Roberto.'

'What did you do to me?'

'I saved your life. I fixed you.' A spry little man with a white goatee and a receeding hairline peered over me, grinning.

'Is there any chance you could do something about my leg? It's killing me!'

'What, that's hurting? We may need to take it off as well then.'

'AS WELL?! What the hell else did you cut off?!' My eyes widened and I nearly fell off the bed.

'Well, you lost a lot of blood from the rip in your thigh. It wasn't healing, so we had to... replace it.' I glanced down the bed at the blanket covering me. I twitched the blanket to one side and there I was, one leg of flesh and bone, the other mechanical from mid-thigh down to the floor. The toes wiggled and I was dumbfounded. I could control this leg, as if it were my own...

[gumOnShoe]

:: gumOnShoe ::

"...I suggest you get some sleep," continued the doctor. "I'm afraid recoperation may take a few days, and there are things you need to be doing. Get your rest while you can."

I didn't know what to say. I tried to touch my new leg, but couldn't find the energy to touch the thing. I laid back down and drifted back to sleep as had been suggested. All the conversations that I had had came back to me... all the events as well. My world was unto itself, I had to watch the chrono. Everything, nothing... all that I needed to do was watch the chrono. Watch the chrono as if it were my lifeline. But who was I? Why must I watch the chrono? Why was it that I felt the need to watch it everyday and why did it comfort me so?

"The questions are the answers," Jarris had said once, long ago.

Who was I then? I felt so controlled. Mind control was how they kept everyone in order, thats what I had heard. The Elija project... masks... robots. They were weading us out, one by one. How then was I in the hospital? Had Elija sent for me? Was he near by?

I drifted deeper into sleep under the influence of the drugs as another wave of them passed through my IV. But I didn't want to sleep, I wanted to figure this out. I wanted to finally have some semblance of control, like I had felt that night I had sworn to free everyone. I struggled against my body, focused on raising my hand. Focused until I felt it twitch. I didn't need to sleep any longer, I had been asleep all my life. The chrono came back to my mind and I calmed down a bit, but I didn't want to calm down... I wanted to get up.

I forced myself to open my eyes, I forced myself to look to the side and take in my surroundings. To my right lay another bed, empty, and past it a window which looked out into the dim brown day. There glowed the chrono, as it always did. I felt a calmness surge inside me again and I began to drift back to sleep, but cought myself and looked away. A nurse was busy on my right side checking vitals and cleaning up. The spry doctor must have taken off when I went to sleep.

"S'cuse me miss?" I drawled in my intoxicated stupor.

"You need your rest, go back to sleep."

"I need ansrers," I struggled to utter.

"If you want to get your strength back foreman, I suggest you get some sleep. Battling rebels is hard work."

"Wah you say?" my eyes were able to open a little more.

"I said you need to get some sleep. Howard Jaspers called in earlier. He wants to visit you, I suggest you get some sleep, you wouldn't want to be in bad shape when your commander comes around."

"My commaner? Misser Black 's my boss..." I was having a hard time remaining awake, every second I grew more tired.

The nurse must have taken my words for hallucination. "All is fine, just get some sleep."

"Wha abou Elijuh?" I asked as I fell deeper.

"He got away from you, don't let it worry you. We will catch up with him later. Just get some sleep."

And no longer able to fight the drugs in my veins I fell deep into a sleep which I couldn't pull myself out of. The chrono and Elija once again circled around my mind.

[gumOnShoe]

:: The Doctor ::


I awoke to the crashing sound of rain against glass. It was dark, I couldn’t see anyone around. For the first time in what seemed like weeks I felt… normal. No drugs, no one trying to kill me – at least for the time being – and no Elijah. He was the root of my problems, that was for sure. I pondered the matter for some moments, running my mind over the nature of this mysterious man. I hated him, in one way he was responsible for all this, but I doubt I would have gotten this far without him. What had it all been about anyway? The Athorians? This was more than that, I wasn’t sure that they even factored in anymore, things had gotten bigger.
I looked around the room. It was a regular hospital ward, all the beds empty apart from mine, very little equipment to be seen. A phosphorescent blue pattern danced upon the far wall. Water poured down in waves across the windows, some kind of spotlight shining through to project that fluid pattern into the room.
I sat up, feeling my leg vibrate as it’s interior mechanisms worked their magic. The structure felt pretty good, all things considered. Several textured pads in key points gave me some measure of feeling throughout the structure, it responded much the same as a normal limb.
“You like it soldier?”
I snapped my head around in the direction the voice had come from. A slightly balding man in a brown suit stood in the far corner.
Howard Jaspers. I didn’t remember if I’d seen this man before or only heard his name mentioned – but somehow I knew who he was. He stepped forward into the dim cascade of light.
“I thought you’d like it. We’ll have you back in the game in no time!”
This guy was really starting to freak me out. I had just been playing along with things, playing the game, but he didn’t seem like a part of it.
“Who are you?” I asked. It was a stupid question that I already knew the answer to, but I said it all the same. Jaspers frowned reproachfully.
“We both know you don’t really need to be asking me that.”
I wasn’t surprised. I was beyond surprise.
I nodded.
“Jaspers. Are you going to tell me what’s going on?”
He shook his head.
“Nu-uh, not just yet. You’ll have to stay in the dark just a little while longer. Why don’t you kill me now, by the way? I’m more than likely a danger.”
He grinned at me, the light giving the expression a frighteningly ghoulish appearance.
I swallowed, my throat was dry.
“Alright.” I said, and reached for a small metal box hooked up to some instruments next to me. Jaspers began laughing.
“Hahahahahahah! Robby boy, you never fail to disappoint! Play my game, play it, and win!”
I stood, feeling the weight of the box in my hand. It was solid, sharp corners. More than adequate.
“I’m not playing your f**king game not a very nice person.” I growled at him. “I’ll kill you, and keep on killing the rest of you f**ks until I know what the hell’s going on.”
Jaspers tutted and began walking towards me.
“Tick-tock Robby, watch the chrono remember? You don’t even know how to stop playing. And when your time is up, tick-tock my son, tick-tock!”
He placed his hands behind his back, he was nearly at my bed.
“Kill me now, go on! You know that’s what Elijah would do, but oops! His time’s already up, no one to guide you now eh? Tick-tock!”
He took one bounding step forward, thrusting his face close to mine, blowing spittle as he bellowed.
“TICK-TOCK ROBBY!”
I recoiled back, swinging the box into his head with a roar. It struck him just below the temple, there was a tearing sound, and his jaw shifted to the left. I saw exposed metal, sparks. Jaspers’ skin cracked like hard-baked mud, his body slumping down over the bed. Another robot. I dropped the box and ran, out the door, to a flight of steps. There were muffled voices coming from below, normal voices, voices I wanted to join. But did I? No, they didn’t hold the answers anymore. I headed up.

After a minute or thereabouts I reached a door, flinging it open on the mother of all storms. Rain lashed in, the wind and water almost knocking me back down the stairwell for a second. I regained my balance and dashed outside, soaked to the bone within seconds. I was on the roof, thunder sparked across the horizon, dark clouds casting down their fluid maelstrom on the city around me. But there was no city. At least, not for about a mile. Instead, there was water.
I was standing on the roof of a hospital. On an island. In the middle of a coastal bay. In a monsoon.
My new metal toes clicked on the concrete, barely audible above the roar of the storm. The white hospital gown I wore flapped sluggishly against me, producing a wet slapping sound as it made contact. I ran to the edge of the roof, not really knowing what I might do next. And then, right on cue, Elijah’s voice piped up from behind me.
“It’s not over yet. Don’t quit.”
I turned, squinting my eyes against the deluge. There he was, dressed in a raincoat, his handsome face grinning at me beneath the blonde hair.
“Why are you doing this to me!?” I screamed. “Why can’t you just leave me alone!”
Eli stepped forward, still grinning, but with his palms held up in a submissive gesture.
“I’m not in charge, but I can tell you that there’s only one way out of this. Win the game Roberto, keep on going and the answers will come.”
“Why don’t you tell me, I mean WHY THE f**k DON’T YOU JUST TELL ME!?”
Eli shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. The questions are the answers. But as long as you keep asking them you’re only making things harder on yourself. But I guess you’re right, you deserve some slack.” He took a deep breath and began pacing the roof. “Why did I first come to you Robert?”
“To fight the Athorians.” I answered dutifully. I still felt like I owed this man something. If he even was a man.
“Exactly. And why did I want to fight them?”
“So we could rise above their oppression.”
Eli shook his head.
“Nonono, that’s stupid. Let me ask you something else, how many times has an Athorian ever put you down? How many times have they hurt you? How many times have you actually seen an Athorian hmm?”
I stared down. Waiting for the point to come.
“Now I ask you again: why did I want you to fight?”
“…So you could win.”
“Bingo! We fight to win. It doesn’t matter what we’re fighting for, as long as we want to win. You want to win. And that’s why you’re going to keep fighting.”
I looked back at Eli, my hatred of him beginning to surface once more.
“No, I don’t. Don’t presume you know the first god d**ned thing about me.”
“And why not? How long is it since you felt like yourself? How long since you didn’t have to be killing someone or fighting for your life to feel normal? Because let’s face it Robert – that’s the only time you don’t feel like you’re going insane.”
Eli walked over and pressed something into my hand. When he spoke, it was with a much softer tone, his smile was gone.
“And now here’s the next question: why am I telling you this? Back to the game Roberto. Make sure you win.”
And with that Eli stepped past me, and off the edge of the building. I didn’t look. Whether it was sparks or blood that came as a result of his suicide, I still felt like I would follow him if I saw. I held up the object he had handed me. Another gun, another way to stay in the game. I looked back over the sheer drop once more, and then turned to the stairs. Four more of those identical men in the yellow coats stood in front of me.
And this time I was on my own.

[gumOnShoe]

:: Myst_Williams ::

I felt like screaming out, what do you want?, but I knew it was no use. I knew asking questions was not getting me anywhere. I found it perfect timing for these men to arrive. Simply recalling what they told me before seemed to begin to fill some gaps. I am monitored – this is obvious. Why I am being monitored I do not know. Was someone afraid I would deviate from their little game? Did I truly feel at best while killing?

I looked ahead of me, and my gun was already upright towards those standing strong in the wind and rain. Impulse, Intuition.

“I KNOW NOW,” they looked at me, still without movement, “YOU ARE THE STIMULI!” the words barely shouted over the storm towards them.

Them and all the other crap thrown my way.

I lost track of one of them. There only stood three in front of me. My mind wanted to wander my surroundings desperately looking for the fourth, but I knew that would put down my guard. I stood, silent, listening.

I turned directly around with my fist in the air, and locked my right arm with a yellow arm behind me. I twisted my body to the left and elbowed the machine in the face while stepping back away from his reach. Two shots was enough to drop one more robot to the ground.

I turned to my left and found nothing. The attackers were making use of the dark surroundings. I felt my arms suddenly barred to my back, and a whisper in my ear, “come with us and we will take you from this place.”

The gun, still in my hand, shot the foot behind me, but nothing. My rage grew and I jolted my arms foreword with all my strength, bringing two mechanical arms with me. The other two pulled out their weapons. I saw what they did to that one Eli. I ran. I ran to the edge that Eli fell off of and I jumped. Shots clang and ricocheted off the roof behind me as I fell to what seemed to be a sure death. There was no Eli beneath me.