Arthur's bedroom door creaked open. It was 5 AM, and Arthur was still fast asleep. A shadowy figure slipped into his room, carefully avoiding the mess strewn about the floor. They creeped closer and closer to Arthur's bed, until…

“Wake up!”

Arthur jumped awake, instantly darting out of his bed and grabbing the knife hidden under his pillow.

“Reveal yourself!” He yelled.

The figure walked over to the light switch.

“Calm down Arthur, it's just me! It was just a little prank.”

They flicked the switch, turning the light on.

It was Charlie.

Arthur breathed a sigh of relief and hid the knife back under his pillow.

“Don't do that again, please.”

“Sorry, sorry. Steven told me to wake you up, so I thought I'd have a little fun.”

Arthur pulled one of the drawers of his dresser out and removed the bottom, revealing a secret compartment with a tight, all black outfit inside. He pulled it out and put it on.

“You ready?” Charlie asked.

“I think so. I've been preparing for this for the past three years, I think I'll do great.”

“That's good. But don't get too confident. If you get too confident, you'll get sloppy.”

Arthur laughed.

“I know, I know.”

“What's so funny?”

“You used to say the same thing all the time in the future.”

Charlie frowned.

“Hearing you talk about my future self is kinda creepy.”

Arthur finished putting on the outfit and walked down to the basement with Charlie.

“Good morning Arthur. Are you ready?” Steven said as they walked down the stairs.

“As I'll ever be.”

Arthur and Charlie walked over to Steven and sat down.

“Should I go over the plan again?” Steven said.

“Nope. I'm good.” Arthur said, giving a thumbs up.

“Alright. Then we’re ready. Here, put this on.”

Steven handed Arthur a small Bluetooth earpiece.

“What do I need this for?”

“Charlie and I will be on a call with you the whole time to guide you through the mission.”

Arthur put earpiece in and stood up.

“Aren't you forgetting something?” Steven asked.

“I don't think so?”

“Are you really gonna go out dressed like that? You look like you're about to commit a crime!”

“Well, I kinda am.”

“You don't want people to know that! Go put on a jacket.”

“Alright, fine.”

Arthur walked back into the basement, now wearing a puffy jacket.

“Good.” Steven said, standing up. “Now let's get going.”

Charlie walked over to the small desk that had been moved into the room and messed with the computer that had been placed on top of it.

“Arthur, hold down the button on the earpiece please.”

Arthur held the button, and the earpiece made a small noise after a few seconds.

“Alright, we're connected. Now we can communicate with you while you're on the mission.”

“Thank you Charlie. Come on Arthur, I'll drive you to the building.”

Arthur grabbed the gun he would be using and a knife from the wall and headed to the car with Steven.

They arrived in front of the building at 6:13 AM. Arthur grabbed his stuff and headed inside.

“Arthur, am I coming through?” Charlie's voice came through the earpiece.

“Yes, I can hear you.”

“Arthur, the car is through the alleyway in front of the building. It's not exactly ideal since you'll be running through the street, but it was our best option.” Steven said through the earpiece.

“Got it.” Arthur said as he removed one of the ceiling tiles and climbed up.

“Remember Arthur, do not make any noise. If the targets hear you, the rebellion would be over before it even began.”

“Understood.”

He replaced the ceiling tile and crawled towards the vent.

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“How long do I have until security arrives?”

“thirty minutes. Targets start arriving in an hour, and the meeting begins in an hour and thirty minutes.” Charlie's voice crackled in Arthur's ear.

“Got it.”

He crawled through the vents until he reached a splitting path.

“I'm at a split, what do the building plans say?”

“Go right.” Charlie said.

“Got it.”

He went right, continuing forward until he saw a faint light in the distance.

“I've reached the destination. Exiting the vents and getting into position.”

“Got it.”

He entered the ceiling area again, trying his best not to cough from all the dust around him. He crawled his way to the center of the space and got into position.

“I'm in position. How much time do I have?”

“Security’s here, targets arrive in thirty minutes. Meeting starts in an hour.”

“Got it.”

After what felt like an eternity of waiting, Arthur heard voices in the room below him. He peeked through the small hole he had made in the ceiling and saw a group of men wearing suits walking into the room.

“Targets are arriving. Don't respond anymore, you might be heard, just press the button on the earpiece once for a ‘yes’ or ‘understood’, two times for ‘no’, and three times if you're in trouble.” Charlie said.

Arthur pressed the button once.

“Good.”

After a while, the men started to sit down in the seats surrounding the large oval shaped table below Arthur. Two seats were empty.

The man at the end of the table stood up and spoke.

“Welcome, friends! We have drinks and food coming soon, so I hope none of you filled yourselves with breakfast this morning!”

The men in the room laughed. It wasn't a genuine laugh, but rather the type of laugh you would make when a superior at work makes a joke.

The man spoke again.

“Now, before we get to the meat of this meeting, I’d like to do a bit of a roll call to find out who's here with us today.”

He began saying names, a hand silently going up each time he said one.

“Johnathan Bates.” The man said loudly.

No hands went up.

“Johnathan Bates?” the man repeated.

Still, no hands went up.

“Well, that's a shame. Looks like someone couldn't make it.”

He continued naming names as Arthur silently panicked above.

What?! Johnathan Bates isn't here? Why not?! Damnit! This isn't looking good…

“William Nelson.” The man said.

No hands went up.

“William Nelson? No? Well that's a shame. But every other seat is filled, so I will assume the rest of the people on this list are here. With that out of the way, let's begin.”

What the hell? Neither of the targets are here? What's going on!

He reached up to press the button on his earpiece, but Steven spoke first.

“Arthur, there appear to be some… uninvited guests?”

Thank God! Maybe it's them!

“There's… about 15 of them I’d say. A bunch of tall guys wearing suits and bowler hats. They all look identical!”

It's not them?

“It's weird… It's almost like… I can't see their faces? But one of them is facing my direction, so I should be able to…”

Who are they?

“I don't know who they are, but just keep listening in on the meeting for now. I'll tell you if they make any moves.”

Arthur began focusing on the meeting below once again.

“My friends, we all share one thing in common. We're all just guys who are looking to make a buck or two. And fellas, I'll tell you, I've got just the scheme lined up for us.”

Something made a click noise, presumably a remote for a presentation that the man was showing.

“I'm sure all of you have heard about how tense it's been in Asia as of late. It's all over the news! Everyone knows war is inevitable. So my friends, we’ll strike first- not with weapons, but with deals. You see, I've got guys on the inside in practically every country over there, and they all want weapons.”

The click noise happened again.

“So let's give them weapons. I've recently come into possession of a large sum of radioactive material. Perfect for making bombs with. So here's the deal, I give each of you your own country, and you sell my stuff to them. Of course, I'll take most of the money since it's my stuff, but you'll get a cut since you're the ones selling it. I'm telling you guys, it's the easiest money you'll ever make!”

What? A war in Asia? And they're going to provide them with nuclear explosives?

None of this happened before I got sent back…

Steven spoke.

“Arthur, the guys in bowler hats are on the move! I'm not sure what their goal is, but be careful!”

Suddenly, the building's power went out, and the room went dark.

The men in the room below began to panic.

Arthur began to panic as well. He pressed the button on his earpiece 3 times, but nothing happened. Deciding that his life was more important than not being discovered, he spoke into the earpiece.

“Steven, Charlie! Can you hear me?”

Static.

A gunshot rang out through the halls of the building.

The men in the room below began to panic even more, their phones not working.

The man in charge of the meeting could be heard clearly among the chaos.

“Goddammit, someone figure out what the fuck is happening!”

Arthur peaked through the hole in the ceiling, and saw that the room below was illuminated by a dim light in the ceiling, probably from a backup generator in the building.

More gunshots came from the hallway.

The door in the room below got knocked down, and the men in bowler hats walked into the room slowly.

They were all holding silenced pistols, and their suits were stained with blood.

They pointed their guns at the business men and shot them, every single one of them being killed instantly.

One man emerged from the crowd of men in bowler hats.

He looked similar to the other men, but his suit and hat were blue rather than black, and his head was covered by a black mask. It hugged his head tightly, allowing you to see the vague details of his face, but obscuring anything that could be used to identify him. It was decorated by thin pieces of silver that looked like the bumpy bottom of a cartoon cloud. Where his right eye was, there was a blue gem in the shape of a raindrop.

He spoke, his voice deep and smooth.

“Rain or shine…”

The rest of the men repeated after him.

“Rain or shine…”

Arthurs heart raced, and he tried to crawl away quickly, but he made a misstep and the ceiling collapsed beneath him. He scrambled into a corner, and attempted to get his gun out, but he had dropped it during his fall. The man in blue walked over and pointed his gun at arthurs head. He loomed over Arthur, and on his chest was a small silver pin. The pin had an umbrella in front of a large sun, and rain was coming from the underside of the umbrella.

“Rain or shine…” the man in blue said.

“Rain or shine…” the men repeated.

The man in blue pulled the trigger and shot Arthur in the head, killing him instantly.

8:46 AM

Nobody in the building is left alive. The men in bowler hats leave the building, their suits completely clean.

8:54 AM

A group of men in white suits and bowler hats enter the building.

9:04 AM

The men in white leave. There are no bodies in the building. No blood on the walls or floor. It is completely pristine on the inside. It looks as though nobody had entered the building the entire day.

2:30 PM

Steven leaves, having lost contact with Arthur.

Throughout the next week, various articles and obituaries are released detailing the deaths of the businessmen that went to the meeting that day. Two committed suicide. Three were murdered together in a back alley robbery. One died in a plane accident. One went missing, presumably fleeing the country after years of tax fraud were discovered.

There were no witnesses. All of their deaths were forgotten within two weeks.

There was never a war in Asia.