Prologue: The Push of a Key
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Parallel Earth
Wednesday, 14 August, 2318
Beep-beep
Beep-beep
Beep-beep
Be-Click
I awaken as usual, slap the top of my alarm clock, and take comfort in the silence of the morning.
After a brief moment, I kick the blankets aside and roll off the edge of my bed, landing in a cool push-up position.
Yes, I know what you're thinking: “you are lying” and in this case, you would be correct. What actually happened was that I face-planted on the floor with a loud thud, and for a moment, I lay there against the cold wooden boards.
I finally remembered that I didn’t want to be late, so I pulled myself to my feet and glanced at the mirror on the wall. The figure of a skinny white man with bright red hair and green eyes looked back at me.
The absence of defined muscles was immediately apparent, as was the pallor of his skin, which revealed his avoidance of the sun. This was none other than me.
I was born Charles Invictus; at least, that’s what the letter found with me states. Yes, I’m an orphan—so what? I’m nicknamed Charlie by everyone I care about, although that’s not saying much when I can count that number on one hand.
I raise my said hand and point at myself in the mirror, forming a gun with my fingers and saying “Bang” before sighing and thinking get it together Charlie, I head to the bathroom to take a shower, kicking open the wooden door and ignoring the dirty clothes I should have washed yesterday I kick off the pyjama pants I was wearing and step into the shower.
After a thorough scrubbing and using up the little hot water I had I dry myself off, grab some clean clothes from my cupboard and dress, first a generic pair of underwear and socks, second a dark green tank top and denim trousers, third a green button up long sleeve shirt and to finish the look I was going for I pulled on and tied up my old steel capped boots which were perfect for stomping on people’s feet that got in my way.
Of course my whole persona was a complete lie and I sort of ruined it when I put my glasses on, I’ve been called a nerd by a few people which to be fair wasn’t far from the truth, Grabbing my laptop bag and settling it on my shoulder and slipping my wallet into my pocket before heading to door, pausing with my hand on the door handle I turn and send a glare at the clothes still laying on the bathroom while telling myself to make it a higher priority.
After stepping out of my one bedroom apartment and closing my door, locking it and just like that I removed the problem of washing from my mind and set out for a long day, heading down the hall I pass the watchful eye of old Mrs brown standing at attention with her trusty broom and believe me when I say she could beat me to death with it, I skip down the short flight of stairs and out the main door.
Upon exiting the building I take a deep breath in and slowly exhale the smog that was now a permanent fixture in our once so called pristine New Sanlok, Ive been told it was built on the remnants of a swap known as the bog lands but god only knows if that's true, shaking off the lingering thoughts I begin the trek through what most of upper society refers to the slums but I just call it home.
Making the short walk down the street to the bus stop I gaze upon a few of the probably hundreds of merchants hawking their wares to random travels that didn’t know better, most had expert eyes that silently kept track of me knowing exactly who I was and that they should stick with easy coin then try to haggle with me, I had made a name for myself as a boy being a sort of broker that left the other side always thinking they got the better end of the deal but even then in the grand scheme of things I was nothing too special, arriving at the bus stop I noticed more propaganda for another one of the big companies painted on the wall, the bench and hell even the ground around the bus stop.
Of course it was all always the same, join us now and you to could someday be as rich as us, a complete lie but there’s always a sucker that’ll get tricked and signed into a life debt, I took a seat on the bench and rested my head against the wall, finally having a bit of time to think about exactly why Gemma my adopted sister and Jeremy her business partner had called me in for a meeting, it wasn’t often I heard from both at the same time, Gemma usually calls around her birthday or mine and Jeremy when he wants my opinion but never both of them.
My musing was cut short by the arrival of the bus, right on time and by that I mean exactly 3 minutes late, classic Darrel all round a great guy doesn’t pry into anything but won’t take no shit from anyone when he’s working and as a bonus he’ll give me free rides when he knows I’m short on money which I tend to avoid since I know it cuts into his business, with a quick shake of my head to let him know I’ve got no money for him he just grunts and gives me that grin that just says like at me I’m a saint and damn if it wasn’t infectious, I step on to the bus and he gives me a fist bump as I pass and I slip into the empty seat right behind him, settling in I close my eyes to pass the 2 hours it’s going to take.
I’m shaken awake by a hand on my shoulder, blinking my eyes open and find none other than Darrel the man I’d recommend to god to become an angel if I could, he had short brown hair that was usually slicked back that contrasted well with his hazel eyes and the ever present stubble on his chin that never seemed to grow longer along with the way his skin always looked tanned even though he was a true white man and he had muscles so distinct you couldn’t hide them if you tried and to wrap it all up his voice remind me of an old county singer who I only ever knew as the man in black.
Darrel interrupted my blatant ogling with a soft cough and I blinked before realising what I was doing and looked away while scratching the back of my head “we’re here” he said, ah yes and just like that responsibility had returned and I switched my mind back into gear.
Pushing up out of the seat and following him out of the bus led me to the entrance of a large factory that looked ancient, buildings like these were now only privately owned as show pieces or owned by museums to teach the future generation of how life has progressed now that the corporations own nearly everything, Darrel turned to me and held out his hand which I didn’t hesitate to grasp even if it hurt a little bit “head on in when your ready, they should be waiting for you and after all this we’ll catch up and have a beer” and then without another word he jumped back on the bus and in no time was gone, that man was my Idol.
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Still writing, Almost come full circle
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The vehicle comes to a stop as Macker parks on the sidewalk while jones does a little rerun of everything I’ve already been told while I half listen, “Remember the hard part is getting past security and then everything should be a breeze, just head to the locker room and grab the bag in locker 314” I nod my head and tell him I’ve got it “listen kid I know Gemma trusts you but this is our first run together so don’t fuck it up” I’m seriously holding back when I just want to grab him and slap him while telling him to pull himself together but I know that’ll make it worse so I just settle for a simple nod of the head and reach for the door handle when the chirp of the lock engaging.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
I turn back to see jones lent over the centre console with his finger in my face “Don’t Fuck Up” he says slowly and deliberately before unlocking the door and I quickly dart out and close the door before he can say another word, before I’ve even made it 2 steps away from the blue minicar I hear them pull away and my chance of backing out disappear.
Quickly as I can without standing out I begin heading to the doors of the tall office building, the grey suit blends in well with almost every other person around me be they men or women almost to easily In my opinion, I queue up in line for entry while nonchalantly checking for any obvious signs of cameras or over the top security but not knowing what was normal really didn’t help.
finally by the time I’d made it to the front of the line my ankles and knees when aching from standing for so long, seriously how did these people handle it without going insane although considering what I was looking into I could maybe see what caused it, stepping up to the overworked and likely underpaid security workers they did a quick pat down and waved the metal detector wand over me before directing me through.
With the so called hard part over I took a quick look around to orient myself and immediately caught sight of the female change rooms on my left and considering most big corporations like symmetry I turned to the opposite side of the lobby and locked onto the sign for the male change rooms, target acquired.
Quickstepping my way to my destination was easy as following the constant flow of people almost like driving on the road one way in and one way out, once I entered the change rooms it was as simple to follow along with the numbers to find exactly what I was after, locker number 314
when I found the locker I had to chuckle at the fact someone had put a dot between the 3 and 1, who doesn’t love pi after all, unlocking the door and opening it revealed a small backpack right where it should be, grabbing it and quickly unzipping it I found exactly what I needed
1. A middle manager uniform, 2. A small taser in an underarm holster, An I.d that read Jack but had my picture on it and last but not least was a nondescript black usb and small ear comm, quickly slipping the comm in and starting to get changed I tapped and held the small button on the comm and waited for a reply.
Almost immediately the bell like voice of Gemma sounded in my ear “Status” she said and I replied with “pick up recovered, moving to elevator to upper floors” and once again got a single word reply of “received”, stuffing my old suit into the bag and the bag back into the locker and locking it before setting out to lock for the elevator which I wouldn’t think would be too hard.
Once I exited the change rooms I immediately noticed a difference, before I would blend in with everyone else and could stand right next to them but now with my lighter coloured suit I stood out like a saw thumb and had a small exclusion zone around me, stopping for a moment to think I immediately came up with a plan to speed things up instead of wasting time looking for an elevator.
Slowly glancing around my eyes roamed across everyone I could see until I met the eyes of someone who didn’t look away and I raised my hand and gestured to come here, his eyes filled with terror and he turned to those around him but much like myself he now had and exclusion zone, with a sigh and the slumping of his shoulders he trudged over to me with the doomed look as someone going to the gallows.
The big man finally reached me he’d almost seemed to have shrunk into himself, I almost felt sorry for him but it wasn’t any of my business what he acted like, I asked him “Can you lead me to the elevator, I have a meeting in 5 minutes and would prefer not to be late”, at my words he seemed to perk up and quickly nodding and saying “this way” before setting off to my left.
With my guide leading the way I found the elevator in short order and before I could even thank the man he scurried off like a scared mouse, with a shrug of my shoulders I stepped into the elevator and hit the 7th floor button, the doors closed with a soft melodic “Ding” then I waited for the ride to be over while listening to smooth jazz, ah who doesn’t love a classic.
With another soft “Ding” my ride had ended and it was time to be serious, a step out of the elevator followed by a quick glance revealed office cubicles running from wall to wall almost like a maze, god what a nightmare, the first cubicle I came to I ducked inside and scooped up a yellow folder and tucked it under my left arm, a clipboard with some type of checklist on it on my left hand and a pen in my right, after all no one bothers their bosses when they have a scary clipboard that could man they’re about to be fired.
With clipboard and pen in hand I began my final march to my destination and that’s when I met her, Someone so terrifying that Death himself ran away and God went to hell just so he could kill something.
The Dreaded Karen.
The first clue I got that something was about to happen was the loud yells of a man, the second was the loud slap that followed and finally the obnoxious voice of a woman saying “I want to speak to your manager”
Please no not now, yeah because that works, ah my simple job, I could hear the stomp of heels on the floor that I swore were louder than a giant lizard tearing through New York and when they finally came to a stop I looked up to find a petite blonde with blue eyes I thought was cute until she opened her mouth, “Are you the manager”
Oh My God can I please say no and let someone else deal with it, I looked to the left and found an unfeeling wall followed by a look to the right and surprise another wall, sighing I just said “I guess”, she opened her mouth and let everything fly not letting the poor man get a single word in while I occasionally let out “I see” and “mhmm” while pretending to write on the page, what I was really doing was planning how to end it but then I’d cross each out and start a worse plan that would be even more violent.
It got to a point were nearly every cubicle around use had someone standing their while slack jawed and she finally finished which was when i finally asked something I had already figured out, “what did you say your” name was and she said “My name is Karen”
My dislike no dislike isn’t enough, I Loathe this woman, it went from Burn it with Fire to just Nuke it from Orbit.
I quickly came up with a plan, “We seem to have run into a problem” I told her, she looked at me confused “You see, I don’t pay you to waste time, waste the time of every one of your coworkers include my own” I absolutely lied through my teeth “So what I’m going to do is dock your pay” at that she opened her mouth but I held my hand up “I’m not done, we are going to deduct 10 percent for every person you have interrupted today” and with that the dragon was slain I handed my yellow folder to a random man and walked off while the Karen starred, dumping the clipboard into a bin I found the door marked special interest and slipped inside, locked the door behind me and spotting the loan security guard.
I slowly pulled the small taser out of its holster while sneaking up to the man sitting at the desk in front of me, he’s reading a magazine of some sort and doesn’t even hear me as a quickly press the taser against the back of his neck and with a quick zap he slumps in his chair.
Tapping on my ear bud I report back to Gemma that I’d secured the room and neutralised the guard, as she directed me to insert the usb into the main monitor of the computer I was also cuffing the guard and taping his mouth shut.
With the guard out of the way I did as directed, inserting the usb and standing by watching as the computer was accessed remotely and for Gemma to finish on her end, after what felt like hours to me but was probably about 5 to 10 minutes she finally got back to me but something was off.
“Charlie the plans changed” Gemma said her voice was shaky and she sounded frightened, now if I didn’t know her I wouldn’t worry but whatever scared her I knew I should be absolutely terrified, “how bad are we looking at gem” she hated that nickname but she didn’t react at all which told me all I needed to know.
“So you said you had a plan to destroy the building and all the board members right, please tell me it’ll be easy” I said with a little bit of desperation in my voice, “Yes and no, I can set it all up remotely from here but you’ll have to press the final key from that computer”, that didn’t sound to difficult to me “so what’s the damage going to be”, with a small defeated sigh she said “A kilometre”.
“Well fuck, guess I’m not going to get that beer then” was all I could say thinking of Darrel and before I could change my mind I told her to do it “But there has to be another way” Gemma said, “You told me we only had 2 options and option one just went out the window, now do whatever you have to”.
After a couple of seconds the computer in front of me started to flash through files and programs once again before coming to stop on what looked like targeting information and something called Project Thor, I was curious but every second counted now “I’ve got everything locked in all you need to do is confirm the launch and you’ll have about 2 minutes before impact, I’m sorry Charles”
I could hear her soft sobs now and wished I could help her but knew I couldn’t, with a soft whisper hoping she’ll miss it I said “I know, I love you” before pulling the earbud out and dropping it to the floor.
With the press of the Enter key, I initiated the two-minute countdown and watched as the timer slowly ticked down, I had a small chuckle to myself finding the humour in my last name, I would never be beaten one way or the other.
Before the numbers reached zero, without me or anyone else in the building realising it, with a brief flash of light followed by an incredible shockwave the city of New Sanlok shook as a 20-foot tungsten rod struck and the building ceased to exist.
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Somewhere far across the multiverse.
A being of great age sat on an old, worn-out couch, with a giant bowl of popcorn beside him, completely forgotten.
He gazed upon the devastation wrought by a single mortal, and a solitary tear slowly traced its way down his cheek.
All he could think was, “Beautiful” and “More”.
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And so it begins as was foretold
- GIFT