These were his first thoughts:

A great pain that swells my heart and my veins. This body is pain and misery. Lungs that fill with air, tarnished by the dusty smoke of the guilty. Sounds of metal that slither on the ground fill this empty, dark room.

Where am I?

No, that is not the most important question.

Who is the man in the mask? A long, beak-like black mask. He is in front of my collapsed body, on bent knee. Leather that covers all of his body, hidden by a long, dark coat.

"Can you stand?" The man dared ask. To move would be a gift, for not even my fingers could be lifted. I understand, this is a conversation.

I gather all my strength "…No" With a feeble whisper. Did this man do this to me? Why?

"You will answer to the name your mother chose for you" He continued, once my reply reached his ears "Lysander, from the family of Maverick. Close your eyes if you understand"

My name. What is his name? Perhaps I must not know. I'm at his will, as a result of my useless limbs.

I must comply, so my eyes are now closed.

The man in the mask and the black hat stands, holding a tiny red rock between the leather-covered fingers. It is impossible to see an inch of his skin or hair. His eyes are hidden behind the red glass on his left, and a white glass on his right.

He is a tall, obscure, and menacing figure. His clothes are pristine, with no defects. The red glass shines through the darkness.

I wish to stay away from this person.

But there is something about him that makes it impossible for me to advert my gaze. As he turns his head to his right, enlarging the silhouette of the beaked mask and leaving only its red glass in sight, I start to understand.

He is strong.

"You are one that does not fear the truth. I commend your efforts" The man must be talking to someone apart from myself. I manage to move my head now, enough to see where this individual is.

"The doctor...?" A blonde woman. She holds a blue cloth over her mouth "I never thought I'd see someone like you here" Slowly, her resolve builds up "You are now under arrest under the name of the Lord. You shall not recite a spell until you are clear from suspicion, and you must surrender immediately!" The tall woman wears heavy and complicated mechanisms all over the white suit, looking almost like a machine, with blue lines coloring the clothes like a circuit all over her.

The doctor shows no particular emotion to this "Did you murder the court members?"

She frowns "The Lord would not order such a disgraceful act, however glad I am now that they are gone" She holds dearly to the cloth, showing minimal struggle to breathe "Surrender now, or I will apprehend you!" With her left hand, the woman pulls out a white weapon from her hip "This tower falls today, and you with it" She looks at me.

Her face distorts with horror.

The doctor scoffs, turning into a dim giggle.

"You have done it…" The woman takes a deep breath, letting go of the cloth and holding the gun with both of her hands "You are insane… you will destroy everything!" In disgust and pain.

"You understand nothing" The doctor crushes the rock between his fingers, sparking a faint red shimmer "Agharates"

Her gun is pointing at me. It seems I will now die. It does not look like the man will defend me.

The weapon charges quickly with blue light, firing a single shiny projectile. It crashes into my forehead, yet I do not die. Are weapons not meant for murder? Yet I live, and it hurts no more than my body aches on its own. Her face helps me understand, that this was not the intended result of the attack.

The doctor is behind her now, holding a long and thin silver sword. His swing is stopped by the gun, weapon which suddenly became far longer, enough to match the sword in length. It takes no more than a second for the man to strike a second and a third time, crushing another red rock with his other hand. I wonder if I could be hurt by other means…

I bite the tip of my tongue, and I may have overdone it. The taste of blood inside my mouth and the stinging pain answer my question, but not a drop must fall from my lips, lest the woman figures something she should not.

It seems that she can follow the man quite well, and with no hesitation, she repels all three attacks and jumps backward to reposition and make quite a distance… but then…

Her heart is ripped out by a dark, long arm, born from nothing but thin air. Many blue sparks shine from her suit and quickly die off.

The doctor holds the silver sword with one hand and swings it down, making it disappear with a red glimmer. He does not follow her, instead maintaining his position and crushing another red stone. His left arm is covered in blood that appeared suddenly on it.

She clings to life, ripping the darkened flesh with a white shiny knife and pointing the long gun at the man, waiting no time between aim and fire.

A few dozen blue projectiles are fired in an instant, clashing with the static doctor. All of the shots are stopped before getting to him, due to a strange red force around him that shows only when blocking one of the lights.

"Your intellect was a fear of mine, but your foolish bravery made me feel secure. And now, it was your love for your subjects that made you come here alone, fearing the worst" The doctor walks up to her, blocking more shots without making any action other than walking as the woman falls to the ground, ceasing not even for a second "Join me, Ellis. You still have one heart remaining, and your ability to fight shows great promise. If you were not responsible for the attack at the courthouse, there's no reason for us to fight. The Lord shall be the one to fall" Crushing yet another stone in his hand. The dark floating arm has disappeared in a single red spark.

"…You are desperate" She smiles, pulling the trigger that no longer fires, from a gun that shows no more charge.

"How much longer can you hold your breath?" He stands in front of her, with the tip of the gun pressing against his leg "You are running out of time"

She lowers the gun "…How much longer can you keep the mask?" Holding a laugh in her chest "I got here. Next time… it will be an army. The one running out of time… is you… if I had my gear with me… you'd be dead…"

"Pride clouds sight. It seems you've gone blind from it" The doctor makes no move, but the woman's head rolls on the ground. Blood spurts out of the cut open neck, as her body falls on its side, never to move again.

What great strength. Should I be glad he won? She tried to kill me, after all.

My lungs expand completely for the first time, it no longer hurts to breathe. It's strange. I understood the mask was to hide his identity, but the woman held a cloth and her breath. If the air is dangerous, how can I be fine? "Will you explain who I am? What this is?" Perhaps the time is now to know. Talking aches no more.

"It would prove pointless" The man kept his head facing the bleeding corpse "Your memory will be manipulated, and you will live a normal life for seven days. We will never see each other again, and you will forget this ever happened"

If he is telling the truth, there's no reason for me to inquire. I feel my limbs respond, and they allow me to finally sit on the black ground.

Seven dark figures appear around the man, with flesh masks resembling human faces in the most grotesque manner. This doesn't feel right, but I don't know why. Autonomy appears to be important to me, in this short existence.

"You will live as a human until the day of judgment arrives" The murderous man is the only one who speaks "You will be a person whose memory failed, whose mother has died, and whose father has been away. You will assume this form of existence until the trial, where you will become destruction" The man takes the stained white knife left by the woman "You will get to keep your name. And for practical reasons, you are about 18 years old by now"

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Am I not a human? Practical reasons? Just how long have I...?

"The Lord will tremble upon your name, and so will the world" He continues "The tool of change and murder" He turns his back… and walks away.

It is clear I have no choice over what will happen now. I hope this life they speak of is more interactive than this one, because it wasn't at all appealing to me.

The men in black surround me, but I choose not to move or try to stop their intent. I haven't even tried to stand yet, and if they are anything like the other man, there's nothing I can do here. What is the point of destruction?

There's a blinding light. I see roots, an enormous tree, and many apples on its top. Six of them are golden, and one of them is rotten. A seventh apple turns to gold, and one of the roots digs deep into the world and the core, splitting it further. It meets with six other roots, but they never make contact.

A woman with long dark hair, and a shining boy with red light all around him. A woman with short red hair, her hands toward me, as if trying to reach something very dear to oneself. The dark-haired woman screams in agony as I walk around red crumbling walls. Three pendulums of black, moving in unison, are disrupted by only one motion. With this pressure over my skin, I see that the deed is done.

For no sin, I pay this price.

…

I don't know how much time has passed since then, but my tongue wound has almost completely healed. I left the home they assigned me an hour ago, making sure to bite my tongue again. Eventually, I will know how much time passed between my memory manipulation and my awakening. And about that, I was wrong again, for I paid no price. It is only fair, that after doing no sin, there would be no punishment. My memories were not erased, only new ones appeared. There's also an earring in my ear now that I am fully unable to remove.

Something remarkable was done to my brain. I see memories and ideas that weren't there before and an understanding of the world I stand on. But it is limited, constrained. I now know where I am, in the nation of North Zhthalar. It appears that every nation deemed minimally advanced is constrained totally in a great building. Tall enough to reach space, and wide enough to harbor fields and farms. I see now that the Lord is the ruler of 77 out of the 82 nations on this planet, composing the Union of the Maxim.

I was assigned an education center, too. This is where I kneel, among thousands of students, showing our loyalty to the Lord's representative. Next to him, is the Archon of this center. He is, in essence, just the Director of this place.

The Archon is a tall man, with a gentle expression on him. Long and fine dark hair. Silky, almost like a veil of darkness. I thought no more of this man until he spoke moments ago.

He who gladly receives the representative, and he of the gentle expression, is someone whose voice I couldn't mistake.

None other than the man in the mask.

Not once did he intend to look or refer to me. It's safe to assume he is certain I have forgotten him.

Something will happen in seven days. But now I have something I can use. I must determine how important I happen to be, and how this information might benefit me.

We all stand from our stance and bow, facing straight to the ground as they both leave. It's far too soon to try anything, I need information to act. I must assume that not every single person here has been manipulated to observe me, there has to be some form of limitation to that power. It failed to change me, and it required several individuals to perform some sort of ritual.

The fact that they put me in an education center owned by the masked man can mean two things. First, they would swear on their lives that the manipulation worked. Second, they needed the extra observation. If everything was under control, he would not have appeared before me. It would simply be unnecessary.

Some guards are walking with them. Four, to be precise. They look awfully similar to the woman who perished by the hand of the masked man, in terms of suit and weaponry. I can only theorize that they have some sort of internal system of power that's based on light, and for whatever reason, I'm unaffected by it. I'm not supposed to know that, so I can barely use it right now…

What's going on? What do they want from me? Why put me in a place like this...?

I must find a way to-

"Hey!" The girl next to me decides, for some reason, that this is a good moment to talk "We are both new here, I thought maybe we could be friends?"

What is she talking about? I- No, this might be a trick. It would make sense to have a spy approach me immediately. What do I do? Would refusing to talk be considered suspicious? I have to say something, now.

"Lysander" I decide not to look at her… but curiosity eats me alive. I turn to see her.

"Holly…" She smiles at me. Blonde wavy hair and soft yellow eyes "What family are you from?" She inquires. Why does she care?

"Maverick" I shift my sight again, to the front. The faster I give her what she wants, the faster she will leave. If this was a test, it was jarring.

"I… have never heard of that family name … you do look a bit weird, with that nice black hair and gray eyes… like a foreigner!" She giggles "I'm from the Ellis family!"

Not my problem. Right now, I…

Ellis?! It's the name the masked man said. This girl is related to that woman? It was good that I was not looking at her, my surprise might have revealed itself in my gaze. Is this a coincidence? Part of the test? Whatever the case, I must continue talking, she might know something important "How is your family?"

Oh no, she looks shocked now. That was a mistake, she is related...!

"So, you saw the news…?" She faces forward, now she is the one who isn't looking at me "Even foreigners know… well, she was very well known, after all…"

I'm saved. She was famous. This is good, it means that the Archon is a war criminal, at least. That was good information, I might be able to aim her at the masked man and threaten him to spill out the truth of my existence. But that was close... I need to be more careful when approaching these students.

Most students have moved from here by now, I assume they are the regulars.

She has finally decided to shut up. I can hear some jets flying over the sky.

What's with that expression? The conversation is over, there's no reason for her to still be looking down at the floor that way. The dead are the dead, and that's the end of it.

This display of weakness is upsetting "Is that who you are? Sadness?"

She looks up at me abruptly, with surprise "W-what do you mean…?"

"Whatever happened is in the past. I understand you must feel devastated," I don't "But showing your weakness to the world will make you prey" I might be able to get her to trust me. It could have just been luck that she chose to talk to me, but I must use everything I can to my advantage "You seemed happy just before. Stay that way, or they will devour you" I see the rest of the students, about two hundred, move toward one of the golden gates. I choose to disengage from this conversation before she actually asks something I can't answer to. For now, I must prepare sentences that will reel her in.

We enter the main hall.

I studied a map of the education center on my way here, there was one readily available on the public digital library. When I woke up, I had an electronic device with me, from which I memorized the map.

With it, I have enough information to execute a plan. The library of the education center is on the opposite side of where the guards rest and await orders. This is an important day; they are all on high alert because of the presence of the Representative. This will play in my favor. I require any data I can gather on how those red rocks work, spells, and the light systems used by the guards. All I need is a small distraction, so no one ever knows I was there.

With that, my actions will never reach the Archon's ears. I will keep to myself his true identity so that he believes it was his followers who betrayed him. I already found a way to communicate with the L.A.U without being found immediately, and so they don't get my real voice. I just need two minutes. Can I figure out a way to get two minutes?

If I can't make this work, then I was never up to this task.

Plan A... I will set it in motion now.

This will serve to give me information on how fast the L.A.U. will react, and the measures they take. All I need is a small distraction.

In the noise, I'll move with freedom...

Those were his first machinations.

A few moments later, at a nearby police station, a worrying call was received. The officer who received the information immediately rushed up the stairs. He struck the door with a kick, thinking nothing but to move this information as soon as physically possible.

"Sir!" He was sweating profusely, holding papers that half his department checked thoroughly many times, for the last few minutes "Sir... we have information on the Brigadier General Ellis murder!" Gasping for air "This person claims to be the Doctor!"

The Lieutenant General finished drinking a soda from a straw "Do you know how many people have claimed to be him just last week? Give me a break" He burped with his fist over his mouth, rotating his big seat back towards giant screens of cameras and information "And why not use a phone? Just call"

The officer threw the papers on the ground "Decapitation! One heart removal! Silversword damages on the extended light rifle! Sir! This individual has too much information... they are either someone close to him or..."

Swallowing saliva, the superior tried to stay focused on the screens, keeping his back to the Officer. It took him about fifteen seconds to talk again "... or The Doctor himself" Turning to him "What are you waiting for?!" He stood with rage, making the chair fall to the side "What the hell did he say?!"

"That he is in the capital" He looked at him dead in the eye, struggling to keep his composure "He didn't say where, but... one of the main Education Centers... he... Sir, there's one Representative in each one of them! If he even grazes one of them...!"

The Lieutenant General pressed a combination of buttons on the keyboard next to him, over one of the many floating desks "I know. We act now. Contact General Preston!" tightening his jaw "That a mere dirty mage would step foot in the holy city..." His mind began racing. There was no way to ensure both his job and the mission. A mage was already in. If it had to be that way already, then... "Contact the Governor... bring them in. I lost a bet today" He sighs.

"Sir. You mean to bring in the S.L.S.T.?" The officer frowned slightly "This should be kept only within the Lord's Armed Union, Sir" He held his breath, waiting to be punished for his insolence.

"Whatever happens now, it will be on my shoulders. All forces available must be deployed within the hour" He raised his hand to the officer "If the S.L.S.T. succeeds, then the L.U.A. will simply be known as the organization that backed them up. If it collapses again, we will take all the glory..." Lowered the arm, facing the screens. Contact was already requested "...And we will exterminate that little rat project once and for all" Smirking.

This decision would change the course of human history, and it was caused by what Lysander still calls, simply, Plan A.