Caped (Book 1): The Burdens of Fate (29 page)

"Alvin
is… missing."

I let him know that I was aware, thanked him
for the information, and with great discomfort told him we need to prepare for
the endgame. He paused a moment before confirming what he'd heard; I gave a
hesitant reply and promptly hung up the phone. I knew what I needed to do. I
needed paper, and zoned out for what may be my last time.

The images came in too fast. A jolting symphony
of information as every single variable was sorted through and weeded out by
some higher consciousness of myself. It was the most startling, dazzling,
epiphany I've ever had, with terrifying implications. A rapid culmination of
information suddenly exploding in my head and bring clarity on a level I've
never experienced. I didn't search, it found me, every ounce of information I
needed. And yet with such little time left to act.

Chapter Eight

Change Must Come

–
Friday, June 7th
–

Dennis Shaeffer
-

Citizen One -

Everybody wants the world to change but few are
willing to change themselves, no? They're excited to watch the world change,
love to brag about their interactions with it. "We bought one of those new
light bulbs that last for seven years, have you?"
 
"I bought a ticket online the other day,
have you done that yet?"

It's sickening, the number of people foolishly
content. Willing to watch it happen on television or fiddle with the
advancement of technology as long as it doesn't affect them, as long as their
personal identity is intact. But it eventually finds you. Perhaps with an
insult nobody tolerates anymore, a taboo action that garners looks of disgust;
then you're ready to change. And why? Because you have to. Because change
forced itself on you. Now you risk becoming obsolete, outdated, useless, and
inconsequential. Nobody wants that. So they jump on the "
change
"
bandwagon. Change or die.

Well the world is changing, are you willing to
change with it? Nocs, as we love to call them, are not the reason for our
problems. Our world recklessly warred with itself long before their arrival.

We slaughtered innocent millions, impoverished
entire countries, displaced countless jobs due the unrelenting advancement of
technology, leaving them with little or no means to care for themselves. We
over fished the oceans, poisoned our food, our bodies, and our minds, long
before we could even fathom the power a single
noc
possessed.

Have you forgotten how we marched in the
streets and over bridges for our civil rights? Have you ignored the many
decades when the will of the banks and powerful corporations and the actions of
our governments seemed indistinguishable?

The world as a whole began to speak in one
voice, declaring that
change must come
. And yet when I present myself to
you, fully capable of bringing you the change you so vehemently demanded, you
rage against me. You doubt and question my methods.

Change is not easy. It is not always as smooth
as the setting of the moon and the rising of the sun. Sometimes it is as
painful and invasive as removing a tumor; one steadily growing since birth,
interwoven into who you are. And in those cases it may feel like a personal
attack on your identity and not the helping hand that it is. I will free you
from the prisons of nations and states, free you from these false boundaries
that separate you and encourage you to fear your brethren.

There are those among you that participated in
the ongoing liberation of your society and understood that "Liberty and justice for
all" is not a concept that stops at American borders. And yet you've
faltered.

You see, this is where we bear witness to the
intense level of brainwashing our society has subjected us to.

One event. One four hour event was all it took
for you to retreat from those ideals, to retreat back to your primitive
concepts of
"Us vs. Them."
Shame on you that abandoned those
views, you are worse than those who willingly fight against such progress;
those short sighted individuals who consider their efforts to be for the
greater good
. However, it is within that same group of people that they
knowingly fight against progression. But they can fight it no longer.

Change must come, and bloodshed along with it.
Not as something I wish to see, but as an unavoidable fact. Let us be kind to
our fellow man and promote a peaceful transition. But we must start fresh, free
from the tainted history that came before. We will not forget it for it is who
we are, but we cannot afford daily reminders of a once broken society. They
must go.

From Paris to Tokyo, they must go. From
Rio to Moscow,
they must go. Shanghai to New York,
they must go. We cannot be stopped, not by any mortal force, and any efforts
will be in vain.

Fate has demanded such action. So gather your
possessions, collect your memories, and prepare. Not for the end, but for the
beginning of paradise.

@AnonyOps
-

Evacuation
warning aired just moment prior to the explosion? This is revolution, this is
murder! #ToykoAttack #Noc

@YourAnonNews
-

Terrorist group
threatens destruction in 5 countries. Tokyo Stock Exchange was focus of attack.
#NYSE may close.

Michael Serna -

So this is it, day one. This is what our world
has come to. A smoldering pile of twisted metal and steel form a single mass of
tragedy where once stood a countries financial epicenter.

Paper litters the sky, looking like millions of
white flies hovering over exposed rotting flesh. There are mangled bodies
trapped beneath, of that there is no doubt. Ash clouds rise into the air only
to settle and hang over the area like a bad spirit. Dozens of bloodied bodies
staggering and running to freedom like lost souls from the mist. There's crying
and shouts for help, none in English.

The parallels are too similar to 9/11, and
bring back the all too recent fears of Los Angeles
and Chicago.
But this is Tokyo,
and this is only day one of the end of the world.

@Mabkuric -

Everyone not watching TV right now needs to be
watching TV right now! #CitizenOne #Armageddon #NOC

Jackie Sada -

Oh my God, you can see the smoke from here at
the airport, our flight just landed when we heard the eruptions. Too long to be
an explosion, at least not a normal one.

I just saw two nocs flying in that direction; I
sure hope they help with this, it's getting too outta control. Whatever the
case is, I'm not gonna let some noc hoodlums stop me from enjoying my vacation.

@FunnySince1982 -

No warning, just flames! Japanese Stock Market
engulfed in fire. #China
next! #CitizenOne #Noc #EndOfDays

@TheSolid_Pig -

"There will be wars and rumors of
wars." #Bible #God #Revelations. Praying for those in #Tokyo.

@MyTiDyOcEl0T -

International
hit-list surfaces just before Tokyo
attack, urges evacuation. #EndOfDays #TokyoAttack

@Moniq_T_Nerv -

The streets are a
mess & the fire's spreading to other buildings, explosion came from
nowhere. Few survivors. #TokyoUnderAttack

Michael
Serna
-

Post number two, same day. I don't care, my
mind's erupting with a thousand thoughts right now and I just want to get some
down. Trap them on paper.

Conflict and war, at times it seems that's all
the human race is good for. The concepts of peace and justice just happen to be
the shallow excuses we give to harm each other. We want to develop
this
weapon because it will bring us peace. We must bomb
this
country to keep
the peace. We have to kill
these
people to keep the peace. We have to
lock up innocent civilians marching through the streets to keep the peace. It's
all about peace. We do all these horrible things in our efforts to achieve
peace, and it's laughable because a long time ago a wise man said, "There
is no way to peace, peace is the way." So peace can't possibly be what
we're striving for. No. It's just a shallow excuse I've grown tired of hearing.
It's an imperfect world placed in an imperfect situation. People fake nice,
fake love, and fake friendship, but I can feel the tension. This is only the
calm before the storm. War is coming. We might not even get a chance to save
this planet it seems desperate to destroy itself.

Every war has its soldiers and its generals,
that's just how it works. Sometimes you end up the pawn; tough shit, live with
it. The problems with this separation is when and where these two bodies become
useful to the group as a whole. I walked in on Thomas the other day while he
was busy typing two sets of notes on separate keyboards and he was still able
to carry on a casual conversation.

He said it was as easy as opening a new file on
a computer. With that type of brainpower there's no logical reason to put him
anywhere except in a command position. Everything we have is basically owed to
him, yes Ivan created this and contributed greatly the aesthetics, and Carter
gets the bronze for the programming and keeping this place running; but it is
undoubtedly Thomas who gets the credit. The ideas and technology behind it is
so fantastical, is multiple decades ahead of anything I'd ever imagined
possible. And he insists it's
our
base. Amazing, considering I'm still
hesitant to claim even part ownership over such a monumental accomplishment.

Those three are the brains; I've made my peace
with that. I would only expect them to set foot in a dangerous situation as the
last option. So what do the rest of us have to contribute beside the sparkly
eyed wonder that such achievements are even possible? Well, they give us the
tools to keep us all safe. By helping us they help themselves. We may not have
done much yet, but there will come a time when all they can do is hope we come
back alive.

A scary thought, I know, but no need to avoid
the truth. We were all dead or dying in that video, I'm not going to wait until
it's too late to contemplate my purpose or mortality. It's too important to be
a rushed job.

@AnonyOps -

President Yates
to order mandatory evacuation of NYC Metro Area. #MartialLaw instated. Details
coming soon.

@Sir_Qohov -

Japan, China, England, Russia, and America. Open
challenges. 4 days. #WeAreSoFucked

@MileHighGirl -

“The United States
does not negotiate with terrorists.” Wow. Look how far we've come. Stay safe!
#EvacNYC

@YourAnonNews -

#NYSE ordered
mandatory shutdown for remainder of week. Financial sector goes into outrage.

@SeargantKoolAid -

Glory be! Eight
survivors of Tokyo
attack, Telekinetic #noc saves co-workers!

@BetterWrld4All -

All Taxi and MTA
fare suspended in #NYC until further notice. President urging all to evacuate!

@Ryan_Lopez -

An entire week
without the NYSE?! Has the world gone mad? It's the largest wealth generator in
the world, and they shut it down because some stupid nocs want to play rough
and tough? I'm disgusted! I swear, if this effects my 401k I'm going to raise
hell!

@BBallPlyer4Lyf -

OMG! It's
#HurricaneSandy all over again. How fast did you run out and get #gas?

Kaylie
Horn
-

Fear is something you never get used to, lady.
Bugs used to scare the living daylights out of me along with monsters, clowns,
mascots, you name it. They unnerved me. But I'm older now, not by much, but old
enough to start seeing the difference between what should scare me and what
shouldn't.

The e-mail I just received from Otep scares me
because I know this changes everything, again. More so than Los
Angeles and Chicago
combined this is conclusive proof that a normal world is impossible. We tried,
however brief it may have been, we tried and we've failed.

My parents are terrified, a predictable and
entirely sane reaction. It's their eternal duty to protect me and for all we
know I could die at any moment. Yes, I am afraid.

So there is fear. Yet in some weird, juvenile,
thrill seeking activist, sort of way, I feel as though to not give my best, to
ignore the role I could play in preserving what little remains of what we used
to called a normal society, is treason. It's weak minded. It's taking the easy
way out by letting the world shape you instead of shaping the world. Everyone
complains about
sheeple
, mindless and impressionable;
"We're all
just sheeple being herded."
So now we're presented with a chance to
break that mold, to stand firm and in a unified voice state that we alone
control our fate. Am I ready? Lady, I sure hope so.

The video that started this wasn't recent, I
was much older and years had passed before anything happened. Los Angeles was an accident; the culprit is
either dead or keeping their mouth shut until they're on their deathbed. A wise
decision. Chicago
was the game changer but I wasn't there. All I know is that they were organized
and after Alvin.
They failed, until today. Alvin
is missing, presumed dead, and we're next... Welcome to the endgame.

Prisca
Amin
-

Alvin
dies and the whole city cries out in agony, at
least that's what it seems like. Just what in God’s name did they have to
resort to? I can't remember the last time Atlanta
had an earthquake, are they even near a fault line?

Everyone told him he wasn't safe there, such a
stubborn man. God rest his soul. Nothing but a hole in the ground left of his
memory. I want to grieve, to just sit down and cry it out, but I can't even do
that. There's no time, the world is that fucked up.

On top of it all we've got a week until the end
of the world. Not that I'm worried or anything, can you imagine how great
that's going to look on my resume? Just kidding, now I'm definitely going to be
over qualified.