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“Come closer,” he said, “I won’t bite.That is not to say that I don’t but you can rest assured that I have chosen not to. You must listen and listen fast, for I bear a message.”
He looked in the direction whence the girl had come with caution. The path that she travelled, though once wide, had narrowed considerably.
“Whatever you do, you mustn’t ever go back the way you came. Your life depends on it.”
“I know what follows, friend,” she replied, clutching her sword. ”And I know what lies ahead.” And so, she continued.
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The young woman looked up at the stone and glass facade of the Bureau of Human Affairs and wondered if they knew it resembled a stick figure. It loomed above her like a giant bathroom door that was meant for beings that matched its crude form and for them alone. It made sense, especially after the visitors arrived. There was no mistaking their form. Arachnid and towering, humans had a hard time accommodating their guests. After their occupation of Earth turned out to to be more than just a visit, the Bureau came up with a plan: relocation. As the young mother clutched the lottery slip she received in the mail allowing her to bring herself and only one of her three children, she thought of those that would be left behind. Ship after ship blasted off into the sky tinged red from the fires and she cried. As she inched closer to her rescue, she hoped that she would be long gone when they detonated the planet killing bomb.
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After years of working with his mentor to defeat the Guild, they had just barely succeeded in foiling their insidious plot to dominate the young planet. It was a task made all the more difficult by the planet’s absence of the energy that gave them their powers. As he watched his master grab the tall key and walk through the magical gateway, he had a feeling of relief come over him. He closed his eyes and grabbed the key, expecting to see the floating mountains of his home when he reopened them. But when he did, all he saw was the green hedge that guarded the ancient doorway. It was too late for the young mage. The portal had closed. It would not reopen for another 94 years. This world was saved but now he was stuck waiting without his teacher…and without his magic.
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His programming was still functional, even after all those years lying drained of power in the alley behind the smoothie shop. Time had all but forgotten him and the war he was created for had long been over. As his battery signaled its full charge, the cyborg identified its target. No matter how much they plead or protested, “The war is over!” the machine knew nothing but its directive: shoot to KILL
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She had come here for peace. A break. She’d certainly earned a break. The year was rough; the late nights, secret meetings, and hushed negotiations of it all had taken a toll on her.
A toll she would gladly pay again, if she had to.
The hot tea and honey soothed her throat while the cool Grecian breeze soothed her skin. Peace was within reach but money can’t buy you happiness. As her commissioned hit walked into the restaurant, alive and laughing, she knew she had no choice: if she wanted him dead, she would have to do it herself…
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It had come to this. Her last resort after a long life of deception and greed. She had visited this particular bar many a time before, often ordering this very drink for her unwilling victims. Victims that, with one taste of its elixir, would be transported to a land from which no one returns. What sweet release awaited her in its tart profile, she didn’t know. She only knew it was better than what they had planned for her. As she watched the assassins make their way across the sandy beach towards her, she took the first sip and smiled.
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The fools thought they had won by transforming his body into a form as limiting as this. They hoped they would be able to change the course of history by raising him in their ways of peace. Little did they know, his mind was as whole as the milk they fed him each morning. He was patient and each day as his body grew stronger, his mind formulated the ultimate plan for domination. They hadn’t escaped the era of Jared WorldEnder. They prolonged it.
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He watched as his orders flashed on the screen and breathed a sigh of relief that his assignment was almost over. After weeks undercover, the time had come for him to act. He had no intention of flying the plane—all he had spent weeks in training for was access to the crew room. The room no doubt was full of covert operatives playing for the other side. He just had to wait for the moments before takeoff and he would have his chance. A chance was all he needed to stop the Guild from taking over the world. A chance was all he was going to get…
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Sitting was awkward for him. His joints bent and twisted and folded in ways that he was still not accustomed to, but the smells—oh, the smells! They made it all worth it. As he inhaled the sunset, he thought of the years ahead of him. Years that fell short of what he could have possessed but in themselves possessed something infinitely more valuable. He could move and leap and run and swim and live once again. His human body had failed him but this new body was more than enough.