_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Take a look at the ABOUT page for more information on this series.

Go to the REFERENCE GUIDE for detailed info on the greater world at large.

The TABLE OF CONTENTS page (for now) only links to the Substack version of these uploads. I guess I could add additional links that link to these posts, here on Tuhat, but we'll see. I do prefer how things look over here. It's a lot more stripped down and the font here is close enough to Century Schoolbook Regular, which is my font of choice.

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From out the depths of a quiet, serene and peaceful land, a church bell rang from the small town of Farmington.

Farmington was not a cowboy town like most other towns of the new west, although this area was in the middle of constant cattle migration. This small settlement was a pioneer town. The lively wooded forests that patched this land contained blueberries, always ripe for the picking during spring and summer. The natives no longer posed an issue in this area, at least in the eyes of the townsman.

Living here had it's drawbacks. Winters were cold. Summers were scalding. Most unsettling of all, despite the springtime showers, was the dry, cracked air of this land. Regardless of such struggles, the townspeople were happy and prepared for any cloudy or otherwise dreadful day.

It was an hour before noon as people began to file out of the town's church house. Among these lavishly dressed people, one young girl, about ten or eleven years old, popped out of the crowd and started off into the woods.

"Mary-Anne!" called out one of the women. She had flowing dark blond hair similar to the young girl.

"Be sure to head back for lunch, Mary-Anne!"

"I will, mother!"

The young girl joyfully skipped past the schoolhouse and onto a dusty dirt road, wearing her favorite blue dress and white bonnet.

It was a beautiful spring day. The lively forest trees that surrounded the girl blossomed with life. Birds were chirping. The last of the winter chill was gone, replaced by a modest warmth from the sun.

Mary-Anne carried a few other books with her along with her Bible, including some works of Nathaniel Hawthorne, a story of the great King Arthur, and a lengthy novel that was recently shipped in from the eastern states. Her father didn't approve of Mary reading this book. However, Uncle Tom's Cabin explained why her parents decided to travel far away from such wild injustices that were rumored to inflame the eastern states, towards a new and proper society.

A new and proper society didn’t seem to be possible anymore – least not in this territory.

Even this land was becoming infected with the barbaric customs that was supposed to belong only to the Confederacy. Some travelers from the east called it the Kansas-Nebraska Act, of which claimed the great territory of Kansas as a slave state – as opposed to the year before last, back when it was Nebraska where these men were to live.

Despite rumors of a great war brewing between the states in the east, life in Farmington remained quiet and pleasant, even though other places felt as if they would succumb to such tension. Many people outside of town sang their songs and held their banners. One side had a very well known song, called The Marching Song of Whittier. The lines of the song were ingrained into Mary’s head.

'We come across the prairie as of old, the pilgrims crossed the sea, to make the West, as they the East, the homestead of the free!'

It was clear to Mary-Anne. Abolitionists, such as Mary's own father, knew what the right path was. People like the controversial man parading about Kansas going by the name of John Brown – they supposedly knew the right hand of God. The enslaved were to be freed, to walk upon God's land without no other man's order but his own. It was all well and good. Mary just wished that attaining freedoms didn't involve so much violence and bloodshed. So went the usual matters of men.

Truths were a strange thing – but so were lies.

People truly were a mad, harebrained bunch in Mary-Anne's eyes. She wondered how some men could be so oblivious to their own natures. She wondered why some men would viciously protect their misdeeds and injustices. The minds of these men were beyond sound truths.

One night she posed this question to her father, of which her father propped her up upon his knee and said simply, ‘because all men are free to be wrong and unjust. It is only a man's choice to either be the right hand of God or to be not.’

The future of this 'homestead of the free' was bleak – however all spurring conflicts of this world had to be put aside for the day of the Sabbath.

The dirt road Mary was on led to an abandoned cottage. She wasn't going there now. She was heading off to her favorite reading place, which was under an old oak tree with a giant, raised root. This was where she sat as she read, underneath large branches that loomed over her. These low branches swayed silently in the wind, with it's leaves singing softly.

Mary found her place under the oak tree and plopped down on the raised branch. She opened up her Bible, starting on the Book of Matthew, and read on.

The air about the land leveled to a quiet and peaceful atmosphere during her studies. By the time Mary began Chapter Fifteen, the world around her was silent. Mary paid no notice to the absence of sound.

Off in the forest, the sound of a twig snapped, breaking the stillness of the air.

With her muscles feeling atrophied, Mary decided to take a stretch. She stood up and proceeded to walk to the end of the beaten path, where the old sod house was.

Mary recalled the story about this particular area. The town elders said that these woods served a divine purpose to the Indians that once roamed here. The Indians avoided it at all costs. They believed no mortal man was worthy enough to find the secrets this land contained – whatever those secrets may had been.

It was possible that this was not true. The older folk loved to tell all sorts of entertaining and wild stories. Mary-Anne thought of herself as clever enough to distinguish the difference between truths and tall tales.

After western pioneers displaced the Indians, nothing was discovered. It was well assured by now that this was a land like any other, a land of forest, grass, weeds and stones.

The sod house was left abandoned a year ago. It's walls and roof remained standing. The door broke off and was now laying on the ground in front. All that was inside were heaps of hay. Mary’s friends frequented this place. Her best friend, Melody Catratt, was one of those who spent time around this area, picking the blueberry bushes nearby.

As Mary expected though, there was no one inside. It didn't matter. She would be more then glad to wait for a while, or at least until lunchtime.

Mary sat down outside with her back facing the outer wall. She commenced her studies once again.

After several minutes, Mary looked up and sighed. There was something distracting her. It was something about the mood of the place. It was an odd feeling – but Mary didn't feel threatened by the wave of anticipation that swept over her. It was hard to explain.

The air remained silent. There was not a tweet of a bird nearby. The air was stagnant.

After a few minutes, Mary forced her attention back to her bible. She forced the strange thoughts out of her head.

Snap!

The loud sound of a branch snapping reverberated from within the wheat meadow next to her, breaking the dead silence of the atmosphere.

It sounded huge, similar to the sound of the banging antlers of opposing deer. Or more like the branch of a tree.

A sudden chill swept down her back as the feeling came upon Mary once again.

At this point, she could no longer pay attention to her studies. She had to step into the wheat field, if only for a moment.

Mary entered the field, arms outstretched, feeling the swaying stems of wheat as she passed. The wind was slightly picking up once again, blowing gently from the north, as if edging her forward into the field. The dirt ground below her feet was soft. Her shoes sank into the wet soil.

The feeling of anticipation receded and was soon replaced by a serene calmness that swept over Mary-Anne. She was moved into such a heavenly spiritual state, as if she was made to be lighter than a feather, as if she was exalted by the quiet, motionless scenery presented before her.

It felt as if Mary-Anne was being invited by the land into a glorious, golden realm, as if by the hand of God, she was being sent off into a vastly overlooked or discarded kingdom of sorts.

It was an odd thing to sense.

In fact, it was ridiculous. There wasn't anything here. Every traveler that had passed through this area found the same.

Forest and grass. Weeds and stones. That's all there ever was out here, and nothing more.

Still, it was peaceful. The feeling of elevation wasn't in any way lost regardless of the fact.

Mary paused and sighed as she took one last glance around. She wanted to stay all day amongst this golden yellow exhibition – but her mother was expecting her for lunch, so Mary-Anne began to turn around to head back towards the road.

Crack!

The ground under her feet shifted downwards. A loud cracking sound, similar to breaking stone, sounded from below.

Mary froze, her eyes wide with terror.

What was that, she thought.

That didn't sound good.

She attempted to move forward. Mary wanted to set foot back on solid ground.

Her efforts proved useless. The ground gave way.

Mary was sent falling down into a deep, black pit, screaming all the way down.

* * *

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NEXT SCENE (First present day segment of Chapter 1)

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I'm not much for begging, but if you think I did something worthwhile, consider chipping a dollar or some satochi's my way.

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Thank you very much for reading. :)

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Take a look at the ABOUT page for more information on this series.

Go to the REFERENCE GUIDE for detailed info on the greater world at large.

The TABLE OF CONTENTS page (for now) only links to the Substack version of these uploads. I guess I could add additional links that link to these posts, here on Tuhat, but we'll see. I do prefer how things look over here. It's a lot more stripped down and the font here is close enough to Century Schoolbook Regular, which is my font of choice.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

PREVIOUS SCENE (First flashback segment of Chapter 1)

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The sky was gray.

It was the middle of the day. Everything was gloomy. The clouds barely moved.

Below the oppressing clouds, there was a small stretch of land, surrounded by trees. There was a car sitting here. It was red in color. It appeared to be a sports car. There was a striking visual contrast between this cherry red car and it’s dull, lifeless setting. It didn’t look like it belonged in such a colorless world.

A young girl approached the car. She was sweating profusely. Her eyes were sweeping the area.

She wasn’t being followed.

With the swiftest of moves, the door on the driver’s side popped open by itself. The door raised upwards.

The young girl shoved herself inside. The door closed.

Her hands were on the wheel. Even her hands were sweaty. She was covered in sweat!

In a bit of frustration, the young girl banged her head against the wheel. The car horn honked loudly.

There were two people sitting in the backseat. They didn’t move. They didn’t flinch or blink. They stared straight ahead. Like mannequins.

The young girl with flashy, red-orange hair calmed herself. Her shoulders relaxed. She still had her head buried in her shoulders.

There was a loud ringing sound. A augmented holographic window appeared in mid-air next to the girl. The window displayed text.

‘Incoming call from Kathryn Berner.’

The young girl reached over and tapped the holographic window.

“Hey! Hello, hello! What’s up? Checkin’ in!”

“Yep. That you are,” the young girl sighed. She looked on over at the display floating in mid-air and saw in that augmented window a girl slightly older than her with straight, blond hair.

“Guessin’ that planet Earth is still on, big, stinkin’ shit hole,” the blond-haired girl laughed.

“Don’t know, Kate. What do you think? You’re the smart one.”

“Yes, I am. Who’s this person you tryin’ to find again?”

“You don’t know?” the red-haired girl spoke in her clear British accent. “Like… you remember Ashlin. Right?”

“You’re asking me?” Kate scoffed. “For real? Not like she’s been gone that long!”

“Yeah. This is her younger brother.”

“What? Whit a minute! Really? Why him?”

“I don’t know! Kinda hoping you would tell me! You’re the one who works under Hindler! I was thinking you overheard something about this decision, or something.”

“I never hear anything,” Kathryn retorted as she rolled her eyes. “Hindler has his secrets.”

“Right,” the red-haired girl groaned.

“Yeah. I’m not liking this,” sighed Kathryn. “It’s sad thinking about it. Wonder if doin’ whatever you’re doing out there is even worth it.”

“Not worth it, you say. Hm. No shit.”

“What they make Ashlin’s family believe about what happened?”

“They won’t tell me. Glaister hinted at a car accident. Something like that. I made my opinion known, saying if you’re gonna do this to Ashlin’s family, at least give them a pleasant memory! There’s nothing pleasant about the memory of death, regardless of how a loved one may have died, or ya know! Whatever! Despite my ranting, Hindler’s gaggle of eggheads went along with it anyway cause they’re soulless and I hate them!”

“Hate to say this, Michelle, but you’re starting to sound like Karen.”

“I get a splitting headache every time I hear that name. Her name is a bloody goddamn drill in my skull.”

“You realize what we’re doing here might be illegal, right? We can’t bring in an outsider who is well past his prime! How old is he?”

“Sixteen.”

“No! We can’t do this!” Kathryn exclaimed. “The Republic will drop the sky on us if they find out what we’re doing!”

“I know! I know, but I just need to do something! I don’t know! I just – like, need some time to understand what’s going on, unless you wanna tell me now the theory of determinism is complete bullshit when it comes to human affairs, and only applies as an opposition to quantum physics.”

“Look at you, Michelle. Pretending to sound smart again! Yeah, no. Not prepared for... whatever.”

“Good.”

“How you assume they’re gonna make his presence official within Gearshift Eden without the Republic finding out?” Kate asked.

“Don’t know. May be easier then it appears. Long as we keep him in Gearshift Eden – leave his name out of census records. Similar records. Beyond that, it gets complicated.”

“So, he’s just… not gonna exist in the eyes of the Republic?” Kate asked in an awkward fashion.

“That was the idea from the start. Sounds stupid. I know! Sounds stupid because it is! Everything I’m doing right now – only word I can come up with is incredulous. Not sure what the smart thing is at this point. I don’t know! We’ll see where this goes. I don’t have good feelings about this.”

“Michelle? This might not end well for us, but I’m intrigued about where this is going. I’m hoping Hindler knows what he’s doing and that this isn’t as much of a shit show as we think it is. Who’s been assigned to pick him up? Really just you out there?”

“At the beginning, Hindler’s assistant told me that decision would be left to me. After talking to Hindler, I now know that was bullshit. He wants me to do it! I’m sure he wanted this in the first place. Reason why is beyond me! This transition is not going to be easy for Ashlin’s brother! I have no idea what to do in the slightest! Honestly! I’ve never done anything like this before!”

“Don’t put too much pressure on yourself,” Kathryn cautioned. “It wasn’t easy for any of us. Been here my whole life. Still can’t believe I live in a place like this! So, yeah. I get it. It’s a tough pill to swallow. You planning on giving him a tour of Nia?”

“I have a big schedule coming up. Random as hell. Or it feels that way. I don’t... I don’t know what to do.”

“We’ll be around to look after him.”

“I’ll do you one better! How bout you be the one to do this!”

“Sounds tempting, but I’ll pass. By the way! Like to say Karen should be nowhere near this kid. She’s more annoying than usual lately.”

“I should be the one saying that, Kate!”

“Michelle, could you at least try to forgive-”

“Forgive what? There’s nothing to forgive! I don’t even know who Karen is anymore! She does not exist to me!”

“And speaking of the girl whose name gives you a splitting headache, Karen wants to take Ashlin’s brother in and be his legal guardian for his remaining adolescent years – as few as they are.”

“Kate! Listen to me! I’m never been more serious about anything in my life! Please do everything in your power to prevent that from happening! I swear to god! That girl has gone off the deep end with that larper shit!”

“Oh! You know who she is now! You do a temporary memory wipe on yourself during this call?”

“Damn it, Kate! I’m serious!”

“Okay! Stop freaking out! It’ll be fine! You just be careful out there. This mess sucks. I understand! Whatever Hindler’s business is with him, it’s important enough to risk everyone’s careers over it.”

“Right. Look. I gotta go. I’ll call you later. Okay?”

“Yeah. Bye. Stay sane!”

The call ended.

Michelle continued sitting still in the car for several moments. Her sweating had ceased. Her hands were still wet.

Out of the the corner of her eye, she caught the two entities sitting in the backseat. The sight of them made her scowl to herself.

“Yes, yes. Whatever! Figure this stupid shit out on my own! Don’t know how I got talked into this! Bloody hell am I doing?” she vented at herself as she started up the car.

*

This was a dark world. The wind was howling off in the distance. The air was charged and lively, yet everything was deathly still.

There was nothing natural about this place.

Out in the middle of an empty deserted brick road stood a boy with thick, dark brown hair covering his eyes. He was well into his teens, wearing a faded yellow shirt and tan cargo pants that were all torn up down at the pant legs.

He was standing in the middle of a realm that by all conjecture could not exist – but felt all too real. A mysterious, darkened reality.

To his left was a building. A sign near the front entrance labeled this place as the Rosaria Hotel. This hotel was now bordered up and left abandoned. On both sides of the street, all buildings appeared to be in the same state, other than the first floor of an old building across from the hotel. The building emanated a weak light from it’s dusty windows.

Above the young man, there were dark, menacing clouds that loomed overhead. At the end of the road, directly ahead of him, were tall metal gates. The gates sealed away any view of the other side.

How did I get here, the boy wondered to himself. He wasn’t sure if this was a dream.

It didn’t feel like one.

Wherever he was, it felt real. It felt very real.

He tried to recall the last thing he remembered doing, before he found himself standing here with his eyes closed. He could only recall going to bed in his comfy room, after a long, tiring day of high school.

He had to be sleeping. It certainly didn’t feel that way.

What was this place, he wondered.

The answer wouldn’t be found by standing here, so he decided to go off and explore. He thought he was in New Orleans or a place with similar French architecture. The area had a Victorian age style showing through these weathered exteriors. There were overgrown weeds sprouting from the cracks between the bricks below his feet.

The boy wandered away from the hotel towards the other end of the road. He wanted to get a better look at the gaping dark void. Once arriving at the end of the road, the boy was shocked by what he discovered.

What existed beyond this road was nothing. The void grasped the emptiness below him, as if all that ever existed was this road, it’s old buildings, and the scorched sky above.

The boy slowly backed away. He felt the sense of vertigo swell up in his chest. Staring down into infinity wasn’t all too thrilling.

The boy paused himself. A bitter impulse flashed past his mind.

He wanted to jump.

His body jerked forward slightly towards the edge. The boy held himself steady in a desperate bid to retain a hold of his sanity.

No. It’s not about escaping, he thought to himself.

The boy stepped back to the edge to gaze deeper into the black emptiness. A strong gust of wind pushed him back.

He didn’t want to be here. He wasn’t in the mood for this.

He pinched himself. There was pain, but the dream continued on.

The young boy wheeled away from the edge. In an angry tone, he shouted as loud as he could to the empty street.

“Hello! Wake up!”

All that answered was the wind, the distant sound of thunder, the faint sound of wind chimes and the sound of a creaking wood sign, hanging above the entrance to the only building that wasn’t boarded up. Those faint lights inside the place were dull but welcoming.

The boy developed a suspicious feeling about that building.

No. I’ll just stay here, he thought.

He sat down in the middle of the street to catch his breath. He started collecting his thoughts.

He had to look at this rationally. This was a dream. This was evident; The last thing he remembered was going to bed.

Also, this whole town was hovering in midair over complete and utter emptiness, like the vast voids of interstellar space.

It was no use trying to make sense of this. Everything here felt real and solid, not hazy and random, like his usual dreams. The brick street was laid out before him in perfect contrast and clarity. The buildings around him stood headstrong and concrete, unmoved by the raging storm in his mind.

He wanted to lay down in the middle of the street and go back to sleep, but he felt wide awake and alert in anticipation.

Anticipation for what? There wasn’t anything or anyone here.

Was there?

As he continued to ponder, he realized the possibility that someone – or something – lingered silently within these walls. It could had been nothing more than paranoia.

The more the thought toiled in his mind, the more it felt like there were eyes peering out from the pitch black windows around him. Every dark corner posed a threat.

The boy thought he heard a dull thud. It sounded out from somewhere near a set of stone stairways. These stairways led up to the sturdy wooden doors of the Rosaria hotel.

He stared at the bulky steps.

Was that a thud or did something drop?

Was something hiding behind the stairway?

The boy started forward. He wanted to see what was on the other side. He paused suddenly.

There was a light, almost like sparks spewing out from an electrical box. The bright light came from an alleyway somewhere behind him.

It must had disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. There was nothing but a wall of darkness within the alleyway. Chris stepped towards it. The darkness in front of him grew dense like fog. It was like the darkness itself was swirling, like a whirlpool, waiting for the moment to entrap him. As frightening as it was, it felt more welcoming than the dim lights in the building to the left of him.

“Stop! Stop!”

He jumped, startled by the sudden break of silence. He flung himself around to the sound of the voice.

There was a figure, shaded in darkness. It stood to the right side of the stairway.

It was a young girl by the looks of it. She had blond hair that dropped well past her shoulders. Her hair was dirty and mangled. She was about as young as he was. She wore a blue dress that was aged, torn, and faded. Her face was blackened out.

“Who-who are you?”

After a long and unbearable silence, the girl responded with a heavy tone in her voice. She spoke slowly and quietly, almost as if she had forgotten how to talk.

“Now, that is… most interesting. Was about to ask it the same question. I think...”

The girl took a step forward. She was breathing heavily. She looked like she was about to break out crying.

“...my eyes. They conceive me. It is! Not an it. A man! A boy! A living person! A real, live soul, flesh and clothes, standing before me – a mirage! Gone mad. Not real. No. I do not... I do not know, but I must – I have… have no choice. I can’t... “

“W-What? What do you-”

“Hey! Chris! time to get up!”

The world disappeared.

He opened his eyes to the glaring bedroom light and pale white ceiling above. It took him a few seconds to realize where he was.

He was back home.

It really was all a dream.

The most vivid dream he ever had.

Chris turned his head towards the doorway entrance in time to see his older brother turn away and head downstairs.

Chris was exhausted. He wanted go back to sleep, but after that bizarre nightmare of his, he knew he would rather drag himself out of bed.

It wasn’t like he had a choice.

Eventually, he gathered enough strength to crawl out from the covers His lower back still felt sore. He figured he slept on the wrong side of the bed a few days ago. It was odd the pain still persisted. His muscles were stiff and weak. Hopefully, Chris would feel better after a shower. Wasn’t likely.

He wondered what day it was as he yawned loudly, stretched his weary muscles and started slowly for the bathroom.

It’s a school day. He knew that much.

Likely a Monday, he thought. All bad days landed on Mondays.

Good news was that it was the final week. It was the last week of school, in the last week of May, in the current year of twenty fifty-three – a year that was proving to be the worst ever.

The weather outside Chris’ bedroom window was cold and wet. This was strange weather for the Savannah territorial region camps. Weather patterns were gradually becoming more and more out of the ordinary these past several years. Chris recalled last Christmas, back when they lost the ability to travel outside the city walls. This was a warmer region. Still, there were people proclaiming then that snow was now a normal staple within this normally snow-absent ‘Coastal Empire.’ That month saw a staggering nine inches of snow. Nobody gave a solid answer as to why a tropical part of the world would see that much snow. News of the outside world was difficult to come by.

Despite the true cause, whether it was by nature’s doing or humanity’s doing – it didn’t matter. Chris loved the snow. He held fond memories of the times his family spent in the frost-bitten state of Michigan, back at their old home.

Those days were nothing more but a distant memory now. The only thing he had left to remember of his former home was the winter snow.

Chris peered outside his window and saw the gray clouds. They hung low in the morning sky. A small rain shower began to come down, drenching the land below.

He looked down the suburban street and was surprised to lay eyes on a sleek and stylish red sports car parked on the other side. It didn’t look old, rusted, or falling apart. Everything else on this street did.

Who would rent out such a car in these times, Chris wondered with great astonishment.

Chris’ family was lucky to be living here after the government relocation program moved them here. Life wasn’t that bad here. In today’s world, cheap candy treats was the main choice for all, especially for the people who stood in the endless lines in front of the unemployment offices downtown. He recalled walking by one day, after being allowed to pass into the blocked historic district, seeing a massive sea of candy bar wrappers gust upward effortlessly over the heads of those who stood about, then gently fall back down like autumn leaves after the chilly wind receded. Even in this more pristine district, children found a playground wherever cars were left to rust away.

At least one person within this household had a stable job. Chris’ father worked with the government. He was a programmer. It was amazing there was still room in this world for such a profession. But in these days, even a high-paying job didn’t amount to much.

Chris took a quick bath and dressed up for school. He headed out of his room and towards the stairs that led down to the living room. Passing his father’s room, he caught a glimpse of that button-up white shirt of his. It was left hanging there in that wide-open closet for the past two years they’ve been living here. It was a very old shirt of his, but this shirt was never worn by his father. It was simply left in there, long sense forgotten. Oddly enough, it never had a wrinkle or a speck of dust on it. As if it was well preserved.

A few steps away was his brother’s room. His room was plastered with posters of baseball legends. Two of his brother’s most favorite idols were Bo Miller, a famous hitter who once played for the Dodgers over ten years back, and Shunsuke Tomoshi, a player from Japan who pitched three perfect games in a row for the Red Sox only a few years ago.

Chris knew his brother’s dream was to get into the major leagues and make a name for himself. Quite possibly, he wanted to become a legend of his own standing. That competitiveness and determination was once there. That was how he used to be.

These days were different. Whenever Chris would pass by his brother’s room, he would take a quick peek inside. He would see off in the far right corner Alan’s bat on the floor next to his mitten. They were gathering dust as they laid partially hidden under his clothes drawer. Unlike father’s shirt, these objects were tossed aside, into this dark crevice as if they had become more of an annoyance.

Alan also used to tinker with electronics, just like their dad. Alan had hoarded several strange objects over the years. He referred to them as ‘video game console systems.’ They were antique devices, meant to play ‘video games’ on. Those too were sitting under the bed, gathering dust.

Without electricity, they were useless anyway – and electricity was expensive these days.

Chris slowly continued past his brother’s room.

Stopping several feet away from the stairs, he paused in front of the only bedroom door situated on the right side of the hallway.

The door was slightly ajar. The room inside was dark and devoid of any sign of life. On the door there was a piece of torn up notebook paper taped to the door. There was a short message written on it.

“There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity… I’m not sure about the universe.”

- Albert Einstein

This had become a usual habit for Chris.

Every morning, he would pause briefly in front of this room. There was no reason why. Perhaps he was trying to pay homage. Perhaps Chris was attempting to come to terms with reality through some subconscious or comatose means.

It didn’t feel real. There was still this brainless, dimwitted shock of the nerves, bringing up the anticipation of Ashlin bursting out of her room, playfully wresting Chris down to the soft carpet floor as she laughed and giggled uncontrollably. Chris would always speed off downstairs, but she would usually catch him just short of the stairs. One time this cat-and-mouse game ended with both Ashlin and Chris tumbling down the stairs, shortly followed by a breaking of a vase and a leg of a wooden table. Their father wasn’t happy with either of them, but Ashlin just laughed it off afterwards, saying that vase was old and ugly anyways.

No.

This wasn’t real. It couldn’t be. Him standing outside her empty room, waiting, hoping for this nightmare to end once again, so he could wake up to his eighteen year old sister’s smile, his father’s amused or annoyed response, his older brother’s slightly bemused chatter.

It all ceased to exist.

It was as if an invisible vortex sucked out the last portion of happiness in this world, as if this eternal divide severed or detached a part of himself, left him without himself.

Chris shook his head. He groveled by.

As he reached the bottom of the stairs, Chris glanced around the darkened living room. To his left was the entrance to the kitchen. His father ate breakfast at the dining room table, his face buried in the morning newspaper. His older brother stood at the sink, looking out the window in a hypnotic state.

Chris walked in. He noted the silence in the room.

He took a seat at the table. As he took the cereal box, he studied his family.

No gesture made to one another. They were all just like any other person on the street to one another.

It didn’t used to be this way.

*

_______________________________________________________________________________________________

NEXT SCENE (Second Present Day Segment from Chapter 1)

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I'm not much for begging, but if you think I did something worthwhile, consider chipping a dollar or some satochi's my way.

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buymeacoffee.com/robotkinz

Thank you very much for reading. :)

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Take a look at the ABOUT page for more information on this series.

Go to the REFERENCE GUIDE for detailed info on the greater world at large.

The TABLE OF CONTENTS page (for now) only links to the Substack version of these uploads. I guess I could add additional links that link to these posts, here on Tuhat, but we'll see. I do prefer how things look over here. It's a lot more stripped down, and the font here is close enough to Century Schoolbook Regular, which is my font of choice.

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PREVIOUS SCENE (First present day segment of Chapter 1)

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The morning dew was fresh on the grass. There were signs that rain drenched this land a short time ago. This was a particularly nasty day.

The high school parking lot was full. The students lounged around the area. A parade of self-driving vehicles dropped them off and then sped out onto the roads in search for their next passengers.

The school was fairly modest. There were a couple of buildings here and there, a small courtyard, and an American football field in the far back of the place. A larger building was at the front. It appeared to be a church, or perhaps it was a church at one point. Now, it just seemed that it was another place left to decay.

Graffiti was on every inch of the walls of this place. Dirt covered the windows that weren’t broken. Other signs of decay were around. That was an all too normal sight in these places.

On the far edge of the parking lot, away from the masses, stood Michelle. Her hair was usually long and straight. Today, it was all over the place. It did not care for this humidly. She wore faded jeans and a plain white t-shirt, which made her look unassuming.

She rested against her flashy red car.

Unlike her outfit, this car stood out far too much.

She stared silently at the crowd with her piercing eyes. Every so often, her hand would reach for her jeans pocket, but she would immediately recede the hand before it would enter the pocket. Michelle would then shame herself for falling into whatever temptation was calling her.

Breaking out of her pose, she turned and leaned down to the partially open car window behind her.

“Okay. Seriously! You sure this is the right school? Wouldn’t be caught dead in this hellhole!” she exclaimed to the people inside.

“He goes to this school,” a voice responded from inside the car.

Michelle grumbled in dissatisfaction as she turned back. She tapped her foot on the pavement impatiently.

Getting into this school was going to be a pain. Police were in there, doing body scans and ID checks on every student walking in. She knew they would snatch her up in two seconds the moment they saw her.

She needed to be careful, but that was a given.

Noticing a large group of teens heading her way, she decided to duck back into her car.

Looking into the rearview mirror, she viewed the group passing by. One took note of her flashy red car.

“Goddamn! Dude! Whoever rents out that car must be swimmin’ in cash ‘n shit!”

“What model is that?”

“Hey! Y'all fuckin’ stupid? Might have connections to head government cucks! Don’t be messin’ with that bullshit! We gonna get our heads chopped off, and I ain’t playin’ that!”

Michelle laid low in her seat.

Being in a crowded place wasn’t good for her kind of trickery. Especially in this car.

Brilliant move I had coming here, driving this stupid thing around, she thought to herself.

Much to her relief, the school bell rang. As she looked back, Michelle saw the group trotting away to the school entrance.

She breathed a sigh of relief as she turned on the radio and leaned back into her seat.

“...and on news of the economy, all politicians continue to seek retribution against those who abandoned our great U.N. nations for the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean Colonies, along with other illegal nation-states not sanctioned by U.N. global law. These former citizens evaded their financial obligations, and all the blame rests on their shoulders, according to President-”

“No. Not listening to that dribble,” Michelle uttered under her breath as she punched the dial on the radio.

“-as we all know, Taviset Disease is the leading cause of all deaths worldwide, as it is extremely contagious. We understand the continuing challenges we must face, confronting this grave threat. This disease remains prevalent in low population areas, where the doctors from the World Health Organization have had the least control over outbreaks. Our carefully managed sanctuary cities have proven to be the best line of defense. If you have feelings of abdominal pain, are coughing up blood or are having other symptoms relating to Taviset Disease, please-”

Michelle flipped off the radio and sighed again.

She was tapping her fingernails impatiently on the wheel while resisting the habit of grinding her teeth.

She spun herself back to the two people sitting behind her.

“You two keeping an eye out for him?”

They stared blankly at her. One was a girl. She had dark brown hair with thin-frame glasses. The other was a boy. He also had dark brown hair. The two had these piercing green eyes. Those eyes almost seemed as if they were glowing. Their stares were unpleasant in such a blank and soulless way.

“I had just witnessed the car rented out to the older brother drive itself out of the parking lot,” the boy mildly proclaimed.

“Jesus Christ! You gonna keep that to yourself?”

“No, Miss Auzolle. Your instructions were to look for the younger one.”

“What? I thought he was the younger one!”

Michelle jumped out of the car and took off running.

“This is not gonna to go my way today, swear to god!” she rasped to herself as she took off running to the front of the school.

She ran as fast as she could up to the front entrance, nearly missing a passing car as she raced herself. She stopped short of the concrete steps that lead to the wide open doors of the school and paused herself abruptly.

She was on the lookout. So far, there was no sign of him.

Just her luck. It was hard enough to find him where he lived. When it came to attempting a proper introduction, it would prove harder, simply tracking him down on foot without causing public alarm.

Michelle continued gasping for breath. She attempted to calm herself.

“Damn! I missed him.”

She began to head back to the car.

“Oh!”

She was knocked over. An array of papers flew over her head. She found herself falling backwards onto the cold, wet pavement.

“Ah! Fuckin’ hell!” she growled in anger as she jumped up from the pavement.

She was just about to split until she saw the person who ran her over.

It was him! It was Christopher Blithe-Havins.

Just seconds ago, Chris was in his usual dreary daze, his mind on getting through the day. He was getting to his first class without any sense of the people around him. Now his book and papers were scattered all over the place.

To make things worse, he had this girl, facing him. She looked angry.

But to Chris’ surprise, the girl he knocked over changed her expression in an instant! She broke into a smile!

“Running late this morning?” she asked him.

“Uh-I-I’m sorry-I-I guess...”

The feeling of embarrassment was overwhelming. He furiously grabbed up all his papers and books that fell out of his book bag. He was desperate. Chris wanted to get as far away from this scene as possible. The chances of anyone at this school giving Chris a break was dimmer than dim!

Once again, to Chris’ surprise, the girl broke out into laughter.

“It was never my intention to stand out here like a stump in the forest and snap at you! I am so incredibly sorry!”

Chris was stunned. He didn’t understand. It was his fault.

“It’s- it’s alright,” Chris managed to push past his lips as he continued to gather his materials. His eyes were focused on the ground. He couldn’t let her see his face.

He realized he didn’t have his biology book. Chris jumped up and rapidly skimmed around in panic.

“Searching for this?”

The girl revealed Chris’ biology book. She wore a huge grin on her face.

“You dropped it right here.”

“Um… Thank you.”

Chris timidly took his book. Before she could say anything else, Chris bolted and ran into the school without another word uttered.

A few seconds after he left, the school bell rang, on the stroke of seven-fifteen. Michelle looked back and broke out into laughter. She shook her head to herself.

“Able to meet after all. There! Hard part’s over with,” she sighed with relief as she headed for the car.

*

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NEXT SCENE (Coming soon)

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I'm not much for begging, but if you think I did something worthwhile, consider chipping a dollar or some satochi's my way.

BTC: 3AjaZVtEXLyXyyduxxFHwx1mTbesFh8yGU

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Thank you very much for reading. :)

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Take a look at the ABOUT page for more information on this series.

Go to the REFERENCE GUIDE for detailed info on the greater world at large.

Apparently, we now have a COLLECTIONS INDEX page here on Tuhat, so that should make things easier, with organizing these posts.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

PREVIOUS SCENE (Present Setting, Pages 17-21)

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It was lunchtime. Everyone jumped up from their desks. Usually, they were determined to cram themselves into one noisy lunchroom. Chris wasn’t as determined to head to the lunchroom, no matter how hungry he was. By the time he’d arrive, the lunchroom would be jam-packed, leaving no room for him.

He was happy to discover there weren’t many people in the lunch line. He knew how customary it was for high-schoolers to go off and eat somewhere else, especially around the end of the school year. On the other hand, it was customary for kids to completely skip certain days altogether. Good grades weren’t a necessity. Not around here.

Neither were the ceilings. There were leaky pipes – and rats – in the ceilings of every classroom and hallway. The lunchroom was no different. Chris didn’t even want to think about where they cooked the food!

As Chris entered the lunchroom, he found himself elated of the fact that over half the school was gone. Their welcomed absence left plenty of room where he could eat in peace. Usually lunches included the constant throwing of food along with degrading comments aimed in his direction. For now, that reality was no more.

Still, Chris couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was being followed. He’d been stuck with this feeling all day.

Perhaps it was nothing. A bully or the average tattoo-ridden street thug would had moved in on him by now.

Shaking off the thought, Chris sat his lunch tray in the far corner of the lunchroom. He commenced eating his bland slab of mystery meat between two burger buns.

He detected from the corner of his eye someone approaching him. Chris sunk his head down low.

“Hello again!” a familiar voice spoke.

It was her! The girl Chris knocked over that morning! The one with the British accent.

Of all people he wanted to speak to, she had to have been at the bottom of that list.

Was she pretending to like him just so she could run off to her real friends and tell them all kinds of false rumors about him?

She didn’t seem to be that kind of person. As Christopher turned himself around to face her, he noticed no hint of malice in her felicitous expression, no mischievous glint in her eyes. Her cheery presence was forced, but not fake.

Chris didn’t know what to do with himself. He didn’t know what to say to someone like her.

At the same time though, he noticed this crazed nervousness seeping out of her like she was drowning in it! She was trying her best to look confident, calm and relaxed, but the truth was obvious. This was a strange sight, to say the least.

“Um...hey.”

“You don’t mind if I sit here?” she pressed.

“Sure – I mean, uh... no. Don’t mind.”

She took a seat next to Chris and exhaled loudly. “Well! Wonder where everyone went today.”

“Don’t know. Um... you new here?”

The girl gave him a big smile. “Let’s say I’m passing through,” she responded.

She extended her hand out towards Chris. “Name’s Michelle Auzolle! If you’re wondering, yes! I am on the wrong side of the pond. Well aware of that. Thank you very much!”

Chris hesitantly shook her hand.

“I’m... Chris.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Chris. The meat they serve in this school couldn’t pass for grade F quality, yes?”

“Guess so.”

After that, an awkward silence sat in. In that time, she did seem to calm herself down, at least momentarily. Either way, her state was a pivotal turn from her enraged reaction that morning, right after he knocked her over. For a split second, it looked as if she was about to tear him apart after that run in. Once she laid eyes on him, her mood changed. Like a flip of a switch. Chris had no idea why that was. He was still debating it in his mind over and over again.

Now that he had a moment to analyze this girl, Chris was struck by how cute and short she was. He wondered how he didn’t notice it before. Michelle’s body appeared to be fragile like a porcelain doll. Despite her size, there was an intensity to her. Perhaps she was one of those people who demanded attention, approval or admiration. It likely forced upon her this feigned sense of confidence. Chris assumed as much.

The existence of this girl left Chris feeling dumbfounded and passably infatuated. In comparison to himself, Chris had some definable muscle strength. When it came to self confidence, he lacked it. Or rather, it was better to say it didn’t exist.

Chris brought himself to ask the girl a question. He spoke in his usual hushed stutter.

“What, um... brings you here?”

“Well, to be partially honest with you, I am here to meet someone who’s related to a dear friend I’ve known nearly half my life. Up until today, finding this individual has been absolute hell for me – but I think I can rest for the moment!”

“They go to this school?”

Michelle displayed an amused grin. “Uh, yep! Yep! Yes, indeed! Quite certain they do! More than certain! My aim in finding this person is two-fold! To pay my condolences for the recent passing of their close relative and to show them a, uh...”

Michelle trailed off as she glanced away, as if in careful thought.

“Well, I suppose the best way to phrase this is to say that I am here to show them an ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ – as cliché as that phrase may sound. Question of whether this opportunity is for better or worse is beyond me, however! My conclusion of the matter is that it’s for the determination of the party for which I am here to meet.”

“Pay condolences?” Chris asked.

“Yes, indeed,” the girl sighed, turning away in an awkward motion.

Already, Chris was on to the notion she was here to meet him – but any chance for an ‘opportunity of a lifetime’ was wishful thinking. He wasn’t that lucky.

“Excuse me, Miss. Auzolle. Your AROS car notification system has intercepted an incoming call from Tobias Harrington.”

Startled by the sudden interruption, Michelle turned around. She saw her two assistants standing behind her. A strange feeling struck Chris the moment he laid eyes on them. Michelle may had been built similar to a porcelain doll, but these two defined the term in every sense! Perhaps not so much in their body structure, but in their nature. They had blank, glassy stares. Every motion and muscle twitch was unnatural.

Michelle appeared to break like a twig! Her eyes were bulging and her hands were shaking.

“I apologize for the disruption, Christopher. I must take care of something! I promise I will be right back. Be right back! Stay right there!”

Michelle pushed back the other two as she stomped over to the other side of the lunchroom. She didn’t seem all too happy.

The discussion was brief. After she cut it short, Michelle headed back to Chris. Her face was red.

“Who are they?” asked Chris.

“Oh! What? Them? Shambolic bunch, those two! Ha!” she exclaimed, attempting to laugh it off carelessly. “They’ve been helping me find my person of interest, but it’s, eh... well! Long story, I suppose. Don’t pay no mind to ‘em! Not important!”

“Oh. Okay,” muttered Chris. He felt put off by the entire moment.

Michelle sat down again next to Chris. “Yes! So, tell me Christopher – you, uh… an only child, like me?”

“No.”

“’Being the only child is not fun! A close shoulder to look over fancies as a means of protection against the barren wasteland that is this world! Never had luck to hold such a thing. I make absolutely no remorse for myself! Some may enjoy having no repose from such. Some see having such a thing as a blessing! I am of the latter. You should be honored to be the first. Brothers and sisters still make up who you are. Sisters especially, as I’ve been told.”

This kind of talk was the last thing Chris wanted to hear. Nevertheless, he forced himself to sustain this almost non-existent conservation.

“No remorse?”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way,” Michelle rambled on. “Old friend of mine once said that people like me survive by our think skin! Being subjected to all the bad this world has to offer is what makes a strong person, see? So I rejoice in being the underdog that I’ve come to see myself as, someone who will take their dispute to the forefront! That being said – I really don’t know if I’d wanna be in such a torn-down place like this school, if you even wanna call this horrid dump a school! There’s graffiti all over the lockers! All over the walls!”

“Dead rats also.” Chris mumbled. He casually reached over to the other side of the table, picked up a dead rat by the tail and threw it to the floor. Much to Michelle’s horror.

She snapped up her lunch tray and stood up. Michelle looked as if she was about to fling the whole tray across the room.

“As I was walking around here this morning, I saw students tearing apart school property! There was a girl my age, using a blow torch on the lockers! She was taking off the locker doors! What is that? Why’d you even want the locker doors?”

“Don’t know,” Chris mumbled with a slight shrug of his shoulders.

You’re not shocked by that?”

“Don’t know? Should I be?”

Michelle shook her head. “Any other place on this planet is better than this sanctuary city! This entire city stinks! Beneath you! Beneath us both, honestly.”

“Uh... like, okay. Can’t do anything ‘bout it, really-”

“Like hell you can’t! Learn to kick ass, or leave! Don’t give a bloody shit how desensitized you’ve become to the problems of this world! Fuckin’ hell! You know something is not correct with your dear, old planet Earth when there’s dead rats atop your high school lunchroom tables!”

Chris couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This felt like he stepped into a comedy skit. It was wild, hearing someone talk like this.

“Where do I go?” he asked.

Michelle paused herself. She was tightly clinching her lunch tray.

She had the response sitting on the tip of her tongue.

No. This was a failed effort.

She couldn’t win him over. Not like this, with her yelling at him like an lunatic. Michelle couldn’t bring herself to look at him.

She frowned down at Chris with a remorseful look.

“I-I’m sorry. I have to go.” Michelle swiped her red-orange hair away from her eyes, and flew out of the lunchroom.

Chris was frozen. He stared at the lunchroom entrance.

He was baffled by what just happened. She left as quickly as she came, so much so that it felt as if this encounter didn’t happen! It was hard to know where to start. It was like a hurricane had swept through the lunchroom.

Is it just wishful thinking, Chris wondered to himself.

*

“You two are going to put me in an early grave, I swear to god!” Michelle stomped into the empty school hall and up to her companions. “How’d you two even get in without security on your tail?”

“When will you contact Mr. Harrington?” the girl asked, unaffected by Michelle’s rage. “I will make a reminder for you on your AROS.”

“I’ll do it on my own time, Amac or Aman or whatever stupid, bullshit name GEDR or Kathryn gave you!”

“The name is Amoa-Ketu, named after the famous ancient priestess of Aplatis, who-”

“Don’t care! Shut up! I don’t care! I told you two to wait in the car! I don’t need the wrong kind of attention. Certainly don’t need half of the entire Earth military on my ass! May I repeat, this is not Nia! This is not Gearshift Eden! This is planet Earth!

“We were unable to determine whether Mr. Harrington was of great importance.”

“Excuse me? Tweek’s stupid shit can wait! Everybody’s stupid shit can wait! I am trying not to die out here! Oh, my god! The two of you are as functional as a broken toilet!”

“All system functions are working at sustainable capacity,” they both said at the same time. “Permission to manually improve system operations must be given by a Gearshift Eden R and D administrator. The lead administrator must be within the vicinity of twenty-five feet before any operations are-”

“Oh, my god! Shut up!” rasped Michelle. “Get your tin cans back in the car! Didn’t ask permission to mess with your systems! Didn’t ask for the both of you to interrupt me while I was talking to Christopher! Bloody fuck you two doing out here other than pissin’ me off?”

Michelle about to break out laughing. She would had done so if she wasn’t so furious.

“Oh, god. Oh, god. Why’d Hindler insist for you two to come along? See if I do my job properly? Is that it? Why’d I get tricked into doing this? I don’t even work for him! I’m a stockholder! He works for me, if anything!This is the most idiotic thing I’ve ever been talked into!”

You have made an agreement to conduct the business that was agreed upon.” said Amoa. “Failure to do so will result-”

“No! Shut up! That wasn’t it at all! You two saw it! You two were there! Kate was there! You guys saw the whole damn conservation! That’s not how it went down! Don’t give me that ‘failure to do so’ bullshit! You don’t think I already know? I know! Believe me! I know!”

Michelle stopped herself and sighed heavily, shaking her head. “Hell am I arguing with you two? Don’t know any more about what forced me here than what Kate knows or what Karen knows or what Duckett knows – or who-the-fuck-ever knows! I don’t know!”

“That is false. The one known as Christopher Blithe-Havins was what brought you here,” the boy stated.

Michelle glared at him. “I don’t want to do this. I am in over my head, whatever your name is!”

“The name is Amon-Ketu, named after-”

“Shut up! I hope you are aware, Amon! I have stated multiple times that going against Robert went beyond my willpower!”

“Logic does not compute.”

“Oh, my god. I’ve gone insane,” muttered Michelle, twisting away from them and slowly starting down the hall.

She somehow managed to calm herself down. After a moment of pause, Michelle laughed bitterly to herself.

“Okay. Suppose you are correct. I didn’t have to do this if I didn’t want to. Fine! I gave in to Robert Hindler far too eaisly.

“Perhaps I just assumed he’d get his senses together. I’ve been lenient with him, especially after the whole gate malfunction fiasco. Remains unclear if he gives a rat’s ass about that, but whatever. Know what? After this, I am done, dealing with this bloke! I am washing my hands!”

Michelle sighed heavily as she looked up at the dim hallway lighting above her. The ceiling had graffiti on it with the phrase ‘Rut in a Stuck’ repeating over and over again, with layer upon layer. The water dripping out of the ceiling had all but faded these fragmented lines.

“Perhaps I’m trying too hard to see the point in all this,” she sighed. “Maybe there is no point. All one big circle jerk I got suckered into. Or suckered myself into. Where’s my head been lately?”

Michelle halted herself at the end of the hallway, where two rusted metal doors led to the cold and wet outdoors.

Amoa stopped herself next to Michelle. Amon stepped up from behind.

“The purpose is for the third-party universe gateway project,” Amoa said. “That is where your investment lies.”

“What does any of this have to do with the gateway project?” Michelle demanded. “Hell am I investing in if I’m out here, doing stupid shit?”

“An analysis of your body language and facial patterns suggest that you have an ulterior motive for accepting this mission,” Amon stated.

Michelle stated laughing to herself. “Ulterior motive! Oh! That’s a laugh riot! Okay! You know something? You are correct. If you would like to know, I’ve been thinking! I came up with three or four half-assed reasons as to why I’m doing this nonsense.

“I am curious to meet Ashlin’s younger offspring. Looks like Christopher is exactly as I’d imagined, going off what Ashlin used to say about him. Not sure if I like that. Breaks my heart to see someone like him, tossed between the cracks of a world gone to hell.

“Would like to see if I can help Christopher! Seems the only way to do that is to do what I’ve been sent here to do. Should have made myself clear with Hindler that I have no experience with this kind of thing! I overthink everything! This is not going to be a smooth transition for him! Hasn’t been a smooth transition for me. Feel like I’m still going at it.

“I have to get close to Christopher. Having someone tell you that you’re not crazy would help. It was better for me after I met Ashlin. That was weeks after my introduction to the abysmal muck we call Niamaterian.”

Michelle flung the double doors open and stepped outside. Amon and Amoa followed along with their expressions as stoic as ever.

“Are you going to complete the business that you have been assigned to?” Amoa asked Michelle.

“Can’t believe I’m saying this, but there doesn’t seem to be a reason not to. There just needs to be...”

Michelle trailed off briefly. Her brain locked up once again.

“I don’t know! Something!” she cried frantically. “We need to do something! Bloody fuckin’ stand in a circle! Sing Christmas songs, get along! Some nonsense like that! I don’t know! I don’t know what to do! I’m the smartest person I know, and for some reason, I don’t know shit! How does that work?”

Michelle calmed herself. She tried to collect her thoughts again.

“I don’t know what to do with myself. I’m not certain how to act with him or have him be at ease with me. It’s just – ya know! Whatever! I’m driving myself bonkers! Being back on planet Earth does that to me!”

“The humans who first came upon the ruins of Niamaterian did not suffer from the mental differences you are experiencing.”

Michelle was laughing to herself. She stepped up to her car.

“Well. I suppose so, Amoa,” she said. “Guessin’ they didn’t know what they were doing any more than I do. Least I know well enough to get a tetanus shot after walking out of that shithole!

“And yes. Been readin’ some of Athena’s history books. Thinkin’ bout how little I know ‘bout things. All I do know is that we’re still running from the problems of the adult world! Just like Mary! Rest of her lot. These days, children of Nia have been making their own mistakes – mistakes that Mary-Anne McGalland couldn’t have dreamt up some two-hundred years ago! Must had been simpler back in her time, I swear!”

* * *

______________________________________________________________________________________________

NEXT SCENE (Coming soon)

______________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm not much for begging, but if you think I did something worthwhile, consider chipping a dollar or some satochi's my way.

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Thank you very much for reading. :)

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Take a look at the ABOUT page for more information on this series.

Go to the REFERENCE GUIDE for detailed info on the greater world at large.

Apparently, we now have a COLLECTIONS INDEX page here on Tuhat, so that should make things easier, with organizing these posts.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

PREVIOUS SCENE (Last Present Day scene for Chapter one)

______________________________________________________________________________________________

Mary-Anne woke up to the sound of crickets chirping above her. Her eyes opened to a yellow-orange afternoon sky, set behind a circular, open pit and the darkness that surrounded her.

How long was I out, she wondered.

She had to have been out for a while. It was late afternoon now.

In all this time, no one came out to search for her?

Mary attempted to stand up. She suddenly found the unbearable pain in her right foot. She cried out in distress. Tears streamed down her face.

She looked down and saw that her foot was sprained. It was all swelled up and throbbing with pain. Nonetheless, she struggled to pull herself up, using the tree roots that jutted out from the surrounding stone walls.

After she finally stood up on her good foot, Mary looked around her.

At first glance, it appeared she fell down a well, but the bottom was far too wide. It didn’t go nearly as deep into the ground as most wells did. She fell only less than six or seven feet.

Still, it would be hard to crawl out even if she hadn’t sprained her foot. The stone walls were built in an igloo shape, arching up to the broken ceiling. Many roots hung from above. It was difficult to tell if the roots were strong enough to hold her weight. She didn’t want to take any chances with this sprained foot.

Mary decided not to risk climbing the roots. Instead, she shouted up to the world above her. Perhaps somebody was close enough to hear.

“Hello! Is there anyone out there? Help!”

The only thing that answered was the wind and the quiet chorus of crickets. There was the sound of a bird cawing in the distance.

There wasn’t a soul close enough.

This wasn’t good. She was going to be stuck in this pit until someone came searching for her. There was no telling long would that would take.

With her throbbing foot raised slightly above the ground, Mary hobbled to the opposite side of the pit to see if there was any way of climbing out. Just before she reached the wall, Mary paused herself.

She squinted through the darkness off to her left.

The corner of her eye caught something.

It was an archway – an underground opening or passageway. It was set far back, away from the reach of the afternoon sunlight, but not far enough to be unable to see it’s dim outline.

Mary slowly lowered herself to the ground. She stared intently at the narrow opening.

The pitch darkness inside was too baleful, too sinister, blatantly proscribing any notion of taking a closer look.

This may had been a way out. It wasn’t likely, but there was a chance.

No. That’s ridiculous. she said to herself. She couldn’t do it. It was too dark in there and Mary was in no mood to walk around.

She hated the dark. The only thing she hated more was being in a state of helplessness.

She kept thinking it over. Regardless, she refused to enter.

Mary-Anne remained on the ground, with her eyes closed. She attempted to rebuke any thoughts of going in.

She tightly crouched herself within the center of this pit. Mary wasn’t going anywhere.

Within these still, silent moments, Mary became aware of something. There was a sound coming from deep within that black opening in front of her. It was the steady sound of dripping water.

Drip...drip...drip...

She forced herself to pay no attention to it. It was only water.

After a while, it sounded as if the dripping noise was getting louder and more prevalent. The sound itself was coming closer.

Mary eyes shot open. She clenched her fists. She stared intently at the dark.

There was no reason why the sound was getting louder.

Drip...drip...drip...

Is it just becoming more dominant in my mind, she wondered.

The quieter the world above became, the more this sound took it’s place.

Once again, Mary felt compelled to enter the opening. This steady hypnotic sound, as dreadful as it was, seemed to beckon to her.

It wouldn’t hurt to take a gander, thought Mary.

She prepared to stand back up by crawling off to the side. Holding onto a nearby tree root, she pulled herself upwards. Her back rubbed up against the worn rock and soiled wall.

After getting herself up, Mary made her way to the gaping black void. She nearly tripped over a sheet of rock sticking out of the ground. She grabbed onto the edge of the opening to keep herself from loosing balance.

It took a moment for her eyes to adjust. The darkness was thick. As soon as she could see better, Mary noticed something.

Mary’s heart begin to pump furiously in her chest.

There was a blue light. It was faint. It came form somewhere deep inside. It glowed, unblinking, appearing as the light of an angel.

Who would have the certainty to say it wasn’t the Devil or Hades, Mary wondered to herself.

Mary stood poised at the foreboding entryway. Her thoughts madly raced around in circles.

That light cannot be real, she thought. It was her imagination. It had to be.

She closed her eyes and turned her head away, straining to erase the sight from her vision! Turning back and studying the scene closely, she could see that the light was reflecting off a stone wall that curved off sharply to the left.

Drip...drip...drip...

The dripping sound continued to echo from deep inside, somewhere off to the right. It was an annoyance now. It was nauseating, in fact! That horrific sound continued to fill her mind with every rhythmic drop.

This was such a miserable situation, but Mary continued to hold herself upwards. She was unwilling to give in. She had to do this. It was self-evident at this point.

If this is the will of God who has shown me this path, then I must follow, she thought submissively.

Mary stepped through the narrow opening. The oppressive, stiff dankness enclosed around her. Looking back, Mary could see the sunlight, shinning down through the hole above. She already missed it’s warmth.

She turned back towards the blue light. With fear running through her veins, Mary started forward.

Off somewhere within in the dark were these strange rustling sounds, almost like paper being shuffled. Mary couldn’t place the location of the sound for the life of her. All he had in this place were her ears.

The sound of a stone dropping made her jump and cower against the left wall. Her body felt fragile. She was shaking as if freezing to death. No doubt the frigid bitterness of fear had taken her.

Mary slowly began to back out. Her hand gripped hard on a stone jutting out from the left wall. She realized these stones were eroded and loose. The place had been left abandoned a long time ago. How long was unknown. It had to have been years – maybe centuries! It wouldn’t had been any surprise to see this place fall apart, given the thought.

This didn’t make going in here any better of an idea.

Despite all this weighing heavily in her mind, Mary continued forward. She considered the fact she was already halfway there. She felt adventurous enough. Either that or she had lost her mind.

“The lord is my shepherd. I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures. He leadeth me beside the still waters...”

She pushed on, quietly whispering the lord’s prayer to herself. Her right hand clutched her necklace pendant. Her eyes remained fixated on the light that glowed in all it’s beaming presentiment.

“He restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name’s sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will feel no evil – for thou art with me...”

The light was close.

She began to move herself into the beam of the light. It felt like she had been going through this tunnel for ages. Mary moved her head into the light. Her vision was submerged in a sea of blue. Her eyes took a moment to adjust to the light.

Seconds later – Mary put her whole self into the beam.

He panic receded. The fear was gone.

She saw the light was coming from a lantern. It sat on top a small bolder ten feet away in the center of a large circular room. From here, there were other passageways. They stretched off into three opposite directions, heading off into more darkness – but here was this light, so peaceful and warm! The sight of it put Mary at ease, although she wasn’t entirely sure as to why.

She stumbled out from the small tunnel and moved towards the lantern, straining to see what was giving off this much light. Once she reached it, she knelled down and studied it carefully. The lantern’s exterior cage was made with a smooth, dark metal that appeared imperious to the wear of time, unlike the rest of this place. Inside the cage, the object giving off the light looked like a gemstone, uncut and unpolished, but shining as bright as the sun. With caution, she reached for the lantern and picked it up by it’s smooth handle. It weighed less than a pound.

How long can these gems be left to shine, she wondered.

This place was left abandoned long ago, but this precious stone was left behind to burn it’s eternal flame. Almost as if it’s placement was intentional.

How it was made to glow made no matter. It was something to counter the dark within these forgotten halls. That made a world of difference.

Something caught her eye. It appeared to be a large, flat piece of weathered rock, propped up on the wall directly in front of her.

There was many symbols etched upon it’s flat surface. With lantern in hand, Mary made her way to the stone and lowered herself to it’s worn, chipped surface. There were strange symbols and lines crudely carved into the surface of the rock. What caught her attention was the large symbol situated on the lower, right-hand side. It looked like a seal, standing out gracefully, as if authenticating this document.

It was clear in Mary’s mind that what she was looking at was an ancient written language. She had seen plenty of old written languages in many a weathered, dusty book. She didn’t know this one. It wasn’t from the Indians; their tales and myths were handed down verbally, and there was no written form of their languages, or at least not one that Mary was aware of.

She wondered if it’s message was a warning for the one who would happen to stumble upon this place. Perhaps it was only a word of welcome.

Whatever this tablet said, it only replaced Mary’s fazed composure with a sense of inquisitiveness. She didn’t feel frightened by the darkness anymore. In fact, Mary felt excited to go off and explore the depths of these ancient dwellings.

She stepped away from the tablet, trailing slowly to the left, striving to see as far as she could through the dark in front of her. Up ahead, she could barely make out a large object resting on the left side of the high wall. Mary continued to drag herself closer and closer to the object. It looked like a gigantic wheel.

Suddenly, she stopped and froze herself.

“Did I just hear my name?” she asked herself.

Everything down here was silent, save for the occasional noise of stone bricks falling from the ceiling above and smashing on the floor.

“Mary-Anne...”

There it was again. This time she knew where it was coming from.

With glee, Mary quickly dragged herself back to the small tunnel and yelled as loud as she could down the corridor.

“Hello! I’m in here! I’m in here!”

She continued to drag herself as fast as she could back down the tunnel. She caught a brief glimpse of a series of rooms to the left of her. There were wooden tables in there and stacks of old, decaying parchments.

Mary burst out of the passageway, into the late afternoon sunlight. A head was peering down at Mary, who was now crawling around on the floor after tripping over the same sheet of rock she tripped over earlier.

“Mary! How in god’s name you dig yourself a hole this deep?”

“Melody! I fell down here! I can’t crawl out! Please! Get me out!”

“I can reach you if you stand up! Come on! Grab my hand!”

With the last of her strength, she brought herself up and reached as high as she could for Melody’s hand.

“Hang on! I have you!” cried out Melody as she continued to pull her up.

At last, Melody managed to pull Mary out. The two gasped for air, collapsing back into the field of wheat.

“How long were you down there?” asked Melody.

“Far too long! I didn’t think anyone would find me!”

“What is that?”

Melody pointed to the strange lantern Mary found. Mary looked and was surprised to see the light from the gem was all but extinguished. It was now glowing faintly. Mary moved her hand over the gem to protect it from the rays of the sun. Like day and night, it lit up again. Mary moved her hand away and the light dimmed once more.

Melody Catratt looked on with astonishment. “Where did you get that?” she asked.

“Down there – Melody! There are tunnels and things! Strange stones and rooms – resting right below our feet! That’s where I got the lantern!”

______________________________________________________________________________________________

NEXT SCENE (Coming soon)

______________________________________________________________________________________________

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PREVIOUS SCENE (Second flashback scene from Chapter One)

Note: This is the first flashback scene of Chapter 2. The title of the chapter is "An Age of Reason."

______________________________________________________________________________________________

It was August. The skies were yellow, along with the tree leaves. There were crickets chirping and fireflies all about. They could be seen past the old wooden fences, within the thick and tall forests, surrounding this land.

There was a large house here, painted white. A few yards behind the house was an old barn. It was swarming with bugs and spider’s, so it remained mostly off limits. The place to play was in the open fields and up in the tall and weathered oak tree standing in front of the house. There was a tire swing and a tree house hiding within its foliage.

“Chris! Hey, Chris!” a voice called out from the tree house.

A ten-year-old boy popped his head from out the wheat meadow. He started heading towards the tree house.

“What’s going on? What ya doing out there?”

A young girl’s head popped out of the window, peering down at him with a curious expression.

“Nothing,” answered Chris. “What ya doing in there?”

“Looking down on you! I got the higher ground! Come up!”

“Why?”

“Why? That’s a stupid question. I said I got the higher ground! I can see everything up here, like how tiny you are! It’s like I’m in a plane, and I’m looking down at ants!”

“That doesn’t make sense!”

“Makes sense in my mind! That’s all that counts, now come up!”

“I can’t.”

“What? Why not?”

“It’s too high up. I don’t like it.”

“Just don’t look down as you come up, Chris. I promise you it won’t be that scary if you don’t look down.”

Chris hesitated for a while, before rushing himself up the ladder. At the top, he was greeted by the young girl. She was slightly older than Chris, and had the same dark brown hair and dark green eyes as him.

“Alright! You made it up! Way to go!” the girl rejoiced. She took Chris away from the gaping front opening and sat him against the back wall. Chris took note of all the stickie notes and torn pieces of notebook paper, taped on the walls of the tree house. This was where Ashlin’s artwork was stored. They were nothing more than crudely drawn happy faces or strange, offbeat little doodles. It was a thing she did. Chris would always ask where she kept finding these note pads. It wasn’t like there was a store to buy them from! Not around here, miles away from civilization! Ashlin didn’t have answer for him. They would just turn up in random places.

“How come you’re not scared?” Chris asked.

“When I start falling is when I start worrying!”

“Okay. Whatever you say, Ashlin.”

With a lulled sigh, Ashlin sat herself next to her younger brother and glanced out the nearby window.

“Yo. Chris. You’d miss me if I went away for a while?”

“Where would ya go?”

Ashlin shifted uncomfortably. “I mean, I dunno. Nowhere, really. Ya know, it’s just that...”

Chris stared curiously at his sister. For the past few days, Ashlin really had been acting strange. It was as if she was sad about something. That couldn’t have been the case. Ashlin was always cheerful.

“You mean like... go camping? Like Allen did?”

“Yeah,” Ashlin answered. “Something like that.”

“How long?”

“Not sure. Might be longer.”

“Can I come?”

Ashlin laughed out loud. “Don’t know! Maybe! It’d be fun if you came along! I can tell you that! But you know. I love this place, but it’s boring. I’ve always wanted to travel the world!”

“That’s where you’re going? Around the world?”

“No! That’s just always what I wanted to do!”

“Come on! Tell me! Where ya going then?”

Ashlin was hesitant to explain herself. “It’s kinda like this tree house, out of reach of adults. Up in the trees. All the kids are a bunch of monkeys in those trees. Swinging from branch to branch, throwing turds at each other. It’s a jungle, but like a jungle for children.”

“That sounds weird. Why’d you want to go there?”

“Ya gotta be kidding me! You never thought of getting outta here?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

Ashlin smiled. She put her arm around her younger brother. “Okay. Seriously, How much ya miss me if I did go away like Allen?” she asked as she held him tightly.

“Uh, I don’t know.”

“That all that you ever say! You gonna learn to say anything else whenever I ask you a question?”

“I... don’t know.”

Ashlin shook her head, feeling quite beside herself. “I can hardly ever get a straight answer outta you. That’s what mom would always say to you back in the day. Remember when you stole mom’s purse, hid it under your bed? Mom was so freaked out, swear I thought she was going to explode in a million pieces! I don’t know why you did that!”

Chris silently looked away at the sound of the word ‘mom’, sending Ashlin’s spirits crashing to the ground.

Still too soon, she thought bitterly.

With any such of an utterance, Chris would always seem to shut down, as if the word would suck out any sign of life from him.

Ashlin was mad at herself. She didn’t want to think about it.

“Okay, come on! I’m bored in here!” she said, jumping back up. “I wanna go back out there, play some catch!”

“I just got up here! You want me to go back down?”

“Oh, please! You got up here and nothing happened. I’ll help you back down if it takes the rest of the night. How about that?”

Ashlin quickly climbed down. She then spent the next five minutes trying to talk her brother into coming down. Chris hesitated as much as he could during that time. As soon as he started to climb back down, Ashlin began to joust him on.

“Come on, you can make it! You’re not helpless! I thought boys were the ones who climbed trees and other things they weren’t supposed to! That doesn’t make me more of a boy than you, does it?”

“No, it doesn’t!” cried out Chris. He held on the upper wooden step as if it was his life he was holding onto.

“I’ll go back inside and leave you out here if you don’t get moving!”

Chris froze. His fear of the distant ground below sent chills down his spine with every nervous glance out from the corner of his eye. Eventually, he gained the courage to take another step down.

“Just come down nice and easy! You’re fine!”

With his shaking legs and arms, he continued to lower himself. Every step brought him closer to the ground.

Suddenly, his left foot slipped.

His tight grip on the ladder came undone when his body jerked down. With a frightened cry, he tried to reach back for the ladder.

He was already falling backwards. He was out of reach.

“Got ya!”

Ashlin jumped forward. She caught him in midair. With her forward momentum she was also sent crashing to the ground along with Chris.

The dirt ground in this area was still wet from the rain from yesterday. Now, much to Ashin’s dismay, their clean clothes were marked with dirt and mud.

After loosening her tight grip on Chris, Ashlin looked down at him.

“You alright? Not traumatic for ya?”

Chris didn’t respond. He only looked away, tears swelling in his eyes and his lower lip quivering like he was about to cry.

Ashlin could only laugh.

It was ridiculous, particularly at his age. He was such a crybaby.

It was the sweetest and most innocent thing about him. It was a form of botched youth, as if he was either refusing to grow up or didn’t know what growing up was.

Then again — he was still only nine. But Ashlin wondered about him sometimes.

Maybe I’m growing up too fast, she thought.

That went without saying. Things were moving too fast for her. It was impossible just to keep up.

Meanwhile, Chris was still Chris. Ashlin didn’t know what to do with this fact. It was likely because, for the most part, Chris has it easy. He deserved to have it easy.

With the way the outside world was, it was hard to know how long this life for him would last. But they were still here. They still had each other. That’s all that mattered.

“Alright, you baby! Let’s get cleaned up,” laughed Ashlin as she turned around and began to carry him back inside the house.

“I’m not a baby. It wasn’t that high up,” murmured Chris.

“You were high enough to break something! If I wasn’t around, I think that fall would’ve been painful.”

“We’re not gonna play catch?”

“We will, but you got us all messed up! If dad sees us like this, he’s gonna be mad.”

* * *

______________________________________________________________________________________________

NEXT SCENE (First present day scenes for Chapter 2)

______________________________________________________________________________________________

I'm not much for begging, but if you think I did something worthwhile, consider chipping a dollar or some satochi's my way.

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______________________________________________________________________________________________

Take a look at the ABOUT page for more information on this series.

Go to the REFERENCE GUIDE for detailed info on the greater world at large.

We now have a COLLECTIONS INDEX page here on Tuhat, so that should make things easier, with organizing these posts.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

PREVIOUS SCENE (First flashback scene for Chapter Two)

These are the first present day scenes for Chapter 2. The title of this chapter is "An Age of Reason."

An introduction to two possible antagonists who are very antagonistic towards each other. (Either that or one of the two woke up on the wrong side of the bed.) We then go to Michelle, who has a narrow brush with the Earth military police "goons," as she calls them.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

A faint humming could be heard in this dimly lit room. There was a large screen on the wall. The blue light it projected drew shadows upon these pale white walls.

A couch sat in front of the screen. A person was sitting on it. She was a mere silhouette set against the blue light as she stared straight ahead. As if entranced. Her eyes were fierce and intent.

Another person entered the room from the far right. They continued on, over to the right side of the couch. Its seat was vacant.

"Didn't expect to see you come back." said the one on the couch. She spoke in a youthful sounding voice, although her voice sounded sightly cracked. She remained perfectly still.

"I wasn't expecting this either," said the second. "Your new code name. It's Elizabeth Báthory."

"Hm. Fun name. What's been going on with you, Cantesica?"

There was a long pause. "I told you not to keep calling me that."

"Right! Forgot. Janis Joplin? Oh, wait. No. It was just Joplin last time."

"It's Acedia now."

"Acedia! Bummer," Báthory laughed to herself.

The one named Acedia sighed to herself. "Previous name was Iktumi. Right?"

"Yep. Didn't care for the name, but I liked it better than the name of a seventeenth century psycho bitch, bathing in the blood of young virgin girls! Iktumi was from Lakota folklore. Word for spider."

"Who'd remember all those legends?"

"Yeah. World moves on," Báthory uttered. "All it ever does."

Acedia leaned in to get a better look at what she was doing. "What's that black box? What are you writing on it?"

"Not on the box, dumb ass. Used some duct tape. Using a black marker on a black box doesn't make for legible text! Who knew?"

"That didn't answer my question."

Báthory laughed to herself. "Know what? It's a box of candy for some sweet, lovely children! They deserve the best for their festivities, don’t ya know!"

"You're going to do what he did with Knead Garden? Don't think Astoroth wants that. I would agree. We don't need to go to that extreme."

"Astoroth, Astoroth. I'm getting really tied of these stupid names! The moron that we're referring to as 'Astoroth' made a mistake, choosing me to do his dirty work! Dirty work is my profession."

"He said not to kill anyone."

"Do as he says, not as he does. Had that conservation before."

Acedia glared down at Báthory. "Elizabeth, I don't want to babysit you-"

"Woah! Crazy thought! Maybe you don't have to!"

"Please! Don't make this harder than it needs to be. I have a job to do. You have a job! There's no need to go overboard with this."

Báthory placed the black marker down on the table. She stood up and looked over at Acedia.

Before Acedia realized it, she was forced up against the wall. Báthory held her throat. Her hair covered her face in darkness.

"I'm through with this," Elizabeth rasped. "Our sins are our sins. We are what we do. All there is. Last thing I want is a lecture on it! You're still gonna be towing the line for the North Star Nexus freaks well after I up and leave! You'll give more pointless lectures to other asswipes like me 'til you put a bullet in your own head after someone important in your life betrays you!"

"Why do you believe you'll get out of this life that you've made for yourself?" Acedia asked calmly. "There is no escape. You should know that by now."

Elizabeth held a gun to Acedia's head.

Acedia was unmoved. She didn't resist. Her eyes were cold. Indifferent.

But it was as clear as day. That was a ruse. No. She couldn't hide it that well! That fear of hers. It stunk worse than a landfill.

"Nah," Báthory sneered. "It's all a game to them, girl! You're more of a pawn than you realize."

Acedia pushed her away. She broke out into a cold sweat. After a few tense seconds, she scoffed and shook her head. "You're a lost cause. Good thing my loyalty is with North Star!" Acedia smirked as she steadied herself. She turned her back to Báthory and strolled out of the room. "Astoroth is too pathetic for me to care! I'm in agreement with you on that. But if you ever pulled this shit off with them, they'd make you regret it for the rest of your days!"

"Oh, Jesus Christ! Stop wasting my time!" Báthory screamed, chasing her off into the hallway. "You're a technocrat with an ego the size of a blimp! Go spew horseshit out of your ass someplace else! Spew it like a horse manure lawn sprinkler for cornbread retards! That's you, Acedia! That's you all over!"

*

The night air was warm and humid. It was perfect weather. Take away the economic depression, the urban decay, the large concrete walls enclosing the city, separating the prosperous parts of the town from the slums, and this would have been paradise.

A cool breeze swept through the empty docks, over on the northern side of the city's river. The shanty towns were on this side. The city on the other side had it's fancy historic downtown district. The roads on that side were laid down with red bricks and cobblestones. Different era, different time. The difference was staggering.

Despite the calming sounds of the river, Michelle nerves were on edge. She couldn't shake it off.

"Three days, forty-two hours since I arrived back on Earth," she muttered to herself. "Bleedin' lifetime, this shit."

Michelle reached into her jeans pocket, and took out what had been driving her mad lately. Around these parts, it was illegal – particularly for someone her age – to be in possession of a pack of cigarettes.

It didn't matter. Michelle lit one anyway. The smoke calmed her nerves. Trying to quit the old-fashioned way was impossible. Everyone in Nia could turn their addictions on and off like a light switch. Michelle didn't want to go that way, but any other pathway was an unforgiving road.

Over and over, her thoughts fell back on what to do with Christopher. She had to tell him the truth. There wasn't a reason for him to believe her. There had to be something Michelle could use to make her case! Whatever it was had to be approved by her two overseers, Amon and Amoa. Michelle could not say anything specific about the place where she came from until they entered its domain. Instead, she had to allude to a 'happier place.'

In Michelle’s explicit wording on the matter, this was 'chicken shit.' It was red tape – someone in a higher position covering their asses in case things went south! It was standard procedure.

It would be easier to kidnap Chris, and hope he'd develop Stockholm syndrome. This thought forced a smile on Michelle's face.

"Hey! You!"

Michelle was startled. She wheeled around.

There were two police officers coming her way, dressed in military outfits. It wasn't hard to tell the difference between the military and the police. Military had thicker armor, perhaps.

Michelle was caught off guard by their appearance, but her reaction to them wasn't that of terror. It was annoyance.

"Miss, you need to come with us!" one of the officers demanded.

They stopped dead in their tracks.

In the blink of an eye – Michelle was gone! Her car was gone! It was spotted seconds ago by the two of them.

The officers went in opposite directions. They searched the pier. They searched through the open warehouses, including the collapsed warehouse buildings and wherever the homeless were huddled together.

One officer went off in the direction where the car was. He was then taken aback by a strong surge of wind. He was almost knocked over. The strong winds quickly receded.

He ran to the spot and searched the area intensely. All he found were a few cardboard boxes, used by the local homeless.

"Anything?" the second policeman called out. He came sprinting back.

"No."

The second officer spoke into his radio receiver. "Put on a lookout. Young girl, red-orange hair, white t-shirt and jeans. Spotted on the northern docks. May be driving a red sports car, possibly a vintage Ferrari model. License plate number unknown."

The two officers both hurried off back to their car. The moment the police car drove away, the winds picked up again.

Michelle emerged like a ghost out from a dark, narrow alleyway between the warehouses.

"So much for keeping a low profile," she sighed to herself, puffing on her cigarette. "Better keep outta town for a day or so. Earth military goons are gonna be crawling all over the bleedin' place!"

*

______________________________________________________________________________________________

NEXT SCENE (Coming soon)

______________________________________________________________________________________________

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______________________________________________________________________________________________

Take a look at the ABOUT page for more information on this series.

Go to the REFERENCE GUIDE for detailed info on the greater world at large.

We now have a COLLECTIONS INDEX page here on Tuhat, so that should make things easier, with organizing these posts.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

PREVIOUS SCENE (First Present Day scenes for Chapter Two)

Present day scenes for Chapter 2. The title of this chapter is "An Age of Reason."

Things do not go well for Chris. That's putting it lightly.

I went pretty hard on this one, and it's difficult to say if I'm happy about it. But it is what it is. I'm not changing it. Hell I've probably read and re-read this chapter so many times, I could just vomit. But I do think that this is a pivotal moment of sorts. This is more of a matter of not knowing what the bottom of the barrel looks like until you hit it. Only then can one find the will to change their situation in life.

Reader discretion is advised.

______________________________________________________________________________________________

“Thank you. You can go.”

The teacher nodded his head, then lowered his eye>he book he was reading. Chris laid his exam sheet and question booklet down on the teacher's desk and glanced behind him. There was still a large group of students sitting in their desks.

Chris walked through the halls and out the school In the parking lot were punks, spray-painting cars and making loud noises. It was the usual.

There didn't seem to be any sign of that strange girl from yesterday. There was no sign of Allen's car either. He would usually park up towards the back of the parking lot. His car was nowhere to be seen. Chris wanted to walk home, but that wasn't such a great idea.

Christopher retreated off to the back of the school where the track and football high school stadiums stood in their deteriorated states. The main entrance into the high school stadium was usually barred by tall metal gates and thick chain locks, but Chris noticed several weeks ago that the chains were no longer there. He slid through the rusted gates and entered into this seemingly vacant area. He went towards the entryway leading into the stadium and nearly tripped over a rusty can.

Chris stopped. He heard footsteps. He looked back and saw no one.

It sounded like there was somebody right behind him.

Chris took note of this as he walked out into the center field. The grass on the football field was overgrown with weeds. It had been months, if not years since anyone mowed the grass. The track surrounding the field was cracked and eroded. There wasn’t a track team at this school. There wasn't a high school football team either. Chris wasn’t sure if football was a national pastime anymore.

He walked around aimlessly at the foot of the bleachers as he took in the scenery all around him. As he stared up into the cloudy sky, the winds started to pick up.

This day was dark and nasty. This was how it always was.

"Yo! Kid!"

Chris wheeled around. He saw a small group of kids sitting on the bleachers. They sprung up and quickly make their way down to Chris.

A tall, muscle-pumped kid stepped in front of him and peered at Chris from under his hood cap with a wicked smirk.

His friends were members of a local punk gang. Chris was certain of it.

“Yo, man! How it is!”

Chris was stunned. They all moved in on him so quickly.

“What that? You don't speak English, padre? I asked you how it is!”

*

Chris had no intention of fighting back. It wasn't even an option in his mind, not even as things escalated. It felt like this wasn't even real, like he was watching a movie.

Chris was on the grass. The tall kid had him by the legs. They started to drag him towards an office underneath the bleachers, near the gates.

One of the punks kicked the office door off it's hinges. Another flung his beer bottle at the opposite end of the wall as soon as he entered.

"Put that shit on the floor! Get that metal chair! We gonna see what happens when we split his head open!"

"Ha, ha! Bout to bust some heads up again!"

"Shut up! Get the fuckin' chair!"

Chris could see the scene from out of the corner of his eye.

It had escalated so quickly.

He saw the chair. It was raised up in the air. Over his head.

This was it.

There was no getting out of this.

Wack!

The attacker stumbled backwards. The chair dropped to the floor behind him.

"The fuck! Ya'll toss a two by four at my head?"

Chris saw that the object thrown was indeed a large plank of wood. There was an old, rusted saw and a stack of planks sitting in the left corner of the room.

No one was over there. There was construction equipment and a desk.. Sports lockers were open. Deflated footballs and basketballs were left in a corner. Nothing else.

The gang was frozen stiff except for their leader. He was still reeling from the hit he received. He turned to his fellow members.

"What y'all standin’ around for? Go over there, get the bitch."

"Hell you talkin' about? Ain't no one over there!"

"Ain't no fuckin’ ghost either, shithead! Get your ass over there!"

Creak...creak...creak...

The sound of footsteps started from that dark corner of the room.

They were headed straight towards them.

"Fuck this!" exclaimed one of the gang members. He bolted out of the room, leaving the four others behind.

"Oh! Okay. Fine. I get it! Place is haunted and shit! We'll just be takin' our little faggot with us, so you can just do all y'all's stupid ghost shit!"

As soon the tall kid said that – a beer bottle shot out of one of his friend's hands. It was sent violently shattering over his head. His face was drenched with foam, shards of glass and his own blood.

His friends were frantic. "Shit! What the fuck! Just go! Fuckin’ go!"

The rest of them ran out through the busted entrance. Their leader disappeared out of view last as he stopped briefly to wipe the blood running down his face. His whole body was shaking.

Silence sat in. Chris sat up. Wiped the blood off his lower lip.

He was alone. This room was dead quiet.

Chris glanced down at the shattered glass and the large plank of wood resting at his feet. He tried to come to terms with what he was looking at. He came up with nothing.

Meanwhile, an icy chill wrapped around him like a cloak.

*

An hour had passed. The car didn't show.

Feeling agitated with the thought of the gang members showing up again, Chris decided to walk home. It wasn't that far. He stepped off the pavement and onto the empty parking lot. Chris looked around him. No one else was on the street.

The strange feeling of someone following him was as prevalent as ever. Christopher knew the person wasn't Michelle. He couldn't explain to himself how he knew that. It was a feeling more than anything.

He thought of the strange dream he had the other day. He thought of the girl in the blue dress. It was possible she was the one following Chris. It was a ridiculous thought, but that was all he could come up with.

His reaction to all this was very nonchalant. There was a part of him that couldn't take it in.

Some people would take out their anger and grief out on others. There were those who would find someone else to blame for their own misfortunes. There were those who would hold onto whatever worth they thought they had. It was a waste of time, more than anything.

Michelle was a nice person though, thought Chris. The issue was she tried to make herself into something she wasn't. That desperate, feigned attempt to pass some unmovable virtue onto him was all in vain. There was no point.

The Loft’s Shield Hospital came into view. Next to it was the newly built grocery store, which stood out from this 'rustic' scenery, like Michelle's flashy red car. The grocery store chain was called Salmart. Like all other grocery store chains, Salmart housed the government education camps. People were shipped in by trains from all over the world. They were housed at these camps, which looked like colossal human cages, housing hundreds of thousands of people. Chris didn’t know much about what went on in these places. All he knew was that everything inside was kept neat and spotless, unlike the world outside, which was in perpetual ruin. Sometimes, there would be sounds of shouting and screaming coming from these places.

It was best not to ask questions. Chris didn’t want to think about it.

Nearby was a giant warehouse. Chris assumed it was a manufacturing facility at one point. Many of the homeless paraded around the perimeter of the structure. On the next curb up ahead, more people wandered about aimlessly in a car heap that occupied the perimeters.

Outside a set of rusted gates further on down the road stood a collection of more cars. All of their interiors were ripped out. Every side-window and windshield was smashed. Chris would usually imagine what the Hummer used to look like when they first made them. He has seen pictures of these things on those old smart phones their father found hoarded up in the attic when they first moved here. On one of them, there was nothing but pictures of sleek and stylish cars of various models hidden within the phone's rusty data chips. These were representations of how such ingenuity could do anything but hinder the times in which they were made. Chris could imagine them drifting down thin suburban streets as if they flew on feathers. It only made the red car he saw yesterday morning more of a figment of dreams.

Chris continued walking on by in a slow pace. He took in the scene before him.

The clouds parted. The afternoon sunlight was shining upon the decaying world around him like a spotlight. The people wandering in the streets and around the empty buildings moved as if they were the walking dead. The dull motion of the world dampened Chris' thoughts, bringing about a stifled sense of understanding the depths of vacuity.

Chris reached the other end of the block. He turned his head to the left and saw saw a small girl nearby. She wore a torn red scarf around her neck. She was no more than six or seven. She stood still as a statue next to an enormous German shepherd that sat close next to her. The dog stared intently at Chris, warning with a slight growl not to come closer. Chris was rendered frozen by the sight of the muddy, ravaged expression of the young girl. The face was destitute.

Chris forced his feet onto the street, trailing away from the young girl and her dog.

He finally came upon his own block. He took note of all the government propaganda posters pasted on the side of a mailbox. He took note of the rusted van across the street. The neighbors over there were being moved out of Georgia and off westward. Word was that jobs existed out that way. Currently, government officials were helping them pack up all their valuables into that government-owned van. A seven-year old walked out of the house with his collection of faded and ripped stuffed animals. The kid marched up to the van, wearing a determined look on his face, as if this annual, mundane task was of paramount importance.

As Chris stepped up to the front door of his house, the corner of his eye caught a glimpse of the car resting in the driveway. It must had broken down again. Allen needed to get reimbursed on his extended rent period or order a new car. Either way, it was going to be a hassle.

Chris was home now. During the day, both his father and brother would be absent from the house. They both had jobs. Chris was the only one in the house most of the time. Today was a good time for it.

Chris slowly made his way upstairs to his bedroom, where he tossed aside his book bag. He exited back into the hallway and stepped into the bathroom. As much as he wanted to take a shower, he knew he couldn't do that. There was a strict household rule to only take one quick shower a day. The water bill was insane enough as it was.

With not knowing what to do with himself, he paused and silently stared at his reflection in the bathroom mirror.

He took note of the bruise above his nose. No doubt, it came from the conflict he had between him and the gang that ambushed him. It didn't look that bad. Chris didn't feel any pain, oddly enough.

In a split moment, it was hard to tell who it was that he was looking at.

Was he wrong?

Was Michelle trying to snap him out of it? It was so confusing.

There was the law of the land, which enforced the rule of 'one out of many.' There was no opposition to the norm. It was shunned – violently so. Thankfully, there was safety in being stagnant, in being unending. Unrelenting.

Christopher opened up the medicine cabinet. Inside were some basic hygiene necessities, such as toothpaste, brush, deodorant and floss.

There was a small orange bottle in the far back. Chris reached for it and found it was the pain medication his brother had to take a while back.

Christopher studied the bottle. A feeling swept over him. It could only be called nirvana. The airy feeling swelled in his mind, like an expanding balloon.

He read once in an old book that Hinduism and Buddhism described the word nirvana as the ‘beatitude that transcended the cycle of reincarnation, characterized by the elimination of desire, suffering, and individual consciousness and thought.’ Those were the exact words.

There was an issue with that. At one point, a group of people sought out to end such things in this world instead of allowing people to find their nirvana on their own, to make such traits of human vices extinct. Somehow, it didn't kill anything. Instead it magnified the flaws of human nature ten-fold. To them, their ‘ultimate Shanghai-la’ had to be enforced. Something that was of no important value.

Despite having the hearts and minds of the people, it didn't change things. People didn't want to live what they preached, but they preached anyway. Nobody had enough tax money to pay for their Shanghai-la, but there was always someone else to blame for that. The blame resided for those who had all the money. These were the people who forced themselves off the lands and created what were known as the sea colonies. They took their value with them long ago.

Perhaps this life was the utopia world leaders were making. If vices such as greed and ‘unlawful power’ were the problem, then society had a right to outlaw them. Of course.

To all these kings of ruling, yet self-naught perfection, human nature was malleable, therefore it was law.

This truly did transcend the cycle of reincarnation – because there was no reincarnation. No room for it.

It was a perfect, enlightened paradise. Whatever their revolution brought forth all those years ago was a revolution to end all revolutions – this permanent stagnation of humanity.

Chris was adamant now. That's what it was.

The ringing sound in his ears seemed to respond to his thoughts. He focused on the mesmerizing orange color of the bottle he began to open. His eyes glazed over the pills inside as he rotated the container slowly upon his hand, as if Christopher was staring into a kaleidoscope.

*

There was a strange howling sound. It was freezing cold.

He could only see a faint blue light off to his left. Everything else around him was as dark as darkness could get.

There was the sound of footsteps. Chris' eyes shot open. He looked off in the direction of the sound. There was only darkness.

Chris' mind was scrambled. His senses were a mess.

He found the strength to stand up. He backed up towards the light emanating from a set of stain-glass windows. His feet slid off carpet and onto a flat marble surface.

Chris thought he saw a set of doors over to the left side of the windows. He walked over to the doors and grabbed the handles. The doors flew open. He was greeted by an icy cold wind.

Christopher was in the dream world once again. The street and it's buildings were here, but this time, there was no gate at this end of the street. There was instead a wall that tilted sharply upwards to such a degree, it looked like it was about to topple over. It took a while for Chris to realize this wall was a duplicate street. It's sturdy structures and brick layered road were partially cloned from the one he stood on and then spliced together in a haphazard fashion.

There were many loose bricks floating about weightlessly in the air. The other end of the street was all gone and broken up, with buildings now floating away in midair. In place was a crudely shaped walkway of loose bricks, stretching and splitting outwards into a colossal mess of floating debris, spliced buildings, and partially constructed streets and passageways. All of this was under a dark, threatening sky. All of this was over an empty nothingness. Other than the winds, everything was silent, besides a dull roar the permeated Chris' ears.

He descended down the steps and walked onto the street.

"Stop! Stay right there!"

The girl in the blue dress appeared out from a narrow alley. She paused on the opposite side of the road.

Chris said nothing. He only stared back at her.

There was a long pause between them. The girl then put her hands up and started forward.

"I understand now! Okay? I mean you no harm! Let us talk! Please!"

"You forced me here?" Chris mumbled.

She stopped again. It was hard to tell if she heard him. She was too far away, but she did seem taken aback.

"Even if clue was given by word or deed of mine, how could I force you here? I was the one who was trying to save you from falling into this realm! Granted – I did not understand what it was you took, but the moment you fell, I was subjected to the realization of what would happen next. Despite my efforts, we both ended up here regardless."

Christopher said nothing. He was as still as a statue.

"I assume a man who has lost the will to live would cast all fears aside," the girl sighed heavily. "I would say I am most astute on that assumption, but it is not for me to know that man's nature."

The girl continued to move forward. She spoke slowly and methodically.

“You have come upon my purgatory. Rest assured, this ancient realm is no dreamworld. I have long sense forgotten the old has-mian word for this place. I have been here for far too long! My mind is not what it used to be. I do not recall how I arrived here. I can scarcely imagine the circumstances that have brought you before me! I know not of the world you come from. True, my waking eyes have witnessed a glimpse of it, but whatever pain which lies in that horrid world you come from is nothing compared to horrors that lie dormant below our feet!"

Chris didn't know what to do with himself. All he knew was that he didn't care for any of this. He turned away and began walking towards the open end of the street.

"Wait! Where are you going?”

He paused briefly and looked up at the clouds above him.

"Don't know," he sighed. "You're astute. Figure it out."

Out beyond the street, there was a large floating segment of debris. Without a thought given to the matter, Christopher jumped onto the debris. Behind him, he could hear the girl shouting and pleading with him to come back. It sounded like senseless droning to him.

This suspended pathway before him was slowly writhing in motion like an octopus tentacle. It swerved and twisted sharply down one side or another, expanding and contracting, with every large rock or loose brick acting in a coordinated, multilateral unison. Chris could hardly find his footing. He felt it necessary to crawl along at times, so he could hold onto what was keeping him buoyant in this invisible ocean.

Below him was that same empty darkness. For some reason, Christopher wasn't afraid of it. Normally, he would had been.

"I was the one!” the girl shouted behind him. "I was the one who rescued you from those street thugs!"

Christopher managed to stand. He looked back at her with a blank expression on his face.

"I was made to wait for you!" the girl proclaimed with soulful eyes. "It is self-evident at this point! I have been given the spirit of kindness, and I see the visible expression of kindness flowing through you, even though you are blind to it. You are not what your world has made you to be."

Chris was so bewildered by her weird, antiquated way of talking, he wasn't even sure of what she was saying.

His eyes briefly caught sight of a metal pendant around her neck, bearing a cross.

"What's down there? Below all this?" asked Chris.

"Nothing you need to see – not in your state," the girl answered. The expression on her face was stern and intense.

"How do you know? You came back from it?"

"Yes."

"How? Was it God? He brought you back?"

"God only helps those who help themselves. A strong mind is what is needed to face those depths. A strong mind is what keeps me afloat, most unlike yourself at this moment."

Chris didn't notice it until she pointed it out. This small segment of street that Chris stood on was slowly lowering itself.

"Please. I beg you, do not sink us into that oblivion," the girl persisted. She reached out her hand. Her voice was calm, but her eyes were fierce.

Chris didn't know what to do. He was overridden with emotion.

"I... I just can't! I can't go on like this!"

"Listen to me! You arrived here for a reason!" the girl shouted angrily. "That reason is not to be engaged to some living, eternal death! There is one who has reminded you of your dignity! The young girl with the fiery hair! She is the one who seeks you! I know not the reason, but I know in my heart and soul that what I say is the truth!"

"You can't be real! This can't be real!" cried Christopher. He was pulling his hair! Shaking his head!

"Nay! Take me as the other you are left without! Look at me! I am here! Whether you judge me as real or not, I am here! I do not jest! I will force myself in that position! In the name of the father, the son, the holy spirit! In the name of whatever it is that used to hold you down or give you reason to exist – I will do that for you! Now, take my hand!"

Chris was taken aback by her infuriated response. He still didn't know what to think, but his instincts told him to do as she said.

He reached up with a shaky hand. He could barely reach her.

Suddenly – the ground gave way. Chris didn't know what happened. The rock beneath his feet simply upended itself. Before he knew it, he was hanging onto the rock for dear life.

He lost his hold as quickly as he had it.

Chris' heart leaped up in his throat. The sound of rushing wind was matched by the horrified shouts from the girl.

The world moved upwards at an incredible rate. The last thing Chris saw was a figure jumping off those flying islands above him. Minutes later, the light of the sky faded and all was dark around him.

*

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