SCB – Mickey

You know we nearly ended the human race….

Until we figured out that wasn’t a good idea. Unfortunately for us by the time we figured that out we outnumbered the food 30 to 1. So we were desperate, and lacking in options. The infighting between the clans and the species started to kill us faster than the humans could. And the starvation? Forget about it. We fucked up that bad. So we decided, well not “we” but a handful of us more forward thinking creatures of the night decided, that we will broker a deal between our world and the food. We were again a small minority, so it took a while and much desperate pleading to come up with a deal we both could live with. And not just something that’ll last a generation or two, but a status-quo that’ll last for now and the futures, future. Because unlike the food, we live a long time have a greater interest in keeping our promises (since violent death is the usual way out of them). So we sat down with the humans and decided that a small percentage of the your population will be our allowance, to feed on or to replenish our numbers.

And what was in it for you? Human civilization. The right to choose your own Renaissance and the benefits of having to only worry about serial killers and rapist at the wee hours of the night. Without the Treaty and this organization enforcing the rules…well need I remind you of the dark ages? Of the early attempts to settle the America’s? The rise and fall of Rome? I would like to blame religion but its a matter of ecology. To us, you are food and the incubators of our children. But to you? Well, their less kind nouns in your dictionary to describe us. Low words like virus and parasite. Pathogens that invade your blood streams and warp your DNA to suit our needs.  Is it a surprise you find theological reasons to cover up the base fear you have of us. Of our invisible power. Not really.

So what we have here is the old americana debate. The price of freedom, but not in the traditional sense of guns, glory and duty to country. No in the real world, its backroom deals with devils and men you’d call monsters. It’s selling your soul.

So in the meantime, it’s my job to keep sup world’s side of the bargain. The status-quo most be defended, that’s where the S.C.B comes in. Supernatural Census Bureau. To keep track, to take account, to smooth over and to eventually cull when necessary. I hate my job. Vamp clans, werewolves, keeping the zombies in the Nevada desert. Not my idea of a good time. My own people hate me. And for what? Keeping their mouths fed, keeping the heat off them, keeping the secrets of our existence in the dark where its suppose to be. And don’t get me started on the immigrants. Your division does too good of a job and you get them coming over in droves; wide-eyed, drooling mouths, not very concerned with how you runs things. That’s the one thing that bothers me, no matter how good you get at maintaining the status-quo there’s always a need to crack heads. Always. And in my opinion, I mean I hate to talk bad about my own people, but vampire covens are the worst. The worst….

First Blood

Tragur was excited. On one hand he finally earned the right to witness a first blood but on the other hand the privilege of participation passed him by in favor of a cat in the same litter as he. Tragurs mood soured at the latter. Only a year ago he despaired at not being old enough to witness the early morning ritual. Now the child like enthusiasm of his peers was only mirrored on his face. Inside he was a miasma of envy and jealous ravings.

Tragur was six years of age, full grown by the standards of his tribe and by extension his race. As far as Tragur was concerned he was ready to hunt when he was four. Nevertheless he and his litter comprised of cats of mostly rival prides, they jockeyed endlessly for status and recognition since there grouping at the age of one. The reward for their hard work, besides begrudging recognition from their lord fathers, was standing in the hunts. Standings that despite Tragur hard work, was probably rather low. A fact Tragur was coming to terms with as the hour of first blood approached and the sleek approach of the chosen one hushed the jitters of the crowd.

As tradition would dictate the warrior approached the circle early and bare of any weapons. The crowd would hush to consider their representative, though he was no more than six, his reputation among those who oversaw his progresses within the litter preceded him like thunder before torrential rain. Rumors spoke of his speed, which was undeniable even to his peers and some even regarded him as the best in his litter, though no self-respecting cat would admit that out loud. To his non-handlers he was the black cat of the Azeroth, and with the name came the rivalry of men many years his senior. Envy has never been his stranger; his parents as a hunting pair bring belts from all cross the peninsula, and new lands to the north and across the seas, if rumors be true.  To his friends he was Pant, his birth name, and he kept his friends close, a lesson drilled into him by his father. As Pant he was generous, head strong, and fair. Never shying from opportunities to lead, and yet never overbearing. Within his inner circle Pant regaled his friends with stories of his parent’s exploits, which more often than not exceeded even the most outrageous rumors surrounding Pride Azeroth. Tragur of course, heard none of these camp fire tales; he sat on an opposite circle of friends, whose defacto leader was one of the many prides that fervently opposed the Azeroths, which is often the way of school litters.

But in this day the litter cheered the son of Azeroth, though some did so with more enthusiasm than others. Tragur, who was more concerned with being skipped the honor, cheered the chosen one with tepid enthusiasm.

“I wonder what manner of beast have they prepared for the Azeroth?” whispered Wafelia, her bright ember eyes and somber expression greeting Tragur as he turned to acknowledge her.

“Probably a river rat.” joked Tragur, which elicited a chuckle from the less serious members of the litter, Wafelia included.

“Those things are dangerous; my mother lost a brother in the amazon hunting a family of them.” At this the group nodded somberly, Carl being Carl killed the joke and as usual from the back of the group, where his wide face and height made his otherwise silent presence unmistakable.

Granted he was right, to the many that lost family and limbs to hunts in the river lands and densely wooded areas found further south, the two ton creature was no laughing matter.

“It’s probably a rabbit, it’s always a rabbit.” Alphonese said sagely. He was close to Pant and cheered him with enthusiasm despite his usual reserve. “But it looks like I’m wrong.”

Whereas before the crowd was merely hushed to a murmur, the silence that wrapped the witnesses of First Blood was such that nothing else but the shuffle of reluctant feet echoed inside the open circle. Slowly but surely whatever the son of Azeroth was to face moved toward the center, passing men and women that would have normally hissed at its presence if it wasn’t for the sacred nature of the ritual. To Tragur the anticipation was maddening, he had reasoned it was too short to be rabbit yet made too little of a dent in the circle of onlookers to be on four legs. Curiosity was stinging his feet and traveling up and down his legs, prickly his spine for motion on each relay. He bite down the urgency to act the fool and resolved to be the adult, forcing every fidget and inpatient twitch of the tail to a mere slow grit of his sharp teeth.

And then it emerged through the throng of furry bodies, four burly cats in his tow. Two of which held his arms separate and behind his back with leashes held with both hands, and a third holding a rope tied to a contraption that held his mouth shut while pulling the rope forward to the extent that his body bent low as he moved forward at the urging of the fourth cat setting pace in front of him. When the monster was inside the circle to the satisfaction of his escorts, they let go of the ropes and darted back into the crowd. It was at this moment that Tragur face shifted rapidly, from impatience, to puzzlement, to distaste, and then finally serious concern for the son of Azeroth.

This was the first time Tragur has seen a green devil and it didn’t take long to understand why First Blood was forbidden for the young and untrained. It was this shock and similar shocks to come that awoke Tragur to the seriousness of his new position, as a child to man, from house cat under the safety of his parents Pride to a hunter. What he saw, the green scales, the brown shell that protected its back and looked impossibly heavy, and the beady black eyes that stared at the son of Azeroth and nothing else, was extremely unsettling. It was 5 feet and a few inches and about the size the average cat if only a little shorter. But most importantly to Tragur, the green devil was like a living statue; his scales resembling hard plates of brick baked at odd shapes and made thin enough for the creatures massive muscles to move, if only barely, underneath.  In his mind to slay such a beast unarmed and worst head on was suicidal.

But none of his compatriots shared this view. All cheered with blood-lust as the beginning of First Blood was rapidly ending as the sacrifice to the hunt was safely delivered before the tribe’s representative. The son of Azeroth, bounded up and down in a flurry of swipes, lunges, and kicks. However despite the impressive showing, Pant was not trying to intimidate the green devil as much as he was trying to relieve his own impatience. For the match cannot occur unless the beast, if it is capable of reason, removes all disadvantages, the muzzle and the rope around his hands. For a moment the creature stood observing the young Azeroth, unblinking and to the crowd uncomprehending. Then as slow as one would expect a living statue to move, the green devil removed the muzzle first, gnawed at his rope till it fell apart in a heap to be dragged away by cats delegated for the task. It was then that the casual display of martial skill ended, and the young cat stalked his prey, shuffling his feet deliberately between the different stances one takes before the all-consuming lung.

“He plans to end this in one stroke.” whispered Alphonese, appreciation cracking his otherwise monotone speech.

It was in these seconds that the devil mind sharpened, his body tensed, and his breath held in anticipation of what was to come. His capture hung heavy in his mind, having witnessing his scouting party slaughtered, only 6 days before. In the midst of the battle, the helplessness of being taken completely by surprise feebled his response and shattered his resolve against an enemy that leaped from previously harmless shadows at the dead at night, where his kinds vision was rather excellent. In the days preceding his capture, he naturally wondered why he was kept alive while the rest of his troop was butchered, some hacked to pieces in front of him and packaged. These thoughts filled him with understanding that came with despair, he was to be tortured, and executed once they have gathered the information that they need. No known attacks by the cat race left much in the wake of survivors and few could confirm if they bothered taking live prisoners. Their continued success at wiping out scouts and small caravans must be due to the intelligence they gather from captives like himself. Though that much he couldn’t confirm because his captors kept him in a cage, not a prison cell, which was by and large exposed to the elements and lacking in neighboring cages. Worst his theory was slowly falling apart as the cats didn’t torture him, or ask him pointed questions. They spoke the northern tongue when around him, something he found disconcerting, and fed him regularly with cooked meat, local vegetation, and cups of water.

Much to his surprise this unusual treatment went on for many days. This measure of kindness however didn’t lower his guard, but raised it, though not to the point that he abstained from sleep. Expecting to be slaughtered with little chance to fight back, he was more than comfortable with the thought of never waking up again and felt sleep was a reprieve from an otherwise cruel world where his wife and four daughters will never be seen again. On the fifth day the first and only question to be asked of him was his name. To this the scout responded with his name, rank and nation: Henry Butchwater, 2^nd Scout of the Expeditionary Legion, Proud citizen of The Black Water Bay, respectively.

On the sixth day, he was selected for first blood, and he woke up to ropes and a muzzle. In his heart Henry Butchwater resigned to his fate, and handled the indignity with meekness and resignation. It was only once he entered the circle, and realized what the cats had in mind, that his heart stirred with cold furry. He was kept alive for sport. His friends slaughtered for sport. The fuckers make light of a turtle.

So when the young Azeroth, the chosen one, the Lead hunter of his litter, charged the turtle, the crack of life entering Henry’s eyes was mostly unnoticed, as he went for the kill. And how textbook the attack was, perfect execution, managed by painstaking calculations of his speed, height, arch of his swing, the resistance of the soft grass that covered the plains of his homeland, made in a precious moments of calm before the storm… and how it all calm to a halt as the turtle backhanded the blow with ease of a seasoned soldier of his experience and pedigree and carried the assailant off balanced and surprised into the dirt. Having bet the entire ritual on that one strike, he was both surprised and criminally off balance, only the instinctive ability to right himself mid tumble allowed him the grace to see the next attack coming in a hammering knee to the sternum that nearly liquefied his internal organs if it wasn’t for a timely twist of his hips and sudden shift of his weight assist by his tail. Panic however didn’t set into Pant, as he counter attack while falling away from his foe only managing to scratch his shell. Rolling and popping back into stance, Pant contemplated what went wrong. According to his mother these creatures are criminally slow, if not dimwitted. Surely only coincidence of raising its arm out of instinct and enough wherewithal to attack while he was off balance was the only logical explanation.

The turtle was content with not pursuing, for he knew he couldn’t run the cat down. The son of Azeroth paced the creature, his self-confidence and fighting spirit hardly affected by the earlier exchange. A smart hunter always stalks his prey, and his father’s words and the training of his task masters training echoed inside of him as his plan of action took shape.

“No more gimmicks.” whispered Pant in his native tongue, which to Henry was no more than a barely audible sharp hiss.

And that’s when Pant went in again, rushing as before, but as Tragur and many of his peers would note, from a much different stance and footwork. For to the casual observer, Pant was merely doing the same thing again, but to the multitude of trained eyes, Pant was slightly slower and more balanced, so when he attacked he planted his feet before darting to the right while swiping with his left paws. Henry however, while not anticipating the cats actions, instinctively trusted the attack patterns he had learned to defend against from his nation’s footmen; lessons reinforced during campaigns against his neighboring nations like the Red Shells and the Sons of the Sire. With practice and focus he took a back step as the young cat lashed out with right, the blow catching him but not stunning him as he ducked under the left paw while pivoting on the planted foot. As the cat went right he met the out stretched arm of Henry, having intended to end the fight with the left paw in a vicious strike that carried his entire weight, he realized his mistake quickly enough and intended to escape before being yanked to the ground with brutal efficiency. For it only took a second for Henry to catch his quarry, fling him to the ground as he pivoted in the other direction. As the cat bounded for freedom, a cry only matched by newborn kittens in mortal danger escaped his lips as a loud resounding crack was felt more than heard by the entire audience.

It is to be said that having grabbed his opponent, Henry could have pulled the young cat into his muscular embrace and did much worse. And maybe it was because Henry did not take the speed and strength of young Pant for granted that he chose to fling him to the ground. But when Henry planted his foot hard and deep into the cats right leg, there was no doubt that the Black Water Bay soldier took some vindictive pleasure in crippling the son of Azeroth first. And as Pant limped away, the pain of his lost leg made every attempt to put some distance between him and the green devil, a near comic effort if not sight, though no one found it funny. A slow and steady hiss started to build in the crowd as the turtle leisurely stalked his prey. It’s meaning foreign to the turtle soldier and too ancient to translate in the northern tongue. But in a second the hisses will be eclipse by a deafening roar from with the crowd, as a black cat with white spots marking her face and underbelly, leaped into the circle with murderous green eyes.

Time for a second froze as everyone knew who she was but few were willing to cross her, even for the sake of the ritual. But few is not all, as a taskmaster caught her leg with a whip as she was in midair. The resulting break in momentum crashing her in the plain grass, her murderous eyes now burning even brighter with a feral rage as she clawed desperately toward the turtle advancing toward her son. However the sound of her rage and the subsequent crash as her peers desperately stopped her, did get Henry’s attention. And Henry as he turned to see the new attacker, he bellowed in rage. For this wasn’t just any cat, but the cat who murdered his friends and brought him to this hell. So with speed not thought possible he bounded on the Lady of Azeroth, and nearly was on top of her if she wasn’t dragged back into the safety of the circle. Though for whose good, no one will find out as all the previous escort cats rushed the turtle, netting him before knocking him off balance with long poles made of harden wood. As Henry bellowed and cursed, the crowded dispersed; first blood was a failure and the hunt will not be blessed for this day and many days to come.

*******

When Tragur walked home, like so many other cats, he moved with a shuffling gate that betrayed his downcast spirit. Whatever feelings he had toward the son of Azeroth, no cat deserves to be a cripple. Yet beyond that was another feeling, the question of whether he or god forbid one of his friends would have ended up the same or worse? It was a terrible thought, an angery thought, and Tragur shuffled through the front door yet again betrayed by his conflicting feelings.

Now Tragur home was not the largest, or the smallest in the Tribe. He was the third son of three litters, and his family wasn’t short on food or pelts to batter with. In this way, his family had the luxury of expanding on their humble home, which was originally one lonely shack facing the east river. In time however their manor grew to the size of eight shacks, as was the cat way to expand their homes by building a second home adjacent to the last. Tragur was fortunate enough to live in a home with four litter-rooms and lodge room two huts long, where cooking fires burned meat brought from the six meat lockers his parents kept stocked, as his siblings watched mouths drooling from the sweet aroma.

Of course such memories were far from his mind as he rubbed his feet against the patch of dry grass, maintained at the front door, before giving way to a rich network of white furs that still smelled of treated prey.  He wanted to cry out for his mother, but decided against it, not wishing to interrupt his father in the middle of his pleasure time with his mother. Judging it best not to announce his presence and at the same time avoid any doorways that crossed too close to the master bedroom, a lesson he learned the hard way on two occasions which encompassed two of his three near death experiences. So after taking great pains not to make too much noise, and alternatively not too little, Tragur finally entered his lodge room only to find his father waiting for him, with one bored eye watching him enter while his fingers worked away at the imperfections in a wood carving of some type of lizard.

“So how was your first First Blood.” His Lord Father said with a sigh. Having spent the morning indoors and working on his favorite hobby, he was only half interested in his sons account of the ritual. But to Tragur his father’s question nearly made him gush uncontrollably with words describing the fight in its bloody detail, the despair of the morning events nearly leaping from his lips. But instead with a calming breath, Tragur leveled his voice in its most monotone, choosing even the northern tongue for the maximum dryness.

“The Black of Azeroth is no more.”

“That bitch died?” Tragur’s father nearly jumped out of his seat in excitement, “Wait your talking the Runt of Azeroth, the one half the town been raving about.”

“Be more respectful dear, the boys a cripple.” chimed Tragur’s Mother sharply.

“How do you guys know?” Tragur spoke with astonishment

“How could I not?” retorted his Father, “Practically everyone who walked by here was talking about how that turtle cracked that boys bones. Sad story he’ll tell his cross eyed children one day over the morning fire.”

“Garris!” Tragur’s Mother cracked.

“What!” her husband replayed “Everyone knows those Azeroths are brother to sister. “

“Baseless rumors” his wife countered.

“Baseless my ass. And now the son a crippled? Boy tell me, which one of your sisters will want the runt now”?

Tragur let the question roll over his head, his usual revulsion at the thought, numbed by today’s events.

“Exactly. The only hope he has for a life partner is one of his sisters… and needless to say what the resulting offspring will be like.”

“Still Garris, must you profane the Azeroths on a day like this?” sighed Tragur’s Mother.

“Jiilian everyone is saying it.”

“You don’t have to join them.”

“Why weren’t you at First Blood” Tragur interrupted, having learned early in his life to change subjects before his father and mother started their endless bickering.

“No real hunter needs it.” His father replied, not the least interested in the conversation.

“Isn’t that an affront to the gods?”

At this his father sighed.

“No son. An affront to the gods is an empty meat locker. Starving children. A Pride Lords unable to protect their family –“

“A husband unwilling to give his wife a fourth litter” Garris wife interrupted.

“A woman who won’t shut the hell up.”

“What’s that dear?”

“Nothing” Tragur’s Father sighed, “Nothing….Those things are affronts to the gods. Souring the meat of good prey and carving it up in front of the entire tribe proves nothing but some Pack Leaders vanity.”

Tragur took in his dad’s words and turned to his mother,

“You feel the same way mom?”

“Tragur, I’m 29 years old and the mother of three litters, I sleep as much as your father does.” At this his father hissed something in the native tongue even Tragur didn’t understand, though going by the daggers emitting from his mother’s face, Tragur committed not repeating the hiss within earshot of his queen mother to memory.

“Though Tragur I can’t say I’m not entirely un-thrilled that you wasn’t participating personally. Especially after what happened to that Azeroth boy. I know you worked hard for the privilege but still, I’m glad your home and safe. “ At this his mother crossed the room to give him a hug and a nuzzling, and being too emotionally drained to feel embarrassed he finally let his mother’s act of tenderness warm him, something he hasn’t allowed in quite some time since declaring himself a man in his heart.

“Tragur, you realize what this means right?” His father shouted over his mother embrace. Tragur mind, having finally begun to bring the pieces together, starting to think again with his usual Tragur like thought processes.

“No dad.” Which was the honest truth beyond his mental exhaustion.

“Just as well… Tragur a Azeroth has been made a cripple in combat and the beast that crippled him will be made to go free tomorrow.” His father gave Tragur a minute to soak in the words before continuing, “Please tell me the implications.”

Being the third son of three litters, his lord father, while not overly friendly, has never been unbearably antagonistic either. Nevertheless he has learned over the years that his father regarded him as a son because his mother convince him to do so and that his best chance of reaching adulthood, as he rightly reason, was staying out of his father’s way. Because of this approach to his father, and his father’s seemingly disinterest in him, he had very very few opportunities to genuinely disappoint him.

But as Tragur will come to learn, being an adult and more importantly a hunter will bring his every action and inaction into razor focus. A lesson his mother knew her son will have to learn as she went back to her own carvings, a hobby Tragur’s mother shared with her husband, though her wood miniatures had very little resemblance to anything on earth.

“Son,” his fathered sighed, “I’m too tired to beat the runt out of you. However, since this directly affects you, I’m going to give you this freebie, lash free. “

At this Tragur gulped, his mind finally awakening completely from its stupor and today’s events cast under the measured eyes of a cat’s intellect. At first Tragur’s thought drifted toward the standings. His most importantly, but than his mind flicked that aside for a more terrible thought, for while on one hand the importance his own positioned was nearly all consuming it was battered by another image, the image his father was alluding to despite not being there to witness it. In his mind Tragur replayed the son of Azeroth’s last moments as a hunter, but not in its grizzly detail, but as a casual observer. And in this frame of thought came one image that brought chills to his spine. First was the roar, then the razor claws, sharp fangs, the blur of a muscular body, night black fur with a white underbelly streaking into the demonic circle, only to be stopped, though barely by the crap of the whip.

“The law of first blood present a problem that the bitch of Azeroth cannot avoid.” His father began.

“But if the Azeroths control half the tribe as you say…” replied Tragur, half in thought, half in horror.

“The superstitious fools won’t let her. Not that way.”

“No father…” the horror dawning on Tragur as he spoke, “she can’t make us.”

“Your father is right,” Tragur mother started somberly, “she can. Unless the Lord of Azeroth stops this madness.”

“He is no Lord.” His father grunted.

“Despite the unsavory rumors surrounding him, he is still a Lord to Caitlyn’s Lady.” To this Tragur and his Father raised an eyebrow. For calling the Lady of Azeroth by her first name implies a friendship at odds with the disposition of Pride Greyfish. Though this is merely a coincidence; before Juillian became the life partner of Garris, her school litter housed many great names, one of which was to be the Lady of Azeroth.

With a sigh, Tragur dad continued, “That’s maybe so, but few husbands deny the wishes of grieving mothers. The Silverstreak of Azeroth may not be inclined to avenge his whelp but the same can’t be said for the Black. If the cuddled runt had only fallen during a hunt, she would be free to charge into a pack of green devils as many times as she likes, saves the tribe from her madness all the same. But this…”

“This is war father,” Tragur said soberly.

Tension

Tension. When you stand at the precipice of safety and danger, debating, begging for the ropes that pull you either way to slack in one direction. Only I felt and heard this conflict, only I knew how easy it would be to choose one or the other, the ease of betrayal or the comfort of obedience; each making their arguments like lawyers before a judge.

In the universe the only constant is fear, the feeling of being unsafe. Power is paranoia; my clenched fist knows that’s truth.

****

Tabatha stood motionless before the holo-screen, which served as doorways to the vastness of space. Her destination was still some hours away but some tick in her brain, her training, told her she should make her decision now. And she did; her face was drained of emotion, the green of her eyes lost their luster, and her features grew taut and starved as if from exposure and starvation. She was still beautiful, but the beauty repelled more than drew. To anyone observing her now, she looked like a silent statue that read “to be left alone” in bold print, and knowing this Tabatha spirit drew dimer.

Withdrawn from her person was a data sheet of the mission ahead. Tabatha often reviewed these things over and over once they have been assigned, her current check and the last one before deployment was a running list of her current situation; recon delivered by the tireless efforts of the Mimics deployed months and sometimes years in advance. She scrolled down for the black list and found a disturbing amount of names: government mostly, ranging from low to mid-level players of interest that the Mimic’s have taken care of themselves. It was unsettling, she decided with a shiver. The nature of so many assassinations were clear, the thought of her arrival preceding the warping in of Earth Prime warships and the Primers that came with them, made the old fears she buried moments before rise up like bile. Acrid taste went hand in hand with the panic rising inside of her. She forced the feelings down, both in body and mind and let her mind hope for other conclusions despite the bad taste that lingered.

And then another thought came to her…was she the only FIST being deployed? The thought made her anxious despite her resolve to push away the fear, the last thing she wanted was some tense standoff between another FIST agent. In those encounters only a split second is allowed to identify yourself before the paranoia of the job moves the trigger faster than either could take back.

Swiftly she closed the data sheet and her concerns shut with the end of holo-light. Mechanically, more possessed than with genuine purpose, she walked down the merchant ship corridors noting the holo-screens that substituted for genuine glass windows found in less practical ships designed for mere tourism than the rigors of interstellar travel and commerce. Though the boundary between luxury and purpose ended there for the PAN-PAC EXPRESS, built for a business oriented clientele, it was a luxury ship of massive bulk facilitating spacious rooms and exotic cargo. It was the meeting place of industry captains both of the legal and illegal type with genuine goods to delivery or luxury to export. And with the amount of wealth inside this merchant ship, hopefully enough clot to bypass border security. It was also under the express jurisdiction of the Earth Prime Unifying Government, and at any given time its civilian passengers could find themselves bumping elbows with various off duty military personal, some of whom were more dangerous than others.

Tabatha was off duty, for as long as she was outside of Ellen Minor solar system.  Now that she wasn’t…well she couldn’t think about that too much. In fact not thinking was her best strategy, as she felt her mental powers flare up as the subconscious triggers in her mind started to click in pace. This sensation was always a moment of terror for Tabatha, knowing the nature of her powers and what the constant buzzing must mean. She could in fact, for a moment of unguarded silence, hear herself think and in those precious moments before her mind drowned out the noise for more pressing concerns, she wondered post-humorously what it would be like to reach into her own head and silence the constant chimes of neurons receiving and firing…if she could, on purpose, commit suicide with her own power. She shuddered at the thought, the possibility, at the mere fact that her own mind produced such a morbid idea. Self-preservation kicked in and her enhanced hearing faded, taking the morbid curiosity with it and set her on a path of continual motion. Toward her room, she understood as she moved with mechanical purpose toward her destination. Toward the last island of safety before—

“Hey babes!”

It was Henry. Though the old Tabatha of five minutes ago would have long detected and responded to his presence, a “Henry!”  Exclaimed with all the mirth of a burgeoning couple who spent months together… the new Tabatha merely acknowledged his presence with a glass eyed stare that looked not at him but through him, a vision that didn’t stop until she saw the locked container inside her private suit. With practice and affection Henry wrapped his arms around her slender waist, bringing her body close to his in one practiced swoop that was effortless and nibble. With excitement in his eyes he spoke rapidly and with a certain jolly expected of a less serious man. However true to training his noise and warmth but of footnotes of irrelevant white noise, even without the full application of her power she barely knew he was there, only seeing his mouth moving and feeling his hands pressing and swirling about her back going higher or lower as he spoke in rapid succession. Even her own facial features were beyond her consideration as Henry occasional concerns looks, periods that punctuated his excitement, were assuaged by her by her reflective control of her facial muscles, allowing her to appear listening when not really there. By her estimation Henry would have chatted her up for days, discussing plans and past pleasures and present intention with undiluted gusto. Only with a sudden snap back to the reality, by Tabatha herself, would this conversation close and that’s what she did as her eyes snapped back from her imagined x-ray vision to the reality of Henry’s brown eyes.

“I have to go.” She spoke with flatness Henry never knew in the 3 months of space travel together.

“I know you do, that’s why I’m saying-“

“The package will be delivered in the next 16 hours.”

And with that she walked out of his grasp like sand through an open palm, his eyes and expression fixated on where she just stood, his mind uncomprehending, conflicting and ultimately restricting to the inner silence that will glue him to that same spot for the next 30 minutes. Reflecting she could have simple let her old self, the safety induced dream of a woman who wanted Henry for warmth and simple pleasures like a meaningless conversations and drinks not consumed alone, break it off with Henry. To explain to him that their time together was nice but unfairly short and the real reason she is here was due. Henry would have understood, Tabatha reasoned, he would have protested and declared his love, but understanding and the heart-break that followed would have donned on him naturally.

“If only he saw me five minutes earlier…” Tabatha reasoned but she knew there was no case in that. She wasn’t safe and thus she wasn’t the woman Henry fell in love with. Even her features have changed, all so subtly, to reflect the loss of careless youth and imagination. She could have never given him the closure he’d wanted, or needed, but worsen her own temptation?

Nights with Henry were blissful. He was both a gentle soul and a ravaging wolf, capable of losing himself and her into passions only long periods of enclosed spaces could produce. To Tabatha he was the complete pie of normalcy that she devoured eagerly and without pause. Only the data sheet reminded her of her looming mission in the days since Henry gamed for her attention, and even that ominous report of some distant hell on the other side of the Milky Way wouldn’t sour her enjoyment of this man. But to Henry… it is not right to blame him for his feelings. To love a telepathy of latent ability is to court vibrations so subtly your mind barely knows it’s been moved. A gentle push in the right direction, pleasure increased to a level only replicated by practice and knowledge of your partner’s body. But in Tabatha, those vibrations are large currents of visible emotions, pushing and pulling in a constant ebb and flow of pleasure and senses never understood but felt all the same. For Tabatha it was merely an assumption that to climax was to experience an ecstasy found in few legal drugs. But to Henry such bliss was the start of a connection that couldn’t be replicated by any other woman in the galaxy. His love for Tabatha and the feelings, the new dimension, conjured by her touch and intimacy, will undoubtfully ruin any chance of him being satisfied by anyone else.

“He knew what I was. It’s not my fault I have to go.” And with those thought, Tabatha’s last regard for Henry was felt.

***

Why she felt her room was safer than the entirety of the PAN PAC EXPRESS, she had no rational idea. Her luxury airliner was usually fitted with a Class 2 Steel Frame, and a civilian crew of gunners that manned the smallest pair of pee-shooters a space ferrying vessel can have before being classified as a potential warship and being restricted from getting inside Ellen Minors solar system. Out here the only thing that could bother the EXPRESS was the pirates that often circled the solar system of systems like these. Whether they’ll see that type of action didn’t get Tabatha sweating, for one the PAN was had a class 2 hull, sturdy enough for any pirate raid short of using real military hardware, which was unlikely but if it did happen the Express would have a fighting chance. Second the government of Earth Prime tends to cover its basis. Pirates are often warned beforehand that some ships have cargo they don’t want or threaten outright, which works just as well for the less organized broods.

Though how Earth Prime negotiated today’s smooth traveling she’ll never know or care; to her safety was inside that special container, four feet wide, seven feet tall, and all bad intentions. Henry knowing who she was never bothered to ask what was inside the locked container made of metals that could survive this ship exploding in the dead of space or survive re-entry. The same type of metalwork used for Prime drop pods. Not entirely indestructible but close enough. For a moment she touched the cool metal that seemed to absorb and reflect heat at the same time. Sliding one finger down the crevice between sliding doors, and noting her quickening heartbeat as she came closer and closer to the numerical lock. In a second, something mechanical inside of her took over and with blank expression she keyed in her combination in rapid succession. Which a click and a slink, the doors slid open and clicked outward, allowing cool refrigerated air to sleep into the room lazily, coiling around Tabatha’s feet and chilling her breath. She smiled. A weary wiry smile but a smile nevertheless. Inside the container were the tools of her trade; four black disks, a utility belt, and a rifle that was taller than she was. With a nod of approval she made three steps away from the container and to her bed. There she stripped, her clothes neatly piled on her bed as she ignored the rooms chill on her bare skin. Totally naked she went before the container again, picking at the four disks and placing them on her body; one for each shoulder, one on her chest just below collarbone, and finally one for the small of her back. With a thought the black disks unraveled in a typhoon of black thread, in mere moments Tabatha’s body was covered in the nano-fibers of her cat suit. She steadied her breath and prepared herself for the body horror that’ll come next. And on the third shallow repetition she forced her eyes not to blink as her contact lenses bubbled into place over her iris. The process burned and confused her eyes; a white blindness overtook her senses as the nerves in her eyes relayed the wrongness of liquid boiling at the surface. For Tabatha it was two seconds of mild discomfort, practice had driven away any real sense of fear, where the temporary loss of a single sense would have given rise to hysteria is less seasoned minds.

Luckily that was only the least of her changes. The psy-engines inside of a frontal lobe churned widely as the incisions made behind her ear widened without drawing blood. Machinery pressed outward against exposed gap, unfolding and stretching along the back of her ear, settling and piercing her skin to establish a foothold that no amount of jostling could disgorge. Short of removing her skull, the dual-core pys-processors will remain steadfast against her skin jutting out slightly into the back of her head like flatten antenna associate with vintage 20^th century radios. To Tabatha this too was merely a disquieting sensation whose effects were long numbed with practice. That changed with a click.

Somewhere along the ships many corridors, efficiency-lights will burst spilling their milky contents into the stainless steel below. Somewhere along the ships many back up engines, a third and force generator will come to life and whine a death rattle as the sudden surge of electricity meets the pull back of the grid. Somewhere along the ship, someone who is psy-sensitive will scream as an aneurysm comes suddenly against their unguarded and defenseless mind. Hallucinations will haunt those directly touching any electronics; some will claim to see visions of angels others will see less nice things… The ship itself will shudder like as if given a cold shower, and many will race to the gunner decks in anticipation of an attack that will never come.

And at the epicenter will stand Tabatha, cloaked in power! Surging from her being like a volcano. Only the special shielding encasing her reserved room prevented the totality of her strength from bearing down on the PAN PAC EXPRESS, the very fact of her existence threatening to do what only dreadnought class warships can do with passing easy.  It was the months of pent of power and the enormity of her talent that caused the storm.

“I’m ready,” Tabatha grimaced, her mind slowly drawing in control over her higher processes. With strength, talent, and focus will she survive the coming storm. This she knew. Tabatha walked toward her chair, pulling it to the center of the room. She turned to give her special cabinet, holding her gun and other supplies in hidden recesses lamp shaded by shadows, another look. She reached for her knife, a long blunt instrument of clear purpose, full of weight and size lacking in delicate features or ominous jags along the edge. Only the handle and grip was given a finesse, as a side arm only one hand or her mouth if necessarily needed extra accommodations. Tabatha placed it on the chair, grabbing a utility belt to strap to her hips before snapping the knife into place along her side. Satisfied with the familiar weight to her right side, she reached for her signature weapon, the P105-2^nd Generation HellDROP Rifle. Two generations behind and still unwilling to trade up, this weapon has been her friend, lover, and protective mother for the better part of 11 years.

“I need sleep.” And Tabatha did, the FIST way; sitting slightly crouched over the bulk of her weapon, cradling her HD rifle against her lap with the trigger being fingered idly, her mind splitting into two halves, one alert to stimuli and danger constantly searching probing for hostility, while the other force the physical sleep the body needed. She was wide-eyed and rocking slightly in a rhythm really slow drawn out breathing. Anything to enter her room would have been shot unceremoniously and the crew sensed the sudden shift in the atmosphere like fog only the mind can perceive. No one will bother her, or wish to bother her; the required security clearance just to sweep the floor ensured that. Being this close to Ellen Prime, the importance of delivering the cargo pressed heavy on their minds. Tabatha will sleep undisturbed, even peacefully… as far as a FIST could, for about 16 hours.

Samson : Note 1

I was born in a test tube. Can’t say I feel any particularly way about it, maybe some base distaste for being a crime against nature from the day I was slated to be conceived.  I have no brothers and especially no sisters, for I am a clone and the term brother couldn’t begin to describe what it feels like to be around one of me. Humans talk about love, love for family, love for strangers. But they don’t know respect, understanding, knowing someone not by word or action but by smell and thoughts unspoken. This “respect” is fostered in the litters in which we were born. 24 man-made souls, from 872 capital ships, raised over a period of 14 years, and taught all the basic essentials of life, mostly what we are, what we are meant to do, and the meaning behind doing so. The meaning is the most important, not because having a purpose in life is important, but because that’s what you’re suppose to understand to avoid being weaned from the litter. Out of 24, seven of us are bound to wash out and those bound to wash out rarely turn the age of 10.

“For we are the glory of mankind.

We fight in their footsteps and through the mouths of angels.

We bring the rains of hell upon the foul things that pollute the motherland with their very existence.

We make life short and bleak for those who fester under the sun and below rocks and even under the sea if there is yet more evils to be found there. ”

And so on and so forth until our lives are ground into dust by the reclaimer protocol that claims our corpses when the enemy has finally slain us. It is, as we like to say, a brutish existence not becoming a softer toned men. Softer tone being that of our human handlers, some too anxious to join the battlefield in glistening armor and flaming sword. We try to discourage the spirit the best we can in those that seem a bit too, “into it”, as the softy’s would say, so at least only those fully trained and ready in body and soul can stand in the darkness and freedom as we do, as we have been born for.

Some of our a soft tone handlers, most from divisions not considered to be part of Noah but part of a greater slice of the government with many branches that my kind are vaguely privy to, would often go through great pains to personally ask why us Samson’s, lauded for our great intelligence, seem content with our “grim fates.” Why we don’t rebel? Which even now, several years into this war, is a primary concern of those who distance themselves from the institution that is Noah.

I have answered this question a few times. Usually with a wizened laugh, stating their concerns are drowned under several facets and sufficiently buried underneath several layers of reasons and understanding. The soft tones have misconceptions about the nature of intelligence, inherently so being very much far removed from what is necessary for survival. For humanity intelligence is merely the sum of facts gathered purposely under a keen mind. In mans natural habitat, the universe simply yields results and the only wall to overcome is the ignorance of the unknown. But for the rest of us, archiving facts means little, and nothing “yields” unless savagely broken. To know, to study, and to ultimately overcome an intelligence keen enough to evade your pursuit, or better fight back, is the greatest show of mental prowess. So they (not all) inherently misunderstood what it means to have a firm head on ones shoulders, at least from our perspective.

Now you can blame our ‘nature’ on the weaning, or our indoctrination from a young age. Maybe its the genes, though no one can deny we were bred to be aggressive, if not eager to spill and cause mayhem. Each layer of reasoning has its toll, though I’ve never meet a Samson to complain about it. The assumptions that we’re either happy to be used or seething with bitterness, is a misconception. To rephrase, we are tools, that much is obvious, but we do not take orders for the love or hate of it. It’s not the adrenaline that rides our veins, or any particular high or thrill that ultimately allows us to swallow the heavy pill of our fates. As a Patriarch is a man, not of science, math, or reading, but of necessity, if not mere students of disciplines long forgotten to time and the Exodus, we Samson’s are students of war. And like any good student, it is not the pleasure, or the ease that drives us, but the necessity of the subject in question. Because someone must learn it, we are merely the volunteers.

Can anyone imagine? Full war-time production of Samson’s can reach, 20928 at any given time, with a six-month delay between batches for each ship can only contain at max 3 litters of potential troops. Not including the ones who are weaned, this method of thinking, some may call even twisted, is shared by each and every one of them. Through potentially 20928 life experiences, or 62784 souls at max capacity. This is why we are clones, not brothers. Clones can differ in behavior, temperament, thought process, and can even deal with variations in environment, but eventually…. you are what you are. And if the core is right, ultimately they’ll avoid getting weaned, and the soft tones will declare another victory for the glory of man.

WuzzDate: Avatar Roku’s Greatest Failure.

Avatar Roku said his biggest failure was not dealing with Sozin when he had the chance. But knowing what we know now, I can say with 200 years worth of foresight that Roku was wrong. Again.

Avatar Roku’s greatest failure was not working with Sozin. A failure Aang fixed 100 years later, not by beating Ozai but by working with Fire Lord Zuko and creating republic city, a dream Sozin had for the world 200 years ago.

First look at the parallels.

Fire Lord Sozin, 200+ years ago had a problem. The fire nation had evolved past being badass version of the air nomads and fully into a industrial and imperial economic power house. Prosperity never seen before brought on a population boom, massive changes in quality of living and a new era of peace and prosperity. Sozin saw all this and thought “why only the fire nation has to live this good.”

Keep in mind that Sozin was no more of a bad guy than season 1 zuko and even then his motivation taken at face value is far more nobler than zuko’s quest to restore his honor. It was Utopian, a utopia rejected by Roku out of principle and tradition.

Fast forward 200 years later. War has left many areas of the Earth kingdom colonized by the fire nation. At first Fire Lord Zuko declared his intentions to restore the traditional model of the world, completing his promise to the avatar. Unfortunately things weren’t that simple. Under colonization the combined earth kingdom and fire nation citizens actually prospered , just as Sozin predicted they would 100 years ago. Zuko faced with this new “society” chose to preserve it and ultimately asked the avatar to agree. Aang accepted Zuko’s vision and Republic City stands as a beacon of light and true unity for the 4 nations (technically 5 but meh).

Roku in his failings to trust a friend prevented Republic City from being built 200 years earlier, denying the world what would have been 200 years of technology and societal progress.

But to understand how deep this failing goes there is even more parallels to follow.

Roku and Sozin were friends, close friends. Roku said some friendships transcends life times. Roku should have known Sozin and trusted his intention. He should have saw past the dogma and saw the fire nation as more than an imperial force waiting to happen.

Now lets take Aang and Zuko 100 years later. Zuko did bad near ruthless and reckless things to obtain the avatar. Despite that Aang recognized back in season 1 that Zuko was not really a bad guy and they could have been friends a 100 years ago.

Now wait. When Aang said this, we thought he was talking about his fire nation buddy he had 100 years ago. It was almost a generality for “the fire nation can’t be that bad”. Fast forward to when Roku showed Aang that he was good friends with a happy and playful Prince Sozin I don’t think anyone made this critical connection. When Aang said “he and zuko could have been friends in another time” the authors were talking about Roku and Sozin and how their friendship transcended time and even nationalities (just as Aangs relationship with Monk Gyatso transcended Gyatso relationship with Roku).

Can it be thus easily said that the relationship and partnership between Avatar Aang and Firelord Zuko should have also been what have happened between Avatar Roku and Firelord Sozin 100 years ago?

Now look at Sozin and Zuko.

Sozin was a good man and a good firelord. He inherited and over saw the fire nations industrial age. He was an idealist that believed in spreading the wealth around. Though incapable of seeing the perceived fault in his actions he thought it was his and his nations destiny to lead the world to the next age. When Avatar Roku, his friend rejected him not once but twice, the second time leading to a pride crushing bitter defeat, Sozin went down a dark path. Having been forsaken by his brother and de-fanged by the Avatar, Sozin had 25 years to harbor darker and darker feelings. Which all came to a head when given a choice between saving a friends life or fulfilling his dream…he chose his dream. He spent the last years of his life being consumed by the search for the avatar, even wiping out the air nomads to ensure the cycle is broken.

Zuko was rejected by his father and humiliated before his entire nation. He was a good kid but ultimately felt forced to do very wrong things in pursuit of his dream. He was nearly consumed by his search and later the promise of capture of the avatar. He even sacrifice the hope of removing his scar in order to fight Katara and the Aang in hopes of finally pleasing his father.

Roku found contempt for Sozins ideals, choosing his duty as the Avatar over his own brother which ultimately cost him his life, his brother, and his legacy as an Avatar. If Roku had stuck by Sozin, taking his fire nation point of view and using his experience traveling the world and being a part of every people group in the avatar world to refine Sozin’s ideals…who knows what the avatar world would look like 200 years later in Korra’s time.

Wuzzdate : WuzzRanting about Nolan Batman

I’m not a man who bows down and sucks another man’s dick, least of all Christopher Nolan’s! Look what he’s done to batman! Gone are the leather tights, the grappling hooks, the acrobatics through skyscrapers, and even, god help us, the batrangs!!! Blaspheme we say to a realistic batman and for a while Batman Begins was a perfect movie for naysayers. Batman Begins is about the story of Bruce Wayne taking on the mantle of the bat, not for revenge, but the cleansing of Gotham, one broken jaw at a time (granted Nolan’s Bat never broke a bone, let alone a jaw, but I’ll get to that later.). This journey begins at League of Shadows, where I for one groaned at considering what will soon happen there after; Bruce being considered the top student and the confrontation with Rh a-zal-gul most likely being underwhelming and rushed. Later we will get to the enjoyable part of the film, Morgan Freeman handing batman next generation armor, gadgets, and yes the tank-mobile. Even now a whole decade later, I still remember the glee on Morgan Freeman’s face when he finally gets to unleash his weapons of mass destruction on unsuspecting mobsters and gangsters, while smiling at Bruce’s “splunking” excuse. Fun times movie, fun times. A few moments later — eye gouging love story, a scarecrow who should have been main villain instead of a joke side character — we get the resurrected Rh a-zal-gul!!!! Who dies 10 minutes later. Cue end of movie….

The problem with Batman Begins is that its an origin story that besides Morgan Fucking Freeman, didn’t really need to be told. Its the 21st century, and it wasn’t that long ago we had both Batman The Animated Series and the Justice League/Justice League Unlimited. Go find a book and read if you don’t know who batman is. This movie lacked tension or presence and our main villain was a throw away. The movie spends a great amount of time and detail convincing, explaining, and ultimately justifying Batman in the “real” world, but not enough time giving me a good Batman story. Considering where the Dark Knight and Rises will go, this is easily a prequel that can be watched on DVD and dissected at your leisure but not the 1st movie of the trilogy.

But Wuzzman Christopher Nolan is a GOD! How can you be so mean!! Well in hindsight, consider what this new “grounded” batman means. No batrangs, no skyscrapers, no super natural. But, but batman was always a hard gritty, blah blah! Yes and no. I can respect Nolan for making batman a real person, but you kinda miss some psychosis if you do. No Clayface, no Mr. Freeze. No Mr. Freeze. Even scarecrow is a joke character instead of the scariest motherfucka you’ll know. So understandably the Dark Knight for me was wait and see at the time….

But DAMN YOU NOLAN AND HEATH LEDGER. I can sum up the movie as the “Joker” and that would be all that needs to be said. To the point that Begins becomes a distant shadow, the death of Rachael is the only thing you really need to watch Begins to understand the significance of. Everything stands on its own, like an island of awesome surrounded by even greater glory to its right and its prequel to the left. I don’t have words for this movie, though the ending didn’t wrap it up as well as I wanted, it left a good sized dangling pointer that crashed the nerd minds of several batman fans for years to come. Where begins is the explanation of Batman, Knight IS Batman and it was glorious.

At this point the only thing problematic about the series is that Batman despite his ninja training, and all his far east travel and physical training, is not the best fighter you’ve seen on film. A lot of what happens in Nolan Batman can be explained as “Batman shows up and everyone falls down.”. Though honestly that’s not a real complaint, having trusted Nolan, the difficulty of moving in a suit that most weigh 100 pounds is inherently higher than ScarletJo sweating her titts off in that leather body suit. And considering this fact, I appreciate that Nolan didn’t bullshit the audience and pretend that his batman isn’t a man sized tank on two legs.

So Wuzzman what do you think of the Dark Knight Rises? Better than Sex? Ok good night ya’ll….

Ok lets be honest if you didn’t think this movie was awesome this may sound like the ravings of a fanboy. Call me the Co-Host! But The Dark Knight Rises, feels less like the third part of the trilogy but what I wanted out of Batman begins. Like Batman Begins, this is a Bruce Wayne story from start to finish. Batman is a persona that Bruce must drag out the personal hell of his existence one last time to beat the new evil one last time. Along the way he faces his old demons, mainly the league of shadows and his own doubts about being batman. To me this is the most reasonable or in other words, normal batman I’ve ever seen. I always found batman dark and gritty because Batman himself was dark and gritty, yet Nolan’s batman is not. Nolan takes his villains and the situation to the apex of despair and yet Batman himself remains an average joe, not much unlike you or me, facing a crisis in identity and purpose. I want a life outside of Batman but the one woman I loved was taken from me. I’m prepared to die for Gotham because there is nothing else for me to live for. Why can’t I live as just Bruce Wayne? Only Afred sees Bruce for the vulnerable young man who still has a future if he only gave a shit. Contrast that to the animated series batman where Bruce Wayne was a life time ago, when his parents was alive and his biggest worry was when the next Zoro movie will come out. For most interpretations of Batman, the cowl was a symbol of fear and for the purpose of inflicting pain. Where as Nolan’s Bat is merely a symbol of justice and of the every man finally standing up for himself and his city.

Then you contrast that to Bane, who is what batman has been for decades (yet not always); a creature of the night, an engine of pain and broken bones. Bane has every right to call Bruce Wayne a pussy and their fight resembles one of ideology than test of martial prowess. It wasn’t Batman that defeated Bane, but Bruce Wayne proving that his hope and justice is worth more than Bane fear and threats. Which is hilarious coming from Batman.

In the end, we get a great Catwoman and even a great but short lived Talia Gul. Everything wraps up neatly and we get one of the most spazz in your seats endings I’ve every seen in cinema as far as my nerd mind can remember. All in all we should start a petition for a Christopher Nolan Robin trilogy. Or at least comic/animated series.

Alright Wuzzman signing out~~

Patrick D Mortal : January 25th, 2010

“So I have a joke to tell. A young man visits a catholic priest for his monthly confessional. Same day, every month, every year, for 40 years since this gentle old man was transferred here back in the 70s to replace some big shot who packed his bags for California, or Vegas. Never one for the small details. Now this young man was a peculiar young man, not necessarily for the content of his confessionals, but for one small little detail that few people are apt to believe. And thankfully this kind old priest never reports. For no what matter what day or season, no matter how often you cut the cheese on the math, this young man doesn’t seem to age.”

“Don’t find that funny? Ok maybe you simply don’t find it possible. Fair enough. You might find what I’ve been telling the same man, every month, of every year, for forty years funny. Or maybe you already think I’m crazy. But I can tell you’re new so maybe I shouldn’t bust your chops. ”

“I don’t think your crazy.”

“I think I misspoke. It’s not that I can tell that your new, it’s that I know your new, to here anyway. Henry died didn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“Yeah he tends not to miss our chats. Stroke wasn’t it? Or plain old heart failure. Told him he needs a new heart, but stubborn bastard didn’t listen huh.”

“I-”

“Don’t worry, I don’t mean to disrespect, Henry was a friend, who also thought I was crazy but after sometimes he started to believe me. Or at least understand me.”

“Father Henry was indeed a good patient man.”

“Don’t I know it. Gentle souls like him show up but not too often. Told em once that I was considered converting back in the 1920’s when this cathedral was first built. Helped out Cardinal Luey when they nearly burned the place down and figured why not. Been avoiding the cross for about as long as it was invented. Remembered spending sometime up there myself, figured I rather not wear any reminders around my neck for fun. Didn’t seem right to me, but you know times change and you figure why not? Wouldn’t hurt me none, but you know I came from a time when your words stood for something and in the end I figured I rather not join your club, conflict in interest and all.”

“Father Ron?”

“Yes, yes…just give me a moment to think.”

“Hey don’t wreck your brain over it now, give it a minute, you’ve heard wilder yarns huh? Tell me I’m wrong! And besides I came here to confess remember? Just wanted to loosen you up a little.”

“Anyway, here’s the thing, it’s January the 25th using a modern calender correct? Well I can’t be quite sure when it happened. It’s been so long that at this point I’m just picking a random date. Same day every month no exceptions. Easy enough rule to follow I guess. The day, the month, hell the year doesn’t really matter. Cardinal Luey got me hooked on venting my problems. Considered me a troubled youth when we met. Well ‘youth’ compared to him anyway. But defiantly troubled, gliding on a pound of opium and a half a gallon of moonshine troubled. Even to this day I’m not sure what month, or year we met. I got the 25th off a newspaper so not sure it was the 25th. But you know it, that meeting, returned some sanity to a very dark time in my life, so short of excepting the lord and savior in my heart, at least I try to drag ass to the same old spot and keep it open  with whatever change I’ve managed to collect along the way.”

“Now in hindsight you might be thinking, being the priest of a New York cathedral and all, that I’m some boozing and whoring druggy that needs to see the light again. A month here and that is to be expected and it’s not like I haven’t enjoyed boozing and fornicating. Its  a sin for me to say otherwise. But at the end of the day, I like you have less material concerns to sleep at night with. In a way we deal with the same problem, just on different scales.”

“What is it son?”

“The object of my confession. The words I’m afraid to utter….”

“Don’t be afraid to confess your sins before the Lord son.”

“Sins? What if I told you that 2000 years ago aliens abducted me, tore me apart, and put me back together? Than they talked to me. Explain to me what they are, where they come from, and what they do. What they did to me? What they made me into, their gift to me that I didn’t deserve. A gift you’ll think that I squandered if you believed me. You see they made me immortal, as in doesn’t die unless exceptionally violent means. What would you do with eternal life? On earth I mean. Aw you’d be beside yourself. Me my future was grunt for the Roman Empire or shoveling dung and making horse shoes…so frankly I was rather short on bright ideas back than. And there was the catch hanging over me. Always a catch, though not like I had a choice, abduction and all. If I wanted to opt out all I had to do was pick an excessive painful death. Otherwise the catch applies.”

“Oh not curious huh? Figures I’ve lost me marbles and all sense. Heard it all now? Well fair enough. But I just have to tell you anyway. Its my sin you know. Not in the sense of what I’ve done but in the sense of what I’m going to do. Pretty bad stuff. Ready? Sitting down properly? Used the restroom recently? Ok thing is, the catch, pretty damn terrible thing to have over your shoulder. Didn’t believe it at first because well, 27AD shit shoveler who can’t read just couldn’t imagine it. 2000 years ago they, the aliens, looked like Gods to me but now? We put a man on the moon for christ-sake, s’cuse my cursing, and that was only 50 odd years ago. So yeah my perspective changed over the years and it started to hit me, about two hundred years ago, that the conditions regarding my relative immortality may need to be taken seriously.”

“And you may be thinking, get to the point all ready. And I will, just need to swallow some bile as I say this. Again disturbing to think about really. I remember what they showed me, their plan and how they go about it. Makes eternal lakes of fire sound about as tame as water-boarding is to be skinned alive. You see at some point in our natural history, as science marches on, we’re going to look beyond putting a man on mars. And when we do we’re going to want our space ships to go farther, faster so we can colonize planets further and further away. When this happens, when the day comes when we’re at the cusp of truly exploring the cosmos to plant our seed on foreign soils, I have to make a phone call. A long distance phone call to the same people that made me what I am today. And they’ll come, not in peace, or to make war. There too advance for either. They just want to neuter us. Tear us apart and than leave those behind with a bare minimum of functioning brain cells. Sparing only me.”

“And that’s just PG abridged version. Are you imagining what they’ll do to me if I don’t call. I can’t, but they’ve told me. In terms I’m still not able to understand. But I rather that not happen. Any of it. Either way you slice it. So that’s my dilemma, that’s my confession.  Every January 25th. Till that day comes, because I don’t know what I’ll do. I mean I was never a strong person to begin with, so I really don’t know… and the fact that I don’t know what I’d really do…isn’t that a sin?”

Pink Bomber

I still remember the argument me and Sammy had before I left for this job. I asked him a simple question, I expected a heartwarming response, and instead he got snide.

“What keeps you human?” I asked earnestly we were only 10 feet apart but I consciously took a step forward so when I leaned into him it would be more intimate and natural. Before he says anything profound he kisses me on the forehead as if I was the daughter he always wanted but never had. He was always big and tall and old spice musty, comfortable and what I needed considering what I was about to do, so I looked forward to him showing a moment of tenderness. But his impassive eyes told a different story. I backed away from him; I wasn’t his anything right now. The one thing about Sammy that irritates me this much is that he doesn’t mind telling the truth. He just considers the truth too adult for me to hear. As if I was really just a child to him. So when his lips starting moving I already started to get anger.

“Nothing.” He says as dryly as possible. No room for argument he was saying without saying.

Stunned but not deterred, I started to speak but Sammy was already speaking over me before I could get a coherent sentence in.

“Sure we may look the same, but just watching the nature channel will tell you that having your nose and eyes in the same place don’t mean you belong to the same species. Do you know that we can’t even give blood transfusions to regular humans? One rumor slash speculation is that our blood is radioactive and will cause cancer in significant amounts. Fact is normal people can’t turn cars into soda cans or have tap dancing lessons in people’s heads. ”

“But we have the same feelings as they do!” I protest with significant use of flailing arms to show how annoyed I am at his matter of fact tone.

“Yeah so do dogs, cats, mice, etc, etc.” I started to say something in exasperated protest, but he raised his hand to cut me off, let me finish he was communicating while sighing to apologize for the sarcasm in his tone earlier. He didn’t mean to be like that it just came out that way.

“I know you want to say something about love. Dogs love too Tabatha, by the standard definition of love espoused and acknowledged by most people, a dogs devotion is just the same as love. “

I fumed, even now remembering it I’m fuming! No argument with Sammy Tabatha, he just beats you over the head with his “facts” until your blue in the face and ready to clock him. He even makes things worse by giving me total access to his brain while he picks me apart. He is literally just churning the logic wheel, no emotion in it at all, maybe a vague sense of regret like I’m being told there is no Santa Clause. Well I wasn’t going to be out think by you Sammy.

“So we’re better than normal people?” I say in an, “I can play your game too!” kind of tone.  Now I just wanted him to admit I was right.

“Physically superior sure… but so was the dinosaurs. If you’re simply valuing the people around you based on their ability to stand up to you than you’ve missed the point of the past thousand or so years of civilianization.” He paused to examine my souring face and genuine concerned hanged in his expression.

“Look Tabatha” Sammy continues, “You’re never going to read about dinosaur art or literature because the dinos never made any. We’re the same, not saying that we will disappear or anything like that, just saying that I honestly don’t mind driving in cars that move slower than I do or watching bad movies, or doing all the little vain things that people do because if it was up to me…none of this would exist. When in Rome do as the roman’s and we say that because it doesn’t matter if you’re not a roman. Hell that phrase was made specifically for us! We live in this world as ourselves, nothing more. “

I sigh, no arguing with Sammy, never did have an argument with him. I only get mad at him and he never responds to my anger. Which is usually the best response.

Anyway I think of him because the job I’m on was previously his. Should have been his but he ran into a BPP agent a month ago. It was an ambush of sorts; they tracked him down by his bad habits, cigars and strip joints. Sammy blames it on making too much noise; he picks out telekinetic like himself to fight and leaves a big mess behind. But even if you leave the scene of the crime in a timely fashion, BPP has ways to follow the bread crumbs if you leave enough of them. On that note he stopped me from carrying an automatic, just wanted an Uzi really, and a couple of grenades because he felt the noise level will put me on their radar. Out of respect I only took 1 grenade. I feel nervous about fighting someone who can juggle minivans with only two knives, four glock 21’s with my signature pink handle. The hello kitty guns jokes Sammy. I wasn’t even sure I carried enough ammunition; practice fights with Sammy can easily burn through 30 rounds. But I rather not carry more than I have to. I wasn’t a small army. Ok technically I was, but that was due to other factors.

Ok focus on earning your keep Tabatha. This is for Sammy; that fight with that BPP agent was a fight he of course won but barely. He was too badly hurt and needed too much time to recover. An inconvenience for the boss and an opportunity to get even for anyone Sammy belittled. Three people in the first week of his recover felt brave enough to play “practical jokes” on Sammy. I killed two, Sammy killed one, cleaning up the blood for weeks type of kill. Nursing Sammy back to health was myself appointed job till the boss requested that I take on his responsibilities.  I refused of course, but Sammy convinced me to oblige. “We may be the only psychics officially on the payroll, but he has at least three running a protection detail just for him and the occasional internal affairs man.” I took Sammy’s word for it.

The boredom ended with the appearance of a crisp business suit heading down the parking garage. The parking garage was a three level facility, the last level being underground. The suit was my target, I had no doubt about that, he fit the profile, 6’2 caucasian male, black hair and brown eyes. Smooth features and wore a natural tan. Handsome by contemporary standards; looks like he held a good job, nice car, big house.  He had a casual appearance despite the double breasted suit, ivory black shoes, white shirt with sandy grey tie.  A guy like him had one of two jobs, security or management. I didn’t read that deep into the profile, all I wanted was a picture, a time and a place. I didn’t even know his name, which makes this even more awkward because it sounds like a one night stand. Not my thing and the pretty boy Harvard look ain’t my type, though he does look like quite the athlete. Maybe there is some mileage to him…

Oh hell I got a good shot from here maybe I can take him out now? Not likely, he’ll just catch the bullet…

Oh well time to move. Pretending that the parking garage is a jungle makes the sneaking go easier, two hundred paces away and maintaining that distance all-important. Now if the cars are the trees what would the support pillars be? Oak trees….. God he is moving awfully slow, is he by his car yet?  Ok why is he stopping isn’t his car parked a much further down? Maybe he parked in a different space this time? Wait that doesn’t make sense, there’s assigned parking isn’t there?

I almost out of habit call Sammy’s name out loud when I notice my target talking to himself, like I am but out loud. Crazy much? I couldn’t hear him of course considering the distance and the fact that he seemed to be whispering. Most not be important. Then he turns to face me and with a great jerk of his right arm rips the door of a nearby Lexus Sedan out of its hinges and hurling towards me.

Now a normal person at this time would be too deep in panic to dodge the door, or too concerned with “how he found me?” to react in time. I’m not sure this is unique to telepaths but I personally find anything moving slower than the speed of light moving in slow motion. A feature that only comes to play when I’m in immediate danger, like now, the only bad part is that you’re looking at your death happen in slow motion because normally your body is usually unable to keep up with the speed of whatever is coming at you even though you see it move as slow as snail. However I was special; like a mouse I dashed from behind my cover, a lesson I learned from Sammy who strongly discouraged hiding behind anything once a telekinetic knows your there. I was right the instant my feet cleared the headlights the Volkswagen I was using as cover was nearly split in half.

I regained my balance with ease, hours of cardio, and dash into the swirl of violent intentions that is Mr. Property Damage. Adrenaline on full pump, glocks in both hands, I fire haphazardly at Mr. Property Damage, managing center of mass shots each click. He plants his feat, strains his eyes (maybe he does see the bullets moving in slow mo as well?), and plucks the rounds out of air.  I stop firing for a second, and leap for cover behind a Masada, the glass shatters above as the car nearly tips over in the Mr. Property Damages rage.

I enter his mind at this juncture; my persona, the representative of my mind in his body, an avatar if you will, crosses the distance between us in instant. Entering Mr. Property Damage mind, or anyone’s for that matter, is similar to walking into someone’s front lawn, unremarkably easy. Unnoticeable until you look ahead and see the house. When someone tells you your mind is filled with empty space they are right. Your mind is only a piece of property, the “house” is where all the good stuff is housed and is only the byproduct of our subconscious attempting to compartmentalize an otherwise formless system. The trick is breaking into the house, which in most cases wasn’t a house per say but merely door representing the boundary between the formlessness of the peripheral corners of your mind and the haphazard attempt at organization most people call their brain. And I’m not kidding, most people’s minds are merely front doors that aren’t even locked and most of the time halfway open.

Mr. Property Damages mind however was simple a dome, smooth on all sides and two stories tall. I wanted to be taken aback by this; I usually see steel doors or vaults when it comes to the mind of a telekinetic. This was overly simple. It reminded me of a walnut and at this I smiled.

Than the smile faded, while I was busy being confused, Mr. Property Damage flipped the Masada over. Using more luck than skill, I laid flat and slid underneath the rolling car. Thanking father timing, rolled forward only to be picked up and slammed up against the now turned over vehicle that was just sent sailing over me.  The pain shoots up and down my lower back in a conga line of misery; I raged and slammed my fist against the dome protecting Mr. Property Damage’s mind. He cringed at the sudden loss of focus and his psy hold dropped.  Free I charged at him, the need for a less direct approach never occurring to me, I drew two new pistols and let muscle memory empty rounds. As if catching an air current, he floats back into the air while erecting a multi layered psy wall that stops the bullets cold. No problem, I use my persona’s fist as sledge hammer and swing madly at his mind’s defenses, yet only managing to crack one layer in futility.

No way!

Amateur hour at its finest, I dodge his raw surge of psy by rolling just under it, taking note not to notice the crater that it left behind. I’m using the wrong kind of brute force, I should be in already! I was taught better, I should have broken his defense in seconds not 2 minutes and counting. I relied too much on the element of surprise. Panic mode is over, this is a straight up brawl, and I let my persona assume the form of the first demon of the personal hell I’m going to make out of Mr. Property Damage’s mind. Four horns curled like elephant tusk, four arms with claws big enough to rend spines from men backs. It stood at 20 stories of purple and green demon. The illusion wasn’t finished, to him the sky darkened and the ground opened up to the underworld. He resisted of course, his mind worked feverishly to repair the damage, but that’s the fun part about being a telepath, once I’m in I’m always in, the best you can do as a none-telepath was hold on to your little corner of reality.

I bucked my head and my horns ripped open the roof. I climbed into the dome, my weight being too great for the structure; it was really just an onion, each layer gave way to more layers. I work feverishly with all six limps, clawing and kicking and pulling and more clawing. His focus was wild now; he punched at the air and sent psy waves into menacing parked cars and support beams. Still dangerous, he aimed for my general direction and when he didn’t hit the explosions he left behind sent glass and rocks everywhere. He was still airborne the parking garage proved surprisingly spacious as he assumed a half crouch as he glided. Mr. Property Damage stopped blocking my bullets, instead he focused on increasing our distance and dodging my gunfire. I wanted him down on the ground, and in my anxiousness he caught me by surprise and rocked me off my feat without me realizing what hit me. I hit the ground with a bounce, realizing that both glocks were empty I discarded one, while unclipping and reloading the second with the free arm in mid bounce. When landed I rolled to my feet to face him, but I was wrong about where he was.

Wait what?  I should know where he is, I’m in his head for god’s sake! The demon was finished with the dome, but found a very conventional iron door underneath. She roared and slammed head first into the thick steel of Mr. Property Damage’s final layer of peripheral defense before I was in. At that moment, as the demon took the door of its hinges, Mr. Property Damage sent a sports car barreling through the air in a free falling tumble. I jumped to my left side, and found it was a mistake, a second car slammed into my mid section knocking the air out of me as I rolled up high into the air nearly hitting the ceiling and crashed hard on flying windshield. I was beyond pain at this moment, I felt the thud of my body hitting three more previously parked vehicles or maybe it was the same vehicle and I hit the ground with a thud followed by a wet roll. I wanted to get up but everything hurt at the same time, I could only stop myself from screaming in pain.

So I moved my head slowly and saw Mr. Property Damage grinning and breathing heavy. He held his hand over me and I knew what that meant, the remaining hairs on my body stood on end because of amassing whirlpool of psy just above me. My little she demon was so far from me now, but I felt it raging on by my direction. Even in this state I was multitasking her assault on his mind, but it was only a battle that I was losing as his defenses and sense of reason held against the little daemon working too far away from her master. Given more wherewithal I would have thousands of little programmed horrors working on every nook and cranny of his mind, forcing him to experience a thousand deaths and warping his perception to the point of insanity. I’d messed up big but I knew theyweren’t enough tears left in my tattered body to cry for failures sake.

No! I need to focus even harder. I reached my right arm for the grenade I kept in my left pocket; I thanked Sammy for suggesting I wear bagging clothing. Still intact surprisingly, I forced my right arm to move further than the pain would allow. Like a puppets arms it merely flung the grenade at Mr. Property Damage, the pain of my right arm being dislocated was so intense that I nearly passed out. But I gritted my teeth; that wasn’t my real focus, no my rampaging demon had one more sin to commit before Mr. Property Damage mind pushes it back into his outer defenses.

I don’t know why but the Catholics never considered being a liar a deadly sin but it is the sin that kills the easiest. The mind is ready to accept all manners of lies, especially the ones the owner wants to believe are true. So when I felt Mr. Property Damage’s enthusiasm, the heavy bass sound of a victory vibrating from every corner of his soul, I rode his high right up to his ear and whispered with the voice a thousand gum drops, “Don’t worry she is already dead.” Of course that wasn’t going to convince him not to smash me flat like a pancake, but it would paint a big enough illusion that my flailing right arm tossing the hand grenade would go unnoticed. However the grenade itself had to be accounted for and I poured all my effort into blocking its flight from Mr. Property Damage’s sight completely. When it finally came to stop at his feet, by than all five of his senses knew something was there, I made him think that it was merely a small slab of loose concrete, which considering the state of the parking garage that lie wasn’t all too unbelievable.

But it wasn’t a perfect lie and I was out of luck if he noticed. But he didn’t! He raised his hand up like a roman senator deciding on the life or death of a disgraced gladiator and then the grenade exploded. At that moment, before even the sound of the explosion could reach Mr. Property Damage’s ears, I caught my second wind and resolved to show him real telepathy. So I pulled his conscious, grabbing the presumption of himself and dragging him out of his own reality.

Suddenly he was in a free fall toward the destination of my choosing, but he resisted never the less, going up stream with all his might kicking and swearing all the way down. It took time to fully create the reality I wanted him to experience but when I was done he found himself in an endless field of pink sunflowers. In Mr. Property Damage’s mind all that could be seen was rolling hills of blue, pink and subtle green. The confusion on his face was priceless. So I gave him something familiar, my demon appeared before him bellowing a challenge. Mr. Property Damage cursed and shouted back “This is MY HEAD!” and charged at me sword in hand. Figured he’d use a gun, oh well, he slashed at the demon as it popped in a shower of rose pedals like a piñata. His confusion was hilarious, he looked around wide eyed attempting to match an unforeseen threat but saw nothing but pink and blue.

I laughed as he kept whirling around to meet a shadow that wasn’t there; he heard my laughter and fumed with anger. Than the ground began to sink and concern returned on his face and he watched as some parts sank faster than others as if the whole landmass was on top of a sinkhole. The sunflowers soon started to burst as pockets of nothingness replaced patches of the  ground. The haze of pink petals floating up into the sky was almost magical until it started to catch fire. And the panic in his face was also priceless; the impossible heat that radiated from each pedal burned boils his flesh and cooked his hair. He took to the air pushing past the fire and the smoke, coughing and crying despite knowing this was all just a bad dream.

As he flew higher he started to feel the air pushing him back down, he looked down, the pink and green disappeared, in its place was a black hole that sucked in all matter. He panicked and tried to fly faster, harder, but the downward spiral of the wind was proving too strong. Than his faced grew white as he realized that at the far ends of the black hole there were rows and after rows of teeth. The demon has grown impossible large, the black hole was merely his mouth. Mr. Property Damage tried even harder he pressed against his fate and for a moment his momentum was greater than the gravity that was pulling him back down. “Free!” was the only thought that echoed throughout his consciousness and for a moment he was, but then I stuck my tongue out like a frog and wrapped it around his mid section instantly crushing ribs and liquefying organs. I retracted my tongue just as fast stuck it out; amazingly he still managed to put up a fight, changing his form three times one of which pierced my tongue. I applauded his effort by closing my mouth shut, leaving him in the dark where his screams were swallowed by the nothingness around him.

He screamed again, an abbreviated cough in comparison to the one his persona made, no this was shear instinctive reaction to nerves being abused beyond comprehension. He was rocked off his feat by the explosion his body disappearing in the flash. I heard the crunch of a wield shield, I saw Mr. Property Damages body crumbled against a generic looking black Sedan. I sigh, he put up a psy field at the very last second but it wasn’t enough for him to take that unscathed. He looked as though he got on the bad side of a bear and was only left in one piece because the bear eventually got bored. I couldn’t be sure that killed him, telekinetics have amazing recuperative abilities, but I couldn’t even get up to finish the job. Then I saw a pink and smiled. I rolled right slowly and gingerly, reached with my left hand for my pink handled glock 21. Not as good of a shot with my left hand, but it’ll have to do. I puppet my arm and fingers to move, too shaky but can’t really do anything about that. Slowly I steady my aim, Mr. Property Damage head is slouched over clearly unconsciousness may or may not be breathing though but it doesn’t matter at this point. Have to make this shot count, not sure my wrist can handle the recoil for a second chance.

Steady…

Steady…

Shoot! Oh god! The kick hurts more than I thought it would and the noise is awfully loud! I black out. No choice everything hurts too much at once.

Hello

I hate to use this imagery, but without it I’m like a voice without symmetry.
And though I hate to admit, at times I’ve come to slip
And though gradual is my corrosion, I will not wait until my implosion
So again the imagery is incidental, though implications maybe unmistakable
For in my years I’ve understood the plight of poets and painters
And have seen the reflection, what is missing and what is dead,
What is closed and what should never be open and the greatness that dweels in murky places and inhibits the shallow depth in consciousness and dream
And I saw myself lapping the waters, whose colors were spectrums beyond human perception
And I saw my reflection, what is missing and what is dead, so that the waters stirred inside me and I saw what I dear not see
For as the painter misses his third eye, I am a beast missing his third head.
And in the greatness of my terror, I saw the beginning of my barrier and the end of my resolve, yet the birth of my rage
Cause what is thought dead even it has yet to truly die

WuzzDate : My new Hobby

So I’ve been sick lately. How sick? When after days of coughing up green mucous, seeing grey mucous escape the choppa is cause for celebration. Sometimes I must ask myself if there are either ways to kill a man…..

Nevertheless like all near death experience, this one gave me a new lease on life and enough time to reach new levels of sleep killing stress. In this stress comes the desire to have a ordered universe, a universe where life changing or ie, shattering developes aren’t 10 dollars away but mere typos any grinning super genius can make. Enter the world of computer programmer where life and death is only a notepad away *oh joy*

So here is where the rambling starts, last year I wrote a simple zombie survival script. Text based, logical and for the most part scalable. But its not entirely web ready, it needs some server side logic to create persistence, and graphics to encourage the 5 years to play. A daunting task for your simple web developer but nevertheless one that I approach with gusto! If WordPress permits a rudimentary version will be posted here on this very blog.

Until than keep in touch.