• An Eye is Upon You


    The auditorium was oddly quiet for the large amount of people inside it. The largest auditorium in Galadaer had never been filled to the point of standing room only. A man stood at the podium at the front of the room, his face projected on two large screens so the people in back would be able to see him. The man was of medium height with a normal build. His brown hair reached just above his eyebrows and just passed the tip of his ears. It was medium length hair, too short to be considered long and too long to be considered short. He wasn’t the most handsome man out there, but he was far from ugly. His choice of clothes was simply a pair of black dress pants, a white long-sleeved button-up shirt, and a black suit coat. Nothing about him really stood out. In fact, one word described him best: average.
    But it was his deep blue eyes and his almost evil smile that captivated the masses. This was by far his largest convention yet. Never before had this many people shown up to listen to him preach. He had heard news that his following was growing massively, but this was nearly thrice the projected number of followers. As he leaned toward the microphone on the podium, the room seemed to be on the edge of their seats or on their toes. At last he spoke.
    “Spinning complacently in the darkness, covered and blinded by a blanket of little lives, false security has lulled the madness of this world into a slumber.” He and glanced around the audience as he paused for added effect. “Wake up.” The black screen behind him appeared to have an eye open on it. “An eye is upon you, staring straight down and keenly through, seeing all that you are and everything that you can never be. Yes, an eye is upon you, an eye ready to blink. So face forward, with arms wide open and mind reeling. Your future has arrived…” He held his hands out to the audience in a manner that screamed JOIN ME. “Are you ready to go?”

    Supernova Goes Pop


    The lights went out, leaving only the large projector screen to shed any light. The eye on the screen was much more prominent now that it was the only thing visible. Then suddenly a figure was visible leaping up towards the eye. The figure reached the screen and stabbed near the top of the eye. The figure slid down the screen, tearing the screen, and effectively the eye, in half. The figure reached the stage and stayed hunched over as the lights returned. The crowd exploded in anger, confusion, and shock. The figure swung around and held the dagger to the speaker’s throat. There stood a young woman appearing in her late teens or early twenties. Her long, black, silky hair was tied up in a bun on each side of her head with a loop of hair leading to each one, almost like a pretzel. She was dressed in a stereotypical ninja uniform with a sword slung across her back. The dagger she held to the man’s throat was black and hooked at the end.
    The doors near the back of the auditorium opened and a man stepped in. He was dressed in green robes that were obviously oriental. He seemed to be in his early thirties and wore a cone straw hat, white gloves, and open footed sandals. A longsword hung at his waist on the left and a white ceramic jug on the right. He took a swig from the jug then walked down the center aisle. The people squished aside to give him room. He walked to the stairs on the edge of the stage and up to the man at the podium. He nodded at the girl. “That is enough for now, Hira.”
    “Yes, Father.” She stuck her hooked dagger back into her sash and pulled out several throwing daggers as she turned to threaten the advancing security with them. The men in black suits hesitated then stopped about seven feet away from the podium
    “William Masters.” The intruding man looked up and down at the man at the podium. “Leader of the so-called ‘Followers of the Eye.’” The intruding man chuckled. “The media calls you the Man of the Future.” He paused to study William’s face. “Are you the future or are you the past?” The audience’s outrage was more than audible. William Masters, the man who would lead the people of this country into the new age, just some ho-hum man presenting old ideas? “Or have you been chosen by certain people who don’t want you to last? I would assume the latter, or did you not get the message?”
    William chuckled. “The message was sent and it seemed so unreal.”
    “What, you didn’t think I’d come to kill you?” The audience gasped at the intruder’s remark. First the man interrupted the meeting, but now he was threatening to kill William? They gasped once more as the man drew his longsword and swung it at William’s neck. William simply stood there and laughed as the sword stopped just as it pierced the skin.
    “Yes, because I’m made of plastic, wire, and steel.”
    “AND STEEL?” The intruder snarled at William. He was one of the Draegus. The intruder’s daughter was distracted by the realization that William was Draegus. The security took their chance to tackle the girl. The intruder pulled with all his might to loose his sword from the steel skeleton of the man then leaped back once it was free. He looked down at the security men then over at his daughter watching with amusement as the men wrestled each other. He turned to the audience. “Follow for now and follow for this.” He pointed at the man’s unblemished neck. “You follow for nothing at all.” “Let’s go.” She looked up at her father then nodded. She pulled a small pellet from her sash and threw it down. A large puff of black smoke filled the area around them. When it cleared the father and daughter were gone.

    ~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~


    William sat in his dressing room back stage laughing to himself about the attempted assassination. After the man and woman vanished, he finished his speech then retired to his dressing room. His assistant Jane, a young brunette in her early twenties, entered after knocking. “Are you sure you don’t want to file a police report?”
    “I’m sure that if you were to search every inch of this city you would find neither head nor tails of those two.” His assistant gave a skeptical look. “Trust me.”
    “If you say so, Mr. Masters.” She stepped into the room and closed the door behind her. Standing where the door had been hiding him, the intruding man from earlier was grinning. William gave a shocked look and gasped.
    “Behind you!” The assistant turned and eyed the intruder. With a shrug she turned back to William. She reached behind her head and then pulled off her hair, revealing the silky black hair underneath. She wove a hand in front of her face and her features changed. Standing between the intruding man and William was the ninja woman from earlier. William’s jaw dropped as he searched for words. “How long?”
    “Since the beginning. There is no Jane Williams.” Hira nodded to the man now standing behind William. William turned to look at the man. He was nearly identical to the intruding man from earlier. Only the red flaring hair and the absence of an eye distinguished them. Their clothes only differed in that Redhair wasn’t wearing a hat and his robes were blue. Redhair placed a hand on William’s shoulder. A strong surge of power rushed through William’s body as he felt his motor functions lock up and cease to respond.
    “Like it? It’s a glove I created myself to help get you metal heads to hold still for a little bit.” Redhair chuckled as he looked over in the direction of Conehat. “Where’s the code, Pops?”
    “Search along what would be the lambdoid suture.” Conehat tapped the back of his head. Redhair searched along the back of William’s head with his free hand and soon found what he was looking for.
    “Just like you said, Pops. Serial code: five-vert line-underscore-vert line-p-three-r-vert line-backslash-vert line-zero-v-four.” Redhair pulled his hand away from William’s head, but kept the gloved hand on his shoulder. Conehat pulled up a chair and sat on it backwards in front of William.
    “Can you explain just what you are? ‘Cause I’ve never been this close to a star.”
    “Who are you people? What do you want from me?”
    “The message was sent.” Conehat turned to Redhair. “You know what to do.” Redhair nodded as Conehat and Hira exited the dressing room. Redhair drew his sword, a Dao, and eyed it lovingly.
    “Unlike my father, I can cut through steel.” He held the blade up high, ready to bring it down across William’s neck. William closed his eyes and braced himself for the killing blow. After several seconds he could feel his limbs responding to his thoughts again. After another few seconds he opened and eye and turned to see what was keeping Redhair. To his great surprise Redhair was nowhere to be seen.
    He collected himself then reached to the back of his head. Sure enough the serial code was there, just as they had said. His hair was almost always perfect; he never really needed to touch it. He stood up and walked out the door of his dressing room. The surge of electricity had messed up his inner electronics judging by the pops he heard when he moved. Suddenly he stopped midstep. He looked down at his bulging chest. What on Gaia did those people do to him?
    He staggered down the hallway, stopping as he made his way out to the podium once again. All his devoted followers were standing in the auditorium waiting for his return. A murmur of confusion swept through the crowd as they saw his bulging chest. He stopped at the podium and opened his mouth to speak when the pops grew much louder. The audience could hear the pops now.
    All across town the police channels were plagued with reports of a loud explosion. The news channels were filled with reports of the explosion killing the Followers of the Eye, including their leader, the Man of the Future, William Masters.