“Is that Samuel on the screen?”
“Wow, I think it is.”
“Is it live? Where is he?”
“No it’s a playback, must have been recorded some other time.”
Messages were currently being relayed on the bottom of the screen whilst a message from a panel was being delivered about a new State of Emergency.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Lucinda commented, eyes glued to the screen.
“Why?”
“Why is he up there on the screen?”
Marion pulled up a chair adjacent to Lucinda and tried to access the internet from another computer. “Everything appears to be working on the internet fine.”
“What does it say?”
Marion checked and looked over a few internet sites before realising none of the information being displayed was new, the information was all old, nothing new had been uploaded recently.
“I think the internet’s working, but nothing new has been uploaded. Not for a least over a week now, it’s like people have stopped using it.”
“Call upstairs, get them to check it.”
Instinctively Marion reached for the phone, until she caught the look in Lucinda’s eye, to which Lucinda replied with a haughty laugh.
“Old habits,” Marion smirked as she put the phone down. “Cheeky bitch!”
“Couldn’t resist Marion.”
“Hmmm.”
“When was the last update online that you can find?”
“At least a day, maybe more, I’m not sure. It could take weeks for me to find anything specific on here. It’d be easier using the thread.”
“Maybe you can try servers in another country to see what info they have, if they have anything new,” Lucinda suggested.
“Maybe you should call upstairs then,” Marion remarked dryly. She had excellent abilities with the threads but hacking international servers was not her forte. She pushed herself back from the desk and raised both hands in resignation.
“Hold on,” Lucinda said, watching the main screen.
The broadcast up on the main screen seemed to end and it switched back to a live feed, with just an announcer on screen.
“And now ladies and gentlemen, back to the main story. For those of you who are unaware, another global event has taken place, this time, centred around Europe …”
“Lucinda!!!”
“What?”
“What the hell is going on? A mass wave of people have dropped dead, again!”
“I don’t know, why are you asking me?”
The stern look she gave back was enough answer.
“It wasn’t me, I swear. And you spoke to Sera before anyway, when you touched the light. You know it wasn’t me … whatever this is, it had nothing to do with us.”
“Well Sera didn’t say anything about this happening.”
“Well buggers me, I don’t know what happened.”
The two ladies sat, transfixed for several minutes as they watched the drama unfolding on the television. Another worldwide wave of mass deaths. This one nearly twice as big as the one earlier.
“What the hell, a second one? Shout to the heavens!” Marion exclaimed.
“It’s saying close to half a billion people!”
“Holy moly.”
“Suni …” Lucinda spoke the name aloud.
“What about her?”
“She must’ve done what she set out to, to get another thread active …”
“Really? Is that possible?”
“I sent a team out after the device, but they never recovered it. The Viper, he came back empty handed. I sent him back out after it, but if he didn’t have it that could only have meant Suni and her team got a hold of it.”
“That doesn’t mean she’s the one who did this.”
“Well actually Suni’s dead … but her team carried on after her, they were headed to Greece to meet Alison.”
“What?”
“I met them, they were off to some island in Greece.”
“Lucinda, are you saying this was planned?”
“Yeah it looks like it, but I certainly didn’t expect this to happen.”
“So now there are two of them, two threads just walking around, right?”
“Three actually.”
“What?”
“The other one, the pretty boy. He … “
“Oh man, Lucinda, what’s going on here?”
“This is getting out of hand, Marion, I …”
“And then there’s Sera, what’s going to happen then? Four threads will mean more deaths to humans, nobody will survive this.”
“Well, I guess …”
“Bugger it. We don’t have time for this Lucinda,” she stammered, grabbing Lucinda by the hand. “I know some global event is happening right now but we need to get moving. That drilling above us isn’t going to last forever and if Samuel’s coming back here then we need to hurry up and do whatever it is you brought me in here to do.”
“Oh …” Lucinda realised, getting up from the station. “Follow me, I wanted to show you something first.”
The two moved hastily upstairs and into Samuel’s office. Lucinda wasted no time once inside, removing an axe from the desktop and throwing it aside before pushing all the contents on the desk off in a sweeping motion with her hand.
“Why is there an axe in Samuel’s desk?”
“Don’t know,” she replied. “Grab the other end,” Lucinda indicated as she herself grabbed both ends of the desk. “Hands on the top part.”
The two heaved a moment and then the top part started to slide, slowly at first, but once they had built a little momentum it started to slide easier. Eventually they reached the halfway point and the heavy table top tipped itself over and fell to the ground, revealing its true contents below.
It looked like it was made of carbon and resembled a cask.
“Urghh,” Marion reeled as she realised what they were looking at. “What the hell?”
“Yep.”
“Lucinda is this a coffin?”
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
- -
Catlin
“What did you say?” Catlin pulled back from the lustful embrace.
“Huh?” He grabbed her passionately, pulling her back in towards his chest.
“You said you’ve wanted me for a long time?”
“Oh,” he said, averting his gaze. “Ja, whatever hey.”
“No, what did you mean?”
But the Viper wasn’t interested in answering, only in touching her. When she stood her ground and prevented his advances he let her go and stormed off, back into the bedroom he came from, cursing as he went about the intricacies of women.
Catlin stood there momentarily, half savouring the taste of him in her mouth and the other half wandering why he’d left so abruptly. She cursed herself for her choice in men, it seemed the more dangerous they were, the more she liked them.
Her attention quickly returned back to the television, which she’d temporarily forgotten in the lustful moment.
The reports went on to discuss how more than half a billion people were reported as dead all throughout Europe and the world. The world was literally in chaos and Catlin felt slightly guilty as she stood there in the lounge room with her thoughts transfixed on Sousa.
A replayed message came on screen, the one she’d seen earlier which had a panel of experts discussing options. Samuel sat to the right-hand side.
He went on to discuss that he and his team had reliable information on the whereabouts of the culprit, Lucinda Caradoc and he was returning forthwith back to the Destiny installation to help prevent any more incidents from occurring.
Apparently, the United Nations had pledged assista
nce to him based on evidence he had presented at a recent emergency meeting. The report went on to state Samuel had been given full access to any and all information related to the discovery of further threads.
During this, Sousa came back into the room, clothes back on, and retrieved his revolver from where he’d dropped it on the floor.
“That’s some great power hey?” He motioned his head in the direction of the TV. “To take the lives of so many people.”
Catlin looked at him, then at the T.V. “Yeah, some power alright.”
“I wonder what that would be like, to control all that.”
“With great power comes great responsibility, not sure you are suitable Sousa.”
He baulked at the insult. “Bah! What would you know hey?”
“I’ve had my taste of it and I think I did ok.”
“When?”
“At Destiny.”
“That was like, five minutes’ lady. I don’t think it counts.”
“Well it’s more than you have to show for yourself!”
“Yeah, that’s rubbish hey. You ever killed anyone? Ever held someone else’s life in your own?”
She had to think momentarily. “No, not the murderous type I’m afraid.”
“Well, then you don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She had to admit he was right, a man like him had probably killed on more than a few occasions. It excited her that he was like that, for killing was not a part of life she’d ever had to partake in. She had certainly been in fights before, but nothing to the extent of killing.
Then she remembered the soldier back in Africa, remembered her dropping a machete right into his body. But only moments later, gunfire had rattled the hut and the soldier took a bullet to the head.
“Killing isn’t power Sousa, it’s an unwanted necessity.”
“Unwanted what now?”
“People only kill because they feel the need to and rarely because they actually have to.”
“Well that’s a bunch of bullshit girl. People kill because they want to, they crave such things in some sort of weird way. I kill because it’s survival of the fittest and only the strong survive, ja.”
“Good point,” she conceded. “But you’re a man.”
“So?”
“So you’re genetically fitter and stronger than women.”
“Ja, well, I think you could show a few men a thing or two.”
“Hardly, I just know how to stand my ground.”
“Ja, ja. You’re definitely different girl.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. You just different ja,” he tried to sound dis-interested.
“Well I can tell you, if I oversaw one of those threads, I certainly wouldn’t abuse it.”
“Ha,” he snorted.
“What? I wouldn’t. If you have power then you should use it constructively, for good.”
“The path to hell is paved with good intentions girl. Best you just do what you want and forget about doing good.”
“Whatever.”
“So you want power then hey?”
“Not like you, I don’t want to be strong or immortal, I want to help fix things.”
“You’re a funny girl Catlin.”
“Huh?”
“You don’t even realise what you have.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Nothing, ja.”
“Rubbish, what are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about power.”
“Oh, well I don’t know much about the power anyway, except what Marion told me about it.”
“Huh?”
“Marion, she said someone had absorbed all of this power, the thread, on the Day of Darkness.”
“The power thing ja, ja,” he winked at her, catching on. “Let me tell you something and maybe we can help each other out.”
Sousa explained to her his friend had given him the strength of ten men to catch a person he was after. He wasn’t sure how it had happened, only that he awoke fully healed and stronger than ever.
“You talking about this Fahwad guy?”
“Ja.”
“And he just gave you this power?”
“Yes.”
“And what does it feel like?”
“It feels great, I feel strong, I feel powerful.”
“Bullshit.”
“No shit.”
“Show me then,” she stuck her chin up at him.
In response Sousa moved over to the building wall and thrust his fist through it, breaking the concrete rendered wall without effort.
“Who’s the person you have to catch?” She looked wide eyed at him as he pulled his hand from the gaping hole.
“I can’t remember his name, but Fahwad said he was the pretty one and that I could smell him a mile away.”
Catlin’s head jolted. “Wait, I know who you are talking about.”
“The pretty one?”
“I saw him just yesterday, in this very area.”
“I know, I missed my chance, I was not ready.”
“It was down in the street, yesterday, me and Ursula were looking for you and the black man and this guy just comes up to us suddenly and starts talking.”
“And was he pretty and smelt like perfume, right?”
“Yes.”
“Was he sweating also?”
“Yes.”
“Funny the sweating thing.”
“Huh?”
“Fahwad, he sweats also. But unlike the pretty one he doesn’t wear perfume and he bloody stinks because of it!”
“I knew there was something fishy about that guy.”
“This Fahwad, I do not like him either,” he said suddenly, trying to garner a response straight out of Catlin.
“He’s the Arabian looking guy right?”
“Ja,” he confirmed.
“Yeah, he didn’t make me feel very good when I met him.”
“He’s an ass. Biggest damn ego I ever seen, ja.”
“You know the pretty boy? He is looking for you too.”
“Ja, why huh?”
“I don’t know. He just said he was looking for Sousa, said something about a key.”
“I don’t know anything about no key, but Fahwad wants him. He wants me to capture him and bring him to the Destiny facility, alive.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, hey.”
“Seems like Fahwad doesn’t want to tell you the real reason.”
“Ja, well maybe,” he pondered. “And maybe we don’t need him anyway.”
“What do you mean?”
“He is all high and mighty, a bloody pain in the ass man.”
“So?”
“I think Fahwad means to capture the energy of this pretty boy and make it his own. I think that’s why he wants to capture him, to absorb his energy and become more powerful. But, I am also thinking that maybe he doesn’t need it.”
“Are you saying that you want to cross him?”
“I am saying that I do not like him. Do you think he would make good use of all that power?”
“Well I only just met him the once.”
“But?”
“But, he rubbed me the wrong way.”
“So maybe it would be better in your hands then?”
“What would?”
“That power.”
“Maybe,” she mused, catching on.
“Well maybe you help me and maybe then I help you … hey?”
“And how exactly do you plan to do that?”
“First we need to catch the mouse, then we have to learn how to eat him.”
“Huh?”
“Together hey, we do this together. What you say
Catlin?”
- -
Harrison
“Truck?” Harry calls out down into the darkness of the cave, his head extending over the railing of the tunnel as he does so. “Are you there?”
No response, so Harrison decides he needs to go in for a closer look. Smith instructed him on how to make the transfer happen, how to connect Truck to the thread and revive the blue light they’d unearthed, but he’s been waiting for hours now and his patience wears thin.
This was Truck’s destiny, the vessel for all life connected to the blue light.
When he made the transfer the effect was catastrophic to humans, millions of people around the world losing their lives, their existence shortened because of the transfer. But Harrison never baulked at the thought of it, for they were not people of Earth, they were a mutation of what was. To restore the balance back to Earth the threads needed to be restored and returned where they came from.
Even Truck, in the end, had agreed with this, the thread had to become what it was.
He had seen man’s impact on Earth and the reasons why, but even more so he heard a voice inside his head, calling him. The voice had showed him many things about the beauty of the Earth, enough so Truck walked down into the mine with a renewed sense of purpose, albeit a final one.
Smith conveyed earlier to Harrison the transformation would likely happen straight away, so as Harrison sat waiting, his concerns grew. If what Smith said was true, then why was he waiting so long?
But then Smith could be quite vague on most subjects, not because he didn’t want anybody to know, but because he didn’t remember himself. The mystery of his mind a still unanswered question.
Smith had said, before he left, once the transfer was complete Harrison was to leave the cave and wait outside, the thread would come soon thereafter.
And so Harrison waits.
He tries not to let his mind drift, but he can’t seem to help himself and soon finds his thoughts wandering back on his time with Smith.
Harry loved his alone time with Smith, for the two would have these moments of absolute clarity when Harrison could still his mind for long enough for the two of them to recall memories accurately, memories belonging to Smith.
It was very strange at first for Harrison, absorbing memories from Smith, seeing as he had seen.
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