Cindrac

by Mikayla Lane

  As part of the 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), it nullified the Smith-Mundt Act of 1948, which prevented information and psychological operations against United States citizens.

  In another three years, under the direction of the elite-run government deep state, the news would descend into a nightmare of outright lies and non-stop propaganda if Cin couldn’t do something to stop it.

  After several research hours, the kitten woke up, and Cin knew from what he’d learned that it needed to go potty. Setting the creature on the floor, he headed to the door leading to the deck and smiled when the little guy followed.

  Once outside in the grass, the smart kitten did his business then followed Cin back inside the house. Going into the kitchen, Cin gathered up the medicine and proceeded to dose a not so happy cat. When he finished, Cin set the animal down in front of its food and water, encouraging it to drink.

  While the kitten busied itself with food, Cin made a pot of coffee and threw together a meal. While he ate, Cin consumed everything he could get from the internet, museum archives, science institutes, and various other educational institutions.

  It was stunning to him how much freedom people had in this time and how oblivious they were about how close they were to losing it all. In a little more than a decade, the entire world becomes enslaved, and Cin still couldn’t fathom why the people had allowed it to happen.

  Cin was still doing research the next morning when he remembered that he needed to go back to the grocery store. He dosed the playful kitten, gave him fresh food and water then headed to the car.

  A few feet from the front door, Cin felt a thump against the back of his calf, and he turned to see the kitten holding on to his pant leg. He detached the animal from his leg and put him back down at the food and water bowls in the kitchen.

  Cin hadn’t even reached the door before the kitten was attached to his pant leg again. He picked up the little guy and cuddled him against his chest, wondering what to do when the animal started purring.

  Knowing he couldn’t leave the scared creature all alone, Cin allowed his nanites to run through his options before searching the house for what he needed.

  Twenty minutes later, Cin was tucking the animal into a make-shift sling wrapped around his chest and covered with his T-Shirt and light jacket. It went pretty well until they got in the car, and the kitten crawled out of the sling and sat on Cin’s shoulder.

  Figuring he could let the cat stay there until they got to town, Cin memorized where everything was in the store so he could get in and out quickly. He pulled into the parking lot, got out of the car, and tucked the kitten back into the sling against his chest.

  Striding through the store, Cin grabbed everything he could before anyone could notice the cat. He was checking out when the little guy popped his head out of the neck of Cin’s T-shirt, startling the woman scanning his food. Pretty blue eyes twinkled with amusement while Cin tried to push the kitten back into the sling.

  “What’s her name?” the woman asked.

  Cin was surprised that he hadn’t thought of naming the animal. “It’s a boy, and I haven’t thought of it until now.”

  “You can’t just call him boy or cat. He deserves a proper name,” the woman said with a chuckle.

  Cin swiped his debit card and looked at the woman. “What is a good name for a boy cat?”

  “I don’t know,” the woman said with a shrug. “Bob?”

  Cin’s brows furrowed for a moment before he chuckled. “Bob, the cat. Bobcat. I get it. Bob, it is.”

  The checkout woman smiled as she handed him the receipt. “Good luck to you and Bob.”

  An hour later, Cin and Bob were eating dinner on the couch while Cin studied Earth’s distant past. Not the centuries of lies fed to the people, but the frightening truth. He knew that if he was going to proceed with his original plans to stop the elite, there were others he’d have to deal with first.

  The only thing stopping him from going far into the past and wiping their existence from the world is because their infiltration of society went too deep, and he was discovering more every day.

  Certain people were the face of the elites, those in the news all the time for their fake charities that only furthered their agenda and never helped anyone. Then there were others no one ever heard of and didn’t know existed. They were the dangerous ones pulling the strings of everyone else.

  What should have been an easy mission had turned into a nightmare of complications that Cin was still trying to sift through. Every move he made needed to be calculated perfectly to prevent catastrophic changes to Earth’s history, and therefore the universe’s future as well.

  Rubbing a hand over his face, Cin tucked the now sleeping Bob into the fluffy blanket at the corner of the couch and stood. He tiptoed away from the kitten, trying not to wake the tired animal before reaching the kitchen.

  Knowing he needed to root out the other hidden elites, Cin made a portal in the air and quickly stepped through it. He stood in the partially darkened room before concentrating on having his nanites change his attire to something more appropriate to this period.

  When he was ready, Cin turned the door handle and stepped out into the hallway. He returned the salute of several soldiers before making his way outside, preparing himself for what he knew he was going to find.

  The smoke-filled air nearly took Cin’s breath away, and he quickly turned to head down the rubble-strewn road to the building he wanted to find. He passed several armed patrols who looked at him oddly before manifesting weapons appropriate to this time. It was a mistake he’d be careful not to make again.

  Cin didn’t have to go far before he found the partially destroyed building and went inside through a shattered window. He carefully made his way through the debris-strewn hallways until he entered the library and moved to the old stone fireplace.

  Hitting his knees, Cin reached into the chimney and felt around until he found the oilskin wrapped books. Pulling them out, Cin carefully unwrapped the protective skin and cracked open the first of the ancient texts.

  Cin had barely skimmed the first page of elite names when he heard the sound of footsteps in the hall. Quickly wrapping up the books, Cin placed them inside his t-shirt underneath his coat and pulled his weapon.

  Knowing he was outside of the city's protective perimeter, set up by the Allied Forces, Cin expected whoever was in the building with him to be Nazi’s.

  The footsteps drew closer, and Cin was taken aback when he heard a giggle. Unable to draw on technology that didn’t exist in this period, Cin waited cautiously until the steps were right outside the door.

  A soot-streaked face with haunted brown eyes peeked around the door, and Cin tried his best not to look menacing when the little girl’s eyes widened with fear. Seconds later, an older boy stood protectively in front of the girl and stared at Cin.

  “We don’t want no trouble,” the boy said in a trembling voice.

  “Neither do I,” Cin replied in perfect French and put the gun away.

  The little girl took a step towards him. “The bad guys are on the next street and coming this way. You need to go.”

  Cin narrowed his eyes at the pair. “What are you two doing here?”

  The boy didn’t trust Cin and refused to speak, but the little girl was talkative.

  “They killed Mama and Papa. Pierre says we need to get to grand mama’s house.” The girl’s eyes welled with tears, and Cin’s heart broke for the pair.

  The crunch of debris in the front of the building had the kids running to hide behind Cin while he drew his gun and moved to the door. Sighing in frustration, Cin didn’t wait for the soldiers to get closer.

  Decades of battle experience took over, and Cin dove into the hallway, came up on one knee and fired four shots. As the bodies hit the floor, rifles clattering to the ground, Pierre looked around Cin. Seeing the coast was clear, he dragged his sister down the hallway as she smiled and waved at Cin.

  Hoping th
at one act didn’t cause a detrimental change to the future, Cin opened a portal and stepped through. He realized his mistake the moment he stood in the living room. Bob was hissing and spitting in indignation beside his empty food and water bowls.

  Cin had his nanites get rid of the Army uniform he’d been wearing and immediately dosed the already angry kitten with his medicine. While Bob spit and tried to hack up the medication, Cin replaced his food and water and waited for Bob to get over his fit of temper.

  Angry green eyes stared at Cin accusingly for a moment before the kitten attacked the food. Vowing never to forget to come back within hours of leaving, Cin sat on the floor beside Bob while he ate.

  Pulling the books out from under his shirt, Cin unwrapped the oilskin and studied the list of names and information jotted within the pages. The other slim, leather-bound journals contained the same, and Cin put them on the floor and leaned his head back in frustration.

  Finally full and hydrated again, Bob climbed up to Cin’s lap and sat on top of the old journals, staring at Cin with expectant green eyes. He could feel the kitten’s rumbling purr through the books, and Cin picked up Bob in one hand and the books in the other while he stood.

  “I hold a much greater appreciation for the use of handwritten communications now,” Cin snorted and put the journals on the kitchen table.

  Cuddling Bob against his chest, Cin moved to the couch and laid down. Bob spun around on Cin’s belly for a minute before curling into a ball and falling fast asleep. Cin lay awake, his mind going through the new information and planning the global hunt he needed to find the rest.

  Chapter Nine

  Laurel Springs, Tennessee

  Ten Years Later

  Cin looked out at the forest from the newly updated deck and sipped his cup of coffee. It’d been ten long years of tracking information and destroying the elites and minions he could without causing a global catastrophe.

  Far too many remained, but after years of helping bring the elite plans to the worldwide population's attention, more people were waking up and fighting back against the creeping loss of their freedoms.

  Progress had been incredibly slow, more so in this critical time where propaganda was fed to the public at astounding rates, but Cin refused to give up. These were crucial times when the war between true evil and good was raging around the world, yet most were unaware of the stakes if they lost.

  Cin released information about their true intentions and the silent war being fought when not killing the elites and their minions. The best and most reliable outlet he’d found had been obscure forums on the internet, some of which he created and moderated.

  There were also thousands of bots he’d developed that made automatic posts throughout the internet, leading people to the information they needed to learn to see what was happening and how to fight back.

  It had appeared that things were working precisely as Cin hoped, and millions of people around the world were beginning to see what was happening to them. They were waking up to how they’d been manipulated, lied to, and used as pawns.

  The mass awakening was a turning point for the elite, and they began to panic, immediately initiating the start of their takeover plans with an intentionally over-exaggerated flu pandemic. Only Cin and a few others had seen it for what it was, a power grab, and a test.

  The entire world was shut down under the direction of the elite. The first test of how well the elite had programmed humanity through subliminal messaging, propaganda news, and fear. Only the elite and minion owned businesses were allowed to remain open, shutting down all other competition and small businesses.

  Next were the riots that destroyed mostly the shuttered small businesses while the elite owned corporations remained almost entirely safe and raked in historic profits. Between the shutdown, only applicable to small businesses, places of worship, and entertainment venues, along with the riots, the gap between the wealthy and the poor was growing exponentially.

  Still, millions of people were blinded by ignorance and fought friends, neighbors, and family instead of the real enemy laughing at them while they did the elite’s dirty work. It was maddening for Cin, who couldn’t understand how rational people couldn’t see the truth slapping them in their masked faces.

  Feeling a little disheartened and needing to get to work, Cin was stomping along the deck in frustration, wondering where the cat was this time.

  “Bob? Where the hell are you?” Cin called out.

  Cin refused to leave until his friend and companion was home and finally called on the nanites he created and installed in Bob three years ago when the cat became terminally ill. The vet’s barbaric and cruel treatments for Bob’s cancer were something Cin refused to put his friend through.

  Instead, Cin had studied what he needed to ensure his devoted friend's health and well-being and created nanites specifically to attack Bob’s cancer and ensure he would have a very long and healthy life.

  Using the nanites in Bob, Cin looked through the cat’s eyes to see where he was and what was keeping him from coming home. What he saw had Cin jumping over the railing on the back deck and running full out down the mountain. Cin was halfway there, flinching with every blow he saw through Bob’s eyes when he told the cat to attack.

  Bob’s nanite-tipped claws raked into the flesh of the man’s back, producing blood from the deep marks and stopping the guy from striking another blow to his helpless victim. A string of curses followed, and the attacker turned around and faced what mauled him.

  The man was getting ready to kick Bob in the face when Cin ran into the small clearing, startling the guy. The stranger pulled a gun from his waistband, looked at the crumpled body on the ground, Bob, then Cin before running like a coward towards the road.

  Bob went to follow until Cin called out, “No!”

  Turning his attention to the female on the ground, Cin knelt at her side, terrified that he’d gotten there too late. He picked up a delicate wrist, trying to ignore the bruises forming on it while he felt for a pulse.

  Once he was sure she was still alive, Cin picked up the petite woman and made his way back to the cabin, with Bob hot on his heels. He didn’t need to talk to Bob to know the cat wasn’t too happy about the woman going home with them. If anything, Bob was more paranoid than Cin about keeping their home private, and the cat didn’t take well to strangers.

  Cin quickly made it to the cabin and laid the woman on the couch. She still hadn’t awakened, and Cin became concerned that there may be brain damage from the beating she’d taken to her face from her attacker.

  Moving into the kitchen, Cin got a washcloth and wet it with cold water. He placed it over the woman’s swollen face, then took her wrist in his hand. Sending out his nanites, Cin allowed them to collect her vital statistics before pulling them back into himself.

  Cin stood and reviewed the information before looking down at the battered woman. He considered calling the sheriff and having Robbie take her to the hospital, but Cin was afraid that the woman’s abuser would find her there if he did.

  Unable to tell what the lady looked like through the swelling and bruising on her face, Cin felt an odd connection to her and didn’t want to see her harmed more than she had been. Leaning down, he brushed her shoulder-length dark hair away from her face and began programming nanites in his head.

  Bob let out a yowl of warning, and Cin refused to look at his friend. “We can’t let the poor thing go back out there injured like this. Don’t give me shit about it either because you’re the one who found her. You could have come home when I called you the first time.”

  Bob growled low and jumped up to the end of the couch. Plopping himself down on his favorite blanket, Bob glared at the strange woman sharing his sofa with him. The cat was obviously unhappy and wanted Cin to know it.

  Cin ignored the angry cat, finished programming the nanites, and sent them into the woman through a nasty gash on her right cheek. Figuring he’d make her well then send her on her way,
Cin went into the kitchen to get a cup of coffee while he waited for her face to heal well enough to perform facial recognition on it.

  While he waited, Cin decided to determine who her attacker was, based on the images his nanites had taken during their brief encounter. By the time Cin had poured the coffee and walked back to the couch, the swelling and bruising were already disappearing from the battered woman’s face, and he had the identification of her abuser.

  “Oh, hell,” Cin whispered as he went through the available information on the woman’s assailant. “Imagine finding one of you in my neck of the woods.”

  Cin was going through the news articles, police reports, and society pages of the newspaper when he found the woman's identity. Lanie Fulbright. Long-time girlfriend of Jason McMaster, the nephew of the traitorous Senator Lilly Patrosi.

  That bitch senator was in the middle of everything going wrong in the country of America and was deeply involved with the elites. The woman wasn’t part of the founding members but had quickly worked herself up in the ranks of their lower minions while growing her bank account.

  Cindrac smiled at the thought of the woman feeling all smug and confident in her place among the overlords. Senator Patrosi had no idea that the elite had a week-long celebration planned for the useful idiots just like her, not far in the future.

  A week when the Senator and all the lower minion fools who’d helped the elite were rounded up and turned over to an angry populace to mete out justice. It was a trick of the elite to convince the people that they were on their side. The moment the people trusted them, the elite starting enforcing ever increasing draconian laws.

  After several generations, forced vaccines, compulsory medication, and increasingly strict control, the entire world was enslaved, and none could stop them until Cindrac. With each move he made against the elite, their control over the future of Earth was slipping.

  Cin sighed at the hopelessness he could feel as he read Lanie’s emails and looked down at the now beautiful woman. Lanie Fulbright had been trying to flee from Jason McMaster for more than eleven years.