The New World Architect

By Rich J Chapman

Well researched and referenced, this collection of seven biographies recounts some of the great and ordinary lives lived in the 23rd and 24th centuries; as outlining some of the people who, in each of their own and unique way, helped shape the peace and prosperity that the new world enjoys to this day.

The first biography is that of the forever great and globally revered icon, Makali Defaru - the one man who enabled the ending of the war of all wars so as to oversee the creation of the New World Charter. Here we can learn once again of some of the key moments and individuals that influenced his life and deeds and of how his legacy continues to affect our modern world. We learn also of his ‘miracles’ - those acts of which still lead to questions about his possible divine and prophetic status.

The other lesser known yet still real and evidenced individuals include the two wind farmers, Sergio and Maria Castella, and how their son’s gambling addiction led to their dilemma of choosing between their sincerely held vows as incorruptible energy farmers, or cashing in on the elicit find of an unknown oil well.

We also learn of the new world soldier Alan White and his comrade in arms Robert ‘Robbo’ Robertson; two decorated and well-documented soldiers of the legendary Blackheart regiment who, after being resigned to the less exciting world of New World Army administration, both decide to push for glory once more: to fight other likeminded New World soldiers to the death so as to raise the much-prized Odervick medal between them.

Another perhaps more recognised individual from the 24th century is Zhou Lei, otherwise known as ‘20 Stabs Tiger’, and at one time the most notorious and feared gangster of all New Shanghai, though only for him to find redemption so as to spend the rest of his imprisoned life as a Baptist minister, as attracting huge crowds with his calls for the importance of forgiveness.
Probably much less known (although all having long records) are the three juvenile delinquents: Michael Fitzpatrick, Candice Alba and Joel Hatcher, of who, under the manipulative, near psychotic control of Fitzpatrick, ran a stick up outfit only for all three to be turned around by the new world justice system, and whereby Fitzpatrick himself had a surprise for their old teacher – she who had unwittingly put the three misfits together in the first place.

The biography of the new world investment banker, James Fennel, as working for the Waters and Waters investment firm in the second half of the 2300s, tells the remarkable story of how a chance encounter with the then house cleaner, Hilda Jones, led to a reversal of fortunes for the Waters and Waters firm, and made Hilda Jones a very wealthy woman and noted philanthropist.
The final biography is that of the alleged Nakagawa assassin, Gia Rios, the wife of the then leader of the New Castellan government during the mid-2300s, and who, as per her possible connection with that most clandestine of new world organizations, gave the ultimate sacrifice so as to avert her nation’s descent into bloody civil war.

The New World Architect thus brings to life just a few of the people that shaped our world before us so that we may continue to exist in our peaceful and prosperous times.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rich J Chapman
• Release date: Sep 8, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311935076

Book preview

Introduction

A variety of source material was drawn upon when researching and writing these biographies and I have tried to keep within some degree of historical accuracy.

This goal was most easily achieved with the biography of Makali Defaru, whereby an abundant resource of primary and secondary material is freely accessible from the New World Media Achieve, by both the amateur and professional historian alike, and of which includes the first hand Harrison interview with the great man himself.

I also (gratefully) took much secondary source material from some of the more notable writers on Makali Defaru, of which I believe have done greater justice to their subject than I, and so would encourage the interested reader to read firsthand. It is these writers, such as Bakr, Gambetta and Mackinnon, writing in the mid 2300s, who initially created a more comprehensive narrative of Makali Defaru’s ‘disguised’ (i.e. non-glowing) period, by weaving together the testimonies of Thomas Green, Carl Rhodes, Roberto Rodriguez and Michelle Tarrant, and the reader should note that I have used these writers’ interpretation of the testimonies rather than the firsthand testimonies of Green et al directly.

Another invaluable source that I used was the ‘Makali Defaru Interviews’, as conducted in 2293, and so I must acknowledge all the efforts of those who had undertaken this seminal research for me to draw on. Both the testimonies and the ‘Makali Defaru Interviews’ are freely available on the New World Central Server.

However, I did not wish for these biographies to be a mere recounting of historical sources. So whereas my account of Makali Defaru is mostly constrained by the recorded (and so established) events of his life, I have taken much more narrative liberty with the other six biographies in an attempt to give the reader more of a historical story to enjoy, as opposed to any attempt at serious academic social history.

As such, though, for example, both Alan White and Robert ‘Robbo’ Robinson were real soldiers, with records of their active service, decoration, and later career clearly documented, I have taken certain liberties in second guessing some of the details of their earlier life and friendship.

Similarly, the New Shanghai gangster, Zhou Lei, has prison records, recorded church sermons, and other city records and the like (as well as photographs of his infamous tattoo), all of which enabled me to build a framework of his life around. But my attributing personal thought and emotion to him during these years is pure artistic liberty.

Some of the less well known biography subjects have much less documentation about their lives, and thus far more of my own interpretation. However, they were still real people of the time, whose birth and other records can be accessed (in some cases with needed permission), from the New World Record Archive Security Service.

Therefore Sergio and Maria Castella were real wind farmers, and both attended New Madrid University of Energy Collection and Cultivation. (The grave of the wolf is still standing.) Likewise, the Waters and Waters investment firm still exists to this day, and has employment records showing James Fennel’s time as an investment banker there. The patent for Hilda Jones’ gloves can be found at the New World Patent Office in New London.

Michael Fitzpatrick, Candice Alba and Joel Hatcher were all students at New Redwood high school, and their records of incarceration within the New Redwood County penal system are available. Their archived pre-trial psychiatric records are also accessible (with permission) from the New World Record Archive Security / Mental Health Assessment Department / New Redwood County / NUSA.

The one biography that I had the least access to source material for was (as to be expected) the alleged Nakagawa assassin, Gia Napo (nee Rios).

Though the historical events surrounding Gia Napo’s high profile later life are well recorded (as available through the New World Media Achieve), any information about Gia Napo’s early years are completely inaccessible, even to those within the highest realms of the present new World Government, and so far from the reaches of the amateur social historian.

As for the origins of the Nakagawa organisation itself, I have taken just one of the current consensuses among professional historians, most notably that of Professor Norio Kiyomizu of New Kobe University, and Professor John Petting of New Edinburgh University, though the reader should be aware that there is still considerable disagreement among the academic community.

The build up to the greatest war mankind has ever visited upon itself is extremely exhaustive, and I made a conscious decision before writing to focus only on post war history. As such, the war is not covered in any sort of depth here, though interested readers may wish to refer to George K. Johnson and Lawrence Heather, both of whose seminal works on the war’s origins and development, as written in the 2310s, are considered to be authorities on the subject. I have used both their works as secondary sources.

For those interested in further reading, I have listed first and secondary sources directly in the text for the biography of Makali Defaru. However, for the sake of narrative flow, source material is listed only for key historical moments in the other life stories. Should the reader wish to research any references further, they need only to put the reference into the Search Reference tool, as accessed through the New World Central Server, and they should be able to view the source directly.

On the advice of my publisher, I must, at this point, also acknowledge possible concerns relating to blaspheme.

Though none of what I have written contravenes Section 119.9.2 of the new World Charter, I am aware that some readers may nonetheless consider my attributing thoughts and emotions to Makali Defaru as blasphemous, and so may take possible offence.

However, (and though I admit to any charges of presumptuousness), I would ask the reader to acknowledge that Makali Defaru himself repeatedly asked to be considered the same as his peers, and so it is unlikely that he himself would have taken offence at my narrative liberty. As such, my wish to portray him as being as human as the other historical figures from this time is arguably more in line with his own recorded wishes than to have treated him any differently. That said, I would like to state here that I have not set out to deliberately cause offence, and apologise to any reader who may consider otherwise.

With the total war of the 23rd century, and the years that followed, as influenced by the great Makali Defaru himself, this era is arguably one of the most pivotal times in the course of our current social evolution. I hope the reader might enjoy reading about some of people of this time, both the great and ordinary, as I have.

RJC, 2501

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War and the New World architect: Makali Defaru

(The following recount of Makali Defaru’s early childhood (i.e. his life prior to his coming to the attention of the world), is based primarily on the Harrison interview of 2291, as well as the testimony of Michelle Tarrant (as taken from the ‘The Defaru Interviews’ of 2293).)

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In New Kyoto today there is a moment in history tucked away between the tall chlorophyllic glass exteriors of our modern cityscape.

Situated in New Shimogyo Ku, with nothing but a small bronze plaque to tell of its significance, there is an old public mechanical timepiece that has ever recorded the start of what some contemporary historians have called our last ever, second chance.

At that point in time, all those years ago, the world was on the edge of conflict, with armies poised and ready, and aggression and fight in the heart of near all mankind.

All that was needed was an excuse, and any one of many triggers would have sufficed. And at twenty to twelve, the shot that passed through President Yasuo Yokoyama stopped the clock he was stood in front of; the sniper’s bullet smashing its gears so as to mark the onset of what was to be total war.

In terms of the human misery it cost, the war was just like any of the other earlier mechanised and technological conflicts of the 20th and 21st centuries, but it was quite distinct in two other ways.

Firstly it was very long. A gruelling and protracted, two generational conflict, whereby most came to forget the original causes for their involvement in the fighting, and why it was they were being subjected to the horrors it brought.

Such a timescale meant countless enemies and alliances were made, broken, and reformed again, and it was not unknown for combatants to be fighting men they had only the day before fought alongside with. Nations swapped allegiances and declared war on neighbours near and far so many times that the conflict blurred in meaning and motivation for everyone, even though the devastation and hardship stayed clear for all.

What was to be later named the ‘Tax Revolution’ by post war historians, the 56th year saw near enough all the world’s taxpayers refuse to pay anything to their respective governments unless demands of stopping the war were met; their sheer numbers ensuring complete compliance (Heather, 2315). As the world’s usual crop of extremely rich non taxpayers still refused to ever start, a failed attempt to print the war effort forward led to record inflation, further complicating any hope of its continuation.

By the 57th year, after yet another year of extreme hardship for almost all, very few weren’t asking why it was the war was continuing, and demanded that the few men who weren’t asking did so, whether they were politicians, religious leaders, wealthy oligarchs and plutocrats, media barons or munitions makers. And it was only by the time the second generation born into the conflict had been lucky enough to reach their thirtieth birthday that peace was finally declared.

The second difference was the causes fought for; they being so varied that the majority of the then old countries were fighting both civil and external wars.

Seeing that their respective populations had multiple allegiances, the war was, perhaps for the first time in the world’s history, an individuals’ war as opposed to a clear war of nation pitted against nation. As the post war historian Johnson noted, the huge amount of divisions and rifts that manifested between close kinship and once historical allies meant that the ‘whole of humanity seemed to be simply fighting itself’ (Johnson, 2312).

Divisions ran on several fault lines, including national and supranational, resource needs (one of the preliminary and most significant contributions to conflict motivation – originating with nation against nation, then to region against region, to finally household against household as they dwindled ever further); ethnicity, religious affiliation and philosophical belief systems, wealth ownership (one of the more common bonds that had superseded other possible divisions, in that those with wealth tended to unite to protect said wealth, regardless of which country they had then resided in or deity prayed to); national historical record (tied to previous alliances and grudges); class membership, and even preferences and rights in sexual relationships, (in terms of both gender and number of legal spouses).

Such varied reasons for the fighting were perhaps valid motivations, although some later historical analysts, looking for a more simplistic, overarching explanation, posited that it was ‘(most likely) just a case of critical mass’ (Heather, 2315); whereas, as a later histo-biological analysis suggests, the war was a ‘collective, sub-conscious act of self-culling, as seen in other species with resource pressure, and realized by the resultant shortage of males in the population and significant drop in species number’ (Baden, O., Chen, N. Interspecies Aggression and Resource Limitation, New World Journal of Evolutionary Biology (Sept. 2379)).

Each of the world’s every individual was thus as divided and united to others by their own such personal alliance to a cause or causes.

It was not uncommon, therefore, for a person to fight against their country of birth because they had a religious affiliation with a nation far away. Similarly, neighbours of the same religion may have fought over the memory of a war that had happened many, many years before, whereas once close brothers fought should one have stated his homosexuality (of which went against the tenants of certain sacred texts).

Later into the conflict, interclass war had tended to unite people of all nations against all those considered class oppressors, regardless of their individual nationhood, race or creed. Indeed, as Johnson notes, even though the then wealthy were initially quite adept at dividing this unity with the use of historical propaganda, persuasive religious leaders or entrenched ethnic differences, class warfare had become the predominant reason for unified fighting by the final reaches of the conflict (Johnson, 2312).

Paradoxically, these multifaceted differences, as numerous and diverse as they were, were easily quashed by one all powerful unifying force – the hardship around 98% of the world’s population were suffering from; whether it was from direct exposure to the fighting, or the scarcity of food and resources that resulted.

Though it was the weaker states that bore the brunt of the heaviest fighting for the first 40 odd years (richer nations fought on their soil by proxy), richer nations were still subject to increasingly frequent city bombings. As richer nations were the only ones able to engage in aerial bombing, these were predominately suicide attacks although, unlike the early 21st century modus operandi, many were not actually ideologically (religious or otherwise) inspired; with instead revenge or mere desperation being the stated reason on any accompanying confession of the deed.

Richer nations were also subjected to extreme rationing, as well as having the steady greater and greater loss of their (mostly male) conscripted populous. (With historical grudges and nationalism as motivators, several Asian nations were notable in using women soldiers, although no recorded major offensive was ever successfully completed by a female unit. Indeed, research by the historian Professor Satoshi Kojima suggests that the only real result of women being at the front was that the combatant mortality rate increased by approximately 50 percent (Kojima, 2321).)

There was, though, still a certain degree of normal institutional functioning within these richer nations, right up to the end of the 56th year, whereby either invading armies pushed into richer state territory, or a civil war reached its zenith. At this juncture of the world conflict, all states were under martial law, with only bunkered central governments functioning as agents of control.

The universal suffering, manifested in the grey blocks of rubble or scorched, once arable land, meant those born into the conflict had a very stark and common bond of wanting to stop the carnage they had been forever subjected to. And consequently, the remaining 2% of oligarchs and leaders, who were far removed from the war’s effects (and in many cases actually profiting from it (see Heather, 2315)), could only evoke historical hatred and other such casus belli for so long until the generation where such methods had been effective had died off.

The second generation of children born into the conflict were more concerned with finding clean water and surviving the next shell than whether or not their great-grandparents had previously fought against each other. Nor were they concerned if they happened to come from disparate nations, or if their religious affiliations or cultural practises were somehow different from each others’.

Protective parental instincts seen in the earlier generations born into the war also weakened the resolve to continue the conflict; they not wishing to subject their offspring to the horrors they themselves had seen. Blood lust was simply waning, and it took much effort for the then world’s leaders to fight against the peace being demanded. (Indeed, as later historical investigation uncovered, on a (disturbingly high) number of occasions, country leaders had bombed their own people in an attempt to stoke their aggression once more (see Heather, 2315).)

Nearing the end of the fifth decade, the global war resistance movement was organised enough for peace to be called for and won. (One of the more notable antiwar organisations was Mothers Against (the) War, with around 80% of all women on the planet being affiliated with it (as extrapolated from surveys taken in 28 of the then, semi-functioning, old countries). Presuming even conservative numbers of spousal backing and support, the number of war resisters was thus vast in proportion to then global population.)

The final result was that no less than an estimated 250,000 of the then world’s top political, military, industrial, religious, and other self proclaimed leaders, were summarily purged: told to step down or be executed, many of which experienced the latter (up to 75% by some analysts (see Johnson, 2312)).

One recorded case notes how one woman, who had seen all four of her children killed through revenge and internecine violence, on hearing her religious leader call for yet more fighting, led a revolt of those listening to the man’s address, stating that he'd effectively taken her children away from her himself, and that if he had such hatred for the enemy he should lead the next attack.

The leader faulted, said he was needed by God to rally others and so could not possibly risk fighting on the front line himself, and called the woman a traitor to her people for suggesting otherwise. However by then the congregation had already begun to tear at his clothes and flesh (as taken from Heather, 2315).

Similarly many of the sheltered top 2% had tried to bribe their way to safety, offering untold wealth in an attempt to divide the insurrectionists that threatened them. But the money they offered was just paper to the masses it was being offered to; a meaningless item so far from the reality the masses were enduring that the bribe would have been a hundredfold more effective had it simply been a bottle of clean water. The bloodletting upon the once sheltered rich was particularly brutal.

But, as in all wars, one side needed to be victorious, however pyrrhic such a win might be. And seeing the tides change so remarkably, with 98% of their own peoples upon their gates, the leaders of the more powerful nation states made one last ditch attempt at securing some semblance of their wealth and interests; conceding as much as they could afford lest the temple be finally pulled down upon their heads.

They thus called for a final global alliance between themselves, gave up most of their money and resources, and stated that any nation that wished to join them could. And with a nascent World Charter drawn up, in part by the masses themselves, and one stating universal fairness, justice and unity, the temple stood standing.

At first, many of the then world’s remaining nations’ people treated this novel alliance with the same scepticism they had of those formed over the previous violent, blood soaked years. Namely it would be short lived, and that, most likely, geared towards ensuring the rich of those allied nations remained so. But this time they were wrong on both accounts.

The people it seemed had spoken, with clear evidence of oligarchs and plutocrats offering up their wealth, (if not for outward appearances of the greater good, then their own saved lives all the same). Other nationals around the world soon demanded their governments follow suit.

The alliance grew at a notable speed; and within two years two thirds of the new world was a part of it and global peace a reality. Within three, six eighths of the then new world belonged to the alliance, with the remaining two eighths fast running out of economic options to remain separated from it. Ideologies of state sovereignty, religious identity and rugged individualism were then trumped by fiscal necessity, as hungry masses dictated to their leaders that they were to join the collective.

The road had been long and bloody. But by the sixty-fourth year, from that first shot that had killed Yasuo Yokoyama, to the last signature on the charter given, the new world was near enough won.

This charter (of which the initial alliance members had felt somewhat more than obliged to adhere to), was debated over and drawn up by an array of the new world’s experts and thinkers. Such a two generational, worldwide, war meant the chartists involved were removed far and long enough from any of their own national histories and biases to be free from any inherent partiality, and the result was, in most part, a culturally neutral document.

With the new world’s then problems, and the limits that these problems imposed on any future human survival, these pressing necessities became the guiding force for the charter’s content and conclusions.

It was decided that human nature, regardless of how it may have been expressed at the various cultural levels of the then world, was to take secondary place to the dispassionate requirements of humanity overall. And though (in an acknowledgement of previously failed ideologies), the document would try temper the need to override individualism for the sake of collectivism as much as possible, the needs of the many were to still take precedence over the needs of the individual in the charter’s formulation.

So in the year 2272, in the fragile aftermath the greatest-ever world war, a collection of the then allied world’s leading scientists, philosophers and religious luminaries, historians, military men, artists and writers, educators and politicians, along with a random sample of the world’s population (of which all the signatories agreed had to be a part of the decisions made), met to discuss and formulate the document that, in time, the new world would be living by.

It was finalised nine months later, and approved and sealed by the one man that the whole world, whether part of the alliance at that time or not, could agree had the power and authority to speak on the behalf of all humanity.

That man was Makali Defaru.

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Makali Defaru was a terrible prophet in the traditional sense, though, ironically, so determined was he to prove falsehood upon his calling, the best choice any God could have played in the field.

Makali Defaru denied his prophet status at any opportunity he could. Convinced of his normalcy, he denied every sceptic that challenged him the right to consider him miraculous, in spite of the miracles he was to, unwittingly or not, display.

It was said that when the renown atheist philosopher Professor William Turner, a learned man who was to be one of the architects of the World Charter and commanded respect in the academic community by having successfully proven, using the optimum of mankind’s logical reasoning paradigms of the time, the un-existence of deities, went to visit Makali Defaru, he said not a word (of which to some wits was a miracle in itself), only to drop to his knees before asking for redemption for his lack of faith.

Makali Defaru then, (and it is always debated whether this was a well thought out ploy or simply another example of Makali Defaru’s desire to be treated as a normal person), spent the following afternoon trying to convince Professor Turner that his previous logic was correct, and that, regardless of the finer points made in the professor’s atheist argument, the glow the professor was now convinced he saw around him was surely (or at least most likely) of biological origin, and exacerbated by the overindulgence of caffeine the professor had drunk on the plane.

But a supernatural air would never leave Makali Defaru. His miracles were numerous, including (and most likely the reason for why most of the world needed faith in his being), the one whereby every recording device – anything that could prove to a non-present person of his powers, failed to record his presence. (Even Makali Defaru conceded he was unable to explain that one away, although he did suspect his glow played a part.)

Aside from the glowing, his mind was computational; he was able to speak any language after a very short period of time with a speaker of that language, and he could engage with any expert on any subject, drawing upon a clearly photographic memory for all facts and knowledge.

And if to the sceptic these abilities were perhaps merely extraordinary, as opposed to the truly miraculous, Makali Defaru was also known to have jammed guns, heal the sick, soften the most violence hardened men after five minutes of meeting them; as well as being known to have directly influenced animal behaviour and, to some believers, been able to read minds and direct human action also.

He is also said to have performed an act of resurrection on a co-worker on a building site, (though this particular claim was disputed by Makali Defaru himself; he stating that the co-worker in question was merely half-dead, and that the witnesses to the co-worker being fully dead was under much stress at the time and so perhaps unreliable. (As with most of Makali Defaru’s counter claims, no one really believes this version of events and the resurrection story is generally considered true.))

Similarly, one of his greatest considered miracles; one of disappearing within his glow only to reappear numerous miles away, again performed at the building site, was also disputed by Makali Defaru (with a counter claim of low level sunlight playing tricks on the group of workers at the time, and that bus services were still running).

However, as these miracles were never to be recorded, it was only those that had seen him personally who could speak and tell others of these happenings. It was these people, not he, who claimed his divine status and their faith in him.

According to a somewhat incomplete administrative record (considering the state of his then nation at the time – it being without any form central government), Makali Defaru was born in the 27th year of the world war, making him 33 by the time peace was finally called.

He was the son of sustenance farmers, tilling the barren lands of east Africa; an area that had seen some of the earliest and thus most continuous of the fighting, and suffering both a civil war of religion, whilst also attempting a united front to keep the major players from adding her to their portfolio.

The result was that by his tenth year Makali Defaru had eaten little, and seen his parents, along with the entire inhabitants of his village, murdered.

His small village wasn’t ever to not find his glow a source of curiosity but, as the residents knew of his longing to just fit in, they had tried their best to ignore it. And living in a small and somewhat closed community also meant that Makali Defaru’s glow was soon accepted as just being part of the village’s identity.

His glow had tended to lose its novelty for his peers and elders (lose a bit of its shine as it were); and after a year or so, no one thought it strange or worthy of comment, even if an ever self-conscious Makali Defaru longed it gone.

As such, aside from the effects of the war, Makali Defaru still had a relatively normal childhood; one spent playing with his peers in the village and, when older, helping in the fields with the other villagers.

His mother gave birth to three other children, of which the last died soon after childbirth, as was still common in Makali Defaru’s part of the world. However, none of Makali Defaru’s siblings glowed (which was, inwardly at least, a relief for Makali Defaru’s parents; they both considering one glowing child by far enough).

Though some were happy in childhood innocence, life was nonetheless hard for the village. Drought occurred on two of Makali Defaru’s summers, even if stored food got them through without too much danger. But food was never in anyway plentiful, and uncertainty for adults was never fully absent.

Sometimes larger prey was stalked by the men folk, as their predecessors had done before them, and Makali Defaru and his peers occasionally followed the hunt. It was on the dusty earth that Makali Defaru first realised some of his other powers, whereby he discovered that his will could direct the animal’s movement to the advantage of the pursuers. However, already overly conscious of his glow, he kept quiet about his hand in the success of the hunts, and let the elders take pride in their stalking abilities.

That his village was razed in his tenth year was not altogether unsurprising. Obviously global war was going on, and though world cities were often bombed from upon high, villages such as Makali Defaru’s were easy targets for rampaging soldiers. Religious differences and ethnic tensions were fully exploited, and made simple excuses for men wishing to indulge in easy and safe, one-sided violence.

What was surprising, (for the attackers at least), was that, as Makali Defaru and his parents sought sanctuary in their hut, only for they to be shot in front of him, all guns had jammed when trained upon him.

Along with the glow, this completely unnerved the already excited men, who tried repeatedly to fire their weapons to no avail. When the captain was called, a rather rash experiment of holding the trigger whilst spanning 180 degrees was successful in proving the gun only jammed when Makali Defaru was in range, though did have the unintended consequence of gunning three of his own men down. At that point Makali Defaru was taken to the soldiers’ main camp to be held until the soldiers could work out what to do with him.

He sat in the camp for two weeks, whereby his uniqueness again singled him out. And, unlike the other slaves held in the camp, his special glow caused much interest and higher payment terms. He was soon adopted away from the fighting by a childless couple, and it was from this point that his ‘magic’ shined.

Though it would be reasonable to question the character of those who choose buy a child from a slave market, Makali Defaru’s adoptive parents where in fact very kind and good people of faith, who were, at the time, undertaking some sabbatical missionary work away from their lecturing positions at a North American university.

They had been unable to bear children themselves, and not wishing for the invasiveness and cost of medical alternatives, thought it only right to adopt a child from the poorest of circumstance, hence their trip to the slave market. Once there, it was difficult not to notice a glowing Makali Defaru over the rest of the choices on offer, and he was taken to live in their home.

Makali Defaru’s adaptive parents, Drs Joshua and Charlotte Fischer, were by no means wealthy, and the war was obviously affecting them as it was all other families. But they were both professionals and could give Makali Defaru good nourishment for both body and mind.

Makali Defaru therefore grew in stature and intellect. His adoptive parents taught him to read, and were shocked at the speed by which he picked up their native language (and the world’s lingua franca of the time), of which was around two weeks in both written and spoken form. It seemed that they only had to say and explain a word once, and Makali Defaru both understood and remembered it, and could use it freely then on.

Thus Makali Defaru’s time with his adoptive parents was, in quite large part, a seven year period of them transferring all of their knowledge over to him. His adoptive mother taught him the second language she herself was fluent in (which was again an astonishingly quick exercise of two weeks); and his father taught him his own field of study – history, whereby Makali Defaru’s enthusiasm was matched by his teacher’s desire to impart all that he knew. Moreover, the house was full of books, and once equipped with the tool of reading, Makali Defaru spent much of his time self-learning – absorbing anything and everything he could get his hands on.

He was a prolific and keen learner, and it was soon clear that the school the Fischers had been able to afford for him was unable to accommodate such an advanced intellect.

But Makali Defaru’s adoptive parents were reluctant to take him out of the school, as they considered the socialising elements essential for Makali Defaru’s future wellbeing. So although both Makali Defaru’s adoptive parents and teachers fully acknowledged that the glowing boy in their charge far surpassed their own cognitive limitations, Makali Defaru was to stay in school for four years, being allowed to read by himself during lessons, so that he could nonetheless mix with children his own age and lead as normal a life as possible (or as any glowing boy could do so).

Indeed this is what Makali Defaru near enough did. Although his glow was obviously a huge cause of interest to all those around him; one generated and sustained from as soon as Makali Defaru had stepped off the plane and into his adoptive parents’ land (leading to gawking, pointing, and unsuccessful photography), the other children, like those of his village, were soon accommodating of his radiance. And though considered a tad aloof, Makali Defaru was still seemingly able relate to his peers and was likable to them. Indeed, the very fact that he was teased for his glow, just as all children might be for their own in or out group idiosyncrasies, further suggested Makali Defaru was able to assimilate and relate to the wider world.

But Makali Defaru was forever troubled by his luminosity, signalling him out as it did in such a stark manner. Walking on the street, going to a shop, being on a bus – everywhere he went the world saw him and were amazed accordingly. His fame was unwanted, and Makali Defaru wished his glow gone, sometimes trying to scrub it away whilst alone in the bathroom.

His adoptive parents were very supportive, and gave him all the nurture and love they could. But privately they acknowledged to themselves that they would have no understanding of how their adoptive son must have felt, being stared at near constantly, even if Makali Defaru appeared to be very mature about his predicament.

He would tell his adoptive parents that, if it hadn’t been for his glow, he would be as dead as the other children of his village; and that others in the world had much more hardship than he, with afflictions and circumstance much more debilitating.

Such a mature and selfless thinking filled his adoptive parents with both pride and sadness, knowing as they did of Makali Defaru’s tragic past. But his maturity also calmed them, and they had an intrinsic feeling for his safety and future greatness; that they were just to be part of this stage of his life, and that, unlike the usual emotive bonds seen between parent and child, they need never fear on his behalf.

The only real anxiety that Makali Defaru’s adoptive parents had (and especially so Charlotte Fischer), was that he never really seemed to have any expression of emotion.

Makali Defaru was not in any way autistic, and was able to read emotive cues from others and react accordingly. But he was always quite methodical with it, as if he was the controller of an experiment, and that his subjects (that is the people around him), were merely to be observed whilst he forever took notes. But though Makali Defaru tried hard to lessen the impact of this self aware trait, it was still apparantly the case that he was simply separate from everyone else; as if he was on a different plane of humanity (of which of course, (considering his perpetually candescent status), he was).

So Makali Defaru spent some happy years at school, and by his 15th year his, by now, well known scholastic reputation saw many a learned visitor come to his home. He also travelled with his adoptive parents to various universities around the world, spending much time in Europe and the Far East.

His education now consisted exclusively of talking to experts, whereby he would soak up all they knew and then discuss with them the finer points of their discipline; giving feedback and insights that led to unprecedented advancements in the experts’ respective fields.

Indeed Makali Defaru was so noted in having the ability to steer each and every expert to discover new things, it led some to ask whether it was in fact the experts themselves who had made such discoveries by their own volition, or if it was instead the case that Makali Defaru had had the answers all along, and was simply manipulating the scientists and other such academic leaders to thinking otherwise. (Considering his constant desire to be treated as a normal person, this viewpoint is quite reasonable, as it is unlikely Makali Defaru would have wished for even further attention by claiming such discoveries to his name.)

Either way, over the following years, the effect of Makali Defaru’s input was that huge advancements were made in medicine, physics, biology and the chemical sciences; as well as better understandings in theology, philosophy and human psychology in later years; ones greatly impacting approaches to social policies and social organization.

Such was his expertise and ability revered in the world’s scientific and academic community, that one of the world’s leading biologists of the time, Professor Hugh Metcalf, described Makali Defaru as ‘(…glow or no glow…) the most precocious little shit he’d ever met’ (as quoted from ‘The Defaru Interviews’ (2293)).

The only area that Makali Defaru refused to give any of his cognitive contributions to was weapons research and production, although he was certainly pressured to do so by his adoptive nation’s military.

Taking into account the fate of his parents and village, this was understandably a reasoned position to take. But, as in line with all of Makali Defaru’s thinking, this was not a decision reached through emotive means, and Makali Defaru certainly wrestled with the attractive notion that he could potentially develop a weapon that could end the war that the world was being subjected to.

But Makali Defaru also reasoned that, aside from the weapon falling into the wrong hands, humans were forever going to argue whose hands the wrong hands belonged to.

He therefore reached the conclusion that the suffering currently felt was never to end unless it was by the will of all involved. So much to the calls of many to end the war, it appears from later interview that Makali Defaru thought it necessary to continue the conflict until the human race itself was able to cease the misery it was putting on its own shoulders; to meet exhaustion so as to end all fighting once and for all, and not to rely, yet again, on an external weapon to simply end a present conflict just for another to take its place (‘The Defaru Interviews’ (2293) as taken from Harrison interview (2291)).

Makali Defaru thus used his intellect to advance mankind in all areas except war making, and some of his most notable contributions were in clean energy production (one being a means of capturing the minuscule energy potential of various unicellular processes, as amplified over the expanse of the oceans); more efficient solar, wind and tidal energy capture; the increasing of crop yields and robustness of strains without the negative effects of monoculture promotion; increased efficiency in electric motors and near frictionless transportation systems; several major breakthroughs in the understanding of microbiological processes (leading to the greater manipulation of cell growth and enabling the near 100% non-rejection of cross species organ transplant); the strengthening and facilitated decomposition of plastics, and (perhaps most importantly), the neo-structuralism of global economic systems, though all of which the benefits were not to be enjoyed worldwide for sometime after his input due to the unrelenting war.

However, with such an unprecedented individual input into the world of science, it was little surprise that even the most hardened sceptic wasn’t thinking that Makali Defaru’s brain was more likely a conduit for a much higher power, than simply a very clever human one.

Makali Defaru achieved much of these achievements before his 20th birthday, and by this age he seemed to be entering a different stage of his life. The proceeding years had been a good distraction for Makali Defaru, and his being feted by the scientific community, along with the travelling, had pushed his glow and feelings of alienation aside, even if by only a little.

Sometimes, whilst spending the whole day meeting with scientists, or being at a conference whereby he was being looked at because of the content of his speech (as opposed to just his appearance), he would forget that he glowed, and was only reminded of it when looking in a hotel bathroom mirror.

But it now appeared that he had given science all what he could (or given all he had wanted to give, though no one really knew either way). And now that Makali Defaru had given mankind so much, he needed some space to develop into his next level of understanding. And for all of his scientific endeavours, Makali Defaru fell into a depression.

His glow was again obvious to him; made him very self-conscious once more, and his scientific input seemed to fall short of his high standards. His depression made him realize he needed to learn what he was currently without; namely, wisdom.

So he withdrew from the world. And knowing of their adopted son’s feelings, the Fischers began shielding him from the world’s scientific institutions (although as Makali Defaru had given said institutions such an abundance of knowledge, along with such solid platforms with which to advance even further from, the scientific community was able to respect his decision and left him be for a while). He thus spent around two months out of the world’s own glare.

Two things happened in this stage of Makali Defaru’s life.

Firstly, he returned to asking questions rather than giving answers. He moved away from science and began asking his adoptive parents more philosophical and theological questions instead. And knowing from experience that it was going to be extremely soon by when their limited theological understanding would be beneath Makali Defaru’s mind, they encouraged him to speak to the philosophers and theologians of the day.

He thus began meeting with experts again; religious leaders and philosophers from around the globe, which gave Makali Defaru exposure to Eastern and Western traditions and philosophical systems, along with an understanding of how such systems gave humanity a concept of the world, outside of the realm of science.

As it was with the scientists, Makali Defaru listened, understood, and then gave back the knowledge he’d been told with more insight than the philosophers and theologians had been privy to until then.

Most ironically, his glow (historically a must-have item for all self-respecting prophets – be it from east or west), was more of a hindrance than asset with the men of faith.

The major religions were defensive of their own creeds. And as Makali Defaru surely must have lain outside of them, they found him quite a threat to their historic writings, belief practices and rituals, making it very difficult for what should have been a near certain (and glowing) prophet victory.

On the other hand, though he willingly subjected himself to many a controlled experiment*, as Makali Defaru’s glow was inexplicable to science, the philosophical atheists, the very people Makali Defaru wanted on his side (in view of his desire to be considered normal), thought him otherworldly and, by extension, of divine origin. (Convincing the atheists to not give up their scientific reasoning was a real challenge for Makali Defaru.)

(*At this point in his life, with the world’s best scientists and research facilities at his disposal, Makali Defaru attempted to investigate his glow, hypothesizing that it was a result of possible symbiotic bio-luminescent photobacterium present in his physiology. (Such reasoning was, in part, based on Makali Defaru’s notable salt consumption.)

The biologist he worked with, Dr Joanne Freda, wrote extensive case notes on their research though, true to her word, only released them on Makali Defaru’s death.

However their studies revealed no evidence of such luminescent bacteria, whereby Makali Defaru’s request for the data to be suppressed was presumably in line his wish to be considered as normal as possible (the finding of such bacteria having suggested there was an organic (thus worldly) explanation for his condition). (See Freda, J. & Defaru, M. (2262) Symbiotic Photobacterium leiognathi and Photobacterium phosphoreum in Human Cell Systems; as published in the New World Journal of Bacterial Sciences (July, 2312). (This is the only known case of Makali Defaru’s self-investigation into his condition.))

But his glow aside, Makali Defaru fully convinced even the most ardent of believers and non-believers alike that the errors and presumptions of a deity or non-deity that they’d had, had needed their revised thought nonetheless.

The result was a general fusing of philosophical and theological thought between all men who met him. And these men, in turn, spoke of such thinking to others, and these men to others still.

Bridges were being built between faiths and philosophical systems; and though specific differences sometimes remained (usually ritual based), the overarching unity achieved through Makali Defaru meant that, though the roads travelled might have still differed, the one destination was now clearly the same for all.

However, this development upset Makali Defaru quite a lot, as he could see that messianic claims were already starting to be put upon him; the very thing he did not want to happen considering his ever present wish to lead as normal a life as possible.

Though the men of science had tended to hear and focus on Makali Defaru’s scientific reasoning first and foremost (his glow taking second place to this, and most likely a reflection of their objectivity); the philosophers and theists, conversely, found his aura central, it being a major aspect of Makali Defaru’s overall and holistic contribution to their thinking (and especially so for those of eastern traditions, whereby glows tended to feature very strongly in deity identification).

Their disciplines were by nature subjective, being observations on the human condition, and so they were less able to employ the detachment that the men of science could. Put simply, when the person telling you about the possibility or not of a god glows, it is very much more difficult to separate the glow from the message.

This unfortunately led to Makali Defaru to become more deeply depressed, he fearing that he would not only never lead a normal life, but it would be a life of constant pressure to find answers to questions that could never have the simplicity of the scientific method. (‘The Defaru Interviews’ (2293) as taken from Harrison interview (2291).)

Science was easy; with clear and definite answers that were either supported or refuted through control. Faith, philosophy and belief systems were complicated, with no clear answers, and needing a sophistication of thought that Makali Defaru knew he didn’t presently have, nor indeed might ever.

So he withdrew from the experts once more, they too respecting his decision for space.

(Though usually overlooked in later biographies of Makali Defaru, some revisionists have suggested that, at this time (and as with most young men of that age), Makali Defaru may have simply been depressed and frustrated with regards to women, and that unfulfilled, mundane lust may have been more of a contributor to his mood than otherwise loftier reasons (e.g. Hollande, 2463). However there is no known evidence to confirm or reject this idea.)

The second thing Makali Defaru did at this stage of his life was to play chess: in fact, he played a great deal of chess.

He had been taught the game by his adopted father in his 11th year, and had beaten the then world’s grand master back in his 12th; along with three independently designed computer programs from three different research institutes.

His ability was once calculated as being able to plan 35 (non-forced) moves ahead; a phenomenal feat that led to no other chess champion wanting to challenge him (instead keeping a respectful distance); nor any computer development researchers wishing to claim superiority of their own brand of organized silicon intelligence over his organic.

He therefore began to play against himself; with the solitude it brought distracting him from his differences to those around him. And unknown to anyone but himself, Makali Defaru found the chessboard a satisfying means by which to understand his world (‘The Defaru Interviews’ (2293) as taken from Harrison interview (2291)).

He told in interview of how he had found solace in the simple geometry of the board, whereby the bi-chromatic squares somehow gave him a certain peace of mind as they complimented each other; with the countless possible mathematical ratios, from to the first to the last, or the third to the third from last, or fifth from last, giving him a cognitive peace. This in turn was coupled with the infinite possibilities of what could be achieved with the actual pieces upon it; how the move of one seemingly weaker piece could change the fate of everything beyond it: a pawn bringing down a king, if its fate was so given.

Pondering such endless alternative outcomes kept Makali Defaru occupied for hours each day, and his adoptive parents often became worried. His adoptive mother would always bring him up a sandwich and ask if he’d like to watch a funny television program or do a puzzle with them. (Even though Makali Defaru could solve such puzzles in 30 seconds, his maturity in these sorts of things still meant he’d discuss the answers with them, as per the purpose of actually doing the puzzle with others.)

But Makali Defaru always assured them of his well being, which his adoptive father took as read, even though his adoptive mother, perhaps as only mothers can, knew that he was upset deep down. She thus handed him the sandwich, told him that she