Angelos Odyssey

By J. B. M. Patrick

Angelos Odyssey is an epic centered around a cast of diverse and psychologically complex characters who undergo story arcs while living in the Citadel.

The Citadel itself is an advance in human technology, having allowed an entire nation of millions to hover suspended above a world ravaged by conflict and the fallout from a prior apocalypse. The Citadel belongs to the Dawn Federation, who posit themselves as a civilization above all others; however, the characters in the story discover that human nature and its worst vices are inescapable.

The primary protagonist is Tavon, an assassin who uses his fists to eliminate targets as he struggles to rise to the lucrative rank of Death Officer 1 in the Angelos Association. His companions include: Brock, a failing paramedic and military veteran suffering from PTSD; Aaliyah, the Citadel's most brilliant detective and possibly her Bureau's most effective markswoman; Silo, an android hiding his identity while living out a double existence as the playboy CEO of a social media company; and Raiko, a confused youth imprisoned for attempting to save his friend's life.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. B. M. Patrick
• Release date: Aug 25, 2017
• ISBN: 9780692943342

J. B. M. Patrick

J. B. M. Patrick was previously an Emergency Medical Technician before enlisting in the United States Army as part of its Infantry. He was stationed at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and became certified in Air Assault Operations (involved rappelling from helicopters, inspecting sling loads, and coordinating aircraft landings), Biometrics, Robotics, and joined his company’s Intelligence Support Team. As part of CoIST, he integrated link diagram analyses and a working knowledge of signalling technology to prepare himself and others to combat insurgency operations.Following the completion of his contract, J. B. M. Patrick discovered that his passion resided in both writing and lifting. He is now the author of Angelos Odyssey, a futuristic epic he believes will span at least eight volumes. He plans on making his dream of a post-apocalyptic series containing authentic and realistic character development a reality.You can find Angelos Odyssey on multiple platforms: Ingram, Kindle, CreateSpace, and Smashwords.To see J. B. M. Patrick's regular posts, follow him on Instagram at weightsteaandpublishing and on Blogger at jbmpatrick.blogspot.com.

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2

First Light

MY NAME IS JANELLE. I was real once, like you.

Year 2320.

Before the end of the world, I remember watching the news.

An anchor delivered a story about soldiers closing in around GAIA Headquarters, located far in the mountains—only a few hours drive from where I lived. I always wondered what they were up to, as GAIA was mandated as an off-limits facility to the public and extremely evasive about the nature of their work.

I guess you could say I was happy with life the way it was—I mean, I was stubborn enough to stay behind in my part of town after everyone began escaping in droves. All major cities were experiencing the same mass evacuation under the impression that the government would protect them. That is, once they’d escaped their respective, often smaller settlements.

But there was no way out.

The Chairman of GAIA, known as Doctor Hideyoshi Keung, had played a tragic joke on us. We spectated as some hideous animal took up every possible media outlet in the area; the creature was screeching incomprehensibly and in a disturbing fashion as it glared at the public. I felt like he was staring at me—hungrily looking at my family. When the broadcast stopped, I knew there was something bad happening, but I couldn't foresee it in time.

Not long after, people began talking about leaving the city; they wanted to find shelter from what they feared would be global conflict. GAIA was the primary reason, and they’d been surrounded by military forces from two different governments. Despite this, nothing was being done. To me, it felt like an unfounded superstition…

Demons.

Demons in this world.

And so, I'd put off travel plans for months despite my husband's insistence otherwise. He bought into the whole thing and wanted to stay away from the city in case it was hit. My husband was paranoid of reactionary governments scurrying to locate a solution to an unsolvable problem.

Every day we held some measure of fear, because our peaceful future no longer felt granted to us. How much time did we really have before the war reached its conclusion?

It was evening when I'd gotten back from my interview from one of the only local businesses brave enough to remain open in spite of the threat. The company owned a higher tier cafe which had profited enough to the extent that they paid a decent amount in exchange for good, unapocalyptic customer service. I was so focused on this position, on contributing my part to support my family, because I'd been so out of touch after having had our son I'd forgotten what it felt like to earn something on my own.

While I was feeling blissful about this new opportunity, my husband—a man constantly on guard—kept shouting at me to come with him as he took our son and even the family dog to flee the town. He was too kind to really force me to do anything.

I wanted to drown out his voice, because I wasn't going to leave our home no matter what anyone said. I tried to stop him and convince our family to stick together… I begged, but I couldn't remove an obvious terror inherent in the looks they gave me. They'd seen something.

And they wouldn't tell me.

Instead, I was told I was insane for wanting to stay behind—but where would we go, I thought. If the world had truly come to this, then I wanted to enjoy the time we had left and make life the way it was before dread permeated our society. It felt like our last days together, but I stayed hopeful about the future…

I didn’t realize then how wrong I was.

My husband always said that he didn't trust media bullshit, and he delivered constant reminders of why he thought our society was fundamentally corrupt. Now, he was prepared beg those in charge for his safety; he was going to place our child's life into the hands of people he once treated like our enemies. Odd how quickly people are willing expose their true natures when confronted with disaster.

I tried to hold on to my son, but the man I'd married easily took him away from me. My feelings, my concerns didn’t matter to him, and he rushed to get in the truck on which we were both still barely affording payments. When I’d been left there, I retreated onto the back porch alone to watch what I initially believed was some sort of show put on by someone—maybe a group wanting to celebrate the End.

I felt my curiosity begin a rapid transition into a feeling that clawed at my stomach. I could barely breathe as my heart rate began to triple in speed and the realization set in that I truly was in danger. I was the most terrified I’d ever been in my life.

I recall that I couldn't stop shaking; my knees had locked and weakened before I was compelled to get on the ground as the Earth itself quaked around me.

—The power went out in our home.

A large section of the skies looked as if it were the pane of an opaque window having been very subtly cracked. Between the myriad crevices of this astral mirror, a bright and blinding light radiated before pulsating in a constant rhythm. It preceded a great storm; one which submerged and isolated the flow of time itself in its immensity.

I was pelted not with rain but with fragments of hail of varying sizes—some sharp enough that my skin was almost pierced upon contact. Although I noticed that I'd begun to bleed from a particular spot on my forearm, I couldn't stop watching as the clouds froze in position before expanding to saturate the skies completely. Then, I bared witness to the glass shattering and giving way to brilliant illumination…

The First Rift.

I didn't look away in time, and the vision faded away in my left eye. I screamed as tears streamed down my face.

Suddenly, the earth trembled with such violence that I was thrown off balance and fell onto our porch railing where I slipped and hit the ground. The impact almost made me forget everything. I was sent into a peaceful but short slumber.

-

Once I awoke, I was instantly assaulted by a rather severe headache. I’d thought it all a bad dream for a fleeting moment in time—and then I was tormented by the following vision, made to see what my world had become:

Smaller panes of damaged glass had appeared in numerous quantities throughout the universe and filled my sight with the image of looming panes hovering in the atmosphere and shattering to uncover a force I didn’t understand. A force echoing forlornly into our world.

I looked toward the mountains where the GAIA facility had once stood to now see only an immense, dark form in likeness to an abnormally immense twister. I heard diverse noises from hundreds of vehicle alarms chiming along with bloodcurdling screams issuing from the center of my home city. I shuddered to think what could have produced those desperate cries, and I quickly gathered my belongings before hurrying to find the only place in which I could take real comfort:

The chapel.

It was located in the eastern district, and I believed that it would be the safest place to hide as I endured this nightmare. My family and I’d made a habit of going to the chapel every Sunday; it was the only place that truly gave me any lasting peace. Regardless of what was going on in my life, and more so when my son was diagnosed with a terminal illness, I’d take off work early to go and pray. Pray that he would find happiness in this world no matter what.

He didn't get enough time…

I wanted, more than anything, to be with my family. I was scared… for all of us.

I knew we had another car in the garage, one that my husband had kept maintained only for special occasions. I hurried to its location to find that the vehicle been forced against the wall due to the strength of consecutive earthquakes, and its right side had been crushed inward. I eased myself into the driver's seat and tried to start it anyways, realizing that I’d very few options now. Miraculously, I was able to twist the ignition to the ambience of a working engine. I drove onto the streets of the town.

But when I saw It, I broke out into a frigid sweat chilling my skin… a sensation I can't forget even now.

An enlarged, malformed and bat-like head.

Below its snout was set a broad jaw lined with massive, yellowed teeth atop which beamed two immense, pitch black eyes emanating feral rage. Its head was attached to a tall, slender, and emaciated grey body disturbingly humanoid in appearance. This creature used its pair of elongated, bony digits to pierce the leg of a man who 'd failed to get away from the terrible entity! His scream was shrill… harrowing as the beast hefted him in the air before it fed the man's upper torso into its mandible. The abomination bit down on the body, which flailed desperately, before ravenously tearing through its prey’s spine. The lower trunk of the corpse fell to the ground as it spouted torrents of blood.

I pressed harder on the gas pedal to cruise over a sidewalk preceding a road. I then witnessed as a faceless giant brought a colossal portion of its body onto the hood of a car speeding in front of me. I watched as tentacled appendages coated in a black fur emerged from its body as they broke through the driver's window, tightened two victims within their grasp, and slung the passengers into the walls of buildings next to me!

Panicked yelling was among the last sounds they uttered. Cries perpetuated by the sounds of bones crunching and all but bursting open as their figures became scarlet stains upon outlines of brick.

I proceeded to speed around the thing's body, a being that had sprung from a widened manhole leading to the sewer passages below us. I narrowly escaped just as I'd accidentally drawn its attention and accelerated as one of its appendages reached out for me.

Even after I'd gotten away and hastily driven up the street ahead, I was stunned once more while I was forced to avoid a series of what looked like overgrown rodents… rats feasting on dozens of corpses strewn across a road marred by potholes and broken concrete. Fallen street lamps, park forest oaks, and other forms of debris had taken their toll on the victims following the storm, and the resulting demons took advantage of the weak; they devoured and demolished everything daring to stand in their path.

One of the bodies cried out as a rodent beast closed in around his neck with its maw; his pleading became quickly muffled, and I was helpless to do anything about it.

I had to get out of here.

There was a sharp, piercing squeal produced from one of my vehicle's tires crushing a smaller rat creature. This caused all remaining rubber on the wheel to begin tearing away from the steel it surrounded. My vehicle slowed and shook with the loss of a tire, and I was prevented from going forward when the street ahead exploded skyward!

A colossal, slug-like figure emerged. It bore a grotesque, contorted face of a humanoid male; I noticed pale white pupils and small antennae jutting from its skull. I froze and watched as the monster opened its jaws to devour both a woman falling from her motorcycle and the entirety of small car—both of which slid down its massive body as the slug moved onward. It demonstrated incredible agility while leaving a trail of blood and slime in its wake.

I responded by grabbing a bat I’d always kept in the car and getting out after distancing myself from the rats in order to find safety wherever I could. With the town in this shape, the chapel might’ve already been destroyed. I fled down a narrow street and found myself surrounded by both burning homes and the sounds of others calling out in the distance. In the background, there resounded the echoes of explosions coupled with gunfire. Military forces responded to the present threat, but… there remained little success. Their bullets couldn't touch them, hurt them.

Ahead of me loomed hundreds of more corpses. I saw a face belonging to someone nameless with half its skin removed to expose a skull that had been caved in before the contents within were ravaged and consumed by another rodent. I sprinted past severed arms still spasming on the concrete and carcasses torn of every other extremity.

A woman with a broken ankle had begun shooting at small, two-headed animals with scaled, reptilian bodies. The herd of them contained tails equipped with stingers that repeatedly stabbed into her calves until she slowly succumbed to a paralysis. Afterwards, a wave of them covered her form and voraciously devoured their prey.

I ran, hoping that I would find another vehicle that hadn't been destroyed—hoping that there was still some semblance of order left in the world. News stations, which were broadcasted every day and simultaneously on both radio as well as monitors littered throughout the area, had gone completely silent. It appeared that all outside contact had been cut off from the local population.

Finally, I located the chapel, now crushed and desecrated, and stopped in place when witnessing a black cloud spreading from the ruins.

In the eye of the gathering storm, I saw a tall, faceless woman garbed in all black and sporting dark hair that resembled tendrils which writhed and shuddered in the air. Exposed was a pale, featureless plane overlaying a broad skull; she uttered a gut-wrenching scream when she spotted me approaching. I dropped my bat and had to immediately force myself to function as the cloud surrounding the woman crept toward me.

An inviting cold. The promise of an endless night.

I turned and sprinted deeper into a valley on the very outskirts of the town—toward the hills where I might be able to obtain a view of a place not besieged by these… these spawns borne from another world. I’d never imagined something like this could invade our reality, creatures only foretold and described in legends. The truth: humanity's own nature had turned upon itself; our reckoning was near.

The woman's shriek followed me, and so I pressed my palms against my eardrums and moved with the most speed I could garner. I couldn’t breathe; I was exhausted, but I had to live. I had to find my family and make sure they were safe.

As I traveled up a steep road, I noticed more bodies littered over damaged vehicles with shards of glass scattered upon the blood-and-sweat-drenched streets before me. Some had leaped to their deaths to avoid an unpleasant end and still others had gone out fighting. I was fortunate enough to discover a combat shotgun left by a police officer. His body revealed a stump once connected to a head that had been decapitated. Behind me, the dark storm had grown and lurked ever closer. It ebbed and flowed around buildings uprooted from the earth along with the cadavers of both humans and animals being tossed around limply.

The Earth was being torn apart by this deadly phenomenon; the citizens… they were defenseless. Seeing them suffer didn’t feel real, but it was. Their bodies so tense. Expressions distressed to the extent that they were all that was visible amongst features dwarfed by their own terror. To see them so freely thrown through the air…

—I-I couldn't bear it.

Hardly even now.

My heart pounded rapidly, and my hands struggled to hold onto my newfound weapon as the trigger well had been drenched in my own nervous sweat. Without paying attention, a car suddenly swerved around me only to plunge into a crowd of refugees who’d also been fleeing in the same direction! After crashing through the large gathering, the driver spun out of control, and his screaming form hurtled lethally into the side of a residential house.

I pressed onward despite the sorrow in my heart and thought only of Them; I was doing this for Them.

I followed a larger man in front of me who’d slowed from exhaustion after having sprinted for a lengthy period of time. He abruptly started cursing and pulled out a revolver that he hurriedly aimed at a massive shadow hanging eerily in the air. It suddenly expanded and revealed itself as a fearsome raven that swiftly grasped the man's head in its immense, razor-edged claws and twisted to promptly snap his neck. His lifeless body was then carried off into the skies above without further sound or resistance.

After pressing forward, I discovered another abandoned car in which the elderly driver possessed no visible injuries; he’d gone into cardiac arrest probably thinking he was going insane. I clasped my hands underneath his arms and moved his body onto the road before shifting the car’s automatic transmission and accelerating up into the hills.

Eventually, the sounds of screaming became fainter; however, gunshots grew ever more frequent outside of the town. I was slowly but surely venturing into the open plains which ended in an area overlooking an ocean. I grew even more fearful despite no longer bearing witness to the endless death toll and creatures roaming within my old city. Following a brief reprieve while on the road, I observed similar abnormal events occurring across the rest of the world. Black storms had multiplied across the Earth, along with lightning that arced down to spread fire and across the land. I felt terror within when viewing towering silhouettes dotting the landscape: giants of incredible stature heralding from another reality far from this one.

Dr. Keung destroyed the world.

And I was due to come across the most curious sight yet.

Within the hills sprawled a tundra upon which a struggle currently raged, and I witnessed men and women wearing the uniforms of the Globalist Army while assaulting a legion twice their size in numbers. Upon further inspection, I noticed the enemy legion dressed in gleaming armor that I’d never seen before—armor worn by a species bulkier and significantly taller than a normal human. It seemed to be another animal or, quite possibly, a horde of demons marching across the horizon. A horde threatening to establish dominion. They planned to slaughter us.

Some of them carried conventional firearms, whereas others wielded weapons from a time when melee was the traditional style of combat. They began sustaining both bullets and surviving the impact of mortar blasts from the Globalist battalion…

Then they commenced their own advance.

Their progression was slow, initially; despite this, they were covering ground in what seemed to be a death march that would end in the annihilation of the human race. I watched as several demons finally succumbed to brutal wounds, but their persistence as a force was earning them increasingly more territory. This allowed them to begin what soon became a melee assault upon the mobilized unit, and soldiers were suddenly confronted with an overwhelmingly powerful new threat. Something that none of them could handle in close combat.

They were mauled… ravaged… eaten…

The horde subjugated the battalion as it continued a destructive path through their ranks and began ripping ferociously through anything remotely hostile. I'd thought it was a form of warfare—creatures sent by the Isolationists, who’d vehemently opposed the Globalists, but no faction possessed the capabilities to bring such monstrosities into this universe.

A stray bullet smashed through the front window shield and buried itself into the middle of the backseat!

I was stunned momentarily but ultimately shocked back into reality, and I drove away from the desolate scene. Now I knew why no one could come to help us… the doctor had condemned us all.

Once outside of the area, I attempted to tune into local radio stations to check if there was anyone genuinely safe. I browsed for an active channel, but there remained only a static silence that penetrated any sense of composure I had left. I continued driving for a short time and avoided the regions which had been most tainted by the First Rift.

Then, I remember seeing it in the distance…

A truck. Our truck.

I slammed on the brakes and stopped behind my husband before rushing to get out of the car. I had to control my breathing in order to brace myself, but I had to see them—they had to be safe. He wouldn’t let anything happen to my son; besides, he'd made it so far! I still believed in him.

Although we'd had our differences, I always loved my husband—and thinking about our history together quickly gave me the confidence I needed to go to him. Maybe I couldn't forgive him for everything, but with only little time left in this world I'd wake up that idiot and let him know I was coming along for the ride.

With bold and renewed energy, I hurried up to the driver's side and peered through the slightly fogged window to see…

3

Body and Soul

-

Tavon

-

A FIERY PIT…

Whispering, screeching emanating from a vortex which generates powerful gusts. I look toward the skies for an escape and see the symbol of a blood-stained eye etched into the heavens. My fear overcomes me, but I urge myself to move forward—forward into a wall of dark winds that threaten to sweep me into their formidable embrace. They become a shroud over me, and all I can feel is a frigid sensation quickly washing over my nerves.

I drown in the void.

I’m shivering violently as I proceed onto a rugged path which winds its way to the edge of a tall cliff. My body becomes heavy; still, I press on through the oppressive climate before coming to a halt.

There’s a figure garbed in an old cloak, which has withered against the constant, cold breeze. I try to call out to him, but I cannot find the words to speak. I try to move, but my legs collapse beneath me; my strength fails me, and I ache. It's as if the weight of a hundred boulders have found their homes upon my back, and I barely possess the willpower to look up.

But when I do, the stranger is suddenly closer.

He’s an elderly man—perhaps older than Time in its entirety. All that’s apparent is that tears run in a steady, unending stream down his features, and he gazes at me as though his inner demeanor is far removed from his outward expression. The workings of his mind are inexplicable. I notice short, greying hair along with a series of folds and wrinkles in his skin produced from the effects of more than mere decades of enormous anxiety.

Despair was written across the old man’s demeanor.

You can't save her. He says. You can't save anyone; your heart remains empty. The old man's voice strengthens into a bellowing echo. He looks at me accusingly, as if he were God deciding my fate. You’ve become hollow. Forsaken love! the elder sneers before chuckling bitterly through his tears; he rapidly reforms his expression into a fixed, abnormal grin. His teeth have all but worn away.

His voice returns to its normal pitch: You will meet Judgment soon, and you will be punished. You are bound to your iniquities, and you will be made to agree.

His image fades away, and, following his disappearance, I’m confronted with…

Myself.

Millions of silhouettes resembling me arrive in abundance as they charge toward my location! A rage builds inside, but the fiercer the rage the less I’m able to stand.

The horde washes over me in a fury! And I—!

Tavon! A voice shocks me awake.

-

My eyes peer around drearily before I hear it once more:

Tavon! Shut the fuck up!

It’s Brock again.

-

Janelle

-

Tavon awoke in the condo assigned to him, drenched in sweat and unable to move.

His best friend, Brock, entered the room in awkwardly tight long johns bearing a faded stain from last night's dinner and looked rather irritated.

Fuck. he sighed, almost apologetically, before forcefully speaking up again, I told you that you gotta quit this shit! I TOLD you that killing just isn't your game, Tavon; you've got too much compassion—and now I gotta deal with you waking me the fuck up every night?! You rant, dude; you keep asking questions out loud that I can hear a room over! Brock scowled while folding his arms. I don't know the answers, brother—so stop asking me. Go back to sleep or stay up or whatever… he waved him away, —just stop being so fucking loud. Brock slammed the door and was heard stomping grumpily back to his own room.

Brock was generally a good person.

But also… very temperamental.

The feeling having returned to his body at last, Tavon stood disgusted that he would have to wash his sheets yet again due to the sheer amount of sweat after his constant nightmares. He decided that he would take a long shower and gather his thoughts although it was only four-thirty in the morning and several hours before he'd scheduled himself to do anything.

The old man, a vortex, and—most of all—the cold… reoccurring images in every dream he'd had for the past month. Tavon hated the cold; as he was reminded of it, he increased the shower heat and reflected on what everything had meant up to that point. Typically, he wasn't able to sleep—more or so out of habit, as he’d been raised in the Lower-City and spent his youth avoiding the possibility of being robbed or murdered; a life abounded with chaos.

He thought he’d adjusted to his new line of work, but their faces persisted in his memory, and the only reason Tavon could sleep and dream now was that he knew a vision was stalking him. Tavon inspected his arm and noticed some of Boa’s blood. Boa, who’d turned out to be Genod's own personal driver. He ruminated and stood for a moment as the water rushed over him. To Tavon, it was a cathartic sensation, as if his transgressions were forgiven as the assassin washed away his impurities.

There’d been countless dead left at the scene and more in Tavon's history ever since he'd moved up in the criminal underworld, becoming a killer enlisted by a private company known as Angelos. He also noticed next to no soreness in his body from his prior skirmish with Portis despite having received multiple heavy hits. Tavon hadn't given himself time to train since he'd been focusing on increasing his kill count for Angelos.

The claw marks across his body began healing into scars and faded to a mild discomfort. He stepped out of the shower, yawned, and stretched before lazily walking over to a large mirror and taking some time to peer at his own relatively emotionless reflection.

Tavon had kept his facial hair trimmed and tight to his face, looking more like a darker outline than a field of stubble. His barber had done right by him and given him the best high fade he’d sported in months; a cut complementing dense, dark curls. His eyes exuded a grey hue known for their ability to instill feelings of both fear and trust in people he’d just met, and they often altered into a darker shade whenever he was engaged in combat. Tavon stood at five feet and seven inches with a slender but athletic frame and retained the silhouette of a Bengal tiger tattooed across the right side of his rib cage. This image was the only affiliation Tavon still shared with the now nonexistent Meiziki Clan, an influential syndicate that was once considered capable of dominating the Lower-City's criminal underworld.

He looked to his right and noticed a half-empty bottle of cognac on the corner of the counter surrounding the sink. Brock went through phases where he couldn't stop drinking and left bottles of alcohol everywhere; afterwards, he'd be absolutely clean for a few months before going down the same road again.

Why is a grown man leaving this mess everywhere he goes.

Though plenty would’ve happily given him the title, Tavon was not a monster; rather, he possessed an unnatural potential. At this point in his life, he’d met few like him, and so Tavon considered the possibility he wasn't fully human despite looking as much like a normal human would. The assassin took a moment to care for his teeth before proceeding to his wardrobe to choose from a small selection of outfits that had survived his growing number of completed contracts.

Tavon groaned, I'll need more clothes soon; Portis ripped up the last jacket I had AND my last decent shirt—wait… He noticed a white button-up with a dark brown right chest pocket coupled with a pair of tan trousers. Tavon quickly checked the weather on the massive monitor in his room: seventy degrees and sunny.

This'll do for today.

He got dressed before slipping on a pair of durable running shoes and checked his appearance again to ensure that he’d be capable of blending in with everyone else in the Citadel.

Overall, his most recent targets had been some of the easiest he'd encountered. Tavon had expected Boa to be a figure of importance considering his previous victim was merely a vehicle mechanic. His employer, Angelos, existed as a profitable entity whose use had long ago been sanctioned by the Dawn Federation: the governing body of the Citadel. Despite the occasional weakling, Angelos was reputable for providing high profile opponents; opportunities for assassins to grow if they didn’t perish on the job.

Tavon headed into the kitchen where he began prepping a breakfast big enough for both himself and Brock. On the news, he viewed various authorities huddled around numerous charred corpses at an abandoned hotel. The hotel was located by police in Zone B of the Mid-City after they’d received a plethora of calls from those who'd witnessed the impact radius of the explosion.

The children, who’d separated from the other trafficking victims, were taken into custody.

Maybe the Federation can do more for them than it did for me…

He heard Brock slam his foot on the ground to let him know he was being too loud, but Tavon only turned the volume up and even began humming as he lit a pipe stuffed with hashish. Brock wasn’t a part of Angelos, but the organization had provided the assassin with living quarters spacious enough to house two. Tavon sneaked his longtime friend in and provided him with a home.

Brock once again stumbled out of his room and bellowed: What have I told you about smoking in the house, TAVON? What did I say, huh?

Sheesh. Tavon brushed him off. If it's my turn to cook breakfast, then I'll get it done how I want. We're not married, B.

Brock shook his head. The sun hasn't even come up and you already want to try me today… he exhaled in disappointment. How can you even smoke that garbage? It's got to affect your health or something, right?

I'm not worried, Tavon responded nonchalantly, It's kept me sane through your nagging. At least I don't leave out bottles all over the pl—

Fuck you. Brock sneered. Wake me up in an hour. He turned back toward his room. I can’t see how Aaliyah puts up with you.

She ain't my keeper! Tavon shouted, I don't claim her, do I?

Psh! You don’t mess with nobody else, so lock that shit down. You know she'll beat the hell out of you if there's anyone else… He shut the door behind him.

Tavon shook his head and thought: He's trifling for such a big dude. Never stops running his mouth. Always Complaining.

He finished seasoning a breakfast of egg whites, sausage, bacon, potatoes, and spinach that he blended in a wide skillet. Tavon watched the news while he scarfed down nearly everything he'd cooked. On Channel A, there was a news anchor who belonged to an entirely different, humanoid species having arrived from another world some time ago; they were known as the Hayashi. Hayashi were generally accepted in the Citadel, as they resembled humans enough to often be mistaken for them though they were often taller, grey complected, and as bald as Brock.

The anchor stated that human trafficking had become a growing problem across the country. People were demanding that the Citadel Dawn Federation assemble an effort, in collaboration with the Dawn Bureau, to completely eradicate modern slavery. The anchor cut to a clip of press posing questions pertaining to the rights of non-humans, and a Dawn Bureau representative declared that they would adopt a very controversial stance and support the legitimacy of other species as well as long as no ill-intent was expressed.

Good move.

Another story covered Dar-Tech, the first company to pioneer wholly synthetic agriculture in the Citadel. At this time in history, major corporations in the city-nation as well as its occupied countries had made it possible for humanity to derive its own crops, filter a substance commonly used as a replacement for water, and generate key resources using technology that had been perfected after decades of research. Dar-Tech’s board committee announced their intent to Lead the Federation in diet and nutrition by manufacturing a greater state of health in the country.

A commercial followed the initial report, one advertising automated butlers that ran purely via solar energy—this solar energy being an artificial source the Citadel designed in order to replicate the effects of solar power while lessening the risks inherent in ultraviolet radiation.

The commercial then cut to an advertisement speaking in support of the legal right for a human to marry another similar, sentient species. Tavon changed the channel to a live broadcast displaying detained war refugees from the Citadel's ongoing conflict with its neighboring country, Gaspul. It was reiterated through an unseen speaker that Gaspul was a massive, rural, and ultimately divided country that the military had invaded long ago.

Boring.

He flipped to a sitcom depicting a human, an alienoid, and someone in a fake beast suit all living together in long-running reality television series.

Citadel TV is a joke.

Growing annoyed with his choices, Tavon used his remote to switch over to the Angelos Network Interface where he was directed to access a series of panels inquiring into his personal identity. The A.N.I. quickly checked his location and recognized that he was dwelling in one of the main branches of the Angelos organization, which itself sprawled across several developed countries.

The program then redirected him to log onto what was known as the Core-Man Board.

A.N.I. requested he submit his Angelos Identification Card, a small chip which he inserted into the console before pulling up his Personnel Record:

• Unit: Tavon

• Rank: Core-Man

• Promotion Status: Not Eligible

• Confirmed Kills: 7

• Kills Pending for Confirmation: 2

• Core-Man Ranking: 93

• Outstanding Warrants/Legal Complications: None.

• Remarks: Associate has no public identity or known criminal record.

The Core-Man Ranking compared an associate to the rest of the members within the ranking system. Based on discrete kills within a limited time frame, it constantly updated itself to reflect the new rankings of various operators within the organization.

The next rank to be obtained above Core-Man was the highly lucrative "Death Officer 1," a position offering notoriety as well as a more significant source of income outside of the resources offered by Angelos.

Angelos began as a military group that transitioned from a rustic contracting agency, originally used by small governments in times of war, to a professional hit association. Over time, they became an invaluable tool for despots and democratic councils alike. After drafting the P.A. (Private Use) 120.1-5: Contract of the Deed, the Citadel government allowed Angelos to: have their own discretion in dealing with those wrought with incorrigible malice and bearing intent to harm the public.

Often, low level police investigations into particular Angelos assassins were known to be halted if a reputable associate invoked the Contract of the Deed. However, were a member of Angelos to become too reckless, they'd be surrendered to the authorities as punishment for a marring the image of Angelos. In utilizing this approach, the Association claimed no responsibility for its assassins, who were encouraged to compete for their own success against all odds.

Tavon had spent at least a year garnering attention from Angelos while working for another syndicate, and he’d only been initiated at his current rank through demonstrating remarkable talent. He knew of four established ranks within Angelos:

Foot Soldiers: Members who carried out the most mundane, odd jobs in order to help with the smaller supporting details of the association.

Students: Aspiring assassins who were assigned to lower ranking Death Officers for instruction and who were then forced through hard, extensive training in order to prove their loyalty to the association.

Core-Men: assassins who carried out lesser contracts to fulfill a quota-based system.

And, of course, Death Officers: the strongest members of Angelos who abided by a ranking system ranging from D.O. 1 to D.O. 5.

As a Core-Man, Tavon was assigned a living area owned by Angelos and, instead of very much in terms of money, was mostly compensated in food, amenities, and hashish. For many Core-Men, it was a career worth pursuing as long as they kept up a required quota of one kill per six months with no extensive legal intervention and, to preserve the association’s image, no one positively identifying them as an assassin for each contract.

All contracts assigned to Core-Men were generally within a certain radius of their particular branch, but all contracts assigned to Death Officers required travel to foreign lands in order to find the chosen target. Death Officers were rumored to live in well-kept, isolated areas constructed around the world, had no quotas required of them, and also received a regular, hefty stipend—a sum about which Tavon was very curious to discover. He’d already asked to schedule a meeting with his branch's Grandmaster but was told that he would need a total of ten, confirmed kills in order to prove himself worthy enough to set up a short interview between the two of them.

Tavon needed to show them that he was capable of more; that way, he could leave the city and evolve into a stronger fighter through more harrowing challenges.

He thus switched over to a program set up by Angelos displaying a list of approved contracts—directives approved by an Angel: an unknown messenger who collected the necessary information before making a final decision. The order was then processed by the agency through its own esoteric methods. Tavon’s eyes lit up when he'd discovered a golden opportunity in one of the postings; his heart raced at the thought of this being his tenth definitive mark, and he set about earnestly writing down the details of his next target. He then began mentally prepping himself and considered retrieving something better to wear from his quarters before rejecting the idea altogether as he grabbed a small firearm easily concealable by tucking it into his waist.

He accepted a new contract.

Tavon carelessly banged on Brock's door before quickly heading out into the world at five-forty in the morning.

4

What Happened To The Sunshine

DR. HIDEYOSHI KEUNG DESTROYED EVERYTHING…

Year 2320.

Documents dating before this time period are scarce. History mostly erased… cultures removed from human memory. During this time, Earth was divided into two different political factions after a long reign of collective peace, a result of the remaining nations of the world forming their own respective coalitions.

It began with those who declared themselves to be the Globalists: influential civil leaders who desired a unified government and a world with only one powerful presence established across all borders. Several major powers had become a collective whole after years of territorial disputes following the collapse of now forgotten empires from days past. Following decades of seemingly endless conflict, the forces which emerged from the fog of war declared their sovereignty. In time, they professed their shared belief that humanity could prosper with one ruling body and sought equal justice that could be enforced to its fullest extent.

The Isolationists, however, were a smaller group of nations consisting of a sizable percentage of the world's population who adamantly disagreed with this path. They felt their rivals were too conquest-oriented and pursued values interpreted as overly imperialistic. Isolationists believed this type of unification could lead to a potential totalitarian regime and thus insisted that they remain independent for their own benefit, that their sovereignty was their right. The Isolationists retained their national identities while forming an alliance that stood as the only real obstacle to the Globalist movement. While conflict emerged, there existed a few remaining neutral countries which had little to no interest in supporting either side as well as lacking any type of capable army.

As both major rivals progressively became equipped with devastatingly powerful weaponry at the peak of their development, the Globalists and Isolationists found themselves moving toward potential capable of all but destroying the Earth itself. It was clear that a direct war would assist neither side in their individual goals. Instead, the rival factions transitioned to a technological race which they believed could help them establish enough control by hacking and taking command of the rival coalition's essential facilities. While the Globalists and Isolationists remained locked in a cyber cold war with the very real threat of a nuclear apocalypse looming, scientific and medical communities demanded the right to perform joint research despite the international conflict. To them, it was all in the interests of a Better World.

This resulted in a new resolution made between the two factions that would oversee several new facilities constructed across the globe dedicated to humanity's progress. They pioneered an operation which eventually led to the demise of the human race… most of the world's population was effectively diminished.

And GAIA was responsible. Dr. Keung was responsible.

GAIA developed as partnership committed to the idea of innovating new modes of human transportation as well as preventing future viral epidemics. They believed that this was their chance to prove the power of shared knowledge and cooperation over selfish conflict. Although airborne personal vehicles had been invented and implemented, a man known as Doctor Hideyoshi Keung sought to push the boundaries of mankind's abilities by attempting to make teleportation a reality.

Despite spending more time in his career as a successful physician, Keung transitioned over to the world of Physics to become the Chairman of an organization primed to bring the world to ruin. His ambitions were shared by the Globalists, who believed perfecting teleportation would allow them the opportunity to perform a rapid ambush on the Isolationists worldwide. Globalists decided to hire a private security company to remain on standby and raid the laboratory of GAIA should a new, mission-essential breakthrough ever be discovered. After receiving generous funding from both factions, the Chairman was ordered by them to appoint a Board of Directors: a legislative body with the power to override him if proved necessary. It was a way of keeping Hideyoshi in check were he to pursue something outside the governments' interests.

During the conflict, there was a reoccurring moment known as Crisis Hour; cyclical periods of time when the public of both sides became anxious and hysterical enough to voice their fears concerning what could be a rapidly approaching war. Any further acts of aggression meant a final confrontation that could end everything we knew. In Isolationist nations, a common anthem used to signal Crisis Hour was Ronnie Foster's What Happened To The Sunshine. Following a Crisis Hour, GAIA would be ordered to cease all research so as to observe what had become a universal period of dread.

Research was often ceased for months, derailing a significant amount of GAIA's original planning. This infuriated Hideyoshi, who—several years after its founding—refused an order to once again commence an indeterminate halt on all ongoing research until the unrest had begun to fade, as it always did. The Chairman violated their agreement and began private research involving furniture he'd taken from his own home. Doctor Keung had developed a method to remove portions of matter from one space but was never able to transfer particles where he wanted; usually, he'd only be able to affect half of the original object. Furthermore, whatever he would try to move using GAIA's prototype of his Particle Transfiguration System would always mysteriously disappear.

Hideyoshi's obsession persisted past legal or reasonable limits, and what he discovered was something abominable.

Doctor Keung experienced a paranoia that had him convinced that mass destruction was imminent if he didn't cooperate with the Globalists' efforts. It was their final attempt to unify Earth; selling out the secrets of teleportation to the right side meant that the future could be secured… for everyone. Genuine peace seemed on the horizon at last. Humans could put an end to war once and for all.

Nevertheless, it soon became evident to the Board that Hideyoshi was no longer capable of fulfilling his responsibilities impartially. The Board was a group composed of brilliant minds including Hideyoshi's lover: Camila, a woman already married to someone she often couldn't see due to the Chairman's irregularly long working hours and her spouse’s own busy schedule. Regardless of her relationship with Hideyoshi, the Board of Directors unanimously agreed to petition both factions for the removal of Doctor Keung as Chairman. They sought full authority for the Board, and nearly everyone involved had become suspicious of Hideyoshi's political leanings; after all, he'd been known to rant vehemently against the Isolationists, discouraging a large majority of those who originally supported him.

But to Hideyoshi, his research had to be completed in spite of the consequences. Were the Isolationists to discover he'd conspired with the other side, it could ignite tension damaging enough for the world to fall into disarray.

Out of desperation, the doctor decided to use the Particle Transfiguration System on himself in what could be seen as a suicidal attempt at bolstering his own fame. He’d become convinced that it was possible to transfer particles—that particles could be altered and, in effect, teleported into other realities, other planes of existence. And thus, Hideyoshi attempted a venture to another world.

The doctor did arrive somewhere… but it's not an easy place to understand.

He'd performed a full transfiguration; however, something not from our own world had been seeking him out for some time. Rather than allow Hideyoshi to perish in an abyss of madness, It grasped the doctor and placed him in a dark, unlit room hovering in a vast, unknown expanse outside of reality.

It is here that he met with an entity never intended to make contact with our own plane of existence—much less humans themselves. This Being exuded ill intent and possessed a form Hideyoshi couldn't comprehend. Doctor Keung realized that he was unable to gaze upon It without experiencing what he felt was the loss of his sanity, but the Chairman knew that he'd been given unto the realm of a demon; something capable of doing whatever It pleased. There are many of these entities, all varied and manifesting in different forms and species. Thus, humans categorized them under a simplified term as many of our first interactions with these sentient creatures were often disastrous.

The demon possessed vast knowledge as well as memory transcendent. He recognized Hideyoshi and became increasingly interested in his situation. Because Keung had transfigured himself, a conscious human entity, the barrier between two realities subtly weakened—just enough for this demon to foresee an opportunity that would shatter the divide between our worlds. The first step to the catastrophe that followed consisted of what the demon proclaimed was a Covenant between Hideyoshi and the Entity.

The Chairman, his spirit broken by what he felt was a betrayal by Camila, was promised the power and knowledge normally granted to a demon in exchange for transfiguring himself once more. The Entity was able to open a passage back to our plane of existence, but it was one It was incapable of passing through Itself at that time until the Covenant was honored.

Hideyoshi had expected this new Gift to make him into something magnanimous; a more powerful, charismatic being. However, the newly-formed deal saw him undergo a transformation which horrified any who happened to look upon him…

The Chairman had become wedged between two realities, and the resulting image was the broken perversion of a human body wailing eerily rather than speaking. Although he'd been tragically morphed and could no longer form any words, Hideyoshi retained his cognition and was competent enough to begin preparations for the second transfiguration.

It was at this time that Camila had also arrived to apologize for siding against Keung and had considered offering him a position on the Board of Directors after his resignation was finalized. For support, she'd brought with her two other members of the staff, but they immediately attempted to flee in terror upon viewing the creature he'd become. His new ability allowed him to create an invisible barrier capable of trapping inhabitants within its influence. And therefore, when Camila called for backup, she'd created an even larger trap for the members of GAIA. Inevitably, there was a public response to cries for help.

Hideyoshi not only entrapped everyone within his sphere, but he possessed the capacity to manipulate the thoughts of others and began a collective, psychological assault on his own associates. In an act of sadistic revenge, Hideyoshi created false memories of experienced traumas, traumas disturbing enough to drive the majority of them into an impenetrable insanity beyond the defenses of their psyches. The ones who actually attempted to confront him directly fell victim to even more distressing visions never intended for the human mind.

Despite this reign of terror, because Doctor Keung prolonged his completion of the contract, his own psyche was rendered unstable by the workings of the demon—a short-tempered Being who'd grown impatient. Within hours of the hostage situation, Hideyoshi's rational mind degenerated and was reduced to something childlike and incoherent. His lack of self-control caused several of his victims to succumb to their despair and thus many of them ended their own lives while not in possession of their own mental faculties. For the authorities, it was an impossible challenge: a monster who controlled minds.

Camila remained as one of the few who could still offer what she thought would be a final stand against Hideyoshi's tyranny. She planned to use the Transfiguration System to divide Keung's form instead of teleporting it as a whole unit. Camila’s scheme would focus on removing his head and used Hideyoshi's remaining memories of her as a lover to lure him into the testing chamber where he could be destroyed for the common good. The Chairman, although mostly mentally devastated, caught on to the ploy and responded by simply ordering Camila not to breathe; however, while she suffocated and struggled for life, one of her siblings arrived in time to accomplish the original plan. Hideyoshi was not only transfigured, but the absence created from dividing his form allowed an initial rift to open between dimensions.

And it wasn't long before the First Rift gave way to several more delivered on a much larger scale. They became passages to be used by the denizens of other worlds, and many of the tears in the fabric of reality forcibly brought other non-human civilizations into Earth. If there's power in belief, it would explain creatures formed with the sole intention of destruction and appearing to possess no other thoughts or feelings outside of their hatred of humanity.

Beings normally only imagined in myths…

They came to occupy our world permanently.

Surviving accounts exist of the cities attacked as consecutive rifts quickly spread to become more than a worldwide catastrophe, the transmutation of the universe itself into a vivid hell. Foreign entities were seen as something dreamlike; it was a surreal experience to be faced with a creature often far deadlier than any human. As a result, widespread panic led to complete chaos within the rival nations and subsequently prevented them from continuing any further contact. Lives were lost at an almost incalculable rate, most of the victims having been several defenseless civilians.

There were some organized resistances and little to no success against the new enemy; nothing could overcome widespread paranoia about what people believed would be the true apocalypse.

Not every creature that had entered the world after the rifts began to dissipate was necessarily hostile or thoughtless, but the sheer amount of distortion produced within reality itself was enough to divide world powers into individual territories trying to survive the onslaught. Many of the invaders were no more than savage killers—cannibals, even, proving old tales about monsters and demons true.

No one was safe.

-

The Globalists, before the First Rift, had been divided into four Ministers, each of whom was given dominion over a section of land devoted to its respective cardinal direction. Ministers were elected democratically as a step toward building a new government that would eventually come to encompass the Earth. After the First Rift, the Eastern Minister was specifically targeted by a force; something capable of making him imagine that he was trapped within a bleak dream. He'd once been the owner of a cyber security company before the selling the rights to his moderately profitable business to campaign for his current position and help affect what could be true change.

After tormenting the Eastern Minister, known in history only as Antony, the demon showed unto Antony a delusional vision of peace restored after quelling the demon invasion. The spirit insisted that the Isolationists had mostly broken up into small clans after the invasion and offered him his own version of a Covenant. Antony was promised a position of power in the future Kingdom to come, but only if he used his connections and his granted gifts to compel others into devastating the enemy with a missile program devised to prime and guide KI warheads. The Globalists’ nuclear arsenal included KI: explosives which, with their combined potential, were capable of decimating entire continents.

Minister Antony was able to control his transformation into a horrendous spawn before he mercilessly killed most of his known associates. After attempting to shift between his human and monstrous form too many times, Antony became completely confined within the mind of the abomination as it performed the rest of his work for him. It was his punishment for losing focus of the agreement he'd made.

Antony is known as the first one who pushed the button.

The Eastern Minister was made to believe he would purge the world of both their rivals as well as the incoming threat; he, along with Hideyoshi, inevitably drove all of human civilization beyond the brink of collapse. The world had finally gone to war with itself; after the bombs hit, there were no political factions remaining…

-

After the bombing and residual fallout, our world’s invaders did what they could to survive and thus so did the human race in retaliation. The First Rift is often called such by religious sects due to the popular belief that another Rift will one day be upon us.

Except this time, they believe it will contain a God's Final Judgment.

Without GAIA and Dr. Hideyoshi Keung, perhaps this reality may have gone on to avoid the disasters which followed the First Rift…

5

Goodbye Isaac

YEAR 3200.

Sky-bound vehicles cruise by on a web of several interconnected highways; the sun ascends, peaking its head on the horizon, and the winds settle into a stiff, calm breeze. On a nearby street, a group of young men lounge on a wooden bench while staring sullenly at the ground and focusing on the amount… how much the next re-up would leave them short.

At one time, this place might have hosted a completely different scene: families taking a stroll through the area to see a movie, pets, performers, street vendors. The truth is that time had not been overly kind to the city; the remaining animals in the Citadel already faced a rather rapid extinction. Furthermore, the streets of the Mid-City and below were considered uninhabitable and dangerous.

A stranger sauntered up to the group and asked an unheard question; one of the men extended his palm before offering him nothing but an expectant glance. The stranger handed him a wad of cash, and the man on the bench pointed to a distant spot around the corner of the street where the newcomer could pick up the product, where he could satisfy his need for a fix…

-

Poverty was a common reality for those in parts of the Mid-City and especially in the Lower-City—as they were, by nature, designed to house a large percentage of the population without utilizing every resource the country had. Despite falling behind economically several years later, the Citadel had become famous after focusing heavily on the development of better motor vehicles that could take to the skies. The goal was to achieve peak performance in the safest manner possible.

Transportation had changed greatly in the New World. In what's known as the Age of Reconstruction, a conglomerate of vehicle manufacturers within various territories had tampered with the idea that new modes of travel could be implemented within a short time period to adapt to the needs of working populations. Collective government branches decided that all power for future vehicles would be derived from fusion of the properties of solar and nuclear energy, as attempting to continue the worldwide search for increasingly scarce resources had become unsafe due to the dangers presented by the World Below; a place forsaken by most modernized countries.

The Citadel—as well as other major cities—had been built with the intentions of making it a City in the Sky, a civilization that had been constructed in a fashion that allowed it to be suspended in the atmosphere. Its structure was an immense, spherical shape divided into its respective Lower-City Quadrants, Mid-City Zones, and two Upper-City Sectors (Blue and White) in order to accommodate for extremely thorough city planning. With the dawn of a new era, vehicle manufacturers felt obligated to synthesize the idea of an aerodynamic car with a modern vehicle that could be used for traveling the prefectures. Additionally, many of the locations in the city were often built hovering over expanses containing sections from other districts.

The Dawn Federation, governing this City-Country, therefore sanctioned the use of airborne cars—or, vehicles commonly referred to as cruisers, with the stipulation that there would be no more independent drivers as long as one was within border limits. One of the major Cruiser manufacturers, Prime Michizen, merged artificial intelligence and the mechanics of the vehicle in order to automate Cruisers with their own sense of control and direction. When the Dawn Federation realized that this was possible, it seemed implausible to continue allowing drivers to operate their own cruisers and, in addition, insurance companies across the board began discriminating against those who rejected the system altogether. After all, insurers were capable of profiting greatly if there were less accidents caused by human error.

In order to force the Citadel's population to conform, the Dawn Federation eventually implemented