The Clivilius Journals Volume 1: Karl Jenkins: A contemporary blend of fiction and reality filled with mystery, paranoia, romance, and adventure (The Clivilius Journals Volume 1).

By Nathan Cowdrey and Joshua Cowdrey

When Detective Karl Jenkins is assigned to investigate a series of disappearances, obsession and paranoia lead him to cross a line that leaves his partner, and love interest, running for her life.

Enjoy our continuously growing universe of interconnected stories all centred around Earth and Clivilius and unravel the mysteries that span centuries. The Clivilius Brothers blend fiction and reality to take you on a mind-bending ride. In this sci-fi thriller you'll find mystery, drama, action and lots of romance! Witness the birth of a new civilisation and unravel the mysteries of Clivilius. You'll fall asleep at night wondering... is Clive watching you?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Sep 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9781471063862

Book preview

The Clivilius Journals

Volume 1: Karl Jenkins

Enjoy our continuously growing universe of interconnected stories all centred around Earth and Clivilius and unravel the mysteries that span centuries. The Clivilius Brothers blend fiction and reality to take you on a mind-bending ride. In this sci-fi thriller you'll find mystery, drama, action and lots of romance! Witness the birth of a new civilisation and unravel the mysteries of Clivilius. You'll fall asleep at night wondering... is Clive watching you?

© Clivilius Corporation. All rights reserved.

Authors Nathan Cowdrey & Joshua Cowdrey

First Edition, 3 September 2022

ISBN 978-1-4710-6438-8

www.clivilius.com

Forward

London, 1 year in the future

For the third time, I read the short message I had written for the descendants of Earth. My small team’s mission was so important, so critical, I knew that if I wrote it down, CLIVE would preserve and store the information and if we were to fail, then someday, someone would discover my message and know that we had at least tried.

As the phone’s small screen went black, my gaze turned back towards the large floor-to-ceiling windows of the penthouse apartment in which I found myself. Calmly, I placed my hands behind my back, my eyes fixed on the sparkling city of London that sprawled before me, the winding path of the Thames cutting a glistening trail through the city’s heart, like an artery of liquid silver bringing life to its banks. It was a view that I never tired of.

In a time of unrelenting danger, this space had become our sanctuary, a place we knew we could always return to, no matter how bleak our situation. And we've certainly had our fair share of those.

I knew their expectant eyes were trained on me, waiting for me to give the final approval to proceed, but I wanted to savour the moment just a little longer. As my eyes gently closed, I reflected on the myths and legends that had brought me and the small band of Guardians to this most important and historic of points – myths and legends that told of CLIVE’s evolution and the formation of the Guardians. They were stories I knew intimately. I recounted them to myself most nights, like an enthralled child reading under the covers by the pale light of an ageing torch. I used them to spur on my own ambition to expand this experiment that I had been thrust into.

Until the Clivilius Wars, the Guardians were united by a common cause, dedicating their lives to the expansion and protection of Clivilius and all that it had become, able to come and go as they pleased between the worlds. But now, conflict had divided them.

Throughout time, rumours had been floated amongst generations of Guardians regarding ‘the One’, who was to re-unite both the Clivilius and Earth worlds, ultimately fulfilling the Founder’s perfect vision of utopia.

And now, it seemed, we were living in an era when that prophecy was being fulfilled.

Are you sure you want to do this, Nathan? Josh asked, looking up from his tablet. Once it’s done, we expose not only ourselves, but the entire system. All of it. There’s no going back.

Killerton will try and stop us- I began.

I’m pretty sure they’ll have us all eliminated, interrupted Josh.

But we have to do this now. We’ve risked our lives and thrown all our resources at this operation. Our people have suffered for the cause, I finished.

You have our full support, said Verity, standing up from where she sat on the brown, aniline leather couch across the room.

Saul looked up from his laptop. The infrastructure is all in place. As soon as you have confirmation that the company has been registered, I’ll set up the accounts and begin transferring the funds.

Are you sure it will work? Josh asked cautiously.

Yes. We’ll be using the latest blockchain technology. Our transactions will be untraceable, said Saul. I’ve been studying cryptocurrency a long time. I know what I’m doing.

Any word from Amber? I asked, interrupting the growing anxious tension, all too aware that the final member of our team was missing.

Amber is back in Saint Phillis. The people need reassurance that we haven’t forgotten them, answered Verity quickly.

Okay. I’m sending you the forms now, said Josh, not looking up at me as he typed frantically on his tablet. You need to sign them digitally and send them back to me.

Sucking in a deep breath, I turned back to the window, a wave of adrenaline coursing through my veins. We're really doing it. It was a simple thing really, registering a new company, but that wasn’t the important part. It was what that company was being established to do that was going to change everything.

During our infiltration of Killerton Enterprises - an entity established to protect CLIVE in the modern-era - my brother and I had made a remarkable discovery. CLIVE had a profound ability, one so earth-shatteringly vital that Killerton’s primary reason for even existing was just to keep it a secret. Since the beginning, CLIVE had been recording all the actions, experiences, emotions, and thoughts of all those who had travelled to and lived in Clivilius, along with those on Earth infected by the Virus.

It took the carefully honed skills and talents of the entire Guardian team to steal the original CLIVE blueprints from the vaults at Killerton Enterprises. And now, armed with that priceless information, we were on the verge of ushering the world into a new age – an age of unprecedented connection, learning and social development. Under the direction of Josh, a small team of coders had built a back-door into CLIVE’s mass of data, writing an algorithm that could convert the stored experiences and life stories into written Narratives. We had developed a unique platform that catalogued and mapped those Narratives, carefully tracking how the lives of each individual person interwove with those around them, creating a web of recorded lives and experiences for those on Earth to consume. It would likely take years for the minds of the general population to expand, accept and appreciate the new platform and the power it held to unite the realities, but in the meantime, the masses would devour the Narratives as stories, without realising that Clivilius was real and its history was in fact their own.

Got it yet? asked Josh, abruptly pulling me from the depths of my own thoughts.

Flicking between screens on my smartphone, I searched eagerly for the email. Got it, I said, quickly inserting my digital signature into the form and returning it back to my older brother.

I’m registering it now. Shouldn’t take more than half an hour, said Josh.

Allowing a nervous smile to tug at the corners of my mouth, I turned to face my loyal companions, my friends who had been with me every step of the way. Time for a drink, I said, walking over to the small kitchen in the corner of the room and grabbing a glass.

Count me in, Verity called out, hurrying to follow and reaching for a champagne flute of her own.

A wide grin of excitement spread across my face as the cork flew from the bottle with a loud pop. The international sound of celebration and success.

Are you two having a glass? Verity called over her shoulder to Saul and Josh.

I’m good, said Saul, barely looking up from where he stood behind Josh, staring over his shoulder at the screen in front of them.

As the sound of glasses clinking filled the air, I leaned in close to Verity. Did you get the name?

Yes, she replied, before taking a small sip from her glass, her eyes sparkling mischievously over the rim of the flute. Karl Jenkins.

Are you sure? I asked, knowing that selecting the right starting point would be critical to the success of the mission.

Yes, repeated Verity. Beatrix confirmed that Karl Jenkins was the Detective in Hobart who was leading the investigation into Luke.

Good, I said, reaching across to clink my glass with Verity’s for a second time, Then Karl Jenkins will be the first...

I’ve got it! You should have yours too! shouted Josh excitedly, interrupting the conversation suddenly.

A loud pounding sounded at the door of the penthouse, sending Verity and I scurrying back into the main room. My breath caught in my throat as all eyes in the room turned to look at each other, a silent cacophony of fear and puzzlement. We had never had a guest before. Nobody should even know we were here.

Killerton, already? asked Verity softly, her hand reaching into her pocket and pulling out her Portal Key in preparation to escape.

My phone chimed with a new email notification, its cheerful intonation decidedly out of place in the tension of the moment. As I glanced down, tearing my eyes away from the door, I saw the notification flash across the screen, Registration of Clivilius Corporation Pty Ltd confirmed.

Saul made his way towards the door, taking slow, cautious steps. He placed his eye slowly up to the peep hole that looked out to the corridor beyond. After the briefest of looks, and to the astonishment of those watching from behind him, he flung the door open quickly, revealing a familiar figure bathed in harsh apartment hallway lighting.

My eyes widened in terror as Verity’s glass fell to the floor with a thundering smash, raining glass upon the already worn carpet. Amber! she screamed as Josh leapt from the couch and ran toward our friend as she stumbled through the door, her bloodied hand leaving behind crimson streaks on the doorframe before she collapsed into a broken heap on the floor.

Saul arrived first, placing a firm hand over the gash in her neck, momentarily stopping the fountain of blood as it poured from the wound in unfathomable quantities. Placing his hands gently behind her head, Josh lifted Amber carefully as she coughed up more scarlet blood, covering her already saturated shirt in yet more congealing horror.

As I stepped closer, I could see the look of sheer terror in Amber’s eyes, hinting at the nightmare that was to come. Her blood-soaked hand fumbled at the collar of Josh’s polo shirt, her strength failing by the second. With a final effort she pulled him close to her face, contorted as it was into a gruesome mask of agony and fear.