Monday, February 19, 2007
4:32 AM
13.
"So speak up, Omegawd or something..." Seana snorted, a bit tired from all the waiting, and the small cat-fight did not help make her mood better.
"Cool down, Lady," The voice boomed over the intercom again, echoing around the dome, overcoming any other sound made. "Your hot-headedness will not help you get the information faster."
"Say WHAT?" Seana yelped, stomping on her heels only to find the heel of her left shoe broke, twisting her ankle instead. "Ouch... Oh my god, My VINCCI!" She cried as she crouched, took off her red heels together with the dismantled part, "Argh! Do you know how HARD I worked for this shoe?!" She shouted out to the air, not aiming at anyone, probably at the man over the intercom.
"Relax... It's just $30..." Edward chuckled as he looked at the girl's actions. "I'll buy a new one for you." Kyo grunted, took his kanata, walked towards Seana and cutted the broken shoe on her hands further into another half.
"Kyo!!" Seana stared at Kyo in disbelief as the shoe fell on the ground. "My VINCCI!"
"Alright, enough of that. Do you or do you not want to get your mission brief?"
"For hell YEAH!" Kyle happily cheered, getting stares from the girl who lost her shoe and the guy who further broke it into half.
"Now listen carefully," Omega speaked in a serious tone, "Have you ever heard of the Pandora's Box?"
"No?" Seana groaned, picking up the remains of her shoes and stood up.
"Well I do," Kyle said, "it's some sorta an old Greek myth or something."
"Yes, you're correct, Mr. Kyle Sealarz. Pandora's Box is an ancient myth. In brief, there was this box in this world that contained all evil and sins in the world, somewhere. This girl named Pandora opened this box, and at that moment all sins of the world came out, and now here we have it-- hatred, jealousy, greed, sorrow. If the myth is true, then the world we're living now, this world of sin, is caused by Pandora's Box."
"So what does that have to do with our mission?" Kyo asked.
"The story was a myth alright, so we cannot tell if this Pandora's box was really opened, or even if it does really exist. "
"So are you just telling us some old grandma's story?" Kyo snapped as he was getting impatient.
"No, I'm here to tell you that the story is not a myth."
"What do you mean?"
"The box does exist in this world, and it is vulnerable to be opened by anyone."
"What the...?"
"You must know that the 'sins' of this world are not caused by any box or any God, but by humanity itself. It's the humans who had this deficiency in their hearts and created all these evil. If this box is to be found and opened, it will only further enforce the evil of the world."
"Are you telling us this Pandora's box does exist, but it hasn't been opened yet?" Seana asked.
"Yes."
"And that is grandma's story!" It's Seana's turn to snap this time, "Why are you telling us all these?? It just sounds like a bunch of nonsense to me!"
"Oh yes. Your objective is to seek out the Pandora's Box before it is opened by anyone else."
"WHAT??" Kyo, Kyle and Seana shouted in disbelief, "You're asking us to find something that is a MYTH?? It doesn't even exist!"
"Don't forget, we're of the CIA's Department of Mythical Affairs," Edward joined in, chuckling. "If there's a myth, there must be a reason for the people who created the myth. And that reason is the clue for the truth. We want the truth. Therefore you see so many things that are deemed 'myths' in this lab. Dragons, they're myths, aren't they? But you still see them here."
"But..." Seana's voice softened, as she looked at the contents of the tubes on the tables. "Are you sure..."
"Time is running out, young ones. Seek out the Pandora's Box, before it's too late. So Kyo, Seana and Kyle--are you with me?" Omega questioned, an air of doubt began to engulf the trio.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
12. the birth of death 7:07 PM
12.
Dark clouds gathered in the sky despite the air being as still as ever. For eons this land has been the concentration of great evil and is said to be the darkest and most unexplored region of the world. For decades mankind has always tried to understand to mystery surrounding this place but to much disappointment, man's curiosity just led to more disasters and deaths.
Some know this place as the Bermuda Triangle, some call it the Devil's Triangle, others just refer to it as 'the graveyard of the Atlantic'. Ships and planes have flown into this area without ever being seen again. Whole fleets of battleships have been known to disappear within seconds of losing contact with the outside world.
Maybe its all just a big understanding, no one knows for sure.
Maybe its just a huge concentration of electromagnetic energy as they say, for that could explain the bizarre disappearance, no one knows for sure.
Maybe there's just more to it...
Maybe there's Pandora... a creation of Zeus to bring misery to mankind and to punish us for the sins we never did make. The myth says Pandora was a woman, but some really think Pandora is mankind as we create problems for ourselves. We, ourselves, destroy our own world. The myth says Pandora opened a box containing the evil of the world, some say its us who opened our hearts to the evil of the world that was always there.
No one knows for sure.
* * *
Deep within the centre of the Triangle lies an island and on that island lies a box. Fully opened. This was the birth of death and the death of birth. Metres from the box stands a boy. Did he open the box? What is his name? What is he doing there? No one knows for sure.
He looked up at the dark grey sky, sorrow filled his eyes, death in his heart. The boy stood as if a great burden was thrust against his shoulders. The burden of the world. To clean it or to destroy it, no one knows for sure.
This pain quickly changed. Full of anger, full of hate, he cursed at the dark sky as if screaming to the heavens, the heavens which created him.
Flexing his arms, wings burst out from his back spanning over 4 times his size, feathers as black as his immortal heart. He recognized his place in this world quickly and flew into the sky.
Flew into the sky toward the nearest land.
Flew into the sky towards the city of Miami.
Monday, January 8, 2007
11. Mixed ideas 8:30 PM
11.
A low crackling sound filled the air as the icy spears hovered over Kyle as if waiting for further commands their summoner. "What are you going to do now? A few shards didn't seem to be much of a bother to you, but how about those few multiplied by, let's say, 10?" Kyle snickered at his Asian opponent who just stood there without moving the slightest bit. Triumph was clearly on Kyle's mind at the moment, there was nothing Kyo could do right now.
Kyo on the other hand remained standing still, weapon in hand but was not raised into position to deflect any new projectiles. "Seana, you might want to move out of the way. You don't seem to be able to handle long distance attacks well," Kyo warned. Seana nodded and immediately moved gracefully over to a nearby table, leaving enough space between her and the Kyle's targeted area.
A smile stretched across Kyle's face. With the girl out of the way, it was a one-on-one fight between two men. To him, these were fair odds.
"Mr. Kyle, I do not know who you are but I admit... you have a rather interesting talent. However, against me, your skills are merely amateurish." Kyle felt very insulted upon his opponent’s remarks. He sneered and with one swift hand movement, launched the crystal javelins directly towards the samurai.
With lightning speed reaction, Kyo deflected a number of the projectiles, evaded the rest and dashed towards Kyle before the Caucasian could even raise his hand for a follow-up attack. Seana could only stare wide-eyed at the two's actions as Kyo rushed his competitor against the wall, katana at throat.
"I don't need any of this. I will not work hand-in-hand with the government furthermore with a white-guy who doesn't know how to control his rash ambitions and pride!" Kyo snarled as he began losing his temper. At once he took control of his emotions, took a deep breathe, sheathed his sword and calmed down.
“I do not need your government’s help in upholding something they took away from me. I shall fight this fight… my fight… my way.” Kyo backed away from Kyle and walked toward the dark corridor which they came from.
“Mr. Tsukimura, please just stay a while more. At least listen to my boss’ explanations first, and for our naïve friend over there, please forgive his actions. I’m not too sure myself that Mikeal did a thorough job in searching for a suitable candidate,” Bridges apologized as he gave Mikeal a rather disturbing look of disappointment.
“Why should I?” All these words did not seem to move Kyo the slightest bit as he proceeded into the corridor which lit up once more.
“Because the three of you are probably the only hope the world has at obtaining peace once more. This world is ours to share, is it not?” boomed a vice over an intercom which they had not noticed earlier. Finally Kyo stopped walking and turned around. After a moment of silence, the voiced boomed once more, “You can call me Omega. I am the one who has called for the three of you to be gathered.”
Seana got up from behind her hiding place now that things were getting interesting once more. “If you really are the boss, show your face!”
“I will in due time, my lady. When the time is right I shall reveal myself to you all. Right now, all this is for security measures.”
Kyo had joined them back in the hemispherical dome as the voice spoke. Now he wanted answers and he was sure he would get them. “Alright then, you’ve got my attention. I demand some answers now.”
2:36 AM
10.
"You?" Seana looked at the newcomer, a white boy in his late teens looking around
him in awe, gasping at every button and gadget that came to his eyes, occasionally touching the sophisicated mechanism and was stopped by his escorts. After a brief moment he finally rested his eyes on the two different looking figures in the middle of the room. He lifted up his hand and gave them a cheerful "Hi!". Kyo who seemed uninterested only glanced at him cooly, while Seana waved back in return. "Now we're having a really weird group of people..."
"Gentleman, and my lady," Edward said in his usual tone of cheekiness, "Shall I introduce you to your new companion, Mr Kyle Sealers." He escorted Kyle to the other two, who seemed intrigued by his two new partners. "Well I'm not informed that I'll have partners... Uhh I'm not informed of why am I here neither." Kyle said as a matter a fact, Seana grinning and nodding in agreement. "Now why the hell are we here for?" She remarked, putting her hands on her waist as a sign of impatience.
"Patience my friend... The Boss is not here yet."
"What?? We still have to wait??" Seana frowned, and Edward only gave her another chuckle. "I afraid so, my dear." The girl stomped on her heels and sighed loudly, noticing the number of officers in the room had increased since she and Kyo came in. Upon seeing the contents of the tube when Kyo took away one of the white cloth covering she knew that something big is going to happen, and she doesn't like the idea of that. She would rather be dancing at the dance floor or on a rich man's lap, instead she was stuck in this big white dome, officers blocking the exit, and more of them coming in every few moments.
"Geez... I'm Kyle," The tall Caucasian boy lifted up his hand to Seana for a handshake, a smile plastered on his face from edge to edge. Seana happily took his hand and with a gasp she backed off a few steps, her hands icy cold and a bit numb from the freeze. Kyo was curious on what happened, and Kyle too was shocked by Seana's reaction. He looked at his hands and back to the girl in apology. "Hey sorry gal, I was on freezin' mode before I came and I never noticed that I haven't cooled down yet."
"Freezing mode...?" Seana stared at Kyle in disbelief, her hand gaining back warmth over a few moments. After calming herself down she walked back to the boy who looked at her innocently. "Cmon let's try again, I'm Seana." She smiled back at the guy, lifting her left hand for a handshake too. Kyle returned her smile and placed his hand up for a handshake again. As he tried to take the girl's hand her palm glided up from his arms up to his shoulder, reaching for his face. Upon sensing the danger by natural reflexes Kyle jumped back a few steps. The girl was suprised as the liquid containers around the lab began to shake and tremble, however she did not hesitate to move forward, pushing his force backwards even further and make him unable to balance on his step. She lifted her left index finger and her little finger and pressed onto a few accupuncture points on his arm, her right elbow pushing Kyle back further after the strike. Upon feeling the pain and numbness on his left arm he groaned, his right hands waved to her direction. As he fell onto the ground with a thump, several glasses in the lab broke, the liquid from the glasses turning into ice in the air to form a spear shape and flew to Seana's direction.
Seana was shocked by the materialization of the ice, with no choice she was forced to retreat back a few steps. She observed the movement of the spears and tried avoiding them. She knew that the spears can only move in one direction at a time, with some effort she managed to dodge some of the spears by feeling the direction of the wind and the flow of "Chi". Trained by her master she was not inclined to act before her enemy, but to act after them, therefore knowing their moves are as important as countering them. However the number of the spears were too many, barehanded she could not stop all of them from attacking her.
Kyo who watched the whole process finally got bored. He drew his katana and with lightning speed he dashed to the girl. By his virtuoso skill on handling the Japanese sword he blocked and slashed the ice spears as they moved near him. To Kyo these ice spears were just like a kid's play-- he had dealt with dozens of shooting arrows, throwing knives and shurikens. To avoid blocking the man's moves Seana moved in align with Kyo behind him on her back, following his steps as if she was dancing in line with the man, as she could not move out of the area by herself neither. However she did not possess the vigour and power of his, instead she moved with grace and flow, never clashing with the man.
Kyle who eventually had his left hand recovered from Seana's strike on his blood vessels, seeing Kyo able to deal with his ice spears without problem he felt amazed by the Japanese's skills. "Bravo!" He shouted in glee,lifted his hands straight out onto his chest, with mist began to gather around his hands, and the number of ice spears increased as more glasses were broken. To be frank he was feeling excited-- it's been a long time since he could find a decent fight. The officers were shocked by their acts and lifted their guns, but Edward ceized them and only watched them, a grin stretching across his face.
"Show me what you got, oh young... Heroes."
1:10 AM
9.
“May I have my meal in the car?”
Kyle’s inquiry broke the silence in the spacious interior of the black Mercedes. Mikael, who was sitting beside him, gave Kyle a momentary look. Aroma of the fillet-o-fish burger from a local McDonald’s swept through the officer’s nose. Piping hot French fries and a medium coke, in a separated plastic bag, proved to be an ideal snack for someone who had not eaten anything since arriving at a new city at such wee hours. The sight of the familiar fast food chain at the foreign metropolitan Shanghai will unquestionably paint a smile on any tourist’s face, and that’s the reason why Kyle just can’t wait to munch through his favorite burger.
“Of course,” replied Mikael coolly, with a slight nod.
“Gee, thanks!” Kyle responded with a cheerful smile. “And, oh yeah, just to remind you, the iMac that I wanted is a 24’’ one, not an 18’’ one.”
“Yes, I will bear in mind of that. Please don’t worry, sir.”
“That’s great!” Kyle giggled to himself as he feasted on his supper, oblivious to where he is heading. The comfortable, silent inside of the car is, to him, another world.
Meanwhile, at the headquarters moments later, Edward Bridges felt a trivial movement in his right pocket. He took out his vibrating cell phone and answered it without hesitation.
“Oh, so he’s here already? Great. Please escort him in.”
Kyo and Seana’s eyes lit up. Finally the arrival of the third person will bring their boring wait to an end and besides the eventual revelation to their mission, both of them were eager to know if what they’re expecting in their third member was accurate.
The lights of the corridor leading to the hemispherical room were switched on and footsteps were vividly heard echoing in the hallway. Everyone in the huge chamber locked their eyes onto the entrance of the room, keen on meeting the “final piece of puzzle”.
When a young Caucasian boy emerged from the tunnel with two subordinates, murmurs of astonishment could be heard all around the room. Surely they expected someone much older, perhaps wiser, than this youth who was busy looking around in awe, admiring the architecture in the space.
Mikael walked up to Edward Bridges and whispered into his superior’s ears.
“I’ve done my job, Mr. Bridges. I’m sure it’s him.”
“Good. I can see that from his eyes… How did you manage to convince him?”
“A 24” iMac, playstation 3 and all his trip expenses.”
“Oh, okay…” Edward Bridges ended the conversation with a hopeless nod as he observed the teenager who was wandering all over the place. Bridges walked over to Kyle and offered a handshake.
“Mr. Sealarz, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Edward Bridges… and I would like you to meet these two persons.”
Tuesday, January 2, 2007
8. The Sanctuary 4:50 PM
8.
"Welcome to the Sanctuary!" exclaimed Edward as they exited the corridor and into a hemispherical room. Three enormous circular lights hung overhead lighting the room so brightly that there wasn't much left in shadow. Edward stopped abruptly, turned to his visitors and further explained, "Here is where all our researches are conducted. Not many know of this place, definitely not the public. Even the CIA doesn't know about our existence, well, except the higher ranked officials of course."
Kyo turned around and face the corridor behind him. The lights had turned off leaving it in total darkness. How could such a building be kept hidden from the outside so well? The size of this facility is enormous, even its fake exterior could not possibly hold such a large-scaled hideout. Furthermore, the corridor we walked through... it was hell long! These were among the many thoughts that ran through Kyo's mind that very instant. He slowly turned away from the infinite darkness at the end of the hallway and gazed around. He needed answers now. This was all a bit too much for him to bear. Seana too was trying to grasp all these happenings as she adjusted to the brightness of the lights.
Edward smiled at his two guests. "I assure you, there's nothing to worry about. I'm sure by now you'd be wondering how we've managed to keep ourselves concealed from public. The answer is simple; we're merely underground. The long passage-way we just strolled through slants downwards at an angle. We merely had gravitational stabilizers installed under the floor to make it seem like you were walking on flat ground. Heheh, didn't see that coming did you?"
"I did!" cheered Seana. "I knew it all along."
"Well now, aren't you a bright young girl then." Edward remarked sarcastically breaking Seana’s bubble. “As you can see, we have technology that can’t be found anywhere in the country, no, not even anywhere in the world!” he arrogantly proclaimed. “Here we break down the world’s most baffling mysteries ranging from unsolvable crimes to supernatural haunting and even legends which are considered myths to the world.”
Kyo, who was, barely paying attention to the man’s explanation walked over to a table on the left side of the room. There were several large cylinders on the table, each covered with a white cloth as if hiding something within it.
“I’d be careful if I were you.” cautioned a lady sitting at the next table. She wore a clean white lab coat and a pair of black-rimmed spectacles which her eyes peered through as she followed Kyo’s movements.
Kyo lifted the white cloth and his heart skipped a beat. There was a small blue dragon-like creature staring back at him from inside the cylinder. Chuckles could be heard coming from across the room.
“I demand answers, Mr. Bridges. Now!” Kyo snapped at him, his left hand pressing against the sheath of his sword.
“I’m sorry Mr. Tsukimura, but I’m not authorized to say anything until my boss is here. Further more, we’re waiting for a third person to join the both of you.”
“There’s a third person?” Seana asked, afraid of what she had been dragged into after seeing the contents of the cylinder.
“Yes, he should be on the way now… with my subordinate.” Edward answered with a grin across his face. “Please be patient.”
* * *
A few of miles away, a car pulled up beside a man. Two huge men stepped out of the car and confronted the passerby.
3:42 AM
7. To the White Hole?
Seana was squirming rather uncomfortably at her seat. No doubt it's quite an honour to be able to be in the same car with these people from CIA, and the impressive thing is the car was a B&W 3 Series Sedan, but the atmosphere inside the car was rather like in an igloo. "These people are not cosy at all," she sighed as she looked at the Japanese man sitting next to her, his eyes nailed at the pedestrians along the street, rays from the neon lights of the shophouses reflected to his messy hair and young face. He remained silent since they departed from YueMei Nightclub 10 minutes ago, face neutral and expressionless, a bit twisted down as if he had woke up from a bad night sleep.
The two men at the front seat, who called themselves officers from the Department of Mythical Affairs or something that the girl had never heard of, was getting a bit too quiet to suit the girl's tastes. Her eyes wandered at the sides of the street, a whole lane of nightclubs and bars, happy and drunk people dancing and laughing in the middle of the street. Her night was screwed up enough, and she could not loosen up in any way that deals with vodka, money or men. Again she squirmed at her seat.
"Now where are we going?" Seana finally broke out the sentence, her patience finally exhausted. "Well, to our headquarters of course. My boss wanted to see you two in person."
"Your boss?"
"Of course. You shall see him shortly. He is the head of CIA Department of Mythical Affairs. We have something to seek your help."
"Oh yeah... Whatever. What's all these business about?"
Edward looked behind, his youthful face glistenned with glee, "Well... that too, you will know shortly. But I promise you the reward is worth the trip." Seana shrugged, her eyes rested on the faint wrinkles on his forehead. "You looked... young."
"Ah yes, many people said that to me." Edward chuckled as he looked back to the front, the driver next to him kept his cool and continued driving. "I'm in fact not that old actually."
"Then how did you..."
"Get into CIA with my age?" Seana's word was interrupted by Edward, his chuckle even crispier, "Well as you can see, I'm not exactly what I seemed like." The car stopped in front of a building, quite a distance away from the bustling city, into the federal administrative building areas where the police headquarters stood. Edward stepped out of the car, with courtesy he walked to the back door and opened it, allowing the jumpy Seana to step out of the car, followed by Kyo. The duo followed Edward as he walked towards the main old wooden door carved with symmetrical design that of Art Noveau. She looked at the man as he took out his identification card, placed it at the sensor next to the door. The door then opened by itself, together with the metal bars behind it, the steel door, and the sensor lasers disabled, leading to a brightly lit corridor with white padded walls and sky-blue carpet.
"Whoa... Now that's something for a goverment building." Seana gasped in awe, and Edward chuckled again. "Well, as I said, not something what it seemed like. And it's not exactly a goverment building. More like a secret hideout. Now this way please..." Edward led the way, followed by Seana who looked around the interior as like an excited kid, Kyo tagged along behind calmly, guitar in hand and katana at waist. He insisted his guitar back from the driver, or better said, threatened it back.
"Here, this way please," Edward tapped Seana's shoulder as she was getting a bit too excited at the padded wall which seemed to absorb sounds, being caught shouting at the wall to test the echo rate. "Anyway, I'm 28 this year. My birthday is not over yet though."
"Oh yeah, as if I don't know that." Seana stuck out her tongue at the man pointing at his identification card, who in return stretched a grin at her.