01-08-2011, 09:38 AM
The question was less what she could do and more what she couldn’t.
In the hands of a clever orator a young, pretty face could bring nations to their knees and pull them apart, stripping the populace of reason and all notions of self. If Victoria did all that was asked of her, which portended of little but to stand there looking pretty and spout out a few prefabricated lines, Roy’s message would spread like wild fire. In politics is it worst to be a scholar, better to be a fool, and best to be beautiful.
He slid the tip of his finger over the smooth surface of the fork’s lower edge. He pressed his hand into it before peeling it up and away from the tacky checkered tablecloth. That’s what those old plastic ones did with age, they began to cling to your dishes and silverware. It reminded him of home. He strained for a moment, trying to recall home, the old street names, his friends. Roy’s brow furrowed for a moment but he was quickly called back from the moment by that sweet malaises voice.
“Mr… I mean, um, Roy?” Victoria cocked her head to the side like a lost puppy. “Is everything alright?”
The feather-haired man thrust forth another wide grin and ran his hands flat over the table. “Oh, what? Me? Yes, fine, fine. I’m fine.” He diverted his eyes down and nodded once again. “But back to business, right?” He cleared his throat and readjusted himself in his seat. “Well, I was going to try and pull together a rally next week, if you would like to join me as a guest speaker?”
She stared out at him for a moment before diverting her eyes. Something in her swelled with a flicker of fear. Perhaps the public eye. Maybe she was just shy. Whatever it was though, it was there. A glimmer of terror. “Well, um, I dunno…” Her voice trailed off as she plucked at her triple stack of syrup soaked carb.
“Here, I’ll make it easy on you. I’ll do the talking, and we can set you up with a few things to say, if you’re alright with that that is, and then you don’t have to worry about being nervous, right?” He punctuated his offer by leaning across the table and softly laying his hand on hers.
After a long moment of staring down at the contact, she allowed her gaze to flicker back up to the man in front of her. Such a strange girl. He clenched his fingers gently, like a caring spouce might in a moment of hardship. Might want to keep some of her stranger parts out of the equasion.. His eyes locked with hers and he allowed his sincerity to bubble forth and flow out of them. Cue cards might be best. “So what do you think?” His voice was soft, lilting gently between the ticks of the clock. But damn if that face doesn’t sell.
A dim shade of rose spread across her cheeks and she bobbed her head gently almost as though she had been hypnotized.. “I can’t promise anything with my work, but I’ll try my best.”
Suddenly withdrawing his hand Roy spread his arms wide and once again flashed his teeth. “Fantastic! Well, we have each other’s numbers right?” He shuffled around in his seat a moment before stopping and looking out across at her. “Oh wait, I don’t have yours do I?” It was a trick he had learned in college. It was a dirty, underhanded trick that could be used so many times over.
“Ah…” she pinched her eyebrows together and reached into a pocket carefully. “No, I guess you don’t!” She tacked on another arbitrary giggle. Her tiny bouts of laughter would either drive Roy insane or to bed with her, but neither one was particularly of use for his agendas. He tried to avert his attention from the tiny breast pocket as she fiddled around with it, inadvertently jamming her hand into her own breast. She would never see it, but he had curled the napkin in his lap into a tiny ball. A tiny bead of sweat coalesced on his forehead and it was all he could do but bite his lip. Finally those thin, ginger fingers retrieved a thin scrap of paper and lay it out on the table in front of her. Grabbing a pen she clicked it open and slowly rolled the tip over the breadth of her tongue.
“Anything else I can get for ya?” The dignified Mr. Munin jumped slightly as the waitress stepped out beside him, toting a small order sheet and an irate expression her face. She tapped the pen against the paper and pursed her lips impatiently.
“Ah no thatnk you for now…” He searched her uniform for a name tag. “Ah… Beth! No thanks Beth.” He nodded to the aged waitress and she looked over to the young pink haired girl across from him.
“Anything for your date?” Her voice was dry, like she had choked on a packet of Rock Pops.
Roy glanced nervously over to Victoria. “Oh no! No, we’re not on a da-“
“No thank you.” She smiled and nodded to the waitress, indicating she wanted her to go away now. He pressed her hands into her lap as she watched the server walk away, not breaking eye contact until she was safely in the kitchen.
She pushed the tiny white scrap over the table to Roy with her middle finger. “There you go!”
Roy took it up and read I over once, checking for all seven digits. “All right! I’ll call you with the details alright?” He glanced around the room shortly and slowly leaned in over the table. He swallowed once and left his tone quiet. “So, you live alo-“
Beth slammed down the ticket on the table as she coughed loudly. She gave Roy a stern sideways look as though to ask, “What are you doing, boy?” He narrowed his eyes at her and snatched the bill up quickly. “Thank you,” he said with as little venom as possible.
The bill read a measly six zenni for the meal, but on the tip line a red pen had marked: “Here’s a tip: Date women your own age!
–Your Friendly Chef” Roy sneered and left a credit chip on top of the paper before standing up.
He extended his hand to meet Victoria’s and he nodded firmly as she took it up. “Well, it was a pleasure having breakfast with you. I’ll see you soon?”
“Oh yes, you certainly will be seeing a lot of me.” She tilted her head to the side innocently.
“FUCK YO COUUUUCH!” Hati screamed as he jumped to his feet and pointed at the flat screen television that they had fitted into the dingy basement abode they had made for themselves. He held the controller over his head and pumped his fists in the air dramatically. “What, oh yeah, suck that noise, BITCH!”
Skoll stared at him stoically, an expression tinged by irritation, before pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. He calmly set the controller down on the floor in front of him and reclined into his seat. Grabbing his book he cracked it open once again and began to read. “Yeah, good game man. Play again some time.”
Hati jumped around the chair humping the air and slapping an invisible ass as he did so. “Ugh! Ugh! Take it!”
Skoll simply rolled his eyes and flipped the page. “Mhmmmm…”
Sigfried suddenly erupted into the front door and huffed, tossing his skull cap onto the couch to his side. He flicked the door shut behind him and let it slam as he skulked over to the couch and fell face first down upon it. “Hrrrnnghhhh.” The other two practically ignored him until Skoll turned to him and lifted an eyebrow.
“Did he not want to go to prom with you?”
Sigfried produced a pillow and hurled it across the room into his mocker. “I just hate him sooo muuuch.” He crawled onto his forearms and glared across the room. “So much man. He’s falling for this freaking broad, I know it. I can see it in his stupid eyes man.”
Skoll shook his head and returned to his book. “You saw that, huh?”
“Fuck yeah I saw it! He’s gonna jack everything up cause he goes all puppy eyed over some stupid pink haired bimbo with a three inch skirt.” Finally writhing a seated position he let out a long exasperated breath. “Why can’t he be asexual? Why?”
“You know he’s better at all that then we are. We just gotta let him work. He knows what he’s doing.”
Hati chimed in. “Yeah, and you might actually, you know, get some.”
“Shut the fuck up, Hati.” Sigfried was not in the mood for any Hati’s bullshit at the moment.
Hati reared up mockingly. “Ohhh, sorry man.” He stepped over to the fridge and cracked it open, rummaging around. “Yo, you want any lunch? Some glucose might balance your blood sugar and make you a little less bitchy.”
Sigfried shook his head. “Yeah, yeah that would be great.” He gestured in his friend’s direction. “Sorry man, I’m just freaking exhausted. Getting one fourth sleep of what I normally do really piles the stress on.”
“Well if you’d stop being so paranoid we’d all be able to go to sleep and it wouldn’t be such a problem.” Skoll cast a cruel glance at Hati in response to his statement.
“That would be stupid. Besides, it helps the illusion of it all.”
Hati hacked to clear his throat as he planted the frying pan on the electric oven and turned it on. “Yeah but we could go in shifts or something. Give you a rest. I mean, two out of three asleep isn’t as bad as one out of three, right?”
Sigfried nodded. “Yeah that’ll work. I just can’t do one out of four. Having Roy around is like a full time job man. It’s so fuckign stressful trying to manage him.” He dropped his hands to his sides and gawked at Hati. “Get this dude. So at the freaking restaurant, whatever it’s called. Ahhhhh… Tony’s? Yeah, Tony’s. Yeah well he was about to make a move on her dude! Can you believe that?”
“Got to get it somewhere man. Might as well be young and stupid.” He flipped the egg he had been cooking and sprinked bits of diced lunch meat over it. “Yo you want Chicken Sauce?” Sigfried nodded in approval just as Hati sprayed a thick line of spicy sauce over the omelet.
Skoll closed his book and leaned forward. “Well, all that aside, are you two ready for tonight? It’s gonna be hectic. Is everything in place?”
Sigfried nodded, accepting the hot plate from Hati. “Yeah, everything’s set up. The stuff is in place, I’ve got some good images of the aliens. They’re like... funny looking humans in crap clothes so it shouldn’t be hard.” Stuffing his face with hot egg action he looked to Hati. “You?”
“Yeah, all the wiring is in place thanks to the interwebz.” He kicked back and turned his laptop around to display a “How To” site with several images of complex circuitry and wires. “I even tested the shit. It’s good to go man.”
Sigfried grinned, bits of bargain meat and yellow egg in his mouth. “Sweet! What about you Mr. Skoll?”
Skoll nodded sternly. “Yes, everything seems to be set. So long as Roy doesn’t get wise there shouldn’t be a hitch. He’s so caught up in his evangelism as it is I can’t imagine he’d be any the wiser.”
“Fan. Fucking. Tastic.”
“Here today we see the fifth and final personnel ship landing here, on Mercy.” The reporter’s image flickered in and out, the live stream momentarily interrupted by the violent interference that Mercy’s sand blasted terrain offered. “Each holds approximately one thousand volunteer militia collected from Earth and other colonies here to fight for the safety and protection of their home world.” A massive ship, long and sleek slowly lowered itself to the ground as repulsors leveled the landing out. “Who knows the threat that they have come here to face, but surely you know that each and every one of them are preparing for a harrowing descent into the Hell of war.”
The man now began to walk forward against the onslaught of dust, sand and debris that the ship kicked up as he approached the landing dock. “Enemy forces have been noted within the area, though our current sources do not have any leads on how they have been landing planetside or navigating the terrain.” A quick image of a yellow-clad pseudo-human blotted out the live scene but the man continued to speak over it. “Thus far, we have not identified the invaders and they speak a language not native to any known within the universe. We do however know that they cannot make the sound of ‘shh’ and so it has become the hailing mark of all organized fighting forces.”
Standing triumphantly in front of the huddled, confused masses of willing participants that flowed from the mighty craft, the reporter concluded his tale dryly. “Who knows what these days might bring, but CNN is here to report.”
Sigfried sat alone in the living room, the light of the screen the only illumination. He grabbed the clicker and depressed the power button, leaving him in the black. A sudden shimmer of light arose from his chest and shone brightly. “Aint no rest for the wicked” He chuckled to himself softly.
Roy Munin stood on a real podium now, a large gathering of individuals gathered just outside of the Mayor’s Office. His heart swelled with nervousness, wringing his hands into themselves as he paced back and forth, practicing his words over and over in his head. Victoria stood only a few feet away staring on to him.
“I’m sure it’ll all be fine.” She reassured him from afar, her words oddly distant. She wasn’t used to being kind in that way, Roy figured.
“Yeah! It’ll be great! I’m glad we managed to get such a big crowd from just some flyers and a little radio add… Your voice must really add to the commercial, huh?” He offered a nervous smile before he straitened his back and cracked his neck. “This is what I was born for.” He repeated his mantra that he had coined in his early debate days. Eerie how true the statement was, though he didn’t know it.
Victoria smoothed her elegant black dress, the several floral layers of the outfit cute but oddly fitting for the event. “Are you ready? It’s about time.” She urged him on, taking on the roll of his “assistant” while Sigfried was away. Now that I think of it where is Sigfri- Victoria nodded to him as he approached the stage. “Ready?”
“I was born ready.” He winked at the young lady and stepped out into the blinding light of a crowd of attentive faces. A few camera crews had made their way there and a lone news paper photographer. He had stirred up a lot of people since he had begun his campaign here in Central City and apparently his avalanche was only gaining snow. He saw a few skeptics, well, more than a few. The important thing was that they had come though. That meant that his ideas had enough worth to listen to. This might be the moment he made history.
Skoll finished attaching a few plugs with black leather gloves. Grunting as he forced a final rig into its socket he gave it a soft tug to ensure that it was secure. Rolling onto his back he slowly shuffled his way out from under the massive appliance. Thirteen minutes seemed appropriate to him, and so he coded in the numbers and began to walk away.
The neck-biting winds of the rooftop cut into him as he made his way for the roof access exit. He grasped the handle and tugged it open and began to tumble each foot in front of the other as he descended the stairwell.
He hoped that thirteen minutes was enough for him to get clear of the damn thing. Nobody likes radiation poisoning.
Hati bobbed his head slowly to the tune of his high BPM techno as he strode down the street. Out the corner of his eye he saw the massive group of people that had amassed for the rally a few blocks down. He began to stride quickly towards the gaggle but it sounded as though Roy had already started his speech.
Now, technically that meant he had no idea how long it would be to the drop but he knew he would be able to figure it out. “See? Who needs directions. Fuck Map Quest.”
The pigeon swooped and fluttered quicker than most people would have liked to give it credit for. They’re the rats of the sky alright, but they’re the fast rats of the sky. It navigated the streets with a horrific photographic memory that allowed them to remember where to drop of messages and raise their tiny disgusting young. In a final flourish it perched upon the peak of the office, peering down upon the crowd gathered below. If pigeons gave a crap about people, it might have been worried about how close they were to the building.
“… ignore this intergalactic threat any longer than we already have! We’ve seen what they’re capable of and it’s only a matter of time before they show up here, on our soil, and take us by surprise. How many times has the government lead us astray? How many wars have they lead and lost here on Earth? I’m not one to say I know anything about warfare. I’m not a general. But I do have some common sense in my head. I think you all do too. Do you really think that the alien threat is going to stop out there?”
He turned to the side of the stage and gestured to Victoria calmly. “Here to help me illustrate my poi-“
The counter expired.
A young man pointed and screamed.
An alien stood proudly on the roof, overlooking the rally.
The creature pointed out over the screaming hordes of onlookers as they fled. They glanced back at what seemed to be a human who’s face… who’s face was inhuman. His right foot was propped on the ledge of the structure as he screamed some unknown profanity or declaration of war. It was all gibberish to the people below anyways. Mothers grasped at children and fathers shielded sons. Roy turned and looked as the creature oddly glowed from behind, an eerie radiation emanating from what seemed to be an alien craft perched behind him. “What in the mother of God?”
With a malevolent cackle the being Leapt up into the air and cast both hands down at the base of the structure before disappearing behind the side of building.
KRAKA-KOOOM!!
Suddenly the lower floor disappeared in a wall of flame and force that pushed the trusses out from beneath the upper floors. With a deafening crack the office began to tip to its side as a chorus of screams filled the air.
In the hands of a clever orator a young, pretty face could bring nations to their knees and pull them apart, stripping the populace of reason and all notions of self. If Victoria did all that was asked of her, which portended of little but to stand there looking pretty and spout out a few prefabricated lines, Roy’s message would spread like wild fire. In politics is it worst to be a scholar, better to be a fool, and best to be beautiful.
He slid the tip of his finger over the smooth surface of the fork’s lower edge. He pressed his hand into it before peeling it up and away from the tacky checkered tablecloth. That’s what those old plastic ones did with age, they began to cling to your dishes and silverware. It reminded him of home. He strained for a moment, trying to recall home, the old street names, his friends. Roy’s brow furrowed for a moment but he was quickly called back from the moment by that sweet malaises voice.
“Mr… I mean, um, Roy?” Victoria cocked her head to the side like a lost puppy. “Is everything alright?”
The feather-haired man thrust forth another wide grin and ran his hands flat over the table. “Oh, what? Me? Yes, fine, fine. I’m fine.” He diverted his eyes down and nodded once again. “But back to business, right?” He cleared his throat and readjusted himself in his seat. “Well, I was going to try and pull together a rally next week, if you would like to join me as a guest speaker?”
She stared out at him for a moment before diverting her eyes. Something in her swelled with a flicker of fear. Perhaps the public eye. Maybe she was just shy. Whatever it was though, it was there. A glimmer of terror. “Well, um, I dunno…” Her voice trailed off as she plucked at her triple stack of syrup soaked carb.
“Here, I’ll make it easy on you. I’ll do the talking, and we can set you up with a few things to say, if you’re alright with that that is, and then you don’t have to worry about being nervous, right?” He punctuated his offer by leaning across the table and softly laying his hand on hers.
After a long moment of staring down at the contact, she allowed her gaze to flicker back up to the man in front of her. Such a strange girl. He clenched his fingers gently, like a caring spouce might in a moment of hardship. Might want to keep some of her stranger parts out of the equasion.. His eyes locked with hers and he allowed his sincerity to bubble forth and flow out of them. Cue cards might be best. “So what do you think?” His voice was soft, lilting gently between the ticks of the clock. But damn if that face doesn’t sell.
A dim shade of rose spread across her cheeks and she bobbed her head gently almost as though she had been hypnotized.. “I can’t promise anything with my work, but I’ll try my best.”
Suddenly withdrawing his hand Roy spread his arms wide and once again flashed his teeth. “Fantastic! Well, we have each other’s numbers right?” He shuffled around in his seat a moment before stopping and looking out across at her. “Oh wait, I don’t have yours do I?” It was a trick he had learned in college. It was a dirty, underhanded trick that could be used so many times over.
“Ah…” she pinched her eyebrows together and reached into a pocket carefully. “No, I guess you don’t!” She tacked on another arbitrary giggle. Her tiny bouts of laughter would either drive Roy insane or to bed with her, but neither one was particularly of use for his agendas. He tried to avert his attention from the tiny breast pocket as she fiddled around with it, inadvertently jamming her hand into her own breast. She would never see it, but he had curled the napkin in his lap into a tiny ball. A tiny bead of sweat coalesced on his forehead and it was all he could do but bite his lip. Finally those thin, ginger fingers retrieved a thin scrap of paper and lay it out on the table in front of her. Grabbing a pen she clicked it open and slowly rolled the tip over the breadth of her tongue.
“Anything else I can get for ya?” The dignified Mr. Munin jumped slightly as the waitress stepped out beside him, toting a small order sheet and an irate expression her face. She tapped the pen against the paper and pursed her lips impatiently.
“Ah no thatnk you for now…” He searched her uniform for a name tag. “Ah… Beth! No thanks Beth.” He nodded to the aged waitress and she looked over to the young pink haired girl across from him.
“Anything for your date?” Her voice was dry, like she had choked on a packet of Rock Pops.
Roy glanced nervously over to Victoria. “Oh no! No, we’re not on a da-“
“No thank you.” She smiled and nodded to the waitress, indicating she wanted her to go away now. He pressed her hands into her lap as she watched the server walk away, not breaking eye contact until she was safely in the kitchen.
She pushed the tiny white scrap over the table to Roy with her middle finger. “There you go!”
Roy took it up and read I over once, checking for all seven digits. “All right! I’ll call you with the details alright?” He glanced around the room shortly and slowly leaned in over the table. He swallowed once and left his tone quiet. “So, you live alo-“
Beth slammed down the ticket on the table as she coughed loudly. She gave Roy a stern sideways look as though to ask, “What are you doing, boy?” He narrowed his eyes at her and snatched the bill up quickly. “Thank you,” he said with as little venom as possible.
The bill read a measly six zenni for the meal, but on the tip line a red pen had marked: “Here’s a tip: Date women your own age!
–Your Friendly Chef” Roy sneered and left a credit chip on top of the paper before standing up.He extended his hand to meet Victoria’s and he nodded firmly as she took it up. “Well, it was a pleasure having breakfast with you. I’ll see you soon?”
“Oh yes, you certainly will be seeing a lot of me.” She tilted her head to the side innocently.
--=~*/| o |\*~=--
“FUCK YO COUUUUCH!” Hati screamed as he jumped to his feet and pointed at the flat screen television that they had fitted into the dingy basement abode they had made for themselves. He held the controller over his head and pumped his fists in the air dramatically. “What, oh yeah, suck that noise, BITCH!”
Skoll stared at him stoically, an expression tinged by irritation, before pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose. He calmly set the controller down on the floor in front of him and reclined into his seat. Grabbing his book he cracked it open once again and began to read. “Yeah, good game man. Play again some time.”
Hati jumped around the chair humping the air and slapping an invisible ass as he did so. “Ugh! Ugh! Take it!”
Skoll simply rolled his eyes and flipped the page. “Mhmmmm…”
Sigfried suddenly erupted into the front door and huffed, tossing his skull cap onto the couch to his side. He flicked the door shut behind him and let it slam as he skulked over to the couch and fell face first down upon it. “Hrrrnnghhhh.” The other two practically ignored him until Skoll turned to him and lifted an eyebrow.
“Did he not want to go to prom with you?”
Sigfried produced a pillow and hurled it across the room into his mocker. “I just hate him sooo muuuch.” He crawled onto his forearms and glared across the room. “So much man. He’s falling for this freaking broad, I know it. I can see it in his stupid eyes man.”
Skoll shook his head and returned to his book. “You saw that, huh?”
“Fuck yeah I saw it! He’s gonna jack everything up cause he goes all puppy eyed over some stupid pink haired bimbo with a three inch skirt.” Finally writhing a seated position he let out a long exasperated breath. “Why can’t he be asexual? Why?”
“You know he’s better at all that then we are. We just gotta let him work. He knows what he’s doing.”
Hati chimed in. “Yeah, and you might actually, you know, get some.”
“Shut the fuck up, Hati.” Sigfried was not in the mood for any Hati’s bullshit at the moment.
Hati reared up mockingly. “Ohhh, sorry man.” He stepped over to the fridge and cracked it open, rummaging around. “Yo, you want any lunch? Some glucose might balance your blood sugar and make you a little less bitchy.”
Sigfried shook his head. “Yeah, yeah that would be great.” He gestured in his friend’s direction. “Sorry man, I’m just freaking exhausted. Getting one fourth sleep of what I normally do really piles the stress on.”
“Well if you’d stop being so paranoid we’d all be able to go to sleep and it wouldn’t be such a problem.” Skoll cast a cruel glance at Hati in response to his statement.
“That would be stupid. Besides, it helps the illusion of it all.”
Hati hacked to clear his throat as he planted the frying pan on the electric oven and turned it on. “Yeah but we could go in shifts or something. Give you a rest. I mean, two out of three asleep isn’t as bad as one out of three, right?”
Sigfried nodded. “Yeah that’ll work. I just can’t do one out of four. Having Roy around is like a full time job man. It’s so fuckign stressful trying to manage him.” He dropped his hands to his sides and gawked at Hati. “Get this dude. So at the freaking restaurant, whatever it’s called. Ahhhhh… Tony’s? Yeah, Tony’s. Yeah well he was about to make a move on her dude! Can you believe that?”
“Got to get it somewhere man. Might as well be young and stupid.” He flipped the egg he had been cooking and sprinked bits of diced lunch meat over it. “Yo you want Chicken Sauce?” Sigfried nodded in approval just as Hati sprayed a thick line of spicy sauce over the omelet.
Skoll closed his book and leaned forward. “Well, all that aside, are you two ready for tonight? It’s gonna be hectic. Is everything in place?”
Sigfried nodded, accepting the hot plate from Hati. “Yeah, everything’s set up. The stuff is in place, I’ve got some good images of the aliens. They’re like... funny looking humans in crap clothes so it shouldn’t be hard.” Stuffing his face with hot egg action he looked to Hati. “You?”
“Yeah, all the wiring is in place thanks to the interwebz.” He kicked back and turned his laptop around to display a “How To” site with several images of complex circuitry and wires. “I even tested the shit. It’s good to go man.”
Sigfried grinned, bits of bargain meat and yellow egg in his mouth. “Sweet! What about you Mr. Skoll?”
Skoll nodded sternly. “Yes, everything seems to be set. So long as Roy doesn’t get wise there shouldn’t be a hitch. He’s so caught up in his evangelism as it is I can’t imagine he’d be any the wiser.”
“Fan. Fucking. Tastic.”
-Three Days Later-
“Here today we see the fifth and final personnel ship landing here, on Mercy.” The reporter’s image flickered in and out, the live stream momentarily interrupted by the violent interference that Mercy’s sand blasted terrain offered. “Each holds approximately one thousand volunteer militia collected from Earth and other colonies here to fight for the safety and protection of their home world.” A massive ship, long and sleek slowly lowered itself to the ground as repulsors leveled the landing out. “Who knows the threat that they have come here to face, but surely you know that each and every one of them are preparing for a harrowing descent into the Hell of war.”
The man now began to walk forward against the onslaught of dust, sand and debris that the ship kicked up as he approached the landing dock. “Enemy forces have been noted within the area, though our current sources do not have any leads on how they have been landing planetside or navigating the terrain.” A quick image of a yellow-clad pseudo-human blotted out the live scene but the man continued to speak over it. “Thus far, we have not identified the invaders and they speak a language not native to any known within the universe. We do however know that they cannot make the sound of ‘shh’ and so it has become the hailing mark of all organized fighting forces.”
Standing triumphantly in front of the huddled, confused masses of willing participants that flowed from the mighty craft, the reporter concluded his tale dryly. “Who knows what these days might bring, but CNN is here to report.”
Sigfried sat alone in the living room, the light of the screen the only illumination. He grabbed the clicker and depressed the power button, leaving him in the black. A sudden shimmer of light arose from his chest and shone brightly. “Aint no rest for the wicked” He chuckled to himself softly.
--=~*/| o |\*~=--
Roy Munin stood on a real podium now, a large gathering of individuals gathered just outside of the Mayor’s Office. His heart swelled with nervousness, wringing his hands into themselves as he paced back and forth, practicing his words over and over in his head. Victoria stood only a few feet away staring on to him.
“I’m sure it’ll all be fine.” She reassured him from afar, her words oddly distant. She wasn’t used to being kind in that way, Roy figured.
“Yeah! It’ll be great! I’m glad we managed to get such a big crowd from just some flyers and a little radio add… Your voice must really add to the commercial, huh?” He offered a nervous smile before he straitened his back and cracked his neck. “This is what I was born for.” He repeated his mantra that he had coined in his early debate days. Eerie how true the statement was, though he didn’t know it.
Victoria smoothed her elegant black dress, the several floral layers of the outfit cute but oddly fitting for the event. “Are you ready? It’s about time.” She urged him on, taking on the roll of his “assistant” while Sigfried was away. Now that I think of it where is Sigfri- Victoria nodded to him as he approached the stage. “Ready?”
“I was born ready.” He winked at the young lady and stepped out into the blinding light of a crowd of attentive faces. A few camera crews had made their way there and a lone news paper photographer. He had stirred up a lot of people since he had begun his campaign here in Central City and apparently his avalanche was only gaining snow. He saw a few skeptics, well, more than a few. The important thing was that they had come though. That meant that his ideas had enough worth to listen to. This might be the moment he made history.
--=~*/| o |\*~=--
Skoll finished attaching a few plugs with black leather gloves. Grunting as he forced a final rig into its socket he gave it a soft tug to ensure that it was secure. Rolling onto his back he slowly shuffled his way out from under the massive appliance. Thirteen minutes seemed appropriate to him, and so he coded in the numbers and began to walk away.
The neck-biting winds of the rooftop cut into him as he made his way for the roof access exit. He grasped the handle and tugged it open and began to tumble each foot in front of the other as he descended the stairwell.
He hoped that thirteen minutes was enough for him to get clear of the damn thing. Nobody likes radiation poisoning.
--=~*/| o |\*~=--
Hati bobbed his head slowly to the tune of his high BPM techno as he strode down the street. Out the corner of his eye he saw the massive group of people that had amassed for the rally a few blocks down. He began to stride quickly towards the gaggle but it sounded as though Roy had already started his speech.
Now, technically that meant he had no idea how long it would be to the drop but he knew he would be able to figure it out. “See? Who needs directions. Fuck Map Quest.”
--=~*/| o |\*~=--
The pigeon swooped and fluttered quicker than most people would have liked to give it credit for. They’re the rats of the sky alright, but they’re the fast rats of the sky. It navigated the streets with a horrific photographic memory that allowed them to remember where to drop of messages and raise their tiny disgusting young. In a final flourish it perched upon the peak of the office, peering down upon the crowd gathered below. If pigeons gave a crap about people, it might have been worried about how close they were to the building.
--=~*/| o |\*~=--
“… ignore this intergalactic threat any longer than we already have! We’ve seen what they’re capable of and it’s only a matter of time before they show up here, on our soil, and take us by surprise. How many times has the government lead us astray? How many wars have they lead and lost here on Earth? I’m not one to say I know anything about warfare. I’m not a general. But I do have some common sense in my head. I think you all do too. Do you really think that the alien threat is going to stop out there?”
He turned to the side of the stage and gestured to Victoria calmly. “Here to help me illustrate my poi-“
The counter expired.
A young man pointed and screamed.
An alien stood proudly on the roof, overlooking the rally.
The creature pointed out over the screaming hordes of onlookers as they fled. They glanced back at what seemed to be a human who’s face… who’s face was inhuman. His right foot was propped on the ledge of the structure as he screamed some unknown profanity or declaration of war. It was all gibberish to the people below anyways. Mothers grasped at children and fathers shielded sons. Roy turned and looked as the creature oddly glowed from behind, an eerie radiation emanating from what seemed to be an alien craft perched behind him. “What in the mother of God?”
With a malevolent cackle the being Leapt up into the air and cast both hands down at the base of the structure before disappearing behind the side of building.
KRAKA-KOOOM!!
Suddenly the lower floor disappeared in a wall of flame and force that pushed the trusses out from beneath the upper floors. With a deafening crack the office began to tip to its side as a chorus of screams filled the air.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]