by Paul Ormond
A wave of wild hollering filled the air again, and Mitch was forced to halt for a moment in order for the crowd to settle down.
“By now you will have realized that something is afoot on our little planet. If the spectacle staged by the President and her cronies hasn’t made that obvious, I am certain that the next escalation will drive the point home. But for the sake of clarity, let us understand what it is exactly that threatens our planet.”
Boos and hisses filled the air as an image of Robert Chapman appeared next to the enormous head.
“This man, Robert Chapman, we are all aware was a member of an organization with ties to an off world civilization boasting tremendous powers. We all know what happened at the MindHIve convention a year ago, so I won’t bore you with the details. But this incident is the first time we became aware of the ‘others’ lurking on the opposite side of the portal. Although it has only been an established fact for a short while, these others have had contact with various cults and organizations of control dating into antiquity. The purpose of this contact has varied over time, but it is certain that the organizations we speak of sought to control the planet in exchange for technology. Doing their part, the powers that be erected a control grid that has effectively cowed the human race into submission, and now the others we speak have come to collect their part of the bargain, that part being the Earth itself.”
The image of a hulking figure standing on the opposite side of the portal loomed over the crowd as people shouted in anger.
“This is the only known image of the enemy. Rumors abound of their origins and intentions, but we cannot deny their impact on our civilization. The technology they created has had an enormous effect on our development throughout our history, and in recent times we have seen a rapid escalation of our abilities based upon the mechanisms we received from these others. The devices developed by Robert Chapman to enslave humanity were only one part of a plan centuries in the making. It appears this civilization has chosen to annex our planet as they expand their Empire. As we speak they are preparing to launch an offensive in league with their early collaborators that will eradicate any resistance to this plan.”
As an image of enormous explosions appeared next to the giant head, the crowd gasped in astonishment before shouts of anger rose into the air again.
“Although it may appear that all is lost, the answer we seek is in this room. As members of the guild of Mythic, you have all undergone the training necessary to use the physical devices you received via our distribution network. In the coming days, you will transition from the testing ground here in this digital reality to real world application. It is a daunting task, but we must act quickly because our enemy will not rest until they have vanquished every corner of the planet and claimed it for themselves.”
The crowd roared with anger after an image of the Earth behind a set of bars appeared before them.
“This is a dark time for our planet and for our people, but remember that the sun also rises. Our network stretches across the planet. We are legion, and we will fight for our freedom when the time comes. But I have something else to tell you before we carry on. Obviously, you know that this head hovering before you is not Mitch Mythic. Our organization chose to use him in order to gather like-minded people under a banner of resistance, but it appears that our enemy took our cue and has attempted to subvert all that Mitch Mythic stands for and turn the masses against us. But looking out at your determined faces, I can see that they have already failed to sway your hearts. Will you join us in this fight for freedom?”
An earsplitting roar tore through the cavern as the crowd cheered in approval and raised their fists in the air.
“I thought so,” Mitch said while the crowd quieted down. “We have a long fight ahead of us and there is much we don’t know about our enemy. We do know they have powerful weapons and a large army. But with your help, we will have the numbers to match them and the firepower to back it up. There is one more thing we need to discuss before we disperse. This army we have assembled needs a leader. I’m sure you all remember Sage Rhinus and his companions. If he didn’t introduce himself to you already, you may recall seeing him in action in the infamous MindHIve live feed battling Robert Chapman’s rogue soldiers alongside Mitch Mythic. He and Mitch are close friends, and he has have a great deal of experience with the inReal technology we will be using as we engage the enemy. Therefore, we have selected Sage to act as the spokesperson and Leader of this army that we have decided to call the DeathForce.”
Turning to face Sage and his companions, the crowd roared in approval while Sage struggled to compose himself in front of the crowd.
“Do you have anything to say to your soldiers, General Rhinus?” Mitch said, locking eyes on Sage.
“Uh, I wasn’t really prepared to talk,” Sage said as a sea of expectant faces looked up at him from the cavern floor. “But I am, or I will do everything I can to fight for this planet.”
The crowd responded with a loud cheer and raised their arms in the air, signaling support.
“Mitch Mythic is my friend, and we got involved in all of this to figure out what happened to him,” Sage said, stepping forward. “But before we all knew about any of this, Mitch had it thrust upon him. He alone had to choose to stand up to MindHIve and their evil plan. If he didn’t have the courage then to do what he did, we would probably all be slaves now. When he first told us about what was happening, I didn’t believe him. He sounded crazy. I was ready to turn him in. But the people standing here beside me believed him, and after I saw that he wasn’t lying, I believed him too. As crazy as all of this sounds, I know that this threat is real, and I know what Mitch Mythic would do if he were here now. Unfortunately, he is out there, wherever he is. But I am sure he is fighting against the same forces that wish to subjugate our planet. So if you have any doubts about this, just ask yourself: what would Mitch Mythic do?”
“These are wise words spoken by a young man that understands the situation we are about to face,” Mitch said while he attempted to quiet the crowd. “This is why he has been selected to lead this force. Everyone here has completed their training exercises. It is now time to return to your lives and prepare yourself for whatever happens next. You will find instructions in your information package that will guide you through the inReal activation process. Once you have connected to our network, you will be given instructions for your first assignment. This will be a simple task, linking you with fellow freedom fighters in your vicinity. It is best if we operate as decentralized units. This way, we will be able to continue the fight even if we suffer losses. For this is a dangerous time. Gathering together like this presents an opportunity for our enemies to gain insight into our operation via espionage or access your data and reveal your location. No one is safe anymore, but we will fight to regain our planet and our freedom. With that, I urge you to exit DeathWorld and activate your devices in a safe and discreet location. The time has come for me to leave you. It is no longer viable to use this identity as a way to communicate. Our enemies may think they can use Mitch Mythic to their advantage, but I am certain the truth will shine through in the end. No one will be in direct contact with each other after this meeting in order to maintain our veil of secrecy. But you will receive commands via your devices. I leave you now knowing that I have fulfilled my directive. It is your turn now. The fate of the planet and that of the human race will be decided by your actions.”
The head of Mitch Mythic faded from view as murmurs and hushed whispers passed over the crowd before the audience turned to face Sage.
“You heard him,” Sage said, struggling to find something to say. “It looks like things just got real in more ways than one. Let’s all get out of here and get ready to take everything up a notch. You’ve all gotten a decent idea about how to handle your devices with the training models. Now you’re going to have to use them in the world. But you’ll probably be more prepared than we were the first time. I think we only had one night to practic
e before we found ourselves in the middle of a battle. As impossible as it might seem, we’re still here and ready to fight. We’ll show them they cannot come to our planet and push us around.”
The crowd cheered before filing out of the cavern, and Sage felt Candace step to his side.
“This is starting to get a little out of hand,” she said, watching the digitized people stream by.
“It got out of hand a long time ago,” Sage said before turning to face his friends. “Let’s all get out of here and meet at Shaundra’s again. We’ve got a lot to talk about.”
“Can’t do my place,” Shaundra said. “My dad said nobody can come over after he found out all his wine was missing.”
“We can do mine,” Gareth said. “My mom is visiting her sister in Longdale.”
“Fine, let’s get to Gareth’s,” Sage said after he launched into the air. “We can exit at the tree. I want to get out of here fast. This place creeps me out.”
Pulling off his mask, Sage leaned back in his chair and wiped his brow off with an old shirt he picked up off of the ground. He let go a deep exhale and shook his head in disbelief before he rose from his chair.
“Sage, honey, you better get in here,” his mom shouted from downstairs. “There is something going on, and I think you are going to want to see it.”
“What are you talking about?” Sage said while he made his way downstairs and into the living room.
“This,” his mom said, pointing to the TV.
“What in the hell are those things?” Sage asked as he peered at several bright lights hovered over the White House before a reporter addressed the camera.
“Still no word on what the anomalies are or where they came from,” the reporter said. “We’re waiting for the President to make a statement, but in the meantime a frightened nation looks up to the sky in wonder.”
CHAPTER THIRTY
ROLLING ONTO A hard surface, Mitch popped to his feet before the portal closed behind him. He found himself within a wide stone passageway lined with black marble flooring. A soft light wafted through an opening nearby, and Mitch spotted SoHee standing over a ledge with her back to him.
Outside, the wind howled, a low moan crying out like some hungry beast. Making his way down the hall, he passed by a tiled mosaic laid into the stone wall. At the center sat a single wide eye that locked onto him while he crept along the passage.
After reaching the end of the hall, he stepped out onto a parapet made of rough stone. In the distance, enormous clouds billowed against a dark sky, hues of purple and orange dancing across twilight’s shadows.
Stepping to SoHee’s side, he placed his hand on the stone wall, before leaping back in fear as a chunk of the stone broke under his touch and fell into a deep chasm.
“That’s kind of an ominous start,” Mitch said. “Where are we anyway? Another hostile planet filled with aggressive beasts?”
“I’ve been here before,” SoHee said. “Well, not here exactly, but this is all very familiar to me.”
“Do you mean like a dream, or déjà vu?” Mitch asked.
“No, I mean a have literally been here before. After the Masters took me, I awoke in a strange place and I was taken to a temple by these masked men. It’s a long story, but in the temple I met Mother and she told me a lot of strange things, most of which may have been lies and misdirections, but after participating in a few ceremonies, I traveled through a portal and came to this place.”
“Where is it?”
“I’m not exactly sure, Mother said it was a place where I would discover the origins of my powers, but that turned out to be a lie as well. The thing is I think there is a whole other level to all of this that even Mother doesn’t know about, and I think I know how to figure it out.”
“How are you going to do that?”
“I’ve got a plan, but I need to find something first.”
“You mind telling me what it is you are looking for?”
“Don’t you like surprises?”
“After all that we’ve been through, I don’t think my heart can take any more surprises.”
“Your heart will be fine. Where is your sense of adventure?” SoHee said while she unpacked her orb and launched into the air.
“I think I could use a little less excitement in my life,” Mitch said, following after SoHee. “But with the way things are going, I don’t see that happening anytime in the foreseeable future.”
“All will come to pass as it should,” Sohee said before racing ahead. “I’m surprised to hear you talk this way. It sounds like the Most Dangerous Man in the multi-verse is losing heart.”
“I’m not losing heart,” Mitch said, attempting to keep pace with SoHee. “I’m just a little tired of all this saving the universe stuff.”
“We all bear the burden,” SoHee said as their shadows passed over a barren stone landscape. “But we need to stay hopeful, or we risk falling into oblivion.”
“Oblivion, huh?” Mitch said, looking toward the skyline. “Isn’t that where we’re headed now?”
“I think you will know oblivion when you see it. Where we’re headed is more like the center of all creation, the exact opposite of oblivion.”
“I’m not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing.”
“It’s neither. That is the thing about all of this. We have to remember that existence is not something that happens to us. We are active participants in the events unfolding all around us, not just you and I, but all things. Everything that exists in the multi-verse matters as much as everything else.”
“But I thought it was all just a simulation or like an illusion.”
“It depends on how you think of it. How is a simulated reality not reality? If it exists, then it is.”
“Now you’re just being vague.”
“How is it vague? We already know that these many worlds exist. Who are we to determine which one is more real than the other? It seems to me that all of them are real in some sense or another.”
“But there has to be an original. These architects or whoever, they had to have based all of this on something.”
“We can’t be sure until we find it, but if I am right, then we are going to get as close as we possibly can. But before we do that, we need to find the key that unlocks the door. And I think I know where it is.”
Banking to her right, SoHee rocketed toward a deep canyon, forcing Mitch to race after her.
“You think you can keep up?” SoHee shouted before she made a tight turn around a sharp protrusion of stone.
“Are you sure you want to be challenging the Most Dangerous Man in the Multi-Verse?” Mitch said, angling into a turn.
“So now you are calling yourself that?” SoHee said before an opening appeared at the end of the canyon. “If you ask me, all of this power is going to your head. Just be careful, the multi-verse has a way of humbling us all.”
“I don’t think I’m the one in the need of a little humility, Great Goddess,” Mitch said. Rolling into a spin, he dropped down in front of SoHee before exiting the canyon and rising into the air over a low plain.
“There is just no end to your competitiveness,” SoHee said as she pulled to a stop a few hundred feet above the ground.
“What is all that?” Mitch asked, looking to the sky. Twin spheres of light hung in the distance before a dark vortex.
“That means we are running out of time,” SoHee said. “We’re close. Follow me.”
“It will be a lot easier for me to help you if you just tell me what you are looking for,” Mitch said, chasing after SoHee as she dropped to the ground.
“It’s all right. I’ve already found it,” Sohee said after she came to a halt before a low mound covered in coarse shrubs.
“It looks like you’ve found a pile of dirt,” Mitch said, landing on the ground beside her.
“Looks can be deceiving,” she said while she raised her arm and directed a beam of energy into the mound.
“Is it like another door
way or something?” Mitch asked, watching the light stream into the rise.
“Not a doorway,” SoHee said before a heavy shock wave disintegrated the mound knocking Mitch to the ground.
As the dust cleared, Mitch climbed back to his feet and coughed to clear his lungs.
The sound of creaking metal met his ears, and he jumped back in fear as a towering form loomed through the dust cloud.
“What the hell have you done?” Mitch shouted, pulling up his spear.
“There is nothing to fear, Mitch,” SoHee said before she stepped forward and looked up at the robot standing before her. “It will not harm us.”
“Are you kidding me?” Mitch said with his spear pointed at the robot. “I fought one of those things already. You might not remember because you were a prisoner inside it.”
“I do remember,” SoHee said. A green light filled the eyes embedded in the dome sitting atop the robot’s thick chest. “But you aren’t going to hurt us, are you?”
“I do not think I will hurt you, but I cannot say that it isn’t possible,” the robot said while shaking dirt from its dome. “For I am not certain of much at all other than the fact that you have saved me from my tomb within the earth. I am forever indebted to you for this kind act.”
“Do you remember anything else? Like how you came to be here?” SoHee asked as the robot lowered itself into a crouch beside her.
“Remember? I am not sure what it is that I am to remember. I know that I was in the ground and now I am standing before you, but I do not recall anything that could be remembered,” the robot said.
“Ok, now I’m really confused,” Mitch said, lowering his spear.
“It’ll all be clear in a few moments,” SoHee said. “I think I know how I can help you remember. And then you are going to show us the way home.”
“You mean back to Earth?” Mitch asked.
“Not our home,” SoHee said. “His home.”
“Much like the memories you asked me about, I do not recall having a home,” the robot said.
