Archived Fragment: The Train Kept On...
Archived Fragment: The Snake Moon
Archived Fragment: The Element of Surprise
Archived Fragment: A Matter of Music
Archived Fragment: A Difference of Opinions
Archived Fragment: The Ballad...
Archived Fragment: Wounded Puppy
Archived Fragment: After the Fire...
Archived Fragment: Unlike a Flesh Wound
Archived Fragment: Out of the Frying Pan
Archived Fragment: The Decoy
Archived Fragment: When Do Bullets Cry?
Archived Fragment: Gunfire Choir
The
train rumbled on.
Max lay across a row of chairs; he couldn't sleep and hadn't been sleeping properly for the past few nights. Though he didn't feel tired at all; he hadn't been since the events that had transpired a few weeks ago.
If I truly fall asleep I will slip away from here.
He didn't want that. He was growing into this comfort zone, he was liking the company, the adventure he was having, and he would die if this reality faded away into the nothingness, like a dream after waking.
He'd grown accustomed to the shunting of the train, and the companions he had met along the way. For the first time in what seemed liked an eternity he felt the feelings of bondship.
It would be shame if I were to disappear.
And then one of the voices – he could never be sure which was which, and they were more of a feeling than an actual voice – said: You know it will end some time.
clickety-clack
A few seats away, Goner plopped down beside Suki. "What's going on at the moment?" he asked.
"A whole lotta nothin'," Suki replied with a smile. She was sipping on a soda and watching the platforms passing by, merging realities into one plureality. "Just watching the worlds meld before me. It's better than television!"
Goner chuckled. He had begun to miss some of the shows he had grown accustomed to.
"We've been traveling for a long while without any stops," Goner noted.
"I know," Suki said. "And I have to go to the bathroom!"
clickety-clack
On a subway platform several men in dark suits took position. They began ushering out people waiting for a train; flashing ID's and assuring them that all was going to be okay. Andy and Jeremiah kept strumming their guitars, cases open before them with a scattering of coins inside, each wearing their busker permit around their neck. They exchanged a wary glance when they saw the swarm of suited men.
clickety-clack
Suki fished a comic book out of her school-bag, the latest adventure of a group of mutants who were at a special school due to their gifts. She enjoyed reading since it helped pass the time between here and there. Depending on where there was and how long it took to get there, she would indulge in a trivial form of reading.
Her attention was focused on the sound bubble of each page, reading the story that unfolded. Drawing her in deeper and deeper into the continued story arc.
She was just getting to a good part when she flipped the page and the story arc was To be continued... and that irked her to no end.
“What's the matter?” Goner asked.
“They just met this cool new hero named Raven – she's got this awesome sortof telepathic reality-warping power – and now I'll never get to find out what happens next! The chances of finding the next issue in the next version are pretty slim...”
Goner nodded. Living a life broken up into strange fragments and shifting moments, it always felt like things were 'to be continued'. You always knew that eventually things would get weird, or dangerous, or both.
clickety-clack
The suits continued their sweep of the platform; Lee wasn't buying it. He knew the type, knew that their motives were usually suspect, and he was pretty sure that the ID's they were flashing were fake. He looked around, trying to see if there was anyone nearby who wouldn't think he was just being paranoid...
Adam watched the suits on the march, then noticed Lee, the suspicious look on his face, that rare moment when you know for certain that someone else is thinking the exact same thing as you...
clickety-clack
Angst sat looking out the window, watching the blur and listening to her mp3 player. She was listening to a classic song and moved her head to the rhythmic beat.
Suki sat behind her re-reading the comic book and sipping on a soda...
clickety-clack
Kelly gently nudged the group of children along the platform. The teacher had gone to the washroom, which left her and the other volunteer in charge of the field trip, and now these strange men in suits were herding everyone.
"What's going on?" the other volunteer asked. "Terrorists?" Kelly frowned; some people were so eager to believe some lies and so reluctant to believe some truths.
One of the suits barked at one of the kids to move along and Mark stepped in, back from the washroom, eyes locking on the man's sunglasses. “There's no need for that,” Mark said.
clickety-clack
"No way," Goner said. He had moved on down the subway car to where Frank was sitting. "Did you even watch the same game as I did?"
"Yeah, I did," Frank said. "You must be watching some fantasy version in your head."
"Clearly Redgrin had the ball in his possession before the whistle blew," Goner stated.
"The whistle blew before Redgrin could do the recovery," Frank grinned. "You are just a sore loser. You still owe me."
"Well, I don't have the cash on me," Goner said. "Wait to see if there's an ATM at the next stop and I will get it to you."
Frank rolled his eyes back and said, "That's if you do have an account in this version."
clickety-clack
Debashis and Joy stepped off the escalator onto the platform. “Consequences aren't merely arbitrary effects designated by the person with the power, they become the way that the person being helped understands that their actions are significant and important, as long as the person with the power is exercising it with self-awareness...” Debashis was saying.
“Or as we say on the frontline, 'shit's gotta mean shit',” Joy replied. Debashis laughed, until he saw the scene playing out before them and a suit started walking menacingly towards them.
Joy's cell made a strange beeping noise...
clickety-clack
Mags was sitting beside Bishop's booth, keeping the conductor company. She knew better than to ask him when their next stop was going to be. She hummed a tune as she dragged the whetstone along the blade of her katana. And then a strange feeling came over her...
She stared down the length of car, Max dozing, Suki reading, Angst listening to music, Frank and Goner chatting, the new girl Summer knitting. And someone else, a man sitting at the far end of the car; he was writing in a notebook and paused to roll some oddly-shaped dice. When he did, Maggie suddenly noticed a soft grey glow around Summer, then Frank, then a darker one around Suki...
clickety-clack
Chance and Peyton were listening to the buskers and talking about anime when the suits began their push. They watched for a moment then looked to each other. “Do they look familiar to you?” Peyton asked.
Chance nodded. “Do you feel that? It's the same feeling... from years ago...”
Peyton's eyes widened. “I remember,” she said. Then looked down at her hands, where two massive battle-gauntlets had appeared. Then at Chance's chest, where a gold cross suddenly materialized.
clickety-clack
Tim rolled the dice again.
clickety-clack
Most of the crowd had been chased off. Another LEGACY cell moved onto the platform, carrying some cases and setting them down. They moved with the purpose of a strike team. Opening up the cases revealing heavy weapons. They began to mount them on the platform, quick and efficient; with pressurized drills they were putting the mounts into the floor.
Anthony had been waiting on a bench, reading Nagel's 'What is it Like to be a Bat?'. He had watched the first LEGACY cell move in and begin clearing the platform. It was as if he could see it from different angles. He had noticed the way that the buskers' playing provided a soundtrack for the scene. And he had started having these brief flashes, like jump-cuts, to the interior of an approaching subway car, a strange group on board. A sense of tension rising.
And when the second team appeared and began setting the weapons, that's when the music stopped. And the silence was as loud and as profound as the noise had been. And that's when the shouting started and Anthony knew something very bad was about to happen.
clickety-clack
There were three dozen LEGACY members waiting. Three mounted cannons and each soldier armed to the hilt with weapons.
Jeremiah and Andy were standing now, clutching their guitars. The appearance of the weapons had surprised them, but not as much as seeing the cross materialize around Chance's neck and the gauntlets on Peyton's hands.
“That's very cool,” Jeremiah said.
Andy looked to the LEGACY team, then back to Chance and Peyton. “I think we're with you guys on this.”
Lee and Adam had instinctively moved towards each other. They were staring down a handful of the suits, who seemed surprised that the two men hadn't followed the order to leave. Close enough now that Lee could see some of the devices that they were carrying. “Dark Tek,” he whispered.
Adam held up a pack of handmade Tarot cards, cutting the deck and handing half to Lee. “Light tech.”
When the LEGACY suit tried to shove Mark backwards he got himself rugby-tackled. The kids behind Kelly cheered, “Yay Mr. Haskins!” The other volunteer started to run. Kelly sighed. “Alright kids, stay behind me!” And she faced the oncoming soldiers, and noticed that the suit Mark had tackled had dropped a device...
Joy was trying to understand how an app that she had dreamed about – there had been a spooky well, and this weird guy, who she somehow knew – was now actually installed on her phone and warning her that an 'OMEGA CLASS ANOMALY' was being detected. Debashis had advanced and was trying to negotiate with an approaching suit, with little effect. Joy was tapping the screen, trying to understand the strange software, trying to remember the dream, the odd conversations she had had with the weird guy...
Debashis, using every counseling trick he had to try and connect with the expressionless agent before him, had his own dreamy memory – a pathworking ritual, years ago, a vision of some trolls attacking a defenseless deer, and the knowledge that sometimes you had to stand up to the bullies...
Anthony stood up. And there was a woman beside him. She was looking at the chaos erupting before them on the platform. Anthony asked, “Aren't you a character from a comic book? A friend of mine reads a lot of them...”
Raven looked thoughtful. “I might be, in this version. What do you say? Shall we watch or shall we join in?”
Anthony smiled back. “Fight scene?”
Raven smiled. “After you, Butch.”
Anthony nodded. “My pleasure, Sundance.”
Kelly grabbed the device, thin like a pen but with a glowing light on the end. Mark was on his feet again, throwing a block at another agent. “You know how to use that thing?” he asked.
Kelly smiled. “I watch a lot of sci-fi.”
Adam smiled as he drew the first card from his deck and began accessing the necessary trance-state to engage the symbolic interface for tulpa summoning. “Do you know how to use those?” he asked Lee.
“I'll figure it out,” Lee said. “I play a lot of role-playing games.” He smiled.
Debashis turned back to Joy. “I'm gonna punch this guy out, if you're okay with that?”
Joy smiled as she finally figured out how to use the app to send a signal over-ride to the LEGACY heavy weapons systems, effectively shutting them down. “I accept that,” she answered.
Chance smiled at Peyton. “Alright, just like the old days!” And he charged the agents.
“Follow us!” Peyton shouted at Jeremiah and Andy, and she followed Chance into the fray, gauntlets swinging wildly.
“This is some pretty weird shit,” Jeremiah said, smiling. “I'm kinda freaked out but kinda excited.”
Andy nodded. “'It's the duplicitous edge which we all walk upon'.”
They raised their guitars and charged.
clickety-clack
clickety-clack
clickety clack
“Hey,” Suki said, tapping Angst on the shoulder. “Did you see that?"
Angst popped out her earphones. “Yeah... The last station we passed through, some kind of crazy battle going on... Did you guys see that?”
Frank and Goner were playing cards. They shook their heads in sync. Summer was still knitting; it was the first time that she looked even a little bit relaxed since they had brought her aboard the subway car.
“How about you, Maggie?” Suki asked. “Should we wake up Max?”
Mags watched as the strange glows surrounding Summer, Frank and Suki faded away. She looked to the end of the car where Tim was packing up his dice and notes.
Maggie smiled. “Let him sleep for a while longer.”
Max lay across a row of chairs; he couldn't sleep and hadn't been sleeping properly for the past few nights. Though he didn't feel tired at all; he hadn't been since the events that had transpired a few weeks ago.
If I truly fall asleep I will slip away from here.
He didn't want that. He was growing into this comfort zone, he was liking the company, the adventure he was having, and he would die if this reality faded away into the nothingness, like a dream after waking.
He'd grown accustomed to the shunting of the train, and the companions he had met along the way. For the first time in what seemed liked an eternity he felt the feelings of bondship.
It would be shame if I were to disappear.
And then one of the voices – he could never be sure which was which, and they were more of a feeling than an actual voice – said: You know it will end some time.
clickety-clack
A few seats away, Goner plopped down beside Suki. "What's going on at the moment?" he asked.
"A whole lotta nothin'," Suki replied with a smile. She was sipping on a soda and watching the platforms passing by, merging realities into one plureality. "Just watching the worlds meld before me. It's better than television!"
Goner chuckled. He had begun to miss some of the shows he had grown accustomed to.
"We've been traveling for a long while without any stops," Goner noted.
"I know," Suki said. "And I have to go to the bathroom!"
clickety-clack
On a subway platform several men in dark suits took position. They began ushering out people waiting for a train; flashing ID's and assuring them that all was going to be okay. Andy and Jeremiah kept strumming their guitars, cases open before them with a scattering of coins inside, each wearing their busker permit around their neck. They exchanged a wary glance when they saw the swarm of suited men.
clickety-clack
Suki fished a comic book out of her school-bag, the latest adventure of a group of mutants who were at a special school due to their gifts. She enjoyed reading since it helped pass the time between here and there. Depending on where there was and how long it took to get there, she would indulge in a trivial form of reading.
Her attention was focused on the sound bubble of each page, reading the story that unfolded. Drawing her in deeper and deeper into the continued story arc.
She was just getting to a good part when she flipped the page and the story arc was To be continued... and that irked her to no end.
“What's the matter?” Goner asked.
“They just met this cool new hero named Raven – she's got this awesome sortof telepathic reality-warping power – and now I'll never get to find out what happens next! The chances of finding the next issue in the next version are pretty slim...”
Goner nodded. Living a life broken up into strange fragments and shifting moments, it always felt like things were 'to be continued'. You always knew that eventually things would get weird, or dangerous, or both.
clickety-clack
The suits continued their sweep of the platform; Lee wasn't buying it. He knew the type, knew that their motives were usually suspect, and he was pretty sure that the ID's they were flashing were fake. He looked around, trying to see if there was anyone nearby who wouldn't think he was just being paranoid...
Adam watched the suits on the march, then noticed Lee, the suspicious look on his face, that rare moment when you know for certain that someone else is thinking the exact same thing as you...
clickety-clack
Angst sat looking out the window, watching the blur and listening to her mp3 player. She was listening to a classic song and moved her head to the rhythmic beat.
Suki sat behind her re-reading the comic book and sipping on a soda...
clickety-clack
Kelly gently nudged the group of children along the platform. The teacher had gone to the washroom, which left her and the other volunteer in charge of the field trip, and now these strange men in suits were herding everyone.
"What's going on?" the other volunteer asked. "Terrorists?" Kelly frowned; some people were so eager to believe some lies and so reluctant to believe some truths.
One of the suits barked at one of the kids to move along and Mark stepped in, back from the washroom, eyes locking on the man's sunglasses. “There's no need for that,” Mark said.
clickety-clack
"No way," Goner said. He had moved on down the subway car to where Frank was sitting. "Did you even watch the same game as I did?"
"Yeah, I did," Frank said. "You must be watching some fantasy version in your head."
"Clearly Redgrin had the ball in his possession before the whistle blew," Goner stated.
"The whistle blew before Redgrin could do the recovery," Frank grinned. "You are just a sore loser. You still owe me."
"Well, I don't have the cash on me," Goner said. "Wait to see if there's an ATM at the next stop and I will get it to you."
Frank rolled his eyes back and said, "That's if you do have an account in this version."
clickety-clack
Debashis and Joy stepped off the escalator onto the platform. “Consequences aren't merely arbitrary effects designated by the person with the power, they become the way that the person being helped understands that their actions are significant and important, as long as the person with the power is exercising it with self-awareness...” Debashis was saying.
“Or as we say on the frontline, 'shit's gotta mean shit',” Joy replied. Debashis laughed, until he saw the scene playing out before them and a suit started walking menacingly towards them.
Joy's cell made a strange beeping noise...
clickety-clack
Mags was sitting beside Bishop's booth, keeping the conductor company. She knew better than to ask him when their next stop was going to be. She hummed a tune as she dragged the whetstone along the blade of her katana. And then a strange feeling came over her...
She stared down the length of car, Max dozing, Suki reading, Angst listening to music, Frank and Goner chatting, the new girl Summer knitting. And someone else, a man sitting at the far end of the car; he was writing in a notebook and paused to roll some oddly-shaped dice. When he did, Maggie suddenly noticed a soft grey glow around Summer, then Frank, then a darker one around Suki...
clickety-clack
Chance and Peyton were listening to the buskers and talking about anime when the suits began their push. They watched for a moment then looked to each other. “Do they look familiar to you?” Peyton asked.
Chance nodded. “Do you feel that? It's the same feeling... from years ago...”
Peyton's eyes widened. “I remember,” she said. Then looked down at her hands, where two massive battle-gauntlets had appeared. Then at Chance's chest, where a gold cross suddenly materialized.
clickety-clack
Tim rolled the dice again.
clickety-clack
Most of the crowd had been chased off. Another LEGACY cell moved onto the platform, carrying some cases and setting them down. They moved with the purpose of a strike team. Opening up the cases revealing heavy weapons. They began to mount them on the platform, quick and efficient; with pressurized drills they were putting the mounts into the floor.
Anthony had been waiting on a bench, reading Nagel's 'What is it Like to be a Bat?'. He had watched the first LEGACY cell move in and begin clearing the platform. It was as if he could see it from different angles. He had noticed the way that the buskers' playing provided a soundtrack for the scene. And he had started having these brief flashes, like jump-cuts, to the interior of an approaching subway car, a strange group on board. A sense of tension rising.
And when the second team appeared and began setting the weapons, that's when the music stopped. And the silence was as loud and as profound as the noise had been. And that's when the shouting started and Anthony knew something very bad was about to happen.
clickety-clack
There were three dozen LEGACY members waiting. Three mounted cannons and each soldier armed to the hilt with weapons.
Jeremiah and Andy were standing now, clutching their guitars. The appearance of the weapons had surprised them, but not as much as seeing the cross materialize around Chance's neck and the gauntlets on Peyton's hands.
“That's very cool,” Jeremiah said.
Andy looked to the LEGACY team, then back to Chance and Peyton. “I think we're with you guys on this.”
Lee and Adam had instinctively moved towards each other. They were staring down a handful of the suits, who seemed surprised that the two men hadn't followed the order to leave. Close enough now that Lee could see some of the devices that they were carrying. “Dark Tek,” he whispered.
Adam held up a pack of handmade Tarot cards, cutting the deck and handing half to Lee. “Light tech.”
When the LEGACY suit tried to shove Mark backwards he got himself rugby-tackled. The kids behind Kelly cheered, “Yay Mr. Haskins!” The other volunteer started to run. Kelly sighed. “Alright kids, stay behind me!” And she faced the oncoming soldiers, and noticed that the suit Mark had tackled had dropped a device...
Joy was trying to understand how an app that she had dreamed about – there had been a spooky well, and this weird guy, who she somehow knew – was now actually installed on her phone and warning her that an 'OMEGA CLASS ANOMALY' was being detected. Debashis had advanced and was trying to negotiate with an approaching suit, with little effect. Joy was tapping the screen, trying to understand the strange software, trying to remember the dream, the odd conversations she had had with the weird guy...
Debashis, using every counseling trick he had to try and connect with the expressionless agent before him, had his own dreamy memory – a pathworking ritual, years ago, a vision of some trolls attacking a defenseless deer, and the knowledge that sometimes you had to stand up to the bullies...
Anthony stood up. And there was a woman beside him. She was looking at the chaos erupting before them on the platform. Anthony asked, “Aren't you a character from a comic book? A friend of mine reads a lot of them...”
Raven looked thoughtful. “I might be, in this version. What do you say? Shall we watch or shall we join in?”
Anthony smiled back. “Fight scene?”
Raven smiled. “After you, Butch.”
Anthony nodded. “My pleasure, Sundance.”
Kelly grabbed the device, thin like a pen but with a glowing light on the end. Mark was on his feet again, throwing a block at another agent. “You know how to use that thing?” he asked.
Kelly smiled. “I watch a lot of sci-fi.”
Adam smiled as he drew the first card from his deck and began accessing the necessary trance-state to engage the symbolic interface for tulpa summoning. “Do you know how to use those?” he asked Lee.
“I'll figure it out,” Lee said. “I play a lot of role-playing games.” He smiled.
Debashis turned back to Joy. “I'm gonna punch this guy out, if you're okay with that?”
Joy smiled as she finally figured out how to use the app to send a signal over-ride to the LEGACY heavy weapons systems, effectively shutting them down. “I accept that,” she answered.
Chance smiled at Peyton. “Alright, just like the old days!” And he charged the agents.
“Follow us!” Peyton shouted at Jeremiah and Andy, and she followed Chance into the fray, gauntlets swinging wildly.
“This is some pretty weird shit,” Jeremiah said, smiling. “I'm kinda freaked out but kinda excited.”
Andy nodded. “'It's the duplicitous edge which we all walk upon'.”
They raised their guitars and charged.
clickety-clack
clickety-clack
clickety clack
“Hey,” Suki said, tapping Angst on the shoulder. “Did you see that?"
Angst popped out her earphones. “Yeah... The last station we passed through, some kind of crazy battle going on... Did you guys see that?”
Frank and Goner were playing cards. They shook their heads in sync. Summer was still knitting; it was the first time that she looked even a little bit relaxed since they had brought her aboard the subway car.
“How about you, Maggie?” Suki asked. “Should we wake up Max?”
Mags watched as the strange glows surrounding Summer, Frank and Suki faded away. She looked to the end of the car where Tim was packing up his dice and notes.
Maggie smiled. “Let him sleep for a while longer.”
Epilogue:
Bailey skipped down the escalator. She was worried that she was going to get in trouble for getting separated from the rest of the kids on the field trip but she had been sure that woman had been the actress who played Katniss and she wasn't going to miss the chance for an autograph. Not her though, so now she was late with nothing to show for it. Mr. Haskins was a cool teacher but he would probably still be upset.
When she arrived on the platform she was amazed at what she found. Dozens of unconscious men in suits scattered about. Some bullet-holes and scorch-marks on the walls. A group of people were gathered at the far end of the platform, shaking hands and laughing. Mr. Haskins was there, and Kelly the volunteer. And was that her sister, Peyton?
Bailey wondered what had happened. Then she noticed that one of the men in a suit was still moving... His hand was reaching slowly towards a weird device that looked like some kind of futuristic bomb. No one in the group noticed...
His hand was almost on the button when Bailey stepped over him and punched him squarely in the face. Knocked him out cold. She pulled a bunch of wires out of the device so that it wasn't a threat anymore and headed towards the group. It had been quite a field trip.
