Microstory 777: Hector

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Some might say that Hector Cubit’s nickname as The Protector is proof that we are destined to be who we later become. The truth is, though, that he could have just as easily been named Bobby, or been deemed The Guardian. Still, though he generally had little enthusiasm for rhyme, he was proud of his title, and adopted it happily. It was quite useful, too, to have something that remained with him always, since he barely had time to make his name in one job before he moved on to the next. Hector attributes his protective instinct to his mother, Joaquima, who was also famous for her propensity to save people’s lives. It would seem that danger was stalking Joaquima, for she constantly found herself in mortal danger. From bank hostage to boating accident survivor, Joaquima had no shortage of stories saved up to later tell her children, of which she would ultimately have none. What people didn’t realize, however, was that danger wasn’t following her at all, she was actually looking for it. There have been lots of people throughout history who have been born with special abilities, but most of these are associated with some subspecies of human. Ambers, anomalies, vampirs; these all have abilities, because they were genetically engineered to be different than standard humans. What they could do was the result of something being done to them, with very little of it being natural. The universe, however, also contains a mystery or two, one of these being Prophets. Unlike some fictional stories, prophets do not simply see the future. They do not gaze into crystal balls, or make judgments from tea leaves. Real prophets are simply those destined to lead the world through great sociopolitical breakthroughs, using radical forward-thinking ideas. Yes, it’s true that they often possess some connection to the fabric of the universe, but their real power is what they do with it. Joaquima Quintana could not literally see the future, but she did feel the push and pull of safety and danger. Another possessing this trait would use it to avoid perilous situations, and possibly some higher power controlling all this had that in mind, but that was not what Joaquima decided to do with it. She placed herself in the hazardous situations, using her intuition to prevent a tragedy altogether, or at least save as many as she could. Her husband, seeing her path to be of great value to the world, provided for them both with a steady job for decades. She retired from this life, and took a regular job, when she had Hector at a relatively old age, but not before, some believe, she passed her gifts onto him. Though he was never considered a true prophet, the reason Hector kept switching jobs was because he always had to be where he was needed most.

Microstory 638: Celebration of Guardian Appreciation Day

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The successful achievement of the thirty-eighth taikon was less about fulfilling it as it was fulfilling all the ones before it. There are very few holidays in this galaxy that are observed across more than one or two star systems. Only one of these is observed in all systems. Sotiren Zahir’s extraordinary gifts manifested themselves at a very early age. He was able to see and know things that no one could explain. He was not an amber, or an anomaly. He was no witch, time traveler, or basic old world prophet. He was something different; in a class of his own. People around him rarely believed his truths, even as he proved them before their eyes. They chalked it up to coincidence, refusing to see reality, and reject their old religions. His parents were not like them, though. They supported him in everything he did, they always believed him, and they encouraged him to explore his shocking understanding of the universe. He speaks of them at length in the Book of Light, and how beneficial their reactions to his—sometimes disturbing— visions of the future. He demanded a Guardian Appreciation Day, to be celebrated annually all across the galaxy, on the day that splits the difference between his parent’s respective birthdays. Though a few worlds have attempted to ignore this tradition, they always end up falling in line the following year after their trade deals suddenly turn sour. It is one of our founder’s few commandments, so the least anyone can do is be part of it. And for the most part, even planets dominated by rival religions continue the tradition. As with any year, Guardian Appreciation Day was set to be observed during the taikon year. It cannot be moved up or down the calendar, and if all of the previously thirty-seven taikon were not reached by the time this day rolled around, the entire prophecy would be forfeit. It was positively vital that the taikon be experienced in the right order, and under this deadline, or everything Lightseers and general Fosteans alike worked for would be meaningless. Fortunately, now-Eido Wurnti Kaddow presented herself in just enough time to let this happen. Guardian Appreciation Day was observed, and all was well.

Microstory 617: Everlasting Sacred Light

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Three days after the Sacred Savior, Sotiren Zahir was buried, perhaps the most miraculous event of all took place. He came back from the dead. Now, at this point in our collective history, humans have had their fair share of resurrections. It is not terribly common, but it’s also not impossible. Vampires were borne of a race of peoples called pseudomortals who had figured out a way to pull themselves back from the death dimension. Ambers were a different race of people with special abilities; a select few of which could bring others from the afterlife as well. Much later, the anomalies rose to power, and a few of them also had some level of control over death. Even if these things had not happened, virtual immortality has been in the galaxy for a long time now, so death is really a non-issue for anyone with enough money to enjoy the right treatments and procedures. But our Savior died in such a unique way that he should not have been able to return at all. This was not by accident, but by holy mandate. One of Sotiren’s final request was that he not be retrieved, cloned, or otherwise replicated. He believed in singular identity, and did not think that anyone other than the actual him could ever hope to be him. His followers tend to agree.

There is one obscure passage in the Book of Light—separate from the taikon passages—that seems to make the aforementioned mandate sound a little more complicated than we thought. Then the Sacrificed will rise, by light in darkness; the darkest and coldest. A new sun will illuminate the sky. It will burn bright and die fast. Many scholars believed this passage to be connected to the scripture regarding the seventeenth taikon, despite no direct reference to each other. The Sacred Light will dim for three days, but be reignited by the juice of peace and joy. Both of these passages have largely been considered metaphorical; independently and collectively meaning that the Lightseed faith cannot be extinguished, that truth will always prevail, even after being snuffed out...or dying. Recent events, however, led scholars and verifiers to reexamine these words to see if they may be more literal. Evidence has pointed to the idea that the seventeenth taikon was reached. And this is how. Within the boundaries of the solar system that houses the planet isolate of Kesliperia, a star suddenly burst into existence. The elite residents of Harrdosa and Yelseten were shocked by its unexpected appearance it in the twilight sky during the Feast of the Fruit of Love. Upon turning back around, however, they discovered a visitor had arrived at the feast. Feeling happy and agreeable from the polbit fruit, they welcomed him to the meal, even though he wasn’t wearing any clothes. A group of verifiers were witnessing the event, however, and immediately recognized this man as Sotiren Zahir. He had been resurrected from death, by no artificial means. Many believe that the text in the Book of Light that refers to the Everlasting Sacred Light was actually in reference to this event. If this was a true miracle, it is one that requires further testing. The other taikon may continue in that time, but cannot be officially recognized until the Savior’s return can be scientifically verified.

Microstory 599: How PROSAIC Took Over the World

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What began as a vampire uprising years ago transformed into something more sinister than anything anyone not involved could have predicted. I write these words knowing that my life is forfeit, but if I can open even two people’s eyes to the truth, than I believe it to be worth it. Besides, I am one of the last remaining people who were alive when the vampire plague hit, so I know what was like before that. And I know that we can find that world once more, but we’ll have to to do it together. Rather, you’ll have to do it. Even if they don’t catch me, I’m old, and won’t be around much longer. First, you’ll need a quick history lesson.

When the first vampire plague hit the shores of a remote island chain, the small group of heroes who quashed it thought that it would be over. What they didn’t realize was that this was merely a test run, and that the instigators of this horror would later tweak their formula using unexpected data from this test, and deploy another wave. The second wave was global, but it spread so gradually that people didn’t think much of it. Sure, it affected nearly the entire vampire population, but the symptoms were minor, and the effects not lasting. A few isolated vampires discovered that following the recovery from this pathogen, they were afforded new abilities. Upon drinking the blood on amber, a vampire could enjoy heightened strength, increased speed, and a deeper resilience to the light and heat. Of course, for most vampires, this was a nice gift, but it wouldn’t make them any more dangerous to the world than they already were. Afterall, if they wanted to hurt someone that bad, they could just use a machine gun. The stringe vampires, however—those with a history of criminal recidivism—saw this as an opportunity, and some began making plans to exploit their new advantages. But still, their uprising was not as violent as it could have been. The stringes wanted to take control of the world’s resources, but they didn’t want to hurt anyone. What they didn’t plan on was a completely unrelated group of people deciding to carry out their own political exploits.

Following the usurpation of many of the world’s leaders by vampire criminals, a secret organization made itself known to the world, and took this power for themselves. They were known as PROSAIC, and up until this point, their existence was only rumored within the confines of conspiracy message boards, and basement units of intelligence agencies. As it turned out, the PROspective Social Adjudication Invocation Contingency was very real, and—as I might point out, since I’m not long for this world—a ridiculously named group more concerned with acronyms than reality. PROSAIC was formed at an unknown period in history, long before the vampire plague ever began, with one purpose: to infiltrate governments, and establish secretly amadesin high members in positions of leadership. They succeeded in this endeavor, but could not have done it without the help of one man. One crazy old man.

Ronald Grump (real name) “served” as the oldest president of Usonia in history. Documents would later reveal that he suffered from severe age-related neurological complications which resulted in a number of poor policy decisions. He won the office due to a division in the country. There were those who wanted to progress and bring the world together, but there was also a group of isolationists who wanted to close the nation’s borders. These were thought to be the bigoted fringes of society, but what Grump’s opponents did not understand, was that about half the country felt this way, if only to a small degree. Ronald Grump wasn’t as odious as his constituents...but he knew he could prey on their stupidity to gain their votes. What the world did not know at the time was that Grump had formed a secret agreement with the amadesin faction that would later take over the world. Though he was not technically one of them—his faith being relegated to the pure accumulation of wealth—he helped them. He allowed them to make decisions for him while he spent most of his time playing golf on the southeastern coast of the country. He set a number of bad precedents, corrupting the office of the presidency by ignoring diplomatic measures. In the end, he was the worst president in history, and would have been even if he hadn’t gotten into bed with the amadesins. To understand what happens next, you’ll have to read Part II of this three-part series, which will be posting next week...if I’m still alive, and my servers remain intact for lon

Microstory 598: Group of Ambers Provide Aid Following Disaster; Form Paramilitary ‘Brigade’

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In the days following the unexpected onslaught of Hurricane 905-11 on the coast of Carolina, a record number of volunteers traveled from all over the country—and even internationally—to provide aid to those in need. Hundreds of people were killed, thousands of people were injured, and millions of people suffered damage to their homes in the most damaging tropical cyclone in recent historical memory. The people who gave up their time and money to help perfect strangers who lived hours away from them are, without question, heroes. Experts believe the high number of volunteer aidsman can be attributed to the invention, and proliferation, of the home radio receiver, but this does not take away their bravery. It has shown the world that humans are probably inherently good, and that those who can help, likely will. But a special group of these people did more by taking this horrendous event, and turning it into something good. The Usonan government and its military were unable to engage in their rescue efforts in a timely manner. We are still so technologically inadvanced that organizing and mobilizing an entire national guard in times of crises is difficult, at best. Fortunately, there were those in the area who could fill in for official rescuers until they could arrive.

Roloff Hopson formed The Amber Brigade two years ago in order to create an amber community in northeastern Georgia. Though ambers have generally felt no hostility from the standard human population, many appreciate having a place they can go, knowing that everyone around them has at least this much in common. The name was meant to be more a joke, with plans to rename it based on suggestions from its then-current members, but this never happened, and they all just agreed to keep it. As it turns out, they couldn’t have picked anything better. Up until now, the Brigade has met two or three times a week at an abandoned theatre that Hopson’s late aunt had bequested to him upon his death. Hopson and his new friends, which numbered a few hundred now, were at one of these meetings when news of Hurricane Eleven broke out. A few of them immediately wanted to spring into action, and do whatever they could for the victims. These few possessed abilities that gave them each an advantage against water, wind, or debris...but they were not the only ones who wanted to take action. Soon, a dozen more followed, then another dozen, and then more...until only children and single parents remained. Nearly all of them caravanned to the most dangerous areas affected by the storm, and began rescuing people. Totals for their rescues have not yet been calculated, but it’s estimated that they saved the lives of at least as many people as they had in their own group.

For the rest of the month, the Amber Brigade continued to support the survivors of Hurricane Eleven, working in shelters, transporting people to families in other regions, and searching for anyone who may be trapped or stranded. Meanwhile, Hopson and the rest of the organization’s leadership began talks for transforming the Brigade into an actual paramilitary agency. Details have not yet been finalized, and they still have a long way to go in order to comply with all national laws, but we already know a few things. This new Amber Brigade will allow membership from anyone; including regular humans, vampirs, and werewolves. Though still to be based in Augusta, it will include chapters in multiple major cities, and be expanded on an as-needed basis. The ultimate goal of the Brigade is to create as many chapters as possible, spread out across as much of the country as possible. While the military branches of the government cannot possibly be stationed in all places, the Brigade will supplement their forces with volunteers. It will also require far less of a commitment than that of an aidsman, and be focused primarily on relief and service, rather than military strategies. In fact, Brigade leadership is currently working with government representatives in order to determine whether any military training should be added in the at all. An official announcement will be held over the radio today from the capital. New information, including the steps necessary to join, is expected to be provided at this time.