Chapter 1: Welcome to the New World

"Always a pleasure to meet a few fans glad to hear that you like the music we make" She smiled at them warmly. "I'm guessing you've heard that I am studying at your school?"

"Heard?" Chris asked. "We saw you walk in today, along with the rest of your band. It was one of the most shocking things about today." Yeah, in addition to the fight.

Libra was finishing up her shift finally. Sliding her jacket on, she stretched and yawned. It had been long, with a lot of VIP clients. She didn't know why, but it happened. And so, she walked out the back door...and didn't see Seryna.
Frowning, she tapped the comm in her ear.
"Sery?"
Nothing.

Reaching into her purse for her Raikou assault handgun, she looked around and headed for the street.
Headlights flashed to life behind her. She spun and raised her gun. An engine roared and the lights headed closer.
She quickdrew and sprayed the windshield before diving to the side. The car crashed into the wall, and she got up and ran.

"Yeah where I go the gang seems to follow" She replied in agreement. "They're a pretty cool bunch, a bit crazy but hey I can hardly talk there I am going to say that you probably already know that if your fans thought so I might be repeating what you already know"

"We certainly do," Chris said. "So what brought you here to the states?"

"My Mom found love" She said rolling her eyes. "That and there was a role for her in some film or tv show I forget which she has been rather busy and so have I with school and the band"

Orion let out a slight yawn. He was back home. He'd done some research on his files again, and was starting to think a big apocalypse scenario might be good. Might get people to calm down about their differences. He shook it off and stood, stretching as he looked out the window.

"Huh......which mattered more?" Amy asked, before going pale and looking away. It seemed a rude question to ask, in her mind anyway.

"It all depends on your point of view really" Lauren answered seemingly not bothered by the apparent rudeness of the question, but the answer was vague at best.

"So, you still planning to perform?" Chris asked, just as willing to overlook the comment as Amy was. James content to sit back and drink for now.

"Of course the band still rolls" She chuckled quietly. "In fact we have a concert coming up soon" Lauren whispered softly.

It was James' turn to chuckle as he saw both Chris and Amy's eyes widen slightly, and they turned on him. "You knew?" Chris asked, shocked. "Why didn't you say anything?" Amy asked. Holding his palms up in defense James said "It wasn't my announcement to tell. It was hers."

Lauren grinned at them both. "He is right you know if he told you it would have ruined the surprise... Besides you know well before the majority of the public so don't kill him he is sometimes funny after all"

"Sometimes?" James asked, slightly offended. Chris snorted saying "Yes James, sometimes. Not everyone can be a comedic genius like me." Staring at her in frustration James said "Only when you're cursing en espanol."

"Hey I don't know you will enough yet to know that you are always funny James" Lauren answered trying to soothe his probably hurt feelings.

Letting out a small laugh that sounded more like a rough hiss, James leaned back in his chair and said "I'm not that funny these days Lauren." Amy cast a glance his way, a sad look on her face. It wasn't on Chris' face though.....however it was in her eyes. They didn't mean to, but the subtle reminder of why he wasn't funny much lately cast a gloomy air over the table.

"Oh... I'm sorry if I have caused you any offence" Lauren muttered sensing the change in mood at the table. She wasn't really sure what to say here.

Quickly, James said "No it's fine, it's not you. It was.....well, something else. Sorry, this is the wrong place for it."

"I understand let's change the conversation to something more pleasant then?" She suggested hoping to lighten up the mood at the table.

"Yeah sure, sounds like a plan," Amy said quickly. "So.....enjoying school so far?" she asked, and James nearly cringed since he already asked her that but then again.....Amy hadn't, nor had she and Chris heard the response.

"Yeah it seems to be a nice place your education system is confusing I had a nightmare trying to translate all my grades correctly" She answered remembering the hefty struggle. "Managed to do it in the end though... But I suspect you will find the English education system equally as confusing"

Of all things, the comment about English made James burst out laughing, eyes clenched shut as he shook with the laughter. Chris looked at him with a grin, knowing what he was laughing about as he struggled to say "You....you don't.....know the half of it, hahahaha!"

"Oh? Perhaps you could enlighten me then?" She inquired since they seemed to know something that she didn't. "Did you guys have to apply to a confusing education system?"

"No it's just.....sorry, it's just English is my worst subject. I hate doing the work, and the teacher hates my guts," James said. "He even gave me an assignment for a paper, free choice and so far I've got diddly to write about."

"Maybe I can help you? Creative writing and music are my strong points I am sure my fans already know that though as otherwise how could I write the amazing lyrics? Though as awesome as I am I still need my band to help out, best songs are written together as team rather than individuals" She commented. Lauren was generally quiet at first but once she got comfortable with people she would talk a lot.

"I appreciate the offer but I think he wants me to write an actual report on something, though the subject is of my choice," James said, finally calmed down from the laughing. "Oh that's.....kinda easy," Amy said. "I can help you there, just go to the library now and then."

"Write a report on some historical event? Plenty of information on WW2" Lauren suggested leaning back slightly on her chair. "Doesn't seem to me that your report is a difficult one which is a miracle I've had a couple of terrible ones back home... I mean in England"

"Well it's just writing about the topics seems.....boring. Plus figuring out a topic that interests me since.....well, off the top of my head I can't think of anything." Chris slapped him playfully on the back of the head and said "Idiota, you have plenty of interests. Freerunning, games, sparring..." Grumbling lightly, James said "I only spar because you make me, and I stink at it."

Old Man Nick wrote:

Back at his apartment, he reclined on a couch. He stared up at the ceiling, thinking about the past. The echoes of happy memories and of sad memories were in his head. They were lifetimes ago. He was a different person. He remembered the trauma of school, and how his rebellious mind coped with it and remained imaginative, and not just another mindless tax-payer. All the people he met in school, friends, acquaintances, mostly acquaintances. He was never very social in school, he stuck to his work. He did things alone. He had few friends, back in those days, friends he cared for, people he loved. They were a socially awkward bunch, always on the internet, seldom out and about mingling with the rest of humanity. Choosing instead to commit their time to the trivialities of the online community, a community without companionship, a community that sometimes never saw their face. Online, a face meant nothing, online, they were just a username to some people.

He imagined what life would have been like without having such unlimited access to the internet. How they would have been forced to figure out what to do with their time, he imagined they would have had to go outside to mingle. Staying inside and lounging about would have likely been the death of them. He was different from them, however, he had other friends, acquaintances, that went out at night to bars, or clubs. He didn't socialize well at these other places, he would sit and he would drink and enjoy the company, while remaining silent. He was never much of a talker, and often he seemed unapproachable because of his frown. Or the sadness in his eyes.

This sadness is from the constant introspection that goes on in his head. The constant evaluation of actions, of thoughts, of observations. He disliked the community as a whole, and cherished the individual. People go to clubs or bars for multiple reasons, to relax, to have fun, to meet people, for a one night stand, and other things. Some people went to forget, to escape. He went to be reminded that life went on. That no drama, no sadness, no depression, lasted forever. Life did not stop, it did not stop when you fell on your face, it did not stop when your best friend died, it went on. Life was a cruel teacher, but it always gave you the truth, no matter how much it hurt.

Tears welled up in his eyes as he thought about the people he met and the people he knew back in those days. He thought of the girls who he had courted, who had broken his heart. Every time he thought that they were the one, the one he would be with forever, and every time, without fail, the left him. He was too unpredictable, too indecisive, too distant. They left him for varying reasons, they met someone they liked more, or he told them what he knew about them, sometimes he scared them off with what he simply knew. The truth, it seemed to him, was never in his favor. The truth scared off a few of them. When he would learn something true and share it, it didn't bother him, he accepted it, but they didn't think that he would, so they left him. After each heartbreak he would go days without eating, without sleep, in a depression.

Each of these times he would find himself with his friends at a bar, and when they would ask why he was particularly somber that night, he would just say "it's complicated" and they would understand. He never talked about his partners with his friends, he never talked about the girls he had been with. It just wasn't something he talked about. He couldn't explain it, but looking back, it was probably because he feared what they would think. Or he was just an introvert and personal matters dealing with emotion were just not talked about, ever. He was never angry with the girls though, he never blamed them, he only blamed himself, always thinking that things would have been better had he not told the truth, had he not let them know how much he knew. But then he'd be living a lie, and he couldn't do that.

He always sought the truth, where a fact can change, a truth cannot. He wanted to know the secrets of the universe, the universal truths. He was curious to the point of obsession. When talking about information, he wanted to know everything. He accepted no judgement, no opinion, other than his own. While at the same time, accepting other peoples judgement, and their opinion. He was an enigma, even to himself, at times. He was human. His search for the truth led him down strange and sometimes treacherous paths. Sometimes the truth led him beyond death and back. Truth was stranger than fiction, and sometimes it stares you in the face, and you think the truth is fiction, and the fiction is truth.

This might have been part of the reason he became a scientist, to look for truths in nature. Especially biology, the study of life, or, the study of the living. As literally, the study of life could very well be a more philosophical hobby, as opposed to a career.

As he sat and thought to himself, he dosed off. A black cat, after he had fallen into a deep enough sleep, silently crept into the room, and laid on his stomach.

Henry was in a bad mood. He had a lot of paperwork left on his desk and a lot of pressure on him to finish it all. On top of it all he was indebted to a local gang, and his wife was talking about leaving him because he worked too much. On top of all that, he was writing a recommendation for Nicholas, an assistant researcher with no given last name, recommending that he be given a full research position. With all the bad in his life, he was trying to do good, by helping this kid. This strange, strange, kid.

No one outside of himself and the head of the research department knew the circumstances of his hiring. The jist of it, is that he walked in and asked for a job. He had no resume, no referrals, nothing. He walked in, and asked for a job, then he proved to the Head of the Research Department that he knew what he was talking about it. Any attempts at finding out about his history were shot down in such a way that led them to think he was either in witness protection - because he refused to give his last name, or that there was something else shady about him. Even with these doubts in mind, he was hired and put on a low-risk research team. In this research team he proved that he was more than capable, if not more than capable, than the researcher who had proposed the idea in the first place. He almost took over the direction of the research. Eventually he just advised the researcher in charge, and the team started getting results within weeks of his hiring.

The only thing they knew for certain was that Nicholas was his real name, but without a last name they couldn't find out who he was exactly. In fact, no database they looked in would give them answers, no DNA was in the police database, no fingerprints, no retinal information. He was, effectively, a ghost in the system. On top of that, he said he as 22, yet he spoke and sometimes acted as if he were older, so much older in fact that he spoke of times before the Energy Crisis - even to the small drug cartel wars going on in mexico. But his look, his appearance was that of a 22 year old. He looked like a duck, but he didn't walk or talk like a duck, so he must not be a duck. There were also minor discrepancies with how he did things, he seemed to do things like they did more than 18 years ago. He was an enigma.

He was also a workaholic, he'd be in before Henry, and leave after Henry, always working on some research project. He worked 14 hour days, to Henry's 10. He never seemed to tire, and he never seemed to eat at work. In fact, he doesn't even go to the bathroom when he's at work, despite drinking gallons of water. He was something else, all work and no play, all day every day, 5 days a week, 70 hours.

Henry sat at his desk, at his home. He added the finishing touches to his recommendation, and sent it. Moments afterwards the doorbell rings, he gets up slowly, looking at the time - it's nearly 1 am. He slowly moves to the door and looks down the stairs. He could think of no one who would come to his home at this hour. . .



Fallout through the tunnels of darkness so bleak. All the things you answer you seek. Down to the floor of reality and below. Down, down, down, into the base of life. through the stars of things so mellow. The genetics that are the cause of strife. Such organs are the systematic categorization of the psyche and of the physical components to the - Bwah Bwah Bwah Bwah. The blaring sound of an alarm clock wakes him up, followed by a familiar Beetles song: I get by with a little help from my friends.

Stella greatfully ducked into the Starbucks. She was cold; the hideout had to be kept cold for the computers, and it was a bit chilly outside now. Huddling near the counter, she waited for her hot chocolate.
With marshmellows bobbing she accepted it. Sipping carefully and blowing on it, she sat down and relaxed. She needed a rest; she was nearly through the Nexus firewalls, and closing fast. Then she'd go back to that UNESD channel and attempt to slip in undetected and set up tracking and monitoring software.

The life of a hacker was hard.

The UNESD had not been idle, they had changed their encryption as well as cut their ties to other less secure systems, such as the Pentagon. For a while it would mean communication through to the United States Military and Government would be difficult but it would make them more difficult to hack into.

Yet the majority of the detachment in America's focus was spent on analysing the alien technology plundered from the warehouse that they had stormed. Initial results seemed to be promising with some form of power module which could be used to improve their base's reactor and other no less interesting artefacts. It would take the UNESD a while to catalogue this haul, but in the mean time they where tidying up their mess... By eliminating the survivors and after a brief but productive interrogation their only prisoner as well. Humanity's survival rested on a knife edge and the UNESD would not and could not allow for any traitors to exist on the planet.

//

"Hey would you mind if we went to check out the book store I passed while I was on my way over please?" Lauren suggested eagerly, remembering the rather fancy looking establishment.

"Sure," James said, eager to get out of the quickly arriving cold. Chris shrugged and Amy said "Oh I know that one; Orvell's book store. Kind of like your antique book store." The three of them got up, waiting for Lauren now.

Lauren stood up and grinned. "Sweet you might as well know I love to read, bit of nerd when it comes to history and animals or just about any book that catches my fancy"

"Cool, same here," Amy said. They let Lauren lead the way to the store, following closely behind. They got close to the door when something unexpected happened: there was the sound of sirens. Firetruck and ambulance sirens, probably for an accident of some sort, but the response was more important. James froze where he stood, going slightly pale as his body began to shake. His breathing became erratic, and when Chris turned back to look at her friend her eyes widened and she said "James!" Rushing to her friend, she grabbed him by the shoulders and pulled him inside the store, away from the sirens while Amy simply watched.

Lauren looked confused uncertain what to do she follow them into the store, wondering what memories or thoughts the sirens had triggered within James. Perhaps in time she would become privy to such information, it wasn't her place to inquire into such matters, not yet anyway. As for herself people already knew a lot about her, her fans especially... There was very little she could tell them that they did not already know yet there where still things that they did not know, nor would they.

There was a chair by the door, and Chris sat James down on it while he had his attack. She knew what this was, a symptom of what was no doubt ptsd. She knelt by him, hand on his shoulder, another gripping his arm while she gently whispered something to him. Amy stood by Lauren, silent and afraid for her friend, but it didn't take James long, a minute before he calmed down, relaxing as his breathing slowed. His eyes were closed though, but he said quietly "It's okay.....it's okay.....it's okay..." Chris didn't move though, and Amy said "Hey Lauren, we can still look around. Give James some privacy?"

"Erm... Yeah sure whatever he needs" Lauren said as she turned and started to walk away.

As they walked away and behind a few book rows, Amy said "Sorry about that.....well, actually no I'm not since there's nothing to apologize over. I wish I could tell you what happened....but it's up to James really."

Finally relaxed, James said "Chris....it's fine, really. You can let go now, I'm okay." Am I?

Vitals are returning to normal, however as to whether or not you will suffer a similar panic attack....unknown.

Chris closed her eyes and said "Okay James, but I'll be trusting you, okay?" Smiling slightly, James got up and said "Okay, I won't ruin this." Joining him, Chris walked with James to the rows, looking for Amy and Lauren.

"It is none of my business really if I need to know I am sure I will be told in time" Lauren said plucking a book gently from one of the shelves. "I however rarely have that choice in telling people things about me face to face most already know loads about me..." She sighed. "The price of fame is a loss of privacy never thought about that when I started up the band all those years ago... Hey well I did not expect it to kick off so fantastically"

"Well, look at it this way: with James, you've got someone who knows nothing about you. That should be a good start for a conversation," Amy said.

"I suppose you are right there... So am I what you thought I would be?" She asked, deciding to ask one of her fans a question instead of the other way around.

"Uh....actually, I never knew you liked books, and it's pretty cool to know," Amy said. Ahead of them, James and Chris turned the corner into the row and James said "Hey there." Amy smiled a little and said "Hey James. You uh...?" Waving a hand dismissively, James said "Fine. So, see any good books?"

"Wow my friends always complain that I have my nose in a book back home" She commented. "Hey you learned something few people know about me I like to read... A lot, okay all of the time" Lauren offered James a kind smile before answering his question. "Not at the moment still looking"

"Sad the place doesn't have a comic section," James said quietly. He and Chris joined Amy and Lauren as they browsed, looking at some of the old books.

"I am sure there is a manga section the bookshops back home" She sighed. "In England all had them which was neat if you are into that sort of thing really"

"Nah I'm not much of a manga fan. I prefer comic books like from Marvel or DC," James said as he browsed around some more. "Well.....nothing I don't already have." Chris asked Lauren "So....what's your favorite song out of the ones you've made?"

"Oooh that is a tough question I possibly like the first one we made" She admitted though she believed the new ones that where planned for the concerts where awesome and possibly one of them there was her knew favourite.

"Hmm, I always kinda liked your tenth song really," Chris mused. James checked out one of the books, opening the cover to read the little summary on the inside flap.

She chuckled quietly. "Well everyone has their favourites" Lauren put the book she had been looking at back, so far there seemed to be nothing that she wanted to buy from the bookshop.

"So Lauren, weren't you bringing some friends?" James asked, and both Chris and Amy looked at her with baited breath.