Thriller The Crossing

Lego
The Rey, 5th floor

Sebastian gave him another sad smile and turned one last time back to him. He understood the man and his reasoning. He understood what he was thinking. A few hours ago he would have agreed. Antville changed everything.

"What I am, what I have become ... I am alone now. Kawin. And for the sake of humanity, I will always be alone. They must not find me." He could not explain it to him. He could not say the words of Ayshe echoing in his mind for all eternity.

"For I am not the rain, Kawin. You are. I am the storm." And with a final nod he realized he gave up his last chance for happiness and a comrade. For human interaction. His last chance for humanity. He wanted to say something, but he could not. There was nothing to say, nothing to make anyone see what he saw now.

"Bye." Was his last word and he just imagined himself on the street and felt time and space bow to his will, as he vanished.

Tag: @LordTroepfchen, @Mitth-Fisto

 

The Rey, Fifth floor, New York

Sebastian vanished, leaving no trace he was ever there. He left Kawin and the mobile behind. But there was no need to call an ambulance. A few minutes passed and just as Kawin was about to loose consciousness two paramedic appeared over him.

"We are here Mister, don't worry. We will take good care of you." A few seconds later the floor was sprawling with FBI and emergency personal. Nobody attempted to threaten or kill Kawin anymore. They seemed to protect him. Finally a man in a suit sat down next to him, just before he was about to be transported. He smiled at him, but it was more pity than sympathy in his features. He said not a word but simply nodded, wiping a black strain of hair from his face. His hair was unusual long for a "suit". He left without saying anything to anyone, but with an aura that made clear his silence was a command to be taken serious.

Jane was long gone by then and in save distance from the Government authorities looking for her. Maria had used her head-start to vanish, too. Only later the day she was picked up by agents of the shadow network.

Sebastian appeared and disappeared on security footage all over the city, but was finally lost and could not be found anywhere. Nobody alive and working for the Government knew where he was going now. Even if they had known, there was no way to capture or contact him now, if he did not allow them to.

Tag: @DarkLordoftheFins, @Mitth_Fisto, @galactic-vagabond422 , @TheSithGirly ... really nobody

 

(Denouement approved by and made in conjunction with @LordTroepfchen)

IC: Jane
Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia

"Aim." A captain called out, seven honor guards raise their pristine weapons pointing them into the air. "Fire." Seven guns ring out, over a flag draped casket. Surrounding it was a crowd of people in military dress uniforms. A stern faced older woman with brownish skin and graying black hair pulled back into a professional bun, looked on from her seat. The light caught in the metals that hung from her Marine Corps. uniform, the name on the chest, Gerand. Next to her, one of the few people not in uniform, was a woman with a tall, broad frame and lighter skin but, still with a touch of pigment. She wore a simple well cut black dress, tears falling from her eyes.

"Aim, Fire."

Another volley.

Some distance away leaning against a tree was a person in dark clothing, dark glasses covering their eyes. In her hand was a dark roast coffee purchased from a nearby cart. She took a long sip, letting the bitter drink sit on her tongue for a moment.

"Aim, Fire."

The crack of seven rifles resound over the quiet cemetery. As Taps begins to play the honor guard begin to fold the flag, with crisp, sharp, well drilled turns handing the triangle of stars and stripes to the woman in the Marines uniform. She accepted it with a perfect salute.

At least he got this, got the burial he deserved, he gave years of his life for this county, did the darkest of things for his home. The least they can do is inture him with respect. They should build a monument to him, his name should be whispered with reverence.

The dark clothed woman took another long sip, tasting the burn of the whisky she'd put into the coffee, just to take the edge off. Deep down it still hurt, finding his body slumped over the steering wheel. It hurt more that the knife that dug into her back, more than dying again and again.

Her body shivers recalling those days that felt so long ago. She still bore the scars, the round bullet wound in her shoulder, the long jagged mark on her back. They were memories of her worst night.

Looking in the distance she saw the woman in the black dress, a few years older than her, tears still falling from her eyes.

"I'm sorry sis." Another pang of regret, if she hadn't asked him to join her, Natalie would still have her father. They might have been a little estranged but, she still cared, cared as much as Jane. It was Jane's fault he was gone.

The freelancer reach out a hand, contemplating going over to comfort her, to put an arm around her friend's...no her sister's shoulders and tell her she was so sorry. But, she couldn't, the heat was still too much, she shouldn't even be here, watching the funeral. However she couldn't stay away, couldn't just miss this. He was the man that taught her everything, she couldn't dishonor him by not attending, even if it was only in the shadows.

She clenched her hand into a fist turning to walk away. She'd done enough it was time to go...before she did something stupid.

"They always talk about how beautiful funerals are, what the hell are they talking about? They are sad and intense, but there is no beauty in loss." The voice came from the side and there leaning against a tree was a man in a black suit and with a bit longer hair than one would expect from a well-trained guy in his forties.

Hearing the voice Jane turned hand reaching for her pistol. Her eyes narrowed at the man. She knew she shouldn't have come here. Her hand moves away straightening her jacket. This was not what she was looking for, she just wanted to honor her uncle in peace. She also didn't want to be threatened, not here not now.

"Please keep your calm, I am not here to harm you. Actually if I wanted that, you would have been dead fifteen minutes ago."

Taking his hands into his pockets the man walked over to her. "Mind to join me for a walk? I got an offer. And you will get one like this only once."

"I took an offer from a government man before." her gaze hardened, "My uncle ended up dead." she shrugged her shoulders.

The man gave a dry and humorless laugh. "Simmons? If a man's sole existence serves the purpose of keeping things hidden from the President, I am not so sure that qualifies as a government man. Thanks for getting rid of him by the way."

"Let me ask you a question, do I have the choice to walk away?" The man looked at her for a moment.

Then he nodded. "Yes. Of course you do. But this a really good offer and trust me, you really get it only once ..." He shrugged. "So I'd say let's have that walk and you hear me out. What do you say?"

He made a gesture into the quiet part of the cemetery and smiled at her.

Her nostrils flared as she let out a long breath.

"Fine, I'll hear what you have to say." She turned to walk with the strange man. Interested but, still skeptical in his offer.

TAG: @HanSolo29 @DarkLordoftheFins @Mitth_Fisto @TheSithGirly

 

LEGO and The Man LEGO becomes
The Room, New York


He walked from the hotel to the ruins of that building he had met the Source earlier. It was the first time he did move without stopping time for days ... or hours ... depending if you counted by his clock or everybody else's.

The one question he was asking himself since he found Ayshe in this forsaken Alaska facility was, what had changed? A thousand times he had done this the Source had told him. God only knew how many incarnations had tried before him. They had never succeeded. They had all failed, entrapped by the Woman from Antville and her cruel little game to drive him into self-destruction and kill the others. So why had events changed? Actually it had been a Graffiti. The one in New York about the President going to Antville. It had made people ask questions and the questions lead to finding the facility and then leading to him finding out about it through these people. So who had done the Graffiti? It had neither been him, nor had it been the Source. Sebastian knew who had done it of course. If he was honest, it was obvious ... it had been him. Another him. There had to exist countless versions of him by now.



The shady, dim-lighted room was still covered in pictures, connecting lines and words. Some had changed since the last time they had been there. Some had not. In the middle sat a man in a black hoodie. Sebastian did not have to see his face to know who it was.

"A black hoody? Nice." He commented with a dry and cynical smile. He was still wearing the grey one.

"Fruit of the loom." The man sitting there replied in an all too familiar voice. "Sebastian." The man said then.

"Sebastian." He answered. "You still call yourself Sebastian?"

The Man nodded. "Of course I do."

"Where did you come from?" Sebastian asked this new version of himself ... or was it probably an old one? "You are not the Source."

"I was. For a time." The Man stood up and turned and Sebastian was not shocked to see his own face, slightly older. His hair was longer. The eyes had the same intensity The Source had. He wondered if his own eyes began to radiate this feverish glow. This sign of eyes having seen too much. "I was you, sort of. I was him. I was many other things. I come from a future. One of many." The Man smiled. "But c'mon you figured all of this out already."

Sebastian gave him another nod. Of course he had.

The other Sebastian leaned forward. "Haven't you seen it? Oh soon you will. Ayshe cursed you with that gift." The Man smiled. It was a sad and sympathetic smile.

"Will I end the world? Have you?" Sebastian asked the only question that mattered probably. Also it felt not as relevant as a few hours ago. The Man laughed.

Then he slowly nodded. "I saw the world end. Humanity. I saw the universe itself die. Countless times. Sometimes I did it. But there are others." Then he gave him a different smile. It was a haunting thing to see because it was not Sebastian's smile. It was another one's smile appearing on his face. A testament of a humor he did not understand yet. "End? What is an end, Sebastian? Such limited terms will soon loose their meaning to you. Where does anything begin? Where does anything end?"

"You know what I mean." Sebastian felt this version of him to be more alien than the Source. That was what he became? Insanity. Was this his fate?

"I do. But the answer you would not understand. Soon you will and then you will see the question makes no sense." The Man spread his arms. "None of it makes sense." The arms dropped again in a gesture of resignation.

"You mean I loose my ability to understand time as a chain of linear events? Is that what you are saying?" Sebastian had feared this would be the result of the last hours.

The Man looked at him and nodded once more. "Ayshe's mistake was not to understand everything she saw was a lie. The only truth is there is none." The Man said.

"Then why are you here?" Sebastian asked and felt the shiver running down his spine.

"I miss you." The Man said. "Soon you die and give birth to me." He smiled. "I wanted to see you before that."

"Why?" Sebastian asked.

"I hoped I would remember being you." The Man answered and there was sadness in his eyes. Sebastian understood this. He was afraid to become the Man. The Man would regret no longer being him.

"Do you?" He asked the Man. He shook his head. It was another way to die, to become this timeless thing.

"Barely." He answered. "I will go now."

"I have questions." Sebastian said and stepped one step towards him. The Man turned his head just enough to warn him not to come closer.

"I will answer one." He then said. There was no room for discussion, Sebastian knew.

Sebastian looked at him and then sighed. "If I go back can I save the others?"

The Man took ten seconds to answer. "No." He gave him another of these sad smiles. "Why are you always asking this?"

Sebastian felt the simple word break his heart. But he accepted it, before understanding it was a lie. Everything was. He looked at the Man and understood the countless worlds with countless alternatives. He saw them. He saw each of them and yet understood there was none. Unlimited possibilities an yet this world knew only one. Changes were not changing anything. Just creating new worlds, leaving tragedy behind to never be changed, while creating new tragedies.

The Man nodded. "You finally understand."

"Yes. Everything is a lie." Sebastian gasped. Even that was a lie. Truth was just a matter of your perspective on time. Every world was true and yet a lie to countless others.

The Man nodded and turned to leave. Sebastian let him go without a word. He did not need another answer. He had all answers and there were none.

After the Man had left, Sebastian stood in the room for some time. Minutes? Hours? An eternity?

Finally he began to scream. The scream turned into a cry. He kept on crying for a long time. In this World, which was his. Then again, he had time ...

Tag: @LordTroepfchen

 

Washington D.C.

For a suit he had an otherwise unusual appearance. Long hair, skin that indicated he spent time in the sun and he actually was quite handsome. He had these sharp eyes, which seemed to look through things. The man closed the file and sighed. "So they are all dead? Confirmed dead?" The man in his suit asked. Maria Liang only nodded. "All I was aware of, yes."

She lied. She knew it, he probably did. They had captured the Canadian, she knew. But the file was not one you wanted open. Some things the agency actually did not want to know. At least not officially. The man Maria only knew as Paul deactivated the recording device and sighed. He leaned back and lighted a cigarette he seemed to get from nowhere. Probably he had it in his hand all along.

"Non smoking building I know." He said and obviously did not care. He was not the guy they would ask to leave for lighting a cigarette.

"Off Record." He smiled. A sharks smile.

"Of course." Maria answered and felt a nervous itch in her neck.

"You help us track them down?" He asked this directly, seeing no sense in keeping up the charade.

Maria knew there really only was one answer to this question. She sighed deeply.

"Sure."

(combined with TSG)

---

Professor Cale sat down in his new office in the Pentagon and leaned back. Theoretical work suddenly seemed useless. He would make better use of the new knowledge he had acquired than he had from his old one.

Looking at the files on his desk he felt like he did the right thing. There were more out there and they would not hunt them, threaten them or manipulate them. No, they would help those people. Because they understood now they were actually people. And what they could do was nothing else but ... change the world!

---

Mansfield Adminstration Center, Rome

Hans Emmanuel Geiger watched the report and sighed. Mulligan had been brilliant, he had been the next Einstein. He had been meant to lead the world into a next era of understanding. Now he was dead. Bleeding to death in a cheap New York motel.

"The US Government is already reaching out and searching for the reactor." Roberto de Genaro was sitting opposite of Geiger. The Institutes elder Head of Legal was a trusted advisor. Geiger looked at him and nodded.

"Naturally. You can't change the world and keep it a secret for forever, you know?" He sighed and leaned back. "We need to talk to the Americans."

Genaro nodded and folded his arms. The days of secrecy were over. Both men knew.

---
The White House, Garden, Washington D.C.

"So help me God!" Right in front of the White House Vice-President Harris completed his oath and became the next President of the United States of America, after the terrible helicopter crash in Alaska had cost their president his life. That was the story. A helicopter crash had killed the President. The cover up had been widely believed by the public. Ayshe had prepared it and all they had to do was use her perfectly set up web of lies. Some people had doubts, of course. Conspiracy theories all went into the wrong direction with several layers of false facts between any nosing journalist and the truth. They had organized it all to protect the lie.

Matt Andrews stood next to General Taylor and smiled. "One fool replaced by another." Taylor said calmly and Matt kept up his smile as he turned to the man. Cameras were watching.

"I met Ayshe and I know what little pawn you were to that woman, General. Don't dare to call Kurt a fool." He nodded and applauded with the rest of America. "I expect your resignation and retirement within the day. Leave the country within a week. Never come back." He said this without looking at the man.

Taylor looked at him. "Exile?"

Matt gave him a nod. "Generous for a traitor. Don't you think?" They had considered charging him. Even a silent liquidation had been brought up. Taylor was certainly aware those options had been discussed.

Taylor stared at him and finally nodded in agreement. He was after all talking to Matthew Andrews, the next Vice-President of the United States of America.

---

Two men
Sitting on a bench in Berlin, Germany

"Hard to believe." The elder man shook his head. He was in his sixties and was wearing an old-fashioned suit a bit too warm for the weather. Therefore he used a kerchief to wipe sweat from his neck and forehead.

"It is. But the truth, from what I can see. So what do you say, Professor? What happened there?" The other man was much younger, his late thirties probably and wearing a polo shirt and summer shoes. His blonde hair was short. His eyes sparkling with intelligence.

"You mean how these people acquired their powers?"

"Exactly."

"They were not bitten by a radioactive spider if you mean that." The elder man chuckled. The younger man raised his brows and failed to keep a smile from appearing in his face.

"Professor, did you just make a Spider-Man joke?" He asked.

"Yeah, surprised by an old Professor knowing his Marvel?" He looked at the younger man and laughed. The younger man joined in the laughter and they both took a sip from their Starbucks coffee.

"My nephews watch this crap all the time. Well, to be honest they are quite entertaining. The American blockbusters." The Professor admitted.

"You are avoiding the question."

"Yes, we so-called scientists do that if we do not have an answer." He sighed.

"Then make a guess, please." The younger man did not let him go that easy.

"Their powers seemed perfectly designed to make it impossible to control or destroy them. They are ... or were ... the most powerful people who ever existed on this planet. Far beyond human understanding of physics. So humans haven't given them these powers. No matter what Mulligan believes. We do not have the means to do it. It isn't as easy as have a mutated genome or some strange substance in your blood stream. They grew stronger. More attuned to what had happened to them. Therefore you can forget the whole radiation idea. That would mean they grow weaker over time." The Professor drank coffee again.

"So?"

"Well, you can call them a miracle. An unexplained phenomenon. Therefore the usual suspects come into play." The Professor nodded.

"God?" The younger man was surprised by this.

"God, Aliens, powers from a far future ... I would summarize it as higher powers." The Professor looked at the younger man.

"You believe in higher powers?" The younger man could hardly believe it.

"I didn't until you told me this story." He smiled a bit about himself.

"For what purpose did they get these powers then?"

"Isn't that obvious?"

"No. Our smartest people could not figure it out, so this is far from obvious, I'd say." The younger man stared at the elder now. "We are afraid that it might have been an attempt to end the world."

"'Nonsense. The people chosen were not the right group for that. They sacrificed a lot to keep the apocalypse from happening, right?"

"Right." The younger man agreed.

"Why do you give an artist, a homeless kid, a call center guy, a dock worker and a Russian model godlike powers in the midst of the most powerful country of the world? It was a test. Someone tested us. How we would react to this? What we would do about it."

The younger man leaned back and considered these words. "Have we passed?"

The Professor emptied his coffee.

"No idea. But you know what? I got the feeling we will find out. Sooner or later we will find out." The Professor smiled and looked at the streets full of people. Unknowing people going about their every day life.

The two men sat there for a while, saying nothing and thinking about all of this.

They did not see the man in his gray hoodie watching them from afar.

Tag: Nobody






That's a wrap, everybody ... I hope you enjoyed this game as much as I did.










The Crossing is over. Soon The Reckoning shall begin ...