Melody and Harmony: Page 9

Daniel nodded. "But you did make it out." He said with a smile. "Not only that but you were able to get the package. You're quick on your feet, determined, and have a sharp mind. All things we value very highly." He assured Foster.

Foster leaned forward slightly. "Enough to finally grant my petition to join?" He asked.

Daniel smiled awkwardly and shook his head. "Not yet." He started.

Foster looked like he might start screaming but kept himself to an acidic whisper. "Two years Daniel!" He hissed. "What else could their be to consider?" He spat. Daniel shrugged and Foster sat back against the booth in frustration. "Can you at least tell me what's in the package?" He asked.

Daniel leaned forward, his eyes filled with excitement. "Never before heard Deck Hands studio recordings." He admitted with a huge smile. "From their first album!" He tried to keep his excitement to a whisper. "They were found out in the desert somewh -"

Foster exploded. "I almost died for some recordings of songs everyone's already heard!" he snapped.

Daniel held up his hands and looked around the empty diner. "Woah dude! Relax, it's not the recordings of the songs that are important, it's the stuff they recorded between the songs. The banter, the arguments, the inspirations." He smiled. "These are our saints and you've delivered them to us Foster. We owe you." He explained.

Foster nodded. "Sure you do, just not enough to make me a full member." He spat as he leaned over, shoved his hand into his pack, pulled the package out and tossed it at Daniel. Daniel almost fumbled the catch which gave Foster enough time to grab his bag and shuffle out of the booth. By the time Daniel was out of the booth Foster was at the front door. "Later Pops" He said disappearing into the night.

Pop looked to Daniel "That'll be three fifty for the pie." He said pressing the button to lock the door.

Spoonerville: Page 7

It wasn't a long walk for Rodney to get home so his Grandmother was still up puttering around the house. He hand't known her for long, in fact he had only learned of her existence after his parents had died. They had been living together for almost a month and he found her to be as cool as any old person could be. She volunteered at the local library, listened to current music and even had a pretty decent computer in her home. He still wasn't super familiar with her, but after a month he was beginning to wonder why his parents never mentioned her.

He kicked his shoes off by the front door and hung his jacket on the coat rack. She came out of of the kitchen with a kitchen towel over her shoulder. "And where have you been all day and night?" She asked with a smile.

She followed him into the living room as he told her about his day. "I found the pizza place. Vivian's brother works there." He said assuming that she would know which Vivian he was talking about.

His grandmother nodded. "He doesn't just work there, he owns it." She replied.

Rodney grabbed the remote for the TV and dropped into the couch. surprised by her statement. "There's no way he owns that place grandma." He said.

She sat in her ancient recliner. "And what makes you say that?" She asked.

Rodney shrugged his shoulders. "If I were him and I owned that place, i'd be a nervous wreck and worrying about going of out business." He replied.

Grandma shook her head. "Well you ain't him. He and his sister are "independently wealthy"" She held her hands up putting air quotes around independently wealthy for Rodney's benefit.

He nodded. "They dot com'ers?" He asked flipping through channels.

Grandma shrugged. "No clue, for all the good this town's near supernatural gossip powers can do, their story is one that we've yet to uncover." she sighed.

Rodney's curiosity was piqued. "Supernatural gossip powers?" The words didn't fit any better in his mouth than they did his ears.

Grandma nodded. " You'll get used to it. Secrets in this town have a habit of becoming well known facts." She warned. "The more you want something to stay private, the quicker people seem to know all about it." She sighed. "Stay here long enough and you just stop fighting it. Everyone's lives are a matter of public record in Spoonerville." She finished.

Rodney considered this instead of listening to the souless delivery of brainless dialog to the endless delight of the laugh box that filled every episode of "The Big Bang Theory."

Shades of Justice: Page 39

Technarious's new body was laid on the table. The old was was sitting on the floor, leaned up against the side of the table like a forgotten toy.

The Shades stood around the table. Each looking from the old body, to the new body, and then around to the other Shades. Everyone was waiting for someone else to take the lead. It was Gordon who broke the silence. "Soooo, now what?" he asked fidgeting nervously with his glasses.

Warren shrugged. "Computer, are there any files or instructions in your system that explain how to transfer Technarious' consciousness unit from one body to another?" He asked.

There was slight pause. "Searching." The computer finally replied.

The tense silence returned. Mark was pacing, Dante was still sitting by Sonya's bed. Her hand was cradled in his. Mark was pacing quickly, muttering to himself.

The computer chimed in again. "There are no references to Technarious that include anything relating to mind, consciousness, or body transfer, I am sorry." The computer finished.

Mark stopped pacing and looked as if he had been struck by lightening. "It's not in the computer!" He almost shouted. Before he practically ran over to the shattered light wall. He carefully reached out and the others watched as he was able to slowly wedge his hand behind the shattered wall of crystals.


"What are you doing?" Kelly asked.

Mark gritted his teeth as he carefully felt around for what ever he was looking for. "Got it!" He shouted. He pulled the manual lever and a piece of the wall right next to his shoulders slid open. He pulled his hand out and looked inside the tiny area. The others ran over to join him. There was nothing inside the little hidden area except a book titled. 'Maintenance And Repair Manual.' Mark grabbed the book and flipped it open to the index. He ran his finger down the list until he found 'Memory unit.' and flipped to the page that was listed. He scanned the page for a second and then closed the book around his finger. Ran over to the old Technarious body. "Lift this up and place it over a console so the back of his head is up towards us." he instructed.

 Warren and Gordon grabbed the body and gently laid it over the nearest console. With his free hand Mark felt the edge of the back of Technarious' head until he found a numb, slid his pinky finger under it and was able to press a button.

From the back first, Techanious' head opened like the most intricate and detailed Tackle box ever created. layers upon layers of hardware and circuitry were exposed one layer at a time. Once the head was completely open Mark and the rest of the Shades looked inside at what they had discovered.

Warren looked to Mark. "You sure about this?" He asked.

Mark looked from the head back to the instruction manual and took a deep breath.

Blood and Profit: Page 62

Once the pattern cleared, Kepi was directed to the senate landing site. Once she touched down she was escorted from her shuttle by one valet as another jumped on board to actually park her shuttle elsewhere.

The valet led her to a electric kart, and drove her to a bus  that looked to be pretty full. She hopped on board and the driver closed the door behind her and slowly headed for the senate building. Kepi saw the only seat available was the one in front of Fletcher. She widened her fake smile and sat in the seat. "So," She started. "The response to the cal for ships has been pretty incredible." She said.

He nodded slowly. "It's a good start." He replied, looking out the window. "But we've got a long way to go." He looked back at her.

Kepi nodded. "How hard can it be?" She asked. "What ever gets left here is going to revert to the most basic matter in the universe. Do you really think there are going to be people who refuse to lend a hand out of sheer spite?" she spat.

He shook his head. "You misunderstand." he replied. "I am not worried that there's not enough interest in getting off the planet." He sighed. "I am worried there is too much interest." He explained.

Kepi rolled her eyes. "Of course you are Fletcher, God forbid too many people want to escape before it's too late." Sarcasm dripped from her lips.

Fletcher glared at her. "You think I want these people to die?" He spat. He looked around the bus and leaned as closed as his girth would allow, and then whispered. "Kepi we don't have the resources to get three hundred million people off this planet." His voice was rushed. "If we have the space, fuel, and supplies to get even a hundred million of us to earth I'll be shocked." He admitted.

The numbers hit Kepi like a ton of bricks. She never taken the colony population from theoretical to actual fact in her mind. She had been prepared for Greed, not for resource limitations.

The color drained from her face.

Fletcher sat back and took a few breaths. Kepi looked like she might cry. He patted her arm  "Don't worry, we have options and plans and hard decisions to make." He said as soothingly as possible. "They aren't going to be easy to make, but that's why we were elected to make them, right?" He gave her an awkward empty smile. She nodded and smiled back in a way that betrayed the fact that she was heavily considering throwing up on the floor of the bus.

Lidarion: Page 34

As powerful as the titans were, the creation of new life was not something they were capable of. They discovered how ever that they had the ability to bind massive amounts of natural energy within natural elements.

First they experimented with earth. The resulting race of Golems were by Titan standards, small and imperfect creatures. They did however possess the single trait their creators desired. They were obsessed with the care and maintenance of land. They preferred to dwell within the mountains and stay below ground where possible. Over time they dug massive and highly impressive tunnel cities that remained impressive feats of engineering even to present day. But the Golem's were a short lived race. Eventually they all slowed and crumbled to dust, leaving only their empty stone cities behind.

Not long after the Golems began to fade, the Titan's discovered that the larger they made the construct the more energy it could hold. Thus they created a statue they named Moun Tain. It easily dwarfed even the most impressive of the Titans and held more energy than they thought possible to ever use. Upon his creation he walked the earth, but only once. It was the only time the Titans worried they had made a mistake. Moun Tain's walk was known among the other races as the Time of Tremors.

By this time the Elves had spread around the planet. Some tribes went high into the mountains and discovered the first tribe of sentient bovines, still walking on four legs. Other tribes of elves traveled deep into the darkest forests and learned quickly to avoid the earliest packs of sentient rat creatures. Many tribes of elves had settled by and on the oceans, eventually adapting to their surroundings and becoming the gnomes and mermaids. Other tribes explored the mountain tunnels left behind by the first Golems, after several generations they adapted to life in and underground and called themselves Dwarfs. The high mountain tribes bonded with the bovine tribes and declared themselves wild. In the plains Elves found the hard work of taming the land and building towns turned them to stockier rougher tan skinned creatures over time and they became known as Humans.

Moun Tain's journey reunited the shattered bloodlines of the Elven race in a moment of global history. Each race recorded the Time of Tremors in their own way, it was the last time the children of Elves would be peacefully united.

Moun Tain ended his journey at the beacon of the Gods. The largest mountain on the planet. He sat on the mountain and quickly fell asleep. Over time the land grew up around him until he was nothing more than a long forgotten shadow within the mountain.

Melody and Harmony: Page 8

Foster didn't go home. His older brother was most likely already drunk but not passed out yet and Foster had no desire to be the dumping ground for the last twenty four hours of disappointment that was his brothers life.

Not far from his family's apartment there was an all night diner. Foster has seem many dusty sun rises from behind the diner's dirty shielded windows. It was the closest thing to home he could think of.

With time to kill he took the booth furthest back in the corner of the diner. He ordered a soda and a slice of artificial cherry pie, set his pack on the table, pulled the main compartment zipper open and grabbed the med kit. He shoved his bag under the table. "Hey Pops!" The line cook and owner of the diner stuck his head out of the kitchen. "lock the door would'ya? I'm leaving my stuff out here while I get cleaned up." Pop nodded and pressed his hand into a command console on the wall, locking the doors.

Foster ducked into the bathroom tenderly. The adrenaline from his daring escape was wearing off and he was starting to feel the effects of the cuts and bruises the guards had gifted him. He carefully took his jacket and shirt off, and tried not to look at himself in the mirror. He thin in a generally unhealthy way, which didn't really bother him because everyone in the fringes was. he took a quick assessment of his wounds and opened up the med kit. First things first he sprayed each wound with bath'n'a'can. Antiseptic spray that burned more than any bath that he could ever remember taking.

Once the burning faded, he sealed each wound with skin tape. He rolled the applicator back and forth like a tiny vacuum cleaner. He'd done this more times than he could count and watching the artificial skin cover up the bloody mess of his actual body fascinated him every time. In less than a month it would flake off like real skin and in the case of minor wound he likely wouldn't even have a scar, Some of the large slashes would be nothing more than permanent brush strokes of forgotten pain. Lastly he dry swallowed his last two pain pills and then closed up his kit. he dropped his shirt back onto his body and slid into his jacket carefully so as not to aggravate the wounds underneath their bandages. Once he was dressed he exited the bathroom and went back to his table. Not long after Pops brought out the soda and pie, and unlocked the door on his way back into the kitchen.

By the time Daniel arrived the pie was a distant memory. He sat across from Foster and waved pop off as he came out of the kitchen. He looked Foster over in silence. "You look tired." He finally offered.

Foster nodded. "Better to be tired and alive, than dead and well rested." He replied.

Daniel nodded. "Where's the package." he asked. Foster wiggled his left leg which had both straps of his backpack wrapped around it. Daniel nodded again. "All right then, hand it over and you can go get some sleep." He held out his hand.

Foster shook his head slightly. "Did you know the building was the Shadow Church?" He asked. Daniel looked at the decor on the walls of the cafe, avoiding Foster's gaze. Foster felt the pain meds dulling his rage. "Daniel! The ONLY reason I made it out of there alive was because of lucky door timing!" He snapped.

Spoonerville: page 6

They had added Vivian to Mario Kart once the pizza was done cooking and she turned out to be way better than either of them, she also enjoyed pointing it out. By the time they reached Rainbow Road she was far and away ahead of both of them combined.

Rodney got knocked off the course by a chomp chomp for the third time “So, how do you know my grandmother?” He asked while he waited for the cloud turtle to fish him back onto the track.

Vivan finished the race and dropped her controller onto the table In front of the TV. “We work at the library together.” She answered while standing up to stretch.

An alarm sounded on Derek’s phone. He stood up as well and shut the alarm off. “Whelp, another successful day.” He said without even a hint of sarcasm as he went back out into the restaurant.

Rodney scoffed. “You had two customers.” He said grabbing his jacket and following Derek back into the main building.

Derek nodded and locked the front door. “In this town you can’t measure success by the amount of money that you make.” He clarified, shut off the pizza sign and flipped the open/closed sign over.

Rodney nodded with a dopey smile. “Is it me? Was friendship the secret to success all along?” he faked a bashful shrug.

Dereck laughed. “Yup, you never needed the balet slippers at all! The magic was in you the whole time!” He carried the joke.

Rodney’s phone pinged a few times. He checked it. “While I appreciate the boost to my self-confidence, I gotta jet.” He said.

Vivan came out of the back room. “Awe, don’t like us anymore?” She asked.

Rodney shook his head. “Not even close, my grandmother bought a cell phone, and learned not only to text but to use Facebook for the express purpose of making sure I come home by nine o’clock every night.” He explained as he dropped his phone back in his pocket. “So unless you plan on murdering me and using me for pizza toppings, I gotta go make sure she doesn’t have a heart attack.” He looked at the front door. “That statement was genuinely less scary before I realized you just locked the front door.” He said flatly.

Vivan stepped up behind Rodney. “Derek, how many times have I told you to stop telling your victims about your plans in advance?” She asked.

Derek shrugged. “So I’ll order more sausage, sue me!” He playfully snapped. He held up his keys. “Come on employee entrance is in the back of the kitchen.” He smiled putting Rodney at ease. Derek and Vivian led him through the kitchen. Her big black knee high boots echoed off the walls. “So obviously you’re welcome by any time. We’re open 9am to 9pm.” Derek explained.

Rodney nodded. “Considering the fact that you two are the first normal people I’ve met in this town I’ll prolly be around a lot.” He said with a smile as they exited out the back of the shop.

Vivian shook her head. “We’re less normal than you think.” She said as Derek locked the door behind him.

Rodney nodded. “Almost everyone is, but your store isn’t covered in Blood Night posters and you play a mean game of Mario Kart so I’ll take my chances.” He replied specifically to her.

They shared and awkward moment of silence before Derek playfully punched Vivian. “ No! Bad sister! My friend! Shoo! Shoo! Get your own!” He grabbed her and turned her away from Rodney and then turned to look over his shoulder. “Have a good night man, see you tomorrow.” He said with a smile.

Rodney nodded, turned and waved without looking back.