YEARS GONE
By Unlikely Hiro
Chapter III: The Name of Evil
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This Chapter takes place several hours before Chapter Two.
SuperGenomic City, Utah
Monday 17 May 2021
Meredith's voice was oddly solemn as she read from the old, battered Bible she was
holding:
"We are gathered here today to join in holy matrimony..."
The entire ceremony--the first real wedding in the town's history--was undercut by a
tension so thick even a knife couldn't cut it. The ceremony was blatantly illegal.
"Do you, Jeffrey, take Emily to be your wife..."
A litany of laws outlawed what the bigots in America called "breeding," which included
marriage as a matter of course. However, THIS particular article had never been
enforced.
"Do you, Emily, take Jeffrey to be your husband..."
A lot of the Linderman Act's more invasive clauses were there to satisfy the radicals,
not to actually be OBSERVED. By law, sex was totally banned among SG's, even if birth
control was being used. The clause even stank of forced abortions, but everyone
knew the millions of anti-abortion Americans wouldn't stand for it--even if they
currently were standing for segregation.
"If anyone would object to the union of these two souls, speak now or forever hold
your peace." With a smile, she added, "Unless y'all's an agent of the Government."
A few people giggled. The bride smirked a little.
"No? Well, then in open defiance against the Government of the United States, I
pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss."
As they kissed--a kiss observers would later note was just a little bit on the long
side--everyone there burst into applause.
Meredith was celebrating with the crowd until she noticed a young man lurking around
the outside of the hastily set-up reception area. She immediately began slowly making
her way towards him.
"Why, Mr. Crane," she frowned at him, "What brings you here? I doubt it's for the
wedding."
"No. I need to speak to you, Madame Mayor. Immediately."
Meredith shook her head, not in reply but rather at the situation, "Fine. I'll be in my
office in a hour. No sooner. 'Kay?"
Crane nodded, and headed off to the City Hall at the nexus of town. The Building was a
three-story gray-brick affair formed in the shape of an octagon. It sat on a four-foot tall
red brick foundation and was less than sixty feet wide. It sat squarely atop the
dirt--none of the roads in town were paved.
Meredith, as things turned out, was at the reception for nearly two hours before she
managed to extricate herself and sneak back to City Hall. Crane was sitting in the lobby
when she got there.
"My office. Now!" she snapped.
Crane sat down in front of Meredith's desk. Meredith began searching through a box
of file folders by the door.
"You shouldn't've come."
"Ma'am?"
Meredith found the file she was looking for. She yanked it out of the box along with
several other folders, which fell onto the floor. If she noticed, she didn't care.
She slammed the pocket file folder on her desk, "We just violated Clause 31 of the
Linderman Act. Are you familiar with it."
"No, ma'am."
She pulled a photocopy of the relevant clause from the folder and quoted, "'Under no
circumstances may any powered or paranormal individual (colloquially "SG") be
married, either to another SG or to a normal individual. All the benefits of marriage
shall be denied to any and all paranormal individuals. All current marriages involving
paranormal individuals are hereby annulled. If any paranormal individual is found to be
married, and/or to have performed such an unnatural marriage after the ratification of
this law shall be fined no less than $5 million,'" Meredith looked at Crane when she
read, "'Adjusted for inflation--and be confined to no less than five years in prison and
no more than twenty-five.' Need I go on?"
"If the clause is so harsh, why are you taking this risk?"
"Well, it's hasn't ever been enforced, not even before this city was founded and we
could live amongst 'normals'--a period of nine years, now. 'Sides," she flicked the
paper and held it over her head. It immediately went rigid. It glowed bright red, then
turned black and crumbled into dust, "Almost everyone here is manifested. It'd take a
madman to try to enforce it here. They're all lucky we don't go and attack 'em again."
Crane squirmed a little and pulled a picture out of his coat. He slid it across the desk
towards her. She stared at it blankly.
"What's 'Star Wars' got to do with anything?"
"This is Brigadier General Robert Maslarak. Yamagato recently sent Claude to India to
meet a young man who can enter and manipulate dreams. He's been seeing this man in
this manner recently, and from these dreams--nightmares, really--it's become clear he
plans some sort of attack on us."
Meredith leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers. After a moment, she let
out a breath, "I see."
"Ma'am, I recently snuck into a military office and was able to photograph some files."
He pulled what looked to Meredith's eyes to be some sort of glorified cell phone and
fiddled with it, "I managed to photograph some of them 'fore I had to leave."
He flashed it at her. The phone was made up of nothing but a screen. A picture of a
piece of paper was on it. He fiddled with it some more and appeared to unfold it as if it
was a paper airplane. It was now the size of a standard piece of paper. He slid it
towards her like he did the photo.
It read:
"TO: BG. R. MASLARAK
FROM: COL. JACOB G. HARRIS
RE: OPERATION FIREBALL
DATED: 04/13/21
SIR: I have examined the SuperGenomic City Reservation as per your request and
have enclosed a full report of the Reservation's tactical and civilian capabilities. In
summary, the Reservation is currently as follows:
1) Populated by 1,052 persons, of which 832 are unnormal.
2) The Reservation lacks adequate food and water supplies, though such supplies do
exist.
a) Water supply is very dependent on emigre Boris Tikailov, who manipulates weather.
b) Food supply is very dependent on Adam Soo Hoo, who manipulates plant life."
And on. When she finished the first page, Crane told her to tap the bottom right corner.
When she did, it appeared to turn over as if it were real.
It was a different page--not from the Harris Report, if the color and texture of the paper
meant anything, and was dated April 19:
"...is determined to be 313. Considering their unnatural capabilities, their total
weighted tactical strength (TWTS) is 4,281.84.
Methods of attack prescribed:
1) Internal Plant. Bribe or extort Reservation citizens to plant bombs within the city.
(These bombs should be disguised so that they will not be willing to cooperate. If
undisguised, they will most certainly will not)."
It went on, detailing several separate plans of attack on the city, with the end result of
the total genocide of the city's population--which was perhaps the slight majority of
America's SG's, certainly the vast majority of those who hadn't fled the country.
Meredith drummed her fingers on her desk for a moment, "Joey?"
"Hm?"
"Have you relayed this to Peter?"
"Yes, ma'am," Crane said.
She stared at the documents on her desk, "Our City Bylaws don't take the defense of
the City into account. We always assumed we would be left alone..."
She suddenly stood up and walked out and into a neighboring office. The office was
empty, and rather neat. Meredith frowned and ran out of the office.
Crane was right behind her, "Who are you looking for?"
"Amid Malachai, the Vice-Mayor," she said, "We need to mobilize things and prepare
for this attack, and ." She stopped in the empty lobby and looked through an ancient,
rotting card catalog, "#14 Chandra Alley," she read from a card. She grabbed Crane's
arm, "C'mon, Joey, it's only two blocks."
They exited the City Hall and went onto the dirt streets. Eight streets radiated outward
from the hall at the center--they were thirty feet wide. The main street was known as
Nakamura Boulevard, after Hiro and Kaito, and was a bit wider. Chandra Alley was a
fifteen-foot wide uncompacted dirt path that intersected with Nakamura Blvd. one
block to the west.
The "homes" along each side of the street were nothing more than back-yard sheds, 8
by 20, and though they were well-built, they were never intended by the manufacturer
to be lived-in 24/7/365.
People stared at them quizzically as they ran down the dirt road. Crane continued west
for a moment when Meredith turned right onto the Alley, and she had to double back
and grab him and lead him to Malachai's "house."
Number 14 was a bit more decorated than most others on the alley. There was an
ornate rug out on the porch, decorated with geometric designs and vibrant colors. A
Qur'an was seated on a little round table that was also on the porch--The Malachais
were the City's only Muslims.
Meredith rapped on the door with such force that Crane found it amazing that the
shoddy door didn't collapse. Amid opened the door so suddenly that Meredith fell to
the floor.
"Merry!" he shouted, helping pull her up, "What in the world is wrong?"
"Terrible City business," she whispered, looking inside the house, "Who...?"
"We are having dinner with the Franks," he said, gesturing at his guests.
Meredith smiled at them, "Well, y'all gotta go, city business."
"Of course," Mr. Frank said genially, shaking her hand and grabbing their things from a
coat rack by the door.
After they left, Meredith shook hands with Amid's wife, Shareesh, and introduced the
young couple to Crane. Neither were SG, though Amid had inherited the genes from
his father and was a carrier, and thus he was here. Neither had living children.
Shareesh gave birth in the City in 2018, but young Kamel--a name meaning
"perfect"--died of heatstroke in Summer '19. A large, framed picture--the only one of
Kamel--was lovingly framed and the centerpiece of the living-room section.
Meredith didn't attempt to exclude Shareesh; she would insist on being with her
husband, and Amid would concur. She and Crane quickly explained what she had been
shown.
Amid stroked his beard, "We should certainly convene a full City Council as soon as
possible."
"Definitely contact Yamagato," Shareesh added, "We need to prepare for this attack."
"I've already had the Defense Division prepare for mobilization," Crane said, "It'll be
difficult to get them in, though."
There was silence. Finally, Meredith said, "I should see Peter."
"Can you leave to do that?" Crane asked.
"No, he'll have to come to me and beam me out. My pass out of town is revoked, they
say because I'm technically Mexican now."
Crane sighed, "He'll probably want to take you to HQ to discuss things further."
"Then have him come get me immediately."
"I will."
**End of Chapter Three**
By Unlikely Hiro
Chapter III: The Name of Evil
AUTHOR'S NOTE: This Chapter takes place several hours before Chapter Two.
SuperGenomic City, Utah
Monday 17 May 2021
Meredith's voice was oddly solemn as she read from the old, battered Bible she was
holding:
"We are gathered here today to join in holy matrimony..."
The entire ceremony--the first real wedding in the town's history--was undercut by a
tension so thick even a knife couldn't cut it. The ceremony was blatantly illegal.
"Do you, Jeffrey, take Emily to be your wife..."
A litany of laws outlawed what the bigots in America called "breeding," which included
marriage as a matter of course. However, THIS particular article had never been
enforced.
"Do you, Emily, take Jeffrey to be your husband..."
A lot of the Linderman Act's more invasive clauses were there to satisfy the radicals,
not to actually be OBSERVED. By law, sex was totally banned among SG's, even if birth
control was being used. The clause even stank of forced abortions, but everyone
knew the millions of anti-abortion Americans wouldn't stand for it--even if they
currently were standing for segregation.
"If anyone would object to the union of these two souls, speak now or forever hold
your peace." With a smile, she added, "Unless y'all's an agent of the Government."
A few people giggled. The bride smirked a little.
"No? Well, then in open defiance against the Government of the United States, I
pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss."
As they kissed--a kiss observers would later note was just a little bit on the long
side--everyone there burst into applause.
Meredith was celebrating with the crowd until she noticed a young man lurking around
the outside of the hastily set-up reception area. She immediately began slowly making
her way towards him.
"Why, Mr. Crane," she frowned at him, "What brings you here? I doubt it's for the
wedding."
"No. I need to speak to you, Madame Mayor. Immediately."
Meredith shook her head, not in reply but rather at the situation, "Fine. I'll be in my
office in a hour. No sooner. 'Kay?"
Crane nodded, and headed off to the City Hall at the nexus of town. The Building was a
three-story gray-brick affair formed in the shape of an octagon. It sat on a four-foot tall
red brick foundation and was less than sixty feet wide. It sat squarely atop the
dirt--none of the roads in town were paved.
Meredith, as things turned out, was at the reception for nearly two hours before she
managed to extricate herself and sneak back to City Hall. Crane was sitting in the lobby
when she got there.
"My office. Now!" she snapped.
Crane sat down in front of Meredith's desk. Meredith began searching through a box
of file folders by the door.
"You shouldn't've come."
"Ma'am?"
Meredith found the file she was looking for. She yanked it out of the box along with
several other folders, which fell onto the floor. If she noticed, she didn't care.
She slammed the pocket file folder on her desk, "We just violated Clause 31 of the
Linderman Act. Are you familiar with it."
"No, ma'am."
She pulled a photocopy of the relevant clause from the folder and quoted, "'Under no
circumstances may any powered or paranormal individual (colloquially "SG") be
married, either to another SG or to a normal individual. All the benefits of marriage
shall be denied to any and all paranormal individuals. All current marriages involving
paranormal individuals are hereby annulled. If any paranormal individual is found to be
married, and/or to have performed such an unnatural marriage after the ratification of
this law shall be fined no less than $5 million,'" Meredith looked at Crane when she
read, "'Adjusted for inflation--and be confined to no less than five years in prison and
no more than twenty-five.' Need I go on?"
"If the clause is so harsh, why are you taking this risk?"
"Well, it's hasn't ever been enforced, not even before this city was founded and we
could live amongst 'normals'--a period of nine years, now. 'Sides," she flicked the
paper and held it over her head. It immediately went rigid. It glowed bright red, then
turned black and crumbled into dust, "Almost everyone here is manifested. It'd take a
madman to try to enforce it here. They're all lucky we don't go and attack 'em again."
Crane squirmed a little and pulled a picture out of his coat. He slid it across the desk
towards her. She stared at it blankly.
"What's 'Star Wars' got to do with anything?"
"This is Brigadier General Robert Maslarak. Yamagato recently sent Claude to India to
meet a young man who can enter and manipulate dreams. He's been seeing this man in
this manner recently, and from these dreams--nightmares, really--it's become clear he
plans some sort of attack on us."
Meredith leaned back in her chair and steepled her fingers. After a moment, she let
out a breath, "I see."
"Ma'am, I recently snuck into a military office and was able to photograph some files."
He pulled what looked to Meredith's eyes to be some sort of glorified cell phone and
fiddled with it, "I managed to photograph some of them 'fore I had to leave."
He flashed it at her. The phone was made up of nothing but a screen. A picture of a
piece of paper was on it. He fiddled with it some more and appeared to unfold it as if it
was a paper airplane. It was now the size of a standard piece of paper. He slid it
towards her like he did the photo.
It read:
"TO: BG. R. MASLARAK
FROM: COL. JACOB G. HARRIS
RE: OPERATION FIREBALL
DATED: 04/13/21
SIR: I have examined the SuperGenomic City Reservation as per your request and
have enclosed a full report of the Reservation's tactical and civilian capabilities. In
summary, the Reservation is currently as follows:
1) Populated by 1,052 persons, of which 832 are unnormal.
2) The Reservation lacks adequate food and water supplies, though such supplies do
exist.
a) Water supply is very dependent on emigre Boris Tikailov, who manipulates weather.
b) Food supply is very dependent on Adam Soo Hoo, who manipulates plant life."
And on. When she finished the first page, Crane told her to tap the bottom right corner.
When she did, it appeared to turn over as if it were real.
It was a different page--not from the Harris Report, if the color and texture of the paper
meant anything, and was dated April 19:
"...is determined to be 313. Considering their unnatural capabilities, their total
weighted tactical strength (TWTS) is 4,281.84.
Methods of attack prescribed:
1) Internal Plant. Bribe or extort Reservation citizens to plant bombs within the city.
(These bombs should be disguised so that they will not be willing to cooperate. If
undisguised, they will most certainly will not)."
It went on, detailing several separate plans of attack on the city, with the end result of
the total genocide of the city's population--which was perhaps the slight majority of
America's SG's, certainly the vast majority of those who hadn't fled the country.
Meredith drummed her fingers on her desk for a moment, "Joey?"
"Hm?"
"Have you relayed this to Peter?"
"Yes, ma'am," Crane said.
She stared at the documents on her desk, "Our City Bylaws don't take the defense of
the City into account. We always assumed we would be left alone..."
She suddenly stood up and walked out and into a neighboring office. The office was
empty, and rather neat. Meredith frowned and ran out of the office.
Crane was right behind her, "Who are you looking for?"
"Amid Malachai, the Vice-Mayor," she said, "We need to mobilize things and prepare
for this attack, and ." She stopped in the empty lobby and looked through an ancient,
rotting card catalog, "#14 Chandra Alley," she read from a card. She grabbed Crane's
arm, "C'mon, Joey, it's only two blocks."
They exited the City Hall and went onto the dirt streets. Eight streets radiated outward
from the hall at the center--they were thirty feet wide. The main street was known as
Nakamura Boulevard, after Hiro and Kaito, and was a bit wider. Chandra Alley was a
fifteen-foot wide uncompacted dirt path that intersected with Nakamura Blvd. one
block to the west.
The "homes" along each side of the street were nothing more than back-yard sheds, 8
by 20, and though they were well-built, they were never intended by the manufacturer
to be lived-in 24/7/365.
People stared at them quizzically as they ran down the dirt road. Crane continued west
for a moment when Meredith turned right onto the Alley, and she had to double back
and grab him and lead him to Malachai's "house."
Number 14 was a bit more decorated than most others on the alley. There was an
ornate rug out on the porch, decorated with geometric designs and vibrant colors. A
Qur'an was seated on a little round table that was also on the porch--The Malachais
were the City's only Muslims.
Meredith rapped on the door with such force that Crane found it amazing that the
shoddy door didn't collapse. Amid opened the door so suddenly that Meredith fell to
the floor.
"Merry!" he shouted, helping pull her up, "What in the world is wrong?"
"Terrible City business," she whispered, looking inside the house, "Who...?"
"We are having dinner with the Franks," he said, gesturing at his guests.
Meredith smiled at them, "Well, y'all gotta go, city business."
"Of course," Mr. Frank said genially, shaking her hand and grabbing their things from a
coat rack by the door.
After they left, Meredith shook hands with Amid's wife, Shareesh, and introduced the
young couple to Crane. Neither were SG, though Amid had inherited the genes from
his father and was a carrier, and thus he was here. Neither had living children.
Shareesh gave birth in the City in 2018, but young Kamel--a name meaning
"perfect"--died of heatstroke in Summer '19. A large, framed picture--the only one of
Kamel--was lovingly framed and the centerpiece of the living-room section.
Meredith didn't attempt to exclude Shareesh; she would insist on being with her
husband, and Amid would concur. She and Crane quickly explained what she had been
shown.
Amid stroked his beard, "We should certainly convene a full City Council as soon as
possible."
"Definitely contact Yamagato," Shareesh added, "We need to prepare for this attack."
"I've already had the Defense Division prepare for mobilization," Crane said, "It'll be
difficult to get them in, though."
There was silence. Finally, Meredith said, "I should see Peter."
"Can you leave to do that?" Crane asked.
"No, he'll have to come to me and beam me out. My pass out of town is revoked, they
say because I'm technically Mexican now."
Crane sighed, "He'll probably want to take you to HQ to discuss things further."
"Then have him come get me immediately."
"I will."
**End of Chapter Three**
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