Another Death: The Andrew Powers Case
Chapter 1
June 15, 2027, 12:42 PM.
In our unstable world, normality can swing in or out with the mood of a single man. One ounce of ambition has the potential to grow and rework the present and future. A decision, a vow, a resolution; all can become blessings or curses, miracles or horrors. The world was once left up to the task of deciding for itself whether one man had the right to make a universal decision; whether this man had the right to judge not only one other man, but an entire population.
The judging of others had thus become a grave affair; even the judges of the previously sane court systems around the world were frowned upon, and death as a punishment was condemned as disturbing and twisted. One man, the cause, and an entire planet, the outcome. But the darkness was relieved, and the psyche of the shaken population was eased and calmed. The clouded skies cleared to reveal a sun – beautiful, shining retribution in the form of pure, intact sanity. All of the man's judgments were undone as the world fervently pursued true justice, that which doesn't cause such harsh repercussions.
Sanity can only last so long, though. It takes a mere two letters to transform it to insanity, and a mere moment of decision-making, an instant of revolutionary thinking, an inkling of darkness to erase and shroud the light. These changes were coming as they had been bound to, and the world was weak, vulnerable, and unsuspecting. Leaders would creep into corruption, nations into sorrow, wrongdoers into terror, and one man into authority. These events are thus told.
"I honestly don't care what they think; the whole thing is a crock," Andrew Powers said to his neighbor Jack Johnson, who had been sitting on the couch lazily reading a magazine.
"I disagree," he responded to Andrew as he flipped through the magazine article up for debate, "I don't think it's entirely impossible. It happened once, it can happen again, right?"
"You read the police report, Jack. The original Kira was some man who, if he hadn't died, would have gone over the brink and straight into a mental hospital."
"Yeah, but two prisoners having violent deaths within an hour of each other-"
"It's not unheard of. If Kira had never been around we wouldn't have even heard about those deaths."
"This magazine wouldn't be around if Kira hadn't," Jack pointed out as he held up the thin volume titled KS. Kira Society Magazine was the symbolic remnant of the followers of Kira, and was entirely underground. It contained testimonials from people whose worst experiences were once solved by Kira, any news that could possibly be even remotely related to a Kira-esque character, and any other noteworthy material its unknown editor chose to throw in.
"Good point. But, honestly with any deaths aside, what are the odds of a new Kria ever appearing? The reports said he murdered with a magic book. What are the chances of another one of those existing? If that magazine staff were authentic they would have done better research. The police report is simple to access, however obscure it may be."
"Hey, it's not as easy for people like me; you're practically an expert hacker. But either way I suppose you're right. One can always hope, though."
"Yeah, I guess that couldn't hurt."
--
Still June 15, 2027, 7:26 PM.
In the realm of the Shinigami, life has been reduced to complete disinterest. With no intruiging killing sprees to gaze at during their breaks from gambling, they wandered endlessly in boredom. Even the most ambitious Shinigami found it difficult to set their minds straight. The Shinigami King himself seemed to be napping.
But even for the death gods, calamity never seemed to follow too far behind. The Shinigami called Kinddara Guivelostain had a reputation for being bullish, cruel, and antisocial, but she didn't let that stop her from demanding help when she had troubles. In this particular moment she does have troubles, and goes right on to incessantly pester her fellow Shinigami. She had lost her Death Note, the killing machine of the gods.
"I said tell me!" Kinddara screamed as she flung Deridovely violently to the ground, "You've got to have seen it!"
"I swear!" he cried desperately in response, "I haven't seen it anywhere! Are you sure you didn't drop it into the human world?"
"Wouldn't you think I would know if I did!?" she roared.
"Well, you would think," he muttered, "but honestly I don't know about you."
"What did you say!?"
"Let's calm down here!" Shazma interjected, "I'm sure there's a better way of going about this."
"You're that new girl!" came Kinddara's rude response, "What do you know about my Death Note?"
"I honestly don't know anything, but there must be a way to find it without killing your friend here."
"Trust me, I can't kill him and he's not my friend."
"Why don't you just try looking down into the human world to double check?" a nearby Shinigami called plaintively as he tried to gamble in peace.
"I know I didn't drop it! Whenever I'm by the gates I'm either using it or don't set it down! I'm not that stupid!"
"Let's not jump to hasty conclusions…" Deridovely remarked.
"I think it's a fine idea just to check," Shazma said, "After all, what do you have to lose?"
After what must have been some intense thought for her, Kinddara decided to give the idea a shot. They walked swiftly to the Gate Region and sat down around one of the protruding domes. Kinddara looked intently into the orb, focusing on anything similar to her notebook. And then something happened. Her field of vision was shifted right to a small coastal town in Oregon, United States. She could see her Death Note clearly lying in a public park. A man was looking at it.