Ezro was sprawled on his dirty drunk-father's-TV-seat with a beer can in his hand. Hard shadows flickered around the room as his TV lit with the crappy movie he was enduring.
On screen, a pale teenager girl was talking with a guy that would be too white for a winter themed furniture catalog.
"But I love you, Matt." she said to the guy that looked barely male.
"I love you too, Selene." he replied with a dead cold expression. It wasn't certain if the actor was acting cold or he just failed at acting.
They moved towards each other and were about to kiss when a shirtless guy appeared suddenly from the bushes nearby. The newcomer was ripped, he was a teen-girl-eye-candy. His brown hispanic skin was oiled so that his muscles would shine on camera.
"No!" he said dramatically, raising a hand in protest.
"Eric!" the girl gasped seeing the handsome brown-man.
"Selene, I love you too." brown-man said.
Ezro shifted his head from one side to another in boredom and filled his mouth with more beer from the can.
There really was nothing for him to do. His days blurred into one another as he spent his life on this seat that smelled of beer and chips. There was another stench but he couldn't point out what it really was.
"Is that puke?" he thought as he sniffed.
The disgusting smell of the chair was more exciting than this neo-vampire movie that tortured his TV screen for the past four hours.
Worse, it wasn't coming to a conclusion.
He turned his attention back to TV, something was happening. Maybe finally it was ending. The real despair came from the realisation that despite the two hundred and forty channels
there wasn't a single thing to watch. Unless you're into constant political bickering, the horribly meaningless news or into people who tried to sell you cheap products.
Which usually went "Something, something, ninety-nine cents and you get a second one free if you call within five minutes!".
"Eric!" sneered Matt as he saw the brown-man.
"Matt" said Eric and sneered, revealing sharp wolf-teeth.
"Oh no!" Selene gasped "How will we ever solve this dilemma of love?" she said placing both her hands on her heart.
Matt moved between the duo and raised a finger to the sky "There is only one thing we can do."
They both looked at him expectantly.
"We must go to Castle Voldorum and consult with the Great Lord of Darkness." declared Matt.
The next scene was an old castle atop a CGI mountain range that looked like crap. Fake lightning that was even worse than 80's lightning effects roared around it.
Trio stood before an altar with Selene in the middle.
"You!" roared the Lord of Darkness standing on a dias with a black robe on, red lining followed on it's edges. It wasn't clear who he meant.
"You must choose one of these men as your eternal lover. So that the cycle of unending fate can be broken!" he declared in a loud voice.
Fake lightning roared behind him amongst the darkened clouds.
Ezro had enough.
"This is such bullshit." he said, dropped the half empty beer can onto the garbage hill next to his seat and rose. As he walked to the balcony his beer spilled onto the carpet from the can.
He opened the double wooden doors, they groaned with age and felt as if they were going to give up and broke down. They didn't. Ezro held the metal railing and looked ahead, into the night. Cold metal sting his palm as he used his other hand to produce a pack of smokes.
He shook the pack and put the one that popped up between his lips.
Behind him, TV kept spewing the fate of the poorly written and acted characters. Sounds of the street had drowned out his thoughts for a moment. Cars streaked past with headlights like bright cones passing by underneath.
Sidewalks were crowded, but at this time of night one figure blurred into another among the yellow street lights.
He inhaled hard and let the smoke burn into his lungs.
"I hate smoking." he thought.
He really did. But never had the chance to quit. He always quit several times a year and then restart when something came up. It was a hopeless cycle.
"At least I don't have to wait for these sticks to kill me." he said removing the smoke from his lips and looking at it.
A chilling wind blew around his shaggy beard and penetrated deep into his underwear.
He shook involuntarily as his body hair rose in protest.
His gaze rose up into the cloudy sky. The half-visible clouds among the night sky were heavy.
Rain was coming.
=I=
Downpour caught her and she was soaked before she could reach the protection of a roof.
"God fucking damn it!" she roared as she entered into a doorway and dropped her wet bag to the floor.
It was just a short walk from the lecture hall to the library but the rain came without warning.
Aisha looked at her jeans that was now a darker blue because of all the water they soaked. She grabbed the edge of her sweater and twisted it with both hands. It created a small downpour of her own as she did this.
Her long black hair clung onto her skin as she raised her head and looked at the sky angrily. It was as if she was angry at the sky for doing this to her.
"What a rain, eh?" came a voice from behind her.
She didn't turn towards it, knowing who it belonged to.
Omar came outside beside her and stood next to her.
She grunted in reply.
Omar was an Iranian migrant like her and he had this funny notion that once you came from the same country, you have to be best friends. Aisha felt the exact opposite. She hated people that wasted her time with small talk. She was socially talented but she hated when a guy that she found unattracted to hit on her.
"You got caught bad." Omar said trying to make conversation. He smiled anxiously at her.
Omar really had no talent for social situations. He did not get the dream treatment that many migrants expected in their new country. The instant popular-and-sexy spotlight they dreamed of. What was worse for him that he failed to get any company despite being in the collage. That would make a man wonder, if it was him that was the problem. Rest of mankind seemed to move on fairly happy, so Omar had this creeping fear that he would never get a girlfriend.
"That's probably why he is interested in me, thinking I would be interested because of familiarity or something." Aisha thought as he pondered the exact same thing.
First she got caught in the rain and now this, her anger rose.
It might be just too much for her but she held her anger in check and managed to mumble something as a reply.
"This day just won't end." she thought to herself as Omar was saying something she paid no attention to.
=I=
It took him three days to track this guy down. And when he finally set out to meet him, the downpour started. Colin wasn't even sure the guy would be there when he reached at the agreed location.
"He might ditch me because of the damn rain." he said to himself.
He had to made this transaction and needed to do it fast. Colin liquified some of his coin funds just for this deal.
"If he bailed and these coins burn on me, I'm going to rip him a hole." he said angrily, walking furiously and all wet.
Who he was kidding. He could barely walk this part of town without shaking, yet alone beating up a resident of these parts. And the cold night rain did not help at all.
He looked to the side alleys as he passed by with fearful eyes. What evil might be lurking within? What devil was waiting in ambush to harm him?
He almost jumped backwards as a cat flew towards him from a nearby alley. Cat had launched from atop a garbage can and caused it to fall over, clanging onto the sidewalk and spilling it's dirty innards. The circular top rolled onto the street and clanged rythmically as it came to a stop.
Cat had disappeared in another alley within mere seconds but Colin kept shaking for a full minute.
"Damn cat, damn cat." he repeated trying to calm his nerves.
This was the bad part of the city. The Mass Housing District was built thirty years ago as a governmental solution to provide low cost homes to the poor. It had failed miserably.
The bunched together tall apartments was a playground for gangs and all kinds of other troublemakers. Worse, nobody realised just how many poor people can actually live within these walls. Once the house prices dropped due to plenty, an army of poor people flocked to the district. Soon there was a shortage of houses and people started to share them. Four or five families and even more started to live in the crowded spaces designed for one. Also the housing generated it's own type of mob. They forced people to pay extra rent under the name of "protection". Soon turf wars began between different mobs. Streets littered with garbage as the cleaning details slowed down due to the gang wars. Cops never even tried roaming the backalleys, knowing full well it was mob territory. Soon people stopped driving through the district and it was left to it's own ecology. Dead, empty streets filled with garbage and barely maintained roads. During the day the main streets would clog with the poor, the begger and the hooker. But the night was an entirely different world. Colin walked unopposed simply because he used certain streets. These were "neutral" ground that no mob dared approach and those were somewhat traversable. However muggers and kidnappers were always a danger.
Colin was scared of guns so he never carried a piece.
"Although I should." his mind told him as his eyes darted around to the alleys.
His cheap hoodie and simple jeans made him less of a target but who knew what the night would bring.
Each of his steps sploshed around water that was running on the road. The asphalt shone yellow as a thin layer of water flowed over it.
Mass Housing District sewers always overflown during rain. Colin was lucky that this was just a tiny bit of rain. A worse one would bring out worse things than mere water.
As he was marching, he didn't realise that he passed the alley where he was supposed to meet up with the contact.
"Hey!" a voice called to him.
He turned and realised his mistake. He jumped onto the sidewalk wanting to get out of the damn water if at all possible.
"You have it?" asked Colin to the man in the shadows. Rain had crawled to a stop but his hoodie still dripped water.
Roads shone yellow as water flowed over like a shallow river, reflecting the poorly maintained streetlights.
"Yea, yea. You got the money?" asked the man dismissively. He looked like a terrible homeless man, all covered with thick clothing that merged together. His brown coat was worn over several layers of other cloths that was probably collected from a garbage pile. His boots were torn and mended several times. And over his legs were stiched rugs.
Colin realised that his contact never took off his clothing, he tried to ignore the smell as he approached. However it was a difficult task.
"Give me the money." said the man with a commanding voice.
It came out patheticly as he coughed once and wiped his saliva onto his arm.
"No, you give me the product first." said Colin finding courage from his weakness.
The man wasn't fazed by Colin's looks but he revealed the ware anyhow.
"Here." he said holding out a shiny metalic disc-like object.
"You idiot, don't hold it to the rain." said Colin and motioned towards the man, forgetting his fear with thoughts of protecting the ware.
Alley-man was calm and kept the ware away from Colin's hands.
"It's packaged, you fool. Mr. No-One makes no shady deals. It's all wrapped up tidy and shiny." the alley-man smiled, revealing black and yellow teeth. He missed some.
"Fine, fine." said Colin trying not to breath so that he would keep his nose clean from the smell.
"Just give it here." he added.
"Money. No money, no shiny." said the alley-man, motioning the disc-object towards the insides of his coat.
"No, no. Okay here take it." said Colin pulling out a mass of cash all covered in duct tape.
Alley-man grabbed the money but he wasn't able to pull it from Colin's grip.
"The ware." reminded Colin motioning his head.
"Oh, right." said the alley-man and handed him the shiny disc.
Colin let go of the money once he grabbed the disc and moved several steps back. The stench of this man was just unbearable.
"We good?" he asked breathing the dirty but breathable street air, deep.
Alley-man had somehow opened the duct tape easily, Colin wasn't able to see how but he realised with a thinge of fear that the man must have a knife.
He knew the deal would not go sour but a weapon always made him nervous. He would never be able to trust someone that carried a weapon around, even if it's a simple knife.
"How on earth were you to know that he would not turn it upon you in the blink?" he reasoned to himself.
He calmed his fear and looked at the alley-man.
"Yeah, we good." replied the alley-man and turned to disappear into the darkness of the side alley.
Colin stood there all wet for a second before coming to his senses and started moving. His shoes had soaked the water and now plopped with wet socks in each step.
He got out of there as fast as he could, cluthing his new toy in his arms like a babe.
His grin grew wider as he ran, towards home.
=I=
One chop followed another as she slashed the meat cleaver downwards. Evening shift was coming to a close at the butchery depot.
Ladlow raised the cleaver and tore the entire leg from the cow in one swing. Then she used the white sleeve of her work-coat to remove the sweat from her brow.
"Come on people! Last package and we are done for tonight." shouted the chief in his green nylon apron as he strolled around with a clipboard in hand. His front and hands had stains of blood and meat. A piece of red stuck onto the clipboard and he used his yellow striped pencil to tore it away.
He spotted Ladlow among the crowd of hanging meat.
"Lad-dy." he said tipping his black skull cap.
Ladlow pulled the leg away and handed it to another guy next to her. Worker had to shoulder the leg to carry it, where Ladlow had easily lifted it.
Chief nodded in appreciation "Good work Ladlow." he said.
"Thanks, chief." she replied and looked to her right, awaiting for another meat to come before her, so that the process of dismemberement can start.
"No, no. They need you at the loading." chief said swinging his pencil towards the open doors. There was an enclosed freezer truck rolling into the depot as he did so.
"Okay, chief. The boys can't handle some meat all by themselves?" she said with a grin.
"They sure can't. Keep this up and I'll talk to the boss about that raise for you." chief said.
Ladlow nodded "Will do.".
She passed through the hanging meat forest, cows and pigs were hanging from their feet. Flayed and ready for chopping.
"Chief said you needed me." she shouted to be heard in the wide depot.
Three butchers were pulling at a huge piece of meat that was all wrapped in plastic covers.
"What is this?" she asked. She had never seen such a delivery before.
"No idea." said Mike, one of the butchers, swiping his forehead to his sleeve and smearing blood all over his face.
She looked at the brand on the packaging.
Label read "Vitalloni Import & Export Co.".
"Okay boys, let get this thing loaded onto the slab." she said.
Two of the guys went away to roll in a large metal table towards the huge piece of meat. They held onto the slab so that it won't roll off on it's wheeled legs. Even the wheel breaks might not be enough to stop this package from slipping down.
Ladlow flexed her well developed muscles and tried the giant piece of meat.
"You good?" asked Mike.
"I can do with a crane." said Ladlow.
"It's huge." she added patting the meat.
"Yeah." commented Mike as he grabbed a hanging control remote and pressing the buttons. A meat crane moved towards them on it's tracks, hanging upside down from the ceiling, it's sharp curved hook dangled slowly as it moved. It blared a safety siren as it moved towards them.
Chief had heard of the siren of a moving crane and came in running.
"No, no, no. No punctures on the meat. It's going whole." he warned.
"We can't lift this thing without the crane." protested Mike.
Chief looked at Ladlow for confirmation, he valued her opinion more than these runts.
Ladlow nodded sideways in a hazy approval. She wasn't sure if they could haul this thing, even with a crane.
Chief looked at the huge piece of wrapped meat up and down with a calculating stare.
"Well, I think you can." he said finally.
"We'll give it a try." said Ladlow and the guys moved in to help her.
The four butchers pulled with everything they had, three guys had their faces turn red and two of them hardly managed their own weights but Mike managed to lift greatly despite the heavy weight.
Ladlow added her strength and took a heavy lifting position, breaking her knees and channeling the weight from her back muscles to her legs. To the chief's amazement they rose the meat an inch and landed it onto the slab with a loud metal clang. Entire metal table shook under the weight but it was done.
"Good job." chief congratulated.
"Who's order is this?" asked Ladlow as two of the guys held their back in pain. She wasn't even fazed by the weight. Wrestling made her tough and resistant.
She was a sucessful wrestler. Not one of those fake takedown show ones but a real wrestler. She also did boxing and other combat arts that interested her. Her primo was professional wrestling but there were no money in it for making a living. Bills were bloated in the city and she had the earn money with a second job.
She took the butchery job simply because it felt familiar, with lifting and all the muscle work. In the modern times, tools and cranes did most of the work but the meatshop could always do with a strong helping hand, despite all the technological wonders. She found this job relaxing compared to all the other low wage jobs. And since most people were content with their would-you-like-fries-with-that jobs, there was a need for heavy workers in such industries. People's laziness worked in her favor. Despite the hard work, they earned more hourly rates.
"Other girls sell their meat on the poles, while others get their meat pounded to pay for a living. I prefer to pound meat myself." she answered anyone who asked useless questions.
City was expensive and there were no wrestling on the countryside, so she had to live among this wild forest of brick and metal.
"No idea, boss's special order." replied the chief looking at his clipboard and then walking away.
They pushed the table towards the hookless cranes. After wrapping the meat with straps, Mike pressed the hanging crane control remote and lifted the huge meat.
Ladlow watched as four heavy-weight cranes hauled it up. Heavy-weights were used to lift several ordinary products in one go but for this giant piece of meat four of them groaned under the weight.
She kept watching as the giant meat floated away. Just now Ladlow realised how familiar the meat looked from afar.
"It looks like an elephant." she mumbled to herself.
=I=
Two shots of gunfire echoed down the street. Douglass jumped, getting startled. He dropped his smoke onto the wet sidewalk and it extinguished with a hiss.
Sound had came from a distant alley but gunfire always made him uneasy. A relic-feeling he got when he was a police officer. It kept one alive but it also wrecked the nerves. Waiting for the next gunshot was never an easy thing to endure.
"Damn this part of town." he cursed to himself. He moved a step backwards so that he would blend better into the side alley he was stalking in.
Some damn rich broad had paid him tons of money to track her no-good husband.
When Douglass quit the force to become a private investigator this wasn't the type of jobs he imagined. But they paid the bills so he did them anyhow.
His hand eased on the holster of his Glock 17 and fell to his side. He wore a brown trenchcoat atop a simple outfit of pants and a shirt.
He tracked the hubby to the bad part of the city. Mass Housing District they called it. He had a better name for it. The shithole.
Being a scum was a full-time job on these parts. Gangs would not get close to the "owned" streets. Bigger fish had the control of these "owned" streets and people with urges can come and go in peace to use these facilities. Mostly brothels but some fancy bars and even other establishments existed for the more refined customers. Thugs would also keep clear of any well dressed and well built man within these owned parts, mistaking them for bodyguards and peacekeepers of the mafia. Common thugs usually did not sport a gun so Douglass did not had any problem prowling the streets. Shine of the piece always made these vermin scatter off.
And gangs would stick to their own turf, not wanting a war with the bigger powers that own these streets.
Being a small time gangster was a good hobby but it would never match the power of an organized "business". And the gangs knew this full well. Not because they were wise but the mafia let them know the rules by making corpses out of anyone who tried their patience.
Always a bigger fish, they say.
Douglass watched the hubby walk the streets, hubby walked past several caller-girls and ignored them. These were the advertisement ladies that lured people in to their own establishments.
He finally settled on a bar with purple colored light shining all over it. Handsome man and cute tomboys taunted him with lustful words. Hubby looked to the sides to make sure no one was trailing him and then entered the gay-brothel.
A guy with a shotgun let him pass through the doors and returned to his watch duty.
"Oh, not this shit again." said Douglass in a whisper.
Why did it have to be the gay one again? He were already caught stalking another hubby some months back and the bouncer knew his face. He lied his way out saying that he wanted some free entertainment. Luckily, they didn't beat him up but he was going to get it if he got caught a second time.
"There is no way I'm getting in there." he thought to himself.
He never learned how to sneak past people, always counting on his talks to save the day. But a doorguard sporting a shotgun made talking redundant. Especially one that knew him from the recent incident.
Also the bouncer was twice his side with arms as wide as his head.
Douglass would not get the full payment without solid proof. He could take photos from outside but they weren't as convincing as the real action going inside.
"Damn it, I need to get in." he said and came up with the worse plan of his life.
He spotted an independant working lady nearby. These were the hookers that worked for their own pimps and not for any particular establishments.
"You there, honey. Come here." he said pacing towards her and motioning his with hand.
She saw him and approached, one hand on her leg and another placed at her hip. He knew that hand was grazing the edges of a makeshift knife. Douglass' ragged looks were not comforting for anyone. He had let go of his looks when he quit the force.
"What'll it be, handsome." she asked as they closed the gap between each other.
She stopped within two step's length and kept her distance.
Douglass produced a hundred east-dollar bill and raised it to head level so that she could see it clearly.
Her eyes widened as she saw it.
"See that big guy at the gay place?" he asked nodding towards the bouncer with his head.
She turned her head and looked the guy upside down, checking the shotgun twice.
"U-huh." she said.
"Get him off his post and this is yours." Douglass said presenting the money but keeping it out of arm's reach.
She looked at the bouncer again and especially to the shotgun in his hands, then back at Douglass.
"I'll do it." she said grabbing the money and stuffing it in her bra.
He watched her go, cross the street and chat with the giant door guard. Douglass wasn't sure if he was arabic, turkic or greek. It was certain that he was something-mediterranean but it was also certain that he was quite interested in ladies.
"Maybe that's why he was working at the man-brothel. Probably got kicked out of a regular one." Douglass reasoned to himself as he watched the duo flirt.
She convinced him easily and they turned a nearby corner to do whatever they do.
Douglass walked casually and entered through the doors.
Working men had taunted him and cheered at him as he walked through the wooden double-doors.
"Welcome to our house, honey." a muscled and oiled guy called to him.
Another threw kisses as he passed by.
Douglass tried to look as unflappable as he could be. He was going to get in trouble if he got caught, so he needed to be extra careful.
"Hi." he acknowledged, trying to be casual as he walked by.
He disappeared into the brothel. Avoiding the main hall, he took the stairway up towards the rooms. Man-moans had filled the corridor and Douglass was annoyed as he walked by.
"Just shut the shit." he said under his breath, trying to avoid the mistake of shouting.
He had nothing against homo-relations but now he needed to concentrate and the sound distracted him greatly.
First he needed to find where the hubby went, then he had to get proof.
These places never kept ledgers for secrecy purposes. But they were not anonymous by any means. He knew that there were cameras in every room so that the owners would have a way to blackmail the important people who frequent their establishments.
He traversed a red carpeted corridor, wooden boards groaned as he walked by. The building was old. Older than the mass housing apartments that filled up this district. Douglass didn't know how this building survived the demolishing fever when the new buildings were to be erected. Owners did not restored anything and apparently left things as they are.
"There has to be a recording room somewhere." thought Douglass as he listened to each room as he passed by.
He looked at the wooden heavy doors and tried to discern if any of them were the one he was looking for. Entering the wrong room and alerting the residents was the last thing he needed.
Despite the man-moaning his eyes scanned around professionally and he pinpointed the door he was looking for. He knew this was the room he wanted to get in, because there were badly drilled holes to the wall next to the door and electric cables trailed out of them. This was the hub of the camera network of this brothel. The trailing wiring was tried to be hid behind the dark red wallpaper but it bulged and easily detected by Douglass' professional sight.
He spent years investigating crime scenes and houses when he was searching for anything suspicious. His honed skills had worked for him even after his departure from the force.
"Good job, Doug." he congratulated himself silently as he walked to the door.
Wood floor kept groaning as he walked but the corridor always had traffic so whoever was inside must have ignored the sound.
He tried listening the door but it was too thick to let anything that isn't a man-moan through.
"There must be guards manning the recording table." he reasoned to himself. Although he had no idea if this was true. For all he know the room could be empty.
He had to make a choice. Going in or staying out.
He decided to go in.
Two heads, one white skinned other black had turned towards him as he opened the door.
"Shit, that was stupid." Douglass thought to himself as he saw the guards staring at him.
He stood there as one of the man got up, the other was sitting tensely, ready to draw a gun. His gaze fixed on Douglass.
"Who are you?" asked the rising black man, his expression wasn't friendly at all.
Douglass needed to think fast and think clever.
"Sorry, I was looking for a vacant room. This is my first time here." he apologized to the black guard.
Guard looked him up and down, judging if he was lying or not. Douglass' pistol was lost in his trenchcoat and would not be revealed without a frisk.
"This is security. Check the other rooms." said the guard.
"Okay, thanks." said Douglass acting all anxious and silly as the black guard closed the door to his face.
"That went well." he thought as sweat ran down his back.
This was enough for today, he decided. He left the brothel through a back door and disappared in the dark alley.
Dumb broad had to take his word for her husband's actions. But damn it, the pay would drop and worse he paid the hooker too much.
"She would do it for fifty, you dumb fuck." he angered at himself as he kept walking.
=I=
Colin threw his wet hoodie towards the coat hanger, it fell like a tower sideways as the coat slammed onto it, but Colin ignored it. He walked over spilled chips and stepped on cushions laying on the floor to reach his computer rig. Two widescreen monitors shone in the poorly lit room. Two extra screens were set vertically on either side. A glass table atop a metallic base shone with inner light as leds lit his keyboard and mouse from below. The surface glass was a special one that prevented fingerprints and other surface stains, except the GodPunch energy drink that had dried over as a blue gauzy ring.
He revealed the packaged disc and tore open the plastic wraps. He needed to cut through the tape that held it together and within seconds it was in his hands. He rotated it and looked for any defects, there were none. From his growling tower case came forward a disc reader. Colin placed the disc carefully and pushed the reader in.
His eagerness overflew, he couldn't stop smiling and his hands were shaking. Was it his new prize or the scary place he had to endure that shaked him so? He didn't know, he didn't care. He had the disc. The-fucking-disc.
And more importantly what was in it.
A second later the disc started making a whirling noise and a menu poped up on one of his screens. He clicked the menu as fast as his mouse allowed to. It led to a folder where a single file was stored.
Colin's eyes grew as possibilities flocked his mind. He spent years working on many cases. People called them "Conspiracies", but he knew them to be the truth. He contributed crucial evidence to many different online forums, revealing the secrets hidden beneath the veil. Nazi Space Program, Roswell, JFK, The moon landing, Truth about the grey aliens and their secret organizations. He was the one who came up with the most evidence on it all.
He was nineteen but he contributed more than any other researcher to the truth. There was something out there and he was going to reveal it all.
But this, this new find would top it all. Nobody would be able to ignore this one. People already knew about the extraterrestrial beings that rule the world, they just ignored it. They went their own comformist lives, they sit in front a TV set and drained their brains out.
It was the life they accepted and Colin knew they shun it by choice. A choice led by fear and oppression.
They way he figured it out, there was a super-evolved race only known as the Overlords. Layman called these "Aliens" but they were more extradimensional than extraterrestrial.
"As if the public would actually knew the difference." Colin would usually add when he was explaining this to others, with the complementary roll of the eyes.
They used the Earth's moon as a gravitational slingshot to propel their ships in and out of earth's atmosphere. The "Alien sightings" were just the light show that their space-warping engines leave behind. Just like the vapor trail of planes.
"One must be an idiot to think that such an advanced alien race would let them see you." Colin said in many debates he got into over the years.
Once the USSR's manned-suicide-satelites found out about the Overlord dish array that empower the slingshot effect, there was a "Space Race" between USA and USSR. Both parties wanted to get the advanced technology on the moon and fuel their own war efforts, but this petty race became dangerous when the Overlords ordered the public execution of John F. Kennedy to set an example.
The message was clear "Stop meddling in our affairs or we will kill you.".
But mankind was too stupid to take heed. On 1969, an American shuttle landed on moon and a man dressed in poorly developed space suits hobbled along it's surface. It was merely a bug compared to the power of the Overlords, but we had angered them. They punished us by a proxy rule that enslaved us all. They cloned special human substitutes that would pose as the proxy rulers of mankind. These were the "Greys" that all the people talked about.
The "New World Order" so to speak was Overlords punishing us for our meddling in their affairs.
It was all so clear but all this would be eclipsed by this new find. He traversed that dangerous route to the Mass Housing District just to get this ware. That single file in the disc was a precious and rare gem.
It was a Wallbreaker cyber-attack software personally coded by Mr No-One. Designed to penetrate into the current defense system of your choosing. Colin had relayed his need before the payment. Mr No-One could only be contacted through his dark-net website where you simply begged him to code for you. He would not code for anyone, even with huge amounts of payment without actually choosing to do so. Mr No-One choose his own work, you told him of your intent and if he took an interest in it, then and only then he would code a cracker software for you. His Wallbreaker rootkits were infamous among the secret agencies. Using or even possessing such a software were globally illegal. Agencies tracked you to your toilet if they even spot you using such a thing. Wallbreaker itself bordered on near-fully-functioning-AI as other online crackers have speculated. It was impossible to reverse engineer such a thing and no one was exactly sure what it does or how it does what it does. The bottom line was that you got what you wanted.
Colin would use such a thing to penetrate into one of the most secretive organizations that he had encountered. Officially it was known as VALKYRIE Independant Contractor Company. It was a secret organization that hid in the shadows. Who founded it or how many people was unknown, as well as how wide it's branches went. Colin worked hard and tried to find all the information on VALKYRIE but his endevours turned out empty.
He only managed to gather information on the visible part of the company and nothing else. It was obvious that this was a Private Military Contractor that served as mercenary forces on many conflict zones. But there was not a single information on where they were deployed and in what numbers. Usually the PMCs would deploy in hot-zones, Afghanistan, Iraq, Kuwait, Libya, Syria, Ukraine. But these people, these "VALKYRIE" did not had a single public action they undertook. For all intents and purposes it was a ghost company that barely existed as a front desk and a stupid website. Those kind of websites with "Our vision" and "Our Mission" bullshit written on the front page and a dummy contact information on the Contacts tab.
Colin hacked his way into several of their databases and only turned out with useless information. He knew these were to be the dummy databases that VALKYRIE didn't even bother protecting. The real information stayed safe and secret from Colin's reach at every turn.
What do these Men-in-black outfit hid? What kind of secrets they kept from the public?
Colin would know it all. The secrets of the Overlords perhaps. Or something even cooler. Colin wished in his heart that this would lead him to the fabled Nazi Interdimensional Travel experiments that was conducted and succeeded back in 38.
Who knows what doors would open?
Colin couldn't wait any longer. He opened the file.