Resident Luz
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I OWN AND REGRET NOTHING!
...III...
I THANK GOD FOR EVERYTHING!
...III...
"Bang! Bang! I gonna put a spell on you!" Shouts 5-year old Luz Noceda she played around with a paper mache wand, zapping her 'foes'.
She then accidentally swung it too hard and it flew out the window.
"Oh, shoot!" She huffed. She climbs out and gives a sigh of relief when she sees it's still on the fire escape one floor down.
As she goes down the ladder she overhears her parents talking...
"¡Esta es la última gota! Who makes PUZZLES for opening the restrooms with guard dogs! ¡Idiotas! What kinda company they running?" Exclaimed the angry voice of her mother...
He heard her father sigh, "I have no idea...but there's...I don't know how to describe it. But there's SOMETHING in the air. The random puzzles, the extra ,elaborate security precautions, people getting transferred without warning, getting ARRESTED without warning...it's like the higher-up's are ...I don't know...SCARED? PARANOID?"
Luz was confused, she didn't really understand what they were saying...she guessed they didn't like puzzles? what was wrong with puzzles? They were fun! They used them in school all the time! Of course...only the teachers were supposed to use them...which didn't stop Luz!
They said some other stuff, but most of it went over the young girls head...she just dismissed as boring adult stuff and went back to getting her wand...
Seeing her wand, she reaches down to get it...only to be briefly entranced as the nearby neon lit up.
UMBRELLA!
THE COMPANY THAT NEVER FAILS!
Young Luz is so distracted by it, she doesn't see what she's grabbing-
CHOMP!
OW!
Luz sobs as the rat she'd mistaken grabbed now falls from the fire-escape and to the alleyway below.
Luz cried, forgot her wand and ran up to get her 'boo-boo' looked at...
...she never saw her wand fall down as well...land on the now dead rat...or that same 'dead' rat start to twitch...
...many years later...
-And that is when it was revealed that the American government were responsible for the 'Racoon City Incident' and attempted to frame the Umbrella Corporation for the whole debacle..." Said the teacher as she used the holo-projector.
Luz repressed her rage and stayed quiet at her desk as the rest of her classmates lapped up the propaganda. She'd learned long ago that acting out only got you 'branded'- she felt the 'chip' in her neck burn just thinking about it - as a 'problem child'...and only caused MORE problems for her mom.
Luz only barely listened as the teacher droned on about the subsequent collapse of the scandalized government, the fall of the two party system lead to a rise of libertarianism, which lead to the remnants of said government privatizing and selling off it's remaining assets to the highest bidder...which turned out to be the Umbrella Corporation.
Luz hissed to herself as her teacher went over the rise of bio-terrorism, the 'holy war' being waged in Europe by the Los Iluminados Cult, The Terragrigia Panic caused by the bio-terrorist group Il Veltro, the Kijuju civil war, the Eastern Slav Republic genocide, The Edonian uprising, the fall of the United Nations and European Union and the rise of the Federation of Pharmaceutical Companies...
After class was over. She and the rest of her class was forced to go through daily 'sterilization': They were forced to strip, their clothes burnt, give an hour-long chem shower, given a new 'shot', given new clothes, 'allowed' to have their personal effects from lock up, then 'allowed' to leave via an armored bus overseen by armored guards...
Luz looked out the window and watched the seemingly endless parade of 'umbrella corp logos slapped on EVERYTHING.
'Shockingly'; having complete monopoly over all a countries utilities, armed forces, law enforcement, medical facilities, taxes, money reserves, censorship authorities, education systems and legal institutes soon saw all their competitors IN said country soon either declaring bankruptcy or being bought out thanks to the newly reformed 'eminent domain' laws.
And worst of all..no one else saw a problem with this! As far as the rest of the country was concerned, Umbrella could do no wrong after it thwarted the 9/11 terrorist attack!
Technically there was still a government...but it was essentially powerless and more or less did nothing but rubber-stamp all of Umbrella's laws.
True, They allowed everyone to vote on said laws...but considering that every vote just 'happens' to be right after some grand triumph of Umbrella or some horrific tragedy that 'could've been avoided if Umbrella simply had the power to act'...the results were usual always in the company's favor...
Bit by bit...the country gave up it's freedoms. Heck the chip in her neck was originally just supposed to be ONLY for adult prisoners of war...but then it was expanded to regular prisoners...then parole dodgers...then Ex-cons...then anyone phoned in for being 'suspicious' by civilians(Said person naturally gaining a hefty reward for doing this)...then anyone deemed suspicious by civil servants...then government officials...then anyone Umbrella deemed 'of interest'...and finally 'troubled' children were added...and so on, until it was more or less legal for Umbrella to chip ANYONE they wanted... Oh, sure 'technically' there were still guidelines and check's and balances...but considering Umbrella OWNED all the positions, business and law enforcement that were 'supposed' to enforce and/or oversee all that...they weren't worth the paper they were printed on.
Rinse and repeat the same 'Modus Operandi' several dozen times for hundreds of other rules...and that's what lead to her living in the totalitarian state they lived in today...
Luz sighed as she was 'allowed' off the bus by the armed guard and escorted to her house.
The house was run down, not surprising since it was all her mom could afford after...
Luz clutched her hand in anger, desperately trying not to think about it.
Seeing her mom not at home- no doubt working her TRIPLE shift -she made her own dinner and went to reading her favorite series of books...'The Good Witch Azura.'
Luz smiled warmly, "You never have to worry about all this crap, do you Azura? No bills, no lawsuits, no biased media taunting you, no stupid people willingly giving up their freedoms for flimsy promises of security... Just a zap of your wand...and BOOM! all your problems gone. Just happy times and magic all around..." Luz sighed. "Why can't my life be like that?" She asked wishfully.
She looked at her new phone(1) to see if there were any messages from her mom AND check out the new features. As much as she hated the companies guts...she had to hand it to them, they made a damn good phone.
beep beep beep
'Spoke too soon,' thought Luz with a sigh. The mandatory 'Umbrella App' was now alerting her that some Umbrella officials were on their way.
Knowing it was pointless as they'd just open the door and come in anyway.(2) She opens the door to the usual Umbrella goons for her sector. "Look, the date for our next payment of the lawsuit isn't until next week. My mom will have the money by then, just be patient!" She said, trying VERY hard to repress her rage and be as cordial as possible.
"Oh, my dear. You misunderstand. We're not here for that. Shirly you've read the recent new law put in affect.
Luz briefly remembered the Umbrella App alerting her early that said something about...
"A new conscription act going out for...some new war happening in...Eastern Europe somewhere?" Luz strained to remember, she shakes her head.
"Well, whatever. What's that have to do with me? You might've lowered the recruitment age a bit, but it's nowhere near my-
"Ah, that's where your mistaken my dear." Interrupted the guard with a chuckle. "Had you read that new act more closely, you'd have seen that- among other things -it makes an exception for all 'questionable elements' of our society. Which thanks to the societal reform 48 that was passed several months ago...is a definition that includes 'problem children.'
Luz panicked and her hand immediately went to the 'smoking gun' that was in her neck. "What- No- I -You can't-
"Yeah, yeah. We've heard it a dozen times today, 'You can't do this.', 'You have no right', 'This is inhumane'. Look, I'm hungry- he points to the goon on the right -he's got a kid to pick up from soccer practice- points to the last goon -and he has a book club meeting at 5. So let's just skip to the part where we threaten with you with this- Luz flinched at the sight of the all-too-familiar device -and you just accept the inevitable. Okay? Okay."
Luz was sttarting to cry at this point-
But, but I'm not a soldier! I know nothing about war-
"Oh, I'm sure they'll put you through some sort of training...probably. Don't really know or care to be honest...
"Wait, but, but what do I pack- "Your not allowed to bring anything but the clothes on your back and even those will be incinerated and replaced when we get to the base. Any APPROVED essentials will be given to you when needed."
"My mom isn't even here! Can't I at least say goodby-
"Were on a deadline here! Now quite staling! Boys, get her!" The goons start to advance..
Not knowing what to do, Luz grabbed the emergency backpack by the door.
The goon laughed, "What are you going to do? Again- he holds up the device tauntingly -as long as I have this-
CRACK!
The device was knocked from his hand by the bag and Luz quickly jumped, rolled, grabbed the device and sprinted tot eh woods.
The stunned goons blinked, then finally snapped to it. "GO! GO! GO!"
...
Luz ran through the brush...she saw an abandoned house and fled to it, slamming the door...just as the goons enter the same clearing.
The goon smirks, "Oh...I wonder where she could be..." He says with mock confusion. He gestures to his men and they slowly approach the house.
"Come on Ms. Noceda, your just delaying the inevitable!" He signals again, and the other two slowly go to block the other exits/entrances.
"I mean really, what's your plan here? were you going to go? One phone call from me makes you a wanted fugitive! And that's Assuming that they don't just activate your chip, fry your Hispanic ass and be done with it."
They all potsion themselves...ready to enter...
"Tell you what? You come in quitely, we forget this whole thing ever happens? After all, the last thing I need- puts his hand on the doorknob -is more paperwork-
CRACK!
All three goons break in-
FLASH!
Only to be blinded by a flashing light that envelops the inside of the house, by the time they spots leave their eyes...Luz Noceda is gone...
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...one beloved first episode all true owl fans cherish and love later...
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Edda the Owl Lady scans Luz with a diagnostic spell. "Ah, little banged up, but other then that your good...heh, looks like one of those morons tried to freeze you... but they totally screwed it up! They shot a minor stasis spell instead. I'll just remove that now." Luz was barely listening, she was thinking about her day...her adventure...and what happened BEFORE..and a now VERY familiar lump in her pocket...she clenched her fist.
"Okay. I know you got your head cut off, and we started some kind of prison riot, but this was the most fun I've ever had."
Eda blinks owlishly in surprise...
"I don't fit in at home. You don't fit in here. If I stay, we could not fit in together."
She looks at one of Umbrella's MANY pamphlets...and their stupid symbol one more time... then crumples it. "I'm done playing Umbrellas games..."
Eda Chuckles nervously. "What's Umbrella? What are we talking about here?"
"I want to stay and become a witch. Like you- Luz holds her book up to Eda. -And Azura."
Eda Laughs "What? All right, that's crazy- She Pushes Luz's book down. -Humans can't become witches."
"Maybe that's because they haven't tried. If you teach me to become a witch, I'll do anything you want." Said Luz with renewed determination.
King Pulls at Eda's dress. "Let her stay!" He then leans in to Whisper, "She can make us snacks."
Eda Smiles and picks King up. "Well, I could use a hand keeping this goofball out of the cupboards. All right. I'll teach you how to be a witch. But you have to work for me before you learn any spells. Deal?"
Eda holds out her hand. Luz looks at it before grinning and crushing the two in a hug, surprising them.
"Gah! What's going on?"
"Too tight! Too tight!"
...
Luz sneezes as she opens the creaking door to a dusty storage room.
She unrolls a sleeping bag and- now wearing pajamas -throws herself on it.
She then takes a picture of her and her mom out of her backpack. She rubs her thumb over the glass before placing the frame right next to her pillow. Her phone vibrates, and she grabs it and turns it on. A message from "Mom❤️": WHERE ARE YOU?
Quickly, Luz weaves a tales...saying that yes, she was taken to a military base...but that it's not that bad, and it didn't look like she'd be on the front-lines...she felt bad for lying...but what else could she do?
Eventually, she calmed her down...Luz was briefly confused by Umbrella claim of taking her away, but she just dismisses it as a lie to make themselves look good.
King then Clears his throat, he steps into view while holding Francois. "Your sleep cocoon looks fluffy."
Luz sits up and pats the sleeping bag. King curls up at the bottom below her feet and falls asleep. Luz smiles at him before replying to her mom: "I think I'm gonna like it here". Before logging off.
Her smile faded when the all-too-familar Umbrella logo pops up on her phone...but she then looks more determined. "You can't reach me here...I'm out of yopur clutches and your powerless to stop me from living my life." She whispers to herself...her smile returned as she went to bed
Zoom out to the exterior of the Owl House. The giant stained glass eye above the door blinks...
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beep
beep
beep
A silent internal beeping resonated within Luz's phone...it quietly scanned the area to make sure all were either not within eyesight or awake...several long spindly spider legs came from the phone...raising the phone up...several fiber optic wires also popped out of secret compartments and began to scan and take picture of the nearby bodies and area...
And finally, one more hidden compartment opened up...allowing thousands of fly-sized spy-drones swarm out, go out the open window...and spread throughout an unsuspecting boiling isle.
the phone goes for one last sweep, scanning the two bodies...when it centers on Luz and King...
INFECTION CONFIRMED
DAY ONE OF CONTAGION LOGGED
INFECTED: 2
...III...
TO BE CONTINUED?
(1): she and all her classmates had gotten the latest model in class today thanks to Umbrella's new 'COM-UNITY: initiative'.
(2): A law that was originally meant to ONLY allow Umbrella to steal security codes from suspected bio-terrorists ONLY during emergency situations... had of course since snowballed into a blanket reform that made it mandatory for all citizens to give up passwords and other security information to Umbrella security services...as well as making it an arresstable offense to anyone who didn't.
AN: Want me to continue this? I'm willing to take Bribes! Go to my P,a,t,r,e,o,n account!
Feel like I'm writing too slow? Feel free to adopt!
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