Veni Vidi Vici

(I came, I saw, I conquered!)


- Julius Caesar


Dire Circumstances


He killed Gray! He killed Gray!
I closed my eyes and tried to block him from my mind. I even prayed to god that he would vanish into thin air. A silly notion yes, but one that I held on to nonetheless.

But no, it wasn't General Hein.
However, the sheer likeness of him was uncanny. The man had the same cold, penetrating eyes, a ready sneer yes, and a calculating, un-trustworthy disposition.
Just the resemblance of General Hein made me feel like I was suffocating as I was overcome with a tidal wave of raw emotions. Sadness, anger and despair raged through my mind and the walls seemed to be closing in on me.
I had to leave.........I wanted to leave, but I remained where I was and felt like a passive bystander as I watched the events unfold before me at high speed.

Council woman Hee gave the man a sharp look and calmly demanded, "Explain yourself."

The man smirked and replied in a cool voice, "Who I am is none of your concern, but the information I'm about to reveal is everyone's concern."

There was a murmur throughout the crowd, and I nervously glanced at Doctor Sid, trying to find an explanation, or at least an understanding of what was going on, but Doctor Sid gave me a look that stated all too well that he too, was at a loss for words.

A holographic control panel suddenly appeared in front of the Council as a holo-image was shown of the interior of the Generator Barrier facility.

The man stood before the holo-image and said with a wave of his arms, "As you can see, this is the main control room that operated the barrier for New York City. This film was obtained through hidden security cameras located throughout the premises. Film that was in fact, about to be destroyed if I had not obtained it from, shall we say, inside sources."

I did not like where he was going with this and I looked over towards Council woman Hee, hoping she would get the hint and order the press from the room, but I was interrupted as the man suddenly shouted, "We trust the Council! We owe them our very lives for being able to create barrier cities that keep the Phantoms out! And allow society a safe haven from the uncertainty of life itself! However, the Council apparently, had other motivations as they allowed General Hein to enable the Phantoms inside that very haven."

The film that was shown of General Hein storming the facility and giving orders to reduce power to Sector 31, needless to say, caused an uproar. Gasps were heard from the audience and clicks from a dozen cameras went off simultaneously as I realized that we were in the eye of the storm.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

How we managed to escape the press I have no idea. Hell, everything went by so fast that all I remembered were a bunch of pissed-off angry people and us being ushered to the back room.

I watched Jane as she threw her arms up in the air in disgust and muttered, "God, I hate the press."

"Who the hell was that, Doc?" I asked.

'But most importantly how was he able to get ahold of the footage?" Aki questioned her brow knitted in confusion.

Sid rubbed the bridge of his nose and replied in a tired voice, 'I don't know. The Council will inform us shortly.'

I took a moment to pause and take this all in, and glanced over at Ryan and Jane, curious to see how they were holding up. To my surprise they were keeping their cool even though they knew we were in deep shit. I figured that what was going on through everyone's mind right now was where, exactly, do we go from here?

It didn't take that long to find out as Hee burst into the room without warning.

With a grim face she calmly stated, "Aki. Dr. Sid. The Deep Eye's. We will meet in the council chamber at 1600 hours."