Authors Notes: Hello, this is only the second fic I've posted and it's the
first one I've written. I found it, edited it, and added to it very
recently but originally started it about four years ago. This is only the
introduction, but I plan on adding to it as soon as I have time. Please
tell me what you think of it. I'm a new writer, I need input ego boosts.
However, if you flame me I will probably flame you back.
So, here is the prologue.
Prologue; The Meeting
So far, nothing had happened today. Of course, there were the usual difficulties with Doors trying to take the Resistance farther than it should, and then there was the constant problem of trying to discover what Zo'or was doing or was going to do. But overall, for Liam Kincaid, everything was normal. It was only 8:00 am, but Liam had high hopes for today.
Liam walked up the steps of the Embassy and smiled at the woman who soon joined him.
"Hey" said Captain Lili Marquette. "How's your day been going?"
"So far so good." responded Liam.
He immediately regretted his words. There was a soft, but very insistent flash of light and the two friends found themselves in someplace entirely different. The someplace was very strange as well. It was a white room, but Liam couldn't see any walls. It was more like a white existence.
"What the."
Liam and Lili turned to face the owner of the voice.
Uh oh, thought Liam. Whatever was going to happen next, he could tell was not going to be pleasant. The owner of the voice was Jonathan Doors, leader and founder of the resistance movement against the Talons. Right next to him was Zo'or, the leader of the Talon Synod. Next to him was Agent Ronald Sandoval, Zo'or's protector. Off to the side a little was Da'an, North American Companion, and Agent Siobhan Becket, protector to the UK companion. On the other side of Doors, were Auger, the Resistance's resident computer genius, and Dr. Bellman. All of them looked thoroughly dazed.
"What has happened?" demanded Zo'or, as he got his bearings.
Then he noticed Doors.
"Agent Sandoval, arrest this man at once."
Sandoval began to step forward. Liam had to do something fast.
"Wait a minute," he said and made to move between the Resistance leader and obeying implant.
"We don't know where we are, what we're doing here, or what brought us here. Despite the obvious differences we all have, it might be a good idea to put them on hold until we get back to reality." Liam finished his little speech and inconspicuously held his breath, waiting to see what happened and preparing to jump away from any weapons fire. Or maybe in front of any weapons fire, he hadn't decided yet.
"I agree."
Liam looked at the owner of the soft voice and smiled. Da'an allowed himself a small smile as well. Door and Zo'or glared at each other, both hating Liam for saying what he had and knowing he was right. They both retreated, slightly. Liam let his breath out.
"How disappointing. Well, since you're going to be so boringly civil, I might as well answer your questions."
All nine heads turned toward this new, unfamiliar voice and were utterly shocked by the person they saw. Standing there was a human, teenage girl, about 15 years old. She had shoulder-length light brown hair worn down so that it bounced around her face, which incidentally was covered with freckles. She had oval shaped blue eyes that rivaled the Talon's and light, though not pale, skin. She was also wearing blue jeans and a tight, black tank top that had the word "Slut" written in big, red, sparkly letters. The very thought that this insolent adolescent knew anything that they did not, or just anything for that matter, was laughable. However, no one laughed. Something about her radiated something into their subconscious. Liam searched to pinpoint what it was. Then he saw it, or rather felt it. One word. Power. Liam suddenly felt a great deal of unease sweep over him.
The girl just stood there, hand on one hip, knee bent, so that she looked like she was a model posing for a shot, and continued.
"Let's go in order, shall we? One. You are between here and there. There really isn't any other way to explain it to your feeble, mortal minds. Two. You are here to save me. Three. I brought you here. That's that then, so you can go on fighting, or, if you must, I suppose you could ask me more questions."
There was suddenly a great deal of silence. Da'an recovered from this strange response first. He stepped forward.
"What do you mean we are here to save you?"
"Augh" the girl let out, exasperated. "Mortals are so predictable. Well, quite frankly, you are here to save me from my boredom."
Everyone took a moment to digest that information.
"You mean," Lili said rather cautiously, "we are here to entertain you?"
The girl looked at Lili with an unexpectedly withering stare.
"No" she responded "You're here to beat up my wicked step-boredom and ride me off into the sunset."
Liam let it cross his mind that he had never heard such complete and total sarcasm before.
"This is unacceptable!" cried both Zo'or and Doors at the same time. As soon as they did, they shot each other a glare and then quickly looked away. Finally Zo'or continued.
"Return us at once!" He then looked at the girl with a look of superiority that Liam had seen him use on presidents and kings. The girl just looked back at him.
"No."
The finality and confidence with which she spoke startled Zo'or. As he was trying to find his voice again, Da'an stepped asked the girl a very important question.
"What are you?"
"Ah" said the girl. "Now that is an intelligent question. I am pleasantly surprised. I am a Q. That's what you can call me by the way, Q. Mine is a race so far beyond yours that in the spectrum of species you are closer to the evolutionary equal of a gnat. Oh, don't look so surprised, and please, try not to take offense, I am simply stating things in a way your poor, deprived, three-dimensional minds can comprehend. We are a race of beings that are, using one of your uninteresting words, omnipotent. We, and of course I, have complete, utter, and total control over time, space, and matter. Any questions?"
The only possible way to explain what happened next was silence. The enormity of what they had been told effectively subdued any desire for speech. After what seemed to be a small eternity, the young girl, Q, continued. As she spoke, she moved about her surroundings in a confidant, nonchalant manner, circling the group she addressed in a way Liam found discouragingly like that of a lioness circling her prey.
"As I have already established, you will be my 'entertainment'. I have looked about this part of the galaxy and found you rather interesting. That in itself should show the extent of my boredom. You will be partaking in a."
And here she paused, looking upwards with a searching expression on her face, moving one hand in an airy, circular motion. Then she seemed to reach a conclusion, turned toward the others and somehow seemed to look each and every one of them in the eye.
"Game. I have created the playing field. It is a place of contradictions, danger, and many, many levels. It is shaped in the form of a maze. The exit is in the center. The object of the game is to reach the exit and escape, presumably alive and unmaimed. Now."
She then collapsed down onto a throne, which Liam knew for a fact had not been there before.
"Here are the rules. You will have to stay relatively together at all times. If you do not, the consequences will be most unpleasant. Of course, if one of you dies, then by all means, leave them behind. You are also free to kill whomever you wish, including each other. The only point I must make is that one of you has been equipped with the pleasure that, should he or she die, all others in the party will as well. Immediately."
With this, her face broke out in an extraordinarily happy smile. She continued.
"Instantaneously. Directly. Without delay. No ifs, ands, buts, or maybes. My goodness, this is going to be fun!" With that, she clasped her hands to her heart as though she had been describing a wonderful ice cream party she was going to be having with her closest of friends.
"Oh, and don't worry about your little galaxy. When you return, if you happened to return, no time will have past. If you don't return however thing will be rather different. It will not be as if you had died. It will be as if you had never existed. No one, including the members of this little party will have any recollection of you. From what I understand of your species' and your personalities, this something most undesirable."
Q had been looking up and around the room. However, now she looked back toward the group.
"I suppose it will be quite fruitless to try and explain to you that in most dimensions you don't exist anyway?"
They all stared at her, or maybe it, with different expressions on their faces.
"That was a question." Q prompted, then immediately continued, "Oh, never mind. I already know the answer and don't particularly care about your opinions."
With that she stood up, walked into the center of the group, and said, "And for the sole sake of being pitifully cliché, 'Let the games begin'".
And she raised her right hand, using the fingers to make a definitive snap. Everything was immediately different.
Prologue; The Meeting
So far, nothing had happened today. Of course, there were the usual difficulties with Doors trying to take the Resistance farther than it should, and then there was the constant problem of trying to discover what Zo'or was doing or was going to do. But overall, for Liam Kincaid, everything was normal. It was only 8:00 am, but Liam had high hopes for today.
Liam walked up the steps of the Embassy and smiled at the woman who soon joined him.
"Hey" said Captain Lili Marquette. "How's your day been going?"
"So far so good." responded Liam.
He immediately regretted his words. There was a soft, but very insistent flash of light and the two friends found themselves in someplace entirely different. The someplace was very strange as well. It was a white room, but Liam couldn't see any walls. It was more like a white existence.
"What the."
Liam and Lili turned to face the owner of the voice.
Uh oh, thought Liam. Whatever was going to happen next, he could tell was not going to be pleasant. The owner of the voice was Jonathan Doors, leader and founder of the resistance movement against the Talons. Right next to him was Zo'or, the leader of the Talon Synod. Next to him was Agent Ronald Sandoval, Zo'or's protector. Off to the side a little was Da'an, North American Companion, and Agent Siobhan Becket, protector to the UK companion. On the other side of Doors, were Auger, the Resistance's resident computer genius, and Dr. Bellman. All of them looked thoroughly dazed.
"What has happened?" demanded Zo'or, as he got his bearings.
Then he noticed Doors.
"Agent Sandoval, arrest this man at once."
Sandoval began to step forward. Liam had to do something fast.
"Wait a minute," he said and made to move between the Resistance leader and obeying implant.
"We don't know where we are, what we're doing here, or what brought us here. Despite the obvious differences we all have, it might be a good idea to put them on hold until we get back to reality." Liam finished his little speech and inconspicuously held his breath, waiting to see what happened and preparing to jump away from any weapons fire. Or maybe in front of any weapons fire, he hadn't decided yet.
"I agree."
Liam looked at the owner of the soft voice and smiled. Da'an allowed himself a small smile as well. Door and Zo'or glared at each other, both hating Liam for saying what he had and knowing he was right. They both retreated, slightly. Liam let his breath out.
"How disappointing. Well, since you're going to be so boringly civil, I might as well answer your questions."
All nine heads turned toward this new, unfamiliar voice and were utterly shocked by the person they saw. Standing there was a human, teenage girl, about 15 years old. She had shoulder-length light brown hair worn down so that it bounced around her face, which incidentally was covered with freckles. She had oval shaped blue eyes that rivaled the Talon's and light, though not pale, skin. She was also wearing blue jeans and a tight, black tank top that had the word "Slut" written in big, red, sparkly letters. The very thought that this insolent adolescent knew anything that they did not, or just anything for that matter, was laughable. However, no one laughed. Something about her radiated something into their subconscious. Liam searched to pinpoint what it was. Then he saw it, or rather felt it. One word. Power. Liam suddenly felt a great deal of unease sweep over him.
The girl just stood there, hand on one hip, knee bent, so that she looked like she was a model posing for a shot, and continued.
"Let's go in order, shall we? One. You are between here and there. There really isn't any other way to explain it to your feeble, mortal minds. Two. You are here to save me. Three. I brought you here. That's that then, so you can go on fighting, or, if you must, I suppose you could ask me more questions."
There was suddenly a great deal of silence. Da'an recovered from this strange response first. He stepped forward.
"What do you mean we are here to save you?"
"Augh" the girl let out, exasperated. "Mortals are so predictable. Well, quite frankly, you are here to save me from my boredom."
Everyone took a moment to digest that information.
"You mean," Lili said rather cautiously, "we are here to entertain you?"
The girl looked at Lili with an unexpectedly withering stare.
"No" she responded "You're here to beat up my wicked step-boredom and ride me off into the sunset."
Liam let it cross his mind that he had never heard such complete and total sarcasm before.
"This is unacceptable!" cried both Zo'or and Doors at the same time. As soon as they did, they shot each other a glare and then quickly looked away. Finally Zo'or continued.
"Return us at once!" He then looked at the girl with a look of superiority that Liam had seen him use on presidents and kings. The girl just looked back at him.
"No."
The finality and confidence with which she spoke startled Zo'or. As he was trying to find his voice again, Da'an stepped asked the girl a very important question.
"What are you?"
"Ah" said the girl. "Now that is an intelligent question. I am pleasantly surprised. I am a Q. That's what you can call me by the way, Q. Mine is a race so far beyond yours that in the spectrum of species you are closer to the evolutionary equal of a gnat. Oh, don't look so surprised, and please, try not to take offense, I am simply stating things in a way your poor, deprived, three-dimensional minds can comprehend. We are a race of beings that are, using one of your uninteresting words, omnipotent. We, and of course I, have complete, utter, and total control over time, space, and matter. Any questions?"
The only possible way to explain what happened next was silence. The enormity of what they had been told effectively subdued any desire for speech. After what seemed to be a small eternity, the young girl, Q, continued. As she spoke, she moved about her surroundings in a confidant, nonchalant manner, circling the group she addressed in a way Liam found discouragingly like that of a lioness circling her prey.
"As I have already established, you will be my 'entertainment'. I have looked about this part of the galaxy and found you rather interesting. That in itself should show the extent of my boredom. You will be partaking in a."
And here she paused, looking upwards with a searching expression on her face, moving one hand in an airy, circular motion. Then she seemed to reach a conclusion, turned toward the others and somehow seemed to look each and every one of them in the eye.
"Game. I have created the playing field. It is a place of contradictions, danger, and many, many levels. It is shaped in the form of a maze. The exit is in the center. The object of the game is to reach the exit and escape, presumably alive and unmaimed. Now."
She then collapsed down onto a throne, which Liam knew for a fact had not been there before.
"Here are the rules. You will have to stay relatively together at all times. If you do not, the consequences will be most unpleasant. Of course, if one of you dies, then by all means, leave them behind. You are also free to kill whomever you wish, including each other. The only point I must make is that one of you has been equipped with the pleasure that, should he or she die, all others in the party will as well. Immediately."
With this, her face broke out in an extraordinarily happy smile. She continued.
"Instantaneously. Directly. Without delay. No ifs, ands, buts, or maybes. My goodness, this is going to be fun!" With that, she clasped her hands to her heart as though she had been describing a wonderful ice cream party she was going to be having with her closest of friends.
"Oh, and don't worry about your little galaxy. When you return, if you happened to return, no time will have past. If you don't return however thing will be rather different. It will not be as if you had died. It will be as if you had never existed. No one, including the members of this little party will have any recollection of you. From what I understand of your species' and your personalities, this something most undesirable."
Q had been looking up and around the room. However, now she looked back toward the group.
"I suppose it will be quite fruitless to try and explain to you that in most dimensions you don't exist anyway?"
They all stared at her, or maybe it, with different expressions on their faces.
"That was a question." Q prompted, then immediately continued, "Oh, never mind. I already know the answer and don't particularly care about your opinions."
With that she stood up, walked into the center of the group, and said, "And for the sole sake of being pitifully cliché, 'Let the games begin'".
And she raised her right hand, using the fingers to make a definitive snap. Everything was immediately different.