Operator
Chapter One
It was over. The Truffula seed had been planted; sure, it would take ten or more years before it became a tree, but The Once-ler could die in peace, now. As he gets up to pour himself some tea, he finds a young woman with long, blood-red hair in a ponytail wearing dark sunglasses and a black, double-breasted trench-coat sitting at his table with a smirk on her face. His blood runs cold: he'd seen this woman before long ago-when he was a small boy.
"It's taken care of, though for ignoble reasons, it's taken care of. You don't have to do anything to me. Begone." She stands and walks to him, her smirk turning into a full-blown smile.
"Oh, I still have to do something to you, Once-ler. Would you like to dance around the world with me?"
"What?"
"I'm talking immortality, eternal youth. Do you want it? Just pledge yourself in service to my Master. Do it. Be an agent of justice and redeem yourself from your sin."
"An agent of justice, you say?" He mulls this over. "What do I have to do?"
"Sleep. Just go to sleep, and I'll take care of the rest." His eyes flutter and he falls to the ground. She immediately gets to work. Pulling back the sleeve of her left arm and removing his left glove and rolling up his left sleeve, she cuts open her arm. Black, tar-like blood drips to the floor before she slices his arm open and warm, red blood spills out. She places her wound against his and mixes their blood. In an instant, the wrinkles fade from his face. His hair turns jet black, and he grows in height until his clothes fit properly.
Just as quickly as he had fallen asleep, Once-ler's bright blue eyes snap open and he finds himself younger-not only that, but he feels a strength he did not possess, even in his youth. He pulls himself up and rushes to the mirror.
"I'm me again!" He goes into his bathroom and shaves his face and, as he walks out, she throws his sunglasses to him.
"Put your glove back on and give me your hand. Grab your axe."
"Why my axe?" Once-ler asks, quizzically.
"How else are you going to mete out justice? With a damn nerf gun? Now grab it." He does as he is told and picks up the wood handled old axe. She puts her hand on his shoulder and the two of them vanish.
He finds himself in front of a massive fortress. He has no clue from his surroundings where, exactly, he is. The stone is grey and four spires rest at the corners, disappearing into the sky. In the dead center of the fortress is another spire-this one much bigger.
"That spire's the Master's quarters. You won't be meeting him yet. Let's go in. You've got a lot to learn." The two of them enter the building and he follows her to a courtyard. He can feel someone watching him from the spire in the center, but he shakes it off. She takes out a piece of red chalk and draws a circle in the dirt. "I'm going to teach you how to Blink, now. Every Operator-that's what you are now-can."
"Blink?"
"Teleport." She says. "Now, focus on this red circle and try to Blink into it.
"How?" Annoyed, the woman throws up her hands.
"Look at it, think "red circle", and BAM, you're there."
'Red circle.' He thinks, and nothing happens.
"No worries. It'd be astounding if you got it on your first try. No Endret ever has."
"Endret?"
"Someone like you. Someone born human who became an Operator. Try again."
'Red circle. Red circle. Red circle. RED CIRCLE. RED! CIRCLE!' He shuts his eyes and when he opens them, he finds himself standing in the center of the red circle. He jumps up in the air and cheers. "I did it!" The woman walks to him.
"Yes, you did. Good job." She puts her hand out to him. "I'm number Thirty-eight, by the way. I know you've seen me before, but you didn't know my name or nature." She takes off her sunglasses and The Once-ler flinches. Her sclera are black and her irises are gold. Her pupils are vertical slits.
'What the hell is she? What have I gotten myself into?' he thinks. That creepy smile crosses her lips again.
"We've got our first job. C'mon. You don't know where it is, so give me your hand." Hesitantly, Once-ler gives 38 his hand and the two of them vanish again.