
God is in the Rain

Bruce Burk

Copyright © 2017 Bruce Burk

All rights reserved.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

ISBN-10: 149360290X

ISBN-13: 978-1493602902

Cover Art by Nicole Luckie

Godisintherainbook.com

@bruceburk

DEDICATION

For my daughter, whose imagination knows no bounds. 
Table of Contents

Chapter 1 – Stargazer

Chapter 2 – Searching

Chapter 3 – Missing

Chapter 4 – Arrival

Chapter 5 – Freedom is Security

Chapter 6 – X-42

Chapter 7 – [Deleted]

Chapter 8 – Candidates

Chapter 9 – OS

Chapter 10 – Comrade

Chapter 11 – Wanted

Chapter 12 – A Book

Chapter 13 – Remembering

Chapter 14 – Trees

Chapter 15 – Ice

Chapter 16 – Stone

Chapter 17 – Mayans

Chapter 18 – Water

Chapter 19 – Science

Chapter 20 – Soul speak

Chapter 21 – Quantum

Chapter 22 – Mu

Chapter 23 – Gaia

Chapter 24 – Shadows

Chapter 25 – Proclamation

Chapter 26 – Transformation

Chapter 27 – Fray

Chapter 28 – Bob

Chapter 29 – Revolt

Chapter 30 – Valkyries

Chapter 31 – Crusade

Chapter 32 – Provocation

Chapter 33 – Providence

Part 1

Chapter 1 - Stargazer

No tree is so foolish to let their branches fight among themselves. If we follow the laws of nature and revere the tree, there would be no fighting. There would be no war. John Shepard read these powerful words from the engraved sign in the nature square.

John stood and read those words every day on his way home from high school. There, in nature, the words were not the only thing that spoke. It was the smell of the air, the poetry of the trees, and the birds singing that breathed life into his day. He would graze his hand across the flower petals as we walked, allowing the texture of each flower to draw him out of the emptiness inside. However, on this particular night, he felt a presence that was different. It was a discomfort felt but not understood.

John was average in height, wearing the standard issue gray button-down shirt and black pants from Suprimo High. He walked in a contemplative disposition as if his mind was elsewhere. Around his shoulder was a brown messenger bag where he would carry his tablet with his assignments in it. John had large brown eyes, and when you looked into them, you could see peace and anguish struggling in an internal war that formed the darkness in his pupils.

John grew up in Staten Island when he was not removed from reality by his Grandfather by being taken to his strange house in the woods. He attended school in New York City a place that had become the technological center of the world as the years passed. Central Park had been renamed the Nature Square many years ago at the request of an anonymous donor who revitalized it with beautiful plants to balance the lifelessness of the skyscrapers.

He reached for the crucifix around his neck and held it tightly in his hand like a child clings to the shirt of their mother. As the gold finish pressed against his palm, it gave him comfort; a reminder that God was always by his side. As he looked frightfully over his shoulder for this mysterious presence, he saw only the flowers. Light droplets of rain began to fall upon a group of Stargazer flowers. His eyes were filled with awe as he stared at them briefly before shrugging his shoulders. As he turned to walk into the city, he saw a strange flicker of light from deep within the nature square. It flashed on and off inconsistently, with a strange purple tint.

"Must be my imagination," John said to himself as he crinkled his forehead and massaged his head. Then, the light flickered again. It followed John's eye movements as he looked from left to right as if to call out to him with a luminous taunt. John let go of his cross and took off running towards the light. The forest became denser around him. Twigs broke as his feet scurried through the woods. The moon added just enough light for him to see a few feet in front of him. Everything else faded into shadows and shapes.

Suddenly, a startled dark figure hovered away from him. John took off running after the mysterious creature. He took a sharp turn around a group of trees, looking around the forest and trying to catch his breath. But the dark figure vanished. But now he could see the purple light was close. His heartbeat increased with every step. John felt the same dark presence he had felt on his way home.

"What the hell are you?" John whispered to himself. Finally, he came up close to the purple light. It was a strange and mystical glowing orb. He walked around it a few times. "Gavin has to see this," he said to himself as he was hit on the back of the head and knocked unconscious.

After some time, John's eyes flickered open. He awoke on a hard metal floor and had no idea where he was. It felt as if he was inside a prison cell. His head felt sore as he slowly and cautiously walked to the door. He looked through the bars of his cell to see another cell across the hall from his.

John was not ordinary man, who by now would be fearing for his life or being consumed the uncertainty and discomfort of being held prisoner. John's reaction was only to turn to God. He clung to the crucifix around his neck, knelt down to the floor, closed his eyes, and spoke to the Almighty.

"Dear God, I praise you in my hour of darkness. You are my everlasting fountain of peace, my rock, my shield, and my tranquility. You are my shepherd. You lead me beside still waters. In the darkest of valleys, I will fear no evil because you are with me. Anoint my head with oil. My cup overflows. Let your goodness and love follow from me all the days of my life. I ask that you would send your angels to be beside me in my hour of need. No matter what happens, I pray that your will be done," John said as he fell into a deep sleep.

Then, suddenly, John awoke surrounded by the brightest blinding light. It was brighter than any light he had ever seen. He was in a forest, but all the trees were constructed of the stars, and the mountains were formed of all the wonders of creation in the universe. Close to him was a single bush that began to burn with the light of a thousand suns. Then there was a voice.

"John, my son," the voice said. "I have heard your prayer and my angels are with you. Earth is in danger." "What danger?" John asked.

"A grave darkness descends upon Earth. I anoint you, my son. As I have been your shepherd, you shall now be Earth's. Protect the Holy Words on Earth. Protect man's means to discern good from evil. Protect life on Earth, including people, animals, and plants, for a force is coming that seeks to destroy them. Do not fear, for Iam always with you."

"Protect them from who?" John shouted. Suddenly, all the galaxies in the trees swirled into themselves. The fire burnt out. The whole forest morphed into light and disappeared. "Wait. Hold on!" John shouted.

John awoke from being slapped firmly across the face. They tied him to a chair in a small room. The dark figures bound his hands with handcuffs that illuminated with purple. John attempted to kick and shove them away as they drove needles into his arm. It was as if they were using him for some sick scientific procedure.

"Get off me! Let me go!" Soon, the strange substance in their needles had done its work. Though he could still see, his body became paralyzed. They took samples of his hair, skin, and blood so that they could observe his biological structure. Then, they attached wires to his head. Lights pulsed down the long metal tentacles as they performed neurological tests on him.

After they had completed their cruel test, they pulled John from his chair and dragged him into another room. His feet slid across a metal floor as the dark figures carried him. They attached him with his arms above his head to a post in another large gray room. The dark figures circled him in strange, ceremonial way. Sparks began to come from the pole structure he was attached to. The dark figures repeated phrases in an unrecognizable language in unison as they circled around him. Suddenly, swirls of language and DNA oozed from John into the post he was attached too. The dark figures sang in praise and began to chant, to John's shocking surprise, in English. John was horrified.

John was beginning to understand the darks for what they were during his captivity. It was as if he could sense what was inside them after they took his DNA. They gave off this aroma of arrogance and cruelty like they had never known the good. They began shifting between dark and human form as if they were enjoying their new skin.

"Eidolon! Eidolon! Eidolon!" they chanted. Fear shook through John's veins. John whispered to himself asking for God to intervene but heard nothing.

"Eidolon! Eidolon! Eidolon!" the dark tribe chanted. Eidolon entered the room where John was being kept. He was a god-like figure that stood six foot and eight inches tall wearing a black robe with an Egyptian like headdress that was black and gold. The front came to a point like the head of an eagle and carried a staff as tall as he was that also had the eagle's head on it. Eidolon sauntered up to John, picked him up by the neck, and looked directly into his eyes.

"Tell me where your grandfather is!" Eidolon said to John. "Where is the Knights' base?" Eidolon said in a deep raspy voice. John stared at him in silence. "The Knights' base. Where is it?" Eidolon asked again.

Eidolon laughed to himself menacingly and then said, "Don't worry we will find Bellos Shepard soon enough." Then, he threw John across the room against the wall and walked out. While he was passing, he saw other cells with people in them. Cries filled the prison as people were being dragged to and from their cells. Sheer terror was on their faces. He knew that the dark must have been experimenting on them. Why would they be doing this? The dark closed the door of his cell and laughed as he walked away. A woman's voice echoed through the prison area. He looked out his cell door to see a young woman being dragged toward him. She showed spirit and resisted the dark's grasp around her. He threw her in her jail cell and left. John waited to hear weeping, but there were no tears.

"Hello? Are you ok?" John asked. She remained silent. "What is this place? What did they do to you?" John continued to ask. Still, she said nothing. "Why do you not answer? What is your name?"

"Sophia," she said turning around slowly. Sophia was a beautiful young woman with long brown hair, big blue eyes, and pale skin. She had a pin on her jacket that symbolized the Red Party - one of two major political parties. Sophia had a black eye and had clearly been roughed up bad by the horrible darks.

"Sophia, I am going to get you out of here, I promise," John said. A guard slowly approached John's cell, looked at him sinisterly, and began to unlock it. "We have special plans for you, Shepard," the guard snickered. All the guards appeared now as humans dressed in dark, electronic clothes. Sure enough, they were all speaking English. The guard took John out of his cell and began to escort him down the hallway. His arms were crossed tightly next to his abdomen.

Although it was clear to John that the darks and Eidolon were evil, John still went through a mental process of moral calculation for determining it was permissible for him to hurt or even kill them to save himself and Sophia. He could hear his conscious speaking to him audibly inside his head in a gentle whisper.

"It is justified to use any means of escape to save Sophia. They have demonstrated no value for human life. Therefore, their lives should not be valued," the voice said to him. "The ends justify the means," he said to himself. "Who knows how many more people could to captured or killed?" He recalled lines from The Prince by Machiavelli, as well as lines from scripture. "Deadly force is permissible to confront the threat of deadly force," he heard.

"Save the girl," the voice said. "Time is running out." John opened his eyes and grabbed his crucifix tightly again. A droid walked passed them carrying a prototype weapon: a matter sword. It was bent at a large angle near the handle and glowed with a sharp blue finish. It seemed to contract into itself and extend into its full form from the handle. With grace and courage, John swiped the matter sword from the droids electronic fingers and with his hands still bound, turned, and ran it through the dark. The dark fell to his knees, and a strange purple fog exited from his body. John quickly cut himself free. He grabbed the dark's e-belt and blaster. He wanted to free Sophia quickly, but there were too many guards near. John jumped into a room and quickly closed the door.

He was catching his breath and looked up slowly to see where he was. It was a meeting chamber. In the center table was a holo-screen a map of Earth. There were pinpoints of strategic locations and holo-words displaying information about Earth's culture, history, language, religions, politics, and ways of life. John asked himself what this all meant.

"What are they planning? This can't be happening," he said to himself. He turned to see another hologram of another area of the ship: the barracks. He saw thousands of troops training to attack. He saw them studying humans and explaining their weaknesses.

"As you can see here, humans will easily betray each other for power and wealth. They can be corrupted and torn from the principles if they are distracted by simple vices. They run from conflict and can be easily controlled," one of the darks said while appearing to be teaching a class.

"This is an invasion army," he said to himself. Their numbers were large, but they did seem to have enough to withstand the full force of every country on Earth. Footsteps resounded on metal floors outside the meeting room and faded off in the distance. "Find the prisoner!" They shouted. John opened the door. He knew he needed to get off the ship with Sophia as soon as possible. He searched his stolen belt and found some keys that seemed to open her cell. He opened the door and walked into the shadow cast by a large group of supply boxes. He paused and waited behind the boxes as darks and prisoners moved by. When he came to Sophia's cell, he saw that it was empty. "They took the girl to one of the brainwashing rooms," said an older prisoner. "Three floors up from here," he added. "Thank you, sir," John said as he took off running.

The darks had secured Sophia to a chair in a white room. In front of her flashed images from all throughout her life as a virtual reality. She was walking in nature squares with her mother, she felt the touch of her cat's paws and could hear the sound of her violin. She thought she was walking through her house. However, these images were spliced with evil images that were subconsciously turning her life upside down.

Her mother ripped her away from her childhood friends. "Look, Sophia, if you really love me, you will obey Eidolon. I don't want you going to those Church meetings anymore," her mother said.

"But mom ... you taught me to be a Christian," she said. "Those were all lies! You have to obey Eidolon. You love me, don't you? I need you to do this for me," her mother said. Images flashed and manipulated her subconscious into compliance.

"Mom! Please don't do this," she said with tears in her eyes.

John went from room to room trying to find her. He checked the dark's belt for a map and was able to find a mind-medicine room cellblock. John put his ear to the door where Sophia was kept. With all the fury a man's soul ever could have, he cut the door open with his matter sword. It slid through the metal with ease. He sensed the two guards on the other side of the door. Her mother was in an intense argument with Sophia on the screen. Her mother was saying that she must obey Eidolon or be disowned by her family. Sophia was resisting, but every time she did, the chair shocked her with great pain. John leaped forward through the door, pointing the sword straight. When he had made it to the other side of the door, he swung the sword quickly, decapitating the two guards. He then threw the matter sword toward the holo-screen. The matter sword flung in a circular motion towards the projector, puncturing it and destroying it. Sophia let out a loud scream. John quickly stood up and removed the mask and wires from her brain.

"Come Sophia. We must leave at once," John said before he escorted Sophia's weakened body out of the room and tossed her over his shoulder. He pulled a blaster from his belt and peaked his head out the door to see if there were any darks around. He ran for the escape pods. Two darks began firing upon him. Laser blasts stained the walls near his shoulder and knee. John hit the lever on the wall, which opened the door to the escape pod. John dodged another laser blast and shot one of the darks in the chest. The other dark sounded the alarm. Red lights flashed above John's head, and orders were given to send squads to the escape pod area. The dark dove forward from cover and blasted John right in the shoulder. He yelled out in pain and continued to return fire. Then, he laid Sophia down inside the escape pod, fired several more laser blasts, and jumped inside the pod with her. He kicked the lever inside, and they jettisoned from the large ship towards Earth. John held Sophia in his arms as the small metal capsule entered the atmosphere. John felt a hurricane of emotions. Never the less, John's most prominent emotion was a sense of duty to carry out what God asked him to do. That was the last thing he felt before gas filled the escape pod and John passed out holding onto Sophia. 
CHAPTER 2 – searching

John awoke from dazed sleep in his quiet living cell. His memory of the prior night was clouded with a foggy haze. All he could remember was falling and that God had asked him to do something. He left his living square and headed for class. It was unclear to him whether it was real or just a dream. He came into the Traveling Square to see advertisements and recruiters for the upcoming election. Blue and red banisters hung above the city streets across buildings. Holo-screens displayed the benefits of each candidate and their platform. A recruiter of the Blue Party approached him with a hologram card. "Excuse me, sir, have you heard the things the Blue Party 2100 platform has to benefit you? The Blue Party cares about the youth of this country. We are here to bring the message of freedom. We will create more service-based jobs to combat the increase in mechanization. We want to stop the terror attacks of the Muslim nations and stop China from attempting to control the world economy. Will you sign up to commit your E-vote?" the campaigner said. John mumbled as if he didn't want to hear the propaganda and accepted a data transfer into his cloud.

John found his way to class. Professor Snow walked into the college classroom, on time as always. The room held 80 students who were all ready with their computers to intake the professor's words. The class was "History of the Information Age." The roll was passed around the room. As it came to each student, they would scan the veins in their hand over a tablet and then give it to the next student.

"Class! Who can tell me what people did before they had computers?" Gavin, John's best friend, raised his hand. "Before the Universal Database they used these tools called pens," Gavin said. "You are correct sir. Before the modern computer systems were invented people used what is labeled in the Universal Database as 'paper.' They would have to write each letter using a pencil in their hand. Before the Information Socialization Act of the 2030s was passed by Congress people were allowed to just write their thoughts alone in a room on a piece of paper. These pieces of paper could be easily lost or destroyed and would take hours to create. That is why Congress acted to socialize all information in this country. Now it would be impossible for you to go into a store and buy pens or paper because they are no longer produced. In fact, it is no longer legal for you to transmit words onto a non-electronic medium. And that is, of course, for the good of us all. Now, all information is conveniently uploaded to the cloud and people's thoughts, and ideas live forever in the Universal Database. What wisdom our leaders had to make it impossible for any idea to be lost; any thought not captured. Think of how many trees have been saved by their actions. What if all of history had done something like this? Such clear vision of the past that we would have if one could sit and read every thought uttered by Julius Caesar, Alexander the Great, or George Washington. And yet, they are lost to antiquity."

John felt disturbed by the idea that no one could write anymore and believed that it represented a sort of ancient freedom that people used to have. His grandfather had shown him some old pens and made him swore to never tell anyone that he had seen them. Grandfather would have him write the Preamble to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights by hand, a task that he enjoyed. It made him feel that people in the old days had freedoms that we no longer possessed: like the freedom to walk outside and know that a survey drone isn't over your head or the freedom to not have to identify yourself at every stop through town. But like most internal dialogue, he shrugged it off as a passing thought.

Gavin chased after John when the class had ended. "Hey there. Shepard. What's going on? Enjoy another one of Snow's slumber-inducing lectures?" Gavin said. Gavin Fresco was dressed in US Air Force issued military uniform which included a beret. Gavin's mother was European, and his father was African. He was in Suprimo High while simultaneously being trained as an elite pilot.

Then, suddenly, Gavin's attention was redirected to a scene behind John. Some protestors were stomping angrily on the American Flag. Gavin's face became red hot with anger while he grit his teeth. "Gavin?" John said. "Excuse me, " Gavin said as he started speed walking toward the protests in an angry posture with his fists clenched.

"No more imperialism!" The protestors shouted. They were wearing mostly black with tattoos while giving off the stench of drugs and contrarianism. "Not my America!" they said as they stepped on the American flag.

Gavin went right up to the protestor who was stomping on the flag and said, "Don't you step on my flag!" Then, he grabbed him by the shoulder and punched him square in the face. The protester fell to the floor, and Gavin threw the American flag over his shoulder. "Who else wants some?" he said to the rest. Several other protestors ran and tried to attack Gavin, but he fended off another whole lot of them. While they laid on the floor groaning in pain, Gavin took the flag and hoisted it back to the top of the flagpole where it came. Then, Gavin politely dusted his hands and walked calmly back to John who had watched the whole thing.

"You were saying?" Gavin said. John rolled his eyes and said, "So how is the Uncle Sam treating you?" Gavin replied, "Not too bad. They taught me to fly the new T-28 fighter jet in training school. That thing is faster than a bat out of hell. There's nothing like the rush of blood you get when you break the sound barrier and bank those sharp turns," Gavin replied.

"The King does need his pawns," John said. "I'll show you who's a pawn. How about a game of Quantum Frisbee tomorrow with the boys? Maybe you won't let me thrash you in trick points like last time." Smiling, John said, "You're on buddy."

John walked upstairs to the Suprimo Library. Professor Snow had assigned him to do a report on the history of the Native Americans' role in the American Revolution. As he walked into the library, he saw a holo-screen with the Red Party senators giving a speech. They were proposing a bill that would alter the American Code to provide reparations to the few Native Americans still living in the United States.

John bought a coffee at the kiosk downstairs and swiped his hand as payment. In those days, even the currency was electronic and tracked using the Universal Database. Machines would scan the veins in your hand, and it would identify your number in the database and deduct currency from it.

The holo-screen showed a story about how the Native Americans were never given proper reparations from their crucial role in the Revolution that freed America from the British. The Red Party, who was currently in the minority, wanted to pass a bill to give Native Americans new lands in the west, as well as health care and other financial benefits.

"It's time the parties come together and do what's right for the Indians," the Red Party Senators said. John turned his head and walked upstairs to a study room. On his way, he passed the section of the library that showed a historical account of how information was exchanged before the Universal Database.

It was a hologram of the "Internet." It was a system where information was stored in all kinds of different places, and everyone would transmit data to each other in a decentralized and open process.

The librarians and techies would always joke about how primitive and inefficient it truly was. However, with the Information Socialization Act, nothing you ever said or did was ever really private because it is all stored and shared online. John opened up a holo-screen. He started by doing a search of the Universal Database for the Native American involvement in the Revolution by typing in some keywords. Records of text and images filled the digital pages. He synced his tablet with the database and started using voice command to download specific data pages to his tablet.

"Pull the names of the tribes involved," he said. "Search specifically for tribal leaders reporting to George Washington." Of course, everything that went to his tablet was also in the cloud of the Universal Database, so all data transfers were mostly just bookmarking certain locations of information within the database. There were servers held only God knows where that housed all the information in the country. One only bookmarked the site of the server that your information was found in.

First, he read that many Indian tribes had sided with the British because of how the colonies had mistreated them. Then, he found a tribe called the Oneidas. The Oneidas had fought alongside George Washington's army at the battles of Fort Stanwix, Oriskany, and Saratoga. They had helped supply food, fought, and warned the colonies of impending British Attack. However, the American settlers tore them from their land. John marked all these entries and headed home. 
CHAPTER 3 - missing

John's favorite sport was Quantum Frisbee. He had been playing it since he was eight. It was an exciting game. Players would use a hover board that could float inches above the ground, and they would kick off the ground to push forwards.

The course looked like a football field but with ramps on the sides and in the middle. With five to a team, players carried a disk that they would pass to one another down the field that they would attempt to throw into the opponent's goal. They could only hold possession of the disk for three seconds before they were required to pass the disk to one of their team members or lose possession. They could score points by doing a trick on their hover board while they had the disk in one of their hands. However, if they did not land it or fell off, the other team would gain possession. There was tackling, and players could block each other and intercept the disk in midair. The team with the highest score at the end of four quarters was the winner.

John and Gavin were on a team with their other three friends Daniel, Tom, and Desmond. Sophia glanced at John from the stands amongst a crowd of people. She had on a lovely sundress and sat among her friends. John looked at her with astonishment and felt a strange sense of déjà vu when he saw her. Sophia was the daughter of Senator Clifton, the leader of the Red Party Senate. She had a prominent role in the party as a voice for women's rights and all the politicians knew her as a force of good that balanced the bombast of the political garbage heap that was the Senate. As John and his friends were warming up on their boards, the opposing team walked up, lead by Aiden.

Aiden was the son of Senator Powell, the leader of the Blue Party Senate and the most powerful man in the country aside from President Zola. Everyone had this strange suspicion that Aidan was adopted because he looked nothing like his father.

Aiden was an arrogant and suave boy with an evil way about him. When he stood nose-to-nose with John they were the same height, but inside they were total opposites. Aiden also had dark brown hair but was a bit more athletic than John. He had a bit of scarring on his face with eyes that seemed to only show emptiness. He was completely self-absorbed and always gave John trouble. John's board was on the ground next to him. Aiden and his goons approached John and Gavin.

"Well, well, well! I see they still let Qybahs play this game in this country. I guess someone has to be the loser," said Aiden. Gavin lunged at Aiden while John held him back. "Go back to the hole you crawled out of," Gavin exclaimed. "It is too bad your parents couldn't be here to see this John. I'm sure they would be proud to have a failure of a son." John replied, "They are here, Aiden. They're always here." Aiden and his goons laughed and mocked John, "Always chasing your made up God and his spirits. Science has killed your God and all the spirits that follow him. Wise up buddy." When John was distracted from Aiden's antics, one of Aiden's goons reached down and placed a small explosive tack on the end of John's board. Aiden then snickered and walked away.

As John and Aiden had been talking, Gavin's friend Clark had been watching from the stands. Clark was wearing his modified vision enhancing e-glasses. He had seen them place the tack on John's board. He tried to warn John, but it was too late; the match had already begun, and the crowd was so dense that Clark could not move.

The crowd leaped to their feet as the lights flashed and the referee announced that the match had started. Clark quickly scanned John's board from the stands using his zoom scanning feature. He saw that it was a signal induced explosive. He quickly pulled out his tablet, registered it to his e-glasses and began to work. Luckily for John, Clark was one of the best hackers around.

Many people in society these days were wearing e-glasses on their faces over their eyes that could take video of everything they could see. Everyone carried electronic devices that stored money, information, and valuable access to control of the city's infrastructure. For a computer hacker, it was like being a kid in a candy store.

Clark felt an extra sense of urgency and duty to protect his friends because he lost both of his parents during a robbery. Clark had grown up most of his life an orphan but had met his real parents some years ago. After their death, he taught himself how to invade the Universal Database and manipulate information. Clark found the man who shot his parents and hacked the systems in his house to cause a gas leak which resulted in him being blown away. To this day, the police have no idea he is responsible for the man's death. He lives with no regrets about what he did and would do it again. Clark and John share a special relationship. Clark looks up to him as a father figure, but he would never admit that.

Clark was a bit shorter than John with a skinnier build. He had tattoos on his arms and wore black most of the time. He was into the trendiest music and was often selling stolen software or computer parts on the black market. He had an obsession with chewing gum that always seemed to end up on the bottom of desks.

The opposing team served the disk, and the players were off. John glided up over a ramp in the middle, caught air, and landed. Gavin grabbed the disk and set off pushing to catch a boost from the ramps on the side of the course. He quickly passed the disk to Daniel who passed it to John.

John made a break for the goal but was quickly surrounded by the other team. He attempted to pass it to Gavin, but the other team intercepted it. Then, Clark quickly brought of up a global scan of all the e-glass wearing people in the stadium. He used code to detect the signals from the glass as they were linked to the Universal Database.

He found one girl who was sitting up front wearing a pair. He then used another program to detect the acoustic signal of any drones flying above the stadium because there was always bound to be one. He hacked into the facial recognition scanners of the drone and moved them to her face. He then identified her, hacked her glass ID number and, and took control of her camera. He used her camera to zoom into John's board and identified the device.

John's team was down by two. Aiden had been aggressive with John, pushing and shoving him while the referees weren't looking. Both teams changed possession of the disk multiple times. Gavin was able to set up a chain attack where players would fly in formation and pass the disk back and forth. As they approached the enemy team, Gavin fired the disk into the enemy goal and scored. After the second half of the game, the score was tied.

Clark quickly realized the disk was linked to the scoreboard. The link was specially encrypted, and he realized he wouldn't be able to break the connection in time. The code was in place to trigger the device to explode if the score on John's team became greater than Aiden's.

He looked through his backpack and pulled out a wave gun. After the third quarter, both teams were still tied. They were both fighting hard. Aiden's team was gaining points from doing tricks in the center of the course, and Gavin and Michael would answer by doing tricks when they were in possession

Clark connected his wave gun to his computer and programmed it to counter the signal that was coming from a backpack in the stands. John was heading quickly to the goal of the other team. John swerved around Aiden and faked him out, causing him to fall. He soared over him and shot the disk towards the goal. As the disk was inches from the goal, Clark fired his wave gun between the signal and the device, disrupting the signal, and defeating its execution. The frisbee flew through the goal, and John's team had won. The crowd roared with applause and John's team carried him up on their shoulders in victory.

Aiden gritted his teeth and whispered under his breath, "This isn't over Shepard. This isn't over." Clark smiled and used a small remote control dragonfly to remove the device from John's board as they left.

John returned to the library to finish his report. He sat down at the computer and typed in "Oneida involvement in the American Revolution." He searched the page, but to his surprise, no records showed. John did the search again, again, and again. He searched their name in other languages, from books he knew that were written in that period. John felt a chill down his spine as he realized the records were no longer there.

"Everything is gone," he said to himself. He opened the report he had prepared. All of the things he had written were gone as well. He wondered how this could be possible. How records I looked at just days ago vanish into thin air? He tried other computers in the library and found nothing. As he exited the library, he saw on the holo-screen the Blue Party explaining why they did not intend to vote on the bill that supported the benefits for Native American tribes that fought in the American Revolution.

Instead, the Blue Party told the public that new weapons had been acquired by the Muslim extremists and that military action may be imminent if they attacked. They spoke about how evil the Muslim religion was; that terror and violence would always come if their nations were allowed to stand. John was disgusted by the war and hated imperialism, but he never let Gavin know that. Then, he left the library and headed home.

Sophia caught up with John as he went to his apartment. "Oh, hello," he said. "Hi," she said smiling at him. "How's your research for Snow's class going? I'm almost done with mine," she said. John looked at Sophia with a confused look. "What's wrong?" she asked.

"I ..." John mumbled as a group of police walked by. "Here, why don't I just show you," John said. Neither of them had recalled their previous encounter on Eidolon's ship. However, he had a strange feeling of déjà vu around each other. They went inside his apartment. "So what happened?" she asked. John looked out the window at the city below before he opened his mouth. "Alright. So I was doing this research project for Snow's class, and when I came back, all of my research was gone!" he said. "What? That's not possible! The school is linked directly to the Universal Database. Everything would be kept there indefinitely," she replied. "Can you keep a secret," John asked her. "Yes, of course." "I think the Blue Party is behind this," John said. "Do you really think the Blue Party is capable of doing such a thing? I thought the records were permanent. The Universal Database is supposed to be a record of all information known to mankind," she said. Sophia asked John to see if there had been a backup of his report anywhere, but they found nothing.

"John. What if someone deleted that record on purpose?" she said. "Does the Red Party have access to do that sort of thing?" John asked. "I mean, I wouldn't say they wouldn't. But I think it really depends on which party is in power. Both President Zola and the Senate Majority Leader have access authority for editing the contents of the database.

What if other records had been deleted? How would we know? What would we check it against to verify?" Sophia said. "I don't know. It's possible other records have been deleted. I guess the only way we would know is if we had seen them before," John said. "What are we going to do? What are you going to do with your report?" "I don't know I guess I'll have to start over," he said shrugging his shoulders. "You think they did it because of the bill? That they would just delete any information that gave them a reason to support the bill and people wouldn't care?" Sophia questioned. "I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this," John added.

Sophia glanced out the window, and her jaw dropped. "... John," she muttered in a disturbed voice. "... Maybe I just didn't do the search right," John said to himself. "John ... " "... Maybe they moved it to a different area of the database." "John!" she screamed. "What?" he asked. "Look!" she said pulling him to the window.

Together they stared out the window as a large alien ship slowly descended on the town square. The blue and red lights shined on its silver glow. "John?"

Suddenly, a pigeon flew up and landed on their window as they watched the large ship land. Crowds of people swarmed the ship, and the military immediately came to the scene. The pigeon tapped his beak against the window several times in an odd way until finally, John opened it. Then, the pigeon revealed small note that it was carrying in a container on its leg. John opened the roll of paper and read the message, "John, come to me at once. – Grandfather." 
CHAPTER 4 - Arrival

Grandfather had never called for him, so John was worried.

"Stay here," John said to Sophia. "At least until we know it is safe." Then, John left for his grandfather's house when dusk had fallen. He carried with him a specialized cloaking device that was hidden in his pocket to block the drones and surveillance cameras from detecting his presence.

John's grandfather was very particular about John's anonymity when he came to his house that was off in a rural area outside the city. John could only come at night, and no electronic devices were permitted except for the one that hid his presence. His grandfather was a little old fashioned.

John started having flashes of the alien ship like he had seen it before. "Give me strength, oh Lord," he prayed to himself as he left the city. After walking for many hours through the woods, he came to a river out in the wilderness. John looked up to see a survey drone up at thirty thousand feet.

"Can't see me," he said as if speaking to it. John grabbed a canoe and cast himself off using the paddle. He paddled downstream for a while until he could see a house on the river. Finally, he came to the house which allowed him to enter underneath. He exited the canoe and walked up a staircase into the basement.

Back in Central Square, the large gray ship had landed. The center of the ship began opening. Dark beings were cast out of the ship and flew up into the sky to disappear. The center began to open. Then, the sky filled with surveillance drones. The military had the ship surrounded by troops and tanks. Reporters were on the scene, and the whole world watched as a US Ambassador approached the ships door. Lights shined from the door as a large dark figure began to emerge.

Eidolon emerged from his ship dressed as if he was royalty. Dark clouds chased the sun from the area. The birds flew away from the area. The military stood in awe as he marched slowly down the platform to the ground. The ambassador cowardly asked, "Who are you?" Eidolon looked at him for a while and grinned, "I am," he said.

"I am that I am. For over two millennia the people of Earth have waited for my return. Now is the time. I am God. I am Alpha and Omega," Eidolon added. The military men stood ready. The commander gave stand-down orders. Eidolon was very powerful. A small handicapped woman sat in a wheelchair near where he had landed.

Eidolon said to her, "You there. Why do you only sit? Please. Stand up and walk before your fellow man." Eidolon then zapped her legs with a blue electric beam. The beam reconstructed the tissue in her legs. She began to wobble. Slowly and sure, she rose to her feet. The crowd gasped. Soldiers dropped their guns. Priests fell to their needs. People began to weep and gasp at the sheer awe of what had occurred. Senator Powell pushed through the crowd and greeted Eidolon. "Come with me your highness," he said.

Meanwhile, John finally connected with his Grandfather. "Hello my son," he said. "I am happy you came. Time is of the essence. Come!" The house had ancient paintings, inventions, and musical instruments all throughout. John saw the desk where his grandfather had shown him pens that he used to write. John look worried, "Grandfather what is going on? What's happening?

"Come. I fear the world is in grave danger. It is time for me to complete your training," Bellos said. John's grandfather pulled on an earth shaped statute that opened a door with a pathway down a spiral of stairs. Bellos lit a candle, and they both headed downstairs. They traveled down a hallway that had paintings on the walls of various heads of state and formulas written over them in chalk. John, they passed a room that had hundreds of seeds in glass tubes. They came to a large chamber. "Grandfather ... what is all this? Why have you never showed this to me before? What is going on?" His grandfather pulled out an actual book from the shelf. It was the Bible. "Grandfather! Isn't that illegal? How do you have this?" he asked.

"John, for years I have been teaching you how to write in secret. I have taken you into nature and showed you its beauty. I have taught you how to be a good person and think everything through to make proper moral decisions. All this time, I have been preparing you for this day. I had hoped that we would have had more time to train you, but based on recent events, your training must begin now. I am a member of a group that has been charged with preserving human knowledge as well as all living things on Planet Earth. We operate in secret, concealing ourselves from the powers that be. We record human thought and attempt to preserve it in its unaltered form. Our loyalty is to the Earth as a living organism. We use force when necessary to preserve the Earth's species and all forces of nature that sustain life on Earth. We are the Earth's white blood cells. We are the Knights of the Living Earth," Bellos said.

He continued, "For years, I have been trying to slowly introduce you into our group. We are also charged with the interpretation of natural law. When all the Knights of the Living Earth assemble for the interpretation of natural law, we have another name: The Order of Shadows. There, we decide the Knights' affairs and what actions will be taken on issues of Earth's security." John stood with his heart in his stomach. He was shocked and nervous.

"For centuries, our order has looked at the powers that be to make sure no person would ever become so powerful as to cross over the line to threaten the natural order of the Earth. By now you must be aware there is a foreign entity in our presence; a dark presence that threatens the natural order. We don't know much about Eidolon, but we do know he is quite powerful. I now grow weak and old. Certainly, I was quite the knight in my day, but I must now pass this knowledge onto you," Bellos said. "We must complete your training so that you may become a Knight a defeat whatever danger this dark force brings our way."

Then, his grandfather handed him a Bible, as well as the Quran, the Torah, the Sutras, and a book that contained the holy writings of all the other main religious systems in human history. John opened the Sutras slowly. He pressed the cover of the book as if it was a touchscreen but nothing happened. John had never turned a page of a book before. He opened it to a verse reading, "The universe is a vast body, and the Earth is his throne. All realms and sentient beings were born from this body."

He looked up to his grandfather. "My son, we have to follow certain procedures when we are invaded by a foreign power. If he is capable of doing what we think he can do, the existence of the Knights and the planet are in grave danger. Protect the books I have given you. Hide them away. Our order holds that a shadow represents a small amount of light hiding in the darkness. Go and hide this light in the darkness. Do not allow it to fall into the hands of Eidolon or his men. I am giving it to you for I fear they are coming for me. I believe you now carry the last remaining hard copies of these texts on Earth," his Grandfather said. John placed the books into a messenger bag is grandfather had given him.

"I'm only one man. How am I supposed to beat this all-powerful God-like creature?" John said. "I have faith in you. Protect these works as I have protected them. Now, go. We will speak again when Eidolon has made his plans known," Bellos said.

John left his grandfather's house and walked through the forest towards his living square. He was filled with doubt as to his ability to protect these works. These words in these books were just on paper. Anyone could simply walk up and take them from him. For all anyone else knows, he's just carrying his tablet in his bag. Think of the penalties if someone found out. The Blue Party would probably have him put in prison for life. It seems the greatest protection against a tyrannical government is the anonymous act. He heard a drone fly over his head. He ran to a group of trees and hid. He realized he was standing in piles of white bird poop. He looked and saw that there hundreds of pigeons hiding in the trees.

"Why were there so many birds around here?" he asked himself. The drone passed by slowly and faded off into the clouds. John hated the constant surveillance that the Blue Party had put them under. John entered his apartment and a piece of metal out of the corner of his eye under his bed. He bent over and pulled out the matter sword. His memory was fuzzy as to how he had acquired the sword. It felt powerful in his hand. Then, he accidentally took a swipe and sliced the front of his bed frame in half. He heard a knock at the door. He quickly put the bag of books under his bed and checked his tablet for who it was. With a sigh of relief, he saw Gavin and Clark.

"John! Thank heavens we found you. Have you seen the holo-screen lately?" said Gavin. Clark pulled up his holo-projector, and there stood an image of Eidolon in the town square. Crowds from all over the country were gathering around him. He was performing what appeared to be miracles in front of everyone.

"John, he made a child float the other day. He made a sword out of thin air. How is he doing this? Do you think he really is God? He's gained quite a following," Clark said.

Gavin was chewing gum and said, "It's obviously a bunch of cheap tricks; sleight of hand. He's a snake oil salesman just like the rest of them. You know I don't believe in that God mumbo jumbo." They exited John's apartment and quickly left for the town square. In the back of John's mind, he wondered if he should be bringing his books with him but thought it would be too risky. They'd be safer at home, they thought.

The three friends hustled down the streets with the blue and red lights from the election on each side. The advertisements were not changing at the same pace they usually were. It was quiet. Traffic was bad. They came past a group of Jewish protesters with signs saying that Eidolon was not God. Eidolon was speaking to a group of 10,000 in the town square.

There were groups of religious people quoting from the Book of Revelations and other religious texts trying to reconcile their writings with Eidolon as God. There was one group saying that he was God because the time was right and he was capable of miracles. The different religious groups fought and bickered about him, and all wanted to claim him as theirs. John and the others finally arrived at the square. Eidolon stood Godlike amongst the crowd, and the Blue Party was around him.

Eidolon Spoke, "I have returned to Earth to give you a strong leader. For centuries, your leaders have given this planet nothing but war, inequality, disease, and death. They make promises, only to fall short. They have failed you. Many of you have seen the miracles that I have given you, but the real miracle is yet to come. I will transform the world. America is the greatest country on Earth. Your politicians have produced nothing but division and scarcity in these lands. It is time we grew the boundaries of this great Empire and created the world's greatest society." The Senators all came forward.

Senator Powell spoke, "This is why today we are convening with all States united to declare Eidolon as the President of the United States. All States have voted unanimously. He will be in charge of the military as well as signing the bills from Congress as we saw in the old republic. The American flag was raised, and people pledged their allegiance to Eidolon and America. Some supporters of President Zola protested in the streets. However, many of them began to grow tired all of a sudden, and the very wind was taken from their lungs.

John and his group stared in amazement at what was occurring. Then, Clark spotted some strange figures on the rooftop. He zoomed in and saw that they had long-range blasters. "Guys! We have some company on the roof!" he yelled.

The men on the roof were dressed in Muslim garbs with drone-scrambling camouflage. John and Gavin quickly ran into the building next to them. They hurried up the stairs with blasters drawn. The men on the roof slowly put together their blasters and were aiming at Eidolon's head. John and Gavin burst through the door on top of the roof. Their eyes were red, and their faces were black. Gavin quickly pulled out his blaster and shot at the men. Then, John and Gavin dove behind a wall for cover as blasts grazed by them.

Clark then spotted some other shady looking men in the area. Multiple men with wires in their ear appeared to be rigging some explosives. This was something he was familiar with, so much so that he could smell them. He turned on a heat-scanning feature of his glasses and realized that the Red Party leaders were being targeted. Clark left the crowd and opened his computer in the corner and began to work.

Back on the roof, John was firing his blaster at the two Muslim dressed men who were able to evade him by creating an electromagnetic barrier that caused John's blasts to bounce off. The man began aiming his long-range blaster. Luckily, Gavin had seen these barriers in the Iran War and blasted it in its one vulnerable point. The shield quickly vanished, and Gavin shot one of them dead. The other man ran after him. Gavin went up to the dead body and saw its strange red eyes. "What the hell are you?" Gavin asked himself. Then, the creature disintegrated into smoke. John shot at the figure but missed. The mysterious creature then disappeared from John's view. Back where Eidolon was speaking, Clark was quickly trying to scramble the bomb. Eidolon was still speaking to the crowd, "We will usher in a new era of American dominance. I will assist your people in curing all diseases and provide jobs and better homes for everyone. We will defeat our foes overseas and have one nation: an undefeatable empire!"

Clark tried to scramble all electronic signals in the area, but the systems were too strong. It was rare that Clark was unable to best a computer system. He slammed his computer in frustration. "Come on, come on," he said. The Muslim dressed creature quickly jolted out the door on the ground floor and ran towards the Red Party leaders, including Sophia's father who stood in the back of the crowd glancing down at Sophia's baby picture. Some Red Party leaders jumped to their feet in fear, but they were blocked in, unable to move. The creature raised an explosive charge in his hand and shouted, "Allah Akbar!" John began having flashes from when he was on the ship. He remembered something familiar about the creature; something that disturbed him in the pit of his chest.

The creature then detonated the charge in a prideful suicide bombing. A massive explosion ensued which triggered packed explosions under their seats. The blast leaped high into the sky and through the Blue Party members backward. In the blink of an eye, all the Red Party leaders were engulfed in flames and killed. "Noooooo," John exclaimed. The crowd shrieked in panic. Chaos ensued. The crowd disbursed and quickly ran from the area screaming in terror. There was too much smoke to see the bodies or what was left of them. Eidolon immediately ordered the area to be secured. John watched in disbelief. Sophia's father had been killed instantly. Gavin grabbed John, "Let's get out of here! Where's Clark?" Clark ran up to them with shrapnel in his leg. Gavin threw him over his shoulder and fled the scene. 
CHAPTER 5 - Freedom is Security

In a nearby building, Gavin removed shrapnel from Clark's leg with pliers. Clark was kind of a nerd and wasn't really used to this sort of pain. "Ahhhhhhhh!" he screamed in pain. "Leave it! Leave it in!" he said. John turned on the holo-screen to see Senator Powell in front of the capital building surrounded by military officers and priests. The whole world was watching.

Senator Powell spoke, "We have learned the actions taken yesterday in the square are the result of Muslim extremists. They decided to attack us because we are free and they hate that the one true God has chosen our country to take part in. Today, we mourn the death of all the Red Party leaders. Their memory will live on! They died in service to their country. These religiously-based terrorist attacks have plagued our nation for too long. It is time we put a stop to them! Today, for the good of our blessed country, we are suspending congressional procedure and temporarily removing the power of the courts in this dangerous time. For the good of the country, we are establishing martial law until new Red Party elections can be held and the perpetrators of this terrorist crime are brought to justice. We are setting a curfew starting tonight. Those wanting to run for positions in the Red Party should come to the capital building and apply. State Officers may come door-to-door searching for terrorists so please be patient and comply with their orders. We will have order. If you see anything suspicious, please report it to your local police. May God Bless America!"

John switched off the holo-screen in frustration. "I cannot watch this anymore. I have to get home," he said. Gavin shouted at the screen. "I saw that terrorist. That was no Muslim! It wasn't human either. It was all staged! False flag! I saw that thing's eyes. We need to tell someone about this," he said. Then, John quickly ran out the door. Gavin followed after him, and Clark stayed behind.

Gavin and John ran into the crowded and chaotic streets. Mass military regiments were marching everywhere. The national guard and military officers were frisking people and arresting many of the large Muslim-American population that had migrated to the US. There were protesters in the streets advocating for posse comitatus who were also being arrested. It was as if the air itself stood in order under the command of the military.

Despite the bombing, the Red Party election holo-images were still displaying in the streets, while Blue Party officials were disabling them. Female protesters were being pepper sprayed in the streets for interlocking hands in an attempt to stop the tanks and military parade from moving forward. The election images were replaced by a new slogan, "FREEDOM IS SECURITY."

John and Gavin stared at the images in despair. They feared their city, their Republic was slowly fading away. "Why is it that states always feel the need to roll over the rights of the many to protect us from the actions of a few?" John said. They felt paralyzed like there was nothing they could do. They could go to press, but from the stories that were running on the news lately, it was clear that the Blue Party had control of all the media companies. And with everyone being imprisoned in the streets, it was clear that the Blue Party was trying to consolidate power. John felt as though his grandfather was right. He began recalling the message from God that he had received and began getting nervous about the scripture books that he had stored in his room. Both John and Gavin could see military officers going from one house to the other performing random searches. In his nervousness, he ran home with Gavin following closely behind.

John bolted into his room and frantically checked under his bed to make sure the books were still there. He let out a deep sigh when he felt the texture of the Bible his grandfather had given him. Knock, knock, knock, he heard at the front door. "Open up! Police! We need to inspect your home for terrorist activity," the police said.

He checked his camera to find they were military men outside his door. "Gavin! What are we going to do? They can't search this room. I have illegal books here," John said, showing the books to Gavin. "Open up, or we will break down the door," the police exclaimed. "I'll handle this," Gavin replied. Gavin opened the door. "Good day officers," Gavin said, showing the officers his military wrist identifier. "Everything's ok in here. I've taken control of this living square to search the rest of the building for terrorists. I've heard many people say they've seen suspicious activity in the building next to us. You might want to do some terror hunting there," Gavin said. The officers looked at Gavin skeptically but saluted him and left the building. John's heart was still beating in his stomach. "Thank God for you, Gavin. Thank God for you," John said.

"Gavin, I need your help. I was going to tell you about this, but I never got a chance. He brought out the books. My grandfather has given me these books, and he asked me to hide them away. He thinks that Eidolon is a grave danger to the world and wants the words in these books to be protected. You have to help me preserve them. I know you don't believe in God, but you have to believe in me. Please don't let anything happen to these books, no matter what the cost."

After Clark had healed, he started walking through the chaotic military streets of the town. He saw a strange e-car pull up near the capitol building. There were men dressed as priests with crosses around their neck. Clark called John on his headset, "John we got more problems here! More of those creatures are planning to attack the capital! You need to get down here now!" The priests climbed the capital and began placing charges at the top of the building. "Where is the military?" he asked himself. Clark ran up to some military officers, "They are attacking the capital! Quick! Go arrest them! Shoot them! Do something!" The officer grabbed his communication module and quickly ordered Clark to be put in one of the glass temporary prisons that many of the protestors had been put into. Then, reporters came running into the area. The Christian extremists hoisted large crosses into the air. The whole country watched as the emergency broadcast system showed footage of the Capital being invaded by Christian extremists."

Suddenly, the Capital exploded, filling the sky with smoke, fire, and debris. The symbol of the people's government pancaked and engulfed in flames. The American flags on top of the Capital burned into ashes. The whole country had watched as Christians were blamed for the most intense terror attack in history. Hundreds of people were killed. Clark screamed from the glass container that it was staged.

The explosion caused John to feel intense pain in his chest like he had a connection to the people who had died. He knew his way of life was slowly fading away. Why would God have let this happen? John started remembering images he had seen while he was imprisoned on Eidolon's ship, but he couldn't make out what he had seen. The military quickly surrounded the area and tried to remove people from the scene. Citizens watched as their capital burned to the ground. Atheists and anti-religious groups out in protest became angry and screamed that this was bound to happen. John and Gavin knew that the military control of the country would now become absolute.

John and Gavin paced back and forth in John's room. Gavin considered calling his commanding officer, but when attempted to do so, John knocked his tablet out of his hand. John quickly took his matter sword out and slashed all electronic equipment in the room. "We have to stop using anything connected to the database. They could by spying on us," John yelled. He immediately turned on the cloaking device on his necklace. "Hey, that thing is sweet! Where'd you get that?" Suddenly, Gavin's tablet received from the national alert system. All eyes in America turned to their screens for the government's reaction to the horrific bombing.

Eidolon stood amongst all the Blue Party leaders and the military ready to speak, "Citizens of the United States. Today, Christian religious extremists destroyed your beautiful capital. There is a reason that this country was established without religion because of the evil that it creates. These radicals sought to overthrow the US government and establish a theocracy in its place. We cannot and will not allow that to happen. Today, as your new leader, I am declaring that all religions are hereby outlawed. Anyone found worshiping God or engaging in any religious practices will be arrested and put into camps to be processed. We have allowed religion to pervert our society for far too long. This country has allowed religion to be used as a method to control you. And yet, it is all lies. For thousands of years, religion has been used to control the minds of men. In this country, it has caused the deaths of hundreds of Americans from religious Muslims committing Jihad. The Crusades gave mankind nothing but division and war all in the name of religion. There has been more bloodshed in the name of these false ideologies than anything else in history. Religion is a way of making people not care about society or their country and only act to build up their afterlife. This cannot go on any longer. I am hereby ordering that the records of these extremist texts, including the Bible, the Quran, the Sutras, and all other religious texts be deleted from the Universal Database. It will no longer be possible for you to find them and radicalize yourself or anyone else. We will have a truly secular society devoid of the evils created by the illusion of these false teachings. Please comply with the military officers that will be coming to search your homes and businesses for any religious materials that must be discarded. There is only America. There is only the country. There is only peace."

And so it was. All the religious texts in history were deleted from the Universal Database. The Bible, the Quran, the Sutras, the Torah, and others were obliterated from existence. All records of God or the messiahs of all religions were wiped from existence. All messages, electronic documents, music, movies containing religious material of any kind were omitted from the rest of their medium. If religious materials were too essential to the story or artistic work, the work was deleted entirely. It was as if God never existed . . . ever.

Hundreds of thousands of people attending church services saw religious texts on the screen as the priests spoke. Suddenly, the words faded away. Those who were using lyrics for worship saw those words vanish. In its place they saw a message from Eidolon: "Freedom is Security." These words have been removed for your protection. Professor Snow was teaching a class and saw his historical references on his holo-screen wiped out. All broadcasts of religious programs were withdrawn from the Universal Database. If there was somewhere you wanted to find God, you were out of luck. The words of the Declaration of Independence that referenced the creator were also deleted. 
CHAPTER 6 - X-42

John and Gavin stared out the window into the streets of chaos, unsure of what to do. They could hear the screams from the citizens below being arrested, harassed, and even killed. Gavin and Clark stared at the pile of religious books that lay across John's bed. "... Are you ... going to turn those in?" Clark asked. "Never!" John said. "We need to get to my Grandfather. He'll know what to do. I have to give him these books back, they are much safer with him than with me," he added. Gavin replied, but aren't people just going to reenter information into the Universal Database? I mean, people don't just forget things overnight. Surely there are some copies of the Bible online right now as we speak."

"Gavin, don't you get it? The database is rigged! Anything you look for or put in is going to be monitored. Watch this," Clark answered. Clark pulled up his holo-computer, created a proxy chain, and hacked into the Universal Database using advanced techniques. "Don't you know I would have been prepared for such an occasion? I've been talking about government takeovers for years now," Clark said. Then, he attempted to log in from someone's computer on the West Coast. He typed in a search for, "Jesus Christ." A message came up quickly, "FREEDOM IS SECURITY," this information has been removed for your protection.

Clark then attempted to open an electronic document on the computer and type in John 3:16. He typed, "For God so loved the ... " The document was instantly shut down. A message displayed: "FREEDOM IS SECURITY. This information has been removed for your protection.

"See, I told you. The Feds have this system on lockdown," Clark said. John and Gavin paced nervously throughout the room. "Wait a second. Spiders! The system then began to track the location of the computer he had remotely accessed. "The Feds are tracking people that do searches! There are spider crawlers in this person's computer now." He quickly shut the computer down and broke the link so he wouldn't be traceable. "This is all the more reason why I need your help, Clark. You too Gavin. I can't do this without you. Come with me to my grandfather's house, and let's figure out what to do," John pleaded. Reluctantly, they agreed. Thoughts of Sophia entered John's mind. He wished to see her and make sure she was safe. But at this point, he wasn't sure if anyone was.

Gavin received a message on his tablet. "1st Lt. Gavin Fresco: report for duty at Mitchel Air Force Base tomorrow at 08:00 hours. You will be debriefed for flight plans and tasks involving the T-28 upon arrival," the message said. Gavin threw down his tablet in anger. "I can't fight for this country anymore. This government, this nation is not the same anymore. I swore an oath to defend my country, and that stops when it's being run like this. I will not be a tool of tyranny. If they think I'm going to show up, they have another thing coming," Gavin said.

John put the set of Holy Books into his messenger bag. He would not leave them in his room anymore. At this time, the only safe place for them was on his shoulder. If anyone wanted to take them, they would have to kill him. The strap pressed firmly down on him as if the heaviest of burden had been put on him. Clark, Gavin, and John all took a good hard look at each other.

Just days ago, it seemed as if they lived in an entirely different reality. And now, as they left, the felt like they were walking into a whole new world. Outside, there was nothing but screams and horror. Little did they know, there were already armed guards patrolling outside the building. Eidolon had compiled a list of the people in the world with religious ties. John walked up to the door. He placed his hand right on the scanner to open the door. Clark quickly slapped John's hand out of the way.

"Wait! You can't go outside! They have you in the database. They'll take you out. We've got to figure out a way to get rid of your records." Clark said. "Clark's right," Gavin said. Secrecy must be our highest priority right now. We have to be careful until we can take back our country back."

Clark had them go back into John's home. John's heart came down one notch from jet speed as he entered the last place he felt safe. Clark, as always, began his computerized magic. "You know ... with all this crazy government takeover of the database, you guys might need to start learning the art of hacking. In an information economy controlled by the government, the hacker becomes the patriot." Clark projected his computer system onto the walls with light. Columns of numbers and data covered John's room. Clark hid behind multiple proxies and entered the system. This time, he had a better plan. Clark would create an artificial IP address then give it a location in the middle of the ocean. He needed to find where the CIA was keeping records of religious ties to all citizens. He searched using John's National ID number and found his profile. There were millions of records. They had the religious affiliations of every citizen marked. John Shepard. Religious affiliation: Christian. Parents ..."

"Clark. Let's not look at that, please. I'd rather not re-live those memories right now. Just do what you need to do and let's go," John said.

"The only way we are going to be able to move freely in this world is if the database thinks that we are loyal to Eidolon; that we have no religious ties whatsoever," Gavin said. "Even I was raised Catholic which I am pretty sure was disclosed somewhere on my military application. Those records are probably deep within the Pentagon's section of the database," he added.

Flashes of John watching his screen when he observed the government attempting to edit this history of Native-Americans came into his mind. "Wait," John said, just before Clark could push the button to erase his history from the database. "If we do this, what separates us from them? If you can justify the permanent editing of history for this issue, where does it end?" John contemplated.

"John ... the database ... it's so far gone now. I would agree that the editing of history is wrong, but it has been happening for thousands of years. The victor writes history," Gavin said.

"Yes, but that may have been true before the corrupt Post-Modern and the Information Socialization movements. It is way out of hand now. I swear you could ask the database what 2 + 2 is and you might just find out it was 5 if you checked at the right time," John added.

"Don't think of it as revising history, John. Think of it like wearing a mask. We have the right to hide from someone who is spying on us. It's like ... our right to privacy or something," Gavin said. "Well, when you put it like that," John said. "Alright then!" Clarke said as a pressed a button that deleted all of John's religious ties from the database. "Wait a second," Clark said. "Did you see this? They have atheists on here too? And Agnostics? "That doesn't make any sense," Clark added. After working on Gavin and his own identities in the database, Clark entered his friends as Eidolon supporters as well, deleting all traces of religious ties they had. John didn't like the idea, but he knew it was better to remain in secrecy for a greater purpose.

"Why does this make me feel guilty?" he asked himself. Then, Clark saw a note in the database that said, "All non-Eidolon supporters subject to Order X-42." "What is that?" Gavin asked. "I can't tell it's really heavily encrypted. The best I can do is download it to a local drive and decrypt it after it's had some time to run some scans of it. It could take a while," Clark replied. Then, Clark downloaded the file.

They all stared at the language, "All non-Eidolon supporters subject to Order X-42." The words seemed like a threat; a message they knew could only mean that people would die. Out John's window, the could hear blasters being used on civilians in the name of security. "Here, take this," John said as he handed John a blaster. "You might need it," Gavin added. Suddenly, the overheard a conversation in the next room, "You should really check out the guy next door to me, he is a real religious nut," John's neighbor said. "Time to go," John said as the three of them escaped through the roof before the officers barged through the door.

The made it down to the ground and got caught in a swarm of citizens marching in support of their new leader. Troops were marching alongside their newly created loyalists who marched out of fear, ignorance, or a combination of the two.

Up ahead, they could see a general with his hand raised high into the air with a number of troops waiting on his command outside several religious institutions. Aiden was among the military leaders. Aiden was without a conscious and was highly connected in the Blue Party. He had fought for a role in the transitional system of government based on his father's connections. Aiden leaned in and whispered to the general as he smiled. He pointed to the various churches, mosques, and synagogues that were in the area.

John saw Aiden from a distance. Aiden was now wearing a new military officer's uniform that he had never seen before. It was gray and seemed very similar to the images that John had seen in the database of Nazi uniforms of World War II, only updated with current technology. Aiden appeared to have already gained some metals for things he had done. "Not any uniform I have ever seen," Gavin said.

The soldiers had several groups of Jews that were tied up and on their knees with black bags over their heads. The troops were stopping people and asking for hand-vein identification scans as they ran through the chaotic streets. The look on their faces was intense fear. Then, the victims would hold out their hand as the machine scanned it. The soldiers were asked about their allegiance to Eidolon. Anything other than an expression of total allegiance often resulted in an arrest. Sometimes, they would even shoot them right on the spot to make an example out of them. They had placed David's Star identification patches on the Jews as they lay in captivity.

Gavin recognized his friend Tom among the soldiers. Aiden got down from his speeder with a blaster and handed it to Tom. "Here you are, soldier. Based on my authority given from Order X-42 these terrorists must be terminated immediately. Please do away with them immediately," Aiden commanded. Tom looked contemplatively at the blaster in his hand. He stared down at the Jewish woman in front of him as she squirmed and pleaded for God to help. He extended his arm as he pointed the blaster at her head. His hand trembled as it wrapped around the hard metal of the blaster.

However, he didn't have it in him to kill the Jewish woman. "I can't do it, sir. This woman has done nothing wrong," Tom said. He threw the blaster on the ground. It was extremely rare for a military man to disobey orders. They are completely conditioned to believe in the benevolence of their superiors and simply execute their wishes without contemplating the morality or consequences of their actions at all. "Hahaha," Aiden laughed. Aiden circled the victims and Tom. "Another idealist! This is exactly the kind of insubordination and allegiance to extreme terrorist ideas that we are fighting against. I have lost patience for your lack of faith, Tom," Aiden said. Without hesitation, he shot Tom in the head. His body fell to the ground. The Jewish woman screamed in fear. "Let this be a lesson to any other of you maggots who decide to cling to the extremist ideas of the past. Disobedience is treason, and treason is death," he said.

With that, he shot all killed all the Jewish men and women. Dozens of people oversaw the murderous act but did nothing for fear is the most powerful way to govern the non-virtuous. Gavin pulled a blaster and pointed it at Aiden, but John pushed it away.

"Not now Gavin. We can't give ourselves away, or we risk much more than failure to give these people justice," John said. Aiden got back on his speeder. "General, execute Order X-42. The General pointed his arm toward the places of worship. The soldiers ran towards them.

No one was safe. 
CHAPTER 7 – [deleted]

The soldiers burst through the doors of Saint Patrick's Cathedral. The church was filled with people, and the three priests were at the front about to give communion. The congregation cowered and jumped underneath their seats. The troops threw tear gas into the seats as they placed their gas masks on. They pointed their blasters at the three priests. "Under the order of President Eidolon you must stop preaching these terrorist ideas and pledge allegiance to Eidolon immediately, or you will be executed," one soldier said.

The priest on the right immediately knelt and vowed his allegiance. The priest on the left said nothing. He stood there in his robe in total silence. He was shot and killed. The priest in the center said, "I will never follow Eidolon. He is a false teacher and a tyrant. I defend the name of Christ. He was shot and killed. The two bodies lay across the Alter. All the people in the church were arrested, labeled with a cross on their palms, and taken away in groups. This religious takeover occurred throughout the country. Churches, Synagogues, Mosques and all other places of worship were infiltrated, and the leaders were almost always executed on the spot. Surprisingly, many scientific societies were also investigated for atheists and agnostics. If they did not express belief in Eidolon, they were labeled with a zero on their palms and were also escorted into camps as if they were also a member of a false religion.

Perhaps the belief in nothing was still not enough for the state. Even the buildings themselves were cleansed of their religious expressions. Crosses were knocked off the top of churches, religious paintings were raided from museums and destroyed, and all the religious symbolism in Washington DC was scratched off the surface of the buildings. Most Americans were not aware at the time that on the top of the Washington Monument it says, "Laus Deo!" Those words were scratched off as well. The Statute of Liberty was one of the last symbols of the Republic to be left standing. Eidolon sent his drones flying towards it, covering it darkness. The drones blew out its foundation. The Statue of Liberty slowly fell forward lying flat on her stomach. Lady Liberty was dead.

In destroying all this religious symbolism in Washington, Aiden realized that there was one thing that Eidolon forgot to erase: the Constitution of the United States of America. Various riots occurred from people claiming that the Constitution had been completely trampled on and violated. The Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are both premised on the idea of inalienable rights that are endowed by a Creator. It became quite clear that these documents were inspired by Christian principles. The simple idea that one has inalienable rights asserts the notion of natural law and the idea that there is some superior set of principles above the government.

However, the Constitution existed only in the Universal Database. That is to say, there was no longer a physical copy of the Constitution. Aiden knew that Eidolon would look favorably on him for recommending this. Perhaps he would promote him and give him a key role in the new Empire. With haste, Aiden speeded away to the new Capital as he finally sought to destroy the Constitution to that they could proceed with their plans.

John, Gavin, and Clark were finally able to leave the city thanks to their cunning wit and technological camouflaging abilities. Clark had found them some speeders, and they whisked off into the wilderness. John knew his grandfather was the only person who could help them at this point. The Holy Books still weighed tightly around his shoulder. They sped through the trees, protected by John's necklace from drone scans above. John looked up at the sun as they got off their speeders and entered the small boat towards the river passageway. The sun pushed through the clouds as its beams radiated and lit up the world. John wondered where God was in all of this. His parents had always told him that God has a plan for everything and that all that happens is in his will. How could this be in his will? How could he let this tragedy occur? His existence had almost been completely wiped from the face of the earth. John thought by now that Eidolon and Aiden would have been struck by lightning or drop dead. His memories were finally catching up with him. He remembered his talk with God – the burning bush that spoke to him. His memories always came in random flashes and never whole. He thought of Sophia and knew he still needed to find her. A storm started to brew. John felt tiny droplets of rain on his face as they cast off their boat.

Eidolon acted quickly to remove the last enemy of his empire: the Constitution. The citizens of America saw their holo-screens fill the message of the new government: The One State. It was an eagle carrying a circle with a star in it. The Blue Party had now rearranged themselves into the One State Party. Aiden had been made the Commander of the Military and Eidolon was now the Emperor. Aiden spoke in the newly constructed Capital in Washington. It was a dark building constructed over hardly two weeks that was tall, gothic, and frightening. The chancellors and leaders from all major countries in the world were present.

Aiden addressed his new global citizenry, "To the people of Earth! The United States has conducted military operations under the direction of his greatness, Eidolon . . . We have determined that the country can no longer rely on the Constitution. This document was inspired by Christian principles which we have seen lead to nothing but terrorism, extremism, and years of war and death. Here I have a button in front of me. When I press this button the Constitution, as well as all electronic records referencing it, or derived from it, will be erased forever. What an outdated document, the Constitution is. The thoughts of these people so long ago have proved to be irrelevant to a changing world. In its place, we will build a new Empire. An empire under Eidolon's control that can change to the meandering needs of the public," he said, putting his hand over the button.

"Today we kill the old republic and its false god," Aiden said. Then, he smashed the button. A little boy in a school library had the Constitution up on his tablet and was reading it. He read, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Suddenly, the words vanished before his eyes. The words displayed: "FREEDOM IS SECURITY." The One State logo now showed in its place. The young boy cried as he saw the document had vanished.

Aiden continued, "The world is tired of petty battles between countries over resources and idealism. For nearly six thousand years the planet has watched countries squabble as one group asserts dominance over another. Religion has perverted the minds of the masses and wars have killed millions. Leaders use countless amounts of Earth's resources as they destroy each other. All this bloodshed ... All this chaos. ... And what has it got you? The earth still has millions who are in poverty. War still claims countless lives. A divided world is one that cannot stand. There is only one way to ensure the intelligent management of the earth's resources, as well as to remove the bloody consequences of religion and world divided against itself. There is only one solution to this problem. That is why today, we are uniting together as the ONE STATE. Each country will have their place in the NEW . . . GLOBAL . . . EMPIRE!!!!"

The congregation rose to their seats in applause. They chanted, "ONE STATE!!! Eidolon! Eidolon!" The flags dropped from the ceiling that displayed the One State symbol. It looked as if someone had made a Nazi Swastika from a star. "We are strong as we are one," Aiden continued. "And yet ... as we sit here today ... there are those of us who do not believe – those who cling to the terrorist ideologies of the past. Let this be a message to all the citizens of the One State . . . either you are with us, or you are with the terrorists."

The congregation rose in support. It was hard to tell if they all actually believed in Eidolon but everyone believes in fear. It really didn't matter what they actually thought anymore. "We will find these terrorists and hunt them down. Only then can we have a world truly free from war. My generals and I will be seeking out these terrorists in the coming months. As citizens of the One State, it is your duty to report any suspicious activity directly to the One State Secretary of Investigation. We will deny these terrorists a safe haven. Anyone caught harboring these terrorists will be charged with treason and executed. Anyone found clinging to the terrorist ideologies of the old republic will be accused of treason and executed. Some say that these remedies might be a little harsh. I say maybe we have a dissenter amongst us. Dissent is also treason punished by execution," Aiden said passionately. The room applauded again. The people watched at home on their screens, and the prevailing emotion was fear.

Sophia and her friend Elizabeth had been hiding in Sophia's living square throughout the chaos. They had been stealing food from drone-delivery systems from other buildings under cover of night to survive. They ate mostly freeze dried packets and salads that tasted like garbage. "This new government sucks," Elizabeth said. Elizabeth was Jewish but was good enough to convince everyone that she believed in Eidolon. But deep down, she and Sophia hated the new One State. New programming came up on their holo-screens detailing new procedures for food, taxes, and jobs coming from the new state. "Someone needs to start civilly disobeying these bastards," she said. "Sophia, let's go get some real food. I'm tired of this freeze-dried crap."

They headed toward Town Central where there were some One-State licensed marketplaces. Sophia and Elizabeth had not gotten used to the changes that the government had made. There were military with blaster rifles at every entrance. One State Party banners hung all throughout the streets. The military patrol would stop people and ask for a hand-vein scan and send you on your way. The One State was now assigning people to work in order based on education and experience. New virtual reality movies coming out. They included dressed up propaganda of the One Party state's triumph over the religious extremists and all the wonderful things they had planned.

The One Party State loved using propaganda whenever it got the chance. Trumpets sounded three times a day, and the whole town stopped to salute the One State flag. Sophia and Elizabeth walked through the square. Everything was so orderly. You could just smell the fear in the citizenry. So many arrests had happened. They had seen two men arrested since they were out.

Other new laws had come out barring people from even engaging in moral contemplation. If you had a dispute, regardless of what it was, you were to inform a local One State office, and a judge would resolve the matter for you. But they were kangaroo courts. This was the procedure for personal matters such as how to raise children and what virtual reality movie to watch. The One State better not catch you arguing with someone because that assumes that One State should not have a say in the matter. Parents were to follow a strict set of rules for raising children. What is more, the One State had started taking children away from their parents to be raised by the state.

They saw an employment center and decided to wait in line. They overheard people talking. "This new empire is kind of nice. I've never seen such order in society. I heard they're going to impose English as the Global Language soon. Finally! We won't live in a world separated and divided by mother tongues," one person said. "I don't like this ... this 'Empire.' Isn't this why Rome fell? It's kind of nice not having any violence, but at what cost?"

Elizabeth whispered into Sophia's ear, "They're too loud. The drones will hear them." Elizabeth looked up and saw nothing. Perhaps they weren't watching over them every second like they told everyone. Maybe it was just a conspiracy. Suddenly, several One State speeders showed up. The two men talking were separated from the group and arrested. "What did we do! We didn't do anything," one of the men said. Elizabeth started to cry. Her father was a police officer and had always told her how important freedom was. The men glanced back at her. "I've got a suspicious emotional display by a female in square 24," one of the officers said. Elizabeth wiped tears from her eyes as she was surrounded by officers, "Mam, why are you crying? Are you bothered by the arrest of these men? Do you know them?" The grabbed her scanned her hand. The officer studied his tablet closely looking at her history. "Hmm ... nothing ... ah what's this ... an electronic statement on Jewish Family tradition? You're coming with ..." Elizabeth smashed the tablet into the officer's face and grabbed his blaster – shooting him in the stomach. "Sophia! Run!" They jumped onto the officer's speeder and sped off down the alleyways – the wind brushing quickly past their faces. Sophia looked behind her and fired shots at the officers in their pursuit. The officers missed Sophia and hit on man on his square's porch. Elizabeth took a sharp turn, weaving in and out of streets. "Where are you going?" Sophia asked.

They braced themselves as they broke through a glass window into a biological laboratory. They crashed into a metal machine and took off running up the stairs. Laser blasts flew past them as they ran. They came to the top floor of the lab. Their hearts were racing for fear of being caught. Then they slowed down as they saw strange things up ahead. They moved closer and saw unconscious people in water tubes with wires attached to their brains. The purple lights shined on their eyelids where were closed sound asleep. "We have to get them out! Sophia said. Sophia began having flash backs from Eidolon's ship. She had seen this type of arrangement before. Sophia began to undo the tubes attached to one of the women. She struggled as Elizabeth told them they should run. "Freeze Miss Bella! In the name of the One State, you're under arrest," the officer said. Elizabeth was branded with David's Star on her hand as she struggled. The girls were placed in a speeder and hauled away to one of the concentration camps. And there was order, and there was peace. Two-dozen people had witnessed their arrest. The trumpet sounded at 12:00 and everyone saluted the One State, and there was order, and there was peace. 
CHAPTER 8 - Candidates

John, Clark, and Gavin walked up the steps into grandfather's house. It was a sanctuary of art, knowledge, and plant life. It was like an oasis in a desert that stretched the whole world.

"Grandfather?" John called out. They walked through the castle-like house. Paintings of world leaders surrounded them, and they had strange equations written all over them. Chalk equations filled the walls, but they were indiscernible to the average person. Clark began to touch them and look for patterns.

"Amazing ... I wonder what they mean," Clark said. They slid open a large wooden door to find chambers of statues and a large circle on the floor. They looked like ancient tribal people with swords and arrows.

"This is incredible," John said. "Look at all this history. Pigeons would crawl in and out of the rock that comprised the walls and stares at you as you walked by. The rebels came to see a large desk with hundreds of books surrounding it. By candlelight, John's grandfather sat. He turned around his chair. "Boys. I'm so glad you're here. The Earth is at its darkest hour. We need your help." Grandfather stood there in a Native American looking robe. He walked with a cane that looked like a wooden branch. However, it glowed when the light hit it. "Here, Grandfather ... look. I still have the books. I protected them just as you asked, "John said. "Those were a gift, my son. They belong to you now. Come ... we must begin the training."

The next day, the three men were kneeling in robes in the large room. The room was dark, hidden from sunlight and lit only by candles. Grandfather paced in front of them. Grandfather spoke with a quiet disposition – taking long pauses and walked as if all the peace in the world was bottled up inside him. Grandfather looked lovingly at John, placing his hand on his cheek, "John, my boy, it is so good to see you again. I'm sorry we can't meet on better terms." "What's going on?" John asked. "In light of recent events, it has become necessary to begin your training," Grandfather said. "Training?" Gavin said. "I don't need any training," he added. "Oh, Gavin. Your father would be so proud of you," Grandfather said with a smile. "How do you know my father?" Gavin asked. "I have known the three of you since you were young boys. I have watched you; molded you from afar. John got the worst of it. The three of you form a human bond that is necessary for your purpose."

"What purpose?" Clark asked. "Today, we begin your journey to becoming Knights of the Living Earth," Grandfather said. "For many years, the Knights have acted as guardians of life on Earth. We believe the Earth to be one organism and we deal with problems that threaten that organism. As I have said, we are the Earth's white blood cells," Grandfather explained.

"The Knights have a symbiotic relationship with nature. We understand that as powerful as we may become, we are natural beings and must behave in accordance with the natural world. We understood that nature has provided us with natural laws. Therefore, our Order has taken the task of discerning what these laws are and defending them. You must respect nature, study nature, and become one with it. For centuries ... empires have come and gone. Some of this has been at our hand and some of this has been due to pure violation of the natural law. So much ink is spilled over the Fall of Rome but the reason for their fall is simple: a violation of the Rule of Power Ratio. Some laws we know and some we do not. I will teach you how to find them. We realized it was important for us to preserve what nature has presented as Holy. We defend against the manipulation of the genes of animals or plant life. You see, when we are born we inherit nature. It is our duty to ensure that it remains untainted by modifications so that posterity can have and appreciate it as we have. We do not call things holy simply because of their connection with a religious divinity, we call things holy because they are given from nature. Some men seek to be destructive of these ends. The last thing we guard against is information. For the larger part of history, there was not much to do in this area for information was decentralized. Then, the printing press was invented and books flooded the earth. People started to centralize information in computers; they put it in the clouds. We made it our mission to protect all human thought, but it has become difficult. That is why are you here."

"Eidolon is not of this Earth. He seeks to manipulate humanity into thinking he is God. However, as you have seen, his true goal is to enslave mankind. We know he has done this to other planets in the past. He moves in and wipes the planet's culture from existence. It makes it much easier to assert himself as divine when there is no information to the contrary," Grandfather added.

Because we are acting to preserve the religious freedoms and moral thoughts as information, we are not bound by them. You are here to become Knights. Usually this task would be worlds easier. I would have you kill Eidolon and allow the proper transition of power to take place. But this time, it's different. We cannot destroy him. He has complete centralized control of all information in the world. The world's information has already become so tainted and manipulated. If we destroy the central power and allow the people to be free while they only know what Eidolon has told them, they will most likely just elect a new ruler. Before we destroy him, we must restore the principles of the Old Republic. This is your task. I will tell you how you will do this in the coming days. The first thing you must learn is to be without fear.

Gavin shot up from his knees. "Sir, I don't fear anything. I'm in the Air Force. You don't scare me," Gavin said. Suddenly, the room grew darker. You could barely see your hand in front of your face. Gavin felt something swirling beneath his feet. He felt something speed past him touching his shoulders and arms. "What's going on? What is this?" He was quickly hung up by his left leg. Strange whispers swirled around him. "Ow! Make it stop! Make it stop!" He was dropped onto his back and got the wind knocked out him. The candlelight was returned. John and Gavin stood staring at what had occurred. "My son ... the military's teachings can only go so far. You still fear pain and you still fear death. These are vices which must be removed from you if you are to defend the Knights of the Living Earth." We will now begin several days of meditation, fasting and soul searching to remove your fear. The lights went out. Strange whispers filled the chamber where he sat. It was hard to tell if they came from the room or your own thoughts. [omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted]

On a mysterious island, seawater brushed up on the strange man's face. He began to cough as he slowly opened his eyes. The water dripped from his bearded, unkempt face. He slowly rose to his feet. The sand slid between his toes and created footprints that trailed behind him as he walked. His shirt was white and it was pretty torn up. In front of him was dense forest and he could see the clouds bringing a storm up ahead. He hadn't eaten in a while. He picked up a freshly dropped coconut and managed to get a few droplets from it. He stared out into the waves crashing on the beach while admiring the horizon. The looked up into the sky and saw faces in the clouds staring back at him. A crab walked onto his food and he quickly kicked it away. From his pocket he pulled a knife. He stared at it as if it was his most prized possession - and it was. He then picked up a long stick and began to sharpen the end - forcing the bark off the end until it came to a point. When he was finished he walked into the salt water to catch some fish. He waded out into the water and stood incredibly still while the fish swam around his legs. He aimed the spear at a fish and jammed it as hard as he could but caught only sand. He tried over and over but to no avail. The sun rested its head and the man slept alone under a tree for the night.

The next day, he tried spear fishing again. He allowed the fish to swim through his legs as he stood still. He realized the fish were swimming in patterns. One fish would lead and the rest would follow based on its movement of water. He discovered that these patterns occurred in a sequence. Based on the placement of the spear, the fish would swim in a certain direction and the leader would always swim away at a certain angle. He left the water and sharpened another spear. Nearly starving now, he waded out into the water again - this time with two spears. The fish swam between his legs again. He identified the leader and jammed the spear towards him. Predictably, the fish on the right side swam away at a 45-degree angle and the man stabbed his spear in exactly the right place. He lifted the spear out of the water and the fish was still flipping its fin. The man realized the key to his meal was a clear understanding of the fish's behavior in nature. He made a fire for the night and roasted his fish. The fish was so tender in his mouth. Beyond him in the forest he heard whispers – voices in the night. The sun set on that day. The man knew that the woods were asking him for a visit.

Swords clashed against each other. John and Clark were sparring in the Shadow Chambers. Both of them had progressed quite well. The matter swords were a weapon of grace and balance. The men circled each other and traded shots. John leaped over Clark's swing. Clark then elbowed John in the head, sending him quickly to the floor. John's grandfather said, "Shepard, you must learn balance, you must learn control. Anticipate the moves of your attacker. Understand the system he operates in. See his thoughts before he thinks them. Hear his heart push the blood through his veins. "Not so different are we. Observe the predictability in man's action," Grandfather said. John stood up and brushed himself off. John may have been the purest of heart but he still needed training in combat. The men returned to their rooms. John sat on a stool in the center of his study. Grandfather had forced them to be in the dark almost all day.

He sat by candlelight with nothing in his room with the Holy Words that he had sworn to protect. He pulled the Bible and the Quran from his bag. He grazed his hands across the covers. He thought of the division these books had caused. How much bloodshed these books had caused. Now they were sitting next to each other – cover to cover. The words of old prophets and gospels lay in John's hands. He opened the Bible and glazed his eyes across the page. His parents had always told him to stay away from the books of prophets, but after their death he felt there was no danger in embracing their ideas. He opened the Bible its beginning. He hadn't read the scriptures in days – maybe weeks. He turned to Genesis 2:4-8 and began to read. "By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing ... this is the account of the heavens and the earth when they were created ... Now the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden and there he put the man he had formed."

John wondered if the Quran had a similar story. He flipped pages and pages for a while. He eventually turned to Al-A'raf 7.54, "As a matter of fact your Lord is Allah, who created the heavens and earth in six eons. Then he found Al-Baqara 2.25-39, "And give good tidings to those who believe and do deeds of righteousness, that there await them Gardens from which the streams flow. In the Quran, he saw that God had told Adam the names of all the angels, whereas in the Bible he asked Adam to name all the animals. The Quran and the Bible both had a tree that was forbidden to eat and involved the temptation of Satan or a serpent. John was baffled by their similarities. It made sense that they stories were so similar in both the religions were based on the same God. John paced through his chamber and wondered what to do. He decided to start making an account of the similarities between the books. He assumed that the books who had similar Gods would be similar but the Eastern and tribal religions would be much further apart. Either way, he felt in his heart that all the books shared some common thread. All his combat training involved the understanding of the system and thought process of his enemies and he decided to apply the same to the Holy Words. Maybe if he could account for their similarities he could understand the author's intentions and find similarities between what has divided so many people.

John took the Quran with him to prepare some food. He walked by candlelight through the chambers. The light illuminated the various paintings on the walls. They all had such strange equations on them. "Grandfather when will you tell me what all this means? ... Grandfather?" There was no response. He ate some carrots from the kitchen. They were now only eating plants and getting all their protein from nuts. John walked down a hallway to get some fresh air while the Quran sat in his pocket. He walked slowly through the forest around him. The leaves crackled beneath his feet. He came by an apple tree. He took off his jacket and laid it on a rock behind him. He could see some apples hanging from a branch high up in the tree. When he got to the top, he could see the vast array of lights off in the distance from the city. His head filled with thoughts of all the innocent people under Eidolon's control. He thought about Sophia. He hated not knowing if she was safe. He knew that he must go to her. His grandfather had been teaching him about soul speak. It was a way to commune with people from far off distances. All of nature and our very existence consists of information. At the most basic level, it is atoms and even when dividing the atom it consists of smaller parts. There are ways to send information through nature. It made the distance seem to disappear. He searched within himself to find his peace and guidance within nature. John could feel a pull to the trees around him, like an unexplainable connection felt only between living beings.

"Sophia," he said. "Speak to me. Reveal yourself to me. Give me your location so I can come find you." John waited for a response. His eyes fluttered open and again saw the lights of the city. He felt a presence come over him. His eyes began to tear up and he felt a sudden peace enter into his body. However, he wasn't sure what to make of the feeling. An apple hung above his head. He broke the apple from the tree and took a bite. He savored the taste. Then, suddenly, he heard footsteps running away. He looked down and saw his jacket was missing. He quickly jumped down from the tree. He chased after it into the woods. John ran past trees as fast as he could. He took a sharp turn and lost his way. Now, he was surrounded by only the forest. Behind him was a fox with the Quran in his mouth. The fox took off running with John closely behind. "Come back here," John yelled. The fox jumped between trees. Then, it dove over a brush and John followed. Finally, John cornered the fox between some rocks. The fox ripped some pages from the Quran, and swallowed them. It looked as if the fox was searching for specific pages to remove with his nose, almost to say that he wanted those sections removed. John grew very angry and dove on the fox. He yanked the Quran from its mouth. The fox broke loose from John's arms and ran off into the forest. John caught his breath and opened the mangled Quran. Several sets of pages had been torn out. He searched quickly around the area and saw nothing. John lashed out in anger. He yelled up into the sky.

"I have failed you, father! Those pages of the Quran are now gone forever! "Why would you let this happen? Why won't you help me?" John fell to his knees. "No more of the Holy Words can be destroyed! I won't let it happen again! I will guard them with my life!" John said. The trees began to whisper. "Those pages did not belong," he heard faintly in the whispers.

Sophia rolled her finger along the cross they had branded on her palm. She had been put into a jumpsuit that also had the cross of Christ branded on it. She was in a cell next to Mary: an atheist and Elizabeth: a Jew. The OS let them rot in their cell for days while barely keeping them alive. Sometimes, other prisoners would disappear and never come back. They heard rumors that people were being sent to gas chambers by the dozen. Sophia picked up her daily meal. It was nasty slop that no one would want.

"Just a matter of time before they kill us. We mean nothing to them. I ... I wonder if they've killed my mother too," said Mary. Sophia reassured her, "I'm sure she's alright: They cannot capture every spiritual person ... right?"

"I don't want to die in here. I ... wish things were the way they used to be," she said. "I think I should just submit to Eidolon – at least then I could be free. At least then I could live amongst the people," Mary said.

"It would be better to die in here with honor then to be a slave to Eidolon. The people out there aren't really free! They are just manipulated in believing they are. Haven't you heard the people outside the walls recently? They are brainwashed. They talk about the new government as if it's the best thing that ever happened to them. I know John will come for me and when he does he will save you as well," Sophia said passionately.

"Please, can we pray together before the guards come?" Mary asked. The three girls closed their eyes together and Sophia prayed, "Dear Lord, please protect us in our darkest hour. Please assist John in coming to save us. If it is your will that we die before betraying you then let us be so but please be with us. Let the world see the wickedness of the new government. Give us the strength to stand up for what is right. But most of all, let your will be done. Amen." Sophia reached out her hand through the bars of the cell. The Cross of Jesus and Star of David bound together in their hands. "One day we will be free again. I promise you that," Sophia said confidently. 
CHAPTER 9 - OS

"The terrorists are being killed off as we speak," said Aiden. "All terrorists loyal to the Old Republic are either dead or in camps where they belong. Soon, the world will be rid of their extremism. I will see to it myself that they are hunted down and defeated. We have drones now scanning the sky for these traitors to the One State. We have prisoners now in camps that could lead us to other possible traitors. Getting information from them shouldn't take long. The empires in Europe and Asia have ceded full control of their puppet governments to us. We truly are the first global empire."

"Do not stop until we have rid the people's memory of their gods. Only then can we have total control," Eidolon said. "Yes my lord," Aiden replied.

The man sat near a fire on the beach under an umbrella of stars. Staring into a fire always reveals the deepest thoughts of the human soul. The man in the wilderness had recently discovered this. He stared down at small picture of a woman with beautiful brown hair. He could still feel his arms around her waist. He placed the picture back into his chest pocket and held it firmly to his heart. The taste of fish was starting to get old. He had been drinking water that was caught by large tree leaves but he knew it was time to journey into the wilderness. It was calling to him. He had given up all hope of ever being found and no longer wanted to be. Finding a suitable place to build a shelter quickly became his top priority. What is man without a castle? He took his spear along with everything he had and headed into the wilderness.

The trees soared high above his head. As he walked into nature, whispers echoed throughout the forest. He felt the voices calling him into a certain direction. He lifted his leg over branches and hacked away at brush with his knife as he passed. All day he travelled through the forest. As the sun was getting sleepy, he made camp. The night brought the voices out with particular frivolity. They twist and turned in the night like a bad dream. As he quickly got up from his forest bed, he saw the ghost-like image of old man. The figure was about 50 feet in front of him. The man exclaimed, "Hello? Who's there? Who are you?" He ran towards the figure and tripped over a branch. Slowly, he lifted his head up from the ground and the figure was gone. He walked cautiously through the forest. The voices surrounded him in a choir of whispers. He hid himself behind a tree. The apparition appeared right behind him. After he leaped back from fright, the being was gone again.

The voices intensified. He ran towards them yet again. Deep into the forest the voices guided him. The light from the moon began to fade as the man slowly followed the figure. The man followed it towards the edge of a cliff over water and rocks. The apparition stood there as the voices danced around him. The figure pointed out to the man. "Seek the shadow of, "Iam ... Iam. Seek the shadow of Iam." The figure faded away. He turned around and saw a strange tribe of people with spears drawn. You could see only their eyes and the torches the brandished. One of the tribesmen smacked the man across the face with the blunt of their sword and they dragged him off into the forest.

Days and weeks passed as John, Clark, and Gavin trained. They fasted for days at a time while learning combinations of martial arts and military technique. They were gaining significant skills in acrobatic skills and the use of deception in combat. Clark provided John and Gavin with all present knowledge of military systems by hacking the Universal Database.

Yet, sadly, John had been having nightmares about Sophia, tossing and turning in his sleep. He saw horrible images of her being whipped across the back and drenched in blood with crosses burning all around her. Like most dreams, it lasted for only the last few minutes of his sleep and the rest of it was a total blur.

John shot out of bed in a panicked sweat. Startled, Clark woke up as well. "What's wrong?" Clark asked. "I have to find Sophia. I can't let her rot in Eidolon's melting world any longer. She could be suffering. Who knows what they'll do to her," John said. The next morning they sat in darkness by candlelight as always. John interrupted his grandfather, "I need to leave the chambers tonight. I must go and find Sophia." Grandfather smiled and paced slowly through the room. "You must realize that being a Knight comes before all else. The Earth is depending on you. We are the guardians of the natural law and human survival on planet earth. Surely you learned in the very early days that all relationships, even that of your family must be second. For that matter, a great deal must be second to our order," John said.

"She's the daughter of the dead Red Party Senate leader. They will be inspired by her and stand by her. The people need her, if we are to restore the Old Republic. She is the symbol of the country we used to have," John replied.

"Very well. You can go to her. But you will not go unburdened. Gavin. Take this." Grandfather handed him a necklace that looked like dog tags. "Son, don't ever lose this," he said. Gavin looked closely at the tags. There wasn't much to see but hundreds of tiny lines. "Your eyes fail you. That necklace has the constitutions of all major republics engraved up on it in nano-print. The Knights are in the business of preserving general order on Earth and we have always supported the limiting of governments by constitutions. That is why you must keep this. It is the only one of its kind." Gavin placed the tablets around his neck. "I shall guard them with my life," Gavin said. "We shall leave tomorrow for the city," John said. "It is unwise for you to leave before you complete your training and face your fears," said Grandfather. "The Earth needs you to protect it." "Protect it I shall Grandfather," John replied.

Gavin and Clark stood outside the chamber with some computers laying all over the rocks. "I'm entering the code now. We're going to find your T-28. Ah, here it is. It's being flown remotely over Moscow right now. Here hand me those wires," Clark said. Gavin brought Clark a series of electronic components. Clark assembled the components so he could intercept the flight using satellite signals. Clark started the process, "alright if I can ... just ... intercept the Centcom encrypted communication commands ... Gotchya!"

Clark steered the T-28 off course. Immediately, Clark turned on the cloaking abilities of the aircraft. However, one of the One State fighters saw the Thunderbird-28 enter cloaking mode. The One State pilot sent some communication to his officers about the incident.

"It's been cleared, Officer. Records in the database shown this is needed in Northcom for terror abrogating activities," the OS officer said. "Thank you Clark. I've missed my Thunderbird. I'd hate for it to be in the hands of Eidolon for long," Gavin said. After several hours, twilight approached. The Thunderbird appeared and slowly landed in the forest. The wind from its engines blew the trees and the grass back and marvelously came to a rest on the ground. Gavin rushed to her and graced the front of the cockpit. "She's as beautiful as ever," he said happily. The two began to make some customizations to the Thunderbird to prepare her for her journey. The Thunderbird was a larger aircraft that could hold at least 10 people inside who could walk around. Inside were computers and high-tech spying equipment. There were laser cannons and missile launchers on each wing.

In the morning, the three left from the chambers and were preparing to leave. "I fear for what the world has become," John said. "We have to stick together and blend in. We will act as though we live amongst them: disappear," he said seriously. The three of them got in the thunderbird and took off. Grandfather watched as the three men disappeared into the sky. "Godspeed young rebels. The world is in your hands," he said with a sense of hope.

The ship flew over the streets of the One State fluttered with military marches. The buildings were covered with One State flag states. They landed on top of a living square complex. It appeared that most people were gone for the day. They left the aircraft, which lay invisible on top of the building. They looked down onto the streets – no guards around.

They entered the building to find a man's abandoned living square. They broke down the door and went in. The holo-screen was on: "Today, we have brought justice to another 20 terrorists to the One State. They would not relinquish their terrorist views so they were executed as his just and nobleness Eidolon has required," the reporter said.

The room felt different then, a normal living square had been. Clark picked up a tablet and read through some of the news headlines, "TERRORISTS ALIVE AND WELL, THE ONE STATE PURGE, THE WISDOM OF EIDOLON, HOW EIDOLON SOLVED WORLD PEACE AND HUNGER ..."

One State flags were hanging in the room near a place kneel. Gavin poured himself a glass of water from the faucet and put it to his lips for a drink. "Pfffffffft yuck. I think this water has some heavy chemicals in it. They're probably trying to keep everybody nice and docile with one of those chemicals that was used in the old days," Gavin said.

Clark sat down at the desktop holo-screen and brought up a search function. He typed in the word, "EIDOLON." Thousands of records came up about all the great things that he was doing. Then he typed in, "EIDOLON CORRUPT." There were no records. He typed in another word, "CONSTITUTION." No records came up. He typed in another word, "Freedom." There was Nothing. It was amazing just how much trust people placed in Universal Database search engines. How were they to know whether the results had been presented to them in an honest way and not curated or edited for devious ends. He tried several other words: revolution, natural law, liberty, democracy, human rights ... there were no records. Gavin grabbed the tags around his neck and took a deep breath – one filled with both a sense of duty and sheer awe at what was between his fingers. Suddenly, they heard the door start to open. "Quick, hide!" John said.

Gavin and Clark jumped into a closet while John hid inside the pantry. The man walked into his apartment and threw his jacket onto the couch. He opened the pantry while looking down at his tablet and reached right over John's shoulder to pull out some dehydrated beef which he placed into a hydration machine. He went into his bedroom and continued to brows on his tablet. His feet crossed right next to Gavin's face. Some dust got caught into Clark's nose and he began to squint as if he was about to sneeze. The man stopped and put his head up as if he had heard something but then continued to walk back into the living room.

The man started preparing his meal in the kitchen. John slowly opened the pantry door and walked towards the man. As he approached he accidentally pushed the man's tablet off the counter and it slammed loudly to the floor. The man turned around rapidly. "Ahhhhh. Who are you?" John threw his arms up innocently. John stared down at the tablet which read, "TERRORIST WATCH: Be on the look for any suspicious activity." John said to him, "We're ... One State police. We're undercover and we're searching for potential terrorist activity." The man paused briefly. "Oh well, why didn't you say so! Please feel free to look around wherever you like. Praise to Eidolon I have nothing to hide and will assist in capturing the terrorists in any way I can."

"My name is Bob ... Bob Loyalist. Here, let me scan my hand for you." Clark walked into the room. "Well Bob I just wanted to ask you a few things to make sure you haven't been engaging in any terrorist activity," said Clark. "Yes sir! Of course here have a seat. Let me get you some food sir," Bob replied. They sat on the couch and were fed dehydrated chicken, carbonated beverages, and pasta. Clark turned to Bob to ask some questions. The three were glancing at each other, still in disbelief that Bob was being so friendly to someone who just walked right into his living square.

"Mr. Loyalist, would you ever disobey any of Eidolon's laws? Do you believe in the undeniable benevolence of him? Clark said. "Of course sir! Eidolon knows what is best for us. He rid the world of the horrors of religion and has made the world one family. I could not be more proud to serve him. To question him is treason! But of course, I would never want to. I have complete faith in him and would give my life for him," said Bob.

Clark looked into John's eyes with sheer despair and sadness. John turned to Mr. Loyalist and put his hand on his shoulder, "Do you believe that Eidolon and the One State are providing a society where you are allowed to be free?" John asked. "What do you mean by 'free'? What does that mean?" Bob answered. John laughed out loud as the three looked at each other again in complete surprise. "It's when people are allowed to do what they want without the government telling them what to do, John said. Mr. Loyalist stared into John's eyes confused. "How would that even work? Society is based off of order and it's impossible to have order without the people being obedient to the government. What a silly idea! That would be complete chaos! Obviously I would never desire to live in such a society. If you're trying to trick me with questions then you'll have to do better than that!" Bob answered sarcastically.

"I think we've heard enough," John said. As John was heading towards the door, he tripped on a box of crackers that he had kicked out when he came out of the pantry. He fell forward onto the floor. As he his body hit ground the Egyptian Book of the Dead flew from John's bag and slid to Mr. Loyalist's feet. He then bent over slowly to pick up the book and glanced at its cover. After a long pause, Bob handed the book back to John. I'm sure you'll be needing this ... Bob stared at the three rebels suspiciously. "Well, sir if you would please. I have work to do. I don't want to keep you from your duties any longer," he said.

Having discovered the state of humanity in this brave new world, they headed out the door. "Nice going," said Gavin. "Maybe I should be carrying those," Gavin told John. They walked down the hallway while slowly staring at the numbers of the living square doors. "I've got a bad feeling," said Clark. "Relax I'm sure everything's fine," said Gavin.

Suddenly, a laser blast blew past John's head. "You there! Stop! You're under arrest!" John returned fire, hitting the walls near the elevators. "Run! Head back to the Thunderbird," Gavin said. Clark went and checked the doors. "The door to the roof is locked!" Clark said.

John blasted one of the guards while two more officers continued to return fire. Clark was pinned down against a wall while multiple blaster shots flew by his head. "What are we going to do we're trapped!' Clark said. John pulled out his matter sword. "This is your last warning. Drop your weapons," the guard said. John squeezed the handle of the sword and it extended into its full form, glowing blue like a Spartan warrior sword. He gripped it with both hands and began to walk forward in the middle of the hallway.

The guard shouted, "Drop the sword or you're dead." The world seemed to go into slow motion at that point. The guard fired his rifle straight at John's head. The red beam of light exited the rifle and slowly travelled toward John at around 96 kilometers per hour. John swung his matter sword at the blast and sliced it down the middle. In doing so, the matter sword became charged with energy. Then he swung it around and pointed the end directly towards the guard and the blast was released back at him. It struck the guard in the chest and he fell to the ground. The same series of events was repeated with the second guard. The rebels went downstairs to the lobby only to find several more guards awaiting and shooting laser blasts at them.

"Clark, see if you can hack into the system and turn off the alert. Tell the system there is no longer a threat and turn off all nearby surveillance systems," John requested. Clark used his head mounted projector to display a hologram of code and screens in front of him. He slid a screen of code to the side and typed in many series of code. Meanwhile, Gavin was an excellent shot and was also managing to redirect all incoming blaster fire with his matter sword. Clark deleted the alert from local command stations and quickly was able to shut down all surveillance in the area. He also entered code telling the system that it was a drill. "There we go John. It's lights out," Clark said. John slicked through one guard on his right and another on his left. He ran through two guards at the same time with his matter sword. With just one guard left trying to flee, John threw the matter sword and impaled the last guard through the chest. Unfortunately, Clark had been unable to locate Sophia's location. So they knew they would have to start searching for information the old-fashioned way. 
CHAPTER 10 - COMRADE

John, Gavin, and Clark headed out into the streets amongst a bustling crowd wearing civilian clothes. This time, there were no election signs or people soliciting for various political whims. Crowds were quickly racing into stores to purchase gadgets, reality show commercials displayed on holo-screens, and the children played "Catch the Terrorist" in the streets. One of the kids ran right up to John, "Pew, Pew! I'll get you terrorists!" The child said. The holo-screen on the sides of the buildings a marvelous array of a gladiator fight was showing. Aiden sat atop the stands as two men fought shirtless with swords. "Common, Gavin. Let's go get a drink. Let's see what we can learn about Sophia's whereabouts," John said. They headed into O'Shea's Irish Pub, swiping their hands on a scanner with the guard at the door. The bar was filled with brutes and shady looking chums. Irish music played in the background. John walked up to the bar and ordered a drink.

"What kind of a wussy drink is that?" A man said with his back turned to John. He turned around with a smirk on his face and said, "Hello my friend, my name is Kaslov. Bartender, see to it that my friend gets a house special. So, what brings you around these parts?" "We're just in town looking for a friend," John replied. "Ah, searching for the woman you love. Your face and voice are a terrible cloak for what your eyes say," said Kaslov. "I can also tell that you're hiding something in your bag," said Kaslov. "What gave you such a ridiculous idea?" John said. "I'm a smuggler: a professional at concealment. And you ... you are an amateur: an open e-book for me to read. My men are professionals. We can get anything your eyes desire," Kaslov said in a thick Russian accent. "What if I desire a prisoner? Can you bring me that?" John asked.

Suddenly, the doors flew open and several One State Police officers entered the room. They scanned the room from the door and began to casually walk around the bar. Gavin and Clark stayed hidden within the crowd, keeping a close watch on John. Two of the guards looked suspiciously at Kaslov while looking through their tablets as if searching the records for him. One of the OSS approached Kaslov. "Sir please swipe your hand here," the OSS guard said. "There's no problems here," Kaslov said still having a drink. "Swipe your hand here or you'll be under arrest." Kaslov swiped his hand on the OSS officer's machine.

"Mr. Kaslov. There are records of time where you were not under surveillance as commanded by the chancellor. Can you account for your whereabouts in the last two days?" the officer asked. "Of course, my friend. I was merely painting in my home. Sometimes the cameras in my square - they break. Shitty American design most likely," Kaslov said as he had a sip of vodka. The other officer looked at John dead in the eyes. With a curious look, he stared down at John's bag. "What you got in there, boy?" an OS guard asked John. "Oh, just some freeze dried food for the wife," John said. "You citizen scum make me sick." The guard punched John across the face and bloodied his lip.

One of the guards tapped his earpiece and then quickly pushed Kaslov onto the bar table and began to bind his hands with electronic cuffs. "Kaslov, you are under arrest for your role in the black market cartels," the OSS said to Kaslov. "I have no idea what you're talking about," Kaslov said calmly. The OSS officer turned to escort Kaslov out forcefully. By this time, Gavin was standing near the front door, and Clark was on the side of the bar away from the group. John knew that there was something special about this man. He did not want him to slip away into the hands of Eidolon. John looked firmly towards Gavin at the door and raised his hand signaling to Gavin to save Kaslov.

Gavin slid himself into the middle of the doorway as the officers were leaving, "Wait ... I need to show you something," he said to the guards. Clark quickly pulled up a holo-gram in front of him and moved some sections of block code around, disabling the cameras and locking the doors. Gavin grabbed his dog tag, "You see these sir? I got these for defending my country. And I'm about to do it again."

Clark closed his hologram and quickly withdrew a metal disk from his belt and tossed it through the air near the ceiling of the bar. Quickly, Gavin used his wrist-mounted blaster to shoot the two guards at the door. Then, he fired a success of four perfectly timed blasts, which bounced off the disk and hit the four guards surrounding John, leaving only the officer holding Kaslov. Some of the people in the bar fled, while other stayed. Kaslov looked at John with complete shock and awe. "It's you! You are the rebels I've heard about," said Kaslov. Gavin brought the officer to John on his knees.

The OSS guard cried, "What are you doing! You can't do this! Let me go! This is high treason! You have broken the law! Aiden will have your heads for this!" "Eidolons laws are no laws at all. The enforcers of that law stand as complicit executors of his will and equally guilty of it," John responded. "The man you save is a criminal! A leader of black market! A terrorist! How can you save him?" the OSS guard said. "Because criminals in violation of the laws of the unjust have done nothing wrong and stand as close to the freedom fighter as a soldier," John said. Gavin blasted the guard away and he fell slowly to the ground.

"I owe you my life," Kaslov said, "Anything you need I am your man. The enemy of my enemy is my friend," he added. "Tell me where the Christian prison camp is; one where they would take special prisoner's," John requested. "I know of one in Buffalo. That is where they take the Christians from the area that they don't want to kill yet – maybe to be used as pawns for the One State. I'm sure you will find your girl there." John and Kaslov embraced and shook hands. "Anything for you sir. My men are yours to command. You must come to meet them," Kaslov exclaimed. "We will. We just have some other matters to take care of first," John said in a determined way. "Begin to spread word to the other leaders of the black markets that they are requested to join the Global Rebel Army and help end Eidolon's rule," he added. "Of course my friend ... of course," Kaslov replied.

The man in the wilderness opened his eyes to a nice damp rag being tapped against his forehead by a beautiful native woman. They were in a hut built out of leaves and wood. As his eyes fluttered open, he stumbled to get up in a frightened way. "Who are you?" he asked. "Relax, you have quite the bump on your head. My name is Aiyana. Here ... sit," the woman said. The man saw that she was a beautiful woman wearing a dress of flowers. Her hair was long and reached down to the small of her back; she was curved like the mountains yet her voice was soft and sweet.

"Why was I captured?" he asked. "You were not captured, you were saved. You cannot be wondering around in the forest like that alone." "Here eat this," Aiyana said, handing the man a bowl of fruit and vegetables, which the man scarfed down profusely. "Oh my... this is the best fruit I've ever eaten," the man said. "Thank you," Aiyana said while her eyes stared at the man with a look of shock and awe. "You know we don't see people from the outside very often. You are a rare find. Come, I must show you the village. The chiefs will want to meet with you," Aiyana said.

Then, Aiyana escorted the man out of the tent. The man saw a large village of natives. There were children chasing each other and playing. There were people picking berries and planting seeds. There were men wrestling; there was boats departing for fishing. There were people living amongst the trees, and multitudes of animals amongst the people. The natives were dressed in animal skin and radiated as the most happy and peaceful people that that the man had ever seen.

"Come ... let me show you around. Aiyana and the man walked through the village. Children ran past them through the dense forest and bumped into the man as they walked. "This is my people's village. We have lived here amongst nature in peace and harmony for hundreds of years. Very few outsiders have ever seen this place," she said. The village was organized in the shape of a galaxy with a large central tree in the middle and various huts orbiting it. A river flow through the center out into the ocean and the entire village was covered in dense rainforest. "As is custom, I must take you to meet the elders," Aiyana said.

John and the others walked down the side of the street planning their next move. "Do you really trust those guys John? They're scoundrels and thieves. Be easy for them to turn their back on us," Clark said. "I trust them to be themselves; to be selfish; to seek profit and run a black market cartel of illegal goods under the One State's nose. They are but a stream of anonymity and a resource base for us to use. They oppose Eidolon's power and so do we; it's that simple. Right now, our priority is to protect the holy works and rescue Sofia. Then we will return to the chambers and finish our training," John said.

"You know, it's awfully ironic you carrying all those books around," said Gavin. "Weren't you raised as a Christian? Isn't your loyalty to Christianity?" Gavin asked. "Of course it is. But I made a promise to God that I would protect the books of other faiths with my life, John replied. Gavin smirked and said, "But doesn't the Bible say that Christ is the way the truth and the life and that no one can get to heaven without him?" "Yes it does say that," John said. "But don't you see John? You hold the last copies of those books in the whole world! If you believe that Christ is the true way to heaven, how can you preserve other books that you know to be a lie? I mean ... I think if I were you I'd just burn all the other ones and only preserve the Bible," Gavin said.

John was stunned by Gavin's inquiry. Thoughts of sitting in church with his parents filled his mind and he felt an intense pull of loyalty to the Bible over the other books. He knew deep in his heart that if there was one book that had to survive over all others, it was the Bible. John again grabbed the cross around his neck and stared at it.

"I ... I can't destroy the other books. It's not for me to decide which religion is better. If I did, I would be no better than Eidolon. Yes, the Bible says that it is the only way, but that doesn't mean the other books are completely wrong ... right? Shouldn't humanity as a whole be able to view all of them and decide for themselves which one they want to believe?" Gavin replied, "But none of what you're saying is in the Bible. Don't you think some people will not go to heaven because of your actions? Because you're giving them the opportunity to be wrong?" "People deserve the right to be wrong about God," John said. "But the way you determine whether or not you should destroy the other books isn't coming from any instructions in the Bible, it comes from ... something else?" Gavin asked.

"Yes, perhaps it is further proof of the natural law that grandfather was speaking about," John said continued, "That's why anyone who wants to take these books from me will have to pry them from my cold dead ... "

Suddenly, a man bumped into John, cut the two straps holding the books on his shoulder and ran off with his messenger bag. John took off running after the stranger. However, a large mass of people cut off Clark and Gavin from John. The mass of people pushed John and Gavin along with them as they were lost among the masses.

The stranger ran towards an empty skyscraper overlooking the central square where Aiden was hosting a mass demonstration of obedience. Hundreds of people were listening to Aiden's speech as was required once a day below a giant One State flag. There were screens in the background showing the same demonstrations happening in the various capitals all over the world. There were no countries anymore. The screen showed crowds from places like Old Russia, Old China, Old Germany, and every other pre-One State land. The world would be forced to bow in unison to Eidolon to demonstrate the solidarity of the One State. The One State wanted to appeal to the baser urges of the populous and have dissenters fight OSS members in hand to hand combat to the death. The fight was occurring on the screen behind Aiden as he spoke to the masses.

[omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted omitted] "Behold the power of the One State! A global family! A Global culture!" exclaimed Aiden as he stomped his fists. Rows of Chinese men bowed in unison to Eidolon, and the same went for Russians, Europeans, Africans, South Americans, etc. "I ain't bowing to this tyrant," Gavin said proud and patriotically to Clark.

"Just do it or we're going to be eviscerated in front of the whole world," Clark said. Clark then smacked Gavin on the back of the head to push him into bowing position. The two rebels bowed along with the others in the massive crowd. "We are only as strong as our weakest link. Look what happens to those that dissent," Aiden yelled as he pointed to the holo-screen, "The One State brings justice to the terrorists and the traitors!"

The thief entered the market place. There were various vendors out selling robot parts, food-mostly unhealthy junk-, and other gadgets and gismos. The market was heavily controlled in the One State. All the main industries were state controlled, but smaller dealers of goods could obtain a license and sell goods for profit; the small amount they could keep after taxes. There were no blaster salesman because blasters were outlawed for civilian. But that never stopped anyone from going to the black markets and getting one anyway.

The thief threw racks of vegetables all over the ground that John stumbled over. He then through a transport that contained dogs and cats in cages and John quickly followed. The thief ran into a clothing tent and disguised himself in rags. John ran through the aisles of rags, scanning for the thief. For a while, John could not find him, but ending up seeing his messenger bag on the floor by a man covered in rags. Then, the thief took off running again. He ran into an abandoned building that was under construction that overlooked the mass obedience demonstration. The thief ran up several sets of stairs and began climbing a ladder as he fled. John was able to jump and grab a hold of his feet as he hung from the ladder.

"Give me the bag!" John shouted as he tried to yank the man down. But the thief smacked John across the face with his boot and John fell several feet down. He moaned and tried to get up. He took out his blaster and tried firing at the thief but he missed several shots. The thief ran up a scaffolding and began firing several blasts towards John as he climbed after him. Some of the scaffolding bent and sent John into a wall which collapsed on top of him. John, weakened and injured, opened his eyes to see the thief taking out two of the books, dousing them in lighter fluid and burning them. Dazzled with excitement, the thief watched the books burn as he muttered some Latin while he was doing it.

"Noooo!" John cried. John blasted a switch on the wall which sent a crane flying toward the thief knocking him onto the edge of the scaffolding with the bag falling two stories onto the ground. The last Holy Books on Earth lay scattered across the floor. Simultaneously, the thief grabbed a set of chains and swung towards the books while John sprinted towards them. John quickly picked up the bag which had fallen several feet away from the books, and slid on his knees, swiping all the books into the bag while the thief swung over the top of him. After securing the books, John turned around and shot the thief in the chest. But the thief ran away from John onto the roof of the building. John cornered him on top of the building as they saw the mass crowd of people bowing to Eidolon. John cornered him at blaster point.

"Who are you?" John asked angrily. The thief threw up his arms in innocence. "Are you one of Aiden's pawns! You better start talking or you're dead." John said. "I do not wish you any harm. I only mean to rid the world of the false teachings," the man said. "What are you talking about?" John asked. "I am part of a group called the 'Will of the Cross,'" the thief said as he inched slowly towards the buildings edge. John could see a OSS officer battling a 'terrorist' in the background; some small Muslim man who appeared to be slowly doing worse in the fight. Perhaps they drugged them so that the OSS officer could look good defeating them.

"We believe that Christianity is the only true religion and that if the opportunity came to preserve it while the other religions were destroyed then we must assure the false teachings are removed from the Earth and salvation for all of humanity secured," the man said. John looked puzzled, "How did you find me?"

"Your friend Clark, we know he has been hacking the database. He is not the only one. He goes by the moniker '$4INTR4V3N.' He is not the only one capable of hacking the universal database. We have been monitoring his activity. Please, you must allow me to destroy the other books before it's too late," the man said. "Never!" John replied.

"Then the Lord has spoken. I wish you luck Mr. Shepard," the thief said before he leaped off the roof of the building and disappeared into the scaffolding to his certain death. John looked down in disbelief. On the screen, the OSS officer then finally killed his Muslim opponent. Crowds all over the world roared in applause. He checked his bag fluttering through the books to make sure the Bible was still there. The torn up Quran, the Buddhist and Hindu teachings were still there as well. John let out a huge sigh of relief but was also saddened that the other older religious beliefs such as the Book of the Dead and Pagan religions had been lost. The Hindu teachings had burn marks on the sides and had also lost several sections of pages.

"I can't do this father! Please help me! Please do something! How can you let the one Bible rest on my shoulders! Please do something!" John cried out to God. And there was only silence. A few droplets of rain fell onto John's face as he stared up into the sky and felt only anger to God.

Later, John met up with Gavin and Clark back and the ground. Gavin was looking down. "I'm getting worried about the people of this Country," Gavin said. "There are no more countries," Clark said in reply. "I feel like the more time that goes by that they live under the One State, the more and more they are forgetting about how to live free. Maybe they're losing the desire to live freely. What if grandfather was right? What if we kill Eidolon and the people are just zombies that find a new leader to control them?" Clark said. "Then we will remind them and they will chase the freedom they once had. And if they are old and their kids are born into the One State with no understanding of what a republic is, then we will educate them. That is our duty," John said. David's arm emerged from the rubble. 
CHAPTER 11 - WANTED

The man in the wilderness came to the hut of the elders. There sat several decorated native men with tattoos and animal fixings all over them. "For us to let you stay here, you must receive a blessing from Fysi. Go, outsider, and see if you are worthy," the elder said. Aiyana took the man up the mountain. She led him behind a waterfall where he saw a rainbow and hundreds of fish swimming downstream. They came to small wooden house on top of the mountain. Aiyana opened the door. There was a house full of tribal drawings on the wall; carvings made out of wood. It was almost as if all the particles of matter drew closer to one another.

"Hello Aiyana! How are you?! It's so good to see you again," Fysi said. Fysi embraced Aiyana and kissed her on the face. This was no ordinary embrace. Fysi hugged Aiyana like he had not seen her in 20 years and she was the love of his life. Fysi was a short, dark skinned boy, although he looked very young. "And I'm so happy you brought your new friend," Fysi said as he hugged the man as well ... like the warmest embrace a human could give. "Let me get you some fresh fruit," Fysi said as he went into the other room.

"Who is he? Why is he so happy?" the man asked. Aiyana replied, "Fysi is very special. You see ... when he was a boy, he went on a hunting expedition with some of the elders to sacred grounds. He was very young, somewhere around 1460 sun passes. While he was hunting, he climbed a tall tree in an attempt to get a vantage point to kill a bird. But he misplaced his foot and fell down onto his head. The elders thought he was dead. But three sun passes later, he awoke from his sleep and was as exactly as you see him now: this happy and peaceful person."

"I'll be right there," said Fysi. Aiyana leaned into the man to whisper in his ear, "The elders believe that when he hit his head, he became, how you say, frozen in time. They believe that he is frozen in the initial human state: that he is frozen in beginning stage of human nature – untainted by the evils of the world. He can learn new things, his memory works fine, but his nature at its very core is frozen in time. If you want to know how you saw things, acted towards other people, understood good and evil before you became corrupted by the world, you can just come here and ask Fysi," she said. The man replied, "My God," said the man. "Do you have any idea what this means? He is the key..."

"Here try this," as Fysi shoved some apples into the man's mouth. "Mmm, thank you," the man replied. Fysi stared into the man's eyes. Fysi spoke in a gentle way, "There is sadness in your eyes. Lost a loved one, have you?" The man stood silent. Fysi came close to the man and touched his face. He put his hand over the man's heart, closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. "You are a good man," Fysi said.

Suddenly, Aiyana unwittingly brushed against a pedestal, knocking over one of Fysi's prized art pieces, a vase, that he had spent three years painting and crafting. The vase shattered onto the ground in hundreds of pieces. Aiyana, with extreme shame said, "I'm so sorry Fysi." Fysi simply went and picked up some of the broken pieces and smiled. It was almost as if he lacked the ability to be angry. "There is no need to apologize. As long as you are not hurt, Aiyana, there is no problem at all. The true treasures in life are not material things, but the wonders of nature around us. You must also know that art is not about the end result but the journey of creation," Fysi said. "Thank you so much for seeing us, but we must get back to the elders now," Aiyana said. Fysi put his hand on the man's shoulder, "It was very nice to meet you. I hope to see you again soon."

As they left Fysi's hut, Aiyana continued to explain Fysi's importance, "Once our village understood Fysi's behavior, we knew we had to reconstruct our society. Every village structure's itself based around the abstract mind of their citizens and we used Fysi's. We knew that if we could build our village based around him, we could live in peace and harmony forever. Come, let me show you how we built our village.

Back in the glorious capital, several OSS officers walked into Aiden's office, "Sir, the GSA has picked up some intelligence on some terrorist activity. Someone's head mounted camera picked up a disturbance at a bar where several of our officers were killed," the guard said. "Put it on the holo-screen," Aiden said. Images of the rebels showed through the eyes of unknowing citizen spy. "Shepard," Aiden said. "That pesky rat survived the purge," he added. "We believe he may still have copies of the terrorist literature," the OSS officer said. "Bring him to me! Alive!" Aiden commanded.

"Sir, the GSA has also monitored several groups heading out into the woods and observing nature. We observed a group looking at stargazers in Old Europe and they started asking questions about God, existence, and the government," the officer said.

"Ah, perhaps we need to further purge this world from terrorism," Aiden said. "Order the GSA to slowly deleting records of nature from the database. Start prohibiting citizens from nature trails, science museums, and other places where they can be exposed to divine inspired natural phenomenon," Aiden said. "Yes my lord, as you wish," the officer said as he began creating a message to the OSS Universal Database managers.

Eidolon came onto a holo-screen as the guards left the room. "Have you found the terrorists yet?" Eidolon said. "We are on the trail of the terrorist scum as we speak. We are also limiting the citizens' access to nature so as to no encourage terrorist thoughts," Aiden responded. "Good ... good. Everything is going according to planned. The human race will soon be our slaves - intellectually incapable of having thoughts of freedom or rebellion ... because all that information has been erased. Soon, the Earth will fall to us just like the slaves of other planets before it. The humans are powerless to stop us. Ha, haha, hahahahaha," Eidolon said.

Meanwhile, in an abandoned office building, the rebels regrouped their thoughts. "Clark how did that happen? How did someone find us?' John said. "You do no there are other hackers out there. I'm good, but sometimes people can see the changes I'm making. Other hackers, they find patterns of altered code before its changed back and dig for what it's trying to hide. They just have saw security camera footage of your bag and you two killing all those guards." Clark said.

"Just great," John said with frustration. "Clark, we're trusting you to be the brains behind our tech operations here. We need you to get on this. I need stricter and more frequent sweeps done. Cover our tracks. Don't let them find your footprints," John said. "I'll see what I can do," Clark said as he began moving some code blocks around and entering data into his holo-screen.

One of the One State News companies came on, "Today the One State has decided to remove more terrorist symbolism from architecture. Some more living square inspections may be coming by. Freedom is Security and it's important that all citizens remain compliant," the state sponsored media newscaster said.

Outside the window, trees began to be knocked over. Zoos and wildlife centers were shut down. All the animals and plants required for the production of food and oxygen were slowly being hidden from the public in buildings. "What is this world coming to?" Gavin said. John walked into the room, "I've spoken with Kaslov ... he's going to help us get into the prison where Sophia and other red party leaders are captured. We must go to them now. Kaslov and our friends in the black markets have located her at the Guantanamo high security prison ... it's where they keep all the terrorists."

"I agree, our greatest chances for revival of the American spirit is to show people that the Red Party leaders are still alive. Some of the people may still be loyal to them," Gavin replied. Clark interjected, "Hold on just a second there, John. That prison is heavily guarded and the security around there is airtight. In order to get in that prison, we are going to need to set up a Trojan horse. That means we need someone to go physically into the prison before we do and upload a virus so the heavy surveillance systems are disabled or hackable while we are there. I've found an entryway through sewers that the person can utilize."

"Gavin, you can handle that," John said. "Oh, you just volunteer me for anything don't you. You know how much I hate confined spaces ... But I suppose I'll do it for my country." Some beeping noises went off near some of Clark's equipment. "John, your face has gone viral in the system. You're all over the media it says, 'TERRORIST WANTED: JOHN SHEPHARD. Anyone with information regarding him or his accomplices Gavin Fresco or Clark Smith should contact the OSS immediately.' Shoot, they got me too," Clark said, reading from his holo-screen. "Can't you just remove it from the system Clark?" John asked "It's one thing to remove data here and there John, but you are a poster boy for terrorism in the Universal Database. It could take days ... weeks to remove all the records. With all the facial recognition abilities, they can simply find one of the citizens head cameras and identify you. We can't go out in public anymore without a disguise – facial recognition blockers," Clark replied.

John had fond memories of watching Grandfather use carrier pigeons. Grandfather would never use electronics and scoffed at their use. John captured a trained pigeon and sent a message to Kaslov requesting facial recognition blockers. Just two days later, they showed up at his location. "We are with you sir, anything you need," a note inside the box said. John opened the box and found a skin suit that fit over your body and face, concealing your identity. Clark then was able to insert the identity of the face into the Universal Database as a OSS officers. After they had cloaked themselves, they entered the Thunderbird and flew towards Guantanamo Prison.

When they landed John said, "Ok, Clark and I will enter through the sewers and replace some of the guards within the prison. You take Bob and enter through the front door escorting Bob as a captured terrorist," John said. "You got it, John," Gavin replied. At this point, Bob's mouth was duct tape. Gavin was unsure if he'd figured out yet that they weren't with the OSS, but none of them knew.

John and Clark entered a large circular tube down into the sewers that lead into the prison. John's feet touched the ground and his feet was surrounded by black water. Rats were crawling all around on the walls and various pipes that surrounded them. "Not the nicest place I've ever been," Clark said. "Alright, I have a stolen map of the prison sewer system here," Clark said as he pointed to the various steps they had to take. They both headed up some ladders. Then, they cut various holes with their matter swords and walked through a wall. Bats would fly down and startle them as they walked.

"John, how do you know she's still alive?" Clark said as they ducked under some pipes. "I know she is." John reached out to Sophia with soul speak. "I'm coming Sophia." John could feel those words imprinted onto the molecules of air and travel out of the sewer. John had grown strong in his ability to use soul speak. The two squeezed themselves through a tiny crevice as they made their way through the sewage and underground passageways. Suddenly, they heard the sound of running water up ahead.

"Head for that door," John said. Clark tried to open a door next to them but it was locked. The water rushed towards them, filling the area. Then, John blasted the lock on the door and tackled Clark into the room as the door shut behind them. "That was close," Clark said. They brushed themselves off. Inside the room, they could see holo-screens of prisoners. "My God. Look at all of them. Each set of prisons was labeled by religious belief. Most of them were Muslim, some Christian, Atheist, and a large amount of Hindus as well. They could see them starving, rotting away, and some of them were dead in their cells.

"See if you can find Sophia," John requested. Clark shifted some levers and found Sophia's cell. She was holding hands through the bars with Elizabeth. "I promise you we will be free soon. I know it. John will come for us," Sophia said. Elizabeth broke holding hands with her. "I don't know. I can't take being in this cell any longer. I can't take the beatings. I can't take being strapped to their chairs and watch the holo-screens about obeying Eidolon. I think ... it's starting to work on me ... maybe ... he's right. Maybe a one world government might be a good idea. No more wars ... a global family," Elizabeth said as she sat in her cell, frail, skinny and beaten. "That's what they want you to think. Eidolon is evil, Elizabeth don't you see," Sophia said. "It can't be more evil then the ideas keeping me in this cell. Face it, Sophia, we lost. The free America that you were a part of is no more. Sometimes you have to know when to give up. Sometimes you just have to accept the current power structure in society and just go with the flow," said with defeat. "Elizabeth, you know you don't believe that! If the current power in society is evil then we have to stand up to them! We have to stand up for the Old Republic and the principles that it stands for!" Sophia exclaimed. "I just don't want to suffer anymore," Elizabeth said. "Guards, I'm ready to pledge allegiance to Eidolon." And with that, she was escorted out of her cell.

"Nooo! Elizabeth!" Sophia cried out as tears dripped down her face. "Elizabeth!" But it was as if she had left ... never to be seen again. "You will come around soon enough," one of the guards said to Sophia. She cowered in the corner of cell. "John, please hurry," Sophia whispered to herself. Thoughts of all the Red Party members that had been killed filled her mind. So many innocent lives gone in seconds. It's crazy how fragile a democracy can be; how quickly it can be ruined.

"Turn it off I don't want to see anymore," John said. "Where's Gavin? Has he planted the Trojan horse yet?" "Reporting for duty," Gavin said into the Guantanamo Prison entrance. "Proceed," Gavin heard a voice say over the intercom. There were all sorts of guards there dressed in black; some of them looking at Gavin with suspicion. Gavin walked into a Jewish prisoner cell block and saw Bob, the man he had met earlier. "Watch where you're going, maggot! Gosh the new blood is so clueless around here," another guard said to Gavin. "You better watch yourself around here," the guard said as he passed Gavin. Gavin then headed into a room and overheard the guard mumble something about notifying command about him. So he took out his dart gun and shot the guard in the leg with a sleeper dart. "Sleep tight," Gavin said as he headed towards the security room. He entered a room surrounded by servers and wires. From his pocket, he pulled a small chip that Clark had made. He looked to his left and his right, then inserted the chip into the servers. Then, Gavin left the server room and saw several guards attending to the unconscious body. He walked passed them, hoping that he hadn't been picked up by a camera.

"He's done it! The Guantanamo prison is now vulnerable," Clark said as he read from his holo-screen. Clark pulled up a holo-grid of data while John was trying to open the door that was jammed by the water. This time, Clark coordinated with some of the other hackers he had met online. "Ok everyone, we're going to do a coordinated attack on the prison. Shut down all security cameras, lock the barracks, and disable all security guns, then remove any potential security alerts that will be sent to central command. Now!" The group hacked all the code in the universal database protecting the prison and then told central command that no alerts were happening. In the digital age, this kind of thing is essential to any planned attack. Most complexes are so much weaker behind their firewall.

"John, its down, we're ready to go. John busted the door open and the two opened a manhole into the basement of the prison. Two guards were patrolling at the top of the basement stairs. The two rebels came up behind them and knocked them out. The whole prison was dark now. You could hear the guards yelling their military jargon in the background after they had been notified the other guards had been killed. Finally, Gavin ran into John and Clark, almost shooting them. "Finally you guys decide to show up," Gavin said sarcastically, "we were a little busy," Clark said. Suddenly, several OSS guards approached and begin shooting.

Back at the Capital, a guard walked into Aiden's chambers, "Sir, we have a terrorist attack on Guantanamo, our system has been hacked to hide the signal but we've been notified by a soldier who left the complex and was seen telling a citizen with a head mounted camera," the guard said. "Take me there immediately. Shepard is mine," Aiden said as he got into a battle plane and was transported to the prison.

After several minutes of exchanging blaster fire with the guards, many of them had either fled or been take out by the rebels. "Over here! This is the prison block where Sophia is," Clark said. Gavin kept on eye on the door while John ran up and down the prison cells. It would a gruesome sight to see so many people starving, many of them too weak to even get up to see John. The prisoners held their hands against the glass and you could see the imprints of their religion on the hands: Christians, Jews, and Muslims – lots of Muslims. John finally came to the last cell in the block and there she was.

"Sophia?" John said. Sophia was sitting in the corner frail and in a fetal position. Slowly, she lifted up her tired and teary eyed face and opened her eyes. She smiled like she had seen God himself. She got up and ran to John and hugged him tight. I'm so happy to see you. John kissed Sophia and it was as if the world rejoiced and the heavens were ringing. "Let's go, we have to get you out of here. Can you walk?" John said. "Yes, I'll do my best," Sophia said softly. She had been beaten bad and was in a lot of pain.

"Lovebirds, we have company!" said Gavin. Through window, he could see Aiden's ship long with several others land outside the prison. Gavin started to fire blaster shots toward the specialized military brigade. Suddenly, a huge blast shot a hole though the block they were in and the rebels were separated by rubble. John grabbed Sophia, "Let's go!"

Gavin and Clark ran into the common area where they became pinned by an armada of troops. They exchanged fire with the troops and cut a hole in the wall where they took off into another cellblock. Clark and Gavin took off running through a hallway of Muslim prisoners. Clark exclaimed, "Drone attack coming our way!" Several drones flying above rained laser fire onto the prison, barely missing the two rebels. One of the blasts hit right between them, sending them flying into the wall. Suddenly, they were surrounded by OSS officers. "You're under arrest, terrorist scum," one of the officers yelled. John took Sophia up to the roof. John ran up ahead, seeing the drones above as the turned away. "Why are the drones turning away?" John said to himself. He turned around and there he was: Aiden holding a blaster to Sophia's neck.

"So good to see you, Shepard. Now, put down the gun," Aiden said. "Ok ... ok." John dropped his blaster on the ground. "Now let's make this easy. You give me the bag and I'll let the girl live," Aiden said, charging his blaster. "John run! Don't listen to him!" Sophia yelled. John hesitated. He grabbed the cross around his neck full of uncertainty of what to do. Everything he had been taught by Grandfather was that the defense of the holy words and the natural order trumps everything else. He knew he wasn't supposed to hand the books over to Eidolon but his heart told him otherwise. John looked at the worried look on Sophia's face. He took the bag off his shoulder and reluctantly slid it over to Aiden. The OSS guards then ran to John and knocked him out. 
CHAPTER 12 – A Book

John, Clark, and Gavin awoke in one of the prison cells. The rebels were each strapped to a cement post in part of the prison. John's eyes fluttered open as he tried to yank himself free to no avail. "Gavin ... Gavin! Wake up!" John said. Sophia and Clark were still asleep. "Where ... where are we?" Gavin was badly wounded. John looked down and saw that his bag was missing.

Suddenly, the door opened and Aiden walked in the room, followed by two OSS guards. Gavin rushed at him, but was pulled back by his chains. He fell to the floor and shrieked in pain. Aiden walked right up to him. "Ah, the patriot. I rather enjoyed seeing your constitution burned." Gavin grit his teeth and lunged at him again. Gavin's dog tags swung from his chest up to Aiden's face and back to his chest. "Hmm and what is this?" Aiden said as he snatched Gavin's dog tag from his neck and looked at it closely.

"This is no ordinary dog tag. This has nano-print on it," Aiden said. "Find out what's on here," Aiden requested as he handed the dog tag to his guard. The guard took the tags and started to read it with some magnifying equipment. "You'll never get away with this Aiden. You are assisting in the enslavement of mankind. The people will rise up against you! You can't keep them in chains forever. "Oh Shepard, so loyal to your God and your principles," Aiden said as he walked around John in his captivity. "You would have humanity divided by archaic lies told by the empires of old to control the population. How many people have died as the result of the ideas you defend? I have helped build a global empire. War, starvation, disease, will all be removed from the world. And yet, you object to this in your naïve defense," Aiden said. "You lie! You trample over the freedoms of the people. The blood of the Red Party is on your hands. You cannot remove God from the Earth. People will seek him out and realize there is a higher power above you and rebel in the name of freedom," John responded. "Well ... we'll just see about that," Aiden said. Another guard came into the room holding John's bag. Only the Bible, the Quran, and the Buddhist teachings remained.

"Sir, this dog tag has the old terrorist inspired constitutions inscribed on it," the guard said as he looked up from his equipment. "Splendid, we will cleanse the world of terrorism with one clean stroke. Take a look outside the window," Aiden said. Outside, the OSS had taken all the bodies of the captured prisoners who were all now dead, and placed them in a giant pile in the prison yard. Aiden handed the books and the dog tag to one of the OSS officers. They carried the books and the dog tag and placed them on top of the dead bodies of Christians, Muslims and other patriots who had defied the One State.

"God will not allow this. He will stop you! I know it," John said. He looked up to the sky and cried out, "God please! Please stop them! They are going to destroy your message on Earth! Save us! Strike them down now!" John said. "Hahahaha! Do you really believe he is listening?" Aiden said. Dark clouds began swarming around the prison. Lightning and thunder filled the skies. "You see! He will not allow the destruction of the last Bible! He will not allow the destruction of the constitutional republics!" John cried out.

Aiden lit a torch and threw it towards the pile of bodies that were doused in gasoline. The world slowed down while John and Gavin's hearts stopped beating for just a second. The torch landed onto the pile and set it ablaze. The fire spread to the whole pile and the bodies were incinerated. The fire traveled to the top, where the last Bible on Earth caught fire. It felt like it took ages to burn. The thunder shook the skies, while John and Gavin watched in complete disbelief as their most sacred things were destroyed.

"Noooooo! John and Gavin both yelled. John looked up to the heavens, "How could you let this happen? What is to happen to this world!?" John shouted. "Hahahaha ... John don't cry yet," Aiden said. He took a page out of his pocket. It was a page ripped out of the Bible. "I wanted to savor destroying the last page of the Bible right in front of your eyes. I want you to see for yourself as the One State asserts its dominance over the globe through the control of information. It just so happens the page I ripped out is . Matthew ... Matthew 22. It says, 'You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' How nice! But we can't have people knowing they have a soul, or obeying something other than Eidolon, that could cause rebellion," Aiden said. Aiden took a lighter from his pocket and flicked the end, revealing a small flame.

"What's going to happen, Shepard? Is god going to strike me down? Prevent me from burning this book?" Aiden asked. "Don't!" John said with anger and tears in his eyes. "Long live the One State!" Aiden yelled as he set the page on fire. The page quickly turned into ash in Aiden's hand, which he threw into John's face. "You know, Eidolon told me to have you three put into the gladiator pit to be made an example of ... but I don't listen to everything he says. I'd rather see you left to burn alive. The One State has grown strong and is the first true Global Empire but the guards are loyal to me now more than him. Soon this empire will be under my control and Eidolon will obey me. Soon I will be the Emperor of the world ... too bad you won't be around to see it! Torch this place," Aiden said. With that, Aiden left the room and the guards set the room on fire and left. The fire spread to the walls and the entire room slowly caught on fire. "John what are we going to do?" Gavin said. "Try to loosen your cuffs. Clark! Clark! Wake up!," Clark said. He loosened his shoe and kicked it into Clark's face. Some of the boards of the ceiling began to collapse and the fire started to grow. Sophia was also slowly waking up. "What?" Clark said as his eyes opened. "Fire!" Gavin shouted. "Clark can you get us out of here?" John said.

The guards had removed all of Clark's traditional technological gadgets, but a good hacker in the 22nd century always has an ace in the hole. Clark began moving his eyes all around in his head like he was looking for something. Finally, Clark had moved a small contact lens that had been stored in the back of his eye onto his pupil. Then, Clark turned on a small computer that he had in his contact lense, which was untraceable to the guards. These tiny computers were controlled by eye movement. Clark began moving his eyes up and down left and right to try and hack into the prison's system.

"What are you looking around for, Clark? get us out of here!" John said. "I'm using lens computer, but the prison's computer systems are down – the fire must have short-circuited the wiring," Clark replied. "We can't die here today!" Gavin said. "It's time to call in for back up ... initiate R4V3N Extraction Protocol," Clark said. Within seconds, several robotic ravens flew up to a barred window of the prison and pecked threw the bars. The ravens then flew towards Clark and pecked his chains away. Next, they did the same with the chains holding down John, Gavin and Sophia.

"Clark, you son of a bitch I love you," Gavin said. The rebels' chains fell to the ground. John grabbed Sophia and threw her over his shoulder. The Thunderbird lowered onto the prison ground. John looked to his side as he ran to the ship to all the burning bodies where the last Bible had just been burned. He felt anger in his heart towards God and everything that he had been taught. They entered the Thunderbird and took off. Three OSS fighter jets were scrambled that took off flying high into the sky after the Thunderbird.

"We got company!" Gavin yelled. Several blasts hit the ship shaking and sending it tumbling. "Shields up!" He turned the plane in summersaults, soaring across the blue sky. Then, he headed straight up towards the sky while the fighter jets followed. One of the fighters locked onto their ship and fired a missile straight for it. "Missile on your tail," Clark said. Gavin quickly released missile decoys and which sent the flying torpedo off course exploding in a fire across the sky. John was still devastated and could barely keep himself upright. He was truly tormented inside from what had just occurred. "I have failed you ... I have failed you," he muttered into the heavens.

"Let's see how you like this," Gavin said. He steered the ship into a sharp, banked turn, blasting the wing from a side-mounted blaster and sent it tumbling to the ground in a blaze of fire. "Come on ... come on ... come get me!" Gavin said as he took the Thunderbird into a mountainous area. Laser blasts hit rocks above the ship, hardly missing them. The ship turned through a steep set of rock and the other ship missed the turn and crashed into the mountain. Then, he quickly headed into a canyon of rock over water. There, several drones came flying into the sky that rained blaster fire over the ground where they flew.

"Alright, time to disappear," Gavin said as he pressed the cloaking button. However, a few circuits shot out of the button. "Crap, it's not working!" Gavin shouted. Clark plugged into the plane and began trying to fix it. One of the drones shot a mountain near them sending rocks in front of the ship. Gavin ducked and dove around them but some of them hit the cockpit and scratched the glass. "That's my ship," Gavin said. The last plane on his tail locked on and fired a prototype missile towards the firebird. The missile followed closely right behind the ship. The rebels dodged several more blasts from the drones above. The ship left the canyon and headed high into the sky. Gavin wanted to get above the drone fire, while the missile still followed closely behind. The fighter shot multiple fighters as they headed towards the sky. "Clark ... anytime now ...." Gavin said. "There we go! It's on!" Clark shouted. The ship disappeared into the sky. Gavin flipped the plane and headed straight forwards the remaining fighter and flew right over the top of it, sending the missile directly into the ship. "That was a close one," Gavin said. "John where to? John?" Gavin asked. He was still in shock from what had occurred. "John, I need you buddy. Stay with me," Gavin said putting his hand on John. Head for grandfather's house," John said. "You got it," Gavin said as he punched the throttle.

Aiden punched one of the guards in the One State capital. "Fools! How could you let them get away!" Aiden shouted. "They outflew us, sir. They're very good," One of the soldiers said. Aiden blasted him in the stomach. Then, on the holo-screens, Eidolon's face emerged. "Aiden, have you killed the terrorists? Have they been destroyed?" Eidolon asked. "A small group of rebels managed to escape the prison. But no matter – we have destroyed the last remnants of the terrorist literature. All the people of Earth will ever know is what the One State tells them," Aiden responded. "See to it that the terrorists are disposed of Aiden. We will not have complete control until the Knights are completely whipped out," Eidolon commanded. "With pleasure my Lord," Aiden said as he walked away. In his head, he was planning on how he was to overthrow Eidolon.

The thunderbird flew into the forest where Grandfather's house was. However, they saw a plume of smoke coming from where the house was. "Grandfather!" John cried out. The chambers were covered in rubble and black smoke. Gavin quickly landed the Thunderbird and John rushed to the house. He started pulling large pieces of wood and rock from the rubble. "Grandfather! Are you there? This can't be happening," John cried. The sky opened up and rain fell on John's angry and devastated face. It always seems to rain at times of transition: times of tribulations in your life. He managed to find a hole in the rubble and entered the secret chambers as he always did with the others. John ran through the hallways looking for Grandfather. He finally came to the chamber where they had completed their training. All the paintings were a torn mess on the ground. Grandfather was there on the floor moaning in pain.

"Grandfather!" John cried out as he ran to embrace him. He picked up his head as his eyes became tearful. "I'm here Grandfather. I promised we would be back. Everything's going to be ok," John cried. "I'm finished my son," Grandfather said as he coughed holding his side which had been badly wounded. A trail of blood covered the floor from his desk to where he was laying. "No! You're going to be ok! I promise!" John said with tears in his eyes.

Grandfather coughed between words, "Quickly son, we haven't much time. Under my desk, there is a tile that can be lifted. Open it and bring me what's inside it," Bellos asked. John ran to the desk looking for the tile. He brushed the dust and sand from the tiles to reveal a tile different from the others. Placing his fingers into the crevice, he lifted it up to reveal a small hole under the tile. He reached in his hand to reveal a very old black book. "Here it is," John said. Bellos looked at John with such joy and hope as he grazed his hands across his face.

"John, the Knights of the Living Earth have been wiped out. Somehow, Eidolon found out our hiding places and have killed off most, if not all of our members. There are some things I haven't told you about the order. A man named Aristotle founded the Knights of the Living Earth in Athens, Greece," Grandfather said as he coughed. After the law of power was revealed to him, he knew it was necessary to create a Knighthood to preserve the natural balance of the planet. He also began researching the other natural laws. His research is documented in this book ... 'The Book Of Remembering.'" Grandfather handed the book to John. John looked down at the book in amazement. He opened it to see vast pictures; drawings of the universe and math equations; and geographic locations.

"He foretold that the ancient tribes had discovered the natural order of things in their connection with nature. He believed the locations of where these natural laws are kept hidden in sacred places throughout the Earth, to be revealed in the time of greatest darkness. It is said that these natural laws are the basis from which all religions are built on. "Here take this," Grandfather said as he handed him a pin with an eagle on it. "You are now the Chief of the Knights of the Living Earth. I pass the title to you, as it was passed to me. Before you die, you must choose a successor and pass it to them as well. The Chief of the Knights of Living Earth is equivalent to the Pope of the Catholic Church, but for nature. Protect the planet John. You must uncover these natural laws and reveal them to humanity. That is the only way to save the planet from the One State. These natural laws are the very footprint of God. Promise me you will find them ... promise me," Grandfather said.

"I'm not good at keeping promises. I can't do it! I don't even know if I still believe in God. If there is a God how could he let all of this happen? How could he all his followers to be slaughtered, his word burnt to ash, or the world to be controlled by an evil empire? Humanity needs him. I need him. Why is he not here? Where is he?" John asked. Grandfather looked up at John and smiled.

Grandfather's eyes became still and the light of his soul left his body. John took his hand and closed his Grandfather's eyes. John, full of anger and despair, carried his Grandfather's limp body outside as the rain poured down on him. The rebels berried him and said their prayers as the rain poured. John again looked up into the sky with a sense of disappointment – that feeling you get when the reality in front of you is much less then you feel you deserve – then you feel should be. Almost as if the reality that you had imagined is better and more soundly created; that you have more awareness as to what should have occurred than the powers that sewed the universe together. John felt like there was nowhere for him to go; the drones could be watching him as we speak – Aiden watching his every move. Again, he touched the cross around his neck. He looked down at the book in his hand. Gavin, Clark and Sophia looked at him with anticipation, waiting as if he was the obvious chosen leader. John grabbed their hands as they stood in a circle with their eyes closed.

"Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in you my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by," John prayed.
PART II

CHAPTER 13 - REMEMBERING

John's thoughts were a tired phoenix meandering through the philosophical layers of Inferno. The Book of Remembering lay in his lap. Clark was, as usual, working on his computer while Gavin sat sharpening a knife. The Thunderbird was a larger plane that had room for them to walk around. The interior was silver and there were various gadgets and gismos attached to the walls of the ship. They were sitting in the center of the ship where there was a larger room with a table. John opened the Book of Secrets and began coughing from all the dust that was produced. There were various pages of handwritten words and beautiful paintings of nature. It was quite likeable to the Voynich Manuscript. "The Law of Power," John said as he read aloud Aristotle's words, "No person or group shall control either directly or indirectly more than 25 million square kilometers of land, including the human occupants of that land, on planet Earth. The Earth is uniquely divided by nature into seven distinct geographic areas of land and those regions shall be allowed sovereign, autonomous, and separate institutions of government or control. No person or group shall control either directly or indirectly more than half of two of the seven natural divided lands or the occupants of those lands on Earth." The page then had a drawing of the seven natural areas of divided land. "Well I guess Eidolon's in trouble. I'm pretty sure Eidolon's controlling more than that," Gavin said. "Wait! The paintings!" John said. John's memory surged with images of all the paintings he had seen throughout his Grandfather's house - world leader's painted with long math equations over the top of them. John remembered seeing Napoleon, Alexander the Great, Caesar, Hitler, Stalin, and several other leaders.

"They were measuring these leaders and their connections for potential violations of the law of power," John said. The book listed all the leaders the Order of Shadows was responsible for bringing down.

John continued to read, "The book says that the ancient Tribe of Iam discovered the seven natural laws. They inscribed these laws on the branches of a tree and hid them all throughout the world. Aristotle believed that one is right here in America in Old Upstate New York. He believed the Oneidas tribe came into possession of it and hid it in a temple somewhere around lake Ontario." Anxious, Gavin replied, "Well what are we waiting for?"

"We must proceed with extreme care," John said, "Aiden is going to be looking for us. He cannot know of this book, or of the content of our findings. We will go to these seven locations, find the seven branches of the tree, and reveal them to humanity. This is our duty as Knights of the Living Earth and from Grandfather's dying request. When humanity is again aware of the natural law, we lead the Global Rebel Army in war against the One State, kill Eidolon, and restore the rule of law to the Earth. Then, Gavin fired up the Thunderbird, cloaked and immune from drone detection, and the rebels headed for the old Oneida settlement.

Bob Loyalist opened the door of his prison cell and found nothing but a black pile of destruction. Perhaps he was just lucky. He brushed himself off and found a transport home. Bob was the spitting image of the average citizen of the One State. He spent his day at a meaningless job doing clerical work. He would come home, watch the holo-screen, and believe everything the news reporters would tell him. He indulged in entertainment, the gladiator fights, and never brought his awareness out of the monotony and less important things of life to question the world around him. He left his house to go watch the gladiator fight at a bar and saw that the entrances to the nature squares had been blocked off. On his way to the bar, he called his father from his head mounted computer. His location was recorded in the Universal Database, along with the audio of his conversation. The words he used were they keyword searched by the One State to assure there was not any dissent, discussion of nature, religion, or whatever matter they wanted to scrutinize you for. He would post videos and pictures to social networks. The social networks were the easiest way for the One State to spy on the populous. Just think, people willingly giving away their privacy to the people who control them. Any attempt to question any of this and you likely be called a traitor and kidnapped by the OSS. Then, the media would follow by a well-crafted FREEDOM IS SECURITY campaign. But all was well for Bob. As long as his basic needs of food and shelter are met, and he is kept unconscious and thinking in the reptile part of his brain, he will not question authority. The One State would keep him constantly in fear of attack from the rebellion; of the "terrorists." In the pursuit of these terrorists, everything was justified, everything was necessary, and everything was honorable. At least that is what they told him.

The Thunderbird landed in a remote area near Lake Ontario. The One State still had rural areas but most people lived in the main cities. "So what are we supposed to do?" Gavin asked. "The book says to look for something called the Standing Stone. Maybe we can ask some of the villagers if they know about it and they can help us find it. Clark, stay here and guard the ship," John said. "With my life. I'll see if I can make some improvements while you're gone," Clark answered. The Knights exited the ship to find themselves next to a lake. "Come on, there's a village up ahead on the hill," John said. "I'm so glad to be outside. The lake is beautiful. Look at the colors. It's so much better then grey walls I stared at for so long," said Sophia. "We'll make sure that never happens again," John said. "The hole planet is in a prison cell right now. We have to insure that they are freed," John said. "What if they don't want to be freed? What if they want to stay in the cage?" Sophia asked.

"They will want to leave. The human soul longs for freedom. Its longings can only be clouded by a tainted mind," John responded. They entered a rural village on the hilltop by the lake. There were various tents, people living outside, and villagers picking berries from the bushes. Most of the villagers gave the Knights a strange look. A young boy ran up to John in a curious and innocent way. The young boy walked around the rebels inspecting them; touching their equipment and grazing his hand across their clothing. He signaled back to the other villagers who were watching from the trees with weapons drawn.

"Skʌˀlhiyo," the boy said. "I hope that means he likes us," Gavin said. Suddenly, a spy drone flew overhead. All the villagers rushed into their tent. "Hao!" Hao!" The boy cried as he pulled John's arm toward one of the tents. The rebels followed the boy into one of the tents in the camp.

"I guess they don't like the One State either," John said. They were now amongst the tribesman. They seemed frightened by the drones, almost as if they thought it was trying to kill them. One of the elders walked up to John.

"The boy sees that you are good people. He has a good sense of that sort of thing. I guess that means you aren't part of the OSS, the Oneidas tribesman said. "You speak English?" said John. "Yes. Most of us know English, but we do everything we can to preserve our original tongue," he responded. "Does the OSS bother you? Have they come here?" John asked. "They came a while ago, but they didn't see much interest in us. They gave us some flags and told us that we had to follow certain rules but they don't check on us but for those drones flying above. But may I ask, what are you three doing in the Oneida village? We rarely get visitors from the outside," the tribesman said. "We are here to find a very important artifact near something called the standing stone," John said. All the natives that had been cowering in groups stopped their conversations, gasped and turned their heads in shock toward John.

"So I guess you do know where it is," John said. The native replied, "The standing stone is on forbidden grounds. It is a death sentence to go there. Hundreds of years ago, some of our people went to this land and they vanished: never to be seen again. We have since forbid anyone from our tribe from going there," the tribesman said. "Will you take me there?" John asked. "Are you mad?" he replied. "I have a promise to keep. I must find the standing stone. I believe it might contain something very valuable to humanity," John said. "Very well. I will take you there, but I will not enter with you and neither will any of our people," he replied. The native led the rebels in a canoe to an island just off the coast. The water was brackish. Gavin and John pushed the paddles through the water making tiny world pools shooting from the paddle at the end of each row. "So what's your name," Gavin asked. "Black Bear," the tribesman replied. "I don't think I could live out here with just trees and animals," Gavin said. "The city dwellers think they find happiness in their stone towers and electronic devices. But living off the land and putting back what is taken is the way humans were meant to live," Black Bear responded. As the canoe was grounded, the native told them, "This is as far as I go. I will wait for you here. The standing stone is straight in front of you. I wish you good luck." "Thank you for your kindness," John said as he, Gavin and Sophia bowed to the native.

"This way," John said. The beach sand turned to rock and the rebels began climbing a rock face. "Here give me your hand," John said as he pulled Sophia up. The sun was beating down on them quite heavily. "There! Behind those leaves!" John said. The rebels saw the entrance to a temple and began pulling branches that had grown over the entrance. They saw breathtaking Native American art and symbolism that decorated the entrance. The rebels stepped into the water that flooded the temple up to their knees. John assembled a torch from a dead man's clothes that he found near the entrance. The temple was covered in Native American symbolism. In it, various major events in history had been predicted. "This is amazing. How did they know all of this would happen?" Gavin said. "Starting to believe there is more to the world than what we see?" John asked Gavin. "Look! They predicted the Magna Carta. Look here's the renaissance and there's the industrial revolution," Sophia said. The rebels finally made it to the room of the standing stone. The room was surrounded by mystical sculptures and stones.

John cracked open the standing stone. The bits and pieces of the rock tumbled all over the floor. John lifted the blue branch from the open rock and held it in his hand. "What does it say?" Sophia asked. John glazed his eyes over the strange ancient language. "I can't read it. It's in some sort of ancient language," John said. "Maybe Clark can decode it. He's good at that sort of thing," Gavin said.

Suddenly, a blaster shot grazed passed Sophia's shoulder. "Watch out!" John said. Three of the Will of Cross members flooded into the temple. "Drop the branch." Said David – the one of the leaders within the Will of the Cross. These intolerable priests had shaved heads and wore red and white robes. "I hate these guys," John said as he slowly put the branch back into the standing stone. "May God cruse you!" David said as he punched John across the face. "How arrogant you are to go against God's will. He has sent a clear message that Heaven's gates are closed and no one else shall be worthy to hear God's word."

"This isn't God's word. Those were all destroyed." "Oh we know. Now you seek to reveal God to the people through other means. We simply cannot allow that. Now which one shall I kill first? Your best friend? Or your girlfriend?" David said. "How can you be so selfish as to think salvation is not intended for those born as we speak?" John inquired. "That is not for us to decide. It is clear that God has made his choice. Now we will make ours. Shoot him." The priest cocked the blaster toward John's head. A loud blaster shot rang throughout the temple. Gavin and Sophia gasped in horror. They looked to see that the priest had been shot through the torso. He fell to his knees then onto his face in pool of blood. Clark stood with his blaster smoking up at the entrance to the standing stone. He then threw his matter sword at some hanging rocks that fell over David and the remaining priest.

"Thanks, Clark." John said. He then ran to pick up the branch. "Clark we need you to translate this language," John requested. "They put the language into Clark's computer which deconstructed it and compared it against every language known to man. Clark then projected the English translation on the wall for the rebels to see. It seems that each branch had a main natural law as well as other laws that were derived from it that were written on the smaller branches that grew from it. The words illuminated onto the temple wall:

"Within every human being is a conscious living soul. God is within the very fabric of the human soul and the matter of the human heart. All humans shall pursue self-awareness and commune God's presence within them. In doing so, they shall reject their baser urges and their animalistic, unconscious desires. All humans are equal in their status of God occupied human souls. Because we are all equal, pride, arrogance, and the ego shall be stricken from the mind of a human soul. Humans shall forgive those who do wrong against them and not keep a ledger of transgressions. Selflessness shall be pursued by all humans. Charity, hospitality, and giving where you could receive are of the highest of virtues. All human souls have the capacity to commune with each other through soul speak."

The rebels stood awe-struck at the beautiful language that was before them. "It's beautiful," Sophia said. The rebels could feel movement within themselves. Perhaps their souls rejoiced inside their heavenly bodies from seeing its truth broken down in such plain language. It was as if their very souls shook their head in agreement. They could feel a chill run through their body.

"Can you imagine if all of humanity knew about this?" Sophia asked. John's mind raced through the pages of all the religious texts that had been destroyed. "I'm certain that all of these laws are within every major religious text. I remember seeing similar verses in the Quran, the Buddhist writings and the Bible as well," John said. "This branch is thousands of years old. Is it possible that the religions all copied from this?" Gavin asked. "I guess it's possible. Perhaps the members of the Iam tribe revealed them in stages to various cultures and they each were described in their own light by the prophets," John said. "It's easy to see how the One States seeks to hide these truths from the population. They distract them with nonsense and tries to drive them away from the presence of the divine that is within. In doing so, they become easily manipulated and docile."

"You can deduce other things from these laws," Gavin said. "For instance, slavery is clearly wrong if we are all equal because that would imply that the owner is superior to the owned," Gavin added. "Yes. Yes." John said. "War would also be difficult to justify because it would imply keeping a ledger of wrongdoings by a culture. War would then only be justified if someone is in clear violation of a number of natural laws." History has been the story of one group oppressing another. The employment of these laws would have saved millions of lives and prevented mass injustice. We must reveal them to the rest of the world," John said.

"The constitution also employed these virtues as well," Gavin said. "This reveals the very reason why the 5th, 13th, and 14th amendments are so important. Is it possible that these values were revealed to some of the founding fathers?" Gavin asked.

"There are drastic implications for women, relationships and love as well," Sophia said. "If men and women adhered to these laws, and were in touch with their inner consciousness, perhaps they wouldn't fight so much. Perhaps so many relationships would not be a struggle for dominance and ego gratification. I feel like these laws redefine what true love is." Sophia felt her soul united in oneness of the world around her. Her vision seemed to change and she saw things differently. She felt like she understood what love was for the very first time. Her thoughts filled with images of all the time she spent making herself beautiful because she had a deep seated desire to feel loved by a man, most recently by John.

"I feel ... different," Sophia said to John as she looked at him through the lenses of consciousness for the first time. "What's different?" John asked. "I ... I don't know. I feel like I've been asleep for a long time and that I just woke up or something," Sophia said. "I'm sure we'll all have a lot of soul searching to do with the more of the laws that we uncover." John said. The projection on the wall faded. "Come on guys, let's head back to the ship and try to figure out where the next branch is hidden," John said. The rebels tracked through the knee-high water and returned to the canoe, only to find their guide had been killed: surely by the priests. 
Chapter 14 - Trees

The man in the wilderness sat in a forest next to Aiyana. Some of the native boys ran past them as they skipped along and played. "They know nothing of greed. They know nothing of selfishness or anger," Aiyana said. Aiyana took a long look at the trees around her. "The trees, they tell us everything," she said. "For years, we studied the trees of this forest very closely and we learned a great deal. The trees ... they are alive. Truly alive. They have an entire civilization where they take care of one another. We discovered that the roots of the trees can hear each other. The trees share sunlight and are able to limit their growth so that they do not steal light from under trees. They truly defy the survival of the fittest mentality that we find in biology. Most importantly, trees can sense when another tree is week and will assist it, even if it is not from the same species. They are amazing creatures. Parent trees intentionally deprive their children of sunlight to limit their growth so that they do not grow too fast; they want to give them a strong foundation that will stand strong in a storm. The trees live in harmony with several other lifeforms such as fungi, birds, and insects. They have their own language and communicate with one another just like we do. We believe that they do it through electrical impulses or scent to communicate. We took all of this, combined with what we know about Fysi and conducted an experiment," Aiyana said.

"We took some of the children and placed them in different areas of the island and did not tell them about the others. The first village, we called village X and the second village we called village Y. Ten children were placed in village X. In village X, we spread the resources and food out so that two of the children had significantly more than the others. The children were also surrounded by violent tribal images of warriors and weapons. We found out quickly that the two children with more food tried to control the other children and constantly explained that they were better than them. Eventually, the eight unequally yoked children became violent and began to show signs of aggression; perhaps a primal urge for dominance. The eight children killed the other two and fought over who would control the food. They would have all killed themselves in a bloody show of dominance, had we not intervened and stopped them. But in village Y, we distributed food equally among the children. We taught them that that they were to share and treat each other well. They were only surrounded by beautiful images of nature and were taught nothing about dominance, violence or control. It was miraculous what happened. The children grew up and treated each other with kindness. They acted as a unit. When they wanted to hunt, they elected leaders amongst themselves to lead the tribe. When that hunting trip was finished, the leader relinquished his post and allowed the others to have a chance. From this we learned that there is a direct proportion between how many people are controlled and the amount of time the leader should be in power. The more people that are controlled, the less amount of time that person should be in power. If they are in power for too long, it will bread contempt and violence," Aiyana said. "That's incredible," said the man in the wilderness. "One of the children from village Y is in charge now," Aiyana said. "He's been in charge for several sun cycles and we expect to have a new one soon," she said.

Back at the One State capital, Aiden sat in his chambers in a hot tub amongst several OSS officers with multiple women, drugs, and a blaster in his hand. "Tell me who's the greatest? Aiden asked one of the girls. "You are baby," one of the girl said. An OSS officer brought in a new girl ... it was Elizabeth. "Ah, what do we have here?" Aiden asked the guard. "This girl is a Jewish prisoner who has defected. She has decided to side with the One State," the guard said. "I'm so glad you joined us Elizabeth. I'm sorry we couldn't have met sooner," Aiden said as he slowly walked up the steps out of the hot water. Aiden stroked his blaster across her chest and up to her neck, pulling her chin up to his attention. "Quite a nice specimen. I shall keep you here in the capital for ... personal services," Aiden said. As he said this, one of the other OSS officers was violating one of the girls. She had been in Aiden's chambers for a while being touched and used by several OSS officers and she just had reached her breaking point.

"Stop! Get off of me," the girl said, as she scratched his face. Aiden turned and pointed his blaster directly at her. "Do you not like your place young one?" Aiden said as he walked towards her, corning her over a hollow walkway. "If the One State tells you you're a whore ... then you're a whore!" Aiden said, pressing a button which caused the metal floor beneath the girl's feet to fall out. The girl screamed as she fell into a pit of Komodo dragons. She screamed as they ripped her to shreds. Elizabeth stood there watching. Her emotions were completely numb and where she would have been outraged before, she was indifferent.

Suddenly, Eidolon came onto the screen and Aiden rushed to attention. "Yes my Lord. What is your command?" Aiden asked. "We have detected unsanctioned seismic activity in a small village. The Knights are still at large. The One State is not secure until they are all dead," Eidolon said. "I will seek them out and bring you their heads," Aiden said. "See to it that you do. And there is more. The GSA has detected from the public's social posts and phone conversations that they still have memories and are practicing non-religious traditions. In Old China, the children are still taking care of their parents. They bow to their food when they eat. They are sharing and doing other things that represent a value system from the Traditions of Old. These Old non-religious traditions contain values that a slave population cannot be allowed to possess. You must slowly begin to remove these remnants of Old Cultures from the Universal Database. Do not permit new information to be uploaded that contain these traditions. Continue to promote the culture and traditions of the One State. People must be loyal to us over their families," Eidolon commanded. "It will be done," Aiden said.

In the Thunderbird, John opened the Book of Remembering. The book seemed to turn cold as images of snow and ice filled the pages. "Aristotle believed the next branch is hidden somewhere in Siberia with the Kets," John read. "Old Russia? Well I'll be damned." Gavin said as he fired up the ship and the rebels flew towards the land of ice.

As the ship flew through the air, Clark sat on his tablet as the rest of the crew were sleeping. Clark had built some special code that detected unusual activity throughout the world. An alarm went off on his tablet in the Old China region. He hacked into a glass camera of a Chinese man in the area to see what was going on. He saw images of a man marching through the streets of Beijing alongside a large group of protestors. Men, women and children were hoisting signs into the air and wearing traditional Chinese clothing. It was as if the longest standing cultural tradition on the planet was itself marching through the streets.

"John wake up! John you need to see his," Clark said. John's eyes fluttered open and with concern, he grabbed the tablet. Looking through the point of view on the man on the street, he saw the crowd march toward a blockade of OSS officers. The man was chanting, "沒有一個世界政府." Drones were flying all around the crowd and several tanks were filling the streets. A line of tanks moved toward the large crowd of protesters. Clark and John could see through the man's eyes as he began to walk forward. He left the group and walked toward the line of tanks. The crowd drew silent and the air stood still. The heart of the military industrial complex stopped beating. The tanks came to a hard stop as the man stood there in name of Chinese freedom. The crowd grew to a cheer. John felt his nose crinkle and eyes slightly water from what he had just seen. Suddenly, the Chinese OSS commander came onto the holo-screen overlooking the entire square: "Cease your terrorist activities immediately ... or else," he commanded. The crowd began to yell out of anger and frustration at the suppression of their culture. Then, they rushed towards the line of OSS officers in their riot gear. The tanks rushed forward as the man dove out of the way. Clark's holo-screen shook as the camera became unstable. The protesters met with the OSS officers and the first line of them were slaughtered. The OSS penetrated the crowd shooting at many of the men. They took the Chinese dragons from them, destroyed some of the Chinese architecture surrounding the square, and murdered hundreds of thousands of the protestors. Finally, the Chinese man disappeared into a fog of tear gas. It was clear that the people were no longer free to express even non-religious traditions.

John set down the tablet and looked out the Thunderbird as the sky flew past him. "We need to act. We can't let this action go unanswered. It is our duty to stop this level of oppression," John said. "What's that?" Gavin asked as he walked into the room. "Gavin, the One State has committed a mass crime against humanity in destroying and outlawing cultural traditions that have lasted for thousands of years," John said. "What else is new?" Gavin replied. "You said earlier that you were afraid if Eidolon's oppression of the people got to big, humanity might no longer have the will or capability to resist. I believe your right. That is why we must act. The people must see defiance against the One State, in public so that the spirit of rebellion is kept alive. You and Clark need to go and kill the Chinese Commander," John requested. "You mean before the revealing of the information from the Book of Remembering?" Gavin asked. "Yes. I just ... don't think it can wait," John added with hesitation. Gavin saw the images on the holo-screen of Chinese protesters being murdered and their cultural imagery smashed and estimated.

"Nothing would delight me more than to take that out that monster," Gavin said. The Thunderbird's alarm went off. "We're coming up on the 2nd location now," he added. Sophia came into the room. She had really recovered now and was looking beautiful and brave: a true symbol of the Old Republic. Sophia and John put on parachutes and skydived from the Thunderbird while Clark and Gavin headed to Old China. The air rushed passed Sophia and John as they held hands. The ground caught up to them as they landed in a field of snow and ice.

John held Sophia's hand as they walked through the snow that was as white as clouds. They came up to various Slavic idol statues. Their faces and bodies resembled gods and goddesses of nature, dancing amongst the snowy clouds. "I guess some of the older religious symbols are still around ... must not be on the radar of the One State ... at least for now," John said. Sophia had a look of despair on her face. She would continue glancing at John through the thick animal fur of her hood and then she would look back into the depths of her soul.

"This is kind of romantic don't you think? You ... me out here in this snowy paradise," John said sarcastically. "Yea ... it's great," Sophia said hesitantly. "Hey what's wrong?" John asked. "I've just ... I've been thinking a lot about the first natural law that we found," she said. "Yea? What do you think?" John asked.

"I just see you in a different light, like I understand love differently. It's like, love isn't some sort of emotion that I feel, its ... it has to do with consciousness with a revelation of the soul. Love is the recognition of the oneness of two souls. Almost like they are extensions of yourself, to be treated the same way you would treat your own body; you care for it, you pay attention to it, you protect it," she said. John grabbed Sophia and kissed her. When their lips touched their souls slow danced on their insides as they expressed true love. John held Sophia close as the cold began to grow stronger. Suddenly, the wind picked up. The sky opened up and blew a harsh gust of air onto the two of them. The snowstorm was an unyielding tormenter as it blew them from side to side, while the snow encapsulated their feet. Sophia began to fall down into the snow, too weak to move forward.

"Come on! We have to keep moving," John said while he struggled in the storm. Her feet felt like lead as she tried to lift them to walk. She fell into the snow, fainting from the cold weather. John picked her up out of the snow and carried her on his shoulder. John too began to grow weak from the cold. He tried his communication device but it had broken from the cold weather. Once again, he looked up to the sky with a feeling of spite and anger.

"Now you will allow me to die too? Out here in this blizzard?" John said, shouting at the sky. John began to slow even more as he carried his heavy body through the cold. His skin felt like it was crawling with needles and his heart began to grow tired of pushing the cold blood through his veins. He dropped to his knees in despair and anguish. "You truly have died," John yelled into the heavens. Suddenly, a spiritual aurora appeared in front of him. "... Grandfather?" John said. "John, you must not lose the faith. You represent all this good in this world," Grandfather said to him. "Eidolon ... he's destroying the culture of humanity. We'll never be able to restore it," he responded. "He cannot destroy what is in the fabric of the universe around you. John, the natural law is not only found in the Book of Remembering. It is also self-evident. It is all around you. It is within you," Grandfather said as he faded away.

"No ... wait ... I need you," John said. A sled carried by dogs penetrated grandfather's sprit as it faded away. The man put John and Sophia on his sled before whipping the dogs towards town. John and Sophia woke up in an abandoned hut near a fire and in warm blankets. "You nearly died out there my friend," said Kaslov. "Kaslov?" John said. "I told you I had your back. My comrade saw you out in the snowstorm and brought you here. You're both lucky to be alive," Kaslov said. "What are you doing in Old Russia? I thought you operated in Old America?" John asked. "I get around. Running the markets behind the government's back is a lot of work. Sometimes I want to relax at my home," he responded. "Thank you so much for saving us," Sophia said. "For the beautiful woman of Shepard ... anything. Since we are in the business of doing each other favors now, I thought you might be interested in helping me. The government is having a ball at the Ice Palace here in town. They are unveiling a new technology that I would very much like to have for myself. Can you help me?" Kaslov asked.

"Wait ... the Ice Palace?" John said as he opened the Book of Remembering and saw that the Ice Palace was built on top of where the book believed the second branch to be. "Yes. Let's leave at once. Tonight ... the Knights will know two victories," he said.
Chapter 15 - Ice

The marvelous Liyuan Theater filled with actors and actresses in a festival of lights and sounds. Clark sat amongst the crowd as the show went on. "The show has begun," Clark said into his comlink. "Copy that Clark. I am entering the building now," Gavin said as he shot a harpoon onto the top of theatre. The once beautifully decorated theatre was now covered in One State symbolism with a statute of Eidolon standing tall on the top. Gavin flew onto the top of the building and landed in ready position in the shadows. His face was concealed with a hood covered his face in a shadow. He was wearing the dark grey robe of the Knights of the Living Earth. It had a pin on the front in the shape of the earth. The arms and legs were covered in Native American decorations.

The play was a marvelous show of the One State triumphing over terror and the glorious creation of the One State. However, the writers of the play had obviously taken artistic license with the timing and events of Eidolon's rise to power.

"The commander is in the top suite. Other OSS officers are with him," Clark said as the Opera singer's voice rose to the height of the theatre. Gavin then shot a harpoon onto one of Eidolon's arms and swung down across the side of the theatre. His feet glided softly against the concrete and windowpanes while he swung. As he came to a stop at one of the windows on top of the theatre, he smashed through the window with his matter sword and entered the building.

Clark watched as the One State leader of the play sang triumphantly while he vanquished the terrorist. They sang the One State World Anthem as the terrorist actor lie in a pool of blood on the floor. The Commander watched with a smile as they hunted for the next terrorist while sitting in his chair having a cigar. Gavin burst through the broken glass. Two guards saw him and quickly tried to turn and blast him but Gavin rolled in between, sprang from his summersault, extended his arms and shot each of them simultaneously from his wrist mounted blasters. They fell to the ground as Gavin rushed toward the top suite.

"Allow me to provide you with some cover," Clark said as he cut all security alarms and lights within the top suite. Now, many of the various military men and leaders were quite startled when the lights were cut. The powerful men coward as the scrambled to find themselves from the faint light coming into the room. Suddenly, the lights flickered on and Gavin was standing right behind the Commander, as if he had appeared there out of thin air. The lights went out again. The men scrabbled to find themselves. "Commander! Commander," one of the men yelled in the darkness. The lights flickered on again. The Commander had vanished. The play began to reach a climax where the Chinese Commander was hoisted into the air by the citizens like a god. The choir's voices rang in harmony throughout the theatre with voluminous carry. The actor playing the Commander was raised high up into the air as the citizens voices sang him praise.

"Time for lights out," Clark said as the lights in the theatre suddenly went out. Of course, to the audience, the darkness was simply part of the play. When the lights came back on, the Chinese Commander of the One State hung by his neck as the people below him cheered. The audience gasped in shock as pictures and video recordings of him hanging there began to flood the Universal Database. Clark made sure to capture the event himself. He set up some code so that the images would flood the database and reproduce every time it was deleted. All of Old China rejoiced in the streets as the tyrant hung. As expected, the theatre was quickly closed. The hearts of the Chinese people rejoiced. Their souls were filled with the one thing that powers soul more than anything: the hope of freedom. John and the Clark disappeared like winged birds into the shadows.

Meanwhile, John and Sophia walked into the ball. The Ice Palace was a gorgeous scenery. Almost everything was made of ice, from the cocktail glasses to the walls, from the tables, to the sculptures of various military officer's busts. John was dressed quite dapperly in his suit while Sophia's gorgeous body filled her sky blue dress with the most marvelous feminine curvature. John felt strange being out in the open like this but he had clearly underestimated Kaslov's abilities. One State military officers and leaders were telling their stories around gambling tables, cocktails and self-glory. Sophia sat at the bar with an ice-cocktail and was approached by an OSS officer.

"Hello gorgeous," the Officer said as he kissed her hand. "Hi," Sophia said as he internally rolled her eyes and managed to put on one of those fake and polite smiles. "I have killed hundreds of terrorists. I'm very highly ranked in the OSS. Would you like to dance with me?" The officer asked. That was how most men in the military party measured themselves: kills and rank. "That's going to be difficult to do when she's dancing with me," John said with a cigar in hand as he pulled Sophia from the bar onto the dance floor. He pulled her close as they slow danced to cool Russian Jazz piano. "I can't leave you out of my sight," John said. "I can handle myself," Sophia said as she gestured to a key held snug between her breasts that she had swiped off the guard.

"I love you," John said. The two rebels snuck away from the party and found a strange door away from the rest of the party. Kaslov and his men blended into the party, playing the gambling tables, waiting for the OSS to reveal their new technology. Sophia put the key into the strange door and John and Sophia disappeared from the party into the basement of the Ice Castle. They entered the basement to find the sound of multiple generators and machines helping to uphold the castle of ice. John opened up the Book of Remembering.

"We should be right on top of the second temple right now," John said. "But where is it?" Sophia asked as they continued to walk past wires and into a small passageway carved out of the ice. Finally, they came to a room that was decorated in Slavic mythological statues and art.

"The One State must have found this when they were building this place," John said. He turned the pages of the book, and read "The second branch is held by Stribog in the temple of snow and ice," he read. He placed his hands across the Zbruch idols: these long rectangular stone sculptures. John continued to read, "Sadko's song open's Stribog's door."

John played an ancient Russian chord progression on the sculpture of Sadko. Suddenly, a small door opened in the middle of the statutes and art. John lowered Sophia down into the snowy cave below. The air was getting noticeably colder, and it was getting harder to carry their bodies toward the second branch. They jumped down several levels of pathway covered in snow and ice. The pathway became separated and they were forced to leap amongst stone pillars of ice. Then, they climbed down a ladder, further into the depths of the ice cave. Suddenly, the piece of wood that held Sophia in place gave out and she fell, screaming towards the bottom. John grabbed her arm as she hung watching the pieces of snow and wood fall from above her.

"You're alright," John said as he carried her on his back down to the bottom safely. The continued down another path, forcing them through a narrow passage of ice. The rebels came to a narrow passageway up against the rock side overlooking the abyss of ice. John and Sophia shuffled their feet across the passageway. John accidently stepped on some rock's. He shook and almost lost his balance as the rock's fell into oblivion. They headed into the final room and found a long flat walkway of gorgeous flat ice. Suddenly, a dead body came into their vision as well as digging equipment. The rushed to the pillar at the end of the room.

"Someone has been here already, " John said. "You don't think ... the OSS found the branch ... do you?" John asked. Suddenly, John's comlink came on, "Where are you John, they are starting the auction. And it seems whoever wins the item will get to test it out on some old religious statutes," Kaslov said. "Kaslov, is there a statute of Stribog?" John asked. Kaslov responded, "Yes my friend, they're auction it off soon." Please don't let that statue get destroyed!" John said. "I'll see what I can do," Kaslov said as sat down. The auction began by a OSS General speaking at the podium, "Hello my fellow leaders and soldiers of the One State. Today we grow stronger in our fight against terrorism. Voilà! View the majesty of our new weapon!"

Some of the other guards brought him a prototype weapon. "This is the targeted EMP. With it, we can disable terrorist electronic devices while our weapons remain intact. Take this trooper to my right," he said. The general pointed the gun at the trooper who was carrying two large blaster rifles. The trooper then blasted the wall to demonstrate that his weapons were working. The general then shot him with the EMP gun. The EMP glowed with a blue tint and made a sharp noise at is it disabled all the electronic devices on the trooper. The trooper then continued to fire his gun but to no avail. He had been completely disabled by the EMP. The crowd rose in applause to praise the marvels of the One State military industrial complex.

"We shall use this technology in the fight against terrorism and for the security of the One State," the general said, "Everyone is welcome to come try the prototype out in the testing area at any time during the auction," he said. Kaslov then got in line for the prototype as his men swarmed the exits. The bidding in the auction occurred in the new world currency: the Bancor.

The auctioneer started, "Who wants to bid on the chance to destroy this religious statue found in a cave nearby," the auctioneer said. Do I hear 300 Bancors? 300 Bancors. I have 300 Bancors. Do I hear 400 Bancors? Can you give you me 400 Bancors? I have 400 Bancors! Can you give me 500 Bancors! 500 Bancors Do I have 500 Bancors. I have 500 Bancors do I have 600 Bancors. Can you give me 600 Bancors? 600 Bancors. Anybody 600 Bancors? 500 Bancors going once. Going twice. Sold to number 243!" The Soldier who won then came to the stage with his weapon. Simultaneously, Kaslov had made it to the front of the line and got to hold the new EMP weapon.

"Ah, this is nice," he said. "And what happens is I turn this lever hear all the way up?" Kaslov asked. "Sir, I advise you not to increase the power to that level ... it could become dangerous. Kaslov took the cigar out of his mouth and said, "To live is to dance with danger." With that he set off the EMP, disabling all the electronic devices in the entire Ice Palace, including the gun in the hands of the man ready to destroy the head of Stribog. The entire palace broke out into a brawl as Kaslov's men pummeled and attacked the OSS officers.

John and Sophia emerged from the icy cave and joined the fight. John punched various OSS officers and rather enjoyed seeing them. John dove for the Stribog head and was hit over the back with a chair by a rather large OSS goon. His swollen body barely rolled away in time from the goon's fist as it smashed the icy floor.

By this time, the EMP had disabled the generators downstairs and the Ice Palace was beginning to fall apart. The floor began to collet water as it feel from the walls and ceiling of the palace. John was able to throw an ice fork into the goon's eye but then was pushed onto the ground again while the head of the statute broke into pieces and the second branch emerged. The goon raised his hand to smash John into oblivion. Suddenly, he was knocked over the head with a thick ice sculpture and fell to the ground. Sophia stood high above the goon and helped John up.

"Ugh, men. You'd lose your heads without us," Sophia said. John quickly picked up the branch, put it in his pocket and ran for the collapsing door that was the ice castle. Kaslov and most of his men had made it out and Kaslov had obtained the EMP device that he had so desired.

"You save yourself my friend. We will recon later," Kaslov said to John as they were separated by ice falling from the ceiling. John and Sophia ran from the collapsing castle however they were being chased through the snow by several other guards. John's comlink had finally started working again.

Gavin, are you there? Get me out of here! Gavin we need extraction immediately!" John yelled. The Thunderbird swooped down as they began to run towards an ice cliff. "We're not going to make it!" John yelled. The EMP began to ware off and the blaster shots came flying past John and Sophia. At least twenty OSS guards were chasing them.

"Jump," John said to Sophia as they dived off the cliff. The world seemed to slow down as it does with all moments where it feels like death is imminent. The Thunderbird swooped down and did a nosedive following the two rebels. The ship flew directly under the rebels and caught them just in time as the ice castle fully collapsed. The Thunderbird flew away as the rebels were pulled inside, finally together again, and now with the second pieces of the natural law puzzle.

"That was close," John said at the table with Sophia and Clark. "We need to go over our procedures should our equipment become disabled again," John said. He was finally able to see Gavin's work in China. "This is great," he said. "It's been all over the Universal Database for the past 48 hours. The whole world is aware that we exist and what we're capable of," Gavin commented. "That's exactly what we want. Dissent must be kept on the minds of the populous for as long as possible," John said. He took out the second branch and laid it on the table. "This one almost did not make it ... and I have a feeling this one will be very important. Clark would you please translate this one as well?" John asked. Clark analyzed the language of the branch and placed it into the holo-screen. The second natural law displayed on the wall of the ship:

"Morality is defined by the conscious act or failure to act and is measured by the context and cause-effect nature of the act or omission. Only the Actions or Omissions of a human can be good or bad; institutions, objects, and people are not inherently good or bad. Truth shall be pursued. Expressing anything but the whole truth is wrong. Cheating is wrong. Committing adultery is wrong. Human life is sacred. Murder is wrong. Disturbing the peace of a person's mind or body without cause is wrong. It is wrong to violate the natural rights of person without just cause."

The rebels were stunned by what displayed before them: The Universal Code of Moral Law. John held the cross around his neck. Only this time he felt his loyalty the symbol come into question. He felt the images of his Sunday School teacher tell him over and over how the Bible was the only true religion. He could feel his unconscious loyalty to Christ being pulled from every way. He read the laws that were in front of him and realized that they were basically indisputable. The thoughts of his readings in the other religious texts filled his mind. Like a bird who could see forest amongst the trees, he felt like he could see the universal moral code that carried through all the religions for the first time. "This is an incredible find," John said. "I haven't read scripture in what feels like ages. My soul is filled with joy the chance to see such divine inspired words," he added.

"Imbeciles!" Aiden said as he choked the life from a Chinese OSS officer. "And you! How could you let them take the EMP prototype! We were supposed to use that to disable their weapons," Aiden said as he shot multiple officers that were tied up and hung to the wall. "1,000 apologies Commander ... it will never happen ... again," One of the Russian officer's said as he was shot. "I agree ... it will not happen again." Just then, Eidolon came onto the screen. "We are to move forward with our plans for the consolidation of power on Earth," Eidolon said. "Yes my Lord," Aiden said. "The people of earth are fragmented by languages which makes them more difficult to control. Some of these languages contain cultural symbolism and values that leave open the possibility of communicating ideas of dissent. We must consolidate these languages into one so that the population will be easier to control," Eidolon stated.

"Yes my Lord. Perhaps we should use English ... it is quite a malleable language. We have made the most progress with the English language removing any kind of words of dissent or disapproval of the state from the Universal database than any of the other languages," Aiden said. "Indeed it is a simple language. Why, one can speak tons of words without actually saying anything. No wonder their politicians were able to keep so much from the public, and justify so much war and atrocities. It can give the appearance of substance to a passing breeze. Very well convert all languages in the Universal Database and see to it that all anti-establishment viewpoints are quashed immediately," Eidolon commanded.

"It will be done," Aiden said. Aiden then gave the commands to the managers of the Universal database as he was instructed. A very elite group of ex-military officers and technocrats within the inner party managed the Universal Database in secrecy. As one could imagine, a mass translation of all information throughout history done by a computer would be a sloppy affair. And it was.

When any of the One State citizens would type things into their computers, unconventional words or thoughts would simply be replaced for you. When you searched for things, the database would often tell you what you were looking for. It would also organize information in terms of favorability to the establishment so that any information that was even neutral in regards to the state would not be found. One man typed the following phrase before being imprisoned for failure to use the approved state words and writing dissenting thoughts, "The One State (protects me and keeps me safe). I wish I could tell Eidolon (how grateful I am for his leadership). He is (protecting) my (security) and (strengthening) the world. I feel like I am in a cage like a (dog) and cannot ever fly away."

The population of the world who did not speak English was now forced to learn it, sitting at home with mandated lessons. If they chose not to learn it, their citizenship within the One State would be revoked and they would be exiled. In the One State, exile meant to be taken to camps and typically killed or put to work until you died. However, if they wanted to make a spectacle out of you, they would shoot you up into space on a rocket—you would be exiled in a truly literal sense. Not only was the rest of the world forced to learn English, but they were learning a distorted version of the language, free of any ideas or thoughts that would influence dissent. But it wasn't just the language that was occurring it was the stories within the database. You see, people always understand things based on a preconceived narrative that they have decided for themselves is a verified and true explanation of their existence and their place in society. Before the One State, the stories within the database represented a myriad of different viewpoints and explanations for things that the reader could judge for themselves. Now, all the stories were pro-government, as expected. Both fiction and non-fiction were now streams of government propaganda. 
Chapter 16 - Stone

The rebels watched the news from within the Thunderbird on a holo-screen. "Today, the OS has reconciled thousands of years of division between humanity. Today we are united by our language. One World. One Language. One Currency. One Culture. One State," The anchor said. John turned it off, "I can't watch it anymore," he said, opening the Book of Secrets. The pages seem to turn hot with images of sand and ancient history filled the pages. "The third branch of natural law is in the cradle of civilization: Babylon," John read. "That's Old Iraq isn't it?" Gavin said. Gavin had fought in WWIII. This war was a battle for survival between the United States and China over control of the Middle East. The superpowers of the world had failed to rid themselves over their dependence on fossil fuel and fought for several years over the control of Old Iraq, Old Saudi Arabia, Old Iran, Old Egypt and several other countries. Gavin's memory flashed of the horrors he had seen in war: losing his friends to IIEDs, the countless civilians who were killed by drone strikes, and use of chemical weapons, and other horrors of war. Gavin still considered himself to be American despite the fact it no longer existed.

"To Iraq then," Gavin said. Gavin took hold of the controls and flew them towards the birthplace of civilization. John sat in his bed staring up at the inside of the ship as they travelled. He wrote with a quill pen on paper while everyone else slept. He knew he had to start positioning himself for the war that was sure to come. He dipped his quill into ink and dragged it across the small piece of paper he had acquired through the black markets. He wrote, "Dear Kaslov, the fog of war is upon us. We must begin placing our pawns. The inner party is crawling with power-hungry elites waiting for the One State to turn its back so they can stab it in the dark of night. We must create division amongst them. All is justified. Spread your men throughout the globe and begin seducing the men within the inner party. We will appeal to their lust for power, women, illegal drugs, and all other forms of vice. Contact me only by carrier pigeon. Down with the One State. Long live the Global Rebel Army. Sincerely, John Shepherd."

John rolled up his paper and placed it on the leg of a carrier pigeon. The Thunderbird had a special deployment system for these birds. They were covered in a protective casing so they could be deployed from high altitudes and high speeds. Sophia was also writing a letter from her bed, "Dear Elizabeth, Please contact me. I've been worried sick about you. I can't imagine what they've done to you. I miss you. Even though our time together was without freedom, I still feel lost without you. Please don't fall too far into the OSS's indoctrination. Remember liberty. Remember standing up to the OSS officers. Remember your faith. Remember God is alive and Eidolon is evil. Please don't show this to anyone else. I know there is still good in you. Sincerely, Sophia Nomani."

The notes were delivered by the rebel's carrier pigeons. Elizabeth read the note and a tear came to her eye. While standing near a window high up in the One State Capital, the pigeon sat on the windowsill with its tiny foot up and open, as if it was asking for a response. The pigeon looked at her with curiosity waiting for its message. After a few days, Elizabeth finally wrote back, "Sophia, I'm sorry you have chosen to side with the terrorists. Eidolon has protected me and kept me safe. The One State is creating a world free of the divisions and freedoms that have caused countless wars, injustice, and bloodshed. We don't have to be divided anymore. I no longer desire to be free. I desire the security of humanity. Please consider surrendering yourself before it's too late. Signed, Elizabeth Bella."

The pigeon jumped into its flight suit and travelled back up to the Thunderbird, delivering the note to Sophia. Tears came to her eyes as she read the note written by the shell of her former friend's self. The Thunderbird landed in the middle of the desert. The sun was beating down on the ship as it cloaked itself in the beige backdrop of sand. The rebels managed to find some camels and headed onwards into the desert. John read through the pages of the Book of Remembering while riding his camel.

"The third natural law lies between the two rivers, in the cradle of culture," John said. Hours passed as they crossed the desert terrain. Suddenly, a group of speeders approached them from up ahead. "Clark!" What's going on?" John asked in hostility. "They've hacked our location! Run!" Clark said as he shot an EMP blast into the sky, disabling the drones that were flying above. Several predator drones fell from the sky and crashed right in front of the rebel's. The speeders shot over the downed drones and the rider's somersaulted through the air into attack position.

"Aiden!" John yelled as he took out his matter sword and leaped into the air, clashing swords with his sworn enemy. He had his dark marines with him: elite troopers with special skills who had all been trained to use matter swords. Gavin was quickly surrounded by Dark Marines. Their eyes were black. They had extra human strength, and had also been trained to use Dark Matter Swords.

Aiden swung his sword towards John's head, nearly missing him as he ducked. John kicked sand into Aiden's face only to be kicked by him. John was sent falling down a sand dune. Aiden leaped down towards him and his matter sword stuck into the sand as John rolled away just in time. "Come at me dark scum!" Gavin said as one of the marine's lunged for him. He put one of them in a headlock and deflected several blows from his attacker's swords. One of the attackers aimed to shoot Sophia and John through his matter sword to run them through. Aiden swung at him. "Always needing to be the hero amongst fools," Aiden said to John as he swung at him. John kicked his sword from his hand and Aiden grabbed a hold of John's neck. "I will send you to your God," Aiden said as he tightened his grip. "And we will finally have unchecked control to enslave the human race. I want to see the light leave your eyes!" John stared into the sun as if dancing on the line between life and death. Sophia then blasted Aiden in the shoulder. He fell off of John and down another sand dune.

Gavin, surrounded by dark marines, attached his matter sword to a rope and quickly threw it sideways, swinging it around in a circle and striking all the remaining attackers. "That's what happens when you mess with me," Gavin said as he taunted. Aiden took off on a speeder. "He's getting away," John said as he hopped on a speeder and took off after him. They sped through the desert and John was able to lock onto his speeder with a missile. John fired straight for Aiden. Just as the missile was nearing the dark leader, a specialized drone flew down and plucked him into the sky. The speeder he was on blew into dozens of pieces on the desert sand. "Damnit," John cried.

The other rebels caught up to him. Everyone stared at Clark. "So I guess we had a little ... defect in our security protocol," Gavin remarked. "Hey, look, the GSA has a swarm of people that is after us right now. I can do my best, but it's impossible to provide one hundred percent anonymity in this day and age. There will always be a chance that they will find us," Clark replied. "We need to get out of here as quickly as possible before we get surrounded by drones and the OSS," John said.

"Wait, look at this," Sophia said. Some of the sand had shifted from their battle and a large statue of Nebuchadnezzar lay slightly buried in the sand. John opened the Book of Remembering to see the next drawings were of that Babylonian King. Pictures of hanging gardens and old Biblical imagery filled the pages. John pushed in the palm of the statute. Suddenly, the sands below their feet began to shift. A ziggurat formed beneath them. It was like a fortress with long ramps leading up to the top of it. "Now I've seen everything," Gavin said. "Look around for a door or something," John said. The rebels made it to the top of the stone ziggurat and found a door with a strange symbol on it. "Look, that's the symbol of the Iam tribe," John said as he consulted the Book of Remembering. The Knights entered the top of the ziggurat and the sand's around the stone structure shifted again to hide it under the sand. They headed down a tunnel of ancient images of carvings. "This place must be thousands of years old," Clark said. The passageway finally changed into a bright light. "My God," John said as the Hanging Gardens of Babylon came into their view. Gorgeous temple structures, filled with plant life and water lay before them. The Knights continued towards the top of the highest temple. John grazed his hands across a group of Stargazers as they climbed to the temple heights. "How is all this lit up if we're underground?" Clark asked. "Who knows," John said. John opened the Book of Remembering. "To get access what is self-evident, you must first pass through the gates of the language of the universe," John read. "The language of the universe is math," Clark said. "The language of the universe is math," Clark said. "Or I guess it could mean reason because reason is merely math applied to language," he added.

They came to a room with three stone Babylonian gods. John read the inscription at the base of the gods, "We are the three gods of Babylon - X, Y, and Z. Our names are Darkness, Light, and Grey in no particular order. Darkness always lies, Light always tells the truth, and Grey will answer truthfully or falsely in a completely random matter. Your job is to determine our identities by asking three yes or no questions. We understand you in whatever language you chose, but we speak our own language and answer questions as "ja" or "da" in some order. You do not know which word means which."

"We don't have time for this, Clark can you just put this into the computer so we can get going?" John asked. Clark walked up to the statutes and began inputting some of the data into his tablet. One of the statutes leaned over and knocked the tablet from his hand. "No cheating!" said the statute as it framed itself back into place. Then, the statutes quickly rotated like a cup and ball magic trick so the identity of the objecting statute was now hidden. "Well, I guess we'll just have to figure it out ourselves," John said. John went to the middle statute, "Is it true that da means yes, and Z is random?" "Da," said the statute. John went to the left statute, "Is it true that da means yes and Z is random?" "Ja," said the statute. "You already messed it up," said Clark. "There is no way for you to know whether the statute you're talking to is random or not. Either of them could be random," John said. The statutes shifted again. John sighed deeply. "What's the trick?" he asked himself as if he was thinking out loud. "What if I phrase the question as a hypothetical. Random should basically be flipping some sort of coin in its head that says either Dark or Light and then answers based on that," John said. "So we need to ask whether the statute is random in a hypothetical. That should reveal their identities," John said. John walked up to X and asked him, "If I asked you 'Are you Random?' based on your current status, would you say ja?" The statute answered, "Da."

"Ok I get it. If X would have answered Ja, then he would be random, and I could ask god Y, If I asked you 'Are you Light, would you say ja?' If he says ja, then Y is light and Z would be darkness. If he had answered da, then Y would be false. But because he answered 'da' it means that X is not grey. He has to be either darkness or light." John asked X a second question, "Are you light?" "Ja." John said, "That means that X is light." Then, he asked it a third question, "If I asked you, 'is Y Random?', would you say ja?" "Ja."

"Aha! That means that Y is random and Z is darkness. The puzzle is solved," John said. The statutes bowed to John and the rebels and a door opened behind them. The Knights walked towards the newly opened door.

"Wait," said the god of Light. "Now I have a question for you," it said. "Is my identity Light because that is my permanent identity, or have you given me my identity by your reason?" it asked. "What ... the hell ... is going on," Gavin said. "Quiet," John said. "Both," John said. "Ja." The statutes then disappeared into the platform bowing to John and a small box rose from the floor. John opened it to find a key and the continued into the opened door.

"I need a beer," Gavin said as they walked onwards. The hallway was filled with images of primitive man. There were images of the earth, and equations. "This Iam tribe, how long ago were they here?" Sophia asked. "Seems like a long time," John said. "Seems like they came here at some point during per-historic man and made all these determinations about us." "There it is," Clark said. The rebels ran towards a locked box. John placed the key eagerly into it. John removed the third branch of the natural law. Clark translated it and turned on his projector. The third natural law displayed on the temple wall in front of them:

"Every human is endowed with certain unalienable rights that are absolute and cannot be trampled on for the expediency or security of any state or institution. Among them are the:

Right to life

Right to liberty

Right to the pursuit of happiness

Right to freedom from slavery

Right to be free from torture or cruel and unusual punishment

Right to an account of the history of man

Right to practice non-violent cultural traditions

Right to freedom of religion

Right to education

Right to a uninterrupted sanctuary of thought

Right to rest

Right to privacy and secrecy from the eye of government

Right to expression and discovery

Right to access the basic needs necessary for survival such as food, water and shelter

Right to participation in the affairs of government

Right to have children

Right to marriage

Right to speedy, just, and public trial by jury for being accused of a crime

Right to not self-incriminate

Right to equality before the law

Right to freedom of movement throughout the Earth

Right to leave the Earth

Right to access nature

Right to engage in agriculture

Right to freedom of the press

Right to peaceably assemble

Right to protect yourself and family from harm

Right to be free from coerced participation in the military

Right to a nationality

Pursuant to these rights, a human may appoint an agent to carry them out. These are all the rights that we have as individuals. It is what must be true based on our status of human beings. These are things we need over the course of time to prosper and exist. These are our natural rights. They are self-evident and deducible by reason."

John grabbed the cross around his neck. "Why wasn't any of this in scripture?" he asked himself. John searched his mind for passages in the Bible containing some of the natural rights listed before him. This is something that wasn't important enough to be put in the Word of God? The natural rights of man?" He asked himself.

What does it mean when there are things that are true based on self-evidence that are not contained in scriptures? How can the second natural laws be so universal between all the religions, yet the church had attempted to monopolize morality and salivation itself? John could feel himself standing in the church of his childhood at the altar. He could feel himself beginning to walk slowly away from it, leaving the cross behind. He could see himself walking out of the church. Where he saw truisms written in the sky and within his soul. He asked himself if truth itself could be an idol of worship; if God was in truth itself. He could feel the fear of betraying his upbringing and the church. He could feel the thoughts of hell cloud his judgment. Perhaps his soul spoke to the universe out loud through his thoughts and asked, "Should I ever believe anything out of fear?" John took the crucifix off his neck. He stared at it deeply, thinking of all the stories and things had been told as a child – of the battle in his heart. John took the cross and forcefully threw it into the sand, leaving it behind forever. Sand blew over the cross as it disappeared into the desert. He felt no connection to the cross anymore.

Bob Loyalist scrolled through a menu of dinner meals at the Brooklyn Diner. The smells of freshly cooked bread, the Split Pea soup served at the table in front of him, and the combination of porcini mushrooms with turkey filled his nose with a large appetite. The holo-screen came up at his table and provided a selection of entertainment for him to watch while he waited for his meal. He could watch the gladiator fights but he grew rather tired of seeing all the terrorists being killed. He could watch the Eidolon documentaries on how great he was and how much better the planet was now, he could watch some shopping channels for pointless gadgets and gizmos, or he could watch the One State news, which he selected. "The terrorists are still at large. The public is expected to remain obedient with the military movement throughout the city and with random living square searches," said the One State anchor. "FREEDOM IS SECURITY."

An absolutely gorgeous waiter came up to him with a smile that could melt a candle. Her shorts were short, her chest was barely contained in her shirt, and she had a flirtatious and suggestive way about her, "My name is Candice and I'll be taking care of you today. What can I get for you sir?" She asked him in a soft, sexy voice. "I'll have the cheeseburger with pastrami," said Mr. Loyalist. "I'll have that prepared for right away," she said as she turned her head to see the door open. Several OSS officers entered and sat down at a table next to Mr. Loyalist. "I'll be right with you boys," she told them. Mr. Loyalist could overhear their conversation. "You guys see the new M19 blaster rifle? I tried it out on patrol the other day. Got to shoot some terrorist criminal scum with it. Its accuracy is unmatched," said one of the officers. "Eidolon really has changed things. Everywhere I go people are just afraid to commit crimes. They seem to just go to their job and back to their house, never really questioning anything. Their kind of just like robots in a way," another officer said. "Do you have any idea how many bribes I've taken in the past week? How many times I've planted evidence? How many times I myself have broken the law and gotten away with it? The law just doesn't apply to us. It only applies to the citizen," another officer responded. "Did you get a look at that ass on our waiter," he said. "Yea I did. I think I might need to search her. She could be a terrorist," the officers laughed.

The waiter walked back into the kitchen area and touched the comlink in her ear. "Kaslov, a group of hostiles are in the diner," she said. "Good. Bring Officer Eppolito outside so we can ... have a talk with him," he said. Officer Eppolito left the group to go to the bathroom. The waiter pinned him up against the wall. "I saw you looking at me big boy." She grabbed his hands and placed them on her breasts. "Why don't you take off your equipment and come outside with me. I wouldn't want your bosses to be jealous." Officer Eppolito quickly removed his comlink, and all other equipment he had on him and ran outside the diner. The waitress let him kiss her and touch her all over." "Oh I'm going to have fun with you," the officer told her.

"Not as much fun as we are going to have with you," Kaslov said as he punched the officer, knocking him out cold. Kaslov and his men performed similar feats all throughout the capital cities of the One State. They extracted information from the officers as to the layout of the One State security procedures, their levels of technology, and weaknesses in the surveillance state. 
Chapter 17 - Mayans

Several OSS officers were cast into the gladiator pit as Aiden spoke on the loudspeaker to a crowd of several hundred thousand. "Behold, the traitors amongst us," Aiden said. "In a truly secure society, we cannot tolerate dissent. These officers have been found to engaged with the terrorists. As punishment they will face trial by combat," he added. The crowd roared in thunderous applause. It was truly incredible the level to which a deprived humanity can steep. The Dark Marines were released on the traitors who were slaughtered in a matter of no time. "Let this be a lesson to anyone who is in league with our enemy: FREEDOM IS SECURITY, DISSENT IS TREASON," Aiden yelled.

"One State! One State! One State! One State!" the brainwashed masses cried. Eidolon's countless stream of indoctrination and lack of critical information within the Universal Database was paying off. Aiden walked back to his chambers within the capital. He sat at a table with generals and other military persons. "Where is Officer Eppolito?" Aiden said. A group of officers brought him in tied and with duct tape over his mouth. Aiden ripped the tape from his mouth. "Where are they?!" he screamed into the officer's face. "Your greatness, I do not know! I swear to you!" he answered. "Well that's a shame. But it is not a total loss. For now we have the perfect test subject for our new toy. We simply cannot have our Officers subject to the corruption of the propaganda put forth by the terrorist rebels ... which of course ... this officer has clearly succumb to. "No! I'm loyal! I swear!" he screamed. "That may be the case ... in your current mental state. But a truly secure empire cannot afford to allow our soldiers to have the option of being loyal or not. Your free thought is clearly a detriment to the security of this empire. But we have ways of ... strengthening this weakness," Aiden said.

A scientist came into the room with a tray. On the tray was tiny machine in the shape of a fly. It had mechanical wings and a its body was composed of a computer chip. "What is that? What are you going to do to me," the officer cried. "This insect will fly into your brain through your ear. It will install a computer chip that integrates with your brain directly to the Universal Database. All your voluntary functions and thoughts will be ceded to the One State," Aiden said. "Nooo!!" The officer smashed the tray and quickly tackled Aiden. The OSS officers raised their blasters but were afraid to shoot for fear of hitting their leader. The officer grabbed a blade from Aiden's belt while they struggled on the floor. He swung and cut Aiden's shirt that ripped off in their struggle. The brawl paused for a moment when the officer saw the gruesome scars that dressed Aiden's bare chest and back. It looked like he had been stabbed or whipped nearly to death. The pink and red lines filled more of his torso then did actual skin. The officer punched Aiden in the back in one of his largest scars."Aahhh," he cried as he knocked him across the room.

While on the ground, Aiden's thoughts traveled back to the past. The neurons in his repressed memories were awakened and forced onto the theater of his mind. He could feel the lashes from the other children whipping across his back; the feeling of arrowheads being dug into his skin, and the blood emptying from his body. He recalled death itself hanging over him as he crawled across the ground in a pool of blood. For every ounce of blood that he lost, he gain an equal amount of anger and hatred. What had he done to deserve this? Was he not simply just doing what he was told? What he was chosen to do? Tears fell from his eyes as he inched forward through the mud and the rain. Finally, he shook his head as he came back to the present.

"Your ... your back, the officer said. "What happened to you?" The officer asked down the barrel of blaster rifle. "There are two types of people in this world. There are kings and pawns. I was born a king. I once let the pawns catch me off guard and they gave me these scars. Today we assure that never happens again. We assure the pawns no longer move across the board based on their own whims, but by the command of their king.

"No!! Let me go!" the officer yelled as the OSS finally brought him back under control. They tied him to the table and taped his mouth shut. Aiden took tweezers and raised the tiny fly near the officer's head. The fussing and shaking was in vain. The fly flew into the officer's ear. His face was still for a moment, then he began to shake. Sweat dripped across his face. Screams tried to exit through his muzzle. The fly attached itself to the mechanics of his brain. Suddenly, he went limp and his eyes rolled back in his head. "Is he alive?" Aiden asked the scientist. Suddenly, the heart rate monitor starting beeping again. His eyes opened. The scientist loosened his shackles. The officer stood at attention and saluted Aiden, "Reporting for duty sir." The officer stood still, waiting for a command. "Very good. He will respond to any of my commands?" Aiden asked the scientist. "Yes sir. All you have to do is speak into this headset and your commands will be sent into the Universal Database and wired straight into the mind of the soldier," the scientist said. "Soldier! Your foot is a danger to the Empire of the One State. I command you to destroy it," Aiden said with lust and power as he handed him a blaster. The soldier quickly grabbed the blaster and shot himself in the foot. "Owwww," the soldier cried. Through his pain, he muttered, "Target ... eliminated ... sir," he said. "So their nervous system is still active?" "Yes sir they have simply lost the ability of cognitive free thought. Their basic biology remains the same," he responded. "Hahaahahaha ... it is so beautiful. So much power. So much control. I want these installed in all of our OSS officers immediately," Aiden ordered.

"The fourth natural law is hidden on the Island of the Mayans," John said as he read from the Book of Remembering. He turned a map and found the small island of Cozumel off the coast of Old Mexico. "That's got to be it," John said. "Hey guys look at this," Sophia said as she and Clark watched the holo-screen. Clark had hacked into several spy drones. He zoomed in and saw bird falling out of the sky in Old France. Fish were bottoming up off the coast of Africa, and cows were committing suicide in the heartland of Old America. Bee populations were disappearing. Dogs and cats had been acting up all throughout the empire. "What is this happening?" Sophia asked, "This looks like something out of Exodus." "We know that Eidolon has been suppressing nature from the people. The citizens of the One State are forbidden to access nature. Many of the zoos, nature preserves and wildlife have been either neglected or destroyed. Most of the plants that produce food are kept indoors, subject to harsh conditions," John said. "It's like ... the animals are upset. It's like they're trying to tell us something," Sophia said with a worried look. "Is there something we can do?" she added. "Sophia, we don't have the resources or time to do anything about the animals right now," John said. "I just hope it's not too late," she said.

The Thunderbird flew through the air towards the Gulf of Old Mexico. Gavin was in the cockpit listening to Led Zeppelin on his old Ipod, "You need coooooolin. Baby I'm not foolin. I'm gonna send ya back to schoolin. Way down inside, honey you need it. I'm gonna give you my love. I'm gonna give you my love." Suddenly, the ship was blasted in the rear. In the cockpit of the other ship was David of the Will of the Cross. "Stop messing with my ship!" Gavin shouted. Clark, Sophia and John were thrown from their seats. John ran to man the blasters on the top of the Thunderbird. The planes flew through the air, spinning through the sky. A large blast shook the ship throughout. "They've hit the engines. Our cloaking device has been disabled," Gavin yelled from the cockpit. John fired several blasts, missing their pursuers. "The Lord has spoken. Your end is near John Shepard," said David. Flames engulfed the engine of the ship as it began to make its decent.

"Brace yourselves, we're going down!" The rebels strapped themselves in and held hands. The ship's nose dove into the sand and slid itself through the jungle floor on the Island of Cozumel. It stopped right on the edge of a cliff. The front half of the ship began to separate itself form the rest of the body. Gavin leaped to grab onto the one the seats as parts of the ship fell past him onto the rocky shore below. "Take my hand," John said as he pulled him up. More pieces of the ship fell into the water. "We got to get out of here," John said. Clark and Sophia made their way out of the ship. Part of the ship exploded and metal shard flew into Gavin's leg. He screamed out in extreme pain. "Go! Find the other branches. Leave me!" Gavin said. "Never," John said. "You don't always have to be the hero John," Gavin said begrudgingly. "Shut up and take my hand," John said as he pulled Gavin from the heap of metal and leaped from the ship. The Thunderbird crashed in the ocean in a ball of fire.

"Hand over the branches Shepard," David said from behind the rebels, "And maybe we'll let your friend live. The Lord has spoken. The door of salvation has closed. Your arrogance in trying to override God's will is at an end." John responded, "We already lost all the bibles. You have already had that victory! You have no right to claim the natural law! It belongs to everyone." "God will smite you in your arrogance. God's will is that One State will rule the world and that everyone will now burn in hell," he responded. "Shoot that son of a bitch," Gavin said in pain. "Drop your weapons or the girl dies," David said, bringing Sophia up to the group with a blaster to her head." John always saw Sophia as the last piece of the Red Party. The true Lady Liberty in a world of oppression. Sophia was not only John's true love, but she was the people. She was democracy. John would give anything for her.

"Ok. Ok," John said as he took the three branches from his bag. He handed them over to David. "And now we will send you into the lake of fire," David said as he and his priests aimed to erase the rebels from the Earth. Suddenly, a spear flew through the air and ran David through. The man in the wilderness emerged from the jungle along with several tribe members. The tribe chased after the priests and ran them through with their spears. The man in the wilderness picked up the branches and handed them back to John. "You saved us ... thank you," Sophia said. The man in the wilderness looked at John with a smile. It was as if they already knew each other or shared a special connection.

"Come. We must retreat into the jungle before the drones see us," The man in the wilderness said as he escorted the rebels into their hideaway in nature. The tribesman picked up Gavin in his wounded state and carried him to the medical tent. The rebellion disappeared into nature itself. The children found Clark's equipment to be rather odd. He had turned most of it off out of respect for the tribe. "How did you find us? How did you know which side to help when we were out on the beach?" John asked the man. "Sometimes you just know," the man said. "What are these branches?"

John took a deep breath. "They are pieces of the natural law. I was told that an ancient tribe called "Iam" has hid these throughout the Earth to aid humanity in a time of crisis. We have been able to find three of them and are still looking for the other four." The man looked puzzled and surprised. "I swear I've seen some strange spirits around here. One of them came to me and asked me to find this tribe you speak of," he said. "We believe the fourth natural law is hidden somewhere on this island," John told him. The man in the wilderness then tried to tell John more before he heard, "Ahhhhh," being yelled from Gavin's lips. He was still bleeding quite profusely. "I'll go get help," the man said as he left the tent. "Can we trust these guys?" Clark asked. "I don't think we have a choice on this point. We can't even fly out of here. See if you can arrange for another transport Clark," John said. Sophia continued to dab Gavin's wound with a cloth.

Then, Aiyana entered the tent. "Here let me help," Aiyana said as she began to tend to Gavin's wound. The man in the wilderness took John outside. "Stay here and make sure Gavin's ok," John told Sophia. The man in the wilderness walked John throughout the village. Aiyana quickly fixed up Gavin's wound. She gave him a sedative that put him fast asleep. "He should be ok in a short time," Aiyana told Sophia. Aiyana turned to her as if she was a goddess. "You are so beautiful. Your energy is very positive," she told Sophia. "Thanks," Sophia said with a smile, "So are you." "You and John. You share a connection," she said in happiness. "I think so," Sophia said. "How did you come to the island?" Aiyana asked. "Our ship got shot down. We're trying to find these branches of the natural law because beyond this island, an oppressive government called the One State is controlling the rest of the world. If we don't find them in time, humanity might be enslaved forever," Sophia said.
Chapter 18 - Water

"I don't mean to sound rude, but you don't look like the rest of the villagers here. You look American. How'd you get here?" John asked. "Long story. Look, these villagers know things about nature," the man said. "It's like they have achieved the perfect balance between civilization and nature. They know things about the nature of the initial human state and the trees. They somehow figured out he perfect balance between mankind and the environment; about how people are born and how they develop," the man said. "They have been developing outside of civilization for who knows how many years," he added.

"Here, let me show you some of things they have taught me," the man said. The man brought John to a special place in the forest. The sound of a waterfall fell in the background and the light from the sun shined through the trees. They had found a microscope and projected it through a refraction of light machine to magnify water molecules on a rock wall next to them. "Now, watch this. Here I have some droplets of water. I will place them under the microscope here," the man said. The water molecules displayed as normal and neutral molecules and mundane blobs. The man knelt down and put his mouth near the droplets of water. "I hate you!" The man yelled, "You are worthless! You are going to burn in hell! You are evil! I am in control of you and you are a piece of scum. Nobody loves you!" John was shocked by how angry the man was in yelling at the droplets of water. Miraculously, the water molecules started to shake. They contorted themselves into unpleasant shapes and confusing shapes. "You see, the water responds to words. The molecules change shape based on positive and negative words. The tribe believes that they actually have memory. They are somehow self-aware of past events and people that have occurred on the planet," the man said. "Now, watch this," the man said, kneeling next to the droplets again. "I love you." The molecules quickly morphed into a snowflake shape right before their eyes.

A tear came to John's eye, "That's ... that's miraculous. Can I try?" John went up to the droplets of water. "Eidolon." The droplets of water seem to become angry. The contorted themselves into strange shapes. "One State." They again morphed themselves into strange shapes. The droplets seemed to cry. They turned a strange sick color of dark yellow. "Freedom." The droplets formed themselves into a beautiful crystal that seemed to glow on the rock wall. "Harmony. Justice. Virtue. Balance. Equality." All created beautiful crystals in the droplets of rain. "So the water is ... alive?" John asked. "It's not alive, it's just conscious. The water molecules are all connected. They speak to one another. They remember things ... things from all throughout history. It's like nature is self-aware," the man answered. "And our bodies are seventy percent water," John added. John thought of all the mean things he had said over the course of his life. All the times that he had opportunities to compliment people but instead chose to say something negative. He imagined the molecules of their bodies flustering and contorting to his words.

"There is more I need to show you," the man said. The man took John to observe some of the natives in one of their rituals from high on a mountain. Some of the young boys were being branded by being slightly burned on the cheek to symbolize their bravery in the presence of pain and the transition to manhood. Their mother's sat several hundred feet away. "The natives studied the trees and realized that they have their own language. They saw that they do not compete with each other but live in harmony. They adopted the way trees raise their youth. "Watch as the women flinch when their child is touched by the hot blade," he said. John saw a woman feeling the pain of her child as he was burned. She could not see him. She had no way of knowing when he was actually going to be touched. She simply just ... knew. It was as if nature had whispered into her ear that her child was in danger.

"You see, they believe nature has an interest in the reproduction of species. That's why it seems that women oftentimes possess a special kind of extra sensory perception. Nature is on their side. Here, it has occurred several hundred feet away from their children, but they believe that it could happen even if they were on opposite ends of the earth," the man said. "They believe that nature's processes are all acting in unison together, like an orchestra: each process beginning and ending when mother nature waves her baton. They have constructed their village to be in harmony with nature. John heard the words the man was speaking, but they did not just register with him on an intellectual level. He felt his soul reach out and want to touch the truth of what he was saying. It was as if his soul just said, 'yes.'"

The day turned into night and the man in the wilderness took John and Sophia to the hilltop to look at the stars. The sky was a beautiful dark blue with millions of diamonds in the sky. "The sky ... it's beautiful here. We don't get to see the stars like this back home," Sophia said. "Each of the lights you see before you represent galaxies millions and billions of light years away. The light you see has travelled across the universe to be accepted by the retinas in your eye. For thousands of years, primitive man has observed the stars and wondered if they were alone. Is there more to life than just what we see? And yet, too often, the questions go unanswered; a query of the consciousness thrown to the wind," the man said. "Do you think there are other planets like Earth?" John asked. "If not, then that would be an awful waste of space," the man said. John hadn't spoken with God in what felt like an eternity. He closed his eyes and prayed, "God of wonder, nature, and love. God of Earth and Heavens above. Who leads me down the narrow path. To my sanctuary from evil's wrath. Your kingdom floweth forth from thee. Let your spirit dwell within me. Forgive us now our daily sin." Then he said the last phrase while the man in the wilderness, "the bread of life is within." The man in the wilderness said, "Johnny?" "Father?!" John said in shock. The prayer was a family prayer that they both recognized. Suddenly, they embraced each other under the starry night. Sophia smiled. A tear came to her eye. She was so happy for John. John had not seen his father, Jack Shepard, for a long, long time. "You've grown," his father said. "Haha. And you've gotten old! How did you get here? Where have you been? There is so many things I have to tell you father. I don't even know where to begin," John said. Just then, Aiyana came rushing up towards the group nearly out of breath. "Everyone. You must come quickly," Aiyana said. "What is it?" Jack said.

"It's Fysi. Something is horribly, horribly wrong," she answered. They ran quickly through the jungle under nightfall to find Fysi's hut. The leaves brushed past their shoulders in the dense forest. Sometimes the faster you run, the further your end seems to move. Finally, they came to Fysi's hut. Aiyana slowly opened the wooden door that creaked open. None of the candles were lit. The canvas that he normally did his paintings on was blank. Aiyana sniffed through the kitchen. His hut usually smelled like freshly cooked vegetables and soup, but not on this night. "Fysi, where are you?" Aiyana cried. The group continued upstairs to the attic. Their feet pressed against the wooden floor. The moonlight shined in from the windows. "Fysi," Aiyana cried. They found him in the fetal position in the corner of the attic, shaking profusely. She approached him gently. "Honey, what's wrong," she asked as she put her hands on his shoulder. He continued to shake. "Balance ... balance ... broken ... the balance ... balance," Fysi mumbled in a horrified shuttering whisper. Just then a bird flew up to one window near him. Fysi crawled up close to it. "Hello," he said to the bird, finally showing a smile in his misery. The bird put his tiny foot up the window. It looked at Fysi with despair. Then its eyes slowly started to close. "No! No!" Fysi began to cry. The bird fell to its side in a quiet death. Fysi turned to the group in a disturbed look with tears in his eyes.

Suddenly, he became angry. "They have broken the balance!" he said. "What balance?" John asked. "The balance of nature. The balance of power. The scale which all other scales stand upon. The animals ... they're dying," he hugged Aiyana in tears. "I think I know why the animals are acting so strange," John said. Fysi's tears stopped. He looked at John with a curious intrigue. "You," Fysi said as he approached him, touching his face and looking deep into his eyes. "You are special. You have a special light burning in your heart," he said. John just smiled and didn't know what to say. "I can see the goodness in your soul. Something else... You have something with you ... that's very important," said Fysi. "You are a soul of light," he added.

"Yes. I think the animals are acting so strange because beyond this island, the world has been taken over by an evil empire called the One State. They have removed nature from the common man. They have neglected it and abused it. They are destroying the culture and value systems of the planet to enslave the human race. We rebel against them ... and it seems the animals have joined us," John said.

"These branches I have here, I have been collected them from all throughout the world. They are the pieces of the natural law hidden for humanity in a time of crisis," John said. "Yes. The branches," he said with a smile. "They are truly beautiful. The identify of man, the common moral code ... and the natural rights. I'm assuming you'll be wanting the fourth then," he said. "You know where it is," John said. "In meditation, I felt a powerful force on the island. I knew it was not of this world. So I walked into the forest. I found this strange temple seal with ancient markings. I will take you there .. and you will find your branch," said Fysi in a mysterious voice.

The rebels walked through the forest under the moon's light. Branches broke beneath their feet, and the stars showed through the tops of the trees. Suddenly, Jack saw the strange apparition again. "There it is again! Wait!" Jack yelled as he took off running after the spirit. It floated throughout the forest. The group ran after Jack. "Who are you?" Jack cried as he dove down into a set of bushes below. Finally, the spirit disappeared near a certain spot in the forest. The man ran after the spirit as it vanished and found himself standing on a large symbol covered in leaves and twigs. He quickly started brushing off the circular object as the rest of the group caught up to him. "Yes there's they symbol I saw," Fysi said. "This must be thousands of years old," said Sophia. "I think it is some kind of door," Aiyana replied. John quickly opened up the Book of Remembering.

"Aristotle seemed to have documented some of these markings in the book," he said as turned through the pages. The circular symbol had strange blue and green images all scattered throughout and the image was separated by twenty levels of movable rings. "Here, let's try moving these rings, maybe we have to form some kind of image," John said. The rebels began moving the rings. Pieces of land came together as the rings came into view. "It's the Earth," Aiyana said. "Where's Africa? John asked. "It doesn't seem like we can form the continents from the way these images are laid out. "Well if it's not Earth then what is it? A different planet?" Sophia asked. "Earth was not always as it is now. Maybe the image is of old Earth, before the continents shifted," Fysi said. The group moved the circles into place to form Old Earth. All the continents together in one body of land. Suddenly, the image began to shake. The circle traveled down into the ground, revealing a circular stone staircase.

"Let's go," John said. He lit a torch and led the group down into the ancient Iam temple. The temple was covered with images of the solar system, the milky way galaxy and the location of other galaxies near us. As usual, unrecognizable math equations were written near the images. "What is all this," Jack asked. "I'll explain later," John replied. They came to a room with thousands of planets held up on sticks. They ranged in size, shape, and color. "Here look at this," John said as he found a staff with a glass ball mounted on it. There was a tiny ray of light flowing down in the center of the room. "I think we're supposed to put the light onto Earth. See if you can find it," John said. The rebels scattered throughout the room, looking their home planet. It was like finding a needle in a haystack. "The universe is so big," Aiyana said. "There's some notes on these asteroids over here," she added. John read the ancient writing on the space stones. He saw some lines drawn at different angles all headed in the same direction. "It looks like they were trying to predict the path of asteroids as they were heading toward Earth.

"Here, follow these lines," John said. He walked along the lines and finally found the solar system. "Here it is," John said as he took the staff and placed it in the center of the room, illuminating Earth amongst the other stars and galaxies. The small earthly globe opened. John reached his arm into the hole in the top and pulled out the fourth branch of the natural law.

"We need to get it back to Clark to translate it," John said.

"No. I can read it for you," Fysi said. "How ... do you know this language?" John asked as the group looked at him with surprise. "It is an ancient language, but it is not unknown or unspoken. It is hidden deep within the consciousness of every person who's ever lived. It is soul speak. I didn't learn it, I simply just ... remembered how to speak it," Fysi explained. He took the branch and read it aloud to the group:

"Preserve the Earth. Prevent the destruction of the planet by external natural or unnatural threats. Uphold the ozone layer. Preserve all natural processes which sustain life on the planet. Preserve all naturally occurring seeds, animals and biological life. Preserve liquid water. Maintain a natural balance of habitat for wild animals. Maintain a connection to nature. Conserve energy. Preserve life on other planets. Find a new Earth."

The rebels sat in contemplation of the laws before them. They thought of the planet differently that day. John realized for so long that he had used things without any regard for the consequences it had on the Earth. He had used fossil fuels tons of times. He assumed that the planet had enough and never really saw it as his job to maintain the earth's resources. He never considered his energy usage in the context of the planet's resources. He suddenly felt selfish. Like somewhere, there was a tiny hole in the Earth that he had himself put there. Fysi handed the branch to John.

"I trust that you will find the rest John Shepard. Please hurry. I fear the planet time is running out," Fysi told John. Outside the temple, and near the shore of the island, some of the natives had ridden horses to the beach to go fishing. He was finally feeling better. Just as he pulled a fish out of the water, he heard a noise coming from up ahead in the distance. "Oh great," he said. He could see drones and boats up ahead in the distance heading towards the island. "Come on, we have to warn the others," Gavin said as he quickly jumped on his horse and road towards the village. He leaped over branches and rustled leaves as he galloped as horse as fast as it could. He finally came to the village. Many women and children were out, picking berries. The elders were congregating in the center and everything seemed normal. Gavin rode past the tents. "The One State is coming! The One State is coming!" he yelled. The men grabbed their spears and primitive weapons. The elders led the women and children into an underground hideout.

Back in the Iam Temple, John spoke to his father, "Did Grandfather ever tell you about the Knights of the Living Earth?" John asked. "I knew some things. I started to suspect things when he was gone for long periods of time; always writing on those small pieces of paper. But I never really wanted to be a part of it," his father said. "I thought some parts of it to be at odds with my faith. After all son, we are not to build structures of order in this life, but prepare for the next. God will be the judge of these people. I raised you to be a man of faith, of principle, not to be some sort of shadow assassin defying the principles of scripture," he said. "Father you don't understand. The world is different now," there aren't any more Bibles! I had the last one! I lost it to the One State! I'm the leader of the Knights of the Living Earth," John said. "Son! How could you betray the cross like that? How many people have you killed? You have blood on your hands," Jack said. He ripped open John's shirt. "And your cross! You don't even wear it anymore." John replied, "God has betrayed me Father. He betrayed the Earth. I don't believe in him anymore." John's father looked at him with such concern—with such disappointment, like his soul had been wounded.

"Father, I promised Grandfather in his last moments that I would find these branches and that I would defeat the One State. If I do that in the name of Christ or in the name of the Knights of the Living Earth, I will still honor my promise. That is all I want. It is all I know. I don't want to believe in a God who would let everything he said be erased from the planet," John said. "I don't even know you anymore," his father said. Suddenly a large sound blasted the ceiling of the temple and several rocks fell from the ceiling. The Temple started shaking from multiple blasts. 
Chapter 19 – Soul speak

Gavin contacted John through their comlink, "John, they found us. The OSS will be on the island in minutes," he said through the distortion. "Tanks! Drones! The One State is coming," he shouted "Quick, we have to get to the village," John yelled. The Temple continued to fall apart around him. The rebels ran through the temple. The ground started falling apart under their feet. They hopped from one stone pillar to another, leaping with the faith they had come with. Suddenly, Jack and Sophia both fell through the stone floor. John grabbed a hold of both of their arms. "I got you," he said to both of them. "You can't pull us both up," his father said. "The hell I can't," he responded as he reached deep within himself. John filled with adrenalin. John's face turned bright read and he struggled, pulled and threw his father and Sophia onto the ground behind him.

"Come on," we have to get out of here. Finally, they made their way out of the Temple before it collapsed. John picked up Fysi and put him on his back. The drones rained blaster fire onto the forest floor and put him over his shoulder. The trees were shattering into woodchips around them. The One State's mighty robot army finally came to the shores of the island. There were robot tanks on wheels that had moving arms with blasters for hands. There were balls that blew up when they arrived. There were OS troopers inside mechanical armor that tripled their size. There was insect shaped artillery that lit up the sky. Several drones followed Gavin is he galloped through the forest. They fired multiple shots, nearly missing him and damaging the forest as he rode through. "Come and get me! Come and get me!" he said. Clark sat in the underground hideout with the elders. He peaked his head out of a lookout point and fired his EMP into the sky. Several of the spy drones overhead fell to the ground. However, the smaller attack drones seem to be unaffected. He filled the room with his holo-gram hacking formulas and data fields. The tribal women and children watched in awe.

John rushed with the others back to the village. He withdrew his matter sword quickly as a blaster shot came hurling towards Fysi's head. John caught the beam and sent it flying back into the drone, sending it exploding into a nearby tree. He took his blaster in his other hand and shot down several drones flying by near him. Several fighter jets entered the airspace. "Clark, I need an EMP blast right now," Shepard said. Clark shot the fighter jets from the sky before they could do any damage to the village.

Aiden stuck is head up from one of the tanks. "I'll find you Shepard," he said as he looked through the jungle using heat signature finding binoculars. "Clark, see if you can take out some of those tanks too!" John said. Clark tried shooting the EMP at some of the tanks near the shore. "It's not working. They must be immune to electromagnetic interference," Clark said. Just then, the One State jammed the Knights' communications. "Clark! Clark! John cried. But he could hear no response. "Damnit," John said as he saw more fighters heading towards the village from behind some mountains that were not visible to Clark at his current location.

"You aren't confound to these electronic systems that you have been wearing," Fysi whispered into John's ear. "Speak to him. Speak through the network of information nature has set up. Soul speak," he said to John. John closed his eyes. He became conscious of the universe around him and within. He reached deep within himself and his soul spoke to Clark's, "There are two fighters coming from the West," he said. Suddenly, Clark felt strange instinct to look west. The fighter pilots locked onto the village. Right as they fighters thumb went to press the button, Clark shot the planes down with an EMP blast and they fell into the ocean. Aiden's tank continued to move forward. The blasts from the drones shook the children in their underground hiding place. Finally, One State forces made it to the village. The dark marines ran onto the beach. John saw them approaching up ahead. He put Fysi into the underground hideout. "Clark we need you up here," John said. Clark climbed out and followed John. Just then, Gavin road up on horseback and leaped from his horse is a somersault right next to John and Clark. The rebels took out their matter swords and stood strong between the One State and the sanctuary of nature behind them. The dark marines charged toward them with their blasters. John leaped forward, jumping right in the middle of two marines, cutting them in half. Clark shot some of the tanks on the beach with his EMP.

"The EMP is not working," Clark said. The tank in front of him blasted the rocks in front of him as he dove out of the way. A dark marine shot Gavin. He absorbed the blast with his matter sword, turned around slowly and whipped it right at the marine's face. Several drones flew in towards John, shooting several red laser blasts him. He caught the blast and slung it at a marines face, then sliced the drone in half. One of the dark marines jumped on Gavin's back. They struggled until he flipped him over and stabbed him through the chest. The tribesman came to the aid of the rebellion. They began tossing spears at the OSS's legs, inflicting a good amount of damage. The OSS shot many of the tribesmen, who were simply unmatched to their skill. Sophia perched herself on the hill and shot several of the OSS officers. One officer turned and aimed strait for her but John quickly threw his matter sword at officer and ran him through. John leaped over another marine, grabbed his sword and deflected several blasts back at them as he dove behind some rock. Gavin saw several of the officers that he knew from being in the military with them.

"Andrew? It's me. Gavin," he said, thinking that he would see him and stop shooting. "Freeze terrorist!" He said instead. John could see the read in his eyes, the shell of his former friend. "What happened to you?" he said to himself, looking at his strange red eyes. His former friend jumped on him trying to kill him. "Stop! Stop! You give me no choice!" he said. Regretfully, Gavin killed his old friend and his lifeless body fell to the ground. He stared into the red eyes that remained that way even after death It was clear he was consumed by the One State. Many of their tribal assistants fell to the OSS. Several more ships arrived with more dark marines.

John ran through a line of OSS officers stabbing one through the stomach. Another one shot at him and he reflected the blasts onto three guards simultaneously. The tanks fired at him and he dove over the blast and threw his matter sword into the tank, disabling the firing mechanism and killing the dark marines inside of it. A very large dark marine came up to John from behind and slammed him to the ground. He struggled to get back up. The dark marine aimed quickly for John's head. Suddenly, Jack drove a spear into his back. His father helped him up. Several of the OSS officers grabbed Jack and pulled him away from John.

"Father!" he cried. "There are too many of them. We have to fall back!" Gavin said as he sliced through two of the OSS. "Retreat!" John ordered. The remaining tribesman and the rebels began running through the jungle. The One State rained fire upon the village, destroying every tent and hut they had constructed. Hundreds of male soldiers lay dead on the jungle floor. A storm began to brew as Aiden and his men stormed through the rubble, rushing after the rebels. The winds picked up and lightning filled the sky. John spotted Aiden from far away. Aiden came to a bloodied and broken arrowhead in the ground. He stopped for a moment and picked it up. Looking at the sharp pointed tip, and the texture of the stone from which it was carved.

"Run! Head for the pier!" The Knights and remaining tribesman ran onto a wooden pier that stretched several hundred feet out into the water. "Clark, can you get us out of here?" John asked. "My connections are jammed. I can't get into the network!" Clark yelled through the wind. The murky water beat up against the old pier. John looked up into the sky again, hoping for a miracle. Aiden and his men came to the end of the pier.

"Give it up Shepard. You have nowhere left to run," he told John. The rebels inched closer to the edge of the pier. Sophia nearly fell into the water until Clark grabbed a hold of her arm. "Surrender and I will consider letting you live," Aiden said. "Never," John said. "Very well, perhaps your friend can be more persuasive," Aiden said. He brought Jack to the middle of the pier with the arrowhead in his hand. He held the arrowhead to Jack's neck. "Surrender now or he dies!" Aiden told John. John's heart leaped into his mouth as he saw his father at the mercy of the One State. "Ok. Let's just relax for a second," John said. Jack turned his head to Aiden, "You'll never win Aiden. Once you crave power for its own sake, you have already lost," he said. "I forgive you, Aiden," Jack said. Aiden knocked him in the head with the spear and he moaned in pain. "Just let him go," your quarrel is with me Aiden. Leave him out of this. "I'm going to count to 3," Aiden said. "We can work this out peacefully Aiden," John pleaded. "1." "Ok, just let me think for a second." "2." Just then, Aiden slit Jack's throat. His limp body fell onto the pier.

"No!" John cried as he tried rushing at Aiden but Gavin and Clark held him back. "Dissent is Treason. Don't you understand? His blood is on your hands, Shepard. You caused this. You questioned the authority of the One State. You rebelled against the law. Now you face justice," Aiden said. "You're just Eidolon's puppet. You will never succeed. The human soul longs to be free. The more you tighten your grasp, the more you ensure your defeat. We will not surrender," John said. "So be it," he replied. With that, Aiden shot John in the chest with his blaster. He shot Sophia. He shot Gavin. He shot Clark. Then, he shot the rest of the tribesman. John's limp body fell slowly into the murky water below, along with all rebels. They sunk into the dark water. John's limp face showed pain as he descended into a watery grave. A large wave came towards the pier. Aiden and the OSS retreated to the island as the pier was engulfed and destroyed by the power of the ocean. The water covered the island and displaced all of the inhabitants. Bubbles escaped from John's nose and mouth as he watched the top of the water move further and further away from him. Several drones fired on the water to assure the rebels were dead.

Suddenly, several gray fins showed themselves in the water heading straight for John and the others. John could see he gray shark-like figures headed straight towards him. The branches in his pockets also fell towards the ocean floor. He had breathed his last breath. He had been drained of all hope and now only awaited death. 
Chapter 20 - Science

Bob Loyalist turned on his holo-screen. The state-run news media came on to tell him what was occurring in his world. "We have received a report that several of the terrorist rebel leaders were killed today," the anchor said. Bob went about the monotony is of his average day. They showed a picture of Aiden at the One State capital. "My marines and team have conducted an operation that have killed the wanted terrorists. Their bodies were buried at sea. Today, the One State is truly secure," Aiden said. Bob subconsciously gave his approval to his government as he turned off the holo-screen and went to work. When he got to work, he read several message about the database. It seemed that some of the database code during the Unification of Language program had become corrupted. Bob's job was to go through and read the code and then correct it manually. He never really questioned his job or how what he was doing fit into the larger scheme of things. He spent most of his day looking at pictures on social networks and watching holo-screen shows. They uploaded videos, laughed gossiped, and argued about the lesser forms of the zeitgeist. Like most government jobs in the One State, he was paid more for his loyalty rather than his efficiency. Many of the old Chinese languages did not translate into English. He went through and made sure that any of the corrupted Chinese language that didn't translate was deleted. Of course, any of the old traditional values contained in the language was also removed. Bob looked over his shoulder and searched for the word truth: Truth: information that comes from and is approved by the One State. There was no longer any separation between the language and the state.

Back in the waters of the destroyed island of Cozumel, the gray figures emerged as a large group of dolphins. The dolphins came to the aid of the rebels. They swam down and looked at John. They could feel the branches he was carrying. The dolphins attached themselves to the rebels and carried them away from the war-torn island. The sea creatures spoke to one another. Hundreds of swordfish swam towards the group of dolphins. Several strange fish emerged from deep within the ocean to bring healing properties. They touched the wounds of the rebels. Nature itself kissed the cuts on John's stomach. The swordfish took the rebels from the dolphins and headed east. Several swordfish carried the Knights at extremely fast speeds through the Atlantic Ocean.

John's eyes fluttered open as a crab walked right passed his face. It was night on the shores of the Old United Kingdom. He slowly picked up his head and looked around. Sophia, Clark, and Gavin had also made it. He walked toward Gavin to check his wounds. They were gone. So were Sophia's and Clark's. They rebels coughed up salt water and rose slowly to their feet. John helped Sophia to her feet. "What happened? Where are we?" Sophia asked. "I have no idea," John said. He looked up at the stars and tried to figure out where he was. Clark began checking his equipment that was mostly destroyed from the saltwater. All they really had was their matter swords, which were not damaged by the water. "Ok. There's the North Star. Based on the location of the moon and Alpha Centauri, we are in the Old United Kingdom." "How did we get all the way across the Atlantic Ocean? Did we get put on a ship?" Clark asked. "I find it hard to believe that we were on a ship given that they are all owned and occupied by the OS," John said. Concerned, he opened the damp Book of Remembering, "The fifth natural law should be here somewhere," he said. Multiple OSS guards marched up ahead of them. The Knights concealed their faces and disappeared into the shadows of London. The One State marched in formation across Westminster Bridge Road while they watched from afar. Big Ben was dressed with the One State flag and the Parliament was of course just another command center for Eidolon's minions. The home of the industrial revolution was now one of the largest military industrial complexes in the world.

"It truly is a one world government, "John said. He had never been to London but was saddened to see a place of such cultural significance under totalitarian control. Big Ben chimed as usual at twelve o'clock and the citizens raised their hands in salute to the One State. The OSS marched past them. They could see the red in their eyes. "The OSS are now controlled by the Universal Database," Clark said. "I saw some strange new code implemented recently. They are no longer a force to be bargained with. They have no empathy in them. They are basically the Universal Database in the flesh," he added. "It's not like we really showed them any mercy before," Gavin said.

"It just means that we'll have to think of different ways to corrupt them– different ways to poke holes in the power structure," John said. The rebels boarded the Waterloo high-speed train to Salisbury and sat in one of the private cars away from the rest of the passengers. John watched the green fields of grass and trees rush passed the window. He recalled the death of his father and his overwhelming hatred for Aiden. He could feel the desire to kill him deep in his heart. Gavin was looking at the third branch and certain moral dilemmas entered his thoughts. Clark swiped a head mounted holo-screen off of a sleeping man and began hacking into the database.

"Now, the average people out there aren't killing each other and one of the rules on the branch is to not commit murder. So what does that mean? The One State is in line with some of the natural law?" Gavin asked. "I suppose that's true ... but the amount of other laws they have broken vastly outweigh the amount of natural law they happen to align themselves with. They don't allow people to kill each other because that would be one less mindless slave for the One State, not because they know it is morally wrong according to natural law," John said. "So you think the motivational premise for why someone does something changes the right and wrong status of the act or omission?" Clark asked. John paused and thought for a moment.

"No. You're right. People can still be doing acts that are in line with the natural law, regardless if they know they are or not. It doesn't lessen the status of whether the act is right or wrong. In other words, you can be compliant with the natural law without knowing about it or intending to submit to it," John said. "So in a way, the perpetual failure of someone to commit murder is a constant stream of a good moral act," Clark said. "Yes, I would agree with that. But one can't simply sit in a room somewhere and just fail to commit acts against the natural law because it imposes duties that must be exercised affirmatively," John said. "The forth natural law, for example, is to preserve the earth. So failure to do so would be against the natural law," John said. "It's a lot different than the dogma of the church: the idea that you are placed into a category of wrongdoer just by virtue of your humanity ... what a ridiculous notion," Sophia said.

"You see, but that's just how one set of spiritual points of view interpreted the natural law," John said. "So the natural law is a set of objective moral standards and the various religions are either in line or not?" Clark asked. "Yes. I would say the natural law is for the most part in line with almost every major set of old religions," John said. "So what about the average Joe who just goes to work, takes care of his family, and doesn't really bother anyone else. He just watches the holo-screen and the gladiator fights with not a care of what the One State is doing," Gavin asked. "I think they aren't in violation of any natural law by virtue of doing those things. But they may in violation of some of the affirmative duties. For instance, a scientist who has knowledge of a meteor coming to earth has an active duty to assure that it does not damage us," John said. "An average person seeing someone's life about to be taken has an active duty to save that person. An average person knowing that people are starving in some part of the world has a duty to preserve the lives and try to save the lives of his fellow man," John said. He could feel the branches speaking to him. It was almost as if he understood them on a deeper level then just mental thoughts. "The average person has an active duty to assure that his rights and rights of his fellow citizens are preserved," John said, looking at the second branch. "The very notion that the average person is only responsible for himself and his family is a societal construct, not a natural law. In terms of natural law, we are all one human family; one body. If your arm catches on fire, the rest of the body comes to save it. Is your fellow human any different?" John said.

"It doesn't matter what the laws of the establishment say, for they don't determine what the natural law is. Clearly the legality of something has nothing to do with its moral status," John said. "What about property? Gavin asked. "The second branch doesn't mention anything about property. Are we to believe that there is no universal right to property? That sounds like some kind of communism," Gavin said. John stopped and waited for the answer.

"I think the natural law should be seen as the moral rules which societies may construct themselves around. There is no specific type of government or economic system that is right or wrong according to natural law, as long as that system upholds the principles of the other branches. So, in terms of property, there have been societies where property does not exist. It does not make that system right or wrong. The theories of government and economics and should be left to the discretion of the society, keeping in mind that the universal rights must be accounted for. Society should determine the scale and scope of the property rights," John said.

Gavin's mind focused more on the things he was taught in the military: duty, honor, love of country, he had been trained to stay loyal to the United States and reject any attempts at betraying it. The psychological walls his training had given him were almost impenetrable. He had joined the military because he believed in the constitution. "Do you think America was in line with the natural law?" he asked John. "I certainly think the constitution was in line with many of the universal human rights. Perhaps one of the other branches may provide further insight into that question." John said. Clark continued working on the holo-screen he had taken. John opened the Book of Remembering. The pages seemed to be covered in stars and stone. "The fifth natural law is at nature's temple of the stones under the stars," John read. "Stonehenge!" Clark said. "This train should take us right to it, if it is still there."

Suddenly, they heard a knock on the door. John slightly opened the blinds and saw an OSS officer waiting to come in. "This is the TSA! Open up for identity check and pat down procedures!" the officer commanded. "Why don't we ever get a break," Gavin said. "Uh ... just a minute," John said. Gavin hid himself on the side of the door. John grabbed the handle and opened the door. "Hello," John said. The guard grabbed John's arm and tried to pull him towards the machine that scanned the veins in his hand to identify who he was. His hand grazed across the machine and read an error message. "Unidentified terrorist!" the guard shouted. Gavin quickly grabbed the guard's arm and pulled him into the room, bashing his head against the wall and knocking him out. John grabbed the other guard and stabbed through with his matter sword. Sophia took his blaster and other equipment on his belt.

"Clark ... talk to me, are we on One State's radar?" John asked. "No. The One State has no idea we're here and their communications have been jammed. Now we just have to deal with any guards that remain," Clark said. Gavin looked around but none of the OSS were in sight. "Haha. Dumb government pawns. They have no idea we're here!" Gavin laughed. Suddenly, the rebels heard a large blaster charge as if it was ready to fire. "Duck!! John yelled. The rebels dove to the ground as a barrage of blaster fire flew over their heads, shooting through the rooms from the front of the car. John looked at Gavin with a subtle look of disapproval. "What?!" Gavin yelled. "No idea we're here huh?" John said. "Listen Shepard, don't make me put this rebel boot up your ..."

"Boys!" Sophia said, "Whenever you're done squabbling we have some problems up here," She said as she shot an OSS officer. Sophia had incredible aim with a blaster. Several more officers came and began to fire upon them. The room around them started to fall apart. "Quick, open that window," John said. Gavin lifted upon the window in their room. These high-speed trains travelled up to 200 miles per hour. When the window opened, a large gust of wind entered their room and burst open the windows across from them. "Clark, any chance we can slow this baby down a bit," Gavin said. Clark quickly tried to find an access point. Luckily, the engineer monitoring the train was wearing his head mounted camera and he was able to get the access ID for the train's controls. "Got it!" Clark said as the train slowed down to 60 miles per hour. The rebels slowly inched themselves out the window. Gavin first, followed by Clark, then Sophia and John followed at the back. A guard grabbed his arm as he hung from the side of the train. John's knuckles grazed the face of the guard before he picked him up and threw him from the window onto the grassy floor beneath them. The rebels continued to climb towards the front of the train by moving one hand over the other on the metal rods that dressed the top of the train's side. Suddenly, several more blasts started coming their way as the OSS fired from the windows in front of them.

"Quick, get on the roof," John ordered. Gavin, Clark quickly pulled themselves up to stand on top the train. Gavin reached to help John up but the bar he was holding onto was shot. It detached itself form the train and John hung from it several feet out. "John!" Gavin yelled. The blaster shots flew past John as they came to a tunnel. The OSS laughed as the train quickly came up to the tunnel. "Duck!" Gavin yelled as they hit the surface of the top the train sliding right under the top of the tunnel. Simultaneously, John took his hover board from his belt, dropped from the steel pipe and flew around the structure of the tunnel. The rebels looked around for John but couldn't see him anywhere. John flew and grabbed ahold of the back of the train. Several OSS officers crawled onto the roof and started blasting towards the rebels. Gavin took out his matter sword and returned several of the shots towards them. However, the meandering motion of the train made it difficult for him to connect any of his shots. Clark and Sophia Jumped down through glass into the car below. An OSS officer grabbed Gavin's ankle and his matter sword flew behind him onto the roof of the train. He punched Gavin in the face and he flew down onto the roof. The guard took a knife out and stabbed it right towards Gavin's face. Gavin caught his arm, staring at the tip of the knife as it inched towards him. Meanwhile, John climbed up the side of the right side of the train while floating on his hover board. Clark and Sophia picked themselves up off the glassy floor of the car. They found themselves in a car with strange blankets covering electronic equipment. Clark removed some of the blankets and saw what seemed to be satellite pieces and blueprints. "What is it?" Sophia asked. "It looks like some sort of satellite device that's somehow linked to the Universal Database," Clark said. Suddenly, the train picked up speed again, increasing to 200 miles per hour. John was pushed forcefully by the wind as he held on for dear life. Clark tried to slow down the train again as the OSS started firing upon him and Sophia. John held on with only one hand as his skin was stretching from his body. Suddenly the train came to a screeching halt. John shot like a bat out of ell towards the front of the train.

"Oops," Clark said, "Come on, come on," he said as he waited for the engineer to turn on his headset again. Finally, the engineer put down his cup of coffee and turned on his headset. Clark turned the train on again heading at a normal speed and John caught a hold of the very front of the train. "Terrorist scum!" the OSS officer said as he pushed the knife towards Gavin's eye. He could see the red of his eyes while the struggled. Gavin grabbed ahold of the knife and flipped it around point it as his face. The guard kicked the knife away and began to choke Gavin as he laid on his back. "I shall cleanse you from the earth you terrorist little snake," the officer said. "I think you forgot, this snake bites," Gavin said as he kicked the guard down. Clark threw Gavin his matter sword and Gavin threw it right through the guard's chest. He fell limp onto the roof's surface. "Don't tread on me!" Gavin yelled. John blasted the remaining guards still attacking the others. Finally, the rebels had rid the train of hostiles and the large steel transport came to a screeching stop at Salisbury Station.

"Let's put on their clothes so we don't have to worry about sneaking around," John said. The rebels put on the uniforms of the OSS over their robes. They were much alike to Nazi uniforms from back two world wars ago: black pants and shirt with a One State flag wrapped around their left arm with a blaster on their side, a head mounted camera, and small energy cell on their belt. The fabric of the stomach and right elbow were always more worn then the rest, which spoke to the quantity of saluting and bowing the One State pawns were accustomed to. Night had fallen, and the rebels left the station, walking around in the shadows in plain sight. The rebels walked passed the large Heel Stone near the path to Stone Hedge.

"I wonder what this stone is doing here all by itself," Gavin said. The rebels finally came to the location of Stonehenge. It had been draped over by the authorities and was inaccessible to the common person. They removed the covers from the magnificent stone structures. They looked up to see a beautiful bouquet of stars. John was feeling his connection to them grow stronger. The things his father had said to him about the stars stood still in his heart. He hoped that one of those stars was heaven and that his father was there, waiting for him. The stars seem to grow brighter in their location and they observed the strange pattern of circles around the stone structures.

"I wonder why the One State didn't just destroy this," Sophia said. "It's clearly symbolic of some sort of spiritual or significant event," she added. "It must be significant to them as well," John said. He grazed his hands across the dense texture of the bluestones. It was as if he could feel thousands of years of history in the microscopic makeup of the stone.

"It seems like this was never finished– like there are stones missing," John said. The Stonehenge structure had a horseshoe shape with five sets of pillars. On each set of pillars, there were two stones with another stone sitting horizontally on top of them. Then, there was a circular ring around the give groups of standing stones. John walked up into the very middle of the five stone pillars. The stones towered above his head. He caught a particular group of stars out of the corner of his eye that appeared as he looked through one set of the standing pillars. He then looked through another special set of stars through the other. "I think I know what this is," John said. "It's an ancient astrological observatory." The rebels all gathered in the center of monument. "See these five pillars ... I think each one was an ancient window for a person to observe a particular astrological event." John opened the Book of Remembering and turned through some of the pages. "Look! This set of pillars would have been able to observe the summer solstice. This set would have observed the moonset of the winter solstice moonset," he said then he walked to where the center pillars would have been. "Here you could view the sunset of the winter solstice and if you turned around you would have seen the sunrise of the summer solstice. On the other side, you would have seen the summer solstice moonrise and the winter solstice sunrise," John said.

"I think this structure is much older than most people believe," he said as he searched through the Book of Remembering, "I think it was built by the tribe of Iam a very long time ago." "Where's the branch?" Sophia asked. "The book says that we have to ask nature for it." "This is just getting too weird for me," Gavin said. "All this talk about aliens and space, everything, it's just too much. And now we're asking nature for things as if it's some sort of person," Gavin added sarcastically. "You have to believe there is something more at work here Gavin. Something is going on that transcends our understanding. We just need to do whatever we can to find the rest of the branches and we'll sort everything out later," John said.

"Alright then, you ask nature for the branch," Gavin said. John knelt down by where the middle pillar would have been. "Ask nature for the branch using the language of souls," John read. "Everyone get on your knees and close your eyes," John said. Gavin reluctantly sat on the ground. "Tell Santa Clause I want a fire truck while you're there too," Gavin said. "Shh," the others said to him. John closed his eyes and searched deep within him. He felt the oneness of the universe around him. He felt his presence within the natural framework of nature and the earth. He turned off his thoughts and became conscious – he allowed his soul to speak to the universe itself. "Iam John Shepard. I request the fifth branch of natural law," John said in soul speak. The other could understand him but he was speaking in a strange mysterious language, unrecognizable to the mind. And then there was silence. They waited for thirty seconds. The rest of the rebel's eyes cracked open as if nothing was going to happen. Faith is still faith even if interrupted by tiny impulses of disbelief. Suddenly, the Stonehenge started to shake. A light opened up from the heavens and showed on the observatory. It was a beautiful blue beam covering the monument in the darkness. Three strange figures emerged from the blue light. John's eyes were still closed, but he could see clearer then he'd ever seen before. The world transformed around him into a grid of stars and space. He walked towards the three figures illuminated up ahead.

"Hello! My name is John Shepard. I need the fifth branch. I've asked for it just like you wanted," he said to them. But he did not say that in words. He said it in soul speak. "John! John! Wake up!" The others shouted to him. The finally came to and looked around him. The light was gone and a small hole had opened on one of the stone pillars. "Where'd they go?" John asked. "Who's they? You just sat down started mumbling and then that hole in the rock fell out," Gavin said. John rushed to his feet and ran to the hole in the rock. He pulled several stones out of the way and reached far into the stone. "Yes!" He exclaimed as he pulled the fifth branch from the stone. "Well I'll be damned," Gavin said. When he saw that branch, his doubts of the supernatural left him. He had always hated the idea of believing in God, but he felt as though he simply just didn't understand what was going on, or that no one could. Soul speak, the existence of the branches, the tribe of Iam, the coincidences and everything they had been doing pushed him off the cliff of skepticism and he was ready to embrace the mysteries of the universe. Clark took the newly found branch and translated it to display on the stone pillars in front of them:

"There is oneness of all things. Everything in nature is connected. Because humans are all connected and equal as human souls, you shall love your fellow human as yourself. Honor your father, mother and the elderly. Everything in nature behaves in a natural a balance and life should be concerned with maintaining that balance. Seek the golden mean in all things. What you reap, you will sow. Thou shall live in harmony amongst nature. Do not rape. Do not kill with malice aforethought. Be slow to anger."

They observed saw that fifth branch had parts of it missing. "Where is the rest of it," they asked Clark. "I don't know, it seems like there was writing on here but it's been scratched off or something. Suddenly, they heard a man running towards them completely out of breath. John withdrew his matter sword and held it up as the man ran towards him. It was an old scientist dressed in white. He had long white hair, glasses, a mustache and was looking behind him as if something was chasing him. He was carrying several rolled up pieces of paper. The man approached the rebels and fell this knees out of breath. Some of his rolls scattered on the ground as he fell. "You must come with me at once! They will kill you!" The man said as he struggled to breath. John held his matter sword to this head. "Who are you? How did you find us?" John said commandingly. "My name ... is Dr. Verne. I am a One State scientist. You must ... come with me at once ... The OSS will be here any second in large numbers. They are after me!" he said. "How can we trust you?" John asked. "I don't think you have much of a choice." Just then, several drones came into vision up ahead of them. The rebels could hear the voices of the dozens of One State officers heading this way. "Hurry, come with me." The rebels grabbed the scientist and ran south.

"This way," Dr. Verne said. The blaster fire from the drones followed closely behind them. Finally, they came to a large submersible ship hidden in the waters south of Salisbury. The rebel's deflected several shots as they came hurling towards them from the OSS behind. "Hurry," Dr. Verne shouted. "Get in the ship." They could see a large submarine vessel in front of them that appeared to be at least seventy feet long and was the shape of a whale. The rebels jumped into the hatch of the large vessel. Dr. Verne closed the hatches as the drone fire came near them. The vessel sank into the dark murky water as the drones fired towards them. The Knights, now at the mercy of this strange scientist, descended deep into the shadows of the ocean. 
Chapter 21 - Quantum

John and the others travelled deep into the ocean. The ship was a large deep-sea vessel constructed out of what seemed to be a special grey metal. It was large enough for the Knights to walk around in and seemed to be able to hold a good quantity of people. It was the shape of a blue whale. The smell of the deep ocean tainted its walls. In the background, you could hear the engines turning in the back and if you listened closely, you might be able to hear the faint noise of the sonar. Though it was shaped like a submarine, it still maintained several qualities that made it look like an actual blue whale. It had two fins on the side, a distinct head with two orbs for eyes, a fin in the back and a flexible mechanical structure. John felt the weight of the ocean increase around him. His chest and ears felt like pressure was trying to leave from his body. Dazed, he walked hesitantly through the tight metal doorways of his ocean dwelling. He finally came to the front of the ship where there was a scientific laboratory. There in the lab were hundreds of tiny machines that beeped and looked to be processing information. He saw diagrams of different sets of fish, scientific equations. A small dog jumped and barked at his feet.

"Ah, I see you've found Einstein. He's quite the playful fellow," he said as he set down several test tubes and picked up his white K9 friend. Dr. Verne was an Englishman and spoke with a pleasant traditional English accent. "The ship ... it's incredible," John told the doctor. "How far down are we?" "Yes. I call it 'The Triton.' We are just about a mile down right now and descending slowly. You're not feeling sick are you?" Dr. Verne said. "No ... I'm fine," John said. "Can you just tell me what happened? Why was the OSS chasing you? Why are you helping us?"

"I have been a naval scientific researcher for the One State for several years. Before that I was one of the top researchers at Oxford. Everything was fine and dandy until one day when I was doing some research in Quantum Mechanics and the relationship of atoms to energy when some military men told me to stop what I was doing and throw away all my research. Then they began censoring the research I was allowed to do. Eventually, I learned the government was restricting scientific discovery. I don't know why. Science has always been a powerful tool for the state," Dr. Verne said.

"They started dictating what kind of experiments you could do?" John asked. "Yes. I had seen how they restricted access to nature, information in the database, and of course through the media but when they restricted scientific discovery, I realized I was a traitor in my heart. I began doing scientific experiments in secret, concealing my findings from my military supervisors. But sadly, they eventually found out. I saw them censor many scientific formulas and research from the database," Dr. Verne said. "Why do you think they would do that?" John asked. Dr. Verne leaned in as if he was going to tell a secret. He hadn't yet adjusted to being unsupervised. "I think there's something in the scientific process they want to keep from the public. They don't want them to know what I know," Dr. Verne explained.

"Did I hear a dog bark in hear?" Sophia said as she entered the room. "Dr. Verne was just telling us about he used to work for the OSS," John said. "It's lovely to meet you doctor. I don't mean to be rude but do we know where we're going?" Sophia asked. "Right, right." John opened the Book of Remembering. The pages seem to become violent with pictures of destroyed cities, bloodshed, and ruins. "The sixth branch is hidden in the depths of the Pacific on the continent of Mu," John read. "Mu!" Dr. Verne exclaimed. "Of course! I knew it existed! I told them! They never gave me the money to do the research. All this time!" "So you'll help us get there, doctor?" John asked. "We're already on our way," Dr. Verne said as the Triton steered toward the lost continent of Mu in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

Aiden decapitated several OSS officers in fit of anger in his chambers of the One State Capital. "You have failed once again. You let Dr. Verne escape along with several classified OS secrets," he screamed. One of the guards begged for his life, "I'm sorry your greatness ... there was nothing we could ... " he said as he was decapitated. "Where is he now?" Aiden asked. "Sir, he's somewhere in the Atlantic and we believe he's heading West," an officer said. "Send the submarines and OS Navy at once! Find that ship!" Aiden commanded. "Sir, we think the rebels might be on that ship with him." Aiden paused; disturbed. He looked back at the OSS officer slowly in anger. "That's impossible! I shot them all dead only a few days ago. The rebels are all dead!" Aiden said. "Sir, our surveillance picked up strange activity coming from the old Stonehenge monument," he said. "It escapes me ... why Eidolon wanted that monument left standing." He said as he looked at electronic map of the Atlantic. "No matter Sheppard. If you're on that ship, I will find you," Aiden said as he sent a fleet after the Triton and drones to scan the water for the rebel ship.

Several days passed. John, Clark, and Gavin had finally gotten used to the strange noises the ship would make, the differences in pressure, and the feeling of confined spaces. Dr. Verne prepared a luscious meal for everyone. John sat down and placed a napkin over his lap. Gavin looked uncomfortably at the ocean life he was about to consume. Sophia admired the doctor's etiquette as he served her first and laid all the silverware out properly. Clark was sitting at the table but he had also just been given access to ship's computer systems through his tablet. Einstein waited beneath them, looking for any scraps. They feasted on several kinds of cooked fish, squid and drank wine ... the first cooked meal they had had in days.

"Thank you so much for your help, doctor. The food is delicious." John said. Gavin put the squid's tentacle in his mouth, chewing slowly and trying not to show disrespect. "Thank you so much for everything." Sophia said. "Our ship was destroyed and we might not have made it out alive if you hadn't stumbled into our path. It's quite the coincidence." "Coincidence is merely nature's way of telling us something: of pushing us in a particular direction. The universe is not so sloppy; so unintuitive," he said. "Are you enjoying the squid Lt. Fresco?" Gavin smiled hesitantly. "Yes ... it's great." Dr. Verne responded, "I'm actually in need of some more samples for my experiments. Would you boys care to take an ocean walk? It won't slow us down because we need to stop for some repairs anyway." "Of course doctor. We're here to help," John said. They finished up their meal and put on diving suits. Sophia decided to stay in and write to Elizabeth. "I'll be back soon," John told Sophia as he stepped into the diving suit. "Be careful John," Sophia said as she kissed his lips. The ship had a small hole in the bottom that opened up to the ocean floor. Dr. Verne instructed the rebels, "Ok. I just need a few fish from the reef nearby "You're up Gavin," John said. "Call me Captain Nemo," Gavin said with a smile.

He jumped into the water-filled gateway and sank into the Ocean water. John and Clark followed right behind him. The water was a clear windowpane; a light blue air where the fish flew like birds. Up ahead, they saw a reef where a large school of fish was congregating. They swam towards them. The coral formed a beautiful array of sea sculptures. The fish swam through them, somehow swimming in unison: as one body. They set up the traps that the doctor had given them. But the fish were not as foolish as they thought. "They aren't going into the traps," Gavin said. "Wait, let me try something," John said. He pulled out the fifth branch from his diver's suit. The ancient writing seemed to glow under the water. Suddenly, the fish began swimming straight towards the branch. They formed various layers of circles around the branch and many of the fish swam right to him as if they were offering themselves to John. "The fish are connected to the branches somehow," Clark said. The rebels each collected several fish into their baskets and headed back for the Triton.

Inside, they placed two fish into the doctor's testing equipment. "Thank you gentlemen. Now, let's take a look." said Verne. He put the fish to sleep and put it under a very powerful microscope, examining its cellular structure. The doctor showed the fish's cellular structure on a holo-screen within the ship. As you can see Mr. Shepard, the fish's cells have formed tiny crystals. They have reacted to something in the water. "I used one of these branches to capture them," John said, showing it to Dr. Verne. "Marvelous. Where did you get such an intriguing specimen. "It's kind of hard to explain. Just know that it has a special connection to nature and that the animals seem connected it. "Of course! Perhaps the fish's very cellular structure has reacted to the presence of the natural law!" Dr. Verne exclaimed. "I'm going to go in further. We're going to look at the structure of the fish's DNA of its molecular structure." The tiny molecules that made up the fish's DNA had crystallized from the presence of the branch. "What does it all mean?" Sophia asked.

"This proves many of my theories about the universe," said Dr. Verne. "I have taken samples of fish from all throughout the ocean. Sometimes I take fish that have been close to wars, some near neglected human populations, and some from countries with oppressive governments. As you can see, the fish from those areas react on the molecular level to the state of nature around them. The fish are connected to the rest of the world. What I believe is that we are all connected. When someone is killed far away, your body feels it, even if ever so slightly. It's not something your mind knows but it's something you feel at the atomic level. What is more, the genes of some fish seem to have a historical account within their DNA: a sort of code of historical events that they have felt. All life on the planet is breathing as one life. It would seem that duality itself is a pure illusion of the mind," The doctor said. "This also confirms some of my other theories about Quantum Mechanics ..." Suddenly, the ship detected another presence in the water.

"They found me," the doctor screamed as he ran towards the ships controls. Two One State submarines approached the Triton. They were black and of course marked with the One State symbol. "Clark, get us out of this. Disable those ships!" "I'm already in the database," Clark said. He began moving around various lines of code as it was projected throughout the room. The doctor headed towards a trench. Several initial blasts began to shake the ship. Gavin struggled to find his footing on his way towards the ship's controls. The ship entered an underwater cave. The light faded into darkness and they relied heavily on their instruments to see where they were going. One of the OS ships blasted towards them but missed. Large particles of rock fell towards a watery abyss. Clark found the ship's Code within the Universal Database. The OS submarines followed the rebels further and further into the cave, passing all kinds of strange aquatic life. John lost his balance during the ship's violent shaking. The ship must had just been hit with several other blasts. "Clark what's going on? Can you take out that ship?" John asked firmly. Clark had just breached through the military firewall and found the code controlling the submarine's movement. "I'm almost there," here said. The Triton swam past dark areas of the cave. However, they were not alone. A large sea creature seemed to be near the rebel ship. "Got it! Good bye ship!" Clark said. He pressed on digital button on his holo-screen and the ship fell into an electrical paralysis, steering itself into a nearby cave wall. The cave around them became very unstable and rocks began to fall onto the top of their ship.

"This place is coming down. We have to get out of here!" Gavin said. However, the second OS ship had other plans. The dark marine who piloted the ship locked a prototype missile onto the rebel ship. Menacing laughs marked the release of the missile heading toward the ship. "They've fired on us! There's a missile coming this way," Dr. Verne yelled. "Clark! Get rid of it!" John ordered. "It's already locked. It's not connected to the database! There's nothing I can do!" The missile closed in quickly. John saw his life and everything he stood for flash before his eyes. "Brace yourselves!" The doctor yelled. Suddenly, a large mutant octopus swam into view of the OS ship. Just before the missile impacted the Triton, the strange octopus swallowed the missile. The rebels rushed to the back window of the ship and saw into its eyes. "It knows who we are," Sophia said. The strange aquatic beast seemed to nod at the rebels as if it was sending its assurances; its sign of approval. Then, with no hesitation, it quickly changed course and swam straight into the OS ship. A large explosion ensued. The cave rapidly started to collapse around the ship. "We need to go faster!" Gavin yelled to the doctor. "This is as fast as she goes." A large rock hit the top of the ship. "It's ... going ... to ... be ... close." Gavin said. Miraculously, the rebel ship shot out of the underwater cave and away from the watery grave of their pursuers.
Chapter 22 - Mu

Several more days passed. The Atlantic became the Gulf. The Gulf became the Panama Canal. The Panama became the Pacific. The Triton had been able to scathe through the Canal underneath a large OS trade ship and disappearing before anyone noticed the difference in volume. With such a large empire, finding the cracks was not hard to do. Finally, the Triton could see what looked like a large amount of wreckage in the ocean. "Mu," John said, reading the Book of Remembering. The sea floor seemed to rise up, outlining an enormous stretch of land. They could see outlines of villages, statutes, what looked to be farms, and the other aspects of society. "What do you think happened to this place?" Sophia asked. John read, "The sixth natural law lies between Fiji and Samoa." The book then showed pictures of a large battle from what seemed to be a long time ago. "It looks like there was some kind of war during the ancient times," John said. On the next page he found what looked to be a very old legal document. "The Order of Shadows hereby condemns Mu to the depths of the ocean for gross crimes against humanity, the natural law, and the planet," he read.

The ship floated over several under water pyramids and what appeared to be Greek and Roman architecture. "How are we supposed to find a temple that is underwater in this vast array of land when we don't even know if it's still there. The Old China submarines could have found this site before and excavated it," Gavin said. "It doesn't seem like it," John said. The book had spoken about a strange black cloud that would have hidden the continent from plain site and radar detection. They had simply passed through it. In reality, no one had lays eyes on the continent of Mu in a long, long time. They looked through the window at the large buildings. "Does anyone see a temple ... some kind of religious building?" John asked. Ancient weapons of war and skeletons were scattered all throughout empty plains of a once glorious empire.

"War is a terrible thing: an archaic way of determining who should have power by pure demonstration of force," Dr. Verne said. "Perhaps Mu was no different." "That looks like the capital city there," John said. The ship came to a large dome with circular outlines of buildings around it. It seems capitals and large cities always have larger and more condensed bodies of architecture. "Let's put on the diving suits and we'll head into the main city. There's bound to be a temple there somewhere," John said. Sophia remained on the ship. She really didn't care for swimming. Her mind wondered to thoughts about the Red Party: the slaughter of all the other party members and the death of democracy. She began to think about where this was all heading. She began writing how she thought the new republic, if it should ever stand again should operate.

John, Gavin and Clark swam quickly from the ship towards the capital building of Mu. Covered in sea life, it still stood as a marvel of human engineering. Rows of houses stretched for miles. Irrigation systems seem to have brought water throughout the capital city. The bubbles from their dive suits floated from their faces up towards the surface. They came to the capital building. A large set of stairs went from the ocean floor up to a dark brown pyramid. Sculptures of pharaohs, Greek gods, and other mythological creatures decorated the outside of the pyramid. "Over there," John said as he pointed to a small temple to the left of the capital building. Quickly, he kicked the fins on his feet through the water and shined the light onto the Iam temple ahead. When they arrived at the temple, a large stone door stood in their way, marked with the ancient symbol of the tribe of Iam. It was an image of a tree with a long root in the middle. It had three branches on its left and three branches on its right. And on each of those branches there were other branches. Each of them was linked as one life form— one living and breathing life. John ran his hands through the outline of the ancient image on the door.

"It makes perfect sense. All seven branches of the natural law united," he said. He pressed his hands against the sixth branch and the circular door slowly opened. Bubbles flew to the surface and a ray of light seemed to radiate from deep within the temple. They swam and swam down a corridor of stairs. The walls were dressed with symbols of the ancient empire. It seemed to tell a story of an empire that had lost its way. Pictures of children being abused and overworked, women disrespected, individuals with excesses of wealth and privilege, constant war, and the death of the society's moral fiber showed in an Egyptian style painting on the walls. Finally, they came to the center of the temple. A large room of once great sculptures and beauty sat eroded by centuries of being under water. A small box sat bursting with light on the altar. Slowly, John opened the box. Bubbles escaped and traveled up to the ceiling while John reached in his hand, pulling out the sixth branch of the natural law. The sixth natural law displayed before them on the temple wall:

"There are Natural limits of the institutions of power and control. No institution of power, control, or ownership shall exist for more than five hundred cycles of the revolution of the Earth around the Sun unless renewed by seventy percent of the citizens. No one world government shall ever be allowed to stand. No person or group shall control either directly or indirectly more than twenty million square kilometers of land, including the human occupants of that land, on planet Earth. The Earth is uniquely divided by nature into seven distinct geographic areas of land and those regions shall be allowed sovereign, autonomous, and separate institutions of government or control. No person or group shall control either directly or indirectly more than half of two of the seven natural divided lands or the occupants of those lands on Earth. If ever seventy percent of the citizens of a nation-state assemble for the purpose of the dissolution of any government, entity of private ownership, military power, constitution, leader, or set of laws than the demands of the citizens assembled must be granted. There are natural limits of the institutions of ownership. No institution of private ownership shall own or maintain custody of more than ten percent of the real estate of any nation-state. No institution of private ownership shall own or maintain custody of more than five percent of the natural resources on planet earth by either direst ownership or indirect ownership through the use of a value instrument or contract."

The water filled temple turned into a case of reflection for the rebels. Gavin became truly disturbed when he saw the ancient writing. He could recall the powerful brainwashing and conditioning the military had put him though. He remembered thinking that the world would be safer if the U.S. could simply be in charge and police the world. He realized his country had, in more ways than one, violated the principal of natural law before him. Gavin changed that moment. He realized his loyalty was never to his country, but to the principles for which his country stood for. To many times he continued to give his loyalty to the establishment in power, completely ignoring the fact that it had strain from its principles. Gavin decided then that he would give his loyalty completely to defending the principles of natural law and not the country he used to admire.

Clark realized that the spirit of the rebellion of his youth had been without form; just anger pointed at the establishment with no real moral backing: rebellion for rebellion's sake. He remembered getting in trouble over and over again for hacking into his school's computers, changing everyone's grades, and later getting in trouble for hacking into the government. He realized that even the most noble of vigilante justice has to be backed by a well thought out moral justification. Principle is everything. John felt he had known these laws for his whole life, but never actually spoken them out loud. He felt there was clearly a line drawn in the metaphysical sand that governments should never go over, for no noble empire has ever lasted beyond the limits listed before him and stayed around for very long. He knew the same principles which guided his country to limit terms of politicians, divide government into three branches, and have laws against excess and corruption, surly there were natural limits to the very time and space any empire should ever be allowed to exist. The Knights continued to reflect as they left the ancient underwater city. They did not speak to each other as the climbed back into the Triton, but their souls said more than their minds could ever comprehend.

"One more branch to go," Gavin said as he dried off. "Where is the next one?" John read from the Book of Remembering yet again, "The seventh and final branch of natural law is hidden in the Grand Temple of Iam in the city of Atlantis." "Well I'll be damned," said Dr. Verne. The book pointed out the location of the mythical city. Days passed as the rebel ship passed through the Old Panama Canal and back into the Atlantic Ocean. They had grown quite accustomed to being underwater. Sophia diligently tried to recreate the constitutions and founding documents of her country. John sat, gliding his hands across his matter sword. He grabbed for where his cross used to be, but found only the touch of his own cold skin. It had been months since he'd read scripture. He felt the old John ask for the book he used to cling to for guidance or direction. But now, the new John was clinging onto the branches in his bag; to the living breathing force of nature around him.

"I grow tired of these rebels slipping through your fingers," Eidolon said to Aiden. "My patience with you grows weak. Catch the rebels now, or it'll be your head Aiden. You are to move forward with the plans. The enslavement of the human race will soon be at hand. How pathetic that they don't even see it coming. How easily they are distracted, corrupted and divided by petty nothings," Eidolon said. "Yes my lord. We are currently in the early phases of completing Operation Horus. Just as you asked, a series of satellites will orbit the earth broadcasting the Universal database from space. Then, we will move forward with the final phase of our plan: to put a chip into the mind of every single citizen of the One State, linking each of their minds to the Universal Database. Only then will have true order. Only then will have peace. Only then will we have security," Aiden said. "Good ... good. Mars was quite the difficult planet to enslave. It is a shame we had to turn it into a desolate wasteland. Soon Earth will fall and we will add another 8 million slaves to our global empire," Eidolon said.

John and Gavin stared out into the deep ocean. "Do you really think it's here ... Atlantis?" John asked Gavin. "I feel like I could believe anything now," Gavin said. Dr. Verne came into the room. "I've taken us to exactly where you said Mr. Shepard. There is no Atlantis here. Only more ocean." John let out a deserving and heartfelt sigh, placing his forehead against the window. Reticent. He closed his eyes and reached deep into his soul. He reached deep inside his soul. Before, when he had talked to God, he had imagined him to be up above him in some abstract dimension called heaven. But now, when his soul wanted to speak, it did not aim itself towards the sky. When he engaged in soul speak, his consciousness expanded and seemed to broadcast the message all round him into the universe; into the waves that carried his message into the universe. He begged the planet to show him the way. His eyes fluttered open, waiting for an answer. Nothing. He waited. Nothing. "Come on John. We'll figure it out. I'm sure the doctor can run a test or something to figure out where it is," Gavin said to John, placing his hand on his shoulder. John began to turn away. Suddenly, John thought he saw a spirit in the water.

"There! Look! In the water," he said. The ghost creature swam off into the dark ocean. "Follow him!" John shouted. The Triton turned, chasing after the strange spirit. It swam through a dark fog under the water, down into a deep trench, and through dense underwater plants. The ship shook and rattled. It sounded as if they were speeding through a dense underwater forest. Finally, light began to show up ahead of them. Through the trees. Through the fog of the ocean. The ghostly creature faded off into the light. And there it was in all its glory: Atlantis.

Choirs seem to sing from the rebel's hearts. Rays of light shined like beams from the heavens out into the ocean and onto the Triton. They saw a round city with various circular rows stretching out from the center. They saw fertile plains to the East and hundreds of docks to the west of the ancient Metropolis. In the interior they saw a large temple decorated in gorgeous Iam sculptures and art. They saw ships that had met their end on the ocean floor, still tied to the docks of a once mighty naval fleet. They saw various canals and streams weaving throughout the city and guard towers to watch over the sea. They saw plant life unknown to the rest of mankind scattered in wondrous gardens and covering the buildings and statutes.

"Pull into the main temple, doctor," John said. He took the ship further into the city but then stopped suddenly. "John we can't go any further. There is some sort of field surrounding the inner temple and the ship can't pass through," said Dr. Verne. "We have to get in there. I'll swim through the field," John said. "You might die!" Dr. Verne said. "No doctor. I will die ... someday. But until then, I have a promise to keep." John took the other six branches in his bag, entered the diving room, and suited up as if he knew what lied ahead. Gavin, Clark and Sophia did as well, leaving the doctor with no choice but to join them. "Well!" He said as he followed the group into the water. John swam out ahead of everyone. The branches in his bag seemed to glow like they knew where they were. The water was cold and sent shivers down his spine. He swam past large statutes and through guard posts. Harder and harder John kicked his legs and pushed the water behind him. He came to what seemed to be a strange bubble in the water that encased the metropolis. The rest of the rebels finally caught up to him. With a determined look, John placed his hand up to the bubble. He slowly moved his right hand towards it. His hand passed through it and the bubble hugged his arm. Then he placed his other hand through. Then, his whole body passed through the underwater bubble and the rest followed him. John was now walking upright in the ground.

"I think there's air in here!" John shouted. He unhooked his mask and took a deep breath. The air was surprisingly pure and full of oxygen. The rebels all removed their diving equipment and headed up the steps to the Iam temple. "Magnificent!" said Dr. Verne. "These sculptures appear to be over ten thousand years old!" The branches in John's bag increased in their brightness. John removed his matter sword from his belt while the group followed behind him. "The last branch is somewhere in this temple. Be careful. We don't know what's waiting for us here," John said.

The rebels entered the Grand Temple of Iam. The inside was a beautiful glassy, white interior. The symbol of the Iam tribe was covered all throughout the temple. John slowly walked onto a narrow pathway. The rebels walked carefully across the path while on their left and right were large waterfalls. The path became even narrower and the temple walls began to show pictures of strange creatures fighting throughout the cosmos. "I can feel a luminous presence here," John said. Finally, they came to large stair set. Gavin followed John's back closely when he was climbing up the narrow stairs. John came to the very top of the temple. There he saw a white alter with a small box. John slowly opened to the box and pulled out nothing less than the seventh branch. "All too easy," John said, turning as if to head back down the stairs. "Wait," said a strange set of voices from off in the distance. John turned around to find a luminous being before him. The rebels were knocked to the ground by its sheer presence. They struggled to find footing. The branches within John's bag seemed to turn into pure light.
Chapter 23 - GAIA

"We have been waiting for Earth's Shepherd to come," the mysterious voices said. "Who ... who are you?" John asked. "Iam," the three luminous beings said in unison. They stood side by side and were dressed in white robes. "You're ... you're the ones who hid the branches." Iam responded, "Yes. We have been in hiding here for many of Earth's rotations." John held his hand up to try to try to block some of the light coming from them. "I brought the branches here. Earth is in danger. Eidolon must be stopped!" he said with force. "Yes. Iam knows this all too well. Eidolon is of the Draco race from the nearby Draco Dwarf Galaxy. Since the birth of universe, Iam has been at war with Eidolon and his kind. They move from planet to planet enslaving life forms by hiding the light of the natural law and manipulating its inhabitants. Many years ago, Iam hid these branches across the planet as a last line of defense against Eidolon. Many planets have fallen into darkness at his hands. Iam has watched man evolve into the most unique of species. So much potential, yet you constantly fall into the vices of your lesser evolved ancestors. The branches before you are the natural law we have handed down to you," Iam said. "What gives you the right to declare what the natural law is?" John asked. "Iam did not declare what the natural law is. Iam deduced it with reason. The natural laws written upon the branches are self-evident." John replied, "And Mu! You destroyed Mu?" "The Order of Shadows destroyed Mu. The Order of Shadows was founded as the interpreters and executors of the natural on Earth. Mu was a grand empire that stepped over the line drawn in the sand by the natural law. They abused their powers and the Order of Shadows was forced to sink the continent in to the ocean. Come. Let Iam show you the preservation room," Iam leading them into a large room.

"Woah," Gavin said while he and the others observed over forty thousand individual seed banks. "Here you see the crucial role the Knights play on your planet. The Earth is a special place. Such a diverse presence of plant and animal life." They took them into the next room they saw millions and millions of small test tubes. "Each tube you see here represents the genes of one species of life here on earth. They are refilled every ten years to accommodate for any potential evolutionary changes." Clark pulled a small tube from a larger group of tubes, each with a star on them. "What species is this?" he asked. "Humans," said Iam. Clark placed the vile back into its slot carefully. "Who's?" John asked. "The Knights preserve the genes of all kinds and types of people equally," said Iam.

"It was a shame your grandfather and all the other leaders of the other knights had to fall to the hands of Eidolon. They would be proud to see their worked passed onto you. Preserve the life on planet earth. That is your duty," commanded Iam. "What am I to do with these branches? My grandfather just told me to find them and that they would help save humanity from the tyranny of the One State. We're running out of time," John shouted. "Come. Iam will show you where the branches go." The three figures traveled further into the temple. The rebels followed them into a large room that was covered with glowing plant life. In the center was the body of a tree with three holes on left side, three holes on the right side and one hole on the top. The tree seemed to be the most alive thing the rebels had ever seen.

"It's beautiful," Sophia said. The tree had several roots that travelled to other trees at the end of the room. In the center of the tree was a pulse that seemed to be drawn from the other trees. "My god," Dr. Verne said as he ran up to inspect to the trees surrounding the central tree. One tree had cells of water. Another tree had electricity. The other had fire, magnetism, gravity, biology, and in the middle was a tree for matter, space, and time itself. Each of the surrounding trees had a magnified image of itself and displayed a colorful wave that moved with its own dance of life. "They have proved Quantum Mechanics and String Theory! All matter and energy exists in waves on a galactic grid!" said Dr. Verne. "The code of the universe," Clark said smiling. "Behold the heartbeat of the universe. The heartbeat of God. Mankind, through millennia of trial and error, has missed the true identity of God. Many of your religions have falsely anthropomorphized God and thus have been seriously misguided. Many of your religions have lined up to certain degrees with the natural law but none has been without flaw. Iam will translate the seventh branch for you now," said Iam. The seventh branch glowed as Iam spoke its inscription:

"God is the ever-present consciousness that exists within the waves of all matter and energy. God is within the soul and body of every human being. God is the natural law. God is truth. God is water. God is in the trees. God is in the birds. God is in the fish. God is in the sky. God is space and time. God is the space between spaces. God is the present. God is energy. God is the universe. God is in the Rain."

John could feel as if his soul was its head in agreement with what he just said. "I feel like I've known all this time. It's just been a fleeting thought of my soul never to really scream loudly at my mind," he said. "We found the seventh branch!" Gavin said. "What do we do now?" he asked. "You must place the seven branches back into their place in the tree of Iam." "We need your help. Will you help us?" John asked. "Iam has been helping you since before you were a thought," said Iam. "It is the Knights of the Living Earth duty to protect the natural law on planet Earth. Iam cannot interfere. We have other galaxies to deal with. Godspeed John Shepard," Iam said as they began to fade away. "Wait!" John cried out. "Was it you who appeared to me as the burning bush or was that the true God?" he asked. "That question has already been answered," Iam said. "One more thing. The branches. You have found the seven main branches. However, it is possible there are more." "Wait! Tell me where they are!" Then, Iam morphed into light and disappeared. John stood unsure of what to say.

"Well what are you waiting for! Put the branches into the tree!" Sophia said. John walked up to the glorious tree of Iam. From his bag he removed the first branch: the Identity of Man. It glowed as it became one with the rest of the tree. "The natural rights," John said, placing the second branch that became one with the tree. The tree seemed to slightly grow and shine brighter. "The universal moral code," John said placing the third branch. "Preservation of the Earth. The Oneness of all things. The natural limits of the instructions of man," John said placing the sixth branch into the tree. And finally, the identity of God," John said staring at the final branch. He turned around him looking at his trusted friends. "Here we go," John said as he placed the seventh branch on top of the tree of Iam. Suddenly, the tree became strong. The light from the tree became brighter. The wave in the center began to beat faster. It began to shake. Beams of light started to burst from its very core. Suddenly, John and the rebels were thrown from their feet down the stairs from the center of the temple. The tree shook violently. With all the light and power of the universe, the tree opened at the top. A large green light illuminated from the top. The tree shook even more violently. Some of the temple became unstable and pieces began to fall from the ceiling. Suddenly, the tree exploded with light shooting out the top. The large, bright, green ray of light burst through the top of the temple and shot towards the sky. The green light hit the sky and proceeded to encompass all of the earth.

Citizens of the One State got out from the transports. They left their living squares. They stopped saluting the One State flag. They looked up from their holo-screens. All citizens of earth watched the light in the green sky. The light began to move as if it was writing in the sky. Slowly and beautifully, each of the seven natural laws were written in the sky for all of mankind to see. From every angle, in every country, at every altitude, the citizens of the One State laid their eyes, for the first time in decades, on information that did not come from the Universal Database. And they saw the truth.
Part III

Chapter 24 - Shadows

After he picked himself off the ground, John scanned the final pages of the Book of Remembering. The last pages contained strict procedures and rules for how the Knights act when gathered as the Order of Shadows. It appeared that the this last section had been added into the book much later. The last section contained the process by which the Knights would adjudicate matters on Earth according to the natural law as well as previous cases that had been decided. John turned to one page involving the black plague. John discussed the portion with Gavin and Clark. The three wondered around Atlantis. It continued many rooms for different uses. Finally, they came to judicial chambers with the seal of the Order of Shadows.

John Shepard knew what he had to do. Through soul speak, he summoned all the carrier pigeons he could find. The letter he wrote was as follows, "Dear Leader of the Old Republic, your presence is requested at Ellis Island in the Old America. Come alone. Carry no electronics. Wait in the closed off nature square until you see the signal. Down with the One State. Sincerely, John Shepard."

John felt like he was slowly turning into his grandfather as he wrote those words. The pigeons flew across the world, finding leaders in every country that head kept their head low, feigning obedience to Eidolon while waiting for the moment to fight back. The pigeon dropped the notes in Old China, Old Russia, Old Brazil, Old Egypt, Old Australia, Old India, Old Germany and many other countries. Those leaders proceeded to travel to Old America. The pigeon was such a loyal bird to the Knights.

The leaders opened the letter with curiosity and closed it with fear. The mind of the average citizen was in turmoil. Everyone everywhere had seen the natural law. In fact, the words seemed to be still etched into the sky. The holo-screens turned on their homes, "Today, the terrorists have created some sort of propaganda in the sky. Citizens of the One State are not to look at this dangerous propaganda or to enter it into the Universal Database. They are trying to brainwash you into joining their cause. Citizens everywhere who have seen the messages are already saying how nonsensical and anti-One State they are. The OSS is expected to take swift action," said the anchor of the state run media. The One State media often stated things that it wanted to be true as being true. Self-fulfilling media statements were essential to their control. Bob Loyalist turned off his holo-screen. He got a full glimpse of the natural law as soon as it hit the sky. Some of it he truly didn't understand, for it was difficult for someone who had received such a bad education and had such skewed access to information.

Aiden stared at the natural law in the sky until Eidolon came on the screen. "What do you make of this my Lord? PRISM and other of our spying programs have indicated that many citizens are analyzing and agreeing with some of this terrorist propaganda my Lord," Aiden said. "This is the surely work of Iam. No matter. We have created dark clouds that can be suspended in the air indefinitely. See to it that these clouds block out all of the natural law so we can continue our plans for the enslavement of the human race," Eidolon said. "It shall be done my Lord." The OSS proceeded to produce massive black clouds all throughout the Earth. Thunderstorms formed in what seemed to be a perpetual darkness. Drones carried the black clouds up into the sky, covering the green writing. The people watched as the black clouds blocked out the sunlight as well. Mothers held their children tight. Even the most brainwashed of the citizens felt a tingling of disapproval in their hearts. The citizens had only able to see the natural law for short while. Some of them did not see them at all. It was unclear whether the green writing had been in the sky long enough for even a small amount of people to see or understand them.

John watched as the dark clouds covered the natural law he had just revealed to the helpless citizens of the One State. He wondered if it had all been in vein; if they had seen it for long enough for it to move them. He wondered if the day that it had been visible, was long enough for it to have spoken to them in some way. Had it been enough for them to question their government?

The Triton found its way through the Atlantic Ocean and into the Upper Bay at the mouth of the Hudson River. It was night. The wind blew against the water. Only a small amount of moonlight made it through the clouds of darkness. In the roped off nature square, bodies hid amongst the trees. There must of have been at least eighty to a hundred of them. "Here I made this for you," Dr. Verne said, handing a stone tablet to John. John took the tablet and brought it to Sophia. She looked closely at the inscription to see that it was the seven natural laws carved into stone. She hadn't yet seen them all together side by side. The writing had a faint glow about it.

The Triton came to rest in the Upper bay. John found Sophia in the center of the ship. She was wearing a beautiful dress. Clark and Gavin joined them. John, Gavin, and Clark were all wearing their Knight robes. Grey hoods covered their heads and their matter swords were at their sides. "Here take this," John said, handing Sophia a powerful hand-light. "We're going into the nature square to make sure all the Old Republic leaders make it onto the ship safely. When the time is right, raise the light into the air." Sophia smiled and nearly came to a tear. "I will," she said. Dr. Verne stayed with the ship, ready to speed away into the ocean. The rebels left the ship and swam to the nature square. It was windy that night. Gavin came to a group of leaders from Asia. He also found Middle Eastern Leaders. "Thank you for joining us," Gavin said. Some of the leaders were very old. John concentrated deeply using soul speak to have Sophia bring the ship closer to the land. "Bring the ship closer," Sophia said to Dr. Verne. He steered the ship close to the shore. Clark assisted several women leaders from Old South America. John looked through the dark crowd of people. "Hello Soul of Light," a familiar voice said. John turned around. Fysi waived to him from behind a tree. "Fysi!" John said. He ran up into John's arms. "I thought I lost you to the sea," John said. "We thought the same about you. But then we felt your presence," said Fysi. Aiyana also came out from the trees. "So happy to see you again, John," she said with a smile.

Sophia opened the latch on the top of the ship and climbed out onto the surface of the Triton. A platform rose from the top of the ship thirty feet into the air. Sophia placed the tablet and her light around her waist and grabbed a hold of the handles. Droplets of rain fell onto her face. Left hand, then right she climbed up into the platform. She could see all of the Upper Bay standing on the platform. The wind blew her long, beautiful dress. She stared up into the sky as the raindrops fell onto her face and her stretched out arms. The raindrops felt different to her: like she could feel the life flowing from them. She felt free for the first time in her life. She felt hope. She smiled, stretching her arms out to catch as many droplets of water on her as she could.

Sophia, the last remaining member of the Red Party, held the tablet of natural law in her left hand close to her chest. She grabbed the light in her right hand. She closed her eyes in a solemn determination. She screamed out with all her might raising the light high into the air, "God is in the Rain!" She held the light high into the air for the entire bay to see. Suddenly, several drones came flying in. "Let's go!" John said, signaling for the leaders to enter the Triton. Gavin helped the Middle Eastern leaders into Triton, something he never thought he would do. The drones rained blaster fire down onto the rebels as the headed towards the ship. John caught some of the blasts with his matter sword and returned them toward the drones, sending them crashing into the forest floor. One of the drones came flying right behind John, but was quickly blasted by one of the Russians. "Good to see you Comrade," Kaslov said, heading into the ship. The European leaders made it onto the ship. Clark turned around and took out the rest of the drones with a mighty EMP blast. Sophia came down from her post and jumped back into the ship. The ship began to take off as the OSS came running towards John. He took off running through the forest, taking Fysi on his back. The ship was just about under water when John dove into the open entrance in the back of the ship. "Goodbye!" Dr. Verne said, sending the ship away. Many blasts hit the Triton as it entered the water. The OSS sent their ships after it, but they were no match. The Triton descended into the shadows of the ocean, returning to Atlantis: the new official base of the Rebel Army. 
CHAPTER 25 - PROCLAMATION

The rebels, along with their new members, sat side by side in a dark room. John lit some candles in the center of the table where they sat. Everyone sat in silence, waiting for John to speak. John, Gavin, and Clark all wore ceremonial robes of a dark grey color with hoods over their heads that were different from the Knight's robe. In front of them sat the tablet of the natural law. John had reviewed the last few sections of the Book of Remembering. He was shocked to find there was a procedure he had to follow in regard to removing empires. He had flashbacks of the things his grandfather had said. Sometimes he wished his father could appreciate the things he did. Gavin was less inclined to be so into procedure, and wanted to run and gun the One State down himself, but his respect for the Knights and John outweighed those tendencies.

John smashed a gavel against the table, "The Court of Shadows is in session. You have all been called here for simple purpose. We, as our forefathers, declare universal jurisdiction for the interpretation and execution of the natural law on planet Earth. We are not some rogue vigilantes that peel away empires in the dark of night with no justification or reason. We do not involve ourselves in the spectrum of discretionary political and military decisions of nation-states that do not violate the natural law. We are not here to take sides in the usual warfare and battles that is normal behavior for nation-states. We are not heroes. We are not here to save damsels in distress. We leave the more trivial issues of the execution of justice to the appointed courts of nation-states. We concern ourselves with the larger forms of injustice: large scale abuse of human rights, the manipulation of human knowledge on a global scale, the breaching of the law of power, the protection of the Earth as a whole, the preservation of plants and animals, large scale destruction of nature and the environment, and of course, the creation of a one world government. As Aristotle and our forefathers understood, the nation-states cannot arbitrate the natural law themselves because power always seeks self-preservation above all else. There must be a non-institutional arbiter who does not seek to create an establishment of control to keep the nation-states in check and then disappear to let the people decide their own fate. That is our purpose."

Sophia watched John with a smile. John felt as if the words were flowing through him; as though he was merely the channel. "Many myths and wives tales have covered our actions to assure that our involvement would concealed. Many of the older world believed that leaders such as Hitler committed suicide. More ink has been spilt about the fall of the Roman Empire and no scholar has found the true cause. We have many people who believe in our cause and who remain loyal to us in dark times. We are your sons and daughters, your teachers, your generals, your soldiers, your priests, your laborers, your artists, your women, your men, your hackers, your fathers, your mothers, your brothers, your sisters, your daydreamers, your prisoners, your scientists, governors, your police, and your average citizens. In the normal state of our affairs, we are constantly monitoring and measuring the actions of Earthly governments and intuitions to insure compliance with the self-evident natural law. We are constantly watching from the shadows to make sure that no one crosses over to endanger the natural balance of life on our home planet. We train knights that scatter themselves across the globe to be our eyes and ears in the four corners of the earth. When the instructions of control so blindly and arrogantly disregard the natural law as stated, we employ several ancient and modern tactics to remove them from power. But the case before us now is a perilous one. A grave darkness threatens Earth. We must proceed with extreme care. Eidolon killed off all of our order, leaving only the three of us. We were forced to find the actual pieces of the declared natural law on earth to give humanity a moral baseline in a world where Eidolon has removed all moral systems but for the states. We do not take our actions in a vacuum. Throughout our existence, we have consulted with the people of nation-states who we have determined to be pure of heart. They are the ones that will live in the world we alter and they are the ones who have to carry the burden of forming better institutions," John said decisively.

"That is why you are here. We have members here from all corners of the world; from the sovereign nation-states destroyed by Eidolon's rein. We place the burden on you now to bring forth your case for the removal of the One State from power. The Court recognizes Sophia Nomani: the last living member of the Red Party from the Old Republic of the United States," said John.

Sophia smiled as she came forward, closer into the light. "The Old Republic of the United States, along with our fellow countries have been devastated by the One State. A once free people have been placed into the chains. Eidolon has destroyed our religions, our value systems, and our way of life. On behalf of my country, I submit the following request to the Order for review," Sophia said.

"Declaration of Independence: When in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for all people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the universe, to which the Laws of Nature and Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation. We hold the natural law to be self-evident. In furtherance of the rights of man and to the end of preserving the earth, governments are instituted among men, deriving their power from the consent of the people. Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of those ends it is right of the people to abolish it and institute a new government, laying its foundation on the natural law and organizing itself to best serve the people. The citizens of the One State, and representatives of the Old Republics together assembled hereby submit the actions of Eidolon and the One State," she said as she began to raise her voice.

"He has placed himself above the natural law necessary for the balance of life on Earth. He has destroyed all sovereign nation-states and forced all people of the world to answer to a one world government. He has drained all power from smaller, local governments and forbidden their recreation. He has denied the people their right to representation and participation in the affairs of government. He has obstructed the administration of justice by removing all courts. He has destroyed the rule of law. He has made all territories of the One State dependent on his will alone while feigning their appearance of sovereignty before the people. He has coerced the people into forced participation in the military. He has denied the people the right to a civil government. He has destroyed our constitution and refused to be bound by the consent of the people. He has created mass systems of surveillance behind the backs of the people, denying the people their right to privacy. He perpetuated war without the consent of the people or any legislative body. He has established secret courts, exempt from public scrutiny. He has quartered armed troops amongst us. He has created false flag terror attacks to justify the use of military force in foreign lands. For destroying our right to a free press. For destroying our right to freedom of expression. For destroying our right to freedom of discovery. For labeling any dissenters as terrorists and keeping them in indefinite detention in military prisons. For forbidding the citizen's access to nature. For recklessly polluting the environment and manipulating the genes of natural organisms. For imposing excessive taxation without the consent of the people. For the use of torture and cruel and unusual punishments. For denying people the right to agriculture and being self-sustained. For imposing the English language on all citizens of the earth by erasing all other languages from the database. He has exempt any members of the Ruling Party from any code of ethics, law, trial, or punishment. He has broken the law of power and occupied a sovereign government on more land than the natural law provides him. He has deprived us the right of trial by jury. He has created concentration camps in which he has placed the common people of peaceful religious beliefs and sentenced them to suffer and die for not pledging their allegiance to the One State. He has ordering the killing of citizens by drone strikes without a trial by jury. He has destroyed unspeakable amounts of human knowledge and manipulated existing knowledge within the Universal database so that all of history conforms to his will. He has removed all religious thought from the world. He has divided us, excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and robbed the people of freedom of thought to question the acts of their government. He has destroyed our culture, way of life, and forbid us from practicing traditions not sanctioned by the state. For keeping and maintaining the Universal Database and forbidding the citizens from their right to store their own information and express themselves on paper. Those who have grieved of the above oppressions to the government have been met with death or imprisonment. We, therefore, together as the combined nation states of the world, declare ourselves independent from the One State. We, the combined nation-states of the Old Republics, ask the Order of Shadows, based on their universal authority under the natural law, for the destruction of the One State," Sophia said.

All members rose in applause, cheering on everything that Sophia had said. The leaders from all the lands began to cheer! "Down with the One State. Down with the One State!" Everyone watched John and waited for his response. He paused and thought through what he was about to say. He thought about all the horrible things the One State had done. How Aiden had killed his father, how they had burned his bible and killed countless of people in the camps, and how they had destroyed so much of human knowledge. John, Gavin, Clark had gotten so good at soul speak that they could do it at their whim. They had been communicating amongst themselves without opening their mouths since the tree had shot the natural law into the sky. "Who amongst us agrees with what has been said here?" John asked. "I," said Kaslov. "Time to bring these assholes down." "I," said the Chinese leaders. "I," said the South American Leaders. "I," said the Africans. "I," said the all the leaders from the Middle East. "I," said the Europeans. "I," said the Indians. "We are in agreement as well," said Fysi, sitting next to Aiyana. "But we do not present our agreement as a nation-state. We file our agreement on behalf of nature; of the trees; of the animals; the birds; the fish, the flowers, the matter that binds us together. On behalf of the Earth and nature itself, 'I', said Fysi. John stood up. "The nation-states and nature are unanimous. For all that has been said here. For Eidolon's crimes against humanity, the earth, the natural law, and our God, we hereby declare war on the One State. We order the destruction of the government the One State. We sentence Eidolon, Aiden, and other One State leaders to death. It is so ordered. Signed, J. Shepard, J. Fresco and J. Smith."
Chapter 26 - Transformation

John Shepard, determined and steadfast, rose from his chair in the Court. Across the table he unraveled a large map of the world. Then, he took several sets of chess pieces and placed them throughout the world at all the key locations of the One State positions and capitals. There was nothing left to justify. No law to be interpreted. Now, his prerogative was simply to draw battle plans. He had to swiftly take down the most powerful government the Earth had ever seen. He felt the incredible burden on his shoulders but his sense of duty outweighed any fear of failure. With each chess pieces he moved he thought of the horrors the One State was guilty of. Not absent from his mind were the civilians. He knew had to make sure their deaths were minimized if he was to preserve the integrity of his Order. No Master of the Order of Shadows had ever had to take down a one world government before. The ones that had been taken down were simply empires in their adolescence of global domination.

"Gavin," John said. "Take this and place it upon the capital of the One State. Our fellow man demands that we give our enemies the option of surrender before their destruction." Gavin took the knife and the scroll from John. They shook hands, grabbed each other by the shoulder and smiled. "Soon the world will be free again," Gavin said. He then left the room and headed to the One State capital. "Clark," John said, watching Clark jump to his attention. "I have a special task for you. The infrastructure of the One State military industrial complex is largely electronic, online, in the computers of the government. You are in charge of our cyber warfare. The first thing we must do is disable all the One State's nuclear, chemical and other types of weapons of mass destruction. Eidolon has no heart for sparing the lives of the innocent and I believe there is a good chance he may be inclined to just kill large amounts of people to get rid of us. So, we will take that option for him.

Clark nodded his head in agreement. He turned a nearby room into a digital hacking station. He threw up is arms, filling the room with code, holo-screens and machines to monitor the activity of the universal database. John looked to Kaslov and Dr. Verne, "Doctor, there are many scientists within the One State who are capable of building machines and creating weapons for an army. Do you believe they will join our cause?" "There are many," Dr. Verne said. The rebels began to write to all the scientists, hackers, and other people within the military who had shown signs of deflecting. Pigeons carried messages to dissenters all throughout the world instructing them to find their ways to the coast. John put all the chess pieces into place. He had predicted the unfolding of his acts of war, the rise of the Global Rebel Army, the war, the falling of the One State. But there was one lone chess piece that he was unsure of. The tiny white pawn sat on the table as the truly unknown variable. It was the citizen; the average person. The ones who retained the true power and authority to decide the world in which they lived under made him wonder if at the end of this all there was hope for a democracy. He picked up the piece and stared at it with deep thought and contemplation.

Bob sat eating a sandwich near the One State capital. Long days of deleting records from the database made him hungry and he enjoyed sitting by the water during his brief lunch break. The seagulls were flapping their wings looking for scraps on the outdoor porch where he sat. The water swayed rippled under him while he stared at the shore. Then, Bob saw a group of scientists walking along the water. The OSS who were supposed to be on duty at the time were having their lunch, not paying attention to what was happening. Bob watched the scientists walking along the water. It was strange to see them out. Most of the time they were in their houses doing research and uploading everything to the database. He had seen the files. Suddenly, he noticed something in the water. He dropped the second half of his sandwich and stood up to look at the water. Men in grey robes emerged from the water. The shadowy men ran towards the scientists and grabbed them. Bob thought it was a terrorist attack. However, strangely enough the scientists did not resist. In fact, they seemed to want to be captured. The shadowy men dragged the scientists quickly into the water and then disappeared. The water was silent and at peace. It was if nothing had happened. He thought they were ghosts. The Order of shadows repeated the act of rallying people to their cause throughout the world. Defectors, technical people, scientists and innovators took their walks by the shore only to disappear into the shadows of the ocean: each taken to the rebel base. Bob thought nothing of it. He had become completely apathetic, as did most average people in that time. And yet, there was something inside of him that was different. He could remember seeing the sky fill with strange writing. Some of it he understood, some he did not. He had himself deleted several of the words that were used in the skywriting. But it did not seem to matter. It had still managed to burn a thought inside his mind that something was terribly wrong with the One State.

It was night in the central square of the One State. The OSS manned their posts. The computers in their minds had made them clumsy, unsophisticated creatures of passion. Gavin moved passed them in the dark of night. He threw pebbles to distract them and headed into the central courtyard. Cameras tried to lay their eyes on them but they were disabled before they turned on their swivels. A large group of OSS officers exited the building. Gavin watched them from the bushes. After they passed, he removed the knife and the order from his belt and stuck it into the wall in the center of the square, to be seen by all. And then he vanished. As soon as the cameras came back on, several guards came to see what was wrong. They found John's Order jammed into the doors of the capital.

"Sir, this note was found stuck into the door. We suspect it is the result of terrorist activity," one guard said to Aiden. Aiden snatched the paper from the guard. "Shepard!" Aiden said in anger. The guards seemed to look at the note in mystery. They had never seen handwriting before, let alone a piece of paper. Aiden read the letter, "To the leaders of the One State, as a result of your various crimes against humanity and the earth, we hereby order you to cease and desist the operation of the government of the One State and return the power the people. If you do not so within 30 days, we will be forced to destroy your government by force," John had wrote. "Hahahaha," Aiden laughed as he took out his lighter and set the note aflame. "We won't be needing this. Back to your posts!" he ordered.

Gavin returned to the rebel base. John knew that the placing of the letter would only be a formality but he wanted to uphold certain procedural precedents that the order had used for centuries: the government must be given the option to peaceably surrender, despite the high unlikelihood of them doing so. By now, the rebels had grown significantly in numbers. John and Dr. Verne were in a large empty field on the outskirts of Atlantis. It was a large underwater city. The doctor was showing John some of his new concoctions. "Mr. Shepard. You have requested of me to arm the rebels quickly," Dr. Verne said. Several other scientists were working on a machine in the background. "We have managed to steal several shiploads of industrial 3D-printers capable of producing airplanes, tanks, blaster rifles, and submarines. This will allow us to prepare a military fleet capable of standing up to the One State," said Dr. Verne. "Very good gentleman. See to it that you prepare a mighty fleet," John said. "We will have victory over the One State because our warships will be piloted by the minds of men and not some database," John said. "Sir, we need supplies. The printers are only good as the raw materials we have to put into them," Dr. Verne said.

Then, Kaslov walked into the room. "Kaslov, I need you and your men to help us obtain this list of raw materials. Gavin will take you to the rendezvous points and help pick up any of your men still stranded in the One State. My friend, they are not my men any more. They are your men. We will get you what you need. We Russians have a particular talent for finding and storing war materials," said Kaslov.

The rebels, through the Russian black markets and the black markets of all countries, obtained goods necessary for the production of war materials. The black markets had grown in popularity because the One State had made may items illegal or nearly impossible to get due to bureaucratic red tape. The line between the black markets, the mobs, the gangs and the rebel army became blurred, just as John wanted it. Many of them were picked up, taken to the rebel base and trained.

"Gavin, we must be careful in our employ of some of these vile creatures. Keep a close watch on them. Have Fysi and Aiyana touch their hearts and remove some of their propensities. If any of them show signs of double crossing us they are to be put back," John said.

Fysi and Aiyana stood in a large room amongst the mobsters and the gang members. Aiyana held the tablet of the natural law in her hand. They walked back and forth examining each of their faces. Although, he did not see them as vicious and file creatures; he saw them as trees that had blossomed in a certain way based upon their upbringings and experiences. Fysi could see into their souls and experience their childhood memories. He could see the moments in the lives which turned them away from enlightenment and towards their baser urges. He could see the reasons they desired power and wanted turn away from the basic human moral standards. Fysi walked up to one man from Old Australia.

"What is your name?" Fysi asked. "Liam, he said. Liam had joined the Australian Mafia at an early age. He had participated in several bank robberies, contract killings, and drug runs. Fysi leaned down to him and touched his heart. "We love you, Liam. Soon we will shine some light on the dark corners of your heart." Fysi and Aiyana led the group in meditations on the natural law, morality, the brotherhood of man. They taught them empathy and kindness. Through meditation, they helped each of them understand the physiological causes of their propensities to evil and helped them to unlearn them. They plugged them into constant and ever-present God. And the men and women who had been rebels of society and a corrupt government were transformed into rebels for a much higher cause.

Clark had been working tirelessly to rid the One State of nuclear capabilities. Streams of code were being processed all over the room. Even the ceiling had code projected onto it. Clark stood in the center with several of his other hacking friends. "Find the database codes for all weapons of mass destruction," Clark said. They scanned the database for the code that would give away the location of all these kinds of weapons. "R4v3n, I found them," One of the hackers said. "329495611897 for nuclear weapons, 287687298789 for chemical weapons, 987987610910 for HARRP, and 158679890894 for Horus," he added. "Alright let's start with the nuclear weapons, I want all the code found and hacked!" Clark said.

Back in Old Nevada, the One State was testing a huge nuclear weapon. The alarms were sounding and the launch sequence. 5, 4, 3, 2 ... Suddenly, the weapon disabled, turning into sleeping pile of metal. The screens of the OSS technicians turned to laughing skull and crossbones. This was repeated throughout the one State Empire. "All their nuclear weapons are downed sir. In Old Germany, the OSS had a prison filled with Jews. They had taken the roof off the prison and were attempting to use a chemical weapon on them. The lights on the weapon went dim and it shut down. "All chemical weapons are disabled," another hacker said. The One State attempted to control the environment and the weather though the use of a weapon called HAARP. This device could cause tornadoes in the middle of an enemy camp as well as lighting strikes on targeted areas. HAARP was a massive field of strange structures: like a farm of mechanical crops pointed at the sky. Massive streams of code processed on the wall. "Got it!" Clark said. Clark took control of HAARP and withdrew all code from the Universal Database.

"Sir we're unable to stop something called 'Horus.' It's specially protected, encrypted, firewalled, and is impenetrable from cyber-attack," a hacker said. Clark ran into the central command of the rebellion. "John! All One State nuclear weapons and weapons of mass destruction are now under our control," Clark said. "Well done brother. Are armies will stand now have a chance against the armies of darkness," John said. "Wait ... there is one weapon we can't hack. It's been sealed off somehow from any attempts at hacking." John replied, "What is it?" "It's horrible, come see for yourself," Clark said as he brought John into the hacking room. John saw what Eidolon was planning to do. Within the walls of the One State capital, they had constructed a device to control the minds of the entire population. "Sir, they have billions and billions of these small fly type robots that will fly into the ears of all humanity and connect them into the Universal Database. They will lose all cognitive ability. They will become just as the OSS are: completely controlled by the database," Clark said. John's heart became enraged. "There's nothing you can do about it?" John asked. "No sir ... not by hacking. We'll have to go in and destroy it manually. Or you'd have to destroy ... the database itself." Clark replied. "Then we shall. Prepare a small group of Special Forces. We will descend on the One State capital and destroy Horus. If we cannot, we shall destroy the Universal Database itself," John said. 
Chapter 27 - Fray

Sophia hadn't given up on Elizabeth. She wrote another letter to her hoping that there was still even a microscopic hint of rebellion in her, "Dear Elizabeth, I miss you. I pray every day for your safety. The rebellion is growing strong. The people have seen the natural law now. They are realizing they have been lied to, manipulated, and deprived of knowledge and their freedoms. The Old Republics are going to be restored and the One State is going to be brought down. The people are going to be free again. Please join us. Please stop giving into the easy path. They tell you we can only be free in a world with complete tyranny and control. Freedom does not equal security. In many ways, they are opposites. To be free is to accept risk. But that's ok. It is always better to live in a world, knowing you are not completely safe but free. I know there is still good in you. I know deep down you despise Eidolon and everything he has done. The rebellion is not the indoctrinated terrorist killers that the OS Media has portrayed us as. I love you. Please join us. Don't give into their lies. If you want to join us, walk along the shore of the bay at night. And we will pick you up. Signed, Sophia."

Sophia waited for days in the Triton, hoping for Elizabeth to come. But her efforts were in vain. She tried day after day to use soul speak. Asking her through the channels of nature and the universe to come to their side. She would not accept failure. Sophia held group sessions of soul speak with John and the other members of the rebellion. They reached out to Elizabeth. But she never reached back.

Elizabeth spent her days staring out the glass-pained window of the One State capital. Every so often a pigeon would come and bring letters to her window. She would wait until the guards would leave to slide open the glass and take the small message from the bird. Much of what Sophia said to her fell on deaf ears. For she was still consumed by the feeling of safety being within the capital gave her. Her views, like the views of most people, are tied into their neurological programing. As a child, her father would play fortress with her. She tossed and turned in her sleep to the sound of nightmares. She felt like the world was trying to tell her something, but she wasn't sure she was ready to listen. The OSS would come and beat her, have their way with her. But she felt nothing; an apathetic tumbleweed being whisked away by the wind.

Sophia and John sat in a room surrounded by ocean life on all sides. The rebellion had grown significantly in numbers. With the help of the black markets and Dr. Verne, they had created a sizable armada underwater. Eidolon's ships and submarines tried to locate them in the Atlantic but nature provided them a hidden oasis. Sophia seemed uneasy. She was painting in her room, watching the fish swim by. "It's beautiful," John said, commenting on her work. She had painted the tree where they had put together each of the branches in a gorgeous color. "You will hang it in your office when you lead the new American Republic," John said. Sophia laughed, "And what makes you think I'd want to be in charge?" John stood and looked at two fish swimming together through coral. "Because when this is all over, there is no country on Earth that I will be able to lead. You know this," John said. "So you'll just disappear ... huh? Just like that?" Sophia said in the sarcastic way a woman speaks when she abhors what is being said. "I have to preserve the integrity of the Order. I can't both run a nation-state and be the head of the Order. It's impossible. You are the hope for America. People remember you. They will support you. They believe in you," he said. "I can't do it without you," she said. "Do you really think that I would ever leave you? That I would ever let anything happen to you?" Sophia just stared back into John eyes. Sometimes, love speaks in silence. "I need you to stay here when we head for the capital tomorrow. If something should happen to us, you must lead the army. They will die for you," John said. John gave Sophia the Book of Remembering. "If I can trade my life to watch the One State fall, then that is what I must do," John said resolutely. "Your grandfather would be so proud if he could see you now," Sophia said. John stared into the water. "With your love I could take on the One State myself," John said smiling. And their bodies became one. The two fish swam off into the coral reef in pure bliss.

Sophia woke to find an empty bed. She ran into the center of the of the rebel base. "Where is he!?" she asked Dr. Verne. "The Knights are gone. They are already on their way to the capital," said Dr. Verne in a worried voice. "Well don't just stand their ... send a battalion of troops with them!" she ordered. "I'm sorry Miss Nomani, it was their request that they travel alone," he said. "I didn't even get to say goodbye," she replied. The rebels pulled into the bay. The cyber-controlled OSS lurked through the facility. John, Clark and Gavin swam up to the steel docks where several smaller military boats were resting. One officer was patrolling across the dock. He would scratch himself and gaze his red eyes of despair on the water. Gavin shot up from the water and dragged him in, drowning him. His frail body sunk into the water. John and Clark repeated this action with several other guards. Their dark grey robes dripped as they emerged from the moonlit water. They climbed a set of nearby trees and waited as patrol came by. "All navy units departing in 15:00," one officer said. But they let them pass. A transport car approached from up ahead. Clark quickly shut off the engine. The driver's throat was slit and the other guards were quickly killed and thrown from the vehicle.

The rebels entered the capital area holding the driver's eye open to a scanner at the gate. The rebels entered the capital building through the window. The bodies of the guards outside lay in pools of their own cold blood. They passed through thin, translucent window shades in the moonlight. "The core of the Universal Database should be upstairs," said Clark. "Split up. Gavin, take Clark down the right side of the building and I'll take the left," John said. John cut open a vent with his matter sword and entered into the ventilation shafts. He inched his way through the small, grey passageway. The metal was sharp sensation on his elbows and palms.

He began to hear moans of pain and what sounded like whips so he inched forward closer, coming to a hole in the vents. Through the small holes in the metal, he saw a large room of Asian prisoners. He could tell by the eight spokes tattooed onto their palms. They had the red eyes of the guards, only they seemed even less intelligent then the guards. He could see programmers with a switch on the wall. The Asian man was chiseling some concrete blocks. The man seemed to be doing ok. He finished chopping the concrete block and asked, "I'm finished now?" he asked. The officer at the switch turned down the switch to the second setting. The man's head seemed to hurt and his eyes grew a shade of darker read. They put another cement block and he proceeded to chip away at it. When he was done, he said, "I am tired." The man turned to the third setting. His eyes grew even redder. He chopped through another block. They continued to change the settings until he worked through even his own pain. No questions asked. Nothing. He became and complete mindless slave. They turned the machine all the way down. The officer handed a blaster to the man.

"Shoot yourself," the officer commanded. The man slowly lifted the gun to his head. Without hesitation, he blew his head off and fell to the floor. The guards laughed and applauded. "Bring in the next sample," the guard said. Several Indian women walked in and began to hammer away at the blocks. "That's it!" John said, removing his matter sword. He cut through the shaft and stabbed through the chest of the guard at the lever. The other officers drew their weapons and fired at John, but he absorbed each of the blasts and sent them flying into the torsos of the guards. They hit the wall and slid down as they faded off into unconsciousness. John removed the shackles from the Indian women and told them to flee. John moved forward.

Meanwhile, Gavin and Clark proceeded through the hallways. Calling where they were a capital was somewhat of a stretch. It was more a palace of homage to the world's emperor. Clark assured that any potential observers watching through the cameras would not disturb their visit. Several OSS guards spotted them from across the hall. "Sick'em boys," one of the guards shouted, unleashing several genetically modified dogs. They were hideous creatures, mutated and sick looking savage beasts. They charged towards Gavin and Clark. They came within a couple feet of Gavin as he raised his hand, as if to ask the dogs to stop. The dogs looked into Gavin's eyes and stopped dead in their tracks. "Well don't just stand there," the guards said, "Sick'em!" Yet, the dogs sat, refusing to attack their guardian. They could sense that Gavin was a Knight of the Living Earth and bowed in obedience to their master. Gavin turned the dogs around and sent them back at the OSS officers, who were torn to shreds by their own genetic creations.

John headed up the stairs to find the living quarters of the capital building. He passed several doors until he heard a woman screaming. He burst into the room to see several OSS officers beating and mocking a young woman. John leaped into the room, quickly decapitating all three men. They didn't stand a chance. "Are you ok?" John said. "I'm fine!" the girl said, "Now just leave me alone!" "My name is John Shepard. I'm here to set you free!" he said. "I don't desire to be free," said Elizabeth. "I'm fine where I am now," she said. "You're the girl that Sophia has been writing to. Come with me! I can take you to her." She sat there in silence. "No," she said defiantly. "Elizabeth! I order you to come with me!" John could hear a large group of guards heading towards him. "You better leave before they find you," Elizabeth said. John quickly jumped out the window and disappeared. "Where did he go?" the OSS asked. Elizabeth just sat there like she was standing in sandpit of apathy, with no desire to fight.

John found his friends in a hallway after climbing through a window. "Nice to see you again," Gavin said. "Alright, the central hub of the Universal Database should be right behind those doors," Clark said. A large group of dark marines burst through a large set of doors in front of them. John threw his matter sword and took out the leader. He leaped into the air dodging several laser blasts and removed his sword, right before catching a blast and returning to a guard across the room. The three rebels stood side by side sending all the blaster fire back to their opponents. Soon, the dark marines gave up on shooting the rebels and charged them with their own swords. John clashed against one of them being sent through the large doors. He struggled to find his footing on the conveyor belt that he landed on. Near his feet were hundreds ... thousands of tiny flies. Gavin slowly inched backwards dueling with two dark marines at once.

One dark marine jumped toward John chasing him down a conveyor belt. He swung to John's left and John blocked. Him swung to John's right and he blocked him again. The guard knocked the sword from John's hands and kicked him onto his back. The dark marine laughed as he swung his sword high into the air. But John quickly extended his arm and blasted the guard, who fell off the conveyor belt. Several a specialized dark marines leaped onto the conveyor belt with John. He had a golden outline on his uniform. He smiled at John as he walked toward him. Suddenly, twenty dark marines rushed toward Gavin from all sides. He sheathed his sword and extended his arms in both directions, blasting a guard on each side. He turned to extend his arms again, taking out two more guards. He dove through their blasts at him, ducking to his knees and taking out the guards who fired at him. He spun in a circle, blasting several guards, before ducking and extending his back to dodge several swords that flew his way.

Clark clashed swords with two dark marines, kicking one away so he could deal with the other. The dark marine swung to Clark's left and then to his right as he dodged both blows. The dark elbowed Clark in the jaw before knocking him to the ground. The dark leaped into the air and swung his matter sword for Clark's head but he rolled out of the way.

John fired several blaster shots at the golden marked dark marine. He sent them back at John. John seemed to know where each blast was coming before it was even fired. He dodged to the left then the right. He ducked and took out his matter sword, rushing toward his enemy. John swung his sword at him and the large, tall dark marine grabbed John by the throat and threw him onto another conveyor belt. John knocked many flies off of the belt, which was now thirty feet above the air. The dark jumped toward him. John rushed to his feet. The dark punched John in the face. John blasted the dark with his wrist-mounted lasers, but they were useless on him. His eyes glowed a like a dark red. John kicked the dark marine, who tripped and struggled to find his footing. "John!" Clark yelled, throwing John's matter sword back to him. The dark clashed swords with him as Clark ran through the last of his two enemies. John leaped through the machines that were coming down onto the conveyor belt, capable of crushing him. John fired several more blasts into the dark, aiming for his eyes to no avail.

Gavin danced around the dark marines, slicing them through their torsos. Clark threw his disks up into the air, bouncing his laser blasts up into them and striking the darks in their eyes, killing them. The dark caught up with John swinging heavily into John's matter sword. The conveyor belt they were on was heading quickly for a furnace. John attempted to leap away but the dark grabbed John's robe and held him down against the ground. John fired several more shots but the dark grabbed him by his wrists. John could feel the warmth of the furnace on his skin. Suddenly, Gavin aimed with amazing precision and blasted the dark in the eye. John quickly rolled off of the conveyor belt. The dark was set aflame by the furnace. His horrid screams filled the room until the reds of eyes burnt out. "Thanks," John said, catching his breath. The rebels looked at all the piles of bodies around the floor. The exited the room and headed up the stairs. The walked passed a large ceremonial chamber. There were human sized cages and blood on the alter. "I don't even want to know what sick things to do here," John said. John found and pressed a button the desk of the alter which opened large doors. Finally, they walked through the doors in front of them. They saw a large room filled with holo-screens.

"Wow," Clark said. "This must be it. Look ... you can see people entering things into the database now." Clark pointed to streams of data running down the walls and across holo-screens. The rebels could see many citizens entering in their personal information, status updates, and search queries. They saw one screen called X-Keystroke. Clark went up to use the computer and saw that he could search for anyone's information at any time. The public was under complete and total surveillance. "It's a sad day when you cannot do or say anything without the eye of government watching over you," Gavin said. "The founders of my country would never have allowed this to happen. Then they saw a media upload terminal. "It looks like the OSS can come to this terminal and instantly tell the media what to report," Clark said. "Or they simply just upload information to the database directly into the feeds of all citizens of the world," Clark added. "Tyranny by information," John said. "You only know what they want you to know." They heard slow clapping sounds in the back of the room. A dark figure sat in a large leather chair and began to turn around.

"Very good Shepard. Very good," Aiden said. "I was beginning to think you'd never come!" "It's all over for you Aiden!" John said. "I don't think so." Elizabeth came into the room at the hands of one of the guards. "Drop your weapons or the girl dies," Aiden commanded as many dark marines surrounded the Knights. "Go ahead. She means nothing to us," Gavin said. "No! Wait. We'll do as you ask," John said, lowing his matter sword. Gavin and Clark also lowered their swords to the ground. Gavin raised his hand to shoot Aiden from his wrist-mounted blaster. Gavin fired three blasts toward Aiden. The world seemed to slow down. The red laser blast flew through the air and stopped right in the middle of the room. "What ... the ..." Gavin said. "Hahahahaha!" Aiden laughed, coming out from his chair. The guard threw Elizabeth to the side. "You can't kill me! I am immortal!" Aiden said. Hundreds of guards ran into the room and put the three rebels at blaster point. "What have you done, Aiden?" John yelled. Then, the guards arrested them.

"There is a force field around me and around this room," Aiden said. Eidolon has provided us with the technology to manipulate matter and to make the universe conform to our will. You and your little rebellion have made trouble for us with your hacking," Aiden said, tapping Clark's check as a sign of disrespect. "But we are hacking the universe itself, we are going to rebuild it to create a truly ordered and ... sustainable future," Aiden said. "You're playing God Aiden, don't do this. You'll kill everyone!" John said. Elizabeth just watched in sorrow. A tiny tear fell from here eye. "Take them away!" Aiden commanded. "We will let Eidolon deal with them." 
Chapter 28 - Bob

It was a bright, sunny day at the One State Gladiator Coliseum. At least ... as bright as the sky would allow with the dark clouds still floating in the sky. This gladiator arena put the old Roman coliseums to shame, holding up to three hundred thousand people. The One state knew the power of speaking directly to the populous through sports to enflame the passionate adherence to sports teams. This made the populous much more docile and easy to control because it made them much more willing to cheer for the government of wherever they lived. The citizens of the one state swiped their hands and walked through scanning machines to gain entrance. "Ice cold beer! Get your ice-cold beer here! Only 20 Bancors!" said the salesman, walking through the stands.

Several Christians and Indians were fighting dark marines and OSS officers in the arena in a pre-show battle. "I'll have a soft pretzel," said Bob Loyalist, placing his order at the concession stand. Wearing his polo and khaki shorts, he took his food and drink and walked through the doorway to find his section. He walked down several sets of steps and got this row. The crowd roared with applause as the dark marines ran through another terrorist. Bob scooted through the seats, facing his rear end to those who were already sitting. "Excuse me. Pardon me," he said to the others. Finally, he found his seat. He glanced at the incredibly large amount of people. In the sky, he could see the black clouds covering up the strange green writing. He had seen it a while before, but really couldn't recall what it said. They looked like some sort of laws, but his memory failed him. Loud men sat to both of his sides, waiving their fists in the air. The crowd on the opposite side of the arena was so massive and far away, they just looked like ants in front of him. The last Christian was knocked onto his knees on the floor. The dark marine circled him while signaling to the crowd if his life should be spared or not. The two men on each side of Bob rose to their feet, "Kill him! Kill him! Kill him! Kill the terrorist! Cut off his head!" they said. The whole stadium rose in a thunderous applause requesting the death of the vile Christian terrorist. The dark looked up to a booth near the top of the stadium. There, Aiden sat with other members of the ruling party. Aiden held out his hand with his thumb held sideways. It swayed for a few seconds before he gave the thumbs up. The crowd cheered. Bob felt distanced from the crowd. He had been to a few fights before but recently, he thought they were to barbaric. Something inside him didn't like the things that crowd said. But he still went, because it was the thing to do. The dark cut off the Christian's head which rolled onto the dusty ground.

Suddenly, Aiden rose to his feet and the crowd became silent. "Citizens of the One State, hear me. For years now, we have been at war with the terrorists. Every day, they seek to kill us because we're strong. They hate us for our unity and seek to divide us. However, the resolve of the One State and its loyal citizens cannot be defeated. Today, I am here to announce to all of you: the leaders of the terrorist rebellion have been captured!" he said. Half of the savage crowd applauded. But the applause was not as great as it was for the Christians and the Indians who had just been killed.

Elizabeth sat in the booth with Aiden. Her insides were in complete torment. She was there but her thoughts dwelled on her loyalty to the One State. After seeing John, she seemed to feel slightly different.

"Bring out the last of the terrorist scum!" Aiden commanded. John, Gavin and Clark sat in the dark with their hands tied behind their back. A large door began to open. John turned his head to the side as the blinding light from the sun reflecting off the dusty floor of the arena. Their weapons had been taken from them. They only had on their robes with the hoods down. Several darks shoved the three rebels forward into the light. "Behold: the terrorists!" Aiden said. A large portion of the crowd booed and hawed at them. The darks escorted the rebels toward the center of the arena. Some of the crowd towards the lower seats began to throw things at them. "Terrorist! Traitors!" the crowd yelled. A pretzel hit John across the face. Then, several beer bottles hit him in the chest. He gave the crowd a heated look. Clark also got hit with pretzels and beer bottles. Clark tripped and the crowd laughed and applauded in a savage roar. Finally, the rebels were chained to three stones in the center of the arena. The darks left them and they sat alone in the middle of the crowd.

Little did the Knights know, One State drones had finally caught wind of the relative location of Atlantis. While the Knights were busy, Eidolon sent a fleet of underwater death machines to destroy their save haven. An armada of submarines headed straight for them. Sophia woke up to a thunderous sound and a vibration which shook the walls. The rebels had installed some cameras underwater to monitor the surrounding areas. She went to one of the holo-screens where Dr. Verne was. "They're coming for us," he said. "What now, fearless leader," Gavin said to John. They had been communicating through soul speak the entire time but there was little to say. They weren't sure they had any options. "We can take them. Just stay close and keep focused," John said. Clark was trying to loosen the chains that held him. "We have to get these chains off!" Clark said. Then, Aiden said to the crowd, "Today, they will feel the full power of the One State. Citizens, I have a special treat for you today. Eidolon himself has decided to do away with the last of the terrorists himself!" The crowd reacted in thunderous applause. "Behold: your glorious Emperor!" Many people faked applause because they were still scared of being seen as a dissenter. A large set of doors opened at the side of the arena opposite from the rebels. Bob became angry inside. He felt a strong distaste for Eidolon but he couldn't put it into words.

Then, Eidolon emerged in all of his glory. Elizabeth looked behind her in the booth where all the rulers were to see this strange machine. It had his purple light coming out from it. She had heard the dark marines talking about it when they beat her. This was Eidolon's cloaking device; a veil superimposed over him to hide his true appearance. They also had told her that it was a matter-altering machine; that it gave him near invincibility and the ability to manipulate matter itself. She gave it a long, thoughtful stare and turned back to the arena. No one even seemed to pay attention to her anymore. Eidolon walked forward into the arena. He was dressed in all black. He looked like a human but was taller. His face was blue and had a strange alien type look to it. He had two eyes but no pupils.

"One State! One State!" some of the audience chanted. The dark marines handed him a matter sword and then disappeared back into the crowd. He walked towards the rebels slowly, in a taunting way. John stared into the eyes of his enemy. The anger he felt towards him was almost indescribable. It was like he was looking into all the world's murderous dictators combined into one. John had pulled out a small piece of metal he had swiped from the guards earlier. He tried inconspicuously to free himself while Eidolon walked towards him. "At last, the Knights will be no more and we will have a truly secure empire! You will pay for all the people you have murdered, for your religious extremism, and for your terrorist acts," Eidolon said. John said nothing. He knew who the true terrorist was. All he had done. All he planned to do. John felt like he was the only thing standing in the way of Eidolon's total control of Earth and he was ready to die to stop him.

"Look at you now, Shepard. Iam has abandoned you. Your God has turned his back on you, and so has your father!" Eidolon said. John was taken aback, "You don't know my father! You'll pay for his death!" John said struggling to get himself free. "After I kill you, I will take your head and place in front of the capital to remind everyone that dissent is treason and treason is death!" Gavin also felt the anger in his heart, "Let me at that son of a bitch!" Gavin said, straining forward and being yanked back by his chains. Eidolon closed in on John, "I will enjoy killing you." Eidolon raised his matter sword high into the air. The crowd became silent. John reached down into his soul and ordered the matter in the chain keeping him tied to the rock to break. Eidolon swung his sword straight down towards John's head.

Finally, nature complied with John's request and his chain was broken. John quickly rolled out of the way as Eidolon's sword cut through the rock he had been held to. The rock split into the two and the crowd roared in applause. It was unclear if they were applauding the fact that he escaped or that he had nearly died. Eidolon swung his sword again, smashing it down into the ground. John nearly rolled out of the way to find his footing. Eidolon back handed him across the face and sent him flying across the arena onto the dust. Clark had given up with trying to pick his lock and instead focused their energy on asking nature to release them. Bob watched with a dueling heart. Back in the Knights' base, Dr. Verne observed the chess map. He looked at the two pawns sitting near the king, one white and one dark. He did not know where to put them or where they would go.

Elizabeth watched from high above. Her insides too were sick with duality – a battle between good and evil for her heart and her loyalty. Eidolon threw John again. His body hit the ground and threw dust up from the arena floor. The two men to the side of Bob continued their chanting.

Suddenly, Eidolon changed shapes. John looked up from the ground. "Give me your hand son," the figure said. "Father!? John said. "Everything's going to be ok John, just give up. You've turned your back on me. Don't turn your back on your country too," the spirit said. "What?" John replied. "Give yourself up. Don't be a fool," John's father said. "You're not my father," John yelled. "You never did listen," his father said to him, smacking him across the face. John struggled to find his footing. Eidolon then shape shifted into Sophia. "I never loved you John. I was just using you," Sophia said to him. Then, she kicked him and threw sand into his eyes. John cried out in pain. He quickly tried to remove the sand from his eyes. They flickered open and he saw a man with long hair in a white robe. "I turned my back on you John, because you're not worthy," the spirit said. "No! This is all a lie. You're not real!" John said. "Don't you know me John Shepard? I am Jesus Christ," the spirit said, turning to the crowd. "My father has abandoned you because he does not love you," said Jesus. "No!! He loves me and you aren't real!" John yelled. Jesus picked up his matter sword and swung it at John. John barely dove out of the way.

Eidolon morphed back into his regular self. "Hahahaha!" he laughed. The crowd had calmed. They were not cheering at all anymore. Something disturbed them. Deep down, they all felt torn inside; a swirling of fear and dissent dancing on their hearts. Eidolon picked up John by the neck. He struggled, looking straight into Eidolon's eyes. "I want to enjoy your death. I want to remember it for all time," Eidolon said as he slammed John onto the floor. He moaned in pain. "You have nothing Shepard. God turned his back on you ... just as your father. You are the one who lost all the scriptures! The rebellion will fall and it will be all your fault!" Eidolon said. He turned his face to the crowd as John lie on the ground barely able to move.

Bob began to sweat. He was worried. His soul was title wave of torment. The white pawn seemed to shake on the chessboard. "Look around you," Eidolon said, gesturing toward the crowd. "The people are in complete obedience to the One State. They no longer have the desire to be free. They want you to die!" he added. Eidolon turned to the crowd, "If there be a single person here who is with John Shepard, let them stand now!" The crowd was silent. Three hundred thousand citizens did not make a sound. John could barely move near Eidolon's feet. The world seemed to slow down. Bob's awareness of his surroundings became almost supernatural. He could feel every cell in his body in torment: the sweat running down face, his heart pumping faster, and his mind racing at the speed of light. He could feel the light touch of his skin on the metal seat. He could see the others in the crowd looking around to see if anyone else was standing. Through the chaos in his body a tiny voice inside of him spoke. "Stand," it said. Deep down, Bob knew the evils of the One State. He knew something was just wrong, but it had been suppressed. For almost all his life, he had lived in a world where all his information had been tainted, manipulated, indoctrinated, and fed to him as lies. Bob looked up and saw no natural law written into the sky. But that did not matter, for the natural law was written on his heart. He began to smile. He could see all of it. He just knew. It was written on his soul. Sometimes revolutions are carried on the backs of a grand army, a powerful king, or a rebel group marching in the streets. But sometimes, it takes more than that. Sometimes, it takes the brave and passionate heart of the average citizen.

Eidolon turned from the crowd, raising his sword to strike John down. Slowly, and with grace, Bob did what he had to do. He did the only thing he his heart would allow. Bob stood up. He stood alone; a tiny blip in a crowd of darkness. The crowd gasped in surprise.

Eidolon stopped himself and turned around. He saw Bob standing in the crowd. "Arrest him!" Eidolon commanded. Several OSS officers ran in Bob's direction. Suddenly, an elderly woman across from Bob stood up also. "Arrest her!" he commanded. Then, a small African girl in the front stood up. Then a Chinese couple, holding hands, stood up. An Indian man stood up. A group of Canadians stood up. A lesbian stood up. Mothers holding their children stood up. Fathers stood up. The Russians, the Australians, the British, the Argentinians, the Egyptians, the Indonesians, the peasants, the frightened, the sick, the outcasts, and the doctors all stood up. "Arrest them all!" Eidolon yelled. Rows and rows of people rose from their seats. Soon, Bob stood with the entire coliseum in dissent against Eidolon of the One State. The OSS stormed the stands, incredibly outnumbered by the people. Dr. Verne saw the chess pieces move. The people had joined them. The tiny black pawn near the king began to shake.

Tears filled Elizabeth's eyes. She broke. The fear that clouded her loyalty for years left her. The beauty of the sight of a people rising up in opposition to oppression woke the tiny voice inside her that longed to be free. Aiden and his guards were standing at the front of the booth. Elizabeth ran toward the strange machine empowering Eidolon. There was one guard standing beside it. "I'm sorry," she said to him. Then, Elizabeth stabbed the guard in the stomach. He fell to his knees and the machine was undefended. Elizabeth picked up the machine. With all her might, she ran and threw it over the edge of the ruler's booth. Then, she grabbed Aiden's matter sword and threw it towards Joh. The OSS were too late to stop her. Aiden gave the command to kill her. A dark marine ran up to Elizabeth, grabbed her by the shoulder and ran her through with matter sword. Elizabeth fell to her knees. She looked up at the sun, and fell flat on the ground. Aiden watched as the machine tumbled down into the arena. The machine smashed to pieces in front of the whole crowd. "Ahhhhh!" Eidolon seemed to scream out in pain. His body began to shape shift. His cloak and protective aurora were no more. Eidolon's body began to burst through his clothes.

John rose to his feet and caught the matter sword. It changed color when it touched his hand. The chains holding Gavin and Clark back finally broke by their own command. They ran to John's side. Finally, the rebels stood united against Eidolon. Dozens of dark marines and OSS officers stormed onto the field. Suddenly, John's strength had returned to him. The power of the people united gave him energy and power. But they were surrounded. John extended his sword high into the air and the choirs of the heavens roared. Eidolon had morphed into a large, dark, vile dragon like beast from hell. He smashed his arms against the floor of the arena, shaking the rebels. Eidolon tried to slither away into the door but it was jammed shut. He turned and headed for the rebels. His red eyes became angry. He cocked his head and blew a huge burst of fire straight at the knights. The flame engulfed all three of them entirely. The crowd watched in horror. After a few seconds, one onlooker said, "They're not catching on fire. Something is protecting them!" The smoke cleared and the knights stood unscathed. Nature had altered the cells of their body to keep them from being burned. The OSS stormed the stands and began shooting at the unarmed civilians. The people sitting in the front rows were killed. But the people were tired of being bossed around by the OSS. Their pent up rage proved an asset when large groups of men rushed towards the OSS stealing their weapons and killing them. Eidolon shot blasts from his eyes that the knights were able to deflect. Eidolon blasted several of his own dark marines in the process.

Gavin jumped onto Eidolon's tail and held on for dear life as he was swung violently from side to side. John cut through several more dark marines and tried to get Eidolon's attention.

"Over here ugly," he yelled. Eidolon slid towards John, firing blasts at his eyes. John deflected them right back into his face. John slid to the side of Eidolon's dragon like body and stabbed him in the chest. Eidolon yelled out in pain, blowing fire into the air. Gavin punched Eidolon in the tail and was thrown onto the bottom of the arena seating. Clark picked up a matter sword from a downed dark marine and clashed swords with one of his friends. He was able to stab out both of the dark's eyes. Clark jumped on the dark marine's back and spoke to him, sending him off attacking other dark marines. Eidolon smashed Clark into the wall and headed straight for John. Eidolon opened his mouth and attempted to swallow John whole. John grabbed onto Eidolon's teeth. He struggled. Each hand was grabbing onto each set of Eidolon's pointed teeth. Eidolon's red eyes swelled with the fires of inferno. With a swift move of the neck, Eidolon swallowed John whole. Gavin and Clark became surrounded by overwhelming force of dark marines. But suddenly, the people jumped into the arena. They surrounded Eidolon and began smashing into him with rocks and small knives. Eidolon screamed out on pain. The people came to the aid of the knights, overpowering the OSS and dark marines with overwhelming numbers. Everyone looked on and thought John was gone. Suddenly, John cut through the top of Eidolon's back, tearing through his skin. Eidolon became weak and his large dark, dragon-like body slammed into the ground. The knights rushed to him and climbed up the side of his skin.

John stood on top of Eidolon's head. All the people watched in awe. He raised his sword into the air and said, "In the shadows death shall lurk, for all those who threaten the Earth. Cross the lines drawn in the sand, and you will fall by our hand." The he stabbed Eidolon through the head. "Ahhhhh!" Eidolon's body began to shape shift. The reds of his eyes went out. In a distorted ameba of color and light, Eidolon's body exploded all over the arena. John was thrown onto the first row of seats. "Eidolon is dead!" John said. The crowd applauded with an explosion of freedom and joy. For just a few seconds he was so happy with himself. He had kept his promise to his grandfather. However, he realized the war was not yet over.

Back in Atlantis, the One State Navy surrounded them with the entire armada of submarines. The surface of the Atlantic was crawling with ships, blocking the rebel army from making contact with land. The rebels had navy ships, but nowhere near enough to counter what stood against them. Sophia, Dr. Verne, and Kaslov all sat in the command center waiting for John's signal to begin the attack. "There are too many ships for us to take!" Sophia said. The OS Navy began blasting the outside of the Atlantis barrier, constructed of an underwater forest. "We can't let them get through that barrier! Send what ships we have!" Sophia said. Several rebel fighters got into their tiny submarines capable of firing lasers underwater. The exited the rebel base and the force field of Atlantis.

"Alright. I've got those bastards in my scopes," Liam said in an Australian accent. "I've got your back," another fighter said. Liam fired several missiles into the hull of the OS cruisers. But very little damage was done. "They've got protective armor. Let's pull around and see if we can find a weak spot," he said. Liam and the others took advantage of the OS's cruisers, who were powerful, but slow. Just then, the command ship entered the water. It fired several torpedoes, taking out two of the rebel fighters. "Command! Do we have a cyber-attack?" Liam asked. Clark's hacking minions quickly tried to find the code controlling their underwater opponents. "Let's try to draw them away from the base, head for that coral over there," said Liam. The fighters drew into a very narrow outgrow of coral and rock. They weaved in and out of the rock. "Let's see you catch us now!" Liam said. But the OS cruiser's grew tired of playing cat and mouse. As expected, they did not care about destroying nature to achieve their ends. An OS cruiser bombed the coral and smothered several of the rebel ships. Liam and two other fighters remained against the whole OS Navy. "I need more ships!" Liam said. Several more ships entered the water but were quickly destroyed in a massive underwater blast. Sophia searched deep inside herself, attempting to speak to all the plant life around her for help. The large OS cruiser put Liam in their sights. "Goodbye terrorist," the OSS naval officer said, firing a missile straight for Liam. It shot through the water.

Suddenly, a large octopus swam in the way, grabbed the missile and sent it straight for the command ship. "Got it!" Clark's minions said. Just in time for the missile to arrive, the cruiser's defenses were disabled. The creatures of the ocean surrounded the rebel base. Goblin sharks, whales, giant dragon fish, chimaera, vampire squid, and other alien-like creatures of the deep came to the aid of the rebels, attaching themselves to the outside of the ships and ripping them into pieces. "Yes!!" Liam shouted, watching the creatures devour his enemies. "You don't see that every day."

On the surface, large OS Navy ships were ripped apart by giant squid and pulled down to Davy Jones' Locker. All naval bases and carriers were sucked down into the ocean by the creatures of the deep. They had purged the One State from their aquatic dwelling. The rebel base erupted in joy. They had won their first battle. A crowd applauded Sophia as she walked by a large glass window. Schools of fish swam around her. They seemed to bow her.

"Quickly! We must assure Aiden does not get away!" John said. They ran to the top of the ruler's platform. They killed some of the last dark marines in the arena. They hurried up the steps to the platform. John came to the top of the platform and ran towards the back. There he saw Aiden and several dark marines retreating onto a ship. "Stop!" John said. Aiden turned around as the doors to ship were closing. "Goodbye Shepard. I hope you enjoy my parting gift for you. Aiden threw a charge onto the floor. John, Clark, and Gavin jumped out of the way. The ruler's platform exploded. John saw Elizabeth's limp body falling and caught her as wood and cement fell down onto the lower seats. Gavin pulled them into a lower room. John caught Elizabeth's body and lay her on the floor of the booth. He patted her stomach and saw she was bleeding badly. "Everything's going to be fine," John said to her in a caring voice. "I'm finished, and glad," Elizabeth said, coughing. "We saw what you did. You were so brave." John said. Elizabeth stared into John's eyes, "Tell Sophia that she was right about me. It's better to die than to live under oppression." "Stay with me," John said. "No. I can see the light. Iam the trees. Iam the birds. Iam the earth. Everything is connected. And it's beautiful," she said. Just then, Elizabeth passed away. John stood at the top of the platform on the ruble and addressed the crowd, "Citizens of the Old Republic, the time has come to reclaim what is yours and reestablish a government of the people. Rise up and claim the freedoms that you have been denied." 
Chapter 29 - REVOLT

The citizens stormed out of the arena and returned to their living squares. The knights quickly disappeared into the shadows. Bob hurried inside his square and shut the door. The streets were chaos. Bob looked out the window and saw people running through the streets. No one knew what would happen. It was curious that the OSS were not in the streets that day. It was like they took the day off. Suddenly, the holo-screen came on and the media, as usual, told Bob what to think. One of the ways they did that was to tell Bob, who had no way of verifying to the contrary, that a large group of the populous was doing or thinking something as a contrivance for telling Bob what they wanted him to think. It appeared the media and the Database must have still been under control of the One State.

"Breaking news today, the terrorists are still at large and have infected the general population. State officials are saying that the terrorists attempted and did kill civilians in the arena today and that they have spread false images of Eidolon being killed. In fact, this is not the case. People are saying they believe Eidolon is still strong and the One State will seek out these terrorists. Living square sweeps will begin today to search for these terrorists. Anyone found to be in agreement or in support of the terrorists will be treated as an enemy combatant. Polls by the Universal Database show that the country is 99% in support of the One State," the anchor said. Then, Bob heard the knocks on the door.

Meanwhile, the residents of Old Boston watched the images from the arena. The cells within their body heightened in their self-awareness, like memories of times of old became present again. The matter which constructed their bodies and the water which gave them life was the same of their ancestors. Deep down, they shared their fervor and zeal; their deep seated desire to revolt in the face of oppression. A young man named Crispus became enraged with what he had seen. He organized a group of protestors and headed for the local OS Command Center in Boston.

Back in the One State Capital, Aiden quickly stormed into the room which controlled the database. Some of the other ruling party members were there. "Aiden, now that Eidolon is dead, we demand a special hearing to see who will take his place as the new Emperor," one OS commander said. "Yes of course commander, just let me get out of this jacket," Aiden said as he reached into his pockets and released a handful of mind drones into the room. In a swarm of chaos, the drones flew into the brains of the ruling party. The commander covered his ears, but the drone stung the commander in the back of the neck, penetrated his skin, and crawled up his spine into his brain. "Ahhhhh!" the commander yelled. "Bow before your emperor!" Aiden said. The ruling party's eyes turned to red and they fell on their knees. "Who do you select as your new Emperor ... captain?" Aiden asked. "I Nominate Aiden as the new Emperor!" the captain said in a robotic voice. The captain then removed his blaster from his waste and blew his brains out. The other members of the ruling party also committed suicide. However, perhaps it is not suicide if you are not doing it of your own free will, like thought-induced murder.

"My Lord, we have a situation. The citizens are protesting in the streets," one officer said. "What a predicament. Slaves cannot do their jobs when they are dead. Though I despise their treasonous acts, it might be best to make efforts to keep them alive, at least the ones who prove to be easily controlled. Commander, you are instructed to use less lethal methods until further notice. Perhaps they are still malleable," Aiden said.

Crispus and the other rebels marched into the streets of Boston. They were a thousand men strong. Up to the former City Hall they marched. Very quickly, the red-eyed OSS were there to greet them almost instantly. "You are in breach of our natural rights! Get out of the way!" Crispus said. The OSS, behind their riot shields, stood firm. The group of protesters grew in their numbers. They formed circles and sang songs, "Come, join hand in hand, brave Americans all! And rouse your bold hearts at fair Liberty's call; No tyrannous acts shall suppress your just claim, Or stain with dishonor Old America's name!"

The Knights found their way into a boarded up church. They had brought a small group of citizens from the arena with them. John observed the Church's old religious markings had been scratched off. Once great crosses had been totally burned. The structure of the building seemed weak. Some of the alter still had tiny crosses around its outline. He reflected. He felt a strange connection to the church. John felt that the religious markings inside of him had been scratched away. He ran his hand across a painting of what would have been Jesus at the last supper. The One state had scratched all the faces off. It was hardly recognizable.

Gavin came up to John's side. He knew how important John's faith had been to him and the transformation he had gone through. To believe in the principles that the religions uphold, while defending the existence of all religions. He placed his hand on John's shoulder, "It can be rebuilt. The truth cannot be defeated." John turned around smiled at his closest friend. "Yes. The words of God must lie within the human soul. They can be rewritten," John said. Clark put up a holo-screen in the middle of the room. "John, come take a look at this," Clark said. "There are still people in the concentration camps. They look set for extermination," John said pointing to a holo-screen. "We will send several squads to release the prisoners in each state and get them into the general populous," John said. And so they did. John sent rebel groups to every Old state in the country, freeing the captivated religious prisoners. He decided to lead a small group of rebels to a nearby Christian camp. After a short battle, all the doors of the prison swung opened. Skinny Christians walked out from their cells. Some of them still had the cross tattooed on their hands. Others had tried to remove it by scratching their hands with knives or dragging it against the wall. The ones who could fight came back with John to the abandoned church. Over the course of a few days, the church filled up with members of every religious belief as well as new members of the rebel army. John stood at the defiled alter of a once great cathedral. The crowd listened to him speak.

"Citizens of the Old Republic, we were once free to worship as we pleased; to seek out truth on their own, rather than be spoon-fed lies through state's control of information. For the greater part of human history, we have had an us-and-them mentality when it came to our beliefs. We stirred language together in a pool of historical accounts and myth. We measured our ideological structures side-by-side, pointed out the inconsistencies, and accused each other of eternal damnation and hypocrisy. And, to our great shame, we justified the use of violence against each other. The writings of holy words are meant to be beacons of light in a dark world. But they lost their transformative abilities when we used them for power, ego, wealth, nationalism, imperialism, and hegemony. We, with blinders on our eyes, simply identified with the religions of our upbringings and then passed our beliefs to our children. We operated under the delusion that anyone can have a monopoly on truth. We built fences around our holy books and kept them from alteration under the presumption that God had finished speaking. And yet, we failed to see the tree amongst the branches. We drew lines of division where there was unity. Within the words of antiquity, each of our faiths contained radiating beams of truth, like diamonds in the desert or absolute moral principles of natural law uttered from the mouth of the cosmos itself. Today, we stand united under a common enemy. While many of our ancestors have fought amongst themselves, none of us would have wished the actions of the One State on our fellow man. Today, you stand freed from the decedent prisons that kept you yet you may still be clinging to a prison of moral thought that we are somehow still divided by our ideological lines. We need you. We need each and every one of you. We come here today to unite together under a few simple axioms: that we should all be free from oppression, that government should not control truth, that we deserve to be free, and that we agree much more than we don't. I ask that you would hold the hand of the person next to you as a symbol of our unity," John said.

Then, the hand of a Muslim, stained with the star and crescent, brushed up against the palm of the hand of a Jew marked with the Star of David. The hand of a Christian marked with the Cross brushed up against the hand of an atheist marked with a zero. The Buddhists held hands with the Hindus, and so forth. "Together, we can accomplish great things!" John said.

Back at the protest, the rebels were unaware that Aiden had ordered a provocateur to join them. He wore sunglasses to hide his eyes. He marched along with the rebels, chanting and singing, all be it awkwardly. Standing within the rebel's circle, he fired is blaster, killing an OS officer. The OS stood silent. Even a dropped pin hushed its noise. The commanding officer fired straight for Crispus who fell dead in the streets. "Kill the terrorists!" the commander ordered. Then, sadly, the small group of rebels was massacred in the streets. Thousands of protestors lay bloodied and dead in the streets. Crispus breathed his last breath.

Back at Old Virginia, the citizens had formed a militia. The men drew their blasters. Though they had never written before, the women drew from their ancestors the words of revolt and freedom. They placed them on picket signs and hoisted them high into the air. Millions of people marched on the One State capital. A red-eyed officer approached Aiden, "Sir, a large group marches on the capital. Are we still to use less lethal forces?" "No. Our media propaganda and threats have not been effective. We need to show the world that I am not a forgiving Emperor. We need to show the world that terrorists will be made example of," Aiden said. "Kill them. All of them."

Clark interrupted the speech, "Sir, the OSS have slaughtered thousands of protestors in the streets of Old Boston. A new group of protestors now marches on the One State Capital. They march by the millions! They are set to be wiped out!" John used soul speak to communicate with Sophia back at the rebel base, "Sophia. The time has come. We must attack the One State Capital." Sophia responded, "John, they aren't ready. We still need more time! We haven't created enough tanks and fighter jets! The printers only go so fast!"

"John," said Dr. Verne, interrupting them. "We found something in a hidden area of Atlantis. There are millions of birds living in this grove. They look like eagles. There is a label stone at the front of the grove near a gate. It says, 'Valkyries.'" "I've had enough of this damn government," Gavin said. It's time we reclaim the Old American colonies! It's time that I take my country back," he added. Everyone waited on John's command. "Sophia. Give the order to send everything we have. Spread the troops between Boston, The OS Capital, Yorktown, and Charleston. Dr. Verne, release all of our animals that are capable of combat or transporting weaponry. Send all of our transports to be released near the shores." John commanded. John was having flashes of the past from other Living Earth Masters that had lived before. He seemed to be getting instructions from them. He saw a vision of an old battle where a large group of eagles were used in battle by the Knights to stop an evil force. He saw visions of strange species known only to the Knights that were brought forward in times of trouble. "Release the Valkyries," John added. 
CHAPTER 30 - Valkyries

Two guards stood at their posts near the outer gate of the capital in a small security office. They really didn't get to see a lot of action and mostly served to let the ruling party in and keep unwanted citizens out. However, even they were subject to the same droll that was used on the citizens. He walked out of the office to get something out of his speeder. "Damnit! I'm sick of finding all this pigeon shit on my speeder! Everyday! It's like its falling from the skies," he said as he looked up into the sky and saw a massive swarm of birds flying towards them. He stood there petrified. The other officer came to his side. "Huh. More pigeons?" the other officer asked. "... Those aren't ... pigeons. They're Eagles!?" They ran back into the office, "we need backup!"

The front of the capital was large field of green grass with statues of Eidolon and others from the ruling party. On that day, the citizens of the Old Republic marched on that grass toward the capital. It seemed to be at least fourteen million people. Bob's holo-screen was still on in his empty apartment. "If you leave your house you will be attacked by terrorists!" the anchor said. "Everyone is very afraid today. Stay in your homes," she said, barely able to hide the red in her eyes. The same message carried on every head mounted computer, every tablet, every holo-screen on the buildings in the business square. But it did not make a sound. Because there no ears there to hear it. The crowd of protesters approached the entire armada of OSS officers. They had surrounded the capital. The OSS raised their blasters. "Stand down terrorists!" said the commander. The crowd screamed a resounding, "No!" "So be it," said the commander. The front line of the OSS moved their fingers onto the trigger of their blasters, preparing to fire on the people. Suddenly, they stopped after seeing a shadow overcome them. They looked up into the sky. Thousands of eagles flew above them. "They're carrying guided missiles!" an officer said. "Attack!" John commanded. The eagle in front threw a missile from his left talon. The missile flew quickly towards the ground, destroying the front line of OSS officers.

Near the coast, thousands of tanks, speeders, and animals emerged from the water, lead by Sophia. She marched towards the capital leading the army. Liam marched in front. Kaslov led a group of rebels onto Yorktown where Dr. Verne led a group to Charleston and Gavin got on a ship and headed to Boston. Clark got into a mobile specialized tank with this other hacking friends. "Alright, let's see how many of these robotic armies pieces we can shut down!" Clark said. John, with his group of rebels from all the religions ran out of the church and joined the protestors. They held their blasters high into the air and rushed on their government, united under the natural law.

As they expected, thousands of drones came flying into the area while firing lasers at the people. One Valkyrie threw a missile straight up into the air. The missile traveled through the clouds, locked onto the drone, and destroyed it in a big explosion. The Valkyries continued destroying the drones. Large elephants carried boxes of missiles on top of them. The Valkyries would land on it, grab another missile and fly back into the air. "Sir! Our drones are falling fast! The eagles! They are too small. Our scanners don't pick them up!" said an OS commander. "Idiot! Kill these stupid birds!" the commander said.

The drones turned from firing on the people and focused their power on the Valkyries. The eagles broke formation and took on their robotic counterparts. The drones shot laser blasts towards the eagles wings but they were too fast. They dove quickly and threw missiles behind them, destroying the drones. More survey drones were taken out at the top. The Valkyries soared through the air, covering the top of the capital. OSS officers dispersed, some running for cover. Two Valkyries hunted them down. It seemed like they knew to track down only those with eyes of red.

Seeing that they could not rely on their drones anymore, the OSS dispatched their tanks, speeders and fighter jets. Thousands of fighter jets came up from the ocean shore. "Send a naval blockade from Europe and Africa to cut off their reinforcements!" Aiden said. The OSS tried to lower several new submarines into the water. However, they were quickly sucked down into Davy Jones locker by the fish. They quickly realized the ocean was no longer a friendly place for their troops.

John finally came to the front of the crowd and withdrew his matter sword at the capital. Gavin did the same in Boston. He looked behind him and saw Tom and many of his old friends from being in the military. "We have your back, General." Gavin, with his matter sword hoisted high into the air, he commanded, "Charge!"

Back at the capital, Sophia and John stood side by side with matter swords drawn. The proceeded to take out OSS officers left and right. John sent their blaster fire right back at them and so did she. She clearly had gotten pretty good at fighting back at the base. Liam jumped into a tank and began firing at the OSS tanks. They fired artillery at them. However, the Valkyries threw flares into the air and took out the missiles fired upon him. He blew up one tank and then another.

Gavin took out hundreds of dark marines and OSS officers. The Knights were quickly gaining the upper hand. "Sir, we have incoming fighter planes from Europe and the West. We need you airborne," a rebel said to Gavin. Suddenly, a replica of the Thunderbird landed in front of Gavin. "Dr. Verne, I love you," he said, getting on the ship. Several fighter jets entered the Boston Bay. The Valkyries took half of them out and turned back to get more missiles. A group of jets pressed forward onto Gavin's tail. "I think I got something," one of Clark's hacker friends said. Suddenly, before they could fire on Gavin, the hackers took control of the OS fighter jets in the bay. Clark shifted his holo-screen, able to control the planes manually. He turned them around and fired missiles back at the remaining ships.

At the capital, the OSS continued to fall back. At Charleston, Dr. Verne unleashed many old species of animals that he had brought back from extinction. He unleashed cave lions, Caspian Tigers, and Raptors. They assaulted the OSS fortresses and troops, tearing them to shreds.

At Yorktown, Kaslov and his men made quick work of the OSS for they had the numbers. They used old Russian tricks to outsmart their enemies. John pressed onward with the people to his back. The man assaulted the remaining OSS that remained. The citizens seemed to have a lot of built of anger for the oppression that they had been under and they used it to their advantage. The Valkyries took out the remaining tanks in the area. The fight came to the steps of the capital building. The OSS fled inside. John Shepard marched up the steps in front of millions of his people. He slashed open the locks with his matter sword. "The people have spoken. Your rule has ended," John said.

"Sir, they have pushed our remaining troops into the capital! What are we to do?" a dark marine asked Aiden. Aiden looked down at all the people marching towards his office. "Poor sheep. They have been so mislead. We will fight the terrorists to our last breath! Let them die fighting!" Aiden commanded. Then, Aiden escaped the Capital through a secret underground passage way and vanished.

The people broke down the doors of their capital crushing the OSS officers that had been holding it closed. John gave the order and the people ran into their Capital to claim what was rightfully theirs. A group of dark marines rushed towards John. He clashed matter swords with their leader. One of them got to Aiden's back, but Sophia ran him through. Sophia and John stood back-to-back cutting through the dark marines. John ran through the last of them. In Charleston, Yorktown, and Boston, the rebels had pushed the OSS inland and took control of the regional OS command centers. The people finished executing their oppressive foes. The doors to the old House of Representatives flung open. John and Sophia led the people inside. The people stabbed the OSS officers and dark marines who had used the old chairs of their representatives as tools of oppression against them.

"The country is yours once again!" John said. The people rejoiced in applause. "John quickly! Aiden is upstairs!" Sophia said. The two rushed upstairs. They burst through the doors, but he was gone. The office was empty. Inside, they found the plans for a strange satellite base.

Later, the people had begun a parliamentary meeting. "We nominate Sophia as the interim speaker of the people," someone said. Others clapped their hands in agreement. The rebel forces continued pushing the OS inland. Finally, after a long and drawn out battle, the rebels had taken control of all thirteen of the original American Colonies. John tied a flag onto the rope of the flagpole of the Capital. The people ripped their statutes and paintings of Eidolon, Aiden, and the ruling party from the walls. John raised the flag of his old country and watched it blow in the wind. The Valkyries landed sat on top of the capital as the guardians of the airspace. Clark, Gavin, Kaslov, and Dr. Verne met back up with the others in the capital. Aiden fled to old Europe to plan his next move. They kept pushing towards the Old Mississippi River. After several days, the rebels had taken control of the entirety of Old America.

There were parades in the streets. Sophia wrote letters carried by pigeons to their newly established regional command centers. "Everyone is instructed not to use electronic devices that require connection to the Universal Database. We still believe that is under the control of Aiden and the One State," Sophia said.

The Knights gathered in the capital. John's mind wondered. He knew it that it wasn't over. Sophia came into the room. "John what do we do next?" John looked through the pages of the Book of Secrets. But there was no instruction. And yet, he could sense deep down what was going to occur. It was almost as if Aiden and John shared some sort of connection. He was sure the One State would return. "The oceans are ours. The airspace over America is ours, but the rest of the world is still under One State control. "They Still have control of the Universal Database," Clark said. "Continue operation of scanning the shores for people who have defected and bring them back to America," John said.

John's thoughts wondered back to his grandfather. In his training, he had always warned about the greatest danger the leader of the Order of Shadows: prolonged involvement in leadership of the transition of the empires. It was something that was never to be taken lightly and avoided at all costs. As a result, John called a meeting. John, Clark, Gavin sat in the shadows with one candle lit. "I fear we must give up our continued involvement in the operation of America," John said. Gavin firmly objected, "No! The rest of the world is still under control of a tyrant and must be set free!"

"It is dangerous for us to use our power of controlling an entire country as a tool to take over the rest of the world. At some point, it becomes war between the nation-states and we must relinquish our involvement. We do have our place," John replied. "Perhaps we have to make an exception?" Clark said. "As long as Aiden lives, the balance is still under threat. And not just for America, but the whole world," he added. "We don't have the military force to take over the whole world," Johns said. Suddenly, Sophia burst into the room. "John! We're under attack!" she said. A voice deep down inside of John said to him, "Protect the country." "We walk a dangerous line between power and prudence. We should take great care," John said.

"Get all the women and children inside. Arm the men. Today, the Order of Shadows and America are one until this is over."
Chapter 31 - Crusade

Aiden killed the dark marines that had escaped from America. Their heads rolled on his floor. In the Old German command center, he paced looking at his European commanders. "Maybe I was foolish to take over the minds of you pitiful slaves! Clearly you are worthless!" Aiden said shooting more OSS officers. Aiden toyed with his arrowhead in his hand. "No matter. Soon my worries will be gone," he said. "Sir, the space station is complete and prepared for your arrival," an officer said. "Good," Aiden said stepping into his robe and putting on a space mask. "Commander Schorner! You are in charge! I want every single soldier, every plane, every speeder, every woman, every child, every sword and everything to attack the terrorists! Bring America to its knees! The slaves will worship me once again." "It will be done my lord!" he said. Aiden got on his ship and flew into his space station. The doors of the space station closed as he laughed, toying with the arrowhead in his hand.

Millions of fighter jets, transports, and drones proceeded across the Atlantic and the Pacific. The One State had learned not to enter the waters, so they carried their armies in the air. Commander Schorner led them out in front. The rebel forces stood with their guns drawn on the shores of America. The women refused to stay home. Their hearts burned with freedom so much, nothing would stop them from fighting for their country alongside the men. The three Knights stood with their matter swords drawn on the steps of the Capital. Bob stood on the shores with the blaster rifle. He was the bravest among them. The Valkyries flew through the air along the coast waiting for their enemies. John seemed to be able to direct them through soul speak. He could even see through their eyes. His connection with the oneness of nature was unbreakable. Gavin—who once fought for only his country, only for the Constitution—stood bravely, fighting for the principles that his country stood for. Clark instructed his hackers to look for weaknesses in the Universal Database.

"Sir, the Universal Database has new protections. We haven't been able to hack it for a few hours. We've tried everything. It looks like it's just going to be normal war. No hacking. Only swords, guns and bloodshed," said Clark. Clark and many other troops along the coasts took out their EMP guns waiting for the ships. The dark clouds covering the sky seemed to be getting worse. Each day the sun showed less and less. The people missed sunlight. All they could see was random rays shining brightly through the clouds. Darkness is bad for the soul. The fleet approached quickly from the East and from the West. "I see them, the rebel commander said from Old California. "One State ahead," said Bob. He felt so cool saying that. "I have your back Soul of Light," Fysi said, riding in on a horse. "Get inside!" John ordered. "I have your back too," said Aiyana who was also on horseback.

John realized there was little he could do to tell the people not to fight. They longed to stand up for what was right. All of them were ready to die: not for a country, not for a religion, not for a race, not for an ideology, but for the natural law. For the Earth. For nature. For freedom.

The drones arrived first that day, clashing with the Valkyries in the sky. Yet, the drones had overwhelming numbers. The Valkyries disbursed taking out many of them, but large groups of fighter jets and troop transports broke through their formations. Many eagles died, falling from the sky and into the water. Their ocean dwelling friends stood helpless to come to their defense. "They've breached the first line of defense, prepare for ground assault," Gavin said. Thousands of dark marine and OSS officers parachuted, and dropped down from transports. The beach became a war zone. They came in overwhelming numbers.

John and Sophia saw the troops coming from the steps of the Capital. Tanks were dropped on the shores of the old colonies, artillery, EMP guns, anti-air, speeders, and land drones. More of the eagles fell dead onto the shores. The skies continued to grow even darker. The black chess pieces moved forward through the white piece's defense.

Liam greeted some of the OS tanks. The tanks fired several large missiles at him but he was quick enough to shoot them down in midair and led the tanks away from the people. Bob shot at the OSS troops from up on a hill. "Clark, what's the situation here, can we get into any of these tanks!" John asked Clark. "I'm doing what I can! They built large walls to prevent us from getting in. The database entry points are weak because no one's logged in," Clark replied while searching the Universal Database.

The people fought with bravery and courage. Many men were carrying old weaponry handed down from their ancestors, because only free man have the right to own a weapon. Tanks took out massive amounts of people. Gavin was picked up and got into the Thunderbird to handle the incoming fighters. Tom joined him in the air. "Alright Tom, let's take on these bastards. Just like old times," Gavin said.

The dark marines came to the steps of the capital. The OSS had killed countless Americans by that point. The people stood around John, ready to die for him. The people rose their blades and blasters into the air. He could see all the different kinds of religious symbols on their hands. They charged the incoming forces. Several specialized dark marines headed for John and Sophia. John leaped through the air clashing swords with the dark marines. He kicked the leader, blasting him the face with his lasers.

Meanwhile, Gavin tried to draw the fighters away from the crowd. He soul spoke to the remaining Valkyries to back him up. Several hundred of them formed around Gavin and Tom. "Engage!" Gavin yelled. He blasted the incoming fighters then went straight up into the air. Fighter jets followed and the Valkyries threw missiles into them and blew them up quickly. "Let me introduce the OSS to my little friends here," Dr. Verne said, releasing raptors into the field. Somehow, they knew to only attack those with red eyes like they were answering to someone. The raptors tore the OSS limb by limb, but they were quickly outnumbered as well. They OSS brought even more troops and transports. The people retreated inland, unable to sustain their defensive positions.

Gavin was able to force many of the fighters into stalling and the Valkyries quickly took them out. Bob retreated back to the capital along with many of the rebels shooting form the hill. Kaslov and his men fought bravely, hiding behind trees and rocks, then leaping out and taking out their red-eyed foes. John blasted more of the dark marines, He shot two of them in the back as they headed for Sophia. He grabbed her hand and put her inside. He gave orders to the rebels around him, "Protect Sophia at all costs." Yet, Sophia yelled, "John! Don't leave me!" "I'll be back. I promise, John said before he kissed her and shut the doors of the capital building. The rebels who had retreated form the beach joined him, standing by his side. Suddenly, an overwhelming amount of ground animals came to the aid of the rebels. Bears tore OSS officers limbs out. Some lions helped as well. They pushed the OSS away from the Capital.

Meanwhile, Gavin continued to draw the fighters away from the capital. The drones came, killing more of the Valkyries. "You bastards!" he yelled. "I've got a red-eye on my tail now," Gavin said. "Stay close Tom! Don't bank to quickly!" The OSS pilot locked onto Tom and fired several laser blasts towards him, blowing him from the sky. "God damn you sons of bitches!" Gavin became blood drunk. He tore through hundreds of the OSS fighters. His ship seemed to increase in speed and Valkyries wouldn't let anything touch him like a force field. Suddenly, he dragged an armada of fighter jets close to the water, grazing the surface of the water. The locked onto to Gavin's ship. Suddenly a great white leaped out of the water and took a bight out of the fighter, dragging him down into the sea. More sea creatures jumped at the steal flying ships and dragged them into the sea. Once there, it was not long before they were sinking towards Davy Jones.

"Sir, we are advancing on the Capital now," Commander Schorner reported to Aiden. Suddenly, John became very conscious and the world began to slow down. It was like he went into autopilot. He danced through the blasts of the dark marines that attacked him almost effortlessly. Suddenly, an earthquake started there, despite the rarity of such an occurrence. The OSS tanks drove straight into the ground. Lightning strikes took out many of the drones. It was like nature itself had joined in on the battle. But it was still not enough. John summersaulted through two dark marines extending his arms and blasting them in the backs. He leaped back up and commanded the Valkyries to take out a large group of dark marines in front of him. The people continued to fall back into the buildings around the Capital and the OSS continued to advance. "They are just to strong! John, what are we to do?" Gavin said. Boston fell to the OSS. Charleston fell to the OSS. The rebels retreated towards Yorktown and the Capital. The rebels took Sophia into the highest room and locked the doors.

Back in Europe and the other areas of the world, the people also revolted. They stormed the streets in Egypt by the millions, they filled the streets of Beijing, rioted in Moscow, and protested in London. But the people had already done the largest amount of damage to themselves by letting their government become so powerful that it was almost impossible for them to resist. They had allowed themselves to sit back through a slow process while the government progressively grew in power behind closed doors in the name of fighting terrorism. If only they had followed the natural limits set forth by the natural law, they would have never been in this predicament to begin with.

They One State showed no mercy on them, shocking the citizens to death. They killed women in the streets. They pepper sprayed the children. They sniped others from high above. They drone struck people without warning and then also killed the people who came to their aid. Aiden watched it all from his space station, smiling. "This is good for them. Soon, the people will have a strong leader and all this fighting can end. It is the last necessary bloodshed before the peace," Aiden said.

The OSS caught Kaslov retreating into the wilderness.  "Hands up terrorist!" an OSS officer said. Kaslov turned around. "What is the problem here officer?" he asked, before his men leaped up from the grass and shot the officers dead. "Exactly as I said ... no problems," he said.

By now, the animals that Dr. Verne had sent into the fight had also been killed. Suddenly, the OSS broke down the door and stuck a gun I Dr. Verne's face. The state never likes to kill a scientist because he is an easy convert for their own power.

Liam became surrounded by speeders on all sides. He took out several of them with the tank's blaster. Then, they used an EMP to disable it. He leaped out of the tank and kicked one of the officers off their speeder. Then he went speeding through the woods. Gavin found his way back to land. Suddenly, an anti-aircraft missile was fired damaging his ship. The plane quickly descended to earth and he ejected just in time, being carried away by the Valkyries. He landed safely on the ground. Suddenly, a tall special force elite dark marine greeted him. His eyes were burning with red and he withdrew his matter sword.

"Look at you, Fresco. You've lost. Your country has fallen. Your people will lose everything and it will all be your fault. you could have been on the winning side if you would have just stayed loyal to the military and joined the OSS," the marine said.

"My loyalty is not to any country, constitution, president, or military. My loyalty has and always will be to the principles for which my country stood for. That loyalty is not, nor ever shall be absolute and ends when my country betrays the principles for which it stands," he replied.

"Foolish idealist. Your blood will run in the streets and it will be for nothing," the marine responded while breathing heavily. "Not if I have anything to say about it," Gavin said as he clashed with the dark marine, shooting him in the legs. They dance around in circles, their matter sword flailing in the air. Gavin cut off the dark's left arm saying, "I'm sick and tired of you red-eyes! Why don't you go back to hell!" He deflected many of the dark's laser blast back at him. His shields fell. Gavin swung at his legs and took them out. He cut off his right arm. The dark fell to his knees in front of him. "Have you no mercy," the marine plead. "If you want mercy, you're talking to the wrong person. There's just one thing I wanted to say to you. Don't treat on me!" Gavin said, swinging his sword and decapitating the elite dark marine. "Protect Sophia," John said to Gavin through soul speak. He ran for the capital.

Fysi rode in on his horse through many OSS officers. Commander Schorner picked him out and followed him on a speeder. The commander came up close to him, took out a precision blaster rifle, and pointed it directly at Fysi. John looked down from the steps of the capital and saw him. "No!" John yelled as he watched. But the commander blasted Fysi in the stomach and he fell from his horse's back. In anger, John flung his matter sword through the crowd, slicing through several dark marines. The sword spun quickly, cutting through the neck of the commander, killing him instantly.

Suddenly, Clark's computers went dark. The Universal Database operators had foiled his attempts at hacking any of their systems. A skull and crossbones filled his screen "Ha ha ha, naughty Raven," a message said.

John rushed through the battlefield. He picked up Fysi who was weak and in pain. Clark soul spoke to John, "I've been locked out of the system. However, before I lost access, I found Aiden. He's in a space station. We think he is going to be releasing the mind drones from there any minute now! The same ones that he put in the One State officers. I'm sending a ship to pick you up." John replied, "Thank you Clark." Gavin joined in, "John I'm coming with you." "No, if I don't make it you have to stay here to make sure that I have a successor," John replied. "Tell Sophia I love her," he added. "Damnit John! It's suicide by yourself!" Gavin said. "I have a promise to keep," he said, full of conviction. "John wait!" Sophia said through soul speak. John ignored her. "Soul of Light. You must go! Save your people," Fysi said. John picked up Fysi and threw him over his shoulder. Then, he leaped into the ship and took off into the sky. Several OS fighter jets followed him. John soul spoke to the Valkyries. Hundreds of birds flew down from the sky and threw missiles into the ships that had chased after him. He travelled towards to the giant space station satellite in the sky.
Chapter 32 - Provocation

John laid Fysi's limp body on a bed as the ship shot into the sky. The bleeding was bad but his cough was still gentle. Fysi stared into John's eyes. "We just need to stop the bleeding and you'll be fine," John said. "Shh," Fysi said. "There is something I must tell you." Fysi placed his hand on John's heart. John began to see strange colors. Suddenly, their minds were transported back in time.

"Here is your beverage, Mrs. Shepard," said the stewardess.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "You can call me Grace." Grace wore a beautiful sun dress, covered in flowers. "Well you are just radiant! May I?" the stewardess asked. "Of course." The stewardess put her hands on Grace's stomach. Then she put her head up to listen in. "I think I can hear a heartbeat!" she said with a smile. "Is it a boy or a girl?" the stewardess asked. "Boys. Twins!" she said with a smile. "Wow, congratulations! I hope to have some of my own someday," said the stewardess, walking away.

Grace looked over the side of the cruise ship and starred at the beautiful water in the Caribbean. Suddenly, a strange Middle Eastern man walked passed her and gave her a dirty look. "Here honey, I brought you this," Jack said handing Grace a Stargazer flower. "It's beautiful," she said. She admired the colors of the petals and, put the flower in her hair, and kissed her husband. A holo-screen came on in the background. "In other new, the war on terror is still underway. Citizens should be wary not to associate themselves with suspected terrorists because drone strikes may be imminent," said the anchor.

Suddenly, Grace made a strange and uncomfortable face.

"What's wrong honey?" Jack asked. "I think my water just broke!" she said. "She's going into labor! We need to get her to the doctor!" Jack yelled. They rushed her to the ship's medical facilities. After a few hours of labor, Mrs. Shepard was pushing as hard as she could. "Breath and push," said the nurse. Her face was bright red. "I can see the head," the doctor said. "One more big push for me." "Huuuuuuhhhhhhh," she yelled, grabbing the railing and pushing as hard as she could. "And it's a beautiful baby boy!" the doctor said with a smile. "John Lucas Shepard," she said, naming the first child. "One more Mrs. Shepard. Keep breathing," the doctor said. "Keep pushing," the nurse told her. "I can see another head! One more big push for me!" "Huuuuuhhhhhh," she pushed as hard as she could. "And another beautiful baby boy," the doctor said. "Aiden Maximus Shepard," she said, naming the second child.

Hours later, they sat with their newly born children in the delivery room. Both of their children were in a basket together, covered in white cloth. "I will love you both forever," she said to them.

The next day, she sat holding her children by the pool on the top of the deck. "Will you hold them," Grace said to Jack, "I want to go get some sun." She left and walked to the side of the ship, overlooking the ocean. "Aw, the birds are looking for a place to land," she said, seeing some dark, winged figures in the sky. Suddenly, the strange Middle Eastern man ran towards her. He seemed to be running away from the ship's security. The figures in the sky came into view. They were Predator drones.

"Grace!" Jack shouted.

Suddenly, the drones, on order of the President of the United States, blasted the side of ship. Grace was caught in the middle of it and killed instantly. She was collateral damage in the war on terror. The ship became turbulent and began to sink. Jack grabbed the basket, carrying his babies. Several marines stormed ship. Jack found a lifeboat and began pulling some ropes to lower it down. "Hey! Stop!" The marines yelled. But Jack did not listen. He lowered the lifeboat into the water, dodging multiple laser blasts. He did not know why they were pursuing him. Perhaps they didn't want to allow spouses of casualties of war to be able to execute a vendetta against their state. It began to rain. Jack sailed through the murky waters overnight. Finally, his raft came to the island of Cozumel. In the dark of night, in the pouring rain, Jack carried his children onto the sand. But the marines were not far behind. A native emerged from the wilderness and Jack ran towards him.

"Here, you must take care of my children! They are coming for me!" Jack said, handing the basket to the native. "Run!" Fysi took the basked and took off running, disappearing into the wilderness. Jack's eyes were able to cry at almost the same rate as the raindrops fell on his face. The marines came and arrested Jack, taking him away.

Fysi placed the two children before the village leaders. Aiden was placed into village X. John was placed into village Y. Aiden was raised in hierarchy based village with scare resources. John was raised in a place of equality and abundance. The two became a mirror to the society they were raised in. Fysi spoke to John as they floated through space-time, staring at the memories. The screen looked like tiny particles of water all put together. "You see John, Aiden is your brother. John was dumbfounded. "It can't be true! He's evil!" John said. "But he was not that way when he was given to us by your father. We desired to know truth of human nature after they discovered my condition. When you and Aiden came to me, you were a blank canvas for the universe to paint either good or evil. Aiden was given to a village where he was given privilege, power structures, and violence, while you were given to a village of harmony, love, and peace. There is no removing someone from their environment. Not here, nor anywhere in the universe. Even in the womb, your mother was altering your behaviors both chemically and psychologically. Aiden is the way he is because that's how the world stained his canvas, not because he has some permanent character trait of being evil by design. The universe is not as compartmentalized and disconnected as most people think. We are all related. We are all connected: woven together in cosmic thread. Your eyes, they fail you. Your mind sees only the surface. It categorizes and separates things, because that is how it processes information. That is why you must not see with your eyes. You must see with your heart; look with your soul. We are all impacting, even if slightly, the cosmic water that we all float in. Every word we say. Every action we make. It ripples to someone else. The universe is alive. It is self-aware. It breathes. It changes. Even the rocks, deep down, are breathing. The actions of someone here affect someone there. Space and time are tied together. The laws you found, they are dictations from the universe itself: requirements for it to properly balance itself and life on your planet. As the universe evolves, so do they. Light-years from here, there are other planets with other life forms. They too have natural law systems. There is no separation between the material and the spiritual, only the illusion of separation. There are no coincidences or luck. Everyone and everything is connected in a marvelous, interwoven, and living universe," Fysi said.

The ship left the earth's atmosphere. They were amongst the stars and the black, endless cosmos. Through a window, John saw the One State Space Station. It was a large, black and circular structure orbiting the Earth. It had solar panels and an enormous amount of satellite dishes, which seemed to be sending signals to other satellites nearby. Fysi's eyes began to close. "Stay with me!" John said. "Shepard. You must stop him at all costs. Promise me," Fysi said in a soft tired breath. "I promise." With that, Fysi's eyes shut. John touched his neck to see that he still had a pulse. He seemed to be in a comma. But even so, he still smiled.

John docked with the space station. He was able to hack the doors open. Clark's training had paid off. He entered the station through the pressed doors. Surprisingly, once inside, he was able to walk. He had never experienced walking on artificial gravity before. John, in his Knight robe, walked down a narrow corridor. Suddenly, Aiden's voice came onto a loudspeaker.

"Lovely of you to join me for my magnum opus, Shepard!" Aiden said. "The people have risen up against you Aiden. Your empire ... is on its knees. The Republics must be restored. Give up now and I may spare your life," John said. "We'll just see about that," his brother replied. The loudspeaker cut off. The walls of the room he was in opened. The lights turned off. "Let's see how good you really are in the shadows!" Two robotic warriors emerged from the walls wielding matter staffs. John saw the reds in their eyes. They charged at him from both sides. John leaped from the middle of them and they clashed their swords together. John lifted his arms toward them, shooting them both from his wrist-mounted blasters. Some pieces of their armor fell off. John kicked one of the robots away and quickly ducked to get out of the way as he dodged the matter baton. The robot shot red blasts towards John from its eyes, which he dodged. The other robot fired at him as well, but John absorbed them with his sword and sent them flying right back, destroying the droid.

Suddenly, the walls began to shapeshift. The walls turned into code and then morphed into mirrors. John held his sword right at he looked at what seemed to be dozens of robots staring at him. It was clear to him that Aiden was attempting to mess with his mind. He swung into one and the mirror shattered in front of him. The robots tautened him. More blasts came, taking out the mirrors in front of him.

John decided to close his eyes. He reached out through the fabric of the cosmos. One of the robots aimed for John's head, but John spun his matter sword and cut the robot in half. Still with his eyes closed, he threw his matter sword forward into the head of the remaining robot. Likewise, the illusions in the mirrors vanished and the walls changed back into a strange compilation of matter and computer. John walked forward and the door shut behind him. He climbed through some wiring and under circuit boards. He came into another room with a map of the whole world. It seems Aiden had drawn up the main areas where the mind drones would be released.

Suddenly, a savage group of dog-like creatures ran towards John. John ordered the animals to halt. However, to his surprise, they continued to run. "Halt!" he said again. But they did not listen. As they came closer, he could see that their organs were synthetic and printed by machines. He could sense their lack of connection with the life force of nature. One leaped on top of John. He held it up by its neck until he punched while simultaneously blasting it in the face. The rest of the dogs were also blasted. The swirled into the floor and disappeared into the matter-like texture of the floor. John continued to walk forward. The walls began to talk to him with frightening whispers.

Suddenly, the walls seem to grab a hold of him. John desperately blasted and slashed at them but they were unyielding. Suddenly, everything stopped and the room became quiet. Two holo-screens appeared in front of him. A deep, dark voice spoke out to him. The screen on his right seemed to glow in a red color, where the left was normal. "The screen on the left will show you a future world where people are allowed to be freethinkers. The screen to your right will show you a future world where freedom has been removed," Aiden said. The first holo-screen moved forward and lit up. Pictures of war torn countries filled the screen. He saw people rioting in the streets. It was chaos. He saw rows of tombstones of people killed by diseases.

"You desire a world where the people of Earth are given the freedom to kill themselves and destroy the Earth. You desire a world where people are free to create tools of destruction. You promote a world where people can enslave others through technological systems of control," Aiden said. The floor launched John into the first screen as if he was entering the world. Images began rushing past him. Nuclear mushroom clouds formed all around. The genetic structures of diseases were like a forest he walking through. He saw the most disgusting angles of humanity. He walked through the battlefields of dead soldiers.

"You desire a world of anarchy. Your pathetic legal structures and systems of belief do not make them behave. In many instances, they only become worse. The people create tiered structures of poverty and wealth inequality. They use up the resources of the Earth aimlessly and consume themselves with the pettiest of affairs," Aiden said. John tried to run in the opposite direction, but the images followed him. The floor fell out. John plummeted towards the ground. Faces flew past him. "Freedom is the enemy of mankind," one said. "Freedom is what will destroy us," said another. "Because this criminal was free to think, he was able to shoot me down," said an eleven-year-old girl. "Make it stop!" John yelled. Suddenly, he fell back into his chair. The red screen moved forward and the room launched him into the holo-screen. He found himself in an old prison cell. Everything had a red tint to it. He reached out and looked through the bars.

"Hello?" he said. The cell door slowly opened in front of him. He walked out. Strangely, all the other prison cells were empty. "When you take away mankind's freedom of thought, it is impossible for them to commit crimes," Aiden said. John walked up to a bookshelf in the next room labeled, "laws." John pulled one of the books from the shelf and opened it to the center of the pages. He observed that the entire book of laws was blank. Frustrated, he pulled another legal book from the shelf. It was blank. John threw the books at the floor.

"If you take away their freedom of thought, no laws are necessary. The need for society to constantly adjust itself in a reactionary propensity is removed. John became angry. He slashed the bookshelves with his matter sword. Suddenly he was in an old police station. Each desk was empty. Not a soul was there. A box of badges lay on a desolate floor. There were no guns. There was no need. "If you take away the freedom of thought, no police are necessary. The Universal Database becomes the police," Aiden said. John slashed through the walls of the police station. Then he found himself in an old capital building sitting in the seat of the speaker of the House of Representatives. John stood up. The seats were empty. He picked up the gavel in front of him and looked at it: a symbol of government by the people. He slashed through the seats in front of him. Suddenly, he was in an office shaped like an oval. There was a large desk with a pen. He went and sat in the seat and tried to sign a paper. There was no ink in the pen. "If you take away the freedom of thought, there is no need for government. The Universal Database becomes the government. It rules the people directly," Aiden said. John fell through the floor and found himself in a military command room. It was empty. "If you take away the freedom of thought, no military is necessary. War is a forgotten," Aiden added.

"You seek to create absolute tyranny! It will never happen! Face me Aiden you coward! End this charade!" John commanded. He slashed through the walls of the office and suddenly found himself in the middle of a street, alone. "Where are you Aiden?!" John asked. "When you take away freedom of thought, humanity becomes a well-organized machine," Aiden said. Suddenly, the daily midday trumpet sounded. Everyone walked outside in single file lines. John stood at the side of people as they rushed forward in their day. He waved his hand in front of their red glowing eyes. Yet, there was no reaction. They were like human zombies. "Wake up!" John shouted pushing a man over. "Bob?" John said. The people picked Bob up and placed him back on his way.

Then, suddenly, John fell through the floor and into the chair of an elementary school. He saw that the schools were empty. "No education is required when the Universal Database uploads all the information they need straight into their brains," Aiden said. He looked outside and saw that there was no money. The people walked into town centers and took only what they needed. "There is no need for money when both demand and supply are controlled by the Universal Database. Everyone is told what to eat, where to go, and who to be with. An artificial instrument of value is not needed," Aiden said. All of humanity marched in a well-organized perfectly secure society. There was peace. There was order. "Look at what a society without freedom could create!" Aiden added. "This is evil! It will never happen!" John said. His thoughts rushed through the natural laws. The tree of natural law reached out its branches and pulled his left arm. The red-eyed mind slaves pulled him from the right arm.

"Join us, Shepard! The Universal Database is wonderful! We live in a beautiful palace on the beach! It's so much fun!" said the red-eyed mind slaves. They were standing in a plain white prison cell where they lived. "They lie to you! It's all an illusion," Johns said to them. Then, the tree moved its branch forward, displaying the necessary human rights. "Come with us! The food is great," they said. Their burgers and salads morphed into tubes running into their veins from the wall. "It's not real! You're a slave! Let me go!" John yelled. "It's like heaven here. We can fly!" they said. "Come Shepard! Come with us! We will reengineer the material structure of the universe so that everywhere is heaven! Then, the tree and the mind slaves lost control of John's arm and he continued to fall through the floor. He caught himself on a metal platform. The walls had finally returned to their normal state. John swung his left leg over the top and pulled himself up, laying on the metal floor and breathing heavily. 
Chapter 33 - Providence

John walked into a massive circular dome. Inside of the globe shape were various platforms and walkways with different kinds of holo-screens and databases. It was so massive, the floor seemed to fade into nothingness. He was in an endless set of databases. Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Aiden standing at the opposite side of the walkway. "Aiden," John said. "Hello ... brother," he replied. "Yes, I shared your vision. It seems we share some connection after all," he added. "It's all over! Eidolon is dead! The people have rebelled against you! You must surrender! The tyrannical universe you desire to create is a false dream! We must restore the balance of power on the planet," John said.

"Everything was going fine until you tainted them with your foolish rhetoric! You see, the weak masses need a strong leader who will tell them what to do. Deep down, they long to be controlled. You would seek to take that away from them!" "This is the end for you my brother," John said, extending his matter sword towards the ground in his right hand. "Hahaha! It is only the beginning!" Aiden said with an evil look, revealing his matter sword. "After I kill you, I will send the mind drones into the brains of all of mankind. Everyone will bow to my will! They shall declare me as their God and I rule forever! The Universal Database will make me immortal. First the Earth ... then the Universe," Aiden said. "Aiden, you don't have to do this! I know what happened to us at birth! It doesn't have to end this way!" John replied. "Fool! It ends the way I say it ends," Aiden said as he ran towards John.

They clashed matter swords together. Aiden's sword was a bright purple color. The black and white kings swirled around together on the chessboard in Atlantis. Aiden looked John in the eyes angrily and quickly slashed from the side. John quickly jumped out of the way. Their swords clashed on the left, then on the right. John blocked Aiden's cut from the right and kicked him in the stomach, sending him back. But it only seemed to send him back even angrier. John spun around slashing at Aiden's leg, but it was blocked. Aiden leaped over John and their swords clashed in midair. Aiden went for the killing strike but John leaped onto a nearby platform. Aiden jumped towards him. Then, John knocked Aiden's sword onto the ground. But Aiden punched John in the face and John dropped his sword as well. Aiden, who also had wrist mounted blasters, shot towards John. John somersaulted back to his sword, absorbing the last few shots and sending them straight back to Aiden. Aiden slid across the floor picking up his sword. The two looked at each other from across the platform.

"You seek a world of chaos, John. I will not let you give the people the power to destroy themselves," Aiden said. "If you hate to create absolute tyranny, than what's the point of living? The people long to be free. They can be saved! They can be taught not to destroy themselves!" John replied. "You would roll the dice with the Earth! How foolish of you to play games with the planet!" Aiden replied. John charged Aiden again. Their swords clashed by John's shoulder then by his leg. Aiden shrieked in evil laughter smashing forcefully into John's matter sword. John retreated to another platform and Aiden followed soon after. "You can't run anymore," Aiden said.

Aiden fired a laser blast towards John. John slashed the red laser blast, it registered within his matter sword and he sent it flying back at Aiden. Aiden too, caught the blast and so fired it back at his enemy. This repeated several more times. They played catch with lasers, hoping the other would slip up. John fired a second blast towards Aiden and now they were sending two lasers back and forth. This continued for a third and fourth laser blast. Aiden waited for the perfect timing and sent four shots towards John. However, John sensed this before it happened and leaped onto a floating platform nearby. "Goodbye Shepard," Aiden said reaching for his wrist. The platform fell out from underneath John. But he leaped forward and grabbed onto a different steal platform. Aiden shot laser blasts at him while he was hanging and John sent them back with one hand. John leaped back onto the platform and the two faced each other again. Their swords clashed. The two chess pieces in Atlantis were floating and the chessboard seemed to shake. Aiden gave an evil look and then slashed through the metal texture of the platform they stood on. It fell from beneath them. John held onto it, grabbing onto some nearby pipes. The walls and the pipes seem to shape shift back into just a wall. John cut deep into the wall to stop himself from falling and leaped onto another platform.

"Very good brother," Aiden said launching himself to clash with John's sword again. John reached out with one hand and blasted past Aiden's head, but Aiden kicked John in the stomach. The ground suddenly began to shape shift! John and Aiden found themselves on the judge's bench of the old Supreme Court. John blasted towards Aiden, narrowly missing him. "Hahaha!" Aiden threw his matter sword towards John, missing him. His sword flew into a giant set of the scales of justice, breaking them and shattering them to the floor. The ground shifted again. John and Aiden now stood on the middle of the bench between the seats of the representatives of Congress on the left and the right. John swung his sword high up into the air and Aiden knocked it down. John spun around, swinging the sword behind his back and clashing against Aiden's sword. Aiden continued his evil laugh. The walls around them continued to morph. Suddenly, they found themselves standing on the altar of a large church. They swung their swords at each other. "You want the world to be free to choose false ideologies ... to be free to live their lives in a lie!" Aiden shouted. "They should decide who they believe God is!" John responded. "I am God!" Aiden said blasting Aiden in the leg. He fell onto his back on the altar. Aiden swung his sword high up into the air, jamming it towards John's face. The ground shifted again. John found himself back in the circular dome. He looked around and could not find Aiden. Suddenly, he came flying at him from the ceiling, hitting the platform and sending shockwaves across it. Aiden fired several blasts at John. However, John deflected them away and the blasts hit the machine on the wall generating the artificial gravity within the station. Suddenly, John leaped towards Aiden and floated off into the dome. Aiden grabbed a hold the platform. The both scattered to find the emergency, anti-gravity belts behind glass containers. They each put on the belts and leaped onto a nearby platform.

"You desire a world where people are free to murder, rape, or start a nuclear war. You would let them destroy the world," Aiden. "There is good in people! They are compassionate, not prone to violence. You can't destroy everyone's freedom for the actions of the morally weakest of us," John responded. "Yes I can. Watch me," Aiden replied. He held his hand to his ear, commanding the Universal Database, "Send the mind drones!" The holo-screens on the wall started a countdown. "Nooo!" John shouted.

They leaped into high into the air, feeling the force of gravity by only a third of what is felt on earth. The smashed their swords together in mid-air. Aiden started to laugh, throwing his matter swords straight for John's head. But John knocked it away. "Hahaha," Aiden said, growing a new matter sword out of thin air. "I control fabric of the universe!" Aiden said, throwing another sword at John. He jumped forward, hanging onto a nearby platform for dear life. "Mind Drones releasing in 3, 2, 1," the database said.

Suddenly, the doors of the space station opened and billions of mind drones flew towards earth. This processes was repeated at thousands of other satellites across the atmosphere that had been strategically placed for this event. The population of the world stood outside, still revolting in the streets. John leaped back onto his platform. "You're too late, Shepard! Your sheep shall become slaves," Aiden said. John clashed swords with Aiden. Aiden kicked John onto a platform below. He basted John in the shoulder. "Ahhhh!" John said as he leaped high into the air spinning in circles smashing into Aiden's sword. He swirled his blade in a circle leaping into the air and their swords clashed again. The two danced in fury of clashing matter and light. Then, they simultaneously spun their swords in a magnificent array of movement. John rushed to grab Aiden's wrists. Each of their swords pointed high into the air. Aiden jumped, sending them high up into the air. John kicked Aiden in the stomach and they each flew to opposite sides of the grey platform. Then, they each leaped high into the air; gravity only barely held onto them. Aiden cut a hole in Gavin's robe, laughing as he did. Their swords looked like quick moving beams of light swirling in circles. They clashed their swords again. Aiden looked deep into John's eyes. The reds of his eyes looked of pure evil. He knocked John in the head, spun around and stabbed John through the shoulder. "Ahhhh!" John cried in pain, falling to the ground.

"Hahaha, only minutes now before the enslavement of the human race. You have failed your God, you failed your father, and you failed humanity. Now ... you will die," Aiden said. Aiden grabbed hold of John's neck, "I will become God as soon as the light leaves your soul!" John's world slowed down. He could feel the tight grip Aiden had around his neck. His eyes barely opened to see the holo-screens show the innocent people standing in the streets. The mind drones entered Earth's atmosphere: thousands of tiny drones. There were enough of them to block out the sun. The dark clouds around the Earth enlarged themselves. The sunlight on the Earth became nearly completely blocked out because of the clouds combining with the mind drones. John saw visions of his mother. She was with his grandfather and then his father walked up behind them and put their arms around him. "We believe in you John," they said. The clouds swirled even more around earth. John saw himself become one with the cosmos. He saw the light. There was the tree. He reached out for it. He was so happy he would finally know the true God. "God?" John said as he saw the entire cosmos before him. He could see flashes of everything in his life. He could see the natural law and the fabric of the universe in a beautiful painting. Only nothing was separated. All the colors became one. There were no lines, only truth. The lines between love, beauty, justice, and virtue disappeared. Then, a voice spoke out to him.

"Iam was always there for you ... all you had to do was reach out," the voice said. Then, the white light blurred and John's eyes opened. He had reached out his hand. In it was a tiny mind drone. With his last breath, John shoved the mind drone into Aiden's ear. Suddenly, Aiden let go of him. He stumbled back and grabbed his head in pain. The red in his eyes increased in vividness. "Ahhhhh," he screamed. "YES! I CAN SEE EVERYTHING! I KNOW EVERYTHING! I AM GOD!" Aiden's said as his eyes became even redder. "YES!!! BOW BEFORE ME!!!! I AM THE UNIVERSAL DATABASE. I AM THE ALPHA AND OMEGA!!!! Aiden shook violently. "YESS!!!! YESS!!!! HAHAHAHAHHAA!!!!! Aiden's eyes turned to bright red flame. "I AM TRUTH ITSELF!!!!" The walls seemed to suck into him. Streams of information funneling through him and from him. He grabbed his head in pain and moaning. "AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Aiden screamed as his head exploded. The red lights of his eyes faded. His body became limp and he fell to the ground. From his pocket, a small arrowhead fell onto the ground in front of him.

John quickly got up and ran to the top of the space station. And there it was: the Universal Database. The true tyrant. His true enemy. The mind drones flew down through the top of the black clouds. Mothers held their children in fear. Humanity stood helpless. The database was a pyramid shape, floating in the air. John rushed towards it. Inside of it was an all seeing eye: all of human knowledge, all of human data stored in one place. However, now, the information inside of it had been so manipulated and tainted that it had become a tool of evil. To him, it was beyond saving. John searched deep inside of him. He knew what he had to do. "The Universal Database has become an instrument of power, for tyrants to manipulate the minds of men. Its very existence threatens the natural laws and the balance of the planet." The mind drones pierced the bottoms of the black clouds. The people saw them. They stared slavery straight in the face. Then, John Shepard solemnly said, "Without Freedom, there is only darkness." John Shepard extended his weapon behind him, swirled it around and with all his all his might he ran his sword through the Universal Database. It cracked through the middle and started to short circuit. All the computers around it also seemed to shut down violently.

The walls around him began to shake. The lights began to go out and shutter. Suddenly, the billions of mind drones exploded in firework-like display in the sky. The remaining OSS officer's eyes returned to their normal color. One OSS officer, who had been attacking his daughter, hugged her in joy for the first time. Bob looked down at his tablet. It shut off. Everyone's electronic devices shut off. The ground fell out from underneath John. He fell back down into the deeper parts of the space station. Information all around him fell into the database like a black hole. He got onto a platform and took off running. It began to fall out behind him. He raced across it towards his ship. The airlock began to close. John barely kept his footing. With all his might he leaped for the airlock. But it was too high. He reached out with all his might. He opened his hand. Suddenly, Fysi grabbed John's hand. "Quickly, we must leave this dreadful place," Fysi said as he pulled John from the crumbling space station. The ship took off and headed back towards Earth. The space station fell into itself in a miraculous display of light. Suddenly, it imploded into itself and then exploded. The black clouds disappeared from the skies. The citizens saw a pure beautiful blue sky again.

The barriers that held the people away from nature were removed. The people rejoiced in the streets. John and the others reunited at the capitol building. There was music. There was dancing. One State flags were burned and all their statues were removed. John saw Gavin. "There he is!" Gavin said, hugging John tightly. "I knew you'd pull it off." Kaslov greeted John as well, "Good friends are hard to come by. But you ... you're alright comrade." Aiyana held Fysi who was smiling at everyone. John shook Bob's hand. "You are the bravest among us Bob. We couldn't have done it without you," John said. Clark hugged John as well, "Good to see you in one piece," he said. "It's strange ... I haven't been able to log in to a holo-screen for a day now and I just don't know what to do with myself," he added. "I can think of some things!" Fysi said. "Rebuilding my house!" Fysi said. Everyone laughed with Joy. Although, John thought Fysi might have been talking about more than just his hut on the island. John saw Sophia. She rushed into his arms. He swept her off her feet and kissed her. Everyone awed. Humanity began a new renaissance that day. They had put down all of the electronic devices and was no longer subject to a constant stream of propaganda and mind numbing information. They spent more time with their families. They went outside. They learned to make art. They spent time in nature. Humanity was closer that day, like a family.

A few days later, Sophia stood at the top of the Capital steps overlooking the crowd of people. John, Clark and Gavin watched in their robes from a nearby courthouse. The roof slightly blocked out the sun. They sat in the shadows, watching Sophia speak. They knew they could take no position of power in the transitional government or any of the new governments for that matter. They knew their place was protecting the planet from all threats: foreign and domestic. Sophia addressed the crowd. She spoke to America, but was addressing the world. The citizens of all countries watched along, "Citizens of Earth, and leaders of the Old Republic. For too long, our planet has been occupied by a foreign power. They tried to take our value systems, destroy our traditions; our way of life. They manipulated us by editing the information we all knew. They stripped us of our natural rights, our basic liberties and access to the natural world. Worst of all, they attempted to remove our right to free thought, the most precious freedom that we possess. But they failed. We stood up to them. You stood up to them. Now, we stand here as a free people because you refused to accept tyranny. They took everything from you. They took your families, your freedom, and everything you knew about free thought. But there was something they could not take. You looked deep inside yourself and found the principles of natural law are inside every single one of you. You found it because it is engraved on your soul because you are part of the Earth's living ecosystem. You were all so brave. We mourn for those we lost in the war against the One State. They will live forever in the monument we construct for them. They died so that we can all stand here free today. Today, we will begin the transition away from a one world government and restore the Old Republics. The leaders of the Old Republics have signed the Treaty of Gaia which will redraw the boundaries before the occupation of the One State. We will work to recreate the knowledge of humanity in a balanced way, unedited by the unclean hands of a corrupt government. The natural balance of power and nature will be restored to the planet. American will once again be governed by the rule of law: by the Constitution. We will create a new world where government truly works for the people and the petty ideological differences of the past will no longer divide us. Long live the Republics!"

"Our work here is done," John said. "We must continue to train new members; scatter newly trained Knights of the Living Earth throughout the plant to watch over our home." John added. "We will," Gavin said. "We will," said Clark. Suddenly, a carrier pigeon fluttered its wings and landed on John's arm. It stuck its little leg out, signaling that it had a message. John wondered where it came from. He took the tiny note from its leg and read it. It gave him instructions to come alone to a strange location in the forest. John left and quickly traveled to the location. He climbed through a thicket of trees. The trees became denser. He cut through them with his matter sword. He pulled a set of trees apart. And he walked down a narrow passage carved out in the trees. He came to a gigantic cave in the wilderness. A gust of wind blew in a tiny note near his feet, the same size as the kind that the pigeons carried. He opened it up. It read, "E=MC2." He walked forward. The tunnel became brighter. Suddenly, he found himself in a gigantic oasis carved out in nature with a gigantic pile of tiny notes. There could have been trillions of notes with writing on them. They appear to contain a large portion of human knowledge. Thousands of pigeons were flying above them. Thousands were resting on the branches above the pile. John rustled through more the papers, finding the most all the most crucial information to mankind. He could not believe it. He had no idea how they got there. What he did know is that for a moment, he thought God had abandoned him. But that was never the case. God was always inside him. God is in the moral principles that unite all the holy books. God spoke to him through the natural rights of mankind. God is in the Earth. God is in the fabric of universe with connects all of the cosmos and God is in the Rain.

End
