William found it a great struggle to put on the necktie, not that he didn’t know how. He gazed at himself in the polished mirror, and frowned at what he saw, an Asian face wearing strange clothes. And yet, today, June 11, 2312 was a very special day, for the whole world.
Outside his quarters, the hubbub of voices, excited, chanting, could be heard. Some were shouting his name, like he was some celebrity or politician running for office. He couldn’t stand their intrusive auras. He had activated his smart glass window’sopaque feature so they couldn’t look in. They were all excited, he could understand it. What he couldn’t understand was why, somehow, he didn’t share their excitement.
Here, in this dingy third world country, in this formerly-squalid neighbourhood, what had happened was like a one-in-ten billion lottery. A lone young adult, 27 years old, male, with no known family members nor connections, with menial work that only ensured his subsistence from day-to-day, had been chosen. He had no wealth to boast of. No pedigree that he was aware of to make him beam with pride. He hadn’t even finished his education…!
Yet here he was: out of 10 billion people in the world, the High Master had chosen him.
WilliamYu. An Asian. An unknown. A peon, who had to follow the barked orders of others. An agnostic, even, for where was a god who would subject him to this kind of life?He was the “Chosen One”, they said. The world was in an uproar, at least in those areas that expected the Heir to be selected from their stock. What was he to do? He didn’t ask for this.
The necktie was finally finished. He looked long and hard into his black eyes. They were piercing angry eyes, not tired, but defiant. In his 27 years, he had gone through so much suffering, he had been inured in it. So much abuse, so much hunger, so much labor, so much…dehumanization. So he couldn’t believe it (and he still couldn’t believe it up to now) when three nights ago, three people came a-knocking on the door of his shanty, and gave him the news.
“William? WilliamYu?” the apparent Leader of the trio asked. William was in plain shorts that time and an undershirt with holes. The other two obviously couldn’t hide their disdain at what they say. So what else was new?
“Yeah? What do you want?” he had asked curtly when confronted by these people, well-dressed, well-coiffed. His neighbours, all laborers like him, obviously were curious about the presence of these three in this part of the slums, and were starting to mill about his home.
The leader coughed. “Erm, may we come in? We have something important to discuss.”
William had stared hard at him for some seconds, then at his companions, another man and a woman, who were feeling uncomfortable where they were. He was unable to take in the incongruousness of his visitors to his neighbourhood, and didn’t know what to say.
“William?” repeated the other man. His eyes were earnest. “It would really be nice if we could come in. We mean you no harm, really.” The presence of the surrounding stink of his neighbours closing in on them was worrying him.
William hesitated for a few seconds more, then nodded weakly as he pried open his door to let his mysterious visitors in. The three hastily walked in, relieved, but the smell of his one-room shack assaulted their senses, and they all tried to breathe through their mouths. As William closed the door, he saw his neighbours close in quickly towards his door, and he threw them all a shrug plus a puzzled look that said he had no idea who these people were.
When William turned around, his visitors were standing in a line, prim and proper, facing him. He looked at them, gestured absently, and said, “Have a seat. Please.”
The three looked around the shanty. There was a small table with a short bench barely big enough for three. The other man and woman sat on the bench, backs straight, their buttocks on the edge, as if they didn’t want to dirty the seat of their pants. The woman was staring at a gas lamp on a shelf, as if she had never seen one like it, but abruptly returned her gaze to William. The Leader just stood where he was, as there was no other place to sit on.
William, amused, adjusted the wick to brighten the flame of the lamp, then took the few steps to his wooded bed and sat on it. The smell of the burning kerosene filled the room. He motioned to the leader to sit beside him, tapping the bed, but he just smiled.
“OK, so what is it you people want with me?”
“William,” began the Leader, “this is a most special day for all humanity, in this century.”
“Yeah? And why is that? Who ARE you people?”
“We are from the Order of the Discalced Gatekeepers of Neo-Enoch. Have you heard of that?”
William nodded, thinking, so THAT’s who you guys are. “Who hasn’t heard of the ‘Eunuchs’?”
“Excuse me?” the other man cut in, a frown clouding his forehead. But the leader just gazed at him until he caught his look, and settled down.
“Yes,” continued the leader, “the ‘Eunuchs’, but rest assured we are NOT eunuchs. Of course, our Order serves a very specific purpose having been in existence for more than three hundred years. And we operate in the background so as to be unobtrusive as much as possible from mankind’s existence. We have our N-E gliders to help us observe the land.”
William thought about the hundreds of green-light blinking circular drones with their gothic letters “N-E” that flew quietly overhead and wondered at their definition of “unobtrusive”.He read somewhere that they started flying around 200 years ago. They were present in every country, hovering day and night, powered by solar energy and guided by magnetic waves. He never really understood what they were for, other than to spy on the people and find ways to oppress them more. “OK, yeah, I never really gave them much thought. Yeah, go on…”
The woman spoke: “For the past two hundred years, our Order has been focussed on finding a special individual who will fall under the parameters as set by the High Master…” She pulled up the sleeve on her left arm to reveal a slim-type smart-modem strapped to her wrist. William had seen the earlier models of this smart-modem, but they were clunky unlike this one that was very sleek, and form-hugging, and clearly expensive. She pressed a digital key and stretched out her arm, and from this smart-modem, a 3D holographic tableau filled the centre of the small room.The hologram projected a faceless, sexless humanoid figure that rotated on an axis. It filled the room with a bright light.
The other man spoke, a bit pompously. “Although we are not at liberty to divulge the purpose of the screening parameters, we ARE allowed to share that there are seven markers that would narrow down this search for the ideal candidate. This candidate, and those about him will be rewarded handsomely.” Seven red dots appeared on the humanoid form. William recognized the locations where the dots were. He wasn’t dumb.
“Like chakras,” William said. The Leader smiled broadly, eyes beaming.
“Yes, William, like chakras” he moved towards William sitting on the bed, cutting through the hologram, and made a motion to sit on the bed beside him. He hesitated at what he had done without thinking, and decided to commit himself to sit on the dirty wooden bed. The woman shut off the hologram, and the lamplight again provided the only illumination of the room.
He continued gravely, “But importantly, our N-E gliders are equipped to scan people for their genetic make-up, their DNA, also brain waves. Non-invasive of course, but 100% accurate.”
“Chakras and DNA and brain waves. So those are your filters,”William looked at each of his three visitors, who were looking back at him intently, like cannibals who had identified their next meal. It was unnerving. “What has this all got to do with me?”
The Leader declared quite excitedly, “You, my most lucky fellow, have been chosen by the High Master to ascend to the Glass Heaven!”
Almost immediately, a rousing cheer from a hundred joyful voices came from outside his little wooden shanty, and a rhythmic clapping and singing started. Puzzled, William stood up, walked to his door and opened it. There was a deluge of happy cheers and applause coming from his neighbours, waving their hands at him. Above, there were two stationary N-E gliders hovering in front of his shack that had been projecting the sights and sounds of their supposedly-private conversation to the people around them. He stared in dumfounded amazement at the projection of himself in the air, holding on to the door, looking dumfounded. Then he saw the images of his three visitors approaching him from behind. He turned and saw the leader smiling broadly, and the two others as well, nodding with exaggerated benevolence at the people giving applause.
The Leader placed a warm hand on his shoulder, and shook his hand. “It has been a long and challenging search, but we have finally found our diamond in the rough! Congratulations!”
William passed his hand over his face to see if there were any traces of whiskers he had failed to shave off. The cuffs of his sleeves felt uncomfortable on his wrists, as he had never worn such finery. His tie looked decently-executed enough, based on what he remembered from the videos he had consulted. And his pants were a welcome change from the day-to-day dungarees he was accustomed to wear to work. His underwear was magnificent, though, fitting but not constricting. The genuine leather shoes and cotton socks completed the ensemble, and for the first time in his whole life, he felt…properly dressed. Thanks to the Leader who had dropped off these accoutrements as well as a self-propelled van that had bathing facilities for him.He spent a good two hours within that acoustically-isolated cocoon, not because he enjoyed it, but he was fumbling all the way. If not for the motion-activated PAL (Personal Assistant That Learns), he would not have been able to navigate the myriad digital keys on the walls just to take a hot bath. It didn’t help that this PAL came with the realistic holographic body of a female who followed him and watched his every move. He very much preferred the disembodied voice of SIRI version 8 that just told you what to do, and not hovered over your shoulder like a schoolmarm anticipating you’d be making a mistake at every turn. At least, this schoolmarm was pretty and had a nice smiling face and skimpy outfit that made him blush and cover his swelling manhood.
He was also surprised at the speed that his rickety shack had been subjected to a make-over, while he was taking a bath. When he emerged, he thought he had been brought to another place. In fact, in a span of a day, his whole slum area had been subjected to a make-over, with all the shacks replaced by sturdier, more advanced materials, and electricity sourced from discreet wind turbines powering each ex-hovel. Almost instantaneously, the Leader’s minions had installed proper water facilities, and the ground was now paved by recycled bio-friendly plastic with LED lights to guide people at night. Built-in projectors at every 100 meters kept his neighbours, heretofore ignorant of world events, now updated on what was happening.All because he had been selected in a centuries-long, world-wide search he didn’t know anything about nor cared for one whit.
And what was happening in the news was HIM. WilliamYu. The whole world was now watching him, in real time and in earnest, like some obscene reality show from the 21st century. In the two days that followed, all news channels would be reporting on William, his habits, his place of residence, his humble work, his unknown roots which added all the more to his mystery. He was visited by other minions of the Leader, who gave him a crash course on 22nd century geopolitics and world history going back to the 20th century. Some of these he had learned in college and his technical courses, but mostly he had no idea that the world was so much more than the world he already knew. From a life of suffering and drudgery, he was afraid of what he was being thrown into. Implants werepainlessly placed on his wrist and below his left and right ears, supposedly to helpthe Order monitor his vital signs, brain waves, and, as they mentioned but couldn’t explain clearly, his “auric emanations” or vibrations or whatever.
William was ready now, and walked to the carbon fibre door with palm-print lock that replaced his embarrassing wooden door. As he raised his right hand over the sensor plate on the door, he took one last look at his renovated home. It was clean now, his bed no longer a rickety fabricated wooden slab nor his table and bench uncomfortable nailed-together furniture that creaked all the time. They were now made of silicone-based, memory-foam that was soft on the back and buttocks but stood firm and didn’t wobble. Even his window that used to be just a hole was now covered with intelligent glass that played nature scenes and doubled as a television monitor as well as a communications screen.
William pressed his palm firmly to the sensor plate and the door swung open. He was immediately greeted by all his neighbours, now in clean and trendy clothes, and they all cheered and applauded him. Lively music filled the air. Everyone was in a celebratory mood. The Leader was also there with him, opening his arms in welcome and smiling broadly. His two side-kicks were nowhere in sight. A new silver shuttle that looked like an upright pillow, was hovering at the side of his modernized shack. There were drones floating in stationary positions, their video cameras clearly recording his every move.
Without a word but still smiling broadly, the Leader showed the way to the shuttle with his outstretched arm, amid the cheering crowd. William, for the first time, forgot his discomfort, smiled back at the people, and waved his hand, although a bit weakly. He still was uncomfortable with his celebrity status. He still didn’t know, nor was he told what would be his fate, only that the High Master had chosen him. But that in itself was cause for jubilation for the others. Because their way of life improved the moment he was chosen.
The door of the shuttle hummed shut and William and the Leader sat down in comfortable chairs.This was an unmanned automatic craft and they were the only ones on board. The interior was dimly-lit and only a few windows provided a view outside. He felt it was only a few minutes but when he peered out, he was shocked to find that they were already miles high in the sky. He had not felt any downward pull of gravity. The Leader sensed his surprise. “Magnetic waves, William. You don’t feel any movement,you just see yourself travelling. That’s travelling in style! We’ll be there in about twenty minutes. It is a long way up, you know” he smiled.
“So,” William finally said. “we’re on our way to the Glass Heaven.”The Leader nodded, but kept looking forward. William had heard of the Glass Heaven, but seeing how his daily living was more of struggling on the earth, he had no time to wonder or read about what it was.
But his orientation on his destination made him all the more curious.
Originally, a company in the 21st century, Renascence, embarked on a bold plan to commandeer an asteroid and bring it into a geo-synchronous orbit around the earth. The intention was to build the first meteor-based skyscraper, Olympus, a wild and thoroughly insane idea that all scientists scoffed at as totally impossible and idiotic.
It was not the stuff of wild dreams, claimed the eggheads at Renascence, because it had taken their company years and years of study and secret testing to ensure their plan would succeed. Asteroid A-536 was fast approaching from its usual 25-year elliptical revolution around the sun and Renascence had the capabilityto capture it and divert it towards earth’s orbit.
But the world’s scientists argued that, even if Renascence had developed the technology to “lasso” and haul a big chunk of rock towards earth, there was the obvious danger of losing control over its mass and crashing the asteroid unto the planet, causing an end-of-the-world cataclysm and ending all life. None of the heads of state nor the world’s best scientists would endorse such a project.
The head of Renascence, who spoke only through his spokesperson, a Mr. Jeremiah Enoch, defied all resistance and declared his resolve. The asteroid that was needed was approaching Earth’s perimeter fast and immediate action was needed in order to “catch” it before it flew way past. They could not wait another 25 years for their “permission”!
As all nations debated on how to sanction Renascence and block all resources that it needed, the world saw a quartet of manned rockets launched one after the other, followed by another quartet, from a large island in the Mediterranean. Renascence had been ready all along to push forward!
The whole world was aghast, and all of earth’s pundits predicted failure. Military forces scrambled to surround Renascence’s island, but it was too late to implement any sanctions.Mankind was gripped by fear as total annihilation suddenly became a possibility. All they could do was watch. There were no more announcements from Mr. Jeremiah Enoch, but he courteously gaveall TV networks the live feedsfrom Renascence’s Control Centre, showing their rockets’ progress, to reassure everyone that the project, was indeed, sound and doable.
Through unheard-of calculations and mysterious technology, Renascence succeeded in mounting an asteroid with thrusters with guidance capability, and actually “drove” the asteroid towards an orbitexactly at Earth’s gravitational push-and-pull point. The first four rockets drove the asteroid, the remaining four provided the braking power.Once stabilized, with great pride, Renascence “parked” this asteroid right above their Mediterranean island.
No country dared to say or do anything. All the countries watched in anticipation what would happen next. The doomsayers predicted that the asteroid would be unstable and fall to earth; the military demanded that the huge rock, 15 kilometers wide and 25 kilometers long and 10 kilometres thick, should be blown away piece by piece if Renascence refused to fly it out again into space. But then, others argued, blowing it up would just bring about the destruction they feared. And Renascence ignored all calls to return the rock whence it came from.
With this fait accompli, the world had no choice but be held hostage and allow events to unfold. The head of Renascence and its spokesperson, Mr. Enoch, was suddenly nowhere to be found. The island from where the rockets had been launched had disappeared.
As the world held its breath, the asteroid circled the planet for a week. The week turned into month. The month turned into a year. But the asteroid, christened ominously by Renascence as “Purgatory”, stayed on its stable orbit for more than a year, with no orbit degradation. It was a year full of anxiety and world unrest. The people had to rely on pure faith that things would go well.
Purgatory became a Sword of Damocles thatinstigated a general spiritual awakening of the world’s people. Because everybody realized how their lives could end at any moment, Purgatory’s presence, visible in the morning sky and gleaming at night like a second moon, brought about a return to religion.Renascence lived up to its name and, through Purgatory, brought about a Rebirth to the whole Earth. But they were still held hostage by the unknown.
In time, the Mediterranean island inexplicably reappeared to allow Renascence to lift off another quartet of manned rockets, to the chagrin of all world governments. The crewexpertly deployed the building of an asteroid station on its surface facing the ground. From there, Mr. Enoch started transmitting messages to the Earth’s TV networks announcing that Renascence’s third phase would be to clear the Earth’s surrounding space of all of mankind’s floating rocket debris, debris that could damage the construction of Olympus. Numbering more than 50,000 various metal hunks, the asteroid station for five years sent out space barges that, with servo-mechanical arms and pincers, caught and collected all castaway metal.
It was an unexpected humanitarian gesture, but for Renascence, with a self-serving agenda. The vast collection of assorted scrap metal they had gathered provided the material they needed to prepare the foundation of their planned skyscraper, at no cost to them.
By the 10th year, Renascence, embarked on their Phase 4: Olympus.More rockets were launched with construction materials and workers, and the world could do nothing about it.
Olympus was touted to be an architectural marvel that would serve as a milestone in mankind’s history, like Egypt’s pyramids, but greater. The claim was very much ballyhooed but what could the world do? The design of this skyscraper hanging from the sky would be like a shimmering sword of glass jutting down towards Earth, an inverted Empire State Building but longer and with walls and columns made from transparent aluminium and carbon fibre alloy. It took seven years to construct, and when it was finally completed amid much fanfare, as a show of reconciliation,Renascence invited the seats of the world’s governments, including the world’s religions, to hold their capitals there. After an initial reluctance, all of the governments eventually acquiesced and they all marvelled at the achievement attained. Renascence was forgiven, because, who can argue with success?And people rushed to join the tours to experience orbiting around the planet and looking down at the earth. It was a magnificent view and awe-inspiring. They were little ants that felt like gods.
The world had finally accepted Renascence’s brazen actionsas Renascence shared its technology with everyone, and mankind was freed from its scientific, political, and religious limitations. Everybody now joined hands to further civilization’s brave foray into exerting control over the universe. Olympus had been the start. Now, terraforming was a concept that could be finally pushed into reality, not just desert simulations. Man, through Renascence’s leadership, had taken scientific control of its destiny, yet still ensured the retention of its soul and belief in the Almighty. This heralded the onset of the so-called “Golden Thousand Years”.
It would be no surprise then that Renascenceand its unknown head, through his designated spokesperson, Mr. Enoch, would be honoured and given the honorary title of World Visionary. The Mediterranean island from where the rockets were launched was named Eden, and also became a tourist attraction as well as a pilgrimage destination.
On the 18th year, Mr. Enoch, per direction of their unknown head, announced Phase 5 of Renascence: two more arriving asteroids were to be drawn toward earth, both bigger than the first, and each representing construction sites for Phase 6 and Phase 7 respectively.
The world applauded this time, and welcomed the announcement of the two planned projects, Asgard and the Glass Heaven.While Olympus was regarded as uber-high-end real estate, Asgard and the Glass Heaven would serve as platforms to launch further space exploration. People in their old age wished they could live long enough to see it through.
The start of these projects triggered a worldwide boost in commerce, education, and well-compensated labor, and technology was thrust into a bullet train of unparalleled advancements. Spirits were buoyant world-wide and prosperity was there for everyone.
And so it went. At least, until the day when Asgard and the Glass Heaven were finally finished.
The shuttle carrying William finally docked into hangar bay 24. There, a pair of grappling pincers caught hold of the shuttle and shunted it systematically through an airlock, where it was parked on a blue platform with protruding anchorpads. Once the magnetic contacts in the pads were activated and the vehicle secured, the shuttle door slid open quietly.
The Leader stepped out first and guided William out. He blinked as he looked around the pressurized shuttle lobby. It was brightly-lit and the slight stinging of ozone in the air hit his nostrils. Surprisingly, there was muzak playing softly on the public address speakers. There were no people around.
The Leader started walking towards double doors that slid quietly open and slid back shut once they passed. Opposite this doorway was a wall with five doors. The Leader walked towards the fifth door, pressed a button which immediately caused the door to slide open.
He looked back, and saw that William had not followed him. He waved his hand. “Come. This will bring us directly to the High Master’s floors.”
William looked at him, then took a moment to look to his left and right. The corridor was long and dimly lit by lights intermittently spaced on the sides of the floor. He looked back at the Leader who again gestured for him to follow.
Both of them entered, and the door slid closed. There was a control panel to the right but only four buttons were present. The Leader pressed the topmost. William didn’t feel they were moving. When the door opened a few seconds later, he saw they were on another floor.
“We are below the Pinnacle of the Glass Heaven,” said the Leader, smiling. “On Earth, this would be the 150th floor.”William’s brows raised.
“So the High Master is on the 151st floor?” William asked.
“No,” said the Leader. “He would be on the 180th floor. Or maybe in the Observatory. That would be the equivalent of the 185th floor.” He smiled. “Nervous?”
William was still taking in the information, eyes wide. “Uhmm, yeah, a little bit. Aren’t you?”
The Leader chuckled. “Why should I be?”
“How come I don’t see any other people here?”
“What’s that cliché? ‘Many are called, but few are chosen.’” He held his shoulder with a warm hand, and squeezing it gently, pointed him to a pair of double doors in the distance. “That’s the doorway to the highest height of the Glass Heaven. Just press the top button and the platform will bring you to the level where the High Master is, wherever he may be. He likes walking around, you see,”he tapped his chest, “good for the heart.”
“So how does the platform know where he is?”
“Oh, let’s just say, the building is attuned to where he is,”the Leader winked. “Now go on. This is where I have to stay. I will immediately know when your talk with him is done.”
William looked at him, then at the double doors in the distance. The large hallway leading to the double doors was also dimly-lit. But a thin light outlined the double doors. The muzak was still playing.He looked one more time at the Leader, who shooed him away with his hand and a smile.
The double-doors opened just as William stood in front of it. Some sensor somewhere probably, he thought. He got in, saw the two buttons on his left. With his right hand, he pressed the top button. The doors closed. There was also muzak inside this elevator. Out of ten billion, I was chosen, he repeated to himself.
In two seconds, the doors opened. The sight that greeted him was…magnificent.
He was in a glass globe and looking up, he found himself staring at the earth. He could make out land masses and weather systems, clouds swirling around, lightning flashing. He could see the Pacific Ocean and could make out the currents flowing. If he looked down, he could see the horizon and the onset of night. Beyond it, stars and more stars. He was upside down! He muttered, “Oh my gosh, this must be…”
“The Observatory, William,” said a tall bearded man, in a large baritone voice. He walked towards William who was frozen where he stood. The man towered over him, a good 6 feet and probably seven inches or more. A giant. “Welcome to the Observatory!” he was smiling.
William stared up at him from his 5 feet and five inches, a height already considered tall for an Asian. He looked at the large hand being extended in front of him and he hesitated. When he shook his hand, all his fingers wrapped around his, like a father holding a toddler’s hand.
“Come,” he started to walk towards the glass wall where two chairs and a table were. William hesitated, then hurried after him.The whole floor was empty except for the two chairs and table. The view around him made himfeel that at any moment he could float off into space.
The chairs could recline so they could look at the earth without straining their necks. Foolishly, he looked for seatbelts. He then allowed himself to lie down. The chair was so comfortably warm, William felt he could just lull off to sleep. But the sight before him was so mesmerizing, he felt he could spend days just gazing over the swirling whites and blues. His right hand was still strangely tingling from shaking hands with the High Master and he scratched at it.
“Yes, looking at the earth can really be fascinating, I know how you feel.” The High Master chuckled. “When I first got here, that was all I did. I couldn’t move from that very chair.”
William was quiet. He heard the High Master but the view was so hypnotic. The High Master allowed him to sit quietly and lose himself in the view. He thought he saw him smiling.
Finally, William spoke. “Sir?” He was starting to feel sleepy.
“Yes, William?” His baritone voice said, gently.
“Why…am I here?” he was embarrassed but he really had to yawn. The chair was so comfy.
“William, you may find it hard to believe, but I have lived a long life, and I am tired of all this living, with all its struggles, abuse, and judgemental people who don’t appreciate what I have done for them. All they want to do is take, and enrich themselves, and use the technology I have shared to better entrench their control over the rest of the people. I am tired. So very tired.” William turned to look at him. He felt like he was drunk. The High Master’s eyes seemed to be glassy. He felt his eyes were, too.“I am tired,” the High Master repeated. “I want to wipe out the politicians there in Olympus, who delude themselves that they have the power over people’s lives. They spout their rhetoric thinking they’re improving the world. They don’t know it but I can jettison that asteroid into the sun! And I WILL!” He said angrily, caught himself, paused, then softly asked, “William, do you know how old I am?”
William was dumfounded by the question and continued staring at him. He shook his head, and muttered, “uh-uh.” His head felt heavy now.
“By the end of this planetary rotation, I will be exactly two thousand years old.”
William’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You must…be kidding me…Sir.”
“Nope. Not joking. When this body starts feeling this way, it means it has to go away. But my visions, I can’t very well abandon my visions, can I? I am the ‘World Visionary’.“He chuckled. Then his voice turned sad again. “I’m really glad that we found you just in time. But I’m also sad. I’m sorry, William. What was it they told you? ‘One in 10 billion’? Correct?” William nodded, his eyes were slits now, and he was fighting to stay awake.
“In the last two hundred years, I have felt a weakening in my body. It can’t be helped. Wear and tear, you know. The old model must give way to the new model. I never thought it would be Asian this time. Maybe Aryan, or maybe Indian, but not Asian. Asians are so short and fragile…”
“…Sir..?” he mumbled. “I… don’t…understand,” William was feeling scared. And sleepy.
“It’s my Independence Day today, William, specifically in ten minutes. Are you feeling…sleepy? Feeling…weak? Don’t worry…it will be painless. And you will be… free of your pain as well. Don’t fight it. Your sacrifice…it’s for the good of all Mankind…for the furtherance of my visions…for our civilization.” The High Master struggled to get up from his reclining chair.
William tried to speak but could only whimper. “…Sir…?” His eyes were rolling in its sockets.
“Hush… I’m taking over your body, William.” He was looking down at William.“ ‘Many are called’… but you are my next vessel…until the next thousand years…sleep now. High Master.”
The End.