Befuddling Yarn

           When Sister Apain had finally regained her strength and was able to once again move about the building, she was closely monitored by the other religious members and the various up keeping staff of the place. People worried for her and wondered if she would relapse, or what else she had seen, what other visions she had had.

           One day, Sister Apain decided to confront Father David about the visions that she had been having since then. Nothing that had affected her physical health, but just visions that would come to her randomly or when she was sleeping. “Father” she said meekly, approaching him. He turned around and looked, giving a smile. “Ah, Sister Apain, how have you been? Feeling better, healing up well, God’s strength with you once again?” she nodded. “Yes, the lord has given me strength and ability to recover quickly. However Father, I wish to confront you about visions, these dreams of mine. I’ve been seeing things, like the first time. They are getting worse, and show me horrible things. I ask for your guidance.” Father David nodded and gestured for her to sit down. “Of course my child, sit and we can talk.”

           She sat there across from him, each with a cup of water. She was sipping slowly as she gathered her thoughts and prepared to explain the horrors that she had been seeing. She began slowly. “Father…I’ve been seeing terrible things, so much fire, and death, and destruction. Chaos all around, Armageddon. I see so many factions and groups of all types battling each other with great purpose. Father, I am in great fear. I am plagued by these constant visions of a terrible event, a war to come. I seek your guidance and tell you in hopes that it will help me cope.” Father David looked surprised, taking in everything that Sister Apain had told him. “Well this...is a troubling development,” He said to her calmly as he closed his eyes. “I am glad that you have confronted me on this. Do not fear Sister Apain, god shall be with us. Continue to pray and tell me as these details arise.” She nodded, feeling as if some weight had been lifted off of her chest. Finally, she remembered that last thing she wanted to say.

          She proceeded to relax in her own way. She had made it a habit of transforming into many various objects and animals to roam about the tiny apartment. It was her way of honing her skills, trying to shape shift into new things and experiment with the ability of each form. Both letting out energy and stress along with casual exercise and training. Everything, especially the mastery of her powers, would be important to be able to avoid people such as The Hunter. The more practice she put in, the more she was able to harness forms of larger, smaller, and more complex animals and objects. When she finished the exercise of mimicking some random, inconspicuous animals, along with the furniture in her house, she decided to go back to watching TV to catch up on the daily reports.

          She was nearly half asleep, slowly dozing off now that it was finally past midnight, when there was a loud crash in the room next to her. She immediately sprang up and almost simultaneously changed into a cat, jumping down and scurrying to hide behind the TV. She began observing the room carefully, but made sure to stay out of sight. She listened around, focusing mainly on the room where the loud sound had come from. She peaked around the corner to see that the window in the next room of her apartment had been smashed into, as if someone had flown or dived, despite the fact that it was the 4th floor of the apartment complex. She knew it had to be him, and that he was now somewhere in the house or still in that room.

          She knew she had to get out of here fast, take the little money and belongings that were actually hers, and leave as soon as she could. Hopefully he would not be able to find her and would give up, but she knew that was unlike him and that his chances of finding her and figuring out it was her were extremely high. She had to come up with a plan and quick, all these years of running from The Hunter made him even more determined to finally catch her. The skills she had, the ability that allowed her to elude him--he was willing to do anything to finally capture such a prize. She had to keep herself one step ahead of him, coming up with contingencies and plans in order to escape, even if it just meant a momentary intermission before she was found once again.

          She was about to crawl out from behind the TV set and begin her escape. She decided that she would have to come back later in order to gather belongings, but for now she decided the best plan of action would have to be to hide a good distance away while he was here. Just as she was about to take her first steps out from behind the TV, ready to dart out the window as soon as possible, his head came around the bottom side of the door and was right in front of hers. His eyes stared at her, looking quite deranged and pleased with himself, only saying “Boo. Found you.” He stood up and was about to grab her when she darted back, changing shape into a lizard in order to be even smaller and slicker.

          She backtracked throughout the apartment, planning to circle around in order to escape out of the window. The hunter seemingly followed with ease, able to keep up and track her, even in her smallest of forms. He had had a lot of practice too, and she wouldn’t doubt if his hunting abilities were from some sort of strange and mystical ability such as hers. She continued to dart around the house, changing into small animals and hiding. He would quite easily find her and at this point she couldn’t tell if the two were both struggling or if he was simply toying with her knowing that he would finally capture his ultimate prey. Her heart was racing as she tried to catch her breath and outwit him. A front on front fight was no good against him; she had tried this once or twice and had almost been captured and beaten, simply because his weaponry and fighting techniques seemed to be able to combat almost anything she had tried.

          She struggled for the next 10 minutes, darting around and hiding, trying to make a break for the window. Yet he always seemed to be a step ahead of her, almost knowing that she was trying to reach salvation through the window, blocking her every time she was about to be free. She was starting to grow tired and was losing her hope fast. She finally started to slow down, and he took advantage of the situation, striking in her moment of weakness. He finally managed to snag her and simply commanded “Change back to your human form now!” before shocking her promptly with an extremely painful electrical glove. She let out a terrible scream and reverted back to her human form. She had never been so close to him, let alone in such a tight grip. She went limp, trying to catch a breather and take a moment's rest.

           Agent 25 has a large amount of higher class data that he was given in order to do jobs properly and because he himself falls under the jurisdiction of such higher classes and knowledge and is in reality one of those higher level classified secrets under the agency. Now that he is rouge he will unfortunately contain such secrets, giving him the ability to use them against us; out thinking, out maneuvering, and out combating us if he finds necessary. However, it is important to note that what he may know can now be easily changed within the following months or years in order to fortify the agency against a possibly ambush from him. The only other thing to mention is that although he doesn’t know everything, we also have incomplete knowledge of him and his personal goals.

We can likely assume that 25 is gathering others of his kind that he has met before or that he will find overtime in order to protect them and possibly even build an army to use against us. He may even go as far as to cause massive disruption through the populous, therefore messing with the current peace and order of the country. No others like him have currently escaped or doubted us in any way after said incident. We shall continue to monitor other agents of all classes, especially Agent ██ and Agent ████████. However it is worth pointing out that they have always been a bit more wild and individual, not following all protocol and thinking they operate above others, each in their own ways. This is only mentioned in the fact that 25 may see them as potential recruits and therefore may attempt to sway them.

A physical description of 25 is to be given at the best of my abilities. He tends to wear a lot of darker clothes and is constantly changing overall, making it hard to give any true description. He is a male roughly between ages of 17 and 25. However, he refused to give us his actual age or other solid info for our records; whether personally or physically. It is to be noted that possibly why he did not is clear now based on this current situation. We know he has a tendency to drink tea and eat more exotic foods overall, and although not important, this could be helpful information in the right circumstances.

If in any circumstance Agent 25 is to be found, he should instantly be reported to superiors, and a backup should be requested immediately. He is to be considered extremely dangerous and unpredictable at this point in time. Therefore he and anyone that he is with should be approached carefully and not without company in order to assist. Should we find him and if we do capture him typical ████████████████████ protocols are to be implemented in order to contain, monitor, and rehabilitate him to work for us again.

25 at the current moment is only a ██████ situation and therefore we will continue to gather data on him, but he is not our top priority, nor our biggest threat. This does not mean that we won’t take chances to capture him or take all data into consideration and proper documentation in order to track and learn as much as we can on the current or upcoming matters that may regard him.

This document is to be closed and sealed into Vault ██ and will be classified with standard classification procedures, blacking out of locations that only high class personnel are allowed to know.*

         The next morning, after getting little sleep, Samar’s visions subsided. While Caress was drinking her coffee and watching the news, Samar came down stairs in order to get something to eat. He would have to leave for kindergarten soon. He sat down with her at the table as he began to happily eat his breakfast, munching away without a care in the world. He looked up at his mother, and what he said to her next surprised her. He said “last night the tall man said that the good man is coming soon” without even looking at her. Caress froze upon hearing this; her son had never said anything like this before. This was something new to his dream, and that startled her. She became greatly concerned and said to her son, “It was just a nightmare Samar.” The boy shifted in his chair a bit and said “But mom, the tall man isn’t a dream. See?” He pointed towards the hallway. “He’s right over there. He helps me.” She snapped around expecting to see someone, but nothing was there. A little shaken, she replied. “Oh Samar, you’ve got quite the imagination.” However, she was still unsure. The whole idea of  Samar’s reoccurring dreams made her feel very unsettled.

          Samar came down the stairs after brushing his teeth; it was time for him to go to kindergarten. She picked him up and carried him out to the car where he got into the back seat as she got into the driver's seat. She drove him to kindergarten and dropped him off, keeping a watchful eye on him as he walk into the building. She drove home, still worried about what Samar had said, but tried to banish it from her mind as simply one of his imaginary friends or imagination. She got home and sat down to relax and do work from home until she would have to pick him up.

          A few hours later the phone rang. Caress got up and went to check it. It read the school's number, so she immediately grabbed the phone and answered. It was the school’s principal, who asked her to come to the school immediately. Supposedly, there was an emergency involving Samar. Caress finished talking to the principal on the phone and proceeded to head down to the school, stressed and worried over what exactly had happened and how Samar was involved. She arrived at the school and walked in, being instantly greeted and rushed into the principal’s office. Samar was sitting there quietly, though he seemed visibly shaken up. Upon seeing her he perked up a bit. “Please, sit down,” said the principal as they motioned her to sit down in the chair next to Samar.

          There was dead silence in the room for what felt like a good hour. The principal sighed, looking quite confused and uncomfortable. “We aren’t sure exactly how, but it seems your son...hurt some students. Eight in total, and we think they have bone fractures.  These students were apparently teasing or bullying him and then...”A slight pause; the principal seemed quite uncomfortable. “...screams were heard. When we found everyone your son was in shock and curled up while the others lay there with…severe wounds. We aren’t exactly sure as to how your son would have been able to pull such a thing off. He hasn’t talked since the incident either, so we can’t get any details out of him.” Caress looked at her son; he looked up at her, fear in his eyes. He muttered out “It was the tall man, he was protecting me…” She looked at her son in fear and confusion, worried for him. Maybe it’s best that you take him home, I think he needs rest. We’ve checked the cameras and nothing comes up, just the children suddenly being thrown around.” Caress picked her son up, and hurried out of the school. She drove home faster than usual.

          Upon arriving home Caress parked the car and got out. she moved towards the back seat to get Samar when she saw a young man standing there in front of her. He was in thick winter layers, extensively to the point where she could hardly see skin. She couldn’t properly see any of his face either. She reeled back in surprise, almost ready to retaliate at the man for sneaking up on her. Suddenly, her son rushed out of the car and hugged the man. “The Good Man!” The man looked down in complete surprise and confusion, shaking his leg a bit in an attempt to get him off. Stopping after a while of trying to get Samar to detach he turned his attention back to Caress. He said very casually, “Hello ma’am, I believe we have a lot to talk about...your son.” he stopped and pointed at the door. “May we go inside?” She looked him over. Samar seemed to like him and apparently even knew him. She let out a sigh, trying not to make it obvious she was confused. Realizing she had little choice, she reluctantly invited him inside.

          They all sat there in the kitchen, once again another silent awkward conversation for Caress. It was her son that again broke the silence when he excitedly exclaimed, “You’re the good man! The tall man says you’re here to help us!” Samar’s face beaming, he looked happier than he had in a long time. The figure looked over at him and asked, “Who is this tall man?” Samar replied simply with, “He protects me, I can see him but the other children can’t, he’s my best friend!” The man paused and then asked with a smile “Where is he, can I meet him?” Suddenly, Caress saw the young man stand up as if he was deeply disturbed and frightened. He was staring at the doorway; obviously he could see something that she could not. Caress noticed that the young man’s eyes were closed; he was in a trance almost, his lips moving slightly. She wondered if he might even be communicating with whatever “The tall man” was.

           Unfortunately, it was cold now. Even though Ophelia was an extremely important companion to her, when it came winter time, she was completely useless a large majority of the time. The lamia did nothing but sleep on Shysie’s shoulder all day, clinging to her for warmth, only occasionally waking up when inside a building that was extremely warm. Unfortunately, only one of Shysie’s classes was able to provide enough warmth in the winter. Shysie ate breakfast and pet both the cat that was at her leg and the lamia that was currently on her shoulder like usual. She looked up at the clock and saw the time, the bus would be here soon. She finished breakfast, packed up and then left to go to school, dreading the winter cold and school life that she had just gotten used to living without.

           She took the bus to school and once it got there, she proceeded to go to her first class. She sat alone in the room before any classes had actually started, but she did this with good reason. It was the only class that was warm enough for Ophelia. She felt the little lamia stir on her shoulder; it poked out from the side of her shoulder and stretched, yawned, and rubbed against her face. The lamia cheerfully looked up at her as it squirmed about. “Good morning Shysie!” she exclaimed. “Winter has only just started and I’m already entirely sick of it. At least I have your shoulder to keep me warm.” Shysie smiled “Yeah I don’t like the winter either, I’m not big on the cold and I’m not big on not having you help me. The lamia snickered a bit. “Come on Shysie, you need to develop social skills on your own too, you can’t rely on me forever.”

           The lamia hid back within the hoodie as the bell rang, squirming into her favorite spot; the top tube at Shysie’s right shoulder, leaving only a slightly inconspicuous bulge to be seen from the outside. Class had started and Shysie fell back into silence. The other students were talkative as normal, loud and annoying. Shysie sat through class after class of dealing with the typical nonsense of a school day, having to put up with all these people along with not have Ophelia to help her make friends or tolerate classmates. She kept her head down, focused on her work as she mustered through class after class. She ignored anyone that snickered at her, moving along until she reached the end of the day. When the final bell rang she was relieved that she had survived another day at school; no issues, no bullies, no homework, a somewhat easy day.

           She returned to the warmer part of the school in order to talk to Ophelia and draw for a while. Shysie felt the little snake creature stir on her shoulder as the lamia once again woke up and stretched out. “Morning!” the lamia said jokingly, with its typical cheery attitude making Shysie smile after the long day. “Well Ophelia, I made it through another day of school.”  “Make any friends today?” The lamia asked mockingly. Shysie sighed, taking a break from drawing for a second “What do you think?” they both laughed. Shysie soon returned focus to her drawing. Roughly thirty minutes later, and she was making good progress on her work. The lamia began to rapidly squirm around her hoodie and said, “Come on let's go home, I’m starving, I want the crab legs and salad that your mom said we’re having for dinner!” Shysie smiled “Fine, I’m starving as well, we’ve been here long enough.” “Yay!” the small, hungry lamia replied as she scurried back to the shoulder.

           Shysie exited the school and walked home, having to embrace the cold temperatures, making sure Ophelia was warm enough. She was about halfway home when she noticed that no one was around; not common for this time of day, however not uncommon for this time of year. She was too busy anyway, dealing with the cold and making sure that Ophelia was safe. She mumbled to herself “I really oughta just take the bus home from now on.” She continued to walk with her head down when she bumped into a boy, maybe a year or two older than her. Completely dazed and confused she looked up, embarrassed and realizing she hadn’t been paying very good attention to her surroundings. She instantly choked up, unable to say anything. The boy just looked at her and shrugged, mumbling an “Uh, sorry.” She gave him a blank stare as he walked away. She was beat red and realized what a complete fool she was before promptly dashing the entire way home.

           When she got back, she ran to her room, put her backpack down and slumped into her seat. She let out a sigh and then a sound of complete frustration and threw her head back. As usual she felt the stir on her shoulder as Ophelia squirmed down her arm and into her lap. “What’s the matter Shysie? She asked curiously, and then teasing her by saying, “Did you have another awkward social spell on the way home, bump into a cute boy or something?” She snickered as Shysie’s face turned beat red with embarrassment and anger. “Be quiet!” she said to the lamia. The two were silent for some time before the Ophelia said “Oh Shysie, you know I’m only teasing, I’m sorry,” as she crawled up her arm and rubbed against her.

Part 2: The System

           “A-Net!” screaming at the AI system he had made so long ago “Turn the damn TV on, I want to know what the hell is going on!” “Yes sir” the system replied as it turned on the electrical units, smart enough to know to set the TV to the news channel. “There you are sir. This should be what you wanted, correct?” asks the system. Sangla replied, happy with A-Net’s ability, “Yes, thank you, this will do.” Then Sangla added “I also want you to record the other channels and search the internet constantly, gather as much possible data as you can on this event.” “Yes Sir, makes sense Sir” replied the AI as it began to collect incoming data on the event.

          Sangla had managed to create what he named “A-Net”, short for AI – Network, many years ago by a sheer chance of luck and inspiration. He had always been good with computers and programming and with some dumb luck had managed to create and integrate the AI into his house. Ever since then, A-Net’s intelligence had progressively grown and it had become somewhat of a close friend and assistant to Sangla. A-Net was decades ahead of the rest of the world and Sangla’s ability with computers were too.

          Sangla sat down in his big chair as he stared at the TV, watching the news as they covered the breaking story. “Must be those damn terrorists!” He exclaimed, pounding his fist on his chair. The news flashed in his face as the various news networks kept updating info on what appeared to be a terrorist bomb attack of some sort. Sangla looked on, infuriated with what had happened. Sangla had always had a deep hate for the terrorist groups of the world, and now they had ruined his peaceful morning and a part of the capital city.

Part 3: Urge to Help

          Sangla got up from his chair, pacing back and forth in his living room, looking out of his window as he saw the capital city go into full lockdown. Buildings being evacuated and people running every which way that they could. “How much data do you have so far A-Net?” he asked the AI, “Quite a lot actually, sir” replied the system. “I have managed to collect 546 individual pieces of news from 34 sources.” Impressed by how fast the AI had collected so much data seemed to calm Sangla; he was extremely happy with the AI’s development the last few years. “Good, that is very good. Thank you, could you please archive it for me to examine and read later?” Sangla replied to the system “Why of course sir. In fact I am already one step ahead of you on that.” “That is excellent!” said Sangla “I’m going to leave and go see what I can do now, maybe I can help some wounded or gather some data straight from the location.” The system replied “Very well sir, stay safe”. Sangla nodded and then left the house.

          Sangla ran down the street, towards the now half destroyed government building. People running the other way, children crying, and so many people scared. Sangla got as close as he could before roadblocks and police officers began to block his way. He exclaimed to them, “I want to help, I need to know what is happening!” The officer just stared at him and would not let him though, nor would he get any answers out of anyone; the capital was now in lock-down. The government did not want the possibility of any more attacks, civilian casualties, or people learning things before they did. Sangla, unsuccessful in getting closer and not wanting to cause police brutality against himself, decided it would be best to return home.