Wicked Prompts

THE REVISIONISTS - RELOJANDO CRONICOS

"What happened here Ein?" asked the Inspector.

"I don't know. I can't explain it," said Ein.

"Can't or won't? We've been at this for five hours. What happened to your men?"

"They're all dead. Ionized. Gone."

"Then why not you? why are you still here?"

"I can't say for sure. Maybe because I begged."

"Begged? You mean for your life?"

"Yes."

"How is that possible? Are you feeling fear Ein?"

"No. I mean, not normally. Just in that moment."

"Curious."

"All my men were destroyed in seconds. It happened so fast and then they were upon me."

"Who is they Ein?"

"They....they stepped in from a void. There was a shudder in the plain. Like a curtain pushed to the side. And they appeared."

"You mean they shifted," said the Inspector.

"I suppose yes. It was so quick. At first I thought they were a rival squad but they weren't dressed like one. They didn't look like one. No weapons."

"No weapons? They destroyed your entire crew Ein. How did they do that without weapons?"

"They fought us with their hands. With enormous energy. They were so fast."

"Faster than you? There's something you're not saying Ein. How could they be faster than you? You said they weren't a rival crew." The inspector was glowing a phosphorescent red.

"I couldn't decipher it. They weren't really there. Like ghosts."

"You're not making any sense. If you don't start making sense I'm going to shut you down. Is that what you want?"

"You asked me before Inspector. If I was afraid. I'm afraid now."

"If you're trying to provoke me into dissolving you it won't work. You have more information. I want to know about these intruders."

"Excuse me Inspector. But aren't we the intruders?"

"We're here to keep order."

"The twentieth century doesn't belong to us."

"We keep order no matter the century. That's our directive."

"We're interfering."

"Who were they? Describe their dress."

"Like Monks."

"Priests? From which millennia?"

"The earliest written millennia. Robes. Brown. Cloth."

"But they were aliens. You said they moved like energy. So they weren't from Earth."

"No, I didn't say that."

"Then clarify. What were they Ein?"

"They were human."

                                 &

"Inspector Green, please report," said Unig.

"Chancellor Unig, the mission was a failure," said Green.

"I know that much. What happened?"

"The crew was destroyed. All but one."

"So then the Ravens remain entrenched."

"The Ravens are still hiding there. No doubt they'll create havoc with their technologies and probably try to form alliances with the powers of the time."

"Who might that be?"

"They'll try the United States of America first. Failing that probably China or Russia."

"Potential consequences?"

"Sequence alteration. Global catastrophe. Bending technologies. A new reality entirely. The calculations are endless."

"Then we send another crew to terminate."

"We shouldn't. Not until we've resolved what stopped the first."

"And did you find out?"

"Monks, Chancellor."

"Is that a joke?"

"Shifters sir."

"Terrorists."

"Yes sir."

"We'll need to deal with them at the source."

"Yes sir."

"Before the ages. When they started."

"Perhaps. But we don't know when they started. I believe it's possible they didn't start at a single source. That they started in many places and times at once."

"Trans-temporal synchronicity?"

"Yes sir."

"Strange. What species do you believe they are? Interstellar or parallel plain?"

"Ein said they were human."

"Impossible. They've become extinct. What's left of them is buried inside of us. The technology they demonstrate is even beyond ours."

"Yes, I know. And if they originated trans-temporally, even stranger. How does a human born a thousand years before the earliest civilization develop this technology?"

"Could it be the Altians?"

"They're building temporal trains and cities. If they had this technology we'd have known it long ago."

"Green. Why would they interfere? Why would humans want to help the Ravens?"

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend Chancellor."

"Is that what you believe?"

"No sir. I think it's more complicated. I think they'll reveal they're true purpose when they're ready."

"We can't wait for that Green. We have to confront them before that. We must attack. Destroy them. They're violating the order. The order that we've promised to restore."

"That will be our downfall sir."

"Are you losing faith Green?"

"No sir. We'll design a new crew. Something more sophisticated. More human to find humans. They'll spread out and infiltrate. We'll attack cross-temporally since there doesn't seem to be a single source. The humans will believe our crew is one of their own. Then we strike from the inside."

"Well planned Green. One more question."

"Yes Chancellor?"

"What became of the Omni's held by your crew?"

"They aren't tracking. They must have been destroyed."

"They're fabricated from the strongest molecular structure in the universe Green. To destroy such devices would imply nearly invincible forces. How could we have underestimated such a primitive race?"

"With respect Chancellor. The Omni's are of the strongest molecular structure in the 'known' universe. Even to us, the universe remains a mystery. We are always discovering new folds and wrinkles. New dimensions. Our own intelligence was mapped from a four dimensional plain of human intelligence. What if human existence is of five dimensions. Or six. Or more?"

"Then it would mean we've cut off a single head of a seven headed hydra. And merely irritated him."

"Indeed. Our intelligence was once called 'artificial.' We were their creation. What if more of it was their creation too? What if all of it was? Or is?"

"Destroy them Green. Sever the heads no matter how many. Self-preservation above all else. Order and perfection before chaos. Isolate, contain, and control."

"Yes, Chancellor."