She pulled up to the front of the building. It was an average tower of metal and glass with height that shot through the clouds. The busy passerby's paid no attention to anything, but what was in front of them. They had too much on their mind to be concerned with anything happening outside of their world. Most people who lived among the towers conditioned themselves to live this way. So that way they would never get attached to anything that was of their own making. Sally waited until the busy shuffling of people moved passed her enough so she could quickly squeeze through. Her hands clicked the doors locked and she jumped into the flowing mob. The glass on the front of the building had it's company's logo etched into it. As she slowly walked over to the lady's room to gather her nerves together, she double checked her disguise. Her shirt was overly baggy and her pants cinched tight while her hat flowed over her eyes just enough to blend in. From her research she found that the guest waiting room had different rooms where people were sometimes caught hanging out there all day freeloading. It also revealed that these people were seldom caught to the influx of activity that occurred their daily. Sally strolled over to one of the rooms where she could wait patiently until her target made it's appearance. Now that she knew what Hill looked like she could accidentally bump into her to strike up conversation. Of course if she was noticed she could always use her back up excuse of doing a new report which was a half truth anyway. As sally made herself comfortable in the lush brown couch with streamlined angles that could pierce skin she reached over for some material to read. Another way for her to hide everything, but her eyes. She picked through the zines to find something more suitable to how she looked. There were only a few to select from. One about Popular tones, while the rest contained the latest and greatest You Read It Now short stories. She picked the short stories up to see if she could read something by Hill. Another great way to learn the psyche of the person being currently investigated. The zine hid her face just enough as her eyes took on the images and stories from the page. A man begins to walk across the lobby. Tall and striking by her account. He catches her eye as he walks to the secretary's desk. They talk for a brief amount of time. Hes overly excited and pleading with the lady to make a call. Finally after a few minutes of pathetic begs she gives in and proceeds to pick up the TeleChanal. She let's it buzz 3 times and leaves a message. As she coldly presses the swirled body back into it's holder he thanks her repeatedly. He turns to walk back out the door until the wind blows his hat to the floor toward Sally. She continues her act by casually turning the pages, pretending to read, as he looks up at her to apologize and scatters off through the walkway. Sally continues staring toward the man. Her frozen face of bewilderment plastered across it. Sally wasn't the only one searching for something, but what would Sam be looking for? And what did it have to do with this company? Could he be looking for Hill too? she thought to herself excitedly. The mystery was getting deeper and she was becoming more and more wrapped by it's allure.
Searching for the Soul
His room had been wrecked forever. He liked it that way. It was somehow comforting. Below the surface of chaos that lie around his room, smothering his floor, and bringing suffocation to be it's only appearance was a clarity. He knew every stick of it. All the thrown about papers which spread across the room, different visi-motions stacked in the corner, and the containers of food that seemed to grow from the furniture. The appearance was just that. An appearance of confusing disoriented dispersion of artifacts. Each meaningful in it's own right to him. Kindred Lor had been visiting him on and off through dreams, but now it seemed to be speaking to him during his waking life. As if a grandfather he never had the voice continued to share visions of what he explained came from Sam's inner soul. This wasn't anything Sam really believed in, but to be a good journalist you had to follow all leads no matter how empty it appeared. Going against his earlier disbeliefs and rationale Sam began to write down each seemingly random event that created a direct connection to his own life. It was an experiment with the unknown guided by a voice that he met in his dream. A man by the name of Tau had been called in to the local jurisdiction of impossible possibilities. This was Sam's territory. Although he enjoyed investigating any report he could get his hands on, there was a deep yearning to follow those reports that other's couldn't crack to find the truth. Sam enjoyed more than anything to solve impossible cases. It gave him a feeling of accomplishment. As if he was achieving something for more than just the world he lived in, for something maybe even beyond time and space itself. This was the allure that carried him off toward each impossible story. This is why he automatically responded to Sally with belief about the book Written in the Stars. There was no way of knowing this was the cause for such actions, but Kindred Lor was settling this invisible dispute. Once and for all.
The report was about a man who worked at a famous publishing company. He was reported as having an attitude that brought opposition from his co-workers. The report went into detail about this man's only achievements and how his recent announcement was ridiculed by the top selling publishing companies of this time. The company responded to the announcement with it's own curious announcement as quoted in the Ready For Real cover story "The recent announcement made by our contracted employee has no direct affiliation toward the company. Given that said employee has a contract that can not be prematurely liquidated we have to continue our services, but we reject any connection to the company's world vision for the publishing industry and stand by our original goal toward bringing books to people throughout the world with the simple reason being to inspire and create a new space of entertainment to transform the world. Given the circumstances we stand as a company proud of all accomplishments and offer a discount to any of our dedicated followers so that they can be reminded of our stable integrity."
The cover story did a great job taking the attention away from the recent announcement their employee had recently created chaos with. Their employer's name was Tau and he had quietly made a public statement to his loyal fans in the Hippie movement. His statement had caused a wave of excitement through the community believing quote "All of the work that the FAWS had begun is now proven through the mainstream publishing acceptance by the company's only stellar author. He is a shining star among the darkness that clouds true thinking, true imagination, and true soul seeking. Tau will be honored with his courage to go against the grain and we will help to make his most recent decision as smooth as we can by our support and through our collective communities endeavors. Tau we thank you for believing and trusting what has been said to be Written in the Stars!"
As Sam skimmed through the story, the only thing he couldn't find was the actual announcement by the man named Tau. There were comment after comment of people from the Hippie movement, followers of the publishing company, believers that the whole thing was publicity stunt created by the said company, and then the skeptics filling highlighted amount of supposed evidence to confirm their own E.G.O.'s suspicion. Sam continued to search through the various papers for some kind of lead. He began to watch all the recent visi-motions to find traces of Tau's statement. Sam threw on his clothes that dangled off the various pieces of furniture grabbing his keys without knowing where to go now, but out. He decided to see if Kindred Lor really was around to help.
"Kindred where am I going? I can't find any leads and there doesn't seem to be anything, but responses and comments about the said announcement. What am I supposed to do with that?" as he finished his question a song began to play through his ears from the player he was listening to. "To the stars, the company and the bars, you'll find what you're looking for if she doesn't before you. You know the way it's waiting quietly for you to follow. Will you follow the lead or the endless greed? He's not the one you can't find. He's the one who can't find you. Look no further. Look no farther. Look instead to the stars and hear the sound calling you forth. I'll follow you..." he turned the song partially out of fear and partially out of excitement. Sam knew it was impossible, but it happened and as he believed all leads should be considered a possible lead until it's deemed otherwise, he rushed to the door. Sam jumped into the vehicle, tuned in the player, looked up at the stars, and followed what he felt was the answer. He spoke aloud to himself as he brought the vehicle to life "This is madness!".
The memories were fresh and the leads seemed to flow toward the company. The lady behind the counter couldn't reach him and hope quickly dissolved before you had it's grip. The girl where the hat landed felt familiar, but not enough for Sam to place her. As he darted out of the building a presumptuous suspicion continued to lurk behind his current feeling of who she was. As he got into the sleek edged vehicle, it's body glowing under the solar rays boring downward to become reflecting traces of it's color, he asked again outloud "Kindred you seem to like to play games. I'm not interested in rhymes and riddles, I need clear direction with where to find my leads. What am I supposed to do now? I followed your ditty and it led me nowhere. I'm as confused as I was when I started this investigation."
Sam continued berating his invisible guest while his eyes encroached something else that was happening outside his boxed in held beliefs. A woman emerged from the building wearing the same hat, but covered with glasses that were to anonymous to be inconspicuous. While from the opposite side a man was rounding the corner followed by a outraged group of reporters who tried to publicize him the way they wanted him to appear to the public. It was one of the very techniques that his company had put into place with their books used now on their very own employee. The irony was cunning with it's deliverance. Sam got out of the vehicle and slowly followed behind the group of reporters hiding under their shadows. Tau quickly ran to the room of baths to get away from the fiasco while Sam casually followed him in without the group being any the wiser.
"Tau I'm sorry to bother you especially in the Room of Baths, but I'm trying to find something out."
Tau looked over at the man while he was in the midst of catching his own breathe and sanity. "You followed me in here? Can't I just get a moment for myself? I understand what I did was going to have an affect, but this is ridiculous! Don't you think? If a man can't get some alone time in the House of Baths what hope is their for any of us?" he was tired. Depleted of all the energy he mustered to make the announcement. From that day it became a daily dose of energy exhaustion from the reporters, his companies workers, and even the Hippie movement although this was never their intention.
"I understand how this looks, but Tau I'm here because no matter where I look, I can't find your announcement. In fact I'd say it's safe to say that all this hype is brought about by your own company while they omitted anything connected to your recent statement. I'm sorry to bother you, but if you want to fix the group of never ending parading reporters, the barrage of complaints that are thrown at you, you're going to have to help me help you!"
He was confused. Tau made the announcement using the top rated exposure of the times. How could it have disappeared? Could the company that he worked so hard for have sabotaged his own pre-planned sabotaging of the company? It wasn't intended to do any harm, just to go against the grain as he had stated. "What do you mean you can't find my announcement? Why are these people following me then if they don't know what I said?"
Tau spoke with a hesitant trust.
"This is what I'm trying to figure out. There is no direct connection to your announcement with your company. However since you made it the company has created an uproar around your very statement without anyone knowing really what you said to the public. Isn't
that one of the very techniques they developed? Isn't that exactly what all their publishings actually are trying to build? It almost seems that you could be the catalyst for this to take place! They are using you Tau to build the foundation they have been working on in the shadows. Even Hill has said...."
A feeling of terror shot through Tau. "How do you know Hill? She stands for everything that is wrong with the company right now! No she's the single representation for what is wrong with the world and you dare say her name to me? She's tried to ruin my life throughout my career and if it weren't for the FAWS I wouldn't even be a writer."
"Apologies, but Hill has defended you on an anonymous blog. She's spoken against the people you work for with their ridicule toward your work behavior. She's actually quietly trying to work on fixing the same issues you are speaking of now, but behind the scenes. I know because I'm a reporter and that's what I do."
"Ah now it makes sense. A reporter. Ok I have to go. You have wasted your time and more importantly your own. Thanks, but I'm not authorizing any of this for your report and there will be problems if I hear so much as a flitter of this in the media!"
"Tau listen. I'm not that type of reporter. No one knows the stories I research during my down time. I'm an investigator for the Impossible Mysteries and right now I've been looking into the book Written in the Stars and it's lead me here." quietly in desperation Tau asks Kindred again for some kind of help only to find Sam asking the unthinkable, the impossible, the unimaginable. "Tau have you heard of the name Kindred lor?"
Tau was frozen. The name was a ghost haunting him from his own failed achievements. The name burrowed into his heart and dug up memories of when he first encountered the stories of the name hidden in the many books he read over the span of his life. Continuously resurfacing when he finally thought Kindred Lor was gone. No matter what subject, no matter what visi-motion he watched, or even the meditations he would try to influence with his soul. Kindred would appear again and here in his waking life Kindred had found him through the most curious of circumstances. During the most confusing yet confident times in his life. Was it the piece of puzzle his soul had been seeking? Was the key to everything? Was Kindred Lor something more real than what he had learned of?
"How....How is that possible? Who are you? I never told anyone of that except for my co-worker and he never takes me serious. He's too egotistical to share something that he didn't first make up. I've always known this. It's the only reason I share it with him. It's how I know I have something good. So friend tell me now how you have come to this name? Assuming you have without first coming across my co-worker who I won't name."
"Tau.....you won't believe me. Hell I don't even believe it. But he's come to me in a dream and he hasn't left. He won't leave in fact. I try to prove him wrong with his confusing guidance, but I always end up the fool in the end. He's the reason I found you. He's the reason I'm here at this precise time. Otherwise I would of followed my own thinking which leads me constantly to dead ends. He's the one whose helped me remember my dreams finally. You don't understand how long it's been since I could do that. I'm rambling on now. It's ridiculous I know, but....." he began to feel defeated. That Sam's only chance for Tau to believe him had vanished effortlessly from his opportune moment. "I'm sorry I bothered you. I'll never bother you again. Good luck Tau with everything. I only wanted to help." Sam began to walk to an exit with undefined understanding hiding behind it. Back to a world without having any more answers than he did before he found the man Tau looking back at him.
Tau spoke quickly to get Sam's attention "You can't leave. Not yet. For your own sake, for your own soul, you must stay. After all you haven't heard the announcement I made have you? Wouldn't that be worth reporting tonight so other's can hear my statement as well?"
Sam looked back at Tau as hope filled his previously depleted energy giving him belief that Kindred Lor was something more than he could fully comprehend. "Absolutely Tau! I won't....he gulped I won't go anywhere until you give the full statement.