WWXIV

December 3, 4617

Hello. I am Liam Durreson. I have been living on this earth for 2609 years. I was born October 25, 2008, and never aged past thirteen. I still do not understand this phenomenon, but I am most certainly living in a changed world. In this world, the common person has a power that sets them apart from other people. Some use their powers to build up, others use them to tear down. Me? I don’t have a power that I am aware of. I am known as a Trill. The Trills are not on either side of the war—World War XIV, that is. We just sit on the sidelines and watch the Benods and the Malors throw fireballs and psychic rays at each other. Neither of them will hear any talk of peace. Believe me, the Trills have tried. The Malors are set on destroying the world, the Benods are set on stopping them. So far, the war has worked out evenly. New York City was won by the Benods, with much thanks to the U. S. Benod Military.

Las Vegas was destroyed 3 weeks ago by an earthquake that marked 8.5 on the Richter scale. It was caused by a seismopath—a woman with total control over earthquakes. She is now the “poster girl” of the Malors and the top of the Benods’ Bureau of Investigations (BBI) “Most Wanted List”.

Many cities across the world have been destroyed, but several of the best-defended still remain. Admittedly, they aren’t in perfect shape, but at least they’re still there, unlike Vegas.

Unlike in the comic books that I read on Earth during the Envo-Digital Age (1995-2058), it is the Trills who need secret identities now. If the Malors catch a Trill walking on the street, they will kill you unless you’re protected by a Benod. We go to a special school where we can bring out our limited potential, but we are always trained in case of an emergency—a Malor attack.

Today, as a matter of fact, a Malor walked into our school disguised as my good friend. Our Benod teachers gave chase, though, and he was caught and thrown out of the school. My teacher, who has six arms, punched him with all six at once. As much as I hate to admit it, it was kind of cool. He got a “wimpy, two-armed” round of applause when he returned.

On December 15, a Benod scientist announced today that he would release his discovery of a virus that, when put into the body, will attack only the weak cells in the body, thus fine-tuning all abilities. In other words, it will give the Trills their own powers. Occasionally, a Trill will discover a power, and then, of course, they can go join the Benods or the Malors—whichever they choose. Obviously, our teachers being Benods themselves, they are usually encouraged to become a Benod, but they won’t stop you if you choose the other side.

However, if they ever see you in battle, they won’t hesitate to kill you if you choose Malors.

Yes, this is a crazy world. We can only hope that with the virus injected into us, the Trills will at least have SOME power over the outcome of the war.

December 4, 4617

The teachers in our school put up on our holo-board a nano-second accurate countdown to the release of the virus. Only 11 days to go…

Nothing else really noteworthy happened today. I’ll do more of this tomorrow.

December 5, 4617

Ugh… I feel disgusting… I caught the flu today. Since the Malors won’t give us their medicine or their vaccines, the Trills are the only people who have to deal with diseases anymore. It kind of sucks really.

I can’t wait until the Malors are eliminated, so then we can have medicines, and—more importantly—peace. 10 days left…

There has been much speculation as to what exactly this virus will do. Some say that everyone will have the same powers, but others think that we’ll all have unique ones like the Benods and the Malors. I hope that the Trills stay together after the Release, after it is now being called.

December 6, 4617

I think I messed today up pretty badly. I was discussing the Release with another student of the school, and a teacher walked over as I said, “I don’t think it will work.” He picked me up with telekinesis and floated my limp, immobile body to the principal’s office. Yeah, even in the 47th century, getting sent to the principal’s office is bad.

He stood there as I relayed the entire conversation with him, then he said, “You’re suspended.”

SUSPENDED!? I begged him not to, but he was merciless. See, getting suspended is worse in the middle of World War XIV than it was back in Philly in the 21st century, especially when you’re a Trill.

When you’re a Trill, the only thing keeping you away from the risk of being killed by the Malors was the Benod’s school. You also can’t seek shelter anywhere, because the principal gives you a red band to wear around your wrist. Benod families are instructed never to make contact with someone with a red band. The only way to survive with a red band is to turn yourself in and work for the Malors. Of course, even once your band expires, you still have to work for them.

So now I have a decision to make: work for the Malors, or quite probably die before the Release?

And there’s also the question of why I got suspended. Why does my opinion get me suspended? It doesn’t make sense.

9 days to go…

December 15, 4617

Hello? Hello? Who are you? What is this?
>>WE ARE THEM.
What?
>>YOU ARE DEAD.
What? How is my journal still functioning if I’m dead?
>>THIS IS NOT A JOURNAL. IT IS A COM-LINK TO THEM.
“Them”? Why do you keep saying “them”? And what do you mean it’s not a journal?
>>WHAT LANGUAGE DO YOU SPEAK?
Huh?
>>YOU SAY “WHAT DO WE MEAN.” WHAT LANGUAGE SHOULD WE USE TO BETTER BE UNDERSTOOD?
I speak Straak, just like the other 85% of the world…
>>WE SPOKE STRAAK, AND YET YOU SAY YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND. WHY IS THIS?
I didn’t believe you that this wasn’t a journal. So I didn’t understand.
>>BELIEF. FOREIGN CONCEPT. EXPLAIN.
Er…
>>ER. NOT RECOGNIZED AS STRAAK. SEARCHING LANGUAGE DATABASE. PLEASE WAIT.
Wait? For what?
>>*AUTO* NO RESPONSE. PLEASE WAIT.
WHO ARE YOU GUYS!?
>>ER FOUND. ANCIENT LAGUAGE: ENGLISH. CORRECT?
Yeah.
>>YEAH. SLANG FOR YES. PLEASE NO SLANG.
Oops. Sorry.
>>NO SLANG. “OOPS” SLANG.
“’Oops’ slang”? What kind of grammar is that?
>>NO LAC GRAMAR. SIGNL BREAKNG P.
Signal?
>>WHN LEVE, YU HAV GRET PWER.
Right, the Release is today
>>N. NT RELAS. GVE.
Give? You’re giving me power? Why?
>>YU MST StP ReLAsE. iT klL.
What? It’ll kill? Kill who? Why?
>>evRYnE. gO nOw.
Wait! I still have questions!
>>goOD lCuK. LaEvE.
WAIT!
>>
COME BACK! What’s my power?
>>
Crap.
>>
>>J
What?
>>JOURNAL FUNCTION RETURN.
Journal… sigh. Later, “them.”

December 24, 4617

It’s over. I don’t know how I got through that alive. I guess my power helped a lot… Anyway, I guess I’ll start from the beginning.

So I left what’s left of my makeshift house after my discussion with “them.” I went back to my old school and demanded to know why I got suspended. The secretary gave me that adult “what-are-you-kidding-me-that’s-so-insanely-obvious-how-do-you-not-know-that?” look, and said, “Blasphemy.”

Whoa. That was a new wrinkle. “Er…”

She held up a poster.

I felt dizzy and stepped backward. On a brightly colored background, there was a photo of the scientist who discovered the chemical that’s being “Released”. A caption said, “THE OFFICIAL SPIRITUAL VOICE OF THE BENOD’S WORLD!” Below that, another caption read, “Follow him, and be Released!”

At the bottom of the poster was a small stamp of a seal that said, “Approved by the BBI and the President.”

My eyes widened. The BBI NEVER approves spiritual messages! When did they start?

I ran out of there, apparently faster than I realized. I was home is, quite literally, seconds. I decided to take another few laps around the area. I ran 132 miles in about 47 seconds. So I have a power now. Yay. When I arrived back at the ruins, I did a double take. Wait… there were ruins here? I don’t remember that. I took another look, and realized that a skyscraper from the nearby city of Chelz had fallen and landed on my house.

I ran over, picked it up, and… hold on. I picked it up? I have TWO powers? Oh well. I sighed in relief. My journal was still there. I grabbed it and ran, even faster than before.

Soon, I felt like I wasn’t even touching the ground. I was right. I looked down, and saw the city of Chelz—from the point of view of a falcon. Ah, come on. I mean, one power was AWESOME, two was er… okay, but three is just insane.

Then, a thought popped into my head, as thoughts often do. What if my power was having every power that’s on the earth right now? That would be cool. So… that means… that I have telekinesis. As I floated down lightly, I thought to myself, “I’ve always wanted to do this…” I thought, with all my might, for the crate underneath my feet to fly away and hit what’s left of my house.

Unfortunately, I overlooked the fact that the crate was, in fact, UNDER MY FEET. So, the crate went flying, and I went with it. I realized this just in time and leaped off of it right as it hit the skyscraper. It shattered, with wood planks flying everywhere.

One narrowly missed me, and I caught a word on it flying by. Two words, actually: WARNING: EXPLOSIVE. Most of my brain was panicking at this point, but the one part that was thinking rationally threw up my hands and braced my legs on the ground for the explosion. Not that that would have normally done any good, but when the contents of the box exploded, I survived. Force fields are rather useful, as it turns out.

I ran away, but too late. Even at super-speed, the Benod police caught up with me. When they saw I had a red band, though, they all panicked and backed away, thinking that I was dangerous. I decided to play along, and shot fire at them out of my hands. I think that makes… six… powers now? Yeah, six.

But anyways, they shot a laser net at me to try to contain me, but I raised my arms and blocked it with another force field. They were really freaking out. I thought about trying to go invisible, and it worked. Once I was invisible, flying away without them knowing was a piece of cake. They all were astounded, because as far as they knew, no person on Earth had multiple powers.

Once I was in the air, it was paradise, and I felt like the king of the world. I flew over a Malor Military base, and the auto-laser guns shot at me. I blocked them with a force field, and put on an extra boost of speed. I could have stayed up there forever, but then I remembered what “They” had said. “YU MST StP ReLAsE. iT klL.” Which, as far as I knew, meant that I had to stop the Release, because it would kill everyone. I stopped, and floated for a minute, keeping an eye on my old school. The bell rang, and I saw teachers flying away. I stayed invisible and followed them to where I think the Release is happening. They went up to a building that had a large banner on top: “Kadelash Laboratories: Home of the Release!”

I flew in right behind the teacher I’d been following, and proceeded to walk into the most amazing place that I’ve ever been to.

Test tubes and chemicals were all over the place. I looked around in wonder, and caught a glimpse of the same face I had seen on the poster the secretary showed me. He wasn’t smiling now, though. He looked harassed, which he probably was, being the most well-known person in the world. He was yelling orders to people across the lab, red in the face, when there was a huge noise.

Everyone fell silent. It happened again, and the roof cracked. An alarm came on. “EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY!” Everyone seemed to know what to do, and headed to rooms with bright green lights over them. The scientist was trying to work his way through the clouds of smoke, occasionally stumbling when another explosion happened.

I flew up to the roof, still invisible, and punched my way through. The monumental hole I created did not go unnoticed by the few stragglers still trying to evacuate. Several of them screamed, and I think one even fainted.

I flew up, and saw what was causing the explosions. A huge airship, flying over the lab, with a bright red, glowing M on the side. It was black, and on the front was the most monumental cannon I’ve ever seen. Every shot was the equivalent of about half the exploding force of the atomic bomb the U. S. dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. Fortunately, this lab was so well-protected that it could withstand most of them.

At least, it was until I punched a huge hole in the roof. That would explain the scientists’ reactions. I shot a ray at the lab that I thought would repair it, but it just did more damage. Then, I realized that Professor Kadelash was trying to save the Release! I needed to HELP the Malors!

I flew back into the building and shot a ray out of my arm at the Professor. I meant to only immobilize him temporarily, but I actually overdid it and knocked him backwards, into a wall. He looked unconscious. I ran up to the bucket that contained the Releaser and tried to lift it. As it turned out, this building was a lot bigger than I thought. From where I entered, it looked no bigger than about a gallon container of water. However, when I got up close, which took almost 2 minutes even at super speed, it was about 7 times taller than I was. But, I had super-strength too, so I could lift it anyway. I took it and tried to pour it over, but it was sealed.

I flew up to the top and tried everything I could think of, including fire, psychic rays, laser eyes, intangibility (I fell halfway in, then remembered that it would kill me), trying to move it outside by teleportation, having 10 of me try to open it by cloning, conjuring rocket launchers from midair with materialization, and one last agitated super-kick, but nothing opened it. Plus, I ended up with a sore foot for my trouble.

Time was running out, too, as the Malors at this point would have enlarged the hole to about twice its size. Then, of course, just to have fate mess with me even more, the Professor regained consciousness and rode over on his supersonic hovercraft. (Note to self: so THAT’S how they get around a 400 mile laboratory so fast!)

Not only did he see me trying to destroy the Release, but I then realized that I didn’t know what his power was. He glanced at my arm, the one with my band on it. “Nice to see I’m not the only one with one of these.” He rolled up the sleeves on his coat and he had one too! Wait. Kadelash was a Trill? I don’t THINK Benods can have them… weird. I had SO many questions right now.

But there was no time. I told him about “them” and how they said that the injection would kill everyone, and, to my dismay, he wasn’t even swain by the news. “Yes…” he said sadly.

“It was an unfortunate side effect. Occasionally, on my tests, a rogue form of the virus would attack necessary cells, and that would kill the injected organism. However, my tests showed a very low occurrence rate of this rogue form... how do you know it will kill everyone?” I glanced at a tiny hole in the tank that was obviously made for sticking a syringe in. I grabbed a syringe and drew out the liquid. I put it under an electron microscope. I saw several white cells, but the majority was blue. I told him. He was shocked. “What? How could the rogue have multiplied that fa—“

He was interrupted by the roof above our heads finally having been ruptured by the Malors’ gun. I grabbed him, reacting fast, and ran away. I ran for both of our lives. He was too surprised to say anything.

I flew away.

Half a mile above the Malors’ ship, I was floating with Professor Kadelash. I now knew about him. He was a Trill, but he was diligent enough that he became smart, even smarter than the people who had a so-called “super-brain”. He discovered the virus on a planet many light-years away. He spent much of his life traveling through the galaxy at relativistic speeds so that his body was conserved, even as his mind had memories. He was born in 3097, so he’s old, but not as old as me (which is odd, because my mind is 2609 years and my body is 13, but his mind is 1500 and his body is 35.) He developed the Release on this flight, because, well, he had 1500 years to study. Of course, he expected for it to be used on the common person without powers, and the common person didn’t have powers when he was from. Other note to self: he got the band long enough ago that the Benods didn’t know about it. That’s how he got the poster approved.

We floated up there for about half an hour, then the explosions stopped. I told him to stay there, then realized that if I let go of him, he’d fall and there was no telling if I could hold on. “Never mind; you’re coming with me.”

I flew down slowly, but there was no sign of the Malors’ ship. Speeding up a little, I landed on the floor of the ruined lab. Kadelash looked sad, and no wonder. Here was his life’s work (all 1500 years of it), and it was all on fire, leaking slowly out of its bottles, or laying contaminated on the floor. I felt sorry for him, but there were more pressing matters on my mind. There were huge piles of rubble everywhere, and the roof was gone completely. Several places were large fires. We flew over to where the tank with the Releaser was before the attack. The only remnants were pieces of white Plexastic everywhere and a navy-blue liquid all over the floor. I pumped my fists into the air in triumph. Then, the Benod police force walked in, and the fun REALLY began. The first thing I saw was my old teacher running at me, all six hands clenched into fists. I shot an immobilization ray out of my arm at him, and he was thrown backward into the wreckage. Several officers ran to the front and conjured force fields. They all had different strengths, but having the force-field ability myself, I could tell the subtle differences. I found a weak spot in the middle, and fired away.

The officer was thrown back through the crowded labs and landed about 20 feet away in a puddle of something green and steaming. Some nice part of my subconscious was sympathetic, but most of me had turned my attention to the still fairly impenetrable wall of force fields blocking my way.

Then I realized that they weren’t attacking because I had my band on! They couldn’t interact with me! I decided to take advantage of this, and set several chemicals on fire and throw them at the mob. They all clambered over each other to get away, and, in all the confusion, let their force fields down. I grabbed the band off of my arm, and without even meaning to do it, ripped it off. The mob stared. “Whoa.” I said, smiling. “That was useful.”

The fire broke out. I put all of my strength (which was rather a lot) into conjuring one great force field. It blocked almost every single ray, shot, person, or assorted element that they threw at me. However, one or two small attacks got through and hit me. “My turn.” I said, trying to act tough. I was only barely in pain, so I was pretty confident that this was going to be good.

I raised my hands and pointed them at the police force. Out of my hands, my normal 13-year-old HUMAN hands, came the most ridiculous onslaught I’ve ever seen. Fireworks, rockets, lasers, other kinds of rays, 200-decibel screams (enough to immobilize someone for about a minute), fire, rocks, water (at high enough pressure to cut titanium), blocks of several metals, including one that I think could have been gold, and, last of all, a HUGE wave of energy that threw them all backwards onto each other. At the end of it all, I saw exactly what I hoped to see. A pile of not-too-badly-injured-but-definitely-no-longer-a-problem police officers.

I grabbed Kadelash’s arm and said, “Let’s get out of here.”

At least, that was the plan.

In truth, I never really got through the grabbing part. At that point, the Malor ship came back, blasted the two lone figures in the middle of the lab, and after that, I have no idea what happened.

Actually, I do. At least secondhand accounts. A Benod military fleet showed up about 30 seconds later (30 freaking SECONDS! Gee, thanks for the help. I mean, seriously!) and, after what I’m told is the most epic battle since Thermopylae, destroyed the huge Malor thing. Then, of course, they noticed us. (I’m assuming that since this battle is “epic”, this was at least 2 hours later. Thanks again, guys.) They rushed us to a Benod hospital. I only barely made it, but that’s only because I was so powerful. Kadelash had been dead for hours.

Then, like anyone else would be, I was pretty ticked at the Malors. So, I decided to go destroy their base. Which I did, so now the world is safe.

At least, for a while. And I noticed something. Yesterday was my 2610th birthday. And I actually FEEL older. That hasn’t happened since… uh… 2021. I think I’m done. I’m actually aging again. I don’t know how it happened, but I think it was “them” again. Thanks, guys.

So, I won the battle against the Malors, I’ve still got about 8 billion different superpowers, and I’m finally getting older, which means that I have about 107 years left. I’m actually looking forward to being an adult. I hope I’m good at it…

This is probably going to be the last time I write in this journal. I won’t have much of a use for it after this, considering probably nothing interesting is ever going to happen to me again. Well, I suppose if I’m finishing this, I need a really catchy conclusion. Something like— “I built the future: one dead Malor at a time.” Nah, that’s too morbid. Whatever. If I think of something in the next week or so, I’ll write it down.

Hey, it’s Christmas Eve. I wonder if saving the world entitles me to extra presents. Nah.

April 7, 4734

Huh… I just remembered this. I think it might be too late, but… “It’s over. And it’s about time.”