Merlin

     Merlin stopped in the middle of his story.

     "A government experiment gone wrong?" asked Ellie. "What were they trying to do?"

     "I don't know," Merlin answered, guilt weighing in on him. "Mankind often dreams of what they could do, they never stop to think if they should."

     "Why don't you share this story with the world?" asked Ellie, excitement in her voice.

     "Nobody would believe me," Merlin sighed. "Nobody believes anything anymore. This world is changing so much...and people are just having a hard time keeping up with it."

     "But you can't stop there," Ellie pleaded. "What happened next?"

     Merlin raised his eyes, "You'd really like to know?"

     "....Yes," Ellie answered. 

     Merlin sighed continued, glad he'd finally found someone who cared.

**

A Long Time Ago

     The light grew steadily brighter while Merlin stepped deeper into the crashed government craft. He ventured into an isolated room, surrounded on all sides by blinking lights, and a glowing triangle hovering in the center of it. It rotated as it hung, weightless, in the air and reflected the surrounding lights off of its glowing metallic surface. Merlin was astonished by its beauty, and something within him drew his body closer. A pulsation resonated from it as if it were supplying an infinite amount of energy.

     There were no blemishes, marks, or even a scratch on its divine surface. Furthermore, the triangle exhibited on unearthly hum that felt like vibrations in the air. Merlin reached out, not able to fight the urge to make contact with the triangle. It was a driving force, far outside the reach of the rational mind. Merlin longed, craved, for his fingers to grace the material of the object's unearthly skin.

     His fingers touched the object, and then something shot up his arm and into his brain. For a brief second, there was a feeling of utter power and tranquility with the Universe. Merlin smiled, feeling the true awesomeness of its ability, then began to respect it, and finally was in fear of it. All three emotions passed through him in a matter of seconds.

     Then, there was darkness.

     When Merlin came to, he quickly looked around for an indication as to where he was. The government craft was gone, all that was left was a smoking crater, and his sister lay just a few feet from his unconscious body.

     But something was wrong.

     "Nina?" asked Merlin, crawling up and over to her body.

     She did not stir, and when Merlin touched her skin it felt cold. He began to breathe quickly, trying to wake his sister that was already in a never-ending sleep. As he lifted her body up, Merlin felt a trickle of blood on his hand. He looked and, to his utter horror, saw that a piece of the perfect triangle was embedded into the back of her skull. Merlin screamed, and he ultimately realized what he had done.

     He had killed Nina.

**

Present Day

     "That's how it all happened," finished Merlin.

     Ellie was quiet for a moment before responding, "And you just...assumed that you killed her?"

     "What else could've done it?" asked Merlin.

     Ellie was at a loss for words.

     "It was the triangle," Merlin retaliated, a hint of agitation in his voice. "I touched whatever it was, it did something to me, and I somehow killed her."

     "What exactly did it do to you?" asked Ellie.

     Merlin turned away, "It gave me something that I never wanted."

     Ellie sighed, "At least you're human."

     "Human?" asked Merlin.

     Ellie nodded her head, on her side of the cell, "I'm more machine now than human. I survived an incident that claimed my life, but at what cost? What did I lose to keep on living?"

     "Humanity isn't flesh and blood," suggested Merlin, "it's the emotion that drives us, the quest for more, and the onward push into the unknown. Maybe your predicament was fate."

     Ellie shook her head, not visible to Merlin, "I think that I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. All my life I wanted more, and I never thought I'd actually get it..."

     "That's what happened to all of us," Merlin sighed. "We've all been locked up in here for things we couldn't control."

     "Do you know what this place is?" asked Ellie. "Do you know who else is here?"

     "It's a facility that's part of an organization called the 'Central Intelligence for National Assurance'," Merlin explained. "They've been around for a long time, but they stick to the shadows. The entire organization operates secretly."

     "Secretly?" asked Ellie.

     Merlin took a deep breath, "They go around and gather up people with strange abilities that, in their eyes, could become a 'threat' to society. Some of us were born with our 'powers', some got theirs by accident..."

     Ellie clenched her fists.

     "...some are even gained by experimentation," Merlin concluded. "For the past few months there have been a lot of victims from illegal genetic experimentation."

     Ellie tilted her head, "Who else is in here?"

     "I only know of one other person," said Merlin. "An old friend, his name's Robert, who's like us."

     "Robert?" asked Ellie. "Where is he?"

     "I don't know, the facility is too big to know for sure," answered Merlin.

     "The Central Intelligence for National Assurance," repeated Ellie, remembering the logo on the hospital computer . "Are they really the bad guys?"

     "From a certain perspective, anyone can be a villain," Merlin responded. "To us, they're oppressors, but from their point of view we're monsters."

     "If there is a monster in the world," sighed Ellie, "I don't think it's us, or them."

     "Then who is it?" asked Merlin.

     Ellie looked at her hands, feeling the A.O.S.S. die all over again, "Fate."

**

Gabriel

     Gabriel walked into Daniel Peter's office, quietly shutting the door behind him. Peters looked up from his paperwork and he squinted his eyes at the newcomer.

     "Do you remember me?" asked Gabriel

     "What? I'm sorry...but I don't recall you..." Peters responded. "How did you get in here? Did the secretary let you in?"

     "Yes you do," Gabriel stated, walking closer. "My name is Gabriel Monroe, I trained in this facility for one year to prepare for my term on-board the A.O.S.S."

     Peters half-rose from his desk, "You're going to have to leave if you don't have an appointment."

     Gabriel titled his head, "You know, I can't believe that, after all that time, your memory can just be blank."

     Gabriel had seen the vision; the agent Olivia Jones had wiped Peters's memory. But there had also been the other vision...the one that told him what he had to do.

     "I'll spare you the introduction," sighed Gabriel, "and I'll get straight to the point."

     Gabriel reached into this back pocket and pulled out an old revolver.

     "What are you doing?" asked Peters.

     "You were such a dear friend to me, but now I am simply the servant of destiny," explained Gabriel. "Daniel Peters, your time has come."

     There was a moment of hesitation as Gabriel cocked his weapon. The man sitting in front of him had been a dear friend, how could he kill him in cold blood? Gabriel pushed his emotional sentiment out of the way, instead he aimed the lethal gun.

     "What're you doing?" asked Peters. "Security, help!"

     "I'm so sorry..." Gabriel whispered.

     He pulled the trigger, and the bullet fired out of the barrel. It struck Daniel Peters in the chest and he crumbled to the ground. His eyes stared up at the ceiling, and blood poured out of the wound on his chest while the dying man gasped for breath. Gabriel turned around; his mission accomplished.

     The visions had told him Peters was to die. It was what fate had called for, and Gabriel could only carry it out. He was, like he had said, a servant; it was his duty.

     He was only doing what the future had foretold.

     Gabriel left the office and reflected on his plan. Everything was falling into place, and his role as the catalyst would soon be realized.