A Time Traveller’s Fable - Prologue

A Novel by Pete Brennan

A Time Traveller’s Fable - (A novel by Pete Brennan)

Prologue

Ten years have passed since the first publicised case of a ‘superhero’ or ‘Empowered’ individual was reported by a respectable media outlet. Although many strange cases of the unexplainable had been reported for half a century, this was the first instance with any real credibility. After everything that has happened in the decade since however, this incident could be viewed as tame. Just another Empowered individual causing a fuss. Barely newsworthy. But at the time, it was the first case widely reported worldwide and verified by countless eyewitnesses and video evidence. It was novel, it was new and it was scary. 

The instantly world famous CCTV footage of a foiled holdup was seemingly seen by every person on earth in the space of a few days. Three masked men had been robbing an inner city corner-shop, threatening customers at gunpoint and ordering the clerk behind the counter to empty the cash out of the till into a bag. The clerk, some college student, was busy complying with the gunman’s command when the gun inexplicably flew out of his hand and across the room.

The other two gunmen were likewise mysteriously disarmed before all three of them were levitated in the air at breakneck speed. They just hovered there, unable to move. Then a young boy, 11 or 12 years old, walks into shot with his arm in the air, pointing at the men. He flicks his arm to the left and the first bandit goes flying out of shot at the speed of sound. Then he flicks right and the second flies across the shopfloor, crashing through shelving units and sending confectionery items and cereal boxes flying. 

The boy then telekinetically launches the third man, the one who had been threatening the clerk, flying towards the kiosk. The young clerk ducks just in time as the cigarette shelving behind him collapses and unleashes an avalanche of tobacco products on his head. 

The boy lowers his hand and just stands there, seemingly staring at the closed circuit camera and into the eyes of every one of the billions of people who will watch the video in the coming weeks. There’s no way he could have, but it was like that little boy knew he had just changed the world in that very instant. 

After this ‘incident’, more and more of the so-called ‘Empowered’ came out into the light all around the globe. They popped up everywhere from seemingly absolutely nowhere. Family members, work colleagues, neighbours, etc. Everyone seemed to know at least one, and the questions came flooding in.

 What made them like this? Where did they come from? Was it some kind of genetic anomaly; a jump in evolution? Was it some kind of side effect to some unreported global radiation exposure from nuclear testing or solar waves? Or was it extraterrestrial in origin? Aliens messing with human biology? How long has it been going on? When did this first start happening? Was it recent and if not, how did they keep it all a secret for so long? Have they been working together for years like some underground cult? A conspiracy? 

The years that followed were a mix of fear, paranoia and mistrust from some, and adoration and even worship from others. Religions were formed that pledged fealty to these new gods among men. So too was there the emergence of ‘Anti-Powered’ groups who saw the ‘Empowered’ as abominations against nature, god or whatever else they felt it was an affront to. These led in turn to ‘Anti-Human’ coalitions of ‘Empowered’ individuals forming and solidifying around the religious groups. 

These disparate sects self-organised and congregated worldwide in their pockets, and before too long, they started to clash with each other with increasing vitriol and violence. Politicians worldwide were accused of being puppets of a shady secret organisation of the ‘Empowered’ and many national elections were boycotted and abandoned. Power struggles and regime shifts became commonplace on the 6 ‘O’ Clock news. 

The governments of the larger, more powerful nations handled this new emergence well enough to keep the lights on for a while and after a couple of years some modicum of global stability was seemingly achieved, but it was only fleeting. 

Some time in the third year after the ‘incident’ and the subsequent ‘emergence’, a medium sized country in what most westerners would refer to as ‘the third world’ experienced a coup d'etat. A large group of empowered individuals had rallied to the cause of one of their own. 

He called himself the ‘Deliverer’ and had convinced his followers that they were the rightful custodians of the country and indeed the entire planet. They stormed government buildings throughout the land, including the home of their premier elected official, and he was beheaded on international television. During the fighting the man who had named himself ‘Deliverer’ was killed, but his vision was not. Rallied by their martyr, his comrades violently seized control of their country that night, and the world watched. The ease at which this relatively small force of super powered individuals seized control of all political infrastructure was astonishing and a wake up call to everyone who observed it over the airwaves, ‘Empowered’ and human beings alike. The first line in the last war of man had been drawn. 

The UN debated this new development of the ongoing Empowered uprising the next morning. The news reported that many groups across the globe were threatening to dissent against their own governments if their various demands were not met. Some wanted equality. Some wanted supremacy. None agreed. Tensions continued to rise.

Establishments warned their citizens of superhero radicalisation and indoctrination. Governments across the world attempted to engage in mass censorship to try and quell the tensions, but it did very little to stop the spread of fear. Fear turned to tribal hatred, as many of the devotional religious groups that saw the ‘Empowered’ as the deliverers of man were attacked by ‘Anti-Power’ groups, and they defended themselves in kind. Guerilla warfare, civil war, urban warfare, etc. These all quickly became a way of life for millions of residents of densely populated areas.

One such group was started in a small and unremarkable city. A man who had been a humble antique dealer just a few years prior, had gathered a sizable following around his teachings of human oppression and the ‘Empowered’ people’s god given right to inherit the earth. He called himself the ‘Liberator’.

Like most of these cults that had been popping up left and right, this self proclaimed ‘messiah’ had been inspired by and was outright plagiarising the ‘Deliverer’, but his cult was different. He was different. He had a superpower like the members of his congregation all did, but he was especially special. His power WAS power. 

More specifically, he could amplify the powers of anyone around him. More devastating as it turned out, he could choose whose powers to amplify. Just as he could choose to dampen the powers of those who opposed him. And it wasn't just a little boost, a little kick. He could exponentially inflate their abilities if he so chose. This made him insanely powerful and alluring to the kinds of minds who craved godhood. He sought these narcissistic egomaniacs out, cherry picked those with powers useful to him and made every effort to recruit them to his personal entourage.

He spread his message around on every internet forum and platform he could log on to. Luring in followers, building his congregation, growing, growing and growing until eventually he was a worldwide celebrity with droves of ‘Empowered’ on his side, and 7 billion homo sapiens in his crosshairs. This made the powers that be nervous and they issued a warning; No more hate preaching. Cease and desist now or suffer the consequences. But he didn't back down. He couldn't. He would never.  

The day to end all days finally arrived almost four years to the day of the first ‘Incident’. The Liberator organised a march where he and his ‘children’ planned to forcibly take control of every government building and all institutions that day. He had declared war and, in spite of many saying he was all talk and would never go through with it, he was met on the battlefield by the full force of his birth nation’s armed forces…..and beat them. 

A nation fell. A powerful nation. Tens of thousands of troops were swept aside with relatively little effort over the course of twenty four hours and at the end of it all, on that famous lawn covered in wreckage and blood, the true leader claimed victory and control of the largest arsenal ever assembled by mankind. 

 Such a powerful land falling to this well known adversary tipped the international balance over the edge and over the next few months, country by country, the old world died. 

The ‘Liberator’ was by no means satisfied with a successful overthrow of the domestic power. Not by a long chalk. He had an axe to grind with the entirety of the human race. He set about on a crusade with one goal; eliminate every last human being from this planet. His planet. And he did. The war that followed cost the lives of seemingly every last ‘powerless’ being on this planet. The human race became extinct and the ’Liberator’ sat on his throne and smiled from ear to ear day after day after day. 

[Next: Chapter 1]