Theme: Magic is real
Initial thoughts: How do I do this and NOT be like Harry Potter??? Difficult. That relid upon magic users and non magic users to be apart from one another. What if they weren't apart, but it was a widely accepted thing? What if it was accepted as being present, but not accepted as being normal or good?? Hmmmm...Yeah, I think we can do something with that!!!
The
morning dawned with a chill in the air.
It was early in the season for it to start getting cold, but Nel Evesham
didn’t care. The change in temperatures
ceased to bother him a long time ago. He
simply uttered the sacred words that invoked the magic, and a small amount of
air around him would be affected, insulating him from both heat and cold. It was undetectable to most people, but then,
most people didn’t know about the magic, and how it could be used. All of that was about to change.
He
knew, as almost every other magic user did, that the Empire had been working
for years on trying to identify them all.
They presented a real threat to the balance of power, and the emperor,
now old, had become very afraid of what might happen to his legacy when he
passed on. Every magic user dealt with
it differently. Some fled the cities to
live out their days in seclusion, some became violent, and many others simply
tried to keep about their business, unnoticed.
Nel understood their reasons. It
made sense. They were afraid of what the
Empire might do next, and they were right to.
Today
was the first day users could be tested and registered. Nel was as frightened as any of them, but he
had another mission this morning. He
dressed as normal, putting on the layers that were necessary only to keep up
appearances, and left his small house on the edge of town. He walked quickly, with a purpose. Today, he would sign the loan papers from the
bank, and then go and register. By then,
it would be too late. There would be
turning back, and it would all be legal.
Those in power would be unable to stop him, and the magic would continue
on to another generation. It was the
only way to make it safe for those who, like him, still believed the Empire could
be saved. It would be difficult, of
course. He understood that. But he was committed.
He
arrived just after the bank opened for his appointment. He walked in, removed his coat and gloves,
and set them down in the waiting area.
It wasn’t long before he was ushered into the private office of Karl
Worthington and the two sat down.
“How’s
it going, Nel? Cole enough for you
today?” He offered his hand.
“It
could be worse,” said Nel. “But today is
exciting for me.”
“I
imagine so! This business venture of
yours looks like a great idea. I’m glad
to see it coming to this town, and look forward to partnering with you on
it. I’ve long thought we needed a school
for the gifted.”
He set
a folder thick with papers on his desk.
“That looks extensive,” said Nel.
“They
make you sign for everything, these days.
Let’s get started, shall we?”
“Yes,
that would be good.”
Nel
spent the next hour signing his name over and over again, signing the assurance
forms, the payment plans, and everything else imaginable. They sent the paperwork by fax to the home
office, and it came back with approval.
All was going perfectly. They
shook hands at the end of that hour, this time as partners.
“When
can my boy enroll?” asked Karl.
“The
school will be finished and ready to accept students beginning just after the
holidays. We’re really looking forward
to it.”
“How is
that possible? Have you been building
all this time?”
“The
facility is almost done,” said Nel. “I
think you’ll be surprised just how fast and easy it went up. Unfortunately, I can’t stay. I do have a little other business to get through
this morning.”
“I
think that statement is going to be your life for a while now, my friend.”
“I believe
you’re correct.”
Nel
left the bank with a sense of relief, but it soon turned to nervousness. The school would definitely consume most of
his time and his life. But it would be
worth it. Karl didn’t know that it was a
school for those gifted with magic. He’d
simply called it “gifted,” and let everyone assume what they might. He couldn’t take the risk that someone would
kill the loan. But that was done,
now. Now was the hard part. He would register, and then open the doors to
his school for magic. All the world
would see.
Theme: world-ending plague. Difficulty: only 5,000 can survive.
Initial Thoughts: A lot of ways this can go, but the first division is before/after the decision on which 5,000 are to be saved. I think before offers a little better place to start, because there is the potential for more drama, and even though it smacks of "Deep Impact" in a lot of ways, I think it's the decision-making process that reveals our humanity, both for the good we do and the bad. Let's go with highlighting that process.
“How many?” asked Tomas.
“Not
nearly as many as we hoped,” said Viktor.
“We just couldn’t get enough supplies together to last-“
“How
many?” interrupted Tomas.
“Only
five thousand.”
The
words hurt. Only five thousand? Tomas sat back in his chair, exhausted. He knew the number would be small, but he
thought it would at least be approaching a quarter million.
“That
can’t be right. Do the numbers again.”
“I’ve
done them six times, and my assistants are still going. It hit the supply houses, Tomas.”
“All of
them?”
“All
but one that we were able to get cleaned out first.”
“Everything
we’ve done, then. It was all a waste.”
“You
can still save five thousand.”
“How do
you pick five thousand people out of millions?
Who would you pick, Viktor?
Because it’s not just picking people to survive, but picking people who
wouldn’t mind living in a limited world after the rest of us are gone. Who do you choose?”
“Well,
the leaders of the world-“
“Are
all idiots, myself included.”
“You
would not go in?”
“Viktor,
I’m old. There’s no point in saving
me. Besides which, I am the commander-in
chief, and this happened on my watch. I
have to shoulder the blame. It’s the
only Presidential thing to do.”
“But,
who will run things?”
“That
will be up to them.”
“What
about your staff?”
“No one
from this staff makes it inside that shelter, Viktor. Not a single one.”
Viktor
swallowed hard, having just heard his death sentence. “Yes, Mr. President.”
“We
messed it up, Viktor. We shouldn’t be
allowed to live. It’s our fault.”
“Shall
I get your Science Advisors, Sir?”
“No. We have three days until we have to close the
mountain. Get the first five thousand
people you can who are not military and seal them inside. The rest of us will die.”
“Sir,
if I may – wouldn’t our soldiers be a better example of society?”
“Viktor,
consider this: we have a chance to end
war. If we save military personnel, we
will be continuing war. This
plague? It’s the result of war. We need to stop thinking this way. We need to have NO military present.”
“Respectfully,
Sir, I disagree.”
“Noted.”
“You’re
not interested in my opinion?”
Tomas
reached for the remote and turned on the television. The news channels were buzzing with the
events of the plague. There was no
outrunning it. It would eventually
consume the entire world. The only hope
was to beat it by going into hiding.
“Unless
your opinion can beat that, Viktor, no, I’m not interested.”
“So you
would just pick a random five thousand people?
How is THAT Presidential?”
“It’s
five thousand people, Viktor. You want
me to choose five thousand of the smartest?
The most fit? The most
elite? Who? How can you choose only five thousand? It doesn’t matter who we choose. Money won’t matter, technology won’t matter,
government won’t matter. Everyone will
have to pitch in and get water, cook, anything they have to do in order to just
survive. No. Five thousand. No one over thirty.”
Thanks for reading,
Me
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