‹ Prequel: Power & Control: The Common Good
Sequel: Tie a Knot & Hang On ›
Status: completed! comments and critiques still welcome!
Fear Itself
"We Are the Brotherhood"
It is the second Thursday in October of 2057. You’re going about your business, regardless of who you are or what you do for a living. Perhaps you are a wealthy elite taking a stroll around East London, casually sharing a conversation with your loved one or a dear friend. Perhaps you’re a member of the Phoenix League retired home for the evening, and you’re working after hours, typing notes on a word processor on your personal computer. Perhaps even you’re just an ordinary, impoverished citizen of West London, watching the latest reality television program while your spouse prepares dinner in the kitchen for the two children laughing from a nearby bedroom.
Everything about this evening is exceedingly ordinary, perhaps even dull, until your phone call cuts out, your computer screen goes blank with darkness, or your television cuts out and turns to static, emitting an awful beeping sound. The word begin flashes on your screen in small, white text. Suddenly, every screen starts to fill with white zeros, first just one, then a line, then a paragraph, until the screen is nothing but little white zeros. A deafening, high-pitched beep sounds from it, and you can’t help but stare as the screen begins to show waving tree branches against an overcast sky. The sound of rain pattering mixes in with the beep for about sixteen seconds until the screen flashes to something new: an all white room with just a small table. There is a person at the table, identity unknown. They don a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up. Black gloves cover their hands, and a white, grinning mask with blacked-out eyes conceals their facial features. A voice begins to echo through your screen, but it isn’t human. It is distorted audio, almost robotic, probably altered you reason, but you can’t tell for sure. It speaks to you, directly to you.
“Greetings, citizens of the globe. We are the Brotherhood. It comes to our attention that the League and their media have been spreading mass rumors of our terrorist attacks, though we feel that the rumors are so ridiculous that any normal person would never fall for such propaganda. We understand some have been led astray.
“Though some of our actions may be deemed unlawful, they have never been committed without just cause. We have never taken innocent lives as the League has claimed, and we do not wish to cause any harm to innocent members of Elite society. There is no reason to fear us if you have done nothing wrong. We merely crusade for our freedom. Wanton destruction is not, and will never be, our goal. Our goal is to help you, to free you, and to save you from your worst enemies: Commander Kennedy and his Board.
“Long ago, the Brotherhood was nothing more than a few teenagers gathered in the public library. Over time, we have grown into a much more powerful and logical entity. We are united. No one person speaks or acts for the whole. The Brotherhood functions as one mind and one body. While it is true that some of our members have acted out, they do not represent the Brotherhood as a whole. It is important to remember that when the Brotherhood acts, we act as one. We are a collection of individuals who move together for a common cause. Everyone who wishes to protect freedom and destroy oppression is welcome here. Do not let those who wish to suppress truth taint your view of the resistance movement. We are not terrorists; we are your greatest allies. We wish to liberate you from the League.
“No matter how many of us fall in the process, the Brotherhood cannot be defeated. We are the Brotherhood. We are united. We cannot forgive, and we cannot forget. Expect us.”
The screen flashes back to the trees in the rain for mere moments. The image and the shrieking beep subside as your television switches back to your reality television, your phone call reconnects, and your computer flashes back to your word document.
Everything about this evening is exceedingly ordinary, perhaps even dull, until your phone call cuts out, your computer screen goes blank with darkness, or your television cuts out and turns to static, emitting an awful beeping sound. The word begin flashes on your screen in small, white text. Suddenly, every screen starts to fill with white zeros, first just one, then a line, then a paragraph, until the screen is nothing but little white zeros. A deafening, high-pitched beep sounds from it, and you can’t help but stare as the screen begins to show waving tree branches against an overcast sky. The sound of rain pattering mixes in with the beep for about sixteen seconds until the screen flashes to something new: an all white room with just a small table. There is a person at the table, identity unknown. They don a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up. Black gloves cover their hands, and a white, grinning mask with blacked-out eyes conceals their facial features. A voice begins to echo through your screen, but it isn’t human. It is distorted audio, almost robotic, probably altered you reason, but you can’t tell for sure. It speaks to you, directly to you.
“Greetings, citizens of the globe. We are the Brotherhood. It comes to our attention that the League and their media have been spreading mass rumors of our terrorist attacks, though we feel that the rumors are so ridiculous that any normal person would never fall for such propaganda. We understand some have been led astray.
“Though some of our actions may be deemed unlawful, they have never been committed without just cause. We have never taken innocent lives as the League has claimed, and we do not wish to cause any harm to innocent members of Elite society. There is no reason to fear us if you have done nothing wrong. We merely crusade for our freedom. Wanton destruction is not, and will never be, our goal. Our goal is to help you, to free you, and to save you from your worst enemies: Commander Kennedy and his Board.
“Long ago, the Brotherhood was nothing more than a few teenagers gathered in the public library. Over time, we have grown into a much more powerful and logical entity. We are united. No one person speaks or acts for the whole. The Brotherhood functions as one mind and one body. While it is true that some of our members have acted out, they do not represent the Brotherhood as a whole. It is important to remember that when the Brotherhood acts, we act as one. We are a collection of individuals who move together for a common cause. Everyone who wishes to protect freedom and destroy oppression is welcome here. Do not let those who wish to suppress truth taint your view of the resistance movement. We are not terrorists; we are your greatest allies. We wish to liberate you from the League.
“No matter how many of us fall in the process, the Brotherhood cannot be defeated. We are the Brotherhood. We are united. We cannot forgive, and we cannot forget. Expect us.”
The screen flashes back to the trees in the rain for mere moments. The image and the shrieking beep subside as your television switches back to your reality television, your phone call reconnects, and your computer flashes back to your word document.