1 The Stream before The Storm

I scratch the soft head of the quietly sleeping dog as she dreamt silently on my bed beside me. I then turned my attention back to the stream. We were playing a game of chance, where I would have to click a link that would bring me something nice, or something... Not so nice. We were having a good time and it was getting pretty late, but we were all enjoying it, with the few of us there was. I got to another link and took a sip of my drink. It wasn't anything to disguising, just like some random screamer that I watched with a blanked stare before moving on. The chat was moving along pretty slowly as there weren't too many people in the stream, maybe about 30 people at most. I yawned, looking at my clock. It had been getting pretty late but I decided to press on with my game anyway. Finally, a new viewer who hadn't been following me and who I had never seen before appeared in chat, asking to try a certain link to see what'd I'd get. I looked at it, thinking it was some virus, but the temptation had gotten the best of me and I finally decided to let myself take a look at the clip. "Here goes nothing, chat..." I say as I click the link.It was security cameras footage, that of three men in a room. One was wearing a black suit and tie, while the other 2 were dressed in quite raggedy clothing. Only thing was, one of the men was tied to a chair with a bag over his head. I blinked momentarily, taken aback when the suit pulls out a handgun. "Shoot him." He orders the first man, handing him the gun and looking at the tied up man. "W-What?! I can't do that! It's against the law!" He cries out as he takes a step back against the wall. The suit then takes out a machine and points it at the man. A flash of light goes off, and the man blinks, confusedly shaking his head before looking up. The suit hands him the gun once again, ordering him to shoot the tied up man. Without and consideration or flinching, the man takes the gun, points it at the man as he shakes, trying to break free as he emits muffled cries of terror before a single gunshot is heard. Then silence, apart from the faint splattering of blood against the wall behind where the man had been tied up. The man returns the gun to the first man, giving a nod. "Well done. Thank you for your help. You're building a better future."He then hands the man what seems to be a check, and then escorts him from the room.

I sit there, staring with a bleak expression spread across my face. I was terrified. A lot of things don't phase me anymore, but this was different. It felt too real. I quickly scrolled back in the video and zoomed in to get a better look at the suited man. I shook my head, muttering to myself. It couldn't be. There was no way. But it was. On the man's torso was a badge representing that of the government organization that was currently operating. I looked at my chat. It was mostly people asking 'What the hell just happened?' And I honestly wish I knew. All I did know was someone just made a man kill another man. It seemed like some sort of mind control of sorts. All in all, I was disgusted. Horrified. My heart was pounding heavily. My ears were ringing. I pinched the back of my hand to try to wake myself up like I was dreaming. I wasn't. It was real. I was freaking out. I slowly scratched Lua, the sleeping Shiba Inu to calm myself. I then went and swiftly downloaded the video, my intention being to upload it and share it with the world. I then looked at my chat, who was still freaking out about what just went down. "I'm just gonna end it off here guys..." I say to the chat, some of them advising me to pack my bags and run for the hills. "Oh don't worry. I doubt anyone's gonna come for me..." I reply sheepishly before heading to bed.

I rose the next day to the sound of knocking on my door. It took a bit for me to fall asleep, but when I did I slept well enough. So, I hopped out of bed and walked up to the door, fixing my hair to seem at least slightly ready to answer despite currently wearing just a t-shirt and underwear. I shrugged it off, opening the door anyway. The person standing there looked about my height, his hair slicked back and wearing a nice, formal suit. "Hello." He said plainly. He looked me up and down. "I've arrived to investigate this room. We've had reports of something going on in here and I was sent to just check it out."

I looked at him. "You've got the wrong person. I don't think I've had a person here in a solid 2 months..." I say curiously, but he pushes past me and enters anyway. "Hey! Watch it!" I say, but he continues to walk in, glancing around. I then finally notice his badge and freeze. I look up at him and he turns to me, reaching into his pocket. He pulls out the same machine that was in the video. It takes a moment to register exactly what's happening. I think back to the chat from last night. I should have listened.

"Oh no you don't-" I begin to say, but then I'm blinded by the flash of light. I open my eyes, shake my head and deliver a swift punch to the man as he's placing the device in his pocket. "Nice fucking try!" I say. He looks bewildered, but he reaches out to try and retaliate. He swings at me and I quickly duck down before quickly springing up and ramming into him, knocking him down.

"How didn't that work?!" He says, confusedly. "It always works!"I shake my head and notice the machine had fallen from his pocket when I tackled him."What are you?" He growls at me, throwing another punch. I quickly reach over and grab it, the machine. "I'm... I'm Blink. Blink-22." I then turn on the machine, flashing it into his eyes. He freezes, blinks slowly, before passing out. "Okay... Well, this is great, I'm now being hunted. That's just wonderful, isn't it?"

Lua trots up beside me and sniffs the man's hand, growling. "That's right Lua. Those guys aren't so good, are they?" I laugh. "Guess we're going off the grid..." I say as I look around, gathering stuff to take with me. I get a few bags, as I feel I'll need a lot, but I have plenty of storage in an RV that I used to own. I look at a photo of my dad, besides my mother and I. I smile. My dad had always said my mother was the nicest person he'd ever met, with the sweetest smile. I never could recall many clear memories of her, as she had died when I was just 5, leaving my father to raise me. He'd always tell me stories about her, though. But now he's gone, too. I always hoped to be able to carry on his legacy of engineering. I took the photo and placed it in a bag along with some food, along with weapons, mostly improvised ones, and other important items like clothing and hygiene products. Finally, I packed everything away into my RV and hopped into it, Lua following me. We were heading off the grid, and I decided to try something I had been working on for Lua. I took her collar and attached something onto it, placing it back on her. "Lua, say something," I say, looking longingly at the Shiba Inu.

"Hello?" She replies.

"Perfect."