//------------------------------// // Leadership and Conspiracy // Story: Past Lives New Lives // by Dark Wish //------------------------------// In the sleeping city of humans, it was disturbed by a screaming guy in the middle of the city square. "Monsters! Colorful Ponies! Dragons! Gryphons! Dogs! Magic!" the guy who was drugged while asleep was shouting and running around, "We are fucked. No way back home. We're doom! The borders will not protect us forever." Residents who were nearby woke up and crowded around him to hear his rant, "Forget your family. We are going to die. No hope, no future. We will never escape from this hellhole!" "Calm down," a girl with sunglasses came up in front of him, "Please. Just take a deep breath and think carefully." "Fuck no!" the guy was now in a fighting stance, "One of you could be a bug that can change to look like us. I will fight anyone of you if you get to close to me! Back off!" The two big guys crept up behind him and tackled him to the ground, "Let go of me you fucks!" "Not a chance mate," said one of the guys holding him down, "Somebody go to the police station and get some handcuffs." They kept on the ground until somebody ran up with the handcuffs. The locked him to the closest light pole to prevent him from harming anybody else. This doesn't mean he would stay quiet. "We're in deep shit! These creatures could wipe us out within a few minutes. Nobody is safe. It's better to commit suicide than to wait for them to come. Heed my words! Be prepare for the worst if they managed to get in." The same girl took off her sunglasses and examined him. She found a puncture shot on his arm. "He had been drugged!" the girl announced to the crowd, "He need to clear the drug out of his system." "That guy has been drugging one of us!" a random person yelled from the crowd, "Who else is drugged here? What else is he going to do to us?" People panicked as they could be the next victim. "Don't panic. He want us to do this," nobody listened to the girl as they were busy running around like headless chicken, "I don't want to do this." She grabbed the megaphone from the person who got the handcuffs and turned on the siren. Everybody stopped and stare at her. "Stop panicking. We need to concentrate on what we need to do. The more we panic, the less time we would be prepare for the worse. Treat this place like as your home and go back to your business as best as you can. I know you are scare but we have continue our lives to keep us sane. Just please go back and hang out with each other." As soon as the crowd dispense and the girl signed with relief, "Being a leader here is way much tougher than a high school leader." "That's really good. You got a knack for being a leader," said the boy who brought the handcuffs and a megaphone. "Thanks. Being a leader is kind of my thing," she handed the megaphone back, "By the way, why are you holding a megaphone." "Uhmm... You see I always wanted to hold one. This is the only chance I can get my hands on," the boy was bashful for giving a weak excuse. "Just put it back where it belong after you finish playing with it," the girl looked at the handcuffed guy, "He's unconscious. All the screaming and thinking weird stuff really did a number on him. I bet he would forget everything about it when he wake up." "Don't worry. I be there to unlock him when he wakes up," the boy sat to the unconscious while watching videos on his ph one. "Thanks for your help. My name is Amia Rousseau by the way. What's yours?" "We just met. I don't feel comfortable by giving my name away," the boy tried to be reasonable. "Understandable. Everybody's first time here. Hard to trust anyone is the trust worthy but I know in my heart that they are all good people." "You should run for leadership," the boy checked the unconscious guy's pulse, "I heard rumors that people wanted to elect a leader." Amia thought to herself, "I'll keep that in mind," Amia walked away to do what she was doing. The video of the rant went viral on the internet that only the citizens of the trapped city can watch. Kevin shown the video to his friends while Robert was playing with his tablet. "Somebody got drugged," Kevin paused the video, "This is getting dangerous to stay here but we have no choice." "So this drug make us blubbering idiots," Mick Wood cross himself, "May god protect our souls." "I wonder if god can even find us here," Dexter signed in frustration, "We are in a new world and we are toys to that maniac." Kevin replayed the video to carefully listen all his rant, "Mythical creatures? Why them?" "Maybe he is an avid reader of fairy tale and fantasy stories. Drugs can do some weird things to your head." "Maybe or the guy from the jumbotron give us a clue about this world in a unconventional way by giving us drugs." Daniel sat down next to him and sarcastically stated what he just said, "So giving drugs to us cause us to see visions of made up creatures that could be real in this world. Some which could kill us in a instant. Oh yeah. I almost forgot. Colorful magical ponies also exist. This is not a cartoon. This is the real world." "Technically, there are unlimited number of universes. So there could be one that fit the description." "You not helping Dexter," this shut Dexter up, "Sorry. It's too far fetch to be able to comprehend that those mythical creatures are really and they could be waiting by the forcefield. When it disappeared, they would run in and kill us as many of them might see us as prey." "But what if it is true?" Kevin kept pressing on the theory, "Stories of dragons and unicorns don't exist out of nowhere. Maybe they came to our world since early civilization. Now we are paying our debt by sending people to their world." "In many Asian's stories about dragons. If we treat them with respect and kindness, they would leave us alone and may protect us from harms way. If they are real, just leave them alone and show them we mean no harm," Dexter added. "Maybe we need to pray to them to leave us alone in peace," Mick kneel down and hold his hands together. "Okay," Daniel was frustrated with the idea, "If it was true, then why could he just send videos of the human race to them. It much more easier than kidnapping us." "Maybe he wanted to show us live in front of these mythical creatures. It is much more interesting and captivating than just watching it on T.V and think it was fake," Kevin theorized A phone made a ping sound, "Hold that thought." Daniel pulled out his phone and read the text, "Guys. There is going to be a meeting within an hour. It's about electing a leader." "This early!" Will Vay laughed, "It had been only a day and now we got into political stuff." Will Vay is considered to be the jokester of the group. He always lighten the mood when things turn bad or scary. "I hope we have many candidates unlike America who have to either choose Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump," Will laughed. "I am sure that we have better people then them," Kevin reassured the group, "We don't have giant donors. We have people from every diversity. No smear campaigns. Young people who know how to talk to other young people without sounding cringey. Most importantly we most likely don't have to wait a year to vote." "Should we bring Robert? He's kind of young to vote," Dexter pointed at Robert who was just staring at them. "Just bring him with us," Daniel kept looking at his phone for more detail, "It would be much safer for him to come with us. I don't want that guy attack the kid when we are not here to save him." "Okay. Everybody, pack up your stuff and off we go to the City Hall." At the City Hall People were seated in the hall as they waited for the spokesperson for some leadership roles. The people who can't fit in must sit at the city square and look at the jumbotron. As a Caucasian man in a black suit walked up to the podium, the whole crowd went dead silence. "Thank you for coming at such short notice," he shuffled the sheets in his hands, "I am Farman Smith the spokesperson for today's meeting. We need to address the issue of leadership roles." A girl from the crowd yelled, "How did you make all of us understand you? Not all of us understand English!" "It's the microphone. I think there is a multilingual function installed in this microphone. Maybe in all microphones," Farman composed himself before speaking further, "As we have people around the world. We need to have proper laws that everybody abide to so we can ensure safety and reduce conflict with each other." "Why a leader?" another person yelled, "We are all good people. We don't need any government to dictate what to do. We have morals unlike those bloody politicians and lawyers." People's voices were rising up until Farman slammed his fist repeatedly on the podium, "Settle down people. After investigating the population, we got exactly 50, 000 people stuck here. From different culture and believes, we need to have a stable government so we don't end up in anarchy because of some silly argument." "After researching about their history, the people who got the special text please go to the back stage. Those who are chosen are suitable to become leaders based on their leadership roles and their law education," after some people left, he resumed his speech, "Okay. After briefing with the them, they would be proposed about many things and you have to vote like alcohol drinking age and.." He was interrupted when everybody said eighteen. "Eighteen it is then. Just wait here so we set up the podiums for them." "Wait. There will be more than one leader?" asked a confused member of the crowd. "Yes. Different leaders with different point of view will ensure that the laws will be unbiased. This will be like a jury system." In the backstage "I see you have acquainted with each other," Farman said as he approached the group, "You are the future of this colony. I trust in you to make the best choice." "Thanks but I got one problem," said one of the members. "Sure. What is it?" "How the hell do you know about our past?" "You see," Farman was sweating a bit, "While I was browsing the main police station, I found a computer with all of our profiles." Everybody gasped, "You mean that big guy have all our details. Well that's great." "Yeah. That's why I needed you to be their leaders. The people will riot and fight against each other. They need guidance. They need protection. They need to feel safe and happy. After thorough investigation, you all are the best people to keep the place from being a hellhole. For humanity, please accept the offer." "One moment," the chosen people all huddle together and whispered something. After some argument they come with an answer, "We will become the leaders but we need to hire some people to help us govern." "Sure. Just look in the police data base and I am sure you would find someone." "I don't feel right about it," Amia rubbed her shoulder, "Looking into people's profile without permission. I feel like a scummy politician who is breaking the people's rights." "I know this is bad but we need to. We need to assign the best people for the most important mission to ensure our survival. Sometimes we need to make some necessary evil to benefit our society," Farman looked away and toward the the front stage, "Please do not discuss this to the people as this could lose trust in us."