Flow Master

By Jacob H Bechtel V

This story was written by Jacob H. Bechtel V during the year 1989 approximately 8 months before he played any Palladium® games. All of this is fiction and any resemblance to any persons living or dead is purely coincidental. Also any similarities to any game system is unintentional and purely accidental.

I came into this world much like everyone else. I kicked, I screamed and was born. At least that is what my Mama, may the Overlords watch over her, told me. Yet I never thought that I would leave this life this way. I believe the turning point was back at the Academy.

I had been sent to the Academy at the ripe young age of 10 (a full three years below the average age). It was a marvelous place. Towers reached into the sky like silver daggers pointed toward heaven. Even the lowest built building was well over 45 stories. And everywhere you looked it was a majesty of colors; Chrome, Gold, Ruby crystals seemed to sprout from the ground itself and where there wasn't manmade objects, nature was in full bloom all year round. Orchids of every type were on the grounds with such rare plants as Oaks, Elms and Birch trees. People who never had seen this creation of the Overlords were often taken aback by the sheer beauty of the place.

Don't get the wrong idea though it wasn't a place of constant relaxation. My time was well accounted for by my teachers. Although to just call them teachers is an injustice. They were so much more; mentors, surrogate parents, and priests. They took all of us that made it through school to a new level of understanding the universe and each of our individual places in it. The only real complaint I had about the place was how our education was limited to "slipping" and the devices which would allow us to enter the "Flow", but I get ahead of myself. Back to what it was that happened.

The Academy was well known but its students were all but unknown. This was for several reasons. There are creatures out there who do not posses the knowledge of "slipping" and would be more than happy to kill those who know how or to attempt to pry the secrets from them. In the beginning this led to students being kidnapped tortured or their families held for ransom. Luckily for the Human Race these first attempts failed and later ones were prevented by the policies started by the Counsel. First all students were contacted by the school in secret and once there the school was protected by a private Army. Unfortunately there were some races that could change their shape and others that could control the mind. My experience was with both.

During my final year of schooling (I was now 17) I had a teacher of Philosophy who was somewhat outspoken by the other teachers and the Counsel but who was extremely popular with the students (myself included). He would frequently debate that "Man" had no right to withhold the knowledge of slipping from the other races. That all we did was hold ourselves back and that if we gave the other races the means to expand their own power they would leave our world alone. Looking back on it, it was a farfetched idea but it held my attention and even made sense in a way. It was not until mid-season that I suspected his true nature.

I had been working late in the laboratory one night and when returning to my room I heard odd noises coming from a darkened classroom. I crept to the door and checked the lock. It was unlocked. I entered and heard the noises coming from the teachers office. It was then I noticed I was in the Philosophy lecture hall. I made my way to the teacher room and listened to what was going on. I heard my Teacher Christopher and another who were discussing some plan and I also heard Teacher Christopher speaking but in a low, dulled voice. And only when the other asked him a question. It made no sense so I peeked through the keyhole and say My teacher standing next to himself! One was tied to a chair and the other was standing next to him. The other I heard was one of the races. I recognized him as a Vantora, A fairly repulsive race. This one was even uglier than the one I had seen in pictures. His skin was almost transparent. A common misconception has been they are weak creatures. Actually they are silicon based and have an internal skeleton that is almost as strong as diamonds. I also knew that I had to report to security immediately. This creature could enslave a Human's mind with barely a thought and could control several with ease. I didn't yet understand how there were two Christophers but one had to be Chameleon race. I turned and started to run but tripped over a chair and made quite a racket. I heard the noises from the office stop and what felt like a clammy hand wipe across my forehead. I ran out the door and made it out of the building in time to hear the alarm bells start.

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By Jacob H Bechtel V.

Copyright © 1989, 1997, 1998 Jacob H Bechtel V. All rights reserved.

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