Once again I saw the marvelous diamond in the great hall. I took the elevator up, and began my day peacefully. It was much later than yesterday. I had come in at 8:30 to get my rest. It was kind of funny, I guess, how much I paid attention to what time I came in, what time others came in, how many footsteps I took each day, the detail with what I looked at the diamond every day without end. Some might call it OCD. But I had always had a fascination with patterns. And time. Particularly, I had a fascination with taking my time, finding the patterns. How long did it take me to walk here, how many footsteps did that take, and how fast had my footsteps been? So yes, when I said that I came in at 8:30, I mean that I came in at exactly 8:30. Even, solid numbers were important to me.

It was several hours later when something truly confusing happened. I was still working on my dimension problem today. I was engrossed in it like I always did about my work, so I didn’t know quite how much time had passed.

Then came Sebastian’s daily, annoying, arrogant message flashing on my computer screen. It was another simple, stupid question.

What time is it?

I thought it was probably because he had noticed my obsession with time, but then I looked at my clock.

It said it was 8:30. We used military time, so it was in the morning.

I saw someone walk in the room, like she was just getting to work.

Now it was 8:31, and the seconds ticked by.

Thirty-one seconds.

Thirty-two seconds.

No. No, it couldn’t be. I had been here for hours, I had paid special attention to the time, it wasn’t possible for it to be that early.

I closed my eyes, knowing that when I opened them, it would no longer be morning. It wasn’t possible, after all, that it could only be 8:30. It wasn’t logical.

I opened my eyes and looked at my clock again. It read 12:29. I looked over at Sebastian.

He looked as confused as I felt.

The rest of the day went slowly, but I was convinced to talk to Sebastian after the day was gone.

Eventually the day began its close, and Sebastian and I were the only ones left. As he got up to leave, I followed right behind. I would have a few words with that person. I walked determinedly through the the great hall. I caught up with him just as we exited the building, just as I had planned it. I tapped him lightly on the shoulder

“Sebastian, can I have a quick word?” I asked politely. I wanted to start this off well, and I wanted him off my back.

How little I knew then.

“Of course, Kaisik,” he said friendly. “I was beginning to worry that you wouldn’t come.”

As always his words took me slightly off guard, but I refused to let it show.

“Sebastian,” I started, “I know that we do have our differences. I understand that. But I think that we can get over that. So I would very much appreciate it if you would stop playing mind games every day at work.”

“You really don’t know what you did, do you Kaisik?” Sebastian said, and I was surprised to see that his face was wondering.

Out of the blue, someone bumped into me with yellow tennis shoes. Yellow? Really?

“I didn’t do anything,” I started angrily. “I was just working the same as I always do.”

“No Kaisik, you fast-forwarded time.”

Sebastian said it so bluntly, so nonchalant that I almost believed him.

“Oh right,” I said sarcastically, “and I suppose that you rewinded time?”

Needless to say, this conversation was not going how I had planned it.

“Now I think we are beginning to understand each other,” Sebastian said.

“If you can control time so easy, then why don’t you do it now,” I said, frustrated.

“Already have,” he said.

Out of the blue, someone bumped into me with yellow tennis shoes. Yellow? Really?

What in the world was going on here?

“Kaisik, listen to me,” Sebastian said. “I don’t have much time. I need you to do something incredibly crazy. I’m sorry for the way that I have treated you in times past, but they were all to figure out if you really are who we think we are.

“You proved that when you forced time forward. I am surprised that you didn’t even know you did it. But, nonetheless, now I need you to do something that you will think is completely crazy.

“Think the word ‘magic,’ Kaisik. Just do it.”

But I had had enough of this talk.

“Actually, I feel like going home, Sebastian.”

I was so tired that night. I didn’t see the maniacal gleam of his eyes.

“Kaisik, everything has been staged. The enemy is so close now. Just listen to me!” He said this desperately, even hysterically.

“Sebastian, you need sleep.”

I was mad now. I was just trying to relieve the problems that we had, and he had made a joke of it!

“That isn’t the problem, Kaisik. Soon I’ll go to sleep for a very long time.”

I felt a chill go down my spine. He had said that line so… ruthlessly.

“The problem is, Sebastian, I don’t trust you.”

Then I reached out to open the door on the vehicle.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Sebastian’s fist zipping toward my head. I was too late, and his fist connected. I felt my whole body reel backward under the force of his blow. At the last second I threw my hand to brace myself, and felt it hit the hard cement.

It was at that very second that I thought of that word that Sebastian had fought so hard for me to think of.

“Magic,” I whispered.

I felt the pain shoot up my hand almost as if it were in slow motion. In the same moment I felt that single idea--the word magic--consume me…

Then my arm exploded in agony.

I felt the pain of my impact, but it was dim… unreal. There was a feeling that arose more powerful than the pain…


POWER!


This new feeling engrossed me entirely. It consumed me in its grasp.


POWER!


Then my minds defenses overwhelmed any reason I had left, and everything went black...


Ten thousand miles away on the western reaches of Antarctica where snow covered the land like a blanket, a blink in the stars shone bright in the night. That’s all it seemed to be. A blink in the stars. But in fact it was much more than that.

Seven men glided across the snow like they were swimming. Dressed entirely in black, they were unseen. The only possible sign of their coming was just a blink… in the stars. They moved silently, entirely unheard and unseen.

They were assassins.

They were known as “The Seven.” For every time a person went mysteriously missing a single note was hung near the scene which read those same two words: The Seven. They had killed hundreds, and always it was done perfectly. They had never been seen. They left absolutely no trace. The only pattern that they left was the single note, and the stroke of midnight when the dark deed was done.

It was rumored that they were part of an ancient organization of assassins that had passed their traits generation from generation to the present time.

This is all that the single blink in the stars meant. They went on still, leaving no footprints, no signs that they had been there.

Abruptly, they stopped in perfect tandem. They unsheathed seven swords dissonantly. Quickly, they rose them above their heads and struck the smooth ice, cutting a perfect seven-sided figure. They lifted the chunk of ice revealing stairs to the underground. As they went underground they sealed the entrance to the stairs. It took them only seconds to leave absolutely no trace. In the pitch-black darkness they moved smoothly and silently, farther and farther down into the ground. Suddenly, they knocked on a door.

“Identity,” an automated voice asked.

“Seven,” the leader of the group answered.

The doors opened and revealed a massive chamber. Several rows of chairs were revealed, filled with men in dark clothes.

As the SEven entered every man in the meeting stood up. Fear hung thick in the air. The Seven walked silently to the first row and sat down in seven seats that were left empty. As they sat, so did everyone else.

“THis meeting was not a meeting without the Seven. It is good that you are here.” it was spoken by a man that sat in front. He was clearly the leader at the meeting. He had orange, spiked hair and an emotionless face. He had a shirt that showed rippling muscles. His eyes had a gleam in them. A lust for power.

“We were just discussing when to unleash the robots,” the man explained.

“First, we must eliminate the Rebellion,” one of the Seven said.

“Yes. WE have found the location of all 30 left.”

“They will go down. One by one,” another of the Seven spoke in a hoarse voice.

“We can get no promise better than that,” the leader said. “But we must move on. We have a total of one billion people in our… society. We our at our highest peak. The time is at hand. Commence our operation at G-3-r56. That is an order. The destruction of the world is at hand.”

That was how the meeting ended. That was how the pact to destroy the world was signed.

DAWN OF WARFARE

August 26, 2383

The room was filled with silence. When the man spoke, all listened.

“Today is the greatest of all scientific breakthroughs.”

Applause broke out respectfully.

“Today is the day man triumphs over space.”

Applause was scattered this time.

“As we all know, when electrons give off energy they emit photons.”

The room was silent, hanging on his every word.

“These photons create a bridge into the fourth dimension. This bridge can be locked into.”

Silence.

“Using state of the art machinery, the photons open a gate to this dimension, teleporting one through them.

“Gentlemen, this is no longer science fiction.”

With a flash, a beam of light redirected off a mirror in the ceiling illuminated the speaker.

With precisely no noise at all, he teleported across the stage.

Stunned silence overflowed in gaping mouths.
But this was much more than just a teleportation means. It opened the gateway to much more. It was the beginning to human life on Mars and other planets. More destructively, it led to deadlier warfare. Guns could teleport bullets to the end of a light shot out of a gun. Mirrors could allow for shooting at indirect angles. Snipers could be set hundreds of miles away. It was the dawn of a new age.

Suddenly I saw the stars again. I saw the black night, and felt the sidewalk underneath my back. I checked the time. It had only been seconds since that feeling had come over me. What had happened?

Was it a fast-working drug the Sebastian had entered into my system… moving all thought out except that feeling of power? Was it just some sort of horrible practical joke?

No. It had only taken a few seconds- just enough time for SEbastian to handily disappear. Wait, if it was only seconds, how had he gotten away so quickly?
But no matter, there was no drug that could work that fast.

The only probability left was that it was some unknown power.

I was impatient on the ride home. I could barely contain myself as I rode home. I ran home once the sub stopped.

I walked into my small room, and then I began to work. My brother was already fast asleep. It somewhat scared me, how grateful I was that he was asleep. That he wouldn’t ask me what was so important that I had to do it at this late time.

I fired up my computer, and programmed several tests into my computer. The first test was finding out what the objects looked like. I programmed data into my computer in seconds, and let the computer run a simulation to see what shape the… thing was. But the computer reported an error. I did something wrong. And so I did it again, but this time with a little more guessing involved to give the computer a better picture. Once again an error occurred. I was far from over, though. I got rid of many guesses, and tried more. I questioned everything. Could it be based on spheres? Planets, atoms, electrons, and many other objects were based on a sphere faction. Maybe it was even 2-d! I tried everything I could think of, programming it into the computer, and always proving it false. The time quickly changed, and suddenly it was 1:00 in the morning. I had found very small clues that I had proven right, but had nothing major. I went even farther into the night, but nothing worked. I finally was down to the last five theories of an object smaller than atoms. In hopelessness I tried the String Theory. It was a very old theory that had very well been proven wrong. Nevertheless, I couldn’t dismiss this idea, and the object could very well be a small variation of this theory that would entirely change it, but still could be based upon this idea. I programmed all night, using tiny variations on the String Theory, and I was finally having some success. By the end of the night the computer had made an entire new world entirely based on “strings.” Through the computer I had figured out several things. First was that the objects were so tiny, so microscopic, that the computer could not even calculate the size of them. Every time I programmed material to calculate the size an error would occur. Second was their shape. They vibrating circular pieces of matter, just like the old String Theory stated. The major thing that was different from the old String Theory was that when two or more strings hit into each other they would combine, making a bigger circle. Hundreds and hundreds of times per second they would combine, bigger, and bigger, and bigger, until... it became a sphere. It was a huge sphere compared to the tiny String it used to be. However, the very second it appeared in a sphere it exploded into tiny little Strings again. In that very millisecond, just when it exploded, it emitted a certain type of wave. This… wave seemed to change the very fabric of space. It… rearranged… things.And it was similar to a brain wave. It was like a brain wave had a smaller size, smaller volume, but had the same idea. In fact, they were so similar that they connected.

I could control the Strings.

I could change the very fabric of space.

With this power I could change what a substance was. I could change a desk into water. I could change the ground into a house.

Then a realization dawned on me, and a scene came before my eyes. Houses laid before me, burnt and black. Families destroyed, nations demolished. All of this destruction could come from the knowledge I had uncovered. It was too powerful. It was too destructive. The world could be destroyed by this power. I had to keep it from the world.


The only problem was Sebastian. Had he somehow known what was going to happen? Did he already know about that strange power? I would keep an eye on him. I would check all his work to see what he was studying on.

Speaking of Sebastian, why when I hit the ground with my arm did the feeling of power start? For the connection to happen did your brain have to have a sort of physical impluse?

I studied until dawn came.

I can’t say that life went normal after that. How could it? I knew a miracle of the Universe, but was forced in black silence. And I was certainly forced to, or if I told someone, and slipped, why wouldn’t they slip, too? Hence, I was forced in silence as black as the truth itself.

“Focus!” I told myself. I had been dreaming of it again, I couldn't take my mind off it! My desk came back into sharp view, as well as the blue of the surroundings and my laptop. I reminded myself of my current studying: the complexity of space, and theories on how to bend it. It was a good subject, and it fascinated me more than any other except for those tiny magical particles. I focused hard now, giving my concentration to the fabric of space, and to no other. I studied the internet, going from place to place virtually. How? Well…

The internet was the greatest source in the world for… anything. Computers had a powerful brain-cam that studied your brain waves. The computers at our level were so advanced that they could actually change your brain-waves. If you wanted to, say, fly to the moon, the computer could alter you brain-waves to make you see yourself in a rocket, and feel gravity push on you. It was extravagantly startling.

I used this amazing technology. I traveled to distant cities, to far-off countries. I went to the internet for information, I wrote it down on paper. I drew complex diagrams. All of this I could do in a day’s work. I used past information to draw new conclusions.

At the end of the day I had found out hundreds of minor details that helped in making the big picture. I gave it all to the leaders of the Pinnacle, and went home. However, I was somewhat frustrated. The whole day I had tried to focus on time, but I had been hopelessly lost, thinking mainly of Strings.

How could I learn of anything else when I could only focus on Strings? Maybe I was doing it wrong: I was trying to ignore it, like Sebastian was ignoring me these days. In fact, we had spoken since that night…. which was strange. But anyway- maybe I should be trying to let all of it out.

I cooled my breathing, I calmed down. I went devoid of thought.

Then I opened my mind up. I called to the Strings, I felt their ability around me. I focused more earnestly, I devoted my entire entire attention to the Strings… Then I felt a tingling sensation up my arm…

POWER!

But this time I was ready for it, I knew why it happened.

POWER!

I felt my resolve slipping away, my focus dwindling.

POWER!

No! I can’t give in. I must fight!

POWER!

And then I remembered my bedside desk, and I mentally zoomed in, feeling the Strings of a small portion of the desk. And then my head cleared. I felt myself again, except for a soft humming, a tiny emission that felt like whisperings to my mind.

“Hummmm….” they seemed to say. “Hummmm…” I focused a little harder, and I felt little words forming. However, there were so many of them! So many words that I could not understand them all, I could not comprehend them! But I could talk to them. I could whisper for all, though I could not listen to all.

“Water,” I whispered, “Water.” And I felt the Strings combine. Thousands and thousands of times per second they formed into themselves, until they were millions and millions of times bigger than the original.


A small portion of my desk had turned into water.

I had succeeded.

The next day I studied space again. I studied, and studied. I found out basic things like the volume would increase to the fourth exponent for a similar object. I studied complex things. By the end of the day, I had solved some questions, and I emailed them to the head of the building.

The ride home and walk home went by fast. Tonight I would tell my brother about magic. He was the only one I could trust. I ahd gotten home early tonight just for this purpose.

The door opened, sensing my presence.

“Home early, I see,” Damon said.

“Hey, I just wanted your magic food tonight, that’s all.”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. Anyway, you’re cookin’- not me.”

“Oh, man, I thought if I put it on you early you wouldn’t object.”


It was so good just to talk. Just to relax. And that was what happened every time that we talked. We calmed each other.

“I even got steaks to cook for when you finally came home. I mean, do you even eat normally?” my brother teased.

“Oh, fine, I’ll cook. And yes, I do occasionally eat, jsut not very often.”

Soon the steaks were done and we ate until our stomachs couldn’t eat more.

We played a fun game of basketball after that. Of course he killed me, but it was still fun.

I knew I ahd to tell him that night. I waited until we were both in bed and began.

“I need to tell you something, Damon.”

“anything you need,” he said.

“But I don’t know how to begin.”

He knew that it was serious then. He knew that something was wrong.

“What if there was a power out there that could change the very nature of shapes, Damon?”

“Go on, Kaisik.”

“What if humans could harness that power?”

“What happened, Kaisik?”

“Think about it, Damon. Shields are based on a law that defies inertia. Why couldn’t there be another thing like it that defies why something is that it is?”

“I guess it’s possible…”

“Hit your hand against the wall, and think magic, Damon. Just do it.”

“Kaisik, are you feeling oka-”

“Just do it!”

And then, because of the bond between my brother and me, he did it. As his fist hit the wall, I felt the power emanate across the room.

It was the power that held everything in its grasp… the power of magic...

That was the night that the Seven struck. They had a job of thirty houses tonight, forcing them to split up.

Within an hour 29 houses had been visited without any problem. There had been no cops. There had been no alarm. They had come and went as if it what they were doing was perfectly legal.

Now they had regrouped. The Pinnacle of Knowledge stood before them, towering above everything. It had very tight security and would be hard to break into… but if anyone could do it, it was them. They quickly stole inside the building. The cameras in the building proved no problem for them. The Seven knew how to blend in with the shadows so well that no camera could catch them. They reached the door to the elevator, but they didn’t go inside. They quickly scaled the walls with inhuman audacity, finding handholds where there were none. Finding weaknesses in the stone, they broke through the walls with inhuman strength.

They were the Seven.

Were they even human? Or were they advanced enough to be called an entire new race?

They climbed through the new holes that they had made, and sealed them with a little help from technology. Next they scaled the wall up and up. Every movement they made was calculated. They were silent. They blended into the shadows. They were invisible. In fact, even the robots, the greatest defense imaginable, simply could not detect them.

They were inhuman.

Up they went. Up and up and up.

Then they made it. The final level in the tallest skyscraper in the world. It was entirely made of a clear smooth glass, tinted so strangely in certain places as to confuse.

Now it got tricky. The slightest reverbration on the glass floor would send them tumbling to the earth. Vibration of the wall of glass would activate five machine guns capable of firing thirty rounds per second. The door they wished to enter looked like glass, but really had two feet of reinforced titanium. Entrance around the door was sealed with three solid feet of titanium and three shields. Oh, and in the glass before them, thermal and x-ray camera showed every millimeter of the room.

This wouldn’t stop THe SEven.

The leader threw a weightless cloak out into the room. It bent the light, amking a small area below it invisible. Next, one of The Seven through another cloak which expanded with helium whicle a fan pushed a current of air under to cloak, creating a frictionless surface.

They had made a hovercraft.

The SEven got on the makeshift hovercraft while it floated steadily to the titanium door, made invisible by the cloak floating above them. Wheny they reached the titanium door, the leader inserted a chip. It sent a super bug into the entire Pinnacle of Knowledge.

The door opened.

A sleeping victim showed clear in the dark.

The SEven smiled.



Need I say my brother believed me after he felt the power of what could only be described as magic? HE was so stunned, he sat on the bed, shaking with fear, caught by the grip of the unknown. Slowly, he came to his senses and calmed down. Then we discussed. We discussed what to do about this powerful knowledge. HE agreed with me to keep it a secret. It was far too powerful. He took this a step farther than I had taken it. HE urged me not to use its powers anymore, to forget about it and move on.



The “guardian” robots of the Pinnacle of Knowledge were missing. With no warning they had forsaken their duties and had disappeared. A worldwide communication had been sent to all the geniuses in the world to infer where the robots were, and how to out-smart them. It was an impossible task. When the robots were programmed they had been given all the information humans currently knew so they could eliminate any threat to the building. Needless to say, before I had even started to think about their disappearance the robots had acted. My handheld computer and TV told me all I needed to know, being broadcasted to all of the members of the Pinnacle of Knowledge.

Ten of the most hi-tech missiles were being tracked through the air going at a stupendous speed. It was already clear that they were heading for the White House. I did a quick calculation. It would be about five seconds before they would reach the White House.

In those five seconds the president was evacuated, as well as all in the building. Security had responded the millisecond the missiles had been tracked.

Nevertheless, they couldn’t stop the missiles.

Nine of the ten missiles were stopped in their tracks by the shields of the White House. The tenth, however, hit the weak white paint and exploded with what must have been an ear-shattering bang. A mushroom cloud of smoke exploded from the building.

The White House had been destroyed.

As I watched anger coursed through me. These robots had been turned into real beings, who knew how to think and act like a super-human. They had used their power to tell the entire world their strength in the destruction of the White House. They had to be eliminated. As I thought, I realized something, every so slowly. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it.

The robots were unstoppable. They were as smart as the entire earth; they knew nearly all its secrets. They knew where to hide, how to cloak from our satellites, how to evade masses of soldiers and weapons, and where to attack.

There was only one thing that could stop them, and I held it in my hands.

Magic.




As was the normal routine in my schedule, I walked to the Pinnacle of Knowledge, and beheld its magnificence. When I got to the of the escalator’s doors, I pushed in one button that simply said “theory.” When I went up in the jelly-like substance I kept on going up, and up, and up. Up nearly a mile off the ground, I stopped. The strange doors opened, and before my eyes was the highest level in the building. I saw a clear, smooth hallway made entirely of mirrors. Everywhere I looked I saw reflections into oblivion. In the very center of this confusing hall was a single door. Though it too was made of mirrors, I knew it was there, and I knew what lay inside. Slowly, I walked down the great hallway, concentrating on what was real and what were reflections. Then, at the base of a great door, I took a deep breath, and knocked. Sensors flashed a gray light up and down me, sensing for identification. An electronic voice came out of nowhere: “Identification: Kaisik.” A second later the door of mirrors opened, and a circular room was displayed before my eyes, lined with fine jewels of every sort. However, I was nearly oblivious to all of this, my eyes locked on the man in a chair of gold. He was known as the wisest sage of our time. When he spoke, nations heard. When he wrote, worlds read.

His name was Jasper.

And I was about to tell him the most unbelievable tale he had ever heard.

It wasn’t a very happy thought.

“Good morning Kaisik,” Jasper said.

It was a very simple statement from one so wise.

“As I look outside the sun is shining and the sky is clear, yet I can’t seem to get the dark of night out of my mind,” I said.

“Isn’t it funny how the mind works? Come, sit down, tell me your troubles. Relax.”

It was amazing how nice he was, when every second I wasted with him was precious.

“I would not waste your time if it were not for the seriousness of the issue that has come to our attention. How do we stop these robots with their unimaginable knowledge?”

“Do not fear the robot’s knowledge. I have come to learn that knowledge is not everything. What we should be worried about is their ruthlessness, their abandonment for the good in the world.”

There was something in his words. Almost like a hint.

“It is undebatable that the robots are immensely powerful. They are ruthless, as you have stated, and cunning. Were it not for this I would not bring what I am about to say before you. It has recently come to my attention of a power greater than anything imaginable.”

Jasper seemed to be deep in thought. He paused for a second, contemplating every syllable that I had uttered.

Little did I know how much was going through his head.

After his short pause he said, “Kaisik, be careful of how powerful the imagination is.”

I admit, I stared quizzically at him for just a second, so caught off guard had I been by his statement.

“Yes, um…” I stuttered. “Well, as I was saying there is a power greater than I could truthfully comprehend. It is truly unbelievable, but as I look at the world today, I can’t help but state the opinion that there is unbelievable technology in the world. Look at the power of a shield. Look at the robots themselves.”

Jasper smiled slightly.

I took a deep breath.

“Jasper, what if there was an object tinier even than an atom?”

Jasper’s smile widened.

“What if this object had intense power? What if, when harnessed, this power could change the very make-up of everything we behold before our eyes?”

“Do it,” Jasper whispered.

Once again I was caught off guard by his words.

“Jasper, you are about to see the power of what I have just said.”

“Magic,” I whispered.

Jasper smiled a smile of joy.

This time I didn’t need to hit anything. The feeling of magic just came, like a rushing waterfall, overwhelming me.

I controlled it.

I felt the objects in the room under control.

I felt every last atom in the room.

I focused on a tiny portion of air right in front of me.

“Fire,” I whispered. “Fire… Fire… Fire”

They obeyed.

Through the glint of the tiny fire I made, I could see Jasper’s smile widen even more.

“What you have done is remarkable. There is hope to fight the robots now. There is hope to win the battle. Study what you felt when you called to this power. Remember what you saw.”

There it was again. Like he was hinting to me.

“Thank you for your time. It was an honor to talk to one so wise.”

“Wisdom is not everything, Kaisik. Remember that.”

The hints seemed to be getting clearer.

“There is a connection between the brain and the Strings that make this power possible. It seems they make a same frequency. Merely thinking “magic” strong enough can produce a connection between the two. This between a physical pain, or shock, produces the connection.”

“Go now, Kaisik. What you have said is irreversible. The world will now change.”

A fleeting feeling went through me.

Déjà vu.

Then it was gone, and I left with that curious statement on my mind.

The once lush, green trees had been bleached out of color with the death of darkness. The trees creaked dissonantly, with the rush of evil air. Lightning cracked through the midnight air, showing a small village filled with derelict, unlit houses.

Through the small village the Seven moved. Their orders had been precise. Take Kaisik alive with no struggle. Take his brother just in case. Do not underestimate them. Kaisik might know they were coming.



I couldn’t sleep. I knew that something was wrong. I went through my day in my mind. The one thing out of the ordinary was that I had gone to Jasper. Granted, that didn’t happen every day, but to stay up at night because of it? But what else could it be?


Meanwhile, Jasper knew what had to be done. The Seven would capture Kaisik. He knew that. But they wouldn’t kill him. Jasper himself had to help Kaisik escape. Nothing mattered but that. The knowledge had been passed on.

His life no longer mattered…..


The Seven located the house. It was eccentrically dome shaped, and had very good security.

Like that mattered….



In bed, I recalled when I had broadened my mind to work magic, I had felt something. I remembered I felt something electronic in Jasper’s room. As I thought harder, I realized what it was. It was a camera. But wait. Jasper never had a camera in his room. His security was so tight that he never had needed a camera inside his room. Wait! As I thought harder, going back in time through my memories, I realized that the camera had been rigged to self-destruct. It was a bomb.

Someone was keeping an eye on Jasper, someone who wanted him dead…



In his makeshift prison, Jasper breathed in deeply.

“Magic,” he whispered.

He felt the breathing of the room. He felt the power of the bomb and camera that had been planted in his desk. But mainly, he felt the wall of titanium that led outside into freezing, tumultuous air.

“Water,” he whispered. “Water.”

The corporation named Pheonix Comet figured out what he was doing and the bomb exploded. Jasper was sent plunging into the once-solid wall…



The SEven had surrounded the house. Three would stay outside, closing the perimeter, and four would go in. The leader went through the door, the others through the windows. Mysteriously, the alarm didn’t go off…



My mind was racing. Whoever wanted Jasper dead would undoubtedly want me under control now that I had told them about magic. They would send kidnappers. Probably tonight. How much time did I have?



Four of THe Seven walked silently and lethally towards Kaisik’s house, just as I came out of his room with only one thought on his mind: escape. Seeing no one, he continued to walk towards the door…



Jasper hit into a wave of water, which was the only thing left of his wall. Jasper went right through the water, and was sent flying into open air, two thousand feet up in cold, frigid air. He was sent plummeting downward at terrific speeds, going faster and faster.

“Parachute,” he whispered, and sure enough, a parachute popped from his back like a magic trick.

Kind of handy, since magic was what he was using.

He floated to the ground gracefully, without a scratch to his body.

He’d had lots of practice using magic…



My mind was moving as fast as time allowed, but I still felt the seconds trickling. I quickly booted up my computer. I plugged in some variables and hurried to make an equation. Within five seconds I knew what to do…



Jasper felt the wind on his back, the plants breathing, and the soil below him. HE felt every tiny living thing in the area. HE felt alive. As he watched in the cool, midnight air, a helicopter came into view like an angry bumblebee. Jasper smiled, as he connected to every millimeter of the helicopter owned by PHoenix Comet.



Now I lay in bed, pretending to sleep. I didn’t want his eyes to betray him when THe Seven came. He checked the clock. It was 11:53. In his mind, he started counting.

5… 4… 3… 2… 1



As Jasper watched, the helicopter crept closer and closer. He saw the words Phoenix Comet on it. Without warning a rapid fire laser gun targeted on him. Suddenly the light of the laser curved around him.

Then the helicopter burst into flame.


…0… I counted. Grabbing a knife that was hidden under his covers, I zipped it through the air towards where he hoped the Seven were hidden. It flew through the air, spinning in circles… and stopped in midair noiselessly.

I blinked and the world turned around.

Four men stood in perfect tandem, looking straight at me, with huge black pupils that seemed to bore into my skull. The man in the middle held one hand outstretched, holding a knife solidly in his hand.

The knife fell to the ground and The SEven pulled out four curved swords dissonantly, working as if they were one body. With tandem that seemed unreal, they moved forward with one accord as their eyes stayed fixed on me.

Eyes that forced me to stay where I was.


The bullets exploded into the helicopter’s hull, exploding into flame, burning all in its path.

The helicopter was sent tumbling to the earth.

“Speed,” Jasper whispered, and started running so fast that he became a blur. Out of the city he ran, faster and faster, and faster.

Jasper was gone.


The Seven closed in on the motionless Kaisik. Slowly, I began to recall what I had to do. The Seven’s dreadful stare seemed to lessen.

“Magic,” I whispered. I felt the power of the STrings around me.

The SEven rose their swords.

I widened his range of Strings farther than he had ever before, straining under the dreaded feeling of power.

“Fire,” I whispered.

The SEven plunged.

An inferno engulfed the room, consuming everything in its grasp.

For once in the history of the world, THe SEven faltered. Regaining their senses in half a second, they backflipped away from the flaming room. They dropped to the ground, smothering any flames that managed to catch their clothes on fire. Rising up together in perfect tandem, they stared at me with unmerciful, black eyes. They whispered something inaudible to me.

My focus faltered. The inferno of flames went out.

The SEven lunged.

“Help!” I cried, still in communion with magic.

As if the sound barrier had been broken, a shattering bang burst through the room. Windows blew open and the roof cracked.

Then the tip of The Seven’s sword hit my face, and he knew no more.