Chapter i:

  The Big Bang

  Looking up at the ceiling, while cartoons play in the background. His phone is already going off with emails and texts. The picture of his wallpaper makes him smile. I can’t believe it’s been three years since they’ve been gone. When I woke up and heard the news, I just wanted to go back into a coma, why couldn’t we just die together? Mom and dad wouldn’t want me to be sad for too long. But I really miss you guys. I wipe my face with the bed sheets, realizing that I can never get them back. I gather the strength to sit up on the edge. I actually have to go this time, last time I didn’t show. I. . . just wasn’t for all the attention. My therapist tried to warn me, but I was too busy worrying about the politics of it all. That’s usually mom’s job. . . “politics.”

  “House!” I shout.

  “Yes, sir!”

  “Start my morning routine.”

  “Of course, may I tell you the weather and traffic for today?”

  “No, just set a reminder to call the moving company, I want the safe cleared out today!”

  “Yes Sir, a reminder has been set.”

  That’s one of my inventions. . . A smart house that does anything for you, it even cooks for you. Personally, I think it’s the worst thing I’ve created. And trust me I’ve made some weird stuff. But it works, I even received a few awards for it. As I walk toward the balcony, the entire wall lifts up like a garage door, revealing the beautiful view of the Los Angeles skyline. I’ve lived in this house for a long time, and that will always be the coolest thing ever.

  My favorite breakfast is waiting for me; chocolate chip scones and black coffee. If you wanna know anything about me, I love scones! Especially chocolate chip scones, my dad was the one who introduced them to me. And I’ve been hooked ever since. I know it’s not that exciting of a dessert, but it is truly the best. I scarf down all the scones in record time. I’m really in a rush, but the digital paper has caught my attention. Uhgggg. . . It’s her!

  It reads; “The Queen of England is officially engaged!”

  What a bitch! She’s a total wreck, she was never meant to be queen of anything, definitely not England. I throw the digital paper, and it slides across the table knocking over my cup of coffee. Damn it, that was my last cup! It was all her fault, that monster spilled my coffee. I needed to get in the shower anyway.

  Whilst I’m in the shower, the house phone starts ringing.

  “Sir, Kelly Stern is calling you. Should I answer?”

  “Yes please!” I responded.

  “Kage, Where are you?”

  “I’m getting dressed now Kells.” She is always so worried. I wish she'd relax more.

  “Why are you just getting dressed? People are waiting outside.”

  “Don’t worry, I’m going to be there.”

  “That’s what you said last time, and we all know how that turned out.”

  “I still feel bad about that. Dealing with that must have been insane. I just w-"

  "Shit Kage, I didn’t mean to sound-”

  “It’s fine Kells, it’s your job as CFO to worry about those things. And it’s my job to not make the company look bad. So don’t worry I'll be there, but until then, just start the show, and tell everyone lunch is on me today.”

  “You better, but I have to go.” She hangs up the phone before I can say anything else.

  Adding more stress to Kelly’s already busy schedule, isn’t number one on my to do list, maybe number five, but not showing up to the last tech conference was a fumble on my part.

  My parents death was still fresh and I just couldn’t go back there, so I chose to work on my secret project instead. Dad and I have been working on this for a while now. I wish I could see the look on his face, when I reveal it at this year's tech conference. He would have been too psyched, nevertheless I really should get going. My suit is already waiting for me, it's simple and clean, just my style. I get dressed as fast as possible, and I slip on my shoes, and grab mom’s watch off the dresser. Walking out onto the balcony, our family portrait greets me first. I had to wear that band because my eyes messed with the quality of the image. The house interrupts my thoughts, that’s the one thing about technology, they don’t know feelings.

  “Sir, the car has arrived. Are you ready for departure?”

  “Yes!” As I walk down the stairs, the front doors glide open for me.

  Once the doors open, the most beautiful car pulls up. A 1969 Mustang, all black with a white stripe going down the middle. The black and white tires make it pop even more, but the doors open up like wings, revealing a black and red interior. The dashboard looks like something from a space ship, this is an invention for the ages. I can’t wait to shock the world once. . .again!

  While Kage is on his way to the convention, Kelly has officially opened the to the Lambda Dome. People start spilling into one of the most beautiful glass buildings, it's literally shaped like a dome. What makes this building unique is the fact that people can see the outside, but they can’t see inside. There’s inventions everywhere, some have cool inventions, others not so much.

  As the chaos ruptures in the dome, Kelly is being interviewed:

  —————————————-

  “Good morning everyone, I’m Lisa Lo. And we’re here at the Lambda Dome, for Tech Con. Where everyone is excited and hoping to get the world's attention. And here to give us some tips, it's the recently awarded woman of the decade, Kelly Stern. Kelly thanks so much for taking the time to talk.”

  “It’s always a pleasure Lisa.”

  “Okay, so you’ve been a part of some of the greatest inventions to date. Not only that, you are a big voice in Lambda. How can some future innovators get your attention or the attention of the masses?”

  ”This is why I always love your journalism Lisa, you ask the big questions. To answer, I'd say your creation must be something we have never seen before, it has to benefit our environment and the people. Lastly, you need to be able to sell your product. Make me love it just as much as you.”

  “Wow, that's some stellar advice, I know you have to go, so may I ask; “Where is Kage? Is Lambda gonna reveal any ground breaking inventions at this year's conference?”

  Kelly chuckles, everyone has been asking her the same question ever since it was announced that Lambda was hosting the Tech Conference.

  “What I’m allowed to say is. . . Kage will be attending Tech Con this year. As we all know, he’s been dealing with the death of his parents. It’s their three year anniversary. . . today actually, so I know Kage is going to bring it home for Lambda.”

  “Alright I know you have so much to do, a big thank you, Kelly for taking the time. . . And I can’t wait to see what Kage has in store for us, cause I know it’s gonna be a show stopper.” Kelly and Lisa put on big smiles for the camera.

  “AND WE’RE CLEAR!” shouts a man behind the camera.

  “Thanks again Kelly, I hope I didn’t pry too much!”

  “Oh no, you did great, you have a bright future in the media.”

  “Aww thannnks.” Kelly hugs Lisa Lo and walks off, two security persons walk alongside her.

  Kelly is heading towards another media post, but something catches her attention. The doom ceiling starts opening up, everyone inside the doom is curious to what’s going on, some people look in Kelly’s direction. But she doesn’t know what is going on either. Until a flying car appears out of thin air, you didn’t even hear it coming. The car cascades down to the center of the floor, everyone is in awe seeing a flying car for the first time. The car successfully lands on the lobby floors, the car just sits there for several seconds. Suddenly, the car doors open up like wings. People try to look into the car but to no avail it’s too dark inside. Kage pops out wearing some really dark sunglasses . . . And the crowd is beside themselves, they haven’t seen him in quite some time. The people try to move closer but security does their job well enough to keep them at bay. Kage waves at the crowd with a big smile on his face. All Kelly can do is smile and applaud with everyone else.

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  Kage is interrupted by a man, who hands him a microphone, Kage thanks the man with a head nod, the crowd is still going wild, either for the car or for the man himself. Some people shout “welcome back!” Kage puts the microphone to his mouth;

  “HELLO LOS ANGELES!” He shouts.

  That just gives the audience more ammo to be even louder. And a lady shouts, “WE LOVE YOU KAGE!”

  “I love you too! Thank you all for that rambunctious welcome. Now allow me to welcome y’all to the twenty fifth Annual Tech Conference. I may not be a founding member like my parents were but it's truly amazing to see so many people, ready to change the world. Today y’all are a part of history, you just witnessed the world’s first flying car. For a long time the people of the tech world have been chasing this myth, including dad and I. When dad pitched the idea to me I thought he was crazy, but he pushed me to always do my best and do the impossible.”

  His eyes start to water, but he pulls it together. This is supposed to be a celebration.

  “And with that Lambda presents the Apollo-313 aka Apollo, the first flying car. If an owl was a car, it would be the Apollo, it's environment friendly of course, it flies silently though the skies, it also has an auto pilot feature, so if you can work and fly. Within the next fifteen years, Lambda will control the skies. Of course a flying car is revolutionary but the engine is where all the power comes from. Which means Apollo can reach up to Mach 2, getting you from point A to point C in minutes. That being said, I wish all the creators the best of luck on your journey. And big thank you to the Lambda family for putting this all together for us.”

  The crowd gives a thunderous applause, Kage walks over to Kelly. She embraces him with a hug, and then she punches him in the arm;

  “You could have given me a heads up. I could have made the venue outside or something.”

  “Then it wouldn’t be a surprise, now would it?” He says with a grin.

  Kelly just rolls her eyes, they walk towards these big doors, a security guard places his wrist to a box ,and the doors slide like you're walking into a supermarket.

  “Kage I’m actually surprised. You built a flying car, the amount of people that tried, and you actually did it. When did you decide to make it.”

  Kelly is over the moon, she’s more relieved than surprised. Lambda hasn’t been on top since-

  “Well, dad and I, we've worked on this for ten years now. We didn’t have the energy to get it operational.”

  “So what did you use as the energy output?”

  “Water!”

  “Water? How can water be used for a car?”

  “I was surprised. But I stumbled across an ancient article from like 2015 or something, and it mentioned hydro power. And to be honest, we should be using water more often, it’s pretty much infinite.”

  “As your CFO I can’t have you saying water is infinite. But that’s really interesting, you know we have a whole bunch of work to get Apollo’s on the market.”

  They both are stopped by a dorky kid with a big smile on his face.

  “Goodmorning Kage and Kelly, here are your scribe pads, and someone is waiting in the office. I tried to tell them to wait out here, but they pushed past me.”

  “Adam, how many times do I need to tell you to stop letting people push you around.” Says Kelly.

  “I did, I just figured if they got past security, what more could I do.”

  Kage and Kelly both look at each other, Kage starts running toward the office.

  “I guess we know who’s in there.” Kelly says with an added eye roll.

  Kage bursts through the office doors, he looks around and sees a man sitting on an all white couch. The man pops up with the biggest smile on his face, he and Kage embrace each other with a hug.

  “Jake, it's so good to see you! How’ve you been?” Kage seems like a giddy child.

  Jake is a pale skinned man, with bright black hair and blue eyes. His hair is so black you can see the light in it. His suit lets you know he has money.

  “I’m doing great bro!” Kelly walks in not looking in their direction.

  “Hi, Kelly!” Jake greets her.

  “Jake.” Kelly responds with a cold shoulder.

  “She still hates me, doesn’t she.” He and Kage just start laughing.

  Kage sits at this unique L shaped table, he sits inside the curved part of the table, and Jake sits across from him. Kelly comes to the table with two cups of coffee, she hands one to Kage.

  “Can I get a coffee?” Jake teases, but Kelly doesn’t even play his games, Kage breaks the tension;

  “Soooo, Jake, why are you here? You’ve never showed up to a board meeting like - ever.”

  “That’s not true, I. . . never mind that. I’m here for you, remember, we’re supposed to be partying in the Amazon this weekend.” Kage looks so bewildered.

  “Uh, I don’t know if you heard. But today is Kage’s first day back. He can’t be partying in the Amazon.” Kelly intervened.

  “I don’t know if you heard, but Kage is a grown ass man and he can do whatever he wants.”

  Kage was going to let them go at, but Kelly really does seem annoyed, so he puts his CEO hat on;

  “Alright guys that’s enough, this is a boardroom not . . . whatever this is, also Jake - she's right.”

  Kelly has a smug look on her face, like she wants to stick her tongue out, but she fights the urge. Jake looks defeated but as Kelly starts to sit down Jake utters to words;

  “Spelman Morehouse.”

  “Why are you saying the name of a college?” asked Kelly.

  “He knows what it means . . . Isn't that right - boss.” Jake is toying with Kage at this point.

  “Really Jake, you really wanna do this. The spelman morehouse clause, you're a jerk you know that.” Kage whines to Jake, and Jake just starts laughing.

  “And you're all out of tallies, so you have to honor our agreement.”

  “Jake I swear you have the worst timing in the world, I just created a flying car. Can I find some other way to make it up to you?” Kage pleaded

  “Kage you know I love to see you beg but no way. We party this weekend!” Unfortunately Kage can’t get out of this.

  “Alright you got your wish! Now let's go over the details of the meeting .” Kage orders.

  ————————

  “BY ARIES BLADE, YOURE. . . PUSHING US OUT!! YOU DIDN'T EVEN CONSULT US!” Jonah. . . Sieng, Yous have to be just as insulted as I?” The man shouts from the other end of the table.

  “The only person I need to consult is me. It’s not what you want but it’s going to happen. Like I said for the next ten years, you’ll be paid. Not only that, you can finally reach ‘I’ Status. My plans for Lambda are always for the future. Now that the show is over, can we sign our scribe pads please.” Kage

  The meeting has adjourned, it's just Jake, Kage, and Kelly. Jake places his hand on the table and a green light traces his hand. A bottle of bourbon emerged from the table, surrounded by three crystal glasses. Jake stands and pours them each a drink. “I’d like to make a toast, to celebrate the rebirth of Lambda, and to mom and dad they would’ve loved to see today happen.” Kage and Kelly meet Jake where he stands. They all cheer and drink!

  —————————

  It’s the night of Noris’ birthday party, in the lovely city of Rio De Janeiro. The heat can be smelled through the night air. It only intensifies the sweet Rio aroma.

  “This is why we don’t put you behind the wheel, you drive like a maniac.” Kage says.

  “If I let you drive we’d be there tomorrow.” They both laugh at Jake’s sly comment.

  “Are you excited to go crazy tonight! Time to unleash your inner satyr!” Jake’s enthusiasm is what he’s known for.

  “I don’t think I’d want to be compared to a satyr!” Kage jokes.

  “Well at least their par-”

  . . . Suddenly a bird attacks Kage. Jake tries to help, but he almost loses control of the car. Horns blare, so the bird flies away. Kage is fine though his hair is just a little messy.

  “What the hell man did you owe the bird some money?” Asked Jake

  He notices Kage taking deep breaths. Jake taps his shoulder;

  “Hey, are you okay? You look like your about to vomit.” Jake looks worried.

  “Yeah. I’m good. When we swerved, I kinda-”

  “SHIT! I’m totally an asshole, do you want me to pull over?”

  “No No, we’re good. I have to get back in the swing of things.” He reassures Jake, Kage didn’t want to ruin the moment.

  They drive in silence for a while, until they pull up behind a few cars in an empty dirt lot, surrounded by acres of trees. Security is checking for IDs, they aren’t wearing their usual uniforms. Instead they were ordered to wear; white short sleeve button up, white shorts, white shoes.

  “Invitations please.” Ordered the security guard their Russian accent cutting through the words.

  Jake taps his watch and two barcodes appear. The security guard's glasses scan them and the barcodes light up green.

  “Alright, follow path to da left. Enjoy Party!” His bold Russian accent makes it sound funny, Jake chuckles.

  Jake just nods his head and proceeds up hill. As they approach the festivities; the music is what you hear first. People are everywhere surrounding this massive three storied cabin, it's decorated very nicely. You can tell it’s a party made for a Princess.

  Surprisingly enough the cabin isn't the main attraction, A super moon fills the sky, it lights up the lake just enough that you can see people splashing about. When they pull up to the house a valet is waiting for them. They hop out and the valet hops in, Kage gives the valet four gold coins.

  “Thanks man!” The valet cheers. Those gold coins are gonna feed him for a good minute.

  Kage and Jake have to push pass the crowd, some greet them and some just stare. As they enter they’re approached by a robotic servant;

  “Hello, welcome to Nori’s Birthday bash. Would you like a shot of tequila?” Without any thought they both clear the tray of shots. And walk past the bot. It seems like they found their crowd.

  “O.M.G! He’s here! I’m gonna go get Nori!” A man jumps up and trips over the furniture trying to make his way out.

  “And who was that guy?” Asked Kage.

  “Oh yeah we picked up a new stray.”

  “Not this again. Didn’t y’all learn from the last time.”

  “This time is different. He has his own money, and we made up some new rules.” Kage gives Jake a disappointing look.

  “Don’t look at me like that, you weren’t around and did you see how excited he was. We don’t get that anymore.”

  “uhhhh, I need a drink.” Kage pouts.

  “You know I always got you.” Jake gestures towards Kage.

  He turns to see a beautiful woman, she is the type to turn heads. She’s wearing a two piece bathing suit, that shows her off just too perfect. Golden blind hair, blue eyes. She’s really every man's dream at least that’s what the blogs say.

  “Noriana my love you look stunning, it’s so great to see you, it’s been too long.” Kage compliments her as he embraces her with a very “loving” hug

  “Kage I missed you so much, I was worried sick.” She wipes a tear from her face as she pulls away.

  “Don’t worry, these are happy tears.” Nori says as she goes for another hug.

  These two have been friends ever since Kage did a cannon ball off the rough, at her sweet sixteen.

  “And where is your other half, isn’t it his birthday too?” Questioned Kage. Nori rolls her eyes.

  “I love my brother, but he can be a pain in the neck sometimes.” Her accent isn’t as strong as the security guards but it's there.

  “So you banned him from the party.”

  “Exactly!” She replied, they both laugh.

  “Enough talk, let’s hit the dance floor.” She whips Kage away and they disappear into the crowd.

  —————————

  Jake and Nori are leaning over the balcony of the cabin, drinks in hand.

  “Thanks so much for getting him here, I know it couldn’t have been easy.”

  “No it was not. If it wasn't for the spelman rule, he probably would still be in LA. And on the plus side the guard dog wasn’t too happy about it all, she really needs to get laid.” Nori laughs.

  “If you weren’t such a shit head, it could’ve been you.” Jake takes a sip.

  “I wonder what you did to screw that up - oh yeah . . . you slept with the sister she hates the most.” Nori teases.

  “Uggh, don’t remind me. In my defense I was so high that night, and she came on to me.”

  Nori looks up at the sky all dramatic; “Oh Hera, please slap some sense into him.” “I’m more of a Zeus fan!” Jake rebuttals.

  “Of course you are, Zeus had like five wives, and mistresses.” Nori fires back.

  In a blank of an eye Jake is on the ground, his eyes are blood shot, his skull split open. You can hear people screaming. not from fun but from absolute fear. A woman trips over Jake and falls to the ground, but she doesn't fall because of Jake, it’s because she was shot in the head.

  Jake tries to open his mouth, instead of words it is nothing but a waterfall of blood flowing from his mouth. His breathing gets lighter and lighter.

  It doesn’t matter where people try to run, they’re just gonna be a part of the body count. Bodies are dropping like flies and there’s no one to save them.

  End Of Chapter I