Do you want to be a fashion or outfit designer?
Play Model Debut 3 #nicola [On Steam]
You are an inspired student of Wing Tsun who has ascended to protect the teachings of your temple…
Play Sifu [On Steam] [On Epic]
You are a champion martial artist, representing your fellow humanity in an eternal competition to the death… FIGHT and Finish him!
Play Mortal Kombat 1 [On Steam] [On Epic]
Want to pick your champion and style and then bout against the other greats of martial arts?
Play Shaolin versus Wutang [On Steam]
Play Kings of Kung Fu [On Steam]
Wanna be a Captain or Admiral?
Play World Of Warships [On Steam] [On Epic]
Warning: This episode deals with sensitive topics and is intended for a mature audience. Reader discretion is definitely advised.
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Please support education and information access where you can in addition to these charities:
David Suzuki Foundation (Canada/International – Dr. Suzuki has delivered many keynotes at United Nations Environmental Summit events throughout the years)
Through evidence-based research, education and policy analysis, we work to conserve and protect the natural environment, and help create a sustainable Canada. We regularly collaborate with non-profit and community organizations, all levels of government, businesses and individuals.
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The Humane World for Animals protects the health, lives and rights of animals the world over, ensuring that they too have a voice in this world. We are interdependent upon the complex web of life this entire planet over for our mutual survival. This is a world wide charity.
World Duchenne Organization (International)
Muscular Dystrophy Canada (Canada)
The World Duchenne Organization and Muscular Dystrophy Canada’s mission is to enhance the lives of those affected by neuromuscular disorders by continually working to provide ongoing support and resources while relentlessly searching for a cure through well-funded research.
‘There is a compelling need to ensure that wherever they are in the world, everyone diagnosed with Duchenne (and Becker) Muscular Dystrophy can benefit from a standard of care that is informed by the best practice of the best clinicians from all over the world, and is based upon the latest research.’
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Help research that provides cures and support treatment for sick children.
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Creating a world of possibility for kids and youth with disabilities.
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United Way brings communities together to face their greatest challenges, whether that’s helping families find stability, empowering young people or responding to crises.
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World Veterans Federation (International)
The World Veterans Federation is a humanitarian organisation, a charity and a peace activist movement. The WVF maintains its consultative status with the United Nations since 1951 and was conferred the title of “Peace Messenger” in 1987.
I’d like to point out that it was the incredible Gary Sinese Foundation (United States) that brought the issue of Veteran’s rights to my attention. I’ve always had little respect for those who’d forget the great contribution made by those who’ve risked life and limb to defend those values that so many of us espouse. Perhaps the true measure of one’s principles are by that for which they’d risk their life.
“None can speak more eloquently for peace than those who have fought in war.”
Ralph Bunche, Nobel Peace Prize 1950
The Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation (United States/Global)
The Reeve Foundation provides programs for research, uniting Scientists and Specialists from many different fields to find treatments for spinal cord injury translating them into therapies and support programs.
The Heart And Stroke Foundation (Canada)
For over 60 years, Heart & Stroke has been dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. Our work has saved thousands of lives and improved the lives of millions of others.
The ALS Society Of BC (Canada, British Columbia)
ALS (also known as Lou Gehrig’s Disease) is a progressive neuromuscular disease in which nerve cells die and leave voluntary muscles paralyzed. The ALS society provides a variety of programs to combat this disease and help those with it to survive.
The Global Foodbanking Network (International)
Ensuring that people the world over have enough food day to day in order to survive and lead healthy lives. In this challenging day and age services like this are becoming more and more essential. This is a world wide charity.
Margaret Atwood (Canadian writer)
Internationally renowned writer who continues to stifle us with her characters, plots and prose.
The Pierre Berton Heritage Centre (Canadian writer)
Visit a modest heritage museum for one of my inspirations as a Canadian writer. Children should read The Secret World of Og.
The Edgar Allan Poe Museum (United States writer)
Because Barris told me to put it here. If I didn’t, he said he’d walk. Geez. Stardom really gets to some people’s heads. Maybe I could kill him and bury his heart beneath the floor boards! Or I could encase him in behind a brick and mortar wall, for shaming my family name of Amantillado!
Wikipedia (Global)
The model for what may become the Encyclopedia Galactica, a complete reference and record of history, events and knowledge of humanity and its journey beyond. It is the encyclopedia of all that we know, what we surmise that we’ve known and will learn in the future. Yes, Wikipedia is a charitable organization of great importance. If you enjoy what I am doing here then please take the time to donate to Wikipedia. Surprisingly only 1% of Wikipedia’s users donate yet the site serves pages to millions every day.
Humble Bundle (United States/International)
A video gaming storefront benefiting a vast variety of different Charities in the United States and United Kingdom (hopefully soon to be expanded to include other areas of the world?). Their software bundles and video games allow you to choose which Charity your money benefits and how much of your money benefits that Charity. See? Gamers can do their part too and often do.
Multiple Sclerosis Society Of Canada (Canada)
Multiple Sclerosis is a degenerative disease currently affecting an estimated 2.3 million world wide. By donating you are contributing to effective research in finding a cure and tipping the scales of MS research to change lives forever.
If you’re a resident of Ontario then please consider supporting Building Better Schools.
Other Ways To Help Using Your Computer
Donate your idle computer time to science! Join the World Community Grid by clicking on one of the links below and follow the instructions for how to participate:
Thank you for your support
Shhhh! Digital Media
Brian Joseph Johns
Shhhh! Digital Media Presents:
The Butterfly Dragon – Heroes of our Own: Reimagined
by Brian Joseph Johns
Episode 14: The Trail Leads South
Chapters
- The Bull and the Cow
- The Bull and the Bear
- Lost Connections
- Departures and Layovers
- Something Quite Flightening
- Lost Angels
The Bull and the Cow
Six Years Earlier
Harbour Front Centre, Queen’s Quay
Downtown Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
MissGvious stopped as she stepped into the warehouse, apparently put off by the maze of shelves that awaited her. She was wearing her “superhero” tights, though she looked more like a flashy wrestler than anything. She looked at the maze of shelves and then turned to the two man crew that had accompanied her.
“You wait here. Make sure that nobody else gets in here before I’m done with with that ratbag Torman!” she retrieved her mask, which was looped around her belt.
“Look MissieG, you’re tough and all, but you ain’t even close to the stuff these people got now. They’re gonna take you down, take you out, and leave you for the cops when they get here. I know you ain’t up for that. Why not wait and do this another way?” asked SLinKy, who was nicknamed as such because he was tall and wirey, like a toy.
“He’s right! Or at least bring us wit’ you and we’ll deal with this Torman guy together,” Dogbone added, his thick muscular form made even more threatening by his over the top ghetto tattoos.
“My father is gone because of this ratbag, and he’s gonna pay with his head! Ima gonna do it, and that’s that!” MissG responded as she put on her mask and readied herself with her tonfa.
“Stay here!” she ordered them.
It took her the better part of ten minutes to find her way through the maze, and she’d found herself in dead ends numerous times before eventually emerging near a door, that led to the back offices. She opened the door and was met with a flight of stairs. She quickly ran up them and was then greeted with an identical door. She opened it, and once again found another flight of stairs.
She repeated this until she’d estimated that she was on the tenth floor, though the warehouse was only three stories at most.
“What the hell is going on! Is that you playin’ with me Torman!” she yelled before opening the door for the eleventh time.
When she turned the handle and swung the door open, instead of more stairs, she was greeted with an open office area, at the back of the room there was a door marked: the big boss, in comical writing as if family had gifted the sign as a joke.
“We’ll see about that,” MissGvious made her way through the office, shoving desks aside, though not making a very good show of it.
Instead, it only ramped up her agression.
When she opened the door, she was surprised to see him seated behind the big chair in the office. Valerie, his girlfriend had her back to MissGvious, while Torman was smiling.
“I’ve been expecting you…” he said to her, a sly smile on his face.
[The Time Warp – Richard O’Brien, Richard Quinn and Nell Campbell]
“You…!” she charged across the room leaping up onto the desk and ready to pummel Torman to death with the tonfa. Instead what happened, seemed to defy all logic.
When she leapt up onto the desk, she found herself suddenly outside of his front door once again.
She grabbed the knob and threw the door open furiously, once again charging at Torman and his desk, this time raising the tonfa above her head and ready to crack his skull with it. When she reached the desk and brought the weapon to bare upon him, it struck a solid fireproof filing cabinet that had not been there only moments earlier. She looked around, and realized she was once again in the open office area, this time facing in a different direction, poised before the enormous fire proof filing cabinet, which did not budge after her slamming the tonfa down upon it. Instead, she shook the tonfa in her hand and found that it was broken in half. She’d used enough force to snap the solid metal core of the weapon in two, but her hands were throbbing and in pain.
“What kind of crap is this! I’m going to beat you to death with my own hands!” she yelled as she righted herself, turning and aiming herself at Torman’s office door, once again infuriated by the friendly and comical sign above the door: the big boss.
She charged at it shoulder first, as if trying to knock it off of its hinges. When she hit the door, it flew open and she was confronted with a stairwell down. She flew over the edge and rolled down the stairs, hitting the wall at the bottom.
She stumbled to her feet, swaying side to side as she caught her breath, now dizzy from the fall and the impact. When she’d taken a few breaths, she ran up the stairs, screaming like a banshee at the top of her lungs. She continued with her momentum, throwing his door open once again, continuing through the room until she was atop of his desk.
“Tired yet?” he asked her.
She found herself suddenly overtaken by dizziness and she fell backward off of the desk and onto her back, breathing heavily and on the floor.
“How’d such a skinny runt like you do all of that!” she cursed aloud.
“If you’d just calm down a moment and listen, I might tell you. Or, you can continue trying all you like, but this is just going to keep getting worse and worse for you if you do. The stairs were just the start…” he said to MissGvious, Valerie still seated in front of him. Silent and motionless.
“What’s up with her?” MissGvious got to her feet, spinning Valerie around in her chair and looking at her face.
“She’s just having a little time-out. I thought it would be easier for us to talk this way,” Torman said to her calmly.
“What makes you think that talkin’ is what I had in mind. I was more leanin’ towards you dyin’,” MissGvious responded, leaning over the desk intimidatingly.
“I told you before, and I’ll tell you again. I’m not responsible for your father’s death…” Torman said to her, leaning forward to meet her eye to eye as he did.
“Then who?” MissGvious challenged him.
“We don’t know. He was double-crossed. Made an example of by a third party. Whoever did it though, killed my father…” Torman said to her, a moment of intense ferocity crossing his expression.
“So what are you proposin?” she asked him, stepping back away from the desk and pulling up a chair to sit beside Valerie, who remained motionless.
“I think you’re capable, but you’ve got a lot of limitations. Not only that, but you’re a spoiled brat daughter of a man who tried to give you everything, and in the end gave you nothing as a result,” Torman spoke fearlessly to her.
“Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t just rip your head clean off of your body right now?” MissGvious responded, a tear slowly descending her cheek from her left eye.
“Spoiled little girl. Daddy’s gonna fix it all for you. Make you a DJ star. Buy your entire audience for you. Everyone is going to love you or else… In the end, everyone ended up hating you. Even your best friends, though they were too afraid of your father and you to ever tell you to your face! Me on the other hand, my father made me work for everything I have, and now I’m watching it all get whittled away by an unseen enemy. An enemy that we share… but an enemy that neither of us know for sure…” Torman’s words hit her like a truck.
She didn’t say a thing to him. Instead she sat crying in the chair until she’d finally caught her breath.
“I thought that blonde girl was takin’ you apart?” MissGvious asked him.
“Who? Nuisance Scientist? No. She’s a symptom of the problem. She’s not the cause. Someone long before her had been whittling away at my father’s share. Her showing up is just bad timing, but it also gave us a unique solution to the entire problem… of stopping whoever or whatever it is. Of making whoever did this to your father, and my father, pay for their actions…” Torman’s ferocity disappeared, and was now replaced with a look bordering on optimism. Maybe even hope.
“Allow me to demonstrate. Did you not have enough time this morning to finish anything you’d have preferred due to lack of time? Like breakfast for instance?” Torman asked her, and before she could respond, she was suddenly seated at her kitchen table at home.
There was a vast breakfast feast before her. One that had been prepared by her staff. She checked her watch and found that she had more than an hour to eat before she’d have to leave to meet with SLinKy and Dogbone. She ate her share of food, making sure not to over-eat and then proceeded to get ready. Her day continuing along again right up until the moment she was seated before him, having the same conversation.
“How’d you do that…?” she asked him when she realized that he’d adjusted the continuity of time to allow for her to eat her breakfast without rushing.
“Blondie it appears, had some help. Her unique abilities didn’t just happen out of nowhere you know? She had to earn them per se. So did I. Now how do you think that something like that might help your situation? Help you find your father’s real killer. Find this thing that is a thorn in both of our sides? Do you think you’ve earned that? To be a giant who walks amongst the rest of a tiny and modest humanity? Do you?” Torman asked her.
“Why would you give me something like that. You know I might just pummel you to death for saying what you did, and in the end it would have been you that made it possible,” she responded to him.
“I don’t think so. Valerie here could easily tear us both to shreds, especially you without any unique abilities at all. But as long as I’m holding onto the steering wheel of the direction of the flow of time, there’s nothing any of you could do if I decided that your time’s up. I’m going to take a gamble with you, and you’re going to help us find out who is taking us down. Now when I resume her time, she’s going to decide to walk out of here for good. I’ve been here with her before you arrived, trying to convince her against it for nearly a month now, but only a few minutes has passed for everyone else. I want you to stop her, and find out what she knows about our little problem before she leaves…” Torman opened the drawer and pulled forth one of the vials labeled Y-series.
“After I take that concoction of yours…?” she confirmed with him.
“After. That’s the idea,” he nodded affirmatively to her, measuring out a dose into a needle.
“What’s it going to do to me?” MissGvious asked him.
“I don’t know. I do know however that there’s one way to find out…” Torman stood with the needle and approached her.
The Bull and the Bear
Six Years Earlier
Harbour Front Centre, Queen’s Quay
Downtown Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Valerie checked her purse for her phone, realizing that if she couldn’t find a way out of the building before the Police stormed it, that she would either have to confront them, or surrender to them.
She dialed a number that she’d only called one other time recently, and that was during the process of arranging the professional and business aspects of her marriage to Torman. She then plugged in her earphone and ventured into the maze of shelves.
“Valerie? Haven’t heard from you for a while. Is everything alright with your marriage license. Did you need something specific?” asked her attorney.
“Keith, we’re canceling the marriage. We’re not going through with any plans, but that’s not why I’m calling you,” Valerie explained to Keith as she strode through the maze, seemingly not remembering how she’d gotten through the correct path when she’d arrived with Torman.
“How can I help you?” Keith responded in a friendly and concerned voice.
“I believe that Torman is going to be facing some legal battles soon, and given the fact that my life and finances were tied up in his for the last few years, I’m looking to secure your help in the situation?” Valerie explained to him.
“Have you been approached by Police or any investigators yet?” he asked her.
“No, but things certainly seem to be headed that way, and I’d like to land on my feet. Honestly and professionally,” Valerie replied to him.
“I think that’s the kind of thing we’ll need to discuss in person. Would you like to setup a meeting? This is pretty important so I’m going to put aside the coming Monday for you. How’s 11:30? We could do brunch, my treat?” Keith asked her.
“That sounds fine. Look, I’m going to bring all my paperwork, including the pre-nups and my contract with Tynan. I just want to make sure that if there are any legal issues that arise from this situation, that I’m protected. I was a good partner and trusted him, and if he’s going to face anything for his dealings, I want to make sure that I’m not held liable,” Valerie asserted herself carefully, fighting back the emotional pain of suddenly having to speak on the matter, especially given the events of the last few days.
“If anything happens and you’re taken into custody, call me the second it happens and I’ll post bail for you and clear up your living arrangements for the near future until we get all of this sorted out. Just take it easy and don’t stress. Take a little time for yourself. I know how hard these situations can be,” Keith offered her consolingly before he bid her farewell for the day.
She sniffled and wiped her eyes, and continued through the maze, suddenly confused about where she was.
“Are you lost, little girl?” an unfamiliar woman’s voice confronted her.
It was harsh and rigid. Bestial even.
“Are you one of the administrators here? Could help me out of this maze?” Valerie asked, believing that she was hearing the voice of a worker from the warehouse.
“An Administrator? No. I’m the keeper of this maze, which is quite fitting. You see, we’re doing some weeding around here…” the voice responded.
“Look, could you just help me get out of here. I’m not in the mood for any nonsense, and I’ll be out of your hair after that…” Valerie became frustrated but managed to keep her own temper at bay.
…
“I’m hearing voices…” SLinKy said to Dogbone.
“You’re always hearing stuff. Its just MissieG in there and she’s probably teachin’ Torman the lesson of his life,” Dogbone responded.
“‘Scuse me? Are you two the tour guides?” both SLinKy and Dogbone turned around suddenly, and were confronted by a blonde haired woman in a mask.
“Oh sh#t! Its her!” SLinKy fell backwards onto the cold warehouse floor as Dogbone attacked, throwing a quick punch at Alicia, who leapt over him and was now standing behind him facing his back.
“Uh… I’m your conscience telling you that was a bad idea…” Alicia said to Dogbone from behind.
When he turned in attempt to confront her, she quickly swept his legs out from under him and threw him into the shelving behind him.
When SLinKy tried to grab her, he felt her hand quickly clasp his arm. She twisted his arm around behind his back, and held him in place.
“Alright, its time for a game of follow the leader and you’re the leader, and I’m following. So lead on, or your shoulder is going to get awfully painful,” Helayne said to him from behind, her wings folded up into back and disappeared from sight.
“I’ve never been in this maze before,” he responded to her, the sound of fear in his voice.
“That’s exactly what most rats say when you drop them into a maze, but they always seem to have a knack for finding their way out. Lead on,” Helayne advised him, tightening her grip of his arm behind his back.
He winced in pain and then proceeded forward as she’d instructed.
“Watch and learn,” Helayne said to Alicia.
“I’m just trying to keep up with you. Apparently its rank before seniority in your case,” Alicia replied.
“Don’t ask me. I’m just following a rat in a maze,” Helayne continued.
…
Valerie turned the corner and nearly tripped over something that had fallen through one of the shelves. When she checked closer, she nearly screamed for it was a man, and a muscular one at that. Someone had thrown him clean through four shelving units, sending various hardware supplies from the shelves to the floor of the warehouse.
“At least he’s breathing. I can smell his breath from here,” Valerie muttered under her own.
When she turned the corner into another row of shelves, she paused, for there at the other end was the silhouette of a significantly muscular woman. She appeared to be wearing a hat with two large horns protruding from the top.
“Is that supposed to be scary? Look, I’ve had a bad morning already, and I really don’t want to have to take you apart, so if you could either lead me out, or step aside, we can just take it from there,” Valerie had clearly had enough, and clenched her fists as she recalled her battle with Alicia earlier.
The lady at the end of the row, instead of responding, began charging at Valerie, lowering her head as if readying herself to use the two horns to gore her. MissGvious slammed into Valerie, sending her flying through the row of shelves behind her. She slid along the floor and came to a stop when she hit the wall.
“It came from that way!” Alicia said to Helayne, who then discarded her guide, pushing him behind her.
“Go back the way you came and turn yourself in…” Helayne suggested to SLinKy.
“Good idea…” he responded without hesitating, turning and running back the way they’d come.
“There’s someone else in here with us…” Helayne said to Alicia.
“Like, I know! I like already played baseball with her this morning. I was the ball, and the credenza she picked up and hit me with was the bat…” Alicia responded.
“We’ll take her together,” Helayne replied when something slammed into her, sending her flying across the maze and through all of the shelving units between where they were, and the outside wall of the building. She hit it with a thud and slid down to the floor, finding Valerie getting up and dusting herself off.
“How did that feel?!!!” Valerie said to Helayne.
“I think a visit to my chiropractor might be in order…” Helayne winced as she spoke, getting to her feet, dizzy from the impact force.
“Wait… you’re not the one with the horns?” Valerie said to Helayne suddenly, recalling her from their battle on the Gardiner Expressway earlier.
“Horns? No. I’m the one with the butterfly wings… Maybe you’re thinking of my antennas?” Helayne joked as she gained her balance.
“If you’re not… then where’s…?” Valerie had barely finished her sentence when someone or something crashed into her with tremendous force.
MissGvious slammed into Valerie sending her to the other side of the warehouse where she like Helayne had moments earlier, slammed into a wall, causing the bricks to bulge on the exterior as the Police Tactical Operations Unit rounded the sides of the warehouse.
“Hold! Tell the Lieutenant there’s a frickin’ war going on in there!” one of the officers signaled back to his peers, the dust falling from the walls beside them.
Back inside of the warehouse, Alicia had climbed the few shelving units that remained standing, trying to get at whatever was taking them down.
“They’re making their entry into the building as we speak… They’re halfway along the outside wall and nearing the front entrance…” Aikiko said over her headset.
“That’s if they even use the doors. They might just come in through the wall…” Myung added from beside Aikiko just inside of the warehouse front doors, Helayne and Alicia hearing her through their headsets.
“That’s not a bad idea…” Helayne responded, realizing they could use a little light on the situation.
Her butterfly wings opened up and she flew at the top corner of the roof, folding her wings around her as she impacted the wall. Far above the Tactical Operations Unit, the bricks and debris fell just narrowly missing them. Helayne returned to the warehouse floor, the entire warehouse now bathed in the bright afternoon sun.
MissGvious was no longer hidden, and stood almost in the middle where she’d hit Valerie as Alicia dove from the top of the shelves and grabbed hold of her horns, clinging to them as she pressed herself against MissGvious’ back.
MissGvious ran furiously at the walls nearest Valerie, who was just getting to her feet.
“The Police! They’re outside of that wall!” Helayne yelled at Alicia.
Valerie stood and caught one of MissGivous’ arms as Alicia pried her head sideways in an attempt to steer her away from the wall.
Valerie managed to keep her place as the she held MissGvious arm, and redirected her along the length of the wall rather than perpendicular to it. MissGvious and Alicia both slammed into the corner of the building, the wall in that section collapsing and leaving them in the open and outside, where the Tactical Operations Unit leveled their weapons at them on the ground.
MissGvious was on her feet first, and she sneered at Alicia.
“I think I’ve had just about enough bull-caca for today…” Alicia said as she leapt to her feet.
A cannister grenade hit the pavement beside them, rolling to a stop as it hit the debris. Gas began pouring out of the grenade, causing MissGvious to begin sneezing uncontrollably as the Tactical Operations Unit closed in around the women, their gas masks protecting them from the tear gas.
There was a sudden bright flash, as a concussion grenade hit the ground near them. Alicia covered her eyes, and tried to find a way out of the situation as Valerie ducked back into the warehouse, retreating behind the part of the wall that was still standing.
Helayne flew over to Alicia and grabbed her up, continuing her momentum back into the warehouse after Valerie, who was now running in the direction of the back office once again.
Torman suddenly appeared as if from nowhere, and was about to deliver them a speech, when Alicia dove at him as Helayne released her, and managed to grab something from one of his pockets without realizing it.
“…MissGvious! We’re leaving! We’ll meet again!” both Torman and MissGvious disappeared, leaving Valerie, Alicia, Helayne, Myung and Aikiko exposed in the sunlight within the warehouse as the Police Tactical Operations Unit stormed the building trying to contain the situation.
“Now what?” Monique appeared from beneath some of the rubble where she’d been trying to hide.
“We leave. Hang on!” Helayne’s wings stretched, giving each of them a surface to grab where she could carry them as she took to the air, all five of them. Six if you counted the Butterfly Dragon herself.
Before the chopper could take off from the site the Police had setup to contain their super-powered battle, the Butterfly Dragon had disappeared into the sky, no longer visible to any of them.
Helayne flew over the top of her condominium building, all five of the women clinging to her then letting go and falling to the rooftop gently as she landed beside them.
Alicia rubbed her back and twisted a bit, as did Helayne, stretching to make sure she hadn’t twisted her spine before their heightened healing kicked in, and a few moments later they felt better.
“So where does this leave us?” asked Valerie of Helayne and Alicia.
“Torman’s still out there, and he’s still got the formula, and there’s no doubt that he’s going to capitalize on that,” Alicia responded.
“Then we still need to stop him, but we have no way of knowing where he’s going now…” Helayne added.
“Don’t we…?” Alicia held up something in her hand.
“What’s that?” asked Monique, quickly grabbing it from her, already knowing it was a wallet.
She opened it, thumbing through the cash inside, pulling a pair of two hundred dollar bills from within and then handing it back to Alicia.
“What was that for?” asked Alicia.
“The down time he’s caused so far in delaying my getting started as a supermodel,” Monique responded, looking to Helayne.
“She’s got a point,” Helayne replied as Valerie grabbed the wallet.
“I don’t think she was talking about the money. I think blondie…” Valerie began.
“Alicia… I’m Alicia,” Alicia removed her mask, and formally and for the first time, introduced herself to Valerie.
“I’m Valerie. Valerie Aspen,” Valerie’s gait remained firm and then she smiled at Alicia, and then Helayne.
“Maybe you should use codenames? You know, like hackers?” Aikiko suggested.
“What’s the NS stand for?” asked Valerie.
“New Scientist!” Alicia quickly responded excitedly with her chosen name, and then quickly withdrew her submission thereof.
“I know. It sucks. But its sooo accurate. I so wanted it to be cool…” Alicia added as she thought about it.
“She’s Alicia Westin aka Night Style and I’m Helayne Ying: the Butterfly Dragon,” Helayne introduced them.
“I’m Aikiko Tanaka aka Domin8rix,” Aikiko introduced herself.
“I’m Myung Chung-Ae. Just Myung is fine,” Myung brushed her long hair from her eyes and smiled.
“Monique Defleur. I don’t have a codename, but I have like two hundred extra bucks now…” she smiled.
“And we have a pair of airline tickets. The ones he kept in his wallet. The ones that tell us where he’s going next…” Valerie opened the wallet and pulled forth the airline tickets, showing them to Alicia and Helayne.
“And I managed to get one of the three vials of formula from him…” Alicia showed them the vial labeled Y-series.
“He’s already got a Bull on his side…” Valerie remarked, rubbing the place on her clothing which bore a puncture hole from one of MissTauri’s horns.
“You mean a Cow. Bulls are male, and she’s clearly just a Cow with horns…” Alicia responded before Monique cut her off.
“…and a bad attitude,” Monique added with a smile.
“That too. But I think the point is clear. The longer he has that formula, the more monsters he’s going to make to protect his escape,” Helayne interjected assertively.
“Agreed. We need to stop him before he makes his flight to…” Alicia quickly examined the airline tickets, trying to find the destination.
“Los Angeles. We were going to Los Angeles,” Valerie explained to them.
“Why? What’s there that he’s connected to?” asked Monique asked Valerie.
“I don’t know. He wouldn’t say. He only said that he had some contacts in that direction and that we needed to go there ASAP,” Valerie responded, still playing with the hole that MissTauri had left in her blazer.
“Don’t play with that! I can fix it,” Helayne urged Valerie, who looked to her questioningly.
“Lets get inside. We can jump down onto my balcony from here and regroup, get cleaned up…” Helayne began only to find herself interrupted.
“Again? Why can’t we just go after him?” asked Monique.
“Lets get our wits about us,” Helayne continued.
“And a plan. How about a plan?” Aikiko urged them.
“We only have two hours before his flight leaves. If we’re going to do this, we have to do it quick,” Alicia reminded Helayne.
“Lets do it then,” Myung agreed, stepping over to the side of the roof she recalled as being where Helayne’s balcony was situated.
They jumped down one by one, and when they were all safely on the balcony, Helayne opened the door and they stepped into the condo.
Lost Connections
Norler walked the long hall towards the stage entrance, passing one of the organizers along the way.
“Looking sharp today Mr. Norler. Don’t forget about your phone. Don’t want to be receiving any calls while you’re on stage…” a man in his late thirties addressed Norler as he approached the door, the two event security representatives examining him closely.
“Phone? Right…” Norler grabbed his phone from his pocket and quickly switched it to Do Not Disturb, and then repocketed it.
“Thanks. Am I clear to go in?” Norler quickly thanked his coworker and then turned to the security reps.
“You’re all clear. Break a leg in there,” one of them said to him.
Norler stepped through the door and then tripped on the first step up, the other security rep catching him before he fell.
“Not literally…” the security rep patted his back.
“Right. Thanks again,” Norler replied, then continuing on toward the stage.
“They’re waiting for you…” a lady addressed him as he passed, stepping out onto the stage before the audience.
When Norler had cleared the curtain, he began waving to the audience, whom were lined up in rows, seated before him as he took the podium. He waited for the applause to die down before speaking.
“Thank you. Sorry I’m a bit late, but its been a very busy and productive morning, and certainly not lacking in the department of good news. Now lets get one thing straight first. You’re my clients. In fact, amongst the most important of clients, for you represent the breadth of shareholders of Tynan and Associates Medical Research. There is nothing we’re doing – nothing we’ve done, that could have been possible without you,” Norler’s hands moved almost as much as his mouth when he spoke.
“We’re now living in the day of the eve before our greatest breakthrough. An advance in the treatment of virii and degenerative diseases that will eventually lead to the extinction of one of the greatest threats humanity faces. And that was all made possible by you, and your investment dollars. The Y-series…” Norler continued his charismatic oration when he was interrupted by one of the audience.
“What about the security breach?” one of the men near the middle of the crowd spoke, his arms folded over his chest as he did.
“…The Y-series formula is on the last stages of its tests for approval of use in Canada and the United States, with approval for Europe and Asia to follow shortly thereafter…” Norler stumbled slightly with his words but continued until the another man spoke, this time much closer to the front row.
“We’re heard from our sources about a serious security breach. We want answers,” the man said firmly to Norler, not allowing him to continue without he first being heard.
“I was going to get to that issue, but seeing as its clearly at the top of the list for many of you, let me say that we’ve since sealed every possible source of information or test product leakage, and that we’re working diligently to calculate the nature of risks imposed by the breach,” Norler spoke confidently and without fumbling, keeping his eyes focused on the audience, and especially the two men who’d spoken up.
“Are we looking a competitive breach? Corporate espionage? Future Tangent Industries is and has been very eager to take its own slice of the market in Medical Pharmacology. Does this security breach present the possibility of their arriving at that eventuality sooner than our projected return on investment window of opportunity?” the first man continued.
“At this point, in all honesty, its too early for us to comment about the nature of this breach, or its implications regarding intellectual property, especially in the area of medical patents. I can say that we’ve an experienced team of highly specialized experts working around the clock to piece the situation together…” a lump momentarily appeared in Norler’s throat as he responded, and a growing silence enveloped the room.
…
“Alright. All done,” Helayne, who was now in her house coat and slippers, handed Valerie her blazer.
“Thank you. You do this for a living I take it?” asked Valerie of Helayne.
“No. Just trying for the Martha Stewart Homemaker of the Year Award,” Helayne winked at Alicia, who herself was also in a housecoat and slippers.
“How’s our costumes doing?” asked Alicia of Aikiko, who was now standing out on the balcony with an electric fan, focusing it on their costumes trying to dry them.
“Pretty good. They’re almost completely dry,” Aikiko responded, rubbing the material of Helayne’s Butterfly Dragon costume to check if it had been dried from the cleaning she’d given it.
“I don’t want to sound like the Canadian Space Agency or anything, but we definitely have to solve the heat problem of our costumes,” Alicia urged Helayne, who rubbed her chin thoughtfully as she pondered the challenge.
“I’m already thinking about it, but there’s nothing we do for now. We’re stuck with our costumes for the entirety of this trip,” Helayne replied.
“What about the logistics of how we’re going to do this? Like who of us is going with you? What are the rest of us going to do in the meantime?” asked Aikiko of them after stepping in from the balcony.
“Helayne and I are going. That’s who…” Alicia was quick to point out.
“And me. You’re not leaving me here. I have a bone to pick with both Super Taurus and Torman,” Valerie added, folding her arms across her breasts after donning the blazer.
“That’s three. That should be enough of us. The rest of you can help us from here. Myung, you can gather information from your circle at the courts that might help us to learn more about what exactly we’re looking for,” Helayne suggested.
“Aikiko could do the same. I mean, she’s an ethical hacker… dominatrix, she can be anywhere, and anything she needs to be,” Alicia added to the plan.
“That settles it. I’ll leave Monique with the key to my condo and you can use it when and if you need to,” Helayne agreed.
“I’m going to check and see how Monique is doing with packing your things for the trip…” Myung said to Helayne and Alicia, then turning and leaving the living room towards Helayne’s bedroom.
A cellular phone began ringing from amongst a trio of them laying on the kitchen counter.
“Its mine. I’ve got it!” Alicia quickly ran over to her phone and answered it.
“Hi. How’d you do this morning… You’re all over the news and I was pretty worried about you…” Norler immediately spoke into the phone when she’d answered it.
“Uhhh… Yeah. About that. It appears that Torman left a guard dog in his office…” Alicia tested her luck with the remark.
“Watch it blondie! We still have eight innings left to go in our baseball game!” Valerie replied aggressively.
“But she’s friendly…” Alicia looked over to Valerie.
“That’s better…” Valerie responded.
“And pottie trained…” Helayne added.
Valerie gave Helayne a smirk that was enough to give her shivers.
“You’re not injured or anything, are you?” asked Norler of her.
“No. All healed up, but I can’t say the same for Torman’s office. I did however manage to get one of the vials, not to mention that Torman’s right hand woman is now on our side,” Alicia explained to him.
“How many does he have left?” asked Norler.
“Two full vials. That’s enough to make eight more like us, and still have enough left over to reverse engineer the formula,” Alicia informed him.
“Alicia, there’s something I need to tell you. I didn’t tell you the whole truth when we spoke early this morning…” Norler began coming clear on some matters he’d neglected to speak about with her earlier.
“Oh no! You’re married?” Alicia replied, biting her fist.
“No. Its not that. I’m working with some other people. People who have been investigating Torman and his network for years. The kind of people who investigate matters of this nature in the interest of national security,” Norler spoke carefully.
“And that means…you can”t speak with me?” Alicia confirmed with him.
“No. It means that this problem is a lot bigger… than we thought…” Norler responded, pausing mid sentence.
“How? I mean some knuckle head running around with enough formula to make a small army of super people and the possibility of his reverse engineering it is pretty significant,” Alicia insisted.
“Yes. It is, but he’s the least of our problems. Believe me, not to mention, the worst of our problems might be his best friend,” Norler responded slowly and cautiously.
“Monique! Monique!” from Helayne’s bedroom there came the startled cries of Myung.
Helayne, Alicia and Valerie quickly made their way to the bedroom, where they saw Monique laying lifelessly on the floor, one of Alicia’s vials lay on the floor beside her, sealed, but about one third empty.
“She didn’t?!!!” asked Myung of them.
Alicia picked up the vial and examined the contents, and then checked Monique’s temperature by placing her hand on her forehead.
“She did,” Alicia responded softly.
“Norler, I’ve got an emergency here. I’ll call you back,” Alicia spoke frantically into the phone but when she listened for his response, Norler was already gone.
Departures and Layovers
“Don’t panic! Everyone just remain calm!” Alicia spoke frantically, pacing back and forth.
Myung and Aikiko watched Alicia pace the room and then looked at each other and shrugged, finally returning their attention to Monique.
“We have to go! We’re going to miss the flight!” Valerie said firmly to them.
“But we can’t just leave her here like this…” Helayne responded defensively.
“Oh yes we can. You just said it yourself Alicia. Every one of us who has been through this, has done it alone and survived…” Valerie reminded them.
“She’s in stage two. There could be complications. Something I missed in my research. Assuming that her erythrocytes have procured enough oxygen, she should survive lung collapse during the liquefactive necrosis phase… but if I’m wrong…” Alicia paused, questioning her own self-assuredness.
“If you were wrong, none of us would be here at my condo, having this conversation,” this time it was Helayne who spoke up.
“She’s right Alicia. We have to go. This has to play out without us,” Valerie insisted.
“I thought we were settled on the fact that you are not coming with us,” Alicia stepped forward between Helayne, facing Valerie.
“Here we go,” Helayne shook her head.
“After what I’ve been through? I’ll go where I damned well want, and you’re not going to stop me. I’m standing on my own two feet and moving forward from herein. Now keep up or get out of my way,” Valerie stood up to Alicia, though not so much menacingly as much as a woman who’d recently found her sense of self-respect and integrity.
“We’d be fools to turn down her help,” Helayne reminded Alicia.
“How do we know that she’s not going to turn on us? That this isn’t a plan she has with Torman?” asked Alicia hypothetically.
“We don’t, but we’ve got to start trusting each other somewhere along the way,” Aikiko spoke up from beside Monique, whose lips suddenly let out a final gasp of air.
Alicia looked to Monique, and then to Aikiko and finally back to Valerie.
“Fine! But I’m keeping my eyes on you,” Alicia finally agreed.
“So I take it that means that you three are getting ready to leave for a vacation in Los Angeles and leaving Aikiko and I here to tend with your dying best friend?” Myung confirmed with them.
Helayne was about to speak up, but Valerie interrupted her.
“Pretty much,” Valerie said to her coldly.
“Just keep a close eye on her, and when she comes out of her reparative coma, keep her calm and be cautious. Most of all, don’t let her do anything stupid,” Alicia said to them firmly from Helayne’s laundry room as she grabbed her regular clothing from the dryer.
“Stupid? That’s practically how she ended up making a decision like this in the first place!” Aikiko responded to Alicia.
“No. She made that decision on her own and for reasons that I don’t think any of us would understand. If I wasn’t the Butterfly Dragon, I’d be right here with you, waiting until she awoke. We have to stop this and we have to do it now, or its over,” Helayne responded, drawing from her own life experience in the process.
“So we’re going to keep in contact then. Use our party-line headset setup?” Aikiko confirmed with Alicia.
“You got it. You’ve got the computer skills Aikiko, and you’ve got the legal know-how Myung. When she comes to, you’ll have an unemployed model with who knows what abilities to help you,” Alicia spoke as she struggled to pull up her pants, standing on one leg.
“She’s employed. This is her paid vacation,” Helayne quickly defended her as she gathered the last of her bathroom amenities for her travel bag and suit case.
“Got anything that will fit me?” asked Valerie as she went through Helayne’s walk-in closet, holding a dress on the hangar up to her own body and checking herself in the mirror.
“Not that one!” Helayne quickly returned from the bathroom and walked directly to the walk-in closet, grabbing the dress from Valerie and returning it to the place from where she’d pulled it.
“They’re sorted, by style and then colour. Stick to the dresses. My pants won’t fit you, but I do have some spandex training outfits that might work,” Helayne suggested.
“I was hoping for something a little more casual, and something a little more like a costume,” Valerie continued.
“You yourself said we have to go. Pick some of my clothes, throw them in a suitcase and lets go. We’ll get your costume sorted out later,” Helayne urged her, leaving her to pick.
By the time Helayne and Valerie had finished packing, Alicia was once again by Monique’s side and checking her progress.
“She’s still got another hour or so before her her stem cells start producing the modified Y-series cells, at which point the integrity of her ventral body cavity should return, at which point she’ll start breathing again. When this happens, watch out because she might expel a lot of viscous fluid from her lungs,” Alicia explained to Myung and Aikiko.
“Uhhhh, now could you explain that to us so we can understand it?” Myung replied.
“She said that Monique’s body shape is going to return and that when that happens, she might hawk a giant loogie,” Aikiko put it very bluntly and in hacker’s streetwise lingo.
“Please let there be some hope of my fair lady in there somewhere…” Helayne addressed Myung, though referring jokingly to Aikiko.
“The airport cab is going to be downstairs in five minutes. We’re leaving. We’ve got the instant party-line setup. All you do is call the number I sent you, and you’ll be connected to our private communications circle,” Alicia instructed Aikiko, who checked her phone to confirm everything.
“Got it. Just like Discord,” Aikiko responded.
“Yeah. Sure. Its a lot like disco,” Helayne nodded her head, responding agreeably, honestly having no idea what Discord was, assuming Aikiko had said disco.
“I’m geared up, ready to go,” Valerie notified them.
“Good. Lets be on our way,” Alicia went to the door and opened it, stepping out into the hall followed by Valerie.
“Now no late nights, and your friends have to leave before the street lights come on. And no parties! We’ll talk soon,” Helayne said to Myung and Aikiko jokingly as she closed the door.
Before the door latched shut, she opened it again.
“And put Monique on the party-line the moment she’s ready,” Helayne said to them and then firmly closed the door.
“You know, I really think that we got the worst end of the deal,” Myung said to Aikiko as she watched over Monique with concern.
“Yeah. Baby sitting a French jellyfish wannabe is sooo passé…” Aikiko replied to her friend.
…
Norler walked down the hall from the convention room, as an intern caught up with him.
“Uhhhh, Sir? Norler? They’re waiting for you in the cafeteria,” the intern, who himself was aptly dressed in a suit and tie, said to him.
“I thought the cafeteria was closed today?” Norler stopped to face the intern.
“They’re in there. Waiting for you. They said you’re free to pass on it, but that it would reflect badly on you,” the intern replied.
“Alright. Thank you,” Norler turned and continued walking, this time with the cafeteria as his destination.
When he got to the door, he expected to find it locked, and to find out that the whole thing was a joke that somebody from the trading floor had put the intern up to. Remarkably though, the door knob turned and he stepped into the room, where he spied a man and a woman seated at one of the tables.
They both stood and introduced themselves.
“Walton Norler?” asked the lady.
“Can I see your driver’s license? Your passport?” asked the man, who was wearing a business suit himself.
“What is this about? Is this over the security breach?” asked Norler, fumbling through his pockets for his wallet.
“Please?” the man held out his hand.
“Oh. Here,” Norler handed his driver’s license to the man, who examined it carefully and then handed it back to him.
The man turned and nodded to the lady, who then continued.
“I’m Inspector Tricia Camden and this is Inspector William Halmand,” Tricia presented her badge to Norler, who examined it nearly as carefully as Halmand had his driver’s licence.
“Then this is regarding the security breach?” Norler confirmed with her.
“Do you have a moment?” Tricia gestured to the seat beside him.
“Oh, yes. Certainly. How can I help you?” Norler responded.
Tricia and Halmand returned to their seats across from Norler, and Halmand started the questioning.
“How long have you known Grier Torman?” asked Halmand, without confirming whether Norler in fact knew Torman at all.
“About three years. Not closely though. I’ve only really gotten to know him over the last year,” Norler responded.
“Did you have any association with the Torman family other than through Grier?” asked Halmand.
“No. I only know Grier as an investment analyst, in fact one of the most accurate on our team,” Norler recalled correctly, though he’d often speculated himself that the means that such accuracy was achieved was actually the result of some form of insider activity.
“How would you describe your relationship with Grier Torman?” asked Halmand, blandly, though without taking his eyes off of Norler.
“Fair most of the time. Tense sometimes. May I ask you why you’re asking me these questions?” asked Norler, looking first to Tricia and then to Halmand.
“Tense. That’s an interesting word to use when describing your relationship with another person. Tense as in a friendship? Loyalty. Maybe even a little bit of brotherly love, or tense as in loathing. Passionate dislike or even hate for the other person. I know that you make a living charming the pants off of investors, and that your command of language is formidable. You’re definitely in a position to be fearful of losing it all to a competitor over whom you feel tension, i.e. tense,” Halmand became ominous, even foreboding in a sense as he leaned forward, putting his elbows on the table as if affronting Norler’s personal space.
“Has something happened to him?” asked Norler of Halmand, and then he looked to Tricia and then back again.
Halmand held his gait directly at Norler for another ten seconds, watching Norler carefully. Ten seconds later, the tension disappeared almost immediately. Halmand folded his arms across his chest and leaned back, turning to Tricia, who kept her focus on Norler.
“Curtis Torman was murdered a year and a half ago, execution style, in a hit,” Tricia explained to Norler.
“Curtis? Is that Torman’s brother?” asked Norler, not knowing his fellow board member well enough to know his family.
“Its his father. Curtis Torman, of the Torman family,” Tricia continued.
“Torman Financial. Yes, I’m aware of them. They’re well known at a national scale, but far from the kind of global investment capital that Tynan and Associates is known for. We’re dealing in global scale finance, like Future Tangent and MindSpice, though our capital isn’t focused on one market alone like theirs. We’re quite diversified,” Norler explained to Tricia, looking only momentarily to Halmand on account of how intimidated he was by the man.
“Is there anyone else on your board of directors that you’re aware might stand to gain by creating a war between families involved in sketchy investment companies?” Tricia asked him.
“A war? You just said that Curtis, was killed execution style in a professional hit. That doesn’t sound like any of our brokers. I’d even be skeptical if someone told me that Grier was involved with something of that nature. I mean, I am aware that he does business a little differently than other people, maybe even a little more aggressively, but I think that he regards himself as a man of refined taste, rather than being a thug, if that’s what you’re getting at, and matters that involve financial crimes or fraud are handled immediately and harshly by our chairman of the board, not withstanding their legal liability as well,” Norler tread carefully though not because he was involved in anything of that nature, but because often in the kind of business they did, there were many grey areas that proved to be vast sources of capital. Some in their company dabbled in such matters, while most didn’t.
Norler knew that much of the most ground breaking work in finance was achieved by those who knew the rules well enough to know the loopholes. Where technically speaking, nobody was getting cheated or ripped off, but where someone had exposed a means by which investment capital could multiplied rapidly, thanks to little known incentives and programs or even by the mathematics of market analysis.
That capital then was recirculated back into the investment pool, where it created value in the form of employment, which in turn fed the infrastructure and economy. The way that Norler always saw it was that accountability to the investors and the public (going back to his edict of better business) came first, and to ensure that investment money was working for the economy as much so as for the investors. The kind of investment analysts and brokers who explored these grey areas were often brilliant when it came to their regular investment habits, a fact that had seldom gone unnoticed by Norler, and in order to do his part to nurture these sorts of inspired people, he did his best not to step on their toes.
He’d had tension and issues with Grier, and they’d often played their silent competitive game with each other. Torman deep into the questionable side, and Norler deep into the ethical. Both a mutual loathing for one another, but at the same time, a respect that often had both of them resenting themselves for even feeling as such. They both despised the kind of person that the other was, but knew very little about their respective opposites in the first place. Norler knew for certain though, that neither he nor Torman would ever escalate their little competition into the arena of execution. It was beyond Norler’s imagination, and it was beyond Torman’s sense of honour.
“Would you be willing to assist us during our investigation into the financial aspects connected to the Curtis Torman hit?” asked Tricia of Norler.
“I’d be willing to help if I can, but I’m not sure that I’d fit the bill,” Norler seemed shocked that they’d ask him such a thing.
“Mr. Norler, let me put it to you this way. We believe that the mysterious masked blonde haired woman might be involved in this situation, and that given today’s sightings and the escalation of violence with regard to these matters, that she and others of her ilk might be involved in this situation. We’d like your help in piecing this all together, seeing as you seem to be closely connected…” Halmand spoke directly to Norler, very much hitting a soft spot in him.
“Connected…? How do you mean…?” Norler wasn’t quite sure how to answer, and withheld any indication that he knew the blonde haired girl in question.
“I meant with Torman… Grier. You and Grier have a working relationship, and perhaps given your immense knowledge of finances, you might be able to shed light on the true identity of those who arranged the hit on his father’s life,” Halmand clarified what he’d meant.
“Oh… Of course. I’d be happy to assist in your investigation, Inspectors. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a very busy afternoon ahead of me. If you need me, you obviously know where and how to find me. If not, here’s my business card,” Norler stood from the table and handed them each a business card from his jacket pocket.
“You understand that that what we discussed is strictly and legally confidential. Thanks for your help in this matter,” Tricia and Halmand stood with Norler, and accepted his cards and then watched him leave the room, waiting for the door to close entirely.
“Did you get the feeling he knew her?” Tricia asked Halmand.
“Sudden pupil dilation. Nostril flared slightly. Shifted to the right in his chair ever so slightly. Hallmark signs of confronting the sudden onset of stress,” Halmand explained to Tricia.
“Lets hope your behavioural science training is accurate and remind me never to play a hand of poker with you. Especially wagering real money,” Tricia smiled at him.
“So what now?” Halmand asked her.
“We keep a close ear to his phone. See who he calls. I mean if he’s as stressed as you say, he’ll probably make a run for the phone as soon as he can,” Tricia advised him and upon those words, Halmand pulled his phone from his pocket and hit the speed dial.
“Technical services? This is badge number 024837-8301ONHW. I need an immediate line tap and call records, twenty four hours back and from herein until we request otherwise. The number is…” Halmand recited the number from the business card and then pocketed his phone.
“Done,” Halmand said following Tricia towards the door.
“Now lets catch up with that Detective, the one we spoke with briefly yesterday,” Tricia led the way and the two of them found their way to the parking level of the Tynan and Associates building on Bay Street.
When they found their car, they headed for the crime scene at the Harbour Front Centre.
…
Detective Edward Farnham walked over to the Staff Sergeant of the Tactical Operations Unit.
“Vic? What did your men find in there?” asked Farnham, as the Staff Sergeant of the Tactical Operations Unit dealt with radio traffic over his headset.
“Team Bravo hold. Team Alpha keep six until further notice,” the Staff Sergeant turned to Farnham with a gruff look on his face.
“You have a lot of nerve interrupting me during a live operation. What’d you want to know Detective?” the Staff Sergeant accented their difference in rank as a not so subtle reminder.
“Look Vic, our perpetrators are long gone. They left in the cover of the dust your team threw up when that outside wall collapsed. I just wanted to know from our only eyes and ears on the situation what the heck is going on. We’ve practically got the whole department down here waiting on this, and many of us have cases to solve. So do we have anything, or is this site done, a cleanup for forensics?” asked Farnham.
“My team? My team were in the path of whatever caused that wall to collapse, so don’t tell me about what my team did, ’cause when you were shivering behind the door of your unmarked sedan back there on Queen’s Quay, my team were in the thick of it. They said something about a very muscular looking lady with horns… like a bull…” Vic paused a moment, staring deep into Ed’s eyes.
“Or a devil…” he continued.
“Look. I don’t know what you guys are supposed to be hunting, but I can tell you that these were not your run of the mill perps, and they made quick work of my men. As quickly as they made of each other. My men are only alive because one or more of those perps purposely saved them from the devil. I’m sick of working in the dark like this, so if you have answers, you’d better start sharing them if you want anything from me. Do you understand?!!!” the Staff Sergeant loomed over Farnham, who blinked and even backed up every so slightly.
“Perfectly. Fair enough Vic. Fair enough. Our intel says that gangs might be involved. Street gangs possibly. They’re in some kind of a turf war that has caught the attention of the mysterious blonde haired woman, who is either helping or hampering them. We don’t know for sure which it is or if she has help. We do know that she’s capable of some pretty remarkable things that shouldn’t be possible, but don’t tell anyone I told you that. As for the devil, your guess is as good as mine. I just want to know if we got someone, so we can extrapolate a trail of pursuit from them? Like in the old days?” Farnham urged the Staff Sergeant.
The Staff Sergeant held up his index finger and turned and began speaking into his headset.
“Charlie Team, Foxtrot here. What happened to the two that you took into custody? Over,” the Staff Sergeant asked.
“We’ve got them wrapped up with wrist ties. They’re face down on the pavement, and some blues are reading them their rights as we speak, Over,” the response came back.
“Where abouts Charlie Team. What’s your twenty? Over,” the Staff Sergeant requested of them.
“We’re practically in the water. South West of the warehouse, up against the pier using those large city planters as cover, Over,” Charlie Team leader replied.
“Hold tight and keep six. I’m sending some Detectives to your location. Hold until we’ve got the clear from Alpha and Bravo, Over,” the Staff Sergeant ordered them.
“Make your way west until you hit the east wall of that building, and then proceed south. My men are stacked up behind one of the city flower basins there. They’ve got two suspects in their custody now, and our blues are reading them their rights as we speak. One more thing, don’t ever ask me for a favour unless you’ve got something to give in return. Dismissed, Detective,” the Staff Sergeant turned back to the truck’s console and resumed the operation.
…
Torman stood outback of his family mansion with several of his personal security. They waited in the tennis court, where the net had been taken down and all that remained was a large flat clearing.
“There’s the chopper now Mr. Torman,” one of his personal security informed him.
“Good, we should be able to make the flight, though honestly, I don’t think that time will ever be a problem for me again,” Torman responded.
“And how’s that Sir?” asked another of his security operatives.
“The secret to that my friend, is in having the right wrist watch,” Torman tapped his wrist twice, and all four of them were now onboard the chopper on their way to the airport, though his security and the pilot had no idea that their time was altered.
Torman’s phone suddenly rang and he pulled it from his pocket.
“To what do I owe the pleasure?” asked Torman of his caller.
“You’re being tailed just as I suspected. You’ve a number of parties closing on your destination at Pearson International Airport as we speak. Apparently they know the first leg of your journey,” Alomera Constanza Zekestes’ voice emerged from the receiver.
“What do you suggest? I don’t think it would be a good place for us to confront them before we’re even off the ground,” Torman responded, now thinking on his feet.
“Sound reasoning and my thoughts exactly. That’s why I’ve already arranged a different flight for you. You’re going to take an alternate path, through New York as your layover, where you’re going to meet up with some specialists. You’ll then fly direct to Los Angeles to intercept your pursuers and find out what they know about your father’s death, for we lost another last night. In Chicago. A similar hit to the one that took your father from us. Antonio Carlesky. He was an astute and loyal man to our organization, not like these crude upstarts you find these days. I do not know fear, but nonetheless, I know what it is to be hunted. I need you to find out what you can in Los Angeles, and then report your findings to me. Preferably before you leave for your next leg of the journey,” Zek’s voice never once became aggressive or panicked. He instead maintained a steady pace of calm and command.
“I’ll do what I can, but I’m definitely on the run now, though I didn’t think that I was on the run from more than just my pursuers,” Torman explained to Zek.
“You have little to fear. Antonio’s removal, especially execution style will trigger a series of events that could lead to an all out war between the hidden powers. Your father, and Antonio weren’t chosen by accident you know. This is systematic. This is someone or something trying to create war,” Zek told Torman, and a shiver ran up his spine at the thought.
“I’ll do what’s necessary to find out more. I’ll call you from Los Angeles once I know,” Torman replied.
“Torman. Don’t bring your tails with you to my abode. I’d hate for you to become a permanent fixture in my garden,” Zek said in a calm but somehow threatening voice.
Something Quite Flightening
Valerie glanced left and then tight before returning to her seat in the center aisle of the business class section of a 747 airliner. At the airlock, the stewardess checked the seal of the flight door and then made her way not far behind Valerie, making certain the passengers were alright.
Valerie planted herself in the center aisle seat, just across from Helayne, landing in her seat in such a purposely exaggerated landing that immediately caught Helayne’s attention.
“That bad?” confirmed Helayne as she went through her notes.
“The airport was crawling in plain clothed Detectives, not to mention that Torman probably had a few of his own out there in the mix. Its a wonder we managed to depart without ending up in a holding cell…” Valerie mouthed to Helayne, who nodded affirmatively, if only to confirm the fact that she’d heard her new friend.
“Alicia?” continued Valerie.
“She’s obviously catching up on what she missed from the wee hours this morning. Apparently you two had a difficult meeting earlier in the day?” Helayne recognized, turning to face her best friend who was now propped over in her seat, fast asleep.
“We did, but we came to a mutual understanding when a certain butterfly intervened. As long as she doesn’t have a case of knocky-head…” Valerie looked over and acknowledged Helayne.
“I beg your pardon, did you just say Knocky-Head?” confirmed Helayne.
“Yep. Knocky-Head. When a commuter on transit is fighting sleep and suddenly succumbs to it so much that they startle themselves awake and lift their head so fast that they bash it against the window,” Valerie explained to Helayne.
“Ohhhh, you meant knocky-head,” Helayne confirmed with her.
“Why do I even try. Have you ever been to Los Angeles?” Valerie responded as she noticed a man down the aisle, staring at her intensely.
“No. Have you?” asked Helayne in response.
“Yes… kind of. My parents are kind of well off, and one year during their yearly vacation I went with them to the Bahamas. The flight however got rerouted through Los Angeles, and we were stuck there for four hours. I was like nine years old. I kept running over to the glass siding of the terminal, trying to see if I could spot the sign on the Hollywood Hills. Never did. And to think, it took me until I was in my twenties to finally go to the CN Tower. Its funny how when you’re living with something right under your nose, you take it for granted, but when its thousands of kilometers away and baked into popular culture, it becomes a life’s dream to go there,” Valerie explained to Helayne.
“That’s not such a bad thing. That’s what brought my parents here,” Helayne replied, looking away from her notes and towards Valerie.
“Were your parents trying to leave?” asked Valerie of her.
“No. My father’s an architect, with a degree in civil engineering. He studied in GuangZhou. When he graduated, Chengshi Global drafted him, in a manner of speaking. Practically before he even graduated, he cut the deal with them, so my mother always tells me. They had signed a partnership deal with a major Canadian engineering firm, and they wanted my dad to oversee a number of projects, so they relocated us, and that was that,” Helayne recalled the bits of pieces of that day when she was a little girl of only three, taking thousands of kilometer baby steps to Canada.
“Your parents too?” Valerie smiled, herself remembering her life as a little girl, globe hopping with her parents.
“What do you mean?” Helayne responded slightly defensively.
“My parents have practically traveled so much, that if you took their air miles in one trip, they’d probably have enough to get to the Moon and back,” Valerie smiled, recalling her life of years earlier.
“Your parents are well off I take it?” Helayne asked her.
“Family money. A few generations. Real estate and art holdings. I never knew a day of lack in my life, but my parents…? Do you remember today when we were on Gardiner Expressway?” asked Valerie of Helayne.
“How could I forget?” Helayne recalled their conflict earlier that day on the downtown Toronto highway.
“You remember that car. The one with the family?” Valerie then clarified for her.
“I do,” Helayne nodded, careful not to reveal details of their earlier bout, for the story was in the process of becoming global headline news.
“They were my parents. I mean… almost exactly like them, or enough so to remind me of who I was… and you didn’t try to beat me down… you tried to save them… we saved them. My parents might seem a little stiff lipped to some, but they’ve got that thing about them, you know? They know their fortune isn’t just a windfall. Its a responsibility, and one they try to use for the betterment of humanity. I guess you could say that I somehow found my spirit again out there on that highway…” Valerie contemplated what had happened earlier that day during her clash with Helayne.
Helayne nodded in like, and contemplated her words.
“The moment we truly know ourselves isn’t when we jump at an opportunity to push someone else down to get ahead. Its when we in the moment of seeing someone else’s vulnerability, that we choose to lift them up,” Helayne’s words found their way.
There was a moment of silence and mutual respect between women who had less than six hours earlier been engaged in visceral, life or death combat.
“What about your mother? What does she do?” asked Valerie of Helayne.
“What ever she needs to. In my family, my father’s the soft spoken, seemingly centered juxtaposition of the family. Like the Sun is to the planets, but in truth, its my mother that makes that all possible. She’s the kind of woman that you drop into any environment, and within weeks she’ll be thriving. Her thing is real estate, because she can’t stay still long enough to do anything else. Busy, busy, busy,” Helayne smiled, thinking about her.
“There’s a lot of her in you,” Valerie admired Helayne.
“And then some. You know, she had my dad in her sights for almost a year, doing everything she could to get his attention. To get him to ask her out. It was pretty traditionally customary for a man to court a woman by approaching her first, but he never did, and she tried everything, but some men seem to believe that its too forward to express interest in a woman. Like we’re fragile. Like porcelain dolls. Some men are afraid of women getting to know them, because of a fear of rejection. Maybe their innermost desires. Afraid. He was, so after a year of doing literally everything she could to get him to notice her and to break the ice, she finally did what no woman would do, and asked him out. Do you know what he had the gall to say to her?” Helayne was overjoyed to be speaking about this with a friend. Even a new friend.
“He didn’t say no, did he?” Valerie asked her.
“No. He said: That’s exactly what I wanted to ask you, but I was afraid you’d say no,” Helayne paused for a moment, laughing and then she continued.
“And that is exactly what is wrong with women and men in society today. So many are focused on the what if of the rejection, that they’d rather not take the chance. From that moment, my mother lifted my father onto that pedestal he now seems to live, and he knows it and loves her deeply. But everything in our home is powered by her energy. She’s an incredible woman. Admirably so. I bet your parents are pretty awesome?” Helayne shifted in her seat to face Valerie, giving room to a stewardess who passed them in the lane.
“My parents? They’re very tame. Now. The word is though that my dad was quite the partier in his early twenties, and given the fact that he was the decided heir of a fortune, my mother eventually steered him true. Don’t get me wrong. They don’t abstain, but they’re a long way from when my mother first met my father. Growing up mostly I guess, but I’ve learned in business that grown ups love to play too,” Valerie contemplated aloud.
“Don’t they? The business I’m in depends upon adults working and playing. Where do they like to travel?” asked Helayne of Valerie.
“Its mostly connected to their holdings, especially the real estate and the arts. Locally around Toronto, and twice a year to Europe. London. Paris. Brussels. Cologne. Zürich,” Valerie smiled as she thought about them.
“So you must have seen quite a bit of the world?” asked Helayne.
“Me? No. Some of it, but not everywhere they go. I did however grow up very quickly, especially being left to keep an eye on things on the home front by myself from the time I was eighteen,” Valerie looked to Helayne.
“Any brothers or sisters?” asked Helayne.
“No, though I was never daddy’s little girl either. I had to figure it all out myself, so I got used to being by myself quite a lot. Independence or so I thought until I met Torman,” Valerie’s mind wandered onto the subject of their target.
“How did he treat you when you were with him?” asked Helayne.
“Hot sometimes, and very cold at others. Maybe that’s why I fell for him. He’d pull me in close, and then push me away. It was like being addicted to someone. To the times they really wanted you. When he’d push me away, I just couldn’t get enough of him. It was almost like he was a different person…” Valerie contemplated her time with Torman when both her and Helayne noticed that all of the stewardesses had suddenly moved to the front of the aircraft and were now behind the curtain in the service area in a heated discussion.
“Can you hear that?” Valerie asked Helayne.
“Heart beats. A lot of them. There’s panic. Something’s wrong,” Helayne shifted herself in her seat and looked forward, leaning out into the lane and trying to get a view up stream to the front of the plane.
“So it wasn’t just me. What do we do?” asked Valerie.
“Lets follow the five question words. Its a start. Who, what, where, when and why?” Helayne responded to Valerie, still trying to get a peek at what has happening at the front of the flight.
“Alright. Who?” asked Valerie.
“The flight crew are dealing with a situation…” Helayne told Valerie and at that moment the situation revealed itself in the most frightening way.
Helayne watched the lane forward to the service area, from where a man stepped forward out from behind the curtain, holding one of the stewardesses hostage, a packaging knife held close to her throat.
“ATTENTION PASSENGERS OF FLIGHT 451 BOUND FOR LOS ANGELES. MY COMPATRIOTS AND I REPRESENT THE UNITED FRONT FOR THE FREEDOM OF GLOBAL PRISONERS. THE CAPTAIN OF THIS FLIGHT HAS DENIED MY COMPATRIOTS AND I OF ACCESS TO THE COCKPIT. IF THEY DO NOT PROVIDE US WITH ACCESS, WE WILL START KILLING THE AIR CREW ONE BY ONE UNTIL THEY YIELD TO OUR DEMANDS. REMAIN CALM, DO NOT INTERFERE AND YOU WILL NOT BE HARMED. INTERFERE OR INTERVENE AND YOU WILL BE THE FIRST EXAMPLE OF THE PRICE OF SUCH A MISTAKE,” the man stepped forward along the lane presenting his hostage.
“That’s pretty much all five questions answered in one go. Where are the Air Marshalls? Don’t they have security on this flight?” Valerie responded to the situation.
“They’re like us. Incognito. They can’t reveal themselves until the opportunity presents itself that they can overcome,” Helayne leaned in close to Valerie, drawing the attention of one of the hostage takers.
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE MISS! WHAT’S THAT? WHAT DID YOU PASS TO HER?” one of the hostage takers approached Helayne, wielding a packaging knife in his hands.
“She didn’t pass me anything. Nothing. Bad breath maybe,” Valerie replied to the hostage taker.
“Search them… We’re looking for tasers, black jacks, bean bag guns, or any non-lethals that the Air Marshalls employ…” another one of the hostage takers ordered.
“Careful Huey. Relax. We’re ladies,” Valerie interjected, hoping that Helayne would catch on.
Helayne stood without resistance, spreading her arms and allowing for them to search her.
“You’re pretty cut for a business woman. What do you do for a living?” asked Huey.
“I’m a manager. I work for the Human Resources department at Dunder Mifflin,” Helayne responded.
“Human resources? How’d you get this body tone? Dunder Mifflin boot camp?” asked Huey.
“That and no snacking between meals,” Helayne replied.
“Watch it there Louie!” Valerie responded as the hostage taker’s touch became a little bit rough.
“You think she’s cut? Look at this one…” Louie said to Huey.
“They have to be the Air Marshalls…” from somewhere near the front of the aircraft the sound of a man’s voice pierced the sudden silence.
“INTERNATIONAL AIR MARSHALLS! FREEZE! MOVE AND WE WILL BE FORCED TO USE LETHAL FORCE!” a man shouted, leveling a taser at one of the other hostage takers.
Further forward in the compartment, another man had leveled a taser at the man holding the packaging knife to the stewardess’ throat.
“Fire that thing and you’ll hit her,” the hostage taker shielded himself with her body as she gasped, fearful of the knife.
“This got complicated pretty quickly. So who’s Dewey?” Helayne said to Valerie, still holding her hands up.
“The one with the hostage,” Valerie let Helayne in on her naming scheme.
“Shut up! Both of you shut up!” You’re all hostages! All of you!” Louie quickly wrapped his arm around Valerie’s neck, holding the knife to it.
Huey did much the same with Helayne.
“Please don’t hurt me…” Valerie spoke blandly as if unimpressed.
“At least put some emotion into it… They got us…” Helayne urged Valerie, thinking of the stewardess held hostage near the front of the aircraft.
Near the front of the aircraft, the situation quickly escalated as the hostage taker backed toward the cockpit door. The Air Marshall followed behind him, leaving the other one to cover his back, and all three of the other hostage takers.
“Drop the knife! Drop it!” the Air Marshall yelled as Dewey backed away with his stewardess hostage, finally hitting the door of the cockpit, where he remained cornered.
“I’ll cut her! I will!” the Dewey yelled.
“I’ll shoot your damned forehead and lobotomize you!” the Air Marshall screamed at him.
The stewardess screamed, and then the knife around her neck, including the person behind her was gone.
“Louie? Are you still with me?” asked Valerie as she looked to Helayne and realized that Huey was gone.
Valerie and Helayne both turned around to find their assailants but were only confronted by Monique.
“Hi boss!” Monique waved at Helayne and then looked to Valerie.
“Where were you hiding?” asked Helayne in shock.
“I was asleep in my seat. What’s up?” Monique blinked innocently at them both.
“Us, I guess…” Helayne responded as she spied an arm moving quickly into position around Monique’s neck.
“I don’t know what just happened, but I’ll kill her if you don’t release my compatriots!” he screamed at them as the two Air Marshalls quickly moved to secure the stewardess outside of the cockpit.
“Don’t. We’ll get your friends back. Just don’t hurt her…” Helayne pleaded with the man holding the knife around Monique’s neck.
He backed away from them until he was near the end of the compartment and the aircraft when a hand grabbed hold of his arm from behind and easily hefted the knife away from Monique’s neck.
Alicia quickly twisted his arm around and folded the man onto the floor of the compartment.
“Easy does it. You know you shouldn’t be running around with sharp objects like this. You could fall and cut yourself,” Alicia said to him and she pressed his arm upward.
“I give! I give!” he screamed as one of the Air Marshalls arrived to take the man into custody.
“Anyone injured here?” he checked with Helayne and Valerie.
“I think I broke a nail. Those tasers you guys are carrying are pretty powerful. What’d you do, disintegrate them?” Valerie remarked sarcastically.
“I was hoping you had answers, cause we sure as hell didn’t take ’em out,” the Air Marshall responded to Valerie.
“Take who out? On a date you mean?” asked Monique enthusiastically.
The Air Marshall looked up to reply to her and suddenly found that the man he’d been searching and restraining was no longer there.
He stood up and looked around, very confused as the other Air Marshall arrived.
“Any sign of them?” asked the second one.
“None. Its as if they were never here,” the first one replied.
“We’ll figure out from the passenger list and take it from there after our compartment search,” the second one replied.
“M’aam, you’ve done a great service here, though it would seem that our perps are no longer in the compartment, or anywhere in the aircraft so far as we can ascertain he pulled a paper note pad and a pen from his pocket and started collecting notes from each of them.
An hour later, when they were done, the four women once again found themselves seated together in the compartment, Monique taking one of the unoccupied seats.
“I don’t suppose you have an explanation for this, do you?” Helayne asked Monique.
“Not much to tell really. I was asleep and now I’m enjoying the flight,” Monique responded with a smile.
“When we left, you were in the third stage…” Alicia reminded Monique.
“I don’t remember that part. Is that like a bad hangover or something?” asked Monique.
“Almost, from the way I remember it,” Valerie replied.
“I think that she means how did you here?” asked Helayne asked her.
“The same way you did. I flew,” Monique replied, innocently batting her eyelashes.
“Something to do with your new gifts?” Alicia began to take on the situation a bit more cryptically.
“Uh huh,” Monique nodded affirmatively.
“What happened to those men? Those thugs… because they certainly weren’t your stereotypical run of the mill radicals, as if there’s a status quot for anything these days,” asked Alicia quietly.
“Them? They’re in prison, but I don’t think that the warden knows though, but he’ll figure it out eventually. I just figured it would be a good idea to cut the red tape and take them directly there. I mean they were clearly guilty after all,” Monique replied innocently, once again batting her eye lashes at them.
“Fair enough, but that’s not how we’re doing things and that’s not the way you’re going to do things again, alright?” Helayne urged Monique, who once again nodded enthusiastically.
“So… what gifts do you have. Are you like omnipotent or something?” Valerie asked her.
“Not quite. I mean I had to visit like seven or eight prisons before I found one with space enough for the four of them,” Monique spoke honestly.
“Are you saying that you took all four of them while you searched for a prison with enough space for them? Where?” asked Alicia of her.
“Alaska, and it wasn’t four. There were five of them, remember? The four I took, and the one that Alicia took out. I owe you for that by the way,” Monique responded, turning to Alicia and thanking her.
“That’s alright. I’m sure you’ll return the favour some day,” Alicia winked at Monique.
“How are Aikiko and Myung?” asked Helayne.
“They’re alright, at least I think they’re alright. They were just resting after the last bit of the formula that I gave them,” Monique admitted to Helayne, and then looking to Alicia.
“You what?!!! You gave them the formula? Is there anyone you didn’t give the formula to?” asked Alicia sarcastically.
To be continued…
Credits and attribution
Special thanks to Twilight Zone Night Club circa 1985 on 185 Richmond Street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. So many important experiences happened there and with so many friends that I’d be a lonely fool not to remember them.
Thank you to the clubs that followed, and to Wes, who ran many of them including Guvernment, Joker, and the Big Bop to name a few.
Thank you to BCR, Phil and Dylan. True artists of a kind, including Skippy.
Thank you to Andrew R, Frank A, Michael S. Joan M, Janice L. Bernard, T.J., J.M., Jun, Nelson, Chris, Angela, Barry and Miguel and so many others. Keep the spirit of art alive. Nelson, remember that first song I played on the piano at the soup restaurant on Lakeshare Blvd at lunch? That’s our Koan. 😉
Special Thanks To Rocket Fuel Lakeshore Blvd West, perhaps the best place in history to get a coffee, circa 2001-2004. Miss you all very much. Its great to see that special place still inspires so many.
Special thanks to Udemy, whose courses I have relied upon for the last few years to allow me to grow my skills at my own pace, even finding time between my frantic work pace here at Shhhh! Digital Media.
Special thanks to Perplexity AI and their Comet browser, who have recently become a part of my software toolkit. Their AI powered helpers accelerate your research, reference at every step of the way, not to mention built in tools for content generation, though Shhhh! Digital Media does not rely on text generation for any of its stories, though I do work with AI for suggestions, and scientific accuracy of concepts in Butterfly Dragon, and for delving into the more esoteric traditions of mysticism that are aligned with the story and background of Era of the Spellbound.
Artwork: Amy Wong, Wendy Pusey, Ghastly, Birdman, Brian Joseph Johns, Daz3D, Unreal Engine…
Tools: Daz3D, Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, Lightwave 3D, Blender, InstantID, Sadtalker, Google Colaboratory, Microsoft Copilot (Windows 11), Hitfilm, PhotoPea (a great web based Photoshop stand-in if you’re on a low budget or in a pinch), Borderline Obsession…
Shhhh! Digital Media 2026 Tools: Word Press, Gutenberg, Blockspare, Sliderberg, Rank Math SEO, Elespare, JS Archive List, Google Site Kit, Ultimate Blocks and WProofReader.
SEO is an entire mountain unto itself. My advice is to content creators is to set aside a budget for professional SEO setup and management. It’ll give you much more time to focus on creating meaningful content. If you’re budget limited, then stick to the easy optimizations and build up your audience until your budget includes room for professional SEO.
Mage Flow AI model which I’m using increasingly for editing and occasionally, generation from text.
DeepSeek AI for suggestions on exercises to improve aspects of describing scene and settings with a more sensory focused grammar.
InstantID by: Wang, Qixun and Bai, Xu and Wang, Haofan and Qin, Zekui and Chen, Anthony.
Research Paper Title: InstantID – Zero-shot Identity-Preserving Generation in Seconds.
Sadtalker by: Zhang, Wenxuan and Cun, Xiaodong and Wang, Xuan and Zhang, Yong and Shen, Xi and Guo, Yu and Shan, Ying and Wang, Fei.
Research Paper Title: SadTalker: Learning Realistic 3D Motion Coefficients for Stylized Audio-Driven Single Image Talking Face Animation.
Two Minute Papers: A YouTube channel dedicated to computer science geared towards the end of the advancement of computer graphics technology.
Gratitude: Our Mentors, Senseis, Sifus, Sebomnims, lifetime inspirations, family, friends, the Nomads (ask Stanton about that one), the Music, the Movies, the Theatre, the Arts, ASMR, (both YouTube and Bilibili and the many other creators on those platforms), the Gaming and Developer communities and of course, the audience.
Martial Arts (in the words of real experts and at least one comedian)
- https://brucelee.com (home of the real Dragon and an entire family of inspirations)
- http://iwco.online International Wing Chun Organization (International presence of a very scalable intensity martial art, protected and developed by Shaolin Nun Ng Mui) and the alma mater of Jinn Hua’s own specialized variation thereof,
- https://iogkf.com International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karatedo Federation (even Hanshi had his teachers),
- https://itftkd.sport International Taekwondo Federation (Here there be Tigers),
- https://tangsoodoworld.com Tang Soo Do World (the path of Grandmaster Chuck Norris),
- https://www.aikido-international.org International Aikido Federation (how else would Navy Chef Steven Seagal liberate a
Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier from a team of hijackers?), - https://www.stqitoronto.com Shaolin Temple Quanfa Institute (The City Of Toronto’s own Shaolin Temple),
- https://www.enterthedojoshow.com Master Ken’s Ameri-Te-Do presence (If we can’t laugh at ourselves, then we can at least laugh the loudest at others, and other Zen)
Thank you to the Divine Miss M and to Ms. Hirose of our Own for the inspiration for the character Aikiko Tanaka. May they always embody the empowerment of women and their self determination, despite the direction that some of the stories on Shhhh! Digital Media might take.
Magic (performance, illusion and perhaps the real thing)
- Magic Week Archive Videos from the history of the performance magic masters.
- Doctor Angela’s Symposium Learn about the truth and history of magic from a scholarly Phd. A great informed resource of both knowledge and speculation.
- Da’at Darling A student of the esoteric mysteries ✶ Thelemite & Pagan YouTuber • Podcaster • Author of Planetary Theurgy (2026) Creative Director of Katharsios Press. She’s a real busy Wytch.
- Real Witchcraft in Romania An insightful video whose central subjects are all witches in the country which originated the Dracula and Undead mythos that still pervades modern society to this day.
Special thanks
- Aitrepreneur
- Mickmumpitz
- PixelArtistry
- Hugging Face
- YouTube educational content producers
- AI content production pipeline
- AlphaSignal
Martial Arts Education, Courseware And Artisanship
- Jade Xu
Ladies and gentlemen, this is the lady who will choreograph and perform all of the Butterfly Dragon’s martial arts performance sequences if ever there is a live action version. Regardless, Jade Xu is an inspiring Wushu martial arts performer, along with her cast of co-stars, they really bring performance encounters into next level experiences for all to enjoy. - Aikido Shinburenseijuku
Experience the spirited tradition and execution of waza (technique) through the expertise and guidance of Shirakawa Ryuji, each of his videos exploring intriguing and applicable aspects of this circular and angular focused martial art, but most of all, step away from the claustrophobic perspective of many martial artists with regard to this branch of jujitsu, and learn to understand the true dynamics and application at play here from a renowned master. - Martial Club
These fellows are the living embodiment of performance martial arts, producing absolutely vivid and incredible action stories, taking martial arts to the next level. They’re literally doing what I’d always hoped I could do with Butterfly Dragon, but with their own well written and performed live action stories and stunts, after gruelling rehearsals and training to achieve their ambitions. In their own humble words: promoting the virtues and ethics of traditional martial arts in the modern world. - Shi Heng Yi Shaolin Training For Self Mastery
A reknowned Sifu under whose tutelage you can study the theory and practical applications of the Shaolin Arts for health, physical and mental wellbeing in every day life. His online and self-study courses offer students the chance to train in the comfort of their own choosing, and at their own pace under Shi Heng Yi’s informed guidance. - Jesse Enkamp: Karate Nerd
Jesse, a reknowned Sensei who runs his own dojo, explores the world of Martial Arts, traveling around the world to many exotic locations to meet practitioners of a variety of different arts. Truly an adventurer into the world of martial arts, delving into new territory with every video.
Jesse’s Kobudo Mastery at kobudomastery.com
Jesse’s Karate Flexibility & Mobility Training
Jesse’s Strength Training for Karate - Rokas Sensei: Martial Arts Journey
A reknowned Sensei of Aikido who in seeking to understand the roots of Aikido and its applications, seeks to stress test its effectiveness in a number of real world situations while studying its history.
Rokas Sensei has also developed an incredible seasonal series called the Ultimate Self Defence Challenge that introduces select martial artists from the world over to face challenges that test their rank and mettle against other competitors. An absolutely amazing series with top notch production. - Seamus O’Dowd
An extensive and growing archive Katas, Techniques and Waza (mostly Shotokan), focusing on form, precision and technique. - Iaido: Train For Katana Mastery Like Samurai
The original weapons focused curriculum under which Samurai became masters of their art. - Tapp Brothers Exercise For Better Motion
Extensive courses for calisthenics and body strength, stamina and flexibility. They offer course that are geared directly for the improvement of flexibility, athletics and overall performance.
Special thanks to Captain Shayne and his wonderful butterfly sister!
Special thanks to Bandcamp for giving indie music artists a home under one roof.
Written and published by Brian Joseph Johns, Shhhh! Digital Media.
Copyright © 2026 Brian Joseph Johns.
