"Are you such a coward!?"
"No, Linda! You know am not! But what if Frank was right? I hope you remember what we think he is!" Claire retorted.
The two girls began arguing soon after Joe left them. They had each bought a bottle of the Green power fire and Linda was about to take hers when Claire snatched it from her. Linda had been stunned. Claire hurriedly explained her actions.
"No look here Claire. Frank has already advanced in leaps and bounds. We are the only ones lagging behind and if we continue like this we will certainly miss the contest!"
"But we cannot undo what has already been destined! If he is the one poised for that post why should we tire ourselves out?" Claire tried her best to dissuade her friend.
"We don't know for certain if he is the one or not, the fact is we are lagging behind him and we are in danger too!" Linda argued back.
The two went on rambling for sometimes but eventually Linda agreed to wait until they did further background check on the GPF stuff. It was at this point when she checked her communication device.
"Seems there is a trending issue on the net!" she said looking through the various notifications she had received in her wristband. After she read some of the threads on the social forum of the NURONET, she got excited.
"Look!" she shouted, "It seems someone shares Frank's sentiments too!" Claire ran over and checked. The forum was exploding with all sorts of threads. They read about the guy called SOP who had warned people about using the GPF. They were amazed at the amount of replies the person had received.
"I told you! This stuff needs to be checked out first before anyone uses it!" Claire said.
"Judging from the comments many people have already purchased the powder and have already used it!"
Indeed! Most of the comments were from people praising the effectiveness of the green power fire. They just couldn't believe how it quickly pushed them to the Primary 3 evolution within moments of taking it! They absolutely had every reason to condemn the SOP guy.
"People are not happy with this SOP guy?" Claire noted as she concentrated reading from her device too.
They read the threats which now had increased from many others, obviously users of the GPF!
"These GPF fans are too crazy. The only thing holding them back is that they don't know who the SOP guy is or where he lives!" Linda remarked
"Who do you think he is?" Claire revealed her worried thoughts allowed, "There is more weight to his words as he says he is certain. There could be only one person who can be that certain!"
"Wait, are you suggesting it is Frank?" Linda took the cue.
"There's only one way to find out." Claire turned on her dial pad. She called Frank's number.
But before the call went through, all their communication devices vibrated with a ringing sound.
Ding!
{ALERT}
{Emergency Live Video Call}
{Join the live call immediately for the safety of the Cluster}
-------------------
The same message had been sent to Linda as well as Joe and all other inhabitants of that cluster. All the ten thousands, male and female, young and old, their devices notified them of this.
"What is going on?" Claire asked baffled. Linda was equally lost. This was because the one calling them simultaneously was not the Government because there was no the usual government logo in the notification as was the custom.
Everywhere people were being alerted and mesmerized by this sudden compulsory call. The wording of the same was so strong that they trembled from them. – Join immediately for the safety of the cluster – these words struck every nerve.
Just as the girls were wondering what to do suddenly a graphic projection lit up from their devices. This meant their calls had been connected. They had joined the live video call!
Just like that? Automatic? Yes! The video call automatically connected all the residents of the cluster and was like they had each joined willingly.
For both the residents who had willingly joined the calls and those who suddenly got their calls connected their hearts leapt because of the scene before them.
In the displayed screen they all saw a dark sky on some hilly areas. Then many flocks of bats swung down towards a certain area. Sitting on one of the huge bats was a figure of a person who was wearing a hood and a long gown that touched the ground as he descended from the bat.
The man walked forward to meet another guy who was wearing normal clothes – a long trouser and a normal sized jacket - but who stood with his back to the camera so that the people could not see his face. They only saw the hooded man in that long cloak but even so they couldn't clearly tell his face due to the darkness.
"You imbecile!" the man with the hood began. The guy with jackets just stood there.
"Do you think you can stop us? You are already too late for that! Already too many people are within our ranks now!" the hooded guy spoke in a deep husky voice. He sounded menacing!
"Is that so?" the simple guy with the jacket asked. "If that is the case, why are you here then?"
"I have come here to bring you the master's final warning! Stop interfering with his work unless you want your death prematurely! Remember, there is nothing you can do to stop the masse from joining our ranks!" the hooded guy answered back swiftly with anger and malice in his voice.
"If your master thinks he's so powerful, why does he use crude ways full of trickery to win the people? Why use the powder on unsuspecting population yet you could convince them with your master's prowess?" the guy asked.
"This is prowess! This is wisdom! We know what the people want and we have given them exactly that! They want to be powerful and we have given them the means to be just that!" he retorted.
"But you in turn steal their free-will and start controlling them!" the simple guy shouted back.
"Of course! Nothing is free and everyone must pay the costs!"
"You have been a good member of this cluster but decided to sale your soul to that demon for the sake of power! That power will kill you and all who want to have the same!"
"What is the need of being a member of the cluster with all the people as weaklings? I can't stand it to be weak! I have made myself strong and extended the same hand to make them strong too!"
"The people are not fools! From now hence forth, they will make the right choice! They have seen who you truly are Muro, and they have known your true aims! You can't fool them anymore!" the simple guy said as he suddenly shone bright light on the face of the hooded guy!
It was Muro!
The same weird Muro.