Heroes and Villains.
Good and evil.
What are they but a mere construct produced by a person's perspective?
At their core, what defines the two sides?
What differentiates the two from each other?
Do they even exist if the only thing we use to define them is how people view such aspects?
To figure this out, one must first question the peak of these two ideologies.
What is good? Is it the act of being righteous, courageous, or heroic?
To be a hero inadvertently means one must be good, but that isn't to say there aren't so-called heroes who are, no doubt, bad people.
Just like I am sure, some villains consider themselves good people.
What is Evil? Is it performing deeds considered bad? Is it murdering innocents, causing chaos, or committing atrocious acts of destruction?
Well, let me tell you this: I have seen untold numbers of so-called heroes doing precisely the things we as humans dictate as acts of evil.
However, when a hero kills someone or causes catastrophic collateral damage, they claim it to be for the greater good. Frequently, after committing these acts, it isn't uncommon for these so-called heroes to turn the dead into martyrs and push their agendas.
How can that possibly be considered as Good, righteous, or heroic?
Worse yet, their actions are deemed acceptable and unavoidable in the court of public opinion.
Yet, when someone who isn't considered good or doesn't carry the superficial title of "Hero" performs the same thing, they are labeled as a villain.
They are deemed scourges of the Earth who must be brought to justice, and it is this one-sided bullshit that has pushed me to toe the line between good and evil in my mind time and time again.
We all have intrusive thoughts, thinking that life would be better if so and so was dead, before setting about plotting how they would commit that act.
However, the common person doesn't ever act on these intrusive thoughts, which sets them apart from what the Public labels as "Evil" or a "Villain."
There is even a particular group of people who actively research past serial killers and try to figure out how they would go about things differently without getting caught.
Let me start by stating, for the record, I have never considered myself a good or bad person, let alone a villain, contrary to what the rest of the world believes.
In my eyes, I am simply me, Taylor Lawrence Jörgensen. And unfortunately, the world has chosen to label me as a villain. Not to mention being called evil, scum of the Earth, heartless, hell; I've been described as every verb, adjective, and noun under the sun you could think of.
To top it all off, I've been labeled and diagnosed with numerous different psychological deficiencies and mental health issues, but at the crux of the problem is this is the role I have decided to portray to the world, or at least what my alter ego 'Xipher,' portrays to the public eye.
Have I done things that could be considered "evil"? Sure, lying, betrayal, scheming, murder, using my abilities and talents to manipulate and corrupt people, torture, stealing, the list goes on and on, and I've done it all without blinking or feeling an ounce of remorse for the atrocities I've committed.
So, to some extent, I understand how the world views my persona, but to me, all I've done is exact a plan to meet the goals I laid out for myself…and my brother.
Now I know what you are thinking, why is this asshole talking about Good and Evil, heroes and villains? That's the kind of shit we see in fantasy novels or anime.
Well, there is a pretty simple answer to that question: The Earth I know and live on isn't the same as it once was.
And the reason is because of a magical construct of unknown origins…named Arkadia.
Ten years ago, on October 11th, 2028, an event that rocked reality occurred. On that day, Planet Earth underwent a drastic change; earthquakes shook entire continents, Tsunami destroyed coastlines, Volcanos erupted, and hurricanes ravaged everything in sight; it was utter chaos, but in that chaos, something magical happened.
As they hunkered down for safety and struggled to survive in the chaos, every person on Planet Earth noticed motes of light forming in their vision until these lights formed what could only be described as a videogame-style panel.
It wasn't anything intricate or impressive; no artificial intelligence spoke out frilly words or made amazing promises of grandeur; instead, it was a simple text dialog box in opaque black with gold letters, and in this box was one line of text.
[Arkadia is Descending on Earth, Prepare for Alpha Particle Adaptation and Increase.]
At the time, I was at home, in a plain three-bedroom house in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia, with my elderly father, in my office on my computer, watching a documentary about a new serial killer who had recently been caught when I noticed this panel.
Now, being the perfectly logical 36-year-old grown-ass man I was, as you can expect, I reacted very maturely, befitting my age and wisdom.
"HOLY FUCK NO WAY!" I screamed as I flailed my arms about and bolted out of my room, down the hall around the corner, and into the living room, where I found my 80-year-old father dazed and staring into the void while relaxing in his favorite reclining chair.
Ignoring the TV, which showed national news coverage of the natural disasters occurring around the world, I ran in front of my father and screamed…
"DAD, PLEASE TELL ME YOU ARE SEEING THIS!" However, the response I got wasn't one I expected; instead of the witty banter I had grown accustomed to, my father pointed forward with a quivering hand and eyes filled with fear.
"Taylor….that…that…has the dementia finally kicked in? Have I gone senile?" Pure fear coated every word leaving his lips as his old cop brain attempted to make sense of what he was seeing.