A story by Joel Katsma

It all started with the Cragon. Ever since they revealed to us all that they had been living among us for the last fifteen hundred years, the world had been a mess. At least in the eyes of Conner it had been a mess, to everyone else order, peace, and fulfillment had replaced the normal wonderings of the human life.

Conner hated them. He hated them because they left no mystery. He hated them because they took his freedom away, but most of all he hated them because they screwed him out of a normal life. It was the new laws that had been passed because of them that really pushed Conner over the edge. All of humanity had become a bunch of spineless wimps. Conner hated them for that too. He could do nothing though, because he was powerless. Everyone was on their side. They had increased the quality of everyone’s life so much that all of humanity pretty much worshiped them. He wished they would have been cut to pieces and incinerated.

It started in the year 2020. That was the year they revealed themselves. They could disguise themselves as humans, but when tested with the new DNA scanners it was obvious they were far from it. They said they came from a galaxy so far away that our “meager” intelligence couldn’t comprehend it. At first people were cautious and didn’t trust them, we tried to imprison them but they could evade our authorities and hide so well that it was almost impossible to try and regulate them, and even harder to find them, especially since there were so few of them. They eventually gained the trust of the human race when they were deemed as “trustworthy” and “overseers of human life”.

Conner wanted to plant a bullet in the bastards’ heads. It wasn’t for any of these reasons though; it was because of the special talent that they were blessed with. It was unlike anything humanity had ever seen – except in old science fiction movies. They could tell the future or fate of any human being that was born. They couldn’t see the future like a fortune teller in a crystal ball. They could only see certain events, events that affected a person emotionally, events that traumatized, confused, or made a person feel love. They were aliens who were very in touch with their emotional side and could see future emotions in humans. They evolved just like humanity, and learned how to read into these emotions to formulate actual events. They were known as the keepers of fate, mostly because they could see someone’s fate and end it, something that was impossible to do as a human. It was impossible for a human to kill another human if it was not fated to happen, but the Cragon did something different. For some reason they were able to operate outside of fate. They could end human life whenever they wanted, and they did, whenever they saw an “ill-fated” person.

At first people didn’t like this. Like Conner, they relished the fact that they didn’t know what was going to happen; but soon on-the-edge thinkers and some leading evolutionists saw this as a way to perfect humanity. Forget about human life or rights, this was to be the next huge step in the path towards the end of human evolution.

Humans who were going to disrupt society or were going to commit some heinous crime were marked as soon as they were brought to the Cragon, as all newborns had to be by law. And this mark was to determine whether or not they would live. Parents became surprisingly acceptant of this; of course it was because this was just natural evolution, the flaws and human mistakes were slowly being weeded out of society-- evolution at its finest.

With the advances in science, people living healthy until they were about 200, the cure for cancer, and the advancement in anti-aging procedures, humanity was seeing itself becoming more and more like gods. People were happy to give up a child to two, especially if it meant a utopia. And why shouldn’t they be? It’s not like they haven’t been killing unwanted babies since the early nineties anyway.

Conner was the exception, the only one still alive, to his knowledge. He had been brought to the Cragon when he was young just as all kids had to be, and the outcome was not good. He was injected with the serum that was supposed to give the infants a peaceful death before they could sin, that is how the “Christians” justified it, babies went to heaven. But for some reason unknown to the Cragon the serum did not work and when the parents took the body to be buried they found Conner to still be alive.

Conner’s parents' belief in the Cragon and the good of society was rocked and they tried to convince others of the fact that the Cragon were wrong. They lost their lives because of it.

Conner wanted to tear the Cragons limb from limb and spit on their dead bodies because of that. Conner was alive; his parents had hidden him before their deaths, and life in hiding for an 8 year old kid was not easy. Especially since all of the hobos and homeless people had been weeded out of society, forming a “suburban utopia”.

He survived by doing what the Cragon foresaw he would do, breaking into peoples houses and stealing what he needed. It was the only way for him to survive, did that make it wrong? Conner knew that they had foreseen this, because when Conner grew up he found he had a skill set, a skill set that let him put a bullet into a dime at 500 yards. A skill set that let him toss a knife with almost the same amount of deadly accuracy, no one in the world was more deadly than him and he knew it.

He was fifteen the last time there was an encounter with law enforcement. He was caught stealing. He killed a police battalion of 10 seasoned officers with a 6 shot snub nosed pistol and a hunting knife.

He was strong, he was fast, and he was deadly. He had discovered he had these skills when he met Jose, his mentor who was the only other escapee of the Cragon that Conner knew of. He found books on training, guns, and fighting, books which were very illegal in today’s society, books that eventually led to Jose’s demise. The suits came in the night. Someone had tipped them off about Jose’s basement library, Conner had done all that he could to save him but Jose had locked him into a secret room in order to save him. Conner eventually made it out of the room and killed 3 of the suits and escaped.

There was no need for police enforcement anymore; there were no SWAT teams or Army. The world had no need for that trash anymore. This made Conner even more deadly. There were still dangerous men though, those that made sure the system was working right. They were known as the suits. Like old time secret service. They were the ones that were constantly trying to track down Conner ever since he broke into the government building to find out what his “fate” was, the reason he was condemned to death before he could experience life.

He found his file easily enough; it was in the Top Secret drawer, of course. That is how he found out that they knew he was going to be a thief to survive, after he had already been a thief. It is also how he found out that he was a murderer, well not yet. I mean he had killed before but it was in self-defense. He found out that he was destined to be a murderer of the innocent in that file and it tore him apart; Conner always thought of himself as a good person, even though he was not supposed to be alive. He always did his best to help others even though if they knew who he was they would probably call the Cragon.

Conner awoke in his bed. He thought of his file every day, it had the killing of the 12 police on there and the 3 others, but it was the young lady that really bothered him. It was his 87th birthday; he was young by today’s standards. As he looked in the mirror he noticed that he did not look a day over 21 by the standards of the books that he had recovered and hidden in the other room. He stretched as he brushed his teeth and got ready for the day. He worked as a trainer at a gym; he took it easy at work though, because if people knew his speed and strength suspicions would be raised.

It was a normal day, sunny about 70 degrees, as he walked to work. He always walked; he hated the new hover vehicles, they made his stomach turn. As he approached the block his work was on he got a bad feeling, it was like someone was watching him… he stopped… looked around. Saw no one and nothing out of the ordinary.

As he finished up work that day he couldn’t shake that wary feeling like something was still out there. Then he saw her, she was 2 blocks down just sitting on a bench looking at him. She was a gorgeous girl, petite with blonde hair and blue eyes; piercing blue eyes that seemed to stare right through him. There was something about those eyes… Conner couldn’t place it. He took a step towards his home, slowly, cautiously.

He looked up again; she was still staring that unblinking, piercing gaze that drew him to her. As he drew closer and closer he saw more clearly how beautiful she really was, clear white skin that looked smoother then anyone’s skin should look. Her long thick hair was pulled up into a ponytail emphasizing her eyes even more. She was perfect in all aspects, skinny but not anorexic looking like so many of the models in the magazines. Her long legs were crossed in front of her as she pretended to read a book, but instead gazed directly at Conner.

She blinked. His heart skipped a beat, he almost jumped back. He took a deep breath. “Easy Conner” he said to himself. He passed her and after a block worked up enough courage to look behind him again. Still looking, gazing; staring. Conner was a good-looking guy by anyone’s standards but not good-looking enough for that kind of attention from someone who looked like an angel.

Maybe he had something wrong with him. When he got home he looked in the mirror.

Nope, it was the same old Conner. He did have a scar on his left cheek from a previous altercation from the past, but it was not an unattractive scar. She wouldn’t be able to see his gun wounds or where he got stabbed in the chest from the one of the three suits he had killed. He ate dinner alone. Wished himself a happy birthday and went to bed very uneasy.

Two weeks later, Conner had settled down. He had not seen her since that day and he was on his way to work again, just like every other morning. A block away he noticed there were extra cars parked outside his building; black town cars. Instantly Conner sprang into action. He sprinted with almost inhuman speed down a side street to try to enter his workplace from the back. He then saw that there were two suits standing at the back of the building, a big red-headed one who looked like he had a permanent scowl etched across his face and a brunette who seemed like he had spent a little too much time in the weight room. Instantly Conner noticed the weapons. The brunette’s was just a bulge on his side under his arm and the red head flaunted his with a holster on his right hip. Conner knew that he could sneak up and end their lives in a matter of seconds and do it in complete silence. But he didn’t know how many more there were and he did not want to draw the attention of the government again. He decided to turn around and go back.

As he turned he was startled to see two more suits closing off the alley behind him. He had been seen and was being surrounded. How had they known he was here? He had taken all the precautions necessary to make sure that his living here was a secret known by no one. And who would know anyway? He had no friends or family. He had to leave that all behind in order to survive.

He stared down the alley as more suits joined those closing off the alley and more came out the back door as well. “How is this possible?” he screamed to himself. The girl! She knew. He didn’t know how, but she had to have known somehow and alerted the authorities.

His blood started to boil. Maybe he could kill an innocent girl! He saw them draw their guns and start to rush from the alley as they noticed he was standing in the shadows. It would take him exactly seven steps in a full sprint to get to the now four suits at the back door. He could finish them off in a matter of seconds, and unless one of the others down the alley got a lucky shot off, he should be able to evade them and slip into the building.

He rushed forward, one… two… an arm reached out of seemingly nowhere and grabbed him. He was startled and swung his fist making a solid connection to the head of the girl. Her head snapped right back. Her face showed no sign of emotion or pain as her left eye socket swelled up.

“Come with me”.

He looked up and saw that there were now seven at the door. Conner prided himself for his split-second decision making but wasn’t sure about this one as he followed her through a small door that he did not see earlier. Why was she here? She had to be the one that turned him in! Why would she save him now?

Four days and twenty thousand miles later, Conner still did not have any questions answered. They were there in the Dominican Republic a place Conner had never been before. He thought it was beautiful. It may have been because she was with him though. As much as he wanted to hate her, he found himself liking her more and more all the time. She was the one that had turned him in. She had admitted that much but never gave a reason for rescuing him or for her erratic behavior. She didn’t talk much or explain anything else to him but Conner was alright with that, she had saved his life.

Conner had paid a lowly boatman to bring them to the island after they had escaped through Mexico; there was no border patrol anymore, and the absence of law enforcement made it easy to travel from country to country.

She said her name was Maria. There was something about her though, thought Conner, something that was different. He could not figure out what it was.

It was after they had been in the Dominican for about eight hours that she told him.

“They are coming.”

“Who?”

“The Cragon.”

“What?! How do you know?”

“They have a tracker in me.”

“Well thanks for telling me that now!” Conner hissed as he nervously glanced around, wondering what else she had not told him. He couldn’t stay mad at her though, it was the eyes and the courage she had that was starting to grow on him. She still would stare at him with that deep unblinking gaze that he was starting to grow fond of.

“I am the one.” Maria said.

“What is that supposed to mean?” countered Conner.

“I am the one, the one you are supposed to kill, the innocent one; you know, from your file.”

Conner could not say a word. The only thing that he knew was that there was not a chance in hell that he would ever kill Maria. She looked down and broke his gaze for the first time Conner could remember.

“It is the only way. It is fate, it must come true.”

Conner remained stunned.

“You have to!” she screamed. “It is the only way you can escape them. They know where I am!”

“I won’t leave you.” Conner said and he didn’t know why. There was something odd about this girl.

“I will never leave you and I will protect you,” repeated Conner.

He could not believe that these words were leaving his mouth. Inside his mind he was screaming to run, to leave her in the dust. Disappearing was what he was good at, almost as good as killing. He could disappear and never see her again but something inside him said it again, “I will never leave her.”

“Good.” Maria said as she clung to him in a desperate embrace. This was the first time she had physically touched him. “But you will kill me sooner or later, it is your fate.”

Conner did not know why he came to the Dominican to get away, he was in a rush. As he thought about it he realized that in his extensive file there was a small paragraph about being in the Dominican. He cursed himself. He was still doing it, following his file to a T.

He swore.

“Maria, how did you know about my file?” Conner asked. “How did you know about me and what I was?”

“I am special too, Conner” replied Maria. “My file was right next to yours.”
Conner searched his memory. There were three files in the drawer that he found his in, one with his name and the others with the names Maria and Jose on them. Conner could not believe it. There was another like him and he had finally found her.

“We need to stop them,” Conner said. “We have to get into their offices in Washington and be rid of them once and for all.”

“Ok” agreed Maria. “But they know that we are coming”

Fate was a funny thing in Conner’s mind. It was said that the Cragon gave us our fate. In Conner’s mind that was the elimination of human freedom. It had been proven though, no one as of yet had escaped what the Cragon had told them they would do with their lives. Conner decided that he would do everything in his power to be the first, if possible. And do everything in his power to destroy the Cragon and all that they stood for.

It had to be possible, even though as of yet, everything in Conner’s file had come true. If it was not possible what was the point? Why live? There were no decisions to be made or choices in life, everyone was going to do what was right, because the people that screwed up were dead, just like he was supposed to be. He had to convince himself that he could break the cycle, he had to believe or life wasn’t worth living.

Conner did not see it so much as a question of fate, but more as one of freedom. Humanity had given up its freedom for a utopian society. In Conner’s eyes everyone had sold their souls to the devil. He did not know how he was going to try to stop the Cragon, it was the equivalent of trying to steal from Fort Knox, but he was going to give it hell or die trying.

Everyone knew that the Cragon had one source of energy; it was in the ministry of Future Events in Washington DC. The Cragon were a race that was all tied together. They shared brainwaves and had to be in a close proximity to each other to ensure the clearness of their waves. The ministry of Future events housed a wave amplifier specifically for the Cragon. If one Cragon was out of range of the others their waves would be incomplete causing an interruption in the signal. The amplifier let the Cragon travel all over the world, whereas normally they would not be able to be more then about a thousand miles apart. If this interruption occurred it would mean death to the entire Cragon race. If the waves are interrupted it causes a sort of depleting cancer to start to grow in their brains, and eventually they would become extinct. More importantly they lose all of their foresight abilities. The Cragon did not worry though; they had the entire world eating out of their hand. And there were enough suits in the building to protect it from a couple outlaw humans who managed to escape.

Conner knew DC well; he had spent a year or so there in his early 80’s. A run-in with a Suit on the street was the end of that and he barely escaped with is life. He learned to be more careful after that. He didn’t talk to strangers much, and kept to himself, living a life of almost solitude with his books and his training.
They walked up to the Ministry. All it would take is for them to run into one Cragon, just one, and this escapade would be over, as well as their lives. But Conner knew this had to be done. He wanted freedom. Freedom from that damn file that held him imprisoned to what he knew was going to happen to him. He also knew that his file said he was going to try to do this. He knew they would be ready somehow.

Conner had an antique 9mm glock that he stuffed into the front of his pants. It was old, from the 1900’s, but he kept it in good condition. He knew that he had eight shots. That meant he could kill ten to twelve men easily with the way he could shoot. And probably another ten in hand-to-hand combat with the hunting knife strapped to his left calf under his jeans. There would be more of them then that and he knew it.

He walked into the lobby. There were suits all around him, but without the knowledge of the Cragon he looked just like any other human coming in for a meeting. He checked the directory with the front desk. 97th floor was the only one that said off limits, it was a fairly safe bet.

Maria held his hand tightly as they walked to the elevator. They had grown very close over the last couple days; Conner knew that if he got through this he would marry her, never to be alone again. He was quite sure though, that he would not be getting through this. He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead as they entered the elevator. He knew then at that moment that his life would never be the same, he was going to die and he was in love.

They exited the elevator on the 97th floor and a suit was there as they got off. He asked for ID and a clearance pass for the floor. They had neither. Conner didn’t hesitate. He quickly and silently, before the guard could take another breath, disabled him with his bare hands rendering him unconscious and dragged him to a janitor closet down the hall. Conner did this with such speed and agility it took all of 15 seconds. The best navy seals team the world has ever seen could not as efficient.

Down the hall they went. He screwed on his silencer that he had in his back pocket. He knew they were close. Pffp. Pffp. There were five dead suits in four shots, Conner was deadly efficient. The first bullet passed through the nearest suits head and struck another in the spine. The second was placed into another head and without hesitation the third was neatly placed into the chest of one, and as it passed through; the abdomen of another. Conner used one more to ensure the last was dead with a quick shot to the head.

Conner noticed that as fast as he moved, Maria moved just as quickly after him. He was impressed. He took two more out without making a sound; the knife came in handy this time. He had to be careful though to not let them bleed all over the floor if he didn’t want to raise suspicions. Anyone going through those hallways after them would see no blood, bodies, or signs of struggle because there was none. Conner was the most deadly man on the planet.

He opened a door that looked promising. That was it. As good as he was he was, he couldn’t do a thing here. There were at least fifty suits all lined in a semi-circle waiting for him and in the middle was a Cragon; an important one by the looks of him. He had shed his human disguise and was in his full alien form.

Conner felt bile rising into his mouth. The Cragon laughed and said “How, Conner do you think you can defeat us when we can see exactly what you are going to be doing?”

The statement was true, but only to a point, and Conner knew it. The Cragon could see our future but only big event things that affected us. They could see robberies and murders because they were the things that affected us emotionally, and changed who we were; they caused us guilt and sorrow. Conner knew that they could not see exactly what he was going to do; it was how he had escaped them so many times. Maria had disappeared, Conner was thankful for that much.

They took him into a briefing room. “This is it,” he told himself. He was going to die, and he was going to be responsible for Maria’s death too; murdering an innocent girl. He knew they had been seen on security cameras.

In the briefing room, the Cragon stood there with a smug smile on his face.
“Conner, we finally meet, you are truly an exceptional human being! We had to finally resort to using more tact with you.”

Maria walked into the room; she was free? She walked up to the Cragon and he put his arm around her. She looked up at Conner with those glittering eyes. This is Nadia, she is one of us.

Conner had no words, he loved her. He still did. She was a Cragon? She was not Maria. She had betrayed him. He was a fool. Thoughts rushed through his head. He was enraged, not at Maria, but at the Cragon.

“Humans were made to be free” said Conner with more malice and hatred in his voice then even he expected. “You take their freedom away from them. You murder the ones that are going to do bad things, even though they could choose to be good.”

“Can they Conner?” asked the Cragon. “Do you really think humans are free? If fate is all they know, then fate is what they will fulfill. Even you have fulfilled your file perfectly. Well, except for killing the innocent girl but we weren’t going to let that happen. We promised humanity a perfect place and a murder would have thrown everything off for another couple years at least.

“Nadia was your innocent girl by the way. She did not know what she was sent out to do, she was told that there was a human who would love her and you were to be it. I made her call herself Maria because that was the name on the file that we planted next to yours when we first allowed you to sneak into our establishment and try to figure out who you were going to become. At that point we were not sure about you either; you showed signs of things that we had not seen in other humans. You are unique Conner”

“Unfortunately, as much as we would like to see how your skills continue to evolve we cannot have you ruining our utopian world. You will be terminated as soon as I leave this room.”

Conner’s heart fell. He knew it then, he knew that it had been too easy the first time. He knew that the file he had looked at was his file but it was altered. They knew he was going to break in so they planted a fake file and another one right next to his. That is why there was nothing about his falling in love with Maria or breaking into the Ministry a second time.

Conner needed to know then, “Can I see my real file?”

“Of course” said the Cragon with a surprised smile. Maria continued to just look at him. Those eyes! Even as he knew he was going to die he could not but help but stare into her beautiful eyes. Even when he knew now that she was not human he still loved her. He knew she was innocent.

The file was slapped down on the bare metal table in front of him, he slowly opened it up. There it was, the file was identical to his old one except for the current situation he was in now, the only thing that he had left to do in his life was to kill the innocent girl.

He was glad that he would not live to fulfill that. The Cragon had been monitoring him, watching him develop into the most deadly human being of all time, all the while knowing that he was going to be in their interrogation room on this day awaiting his death. All the things he had done in his life were right there, the killing of the suits, the police, even the falling in love with… Nadia.

It said it right there plain as day! Conner, the first human to fall in love with a Cragon, that is why he was unique, not his skills. Conner cringed as he closed the file. He knew then that they were right, there was no human freedom, Fate ruled over everything. Everything that was fated to be, happened, no matter what. He was going to die in this room.

The Cragon had had enough and left the room with Nadia in tail, she took one last look back, her eyes were different then, and they had tears in them, sorrowful.

“I love you, Nadia,” Conner said to himself. “I forgive you.”

“I am sorry Conner” She said, as if she had heard him, and left the room.

This was it, Conner was going to die. Two suits came in with guns drawn and a doctor with a syringe. Conner knew what he was going to do then, he knew there were exactly twelve more suits in the hall, all armed, but they had underestimated him. If he was going to go down he would send as many of them to hell as he could.

He lunged out, faster then any of them had ever witnessed, faster then he had ever moved, he had killed all three of them before the first one fell to the ground and he had done it so fast that it startled even himself. They had forgotten his knife.

Three quick, precise strokes and it was over. He didn’t bother cleaning up this time.

He ran out into the hallway, knocking over three suits that had come to see about the ruckus, and continued down the hall hearing bullets zipping by his head. One caught him in the left should but he did not slow down, another tore through the right side of his abdomen. He continued to run.

He knew exactly where he was going. He saw the main control room for the power center on the way to the interrogation room. They had made many mistakes when they took him. He knew now, they were simply out of practice with this whole “prisoner thing”. The utopian society had helped him.

He burst through the control room doors. He had put some distance between himself and the gunmen but could hear them coming down the hall. He did not know how to work the controls; he looked around the room frantically trying to figure out a way to power down. All it took was for a small break in the invisible waves that kept the Cragon alive to rupture their life and they would all eventually die.

The first gunman entered the room, he was faster then the others which meant he died first. He didn’t even have time to squeeze a shot off. Conner saw his chance he picked up the dead man’s gun and started shooting into the machinery. He emptied the clip, nothing happened. He heard the rest of the suits sprinting down the hall and knew that it was over.

A spark shot out of the machine with the main controls on it. A shockwave like explosion rocked the 97th floor. Everyone was thrown to the ground. Fires ignited...

Conner awoke in the hospital. She was there, Nadia or Maria. Whoever she was, he was in love with her. She smiled softly and spoke to him, “You did it” she said. “We cannot see into the future anymore”.

Conner breathed letting this news shower over him. He felt as if he was weightless.

He wanted to scream, every part of him wanted to let out the loudest scream any man could ever muster. He had done it.

He could not feel his burns; he had saved thousands of human lives. Humans would resent him for now, of course, but they may begin to see that he had freed them in the future. He had given them freedom.

Nadia spoke again, “You did it, but you did not give them freedom.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well even if the humans cannot see their fate it does not mean it does not exist. And it is true, you cannot escape it.”

“Yes you can.” Conner said. And then he realized it. He knew then what she was saying, she was right, you could not escape your fate. He had finished the content in his file. He had killed Nadia, she was there with him, yes, but she would not last much longer. The interruption in the waves meant that the Cragon would start to die; a cancer would form because of that quick minute. He had killed his innocent girl.

Conner visited the grave once a year, he was now 105 years old, and humanity had finally begun to understand what Conner had done. He had been in hiding for a long time and was planning on making his re-entrance into society sometime soon. He understood now that he did not give humanity freedom. Fate was something inescapable. If you were predestined to do something, if it was your fate, you were going to do it. And all of humanity had their destiny that would be fulfilled with each life.

It was the knowledge of this destiny that took freedom away, trapped them in the sad ruts they had the audacity to actually call lives. Conner gave them a sense of “freedom” that came with not knowing their fate. This sense of freedom completely changed humanity. What were mindless drones became creative people who thought they were choosing their own path in life. Conner had changed the world, but he had not freed it. The Cragons were all but gone now; Nadia had lived for seven more years and had spent every moment with Conner. He missed her now, but he knew that what he had done was for the good of all humanity. She wouldn’t have wanted him to do it any differently.