And So It Begins

Welcome to the Agglomeration

When I mentioned earlier I would be posting a short story, I had an epic idea in mind. However as I cannot yet figure out the exact direction of the plot due to the gaping plotholes I decided to pursue a much worse idea just so you would all have something to read and criticise. See how considerate I am.

This short story will be in the structure of a TV Show, so think of each chapter as an 'episode' of a show. This post has the Prologue of my first 'short story' and depending on the reaction I get, I will decide whether I should continue writing episodes or scrap the whole thing altogether.

Enjoy (or whatever).

Origin

Prologue

Jonas stared at the champagne glass in front of him, lost in thought and oblivious to the frenetic charged atmosphere of the room that he was sitting in. The half-drunk liquor still left a sparkling aftertaste that tingled his senses, adding tension to his nerves. Maintaining an apathetic appearance, he continued to focus on the white-stained glass, hypnotised by the reflective glare caused by a bright light above him. Any onlooker would say that he just looked lost. But where Jonas was truly lost was in his mind. He was wandering through the labyrinthine structure of his intellectual mind, thinking of new ideas, new combinations, and new things to create. Not even he was sure how exactly his epiphanies, random, instinctive and haphazard, really surfaced, and how long the next one would be due. But then again, the mind was on his conquest list, and sooner or later he knew that he would be able to crack the cranial enigma because he was probably one of the most respected individuals in the scientific community.

“Jonas Schwarz!”

Make that the most respected individual. For a year, at least.

The sound of his own name ripped him from his world of enzymes, formulae and other hypothetical deliberations. Like a stone in a rippling pond, those two words resounded within his subconscious, like insistent echoes that by now were so faint that he could not be sure whether they had really existed, or if his imagination had manifested itself in a new and wondrous way.
But the expressions of pure delight on the individuals seated at his table were testament to the former, and he could only surmise that his name had indeed been called. He stood up almost wearily, turned to face the stage and lethargically proceeded toward the stage, savouring the moment he knew had been a long time coming. His whole life he had seen this as an inevitable occurrence with the only discriminant being time. At the age of 53, he had finally won the Axiom, the Holy Grail of Science, so to speak, and although he had reached the pinnacle of his career, he had plans to soar higher. Much higher.

Jonas walked up the stairs, shook the hand of the glamourous and alluring female presenter, received the Axiom and positioned himself behind the lectern. He cleared his throat, thoroughly but professionally, and began his speech.

At the same time, Warren Cole, seated in his chair, felt a regretful surge of disappointment. Schwarz had won the Axiom, and he again had been left with nothing.

“First of all I would like to thank all the scientific community for recognising me with this prestigious award and deeming me to be the greatest Scientist of the Year.”

I am the greatest scientist of them all. I am the one who should be up there year after year and being recognised.

“Testing the boundaries of known science and surpassing these into the realm of the unknown. That has always been my goal. The world is as small as we want it to be.”

The world? What does the world have to do with anything? It’s all in the mind. It’s not out there. It’s in us.

“Science is facing challenges that are proving tougher and tougher to overcome because of the existential and metaphorical movements led by so called individuals who think they are fulfilling science but are in reality achieving nothing in terms of scientific progress whatsoever.”

Is he talking to me? Is that arrogant bastard talking about me?

“Quasi-scientists! That’s what I call them. Blasphemous, baseless and boring individuals who talk about theory as if it were truth. They are people waging war on science. They are people trying to disrupt the very foundations of science and undermine the integrity of the hard work done by people such as myself, but also some of my closest colleagues."

That hypocrite and his power play. If only you knew the truth. You blind, narrow-minded Idiot!

“They are a threat to science, ladies and gentlemen, and as the newest recipient of the Axiom, I implore you, respect what I say to be the truth, and do not let science, something that is extremely important to us, be taken away and redefined by a group of attention-seeking theorists, one of whom is attending this prestigious conference today!”

Jonas gestured at Warren.
The crowd gasped and a long uneasy silence filled the room.
Warren stood up, fuming, and faced Jonas. “Go to hell, Jonas.”

“Well you see that’s something that only your kind believes in. Everything we know, everything we see, everything we experience? We only have ourselves to thank. We give meaning to everything, Warren, and me? I’d sooner die than acknowledge that some higher power is at work here.

“That could be arranged.”

“Never make a threat that you can’t follow up on, my friend. Speaking of with my newfound reputation, I have the power to shut your organization down as of tonight. So say your prayers and hope to God that by some divine intervention I let you work for me.”

A stream of abrupt machine gun fire interrupted Warren from answering. Three men wearing balaclavas had entered and were walking through the numerous cowering individuals who were afraid for their lives. The leader spoke loudly and clearly,

“Warren Cole?”

Silence.

He pointed a gun at Jonas and shot him twice in the chest.

“Warren Cole?”

Warren stood up slowly, his entire body shaking.

“You’re coming with us now.”

He cold-cocked Warren and the two other men dragged him out to a black van parked outside. The leader walked to the entrance and took one last look at the hundreds of huddled men and women inside the room. Then he took out his machine gun and unleashed it, staining the newly painted walls with red. Within five minutes, screaming gave way to an eerie silence. Within ten, the man had destroyed all evidence that the trio had been there, and the black van was already four blocks away.

Till next time, may you agglomerate all your unpremeditated contemplations