Historical Holograms From A Runaway Punk
Hologram Recording Transcript: July 26, 2098

Yesterday was probably the worst day ever, and I’m unsure how to describe what happened. Where did I leave off last? Oh yea, Henchmen chasing us. We thought we had lost them and were going to tell the others back at the village, but it was infiltrated with a mob of Henchmen, too many to count!

The Godfather held Zora by the arm and had a Pack9 pistol pointed at her forehead. All the Henchmen had pistols and were ready to fire if anyone was going to make a move.

“ADMIT IT! You’re the one that orchestrated that sneaky pirate attack, didn’t you? DIDN’T YOU!” yelled the Godfather.

Zora had her eyes closed and wouldn’t say anything.

The Godfather noticed me and waved for some of his Henchmen to grab me while others grabbed Zi-Yen, tying him to a tree. Zi-Yen fought the best that he could but was overpowered. Then the Godfather let go of Zora and grabbed me, pointing the cold metal Pack9 pistol right at the back of my head. I thought I was going to die.

“ALRIGHT!” she screamed.

“Good,” he said as he relaxed his pistol, still holding me close. He scrutinized Zora for a bit and pointed his pistol at her face, “Does anyone know what you did for a job in Tech City?”

Zora became squeamish, shaking her head “no,” giving me a sad look as if to say she was sorry.

“REALLY?” he said mockingly. “After all these years, nobody knows your secret?”

There was a moment of silence, and then he yelled, “SHE WAS THE SKYPOE CAPTAIN IN TECH CITY! A head-hunter for the great Mayor Sye. She used to be his right hand before Tiger. It was her idea to mandate the Law of Expulsion. Now, look at her.”

Zora, shaking her head, did not want to hear it. Gasps and cries and pleads for mercy erupted from the people.

“Before that, she was a Marine ssssniper…”

“But we got a second chance out here! I was trying to do something right!” Zora cried out.

“That will be ENOUGH out of you, Preacher Man,” said Nami as she walked out from behind the people.

“Preacher? How to preach without a Jesus Christ? You see he made a comeback, right?” the Godfather said bitterly.

“Because you never figured it out,” said Nami.

“Figured what out? THERE IS NO SAVIOR! Never was and never has been. So, who are you?” said the Godfather as he eyed Nami carefully.

“Because Mayor Sye did not want you to take charge of Tech City! I hacked all the evidence that was hiding in his records.”

“Ahhhh, the French Fox, is it? Tell me, Fox, what did you figure out that nobody else had for thousands of years?” he asked with a smile. “Did you replace Atlantis?”

“Ancient Vedic history inspired Plato’s story,” said Nami.

“YES! A FAKE story to lead men astray, like all the others. Now Fox, what did your hacking uncover about the supposed Jesus Christ? Tell me; we’re all ears,” he said, laughing as if he heard a joke.

“It’s true; there is no Jesus,” said Nami.

“I knew it!” the Godfather interrupted.

“BECAUSE IT WAS JUDAS OF GALILEE IN JUDEA! He was a real man who both helped and hurt his people,” explained Nami.

“What are you talking about?” he asked.

“Judas was Jesus; both characters came from one man alive in 6 A.D. in Judea long ago.”

“Both the betrayer and a savior? Why am I not surprised?” he said, looking at Zora.

Nami continued explaining, “Judas, a real man, led the first resistance against the Romans. Re-branded Roman re-writes made a biblical mess of everything.”

“Well, then did you replace the Holy Grail?” he asked.

“A spring, a water well that ran through crystalized caves found in Bosnia, energized all who drank from it. Closed-off for centuries so nobody could replace it.”

“Also, the fountain of youth, I suppose?” he asked, looking defeated by Nami’s answers.

“Yes,” she said.

“The Shroud?”

“Mis-identified. The shroud is of King Charlemagne covered in leach marks due to an ancient medical procedure known as bloodletting.”

“Yes, too short to be whip marks. Does Mayor Sye know about all this?”

“He does. But he doesn’t want anyone to remember any of it. The people have a right to know; we need to remember. THAT is why I was exiled,” said Nami standing with pride right in front of the Godfather; her confidence could not be shaken.

“After all I did for the Mayor, hiding his most precious…”

A one-armed kid, the same age as me, came up quickly behind the Godfather, pointed his pistol right at Zora, and shot her in the middle of the chest.

Without realizing what had happened, I found myself staring at his pistol right in front of my forehead. “She killed my father!” he screamed at me, almost crying. I recognized him as one of the boys from the Archery long ago.

“Wait,” said the Godfather pushing the pistol away from my head and trying to soothe the angry one-armed boy.

“It’s an eye for an eye,” said the boy.

“There’ll be no more bloodshed. We must think in terms of a truce,” said the Godfather looking out over the crowds of crying people.

“A truce will be declared!” he yelled. He waved to his Henchmen to let the people go and to untie Zi-Yen from the tree. He made another motion signaling them to pack up and leave, and the one-armed boy followed close behind him.

Nami grabbed Zora and held her close; I could see that life was slowly fading away from Zora as dark red blood oozed out of her gunshot wound. Lots of people rushed over and helped Nami carry Zora to her tent. They wanted to stay close to Zora, but the nurses made everyone leave quickly, and we were to wait outside.

I didn’t know what to do or say or what to feel, still swarming in shock over what just happened. After a few moments, I was called in to see Zora. She held her hand for me to have and said, “King, promise me you will go back to Tech City and help the people. “They need you to free them. You have the power to take Tech City away from Mayor Sye.”

“Is it true? What the Godfather said about you?” I asked.

“Yes. But I found hope after I found the French Fox, and I have stayed with her ever since. That’s why I got exiled.”

“This is all because of Mayor Sye!” I said. I was angry, but then I got scared when I saw her choking up blood; her nurses whisked me away.

Zi-Yen heard everything and was waiting for me. He said, “This is it! Now time for Shambhala Warriors, for real! Take Tech City.”

“Are you kidding? Have you ever been to Tech City?”

“We got a map, open Mil-RAT, see full hologram. For Zora.”

“What if I don’t?”

I could feel Zi-Yen laying into me hard and cold, staring boldly right into my eyes, “No peace for you.”

“Just like a brother.”

With eyes flashing sparks of fire, he smiled at me and said, “You got it!”

Our entire village was shattered to pieces. The security we used to have is gone, and all our people are in mourning because we lost Zora, our founding Matriarch. I mean, who’s really to blame? Should I blame the one-armed boy for killing Zora? Should I blame Zora for almost killing the Godfather? What if I never left Tech City? Maybe none of this would be happening? But what if Mayor Sye was no longer the mayor? What if he got exiled from his city? That’s twice now, losing a mom. This sucks; I’m shutting this thing off!