The Time Stone, Third Edition (Extended Version)
Chapter 3

“The darkness permeates the recesses of the human soul, but sometimes when one feels completely hopeless, there is a glimmer of light. Finding that light among the infinite dark space ahead, which may be the reason why we are here. We are each chosen to replace our way in this world, this life, to replace the one light that makes us feel absolutely complete, a remnant of a bygone past and long forgotten, destiny!” Melody Blinkett thought to herself as she sits in darkness in a corporate boardroom after hours. It was a plain sight for the twenty-two-year-old well-dressed woman, who was newly hired as a paralegal for Temporo Inc.’s General Counsel’s office. Melody remembers when she was an intern for the company while in school. It seemed like it was a lot different then - much more positive energy. Now, there was a colder and darker reality of the place that she was growing accustomed to. She figured she was early so she didn’t bother to turn the lights on. She takes a seat at the head of the long table and opens her portfolio. She shuffles some papers with corporate stationery and handwritten notes in the margin. She studies them while batting her long dark curls that keep getting in the way. Then, suddenly the doors swing open, and the ceiling begins to glow with bright red, purple, and orange neon lights. A slight hum surrounds the visages of color above, and a display screen appears. It rises up from under a secret compartment beneath the table. A form appears on the screen as it lights up, and a faceless shadow of a man appears. He has waves of dark curls surrounding his face, which are hidden under a cloak of total darkness. Several men and women in dark black suits enter the room. Melody rises to her feet and nods her head as she nervously gathers her papers. A voice echoes across the room, causing everyone to take their seats silently. “This emergency secret meeting of the 12-VMX Secret Command Council is called to order.” A dark and mysterious voice echoes before them. Melody trembles with fright as she sits in the back of the conference room. Behind her sits a tall, bald man with a strong muscular physique and a square jaw. Beside him sits Melody’s boss, and Luther Von Strauss, Esq., General Counsel of Temporo, Inc. A symbol rests on the table and on each leather portfolio that each person is carrying.

It’s the symbol of the Temporo, Inc. Company; a set of double curved upside down arches and the symbol of the Egyptian snake god Apophasis.

“Let us begin,” says a cocky middle-aged man at the head of the table. “It is important that we act quickly and not let the other factions replace out about what happened tonight. We do not want to cause problems for our various overseas operations.”

“True,” speaks Ogelsby Bradshaw, a short older man. Everyone in the room recognizes Mr. Bradshaw - the founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Temporo, Inc. Mr. Bradshaw is a wise man, who has earned the respect of everyone in the company. He always had a courteous smile for everyone, from the senior vice presidents, down to the janitorial staff; although, no one has ever known the true nature of his private life.

“I put my complete faith in this young man, Mr. Broad Staffnight.’’ “He’s our new CEO, who will take my place and be a shining example to our company’s continued success.” The older man then takes his seat.

“Thank you, Mr. Bradshaw! No one could fill the shoes you are leaving behind,” says Broad rising to his feet. “Now, down to business with this museum incident, we know the death was no accident and wasn’t supposed to occur, but it did occur.”

“We know that guard was not supposed to be there, Sir,” says a young blond woman sitting next to the seat where Broad sits. “But on a hidden surveillance tape, we saw that he was outside smoking a marijuana cigarette. He had probably just arrived and was waiting for his shift to begin, when he heard a noise and ran in to check on it.”

“Thank you Liz,” replies Broad. “My assistant Elizabeth Peters has been working with me on this cover up. We hired ‘The Culto’, a legendary band of misfit ninja warriors to replace the artifact. But now, a simple theft by our contractor turned into a homicide investigation, by the FBI’s Strange Occurrences Project. Our contacts within the Chronix Bay Police Department and FBI tell me that this was not an accidental death, as the police initially thought. It was true that the guard was shot with his own weapon; someone or something turned it on him at the moment it fired. Because of this strange method of killing, the Bureau is giving it high priority and will stop at nothing to reveal the truth. We can’t have that. If they discovered that we had in fact ordered the theft, it would jeopardize everything. We need patsies.”

“Already done, Sir, a search of the citizen database found two nobody simpletons who are the perfect fall guys for this. Once they are arrested and convicted, the case dies, and no one is the wiser,” Liv says with a clear and concise voice. “No one would miss them.” Liz pats two manila file folders under her leather portfolio.

“Good,” says Broad. “And what became of the artifact?”

“It disappeared. Our guess is the contractor had no choice when he saw the guard. He was not supposed to be there and the contractor must have panicked … he activated it.” Liz’s face was blank, pale as a ghost. “It seems from our examination of the police file and our own investigator’s reports; there was a secondary alarm that was not anticipated.”

“Disappointing indeed,” replies Broad. “We hired The Culto to get the artifact back safely to us. We are the object’s rightful and lawful owners. Regardless of his motives at the time, we need to get the artifact back, the Eye of the Gods must be returned home.”

“But now, Sir, it is simply gone” says Liz bluntly, “it could be anywhere in time or space.”

“We will replace it my pupil. There is another way.” Broad’s eyes burn with passion.