The Magistrate: A Short Story

The Magistrate

Michael Smith stood alone in the rain, waiting. It was nearly time. The rain beat down mercilessly on him. “Why is it always raining?” He asked himself. He shifted his feet. “He should have been here by now.” He breathed a long sigh into the cold air. The flimsy grey canopy like structure above him bended weakly with the wind; and he could smell the wet cement behind him. It was a strong, artificial sort of smell; contrasting sharply with the vile smell of alcohol that emitted from the flask he held in his gloved hand. He always wore gloves, whether or not the local climate dictated it. The black leather of his boots creaked as he stamped his feet on the cement to keep warm. He put the flask of liquor back in his overcoat pocket. His ears detected the faintest electric purr of a vehicle; and a sleek, black car came into view. “He’s late.” He thought to himself. The car rolled up to him and the back window on the passenger side rolled down. “I have a message for you,” said a grating low voice. “The Magistrate wants to see you.” Michael nodded. “Let’s go.”
“My name is Michael Smith, identification code Bravo 996. I live in Imperium City. I am 23 years old. I have no domestic partner. I work for the Magistrate, the ruler of Imperium City. My only purpose is to serve the Magistrate. This is my sole purpose and duty, and I will fulfill it to the end. Long live the Magistrate!”
The hologram which contained Michael’s credentials closed back into the disc from where it had sprung from. The man sitting opposite him handed it back to him. “Well, Bravo 996, how do you like Imperium City?” There lurked the faintest hint of smile on his lips. “Sir, it’s a nice change in scenery,” responded Michael. The man looked at him. “Nice change in scenery, huh? Doesn’t make much sense to me; the cities are all the same. Every wall is dull, grey cement. Every road is black. Everything’s symmetrical, everything’s clean. You know, I heard that before the age of the Cities, there were these things called matchboxes that people used to start fire. I saw a picture of one once. Our cities look like a bunch of matchboxes standing up.” Michael stared at him, questions rising in his eyes. He carefully watched the man ramble on about the Cities. “He’s bordering on Violation,” thought Michael. Immediately, the man, as though sensing his thoughts, caught himself. “But of course, that’s how it should be: clean and symmetrical.” He said not very convincingly. Michael nodded as if to convey a sense of caution to the man.
The man sat silently for a moment, then turned a cold eye onto Michael. “It didn’t say anything in your profile about your Division,” he barked sharply, “explain, Bravo 996!” Michael’s facial expression did not change. “I’m sorry sir; protocol dictates that I cannot tell you that. It’s classified.” The man’s temper flared, and he grabbed Michael’s collar roughly. “Tell me, you piece of filth! I have authority over you!” (Apparently, he was bent out of shape because Michael had detected he was bordering on Violation.) “You will submit to me the proper information about your division, Bravo 996!” Michael grabbed the man’s hands. His expression conveyed no emotion. “If you must know, I am of Division 2.” He said coldly. Suddenly, the man’s eyes grew wide in horror. “You-You’re one of them! Get away from me!” Michael’s hands closed about the man’s neck. “You are in Violation of Code, information has been revealed to you which is classified and you have physically attacked a Division 2 construct of the Magistrate. As such, it is my duty to terminate you. Your service to the Magistrate has been appreciated but you are no longer needed.” The man stared in horror at him, “Your time will come!” He whispered hoarsely. “I exterminate people like you; I can’t be exterminated,” whispered Michael back. The man tried to yell out but failed as Michael’s hand was against his throat. With one swift motion and a brutal cracking sound, Michael snapped the man’s neck. It was as simple to Michael as it would have been to snap a twig. Then, he pulled the back of the seat to reveal the trunk and shoved the body inside. He sat back in the seat and breathed as if nothing had happened. He adjusted his black tie, smoothed his dark hair and settled back in his seat. “Take me to the Magistrate; and have this vehicle Sanitized.” He told the computer that was driving the car. “Yes, sir.” It was still raining outside. “Why is it always raining?” Michael muttered.
The car pulled up to a large square like building. It rose into a pyramid, way up in the clouds. This was the Magistrate’s personal dwelling and the headquarters for all Division monitoring. Several other such towers rose in the distance, the Ministries. Each one responsible for a certain area, they kept close watch on their quadrant. Michael ascended the steps in the rain and passed through the wide archway. Two masked guards wearing all black stopped him. He showed them his disc, and told them his name and number. “Alright, Mr. Black, you’re cleared to go. The Magistrate is expecting you.” Michael nodded and proceeded to the elevator. “I’m here to see the Magistrate.” He told the elevator. “Welcome, Bravo 996,” said a smooth woman’s voice, “The Magistrate has been expecting you.” The elevator rose into the air. Michael turned and looked out the window.
He could see the grey city, stretching on for miles. The grey tops of the buildings glistened wetly under the unrelenting rain. Nothing but grey for miles. This was Imperium City. Everything was clean, everything was right. Everything was dealt with in the methods the Magistrate had dictated. And that was the way it should be. Michael had grown up in this building, in an underground facility called Section 42. He had grown up without any parents; the only parental figures he knew were his instructors. His real parents had been donors from Division 3. He was now a Division 2 Construct, someone who had no other purpose but to do the Magistrate’s bidding. Division 1 Constructs were called Citizens, and they each had jobs assigned them; designed to increase the overall welfare of the state. About ninety percent of the constructs in the cities were Citizens. Division 2 Constructs were the only ones who had more of personal names as well as numbers. They were the “police” of the Cities. They hunted down Violators (those who thought, said, or did anything against the state.) and exterminated them. Michael was a special Division 2 construct; he worked for the Magistrate personally. Generally, Division status was shown on ID discs, unless you were like Michael; a Division 2 construct specifically trained to be the Magistrate’s personal guard. Division 3 Constructs were called Elitists. They were the directors of the various Ministries of the cities. The Magistrate was the top Division 3 Construct. He was the leader of all the cities.
The elevator had reached the top of the building, and shook Michael from his reverie. He stepped out into a large grey room. There was an android secretary at a small desk. It looked up at him as he approached and handed her his ID disc. The android analyzed it, and then said, “Welcome, Bravo 996, the Magistrate is waiting.” A pair of doors slid open and Michael walked through them.
He found himself in an enormously large room. Everything was dull grey and there was no furniture of any kind save a chair at the far wall facing a huge monitor. There were images of people on the screen and video feed of every room in the building. There was a man sitting in the chair, talking to a holographic image of one of the directors. The hologram disappeared and the Magistrate stood up and turned around. He was tall man, with jet black hair, and an aura of perfection about him. He wore a black suit and a silver ring with a black stone set in the middle. “Ah! Michael! You’re here!” Michael nodded. The Magistrate strode toward him. “What do you have for me?” Michael pulled three small discs out of his coat pocket and handed them to the Magistrate. “Excellent!” said the Magistrate, as he strode over to the massive screen on the wall. Michael followed him quietly. The Magistrate inserted the three discs into three different slots in the wall near the screen. Three figures appeared on the screen. They were the leaders of the other three Cities. Suddenly, a red bar materialized in front of each image. The message read, “EXTERMINATED FOR VIOLATION.” A thin smile played itself across the features of the Magistrate. “Wonderful work, Bravo 996; you have done your work like a true servant.” Michael nodded. “It is my purpose, Magistrate.” The Magistrate turned toward Michael. “I now control all four of the Cities. Everything will be as it should. There shall be no Violation unpunished, no thinking left uncorrected. No emotion shall go unchecked. Their will be new, more aggressive monitoring on all Citizens. The old laws of Violation shall be strengthened. The population shall truly know that this is their salvation!” Michael nodded in agreement. “Sir, what was their violation?” The Magistrate stiffened, and looked at him. “Thought crime, Bravo 996, they were found thinking against the state.” He said in a halting tone. Michael wanted to ask how they knew of their thought crime. “Enough with the questions, Bravo 996, you did well. You’re dismissed.” Michael bowed and exited the room. The Magistrate watched him go; then pushed a button and a hologram of a soldier clothed in black materialized. “What are your orders, Magistrate?” The soldier inquired. “Bravo 996 has committed Violation and questioned motives of the state. I want him exterminated immediately.” said the Magistrate coldly, “He is not to leave this building; he has worn out his usefulness and he is dangerous to the state.” The holographic soldier nodded. “Consider it done, Magistrate.”
Michael got into the elevator. As it descended, he pondered his encounter with the Magistrate. Was the reason he had exterminated those three leaders really because of Violation? But it wasn’t his place to question the Magistrate. The Magistrate was always right. But Michael couldn’t help but notice how the Magistrate reacted when he asked that question. But that probably just meant that what happened was a different degree of Violation. He figured what he had done was perfectly legitimate. Abruptly, the elevator stopped. Elevators weren’t supposed to stop in the middle of a descent. Michael’s senses tingled. He felt like something was wrong. The doors slowly opened.
He was staring into a security monitoring complex. Security guards were everywhere, and as the doors opened, they all turned towards him. “Hey, that’s the Division 2 construct wanted for Violation!” someone shouted. “Violation!?” The thought darted through Michael’s mind. Then his instincts instantly took over. Diving into the room, he sidestepped swiftly, and jammed his elbow into the nearest guard’s helmet. Grabbing the soldier’s machine gun, Bravo 996 swung around, firing machine gun rounds into the tightly knotted soldiers. Swinging the gun upward, he discharged a round into the skull of the soldier whose weapon he was borrowing. As the soldier dropped to the ground, Michael gripped the gun and rushed through the room to the window on the far side. As he ran, he passed a shelf with tactical equipment. He grabbed a rappelling cable and discharged it into the ledge of the window as he shot the glass and leapt through the space. For a split second, Michael was even with the raindrops around him and time stood still. Then as gravity took hold, he plummeted towards the earth.
The rappelling cable took effect and swung Michael into the wall of the building. He jammed his thumb onto the lowering mechanism, and he shot downwards. Breaking periodically with the rappelling mechanism, he quickly came near the roof of a lower building. Michael quickly shoved his legs into the wall and propelled himself on to the adjacent roof. He landed with a loud thud onto the roof. He lay still for a moment. He looked up. There was an airship patrolling around the Magistrate’s building. “Not good!” He leapt up and ran towards the edge of the building and leapt off onto a lower one, and so on until he reached the surface streets. He pressed himself against the wall and watched as the airship made a pass over him. It hadn’t detected him; otherwise they’d already have killed him. He relaxed his guard and pondered the events of the past half hour. He was being hunted down for Violation. Why? Questions arose in his mind. The Magistrate wanted him gone. That was the only explanation. Michael knew too much, that was it. He knew the reason why the leaders were gone. And he was pretty sure now, that it wasn’t for violation. It was for power; for the Magistrate’s gain. The entire system Michael had worked to preserve his entire life; was broken. His god had betrayed him.
The rain still fell all around him. “Why is it always raining?” He wondered again. There was silence except for the pattering of raindrops all around him. “It’s not supposed to be like this, I’m a Division 2 construct! I don’t get exterminated.” reasoned Michael. But these questions could come later. Right now, he needed to make himself invisible. He was good at that. He needed to become inconspicuous. He would go to the center of the city. And spread the message about the Magistrate and his hypocrisy. Yes! That was it. “Salvation! Salvation for one man isn’t much of a salvation.” Michael heard an airship in the distance. It was time to go.

Judge Yourself

So a friend of mine just showed me a bulletin that was posted on Myspace. It asks a whole bunch of questions about social problems and such. For your benefit, I will post it here (The "pic of" indicates that there was originally a picture there.):


"Why do people commit suicide?picture of SuicideWhy do people cut themselves?pic of BleedWhy do girls become anorexic and bulimic?pic of AnorexicWhy do kids bring guns to school?pic of KillWhy do kids get depressed...so they start using meds, and abusing them?pic of OD MedsWhy do girls feel the need to act like sluts to impress guys?pic of Slut (in gym, with guy, yiiikes)Why cant people show their sexuality freely, without worrying about being judged?pic of Lovely (two gay guys YYYYUUUUUCKKKKK)In the Bill Of Rights, it says we have FREEDOM OF SPEECH! So why are we so afraid to speak up for ourselves?I KNOW WHY!Shh!pic of Evil"Whores"pic of Plastics (putting on tons of makeup)"Geeks"pic of Losers"Goths"pic of Darkness"Emos"pic of andfadetoblackAND THAT’S NOT EVEN HALF OF THEM!Society in generalpic of EarththetruthIS THIS the world?pic of Child AbuseIS THIS THE NATION FIGHT AND WE LIVE IN WARS TO SUPPORT?pic of TrappedI AM SICK OF IT!Stereotypes, and everything else.I want to live in a good place, without suicide, rape, murder, and JUDGEMENT!pic of Killing is wrong (why do we kill people who kill people to say that killing people it wrong?)IF THIS HAD ANY AFFECT ON YOU REPOST IT!No, a ghost will not rape your dog.You wont have relationship problemsNo you won’t die in 7 days.BUT you will have the guilt on your shoulders that you didn’t try to get the message across.I want to stop the madness.If I only reached out to 1 or 2 people that’s fine.At least MY conscience is clear...HOW ABOUT YOURS?--You have to click 'Reply To Poster', and then copy and paste in a different bulletin or you won’t get the whole bulletin…"


So despite the fact that it's a Myspace bulletin and full of atrocious grammar and other such teen horrors, this script is very misguided. In a nutshell, it is saying that the reason kids have so many problems is because people judge them for who they are. My friends, this is most certainly not the case. Kids ae not the way they are because some person thought something different than they did. If that was indeed the case, then we're raising a generation of genuine wimps. The reason goes a lot deeper than that. People aren't messed up because of stereotypes. People are messed because of one little word: sin.

The problems we have in our society are not because people feel judged. Maybe that plays a small role, but not a huge one. Sin is what twists our society. Every problem we have in society today is atributable to sin. The problems in society also spring from a wrong view of many things; pain...suffering. So many things we see today have the wrong solutions, the wrong diagnosis...the wrong everything. People don't kill because they have an emotional problem, or a physical problem. People kill because they have a spiritual problem. Our society tends to think of everything in terms of sickness. Our culture is absolutley intent on removing any concept of responsiblity from the halls of justice. Murderers are sentenced to pyscho-therapy. Pedophiles are released back into society for another chance. There is more crime now than there was 50 years ago because people are so obsessed with the idea that people deserve a second chance...no matter what. It's ridiculous. This is what happens to a nation who forsakes the Lord.

Kids are messed up because we teach them that they're an accident. More on that in a later post!

The Crutch

So today was a wonderful day. We had biology class today and we're currently going over the topic of evolution. We didn't spend much time on it because we already know the topic so well, however, I was refreshed on some of the ridiculous assumptions held by evolutionists. Let me show you.

We were discussing the evolution of the whale. Apparently, whales evolved from cows. I wonder, how is that possible? Well, the answer I heard was that some prehistoric cow-like creature wandered into the water one day and over generations, developed offspring with different characteristics. Then, eventually the not-so-cowlike-cow produced a whalelike offspring. And thus, the whale came into existence.

I cannot tell you how much fun we had with this in class. It's so absolutley ridiculous that some people actually believe the kind of things we were discussing. The concept of evolution in of itself is at complete odds with the rest of society in some respects, and in other areas, we're reaping the sad fruit of this twisted worldview. Allow me to explain.

Homosexual rights: Modern day society is absolutley obsessed gays and their artificial rights. There is an outpouring of post-modern love on homosexuals and their is an ever increasingly clamor about their right to marriage or civil unions. Society wants to grace such people with rights that would make them equal to heterosexuals. This would make them feel better about themselves, and would further help to advance the agenda that homosexuality is an acceptably alternative lifestyle. However, we also live in a neo-Darwinian society, where evolution is taught as fact all the way from kindergarten through highschool. The primary vehicle for evolution is natural selection; survival of the fittest. This means that whoever can climb their way to the top of the food chain will survive. Anyone who can reproduce the most, will continue their line. I spot a contradiction between evolutionary thinking and the massive gay rights movement. According to evolutionary philosphy, homosexuals are the mess-ups of evolution. They're accidents. They should be weeded out by natural selection and discarded onto the evolutionary junk heap. If society teaches evolution (which promotes the survival of the fittest, and teaches that those unfit to survive will go extinct) yet at the same time is waving the banner of gay rights (promoting those unfit to survive and trying to preserve them), why in the world has not this contradiction been noticed before? The two are incompatible! If society truly wishes to advance evolution, then gay rights should have been done away with long ago. The two are at odds with each other, and represent contrary thinking.

Abortion: Abortion is a tragic result of an evolutionary mindset. The theory that evolution creates useless parts, or vestigial parts, promotes the idea of abortion. Evolution may have just made a mistake, and the fetus isn't human yet. It's not fully evolved until later on. Mainly, however, the abortion holocaust is due to the mindset it promotes: man has no value. If man is a random product of evolution, then he really isn't worth anything. Therefore, there's not a problem in eliminating our offspring. Abortion is a result of evolution.

In both these instances, a Biblical viewpoint of Creation is better. Instead of condemning homosexuals to the pit of meaninglessness, tell them that they are made in the image of God and thus have worth. It is not loving to gays and lesbians to tell them they're the product of random chance; in fact, it's not loving to tell anyone that. We're made in the image of God, that's why abortion is wrong, and that's why homosexuals shouldn't be viewed as accidents of God's creation. Sure, they're in fatal error, but God didn't make a mistake. More on both these topics will appear in later posts. Thanks for reading!!

"Then God said, 'Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.'" Genesis 1:26

Post feedback please!!!

A Poll for Interest?

So my weekend is finally over. Well, actually, it really just began yesterday and it ends today. Thanksgiving holiday was a much needed break. I just needed to rest, lay back and chill. I've had quite a momentous week, full of surprises and thrills and common frustrations. But it's all being directed by the Divine hand, so I've nothing to worry about. So what shall I talk about?

Well, before I can really blog, I need readers. If anyone reads this, tell people that you do read it. I'm very interested in feedback to improve my writing skills, etc. I'm considering setting up an email list of people who'd regularly like to read this blog. I'd send emails everytime I posted to let people know what's current. Sounds like a great idea.

I got to see some important people last night. My most wonderous sisters came to visit me. Isn't that cool? I love them so much. Anyway, this blog isn't very purposeful or meaningful so I don't think I'll give it a purposeful or meaningful title. I don't have much time anyway, so I think maybe I'll just end this blog here. Adieu.

Airports in Autumn

Today is Thanksgiving. All around the United States, people are coming together with their families and friends to celebrate life and enjoy good food. It's a time when we can just stop and think about our lives and say, "Wow, I have so much to be thankful for. It's too bad we only get one day to enjoy it." Well, hopefully we don't say that. We should be thankful everyday for what we have. Thanksgiving Day just accentuates it and puts it in perspective, then lets us eat turkey and drink cider and have a good time. Thanksgiving is a wonderful time of fellowship, but I'm pretty sure it shouldn't be the only day that we are thankful for the things we have. For a lot of people, Thanksgiving may just be a time to curse God for all the things they don't have. That's not the attitude we should have. At this time of year, we should be spreading the love of Christ. We should be an example to all around us. So let's talk about love and thankfulness. We'd better be grateful to God for His love to us. I'll tell you what I'm grateful for. I'm grateful for my God. You know, I think Thanksgiving day is a pretty crucial time of year. It forces us to just "Stop!!", a thing Americans don't do often, unfortunately. It tells us we have something that makes our life better on a daily basis. So when I look back and see all the car wrecks and nuclear meltdowns that happened in my life, I'm amazing that God has still directed me safe thus far. And I'm grateful. God is pretty much amazing. He gave us this day so we can remember why.

Life is like an airport. We're just sitting in the terminal, watching planes take off. Sometimes we don't take enough time to turn to the person next to us and see who it is. And when we do look, we may just figure out that they're not at all who we thought they were. And we may find them to be pleasant people. Sometimes, the ticket master will tell us that we're on the same plane. But we don't get to know that. We each have our own destination, and we're not in control.

Love God because He's worth loving and don't question why.
Look for the oceans in the stars, way up in the sky
For He is always there, peering down at us.
A loving Father, whom we must trust.

Reach for the Sky

So I've been thinking. Since Slingpaw is dead, who I am has been up to a little debate, but only between me and me. I've decided that the name Firefinder isn't good enough, it's too corny and not beautiful enough. So I set out on a quest to find my identity. I talked with my experienced peers, and yielded few results. However, in that quest, I did come up with a few terms which may appear as terms in future short stories or poems or just beautiful writing. So I turned to other resources to provide an identity for this new creation. I wanted something that sounded foreign, yet strangely attractive. I wanted something that would roll off the tongue but stick in the mind. I wanted something that meant something. And so I found that something. The identity I have chosen to go by is known as Empyrean (em-peer-e-in). Empyrean is an ancient term for the sky; in both spiritual and physical understandings. Granted, this term does have pagan connotations; in the ancient world Empyrean was regarded as the realm of pure life which hosted fire and where perfection was manifest. It was glossed over later in its existence with Christian coverings, and was then understood to mean the realm of God and His angels. Personally, if I am to use this identity, it will be to rebut the pagan connotations of the word; I won't use it to advance a Gnostic idea of transcending reality to a pure realm. Rather, I would hope that those who know my definition of the word, would rather think of the heavens and God's greatness in making them. I believe empyrean to mean the sky, or the firmament. So there you have it. Now no one can accuse me of pagan heresy. :-D

Don't you just love beautiful words? Slingpaw is dead, I killed him. I am Empyrean.

A New Beginning

Slingpaw is dead. I killed him. I took who he was and had him changed by fire. The Blacksmith shaped who he was and the thing he produced; that is what I am. By fire he molded me, and into ice he placed me. I am here as his servant. Slingpaw is dead, I am what is, what was has passed away. And the fire in the ice has grown into a raging inferno, licking away at the ice eager to get out...to spread it's tantalizing warm. Slingpaw is dead. I am Firefinder.