Chapter 24

24: Every eye in the crowd was focused solely on Mina and the bird.  Stratford ruffled his feathers while perched on Kenn's shoulder and said, "Yeah, so?  Mina has a green glow too."  No one saw a green glow around Mina or Daniel so they looked to Mina for any signs of comprehension.
  "It's true.  I saw that green glow around him last night.  I only told Kenn, though.  There's no way he would know that I could see it.  I didn't tell anyone else."
  Kenn put a comforting hand on her shoulder.  "I didn't tell him.  But Stratford said that you have the same green glow.  What does that mean?  Are you a vampire?  If so, how come I don't have the glow?"
  "No, I'm not a vampire.  I don't know why I have this green glow.  I've been able to see it since I can remember, but my foster parents never paid any attention to me when I would talk about it.  Eventually I just stopped thinking about it and ignored it.  No one else I've ever seen has it so I just never put my mind to it for years now.  Daniel's the first person who's seen it.
  "Wraawk!  Me too, me too!" shouted Stratford.  There were a few nervous chuckles from the crowd.
  "Yes, you too, my little friend," said Kenn.  "So, what does this mean?"
  "Well, this green aura, or glow as you call it, means that Mina and I have a connection to the Collective, which is an alien race from Sypraxia."  No one knew what to think about that.
  "You mean she's a Defector?" asked Carrionette.
  "No.  The Defectors are under the influence of the Nocent.  You see, human beings aren't the only species who have distinct races.  The intelligent Sypraxian species is made up of both the Nocent and the Collective.  The Nocent have a red aura."
  Barney had his arms crossed in front of his chest.  "But you're my son.  You're not from some distant planet.  And Mina sure as hell ain't no alien.  She's a reporter.  She works for me."
  "The Collective have been coming to Earth for millenia to study us.  I was on the shore of Marble Cliffs Lake when I saw a strange craft crash land into it.  I saw a green glow in the water.  It was dark out so I could see it bright as day.  I wasn't afraid because it filled me with warm feelings of love and compassion that I haven't felt in what seems like forever.  Vampires don't have a soul so this green glow was able to fill me completely.  The green glow was the spirits of the Collective.  I am now like Stratford with Damion.  I am the voice of the Collective.  I tell you, it takes a lot of darkness to blind you, but only a little light to help you see."

Chapter 21

21: One by one, the Defectors who had gotten the chip started falling to the floor where they stood.  They were apparently going into a deep coma of some sort.  The Defectors who did not have a chip looked to Rend for an answer.  "Master, what is going on?"
  Rend thought for a moment and it slowly dawned on him what may be the problem.  "On Sypraxia, we have a common virus that we call the Scathing.  The first symptom is this coma-like state which these people are exhibiting.  Think of it as our version of tuberculosis.  The virus must be living in those chips that we implanted.  Since you humans have not been exposed to it, it seems to be affecting you in a much more serious way than it would one of us."  The unaffected Defectors helped put the ones who had succumbed to the Scathing in neat rows lying on the floor.  "Now there is nothing to do but wait for their bodies to start fighting the virus.  They should recover within a day or two."
  When a few hours had passed, their skin became translucent and you could see their veins and muscles underneath. Then their skin dried out and took on a grayish tone.  No one knew what to do to help at all.  Rend had the unaffected stay away so that they would remain out of reach of the virus.  He then had a realization that many of the Defectors had gone into town and were all over Marble Cliffs.  People everywhere would be falling victim to the Scathing.  Their eyes, visible beneath their translucent eyelids, clouded over and became gray.  This was not even the worst of it.  After a couple more hours, they stopped breathing and began to get up.

Chapter 11

11: Just then, Barney came into the editing room.  "Where's the TV remote?"
  "It's in a remote location," replied Ashley from payroll.
  Barney found the remote and turned the TV on.  "They're interrupting programs to bring this live broadcast from that 'Have an iced A' lady.  She's saying something about aliens or some crazy thing."  Sure enough, there she was alive and well on TV.  "Here, I'll turn it up."  Everyone watched the bizarre scene unfold.
  "They are called the Nocent.  They are from the planet, Sypraxia.  They have come here to Earth to help us.  They will share the secrets of star flight with us.  Also, if they implant a chip into the back of your hand, you can have increased strength beyond human capacity.  They do not wish to cause a widespread panic so they have cut off all communication between Marble Cliffs and the outside world.  Those who wish to have the chip implanted should come to the old ore refinery at Marble Cliffs Lake.  Speaking on behalf of the Nocent, I am Sandy Ahn an I hope you will all have a nice day."  With that, the news anchors came back with their comments on the live broadcast.
  "Whoa, whoa, whoa.  What the hell just happened?  Fuckin' aliens and some shit about implanting a chip?  And our communication is cut off?  I don't like this."  Kenn's brow was furrowed.
  "Am I mistaken or did she just say, 'have a nice day?'  That's not my mom.  Did you see her eyes?  There was something wrong with her eyes like she wasn't focusing on the camera or something.  Those fucking fuckers better not have hurt my mom."  Jeffrey was pacing around the editing room, chewing on a knuckle nervously.
  "What does nocent mean?" asked Kenn.
  Mina was more concerned about other things, but answered, "Well, the word, 'innocent' literally means not nocent. So whatever you think of as innocent, these people, whoever they are, are the opposite.  Innocence?  In no sense."
  "Mina, Jeffrey.  I want you to take this story.  See if you can talk to the 'Have an iced A' lady or to these Nocent people.  She said they'll be at the old ore refinery at the lake.  See what you can find out," said Barney, speaking to Mina and Jeffrey.
  "I want to go there anyway, but not on the job.  It's five o' clock.  By the sound of that engine outside, I can hear that my gang's just pulled up in the van and we've got a show tonight," replied Jeffrey.
  "Jeffrey, we don't know if these Nocent people can be trusted.  Even if they only kidnapped your mother, remember that they tried to make it look like a murder.  If they really are here to help us, why didn't they just ask your mother to speak on their behalf?"  Kenn had a lot of questions he wanted to find the answers to at the ore refinery.  Just then, the door opened and two young punkish looking men and one copiously pierced woman walked in.
  "Hey, J, whaddya say?"
  "Yo, Lowe, whaddya know?  Dude, how's it bangin' Al?  'Sup, Deej?  Everyone, this is our bassist, Lowe Freq.  This is our guitarist, Alexander Graham Taco.  And the short one is DJ Carrionette.  We are the Maine Eleven Company," said Jeffrey in his usual ghetto redneck zen geek style.
  Kenn nudged Mina and whispered, "What was all that he just said?"
  Mina covered her mouth and whispered back, "I don't know.  It's all Geek to me."
  Barney spoke up.  "Jeffrey, since all communication has been cut off, I can't contact any of the other reporters. You need to do this story.  I'll be going too if that shows you how important this is.  Besides, with aliens in town, how many people exactly do you think will be going to see your band tonight?  And aren't you concerned about your mother?"
  "We should all go.  I bet most of the town will be there for one reason or another tonight," said Kenn.