‘The mountains of Albania March 18th 1916’ “It was an infiltration mission I was sent by my employers at the time, the thing with my employers and I is we never actually met face to face, we only communicated through a series of telegrams lost by time. There had been other missions, but none like this. This mission was to infiltrate the secret factories of the Albanian military. Now infiltration was nothing new, nor was sabotage which is what I presumed I was doing. No, I was supposed to collect intelligence on a new weapon being created by the central powers, a weapon with such power it would make the earth tremble with fear a weapon which would control the weather. A weapon of this size and secrecy had to be made in separate factories so nobody got the slightest idea on what they were actually creating. Infiltrating the first factory was easy as just walking in for a day of work. I had taken photos and took documentation of the pieces existence. The next factory had upped its security with more armed guards; this would be surely difficult if I was to get my work done undetected. This “simple” mission of infiltration and retrieval of Intel turned to be one of the nastiest missions of my life. I had surprisingly entered the factory and sabotaged production with few snags. But when I was documenting the pieces that were completed and ready to be shipped to the assembly plant I was caught by a guard who was on his way back from the loo, he alerted the rest of the guards, but I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve to elude them. I escaped their grasp for a few moments when I ran into another guard and he pulled his gun, me I didn’t have a gun, knife or anything to use as a weapon. He had no fear or hesitation in his eyes, reminded me of someone I met so long ago in a land and place long forgotten. He shot me three times two in the heart and one between the eyes to be sure that I was dead. I blacked out for a few moments before I came to. The guard was stricken with fear when he saw me rise from what should have been my grave, Instead of fighting him I walked past him and out of the factory. I got new orders from my employer soon after the nearly failed mission, my new objective was to go directly to the assembly plant and destroy the plant, detonate the bomb with all personnel inside at all costs. Along with the telegram, a messenger was sent with a package for me. I was instructed to use this package to destroy the plant. The plant was extremely well guarded, there was no way I could walk in. so my strategy need some thought and planning. There was the plan where I go guns ablaze and shoot all, or I sneak in through the roof and plant the bomb after I activate the lockdown sequence, the covert ideas always peaked my interest, so I entered through a hatch in the roof and planted the bomb in a secure location nobody would look, now my job was to initiate a lockdown, to do this I had to get myself killed a few times but that plan worked. After the lockdown was in effect I armed the bomb and had 45 seconds to exit the building. The heat and pressure from the bomb was like nothing I’d ever seen before and didn’t see again until the first official test of the nuclear bomb in the 1940’s. With that my mission ended, and I was not contacted by the employer until the next major war”

Present Day- As I walked out of the man’s office and off the factory floor, I couldn’t shake the feeling that some unknown presence was watching my every move. I went back to my apartment for the night, I sat on the decrepit couch I pulled from the trash earlier that week, it smelled a bit and the legs were gone and a bit of stuffing was loose, but it served me well. As I sat waiting for my T.V dinner to finish cooking about to doze off, I heard a loud crash coming from one of the back rooms where I never went because of the painful memories they housed. I hesitated on entering the room where I heard the crash but eventually decided to go in. As I walked in I flipped the light switch and the light was out, I had been meaning to replace that bulb a while ago and never got to it. As I strain my eyes to get a view in the dark room I was hit on the back of the head and knocked out, the last thing I remember hearing was the timer for my dinner going off and a voice I thought was long gone.

July 1943- I was contacted for another contract by the employers, the last time I had heard anything from them was during the 1920’s after the Great War ended. This contact could only mean more bloodshed, which proved to be true. This time I was contacted by them for the purpose of sabotaging Germany’s research of the atomic bomb, and assassinate the high ranking scientists who were working on the project. This mission was much simpler than my last one with the weather controlling device it was a simple sabotage mission with an added incentive, kill all leading scientists and receive a well-deserved bonus. The scientists proved no problem except one, Albert Einstein who escaped because the employers wanted him alive for reasons unknown. The mission was an overall success and my reward was being there to watch the destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, hah, some reward that was.

Present Day- When I woke I was in a dark room with only a single light hanging overhead, my hands tied to the chair I was in. The voice I heard at the apartment was definitely here speaking to me from directly behind me. The voice was the voice of my employer, a man who should be either dead or old and gray now, yet the man was not that of the other imortallius­­­­ man, so I was completely lost on who it was. Although there was a thought that passed through my head, I quickly shook it out of my head because there was no way it could be possible. The man who introduced himself as Augustus Palestine Eliot was asking me what year it was and what my name was in order to make sure there was no brain damage. I told him the year was 2011 and my name was Vladimir Augustine Ellis. He said correct, and that he has a mission for me and it may just take my life he chuckled at that, he must have remembered that he ordered me dead and I could not die. He said I was to take the 4 packages off the table and place them in inconspicuous places as to not draw attention, walk into North Korea past the checkpoint and detonate the packages in the four places designated on the map given. I was hesitant in accepting the mission when I asked what was in it for me, he said “A courtside seat to Armageddon” I still am fuzzy on why I accepted but I did, and the entire Korean Peninsula was obliterated due to the explosions from the four small packages, the world heard the explosion, the shockwaves were felt in Brazil. The world was thrown into chaos and there were countries warring for food and fresh water, the world was plunged into a nuclear war, and the sun went into hiding to escape the destruction man had cast upon it. It all happened so fast the world was a helpless pile of rubble in four days’ time. In the four days that the world had descended into darkness, a new race of human had emerged from beneath the earth. This race of sub-humans had been living in the shadows of our “better than you” type of society we had. These “Creatures” as most people on the surface called them, were in fact not creatures at all. In fact they had a sort of sub-society underneath the cities of our world; they had electricity, running water, food, and an education system that parallels ours. It was hard to believe this when I had heard it, but if there was one thing I needed to see to believe, this had to be it. They had solved the problem of world hunger, yet they shared their secrets with nobody. They had massive steel gates guarding their underground civilization, these massive gated entryways served as protection from any “looky-loos” and also served the purpose of protection from the world’s governments and armies, who if they knew of the technology that lurked under their feet, their greed would destroy their civilization, as do all major civilizations who see something they want they don’t have. These “Creatures” were still people; they had just evolved from a group of survivors from a devastating attack in Japan on August 6th 1945.

August 7th 1945- The day after I went with on the mission to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima Japan, I went back to help survivors (not that I expected any) in finding loved ones and aiding those who needed it (as if there wasn’t anybody who didn’t need it) as I was helping there was a man who was not burned or injured in any visible way, the man was sitting on a burnt stump singing a song in a language that was long lost and long forgotten. I go to the man because he summons me over to him, and he gave me a proposition in perfect English I would never forget, “Help me help them help themselves” he said this and I ask how I am to do this, he tells me of his plans of an underground civilization where those irradiated would get the care they need and that they would learn to care for themselves. I was hesitant because, who could do such a thing with no tools or money? He said he could cover the tools and had the perfect point to do this, he just had no money. I tell the man I have no money for him, but I could get him some, he told me he knew of the things I could do, and said that was the reason. His reason was merely a test to test my pureness of heart. He instructed me to gather all remaining survivors not being watched by the solders there and bring them to him and he would lead them to safety, there are currently nineteen “elders” who are of the original twenty five survivors. I never thought I’d see any of them again.

Present Day- As the irradiated people emerged I felt a disturbance, a cry for help, which in itself was an odd occurrence, as all people I had a serious connection to were all long gone, or so I thought. There was one person I had a connection to but that was so long ago so far away. There was this woman who left this child on my doorstep about forty five years ago, I had no experience with children, and I certainly wanted none. So I did what I had to do and left the child with the colony of Sub-Dwellers and hadn’t seen it since. Now I felt an odd disturbance because of the fact that I had the child for no longer than a month, and felt no connection with it. It had no name and I cared not for its gender, because I wanted nothing to do with it. But even without making a connection with the child, I couldn’t help but wonder if this distant cry for help could in fact be the child I had tried so long ago to forget. As I tried to find the source of the disturbance I realize I’m being followed by a dog, the dog had been following me for some time now, and each time I tried to get it to go away it came right back. As a result of its persistence I allowed it to follow me. Persistence, that’s something I haven’t experienced in so long.

July 1776-Colonial America- As the young country of America fought for its freedom and independence from the tyranny of England, I settled down in a quiet village untouched by the war. As I settled in I quickly drew unwanted attention to myself with the mansion I had constructed about a mile and a half from the shoreline atop a hill that overlooked the entire village, I had constant visitors just trying to catch a glimpse into my home, the villagers persistence never seeming to cease. By the time a month had passed I went down into the village and posted fliers advertising positions available in my manor, all were welcome to apply, no experience needed. My manor was flooded with visitors the next morning, all looking for employment, or just a chance to see the inside of the beautiful mansion that seemed to spring up overnight. All the villagers got employed, got food, money, clothing and homes while employed with me. There was utter confusion when people saw no candles anywhere except the dining hall on the tables. When asked by someone where the candles, torches, or lanterns were, I replied” this is a new technology, one which will revolutionize the world! There will be no more nights spent straining to read your favorite stories by candlelight. This is the light bulb, and there is no need for candles anymore!” this confused the crowd now working for me, but after it sank in, they erupted in a cheer. Then a young man, roughly around my age asked the directions to the outhouse, I explained that there is no outhouse, that there is another revolution called plumbing which again will make lives much easier for the common man living in my manor. The response was the same as before, confusion and then cheers all around. Apparently their persistence paid off when the military had come around looking for new soldiers to fight the redcoats, for when I was asked where the men in the village had gone, I replied “gone they now work for me, and I’ll be damned before you take away the best damn work force I’ve seen in all my life!” the soldier said I couldn’t be more than a child myself, I simply said that those from my part of the world don’t grow past me.

Present Day- The dog persistent as it was did not leave me the entire journey I had to make, it slept when I did, it ate when I did, drank when I did, rested when he needed to and caught up if he was left behind. I was actually starting to admire this animal’s persistence; I was actually starting to care for it, I named it Salvador, in honor of my great friend Salvador Dali’s painting “The Persistence of Memory.” The dog seemed to enjoy the name as when I called it he responded happily. As Salvador (Sal for short) and I arrived at the gates of the Sub-City, we were stopped by two heavily armed guard robots. I was asked to identify myself or submit to death. I immediately responded and was let into the city. They had to keep their city protected from the world above but their precautions get a bit out of hand, like the time I was turned into Swiss cheese by the sentries. As Sal and I walked through the city gates we were greeted by the residents who stayed behind, as well as a woman who I don’t recall seeing before. This woman was introduced to me by the town chairman as Sylvia. Sal immediately jumped into her arms and started showing his affection towards her. I asked the chairman if he was experiencing any troubles since the wastelands were created about a month ago. He said other than the occasional power loss, which was common before the bombs were dropped, their city has been thriving. He added that Sylvia has been troubled by something lately, but he couldn’t place just what it was. As I am escorted to my house in the city, I couldn’t help but think could Sylvia be the child I left at the gate of the city forty five years ago? I was woken late from a deep sleep, I was to speak to the town in the morning at 8:00 A.M to assure the people that the outside world is more dangerous than ever before, due to high amounts of radiation, and people who managed to survive raiding all available locations that weren’t destroyed by the nuclear holocaust. I was also there for a personal reason; I wanted to look into what was upsetting Sylvia. Although I felt no connection, I felt an obligation almost to find out what may be going on with her. I was quickly snapped back by the question by the townsperson who asked how I survived to come there and tell them of the dangers of the outside world. I was cornered by this question and had to reveal that I was immortal, and have seen things that no man should ever see.

January 1905- St. Petersburg Russia- as I was sitting down for supper I was disturbed by a protest happening right in the square. Although the protest was peaceful, I was still being disturbed by it, especially this one protester who kept shouting nasty remarks directed at me in a language which was not Russian, but Mandarin. The protester had claimed I was the devil and to keep me locked away, but nobody there except me could understand him. I was known throughout the community as a, master of language, and often I was called upon to translate some long lost parchment, or some tablet that had a language from a long dead civilization. When the protesters asked me what the person speaking mandarin was saying, I lied and said, “He says ‘Death to Russia and all of her sisters’” this made the person furious. While I walked away with a grin on my face the person pulled a gun out of his coat and shot me eight times. I lied there a while before I heard more gunshots, except the protester didn’t shoot more; the protesters were fired upon, staining the square red. I rose after the gunshots ended and many people were still there and called me the devil for getting up after getting shot like that. I had to explain to them what happened so long and far away from here. They had banished me from St. Petersburg, never to return…or at least until they all died.

Present Day- The town was shocked, yet oddly at peace with this simple answer “I’m immortal.” This peace made me feel, welcome. A feeling I had not felt in ages. After the meeting, I’m walking back to my house and I see Sal playing with some of the town’s children. I am truly envious of their happiness, because I don’t quite remember how happiness feels.

Damascus- 1A.D- There is one thing I remember very clearly about the old world. It was a time of turmoil and nobody knew what to do. Then enters me, an eighteen year old man, as I walk into the city I am ambushed by a group of mercenaries who were collecting a bounty on my head. Except they didn’t know I was MUCH more of a threat than they anticipated. There were three of them and the first two distracted me while the third snuck up behind me and stuck his knife into my spine. I fell and played dead as long as I could until they decided to walk up to me I then grabbed the first mercenary’s leg and slammed him into the ground while pulling myself up as well. The other two mercenaries were dumbfounded and tried to flee. The second mercenary was throwing stones at me, I caught one of the larger stones he threw at me and I then returned the favor by throwing it back at him which it had shattered his skull upon impact. The third mercenary was already quite some distance away so I took the knife still protruding from my spine and threw it at him full force. He had gotten about two hundred and fifty meters away and he stopped and fell dead on his face with the knife sticking out between his C2 and C3 vertebrae. I think this is the first time I remember being happy, was surviving the ambush and taking them out like that.

Present Day- I got no sleep last night, which is not unusual for me since the incident. That day is forever etched into my mind. But as I watch the sun rise Sylvia calls my name. As I look up I see that she has my knife. I ask her “where did you get that?” she replied that it was delivered to her by a mysterious man who claimed he was immortal ten years ago. Undoubtedly this is Augustus. He had asked Sylvia to kill me and exclaimed that the only way to kill me was by this mystical knife. Just pierce the skin and the last of the imortallius shall die. I slowly turn with a menacing grin on my face and flick one of the stones I carry with me for situations like this at her neck severing her carotid artery. She was dead quickly, and I walked over her cold dead body and grabbed the knife. Sylvia was dead, and nobody would ever find her. I was on to find a new settlement with Sal by my side each step. After about three weeks I finally fell asleep in a makeshift shack I fabricated out of a car hood, some tires and some grass.

London 19th Century- The streets are filled with terror, for a madman is on the loose. Who is he everybody asks, only I know who it is. Because I am the madman who has slaughtered thirty people with no evidence against me, the Scotland Yard can’t pin this on me. I am on the prowl again for more blood. It will satisfy my hunger, my thirst. I am a pleasant man by day, but then again aren’t we all? We all have alter egos we live by in the night. Mine just happens to be a murderer who nobody will ever catch. They called me Jack the Ripper, but they only know my FAMOUS “clients” they know not of the scourge of the underworld I’ve rid England of.

Present Day- In about two weeks I reach the West coast of the former United States. There is barely anything left here… just how I like things, desolate and dead. As I’m walking Sal runs off, which is not unusual for him to do, but as I walk the night descended and Sal did not return. This almost made me want to go hunt for him, but he is a dog and he means close to nothing. But then again, he means something if I named him. While staring at the campfire contemplating going to search for him, I hear a yelp of pain. It could be Salvador or it could be some other mongrel dog being hunted by the former residents who have returned to their primal urges to do as their ancestors did. After hearing nothing for the next ten minutes I pick up and go look for him. This silence is deafening, and unnatural, people say nature will always attempt to fix an unnatural silence. But there is no wind, animals, or faint sounds of gunfire; I think I need to find Salvador.

Egypt 6 BC- I was a rather small person compared to the other slaves, but that didn’t stop me at all. Being the runt of the group made me an easier target, but it also gave me an edge. When the other slaves tried to gang up on me for “initiation rites” I had easily escaped their grasp, even when they had me greatly outnumbered. There was one time that sticks out in my mind that they were “initiating” a new slave. But the boy was lying on the slate severely beaten within inches from his life. I had seen enough, so I took the knife I had kept in my bag and cut the throat of three slaves. Then as I was looking over a slave to see if he was truly dead I was stabbed in the back of the skull. And the attacker had mutilated my body beyond recognition. As he was about to walk away my body had begun to regenerate the severed limbs. From what I hear it is gruesome, and it will turn the strongest of stomachs. My bone had been formed before his eyes and the arm which he had severed disintegrated before him, he called me the god of life because of this. There were many who attempted to kill me in Egypt, but none succeeded. The young man who I had saved was to become the next pharaoh and to walk the sands as the ruler. You never know what a good deed or two can do for you, because the young man had remembered the god of life and had built a shrine to him. Only to be buried by the sands of time, never to be found again.

Present Day- I found three men with a dog backed into the corner. The dog was growling fiercely at the men who seemed to have a hungry look in their eyes. I take a stone I find on the ground and I break it in two and throw the halved stone at the two outer men. The third one who was standing in between the two men I had dispensed of turned to me and fired three slugs into my chest and I pushed forward and ripped the gun from his hands and rammed the barrel down his throat and fired two slugs into his esophagus leaving him in a bloody heap on the ground. Salvador looked to the ground and slowly walked to me and followed me from there on. I can honestly say I was almost fearful for the life of Salvador. We had a mission to do though. Earlier that day I was contacted by one of Augustus’ associates who had been trying to collect a bounty on me. But without the knife I hid nobody can kill me. But last time I hid it, somehow it was found.

Undisclosed Location in Russia 1962- It was the first manned shuttle to the moon. It was to never be discovered by anybody outside the command room, and me. I was launched to the outer atmosphere and within minutes I was in orbit. Using a few puffs of air here and there to get me into orbit around the moon. Within a few days I was walking on the surface of the moon. The TRUE first man on the moon, Neil Armstrong was the first AMERICAN on the moon, but I was the actual first on the moon. He just followed in my footprints…quite literally. I had smuggled my knife into my suit keeping it wrapped in a cloth as to ensure it doesn’t puncture my skin. Once on the surface I unwrap it and throw it with all my strength in the opposite direction of Earth. Ensuring that it would never been seen again so I thought.

Present Day- With the blade in hand and Salvador at my side I was on a new mission. I had to find out where the blade was found, because it shouldn’t be on Earth at all. But there were no leads left. With Sylvia dead by my own hand, the trail had gone cold. So with nowhere else to turn I seek out Augustus, with the intent of interrogating him. My search didn’t last long, because in the distance I saw a man sitting at a table with candles for lighting. I don’t rush to the man, but rather take a leisurely stroll to him and sit in the chair opposite to him and Salvador at my side. “Took your sweet time getting here didn’t you Vladimir? The food’s nearly cold, but that shouldn’t be a problem for you now should it?” remarks Augustus. “Well, if you must know, I wasn’t in any particular hurry to see your ugly mug again, but I know I had to sooner or later. So let’s cut the crap and get down to business, I know you’re well surrounded and I don’t want to have to cause any problems. So call them off and let’s talk in a civilized manner like the adults we are.” responds Vladimir. With a snap of his fingers, Augustus calls off his armada surrounding the two sitting at the table. And within an instant Vladimir hears the safeties click on their weapons. Vladimir exclaims, “You know their weapons don’t do any permanent harm to us, so why the protection?” Augustus then remarks “If I were to kill you, I would have done it LONG ago. Vladimir, you may not realize it, but I have had MANY chances to kill you before this night.” Vladimir looking dumbfounded by Augustus’ statement asked “So you haven’t sent a league of assassins to kill me?” Augustus looked at Vladimir as if he was speaking in riddles. “What do you mean ‘assassins’? I’ve hired no such group, because your life has no value to me.” Vladimir with a sincere look of horror on his face looked at Augustus and said “I think we may truly be in danger. In 1962 I went to the moon and took along my knife, knowing that I can’t destroy it, so I did the next best thing, I disposed of it. And about a month ago I was attacked by a woman wielding MY knife, and I’m one hundred percent positive that it’s mine because of the names carved into it, they’re aliases I’ve gone by throughout my life. There is no possible way this should be here on earth.” Augustus looked at Vladimir in horror and said “Something similar happened to me; I was working alone on teleportation for one thing, to get rid of my knife. And about a year ago now I was attacked by a total stranger wielding my knife, hence the extra protection. I have a feeling that our journeys might be coming to an end soon.” It was with this realization that the reality sunk in and I shook Augustus’ hand and then and there an alliance was formed, we needed to find out who was after us, and more importantly….why? Unless Augustus slipped and let people know his secret about being immortal, there’s no possible way somebody could know our secret and go as far as executing an assassination attempt on us. And I know for a fact that Augustus was much more careful in concealing his identity, because I’ve been scouring historical texts for evidence of his existence. And while I found evidence of MY existence I found no record that Augustus Palestine Eliot ever existed. Was I not careful enough, or was Augustus too careful? Either way, the fact intrigued me, but wasn’t at the top of my priority list at this moment in time.