CYANORING 5

CYANORING 5


By Forrest Wayne Schultz



“The closest analogy to this is ‘The Machine’ in the television show ‘Person Of Interest’. All we know is that there is an intent to inflict great harm. We do not know if this woman will be the perpetrator or the victim of this intended harm, or if she is involved in some other way. All we know is that she is the Person Of Interest here. Your mission is to prevent the intended harm; and your first step is meeting this woman. She is in the park toward which you are being driven.”

“Wow!”, I thought, “That narrator sounds a lot like Finch, the inventor of ‘The Machine’ , but I am in no way a macho man like the guy Reese that Finch sends out on those missions to stop crimes.”

My chauffeur, Cara Coer, who is tough like Reese, senses my mood and reminds me of our motto: DTM-EI-YASTD (Do The Mission – Even If – You Are Scared To Death). As we enter the park we receive the latest intel, which isn’t much. The woman’s name is Liz, she is 44 and single, and she is here in the park with her niece Mandy, who is eight years old. Then the screen shows them in real time and full color (framed by a magenta colored rectangle) seated in a gazebo.

As I spot them, Cara barely has time to pull into the parking lot without squealing the tires. Before I lose my nerve, I get out of the car and slowly walk toward the gazebo with great trepidation. Cara remains in the car. This is my battle, not hers.

Suddenly Mandy looks in my direction, gets up, and runs to meet me, and I am astonished to behold on her finger the Magentaring!



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“I see your beautiful magenta colored ring, Mandy!”

“And I see your gorgeous bluish-green ring, sir!”

“I call it the Cyanoring, and it tells me that great danger is approaching and that we need to hold hands.”

“I have exactly the same message, and I believe that my Magentaring needs to be touching your Cyanoring.”

“I concur. Let’s do it immediately.”

We did so, causing a super-surge of fantasy power to go forth which (1). slew The Thirteen Wicked Somethings before they could this way come, and (2). cast their “remains” into a certain deeeeeeeeeeeeep river which has waited a long time to entomb the Wicked Somethings.

As usual with the Cyanoring, the operation was sophisticated with no superfluities, such as the poofs, bangs, sparks, woo-woo music and other silliness which the childish mages use. Consequently no one besides me and Mandy knew what had happened. So I quickly told Cara via our super high tech communicator that the mission was successful: the harm was averted; Liz was the intended victim; and Mandy and I are now going to the gazebo to tell Liz what happened.

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Like Cyanorod-2, this tale was prompted by and is intended to pay tribute to the recently deceased Ray Bradbury for his great story “Something Wicked This Way Comes”, and to express my gratitude to Sherry Thompson for the creation of the memorable character Cara, the namesake of my character Cara Coer.



June 19, 2012



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CYANOROD 2

CYANOROD  2

By Forrest Wayne Schultz

     As soon as I palmed the Cyanorod, there appeared on the wall in front of me a "movie" showing the scene of interest. Our mission: to recover the Xenocube from the mansion of the Unman [who was referred to a long time ago by Ray Bradbury as "Something Wicked this way comes"]. We accomplished our mission before Bradbury died yesterday, i.e. in time to fulfill the prophecy.



     My partner in anti-crime is the indomitable Cara Coer [who was raised by her parents to emulate Cara-The-Feisty, the Hero of "Seabird"]. She arrived at the scene as soon as I, following the instructions in the "movie", hit the "Summon Cara" button on The Cyanorod.



     After Cara exterminated the Unman and his guards, I hit the "Retrieve Xenocube" button. This opened the Xenovault and caused the Xenocube to rise and travel through the air and into the palm of the right hand of Cara, who used it to transport the Unman and his guards to the Xeno-Universe.



     After this I had a delightful conversation with Cara about her namesake.





Written on June 6, 2012 as a tribute to Ray Bradbury for his authorship of the book noted, and as a way of thanking Sherry Thompson for her great character Cara.

CYANORING 4

CYANORING 4

By Forrest Wayne Schultz

 

Katie Is Missing !!

I had just finished breakfast when I felt that special tingling in the ring finger of my right hand: a Cyanoring News Special Report was about to arrive. The report was delivered rapidly: "Katie Coolidge is missing! Your mission -- should you accept it – is to find Katie utilizing the following resources." I was then instructed to look out the window and note the two BMWs entering my long driveway. In the first of these was a lawyer who would show me all the pertinent legal and financial documents and who would refer me to a private investigator whom I would place in charge of the quest for Katie.

This indeed is what happened, and it also took place very quickly because of the urgency of the mission. The documents were short and easy to understand. As I signed them I was overwhelmed at being given this responsibility and at the huge payment I received to do it, part of which was the second BMW! The PI whom the lawyer recommended was Emily H., a young lady who was especially skilled in locating missing women. I accepted the recommendation of the lawyer, who via a phone call made the arrangements for us to travel to her house at once, where the lawyer quickly introduced me to Emily and then departed. As soon as we were seated in her living room, I asked her:

"Emily, will you accept this commission to find Katie?"

"Do you want me to!?"

"Yes! Very much so! Please!"

"Alright. I will do it. Let's sign those papers so I can get started."

Kara's Triumph

Kara barely made it back to her house in time to clean, disinfect, and bandage her painful leg wound before she collapsed. Well, it was worth it! Her op had succeeded in wiping out the entire "bad guys" gang. Or so she thought.

 

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Roach's Plan For Revenge

She did not know that the gang had a secret leader – Roach – who later reviewed the disastrous results on the recording device in the secret room in his secret house. There are no words adequate to convey how outraged he was!! The only good thing about it for him is that he now had a good photograph of his nemesis. Perhaps he could use it to identify her. But first he needed to calm down, so he decided on a stroll in the park.

He no sooner had entered the park when he saw her – very clearly – exiting the park. She was now dressed in very stylish clothing – not her military duds – but there was no mistaking the fact that it was her! He watched her get into her, and noted the make, model, and license no. as she drove off and headed toward the driveway into the Monroe Mansion, where she parked. AHA !! He had read the article in the local hicktown newspaper about a researcher who had recently moved into the mansion to do historical studies. That must be her "cover". Very clever!

Well, he would show her "clever"! As soon as he returned to his lair, he contacted The Hit Men Triad to terminate her. They were the best of the best and had a perfect record, and. amazingly, they actually worked as a team, which was rare among professional assassins, who almost always worked alone. But, to be absolutely sure everything went right, he arranged for them to drive to the Mansion in his car with them as passengers, to which they agreed immediately, which was not surprising considering that this was the largest fee ever for one of their hits.

The Ring Reacts

For reasons I do not understand, the Ring could NOT learn Katie's location – only the fact that her life was threatened by the wicked foursome heading down the mountain road. Following my approval, the Ring sent forth power and slew all four and the car careened off the road and fell into that famous dee-eee-eep river that loves to entomb nefarious criminals. After witnessing this I contacted Emily.

Emily Responds; Meets Kara

Using the famous alternating bad-news/good-news sequence, I told Emily that Katie was threatened with assassination BUT the assassins were killed BUT we did not know where she was BUT we knew the direction in which the assassins were heading. Because this direction was toward the Park, Emily decided to start there by getting everyone in the park to look at her photo of Katie to see if anyone had seen her around.

 

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As soon as she entered the Park, she saw Katie – or so she thought! It was Kara, not Katie. When Emily approached Kara and asked if she was Katie Coolidge, she replied "No", but said that the local paper had reported her living in the Monroe Mansion. She was astonished when she looked at the photograph: "Good Lord; she looks exactly like me!! Maybe she is my identical twin. Sometimes I felt like I might have one. May I accompany you to the Mansion?". Emily replied, "Yes" but requested that Kara remain in the car until she met Katie and told her about Kara. Kara agreed and they drove off to the Mansion.

Emily and Kara Meet Katie

Emily got right to the point when Katie answered her knock on the door.

"Are you Katie Coolidge?"

"I am"

"My name is Emily and I am a private investigator. Katie, your family and friends are concerned about you and have hired me to find you. Are you here under duress?"

"Goodness, No! I told no one where I was going because I need to devote, without interruptions, my full efforts to this historical research, which needs to be completed in time for the town's bicentennial celebration"

"Now, another question, Katie – Are you an identical twin?"

"Whew! Not that I know of, but I have wondered about this because sometimes I feel that I may have an identical twin."

"Katie, I believe your identical twin is out there in my car. Would you like to meet her?"

"What??!! You are serious!! I can't believe this!! Yeah, yeah, yeah. Bring her in!"

It would take a very good writer to describe the meeting of Katie and Kara – I shall make no attempt to do so because no words of mine could do it justice.

The upshot was that Kara decided to help Katie, and that, Emily and I worked out a plan to insure their safety, which was a good thing, because shortly after this a wicked powerful individual began planning to kill Katie when it became clear that her research would uncover something he was determined to keep secret.

 

 

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Kara Meets Sam

The union of the twins resulted in a heightening of their sensitivities to the rightness and wrongness of things. They both sensed a great danger at the next historic site where Katie was scheduled to go. From a careful study of the information about this site and its environs, Kara was able to determine how their foe would proceed. She simply asked herself what she would do if she intended to abduct someone from this site. Then she developed a counter-plan and gathered the tools needed to effect it.

On the scheduled day Katie remained in the Mansion. Kara went to the site in her place, put the counter-plan into action and captured the foe, a man named Sam, who was thoroughly astonished – he was a former Navy SEAL, who had never before been thwarted in his ops. He also was amazed at the goodness he saw in his captor, which was totally at odds with what his brother Mal had told him to expect. Mal was dead wrong about this woman! And he now believed that Mal was not deceived but rather was the wicked party here: Mal had deceived him! He was even more embarrassed now at his being "used" by Mal than he was at being captured by the woman. Speaking of which, he was now being captivated by the woman in another way – she was a real prize!!

Mal Calls In Ponera

In the meantime Mal, pondering his doubts about Sam, had them confirmed through a diabolic magic art he had just performed. And in the super-art he was now perfomring he called to his aid the most diabolic of all persons he knew: Ponera, archpriestess of evil, whose very name in Greek means "evil". And now that the two of them were enroute to the site, he became thoroughly enraged at his brother: his scrying had revealed the alliance Sam had just made with the woman he was supposed to abduct!

As Ponera was preparing to unleash her dark lightning against the two of them, the Cyanoring spoke to me: "Well, I guess you know what I am about to ask!" I replied, "Yes, Zap them now, please!". I witnessed the greatest zapping ever performed by the Cyanoring: Mal and Ponera were engulfed in a sphere of ultra-hot flame as they fell ultra-rapidly into the ultra-deep river which was ultra-delighted at the opportunity to entomb the ultra-wicked duo.

It was fun contacting Emily and reporting to her this great victory as well as they other great victory – Kara had not only martially captured her foe; even more importantly she had converted him from the dark side and was now captivating him with her magnetic personality.

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Sam And Kara: Present Tasks & Future Plans

Sam and Kara were so smitten with each other it was difficult for them to separate in order for each one of them to take care of his responsibilities. They finally did so and agreed to get together tomorrow night to plan their future.

Right after Sam had returned to his ancestral home and destroyed Mal's magical paraphernalia, he received a call from the Sheriff's Office saying that Mal had drowned in the____ River. Sam spent the rest of the day and the following day taking care of all the legal, financial, and other practical matters involved in transferring the estate into his name.

Kara, following Katie's instructions, used the special camera to photograph the arcane inscriptions on the Monolith. She headed back to the Mansion as dusk approached.

That evening Kara, Katie, Emily, and I had a thorough discussion of what had just happened and concluded that we should let Sam in on the secret. So, when Sam came to the Mansion on the following evening, we revealed to him that Katie and Kara were identical twins. He was astonished but pleased and later that evening "popped the question". He and Kara were married shortly afterward by a justice of the peace; the rest of us were witnesses. Sam and Kara then both pledged that they would work with the rest of us to assist and protect Katie.

A Strange Message Comes To Light

While Kara was moving her belongings out of her rental house and traveling to join Sam at his house, Sam discovered a very strange message which had been written by his ancestor all the way back in 1812, two hundred years ago! This message was placed into a golden box with instructions that it was not to be opened until Christmas Day (December 25) 2011 by his descendant then owning the estate, which, of course, was Mal. This message reads verbatim:

"Behold! Two centuries hence, in the Year Of Our Lord 2012, great danger shall confront you, my descendant, from the monumental discoveries which shall be made by a female scholar who is the descendant of a U.S. Vice-President who shall become President while he is making hay with his father on his farm in New England."

The following day Mal visited his friend Bill who was a Presidents buff – this guy knew everything about all our Presidents. When he asked Bill who was the Vice-President who became President while making hay with his father, he immediately replied "Calvin Coolidge". Mal almost passed out with fright. For that very day he read in the hicktown newspaper that a scholar named Katie Coolidge was soon to move into the Mansion to do historical research. His resulting panic led him to seek out assistance from the dark side which led to the disastrous results noted above.

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Katie Deciphers The Monolithic Inscription ……..

On the same day (February 1, 2012) when Sam discovered this 200 year old message, Katie deciphered the monolithic inscription, which was precisely 100 years old. It reads as follows:

"BEHOLD! On this day, February 1, 1912, I do see thee, O Katie Coolidge. On February 1, 2012 thou art deciphering this message in which I lay upon thee a great burden. Know thou that the brother-in-law you acquired yesterday, Sam Jefferson, is descended from Klepto Jefferson, who in January 1912 did swindle John Harrison out of some very precious land, to wit his beloved 100 acre wood. Thou are to solemnly charge Sam Jefferson that before one month elapses, i.e. prior to March 1, 2012, he must return this 100 acre wood to the Harrison estate, i.e. to John Harrison's descendant, Richard Jefferson. Katie, you and Sam will both be blessed if this is done; and cursed if this is not done!! I, Enoch, have spoken."

……. And Sam Responds With Alacrity

When Katie informed Sam, he responded with alacrity. He contacted his lawyer, who found the 100 acre transfer from the Harrison to the Jefferson estate. Sam told the lawyer to prepare immediately the necessary legal documents to transfer the title for the 100 acre wood back to the Harrison estate, now owned by Richard Jefferson.

This obedience to the prophecy was indeed a great blessing not only to Sam -- who gained a clear conscience – but also to Katie who fell madly in love with Richard Jefferson. They will be married soon, which will fulfill her desire for a husband, AND Richard will be helping her in her research and he is an even better scholar than Katie is! His help will be needed for them to complete the research in time for the bicentennial.

K – K – K – Katie

When Richard Jefferson was a boy, his favorite song was "K-K-K-Katie, K-K-K-Katie, you're the only g-g-g-girl that I adore." Indeed he wished he could find a Katie, but he was a nerd and thus too shy to look. When Katie came with Sam announcing the return of the 100 acre wood, he was far more excited about her than the wood. And, as the saying goes, the rest is history. By the way, they plan to name their first child, Christopher Robin!

 

March 1, 2012

 

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