Pocketwatch

I inherited something from my grandfather, Thomas Rivers. Remember his connection to Silver Bullet technology? I inherited the instigator to that technology.

It's a small, silver pocketwatch, and it's said to be able to seriously injure Fears. This is true. When I was young, I had the pocketwatch around my neck constantly. I was attacked several times in my early youth, and the watch was able to completely counter almost every attack.

It can't kill a Fear. But it will seriously fuck one up. It also has a wide range of other abilities.

The important thing is, the watch is important, and that's why I'm seriously afraid for it right now.

Every nine months, I'm required to send it for a check-up at a base in North Carolina. It's sent there without a problem, usually. Usually. But I believe that the watch may have been compromised.

And if it has been compromised, that's a huge loss for us. And for me, especially. It's not completely essential anymore for the organization, but if the wrong person has gotten their hands on it...

There's nothing I can do now but trust the organization to find the watch. However, since trusting the organization to safely transport the watch back and forth clearly backfired on me....

It seems like, these days, the organization is being compromised left and right now. I don't know if I'm being paranoid, but there may be a huge infiltration in our organization's security. And if that's true...

I just don't know who to trust. I hope I hear back about that watch again soon. It's quite important to me.

Rest

Despite being perfectly fine, I've been ordered to rest for a few days.

I do not respect this decision. I do not like being grounded.

I guess I can get a few things done in the meantime, though. I could update this blog with some new information, too. I want to be helpful, really, to anyone, and I feel like this blog could actually help some people out there.

If only to let people that they aren't alone. I mean, most people who read the blog must think I'm some crazy kid roleplaying with his friends or something, but there are those few who understand, who see this and recognize that there are people who are fighting for them.

I am worried about what Maxwell said. What did he mean? And why has his entire demeanor changed? He hasn't always been the most stable person around, but he wasn't ever... cackling like a mad man before.

I don't know. Before he turned traitor, Maxwell worked for us. He was a scientist who seemed fairly happy with his job. But then he betrayed us, when he was exclusively working on a top secret project for the higher ups. He stole the contents of the project, and it's unknown what he's done with the contents so far. However, it's speculated that his new code name, "Silver Hammer", is connected to what he's using the contents for.

Personally, I don't believe it's my business to speculate about it. But... I do have a theory as to what the Silver Hammer project could be about. I think the Silver Hammer was a weapon of some sort, possibly designed to kill Fears. Maxwell stole this weapon, and he may have been unable to destroy or hide it adequately, so he's now playing a grand scale "keepaway" game with us.

I have this uneasy feeling from it all.

Maxwell

Only a few hours passed by after the altercation with the Convocation before we received a call from an inside source concerning Maxwell. The information we were given indicated that he was hiding out nearby, that the Convocation had been acting as a distraction away from his activities. We immediately resumed chase of the outlaw.

And we found him. He was hiding out in an abandoned apartment complex. Five units of agents gathered around the complex, effectively surrounding it. We had him cornered. But I did know that, yes, he could slip away anyway.

I went in first. Behind me, a single unit of agents, with three on standby for backup. We searched the complex by floor. It was on the fifth floor when we made contact.

Maxwell was standing in the hallway. He wore a typical prisoners outfit, except it was smeared with blood, dirt, and grime. His short blond hair had blood splotches in different places. His eyes had dark circles underneath, but his eyes seemed so focus and so aware. He had a devilish grin

One agent attempted to shoot him. Maxwell killed the agent from afar, somehow.

"Stand down, Maxwell!" I screamed as I held up my own gun.

He just laughed in our faces. I'll never forget that laugh.

The hallway exploded behind me. An entire unit killed in a single blast. I was knocked off my feet by the force of it. I fell to the floor in front of Maxwell.

Maxwell smiled, and picked me up.

"How's it been, Peteyboy?"

I spat blood in his face. He laughed and threw me down.

"SO I TAKE IT YOU'VE BEEN DOING WELL, HUH?"

He danced around in the dust drifting around from the explosion.

"How'd... how'd you do that, Maxwell..."

He knelt down in front of me. He was silent, and he made a serious face.

"...Magic."

And then he burst out laughing again. He fell to the floor, clutching his sides.

"Seriously, dude."

"Okay, okay, okay... I'm one of THEM, Peter."

"One of... //them//? You mean //them//??"

He spit on me and screamed.

"NO NOT ONE OF //them// YOU DOLT!! One of THEM!!!"

"Ohhhh. I totally know what you mean."

He got up and walked a few paces down the hallway.

"No you don't. But you will. Trust me. Especially you."

"What does that even mean?"

"I don't know! I'm just following the script. And you should too, if you know what's good for you!"

He approached me, and picked me up.

"Where are we going, Maxwell?"

He smiled.

"Home."

A door opened in front of us and he smothered my face with his hand and I lost consciousness.

And then I awoke, with a severe headache and yet completely healed, on my own couch, at my home hundreds of miles away in New Jersey.

Come to find out, all five units that were deployed to capture Maxwell were gone. There weren't any bodies to recover. They were simply, gone.

What is going on?

Thunder

We received yet another call for the Convocation. If I was in a better mood, I'd make some sort of migration joke, because they were way farther north this time. It took some time to get there, and we were sure that we missed them by the time we arrived.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, a Nest crashed into the van I was riding in from above, apparently from off of an overpass we were passing below. It attempted to fire off a huge electrical discharge. The van swerved just in time to smack the Nest off of the van and off of the highway. We squealed to a halt. I felt nauseous, but I fought it off and prepared to engage.

The van's back door was ripped off. A huge bulky Nest appeared. He grabbed the nearest agent and attempted electrocution. Another agent shot at him, which caused him to let go of him. The nest retreated, and we jumped out of the van in pursuit. Other agents attempted to close down the road, while five agents and I ran off after the bulky man.

He jumped off into a ditch. I immediately stopped. The other agents didn't.

"You idiots, stop! That's water! Do you have a death wish?"

One of them almost stepped right into it. The bulky man turned around and studied us.

"Come back. They want us to follow."

We went back to the van and reported what had occurred. We waited.

A minute later, the nest showed back up again. This time, it appeared right on top of the van without anyone noticing. It screamed above us. The body began to destroy itself as electrical bolts erupted from within it.

Agents pointed their guns as it as they backed away.

I then realized the bird wanted to take us all down with it.

"Everyone! Hit the de-"

It exploded. The van was blown apart. There was only one casualty, but many were hurt from the blast. The casualty was a good man, by the by. I liked Dave a lot. I'll miss him.

We cleared the highway of debris as fast as we could and we reopened it. We left.

Lightning

We discovered a terrific lead today. On the flip side to that, we also lost half a dozen agents.

We arrived at what used to be an abandoned suburban residential complex, which had now been turned into a "nest" for a bunch of tropospheres and stratospheres. They flocked in the sky, waiting for us to make the first move. We grouped up on the main road, in around 8 vans filled with agents prepared to engage with the Convocation.

We knew that it was a risky move to engage so many of them. The thing was, it wasn't our aim to destroy or capture any of them. We were actually hunting down a single mesosphere that we knew for a fact was hiding out in one of the houses of the complex. For one thing, the giant storm cloud hanging overhead, filled to the brim with rain, was the first clue. Second, we had tracked down a mesosphere we had injured in a firefight during the Exordium down to this locale. Third, we just... we just knew. There was this feeling in the evening air that sort of confirmed it.

"Frank, are you sure you agents can handle it?"

He nodded. He was in the driver's seat of the lead van, and I was in the passenger seat, observing the birds.

"Yeah, I'm confident about it. We may lose a couple, but we got a handle on it. We just need you to track down the mesosphere, and-and what are you going to do again?"

I showed him the SB gun I had strapped to my waist.

"I'm going to incapacitate it, and find out what I can about Maxwell from it."

"Are you sure you can handle it?"

I smiled, and opened the door.

"You're gonna get yourself killed one day!"

I waved at him.

"Planning on it-"

I loaded the gun, and as I did, the birds began to dive at us. The agents all jumped out of their cars and prepared to engage. I quickly ran off the road and jumped the fence at the side of a two story house. I heard thunder crackle above me at the same time as noises resembling firecrackers exploded behind me. I jumped a fence again and ended up in another yard. I ran through the yard, opened the fence, and ran into the front yard. I ducked to the side of the house, and looked around the corner.

Nothing in sight. I readied my gun, and ran across the street to the other side. Thunder boomed even louder, and I felt the wind pick up. Little drops of water splashed against my face. These unwittingly acted as hints to the location of that bird.

I ran down the block. The storm began, and I knew I had found it. It was in a house that looked like all the rest, except one of the second floor windows was wide open, probably to permit messenger tropospheres into the house.

I heard the flapping of wings. They were heading towards me; they knew I was threatening the mesosphere. I quickly opened the unlocked front door, ran in, and slammed the door. It knew I had invaded its domain, so I could cut the bullshit and go straight to it.

It was in the second floor bedroom. A giant albatross lying on the bed, bleeding everywhere. Blood stained various places of the carpet as well. Feathers were spread throughout the room. This creature was dying, and soon, too.

"Human, let me alone..."

Thunder and lightning whipped and cracked outside, accentuating its demand.

"I'm sorry, but I cannot do that."

I aimed my gun at it.

"Humans are such cowards. Go on then. Just know, my brethren shall arrive soon, and they will pull you apart like the rat you are."

"What do you know about the Silver Hammer?"

"Everything."

"Tell me."

I made the mistake of stepping a foot closer to the bird. It dived at me, snapping its beak at my face. Its wings flapped everywhere, knocking the furniture about. I jumped backwards, hitting my head against the door frame. I got up and backed out of the room.

"Your arrogance surprises me, human. You're not stupid, I can tell. Why do you dare risk bravery on that level? It astounds me."

I shrugged.

"I'm not brave. I'm just not scared of you."

"How is that, exactly?"

"I've been through worse."

It opened its beady eyes wide, and it seemed to examine me. It moved its way closer towards me.

"Hrmmm. I see. You've sold your soul away, eh, human!?"

The bird had no idea what it was talking about.

"I wouldn't call it that."

It groaned in pain suddenly. It writhed a little, and more blood spurted out of its beak.

"Why aren't you gone yet, human? Are you here to watch me die?"

"I need to know about Maxwell."

"What is there to know? Have my pretties not told you humans already? It's time to burn, and that's that. Is the message clear enough, or are you too stupid to understand?"

"I think I'm just a bit too stupid to care, really. Will you tell me anything, or not?"

The creature became silent. I could hear the flapping of wings outside.

"My brethren have arrived."

"I don't care. Tell me what you know."

It was silent again. A bird swooped in and I shot it right down. Nothing else dared to dive through the window at that moment.

"I will tell you one thing."

"Please."

"Ha! You said please. Courtesy to a feared God. I like that. Well then, what could I tell you... I tell you, I tell you, watch out for the Neon God. If it's time for humanity to burn, then it's time for the Neon God to feed.

The information didn't tell me anything about Maxwell, but it seemed useful anyway.

"What is this... Neon God? Is it a Fear? Which Fear?"

"It's a Fear."

"Which one, though?"

It laughed. And then, it died.

"Fuck."

The sky seemed to explode with lightning and thunder. An explosion rocked the house, and it burst into flames. I barely made it out of the house in time before it was completely engulfed in flames and smoke.

The sky above was merely gray then. Rain dripped out of the sky slowly. There wasn't anymore thunder, and the storm cloud had dissipated.

Strangely, the rest of the Convocation had cleared out as well. I made my way back to base camp to find many agents wounded, and many killed. It hurt to tell them the cryptic information we had now. At least if there wasn't any information, we could rely on the hope that we only had to focus on Maxwell. With this new information, it draws attention to the fact that we have no clue what's on the verge of happening. All we know is that the Fears know everything about it.

Diner

It was at an old midwestern diner, the type you see in those old fifties movies. It used to clearly be a homely, wholesome place, but now it was grimy, dusty, and on the verge of collapsing. Twenty minutes ago, there had been a firefight within this structure, involving five targets we had previously been tracking. Two agents were killed in the crossfire, and one was injured, but all five targets were killed. While we desired to keep at least one alive for information, it wasn't completely necessary.

I was there to assess the damage and to confirm the kills. The damage had been assessed; minor losses, but we could recover. The only thing left for me to do was to confirm the kills.

I approached the first corpse, which was lodged into a bit of the wall near the entrance. A trail of smoke still billowed out from around it, and bursts of electricity surged outwards from it. A miserable carcass poked out from the wall. Melted human skin cloaked it in various places. Black feathers floated out from the hole. It was in the form of a raven.

One down.

I turned around and noticed a hole in the ceiling. Feathers drifted down from the hole.

"Is there one on the roof?" I asked an agent passing by.

"Yeah, it's been confirmed dead. We've got a few agents on fire watch up there."

I nodded. Two down.

I looked around, and noticed the counter was scorched. I jumped up on top of it, and found two corpses covered in mounds of torn feathers on the floor. These two were still halfway in their mansuits, so they didn't manifest entirely. Four down.

I jumped off the counter. I noticed a body collapsed against a stool at the far end of the counter. I walked over to it. At first look, it seemed like a normal dead human. It was clear this wasn't the case at all as this horrible, putrid smell pierced my nostrils. I opened the man's eyelids, and his eyes were gone; pecked out by the monster that used his body.

There were five so far, which meant I had found all the birds we'd shot down.

If that were the case, then why was there another body against the entrance to the kitchen?

As soon as I noticed it, the body wriggled, and electricity exploded out of it. It stood up, and pushed through the kitchen door.

"WE'VE GOT A RUNAWAY, I REPEAT, A RUNAWAY!"

I chased after it. When I entered the kitchen, I was greeted with a giant shockwave of electricity. I was knocked back through the doors. I felt myself shake a little.

"Ouch."

I pushed myself back up slowly, and limped out the front door. My legs felt a little numb, but I tried to run around the building anyway. I got to the back door to the kitchen and ambushed the bird.

It cawed frantically as I met it at the door and stabbed into it with my SB knife.

I pushed the body to the ground. I head the bird flutter around inside of the body as it panicked. Blood pushed out of the mansuit's mouth and I heard desperate chirping noises within it.

The mansuit's mouth opened up slowly, and a voice that didn't quite match the mouth's movements spoke.

"Rivers..."

I tapped it on the chest.

"Birdie."

"Do not disrespect me, child. I would have your eyes for a delicious morsel if I'd like."

I laughed.

"If you could, you mean."

"Do not trifle with me!"

A spark of electricity shot out from the corpse and sliced my cheek open. I jumped back defensively.

"Still got some fight left in ya, huh?"

"Admittedly, no. I am dying and I am content."

The other agents surrounded us. They had their SB's at the ready. I waved them away.

"Can you tell me anything about the "Silver Hammer?"

Its laughs shook the ground.

"Yeah... I can tell you that he's just the beginning, human. He's just the beginning, and it's time to burn. That's what I can tell you."

It died laughing. No leads, still.

"Shit."

I pulled my SB knife out of its chest and left the diner. I looked up at the storm clouds. Within the clouds, I saw a dark form. I was prepared to run back to the diner, but the form disappeared, and the clouds dissipated.

Back to square one. 

Silver Bullet

The Fears are virtually unstoppable. The Lonely Hearts have never completely eradicated or killed a Fear. We probably never will be able to kill one. Even if one were to kill a Fear, it's commonly theorized that either the Fear will pull itself back together and come back in a new form, or that Fear's absence in the ecosystem of the planet will cause widespread problems for humanity in the long run.

If I had to compare the Fears to something, I would compare them to honeybees. Though they are quite annoying and often hurtful to humans, they are very essential to the planet, and without them we'd be in a lot of trouble. Okay, that's a lame comparison. But you see what I mean?

Then again, I don't really believe that. I think the only reason we haven't gone through with killing a Fear is because we're scared of the consequences of that. If I had the choice, I always would take the choice of killing them. It's protocol to say otherwise, but to tell the truth I'm working my hardest not to contain the Fears, but to eradicate them.

If we wanted to, and had the chance to, I believe we could kill a Fear. In fact, we've developed technology recently dedicated to that cause. It's known as "Silver Bullet" weaponry, and it's shown to be able to injure Fears, and also kill pieces of the hivemind-type Fears. We're not helpless against Fears as we used to be.

Silver Bullet weaponry was developed using my inheritance as a Rivers child. My grandfather passed down three pocketwatches, that he claimed were blessed and had multiple abilities, including the ability to hurt Fears. It is unknown where he found these objects, or how he created them.

One of my earliest memories is being attacked by a Fear and being saved by my own personal pocketwatch. I've used the watch on multiple occasions. It works.

I believe those watches are the keys to humanity's salvation.

The Convocation

The Convocation is one of the deadliest Fears we have to deal with. It's found all over the country, and the world for that matter, and its influence is evident throughout the nation. It is to an extent a hivemind-type Fear; a single mind divided and diluted into individual tribes and pieces. It was one of the first Fears the Lonely Hearts targeted, and it's been one of the main Fears we've held back ever since. The Convocation is connected the ancient Native American myth of the "Thunderbird". Like the thunderbirds, the Convocation is connected to thunderstorms and electricity.

The Convocation comes in many forms, but these forms mostly manifest as types of birds. These forms have been classified into different classes by our organization. These classes follow the division of the Earth's atmosphere, to reflect upon where these forms are usually found when they are airborne (and the Convocation is usually found to be airborne when it is dormant).

The first forms are known as the tropospheres. They are the weakest link in the chain, and they are also the most common form. They watch humans, act as messengers, and are often scavengers. They seem like normal birds, but they are highly aggressive, and also have a slight electric charge attack that they will use if threatened. They channel this attack through their beaks. While they are dangerous to the average human, they are little to no threat to actual Lonely Hearts agents.

The second forms are known as the stratospheres. They are the grunts of the Convocation. If a Lonely Hearts agents is engaged with the Convocation, it is usually in this form. They take the form of larger birds, such as eagles, and they have a strong electrical charge. Their primary ability, however, is their ability to use human bodies as disguises to further their own goals. They will usually kill, or ask, a human for their body, and then pose inside of it. We call these disguises "mansuits."

The third forms are known as mesospheres. They are the pack leaders, and they are usually in charge of a gang of stratospheres. They are ever vigilant, and very calculated. They are also very careful. They are very large creatures, huge unidentified species of birds, that are quite capable of carrying away humans if they see fit. They usually do not use "mansuits', but if they do, they aren't using them as disguises, but instead as methods of communication. They have an electic charge that is quite able to kill an adult human, which usually resemble terrifying lightning strikes. When they appear, super cell thunder storms usually follow.

The fourth forms are known as thermospheres. It is very rare that a human will ever come in contact with these mythic beings. For a time, it was doubted they even existed, until recent events proved otherwise. Since there are limited reports on their location, abilities, and characteristics, they are a very mysterious creature. It is said, though, that they are very, very bad news, and if they are encountered... run. Run as fast as you can away. They are associated with violent hurricanes.

The fifth form is known as the exosphere. It is only a theoretical form. It could very well not exist. However, it has been witnessed, through eyewitness accounts of Convocation ceremonies, that this being at least used to exist. It is said to be the strongest form of the Convocation, and that it is, at the moment, in a deep slumber, and once it is woken up it will cause a horrible storm that will wipe away humanity and bring about an era of domination of the Earth for the Convocation.

The Convocation is one of the Fears that I have the most experience with. Ever since the beginning of my career as an agent, I've dealt with these fuckers. However, they always find a way of knocking me off my feet. I've never felt totally safe and confident around them.

I'm kind of wary of their recent actions. They've been on the move a lot lately, and it's hard to really determine what their goals exactly are. The Convocation, as a whole, isn't really a smart, organized Fear, but it also isn't a wild animal. I worry less of its plans for attacks against humanity, and more about its relations with other Fears. 

Asphalt

The last few days have been an absolute blur of streetlights, asphalt, and motel room shadows. I've continuously been on the road, hunting down certain targets. I'm on the hunt for many individuals, from escaped convicts to turned agents, but there is one fucker that I have sworn to focus on.

His name is Maxwell, and he is very, very dangerous.

I originally captured Maxwell back in January, after a hunt that spanned three and a half months. Back then, I thought his capture was pulled off a little too effortlessly on my part; now, I see that he was actually anticipating this to happen. He may have even wanted to be captured.

In the chaos that the Exordium caused, he managed to somehow escape. We believe that he may have been the one to cause the explosion at the New Jersey branch office building. We are not sure yet, due to a curious malfunction in our surveillance tapes.

I say "curious" because I personally believe someone from my own branch let Maxwell and several other prisoners out of their cells. There is no evidence of this yet... but...

I'm following a lead on Maxwell's whereabouts. The good news is, it's a pretty conclusive lead. The bad news is, I have to deal with a dangerous Fear known as the Convocation. I could very well be walking into my own funeral if I pursue it. However, it has to be done.

Family

I haven't been completely honest. Or at least, open about something.

I'm not a normal Lonely Hearts agent. To be honest, I'm one of the more privileged agents in the organization. This is probably understandable, considering I'm the oldest grandson of the founder of the organization, Thomas Rivers. My father is the current leader of the organization.

I don't want to... misrepresent me in any way, though. I want to make it clear, I'm not some rich trust fund kid that coasts on the organization. I joined the organization on as equal footing as anyone else who joined does. And I wasn't raised in some mansion growing up. In fact, my father disowned my mother and my three brothers and we grew up in a broken home for most our lives.

I'm a bit sore about that.

I do have to stress that, though I may have earned my position in the organization fair and square, that I do recognize that overall I am more advantaged than the average agent. I wish I could do something about that. I wish I wasn't a Rivers boy, I really do.

I don't own any part of the organization currently. I am unsure of how that all legally works out, actually. And I don't really care. I have no desire to someday lead.

I only want to save people, and fight Fears. That's all.

Resolve

There’s an official title given to the Monsters we battle on a daily basis. The title was given them to the founder of our company, and ever since, we’ve used it to describe and identify them.

Fears. That is the title. They were given that because of a theory the founder had of them that involved thinking that they are all empowered by humanity’s collective fear of them, or maybe even brought into this world by our fear. They used to be called Elementals before the official title became Fear.

That is the agency’s current opinion on the start of the Fears. I share the same view on the subject.

There are numerous Fears. Current estimates place around 20 of them. But with this new wave… it could increase. That’s one of our biggest concerns about this leak. If a new Fear materializes… that would be bad. Very, very bad. Not only would it be bad for the general populace, but it would be bad for us because we would have to try and contain the leak, and then try and learn as much as we can about it. Which is tough. Hell, we don’t know much about the original Fears.

These Fears can be anywhere at any time. They are not held back by petty human limitations such as time or space. They don’t play by our rules.

Frankly, it’s amazing that humanity has lasted this long with them in the world.

They are eternal beings and their effects never fade. It’s hard to tell how much they’ve influenced humanity since the start of time. Without them, we might not even exist in our current form.

But who knows about that? All we have now is what we currently know. And with that info, we fight back. And we won’t ever stop fighting back.

Because if there’s one thing that the Fears can’t match, it’s humanity’s resolve.

My own resolve is the only reason I’m still here anyway.