Self Destructing Messenger

#0 - F@!&ing Fables

People have accumulated many fears over time, spiders, strangers, fire but most of these things can be grouped in two categories; power and oddities. When you combine the two is when mankind really demonstrates the highest level of hysterics. A well known example of this would be the Salem Witch Trials. Many accused were put to death, targeted because of their fringe status. While these people had long been strange in comparison to the rest of their peers, it was the fear that they had obtained abilities greater than normal man and were using these powers for harm or could do so if crossed.

History has shown us that the witch hunts were a knee jerk reaction to mundane events. How would society react if there arose a legitimate source of odd power?

The world unfortunately got the answer to this question during what became known as the Event. A teen by the name of Alice found herself the subject of a nightly news story that spread across the nation like a virus. A phone had captured a video of Alice freezing in place a series of cars and pedestrians before a collision that would have surely ended in many fatalities. The video shakes through out the footage as people are carefully pulled out of harm's way and set aside by an invisible force. A focused Alice can be seen in the background clearly overwhelmed. Innocents removed, the vehicles resume their doomed course, their twisted metal frames the only casualties.

It was only after the video was in circulation that anyone noticed the girl seemed to be responsible for the miracle. Overnight she was a celebrity and elevated in culture as a living god. It is at this point that reports become conflicted much like the people of the time. While it appears, at least initially, Alice continued to do good deeds, there began to grow a resentment. People feared her for her perceived conflict in their religion and also blamed her for not doing enough for every man.

In five years time, the world became a climate of terror and Alice, labeled an idol and menace. At some point she turned, striking out at the public and slaughtering all in her path. Where she set foot, the populace of an estimated 20 miles radius spontaneously combusted. No one was left alive in her wake and it was then that the government stepped in. Over the years a few had tried to kill the girl but all had failed due to her powers. With hundreds perishing every moment, a hydrogen bomb was dropped over her location. The explosion froze for a brief moment but it proved to be too much for even her to contain.

The death toll was high, as immense as the fear which never ceased growing. From that day forward anyone suspected of being an idol, of having strange abilities were either locked away, or much more likely, killed. The moral of the story is don't be yourself, at least publicly.