Inner Man Theatre

This is Space Unit 11401012, name Ruyngard. Technology has shattered the boundaries of imagination, making it possible for man to not only traverse the stars, but colonize them. To date, with all the light years of space explored, we’ve no reason to believe there is any other intelligent life beyond earth that did not originate there.

Only one group came to this new planet and cultivated it into a beautiful, viable world. This band of fifty travelers, made up of people from various countries, have already come and gone, the descendants now running the planet, all with the same visible complexion effects from the climate. However, with all the strides humanity has made in space, there is one thing beyond which mankind has yet to advance; division.

“Welcome to the twenty-first annual great gathering of gargantuan grit, the one… the only… 64. I’m Ron.”
“And I’m Robin. In just a little while, as the name suggests, sixty-four fighters will gather in this beloved arena to battle within the barriers of the ominous laser cage!!! These combatants will enter in teams of four, working together to take out the opposing forces. Each person is eliminated when he is either thrown through the lasers or rendered unconscious.”
“That’s right, Robin. Now, if the fighter loses consciousness, he will be teleported safely to his team’s sideline, thanks to stamina-tracking nanobots. Fighters that pass through the lasers will suffer no harm, but those who fly out of the arena at high speed will trigger a teleportation with the laser, sending them into the safety net above their sideline. IF a fighter tries to reenter the stage, the lasers will teleport him to the ‘penalty box’ where he will be met by our special staff that like to break more than just rules.”
“Ouch! Once the number of competitors reaches the halfway point, the cage will shrink and the match will transition into two-man teams. When the number has again reached halfway, the cage will shrink once more with the rules leaving every man on his own. The winner of this tournament will win an award for himself, for his two-man team, as well as his four-man team.”

“And now, the crowds stand as all the world leaders make their presence known. From the world of wires, the terrain of tech, the lovers of lasers and people of progress…the nation of Hilmsland, specifically Prime Minister Jeffery Hannes, along with his wife Avi and children, Kuro and Havi.”

“Next come the messengers of the old world, I’m sure, as this nation prides itself in remembering the glory of ages long ago. From Razlor the magnificent, it is King Ulfrix himself and Queen Iusticea, along with Prince Kuro and General Ahav.”

Prime Minister Hannes comments to his wife, “Oh look, it’s the Great Christmas Tree.”
To which she retorts, “I do love the holidays, but I must wonder how his wife should dare be seen in public with him.”
“And to think,” says Hannes with slight distaste, “I used to have that man as my advisor before he murdered this world’s unity with his childish obsessions for the age of the horse and buggy.”
“‘Oh, we must dispel the wires and the steel, and return to the old ways!’” mocks Avi, “but do you think they rode here on a camel or horse? Haha!”

The introductions carry on. “And next, the first family of Astro Scotia, President Jean Kirk with his wife Uriel and their two girls, Jean and June.”
The Hannes of Hilmsland continue their own private commentary as Avi asks her husband of the nation’s origin. “Remind me again how they even happened.”
“Collateral damage of the blundering, green decoration,” is Jeffery Hannes’ answer. “Sad though, as the Kirks are genuinely nice people, and our nations do get along quite well. Perhaps someday, our two nations shall be one again.”

“And last…but certainly…the most…the Empire of Lyger….” A pair of window doors high above burst open and two beings descend, as if walking down steps of air, the crowd a mix of excitement and awe.
Ulfrix of Razlor says it best, murmuring, “This tournament just became a show of fools.”
Emperor Cigula of Lyger then speaks. “My dear, dear subjects…the emperor of your world…the mighty CIGULA brings you his presence that YOU may partake of this event knowing that beings far superior to that of yesterday’s humanity watch these same moments in league with you.”

Iusticea blurts out, unheard among the devoted crowd, “Oh, just stop talking and sit down already!” Then hisses to her king, “How can that man present himself so extravagantly while it is no secret that his own people suffer under his thumb as a slave nation?”
Ulfrix calms her, “His time shall come, my love. You’ll see.”

“And now, with all of our leaders here for this grand event, let us begin the competition known as…the 64!!!”

Miles away, in an average town of the country Astro Scotia, there’s an eager young man following this action on his television when he gets a call buzzing in his ear.
“Hello?”
“Axer?”
“Roxy?”
“Why aren’t you down here yet?”
“Chill, Rox! I’ll be there eventually…maybe…if I have time.”
“You’re watching TV, aren’t you?”
“Yes….”
A hilarious grunt is heard on the other end. “Axer, you so annoy me sometimes.”
“Yeah? Who all’s there yet?”
“*Sigh* No one.”
Ax shrugs his shoulders as he lazily sits on his bed and reclines back. “Then what’s the rush?”
“The rush is!… Oh never mind. Just don’t take all day, ok?”
“You mean all night, it’s clearly dark outside.”
Axer grins cheesily as he can just feel the piercing stare of his friend from the other side of this conversation.
“Good job, Axer. At least you can spare a moment of television to noticed THAT.”

Later that night, a dream sequence commences with two beings locked in a war that shakes the universe. As it shows flashbacks of one of the being’s life, a voice can be heard speaking in deep contemplation.

“All that time…all the adventures…the lessons…it was me…. I was the Ultimate Machine.”
And with this, a bizarre image of a terrifying face appears. It is a simple marionette…a mime? And from it leaks out an ever-growing robotic laugh…oh that laugh!

The dream ends, or does it? All throughout the house, voices can be heard screaming, but only for a moment. So then…the question now is…who was having the dream?

The next day, Ax and his little sister meet up with Roxy.
“Kim, has anyone told you that you look like—”
“Yes! So I like her style. Must you always ask? Haha!”
“Yes!”
Axer ignores this buffoonery and says, “Man, BOTH Kim and I had the same horrible dream last night.”
The friend cuts him off before he can finish. “Was it about the Ultimate Machine and some horrifying mime thing, like a puppet or something?”
Both siblings shout, “Yes!”
Roxy then shivers “And that laugh…that horrible, horrible laugh…it’s…it’s…”
Then almost as in a trance, everyone present speaks, with a slight roll of what seems like thunder far in the distance…unless it is more voices to add to the refrain.
“Hard to describe…hard to forget.”
“Th-the machines we saw fighting,” adds Axer, “they looked like things I’ve seen before; when I was a kid.”

“I remember this explosion sound, well not an explosion…well Kind of. It was like this guy just crashed through the barrier of reality itself, but from another universe or something. He was followed by another guy, and they started fighting, falling back through the rip they had made in the thing air of all things! I saw the most unbelievable fight through the hole they left, with entire galaxies bursting from the mere force of them colliding. I got scared that the shockwaves would gush through the rip into our world, but the green guy remembered us and somehow sealed the hole…and that was that.”
Roxy looks at Axer like he’s crazy. “That’s silly. You were obviously dreaming.”
He shrugs. “I guess….”
Kim chimes in, switching back to the former topic. “So…if you had the dream…and I had the dream…and knuckle-brain had the dream…” “Hey!” “Just kidding! Then…who else had the dream?”

I think we find the answer to Kimberly’s question over in Lyger as Emperor Cigula stands above his Lygerian army and bellows these words. “Forces of Lyger, I have seen the Ultimate Machine, that which was built by our ancestors, and I see now our chance to take all of this world for ourselves!! With this power, we shall not only rule all of Ruyngard…we shall gather all other space colonies as our own, and we shall even stretch our hand out to the mother world itself. We shall have earth!!!”