On April 20th, 1999, at 11:19 in the morning, in Columbine, Colorado, two students, 17-year-old Derrik Kelvin, and 18-year-old Elliot Harvey stormed their local high school, armed to the teeth with a Carbine Rifle, two Tec-9 machine pistols, a couple of shotguns, 99 homemade explosives, and four knives.
Their goal was to rack up a body count like no one had ever seen before and to get their revenge on the students they viewed as bullies.
After months and months of planning, they stormed their school during the lunch period and began one of the most well-documented cases of school shootings in the United States.
By their hands, they slayed 15 students and teachers and injured another 24 before failing to set off the majority of their explosives and ending their own lives by turning their guns on themselves.
Although their motive is technically inconclusive, as I said, it’s believed to have been a revenge plot; essentially, even if we may never know for sure, thanks to the blogs and notebooks left behind, we have a rough idea.
Their plot was simple: head to the places where the most people were assembled and set off their homemade explosives; in a sense, even if they brought along enough guns to arm a small militia, their primary attack was the bombing, and the shootings were considered secondary.
However, when the bombs they painstakingly planted around the campus failed to go off as planned, they radically shifted their plot and went ahead with shooting anyone in sight.
The acts Elliot and Derrik executed that day would forever change the daily lives of Students in American Schools and would inevitably lead to multiple hundreds of shootings over the years. Yet, not a single one ever racked up a body count as high.
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Running through all the information I had in my Imagination Library, I stared blankly at my brother, who met my gaze with just as much intensity.
"Brenden, first and foremost, I think you are misunderstanding what I mean when I say Columbine is a potential Fixed Point in Time." Inhaling deeply through my nostrils, I exhaled slowly and calmed myself down.
I had to admit, I had thought about going after the massacre; however, instead of saving people, I would have racked up an even larger body count, which for sure would have allowed me to finish that final Sub-Quest.
"No, I understand what they are, points that can’t be changed as dictated by Arkadia." Slowly shaking his head, Brenden responded, but I raised my hand to shut him up.
"Fixed points in time have a higher impact than you realize. Not only are they events with which we CAN NOT INTERFEAR, but we will also be TERMINATED BY ARKADIA if we ignore the singular warning we receive."
"Even IF Columbine isn’t considered a fixed point in time, Brenden, you are nothing like me; you are incapable of walking away from a scenario where dozens of kids are being gunned down for nothing, so what? Are you going to run in there and play Hero?"
"Yes." He responded without hesitation, causing me to frown deeply.
"And how do you plan on doing that, huh? Are you gonna stop Elliot and Derrik ahead of time without any plan? How do we get there, what is our cover story for why we are in Colorado, to begin with, and then comes the issue of what to do with the bodies and mounds of evidence about their crime."
"I…"
"You what? Expect me to figure out all the logistical issues so that you can do whatever you want. Have you ever considered the level of planning and execution involved in such an endeavor? And that’s only the case IF it’s not an FPIT. What happens if we get all the way there and all our planning goes out the window because we are unable to do jack shit because of Arkadia!"
"THINK BRENDEN, FUCKING THINK! If it is an FPIT, what then, do we turn around and leave because if you refuse to do so and try acting, I will knock you out before you know what hits you and drag your ass away from the school before you can do something idiotic!"
"Then there’s the potential that we wouldn’t be the only returners showing up to do the same thing you want. For all we know, it could all become one Giant shitshow at the drop of a hat."
"Actually, that sounds kind of fun….this is a bad idea…but let’s do it."
"Huh…really?" Snapping his head up, Brenden looked at me with a hint of excitement.
"Yeah fuck it; in the worst case, I’ll get us out of there; in the best, you get your way and get to change a pivotal moment in American History." With a shrug, I made the final decision before polishing my steak in a few bites and setting my silverware back down.
"However, before we do, I need to make some preparations first on the docket that will give us a solid alibi for being there in the first place. Whether it be us driving cross country or flying, there needs to be a reason for us to be there; either that or we go completely dark and don’t bring Dad, which, honestly, will be a bit troublesome."
"Still, all preparations aside, there is one thing we need to do before even leaving Florida….and that’s to Rank Up to Beta; that way, even if things go south and shit hits the fan, we will be able to fight our way out no matter the counter-offensive we face." Getting up from the table, I brought my dishes to the sink, rinsed them, and put them into the dishwasher.
"Step 1, upgrade all the facilities to Beta-Grade; step two, jump into a ++ instance to max out my Level; step three, use the high-density particles inside of the newly upgraded Gravity Room to Rank up; step four, decide if we bring Dad or use my Talent to leave him out of the loop, Step five, transport, step six….figure out if Columbine is a FPIT or not."
"That’s….a lot," Brenden grumbled while finishing his food and dumping his dishes into the sink for me to clean.
"Heh, yeah, it is, and that’s only the things you need to know about; all the back-end shit I will do on my own."
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Little did I know that my decision would lead to everything getting fucked up beyond my wildest imagination, and standing at the very center of it, would be Me and Brenden.
In four short months, everything would get so out of control that I would start questioning my reasoning behind every little decision and choice I had made since coming back to the past.
From here on…things get….interesting…
...…..
END OF ACT #1