A Thread of Time

Location: Earth
Year: 2049


The sky was pitch black as a torrent of rain fell upon the city below. The streets looked devoid of people, yet everything seemed well-kept regardless. Upon closer inspection, one would find thousands of blank-faced humans standing inside the buildings, milling about doing various labor intensive tasks in an almost robotic manner. The humans looked relatively normal otherwise...except for the strange golden thread woven through a few of their limbs, with the thread in some of the humans being woven through their muscles.

A massive cylinder-shaped building loomed over the heart of downtown, covered in thick bullet-proof tinted glass that prevented anyone on the outside from seeing the interior. The structure’s upper floors were near invisible inside the low-hanging storm clouds. Inside the building was an intricate operation similar to a company office; various people were sitting at computers working on a variety projects, a blank-faced human was standing next to a printer waiting for his papers, and several people were cleaning up the area by vacuuming the floors and polishing the workstations. A few people chatted about work-related findings...but there was still an eerie silence to the room.

Standing on a platform above the office space, a person sat in a tall leather chair with their head resting against their fist. The person was a man who looked about 34 years old, wearing a black suit with a red tie. His short black hair was spiked up slightly, allowing his piercing blue eyes to be seen looking around the room. A buzz made him look down and answer his phone. “What?” He asks curtly. The voice on the other end sounded like a high-pitched woman. “I got something! Let me in!” She asks, to which the man nods his head and turns to the room. “Allow Janet inside. Make sure she isn't being followed.” And with that, the room was abuzz with people lowering the forcefield around the city and the numerous defensive barriers past it. After several minutes, a tiny fairy flies through the front entrance and into the the gilded elevator on the right side. The fairy was around ¼ of a foot long, with fluffy light blue hair and wearing a dark blue t-shirt with black pants. She rested on top of a railing as the elevator sped skyward. Her body was soaked from the torrential downpour of rain outside. Once the doors opened, she timidly flies into the most important room of the building.

The room was more expansive compared to the previous office area; the walls were adorned with polished marble, with expensive paintings of landscapes hanging off portions of the wall. The floor was dark petrified bamboo boards that made any footsteps amplified as people walked in. A metallic crest hung along the back wall, depicting a spider hanging down with a lattice of white lines along its back depicting part of the world map, its 8 legs curled inward toward itself. Two menacing red ruby eyes stared menacingly out toward the room, with the spider itself being made out of silver and the circular background being a mix of gold and platinum. A wooden conference table sat in the middle of the room, where Janet flew over to and sat on top of the backrest of a side chair.

“Um...I have news, sir! Are you here…?” The fairy asked. Suddenly, a voice from the second floor overlooking the room rang out across the space. “Of course! This is my home, after all.” walking down the stairs was a man that looked around 23 years old. He had dark blond hair that looked almost purple in places, brushed upward to a slightly spiky style. The man’s eyes were dark red, a large scar running across his forehead, down his right eye, and ending on his cheek. His figure was slim and fit; wearing a maroon long-sleeve shirt and black jacket filled with a revolver, two extra magazines, a knife with a cute logo of a cat skull on the handle, and several pieces of sewing equipment. He wore black pants with several pockets running down the side, two oversized halves of a pair of scissors hanging down from a loop in his pants. He walked with a confident stride as he leaned against a chair near where Janet was sitting. “Hello, master Arachne! Um...I just found out where the target is located! They are at a mall! I um...would advise sending in someone to distract one of them to take their key…” Janet reported. Arachne gave a small smile and patted the fairy on the head with his pointer finger. “Very good work! We shall depart at once. Hm...who is a good distraction...right, Caroline! Call her and tell that snake to be here in 5 minutes.” And with that, Arachne turned to look back at a large map pinned on the wall. The entire continent of Australia was covered in blue dry erase marker, other areas including most of East Asia, the southern tip of South America, the eastern portion of the Middle East, the southern parts of Africa, a small percentage of Western Europe, and the entire East coast of North America. Small pictures were taped onto each region, displaying the head of someone tasked with conquering the area. Janet hurriedly took out her tiny phone and made the call. Arachne stood in front of the map, smiling as he looked down at a large mechanical gauntlet on his right arm that had several switches on it. Soon...he will have answers.

While the two of them worked, a third person stood overlooking the room from the second floor, her long blond hair hanging over the railing as she watched with interest.