Story
See no evil.
"Coincidentally enough, I was born in a new century; 1900. Back then, in Ocean City, and from what I was told by my parents, the denizens were still worried about the rapid expension of the industry, and the changes to economics. One thing that did not change, however, was food: no matter how much the world changed, one thing remained the same, and that was the biological need to fill the stomach with food, to balance all the other needs. I grew up near the coastline, so the knowledge of sealife and the multiple ways to consume it was no stranger to me. It was my father who initiated me to business; already, on top of my ten years, I knew how to open just about any sort of clam, but my favorite had to be oysters. For some reasons, the rocky texture of the shell with its iodic scent might have convinced me to follow pop's steps, and I learnt how to fish all sorts of creatures from the abyss, through the effort of intense labour and many attempts at not breaking the family fishing rod.
"I kept working for my father's business, until the Cola Wars struck. I was about 14 years old, when it happened, and father had to be enrolled. Naturally, you would not lend a prosper entreprise to a teenage boy, who had barely set foot into the worldwide market. An uncle of mine, who was too incapacited to join the soldiers, was assigned the CEO position, until he returned. I was told, throughout letters written by my father, about the wonders of war, and how we should operate for our motherland. But there was one odd detail that struck me as a youngster, that my elders did not seem to notice... some letters seemed to have been written over, two or three times, as if to decode the message 'SHADOWS ARE EVERYWHERE'. Of course, daffy youth that I was, I did not utter a word to my mother nor uncle, to not spark doubt in their minds, like mine was."
Hear no evil.
"As the war ended, father returned to us, but worse for wear. I knew him to be quite the folly man; due to his advanced age, local doctors diagnosed in him an advanced state of dementia, which deteriorated his mental abilities even more. I suspected he would not make it back to his ownership position, regarding the shop we all worked in. Therefore came my twenty-first birthday, and with it, according to the customs of this era, after my father retired and passed, I got the keys of the Clammed up Oysters, refined cans of H.N Family company. It was all mine to operate now. I was not forcibly eager for this moment to come, but I could not measurate quite well my excitement either; it was just an array of freedoms that were now given to me, and I could simply do as I intended to do, without parental obligations bending me to their stupidly high expectations that came with this post. An example being my walks in Ocean City, to distract my mind away from sea, the time of a stroll. It was during one of my many walks that, in a radio post, I could hear through the static a voice that, still to that day, struck me from my very core. It was not a taunting voice, but moreso, a calm and appreciative one, that could lull you in, as she spoke.
"My fellow citizens! Good evening! I, Margaret-- [her name seemed to be distorted through the speaker], hereby announce my candidacy for Shadow President. In my role as Ocean City's Comptroller, I have made it my mission to eliminate waste and graft in the city's finances. And I am proud to say I have been completely successful through my program of shutting down needlessly wasteful civic programs, thereby reserving your valuable taxpayer Meat for the things that actually matter. Things like family, prosperty, and freedom. A vote for me... is a vote for YOU."
"I am usually not the one to be sensible to words, however, when I heard that speech, I felt as if this voice had touched with my personal chords, laced with the simplicity of her words. I felt as if, beneath this veil of benevolence, there was something more meaningful hidden beneath it all, and I was more than eager to meet this Margaret and her associates, at all costs. It was a long and difficult route, that led me to travel across the region for many years (I could have pretend to obtaining a driving licence, although I would fail the tests repetively with my poor sight). But at last, I was confronted with her, and it was grandiose. It did not take me long to be part of her rally, and soon enough, I was assigned role of envoy for her, by our vice president; with my duties as chief executive officer in the family business, it was no difficult task to convince her to let me join her ranks, so I could travel places. I was assigned the northern region, which suited perfectly with my paralleled businessman's endavours."
Speak no evil.
"Truthfully, I am thankful the locomotive is still in vogue to this day. Thanks to that wonder of engineering, I could travel all the way to the North, falling onto many towns, and many business opportunities as well. But I had to use that profession as a cover, now that I have become an agent of the Shadow Government. With the pendant in hand, I was tasked to set a place to open the rift; according to the President, this pendant had to be applied on one specific person for it to work. Generally, the purest the heart is, the more efficient the rift will be. I traveled far and wide, till I made it to Frisco, a town that was recently rebuilt after an earthquake shook the entire place, twenty years ago. But just as I stepped on the ground, one of my tweed jacket's buttons got torn by a passing cart. Just as I picked it up, I got hailed by a young woman, around my age, who invited me to stitch it back to her workshop for free. And by workshop, I got the surprise to see that it was, in fact, a room that she decorated in her family's ranch, so she could practice her favorite activity: sewing. I still gave her a small amount of Meat for the service, although she insisted on not getting paid.
As I looked into her eyes and discusted with her, I saw right through her the perfect opportunity to give the pendant; her heart was one of the kindest and most candide I could see, and she seemed to have conquered mine, as well. I was quite torn apart about making a decision at first. What to follow: the desire of my heart, of the heritage of my passion that brought me there? Through our few exchanges, as I stayed in town, I got to know her name and background better. Beatrice felt like the one for me, not only in the name of the pendant, but also in the name of my individuality, as Henry. She was as if destined to me, so... why not reconcile both parties? Perhaps, if I lend her my heart, I could lend her the pendant, and we could reform the Shadow government, together!
"Over the past two years, Beatrice and I grew closer than ever to each other, and now felt like the time I would share her the frontgates to the Shadow government, by offering her the pendant. Of course, I did not unveil my true role in the government to her, so I simply pretended to offer it as an anniversary gift. I believed at first, she would be convinced by my ideology; however, all I could see in her eyes were sorrow and suffering. It appeared to have given her quite the opposite effect of what I was expecting; I thought that, just like it did to me, it would only benefit her, and we could build a new tomorrow altogether, but it seemed to have deceive her vision instead. And that deceived mine as well, to see we were not meant to be together. The more I would see Beatrice, the more it would actually hurt me to see her like this; not only this, but it might actually disrrupt my comrades' plan of action. In order to not raise any suspicions, I brought her with me, back to Ocean City, where I then transfered her to the local mental assylum. It was now a matter of time until the curse of the shadows infected her whole body, and the President would operate her plans."
