Helix S2 Premier – Review

Two words to describe the Helix S2 opener:

Holy

Frak!

What the creative team has accomplished this season is nothing short of remarkable: not only do we have a deliciously disgusting new virus to contend with, but a time hop as well, all woven together to make the audience stand up and say “WTF?” but not confusing or off-putting as some scenarios can be. The whole introduction to said time hop is a study of expert storytelling and cinematography. One can see clearly the whole of Helix Writer’s Room rubbing and wringing their hands together with glee like A-list villains, concocting this twist of the senses (and I’m sure many more to come). Yet as new as these scenarios may seem, it still feels like – to the veteran fans – in a word, home.

With several new additions to the cast, I must say that each melded perfectly into the Helix universe.

Dr. Kyle Sommer (Matt Long) takes on the role of new kid on the block to the team consisting of Dr. Peter Farragut and Dr. Sarah Jordon. He’s a Texan, and has all the charm and brass bravado a native country boy should have without being over-the-top.

Brother Michael (Steven Webber) was creepy, but calming, with his awkward bro-hugs and soothing, resonating voice. This is a man one could end up actually liking even while saying “Ewww” in the process.

Caleb (Jim Thorburn) is an enigma. As part of the time-hop sequence with Julia, he brings to the story more questions than answers. He starts off appearing more psycho serial-killer, only to find he is as much against Illaria as Alan and the gang ever were.

The returning cast is no less amazing in their transformation. Peter is on a mission and isn’t taking any crap from anyone. Gone is the invalid, the unsure, frightened, and bewildered brother, enter the decisive and powerful team leader. We’re still left to question what his true intentions are, however, given his traitorous acts at the end of S1, but for now it seems he’s on the side of right.

Sarah has also grown from the geeky, eager-to-impress newcomer to an established powerhouse in the CDC infrastructure, as if taking Julia’s role as her own. She is more confident, determined, and completely at ease with her new-found immortality.

Julia – we cannot yet determine whether she is rogue or still working with Illaria. She has a mission to find a cure for this new virus, revealed not as Narvik but TXM-7, a personal mission as much as a global one because she herself is dying despite being immortal. Is this the virus Hatake was supposed to develop at Arctic Bio Systems? The one Constance wanted so terribly to help thin the herd and keep the 500 at 500? Or is it a backfired product of the goal to wipe out the mortals as Illaria had also planned, the double-edged sword Hatake was worried about?

The biggest reveal in the time-hop, however, was the heart-wrenching vision of Alan’s tombstone. Knowing that he’s doomed this season is a cruel but crafty twist to the present-day scenario, especially when we see him at the compound, looking all the part of a cult member.

All in all, this was beyond what I expected for a S2 opener. For anyone who even remotely expected it to fall flat and predictable (as some series season openers tend to sway), they were put to rights from the first scene on.

Bravo Helix! May you have season openers like this for many years to come.

Miksa and Mohawk Girls – An Interview with Meegwun Fairbrother

Spektral Helix: Have you always been a fan of sci-fi? What drew you to audition for the show?

Meegwun Fairbrother: I have always been a fan of sci-fi. Huge fan!! From growing up on reservations in Ontario Canada playing Star Wars in the bush with wooden lightsabers to the movies and shows of today, such as Battlestar Galactica. The idea of working on a sci-fi legend’s project excited the hell out of me. Especially since I would have the chance to tell the story of an indigenous person in an unusual circumstance. It broke with the stereotypical image of indigenous people on screen and that was something that I wanted to be a part of. Luckily the team choose me to tell that story and I will be forever grateful.

SH:When you auditioned for the role of Daniel/Miksa, did you have any clue how beloved the character would become?

MF: I didn’t really think about it in that way. I saw it as an opportunity to tell a story that intrigued me and I knew that I wanted to do it justice. I’m just very happy that my endeavor to do so resulted in people enjoying the character as much as I enjoyed playing him.

SH:How difficult was it to portray twins? Did you sometimes find yourself speaking as Daniel/Miksa when you were supposed to be Tulok?

MF: Haha. I haven’t had any existential breaks on set yet while playing two people (knock on wood). I strove to make them two very different people as Tulok had more of an influence from his community while Miksa grew up very isolated with scientists. I tried to tell that story by differentiating their voices. Once I did that, everything else kind of fell into place. Then I put on the clothes of each character and I’d have no problem knowing who I was.

SH: Daniel’s bond with Hatake is intense to say the least. Did you and Mr. Sanada meet before the shoot to cement the character’s relationship?

MF: We met on the day of our first read in the evening during dinner with the cast. Luckily we got to sit beside each other. At that moment I knew I was learning from a master. I watched his work ethic, his way of being in the world and his attention to detail while shooting. So in real life I saw myself as a student and I think that energy matched the relationship of the father/son dynamic. He has taught me so much and so like Miksa, I am a loyal to his way. Plus we both like Shakespeare and dancing.

SH: I know it was important for you to have the Native American aspect of your role accurately portrayed. Did you have any input for Cameron and the writers on that?

MF: I think the writing team created a very believable and imaginative universe for us to play in. There were a few things that I mentioned here and there because I have had the opportunity to travel to remote northern places and understand what the terrain and culture is like. But I myself am of Ojibway decent and not Inuk. Also, I have a lot of Inuk friends, so I made sure that I got the character right. The greatest aspect of it all was that the writers created a indigenous character that was not a stereotype. And I’m proud that I had the chance to help tell this story.

SH: Miksa’s departure was visceral in more ways than one, quite emotional for the fans. Even though you stayed on as Tulok, was it equally emotional on set?

MF: Tulok was a relief to play because he was a bit funnier and more open. The weight of the world wasn’t as pressing as it was for Miksa as the head of security. Tulok did have to deal with the loss of his brother shortly after being reunited with him so I think his story is equally as rich. The day we did all the punching was hilarious and fun. I think I got a spasm in my neck from all the punching of air and reacting.

SH: Were you surprised at the outpouring of fan adoration for your character as well as the sadness of Miksa’s demise?

MF: I was inspired actually! Sometimes it’s hard to celebrate the work because we shoot it and then we don’t get to share it until months later. So to get all the love from the fans is an amazing experience. Let the good times roll!!

SH: Your other project, Mohawk Girls, is quite a departure from Helix. How different is Butterhead from Miksa/Tulok and what are some similarities?

MF: Hmm I’m not sure there are any similarities at all. I mean, Miksa is such a trained enforcer and Butterhead is a bit of a knob. Actually I would say polar opposites haha. Get it!

~yes, he really DID go there…. everyone do a side-eye with me, ok?~

SH: Will American audiences get to see Mohawk Girls any time soon?

MF: I think Rezolution Pictures and @MohawkGirls are currently looking for American distributors. Keep checking with the Facebook page for updates. You can also check out past episodes on Aptn.com.

SH: In closing, could you give the fans some insight as to whether we’ll see Tulok in season two?

MF: Sorry my friends. No spoilers. That wouldn’t be any fun.
Love Meegs

 

We love you, too, Meegs, and cannot wait to see what’s in store for Season Two of Helix, starting January 16th, 2015, on SyFy!

Of Vectors & Voiceovers – An interview with Neil Napier

by Lilith Colbert

Neil Napier (Dr. Peter Farragut) has been a busy man lately – from appearances in X-Men: Days Of Future Past to voicing Captain Xavier in Assassin’s Creed: Unity – so we greatly appreciated him taking the time to discuss Helix and his approach to characters both in the physical and digital realm.

You can follow him on Twitter @NeilNapier and of course see him on Season Two of Helix which airs January 16, 2015 on SyFy.

Spektral Helix: What drew you to audition for the role of Dr. Peter Farragut?

Neil Napier: What drew me to the role of Peter was the complexity of his relationships with his brother and Julia, and the extreme journey which he undergoes. I felt it would present some interesting opportunities to play with character through physicality.

SH: Did you do any research into the science of the role and if so, how did it aid in understanding the character?

NN: I didn’t do much research into the science of the role, as Peter had very little of it to do. I did however research some of what the psychology is of folks who choose to spend long periods of time working in relative isolation. Werner Herzog’s film, Encounters At The End Of The World was quite helpful…

SH: You’ve said in other interviews that your character was supposed to die in the first episode – were you given a heads up as to the new direction of Peter’s role once the decision was made to keep him, or was everything hush-hush?

NN: Well, by the time I was cast, they had already decided to keep him alive until around episode 4, but after that, I never knew with each subsequent episode if it was going to be my last… Things worked out alright in the end. *smiles*

SH: What do you draw on to get into the”head” of a character and do you find yourself thinking as that character even “off the clock?”

NN: I think it is important to keep my character as close to myself as possible. We are all very complex beings and we show a certain configuration of our qualities to the world. However, I believe that we all have at least a little bit of almost everything within us. An actor’s job as I see it is to access the parts of him/herself most relevant to the character at hand, and let them live.

SH: In season one, Peter went through some drastic changes: from pretty much an invalid, to Julia’s hallucination, to Vector King, to traitor. How did you react to these changes when reading the script for the first time, knowing that you were for the most part kept in the dark as far as story lines?

NN: It is a joy to react to changing conditions for my character. Each new script presents a new set of challenges. It keeps my on my toes!

SH: When in your”Vector mode,” how many hours did you have to spend in makeup and how difficult was it to remove?

NN: In ‘King Vector’ mode, I was in makeup for about 3 hours at the beginning of each shooting day, and then it took 2 or 3 artists about an hour to remove all that intricate work.

SH: We’ve heard that Billy Campbell (Dr. Alan Farragut) was quite the prankster on set. Are there any shenanigans you can tell us about that happened on the set of season two?

NN: All I can say about Billy is that he has been very well behaved on set this season. I guess fatherhood has had a calming effect on him… 😉

SH: We know you do voiceovers for video games like Assassin’s Creed – do you find it as challenging being in front of the camera and if so why?

NN: I actually do very little straight voice work for video games – what I do is a fair amount of is ‘performance capture’, which is embodying the character physically as well as vocally. So I spend a good amount of time in velcro tights and a helmet face-cam… But I do spend some time in the sound booth nonetheless and I find the challenges different – there are no physical references or other actor to play with; a vocal performance is all self-generated. It is an exercise in imagination and technique.

SH: Are there any projects outside of Helix you’re working on that you can tell us about?

NN: I am working on two projects that I can’t really talk about right now. Nothing big, but I have signed NDAs…

SH: In closing, what do you perceive the dynamic will be between Peter, Julia, Alan, and Sarah in season two, given the emotional complexities of their relationships?

NN: In season 2 of Helix, I think that we will learn a little more about the relationships between Peter, Alan, Julia and Sarah. We will also see how they progress, and discover some new and unexpected alliances. Enjoy!

SH: We will indeed enjoy, Neil, and January cannot some soon enough! Again, thank you for speaking with us!

From Black Goo To Black Wings – writer Sean Crouch talks Helix & Dominion Season 2

 

by Lilith Colbert
Writer Sean Crouch was kind enough to spend time with us amidst his busy schedule writing for CBS’s Unforgettable and SyFy’s Dominion to discuss character development and demise, as well some insights to Dominion Season 2.
Spektral Helix: When you were approached to write for Helix, was it clear from the start this was no ordinary sci-fi venture?

Sean Crouch: 100% I’ve worked long enough to have choices for the direction of my career, and Helix is exactly the special kind of show that I want my name to be apart of. All ego aside, the pilot was an excellent read, smart, funny, mysterious. I needed to work on Helix and it was one of the best decisions of my life.

SH: How did you get into the”head” of the characters? Were you able to talk to any actors to get their impressions of their roles?

SC: Unfortunately, Helix is shot 2,481 miles (give or take a couple of vectors) froM he writer’s office in Los Angeles, so I never got to meet the actors, except over email, Twitter or Facebook. We also didn’t have enough money in the budget to fly the writers out to produce our episodes (which is standard in television… it’s why I’m listed as a Co-Executive Producer, and not just Staff Writer). So I had to read a lot of scripts and really delve into the character descriptions. My favorite was the “laconic Daniel.”

SH: Did you sometimes find yourself thinking in character even “off the clock?” If so which one was in your head the most?

SC: That’s the pleasure and curse of writing. You’re constantly thinking in the voice of your characters. I actually have to have long conversations between characters in my head before I can even think of putting pencil to paper (or fingers to keyboard). All the characters were very fun, especially after Jeri Ryan showed up and the episodes took a turn even more to the Sci Fi, so I didn’t really have a favorite. However, I’ve never written for Inuit characters (and Native actors) so I wanted to get it right… or as close to right as a White-boy from Colorado could… so I did major research and talked to old friends, Alaska Natives, from Fairbanks (where I lived in a tent for a summer long ago). So Miksa and Anana lived in my head the most.

SH: “Survivor Zero” is one of the most pivotal episodes of the series by some estimation. What was it like delving into the complex relationships of the characters in this episode?

SC: “Survivor Zero” was a blast to write, and one I really had to petition for. Getting into Julia’s backstory, with the big “eye” reveal at the end was a story I needed to tell. I probably wrote that script faster than any script ever before… and then re-wrote far more times. But it was worth it. I’m actually very proud of the episode and list it as one of my personal favorites. My agent has the cover sheet, signed by me, on his wall (or so he tells me… I haven’t seen it. Yet.)

SH: Knowing that the cast themselves had no clue what turn their characters were going to take, was the Writer’s Room also kept in the dark, or did all have a hand in development?

SC: As writers, we can’t really keep things in the dark. We have to work together, sometimes quickly, to develop these stories. So everyone knew everything, for the most part. Sometimes I’d be surprised by cuts made in the editing room for time, but we always knew the general story and tenor of the full season arc.

SH: That being said, did you ever think the reaction to loosing Miksa/Daniel & Doreen would be so strong?

SC: We all knew Daniel was a big blow, because it was an even huger blow to us. Meegwun Fairbrother is so much fun to write for. He’s an amazing actor and should be in everything. Every scene he brought the words to life even better than I could imagine, and killing Daniel off was not fun. Not fun at all. But sometimes story trumps personal likes and dislikes. And, because he had a twin brother, and we weren’t killing Tulok off, we allowed it. If he hadn’t had a twin, it would not have happened. At least in my opinion.

As for the lovely and gorgeous Catherine Lemieux, I can not say as I didn’t start writing until her character was already dead. I never got to write her character or talk to her, which is a bummer to me.

SH: It was announced last month you are now a part of the Dominion team. How did you get involved with the project?

SC: Dominion is a project that I’ve been passionate about since last year. When I got a job writing for a CBS cop show, Unforgettable, I knew, unfortunately, that I would not be able to go back to Helix because they had overlapping timelines. So, when Unforgettable finished, I started watching more shows and reading scripts and zeroed in on Dominion as the perfect fit. Extremely smart, and exciting, science fiction willing to ask big questions and never cater to the lowest common denominator. It never talked down to its audience, and that’s the secret for a show that I want to write. Plus, it didn’t hurt that it was still early enough in its lifespan that I could help create some of the mythology of the show.

SH: Helix and Dominion are very different universes – what’s the difference in your approach to writing for Dominion if any?

SC: Helix, partly due to budget issues, is a very specific type of show. Few locations and not a huge cast. Dominion, on the other hand, is a huge show, huge world, bigger cast. There’s plus and minuses for both types of shows and I felt that after doing smaller scale stories (including the CBS police procedurals I’ve written) that I needed to stretch my wings and see what I could do on Dominion. So far, so good!

SH: The impact of social media has been huge with both series. Were you prepared for the fan response, especially concerning Helix, and what was your reaction to the Twitterstorm as it were?

SC: I was not ready for the fervent passion of the fans in the social media universe. Holy crap was it amazing. I am so impressed and feel a closeness with people who love the things I love. I’m a sci fi fan, so I’m no different than anyone I interact with, and I love that. We are passionate about the same things. I never did Twitter until Helix premiered, and I’m so glad I did. It makes me happy. It reminds me how wonderful the world truly is.

SH: Again, thank you for speaking with us. In closing, are there any insights you can give on the feel for season two of Dominion?

SC: Without giving anything away, get ready for season two. It’s going to be a crazy mysterious ride. I hope we blow your minds with all the new directions we’re taking the show. It’s not quite a reboot or reset, but it’s close as you’ll learn far more about these characters and watch them change from last year… and all the way to the end of season two. If they make it. Some might not even make to the beginning of season two.

Thanks so much for inviting my thoughts. Sorry I had to be so general about the Dominion stuff. Hopefully we’ll talk more once we start airing, so I can tell you all the funny, cool stories from inside the writer’s room, over here in Hollywood.

SH: We look forward to those stories, Sean, and to your work on Dominion – again, thank you for spending time with us!

Daybook – Entry 12: Chronicles

 

I don’t want this.

Don’t want it at all.

I don’t even regret scaring the porter half to death, him insisting that I take the parcel else he be skewered in the most unpleasant of places (no doubt Hatake’s very wording), eventually taking it from his shaking hands and slamming the door without so much as offering a tip.

Heavy, so very heavy, more for the implications of such a parcel than the contents therein.

Damn you Hatake!

No intentions of ever setting foot in Puerto Rico, no intentions of even a footprint of him being seen anywhere for a long time, if ever. He’d gone of the grid and that only meant one thing: he was going to rip apart Illaria from the seams or die trying.

All the scrolls, all the tomes lying before me simply an extension of the flash drive blinking on the laptop, my fingers tracing the beautiful calligraphy, the elegant cursive.

Daniel was gone, Julia, gods knew where she stood, so I suppose I was the only one. Where I should feel honor that he entrusted this legacy to me, I only feel loss, anger, betrayal. Until a glint of gold winked at me, nestled between the scrolls, peeking from a swath of brocade, silver silk. I gathered it up gently, carefully removing the silk, my breath catching in my throat, tears springing to my eyes.

The bowls.

The broken bowls.

Those I thought long for the trash heap, here they were, pieces mended with gold gilt which wove along the clay like a spider’s webbing. The artistry and significance of kintsukuroi is not lost on me in the least, yet he felt the need to hammer it home with the note placed lovingly between them, the parchment looking almost as old as he.

 

“Remember, all that is broken is not always lost, and that which would be considered useless is often the greatest treasure.

You have been, and always shall be, one of my greatest treasures.”

Frak you Hiroshi.

Frak you and your elegant, sappy, selfish self!

 
You must excuse me now, for I know all to well how saline damages silk…..

 

 

 

Helix Weekly Twitter Campaign

 

In an effort to keep Helix fresh in the minds of fans (as well as recruit new ones), we have launched a campaign which will feature each of the Helix cast members for every day of the week. These features can include pictures, bios, memes, artwork, graphics, and general trivia. We request the hashtag #Helix be present in each of your tweets, as well as tag either @Helixr_Horde or @SpektralHelix_L at the end of each tweet so they can be easily seen and retweeted.

 

Below is the campaign schedule, including the hashtags to be used in conjunction of the official #Helix one.

 
Sunday – #SundayBromance with Mark Ghanime and Neil Napier
Monday – #MeegsMonday with Meegwun Fairbrother
Tuesday – #TwoferTuesday with Jordan Hayes and Catherine LeMieux
Wednesday – #HatakeHumpDay with features specific to Hatake ONLY
Thursday – #BilliciousThursday with Billy Campbell
Friday – #GirlCrushFriday with Kyra Zagorsky and Luciana Carro
Saturday – #SanadaSaturday with Hiroyuki Sanada

 
So, there you go!! Have fun, TRY to follow the schedule, and enjoy the ride!
– Lilith

Daybook – Entry 11

 

As Hatake recounted his tale, I watched his features retain a resolute peace despite the brutality of the narrative. I knew that he had no wish to go back to life as a hunted man, preferring to be a man of books rather than the blade, a giver of life rather than a taker, yet they’d forced his hand, and those fools did not know what they’d unleashed. I’d heard murmurs that there were some within the upper echelons of Ilaria who had warned against baiting such a beast – mostly the Methuselah, those who were the oldest of all of us – yet those with their actual hands in the dirty little mess wouldn’t listen.

Ah, the young ones – how foolish they are in their arrogant follies.

“So, what now?” I asked, closing my journal and taking the last cup of tea.

“I’ll use my contacts in Ilaria to help Alan and Peter get to Julia, then I’ll head to Puerto Rico to help Balleseros contain things down there.”

“I would think you’d want – ”

Hatake shook his head, sighing. “I’m afraid I’m the last person she’d want coming to her rescue.”

“But you’re her father.”

“By blood, yes – by deeds, no.”

Hatake’s face was lined with anguish, the first time I’d seen him truly regretful about anything he’d ever done. Even as he’d wrestled with the fate of the stolen children, he’d always said it was a “necessary evil,” something that had to be done in pursuit of science.

“You did what you could to protect them – Constance, Scythe, you couldn’t have seen that coming.”

“Should have, would have, if I hadn’t let myself get caught up in Ilaria’s lies about a better future.” Hatake chuckled bitterly, lowering his eyes and tracing figures on the napkin in front of him with his fingertip. “Maybe I truly am getting old.”

I stroked his cheek lightly, resting my hand upon his smooth skin when he looked up at me, his eyes glinting with surprise at my unexpected gesture of affection. “You’re only as old as you feel, Hiroshi.”

He smirked, taking my hand and kissing my palm. “Then at the moment I feel every bit of my five-hundred-plus years.”

The familiar warmth of his lips upon my skin, the stirring of butterflies within my abdomen – these are the cause of the effect which followed, of my lips meeting his, speaking that which could not be articulated with voice alone. Oh, no doubt he loved – still loves – Jane with all his heart and soul, yet being Immortal, one tends to bond with one’s own for that sense of security, permanence, and understanding that no mortal, no matter how deeply they’re ingrained into our hearts, can fully fathom. Said bond more often than not lasts as long as each keeps breathing, holding fast no matter the different paths their hearts and destinies turn upon, no matter the rifts or upheavals they endure.

Our bond is as such, frayed as it were by the Shin’ar’s geis against involving oneself with one’s “commission” and our clashes over Ilaria’s true purpose. He held onto that bond fast this night, clinging to it as if to his last breath, knowing that he must let it float once again into the ether.

I watched him getting dressed in the dim light of the hotel room, eyes tracing the scars upon his back much as my fingertips had earlier in the evening, every motion a study of grace and purpose. He walked and sat on the bed, pulling a flash drive out of his pocket and closing it into my hand.

“What is this?” I asked.

“My life, Ilaria, everything.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “I’ve been chronicling you since you came into Ilaria, Hiroshi – there can’t be much in here I do not already know.”

“This goes back way before Ilaria, before the virus. This is the beginning of who I was and who I was to become.”

Realization came to me suddenly, horrifically – this was his final treatise, his closing epitaph. This was one battle he wasn’t expecting to survive.

“No, Hiroshi, no, no, you do not get to lay this on me now, not after – ”

Hatake placed his fingers upon my lips to silence me, smiling. “Tell my tale, Kiernan, ensure these mortals know that there is good in even the most selfish of gods.”

With that, he kissed my forehead, rising to leave, leaving me once again with that emptiness in my gut.

“Hey, old man.”

Hatake stopped as he opened the door, looking back at me with a bemused frown.

“Don’t lose your head.”

“Don’t follow me.”

“Frak you, Hiroshi.”

“Love you, too, Kiernan.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daybook – Entry 10

 

When I looked into his eyes, I could tell he’d reverted back to the beast he once was, yet there was a weariness to him even so.

“What I’m about to tell you, Shin’ar,” he said, walking beside me, his energy boiling just beneath the surface, the calm before a storm, “I want transcribed, word for word.”

“We don’t tell tales, Hatake,” I replied, walking toward a café, choosing a discreet corner table on the patio, “we chronicle, we observe, big difference.”

“Ah, not as much as you might think, Kiernan.” Hatake, ever the gentleman, pulled out my chair before seating himself beside me, almost uncomfortably close, a smile suddenly brightening his face. “You used to love when I told my – tales.”

“That was before you banished me from ABS so you could continue your devious little scheme against Ilaria.” The maitre d’s greeted me with a smile – after ten years he still remembered my name and my favorite tea. “What was it you drugged me with anyway? I felt like I’d been dropped down the rabbit hole.”

Hatake chuckled. “If I’d known you’d be so resilient I’d have given you double the dose.” His face darkened. “Why did you stay? You knew the danger – Vectors, Ilaria….”

“I am Shin’ar – even floating in and out of lucidity we follow our edicts – observe, chronicle, record.” I thanked the waiter who brought my tea, served in an elegant little tea pot with saucer and cup to match, Hatake waving away the inquiry of the need of an extra cup. “Besides, did it really matter what happened to me as long as your work was kept secret?”

“What happens to you has always mattered, Kiernan.”

He put his hand over mine, locking me in his gaze as tears came unbidden to my eyes. Shove it down, wipe away, unremember, unremember. I pulled my hand away, reaching into my bag to retrieve my journal. “What is it you want told, Hiroshi?”

“Word for word.”

“Yes, word for word, but swear if you start quoting Shakespeare, you’re getting a lap full of Darjeeling.”

Hatake’s Tale:

Snow fell like sakura upon the moist pavement, coating everything in ghostly white, the lanterns making each flake sparkle in their soft glow. 

Perfect.

Everything was perfect.

Until crimson marred that otherworldly scene, the sound of clashing steel  ringing through Winter’s chill – red, warm red melting the snow-sakura into pink slush, the thump-thump of flesh meeting pavement final as the last beat of their hearts.

Thump.

One for my son.

Thump.

One for my daughter.

Thump-thump.

Two for my wife and the child they stole from her belly.

It is said that as Immortals, we often forget what it is to suffer, becoming accustomed to the point of callousness to the death and ruin around us while we remain a constant. We have to learn this way of dealing with our losses, I presume, so that we do not go mad with the anguish of it all. Yet we cannot forget our humanity, our origins, for as there are different cultures and different skins, we all bleed the same, hurt the same, and yes, we can be killed just like any other human – albeit not as easily – but all come from this womb called Earth and eventually all will return to Her just the same.

I aim to remind them that, even as Immortals, we are not a constant, that the only constant is the fierce desire of any species to protect one’s own and the thirst for revenge when those are harmed.

Blood for blood they say, eye for an eye, yet instead of taking me they took my family.

All

of

them.

So I in turn I shall take theirs.

Daybook – Entry 9

 

The stench of humanity is overwhelming in this city, permeating the very pavement upon which I stride, reeking with desperation, hope, hunger, all which these short-lived mortals have yet to fully grasp.

Paris has always been grotesquely garish, its palaces and monuments a study of the hodge-podge, eccentric nature of its elite, while the common citizenry walk about as if they are a a part of that elite merely by virtue of being Parisian. Even the foreigner will hold his head higher, proud of the prestige of his chosen residence as the tourist plays aristocrat, counting herself most advantageous to be able to declare haughtily that, yes, she has been to Paris.

Yet this city will chew you up and spit you out like last week’s baguette if you’re not careful which corner you turn. For all its outer trappings, it is still a dirty, filthy place, full of spots you would not wish to set your foot in day or night. The Catacombs still cry for tenants, the alleys are ever thirsty for fresh prey.

I guess it shouldn’t have come to a surprise, then, when and where I encountered him that night, to this day the only being who can approach me unawares.

“Hello, Kiernan.”

That’s all it took to calm my murderous impulses, to keep my blade sheathed at my hip.

Damn you, Hatake – how is it you have hold of me still?

Daybook – Entry 8: History So Shall Remain

 

Hiro was indeed telling the truth when he spoke to Julia of his daughter. It was the Warring States period after all, and Kyoto was as volatile as the Middle East is now, being the capital of Japan before it moved to Tokyo, then called Edo.

As a practitioner of ninjutsu, Hatake was, and still is, a master of subterfuge and strategy, a brutal and merciless tactician, disguising himself as a mere 100-koku samurai who preferred the green of his fields and herbs to the red of blood upon his blade. As such this also made himself a target for those who saw him as receiving improper favor from his daimyo, marrying too high in status for his ranking, spoiling his only daughter and wife with anything they wanted. One night, his master’s enemies attacked, torching dwellings and fields, his wife herself a kunoishi in the purest sense of the word, but at the same time, no matter how many fell from her blade, she was no match for the flame and smoke that overtook her. Hatake raced from the fields to see his house ablaze, his wife screaming as she burned to save their daughter. He threw himself on his girl’s prone form just as a beam fell, his back bearing the brunt of the burning wood, but to no avail.

She was only five.

When Hatake told me this story, this horrible account of how his skin blistered and burned, how he could not reason why he lived while his loved ones perished, how he crawled to the fields to take the herbs that would ease the pain if not completely heal him, I anguished with him, after two hundred years the sting of knowing he will never join his wife and child still obviously fresh.

We do not know why we are born thus, why it takes a horrible set of circumstance to awaken the Immorality, for our eyes to turn silver and sensitive to light. Thankfully, one of our own developed a remedy for this in twelfth century China – Bai Jian, to be precise, although the history books never get it right – crude, but effective sunshades not only to block out the light, but as well to disguise our nature. What he could not achieve is a balm to still the sorrow in our hearts as each year passes, knowing that those within our hearts would not be within our presence for long, he could not foresee the horrors humans would visit upon us, calling us vampires and daemons and all sorts of travesties to explain why we above all others could live when others did not. It was then I realized why our Council chose to enact the Cull every few years, why it was necessary to propagate suffering to cleanse our planet of the human thrall.

Yes, I said “our” planet. We Immortals have been better stewards than you humans could ever hope to be, our greed fed only by the desire of a few to have all, fueled by the understanding that where there is few, there is plenty, but where there are masses, there is nothing but war, famine, and death. Perhaps this is why the Willis Hypothesis was such an abomination to Constance, and in truth it is a pipe dream, believing if disease was cured so would be cured the woes of humanity, yet Hatake loves these hairless apes so much to a fault that he seems to have forgotten his years of witnessing what power does to mankind.

 “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely,” so quoth Lord Acton, and he is woefully accurate in that statement, on the part of humans and Immortals alike.