Chapters
- Misinformed Education (Finished: October 23, 2025)
- Gratified Intimidation (Finished: October 25, 2025)
- Initiated Graduation (Finished: October 25, 2025)
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Shhhh! Digital Media Presents:
The Butterfly Dragon - Heroes of our Own: Reimagined
by Brian Joseph Johns
Episode 3: Examination and Graduation
Misinformed Education
Sixteen Years Ago
North York High School
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Alicia and Helayne sat at one of the privacy desks inside of the school library, near the back of room. They'd quickly quickly eaten their lunch in under ten minutes, and had come directly to the library thereafter in order to continue the plan according to their agreement.
Helayne sat with her notebook opened to a page containing her current math assignment. Beside her, both Alicia and Zheng were situated from where they were shoulder surfing Helayne's work to a large degree.
"For that one you're going to need to use Pythagoras' Theorem to calculate the length of the hypotenuse," Zheng said to Helayn as she worked.
"Don't tell me! That's the one that goes x squared plus y squared equals z squared, right?" Helayne recalled from Alicia's earlier tutoring.
"Correct, but given the fact that the return value is the square magnitude of the hypotenuse, you're going to need to...?" Zheng asked Helayne.
"...calculate the square root of z, which should give me the actual length of the hypotenuse itself, right?" confirmed Helayne.
"I think you've got a firm handle on this so far," Zheng smiled, looking to Helayne and then to Alicia.
"What can I say. I'm a good teacher, aren't I?" Alicia patted her own back.
"Her work looks pretty solid to me. If she keeps at it, she'll ace those exams without the need for shoulder surfers like us," Zheng agreed.
"What I like about this is that a lot of the kind things I'll be doing with fashion patterns might benefit from my knowing this stuff about Pythagoras and Euler," Helayne had by that time already found an application for her newly acquired knowledge.
"You'll probably be able to get away with estimates rather than exact values in fashion I'd imagine," Zheng considered Helayne's statement and responded.
"Are you kidding me? Fashion design is the best of both artistic expression and mathematical precision," Alicia responded in defense of Helayne's chosen career path.
"Maybe moreso intuitively than technically. You both have a good point though. I will definitely be able to put this to good use in my career and life, one way or another," Helayne smiled, having finally grasped these concepts with ease for the first time in her life.
"So tell me this. If x squared plus y squared equals z squared, then does that mean x cubed plus y cubed equals z cubed?" Helayne asked, looking to Zheng and then Alicia.
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Slow down there a second! That's some pretty advanced stuff you're asking about," Alicia smiled at Helayne, very impressed with her line of reasoning.
"That's like related to Fermat's Last Theorem, isn't it?" asked Zheng.
"Now we're into the territory known as theoretical mathematics. The most scoffed at of all math, because it takes so long before civilization catches up to find an application for it," Alicia explained to them both.
"Yep. Hyperdimensional geometry. Modular forms, and a whole host of other goodies that gave mathematicians night mares for three centuries, until Sir Andrew Wiles published his proof a little over a decade ago," Zheng recalled having read about it online a few years ago.
"If you're asking questions like that Helayne, you're definitely ready for the math exam. Now, in all fairness, how goes your end of the agreement?" Alicia smiled at her friend, asking her about her progress for Alicia's graduation.
"Its... definitely a work in progress. I'm still refining the final set of patterns I'll need finish, but I'm very close. I want this very much to be your signature dress. The second most important dress you'll ever wear," Helayne assured her friend.
"Are you like making it in a Cheongsam style, maybe? You know, throwing a bit of our culture into it?" asked Zheng of Helayne.
"As I said, its definitely going to be Alicia. I'm trying to encompass a more worldly approach to this, but one that also has a bit of fun to it as well. A bit of Chinese style might find its way in, but its about Alicia," Helayne explained how she was approaching the overall design.
"I can't wait to see it!" Alicia became very anxious about the idea, almost blushing over the thought of going to an actual party and dance for the first time since her best friend Leland had passed from this world.
Helayne looked beyond Alicia's right shoulder to where another girl had just sat down in a privacy desk a few away from where they were seated. She was familiar to Helayne, but she couldn't see her face entirely to be sure.
"I think I see someone I know," Helayne said to Alicia and Zheng, and they both turned around to look in the direction Helayne's eyes were fixated.
A girl with long black hair, similar to Helayne's sat digging through her backpack for her books, and a makeup back, both of which which she placed upon the desk and then set the backpack down upon the carpeted floor of the library.
"I have to know. Just give me a minute," Helayne got up from her chair and approached the girl from behind.
The mysterious girl had retrieved her lipstick from her makeup bag and was applying it with the help of a small handheld mirror, when she caught Helayne's reflection in it as she approached.
When Helayne was two meters away, the girl leapt out of her chair, somersaulting through the air and landing in front of Helayne, already having launched a kigh kick at Helayne's head.
Helayne easily dodged the kick, attempting to catch the girl's leg. By the time Helayne had moved, the girl had quickly withdrawn her leg, having only used it as a lure, for her next move. As Helayne reached for where her leg had been, the girl launched another attack at Helayne's open sides, near her right kidney.
Helayne spun, maintaining her proximity to the girl, yet adjusting her profile as the girl's punch rolled of Helayne's body with her sudden spin. Helayne caught the girl's punching arm, then extended her leg, quickly pulling the girl over it, forcing her to the floor in attempt to submit her with a wrist lock.
The girl, miraculously was able to twist in the exact direction she'd needed to in order to free herself from Helayne's grip and hence her wrist lock. From the floor, she kicked Helayne's legs out from under her. Helayne then rolled perfectly protecting her head and body from the force of the girl's kick by redirecting the energy in her roll, from which she was back up and onto her feet in a single move, now facing the girl once again. By that time, the girl had launched herself back up and onto her feet and was standing at the ready.
"Myung?" Helayne asked the girl.
"Helayne?" Myung responded.
Much to Alicia's and Zheng's relief, Helayne and the girl closed in for a friendly hug.
"I haven't seen you for so long!" Helayne said to Myung.
"Same. How's the best sparring partner a girl could have been keeping her life?" asked Myung of her friend Helayne.
"You know. Laying low for the same reasons that you are. Chasing the things I thought I wanted because I thought my parents wanted them, then finding out that they really just wanted me to be happy, and to be myself. And you?" Helayne responded with a heartfelt smile.
"Studying hard. Its been difficult though. Remaining low profile. Especially with my ambitions," Myung replied to her friend.
"You've been doing a good job though, if you've been studying here for the whole time and I've never seen you," Helayne encouraged her friend.
"The truth is that I transferred about a month ago. For safety reasons. I'll be taking my exams here and then I'm done with high school. Off to law school," Myung explained to her friend.
"尽力而为. Do everything within your power and its limits, my friend. Good for you. Since... you know. It has been difficult, hasn't it?" Helayne recalled a distant pain that had for her friend nor herself yet healed.
"You have some friends I see. Imagine that. I always had you pegged on the checkboard as a loner," Myung smiled, looking to Alicia and Zheng, who were both in awe of what they'd just seen.
"I have some friends I'd like you to meet. Myung Chung-Ae? These are my friends: Alicia Westin, without whose guidance I'd likely fail the upcoming exams and Zheng Ni Wong, who has been pressure testing my knowledge to ensure that I do pass. They're the best know-it-alls a girl could ever have," Helayne introduced her friends.
"Its a pleasure to meet you. Both of you," Myung smiled warmly for them.
"Would you like to join us over here? We could talk about old times, little bit?" Helayne asked Myung.
"It sure beats being a loner like you used to be," Myung agreed, joining the three of them at their privacy desk.
"Did you two study together? You know, the martial arts stuff you were doing?" asked Zheng of them.
"Yes. We did. Helayne was the best in our class, but she could never beat me. Always, when we'd spar, it would be a stand-off. There was nobody else like that," Myung explained to Alicia and Zheng, whose fertile young imaginations ran wild with such exotic tales.
"Except Aikiko," Helayne was quick to respond to Myung's recollection of the past.
"Yes. Then there was Aikiko. You always did have a sort of rivalry with her, didn't you?" Myung referred to another student in their martial arts classes.
"It was she that had the rivalry with me," Helayne corrected her.
"Ahhhh, but she would say the same of you if it were her in your chair," Myung absolved them both.
"Are you going to the volleyball tournement after school?" Helayne asked Myung, watching Alicia's and Zheng's faces light up as she did.
"We're playing too!" Zheng almost yelled excitedly, having a chance to do something physical with which she was confident.
"Yep. Its the only sports game I've ever enjoyed playing myself, next to badminton, but Helayne here plays just about every sport on an entirely different level," Alicia bragged for her friend, despite her being a good volleyball player herself.
Helayne, now completely embarrassed, laughed snidedly.
"Oh Alicia, you say too much. I play a little bit good sometimes. A little bit bad sometimes," Helayne withdrew from Alicia's promotion of her.
"I'm playing in that game you know!" Myung spoke up suddenly as Alicia, Zheng and Helayne suddenly realized that Myung would be on the other team.
"You mean you went to Cawthra Park Collegiate?" confirmed Zheng.
"For two years, before coming here, but keep that to yourself," Myung urged first Zheng, and then the others.
"You mean you're playing on the same team as MissGvious?" Alicia confirmed.
"That glory hog? Unfortunately. Volleyball is supposed to be a team sport, but she plays it like she's the only one on the team. Most of the promotional material for the team is just a means for her to promote her other ventures, while the rest of us that make up the team actually won the games," Myung said distastefully of Helayne's nemesis.
"Yes, I'm familiar with her. My life in school has been very different since my having beat her at her own game," Helayne remarked in response to Myung's critique of her teammate.
"Well regardless of my misgivings with MissGvious, we're still going to take you down tonight," Myung said to Helayne with a smile of her face.
"You think so. You don't know so," Helayne nodded her head negatively.
"We're a pretty tight knit team here. I think that even with MissGvious, you're going to have a run for your money against us," Alicia backed up Helayne.
"Helayne, I've got to get going and get prepared for my next class. Physics. I can't wait! I'll see you at the locker room later. It was nice meeting you Myung," Zheng got up and left them, nudging for Alicia to join her.
"Oh! That Physics! Yeah, me too! I'm really looking forward to that. I'll see you later Helayne. Bye Myung. Nice to meet you," Alicia joined Zheng and the two of them left Helayne and Myung to speak.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have opened up about my team like that. Its just been very difficult you know, since losing Sifu," Myung's voice got much quieter as the two moved closer to speak.
"What about Hoon Kwang? You know, the Korean Tiger?" asked Helaynw.
"He's gone too. I lost track of him last year, on the one year anniversary of Sifu's death," Myung told Helayne who looked down and fought the flow of tears.
"Are we ever going to escape this Helayne?" Myung asked Helayn.
"No... Yes... I mean... I don't know..." Helayne responded.
"Maybe we need to find the other students? You know. Unite?" Myung suggested to Helayne.
"We agreed that if we each fled in a different direction, that they would have a much harder time finding us. If you chase two rabbits, you will lose them both," Helayne reminded Myung of what they'd agreed to.
"You're right. Its probably dangerous for us being here together. How much do your friends know?" Myung asked her.
"Nothing. I mean, they know everything, but they think they know everything, but about that, they know nothing," Helayne replied returning her glance to her friend's face.
"You'd better keep it that way. For their safety. Look, I've got to get going or I'll be late for next class. I'll see you at the game after school. You'd better bring the same skills you had back in the days of our training to the game tonight, because I'm definitely going to bring mine. See you then, Butterfly," Myung stood with her backpack in hand.
"I will bring the same that you used to bring to training so that we find ourselves equals in battle. Let our wisdom determine who wins. See you later, Haechi. Good friend," Helayne too stood, and together they left the library.
A man in a hoodie and sunglasses who'd been standing hidden behind a shelf in the library watched as they left, having overhead a good portion of their conversation. He reached into his hoodie and pulled out a mobile phone and dialled it.
"Lemme speak to MissG, yo," the man spoke into the phone.
"Speaking. Is dat you Slinky?" MissGvious responded from one of her classes.
"Anybody else wearing my handle, yo?" Slinky asked her.
"If they were, they'd be popped and stopped already. Whatcha got for me?" asked MissGvious.
"I got some Chinese food. Takeout. From the library. Your girl here, the one who pwned you in your game girl? She was just here, talking with her friend, the one from your Volleyball team. I got the duds on it all, but its going to cost ya..." Slinky said to her.
"You know the deal. Tell me whatcha want, and then whatcha got. If its the real deal, I'll make it good for you," MissGvious laid down her law to Slinky, and he began telling her what he'd heard.
Another two rows from where Slinky was spilling the beans on Helayne and Myung, a third observer watched and listened. When Slinky was done and about to hang up the phone, his observer coughed loudly, watching him through the spaces between books.
Slinky quickly turned to face the direction of the coughing, and caught sight of a person watching him two rows over.
"You'd better be running when I get dere cuz I'm gonna whoop you some ass..." Slinky did his best hood droll to intimidate whoever was watching him, because in all truth, he was at that moment as frightened as he'd been by ghost stories as a little child.
When he got there, the person was gone, and there were no signs of them anywhere, except on one of the wooden shelves. Slinky looked closer and found that someone had carved a serpent into the wood.
"What the... who be marking our turf with their signs?" Slinky squinted at the symbol and examined it again.
When he looked a bit closer he realized there was no mistaking it. It was a dragon. Beside it were the words:
"One who finds nothing to be sacred has lost the last of their legs on this journey"
Gratified Intimidation
Sixteen Years Ago
North York High School
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Mr. Winston stood at the interactive whiteboard with his stylus, drawing a diagram to illustrate his lesson for the class. The students sat watching him as the stylus etched in LED pixels, a metaphorical flowchart, depicting the process of mitosis as it occurred in the biology of plant cells.
"See! I told you! Its almost exactly like a computer program!" Zheng said to Alicia excitedly, upon seeing confirmation of what she'd been trying to explain to Alicia the day before.
"Miss Wong? I know that you and Alicia are probably two of the few students in here who are truly excited by this topic, but you might want to keep it down for the time being. You're ruining the big surprise I had planned for today," Mr. Winston joked blandly, turning to face Zheng, with a big smile on his face, drawing laughter from the rest of the classroom.
"Functionally, its kind of like one of those water wheels to me," Alicia responded to Zheng.
"But water wheels don't replicate themselves. Computer programs can do that," Zheng countered to her friend.
"I guess I was thinking something a little more organic, or mechanical. I get what you're saying, but there's something more intuitive about it. Something... Quantum," Alicia responded.
"Alright, I'm done. You can all wake up now," Mr. Winston, a fellow of average height, a pointy nose and thinning curly red hair turned once again to face his class. The sleeves of his button down shirt rolled up, and his tie loosened just enough to free him from its grasp.
The students laughed at his quip, and possibly that's what made his classes so enjoyable and popular with the everyone. He took the science very seriously, but also had a great sense of humour to accompany its often dry delivery, and it was this aspect of his method that kept the students engaged in every lesson.
"This? What you see right here in front of you, is the exact reason that you're here in this class right now, listening to a droll washed up science teacher..." the class broke out laughing once again.
"So if you want to blame something in life, don't blame your parents. Blame this, because its the entire reason this planet is covered with us. With animals. With plants. With algae, and every other thing you can imagine. This is the flowchart that describes how one cell can produce an exact copy of itself, using nothing but the encoded program we talked about, DNA in the form of one of four amino acids," Mr. Winston stopped as Zheng put up her hand.
"Does that mean that the amino acids take up the equivalent of two bits of storage in DNA?" asked Zheng.
"How very astute of you. That would be correct. If we have four amino acids, that could be represented by two bits in a computer. So technically, a byte could represent how many different fields in DNA?" Mr. Winston wrote Zheng's example down, adding it to the lesson on the interactive whiteboard, when he noticed Alicia's hand.
"I get the feeling that there's something more to it than just that. Something multidimensional at the Quantum level. Like each field represented by an amino acid in DNA is is actually part of a wave function before its collapse, the extra dimension being represented by the function probability log possibility," Alicia explained her perspective on the nature of DNA.
"A very creative use of the second law, Alicia, and one that might be at the fringes of information theory where it converges with biology, especially genetics. Now not to stifle your enthusiasm, but I'd like to focus on this more conventional model for the time being, but I'll make a note for us to speak about what you just suggested in one of next week's classes..." Mr. Winston responded to Alicia, as the class groaned at Alicia having created more school work for them.
"Where'd you keep that one? That was brilliant!" Zheng leaned over from her desk to her friend, commending her for her ability to think outside of the box.
"Something I've been thinking about for quite some time. At least today we'll know if I was right," Alicia confessed to Zheng.
"Why? What's happening today?" Zheng asked, worried she'd missed part of her own homework assignment or some other requirement that might cost her marks.
"Our project," Alicia reminded Zheng, with a humble and withdrawn smile.
"I completely forgot about that," Zheng realized to what Alicia was referring.
...
Mr. Winston had setup the day's lesson by explaining the metaphor of DNA as a software program, and had spent the first half of the class going over this metaphor in depth and in accordance with the flowchart he'd illustrated at the beginning of the class.
Naturally, Zheng had caught on right from the beginning, already being a formidable student of mathematics and a considerably good programmer. Her education and career focus was built around the idea that information technology would be the most essential tool in the sciences, and that simulation would one day be the route that most research would rely upon to speed up engineering life cycles. She envisioned computers so powerful, that they could simulate entire ecosystems or solitary biological entities with incredible accuracy. Enough so to be useful during research and development for a whole host of fields.
Alicia on the other hand, saw something completely different about the nature of DNA, and it was something she found very difficult to explain. Her having compared it to being like a multi-dimensional Quantum array whose objective collapse could be calculated based upon the second law of thermodynamics, was already at the cutting edge of both biology and physics. It was like there was a missing link, connecting the two sciences that was yet to arrive. Like a science that combined biology, information theory and quantum physics into one, encompassing theory of genetic biology.
Mr. Winston used the interactive whiteboard to save the lesson he'd earlier scribed, and then uploaded it to the students' server.
"Alright. Now that we've got that done, as you've all been eagerly awaiting, we're going to check on the progress of our cross breeding experiment. Now each of you two months ago were tasked with picking clippings from ten different pure strain breeds of plant for cross pollination. They were various strains of coneflower, daylily, yarrow and sedum. Now these plants have been growing in a controlled environment, with nutrients and watering occurring automatically thanks to our specialized automated grow lab. We're going to check on this today at which point I'm going to grade your plants, and you're going to write the result or outcome from your experiment and see how your theory, hypothesis and result all lined up. So, lets go over to the lab and we'll collect our plants and get started on that," Mr. Winston walked to the back of the classroom and unlocked a door therein, leading to an environmentally controlled room.
There within, he pulled several trays containing the students' plants, each from the automated grow lab one at a time, placing them on one of the counters near the back of the biology lab until he'd emptied the lab of trays.
"Alright, your plants are tagged with your names, so I'll need you to line-up here and collect yours and return to your desk, and then let the next person proceed and so on," Mr. Winston requested of his students, who then formed a line and one by one, began retrieving their plants as he'd instructed.
Zheng retrieved her yarrow, which had grown to be quite healthy and full of blossoms. Alicia's daylily's appeared to not yet have bloomed, but the plants were remarkably healthy and strong, their levels of chlorophyll far beyond that of a natural plant. They returned to their desks and began examining the fruits of their labour.
"Yours really blossomed Zheng," Alicia smiled when she saw her friend's flowers.
"That's actually a good sign. I think I'll stop at the corner store on the way home and pickup a lottery ticket!" Zheng smiled back at Alicia, getting a glimpse of her daylily.
"How'd it turn out so green?" Zheng asked Alicia.
"The clippings I chose to cross pollinate," Alicia began.
The daylily at that point began to move, as if growing at high speed. Its stem extended up another foot, and no less than six flowers opened up into full daylily blossoms, right before their unbelieving eyes.
"And I modified their genetic code with a CRISPER/Cas9 kit I picked up with my savings," Alicia added, sharing the secrets of her recipe for success with Zheng.
"You modified it?" Zheng confirmed what she'd just heard.
"You think that's cool, check this out..." Alicia said to Zheng as she reached for her daylily, tearing one of the leaves from the stem.
They both watched as another leaf began growing from the same place that Alicia had plucked the previous one. It was very rapid at first, and then it gradually slowed as the leaf approached its original size, before ceasing growing altogether.
"Alicia? Do me a favour? Give up on science and get into gardening. You'll make a fortune!" Zheng encouraged Alicia, who laughed at her friend's joke.
"What do we have here ladies? Nice yarrow Zheng. Are you planning on getting into fortune telling?" Mr. Winston quipped with her as he wrote several notes upon observing Zheng's biology project.
"Its my parachute career actually, if I fail at mathematics," Zheng joked, drawing a smile from Mr. Winston.
"Zheng, at this point, with your enthusiasm and energy, you'll probably do both," Mr. Winston handed her a slip of paper with her mark, and his remarks on her progress.
She quickly read it, and then covered it up with a smile as Mr. Winston turned his attention to Alicia's project.
"Very pronounced chlorophyll presence. Very healthy indeed," Mr. Winston was clearly very impressed by Alicia's green thumb.
"Its very resilient and adaptive too," Alicia tore another leaf from the plant, and Mr. Winston watched as it grew back in real-time.
"Excellent work Alicia. How'd you achieve this remarkable quality?" asked Mr. Winston.
"CRISPR/Cas9," Alicia explained to Mr. Winston.
"The assignment was only to use clippings, and pollination. I'm going to penalize you for breaking those rules, but also reward you for taking the initiative because you seem to have included these changes in your theory and hypothesis, which tells me you have a very firm grasp of genetic biology young lady," Mr. Winston smiled at Alicia and handed her a slip of paper.
"Great work girls!" Mr. Winston stepped over to the next desk.
Alicia took a look at her mark: A
Great work Alicia! Next time you'd like to take the initiative, talk with me first and we'll figure it out together. In your future field of science Alicia, there are going to be times when you're going to have to follow the rules, and times when you might have to break them. Always remember though, that there's a price in doing so. In this case, it cost you your A+.
"How'd you do?" Zheng asked her friend.
"I got penalized for using CRISPR/Cas9," Alicia revealed.
"And?" Zheng pressed her friend enthusiastically.
"A. I got an A," Alicia seemed a little bit disappointed, but inside she truly knew that she'd succeeded in applying the knowledge she'd acquired from the class, and augmented it with her own outside of the box ideas. The experiment was a success.
"You know what I got?" asked Zheng of Alicia.
"A+," Alicia smiled, already knowing her friend that well.
"How'd you know?" Zheng smiled at her.
"I divined it. With the help of your prize winning yarrow," Alicia winked at her.
As class finished the students began filing out one by one until there was only Slinky left in the room. He pulled a can from his pocket and found his way to where the plants were stored. He opened the lab and went through them one by one until he found Alicia's, upon which he poured a little bit of the contents of the can.
Again, the effects were almost immediate. The plant's deep green colour began to fade, until it was a putrid greenish-brown. The stem folded and the leaves fell off, as the plant despite its resilience, faded from life.
Now, he had only one more to contend with. Exams were approaching fast, and he and his posse had to sabotage Alicia's and Helayne's education before exams to ensure that neither of the girls graduated.
...
Myung stood in front of her opened locker, rummaging through the top shelf in search of her math textbook when she felt a set of hands upon her shoulders from behind.
She quickly spun, knocking both the left and right hand of her assailant off, grasping at their outermost arm and attempting to bind them in a wrist lock. Her assailant turned out to be much taller and larger than her, and by way of concerted effort, much stronger.
MissGvious resisted Myung's attempt to bind her wrist, quickly reversing the hold and forcing Myung face first into the locker. Myung struggled against the larger woman's grasp but found no room to maneuver herself free. A moment later and MissGvious had relaxed her grip and released Myung.
"Quit messing around!" Myung turned to face the larger girl, completely unintimidated by her.
"Easy girl. I was just playing. I mean, weren't you?" MissGvious responded with a smile someone where between familiarity and sarcasm.
Myung saw that MissGvious had three other friends with her.
"What do you want?" Myung turned back to her locker and continued looking for her math text.
"First of all, I want you to face me when I'm talking to you," MissGvious grabbed Myung's right shoulder again, and spun her around so that they were face to face.
"Secondly, I want you to stay away from the Chinese girl. Helayne. You think you can do that? I mean, you are a part of the team, right?" MissGvious was calm and decisive in her expression, and yet just beneath the surface Myung could feel her real intentions.
"Yeah, you're right. I'm on the volleyball team with you. Beyond that, you have no say or bearing in my life," Myung ignored her earlier insistence and turned her back to MissGvious once again, searching for her math text.
MissGivious, who was also much taller, reached over Myung's head and to the top shelf of the locker, retrieving the girl's math text and handing it to her.
"The team looks out for each other. You stay away from her. That's your last warning," Myung tried to take the math text from MissGvious, but she'd tightened her grip on it.
Myung pulled harder, and MissGvious suddenly released it, causing Myung to fall backwards, bouncing off the locker and to the floor.
MissGvious and her friends departed as Myung got to her feet and brushed herself off. She quickly closed her locker and locked it after which she ran for her math class down the hall, weaving between students as she did.
...
By twenty to four in the afternoon, the gymnasium was packed with students in support of each of the two teams that would be playing, and despite the rivalry, the students remained very civil to one another. Many were carrying the banners of their respective teams, while others simply wore their school jerseys and baseball hats as their show of support.
Both of the teams were already on the court, each on their own side of the net and warming up with a ball.
"Anyone see Helayne yet?" asked the coach of the home team.
"She'll be here," Alicia spoke up for her friend.
"She's probably stretching and warming up herself," Zheng added.
"Fifteen minutes until showtime. Form a circle and work on keeping the ball in play. Don't be afraid to spike it, and give it your best. Alright, Mary, get them started," the coach backed off of the court and watched them warm up.
On the other side of the net, MissGvious and her team were essentially doing the same thing, though their practice seemed more focused on setups for MissGvious. The team was mostly centered around making her look good and as such, most of the setups were pushed in her direction by everyone except Myung, who used her own judgement and tried to steer the ball to the most strategically positioned player for a shot. This fact had gotten her labeled as being a difficult team mate, when in fact she was probably the least difficult of them all.
She understood the idea that there were times when you had to help your captain shine, or help the players who needed a boost to their confidence or performance, but that by all means should have been reciprocal and it wasn't. It was almost always all about MissGvious, which was fine if you were part of her inner circle. If not, then you were sacrificing your own athletic participation for her educational benefit, because she would end up wearing whatever it was that you'd contributed. Her hoods would certainly enforce that, making certain that the fanfare arrived at her doorstep, for what every other player contributed.
Regardless, Myung went along with it as much as she could tolerate it, occasionally straying from the program, At the times that she did, she really shined as a player and a team mate, but was a thorn in the side for MissGvious' future and career.
MissGvious' posse were no slouches. They kept a very close eye on things and could tell when someone wasn't pulling their weight towards the ends of MissGvious. Those who were on the volleyball team, would often test other players, sending the ball in their direction to see if they'd rebound it back to create a setup for MissGvious' glory as they were currently doing with Myung.
Myung too was quite astute and familiar with the politics involved by that point, and when the ball came at her, she deftly deflected it at MissGvious, lining her up for a perfect spike, which she did, sending the ball flying towards the coach, who caught it with ease.
"Excellent play there Missie G!" the coach threw the ball back to MissGvious and once it was in her hands again, she and her hoods on the team turned to Myung.
"Just makin' sure you're with us," MissGvious tossed the ball hard at Myung, who caught it easily, giving MissGvious a smirk in return.
The crowd suddenly started cheering, some of them even getting to their feet. MissGvious raised her hands above her head, and bowed for the crowd, thinking that it was directed at her, but in fact, it wasn't. The fanfare this time was for another person entirely.
Helayne had arrived and was now wearing her school volleyball team outfit, the crowd cheering her on as she made her way across the court to their side of the net. Instead of bowing, she presented the members of her own team, using her hands to gesture to them. The crowd cheered her even harder, as Alicia, Zheng, Mary, Roselli and Sari bowed for them.
"Sorry I'm late. I had something very important to do first," Helayne explained herself to her team mates.
"No harm done. You're here. You're all here. So lets get a quick warmup with Helayne and get this show under way," the coach said to his team as he threw Mary the ball.
Mary tossed the ball in the air, and their warmup continued, this time with Helayne.
"So honestly Helayne, what kept you?" asked Alicia.
"Is he handsome?" added Zheng.
"Did you win the lottery?" asked Roselli.
"No. I just had to do something very important," Helayne responded, popping the ball up into position for Alicia, who instead of taking the spike, relayed the ball to Zheng.
"We thought you had stage fright or something," Zheng suddenly found herself on the spot with Alicia's having passed the ball to her.
She too relayed it, this time to Mary, though by that time the ball had lost some of its arc and was on its way to the floor.
Helayne dove for a dig shot, and revived the ball's arc, pushing it high up into the air where Mary, the tallest of them jumped to take the spike shot. The ball flew at the coach who much like his contemporary on the other side of the net, caught it deftly.
By that time, the whistle had blown and MissGvious and Mary met near the net.
"Call it," the referee looked to MissGvious, who technically was part of the visiting team.
"Heads," MissGvious responded.
The referee caught the coin and slapped it on his forearm.
"Heads it is. Cawthra's serve," the referee replied, tossing the ball to MissGvious.
Their team took their spots on the court and MissGvious served the ball, aiming for an opening between Roselli and Zheng.
Roselli, a rather athletic and health conscious girl managed to get herself into position for the first stage in their setup. She rebounded the ball over to Alicia, who then deflected it, setting it up for Mary (she being the tallest of the women).
Mary leapt up and went for the spike, only to have Laraine (one of MissGvious' hoods) block the shot, keeping it on Mary's side of the net.
Helayne dove for the ball, digging it up before it hit the floor, sending it in Zheng's direction.
Zheng in turn did her best to rebound it towards Mary for another shot, however the ball dipped too low and Mary was forced to duck as Sari hit the ball just barely over the net into the other team's side.
Myung dug the ball up just before it hit the floor, sending it back over the net once again. Alicia hit the ball, the momentum continuing to take the ball towards the back of their side of the net. Roselli ran and jumped while the ball was in the air, and spiked it back across the net from near the back of their side.
MissGvious jumped and hit a perfectly timed spike, sending the ball at high speed into the other team's floor.
"Point. Cawthra," the referee called, tossing the ball back to MissGvious, who got into position and served.
The ball flew fast and hard just over the net, with a spin forcing the ball downward and quickly so. Alicia managed to block it, sending the ball rebounding from her dig shot, into her face from which it flew towards Mary on a high arc.
Mary jumped and drilled the ball back onto the other team's side. Ursula dove for the ball, digging it up but not stopping its sideways momentum. The ball continued high over the heads of the rest of the team and out of bounds, as the referee's whistle sounded.
"Point, North York. North York's serve," the referee tossed the ball to Mary, who threw it to Roselli.
"I'm going to stay near the net. Roselli, after you serve, help Alicia cover the middle," Mary told her team.
"Good idea. Keep the giants close to the net, and the cavalry near the back," Alicia joked, drawing a smile from the rest of her team.
Roselli served the ball, which flew towards one of the other team's least experienced players, Jeanette. Miraculously, she managed to bunt the ball up and over to MissGvious, who then jumped for the spike, feinting at the last moment while Tani bumped the ball just over the net while Mary was still in the air from her attempt to block.
The ball fell to the floor as Zheng dove for the ball, just barely missing it.
"Point. Cawthra. Cawthra serves," the referee tossed the ball to MissGvious, who once again served it directly in their opening between Roselli and Zheng. This time, Zheng managed to bump the ball, injuring her thumb in the process, the ball now flying towards Helayne along a low arc. Helayne fell to her knees and pushed the ball upwards as Mary charged in for the spike. She jumped but at the last minute, did not follow through. Meanwhile, Roselli had taken up the slack and slammed it after the other teams attempt to block was successfully averted. The ball flew on a steep dive into the floor on the other side of the net, landing another point for North York.
"We're doing good so far. We're holding them off. We need a two point lead to take this. We're tied and we've still got a ways until twenty five points. Lets pace ourselves, and go for the pressure when we're at fifteen. Alicia, Zheng, Sari? You're doing great, but when we get to fifteen, that's when I'm going to need you three to bring out that star athlete in each of you, that you've been hiding from us," Mary advised her team with a short pep talk.
"Do your thing Roselli," Mary received the ball from the referee, then sending it to Roselli for the serve.
...
The game had remained close right up until the twentieth point was scored by Cawthra, while North York was still only at eighteen, and it was Cawthra's serve.
MissGvious served the ball, which had lost much of its earlier speed as she approached her limits of exertion. The ball flew across the net, just barely avoiding the top before suddenly dipping towards the floor thanks to the spin MissGvious had put on it.
Helayne dove for the ball and managed to dig it up, sending it high into the air and ready for Mary's deadly spike. She ran at it and jumped, once again feigning the shot as a decoy to take away the other team's chance of a block for when the shot really did come. The shot did finally come, but not from Roselli, who had been on the far side of the court when all of this came down. It was Alicia who ra n and leapt, and for the first time in her life, felt a sense of confidence and timing as she hit the ball firmly, sending it down on the other side of the net and into the floor before the other team could recover it.
The crowd cheered, and Alicia blushed profusely, Zheng and Helayne moving in for a group hug as they jumped up and down excitedly like contestants on a gameshow.
Roselli served shortly thereafter, with Tani this time catching the ball and lifting it with a bunt off of her arm, sending it towards MissGvious, who attempted the spike. Mary tripped on her way over to block the shot, but miraculously, Helayne's momentum allowed her the energy to leap far enough and block MissGvious' shot with one hand, the ball falling onto the Cawthra side of the net for a point.
Now, they were both tied at twenty points apiece and it was North York's serve.
Roselli fired the ball across the net, having put a side spin on it as she served. Ursula tried to deflect the ball, only to have it rebound off of her cupped hands and out of bounds.
"Point. North York. North York serves," the referee called, tossing the ball to Mary, who relayed it once again to Roselli.
Roselli served, but this time on a high arc towards the back of the other team's side of the net. Laraine popped the ball up and forward to Myung, who as she'd been constantly grilled to do, rebounded it to MissGvious so she could make the shot.
MissGvious leapt up for the shot and hit it perfectly, drilling it towards the floor on the other side of the net, however Zheng had been ready this time, though not without a cost.
She dove for the ball, and tried to dig it up. The ball hit her already injured thumb, but miraculously rebounded into perfect position near an unprotected part of the other team's side. Laraine and MissGvious ended up tripping over each other trying to get to the ball before it hit the floor, and bounced innocently to a stop.
The referee's whistle sounded.
"Point. North York. Twenty-two North York. Twenty Cawthra. North York serves," he tossed the ball to Mary, who gave it to Roselli as she went to check up on Zheng, who was laying on the floor in pain.
"I think its broken..." she gasped, her eyes watering slightly with tears.
The referee and the coach by that time had arrived.
"Lets see?" the coach examined her thumb, as she sniffled and stifled her pain.
"It might be a hairline fracture, but more likely a sprain. We're taking you off the court here and to the Nurse's office," the coach had pulled his reading glasses to examine her thumb, examining it carefully before coming to a prognosis.
The coach helped Zheng to her feet as the audience applauded for Zheng, and several volunteers helped her to the Nurse's office down the hall from the gymnasium.
"Cawthra. Pull one of your team. MissGvious, pick one," the referee ordered her.
"Jeanette. You're out of here," MissGvious pointed to Jeanette and then to the sidelines, leaving only five per team.
"North York serves," the referee declared as the gymnasium quieted down.
Roselli by that time was already throwing the ball into the air for her serve. She whacked the ball, sending it hard at the other team's opening
"Out of bounds for sure! Don't touch it!" MissGvious yelled at her team as she watched the arc of the ball.
The ball sped towards the boundary, suddenly dipping at the last moment and hitting the floor within their side of the net. The crowd went wild.
"Point. Twenty-three North York. Twenty Cawthra. North York serves," the referee caught the ball and then tossed it to Mary.
"Remember what I said team. We need the best you have. Roselli, give it to them," Mary encouraged them, tossing Roselli the ball.
Roselli served the ball, this time with a slower, higher arc serve. The ball flew over the net and and Myung sent it back, almost on the mirror image of the original arc. Alicia rebounded the ball, sending it to Mary, who instead of going for the shot, sent it to Sari, who was much shorter than her.
Sari took the opportunity and ran for the shot, leaping into the air and when the other team had tried to cover Mary, they'd left an opening into which Sari shot the ball, landing it on the floor, the crowd now going wild.
"Point. Twenty-four North York. Twenty Cawthra. North York serves," the referee started for the sidelines, throwing the ball to Mary.
Roselli served a moderately fast, and high spin shot. It cleared the net on a low arc, with Tani digging the ball upward before it hit the floor. Ursula then as she'd been told to do and often, hit the ball to MissGvious for her shot. She jumped and tried to spike the ball, only to have Helayne rebound the spike up, into the air, setting it up for Mary.
Mary ran and hit the shot hard, Laraine just barely relaying the ball to Ursula again, who as she'd often been told, sent it to MissGvious, who was growing exhausted as a result of all of the exertion. She leapt again, hitting the ball hard, but clearly lacking the kind of force of which she was capable earlier in the game. The ball fell as Alicia rebounded the shot, sending it to Mary, who lined it up for Roselli this time.
Roselli went for the spike, only to be blocked. Mary thankfully caught it, bunting the ball up into the air from where Sari hit it to the other side of the net.
Laraine rebounded and relayed the shot to Myung, who had a chance to spike it and most certainly would have scored, however, she chose to go with what she and the other players had grilled into their heads about how to play for that team, and that was to make MissGvious look good. If there wasn't a shot, then send it to MissGvious. If there was shot, don't take it. Send it to MissGvious.
And so it was that Myung, happily sent the ball at MissGvious, whom she knew wouldn't be able to make the kind of shot they'd need to score. MissGvious, who was exhausted by this point in the play, leapt once again and hit the ball as hard as she could, sending it rebounding off to the side rather than forward and down. The ball just barely cleared the net as Helayne jumped up and spiked it directly into the floor on the other side of the net, scoring the winning point.
In front of everyone in the gymnasium, when it was imperative for her team to score, to win, MissGvious had missed the shot. Not as a result of her talent or abilities, but as a result of her own inability to yield a successful play to another player on her own team.
As the coach grilled MissGvious for her blunder in performance, she looked to Helayne and smiled, as Helayne's team converged on each other, their faces full of laughter and joy amidst the sound of the cheering audience in the gymnasium.
When Zheng returned to the gym, her thumb was wrapped in a big white bandage, while her face was from ear to ear, one great big smile. Her team welcomed her, and the six of them danced on their side of the net to the victory music selected by the school's audio visual club as Myung watched and applauded them, the audience still cheering them on at that point.
There was no star player amongst them, for they were all star players.
...
A forty minutes later, when the fervor had died down and Helayne and Alicia finally had finished in the change rooms, Helayne had something to say.
"Wanna come to my locker with me? I've just got to get the rest of my homework and then we can go," Helayne asked her friend.
"Sure. We can do that. So, what's it feel like being a high school celebrity?" asked Alicia of Helayne.
"I was just going to ask you the exact same thing," Helayne responded as they made their way down the hall.
...
Helayne opened her locker, and deposited the remainder of school books she no longer needed for homework that night, while withdrawing those for her assignment the following Monday.
"I can't believe how this all turned out. I mean, Zheng or I never would have played any sports if it wasn't for you. You showed us that nerd girls can really do anything they put their hearts and mind to," Alicia confided in her friend.
"We certainly can when we want. I can't believe that I'm going to pass the two most difficult subjects I've ever studied. That's not a small thing. Without that, I'd never have been able to go to fashion design school. I will never forget," Helayne confided in her friend.
"I guess its true what the Beatles once said," Alicia spoke, as Helayne continued digging through her locker.
"What did the Beatles say?" asked Helayne.
"They said: what would you think if I sang out of tune, would you stand up and walk out on me?" Alicia began speak/singing the words to an old yet familiar song.
"No! I wouldn't walk out just because you..." Helayne thought Alicia was asking her literally.
"Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song and I'll try not to sing out of key," Alicia continued, laughing a little as she heard Helayne's confusion.
"Oh! I get it. You're telling me what the Beatles actually said..." Helayne smiled, blushing and very much amused by Alicia's display of gratitude.
"I get by with a little help from my friends. Mm. I get high with a little help from my friends. Mm gonna try with a little help from my friends," Alicia's face lit up as Helayne withdrew the graduation dress from her locker.
"I thought you said it was going to take another week or two?!!!" Alicia held the dress before her, still on the hanger that Helayne had fastened it to after finalizing the sewing during her fashion arts class in the last period.
"I tricked you. I finish today. Try it on tonight, and let me know over the weekend how it fits, and I'll do adjustments on it next week, before exams. That way, we'll both be ready for graduation when we pass," Helayne smiled at Alicia.
"My first dance. Its a pretty big occasion for me, not to mention, this dress was an absolute bargain," Alicia smiled at her friend.
"Passing those classes will be pretty big deal for me. I got the better bargain, I think," Helayne returned a similar smile as she closed and latched the door to her locker.
The two of them proceeded quietly down the hall, Alicia still admiring the dress as they left the school and walked each other part of the way to their respective homes.
...
Slinky proceeded down the hall and into the classroom, finding his way to one of the computer lab workstations where he sat down.
He withdrew a piece of paper from his breast pocket, and checked the name and passwords indicated there upon. After using them to login to the system, he navigated through the instructor's interface until he found the grading system records, from where he searched for the grades of Helayne Ying and Alicia Westin.
"I'm gonna mess them up, and earn me a place amongst my crew," Slinky said as he was about to begin altering their education records.
He suddenly felt a firm grasp on his head and neck, as someone threw their arms around him from behind. A woman's voice then addressed him:
"Don't scream. Don't yell. Don't make any noise," she held firmly to his head and neck, able to snap his spine like a twig if need be.
"I'm not going anywhere with the noise, girl. Whatcha be doin' sneaking up on people like dat?" Slinky asked her.
"Making sure that delinquent students don't change the grade history and records of other students. Especially delinquent students who lost the last of their legs earlier today, if you recall?" she reminded him of who she was.
"Oh... you're the one who left that symbol and writing on the library shelf?" Slinky asked her.
"What symbol? What writing? I believe that you are delusional. Don't not change these records, no matter who told you to do so. When a man who holds nothing to be sacred has run out of their two legs, we remove their third leg if you get my meaning," she said to him, tightening the grip slightly.
"There's no way I'd do anything to lose that!" Slinky responded, but by that time she was already gone.
He turned around, searching for his assailant, finding no evidence of her anywhere.
He then withdrew his phone from his shirt and called MissGvious.
"Whats going down Slinky?" MissGvious answered her phone.
"Yo, we got problems. Big problems," Slinky informed MissGvious.
In the hall, around the corner from the door to the class where Slinky was speaking with MissGvious, the same woman who'd a moment earlier held Slinky's life in her hands, stood listening.
She stripped the outer layer of her black clothing, revealing a pair of legs and arms covered in ancient talismans and sigils, depicting dragons, dragon scales, cherry blossoms and butterflies. As she stood in the hall in nothing but her tube top and shorts, she threw her clothing into a backpack, and donned a pair of white track pants and a stylish toque. She undid the bun within which her reddish auburn hair was contained, and let her hair down, donning the toque over top of it. She clipped a fake nose ring to her left nostril and then put on a pair of white sneakers and pulled an iPod from within, strapping it to her belt pouch, all the while, listening to Slinky as he squealed on her to MissGvious.
She pulled a makeup mirror from her bag, and began adjusting the makeup on her shapely Japanese face, making sure that her image was in line with her alias.
When she'd finished preparing herself, Slinky had by most of that time revealed everything he'd known both to MissGvious and to her. Not only that, but he'd revealed much about MissGvious as well without even realizing it.
She then made her way down the hall to a specific locker, where she with the steel grafted tips of her nails, carved a symbol and a message into the locker just above the lock:
"One who administers the malice of others for personal gain will find themselves absent of the arms to do so,"
Initiated Graduation
Sixteen Years Ago
North York High School
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
The once bustling halls of the high school were now mostly silent and perhaps pacified, only a former portion of their population wandered the halls in specific areas within the school for it was the time of student examinations.
It was still the beginning of the day for most, with the sun having crested the horizon only two hours earlier, but for some it signaled the end of their school year despite it only being the beginning of winter. Many students were off for the winter holidays, while those on their last year were busy with study and examinations. For the school seniors however, this was the end of their long and arduous journey.
Alicia and Zheng walked together, their faces already glowing with optimism, their examination results in hand and their future beckoning them from the distance with the lure of not probability, but in fact the vastness of possibility.
"So... what are you doing until Friday?" asked Zheng of Alicia, their biggest concern already out of the way.
"First, I'm going to visit Leland's grave and have a talk with him. Let him know that the angel he sent me helped me not to give up and to believe in myself. Then, I'm going to turn my lifestyle around. I think my future deserves a more focused me, so I'm going to start taking care of my body as much as I do so my mind," Alicia revealed to Zheng, whose eyes momentarily teared up upon hearing Leland's name and the thought that Helayne might be an angel he sent to take care of her.
"...I'll join you if you don't mind," Zheng wiped her eyes, careful not to get any tears on her examination results. At least before her parents got a chance to see them.
"I wouldn't have it any other way," Alicia replied as they rounded the corner past the courtyard and into the hall where their lockers resided.
"Oh! Here!" Zheng pulled an envelope from her pocket from amidst a stack of them.
"What's this? I didn't get anything for you... yet," Alicia responded both excitedly and regretfully.
"Its not what you think. My parents invited you all to get ready for the graduation at our place. Your parents are invited too. We're all taking the same limousine, so my parents thought it might be the interest of friendship and diplomacy to let everyone get ready at their place. There will definitely be food and a lot of space for everyone to get ready, not to mention a great spot for photos before we leave," Zheng explained to Alicia.
"You just took a load off of my parents' back. I'm sure they'd love this opportunity. I'm definitely for it all the way. Thank you Zheng, and be sure to thank your parents too," Alicia requested of her friend.
"It only makes sense you know. Who knows? Maybe with you working in the sciences and biology, and me working in mathematics and biological simulation, if it turns out that way, we might actually work together some time?" Zheng fantasized about how their futures might be interconnected.
"Have room in your group for a fashion nerd?" asked a familiar voice from behind them.
"Helayne!" Alicia and Zheng turned to greet their friend.
"Sooo...?" Zheng's face lit up with curiosity.
"So what?" Helayne responded, joining them on their way to their lockers.
"How'd you do?" Alicia asked, though both of them already knew the answer to that question.
"You're speaking to a future fashion designer. You might want to get in line early for autographs," Helayne laughed at her own levity.
"You passed!" Alicia and Zheng jumped up and down, both of them wrapping their arms around Helayne and the three of them jumped together in their own little victory dance.
"I couldn't have done it without you two," Helayne smiled at her friends and the three of them continued on to their lockers, cleaning them out for the last time.
"Do you mind if I join the winner's circle?" Myung interjected as she arrived from the opposite end of the hall.
"You've got to pay the entry fee first with some good news, even if it has nothing to do with school," Helayne offered her friend a way in.
"Very well. I'll be going to law school thankfully and with any luck, I'll be a stenographer in about three years," Myung stated to her new friends.
"Good. I was worried that you might actually try for a career in volleyball, and seeing as you're just such a horrible player, its good that you had a parachute career as a stenographer in mind," Helayne responded sarcastically, drawing laughter from Myung, Alicia and Zheng.
Zheng handed out the remainder of her parents' invitations, one each for Helayne and Myung, whose faces lit upon receiving them.
As the four women spoke, they were unaware that a Japanese woman whose pink track suit covered her full body tattoos sat nearby, keeping close eyes and ears upon them. Her reddish auburn hair poked out from beneath a stylish toque, while a fake nostril piercing adorned her nose. She watched them from a nearby bench as she blended in with her surroundings, listening to her music on her iPod.
...
Gus Glennard pulled up in front of the manor after having driven the length of the seven kilometer driveway to arrive there, and that was after his having driven from suburban North York all the way up north to the Lordman municipality of the Jefferson district in Richmond Hill.
One of the personal security staff stepped out of the front door of the manor, a vest and his issue firearm hidden beneath his stylish blazer. He walked around to the driver's side of Gus' car, and tapped on the driver's side window.
"Heeeyyy, Gus. How you been keepin' tough guy?" Tomner addressed his peer, thowing him an air football.
"Same old, same old. Say, the boss wouldn't happen to be around tonight, would he?" asked Gus.
"I'm not sure. Its not like I keep track of the guy or anything. A man wants his privacy you know. I just make sure he's safe. Why? What's up?" Tomner lied about not knowing where his employer was.
He knew exactly where his employer was at every moment of the day and what his health condition was at that very moment. That was his job and he did it exceedingly well.
"Well, some stuff came up of a personal nature, and it be requirin' me to speak directly with the man, if you know what I'm saying," Gus explained to Tomner, who listened for any tell tale signs of foul play that might be afoot in the man's motives for coming in person.
"You know, if he's here, and I'm not sayin' that he is, he might be too busy to speak. You know how it is?" Tomner made barely any effort to check on Gus' behalf for their employer.
"Look Tomner. Quit f#ckin' around. Earn your f#ckin' pay and go see if you can find him, like a good pooch," Gus clearly was not in the mood for Tomner's maneuvering.
"Whoa! Easy there big fella. You might find yourself in a lot deeper trash with that attitude you know? I'll go see if I can find him, if its that important," Tomner turned and ran up the steps to the double doors of the manor, as one of them opened and another security specialist stepped out onto the front entry way platform.
"You rang boss?" the security specialist addressed Tomner as he arrived at the top of the stairs.
"Do me a favour. Keep an eye on the washed up football player for me. If I send you a green light on your personal radio, let him in and send him up to the big man," Tomner slapped hands with him before stepping back into the manor.
A few minutes passed, with the security specialist and Gus exchanging intimidating glances before the security specialist's personal radio beeped once. He pulled the device from his vest and checked it. Sure enough, of the red, yellow and green three way quick comms LEDs on the handset, the green one was illuminated.
The security specialist walked down to Gus' car and the driver side, as Gus stepped out.
"The boss says he wants to speak to you," the security specialist informed him.
"Well imagine that? And it just so happens that I drove up here all this way just to sit on his doorstep, and at that very moment, he decides that he wants to see me. What a f#ckin' coincidence. Matthews right? I'm a veteran at what you do for the man. Don't push your luck with me, got it?" Gus stood to his full height of six foot three inches, at nearly two hundred and ninety pounds.
Matthews stepped aside, and let Gus through. He quickly climbed the stairs, taking them two at a time until he arrived at the door. As soon as he did, the magnetic locked buzzed and the manor door opened, revealing a few more security specialists in the front foyer, who searched him from the top of his head to the bottom of his feet, taking the concealed stamped metal Glock from his rear holster before allowing him to proceed.
...
As an imposing man in a shirt and tie sat at his desk, legs up on the desk as he watched the Sopranos on his eighty-five inch LCD television on the far wall, there came a tapping at the front door of his office.
"Let him in!" the big man yelled, leaning forward as he took his feet from the desktop and rolled into position in front of the desk.
The door to his office opened, and an even more imposing man in the form of Gus, stepped into the room, checking for anything about which he should be concerned.
"Gus my man! How ya been?" The big man stood and held out his hand to Gus, who cautiously stepped forward and shook it firmly.
"Mister Torman. Its always a pleasure," Gus spoke professionally cautiously in the presence of a man who could make him disappear on a moment's notice.
"Curtis! Call me Curtis old timer. You and I have been doing this since the early days. Back when we really had control of things. I'm telling ya, times are a changing and gone are the days of this thing of ours. You know what I'm saying? Now, I'm just a struggling businessman, trying to make ends meet. Have a seat," Curtis Torman greeted Gus with an uncomfortable familiarity, playing down his own power and reach, which Gus knew meant trouble.
"Thank you Mister Torman," Gus opted for maintaining his guard as they both sat down across from each other.
"So, what brings you to this neck of the woods, Gus?" asked Curtis, a piercing gaze having crossed the man's face before the last words of his question were out.
"Just a visit..." Gus staggered slightly, indicating to Curtis that something more was definitely wrong, though he already knew exactly what that was.
"Ohhh, come on there Gus. And I thought there was something serious afoot. What a relief. Tell me, how's the family? How about that daughter of yours? Is she still in the big game? You know, to be a big athlete or music star or something like that?" Curtis asked him, knowing everything about her even before Gus had said a thing.
"Funny you should mention that, because there's recently been a problem with my little girl," Gus explained to Curtis, who nodded on cue as if seeming concerned in much the same way that a snake's tongue might occasionally flick out of its mouth to taste the air around it for any signs of prey.
"A problem? No. With her? She's a perfect angel, Gus. Who would do anything to hurt your little girl?" Curtis asked him with the edge of sarcasm very much present in his words.
"I don't know, but one of her friends told her that someone, a woman who snuck into the school, she threatened him, when he was going about makin' sure that my little girl was the only shining star in that school," Gus explained to Curtis, who again nodded, the tips of the fingers on Curtis' left and right hands meeting three times in sync with each nod, which Gus found to be very intimidating.
"So let me get this straight? Your little girl's friend, being the friend that he is, goes about trying to ensure that she's on top. Athletically and academically I'm assuming?" Curtis confirmed with Gus.
"Correct," Gus nodded in agreement.
"And he suddenly finds himself under threat of a woman who snuck into school?" asked Curtis.
"Correct," Gus looked down, not able to face Curtis at that point, even less so as Curtis' laughter rose in volume.
"Did he cry? Did he wet his pants? I mean, who is this guy? Does he have any, if you know what I'm saying? And this guy's protecting your little girl? Sounds to me like you have to do a circle check of her surroundings. Maybe, just maybe, the graduation might be the place to do this and if it was, you might be able to get some help from your good old friend here. You know what I'm saying?" Curtis suggested, immediately seeing an opportunity born of family need and desperation.
"I'd appreciate it Mister Torman," Gus kept his gaze down, now unable to look the man in the eye out of fear.
"Well that's the thing. This world, though appreciation can be quite moving, it doesn't really go that far. You see, the world doesn't turn on the wings of gratitude. It turns of the wings of money and power. The thing is, that neither money nor power is loyal. So it all comes down to the guy with the balls to grab hold of them, and hang onto them, and to use both to ensure that they stay right where the f#ck they are. To do that, you need to make sure you have people around you who are loyal, in place of money and power. Now I've got the balls to hang onto both, but I need reliable men who know the true meaning of loyalty. I'm going to do you a favour, and deal with this problem of your daughter's, but in return, you've got to do me a favour, because that's the cement that goes between the bricks. If you don't have cement, anyone can knock your f#ckin' brick walls down, and let me tell you, I have a knack for knowing when cement is useless and decrepit. When it ain't keepin' the bricks together properly. When I find it like that, you know what I do?" Curtis was now approaching a level of intensity that terrified Gus.
"...no..." Gus' voice sounded more like that of a little boy than a full grown veteran football player and personal security specialist.
"I get rid of it. Gone. No warning. No questions. It just disappears and is replaced the very same day. That way, if there's a strong wind, I don't have to worry about my f#ckin' walls coming down!" Curtis paused, slowly leaning back in his chair and lighting the cigar he'd pulled from the top drawer of his desk.
Gus remained silent, keeping his gaze from Curtis' direction.
"So. I need you to do something for me. I've got family too, you know. My own little boy. Grier. He's off at school, majoring in business management. Go figure. He thinks he's going to show his old man up someday," Curtis began laughing, deep and gutturally, pausing only to take another taste of his cigar.
"There's a private investigator that's been poking around a little too close to my son's life. He was hired by one of my competitors, who is probably looking to accrue something he can use to divide us. Maybe family secrets. Maybe something my son resents about being part of this thing of ours. Regardless, I want you to have a loud talk with this private eye," Curtis explained to Gus.
"How loud?" asked Gus, still maintaining his gaze in another direction.
"Look at me. Loud! I said very f#ckin' loud. Loud enough, that anyone who finds out will know to stay away. Do you think that you can do that for me? I mean, I can make your daughter's problems go away just like that," Curtis snapped his finger.
"If you can do that for my daughter, I can have a very loud talk with this private eye. Where is he?" asked Gus, who chanced a quick glance at Curtis' cigar.
Curtis reached into the same drawer from which he'd procured the cigar, and took a manila envelope from it, tossing it to Gus' side of the desk.
"There's airline tickets in there. A passport, though you'll need to shave completely to look like the guy in the photo," Curtis told him.
"What happened to him?" asked Gus.
"Bad cement," Curtis took another puff of his cigar.
"All this is going down when?" asked Gus.
"On the same night as your daughter's graduation party. I suppose that you could regard her safety as being directly proportional to your success in taking care of my son's little problem," Curtis took another puff of his cigar.
"Then consider it done," Gus took the manila envelope and tucked it into his jacket.
"It was a pleasure seeing you Gus. Say hi to your family for me," Curtis said to Gus, though it was clear that he didn't mean it at all.
"Well?" asked Curtis, the smoke of the cigar obscuring his gaze ever so slightly.
Gus got up from his chair and offered his hand to Curtis for a shake.
"When you get back," Curtis gestured towards the door, Gus feeling the man's eyes burning a hole in his back as he left.
...
Alicia stood in front of the tall mirror that leaned against the wall in Zheng's bedroom, staring at herself as she wore Helayne's custom designer dress. Sagong, who was Myung's mother, was a professional makeup artist, and as an added bonus of their having the pre-graduation party at Zheng's home, Sagong had spent the time doing each girl's makeup professionally.
Alicia looked at herself in the mirror, unable to believe that it was her she was looking at. There were a few moments where she'd convinced herself that the makeup and the dress were nothing but a mask, both designed to obscure the real Alicia from the rest of the world, perhaps to protect them from her.
As she stared in the mirror, a thousand reasons as to why she didn't deserve to feel this good about herself went through her head, and she struggled with each and every one of them, as if it were simply not right for her to grab hold of her own sense of self esteem and to hang on for dear life.
She shook her head negatively, thinking that it somehow wasn't right. That it was wrong to feel this good about how she appeared in the mirror. Like her reflection was an impostor and that the image she was presenting was somehow a lie. As she struggled with these thoughts, there came a knock at the door.
Alicia ignored it for a moment, and then a voice emerged from the other side of the door.
"Alicia? Its your mother. I everything alright?" Theresa asked her daughter.
Alicia sighed, knowing that her mother would never understand.
"Alright. Fine. Alicia's reflection? Is it alright if I come in and talk with my daughter?" Theresa somehow knew what her daughter was going through, and her words once again inspired a smile and short bout of laughter from her.
"Come in, mom," Alicia kept her face on the mirror as the door opened.
"And here I thought you'd fallen in love with your own reflection, but apparently that isn't the case," Theresa said to her daughter softly.
"Isn't this just fake? I mean, its like I'm wearing a mask. Am I really that ugly that I have to fool everyone?" Alicia somehow wasn't seeing it.
"Well. Maybe you could start by asking yourself this question: what is it about paintings that you like so much?" asked her mother.
"You mean art?" confirmed Alicia.
"Yes. I mean like painted art, or even a photographic print. What is it that you like about those things?" asked Theresa.
"Well. If they're well done, they're quite imaginative or expressive. Like poetry with colour," Alicia thought about the question and came up with what seemed to her a reasonable description of her admiration of art.
"But paintings and photographic prints, they're all just white paper, with a bunch of splotches of colour put here and there, aren't they?" Theresa asked her daughter.
"But its not the paper that's imaginative or alluring. Its the colours the artist puts onto them," Alicia reasoned with her mother.
"But you're saying that the paper... the canvas has nothing to do with art?" asked her mother of her.
Alicia thought about what her mother said and then answered:
"No... The canvas is probably a very big part of the painting... I mean without the..." Alicia paused mid-sentence.
"Without the canvas, there isn't a painting, right?" Theresa said to her daughter.
"But its the paint that makes the painting," Alicia defied her mother's explanation.
"Is it really? I'd say that its about half and half, but without the canvas, you can't have a painting, and no two canvases are exactly alike. I bet you any artist who paints regularly would agree. That the canvas has an effect upon the final painting, despite the fact that with one canvas, there is a multitude of possibility. Isn't there?" Theresa asked her daughter.
"I suppose there is. But you just said that every canvas is different," Alicia asked her mother.
"Do you think that the Mona Lisa, if it were painted on a different canvas, that it would have turned out exactly the same?" asked Theresa of Alicia.
"Well... no?" Alicia started to grasp what her mother explained to her.
"So part of the reason for the success of the Mona Lisa, has to do with the canvas then, right?" Theresa smiled at her daughter.
Alicia felt tears welling up in her eyes.
"So why is it that my daughter can look in the mirror, and not see that her reflection, even when made up professionally, that artistic allure that you see, is coming from you, with a little expression from the makeup. Think of all the different ways that your makeup might have turned out, and I'd bet that you'd have as many paintings possible for a canvas. At the root of it all, is the canvas, and no two are exactly alike. So what you're seeing, and fooling yourself into believing that it isn't the real you, is actually the real you, with or without the makeup. I like to think that the canvas makes the paint look good, as much as I'm sure that Sagong would agree that its the face that makes the makeup look good. Now, I suppose we could apply the same idea to your dress, but the person that has to appreciate the canvas upon which it was crafted, is you. I think that's what Helayne meant by making it for you. If you can't see yourself the same way that the people who love you do, then you're not seeing you," Theresa explained to Alicia as she fought her tears.
"Now come on. You're keeping the old people from the joy of their taking photos of you in your graduation dress. Don't forget, we're reliving those moments of our lives through you, do don't let us down," Theresa wrapped her arms around her daughter and they embraced for a moment, before the two of them left Zheng's room and headed down the stairs.
"The Cinderellas have entered the building everyone," Theresa announced as she led the way for her daughter and the other girls, preceding them as she stepped down the spiral staircase.
Jack stood there waiting for his wife at the bottom of the stairs, as Alicia made her entrance in Helayne's designer dress.
Zheng, whose parents' home they were situated within, stepped gently down the spiral staircase first, Xinyi, her mother, frantically snapped photo after photo of her daughter with her phone.
"Smile Zheng. You need to smile more," her mother mildly scolded her.
"My daughter. She very good with math," Xiao, her father exclaimed as the other parents politely applauded for Zheng as she carefully stepped down the stairs in her pink graduation dress.
Myung was next, wearing a white shoulder-less dress that clung tightly to her upper body and waist, and flowed freely as silk along her legs. Her parents, Sagong and Geun both had their cameras out and were taking photos of her as the applause continued.
"That was like totally embarrassing mom," Myung remarked as she arrived at the bottom of the stairs, drawing laughter from her father.
"Just like you Sagong, when I first met you," Geun leaned in a gave his wife a kiss on the forehead.
"Easy there. There's still kids in the house," Jack joked with Sagong and Geun.
"Yoohoo! Where's the other two? You have some parents down here who are getting older!" Theresa said humourously impatiently.
"I go!" Helayne said excitedly to Alicia as they waited at the top of the stairs together.
"Go get 'em Helayne," Alicia said with a heart warming smile.
Helayne stepped quietly down the stairs in her pink and red dress, and of course, one that she'd designed herself, the boundaries between the red and pink graduated over several tiles of material, almost as if she was using the red for the purposes of shading, which accented her body shape in a modest means, both drawing attention and receding into the backdrop of her surroundings.
Both Meilin (her mother) and Gao (her father) took several photos of her as she gracefully stepped down the stairs, pausing momentarily to model her dress for them.
"Its good, but I don't give enough room to move legs on stairs. Next time I make dress, I fix. Wait, I have idea..." Helayne remarked, already using every opportunity afforded her to improve her own designs.
"Where you're going tonight, there are more elevators than stairs. You should be fine," her father said to her, he already being very familiar with the hotel and banquet hall where they'd be hosting the graduation party, given the fact that he was himself an architect and was good friends with the man who'd designed the building.
Helayne turned around when she was almost at the bottom of the stairs, and ran back up the stairs, passing Alicia on the way.
"You'd better be good. They're a difficult crowd too much down there," Helayne joked with Alicia as she passed.
"Don't worry. I'll warm them up for you," Alicia said as Helayne disappeared into Zheng's room.
"Alright Alicia. Enough of the stage fright. Your parents aren't getting any younger, and I want to see my daughters' dress on you," Meilin yelled up the stairs to Alicia, who then began down the stairs.
"My dress is perfect for movement by the way. She really did an incredible job," Alicia remarked as she stepped into view of the parents.
Her dress was shouldered, and a deep reddish magenta, favouring red for more than not. Her dress clung to her body tightly where it needed to, and was a relaxed fit where it was it was comfortable. The dress' appearance and colour never overpowered Alicia's face or her own body shape, but rather complimented it perfectly.
Theresa's eyes began to tear up as she saw her daughter, a proud as a mother could be at that moment. Jack grabbed the camera from her, and began taking the pictures.
"You lily livered lush," Jack joked with Theresa, who slapped his shoulder as she wiped her eyes with a bit of tissue she'd stowed in her pocket for this occasion.
"I'm so proud of you honey," Theresa said to Alicia as she arrived at the bottom of the stairs and threw her arms around her mother.
...
Up in Zheng's room, Helayne had withdrawn her sewing kit from her overnight bag. She then pulled a few velcro patches and some scissors, cutting the dress as she wore it to increase the size of the slit for her legs. After she'd made her cut, she began sewing the velcro onto the newly lengthened slit, folding a hem into it so she could open and close it when she needed to for movement's sake.
When she was finished, she returned everything to its place and then ran down the stairs thanks to her impromptu alteration, and joined them in the foyer where the photo session continued.
They spent about twenty minutes, getting every variation of photo they could as a group, and with and without the parents, until finally they had several albums worth of photos from which the parents would undoubtedly get prints made up for their family walls.
Before they were done, the doorbell rang.
"That must be the limousine!" Theresa said as Meilin finished up the last set of photos of Helayne with her father, Gao.
"I'll get that. The rest of you round up the children so we can get them out of here and get the real party started!" Xiao, Zheng's father joked as he went to attend to the front door.
"Dad! You promised you'd be good today!" Zheng responded to her father, drawing a bit of laughter from the other parents.
"As parents, its our job to embarrass you all," Jack smiled as he responded.
"There's still food at the buffet you know. You're going to stay for a bit?" asked Xinyi invitingly.
"Absolutely. Xiao, Gao, Geun and I have to talk shop for bit over a few cold ones," Jack reminded the men.
"I wouldn't miss that invite for the world, but I'm more of a whiskey man myself. For sipping and good conversation," Gao responded.
"I can do that too," Jack agreed.
"Lets get the kids out of here before we go making too many plans..." Sagong reminded them.
The limousine driver had returned to the limo, where he stood outside of the cabin door awaiting his guests.
Zheng, Myung, Helayne and Alicia grabbed their jackets and their purses and headed out to the front where they posed for a few more photos at their parents' request, and then after the limousine driver had opened the door for them, they poured into the back where another girl was already seated.
"I didn't know there was going to be others with us?" Zheng said to the limousine driver.
"I'm sure that she didn't know either. Why not break the ice?" suggested the limousine driver.
Zheng, Myung, Helayne and Alicia waved to their parents as the limousine pulled away from the house and began the drive downtown to the hotel.
Zheng looked to the unfamiliar girl who sat across from her, bewildered by her startling appearance. She wore a tight fitting graduation dress herself, composed of a black skirt and a white top. The slit up the dress revealed her legs, which were entirely covered in elaborate and ornate tattoos. Dragon's scales for the background, the blossoms of cherry trees and dragons intertwined around them. This same motif of design covered both of her arms right up to her shoulders and neck, where they suddenly stopped, leaving her pristine face untouched.
"I'm Zheng," Zheng said nervously to the girl.
"You look like a Zheng," the girl responded.
"I've never seen you at school before. Do you have a graduation date, or are you like the rest of us and just going as liberated and independent women?" Zheng seemed unfazed by the girl's sarcasm.
"Whether I had a date or not, would hardly qualify the state of my liberation or independence now, would it?" she challenged Zheng.
"She's just trying to be friendly. You could ease up a bit, you know," Myung stepped in to defend Zheng's soft approach.
"Yeah. This is the night we take the step from being students, to the long road where we'll eventually become the teachers of the next generation. This is a big night for some of us you know?" Alicia offered her insight to back Myung.
"You think that respect is something just given, when it is something earned," she responded to Alicia.
"Don't forget that its mutual," Helayne added, suddenly realizing that she'd heard that exact statement that the girl had offered them before.
From someone else, two years earlier. Another girl who had studied with her and Myung under the tutelage of the Sifu and the Sebomnim.
"Aikiko?" Helayne addressed the girl, immediately drawing Myung's attention.
"What happened to you?" Myung examined the girl, who appeared much changed given the decorative artwork that covered most of her body.
"Myung. Helayne. It has been a while," Aikiko turned to face them both, the curves of her face accented as the street lights flowed by.
"Alright. I take it you three know each other? Care to let us in on this?" Alicia once again decided to prevent Zheng and herself from being ignored.
Aikiko ignored Alicia's request, instead focusing on Myung and Helayne.
"There is a danger on the horizon. As you already know, neither Sifu nor Sebomnin can be found. You've lost your teachers, but they've not lost you. There is but one more teacher. Someone under whom I've been studying since we last see each other, two years ago. I'm here to make sure that you make it to that teacher, and to defend you against that which hunts you," Aikiko indicated to Helayne and Myung.
"Alright. So, you're saying that we have people hunting us now? I think that we have a right to know something about this?" Alicia once again interjected.
"Which one of you is friends with the smart ass here?" Aikiko looked to Helayne and Myung, almost unwilling to acknowledge Alicia's presence.
"Both of us, and you're right. Her ass is much smarter than you," Helayne stepped up to defend her best friend.
"Thanks Helayne. I think," Alicia replied.
"Is it me, or did the intensity just rise a tad bit too much?" Zheng asked those in the passenger cabin with her.
"This is a serious matter, and will take much more than sarcasm, levity or even genius to even begin to approach it," Aikiko for the first time, looked to Alicia and then to Zheng.
"While you two were coddled like little babies growing up, life was busy hardening some of us to be ready for this," Aikiko's voice remained focused and firm as she gave Alicia and Zheng equal time.
"But clearly it only made too hard one of us," Helayne replied to Aikiko's assertive nature.
"Aikiko. We were good friends back then. Don't you trust that the people that we bring into our lives aren't worthy of your trust?" Myung asked Aikiko, appealing to their past together as a route towards assurance.
Aikiko suddenly recalled their friendship together during the hardship of training, and the enjoyment of their laughter as young women. Emotions that were as distant to her now, as her skin absent of the maze of tattoos that adorned nearly her entire body.
"Tonight, there are matters at hand in the realm of people, that have become an obstacle to your future. You are going to have to face some very difficult challenges that I feel none of you are ready for. That is exactly why I am here," Aikiko explained to them.
"So you are going to protect us then?" asked Helayne, her face and eyes as piercing of the contrast between light and shadow as Aikiko's.
"No. You're going to protect yourselves and each other. I'm going to make sure that you don't fail in doing so," Aikiko assured them.
"She's only been back in our life for ten minutes and she's already a drama queen," Myung responded.
"Too true. What happened to the laughing and smiling Aikiko?" asked Helayne of her friend of years earlier.
"Like the sword crafted by the artisan, she was hammered away until there only remained a sharpened edge," Aikiko replied, paving the way for a silent trip for the remainder of their route to the hotel.
"Uhhhh. So...? Apparently we're not the only ones without a date?" Alicia smiled as she tried to lighten the mood.
"Hello? This is like the modern world, isn't it? Its alright for a young woman to attend a graduation without a date," Zheng spoke up, only to find herself met with a grim silence.
Her expression went quickly from one of self assuredness, to one of self doubt.
"Isn't it?" Zheng suddenly felt herself singled out for having stirred up the status quot, though in all truth, in the presence of a stranger, she'd merely sacrificed her own humility, perhaps for what she thought to be the benefit of the group.
"You were right the first time, Zheng. She's right, you know. This is supposed to be a time for celebration, not long faces and awkward silences," Alicia began, leaning forward confidently in her seat, her legs crossed as she spoke.
"...or defining our self worth according to whether we have dates for our graduation or not," Zheng smiled as she spoke, knowing that Alicia was in her corner.
"You're my friends, and without you, I wouldn't have taken part in school with even half the enthusiasm I had, let alone have found myself in the back of a limousine with you on our way to attending a graduation dance party," Alicia encouraged her friends.
"Whatever we face there, we'll face as friends. Together," Helayne added to Alicia's and Zheng's enthusiasm.
"Together," the all echoed once again to each other.
Ten minutes further into their drive and their spirits were once again elevated, while humour and laughter pervaded the interior of the limousine as they pulled up in front of the hotel.
To be continued in... The Butterfly Dragon: Heroes of our Own Reimagined: Episode 4 - Rising Eclipse
Brian Joseph Johns
Credits and attribution:
Reedsy.com for their many helpful resources and tools especially geared towards assisting independent and published writers craft their prose to perfection.
DeepSeek AI for a remarkable conversation about genetics and information theory, from which I derived the computer program analogy of genetic biology.
Thanks to
this Reddit thread for some of the reference material I needed to write the cross breeding of plants in Alicia's and Zheng's biology class.
This content is entirely produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, with contributions from others around the world listed here in the credits.
Special Thanks To Rocket Fuel Lakeshore Blvd West, perhaps the best place in history to get a coffee, circa 2001-2004. Miss you all very much.
Tools: Daz3D, Corel Painter, Adobe Photoshop, Lightwave 3D, Blender, Stable Diffusion (Easy Diffusion distribution), InstantID, Sadtalker, Google Colaboratory, Microsoft Copilot (Windows 11), Hitfilm, PhotoPea (a great web based Photoshop stand-in if you're on a low budget or in a pinch), Borderline Obsession...
DeepSeek AI for suggestions on exercises to improve aspects of describing scene and settings with a more sensory focused grammar.
InstantID by: Wang, Qixun and Bai, Xu and Wang, Haofan and Qin, Zekui and Chen, Anthony. Research Paper Title: InstantID - Zero-shot Identity-Preserving Generation in Seconds.
Sadtalker by: Zhang, Wenxuan and Cun, Xiaodong and Wang, Xuan and Zhang, Yong and Shen, Xi and Guo, Yu and Shan, Ying and Wang, Fei.
Research Paper Title: SadTalker: Learning Realistic 3D Motion Coefficients for Stylized Audio-Driven Single Image Talking Face Animation.
Gratitude: Our Mentors, Senseis, Sifus, Sebomnims, lifetime inspirations, family, friends, the Nomads (ask Stanton about that one), the Music, the Movies, the Theatre, the Arts, ASMR, (both YouTube and Bilibili and the many other creators on those platforms), the Gaming and Developer communities and of course, the audience.
Martial Arts (in the words of real experts and at least one comedian): https://brucelee.com (home of the real Dragon and an entire family of inspirations), http://iwco.online International Wing Chun Organization (International presence of a very scalable intensity martial art, protected and developed by Shaolin Nun Ng Mui) and the alma mater of Jinn Hua's own specialized variation thereof, https://iogkf.com International Okinawan Goju-Ryu Karatedo Federation (even Hanshi had his teachers), https://itftkd.sport International Taekwondo Federation (Here there be Taegers), https://tangsoodoworld.com Tang Soo Do World (the path of Grandmaster Chuck Norris), https://www.aikido-international.org International Aikido Federation (how else would Navy Chef Steven Seagal liberate a Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier from a team of hijackers?), https://www.stqitoronto.com Shaolin Temple Quanfa Institute (The City Of Toronto's own Shaolin Temple), https://www.enterthedojoshow.com Master Ken's Ameri-Te-Do presence (If we can't laugh at ourselves, then we can at least laugh the loudest at others, and other Zen)
Magic (performance, illusion and perhaps the real thing): Magic Week Archive (I'm currently growing this section so stay tuned)
Jesse Enkamp: Karate Nerd
Jesse, a reknowned Sensei who runs his own dojo, explores the world of Martial Arts, traveling to many exotic locations to meet practitioners of a variety of different arts
Sensei Rokas: Martial Arts Journey
A reknowned Sensei of Aikido who in seeking to understand the roots of Aikido and its applications, seeks to stress test its effectiveness in a number of real world situations while studying its history
Seamus O'Dowd
An extensive growing archive Katas, Techniques and Waza (mostly Shotokan)
Extensive courses for calisthenics and body strength, stamina and flexibility
Special thanks to
Canva for inspiring other creators and giving them the tools
Special thanks to Captain Crunch and his wonderful sister!
Special thanks to Bandcamp for giving indie music artists a home under one roof
Something to give you perspective: The very first teacher had no formal education, didn't graduate and was self taught, but only because they had no other choice. We do.
This content is entirely produced in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at 200 Sherbourne Street Suite 701 under the Shhhh! Digital Media banner.
Brian Joseph Johns
