December 31, 2013 8:00 AM EST – The Compound – Old Saybrook, Connecticut



It has been one month and one day since I killed Thomas Martin, the man I was raised to believe was my father. It was also on that day that I met Sebastian Duke and he brought me here to The Compound, my new home. It was here, in this place that the walls surrounding my old life came crumbling down, erected in their place were new walls, inside those walls is my new family. Sebastian Duke, my half brother. Jacob, The Messanger, Matthew the tech wizard and even Asmodeus, my father, whom I still have not met face to face but Sebastian assures me almost daily that the time for such a meeting is approaching.

During my time here I have learned a great deal about Sebastian and the various operations he undertakes. I have even been fortunate enough to aid him in the completing of some of those operations. And on such operations where I am assigned to remain at the Compound I am able to help Matthew as he has been training me in the art of digital hackery.

Sebastian talked to me about his war with the Catholic Church and the various casualties of said war, including the mother of his son, my nephew, Thaddeus. Thaddeus and I have had very few interactions but he’s a nice kid. He is unaware of exactly who I am, just that I am a friend of his father’s.

During the course of the last month Sebastian has been training me on the ways of the Illuminati. What they are, what it means to be one of them as well as the role he and our father plays within the organization.

As Phase One of my training is finally wrapping up Sebastian asked to meet me in his private study to discuss Phase Two.

Before making it to Sebastian’s study Matthew stops me in the halls to set up a time to go over the results of last night’s efforts. For the moment my schedule is pretty open so I assure Matthew that I will be by after my meeting with Sebastian concludes. Matthew of course agrees and goes back to his sanctuary to do what he does best. Infiltrate areas he shouldn’t using a keyboard and a computer screen.


Knock!!


Knock!!


Knock!!


From the other side of the door I can hear Sebastian yell “Enter”.

As I push the large, solid wooden door open to Sebastian’s study I see my brother at his desk pouring over a book as is so often the case.



SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Good Morning Eric.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “Good morning.”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “I trust that you slept well?”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “Yes I did.”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Good.”

“I hope now is an ok time to meet. I understand from Matthew’s report that the two of you were up until early this morning doing digital recon on our next target.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “That is correct but now is perfectly fine. I do not need much sleep to function.”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “That is good to hear.”

“As I mentioned to you the other day, your training has gone extremely well as well as much faster than I had anticipated.”

“It is with that in mind that I would like to move to Phase Two, if that is ok with you of course.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “It is.”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Fantastic.”

“Have you ever heard of the XWF?”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “I can’t say that I have. Should I know what that is?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Not necessarily. The XWF is a professional wrestling federation. XWF stands for X-treme with an X, Wrestling Federation.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “And why is that important to you or I? Is our next target associated with this wrestling federation?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “In a manner of speaking yes.”



Sometimes, in fact, oftentimes, I wish Sebastian would just come out and say what he is thinking rather than dancing around it as if he was a verbal Fred Astaire.



ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “Would you care to elaborate for me please?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Absolutely. Our next target is not someone associated with the XWF, it is in fact the XWF itself.”

“You see, I am a member of the XWF. I have been for some time now. Within that federation I run a group called The Brotherhood. Their sole function is to bring about the end of The Black Circle.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “The Brotherhood? The Black Circle? What’s the rub?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “People were lead to believe, because of what they saw that I was kicked out of The Black Circle and as a result I formed The Brotherhood.”

“That is what people saw, but that is not what actually happened.”

“People are by their nature lazy, they are happy to believe what plays out in front of their face without actually considering that maybe things aren’t what they seem on the surface. That is the case here.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “Intriguing."

"People saw you kicked out of The Black Circle but you are saying that wasn’t actually the case? And who makes up this Black Circle?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Correct, a brilliant, and somewhat crazy man named Shane , the current Owner Of the XWF as well as leader of the Black Circle and I worked out a plan in which I would be removed from the Black Circle so that I could keep my ear to the ground within the halls of the XWF.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “So you are essentially Shane ’s spy?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “That is correct. As for the second part of your previous question, The Black Circle consists of Shane , the owner and leader. John Madison, who is essentially the “Street Boss” of the group, Theo Pryce, the current “King” of the XWF, Mr. Supernova, the current Television Champion of the XWF and NAZI, currently just NAZI.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “Ok two questions, first, his name is actual NAZI? And the XWF has a “King” like, with a crown?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “His actual name is Nathaniel Adolph Zachary Idenhaus, he goes by NAZI for short. And yes, the XWF has a “King” with a Crown, though he apparently traded the Crown in for a Chain.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “A chain? Is this guy an asshole or an idiot?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Definitely the first, possibly both. But he did come into the XWF and take out the former King, John Madison in short order so regardless of his personality he seems to know what he is doing.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “Ok, so now that I am caught up on who makes up The Black Circle, are the other members of this group aware that you are still working for their boss, that you are still in fact a member of The Black Circle and always have been?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “No, Mr. wanted as few people to know about that as possible.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “Prudent thinking.”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “I thought so.”

“Now, how this relates to you...”



There he goes again, drawing things out. Did I really need a history lesson? Does any of it really matter? I am focused on the future, not the past. Something I think Sebastian could benefit from.



ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “Go on.”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “ I would like to train you with the goal of bringing you into the XWF to help aid me and The Black Circle.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “The Black Circle, but what of this Brotherhood?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Don’t worry about them. They have been slowly crumbling for months now. Our mission is to ensure the success of The Black Circle, even if we have to say and act in contradiction to that.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “I understand. When do you want to begin this training?”

“And who will be conducting it?”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Me, and now.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “As you wish.”

SEBASTIAN DUKE: “Ok. How about I meet you in the training area at say 10am?”

“I have some things I need to finish here first.”

ERIC NIGEL MARTIN: “10 am will be fine.”



Well, this just got a whole lot more interesting. Professional wrestler? Can’t say I saw that one coming. Now I need to meet up with Matthew.



Fade To Darkness.