The Writers' Circle

This is the original beginning of the novel I am currently editing. It resembles nothing of the finished article. There is no reference to Earth, high-end technology or the rest in the finished thing but this version may prove useful to tell another story some day. It was written all those years ago, back when I was 18, so please go easy. :-D

Enjoy...I hope...

JD

* * * * *

	People say that before you die your whole life passes before your eyes. It's called living. The last flash a lot of people see is me. I bring death on swift wings for the good of my country. I play petty rivalries against each other and themselves and I never fail. Never had it occurred to me that what I was doing was wrong.not until now.
	The year is uncertain. The world has changed a lot since before the Great War began. Superpowers no longer exist and in their place a vicious power game is played where not one nation can become strong enough to lead. No one can trust each other and people like me prey upon these feelings, exploiting them to the advantages of our own masters.
The USA has broken down, its various States acting as countries as they disagree and squabble amongst themselves. The problem, as always, was the President of the time. Ever more hungry for power, he set his sights abroad, attempting to unify the world under US rule. America, however, being the 'Land of the Free', had divided opinions and interests, and different States adopted these.
	At the same time, in the Middle East, something was stirring. A self-proclaimed Muslim prophet known only as Yaseen had revealed himself. He worked his way through the Muslim countries of the Middle East and soon had a great following. In a very short time he had managed to unite most of the Middle East.
Under his banner tensions increased in the west and riots frequented the streets. It was thought that things would subside but that was ever the way of the West. It was considered far from home and therefore far from their problem. This time it proved not to be the case.
	The Middle East suddenly waged Jihad on the people who they considered to have done them the most injustice. Because of their internal feuds, the rival States were ill prepared for this attack. But even as ill prepared as they were, they still managed to mount a counter attack. The war was unavoidable for most nations and they were dragged in on one side or the other.
Conflict of this magnitude and intensity had never before been heard of and suddenly people were realizing that the war was theirs and it was very real. It was no longer something that they read in the papers and immediately forgot because of the amusing cartoon on the next page.
	Suddenly religion didn't matter anymore. The events before the War had made it so that even pro-Christian countries didn't always support the Americans because of what their President had wanted to achieve. Europe became divided with neighbours who had been at peace for years suddenly becoming worst enemies. The whole structure of the world was cast aside and, as the War subsided, from the ruin emerged a new world. None of the countries knew who to trust. Everyone was edgy.
The War had ended with the death of Yaseen who had been killed in a lucky bombing raid which several of the States claimed responsibility for in their bid for supremacy. The American President was tried for war crimes against mankind by the States and was sentenced to death by lethal injection. It was the last act the USA would ever commit as a whole.
	And all this time, Germany and my country, Japan, had been regaining the voices that we had lost in the Second World War. We had been disarmed and this allowed our economies to grow while wars raged around us. But now, while the countries that had oppressed us squabbled over morals, we regained our former power in secret and remained as bystanders in the war. In secret we infiltrated the information centers of the world's most powerful nations while they were in disarray.
I personally led the mission into DARPA, the Pentagon's Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, and stole from them that which they considered to be the future of mankind. We in Japan developed this technology to unprecedented levels whilst those around us fought for control.
	And in the end, when the dust had settled, we were up there with the survivors in this new world. Few of the States of America had survived and those that had had captured their neighbour's lands to increase their stronghold in the West. The former USA was unstable as the States continued in their power struggle. The Middle East, however, had united into one strong union. With Yaseen dead, a council was formed to govern, with council members being representatives of the various countries within the union.
	As the world settled into this new form it was clear that this was a very different race than it was pre-war and, along with this new form, new ways arose. Due to the fall of America, a power vacuum had been left, waiting to be filled. However, there was not one single most powerful alliance that could fill the vacuum, even with the middle east united, and so began a power struggle guided by others like myself for the advancement of our own nations.
	This is the way that politics now work. By deceit, betrayal and lies the world is now shaped. The only things that have changed then are the forms that they take.
This is the world as we know it today.

* * * * *

Jin crept stealthily along the corridors deep inside the main stronghold of the Texan government. It was midnight and time for the guard change. She would have to be fast. She was looking for a doorway to the Foreign Minister's room, following the map that she had memorized beforehand.
	The Minister was a prime target after his recent propaganda speech against Texas' rival neighbouring power, New Mexico. Both of these States had gradually built up again after the Great War as they were the least affected by it of the American States, being situated far away from Washington where the main bulk of the fighting had occurred. 
Their joint rise to power had not only sparked off an immediate rivalry between them but had also caused considerable interest from the more powerful nations who were always ready to nip future rivals in the bud before they could become a major threat.
	So it was left to the Ajnin, an elite but small group of individuals who made sure that rival nations were played off against each other in order to reduce their influence in the world. Each major nation employed them but none had mastered the art quite like the Japanese and none of the Japanese had mastered the art quite like Jin.
She had honed her skills to perfection. It was she who had infiltrated the DARPA headquarters during the Great War, when none said that it could be done, and stole the projects that the Americans had claimed were the future. For this a great honour was bestowed upon her, and bionically enhanced war gear combined with Holosuit Chameleon Technology was constructed using this new found methods that was unlike any before, making her all the more deadly and successful in what she did.
	If this night's work went as planned, the resulting war would bring both States to their knees and back where they belonged. Jin waited and concentrated for a moment. Yes, this was it. Just around the corner was the Foreign Minister's room.
	First she had to deal with the guard.
	Jin crept stealthily up to the corner of the wall and peered round. The lighting was dim in the corridor beyond so she switched on her night vision to see clearer. There he was. A solitary guard who was so tempting. Just for a second she lost concentration and the metal of her holosuit ground across the metal of the wall. Jin heard the sharp intake of breath and cursed herself for the lapse.
Quickly she darted from sight and looked around. A network of pipes threaded their way across the ceiling, some larger than others. She did a standing leap and managed to get a grip on one of the larger of them and then swung herself to gain momentum before arcing herself in a full circle, landing on top of the pipe in a crouch.
	She wasn't a moment too soon as the guard rounded the corner looking for the source of the noise. Jin, crouching on the pipe, watched him like a hawk, her suit automatically blending with her surroundings as the chemicals built into the material reacted to the reflected light of her surroundings.
The guard was of medium build and wore the standard uniform of the Texan government. An easy target in normal circumstances, although Jin knew that there were never normal circumstances in what she did. However, she did not want to arouse suspicion when the guard changed and the new guard wasn't replacing the old. The mission needed to be completed first but after that, what did it matter?
	She waited patiently whilst the nervous guard made an attempt at looking menacing by waving his M16 around inefficiently with the safety still on. An amateur. After feeling satisfied that the corridor had been sufficiently cowed he gave the world in general a smug look and swaggered back to his post.
	"Bleedin' rats", he muttered.
	Jin followed noiselessly along the network of pipes, still stalking as a cat would a mouse, her suit adjusting colour as she crossed the banded light emitted from the flickering tube lights stationed periodically in the walls. She followed the guard back to his post next to the door to the Minister's room. He glanced irritably at his watch. Jin did likewise and realized that the guard was impatient for his bed as his replacement was five minutes late already.
Glancing furtively around the guard came to a decision and decided to call it quits. He took one final look around the area he thought the noise had come from before heading in the direction of the permanent barracks that some of the soldiers held within the stronghold.
	Stealthily Jin let herself hang from the pipe before dropping silently to the floor, landing in a crouch. She straightened up and gave the door a critical look. It was just as she had suspected. The door was secured with an intricate electronic lock, probably alarmed. She didn't know how long she had before the next guard arrived but she knew that it couldn't be long. It was pure luck that he hadn't turned up to replace the last guard. This lock looked to be a tough one.
She glanced around for another point of entry and spotted it about a foot from the ceiling set into the wall. A grille leading to the air conditioning vents. From the blueprints she had memorized she knew that this would lead into the Minister's room.
	She glanced around to get the bearings of the grille in relation to the Minister's room, paused for a second to check that no-one was coming and then reached up to get a good grip on the edges of the metal. After a bit of heaving it came loose with a slight groan and Jin let it rest gently on its hinges hanging down the side of the wall. She got a grip on the edge of the opening and pulled herself up and inside, making sure that she pulled the cover to behind her.
	Jin found herself in a long tunnel with tunnels branching off on either side following the intricate structure of the building. She pulled herself along, taking care not to make a noise.
	She followed her memory from the blueprints and was soon peering through an identical grille into a room filled with the quiet grandeur that only that someone with enough money and power could achieve.
	There was little to see in the room. The Minister was nowhere to be seen. A large desk was positioned in the corner, littered with the affairs of State. It looked as though the dignitary had been busy recently. Seeing that the room was obviously vacant, Jin allowed herself to heave the grille aside and lower herself into the room, again carefully replacing it after her. Jin stalked the room, trying to find clues as to why the Minister was absent.
	The desk yielded no clues although one letter caught her eye and sent a trickle of cold sweat from shock course down her back. Now wasn't the time to read it however and so she removed it for later analysis. She was just about to search the rest of the room when she heard a businesslike whistling and the sound of footsteps approaching. Jin reacted on instinct as years of intensive training took over. She dove for the doorway and rolled, ending up on one side of it as the door slid open.
Jin pushed herself into the wall next to the doorframe as a large portly man walked past at a leisurely pace. He paused to switch on the light and Jin had enough presence of mind to deactivate her night vision before the intense light blinded her. The man strode up to the desk and started to riffle through the assorted papers that covered it.
	Taking this opportunity, Jin crept up behind him and grabbed his face over the mouth, firmly silencing his initial exclamation of surprise. The man tried to react by swinging wildly with his elbow but only ended up breaking it as it connected with the tough material that encased Jin's body. This caused a muffled scream followed by cursing to erupt from behind the gauntleted hand.
	Jin casually brought her foot up and drove it into the back of the Minister's legs, forcing him onto his knees whilst still restraining him with the hand covering his mouth, the arm of which now had him in a headlock. Ignoring the katana slung across her back in its scabbard, Jin withdrew a short but sharp blade from its resting place on her thigh.
	Forcing the Minister's head back she allowed him a second to glance upon the bringer of his doom before bringing the knife across his throat in one swift, clean movement. There was barely a sound from the man as Jin released him causing first his head to slump forward onto his chest before the rest of his body, carried forward by the momentum, keeled over causing a dull thud as it hit the floor.
	Jin reached into the pouch at her side and withdrew a pair of gloves, inserting one over each of her metal clad hands. This was the final key to the set up. These gloves contained on them the exact replica of the fingerprints of one of the most wanted bounty hunters in the world, Marco Silva. He was known to support New Mexico and was frequently employed by them, being a powerful ally. It was said that no other nation could hire him such was his love and dedication to his chosen State. Texas was well aware of this and that fact was what would make this setup all the more convincing.
	Following the exact movements with which she had come into contact with the Minister's body, Jin planted fingerprints to frame the bounty hunter, and therefore New Mexico, for the murder of the Texan Foreign Minister. Having completed her task, Jin carefully removed the gloves and replaced them in the pouch.
	Getting out without witnesses would not be easy. Jin doubted that the guard outside would have neglected his post and doubted even more that he would be as stupid as the one he had replaced. More caution would be needed with him.
	Silently she removed her katana from across her back and released it from its scabbard. Switching the light off and her night vision back on, she strode up to the door and it slid open. She heard the guard stamp to attention and smiled behind her helmet. He thought that she was the Minister.
	She paused for a second and tensed herself before springing forward and launching into a graceful roll. As she rolled she swung the scabbard and winced as she heard it connect with the guard's knee. He screamed in pain and fell to the floor, clutching at his injured joint. Jin completed her roll and came up in a crouch, bringing her sword round in a glorious arc as she did so. She heard the clash as the metal of the sword came into contact with the floor. The guard's head rolled away, separated from his body by the deadly stroke.
	Jin replaced the scabbard on her back and cleaned the sword on the dead man's jacket sleeve before carefully making her way back out, satisfied with her night's work. She met no resistance as she crept along the silent passageways of the stronghold. The bodies would not be discovered until the morning, the guard being the last change before dawn.
	When Jin finally reached the cool night air the sky was just lightening. Quickly she ran to the compound wall and leapt, easily getting a hold on the top, even though it was ten feet high, due to the extra strength given to her by the holosuit.
	The holosuit had taken time to adapt to but once she had, Jin had explored the possibilities and found them to be, as yet, endless. She still trained regularly without it, however, to keep in shape and to know the limits of her own body.
	Once over the wall, Jin located the bag left next to her Harley and removed the helmet of the holosuit, gasping slightly as the pressure exerted by the sensitive pins covering the inside of the headpiece were removed from her skin. She allowed the cool night air to blow gently across her cheeks before delving into the bag and removing her leathers and boots, which she quickly slipped on over the metal.
She took the motorcycle helmet out of the bag and slipped it on before replacing it in the bag with that of her holosuit. She didn't want to appear at all out of place on the road although she had to admit that that was hard these days as Harleys were rare, but she had always been a sucker for the classics.
	As she rode back to the harbour in California where a boat was waiting for her to take her back to Japan, she reflected on the letter and the name that it contained.
It was a name that she had not heard in many years, and one she had hoped never to hear again.