It was a ghastly sight, twisted and unnatural. To look upon it was to feel your brain revolt as some deep-rooted and primal instinct urged you to turn away.
And Jamie, against all judgement, stood his ground, wincing in terror and disgust as the figure, no eyes, no hair, no nose or lips, but a smooth spherical face, stood opposite him.
This white matchstick seemed to move with a faux gracefulness, well maintained of course but never suggesting anything close to a homo sapiens, nothing close to organic in truth. Instead, its motions recalled a marionette’s imitation of life.
Did the elbows bend at the arm perhaps a little too high or two low? Did the feet seemingly float even when resting upon the ground? And the way it tilted its head was…ugh!
To be sure, it had four limbs and a torso. It was dressed in a black coat and black boots, with only blanched hands and a head visible. Presumably it breathed and ate and slept just the same as any other creature but…
Did it? Did it really?
As Jamie thought about picking up his crowbar and whacking at its head, the thing spoke and what a difference that made.
“You understand me, my good man, don’t you?” it asked as a slitlike mouth appeared from its featureless face.
The voice was smooth, silky, and comforting. A voice made for opera and radio. And its diction had the hypnotic rhythm of a first-rate orator. To merely listen to it caused an almost low-level feeling of ecstasy.
Jamie felt at once to be an ignorant child in its presence.
“Are you offended by me?” the figure continued. “I’m here to put a stop to any counter protests, and I feel that you have cause to complain about our presence. Am I correct?”
Jamie nodded.
“Hmm,” it seemed content with that answer, “Oh I dare say that the dead bodies, the mutilated dead bodies rather, and countless burnt buildings might make a man such as you object to our organisation’s, err… standard procedure. But of course, we aren’t like you.”
Its thin mouth then twisted into what could be detected as a smile. And at once the revulsion, undeniable, and impossible to suppress flooded back to Jamie as he fought the urge to vomit. This thing had no visible eyes, but he felt it was staring right through him all the same.
“Too many people act as if concepts such as compassion, nobility or fairness are forces as essential to the universe as gravity,” it said, “rather than the whims of a local and temporary race called mankind. And woe to you if you try telling them otherwise.”
