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Nabal: Wanted Dead or Alive

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It tingled warm and strange, causing a sudden, faint shock down his spine which made the Spartan open his eyes and gasp. He realized a finger had been probing his brain and his body jerked to the pulse of his heart as a bloody hand pulled away and into view. It was King Asilas and he was looking closely at something. The Spartan slowed his rhythmic convulsions to a still.

Holding the small, pebble-like object between his index finger and thumb, the king asked the Spartan, “Do you know what this is?”

“I-I’m not sure.” He replied.

He held the tiny object up to the lights overhead and examined it closer as streams of blood ran down the backside of the king’s forearm. “It’s a bullet.” Asilas lowered it close to the Spartan’s face. “Do you see that it’s a bullet?”

“Yes. I see now, my king. It is indeed a bullet.” The Spartan spoke lucidly to the king’s delight. He was still breathing heavily, but otherwise appeared to be aware of everything around him. The Spartan moved his eyes throughout the room and back towards the king’s drilling stare.

“And do you know your name, Spartan?” The king leaned to the side of the Spartan’s head, evidently studying his wound.

“Yes, Your Majesty. I am Nabal…”

The Trishul: King Asilas’s Super Weapon

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King Asilas named his most powerful weapon the Trishul after the trident once believed to be wielded by the Hindu god Shiva. Asilas and Lord Oreb originally called this weapon  the “poison filter,” which was used to simply block mysterious frequencies that contained Satanic, subliminal messages from various forms of media. These frequencies manipulated the population into accepting evil and corruption as normal and acceptable behavior. Oreb and a team of scientists discovered with tweaking the machine and making some modifications, they could not only block certain frequencies, but also reverse the effects of long term exposure to many other previously unknown frequencies which inhibited the human brain from working at full capacity. The poison filter’s original design had changed from a one-prong device to a much larger three-prong machine about the size of a small car. It could be fitted on a stealth chinook, which was Asilas’s vehicle of choice, tanks, stealth bombers, off-road vehicles and ships. However, there was only one main Trishul, and it was made to be mounted on a variety of vehicles and be deployed at a moment’s notice.

 

The Trishul’s range was limited to an area over land or sea and could only affect people within the radius of its transmissions. It worked much like a radio transmitter, emitting frequencies which countered other specific frequencies, allowing only natural emissions to penetrate into the human body. The Trishul worked within a 40 mile radius, like any normal radio station transmission. People could only escape this range of the Trishul in large, fortified buildings or even underground bunkers. Even if some of the wealthy and powerful managed to shield themselves from the Trishul’s emissions, millions of people in the general population could not. Therefore, when people had their “fog lifted,” they gained a heightened awareness of everything around them and used a peculiar telepathic ability to locate Satanists, who emit a specific frequency unique to only worshippers of the devil. For inexplicable reasons, people who had their fog lifted, conjured an innate urge to destroy Satanists completely.

 

The most frightening effects of the Trishul occurred days after the fog was lifted. People initially engaged in irresistible celebrations, dancing, singing and overall elation at their newfound understanding of the world around them. Lords Oreb and Roberts discovered in this initial “happy stage” people’s production of natural endorphins spiked, as well as other biological chemicals which caused people to literally whirl in endless carousing. However, once the elations subsided, the sinister phase of the Trishul’s effects came to light. The people changed their focus to finding those who emitted frequencies of Satanists. Some scientists on Oreb’s team discovered these subtle frequencies hidden within other body frequencies which were later isolated to further single out those with evil intentions. Once the people with these frequencies were found, even amongst themselves, they murdered them in the most horrific ways imaginable. From levitating them in the air and making them drop to their deaths, to physically ripping their arms and legs off, decapitation, hacking them to pieces, tearing their skin off with their bare hands and throwing them against walls, and smashing them to a pulp.

 

King Asilas instructed Lords Oreb and Roberts to manufacture smaller versions of the Trishul that could be carried in a Spartan’s backpack. These smaller units were used when Spartans secretly entered the capitals of small countries in Latin America like Colombia, Venezuela, Guyana, Ecuador, Suriname, French Guiana, Paraguay, Uruguay, and the Caribbean Islands. The larger countries were places for Oreb and the main Trishul unit. Strategically placing themselves at the center of the capitals, the elite Spartan teams changed their physical appearances to mimic the local people. Once in a secured location, they began transmitting the frequencies from their small Trishuls. Spartans were not effected by the Trishul themselves because they were implanted with nano devices which counteracted the frequencies. Every person within a 5 mile radius of the capital were effected and the Spartans remained in their places for three days before moving on to other capitals in other countries. What resulted were catastrophic revolts within every country in Central and South America until no governments were stable enough to contain the social unrest that ensued. America’s military forces arrived at these strategic times, commandeering the nation’s armies and reestablished order and announcing to all of its citizens that they were now a part of the New Kingdom of America.

 

While the Trishul’s main function had been blocking frequencies and unleashing long dormant brain capacity, there was one final facet: the effects of suggestibility. Once the effects of exposure to the Trishul’s direct transmissions subsided, for a short period of time, people became easily swayed to the king’s commands. Of course, the only person who truly knew the code on how to circumvent and exploit this consequence of the Trishul was King Asilas himself, and he told absolutely no one about it. In fact, when Oreb and the others discovered the anomaly that would ultimately lead them to this property of the Trishul, King Asilas told them all to ignore it and concentrate on other matters, squashing further investigation into it and protecting its secret.

 

However, when the Chinese leader, President Wei, and his team of scientists, discovered an antidote for the effects of the Trishul, this presented an enormous problem for the king. It meant he would have to allow Lords Oreb and Roberts to learn of the mysterious suggestibility effects of the Trishul’s use. In order to keep the Chines from completely derailing King Asilas’s plans of world conquest, he allowed Lords Oreb and Roberts, and a very select team of the New Kingdom’s top scientists, Dr. Paul Gentile and Dr. Miriam Moses, to counteract the effects of the Chinese antidote. To do this, the Americans would first need to capture a Chinese soldier or someone who had been injected with the antidote, since it was unlikely the Chinese would ever sell it -in spite of President Wei’s threats to do so. For this, King Asilas and his High Council devised a plan to corner the Chinese and trick them to inject their soldiers with the antidote -in anticipation of an attack using the Trishul- and capturing one of them to study. Only Lords Oreb and Roberts knew the truth about why this plan would be put into motion, keeping all of the other members of the High Council in the dark about the mock attack. America had to deliberately pick a fight with its only significant ally.

What is The Monster Group?

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From the moment Asilas sat in the oval office with President Jackson awaiting to be sworn in as America’s first king, there was a sense this political transformation was sanctioned by the ubiquitous “men behind the curtain.” The president alluded to them right before Asilas assumes the role of king. He says, “You will have to deal with them; the monster. When they call, you will answer. And when they tell you to act, you will act.” It was rather subtle, but substantial enough to make Asilas uneasy. It was our first glimpse in this story that there was a shadowy group that pulls the strings of those in positions of great influence. In Asilas’s uneasiness with this arrangement, there is an obvious friction that surfaces and sets the threshold of defiance and boldness which puts the king at odds with the very people who put him in power.

 

But just exactly who are these monsters? And why did they elevate Asilas to the level of an absolute monarch in the first place? Asilas gives some clues. It becomes apparent early on in the series that treachery took place between Asilas and this mysterious syndicate. Asilas was supposed to be the consolidation of state affairs; the “go to guy.” He was meant to eliminate the need to racket politicians in every district throughout the union. With one man making all the decisions, there would be no need to place their bets on scores of lobbyists and campaigns. However, once Asilas became an absolute ruler, he turned on those who entrusted him with more power than any American before him. The king declares his posture is more than a stance against malfeasance, but is, in fact, a purging of the evil people behind America’s corruption. On more than one occasion, in fact, Asilas asserts members of the elusive group are a mix of humans and non-humans. In a conversation with Queen Rebekah before going to meet with England’s King George, Asilas even refers to George and his royal family as “an army of reptiles.” It seems whoever (or whatever) Asilas is waging war with is quite terrifying and exists on the fringes of our reality.

 

The monsters are assuredly creepy and, evidently, have haunting abilities to enter the king’s sleep. During Asilas’s “night terrors” and in apparent confrontations with demons, Asilas has conversations with their supposed leader, Beals. It can be surmised “Beals” is a play on Beelzebub, who is the Devil himself. In one of Asilas’s night terrors, Beals outright tells Asilas he needs to do what he is told and bluntly states, “This is the deal we made.” But Asilas defies him, proclaiming he must “free his people,” which is another indication Asilas was put in his position with strings attached. So, at the onset, what we learn in Season 1, the monster group is comprised of politicians, government officials, obviously some very rich people, reptilians, demons and apparently led by the Devil himself. At least, through statements made by the king, this is insinuated. However, judging by Asilas’s own words, the monster group appears to be more than simply a group of Satan worshippers in a secret society. The dynamics of the group become more puzzling with each new detail revealed.

 

The structure of the group is very ambiguous and often contradictory. This is probably by design to avoid detection and perpetuate confusion among even those within the group. The whole point of the group is to control the world using manipulation of governments through its officials. It is in this manipulation that Asilas gives one vital clue as to how he came to power. He revealed that he was once a member of the monster group and one of the architects of the plan that ultimately led to the dismantling of the United States. Why Asilas would be a part of the undoing of his country, something that could be classified as the antithesis of patriotic, and ascend as its absolute ruler becomes clearer with every episode. He asserts the only way to rid the world of the corruption that enslaves all people is to destroy the monster group itself. Handing him a throne to rule over the most powerful country in the world was perhaps the most monumental mistake the monster group ever made. However, this only furthers the assertion Asilas is more than brilliant; he is evidently the greatest opportunist and actor the group had ever faced. He makes his intentions to destroy the enemy of mankind, and sets out to do this under the guise of toppling countries and assimilating them into the New Kingdom of America to increase his power and set the stage for the ultimate battle for humanity. Asilas is able to “conquer” countries in the western hemisphere using a secret weapon named the “poison filter.” This machine is modified to do a multitude of things, including what Asilas calls “lifting the fog” and allowing humans to use the full capacity of their brains. Evidently, the monster group had benefited from inhibiting humans at the consciousness level, thus keeping them blind to their true powers and exploiting them for an unspecified duration of years.

 

The monster group becomes apprehensive of Asilas’s poison filter. Perhaps they recognize its true threat a little late in the game. Since Asilas made sure only members of his trusted High Council know the sensitive details about it, the monsters are virtually blind to the potency of this weapon. But they are cautious, and thus use their enigmatic network to slow Asilas’s advancements because he is equally cautious. They never encountered nor anticipated the fight Asilas presents in modern times, and resort to strategies from centuries ago to learn Asilas’s weaknesses. Employing sorcery, witchcraft, hauntings, and dream manipulations, the monster group torments Asilas in an effort to break down his mental stability. However, Asilas’s dexterity never diminishes. On the contrary, their voodoo tactics only appear to encourage the king to advance on foreign lands, push politics to the brink of a world war, and pressure the human flank of the monster group to call on their reptilian masters to assist them in dealing with America. Asilas attempts to lure the true monsters out into the open. With each move, another one of their pawns gets taken, and the ultimate confrontation between Asilas and the monsters draws ever nearer.

Podcasts

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Well, the completion of the first episode was much like climbing a steep hill. It was enjoyable and I really had to learn how things worked in a production of this sort, but I had some interesting teachers. I listened to a lot of other radio theatre shows. I especially appreciate those really old mystery shows on CBS radio. Just fascinating that in the age before mass television, there was radio and people really had to use their imaginations. There is something romantic about this idea.

I listened to the original “War of the Worlds” on a radio theatre program and I was blown away by how it gripped me. If you tell a good story the right way, people will simply hang on every word. I certainly did. And I realized if I was going to produce a show that would hold people’s attention, then there are certain triggers I absolutely had to include because our modern brains are expecting them. For example, intense booms, sci-fi sound effects that give a larger than life atmosphere. What really helps “sell” the story, in my opinion, is the delivery. That’s why I love working with Sergei Brahznikov, the narrator. There is just something about the way that man talks that makes this story all the more interesting. It’s hard to explain. But if you listen, you’ll understand what I mean.

What struck me as disappointing was the lack of interest from people that have known me and have worked with me over the years. It’s like “yeah yeah yeah” -I don’t think they believed I could actually produce this show in the way I described it. I have a pretty good feeling more people will come around now because it’s really hard to resist. And with the state of affairs, politically speaking, everyone has an opinion they feel is justified -and probably will want some of it to filter into this storyline. Ha.

And speaking of politics… Someone asked me if this story is directly related to our current political climate. My response was a resounding duh. It presents an alternative future that is purely fiction -let’s not forget that. However, once you start to wrap your head around King Asilas and what makes the man tick, you might wonder if what he does is all that crazy. But I always caution people when they really entertain the notion of having a king versus a president. Personally, democracy is by far a more inclusive system of government that really has made great strides over the generations. Kingdoms in history have not always fared so well for the common citizen. There has to come a point where you say, “Ok, beyond that cliff, we fall to our deaths.” It’s not like in the cartoons where Wiley Coyote falls over the cliff and in the next frame he is whole again trying something else. If we go over the cliff, we will break apart as a nation and there may be no going back. And many people believe we are staring over the cliff right now. Perhaps that is why this story is so compelling and interesting.

~JV Torres

Listen to Episode 1 here.

Listen to Episode 2 here.