Hell Let Loose

[WP] You can make a lie become truth, but only one lie at a time, once it is a lie again everyone involved will know immediately. You’re on your deathbed, holding one lie as truth for decades. You know hell will break loose once you die and the lie becomes a lie, and everybody will know.

*****

"Right this way, Mr. President", hurried the man in suit.

Though still confused, President Alan Haberforth followed his Secret Service agent to his armored car where he was immediately transported to an unknown location one early Wednesday morning.

"Wh-where are we going?", asked the still half-asleep leader-- his shirt untucked, his hair uncombed.

"An emergency was called, Mr. President. Protocol Geppetto was initiated", answered the agent, sitting opposite the President inside the speeding car.

"Excuse me...protocol what?", asked the President, unable to recall such code.

"Protocol Geppetto, sir", the agent repeated.

"I heard you the first time, Whiteley. What on earth is Protocol Geppetto?", asked the President again while he was tightening his necktie.

"Uhm, I apologize, Mr. President. I'm not quite even sure what it is", answered the agent nervously.

"So why are we in a hurry then?", the President inquired, quite upset that his sleep was interrupted.

"This protocol was designated the highest importance, Sir. Level 5" answered the agent.

"By whom?", the President quickly asked.

"By you, Sir", answered the agent as he handed the President a folder marked 'Top Secret: Level 5'.

President Haberforth raised his eyebrows as he held on while the car made a sharp turn, speeding out of the city towards a less residential part.

"I don't recall ever doing so", the President muttered as he opened the folder and studied it.

Another 45 minutes went quietly as the President read the top-secret file and excessively wracking his memory to no avail when his car finally stopped before an unassuming facility at the end of a guarded compound.

"This way, Sir", Agent Whiteley and several of his colleagues escorted the President inside the building.

The building was a large yet dead complex, a black site, secretive to the outside world. President Haberforth was quickly escorted through many doors and hallways towards one room at the end of the site.

"Just pass that door, Sir. As per your instruction", said Agent Whiteley as he opened the door and waved the President in.

Anxiety riddled President Haberforth, not knowing what lied behind the door. Not even the file helped explaining the situation. All it contained was a step-by-step guide to do one thing-- to get him to this mansion as soon as possible.

Inhaling deeply, President Haberforth stepped through the room all by himself.

He looked around the bedroom, a lifeless room with nothing but a bed, a nightstand, a chair and a window looking outside. His attention immediately went to the person lying on the bed.

"Hello?", the President called out.

A man was lying on the bed, an elderly man, gray and pale with little life left of him. Slowly he raised his head, and when his gaze met the President's, he offered a thin smile.

"Hello, Mr. Haberforth. Good to see you again", he croaked.

Slowly the President approached the bed. "You...you know who I am?"

The old man chuckled. "Yes, Mr. Haberforth. Unfortunately, I do. You're my creator", he answered with contempt.

The President made his way to the side of the bed and sat down. He observed the old man closely, studying his face and the old man looked back at him, sighing.

"You don't remember me", he stated.

"I'm sorry...how do I know you?", the President finally asked. "Who are you?"

"My name is...well, I no longer remember my real name, Mr. Haberforth. My name hasn't been uttered by anyone for decades", the old man sighed once more as he struggled to sat up.

"But I believe your codename for me was...Pinocchio", he scoffed, hating the name.

The old man grabbed a glass of water by the nightstand and gulped it before he continued.

"As you might have known, the end is nigh", he muttered. "Today is the day. Today is the day I die...and the lie will be broken", he said.

The old man looked at the ever-confused President and he continued.

"I suppose I should start from the beginning...", the old man said.

"Once upon a time, Mr. Haberforth...there was a boy. Not a special boy, just a normal boy. Growing up in a small town, with loving parents, a dog, and the wildest of imagination as he longed for adventures"

"Like many young children would, he would lie sometimes. You know, little white lies here and there. But when this boy lied, something...strange happened"

"Strange...how?", the President asked.

"The lie, Mr. Haberforth...became reality", the old man said. "It was a mere happenstance. One day he accidentally kicked his ball too hard and broke his father's window. Afraid of getting into trouble, he accused the neighbor boy Billy as the one who broke it. Much to his surprise, Billy confessed when confronted!"

"That's how it started, Mr. Haberforth. Though he got into trouble later when he made another lie and found out the first lie did not stick", the old man chuckled.

"That's when he found out that he was special after all, he could convince the world of a lie. And as long as he held on to it, it was the truth! And not only that, Mr. Haberforth. He even could influence reality! One time he said jokingly that the moon was green in color. Sure enough, that night the moon turned green!", he laughed once more.

President Haberforth was stunned silence. "Now sir, you can't expect me to believe such thing, can you? I mean, how can such a person with such a special power existed? How can you exist?", protested the President.

The old man chuckled again.

"That exact question, Mr. Haberforth, was why I was brought to you more than 40 years ago", the old man smiled.

President Haberforth scrunched his brows. That time period, in the 80's, was when he was an agent of the government, of the CIA.

"Yes, that night I was taken by force, abducted from my home, from my wife and children. I was frightened, extremely", recalled the old man.

"The next thing I remember I was sitting before this young agent...Agent Haberford of the CIA. You interrogated me day and night of something I did...a lie that was broken which implicated me in a crime. I can't even remember anymore what that lie was. You interrogated me until I finally broke and told you everything, of my ability"

The old man looked deep into the President's eyes with such anger.

"B-but how did I not remember that? Remember...this?", asked the President, avoiding those eyes.

The old man shrugged. "I have no idea. Some drugs you CIA guys had I assume"

"The same drugs I assume was used on me. I was kept here in this black site for years, Mr. Haberforth. Drugged out of my mind. I was kept away from my mind, from my sanity. Let alone a lie, I couldn't even conjure up a thought!", the old man said, a hint of more anger in his voice.

"But then one day...there you were, like you did today, walking through that door, begging me for help"

"Help? What sort of help?", asked the President.

The old man directed his gaze out the window, the only window in his bedroom as the sun was rising higher and higher and the morning went by.

"A cataclysm, Mr. Haberforth. One of apocalyptic nature happened about three decades ago", said the old man.

"On that day the sun died"

A chill went down the President's back. "W-what?", he remarked in horror.

"That day, Mr. Haberforth, our star went out. The planet went dark. It was the end of the world", the old man said sternly, still gazing out at the morning sun.

"But...but...", the President looked out the window and back to the old man.

"That's why you came to me, Mr. Haberforth. You made me tell this lie, this one lie. That the sun is still alive", the old man shrugged. "And I kept this lie all this time. I couldn't really say no...you threatened me, Mr. Haberforth. With unimaginable torture", he said again with contempt.

"S-so...what happen if...when you die?", asked the President, fear was apparent in his voice

The old man slumped back to a lying position on his bed. "When the lie is broken...then the world will once more turn dark", he said uncaringly, his breathing became slower and heavier.

Frightened, the President went to the old man, kneeling by his bedside. "Is there...is there anything else we can do? Is there anything we can do to save the world?! Please, you must do something!"

The old man chuckled, and he took a deep breath. "I was it, Mr. Haberforth. I was your solution. But now the time has run out"

Slowly he turned his gaze to the window. "You know, every morning I look up to it, wishing upon the star that one day the world will get what they deserve", he chuckled.

"And finally, the day has come. The world unworthy of saving, the world which rejected me will die..."

The old man closed his eyes. A sincere smile was painted on his old face.

"And finally, my wish came true", he said as he took his last breath.

Deep down inside, President Haberforth had wished none of what the old man said was true. That he was nothing but an insane mad man, rambling on his nonsense due to his despise of the world.

But as the bright day light was suddenly snuffed out, like a lamp being burned out, the President knew...that all hope was lost.