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** short intermission **

"Good evening and welcome back to the Mark Allen show. I am your host, Mark Allen." A nasal sounding lad spoke from behind round spectacles. "Today, we have an interesting guest who is considered a world renowned military lobbyist. A three star General by the name of Dave Phillips. Let's give a warm welcome to the man."

A fairly well stock male with an even cut less than three millimeters in length, marched on step in a crisp dress blue.

"Thanks for having me." The baritone voice was almost unexpected from the man but the hoarse almost lisp sound was.

Mark chuckled, "no, it's our honor to have you hear today. I don't want to waste too much time when I feel like you have something breathtaking to speak on. So how about we dive right into it, shall we?"

The General gave a simple wave, "lay it on me."

"I am sure like many of our viewers, you have seen examples of supernatural entities arise from among us. I really want to know, as a military progressive individual, how do you see the government handling such a hot bomb."

"Well, the problem with individual people having capabilities normally only dream about, is that they now have the ability but not the mindset."

"Mindset?"

"Yes, without a strong, goal-oriented mind. You will see a bunch of indecisive slackers or even worse, people who will take the easiest route to their objective. This is why I added strong as an adjective."

"But what does that have to do with the government approach?"

"It has everything to do with how the government will have to operate in the public eye. If these individuals stayed hidden and only one or two making a mess, then the government can sweep it under the rug without offending the rest of the supernatural community."

"I see now that more than one crime committed by supernatural elements has been recorded. What is the best way to ensure the rest of us safety?"

"The issue with the current system in place is that we, as a governing body, are not ready to handle a new species of humans that are genetically superior. If the government steps in and handles the situation, things like what happened in Los Angeles will continue to happen. The most viable solution is to establish a department of supernatural elements and allow them to governor other elements. It's the same way on the world stage with the UN, we just need to be quick about adopting such methods at home."

"But is that truly a solution, them governing themselves? Haven't we read or watch enough corruption in governing bodies of supernatural entities. I can't even count the bloody number of times where the protagonist has to go up against an unfair magical council. How do you determine that kind of situation doesn't happen?"

"There is no way to ensure any governing body doesn't become corrupt. The only thing anybody can do is choose the right leaders and pray for the best."

"This sounds too much like a gamble. I for one don't think I can sleep comfortably knowing the difference between a peaceful council and an indifference one is if the supernatural elements have a moral heart while choosing leaders."

"This is where the issue lies. How do we, as normal people, dictate what is considered a good leader to them? For example, I read some media reports of a group of magical teens talking about taming a shifter as a magical companion. Is that a crime or not?"

Mark leaned back into his chair as he put on a thinking face. "I haven't seen media footage of a shifter to know if that is human or animal?"

The General chuckled," they are all humans that have found an alternative method to spirit beast. Instead of being like a summoner, they can shift themselves. Gain the aspects of that animal."

"Well it is obvious a crime to enslave another human being."

"But are they still humans? I met one of the government shifters and even though this guy felt weaker than the ones in California, he still reacted differently, spoke slightly more brash, and his appetite was something to watch. In medical records, his human genes are less than five percent. Is that still considered human?"

"When you put it that way, sure he doesn't sound human but is it still right to enslave an intelligent species?"

"I would say no but I am not a shifter. However, I am sure those in L.A had a say, those kids would probably be killed then and there."

"We are getting off track a bit but a quick question before we go back. What do you think of that group in L.A.?"

"If not for the Feds getting ideas, then that kind of situation might not have happened. Because there was absolutely no signs of crimes being committed within a four hundred mile radius before they obtained information on a specific group of supernatural elements. In other words, we can tell just from the interactions that the L.A. region is already under control by a group that is well coordinated and funded. Going in without a real military strategic plan was simply foolish."

"Wow, you gave them such an impressive review but what do you think of this video? Recorded by a disgruntled fed employee who is being shipped to the L.A. community due to a deal with the government." Mark pointed at a TV with a wicked grin.

The general turned slightly to watch what started off as a man holding a camera out the window but outside was foggy. Slowly, the fog disappeared to showcase a beautiful hilly landscape right out of animations. Shortly after followed by a line of blackish pillars shooting into the sky like ribs of some large creature.

"Pause it right there for me." The General said with a chuckle.

"Did you notice something?"

"You might have missed it but if you rewind a bit then let it play, you shall see a slight distortion that we commonly see in force fields in movies that have high tech prison. Same thing here."

The video rewind for ten seconds then continued onward.

"There is indeed a slight distortion between the rib-like towers. Nice catch. But what does that mean for us, non-military folks?"

"It means that the level of technology these gentlemen have is above military grade equipment. For example, we are still adding concrete and steel to our defensive walls. Some are just bags filled with dirt. This is an example of being incompetent and attacking an unknown entity."

The general motion for the video to keep playing. The bus got closer to the gate house which honestly was just a glass house in front of two closer rib spires. There was no actual gate to be seen with the eye. However a very visible distortion caught everybody's attention the moment the guards finished clearing the bus.

"Okay, stop here and rewind to the moment before the guards walk out."

Mark leaned forward, "I didn't see anything of note. Other than the way the gate opened, we already established that the gate was a force field."

"I first want to point out that the guards didn't physically have weapons. They wore what could be considered as average clothes."

"My gate guards typically wear suits but I can understand why they would want to dress comfortably. It's hot as hell in California."

"Or it means that they have some kind of weapon that can prevent an enemy from attacking them near the spires. In other words, this group isn't afraid of being attacked by outsiders. We already know they have training on the same level as top soldiers. It's like having a cheat where everybody is Rambo."

"Mm, I can see how that would be a problem for any agency looking to raid them. Actually force field wall with some kind of barrier type ability to block possible projectiles. On top of having elite Rambos units. A top force but what is the second thing you caught."

"In movies or books, such a gate would go down all at once if the gate was open. A type of weakness to exploit easily for a simple minded protagonist. Yet, here the gate opened but the other distortions were still there. This shows that their tech is mature."

The video continued as Mark waved his hand. Inside the gate, there were a lot of people walking along the street as if this was a plaza. The buildings look brand new and had a certain artistic impact that made the looker eye hold for a second or two longer.

"Okay, I spotted something this time. Those buildings look as if they are made of one seamless material. Even the window panes are the same way."

"True, I noticed that but it could be done with today's technology. I just assumed some kind of mage design for the buildings. Did you notice how many people are walking around though? Even more sitting down inside or shopping. I only heard of three other communities but they are nowhere at this level. Just some houses behind a typical steel fence."

Mark slapped his desk, "I didn't notice. My eyes were glued to those buildings that look so futuristic. But now that you mentioned it, why are there so many people? I count about eighty but that can't be possible right? That many shifters in one small community."

"I don't think all of them are shifters. Some may be families or friends with strong ties to shifters. Others might just be investors as all this has to cost no less than half a billion."

"Keep playing the video."

It took more than fifteen minutes to drive through the plaza and what was captured next was a set of apartment buildings with a park in front. Everybody got off and it didn't amount to twenty people but the cameraman moved the camera to capture something looking like a nuclear silo without the corresponding white clouds above.

"I do believe that the building in the distance is a nuclear power plant but there hasn't been any reports of any kind of any materials moving. Which can only mean that they either have their own source of nuclear materials or they are using some other means to act as a substitute. Either way, they have the necessary power to run their city and not have to rely on the government at all."

"What does this mean for the government in the long run?"

"No ability to control this group. Right now, we probably can stop merchants from supplying things like clothes, meats, weapons, metals but that is all assuming they don't have an alternative source for this outside of the government control. So in other words, this is like being infested with self-sufficient parasites. Without any means to rid yourself of them without reckless waste of life."

"It can't possibly be that bad but continue."

The video continued until a couple of black suvs pulled up and a group of people got out. One pointed at the camera and then appeared in front to grab the source of the camera before the screen went black.

The General took a sip of water as Mark sucked in a breath of air.

"Honestly, I am surprised by the level of planning someone put into this. This had to be more than four years into the making. Just the level of foresight and decisiveness puts them ahead of any movie plot or sci-fi. I am just confused on how the government did not know such a strong presence was right there until the FBI mistake."

"I told you before. These guys are usually very well hidden. I doubt if not for incidents that are uncontrollable like a traitor appearing or someone being brave enough to film scenes like that. We would never have known where these guys rest. I am sure there are even stronger guys who are entirely hidden right under our noses."

"So in other words, we are just lucky that there are fools in this world. No matter the species."

The General nodded.

Mark turned to the camera, "sadly, I would have loved to hear the opinion on a few more clips but we are out of time…"