Nomad part 1: Spotted
"Nomad has been spotted near the beach at Templemore Cove." echoes the muffled voice over the radio at the government facility. The message comes from a helicopter over the cove. They were searching for him after receiving a tip from Templeton law enforcement who were warned not to engage. Nomad hears the spinning blades and sees the shadow of the copter above him. He looks up and knows that they are onto him. All of his military training rushes before his eyes. His experience as a spy helps him to immediately plot his next five moves. Thoughts run through his head, "it's too early to resurface, I needed more evidence. I can't take them down with what I have now... Fuck!"
Nomad part 2: That was Close Flickr Post
Nomad seems to have lost the helicopter when he made his way into the sewer system that was below a nearby overpass. It’s time to go, a lead has led him to another city anyway. It’s been a little over a year since he’s seen her, since they took her, since they got away with it. “I’ve got to follow the clues, expose them,” he mumbles.
He tilts his head downward and to the left, looking behind him without turning his head. He counts six on the left, 3 on the right. They’re closing in. Not to cause a scene he starts to ditch in and out of the alleyways. Making his escape slowly and quietly. He notices after some slick maneuvering that he only sees about 3 people in viewing range, though others could be around still. I’m sure they have an communications system in their ear, they all do.
Nomad walks in through the front of a burger-joint and walks out the back door. Two men in the back of the restaurant approach him, one with a gun. He quickly with two quick hand movements removes the weapon from the man on the right and pistol whips the man on the left with it knocking him out. Still holding the hand of the man on the right he pulls him into him as he kicks the man’s shin breaking a bone and sending him to the ground. Another swift kick to the head and both men are unconscious. Nomad walks off briskly looking from side to side. He places the gun in the back of pants expecting the elastic to keep it from falling.
He walks down a backstreet on the wide of a pizzeria. Out from behind the building come an agent. Taller than Nomad, more muscular than him as well. He takes a swing at Nomad, Nomad is too quick for him as he bobs and weaves away from his opponent. One swing, one flush connect from Nomad’s left uppercut and the big man goes down, hitting his head on the concrete steps behind him. Blood starts to ooze out the back of the man’s head. “Ha I’m one punch man,” Nomad jokes as he takes off slipping into the night.
He doesn’t get captured; he escapes easily. Nomad journeys to the next city. “That was close. Need to end this!”
Nomad part 3: One year earlier: What happened?
"Ouch that hurts," he mumbles as he grabs the back of his head, sitting up on the strange bed.
He looks around the room, squinting his eyes as the pain emanates from the bump his hand is now covering. He wonders where he is. His eyes begin to focus, the surroundings still unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Standing and walking towards the apartment exit without ever taking a second look at the rooms.
He stumbles out towards the hallway, hand still on his head, still dazed and confused.
Nomad part 4: The Market
He walks out of the apartment building and out onto the street. The cloudiness begins to lift, his head starts to clear. His memory though eludes him completely. Still unsure of what happened or why he has a bump that feels fresh and causing the throbbing pain throughout his head.
He walks for what feels like 15 minutes without a destination. He turns the corner to see a street market. He can smell the familiar aroma of the nearby Asian foods. “I could use something to eat, it all smells so good. I hope there’s some Youtiao here”
He comes up to a vendor, looks at the woman, lifts two fingers, “two please.” The man pulls out his wallet. He rummages through the large amounts of cash for a $100L bill. “John, would you like a drink with that?” he hears faintly. As he is closing the wallet, he notices no credit cards or identification or anything other than cash. “John, a drink?” Sliding his wallet into his pocket he looks up seeing the woman looking at him waiting for an answer “John?” she asks. He replies… “Who?”
Nomad part 5: Train To Nowhere
He knows that he loves the taste of Youtiao and was even able to chat with the vendor in Cantonese. He feels like he knows even more languages. Yet he cannot remember what his name is, where he is from or what he does for a living.
He returns to the one place that he knows. There he stands at that apartment that he woke up in. A key in his pocket opens the apartment door, confirming that he lives here. The drivers license on the kitchen table tells him that his name is John Nomadonia. He looks good in the photo.
Still groggy he looks around for clues. He finds a briefcase under his bed. He pulls the briefcase out, resting it on the mattress he opens it. He finds more identification cards in the briefcase, more driver’s licenses and 6 or 7 passports. His name can also be Harold Johnson, Samuel Krypinksi, Ivoceno Rossini, Michael Richardson, Christian Maldini or Julio Vargas.
What the hell? Either I’m a spy or some kind of international hit-man or something. “OK , I can’t.. my head ... need sleep” He is assured that he is at a place that belongs to him, maybe his apartment or a safe house. He lays back on the bed , closing his eyes.
Suddenly he is outside again. It’s raining… no it’s pouring. Gray statues stand before him in the hundreds. The lightning above brightens the sky and shines off of the water at his feet. Ankle high water floods the entire area for as far as he can see. A piano sits in the open space. Clocks floating in the air untethered. A child's tricycle rides past him, self-powered apparently. A train track leads into the water and disappears on one direction. In the other direction it leads through a gate and into what looks like a tunnel, but is actually just a black painted wall. It's a train to nowhere. The statues on the tunnel tell him that there has not been a train on these tracks for a very long time.
He starts to spin, then realizes it’s not him spinning, it’s everything else. A 6 foot bat flies toward him and begins to talk to him. He chuckles at a weird thought “look it’s batman.” The 6 foot bat disappears leaving just a crow on the tricycle. The crow speak English. The crow tells him, “find the documents, they took the hard drive, she’s likely dead. You have to find them.” The spinning worsens, he stumbles and falls. As he hits the ground he awakens. He is at the apartment again, in the bed that he thinks is his. “What the hell, what a weird dream. I must have really hit my head hard.” He turns his to see a crow outside on the ledge by the window.
Nomad part 6: Jolted
The nameless man, or “he of many names”, walks around the city blocks aimlessly. He knows the area but doesn't have a connection to any of it. Yes, Bleeker street is 3 blocks north and Main Street it 2 blocks east. Yet there are no memories of these streets, no personal experiences that he can muster up.
Did you go into that bodega often? What about the pizzeria across the street? What of these clothing stores? What do I prefer urban outfitters or the expensive suit store down the road? It is a strange feeling to know where you are but to not be familiar with your surroundings. A man yells out "John", he turns to see if the man was calling for him, he wasn't. Who am I? and what hit my head so hard? Where am I even going? Maybe I should go to the hospital and get my head checked out.
Two black Chevy Suburbans roll up and stop short. He pays them no mind. Two men wearing suits jump out of each truck and rush toward him. "Come with us," a man exclaims. He looks up and sees earpieces in each man’s ear. One man on each side of him grabs his arm. They walk with him towards the truck. "What are you guys doing? What the fuck?" He struggles as they continue to walk him toward the truck. Looking confused he switches his focus from one man to another, "What the hell, get off me" he says nervously. “Sleep,” he hears as he feels a pinch to his neck. Before he can turn around and say ouch he is thrown into the car and blacks out.
Faint voices can be heard in the darkness before he fades away again. An unknown amount of time passes as he can see a dim light before slipping into darkness again. Later, louder voices wake him. This time he can hear 3 different distinct voices. The voices stop as he regains consciousness. They wait for him to appear aware, and then the questions come rapid fire. “Where the hell have you been Ivo?” “What did you do with all of the assets?” “We haven’t been able to contact Mullins in days. Where is she?” “Did you take care of the targets?” Cluelessly, he looks at the people in front of him, “Ivo? That’s me, right?”
“They” interrogate him for hours. They ask him questions. They poke and prod him. The doctors come in and take tests and scans. They conclude that it is true, he does have amnesia. Five people sit around a conference table in the room next to him. One asks, “What do we do with him?” Two others respond at the same time, one says “release and watch him” the other says “dispose of him.” After a few moments they agree to let him go and put some eyes on him. The operating officers are brief on the plan to return him and given orders to put some surveillance on him. As they walk out one of the leaders from the meeting comes to an agent holding his arm as if to ask him to stay. They look at each other the leader simply states “he’s gotta go.”
He sits in the back seat with that very officer to the right of him. No words are spoken for miles. They drive into an area that appears post-apocalyptic. Many of the houses appear to have burned down, some have been demolished. There are rusted cars littering the streets. He looks over at the agent “Ivo is short for Ivoceno isn’t it?” The man next to him leans in close, the man’s arm reaches across him. The agent whispers into his ear “Yes it’s Ivoceno. I’m supposed to off you buddy. I can’t to do it. None of us in this car can. We owe you. I’m giving you a chance… get out.” The car never stops but it slows down slightly as it drives around a larger rusted bus sitting in the middle of the street. The agent opens the truck door and pushes Ivo out. Instinctively Ivo tucks and rolls softening the blow as he hits the ground. He rolls and ends in a kneeling position. His face changes from confused to focused. His eyes move rapidly for a moment. He thinks to himself, “that’s right it's Ivoceno, Ivoceno Rossini that is. I… remember.”
Flickr Post
Today
After the events at Templemore Cove, Ivo had to move on to the next city. He's hiding out in a motel room under a newly assumed name. Ivo has a whole new set of credentials. It pays to know people in the underground. You never know when government agencies need to remove an asset. You never know when it's your time to run.
Ivo sits on the bed as he empties his pockets. He opens his wallet an checks his license. We watch as ruffles through the passport. It reads, Edgardo Ruiz. "I could pass for an Edgardo," he shrugs. Ivo doesn't give it a second thought as he lays the passport on the dresser and lays down to bed. Hours later we see Ivo laying on the bed, his eyes closed and twitching as REM sleep begins.
Three Years ago
Ivo reaches for her elbow as she stands guard, pistol in hand, SMG at the ready.
"I got the portable wormhole," as he lifts the suitcase in his hand "let's get out of here before Carmine gets his wits about him," Ivo pulls her toward the cycle to the left of them.
"Where is he?" she asks.
"I clotheslined him off of his bike. He's over there by the strip club. I broke his thumb to get the cuffs he had connect to it off of him" he states proudly.
She looks at him puzzled, "it's a leather handle , couldn't you have just ripped the case from the handle?"
Bewildered he blushes and smiles , remembering where they are "let's go , let's go"
They jump on the one motorcycle. He steers while she sits behind then as they speed off.
She wraps her arm around his waist. She smiles at him before resting her head on his shoulder, wind in her hair, she mouths , "I love you."
Ivo smirks knowingly, as if he felt her lips on his back as she said it.
Six Years Ago
A young male cadet walks on the campus grounds. Alone , looking for someone to guide him to the proper starting point. A small amount of sweat drips down his forehead, his heart racing slightly. He missed the row of stanchions and signs telling him where to go. He found an older male with a decorated uniform who directed him to the proper line.
In Kawaii City and in the rest of the country that they live in, minimum age to apply for the police exam at 16 and to serve is 17. The same for the military. He is anxious, he's shaking but he has never been more confident of what he wanted to do with his life. Confidence, naivete, same difference. Ivo was going to take on whatever came his way, as long as he was in law enforcement.
Confetti comes down from the sky onto the 35 graduating members of the KPD police academy. Ivo and young lady share laughter and hugs. She's a petite 4 foot 11 (about 125 cm), brown hair, slim build, as slim as you can tell in the police uniform. They look at each other as they laugh. They turn to the new officers on the other side of them and hug them as well.
The dream sequence moves through the years. They quickly move up the ranks. Side by side, partners on the job, eventually lovers off the job. Quite frankly, lovers on the job sometimes also. They apply for federal positions. We still don't know who they work for because of the sensitive nature of what they do. They do it together. He's Clyde to her Bonnie. She's Crocket to his Tubbs. Harry Tasker to her Helen Tasker. Rachel to his Ross.
Dream sequence returns to Today.
He suddenly awakes and reaches out to the empty side of the bed. He blurts out ... "Cindy"