PHILOSOPHY OF FEAR

Emotions are very powerful. Anger. Sadness. Awe. Regret. Many people describe being overcome by emotions, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation or attack. Teenage girls crying tears of happiness when they meet their boyband idols, a child being left starstruck by a man in a Barney the Dinosaur costume at the local supermarket.

Regret powers some of the stupidest decisions in the history of mankind. Lust powers the rest. A lust for love. A lust for life. A lust for power.

But through all of this, it is true that emotion is a very powerful thing. I enjoy toying with the emotions of the peons that surround me and one of my favourite emotions to play with is FEAR.

It was drilled into me at an early age that instilling fear brings you rewards. My father used to keep me and my brother in line with threats and warnings, which occasionally spilled over into an act of physical violence. Nothing I couldn’t handle. I could see what he wanted from me and Caleb. I became strong enough to give him that, and Caleb didn’t.

And so, when Mysterion was born, I had the perfect platform to start my plans. Make the powerful players FEAR ME, and they would soon come begging to help me achieve what I needed. That’s why I took on the Vindicators all those months ago. That’s why I hacked Gameboy. Fear brings people in line. Fear brings power and respect.

But some people, like Jessie Martin, don’t fear me. Jessie Martin doesn’t have the capacity for fear, because Jessie is a construct inside the head of Glen Pearson, purposefully designed to omit the ability to fear. When Glen is Jessie he simply can’t fear me.

And whilst this poses a quandary for my usual methods of intimidation, I promise you all that this is much worse for Jessie. Without fear, this is no trigger point. Without fear, Jessie cannot comprehend how much danger he is in. I have KILLED. If he has no ability to be afraid of that then he is susceptible to that very same fate.

So I won’t hold back. Holding back won’t achieve anything, because holding back is only a negotiation tactic based on the fear of more punishment. This week I go all in on Jessie, and show him exactly what I’m capable of. I’ll put him out of his misery, and make him wish he’d been Glen all along, just so he could have seen this coming and learned to fear me like others do.

The problem with being asleep on the job Jessie, is that you’ve missed the safety announcement.

Red warning, Mysterion on the war path! Evacuate! Evacuate!

And all the while you sit there, drool slipping from the corners of your prone mouth as it all passes you by – the Homer Simpson of the OSW, the nuclear power plant falling into chaos behind you.

And you’d better believe I’m going nuclear, baby!