Skyscraper

CIA officer Isaac Satan is on-vacation to attend his wife's office-party at the immaculately built new Nakatomi skyscraper in L.A. but must contend with dogged terrorism!

One more fable before signing off, a skyscraper vignette, action-adventure oriented, and more or less politically neutral and fun, inspired by one of my favorite movies, Die Hard and honoring the architectural trauma of 9/11 which reminded us all of the worldly frailty of modern dangers! Thanks so much for reading (and enjoy!),

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CIA officer Isaac Satan was off duty from his work in Belfast (Northern Ireland) and visiting the U.S. city of Los Angeles where his Irish-American wife Shelbye Collins was co-hosting an office-party for the Namco company at the new Nakatomi skyscraper. Isaac worked in Belfast bridging Sinn Fein with Parliament in the United Kingdom and trying to eliminate rogue terrorism directed at civilian targets in Northern Ireland and the undesirable retaliatory frustration-induced British police violence. Now, Isaac just wanted to celebrate his wife's office party at the new Nakatomi skyscraper. Isaac, an Algerian-American, had relatives involved in the seminal FLN revolution against French colonial rule in Algeria and was drawn to the Protestant-Catholic troubles in Belfast. He married Shelbye, an Irish-American, whom he met in college. Isaac was ready for a needed vacation and was thinking about a post-CIA life of retirement with his wife.

Isaac got off his Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to L.A. and was escorted towards the Nakatomi skyscraper in a taxi-limo sent by his wife and her boss Mr. Nakatomi. He was impressed by the color and lights of L.A. and the immaculate grandeur of the Nakatomi skyscraper which stood high above the L.A. skyline. Isaac remarked at the architectural splendor of the skyscraper, which was made almost entirely of glass. This was great American architecture, and Isaac was surprisingly excited about his wife's office-party, despite the fact that he rarely socialized. He wanted to spend this party-time with his wife Shelbye at the Nakatomi skyscraper.

There was grand entertainment at the Nakatomi building honoring the christening of the new Namco company. There was a recruited team of Spanish dancers. Isaac Satan remarked at the organization of the party at the skyscraper and its various levels of media and celebrity and social entertainment. There were great drinks and appetizers, and Isaac complimented his wife Shelbye for helping to organize such an ambitious event in L.A.

There were also celebrities at the Namco/Nakatomi event in L.A. that day/night. Luminous movie and TV actors and actresses were on-hand to toast the opening of the immaculate skyscraper. These celebrities were known for their contributions to culturally iconic media programs that were appealing to a broad range of people and age groups. Nakatomi wanted this media event to toast the modern world's celebration of new age capitalism and urbanization.

Super-celebrity Tom Cruise (American Made) was also invited to attend and brought one of his movie-actor buddies to the opening after completing his new espionage film which was shot in Auckland. Tom showed up in sunglasses and was obviously a magnetic personality at the Namco/Nakatomi event at the new skyscraper in L.A. Mr. Nakatomi noted that the press generated by this urban event would accent the modern world's commitment to new forms of commerce and media in the 21st Century.

There was also of course excellent outdoor street cop security and patrols and indoor building guardsmanship. There was to be a safe party and hosting of this Namco event at the new skyscraper. The cops and guards assigned to patrol and monitor the event were to make sure that there was no potential threat of unpredictable anarchy or riots or break-ins of anything worse for that matter. Isaac Satan was himself impressed by this sort of police and security at the otherwise fun event in L.A.

However, there was not just sunshine at the city. There was a rogue band of IRA terrorists calling themselves the Diamond-Daggers (DD) who wanted to infiltrate the Nakatomi skyscraper and steal the gold and diamonds held in its vault-room as a message against the capitalism biases in the modern world which led social leaders and the United Nations to ignore the deep Protestant-Catholic divisions in the UK in preference for the more 'capital' issue of petroleum-politics related Israel-Palestine news. The DD terrorists were masked and armed and wanted to create hell in the press at the new skyscraper.

When Isaac heard machine-gun fire in the hallways of the office-party while he was momentarily in his private room washing up, he realized that IRA related rogue terrorists/bandits had infiltrated the Nakatomi skyscraper to create terrorism fright that day during the media studded event. Isaac decided to crawl inside the ventilation ducts in the room of the skyscraper and wriggle his way through the labyrinth of the skyscraper to disarm the DD terrorists while FBI/CIA men were dealing with negotiations with the terrorists/bandits from outside the building. Isaac knew the IRA and Parliament were embroiled in heavy issues since 2000, and these rogue terrorists calling themselves the 'DD' obviously represented new age anarchy.

The leaders of the DD Isaac noted were actually unarmed men who were well-dressed but armed. These leaders of the terrorist tribe controlled the office-party crowds while the other masked DD terrorists/bandits went about their work setting traps and explosives all around the skyscraper and its rooftop so the FBI could not enter easily. Isaac was spying on everything during this set-up and noticed that the DD leaders were ironically very serious about stealing the gold and diamonds held in the Nakatomi skyscraper vault-room.

When the FBI sent a helicopter with machine-guns to the Nakatomi skyscraper rooftop, the DD terrorists stationed there set off huge bombs to derail the initiative. Isaac watched this and decided to spring into action and grabbed the DD terrorists on the rooftop one-by-one, using a hand-knife he stole from the Nakatomi kitchen room and cutting their throats and then taking their machine-guns for his own arsenal. Isaac then sprayed machine-gun fire on the remaining DD terrorists on the rooftop, even after FBI choopers were chased away by the flames.

Outside the Nakatomi skyscraper, crowds assembled and lit vigil-oriented candle-lights and wore masks after the DD leader announced he'd launch chemical gas in the sky from the skyscraper rooftop if these crowds attempted to help the police by storming the building. As the helpless crowds looked on with their vigil, CIA officer Isaac Satan continued his work to try to disarm the DD terrorists/bandits one-by-one. No one knew what the outcome would be, since the entire terrorist ordeal reminded all Americans of 9/11.

As Isaac Satan become a one-man hero-cop show, an LAPD officer named Dwayne was using his cop-car CB radio to tell his cop-pals in L.A. that a lone-hero from the CIA was inside the immaculate skyscraper trying to disorient the DD terrorist tribe one-by-one. This was high-stakes drama, but there was a great tone of ironic patriotism, since everyone wanted to just forget about the horror of 9/11. Isaac was indeed like a comic book hero inside the Nakatomi skyscraper.

MR. NAKATOMI: You mean you terrorists just want to steal our diamonds and gold?

IRA DD LEADER: Who said we're terrorists, Mr. Nakatomi?
MR. NAKATOMI: You obviously want to send some anti-capitalism message with this stunt!

IRA DD LEADER: I assure you, sir, if we get what we need and want, all will be shiny in your building.

MR. NAKATOMI: I suppose I have no choice but to direct you to the vault-room.

IRA DD LEADER: Excellent!

Meanwhile, Isaac Satan continued to hunt down the DD terrorists/bandits one-by-one who were stationed all over the Nakatomi skyscraper during the L.A. event which was supposed to be a media celebration. Isaac had become like Roy Rogers or John Wayne or RoboCop, trying to use his wits and agility to disarm the terrorists from inside, since the FBI/CIA from outside were completely helpless! The news-reporters flooding the area outside the skyscraper called Isaac the American daredevil!

Isaac Satan's wife Shelbye Collins was a fashion-model showcasing some lingerie designs for the Nakatomi organization before she was promoted to a more executive position after impressing her boss Mr. Nakatomi. However, now she just prayed her wild and crazy and daring CIA husband Isaac Satan would come out safe and unharmed and miraculously manage to help the FBI/CIA disarm these deadly rogue IRA DD terrorists inside the skyscraper. Isaac made sure none of the terrorists knew who exactly his wife was or for that matter who he was, since he didn't want them to discover Shelbye's ties for him.

Isaac collected the guns and weapons and ammo from the IRA DD terrorists/bandits he wrestled and tackled one-by-one. He then used these weapons against the more banded terrorists who were standing as a team. At one point, he had to perform a shoot-out in the skyscraper elevator shaft with about 5 of the terrorists (there were 20 in all!) who realized that Isaac was some kind of CIA officer who was invited to the Namco/Nakatomi office-party at the immaculate skyscraper. Isaac made sure he was very conservative with his collected gunfire. He was working his way up the ladder of the terrorists' leadership-chain.

Isaac then crawled out the building and jumped out the window onto a construction crane and used his pistol to fire at the two IRA DD co-leaders who were then standing on the skyscraper rooftop. Isaac then jumped back off the construction crane outside the skyscraper window and back into the building itself. However, a deadly IRA DD terrorist was waiting for him inside the window when he got back inside, a lethal lunatic named Sean Grady, whom Isaac had to wrestle for 20 minutes before managing to break his neck.

The Nakatomi skyscraper was truly something to behold. When Isaac found some blueprints of comparable buildings Mr. Nakatomi kept in his personal office for studies of modern American corporate architecture, Isaac knew he'd have to pull off some gifted artistry to defeat these infiltrating terrorists inside the immaculate skyscraper. Isaac knew he'd have to have something like a '3rd eye' for urban dexterity for his heroic mission.

IRA DD LEADER: I can't believe you're attempting all this, Mr. Cowboy!
ISAAC: I have to protect America from this kind of evil.
IRA DD LEADER: We just want the gold and diamonds, Mr. Cowboy.
ISAAC: So, you're just thieves with a handkerchief.
IRA DD LEADER: We're excellent thieves, and we won't be defeated by you!
ISAAC: We'll see.
IRA DD LEADER: You underestimate the design of our grave rhetoric.

Isaac made his way to the inner-lair of the IRA DD leader Thomas Collins who was a beared man in suit-and-tie and was holding his wife Shelbye Collins hostage! Isaac revealed to Thomas that Shelbye was indeed his wife and that he was a CIA officer stationed in Belfast before coming to L.A. to attend his wife's Nakatomi party at the skyscraper. Thomas laughed and told Isaac that this was a 'crook coincidence' indeed, but just then, Isaac took out a knife hidden in his pants and threw it at Thomas' knee before hurling himself towards the terrorist leader and throwing him out the window of the Nakatomi skyscraper. The sight was unforgettable.

ISAAC SATAN: I'm just incredibly grateful this disaster was avoided and I came out safe with my hard-working wife Shelbye Collins who was equally grieved at the trauma created by the terrorists and bandits from Northern Ireland who just wanted to create panic at the grand skyscraper and ruin everyone's time; so I'm just honored to be the 'Mr. Cowboy' who managed to create some necessary darkness for the city of Los Angeles and my wife, Shelbye! That's all I have to say about this whole ordeal.

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"Money is everything" (Ecclesiastes)

Reviews

[Kari Rakitan]

You've painted a very interesting scene here, and the images help set the mood.

Try avoiding forms of the verb “to be” such as is, are, was, were, etc. This is known as passive language. Using more colorful verbs can greatly strengthen your writing.

Money is indeed a common motivation for why criminals do what they do, but I don't feel it is quite enough of a motivation to cause a disruption in this manner. It makes the criminals look flat, and that makes it easy to hate them, but it's more entertaining if the adversary has some other motivations. Even criminals are human. In the case of organized crime, there's a drive to please to boss and to uphold the reputation of the organization. In the case of free agents, many of them were abused as children, rejected by society, and perhaps they even believe the world owes them something.

I understand you want to keep this politically neutral, but there is so much untapped potential here to explore some of the depths of human emotion. There are many ways you can do that without getting political.

I'd like to add that money only represents the things you can buy/do with it. Is the criminal trying to cover basic living expenses, or do they have a lust for certain objects. You can explore this in subtle ways by dropping hints about the criminal's socioeconomic status.

[wordman]

great adventure story my friend,a great novel maybe