Nikki's room at State Hospital.
page: "Dr. David, telephone please. Dr. David, telephone please.
Dr. Blair, Dr. Blair,
Dr. J. Hamilton, Dr. J. Hamilton"
TV playing in the background.
News Broadcast: "...the Soviets...
In other news the bizarre murders of political
and religious leaders that have shocked this city
over the last month seemed to have ended as suddenly
as they began. No terrorist groups ... responsibility
for the slayings, but police have a suspect in custody
under observation in the State Hospital. His identity
is being withheld pending further investigation.
Sports and weather next."
Debbie: "It's ten minutes past curfew, why are you still up?
Hello? Hello?
Perhaps you need another shot.
Ah, that should do it.
Sweet Dreams,... you bastard."
Nikki: "I remember now, I remember how it started.
I can't remember yesterday, I just remember doing
what they told me..told me..told me..told me."
Anarchy-X
Weeks ago in Occidental Park, hundreds of people gathered for a political rally. There was a man shouting above all the others:
"Do we have freedom? Do we have equality? This country's changing! It is no longer for all of the people! It is for some of the people!"
The man's name? "Dr. X."
Revolution Calling
For a price I'd do about anything, except pull the trigger, for that I'd need a pretty good cause. Then I heard of Dr. X, the man with the cure, just watch the television, yeah, you'll see there's something going on. Got no love for politicians or that crazy scene in D.C. it's just a power mad town. But the time is ripe for changes. There's a growing feeling that taking a chance on a new kind of vision is due. I used to trust the media to tell me the truth, tell us the truth. But now I've seen the payoffs everywhere I look, who do you trust when everyone's a crook? Revolution calling, revolution calling, revolution calling you. Revolution calling, revolution calling. Gotta make a change, gotta push, gotta push it on through. I'm tired of all this bullshit they keep selling me on T.V. about the communist plan. And all the shady preachers begging for my cash, swiss bank accounts while giving their secretaries the slam. They're all in Penthouse now, or Playboy magazine, million dollar stories to tell. I guess Warhol wasn't wrong, fame fifteen minutes long, everyone's using everybody, making the sale. I used to think that only America's way, way was right. But now the holy dollar rules everybody's lives, gotta make a million doesn't matter who dies. Revolution calling, revolution calling, revolution calling you. Revolution calling, revolution calling. Gotta make a change, gotta push, gotta push it on through. I used to trust the media to tell me the truth, tell us the truth. But now I've seen the payoffs everywhere I look who do you trust when everyone's a crook? Revolution calling, revolution calling, revolution calling you. Revolution calling, revolution calling. Gotta make a change, gotta push, gotta push it on through. Revolution calling, revolution calling, revolution calling you. Revolution calling, revolution calling. Gotta make a change, gotta push, gotta push it on through.
....Ring!....Ring!
The phone hasn't stopped ringing since the hypnotic meeting with Dr. X. His plan is brilliant in its simplicity: assassination and replacement. He calls it, "Operation: Mindcrime," and Nikki is the key player.
Nikki has a weakness. He likes the needle. Dr. X makes sure Nikki feels good so he can do a good job. The chosen "Death Angel" is then easily manipulated through subliminal suggestion over the telephone. The password into Nikki's brain is "mindcrime."
Operation : Mindcrime
It just takes a minute and you'll feel no pain. Gotta make something of your life boy, give me one more vein. You've come to see the doctor cause I'll show you the cure. I'm gonna take away the questions, yeah, I'm gonna make you sure. A hit man for the order when you couldn't go to school, Had a skin job for a hairdo, yeah, you looked pretty cool. Had a habit doing mainline, watch the dragon burn. No regrets, you've got no goals, nothing more to learn. Now I know you won't refuse, because we've got so much to do, and you've got nothing more to lose. So take this number and welcome to Operation : mindcrime, We're an underground revolution working overtime. Operation : mindcrime, there's a job for you in the system boy, with nothing to sign. Hey Nikki you know everything that there is to do, here's a gun, take it home wait by the phone. We'll send someone over to bring you what you need. You're a one man death machine, make this city bleed. Now I know you won't refuse, because we've got so much to do, and you've got nothing more to lose. So take this number and welcome to Operation : mindcrime, We're an underground revolution working overtime. Operation : mindcrime, there's a job for you in the system boy, with nothing to sign. Operation : mindcrime, We're an underground revolution working overtime. Operation : mindcrime if you come to see the doctor yeah he'll give you the cure. Operation : mindcrime, make something of your life boy, let me into your mind. Operation : mindcrime, there's a job for you in the system boy, with nothing to sign.
Nikki was a loser. A street kid, left to fend for himself at a young age. He was independent, and unpredictable, but harmless. Except now he had a philosophy, and that made him dangerous.
"Revolution!" was the word on his lips as he stood in the streets and screamed, "Hey, listen to me!"
Speak
They've given me a mission, I don't really know the game yet. I'm bent on submission, religion is to blame. I'm the new messiah, death Angel with a gun. Dangerous in my silence, deadly to my cause. Speak to me the pain you feel. Speak the word, (Revolution) the word is all of us. I've given my life to become what I am, to preach the new beginning, to make you understand. To reach some point of order, Utopia in mind, you've got to learn to sacrifice, to leave what's now behind. Speak to me the pain you feel. Speak the word, the word is all of us. Speak the word, the word is all of us. Seven years of power, the corporation claw. The rich control the government, the media, the law. To make some kind of difference, then everyone must know, eradicate the fascists, revolution will grow. The system we learn says we're equal under law, but the streets are reality, the weak and poor will fall. Let's tip the power balance and tear down their crown, educate the masses, We'll burn the White House down. Speak to me, the pain you feel. Speak to me, the pain you feel. Speak the word, (Revolution) the word is all of us. Speak the word, (Revolution) the word is all of us.
Mary worked the S&M shows in Times Square.
At seventeen she met Father William, who arranged her cloister with "Our Lady of Immaculate Pain." A new life. A different way of living. Except for her debt with him, which was expected to be paid in full, weekly, "...on the altar. Like a sacrifice."
When she was eighteen, Father William introduced her to a man named Dr. X. Now she works for him.
Spreading the Disease
She always brings me what I need, without I beg and sweat and bleed. When we're alone at night, waiting for the call, she feeds my skin. Sixteen and on the run from home, found a job in Times Square working Live S&M shows. Twenty-five bucks a fuck and John's a happy man. She wipes the filth away and it's back on the streets again. Spreading the disease. Everybody needs, but no one wants to see. Father William saved her from the streets. She drank the lifeblood from the saviour's feet. She's Sister Mary now, eyes as cold as ice. He takes her once a week, on the alter like a sacrifice. Spreading the disease. Everybody needs, but no one wants to see. Religion and sex are powerplays. Manipulate the people for the money they pay. Selling skin, selling God, the numbers look the same on their credit cards. Politicians say no to drugs, while we pay for wars in Saudi Arabia. Fighting fire with empty words, while the banks get fat, and the poor stay poor. And the rich get rich, and the cops get paid to look away, as the one percent rules America. Spreading the disease. Everybody needs, but no one wants to see, the way society keeps spreading the disease.
Nikki spends quite a lot of time these days in his room; drawing gruesome, detailed depictions of his victims' deaths upon the dingy white walls.
Drowning in guilt, he sees Sister Mary as his only means to salvation. He lights another candle and flips through the TV channels one by one. The familiar face of Father William appears.
Is it wrong? Is it right?
....Ring!.....Ring!....."mindcrime!!"
Decision made.
News Broadcast: "...informing Washington, a technical violation of the 1972 ABM Treaty..."
Father William: "...I'm asking for hands to be uplifted in just a moment.
God the Holy Ghost is calling out to embrace you.
I want you to reach deep into your hearts and your pocketbooks
and take his hand.
Nikki: "Bless me father for I have sinned"
Father William: "Some of you are in a state of rebelllion right now
you're saying..."
The Mission
In the wooden chair, beside my window, I wear a face born in the falling rain. I talk to shadows from a lonely candle, recite the phrases from the wall, I can't explain this Holy pain. Six days ago my life had taken a tumble, the orders came from high above they say. A need to use me once again, they've got my number, further the cause boy, yes, you know the game. I'll wait here for days longer, till the sister comes to wash my sins away. She is the lady that can ease my sorrow, she brings the only friend that helps me find my way. I search the past back to a time when I was younger, a target for the new society. Picked to displace the leaders, countering objectives of this new underground reality. Waiting for days longer, till sister comes to wash my sins away. She is the lady who can ease my sorrow, my love for her will help me find my way. They'll say my mission saved the world. And I stood proud. My mission changed the world. It turned my life around. I look around my room is filled with candles, each one a story but they end the same. I'll hide away in here, the law will never find me, the walls will tell the story of my pain. Waiting for days longer, till sister comes to wash my sins away. She is the lady who can ease my sorrow, she sets the pace for my delivery of pain They'll say my mission saved the world. And I stood proud My mission changed the world. The underground will rise and save this world we'll all stand proud. Our mission changed the world, we'll change the world. We'll all stand proud.
A long, satin black sedan slides to a stop in front ot Nikki. The rain, beading on the dark, tinted windows, distorts his reflection. Bemused by his melting facial features, he's startled as the electric window descends revealing the smiling face of Dr. X.
Dr. X.: "Kill her, that's all you have to do."
Nikki: "Kill Mary?"
Dr. X.: "She's a risk. And get the priest as well."
Suite Sister Mary
10 P.M., I feel the rain coming down. My face feels the wet, my mind the storm. Flashing lights as people race to find shelter from the pour. Moving silent, through the streets, they're mine. They're mine. Midnite, she sings praises in the hall, to saintly faces hallowed be their names she can't recall. Sister Mary, Virgin Mary, silent with her sin. (Background) Mary: "What are you doing out in the rain?" She feels me, I can taste her breath when she speaks. (Background) Mary: "I've been waiting for you. Come in." Nikki: Mary, Mary just a whore for the underground. They made you pay in guilt for your salvation. Thought you had them fooled? Now they've sent me for you. You know too much for your own good. Don't offer me faith, I've got all I need here. My faith is growing, growing tight against the seam. What we need is trust, to keep us both alive. Help us make it through the night. Mary: I've no more want of any faith. Bind my arm and feed my mind. The only peace I've ever known, I'll close my eyes and you shoot. Nikki: No Mary, listen, you've got to pull your strength from my lips, I pray I feed you well. Your precious cross is gone, it made me wait so long for what you gave to everyone. The priest is cold and dead. On his knees he fed From my barrel of death, he turned the Holy water red. As he died he said thank you. I just watched him bleed. Mary: I feel the flow, the blessed stain. Sweating hands like fire, and flames burn my thighs, spread in sacrificial rite. The hallowed altar burns my flesh once more tonight. Mary, sweet lady of pain, always alone. Blind, you search for the truth. I see myself in you, parallel lives. Winding at light-speed through time. Nikki: No time to rest yet. We've got to stop his game before madness has the final laugh. Too much bloodshed. We're being used and fed, like rats in experiments. No final outcome here, only pain and fear. It's followed us both all our lives. There's one thing left to see, will it be him or me? There's one more candle left to light. Mary: Don't turn your back on my disgrace. The blood of Christ can't heal my wounds...so deep. The sins of man are all I taste, can't spit the memory from my mind. I can't cry anymore. Mary, my lady of pain, always alone. Blind, you search for the truth. I see myself in you, parallel lives. Winding at light-speed through time, you're mine.
Father William lay crumpled on the stairs leading to the sanctuary.
Mary watches in disgust as her lover Nikki's troubled face dissolves into the leering, drooling face of the priest huffing and puffing above her. "...Altar...sacrifice..." something snaps inside her head. Nikki feels the coldness overtake her. He pulls away, vowing to kill Dr. X and set them both free of their master's manipulations.
Pulling closed the huge door behind him, he stumbles into the rainy night to keep his appointment with his "maker."
Nikki: "I've had enough and I want OUT!"
Dr. X.: "You can't walk away now."
The Needle Lies
I looked back once and all I saw was his face smiling, the needle crying. Walking out of his room with mirrors, afraid I heard him scream. "You'll never get away." Cold and shaking, I crawled down alleys to try and scrape away the tracks that marked me. Slammed my face into walls of concrete, I stared, amazed at the words written on the wall Don't ever trust, don't ever trust the needle. It lies. Don't ever trust, don't ever trust the needle when it cries, cries your name. Wet and raving, the needle keeps calling me back, to bloody my hands forever. Carved my cure with the blade that left me in scars. Now every time I'm weak, words scream from my arm. Don't ever trust, don't ever trust the needle. It lies. Don't ever trust, don't ever trust the needle when it cries, cries your name. Don't ever trust, don't ever trust the needle. It lies. Don't ever trust, don't ever trust the needle when it cries, cries your name
After Nikki leaves, Mary is plagued by the vision of Nikki turning into Father William. As they made love on the altar, the memories came flooding back. Years filled with men who has used her, degraded and beaten her, and driven their hatred and coldness into her heart. Once, she thought Nikki was her hope. But now he seemed like all the rest.
She hated him. She hated men. She hated life.
"Anybody home?" Unable to shake his addiction, and feeling beaten in his confrontation with Dr. X, Nikki returns. "Mary?" He finds her dead in her room.
Nikki: "Anybody home? Mary?"
Electric Requiem
Even in death you still look sad. Don't leave me. Don't leave me...here. I want what you feel, believe me. Turn the current on.
Unable to accept Mary's death, Nikki runs like a raving madman through the streets calling her name. Everywhere he looks he sees her face.
Breaking The Silence
They told me to run, but just how far can I go wearing the black mask of fear? The hate in my eyes always gives me away. The tension building slowly, now I lost everything I had in you. Nothing we shared means a thing, without you close to me. I can't live without you. Breaking the silence of the night, can't you hear me screaming? I look for your face in the neon light, you never answer me. There's no direction to my stare. No more flame burning in my heart anymore. Quiet, I keep it to myself, until the sun sets slowly. I hear your voice in the evening rain calling. Nothing will keep us apart. No more lies and fear. There's no end to our story. Breaking the silence of the night, can't you hear me screaming? I look for your face in the neon light, you never answer. I could make all the wrong seem right, if you were by my side. I'd gather all the tears you cried, and hide them deep underground. Can't look back, it's just a waste of time. Can't erase this hate from my eyes. Breaking the silence of the night, through the streets I'm screaming. Looking for you in the neon light, why don't you answer me? Breaking the silence with my cries, can't you hear me screaming? We could make all this wrong seem right, but you never answer me.
The police arrest Nikki. The charges are: disorderly conduct, carrying a concealed weapon without a license, and resisting arrest. They know he's a junkie because of the tracks on his arms. His weapon also matches the one used in a string of recent killings. Nikki isn't making much sense now, babbling on about perverted priests, some kind of covert operation, and not believing in love.
I Don't Believe In Love
I awoke on impact, under surveillance from the camera eye, searching high and low. The criminal mind found at the scene of the crime, handcuffed and blind, I didn't do it. She said she loved me, I guess I never knew. But do we ever, ever really know? She said she'd meet me on the other side, but I knew right then, I'd never find her. I don't believe in love. I never have, I never will. I don't believe in love. It's never worth the pain that you feel. No more nightmares, I've seen them all. From the day I was born, they've haunted my every move. Every open hand's there to push and shove. No time for love. It doesn't matter. She made a difference, I guess she had a way of making every night seem bright as day. Now I walk in shadows, never see the light. She must have lied 'cause she never said goodbye. I don't believe in love. I never have, I never will. I don't believe in love. I'll just pretend she never was real. I don't believe in love. I need to forget her face, I see it still. I don't believe in love. It's never worth the pain that you feel. No chance for contact, there's no raison d'etre. My only hope is one day I'll forget, the pain of knowing what can never be. With or without love it's all the same to me. I don't believe in love. I never have, I never will. I don't believe in love. I'll just pretend she never was real. I don't believe in love. I need to forget her face, I see it still. I don't believe in love. It's never worth the pain that you feel.
Waiting For 22
Left alone, Nikki thinks of Mary; of the night she died, and why. He wonders about his future. Who will be there to care for him and be his friend?
My Empty Room
Empty room today, and here I sit. Chalk outline upon the wall, I remember tracing it a thousand times, the night she died. Why? There's no sleep today. I can't pretend when all my dreams are crimes. I can't stand facing them. Now who will come to wash away my sins, clean my room, fix my meals, be my friend?
Charged with several murders, Nikki is committed to State Hospital to overcome his addiction.
Awaiting trial, he suffers insomnia and is delerious. Searching through his past, he tries to find reasons for his actions and his weaknesses. Staring into the mirror, he sees a stranger.
page: "Dr. Blair, Dr. Blair,
Dr. J. Hamilton, Dr. J Hamilton"
Eyes Of A Stranger
All alone now except for the memories of what we had and what we knew. Everytime I try to leave it behind me, I see something that reminds me of you. Every night the dreams return to haunt me. Your rosary wrapped around your throat. I lie awake and sweat, afraid to fall asleep. I see your face looking back at me. And I raise my head and stare into the eyes of a stranger. I've always known that the mirror never lies. People always turn away from the eyes of a stranger, afraid to know what lies behind the stare. Is this all that's left of my life before me? Straight jacket memories, sedative highs. No happy ending like they've always promised. There's got to be something left for me. And I raise my head and stare into the eyes of a stranger. I've always known that the mirror never lies. People always turn away from the eyes of a stranger, afraid to know what lies behind the stare. How many times must I live this tragedy? How many more lies will they tell me? All I want is the same as everyone. Why am I here, and for how long? And I raise my head and stare into the eyes of a stranger. I've always known that the mirror never lies. People always turn away from the eyes of a stranger, afraid to know what lies behind the stare.
Nikki's room at State Hospital.
Nikki: "I remember now."
1997 Dragon Graphics