The Man Who Stole From Yesterday

The Man Who Stole From Yesterday was written by Robert Jenson for the fanzine The Bronze Gazette #13, October 1994.

In a packed concert hall, a mysterious old man sits silently in the front row as a charismatic speaker named Ronald Rass prepares to deliver his message of power and enlightenment. The audience is entranced by Rass’s charm and promises of transformation, but one man in the crowd isn’t there to be inspired. As the evening unfolds, reality and illusion begin to blur, leading to a confrontation that will challenge everything the audience believes about truth, faith, and the heroes we choose to follow.

Rass worked the room with charm. He didn’t need to rant and rave like a revival tent show. He exuded a common sense wisdom, sprinkled with revamped Tao Teh Ching. His audience was upper income, who probably thought themselves intelligent. Educated, but open-minded. For the most part, they probably were. Yet even the brightest may feel the need for a few instructions in the job of existing. And Ronald Rass was here to do just that.

— The Man Who Stole From Yesterday