Episode 12: Death, Sex, and Milwaulkee (Part 3)

"The fact that you have recovered this disk means that you have either agreed to my terms or I am already dead. All of the information contained herein is, as I have stated, completely true, gleaned either from my time with the Millennium Religions or the time I spent watching them in my exile. I have tried to take as impersonal a stance as possible and present each group in an unbiased light."

"As of now it is a safe bet that the Millennium Religions have saturated the United States, where they began, and are beginning to spread to other countries. In my estimation they will be worldwide by the end of the decade. They have already begun pulling strings in the institutions of religion, government, and business, and if you think they don’t have some grasp on your own august Church, you people are clearly more self-deluded that the rest of the world believes. Still, I know you are a practical man, Cardinal D’Ambrizzi, so I will give you the benefit of the doubt."

"By now you have seen me perform miracles and Transcend across The Breach, so whatever skepticism you may have had about my own divinity will have been erased. The rest you will have to take my word on, but that shouldn’t be too hard for a man in your position. After all, I am the Son of God. Maybe not the firstborn, but we can’t have everything, now, can we?"

"I don’t know what you plan to do with this information, and frankly, I don’t care. The dogma of your Church clearly precludes most of the truth, and there’s a lot more going on here than you have any hope of destroying in some retarded attempt at a cover-up. Another Inquisition would mark your own suicide, as well you know. A lot has changed since the middle ages, but you people can use this information to your serious advantage if you play your cards right."

"This information has remained under wraps for several reasons. Let’s pretend, for a minute, one could convince society of the truth, and that this tale of divine conspiracy was not the rantings of an atavistic, fanatical institution. Public opinion would not favor the Apostate or the Sanhedrin in the modern world, and both groups would be rapidly shut down, most likely in a violent and bureaucratic manner by the masses. Fame on Earth has never fared well for Messiahs in the past and there’s no reason to believe that this has changed. Press of any sort is at distinct cross purposes with the new Apostles’ plans. There are operatives on both sides of the Last Exodus ready to kill any story that may make it to light, and the Millennium Religions’ fanatics haven’t had two thousand years of inactivity to diminish their faith or conviction."

"In closing, the information presented here is not for everyone. I trust you to keep this information under lock and key, and I somehow doubt this is the first time that it has weighed incumbent upon Vatican to keep a secret. To utilize a particularly dreary cliché in this instance, I have faith in you to do the right thing. And I expect to be well-compensated for my efforts."

Yours,
Nigel Huxley "

From a Letter to Cardinal Niccolo D’Ambrizzi, Vatican City, 6/22/00

I was looking out the front doors of the Wyndham Milwaukee, waiting for a cab and trying to clear the drunken haze from my spinning skull. Rain spattered the glass in time with the knots in my stomach.

Peter was in the hospital.

Not two days after I had received the transcripts of Gideon’s information on the Antichrists, two men cornered Peter and Clayton down by the Milwaukee river. They spared Clayton, but Peter had been hit in the stomach so hard it damaged his internal organs. They didn’t ask any questions and didn’t take anything. This had clearly been a warning.

I had just gotten home from a drunken night at the Safehouse, laughing with Gareth and toasting our Success. I stumbled into our hotel room to be greeted by glum faces and quiet voices.

"What&?" I asked as my smiled faded.

"Peet’s in the hospital. He got jumped."

"You’re kidding."

"Jumped? " Asked Gareth. "He got beat up?"

Delmar nodded.

"Why, what happened?"

"Don’t know."

But I knew.

I watched the crappy weather outside.

"Okay, get up. We’re going to go get Peet." Josh said from behind me.

But&I got a cab coming"

"No time. Let's go."

We sat in the cab and stared out the windshield as Milwaukee zipped by.

"So what have we got?"

"What?"

Josh sniffed. "The stuff you got. We should have all of the information, now,

lay it on me. What have we got?"

I closed my eyes.

"The Last Exodus.

Two Gods- the one who created man, who lives in Heaven, and the one who man created, who lives on Earth - have been battling for supremacy since before the Old Testament. In the past it has always weighed incumbent on certain individuals to carry out the orders of these Gods- Guys like Abraham, Moses, Jesus and Mohammed. Something went wrong with the final test, and the girl chosen to be the Messiah was killed in the Bosnian conflict of the early nineties. The powers that be panicked and chose to awaken every potential Messiah and Antichrist (apparently, these Gods, collectively known as the Demiurge, have been procreating like mad for the past century or so) for a final war in the new Millennium. Each God chose six people to act as leaders for their various Religions, which are brand new here on Earth, but have existed in Eden for centuries. These Religions exist to find and awaken any Messiah or Antichrist they can. "

"And those are the Sanhedrin and The Apostate."

"Yes. The Sanhedrin, which is based on Earth, is comprised of the Chain, a cult of occultists and scholars, The Crush, a pack of rapists and perverts, The Firm, a cadre of fatcats and financiers, the Horde, a swarm of fanatics and bigots, The Institute, a cell of scientists and researchers, and The Regime, a battalion of warriors and killers.

On the other hand, there’s the Apostate, which is based in Eden, and consists of The Alliance, a group of survivors and vigilantes, The Congregation, a Ba’Hai-like conglomeration of faiths, The Chamber, a collection of Freaks and rejects, The Order, a faction Of Webheads and techno-artists, The Squad, a gang of urban types and disaffected youth, and the Underground, a cell of artistic revolutionaries."

"So we got that right."

"Pretty much."

"Tell me about Eden."

"This was a lot sketchier- It’s where souls live, it’s where you go when you die, unless you are a Messiah or Antichrist, in which case you can come and go as you please . There is an infinite variety of souls, which can be anything from angels to robots to elves to giant frogs. Souls eat, drink, screw, piss and do just about everything we do except die- so Eden is a little crowded at times. The locals break themselves down into Soul Orders- twelve hazy categories into which all souls fit somewhere. There’s Bestials, the animal souls, Cerebrals- thoughts and concepts personified, Created- Souls crafted by other souls, Dominion- angels, Elementals, substances given form, Enlightened, ordinary shmoes who are unchanged by passage to Eden, Karmics- near-superhuman heroes and villains, Infernals- Demons, Nobles, Dragons, elves, and all things Fae, Outsiders, alien souls from other planets, Primordials, lesser gods, and Typhonians- mysteries and nightmares somewhere between angels and demons. "

"And everyone on Earth has a soul?"

"And very few will ever learn what it looks like."

"So what is Eden like?"

"It a realm outside of our perception, built on clouds and brimstone, that is both Heaven and Hell and everything else. In connects to our world through dreams, so for example, the Midwestern United States is the Land of Oz, Britain is Avalon, The Middle East is Samarkand, and Xanadu lines the Pacific Rim. There’s all sorts of cool funky crap to screw around with in Eden like flying cars and boats, flaming holy swords, magic and psionics."

"Okay. Is it playable?"

"Well, we’re using the card-based system we talked about with Gareth to make transition between live and tabletop play nonexistent. Character creation is a breeze- there are only four Stats and the rest is all advantages, disadvantages, and proficiencies. I’d say yes. "

"Is it worth Peter catching a shot to the gut that could potentially have him crapping his guts again?"

"I hope so."

Peter and Frankie Bonz stood in front of the hospital like a couple of war heroes. I smiled sheepishly as we pulled up.

"Need a ride?" I asked.

"That SUCKED." Peet groaned as he eased into the seat. "I feel like I ate glass."

We drove in quiet.

Finally, I snapped.

"Should we do as the say? Should we stop writing?"

Peet turned around and looked me in the eye.

"Sean, I got jumped by two guys for this book."

"Yeah&?"

"SO if you stop writing NOW I’ll have to kick your ass. And I’ll have everyone else in the town help me."

It was what I needed to hear. I looked over Gideon and Nick’s sheets again, humming and making little notes in the borders.

When I got back to the hotel there was a message waiting.

"Sean.

Got to Jersey before Institute found Hospital with Nicole. She is safe now. We’re looking forward to having you back. Kick ass at Gen Con. Get home soon.

-NVZ"

I was certain I would return to find those two something more than friends, an idea I didn’t relish. I’m sure jealousy had a lot to do with it, too, which made me think for about how clear I was on my feelings for Nicole. And for Nick.

Meanwhile, Josh, Peet, and Frank made their way upstairs while discussing the relative merits of walking automatically the dogger and whether to or not to decompose the yo-yo. I grinned.

For the time being, we were still the good guys.