As Scope had opted to spend more time in Seattle, he had arranged for a digital mobile support unit to be on hand so that he could monitor the nuclear arsenal that he was responsible for back in Vermont. He had a team of fifty people who looked after the storage of the missiles and when Jasmine showed an interest in this area, he made her au-fait with missile types, distance, potency and radioactivity. When he communicated with his crew back in Vermont, he would place his left hand on a computerised register screen to begin or end his access. That read his DNA via his skin status and his pore density. After a few weeks he initiated Jasmine into his support team as an invited member. Her left hand, iris-match and speech pattern were all inbuilt into the register screen database and as she toured the digital Nuke Site online, she discovered that Scope had created prioritised access for her in all areas barring the C.O.T.O subsection. One morning she asked about the nature of this excluded area.
“What does C.O.T.O stand for Scope?”
Coils Of The Overkill. It basically highlights the potential options concerning an all-out nuclear war.”
“What do you mean potential?”
“Each missile has been given a potential status that measures a target-strike likelihood. So if for example a missile had a Moscow (4) status, it only has an outside chance of detonating in Moscow. Other factors would probably thwart the progress of this missile. If a missile conversely has a Moscow (1) status, an outright successful nuclear strike is very likely. Every missile has a journey to undertake that is digitally assured from it's inset and the more grade (1) projections we get the more likely we are to win an Overkill situation. In our worst envisaged situation, an Overkill would involve significant Nuclear arsenal usage where many missiles are used by all sides. In effect that would almost certainly signify our end - a total wipe-out.”
Jasmine found C.O.T.O fascinating and so she reeled off another key question.
“So in that context what could trigger C.O.T.O and make the missiles start to fly.”
“Some country going past the agitation stage and firing first. Everyone has always assumed that Russia will start things off , but China, North Korea and a range of other rogue countries could well be the catalyst - even we could!”
“We are hardly whiter than white are we ?”
Scope then took Jasmine on an extended virtual tour of some of the missiles and he explained 'blocking options' as a method to thwart incoming missiles. He even indicated at this stage that America could fire from the space of another country, triggering conflicts in distant regions making a country believe that it had been fired upon by another country. This he called a 'bluff-strike’ and he said that it had taken place twice under his watch. In short he said America gets what America wants and he wasn’t holding anything back from Jasmine.
He kept returning to a Peking (5) site and eventually explained why.
“This site looks as though it is hardly front-line in terms of it's danger to the States - I mean it carries a (5) status right now. The thing is though, the Chinese keep altering it's status by bringing in the Heavy-Nukes. As a result last month they were up to a (2) and we had to shift some of our long range Nukes in Idaho to match them. They are playing cat and mouse with us really, but at least it keeps us sharp in the process. Moving the big Nukes around always carries a potential for problems and the Chinese know it. They are like a little man prodding Goliath!”
Jasmine continued with another question.
“Who has clearance to launch a missile?”
“As the Head of the Military I could in my own right, but otherwise it will be determined by The President, a Security chief like Kyra and a Humanitarian - overseer. The latter is thus a form of three-way approval. During the Salt Lake nuking a while back, I let Kyra take lead for once, but I feel that the President is starting to see through William now, so I would be pivotal if something similar were to happen again.”
The couple developed a greater understanding of each other's nuclear motivations in the ensuing weeks and both of them really enjoyed working things through together. After quite a short learning process Scope decided that it was time to raise the profile of Jasmine in military circles.
“You'll be pleased to know that I have cleared you in nearly all nuclear-sensitive areas now I put your name forward for a position of a Humanitarian Overseer and this was uncontested. So there you go Jasmine - welcome aboard.”
So it was decided that Jasmine undertook a new role at the behest of the third devil. He was the antithesis of his two brothers though displaying humility, decency and a soulful passion for doing the right thing. As time advanced, Jasmine felt a real bond with him and this magnified with each sharing experiences together. She enjoyed travelling around Seattle with Scope on the Open Tram Network and they would regularly use this method of transport to get about. The day before they were due to return to Vermont, the couple decided to enjoy one last ride on the trams. It was Jasmine's way of saying thank-you for her new found role.
As they neared the Tram terminus, a group of children ran ahead of them, laughing in a carefree fashion. Unfortunately though for some youngsters, the trams had become part of a Dare-culture, whereby a child would stand on the open tram-rails for the longest possible period, before jumping away to safety in the last possible seconds. This infuriated the drivers who swore at the kids who took such liberties with life. On this particular day one ten year old girl was earning her dare-colours. Her mum was away and she had sneaked out to join the others. She watched an older boy jump clear with two seconds to spare. This was close, but she vowed to do better. Some policemen then moved the group along, but they all reconvened at a different section of track. This was where Jasmine and Scope were heading. The cold afternoon added a veiled-yellow light to the scene and the pair smiled at each other when the tram-stop was reached. Whilst waiting for a tram, they initially talked to each other about their impending journey back to Vermont. Jasmine had hired a sturdy Four- by-Four vehicle for their route and they were both looking forward to a 3000 mile long journey. Suddenly Jasmine's eyes widened in horror when she saw a young girl standing among the rails The tram was approaching fast, but the warning scream that she wanted to give, just died silent in her throat. Then Scope seized the initiative and with just seconds before the potential collision, he sprinted ahead and with both palms, pushed the child to the other side of the rail and safety. In the momentum he fell headlong and his outstretched hands both landed across the rails. They were severed in an instant and then the screaming from the onlookers started.
The tram had made such a clean-cut that the bleeding didn't start for a few seconds. Then as the screams reached Scope's ears and the tram shuddered to a halt a bit further away, things gathered pace. Jasmine collected the severed hands and the blood then started to be released, spraying out across the tramway like a couple of red fountains. Some of the aforementioned juveniles tried to staunch the blood of the man who had saved their friend, but unfortunately some others started laughing. Jasmine saw this and screamed out at the offenders.
“You fucking cunts - this guy just saved your friend's life!”
The offenders slunk away and Jasmine tried in vain to put a pressure point on each bleeding wrist stump. Scope whispered to her amid the chaos.
“Jas - now you listen my friend. I will change back soon - I can feel it. Take my left hand, discard the right. The kids can have a fucking souvenir! You know the C.O.T.O stages and I hope you never need them, but you know what to do.”
He cut his words short and some of the children displayed alarm as his plated skin started to emerge. His metamorphosis was beginning and as some scales started to replace his flesh elements, a crowd started to build up with a omnipresent mob rule mentality. His lifesaving act had been witnessed by many people though and fortunately most of them saw him as a hero and opposed any execution in this instance. As Scope started to metamorphose further, this floored devil tried to stand, but the crowd told him to keep lying flat, because
his blood loss increased each time he raised his profile. His speech was now very rasping and as the medics arrived, he spoke to Jasmine for the last time.
“Jas - it's nearly time for me to return back. I've loved the time that I have spent with you.”
Jasmine cut in - addressing the medics.
“Come on guys. You can save this hero. Come on do your fucking job!”
In her panic, Jasmine's tears raced down her cheeks. She bathed the brow of the dying Scope as the pulsing blood proved impossible to contain. As death approached the tell-tale second tongue emerged for a last time. His dying words were profound and were addressed to all who were assembled around him.
“Well guys - showtime is nearly over! Go beyond first impressions will you? A devil on the outside isn't always one on the inside. Keep this sacred. Well Jas I love you. I guess that now it is time to meet my revered mother.”
With that line his lids closed and many of the assembled hung their heads in a mark of respect. In this case death had been the ultimate leveller and Scope's demise was uplifting in that context. Scope's remains were taken away by the medics for the most part and his body was eventually placed beside his mother's grave in the Levene family plot. Now they were together.
For her part, Jasmine vowed to honour him in her heart for always. After his funeral she decided to drive the route back to Vermont that she and Scope would have taken. Their drive had been planned and she would follow that through. She headed for the open highway with resolve in her heart and a severed left-hand in the car's ice bucket!
THIRTEEN
President Hudson paced The Oval Office like a madman. He felt that his beloved America was falling apart around him and he planned to tell Americans what he thought in a State of the Union address that he would call. He intended to pull his people back into the moral fold and he simultaneously wanted to warn them of darkened forces that seemed intent on stealing them away. He would evoke halcyon eras when his country had stood firm against tyranny and threats. He linked this to a state of play analysis concerning where his country stood now. Over the next couple of days he modified the address several times. When he eventually finished it, those people who were chosen to hear a test reading thought that it was succinct, poignant and accurate.
He chose to present his address on the front lawn of The White House so that this ultimate American symbol was right behind him when he spoke. His words would be televised to a global audience and thus although his focus was for the American people, other nations would receive his opinions. On the day of his address, he approached the speaker's podium in a nervous yet determined state of mind. He began his address.
“Fellow Americans. These words don't come easily for a President in his first term of Office. What I will say hurts me to my core, but it is a true sentiment of how parts of American society are falling away into the mire. Due to our free-hand liberalism, we have allowed a culture to develop where some of our young people queue up in respectful lines to commit suicide. Their motivation at a recent gathering in Allgood Alabama was to fast-forward their way to heaven.
They were cheered on to their deaths by Satanists and other sects of vile beliefs. I ask you good Americans - how did this type of evil pollute our society? Who let these perverts in to our society and who turned a blind eye?”
He momentarily paused and looked straight into the camera, before continuing.
“What scares me the most is the way that these sadists and suicide squads have been allowed to exist without opposition alongside respectable Americans. Obviously when Jonny joined a suicide sect his neighbours didn't want to bother Jonny's parents. They preferred to observe the First Amendment and let things ride out. Now I shout at you moral Americans that I do want to bother Jonny's parents and shake up the whole neighbourhood. I want to be a President that notices and I want to get involved. If I get in your face then I am doing it for a moral reason and I am tired of looking away. Both Houses have affirmed my decision to make these suicide sects illegal and I won't rest until they have been eradicated. So it is time to stop peering through those net curtains and stand up and be counted. We need to regain a clearer moral America and everyone must be key in this transitional process. We have been stained by evil presences and some of that contamination is located in places that are usually beyond suspicion.”
He paused again to sip his water and paced slightly to his right, before continuing.
“Another area that seems to have been undone by sadistic impulses, involves some of our security forces. It seems that certain black-clad units have become a law onto themselves, administering unprovoked beatings to innocent people. Worse than that has reached my ears, involving one security chief who takes great pride in hurling torture devices at people for kicks. These weapons are like barbed metallic-lobsters and they embed themselves deeper and deeper into a victim. Once mechanically activated, these devices start devouring the victim that they land on. I will ensure that this sick sport will cease forever from this moment forward and the person responsible for using them will be severely dealt with. It is a sickening state of affairs where people that you rely on for help, abuse you. Depraved security chiefs have no place to exist on anyone's watch - including mine.”
He then chose to reiterate the key points in his address and then he added to them.
“So first the suicide-tours and then the security lapses and finally the most dangerous S-word - Satanism! Many of you decent Americans will recently have come across individuals who profess to be devils or satanic offspring. I am not going to glorify them by naming them, but in my Father's day, devils came and went and died like the rest of us - hardly elevated in that context. We were led to believe that these entities possessed a power that was far above mere mortals, but I keep asking where are they now and I laugh at the answer.”
Watching from close by, Jasmine scowled at the President. She agreed with him with regard to the first two satanic brothers, but definitely not the third brother. She had loved Scope. Indeed, he was the reason that she was there, having been asked to attend by none other than Hudson himself due to the humanitarian role that Scope had chosen for her. Little did the President know thought Jasmine and she laughed inwardly at the way that Scope had broken satanic stereotypes in the short time that she had known him. In her opinion, he was better than them - including the President. Hudson continued with his address.
“Just over a year ago, I had to give the green light to contain the smallpox outbreak in Salt Lake City via the use of a nuclear missile. Many thousands are now believed to have died as a result of this explosion My heart hangs heavy for the victims, but there was no other choice. New information pertaining to this contamination has now come to light. It seems as though this outbreak may have been manufactured or deliberately created.”
He paused for maximum effect before resuming in a more subdued tone.
“Some of our stockpiles of germ warfare are missing, including a consignment of smallpox phials and it is highly likely that someone deliberately used one of these phials in Salt Lake City. We are redoubling our efforts to relocate the missing stockpile and we will scour our land until the consignment is found. You see my fellow Americans, what irks me most about this tragedy is that the contamination came from within, with some vile source willingly contaminating our own landscape. We can't even blame an external terrorist element because no cell has claimed ownership of this atrocity. This leaves a bad taste in the mouth with Americans killing Americans being the most likely conclusion that we can draw. It is time to seek inspiration from the history books my people. Back in the 1960's the phrase Love America or Leave America was created and the same vernacular is appropriate now. So, if you want to usher Americans to their deaths - leave! If you want to brutalise Americans in the name of security - leave! Finally, if you have hidden satanic agendas - leave!”
The crowd outside The White House applauded at these words and it was some minutes before the President was able to return to the podium.
When he did, he directed his attention to Jasmine.
“Not all my news concerns dark negatives though. The Memory-Camera Project has closed down after the sacrificial deaths of two of it's protagonists and whilst this seems like another negative factor their deaths must be measured by the associated deaths of the satanic forces that they were instrumental in killing. They showed that this type of societal scum are not invincible and the project thus died as an example of a great sacrificial American institution. A final gesture to the said organisation has been made though, with the promotion of Ms Jasmine Silver as a humanitarian adviser for the late Commander Scope's unit. His brilliance will be remembered in her appointment and subsequently as one candle is snuffed out another re-ignites.”
More applause took place after this announcement and although The MC-Project had now officially been laid to rest, a new American heroine had emerged from the ashes. In his closure President Hudson had an emotive appeal for his people.
“So my friends, if you are approached by satanic pariahs, stand bold and face them off. If the high and mighty embrace obscenity, pull them back to restore serenity. We are back at a new cross-roads America. It is time to re-invent morality.
“God bless you and may God bless America.”
To some people Hudson's speech was an upbeat call for a new moral awakening, but for others it was a collection of typecast metaphors. In effect, America was still split.
One positive outcome of Hudson's speech concerned the immediate arrest of William Kyra. He was briefly incarcerated, but then found enough funds to post bail. He had a list of serious charges awaiting him, inclusive of murder. His beloved Excoriators were also impounded with him being under suspicion. On the day when the consignment of torture-weapons were driven away, Kyra watched and smiled to himself. Fuck them he thought, as he still had one Excoriator hidden away. Kyra was then placed under house-arrest and lawyers haggled over his future, knowing that his trial would be a lengthy gold-mine.
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