by Reilly, Jim
As they stood there, people started to recognize the two, as they heard people who were crowding around them yelling, “Steven,” while others yelled, “D’Shawn.”
Within seconds of being recognized, the president of the largest athletic marketing organizations, Elite Sports, contacted D’Shawn.
“D’Shawn Williams, let me be the first to welcome you to Las Vegas, the Sports Capital of the World. You were an exceptional athlete playing in the old National Football League and one of the original humans to play Ancient Visitor Combat. If you let us represent you, we promise to have you be the most celebrated and most compensated athlete in the world. If your offspring, who turned out to be great athletes in their time, were any indication of your athletic ability, then you will be one of the all-time greats. D’Shawn, say you’ll sign with us.”
Prior to his first abduction, D’Shawn was a celebrated wide receiver in the NFL in the prime of his career. He enjoyed the fame and all the advantages that came along with that notoriety. His abduction enhancement by the Ancient Visitors changed that. First, being enhanced eventually got him excluded from the NFL. Following the first abduction and on through the other abductions, D’Shawn settled down and along with his wife built a family. They were happy, and she was the rock of their family. Even though his age basically stayed the same through the abductions and she aged a bit, he never wavered in his love for her. When it was decided to attack the Ancient Visitor’s ship in the last abduction, and the prospect of return was slim, he willfully accepted the challenge for his family and the wife he loved.
Being that his DNA was used to accelerate humans change from Homo sapiens to Super Homo sapiens; that meant many of the people on Earth had at least a part of his genetics. That meant they were all family, and his first job is to protect them. That made his choice easy, “I’ll have to decline. The fact is, I have a job already, and I’m busy. I appreciate the offer.”
D’Shawn then ended the communication before the man could react and ordered his computer to eliminate all such requests.
Father Willie brought Steven and D’Shawn to a small church on the outskirts of town and while they waited for Father Willie to retrieve the Pastor from her residence, Steven asked, “He didn’t ask about me?”
“Nope, you were never brought up.”
“I was a nationally ranked wrestler.”
Sporting a slight grin for his friend, he said, “Nope, it’s not always about you Steven.”
It was then that Father Willie returned with an enhanced woman at least six foot two with dark skin and brown curly hair cut tight wearing a robe similar to the one they saw at the capital of the Peace, Love, and Serenity movement. Father Willie said his introductions, “Steven Moran and D’Shawn Williams, I’d like to introduce Pastor Wilma Jones.”
Both Steven and D’Shawn offered their thanks for seeing them, and Pastor Jones filled them in. “This is the only church left in Las Vegas. As you can see, this is a small building from your time. It is a converted quickie wedding Chapel. There’s little need for those since most weddings are being held in beautiful locations in the virtual meeting halls.”
Steven asked, “How big is your congregation?”
“On a good Sunday,” she said, “there’ll be anywhere from ten to twenty lost souls looking for guidance.”
“All due respect Pastor, but isn’t that a pittance compared to the ten million people roaming around this city on a daily basis, not to mention the people who have access here through the meeting halls. Is it worth all your time?”
“It’s true,” she told them. “We get a fraction of the population here. It’s also true that the people who come to this city are not coming here for religious purposes. This city has been here as a brief release of reality for folks. That’s why our government hasn’t seen fit to close the place down. But to get back to your question, yes it’s worth my time. Wherever there are people in need of spiritual help, I go to meet them, even if it is only one soul. If they happen to be of another faith, I’ll help them the best I can. Then if need be, I’ll bring in someone who can.”
D’Shawn then told her, “The reason we are here is because we are following Satan’s trail and thought this was a good place for him to hide to gain his strength. Have you noticed anything different here in the last two days?”
“It’s funny you should ask. This morning where I usually find one or two people for a daily weekday service, there were forty five people looking for comfort. Many of them were overwhelmed by the temptation of gambling, fornication, greed, and…well…you know what goes on here. It must have been a good day for temptation if that many people came down here. Good God, I can only imagine how tempted the rest of the population here was feeling.”
“We need you to please inform us if you feel temptation is escalating. You see, we’re on the trail of the Adversary. Tracking him is the easy part; he leaves a trail of heartache, sadness, and regret. It’s getting out ahead of him that’s the hard part. So if you hear of anything, please let us know.”
“I will.”
“In leaving I’d like to bless you and your house of worship.” As she bowed her head, the priest said, “May you find the strength to continue God’s good work, and may He look over this hallowed ground we stand on with love and understanding.”
Standing in the glass vehicle leaving the city, Steven turned to the others and said, “Here as with the Peace, Love, and Serenity movement people, we don’t leave them much to go on. We ask them to tell us if anything is out of the ordinary. We have to give them more.”
The priest took his longer arm and stretched it to toward Steven reaching his long fingers onto Steven’s shoulder. “My boy, catching the manifestation of evil is not an easy thing to do. He lurks in the darkness feeding on the weak. He’s never out front taking credit or enjoying what he did. No, he’s the one out of sight whispering in our ear once he senses weakness.”
“Being that I felt his power, he looked to me that he was front and center,” Steven bellowed. “What the hell is he?”
“That, my boy, is what they say in your time, the million dollar question. People have tried to interpret the Bible’s writings of him since he was first written about. The Serpent, Lucifer, and Satan have been interpreted in tradition as the Adversary. He’s a real being to many, and to them he walks among us luring the weak toward sin so he can acquire souls for his kingdom in Hell.”
“That’s what I remember when I was young.”
“I’ve come to believe something altogether different and others have too—that Satan is not real.”
“How can you say that, you were there in the virtual barn as he possessed Glenn Casarona? He held Hailey’s head under water. I felt him as he tried to turn me.”
“How much of what happened were yours and Glenn Casarona’s weaknesses manifesting? Let me put it to you this way my son. God created Satan. In the Bible Satan means adversary. But whose adversary is it? I don’t think God would create his own adversary. Then, whose adversary is it? Is it man’s adversary? Or is Satan the result of God’s making of free will. When He made free will we were given a choice to be good and close to God versus bad or being sinful. It’s a constant battle that we have within ourselves. Maybe Satan is just the adversary of everything that is good.”
“I see where you are going with this Father, but I know he’s real.”
“My son, for each one of us individually, he is real.”
Back in the Captain’s state room waiting on an update about the James Connor program, Marcus approached D’Shawn. “It’s all over this time period’s social media that you turned down a chance to fight in what they called, AV Combat.”
“Yeah, but I didn’t think it was appropriate. We have a lot of work to do to find Satan.”
“I’m not sure if that’s such a bad idea.”
“Marcus??”
“Before we left Earth, we were training for the battle on the Ancient Visitor’s ship. We went there, fought lik
e hell, and twenty-nine of us barely made it back with our lives. Then, when we get back, the job’s not done yet. So to me, a little R & R is deserved and, in my opinion, needed.”
“Still, I’m fine just sitting here on the ship looking out into space and viewing the beautiful Earth below. It’s a magnificent sight.”
“Suit yourself, but after you turned them down, fighting organizations immediately contacted the other Returned groups looking for Satan. A couple of the groups accepted the challenge, and I approved it when they asked for permission. The first group led by Liam Darcy is set to compete in a little while. We’re going to watch the remaining part of the battle here on the ship after this meeting. You can join us if you like.”
“You enjoy yourself watching that crazy Australian pretend to be fighting aboard the Ancient Visitor ship. I had my fill doing it for real.”
Hailey and Cynthia entered the room with Steven following them. Hailey didn’t waste time, “The James Connor program has downloaded every bit of information within the small sample of the Ancient Visitor’s liquid computer we found on the outside of the transport you took home. Not all of the information was retrievable due to time and decay during the thousand year trip back home. Let’s tell you what we got, shall we?”
In the State Room, James Connor again appeared, “Steven and D’Shawn, it’s good to see you again. Cynthia and the lieutenant have brought me up to date and it seems that the mission is not over yet. The dark energy we saw and experienced on the ship somehow came back with us. Please let me know how I can help?”
Marcus was the first to ask, “What do we know about this Satan? Is he someone we can beat?”
“That’s a great question Marcus. As you know, I have a background in religious studies and as per Scripture, he is the great tempter and is defeated by the Lord and thrown into a sea of fire after a thousand years of being in prison.”
“We know that James, but what can you tell us from your download as to who or what he is?”
“He is not the same life form as the Ancient Visitors. They believe that they were the Ruler of the Realm’s first creation. They flourished in that realm. There they were mighty in power and stature, and loved by the Ruler. By the Ruler, I mean God the creator. God wasn’t done with his plan for all of existence. One day, if you can call it that, He created choice. Before then, there was no choice to speak of. When He created choice or free will, He created Satan. Some of the Ancient Visitors’ brethren stayed behind while they followed Satan to this universe. They have been at his mercy ever since ruling them or being worshiped by them.”
“Again, how do we defeat him?”
“Sorry Marcus, let me get on track. All the life forms the Ancient Visitors have cataloged in this database all asked the same question. They tried attacking it with all types of weaponry, one more unbelievable than the other. They’ve attacked it physically with hand to hand weapons, shot or poked at it with an assortment of weapons, and even tried to trick it. Every time it’s unsuccessful. Even the Ancient Visitors have from time to time bid to free themselves from his grip and were ineffective. Satan infiltrates them and knows how to pull their strings.”
“Is there anything we can do?”
“Continue to combat evil and wait for the one who will conquer him.”
“Who might that be?”
“The Ancient Visitors don’t have a name for him, however, I can interpret him as a being with a pure soul.”
Sitting in the room as well was Father Willie and this excited and scared him, “My God, a pure soul. We were in the vicinity of one recently, at the Peace, Love, and Serenity movement compound. He’s the next one they follow. We need to go back there.”
James offered, “Marcus, Scripture states that Satan returns from a thousand years of captivity to face the Lord. It is the final confrontation. As per tradition, there is only one pure soul or entity, and that would be the Lord. As you know, Scripture has been a form of instructions for man to follow and was helpful defeating Bishop Terapion. It may be relevant now.”
After a quick thought, Marcus ordered the team, “Go down there and protect him. He may be a target.”
On the trip back down to the planet in the glass vehicle, Steven, D’Shawn, Cynthia, Hailey, and Father Willie sat quietly in the vehicle as it raced back down to the Peace, Love, and Serenity movement compound. The awkward silence was interrupted by Hailey who thought it would be a good time to show some entertainment to the tired team. So she made visual the AV Combat game some of the Returned were playing in. Steven, of course, had to put on his headset as he didn’t have a computer chip in his head.
Off image announcer voiced, “We now go to the unprecedented seventh level with an unbelievable three teams remaining. The first team to qualify, wearing blue from the South Asian quadrant has the highest score going into this level. The second team is wearing black and is the home team from Las Vegas. The home team has the longest winning streak. The third team to qualify, representing the Returned is Liam Darcy, Omar Assad, and Andrea Brown. We are honored to have three of our ancestors here for this match wearing green. Their involvement has caused the betting sites here in Vegas to be overworked as betting has hit a new record.”
“It looks like Liam’s team is doing well in the competition,” said Steven.
D’Shawn frowned and looked uninterested as the competition continued, and the announcer said, “As with levels one through six, the weapons are Ancient Visitor electrified power balls and stun sticks. But as you know, with each new level the filters have lessened and now in level seven all filters have been eliminated. The team with the highest score, Team Blue has picked a Shanghai street for the battle scene. The umpire just signaled play is about to start.”
Steven, a bit concerned asked Hailey, “Dropping the filters, is that normal?”
After accessing history, she replied, “A winner is usually determined level six or less. There has never been a game that’s gone to this level.”
The game continued. “The umpire started play. Team Green is the first to make a move as they catch Team Blue by surprise. Led by Green’s Darcy with his stun stick, Team Blue is overwhelmed as Assad and Brown lay down cover fire by heaving one ball after another. Holy cow! Before Team Green can reload, Team Black beats them down with a barrage of electrified balls. While Brown went down with an electrified ball to her shoulder, Darcy and Assad go down with stunners to the back as they come to cover Brown. Team Black takes the games.”
“Ah, they didn’t have a chance, none of them were great athletes,” said a now interested D’Shawn.
Suddenly there was a commotion in the games. “Folks, something horrible has happened, and medical personnel have converged on Team Green as there doesn’t seem to be movement--”
The glass vehicle arrived at the Peace, Love, and Serenity movement compound and Father Willie exited while the others were glued to the game’s aftermath. He came back as the others looked grim from the news from the game. Father Willie said, “May God, have mercy on your friends, and I don’t want to minimize your loss, but the pure soul, Kaiden is missing.”
Chapter 6
21st Century.
Walking into the lobby of the Babylon Corporation, Cameron thought on a personal level that this was the last place he wanted to be. He hated the thought of being enhanced. He hated the procedure. Even though he hadn’t experienced it, he hated the thought of people looking at him differently. Most of all, he hated the fact that the procedure didn’t work on him as a young boy as it did on his siblings and his parents.
Professionally, this was where he wanted to be if he was going to learn more about the conspiracy he believed was happening. In his mind, Edward Tanner had nothing to do with the St. Louis bombing, much less be the mastermind behind all the regeneration center attacks. No, there was something else behind this. Whatever it was, Will Davis is involved in some manner. Getting enough evidence on him would be tricky. That’s why he was here. That’s why he came.
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While in the lobby, Cameron viewed the twenty foot tall promotional three dimensional advertisements promoting not only the Babylon advanced enhancement technique but also its history and airtight security. He was then approached from behind.
“Inspector, I’m glad you made it. I was starting to worry, but apparently you took me up on my offer.”
“Good morning Ms. Romano. I hope you are not in the lobby on my account. I know you must be very busy.”
“First off, please call me Cassondra. Secondly, it was my invitation I gave you; the least I can do is welcome you when you arrived.”
“I appreciate it. The reason I came was for one of the daily tours that run hourly. I hope to get on the next one.”
“Nonsense, I’ve taken the liberty of having my assistant personally give you the tour. It’s the least I can do for your heroics in Moscow. You’re right though, I do have a busy schedule for today. So please enjoy your tour.”
As quickly as she appeared, she was gone. It was then that he was approached by a tall well-built enhanced with long curly hair. She was youthful with inviting eyes and full lips. She introduced herself, “Good morning Inspector Richards, I am Lily Gordon, Ms. Romano’s personal assistant. Please follow me, and I will show you around.”
“Please call me Cameron, Lily.”
“Cameron, what do you know about Babylon?”
“Babylon is the most successful regeneration company in the world. Your procedure has the shortest time for enhancement and has the least amount of discomfort. Despite the government program being free of charge, Babylon’s standard three hour procedure, quick recovery time, and cutting edge technology has everyone willing to pay the premium.”
“Very good, Cameron, however, there is so much more to Babylon. While regeneration is our core business, we have expanded into other markets and technologies. For instance, we’ve moved into the healthcare field with blue liquid chambers used for enhancement that are now configured for healing everything from simple skin ailments to some forms of cancers. In other areas, our scientists are working on advancements in human absorption of information by combining enhancement and technology, meaning we will integrate technology with human processing of information right into the enhancement process. We will do this with our research and development team combined with acquisitions. You probably saw this morning the Babylon news in the financials about our acquisition of Visor Corp.”
