Chapter 11
2 Peter 2:8
For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.
Tobias's Journal:
The 1960’s were definitely an interesting time to be alive, to say the least. Being stationed in the southeastern United States, I didn't spend much time in California. I stayed out of Vietnam but there was plenty to do stateside. The amount of cults started alone had me and Manus Patris running ragged. I did end up getting dosed with LSD the one time I was in California. I was told there was a lot going on in one particular cross road. I walked from my hotel to the intersection in San Francisco where there was a large party of “Long Hairs” hanging out. I blended in with the crowd easily enough and everyone seemed very welcoming. I didn’t sense anything overtly evil about the area. I was offered some tea but I had a bottle of coke so I turned it down. What I didn't know at the time was they had squirt guns and really good aim… After about 20 minutes of wandering around I went to toss my empty bottle in the trash and my vision did some really odd things. The bottle almost floated into the trash can, which I found absolutely hilarious for some reason. I rubbed at my face and my hands were blurring before my eyes. I stumbled out of the area and down the street to hail a taxi. By the time I got to my room I could tell something was severely wrong. I got into the shower and tried to calm down but it was almost too much. The sensation of the water hitting my body was like being shot, but it felt good at the same time. I turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist before looking up to the mirror in my hotel. The entire wall was rocking back and forth like I was on a ship at sea. I fell to my knees and vomited. When I opened my mouth a rainbow shot out and cartoon stars and fish fell from my mouth with every heave. I crawled into bed and tried to sleep. For some reason I thought I was in Egypt and I spent the entire night crawling through the sands, digging through my bedsheets desperately looking for something I had lost. That was a really odd thing to have to report back to Simon at the order, but The Order had run into similar rituals in remote areas dealing with Shamans, so thankfully he believed me.
There hasn't been much of significance happening with the job over the years since setting up Manus Patris and the Korean and Vietnam wars, at least for me personally. I stayed out of both for the most part, but I don't want to get into that now. Of course, there is one major exception to be taken into account, technology. The Cold War was huge, and there was an international arms race. Everyone was worried about spies and communism. There was more tension than anything “active” and for the most part that was the end of it. The collapse of the Soviet Union was Huge when it happened but from an on the job perspective, there hasn't been anything drastically different globally other than technology. Electricity, It’s absolutely everywhere now. No more need for a lamplighter, just poof like magic and the streets all lit up and bright. Indoor plumbing… I have a thing in my house, CLEAN water comes out at the push of a button. I need to use the restroom, simply go into a smaller area INSIDE MY HOUSE, take care of business and flush it all away with more clean water. This probably explains my obsession with hot showers but HOT WATER, I didn’t have to boil, all available at the flip of a switch! It’s crazy but at the same time it’s so commonplace. I got aggravated a few years ago when my hot water heater broke, then after the momentary frustration, all I could do was laugh at how accustomed I had become to such a luxury item. For another thing, Planes, Trains and Automobiles… Where to start, When I saw the first flying machine I didn't know what to think. I couldn't imagine an automobile ever taking over horses… Why on earth would someone want something so loud and clunky. Now they are absolutely everywhere. I have jumped out of multiple airplanes, ridden in, and crashed helicopters and automobiles are absolutely everywhere now. It's odd to watch something so outlandishly out of place, become an everyday item in less than a hundred years. The same thing happened with computers, in even less time. Computers, once the size of a home, now fit in the palm of your hand and have exponentially more power. The fact that I can now send a photo to Simon and he will get it instantly is still miraculous to me. Thankfully our tattoos and sigils camouflage our activity even on video. It still blows my mind how much things have changed just since the 1980’s, and the fact that I have a small piece of plastic in my pocket that can communicate with any member of my team, show me where to go in a new city and take photos of whatever I need to document is crazy to me. Reginald saw all this long before anyone else in The Order and stayed on the leading edge of all tech advances. I remember in the late 1990’s to early 2000’s he was convinced some apple company was going to absolutely change the world in the next 10 years. At the time, they made some hideous clear plastic bubble computer that looked like it belonged in the 1960, Now I see the logo almost everywhere I go. The things he can do from his office alone is staggering and I completely understand why he rarely leaves The Order compound nowadays. Technology has made keeping in touch with The Order, Manus Patris and The Churches that assists us night and day different over just the last 50 years. It sounds strange but the advancement just keeps getting quicker and quicker. I wonder sometimes how things will look in the next 50 years, it's insane to think of how much the world has changed just in the last 100 years alone.
Atlanta GA.
Father Renaldo Tumba picked up the boxes filled with 2 dozen glazed doughnuts and thanked the man working behind the counter. It was a beautiful, but cold Sunday morning in Atlanta. He walked over to his 1997 accord 4 door and placed the boxes lovingly in the passenger seat. After the normal complaints from under the hood, the car started up and he was on route to his favorite job. God had blessed him with 2 jobs, but only one calling. He couldn't remember a time before he had God's love in his heart. Orphaned at a young age in a small village in Africa. He was adopted by an older couple who were Spanish missionaries. The couple was never able to have a child of their own, but always wanted a child to raise. He was named Renaldo after his adopted mother’s father, and had a modest upbringing that was full of love. He was just a toddler when his birth mother passed away, and his father had already passed away 2 months before he was born in a mining accident. He was young when they moved to his new home in America, but he could still remember the poverty and the struggles for the everyday things taken for granted all around him. Growing up in the church he continued every day to thank the Lord for saving his life both spiritually and literally. He was a tall, handsome and athletic man who breezed through high school. When the rest of his high school’s American soccer team, to Renaldo it would always be football in his heart, were out partying after the game he was studying. He was in several college level classes beginning his sophomore year, and between the AP class credits, his high 4.29 GPA and Soccer skills he was able to attend Seminary on a full scholarship. College was a trying time for him, not because the studies were difficult, he loved class and absorbed the lessons with ease, but his parents both passed away. His mother first, only a few months before the end of his 1st year and then his father a few weeks before graduation. He would forever miss them in his heart but he also knew they were in Heaven and were both incredibly proud of him. He graduated 2nd in his class and was quickly able to find a job at a small church in the heart of Atlanta. The same church he was heading to now.
On his way into church it started to rain and Renaldo flicked on his wipers, it was in the mid 30‘s outside and he was wondering when they would get snow this year. It wasn't a glamorous church, or a well paying job for that matter. He was a parochial vicar, or assistant pastor, who would take confession 2 evenings a week and preached to the struggling high school youth group, all eleven of them. He was black, the same as the majority of the students in his youth group, but he was from Africa and had seen America as a wonderful land of opportunity. While several of the teen’s in his youth group were swayed by quick money and fancy cars all around them. He even had to kick one boy out who was in a gang, and was trying to get some others to join. His tires were slashed when he went back to his car that afternoon and 4 men standing on the corner across the street yelled to him “HEY YO AFRICA BOY, BET BE MINNIN YA OWN BINNISS, YA HEARD'' before getting into a chameleon green Buick with black tint windows and massive chrome wheels. He then pushed his Honda next door to his other job, Green Auto, a buy here-pay here used car lot. He didn't care for the slogan “make your friends GREEN with envy at Green auto,” envy being one of the 7 deadly sins but also understood it was just marketing. He had started working there shortly after starting at the church. Gaston Green, the owner, had seen him at the bus stop in his priest collar one day and tried to sell him a car. “Why take the bus my friend? We can get you financed and you can drive home today!” Renaldo had explained that he only worked part time and couldn't afford it. Gaston, never to miss a chance to give his business some legitimacy, offered Renaldo a job as a salesman. The tire slashing happened two months ago and he was still making payments on the 4 used tires he had to put on the Honda.
Renaldo parked his Car on the street and grabbed the boxes of Doughnuts. He grabbed the umbrella from the back seat and stepped out to see a small group of women huddled by the front doors to the church, underneath the awning to stay out of the rain. It made sense, he knew there was a bus stop on the same corner the church was on, but it was just a pole with the bus schedule and a small bench. Umbrella in one hand and 2 boxes of doughnuts in the other he started towards the church, when he got closer he could see the women must have been freezing! They all had on thick puffy coats but were in skimpy dresses and high heels, not at all appropriate in this weather. As he walked up the steps the women started to apologize and pick up their bags to leave. “Sorry Father, It's just the bus is late and it's rainin. We didn’t know what time y'all opened, we’ll get out of here". Said one girl. The small group, 5 in total, quickly began to disperse. Renaldo wasn’t a foolish man by any far stretch, he knew they were prostitutes. He had seen them on the corner at night and had seen them waiting for the bus in the morning. Heading back to wherever they lived. “Why don’t you ladies come inside, get out of the cold. Warm up, relax and have some coffee and doughnuts. You can see the bus stop out of that window, and down the street out of that one". Renaldo said, as he nodded at the windows. He smiled widely and innocently. He was always told he had a charming smile, perfect white teeth made whiter in contrast to his deep ebony skin. The women looked at him confused for a moment then looked at each other, he had caught them completely by surprise. “Coffee sounds nice". Said the same girl who spoke up earlier. They all went inside and sat down in the foyer, Father Renaldo set down the doughnuts and began scooping coffee grounds into the filter just above the large carafe . The girls got a doughnut each and grabbed a napkin. They all sat around and had coffee and doughnuts for a while. Conversation was light and Father Tumba tried not to seem imposing, but spoke briefly about his job at the church, his small youth group and the history of the church building. After a few minutes one of the girls who called herself Mercedes said with a rye smile “Ya know, I think this is the first time I've ever been in a church, Y'all ain't too bad". Father Renaldo laughed heartily. “Well God is love and kindness above all else. If I can't show love or kindness to all of the people in the neighborhood, Then I'm not a very good priest”. That seemed to catch the girls off guard, but before anyone could say anything else the Senior priest, Father Barlow walked through the door. Looking up and seeing Father Renaldo sipping coffee and eating doughnuts with 5 hookers was the absolute LAST thing in the world he was expecting to see. His face turned red with anger and he quickly walked over to Father Renaldo and hissed in his ear “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND!! THE SERVICE STARTS IN A HOUR AND A HALF AND YOUR SITTING IN THE LOBBY OF THE CHURCH WITH 5 HOOKERS''. The word hookers came out much louder than the rest of his rant, but the ladies all knew he was talking about them anyway. Obviously he was not too thrilled with them being there. The bus slowly chugged down the street at the same time and Mercedes, looking out the window said “Perfect timing, bus is here. Thank you for the coffee Father, It was nice to meet you”. The girls quickly gathered up their purses and ran to catch the bus. Once the door was closed, a very red faced Father Barlow began shouting. “How could you do something so stupid?!? What if someone from the congregation saw? What if they decide to come back?!?!?” Father Renaldo just shook his head. “What if they do decide to come back? Isn’t growing the flock part of the job, remember the parable of the lost sheep? If anyone from the congregation saw them going in or out of the church, I don't see why they would be upset. It is a church, ALL are welcome and ALL are loved by God. Jesus died to forgive sin, not just yours or mine, but for EVERYONES”. Renaldo said, motioning outside the church to make his point. Father Barlow was furious, he was pacing and his face was growing a darker shade of red with every sentence. Father Barlow bellowed “YOU CAN'T BRING HOOKERS INTO THE CHURCH, YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER! FIRST THAT MESS WITH ALL THE GANGBANGERS, NOW THIS!!! ONE MORE MESS UP LIKE THIS AND YOU ARE OUT OF HERE!! I will see to it, personally, that you are excommunicated". He trailed off and hissed the last part about excommunication. Well, if Rome couldn’t understand that God was love he would just find another church, thought Renaldo. He knew the bible, and he knew the teachings of Jesus. More than just words, they were his lifestyle, Renaldo lived his life in the word of God. Yes he sold cars, but preaching was his calling. God will provide for me, he always has and always will, Thy will be done. No matter the outcome he would be just fine. No matter what, he would not stop showing kindness and God's love to others. While thinking fondly about the parable of the birds in the fields from the book Matthew, he finished going about his business getting things ready for his youth service, completely unfazed. It was a wonderful Sunday, despite the rain, his youth group had a good turnout. He had thirteen in his morning class, and the boy who he had to kick out showed up early to class to apologize and beg to be let back in. It seemed that he had a close call of some sort and earnestly wanted to change. Father Tumba spoke with the young man at length after the service and agreed to help in any way he could. He would tutor the boy, and help him get his grades up. It seemed that his talks about opportunity and education had finally started to sink in. He was always optimistic about the doors God was opening in his life daily.
Gaston Green, Owner of Green Auto, a buy here pay here car lot next to a catholic church was frantically pacing in his office. Cigarette smoke hung thick in the air on that Monday morning. Green nervously walked back and forth in his office with the phone in one hand and a lit cigarette in the other. An ashtray sat overflowing on the corner of his desk in his tiny wood paneled office. The phone call had finally come through. After years, all his hard work would finally pay off. He was a corpulent man, short, fat and would be sweating profusely in all but the coldest weather. His teeth were a dark yellow from nicotine stains and most of his hair had fallen out leaving only a thin horseshoe of hair left to comb over across the top. Thankfully none of that would matter soon, this was the big one. After years of scams and get-rich quick schemes his luck had finally changed and he could retire! Looks didn't matter when you had the kind of money he was about to end up with, and he would spend the rest of his life on a beach somewhere surrounded by beautiful women. Through his contacts and his reputation for being able to run almost anything through his car dealership, no one looks twice at a used car lot when there is a priest on the payroll, some raghead terrorist Ali Big Akkk Barn whatever had gotten a hold of him. They wanted him to get some canisters into the country and hide them in International airports around the globe. He didn't know what was in them and didn't give a shit. He knew when they would go off and wouldn't be ANYWHERE close to an airport that day. It was probably some poison gas or something, he would hear about it on the news while sitting on a beach sipping margaritas. He had made some good money bringing in drugs over the years, but getting greedy gets you caught, he was too smart for all that. One of his mechanics was married to a gal who was a flight attendant over at Hartsfield-Jackson, Atlanta’s international airport. She would bring in some cocaine now and then, not like Atlanta didn't have plenty of drugs, but with the pill mills closing down she started bringing in heroin from China and now Fentanyl. The fentanyl was AMAZING, a spec of that poison would kill a man and it could be cut 95% really bringing up the profit. One uncut kilogram put 950,000 grams on the street, it was an absolute gold mine if he could bring in more than a few grams at a time. Then again you couldn't spend the money if you were in prison so he NEVER sold it in Georgia, and NEVER dealt with anyone new. He was wholesale only, thank you very much. Not that he would have to deal with any of the drug stuff ever again. The canisters had arrived and slowly over a year and a half, he had his flight attendant hide 30 of them in airports all around the world. She had been eager for the extra money but was only getting a small percentage of what he was making, and it sure as hell wasn't coming out of his cut. He had set the deal up and included the cost of his mule, and anyone else he may have to pay to look the other way. Normally he would just find some gang bangers to pull a drive by on a crowded street. With 4 or more people shot, the cops wrote it off as simply the wrong place, wrong time. Plus, they were cheap! This deal was different though, and he couldn't just kill off the witnesses. Besides, it was international, not just getting the stuff into Atlanta. The deep and creepy voice on the phone was very happy to hear the final canister was placed in the Atlanta airport this morning. It was odd, he knew he was speaking to the right person, but now there was no accent and he didn't sound like any middle eastern people he had ever heard. The remaining seventy five percent of his payment would be transferred into his offshore account by the end of the week. Mr creepy voice was wrapping things up. “It has been a pleasure doing business with you Mr Green. I have had my associates check in on the canister placement, and they have confirmed with me that they are indeed placed per your reporting. I know I don't need to say this but people tend to 'forget’ or 'grow a conscious’ after they get paid... If this deal of ours ever gets exposed or stopped, for any reason I will hold YOU, personally accountable. DON'T think for a moment that you can hide either. I can see you even now, pacing and smoking. Wearing that cheap button down shirt, the poor buttons about to burst... your shoes so warn down and scuffed you can hardly tell they were originally a rich dark brown. The thin slacks that are about to rip because you put on an extra 5 pounds this month but refuse to buy a new pair. OOOhhhh yes and lets not forget the underwear... The elastic hanging on by a thread or two, some rips around the leg holes from where your crusty toenails caught the fabric, and the BIG, BROWN, SKIDMARK on the ass from that time you got stuck on the outer belt in rush hour... Nooooooo you can't hide my friend. Well, Ta Ta for now. Enjoy retirement”. Said The Dark Pope, Hanging up before Gaston could reply. What a sad sack of shit. Useful and pathetic, like most humans, thought The Dark Pope to himself. Gaston stood there white as a sheet, an extreme departure from his usual florid complexion. All of the previous communication had been through encrypted Email, but that did NOT sound like some terrorist… What the Hell had he gotten into… How on earth could he know about any of the things he had told him about… Frantically Gaston began to search around his small apartment for hidden cameras. That had to be it right? You can put a camera anywhere nowadays. Just then Father Renaldo Tumba walked into his office. “Hello boss, good mor..... Sir are you okay?” Renaldo asked him, Clear concern in his voice. “What... Ahhhh.... Yeah no no no I'm fine, I'm fine. I.... must have had some.... bad mushrooms or something in my omelet this morning... Food poisoning maybe. Possibly some bad oysters last night. I'm not really. Ahh, I… I gotta go. Gonna head to the hospital”. Green said, rushing out the door past Renaldo. Renaldo stood there for a moment and hoped earnestly that his boss would be okay. He then noticed a world map on his boss's desk. It had red check marks all over it, odd too because he knew Green rarely traveled, even if it was work related. He always said he needed to ‘keep an eye on his empire’ and that he would travel when he retired. Perhaps it was Green's travel plans or places he would like to visit some day. Hopefully it wouldn't be anytime soon, Renaldo enjoyed his job and needed the money. God would provide, no matter what. If he wasn't selling cars, another door would open. Renaldo took one last look at the map and left the office, closing the door. If Green was going to be out sick for the day, Renaldo had lots of work to do.
After years of planning and work he was finally done. All the pieces had moved into place at last. Sure in the old days it would have required but a simple wish, but this was so much more fun. He could still simply will the majority of this to just happen, but where's the nuance, the thrill and the beautiful corruption in doing that. Corruption? Sure, absolutely. Soul crushing and abject horror as the thousands of humans realize EXACTLY what they did for simple coin... It's not even COIN any more, no precious metals involved, no gemstones, instead it was all simple to manipulate one’s and zero’s flitting by on a screen. Thousands of people. From the grave robbers he hired to dig up 13th century corpses, just to be exposed to a rather virulent strain of the bubonic plague. To the medical team who responded to the scene, covered it up and cultured the strain for “medical research”. Then there was the virology team, who were able to manipulate the original plague virus and make it capable of taking on an aerosolized form. Sure they may have rationalized it any way they wanted to. They must be working for the government, surely because of the technology, the pay and the aggressive recruitment. The fact is, they were actually never told who they worked for, but who else would be allowed to do this kind of work. They also didn’t ask. It was all so delicious, these men and women working around the clock to weaponize the very plague he cured to gain the pope's trust before they shared a body. The looks on the faces of all the men and women who had helped him with his plan over the years when they realized they helped kill millions, if not billions alone would be worth every bit of subterfuge. Not to mention the Russians, all so eager to help, they would do just about anything for the right price. The final delivery would be made in just a few days. He had received weapons and ammo, tactics, training for his army and so, soooo much more. The Warlords he had working for him were already corrupt and gleefully followed anyone with power to begin with. Once he showed up and showed them what true power looked like, they all bent the knee and bowed before him. Literally… The child soldiers they employed, horrified but obedient and ready to fight, and die for him. It was a masterpiece of corruption, and admittedly a good part of why he had set up his base of operations here in Africa.