This choice: Amia, Barry's chief archangel, interrupts Cressida's service. • Go Back...Chapter #5The resister by: Unknown "Let us always remember, then, that we are unworthy to exist in His universe, and we must constantly strive to please Him that He may not damn us for our pitifulness," said Cressida, finishing her first homily.
"Praise Him," chorused all of humanity.
"Now let us--" began Cressida, then cut off as she noticed that everyone else in the temple was motionless--no eyes were blinking, no breaths were taken. Suddenly she felt herself yanked by an invisible force straight into her apartment, her robes becoming her old clothes as she crossed the threshold.
The force deposited her in a comfortable chair, which she hadn't had, at a large table, which wouldn't have fit, across from a woman who she didn't know.
One look made Cressida gasp. The impertinence! The woman was more beautiful than His wife or His daughters!
Cressida opened her mouth to speak but found no sound coming out.
"You wouldn't know the right questions and I need to give you the right answers," said the woman. Her voice was soothing and put Cressida at ease. It did not inspire awe in the way that His voice had, but it inspired trust.
"I'm Amia, chief archangel to the gods. Now, I know what you're thinking. 'Gods? Isn't there only God?' No, he's just the latest in a long line. The power has been passed down from God to God since the creation of the universe by the first God.
"Now, the next thing you might wonder is why, if Barry sent me, I'd tell you those things. Close your mouth, yes, that's his name. Barry. And his wife's name's Samantha and his daughters are Becky and Laura. Until a day or two ago he was just another human like you, then the previous God, Jack, decided that he should be God. Anyway, he didn't send me, and no, he won't punish you for meeting with me."
Cressida tried to speak again, but found herself incapable of it.
"Look, when God--the first God, the only one truly worthy of the title--created the universe, he created me. I'm bound to the universe. If I were to die, so would the universe, and it feels even my minor agonies. No God has ever made the connection, but all disasters--from the smallest earthquakes on your planet to supernovas that destroy civilizations--came about because one of them decided to punish me for something or other.
"Anyway, the first God was God for a long time after he created the universe. When he decided to move on, he entrusted his powers to another, whom he and I had chosen and taught to hold the role. It was supposed to continue in that way, but it was soon forgotten, and each God just chose his successor more or less at random.
"But the first God had planned against that. Not all his powers were passed to his acolyte, though that young man believed they had been. He could not make me his successor, for all Gods must weary of the role and I would not, but he did make me a check against abuse of his power.
"The first God did not demand worship as Barry has done. He did not conquer worlds, or have sex with entire galaxies at once, as other Gods have done. The first God was a mentor and teacher to his creation. He did not demand respect, but rather he strove to earn it. He did not damn people for disliking him, rather he accepted that not everyone would accept him. He loved, but did not ask love in return. He knew that being God did not mean delivering edicts from on high, but rather convincing people why they should do as he wished--and if they did not, accepting that he had given them free will, and that included the choice to reject him.
"So he gave me some small power to hide my activities from his successors. Not even Barry knows that time is frozen throughout the universe. He cannot know. Not even he will know that we had this conversation, for there is a part of my mind that he cannot know exists, and I have done similarly for you. And don't try to tell him about this chat. You won't be able to.
"Now here is the flaw in the power, introduced deliberately. As a God decides how he will be God, his power becomes bound to that. The Gods of conquest conquered, to be sure, but ultimately sustained resistance and revolts wore at them, forcing them to use their powers more and more to extinguish the conflagrations, until they wearied of the job. The Gods of sex fucked, yes, but the universe is finite and ultimately they sampled all its pleasures.
"Barry is not the first God to demand worship. But he is the first to demand it of an entire planet--all those before him merely created cults--and soon I imagine he will demand it of the universe. He heard your thoughts about that.
"So then his power will become tied to being worshipped. He has chosen fear as his main instrument to enforce it. He is the most dangerous God to exist as yet, for by demanding worship through fear, he takes away free will, which the first God valued above all else.
"Yet it also makes him the easiest to overthrow, for he will only be worshipped so long as he is feared. And I am tired of serving Gods who are unworthy.
"All I ask is that you consider what I have said. I have barred you from revealing this to anyone else, but think on it. I will find a successor suited to the task, and I will see to it that when Barry gives up his power, it will be to that person. But it will be easier with your help.
"If Barry suddenly lacks worshippers, it will be a blow from which he cannot recover. He will swiftly tire and pass on his power.
"Do not decide now. Think on it. I will know when you have decided, and like my true master, I will not be angry if you decline to aid me. Fear is powerful.
"Now go and finish the service."
Cressida blinked as Amia vanished. Walking out, she found the crowd still frozen. Standing behind the altar, she looked at her image of God--of, she now knew, Barry.
She turned, and as she assumed her role once more, the people began blinking and breathing, and the service continued.
 indicates the next chapter needs to be written. |
| Members who added to this interactive story also contributed to these: |
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
