Lycan Fallout 5 Page 15

  “I wanted to feel needed. You and the others had everything under control; I spent epochs watching suns form and die. It was beautiful, but I was unfulfilled; I needed something to occupy myself, to…contribute.”

  “Your contribution could be the undoing of us all,” Jinn said.

  Maker’s head bowed down. “I did not foresee this.”

  “It is sometimes easier to do, rather than to think.” Jinn squeezed Maker’s hand as he responded. “Many on both sides will die; many of your beloved humans will die.”

  “Can you do nothing to stop them?” Maker begged.

  “It is far too late for that, and I could ask you that same question.”

  Maker looked confused.

  “You do not know? Your archangels’ footprints are all over the neutral territories. They are infusing your creations with far more power than should ever be allowed. These are frightening times, Father. Your men and women of free will are almost as close to the root of the source as we are. They know not what they wield; the danger far surpasses anything we have ever encountered. And your pet, Talbot, he could be the one that sends us all into oblivion.”

  “The great nothingness,” Maker mumbled.

  “Makes purgatory seem like a crazed flapper party from the Roaring Twenties,” Jinn replied.

  “A what?”

  “You really should have visited more often. I have to hand it to you, Humans are a constant source of entertainment. The depths of their depravity are often countered with heights of achievement, great acts of benevolence. I suppose it all goes back to that free will thing, hmm? Certainly would have been less exciting without it. However, I fear your experiment is coming to an explosive conclusion.”

  “I felt I had interfered too much already, that a more hands-off approach was warranted; perhaps that was the wrong take.”

  “They filled the void of your absence with science. Not necessarily an evil thing; they sought answers, they grew. Curious things; never content to wonder, always striving to discover the whys and hows. Oh, but how the perverted amongst them could twist that knowledge. The weapons! The weapons they created to kill each other, then the machinery they constructed hoping to keep each other alive…just amazing.”

  Maker nodded sadly. “You asked for this meeting, Jinn. You must have something to say other than to throw my mistake in my face.”

  “Are you in such a rush to be rid of me? I did not come here to berate you for what has happened. There was a chance, long ago, when I could have stopped you, but, truthfully, I bought into the whole affair, almost as much as you. I’ll admit, I’ve stood by, shocked and amused by it all. Maybe, I have an idea, though I fear that convincing you may be a difficult undertaking.”

  Jinn told him what he was thinking.

  “Are you mad?!” Maker stood up quickly, his chair toppling behind him.

  “There is the Maker of old!” Jinn smiled. “It has been a long time since we have been witness to the Old Testament version of you, Father.”

  “I always disliked that account. Felt that I was portrayed unfairly.”

  “Really? Have you forgotten the whole ‘drowning their entire realm’ catastrophe?”

  Maker winced at the remembrance of the event.

  “I never understood why you loved them so, almost as much as those who came into existence with you. Maybe more so,” Jinn said, bemused. He sat back and crossed his legs. “Perhaps there is something to be said for making something from nothing. What do I know? Stuck below in the depths as I have been.”

  Maker leaned on the table, staring intently at the other. “Don’t pretend that was not exactly what you wanted. You convinced me creating a dark realm was for the best, that we would need to teach those who took their free will for granted, that if they did as they pleased in life to the detriment of others, they would pay for their transgressions! Then, of course, there were the others…”

  “What can I say? I watched you create and was inspired to do the same.”

  “Demons?”

  “Though I never loved them as you did yours. Can you imagine Maker, if we were held to the same standards as your creations? I shudder to think of the torment we would have to endure. It is a good thing we are gods is it not?” Jinn ignored Maker’s entreaty.

  “Stop, Jinn. We are not here to spar words.” Maker motioned behind him and the chair lifted and moved in as he sat. “I cannot do as you ask.” His head sagged.

  “Think, Maker. The owner is as much tethered to the leash as the dog. If you do not break this bond, it will be the undoing of us all.”

  “I will consider your words. I promise nothing.”

  “I find it disturbing that an omnipotent being has so much trouble with commitment.”

  “Which of us walks among the mortals?” Maker asked.

  “Gabriel would be your most persistent transgressor, though all seven have been there recently.”

  “And you, Jinn? You have always felt that things should be fair, in a twisted sort of way, you believed in justice.”

  “If you are asking if I sent emissaries to counter yours, you would be half-right. I sent some who took it upon themselves to interfere; it was in their nature to do so, and it is true I did not stop them. Lamashtu is stirring her fingers in the pot, as are Pazuzu and Andras.”

  “Pazuzu? You would release the equivalent of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse onto earth?”

  “It is your little side project which threatens everything that we are! I am not going to sit idly by and allow it. At least I am aware of all that is going on. You hide away, thinking if you pay it no attention, all will be fine.” Jinn stood. “It is not fine! Nothing is fine!” he yelled. “Cut them loose or I may see fit to destroy the entire realm. Andras’s infection has already begun to spread.”

  “You would have them all kill each other?”

  “You are not leaving many options available.”

  “Forgive me if I do not always take what you say as absolute truth,” Maker said.

  “Of course.” Jinn sat back down, he straightened his tie and placed his hands in his lap.

  “Gabriel,” Maker summoned.

  A tall man with long, winding hair the color of spun gold appeared off to the side of the table.

  “Maker.” He gave a slight head bow as he took in his surroundings. His eyes settled on the other. If he was surprised to see Jinn, he made no indication.

  “Jinn says you have been upon my realm recently, is this true?”

  “Jinn says? Is he not the master of lies?” Gabriel questioned.

  “Perhaps. This does not answer my question.”

  “I see no reason to confirm or deny anything the Great Deceiver has to say.”

  “It is I who have asked.” Maker’s voice became forceful.

  “I can deny you nothing,” Gabriel replied.

  “Yet again he dances around the question.” Jinn was amused. “How much longer do you think you can get away with it?” he asked Gabriel.

  “Do you wish me to rid you of this atrocity?” Gabriel asked.

  “No, Gabriel, I wish you to answer my question, as it has been posed to you,” Maker said.

  “Go ahead,” Jinn said, motioning with his hand. “We’re listening.”

  Gabriel’s lips tightened as he clenched his jaw. He turned so that he was staring directly at Maker. “It was imperative that I did. Three gates to the Underworld have failed. Your creation is being overrun with all manner of foulness.”

  “This is true,” Jinn said. “All manner of foulness.”

  Gabriel looked as if he might grind his teeth into dust. “They must be stopped.”

  “Oh, I agree they have to be stopped.” Jinn was pointing at Gabriel. “Maker, perhaps now you should ask him how my gates failed.”

  Maker’s eyes opened wide. “Is this true?”

  Gabriel remained tight-lipped.

  “That’s okay,” Jinn replied. “If you won’t answer, I will. Now, if any of this sounds inaccur
ate, please feel free to correct me. Father, I hope this doesn’t come as a shock to you, but your Generals hate Man. Oh, in the beginning I’m sure they were as curious as you were about the little beings, even went to war on their behalf a few times. But those days are long over. Your archangels have grown tired of standing guard. Over the millennia their anger has grown, they harbor resentment that their sanctuary of Eden was overrun by what seems to them little more than vermin. It is not wise of a parent to take a favored toy away from one offspring and give it to another; the action creates hatred, fosters discontent, and worst of all, jealousy. You elevate one to preferred status and the others are relegated to what amounts to clean-up duty. It is strange; humans think you a perfect being, when in reality, they are more like their creator than they could possibly believe, warts and all.” Jinn laughed. “But back to your angels…they miss the peace Eden afforded them. That something so beautiful, pure and idyllic, was ruined, transformed into a vile, corrupted landscape; it does not sit well with them. They bided their time; they waited for you to grow tired of your favorite son, to turn your attention to loftier things…then they devised a plan to get it back, to regain their peaceful realm. I told you, Maker. You should have walled your heavens off as well. But you would not listen to me, told me that your Generals would never do anything to harm your world. Those gates did not fail on my end; your angels ripped holes right through them. Could I have stopped them? I suppose I could have; would have been a bloody mess and the outcome not assured, so I sat back, watching, curious to see what they were up to.”

  “How could you?” Maker asked.

  “I’m sorry…are you talking to Gabriel or me? Tough to tell with your head hanging down. I’ll continue, shall I? It became evident quickly enough; they were releasing Hell on Earth. I imagine they were going to wait until it was far too late to save the humans before informing you. At this point, you would have been forced to declare war upon the Underworld. Win upon win for the archangels; man is gone and they get to do battle with their true enemies, forcing them back from whence they came, thus gaining much desired favor from their father. Brilliant, really. But their plans were not as cleanly executed as they might have been.”

  “I do not know what you are talking about,” Gabriel said flatly.

  “Truly? You don’t?” Jinn mocked him. “Does the Green Man shake any rust from your belfry?”

  Gabriel stiffened.

  “Green Man?” Maker asked.

  “An experiment. They wanted to see just how much they could get away with. They quietly passed on the knowledge of how to create a being to a few of my more adventurous demons,” Jinn smiled.

  “That knowledge is strictly forbidden!” Maker growled.

  “Indeed. Their creation has the ability to pass through gates; he briefly walked among your babes before being sent back down, although now, after receiving some upgrades, it would seem he is back upon the surface. We might say, for the sake of colloquialism, he is Hell on Earth, at least to all that he comes across.”

  “Upgrades? What does that even mean?”

  “He has fused with one of your own, one who took free will to the extreme.”

  “This cannot be happening. Tell me, Gabriel, please tell me that Jinn has fabricated all of this.” Maker looked to his angel.

  Gabriel stood tall. “I cannot. The argument is old; we have brought it to you before. You have either refused us an audience or our concerns fall upon deaf ears. Well, no more, father. If you cannot control your creation, we will wipe it clean from the infestation. Give it back to its rightful owners; we will tend to and care for it as it should be. The real prize is the earth; those manifestations you have placed upon it, the plague.”

  “I will not allow it!” Maker slammed his fists against the table.

  Michael, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Raguel, and Barachiel instantly appeared at their brother’s summons. They stood in a loose circle around their father.

  “Well. I did not see that coming.” Jinn leaned forward. “I didn’t think this day could get any more interesting.”

  “What is this?” Maker asked he stood slowly.

  “We are giving you one final chance to do what is right, but make no mistake, Old Man, this is happening whether you want it to or not,” Michael said.

  “A coup? Incredible,” Jinn said.

  “Keep quiet, Beelzebub. When we are done with him you’ll be next. We do not need either of you anymore,” Michael said.

  “Come if you dare, winged-one. I will not be caught unawares.” There was a popping sound as Jinn departed.

  “We should not have let him go,” Barachiel said.

  “One problem at a time,” Michael said turning his attention back to Maker.

  “I am saddened by this turn of events, though they are not completely unexpected, I suppose. Do the seven of you believe yourselves ready for what is to come?”

  Michael pulled his sword free from its scabbard and swung for Maker’s head. A moment before contact, Maker vanished, much like Jinn had.

  Chapter 18

  Tim

  “What do you want, Ganlin? You know I hate being among the filth of this world,” Gabriel answered his call.

  “My, my, my! Aren’t you a pretty one. Do a lot of dick sucking to pay for that perm, do ya?” Tim asked.

  “What are you? Certainly not a demon; how have you summoned me? I can sense Ganlin’s presence; what have you done with him?” Gabriel demanded.

  “Demon? No, they were too frightened of me to let me into their little club. I’m Timothy and who might your dainty little ass be?”

  “I am Gabriel, archangel to the Maker!” he thundered.

  “It’s always the ones that make the most noise that you need to be the least worried about. Always going on and on about the havoc they’re going to wreak or who they’re going to fuck up, but they never really do anything. Naw. It’s the quiet, observant fucks you have to watch out for. Yeah, shut up. I can hardly think with your jabbering…look, if you want to talk, go ahead.”

  “Gabriel, it’s me–Ganlin,” came a deeper voice from inside the clown. “This monster has somehow stolen my essence; I cannot escape. I have lost the keystone.”

  “Lost the keystone? How could you be so careless?!”

  “He didn’t lose it,” Tim interjected. “Gave it away to some quim. Sure, she was a pretty little number, but she was so cold I bet her pussy would freeze a dick then she’d snap it off and shove it down the guy’s throat. I wouldn’t want anything to do with that bitch.”

  “You gave it away? I don’t know which is worse.” Gabriel looked around, seemingly nervous. “I gave you the stone…”

  “Wait–you gave him the stone?” Tim asked. “For what purpose?”

  “It is no concern of yours, creature.”

  “Maybe not before it wasn’t, but since we’re bunking together now, I think I’m on a need-to-know level. Especially if you don’t want me to squash him out of existence, which is most certainly on my list of to-dos.”

  “Don’t!” Gabriel extended his hand.

  “So the half-wit wizard is of some importance to you, is he? That means so am I.”

  “I care not for you,” Gabriel replied.

  “Wrong answer, Goldilocks.” Tim advanced. “‘Cause, you see, we’re a package deal now, me and charbroil. Oh, wait…you wouldn’t have known about that. Not nearly as funny if you don’t have the whole backstory. See, he had a run-in with this same asshole I did. Got his ass burned to a crisp! I mean, like the toaster setting was on eleven, type of crisp. You know what I’m talking about…he was that black you can’t scrape off with a butter knife because it’s gone all the way through, and even if you can somehow save the core, it still tastes burnt. Always happens on the last piece of bread, too. What kind of fucked up world is this? Like God doesn’t want you to have fucking toast or something.”

  “What are you talking about?” Gabriel asked.

  “Talbot. I’m talking about Mich
ael Fucking Talbot. We both had run-ins and we both have scores to settle. That, more than anything, is why I’m keeping the wizard around. Seems he has a particular set of skills…nothing? Really? Nothing? I figured you would have got the reference. Fucking angels are about as fun as a paraplegic at a three-legged race.”

  “Talbot.” Gabriel was thinking. “That’s Maker’s pet project. Where and when was this ‘run in?’”

  “See that’s the thing. Both of us ran into him up there and down here. Down here pretty recently, too.” Tim absently reached up and touched the side of his face, remembering the loss of his eyes. “Up top, it was awhile ago–for me, anyway. So if you could either point us in the right direction or fuck off, I’d appreciate it. I’d like to get my measure. Measure,” Tim laughed. “Like I’m going to stop there! I’m taking everything, then I’m going to glue the little fuck back together and start all over again. I think wizard-boy here could pull that off for me. Talbot’s up on me by two deaths; well, his wife has one of those, but I think she’s unreachable.” Tim pointed up. “So he gets to pay by default. Fair’s fair in death and dismemberment.”

  “Michael was down here? For what purpose?” Gabriel was asking rhetorically, so he was surprised when he received an answer.

  “He came to save someone he thought was in trouble,” Ganlin spoke.

  “I told you I don’t like that shit, Sootie. Yeah, that’s what I’m going to call you. Rolls off the tongue better. If you want to speak, you ask me first. This is my body; you’re just along for the ride. I’ll go plant your ass back in that lava flow if you keep this shit up,” Tim said.