Here's the latest installment of my current dark scifi project. This is chapter 21. If you're just tuning in, consider starting with chapters 1 and 2. Be advised that this work considers difficult subjects, including suicide. If you're in crisis, please seek help. Help is available here.
In the Realm of the Extraordinary
Special Agent Weaver was credited by his office with disrupting Strike 25 and national rent control legislation, though all he had done was conduct surveillance on Horace Gomez. It was Gomez who had appeared on tv to oppose the Americans for Equitable Housing effort, but after the appearance, the Bureau promoted Weaver to its New York office, where he was assigned another dissident to investigate. Greg Shabar.
Shabar wasn't a criminal suspect, but he was in communication with members of anti-government groups, and the Bureau needed to know what these groups were planning. Following Shabar yielded no actionable information. Neither did listening to his calls. Normally, Weaver would've tried to close the unproductive case so he could get on with his life. But something about it kept Weaver interested.
His subject made a living on three-hundred-dollar spiritual guidance phone calls with wealthy clients and performing for small crowds once a month, channeling a bubbly personality named Tiku. Most of Shabar's spiritual guidance was simple common sense, dressed up in New Age language. But there were moments when he said things that bordered on the profound; moments that seemed to place him firmly in the realm of the extraordinary.
One winter afternoon, Weaver was sitting in his car outside Shabar's building when he was startled by a knock on his window. It was Shabar, motioning for him to roll the window down. "Special Agent," said Shabar as the window opened. "I have an important message for you. I'll serve coffee if you come up to the apartment. You're welcome to photograph my belongings while we're up there, if that would help with your investigation."
Dumbstruck, shrugging, Weaver followed Shabar up to a small apartment that looked like it was inhabited by an old lady. Various sculptures and figurines sat on doilies on shelves or in display cases. All of the furniture appeared to be at least a hundred years old. "You're a cream and sugar man, yes?" said Shabar, setting a carafe of coffee on the table in the cramped kitchen, then producing a bowl of sugar cubes and a small jar of milk.
"Thanks," said Weaver, sitting down. "Now what's this all about?"
"It's about a few different things," said Shabar. "Different, but connected nonetheless."
"Okay," said Weaver.
"First, my guides want me to give you a message," said Shabar. "They say you should visit your daughter Lucy in Providence as soon as possible. She needs you right now. It's up to you how to take that, but if it was me, I'd drive up there as soon as we're done here."
Weaver paled. "How did you know I had a daughter?" he asked, too confused to be angry.
"My spiritual guides told me she needs you," said Shabar. "That's all the information I have."
"Christ," said Weaver, who hadn't spoken to his daughter in months. "Fine. Okay. What's the next thing?"
"Do you know the group TotalQ?" asked Shabar.
TotalQ had recently appeared in the Bureau's threat matrix after large numbers of group members had began purchasing small quantities of ammonium nitrate instant cold packs, but there was no way Shabar could've known that. "Hmm," said Weaver. "What about them?"
"One of my clients is a key member of this group," said Shabar. "When we last spoke, I got a strong intuition that he was planning something big and very dangerous. Although he denied it when I asked if there was anything wrong, I'm convinced his group is a danger to themselves and to others. I've already placed a card with his information on it in your coat pocket."
This was the break Weaver had been waiting for. Unable to help himself, he grinned broadly, for just long enough to realize how inappropriate the expression was. "Thanks," he said. "We'll, uh, take a look at him."
"Good enough," said Shabar. "The third matter before us is somewhat more complex. My hope is that I've now established enough credibility with you to bring it up without you dismissing the subject reflexively."
"I'm listening," said Weaver.
"How much do you know about ritual?" asked Shabar.
"You're going to have to be more specific," said Weaver.
"Religious rituals have always been a part of how humanity regulates society," said Shabar. "The performance of sacred rites is as human as our DNA. In the modern era, in this country in particular, traditional religions have been largely abandoned. Without traditional rituals to participate in, people unconsciously invent and enact new rituals. Understand?"
"More or less," said Weaver.
"Consider the pandemic response," said Shabar. "The lockdowns and masks and vaccines didn't serve to stop the virus at all, but they did serve to unite the population in a grand public death-and-rebirth ritual."
"I guess I've never heard it put quite that way, but okay," said Weaver.
"Now consider 321," said Shabar. "Think of it like the death part of another death-and-rebirth ritual. At this time, the ritual is still ongoing, still happening. And the next phase of it is a grand rebirth. But, unlike the pandemic response, this ritual isn't being scripted by Big Pharma and shadowy elites. And the rebirth we're beginning to witness is coming about more organically, in unpredictable ways."
"A novel perspective," said Weaver.
"How familiar are you with what Hunter Domino has been up to?" asked Shabar.
Weaver frowned, considering a briefing he'd recently attended on Domino. "It might be against the rules for me to respond to that question in any way," he said.
"I only bring him up to highlight a truth that I hope you'll take to heart," said Shabar. "There are people all over the country who have been going through their own personal rebirthing processes. Some of these people have roles to play in our society's broader rebirth, which has already started. Hunter Domino is one of these people. And I'm here to tell you that you, Special Agent, are one of these people as well."
"What am I supposed to say to that?" asked Weaver.
"Perhaps just sit with it," said Shabar. "Your role in things may be small or large. It might involve a single important choice or thousands of tiny decisions. The thing to remember is that you are just one of a great many people determined to overcome the challenges we presently face; to overcome these challenges by transforming our highest truths into a better world."
"I'll be honest," said Weaver. "I don't quite know what to make of that. I mean, you're kind of a nut, you know. But I'll keep that in mind."
"Good," said Shabar. "Now please, go to Lucy."
(Feature image from Pixabay.)
Read my novels:
- Small Gods of Time Travel is available as a web book on IPFS.
- The Paradise Anomaly is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Psychic Avalanche is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- One Man Embassy is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Flying Saucer Shenanigans is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Rainbow Lullaby is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- The Ostermann Method is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
- Blue Dragon Mississippi is available in print via Blurb and for Kindle on Amazon.
See my NFTs:
- Small Gods of Time Travel is a 41 piece Tezos NFT collection on Objkt that goes with my book by the same name.
- History and the Machine is a 20 piece Tezos NFT collection on Objkt based on my series of oil paintings of interesting people from history.
- Artifacts of Mind Control is a 15 piece Tezos NFT collection on Objkt based on declassified CIA documents from the MKULTRA program.