(You may want to read Chapter One and Chapter Two to get up to speed with the story)
Max understood that he was missing more data than he currently had, and as a data hound, he knew this was not his optimal state. He felt helpless - helpless to understand the packages sent, helpless to predict what the future held, helpless to know the very security of his current state. His head burned, his thoughts swarmed, he struggled to channel his anger and confusion into some rational action. Max knew he was always very detached and effective in a crisis - so he focused on ways to become detached, calm, and to start the process of crisis management. Grabbing his keys and phone, he left the house and jumped in the car.
At 1pm, the shadows in the parking lot at the Rodeo Tavern were still short, and parking spaces plentiful. He paused just inside the door, to allow his eyes to adjust to the dim. The smell of stale beer and cleaning solution wafted towards him as the door slammed behind. He had his choice of seats at the bar, and chose one furthest from the hunch of a man to his left. The bartender gave him the once over, stopped drying glasses, and slowly approached him. Max looked up at the wall behind the bar, searching for the Patron, then returned his gaze to the bartender as he ordered. As the bartender poured a double shot, something caught Max's eye..... a tattoo on the bartenders forearm, partially obscured by his rolled shirt cuff.....what looked like legs....the bottom half of Kokopelli.
Signs, signs - they are all around us every day, Max reflected. He sipped his Patron and stared down at the moisture rings on the worn bar surface. The cool liquor dragged a warm foot down his throat, temporarily pausing the bees in his head and heating his chest cavity. He felt angry, he felt irrational and he felt lost - and none of this was good. He closed his eyes and thought intentionally about how to rechannel this kinetic fuel into positive action. He thought of Poker. Could he change the game up? Force a new engagement model? Compel the current situation to adjust to his need? Maybe he just needed to stop being purely a recipient, and go on the offensive. Could he shine a public light on all of this? He took a deep breath and looked down at his phone.
His thumb scrolled rapidly across the screen and double clicked on his mobile twitter app. He took another deep breath and began to type:
"@Brunelleschi Sacrifice. Betrayal....Cowardice. Cathedral of Our Lady/Angels: 12/20, 6pm."
His search yielded the typical flurry of results, but one clearly stood out from the others. It was titled, "Calling of the Cowards, Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, Los Angeles, Saturday December 20th, 6pm" He gaped, momentarily amazed by the power of search. He clicked the link and was brought to the Cathedral's home page. He scanned through the listed items, noting that he had just missed funeral services for "Sir Daniel", and saw that the Calling of the Cowards event was scheduled for this Saturday, with no further details.
He sat back and sipped his Patron, pondering. Turning to the bartender, he asked after the tattoo on his arm. "Oh this?" the bartender replied, pulling his sleeve up, "This is just a reminder of good times with friends." Max pressed for details, but got no more from the bartender. He needed more data, more input, some clarity. Maybe the Cathedral? Yes. He could think of no other option.
Max paid his tab and left the bar, climbing back into his car. He drove to the Cathedral, growing more certain in his choice as he got closer to his destination. As he pulled up, he head the bells chiming three o'clock, pealing from their tower. He wondered if anything was going on right now, who he'd meet in there. He parked and strolled into the deserted anteroom, searching. Nothing struck his eye, so he continued down the hall, past the empty gift shop and to the cafe. The cafe had only one patron, a nun, who was sitting and eating a late lunch. Her eyes peered up from her Bible as he entered, then lit with a glow of recognition. "Max... I've been wondering when you'd arrive," she said. "Have a seat." Max pulled out the simple chair and sat down across from her. "I am Sister Mary," the nun said. "I have something for you..." Max gaped slightly, then asked "How do you know who I am?" Sister Mary just smiled and said, "The Lord works in mysterious ways." Reaching into her sleeve, she pulled out an envelope and slid it across the table. Max stumbled, "Who? What? Why?" Sister Mary's eyes crinkled as she smiled and said, "Seek and ye shall find."
Without a word more, she gathered her things, stood up, and walked out of the cafe. Max thought to himself, "This is getting weirder and weirder" as he looked at the envelope. It was an off white parchment, his name written on the front in the same curly script from the packages. He turned the envelope over and saw it was sealed with a blob of red wax, dripped onto the surface and pressed with a seal that formed a negative imprint of a kanji character. He recognized the character, now if he could only remember what word it represented. The character looked like two legs of a man, with detached arms on each side. If he could only remember... ah! He pulled out his phone, launched the Google Translate app, typed in "water" and clicked the Go button. This character was similar, but not the same. He tried typing in "fire" next, and the character matched! He always got those two mixed up. "So, the envelope was sealed by 'fire'," he thought, "hmmmm...."
His fingers touched the wax, it was still pliable. Who knows when this was sealed? Gently, he worked the edge of the closing flap back and forth, and it popped free. Reaching inside, he pulled out the pieces of paper held within. The first one he looked at was an airline ticket! He quickly scanned it, looking for the destination, and finally found it: Florence, Italy. His mind reeled. He looked again and, sure enough, his name was printed on the top. Scrambling, he next unfolded the parchment and began to read.
He leaned towards the window and read the parchment in the fading afternoon light.
“Seven Deadly Sins: Wealth without work, Pleasure without conscience, Science without humanity, Knowledge without character, Politics without principle, Commerce without morality, Worship without sacrifice.” -Mahatma Gandhi
"Max - it's time for you to go to work." - Brunelleschi
Who is this Brunelleschi? What work does Max need to do? What is so important in Italy? Tune in next week for the next chapter! :)