The Arrangement
Nov 17, 2010 22:37:20 GMT -8
Post by Sammael on Nov 17, 2010 22:37:20 GMT -8
On the Throne of Glory in the Seventh Heaven, God watched the earth, and grew displeased. He had long since stopped intervening in the human world directly, but what he saw drew him to anger. He had been kind to the humans that he had created, letting them live their lives as they saw fit in accordance with their free will.
In return, they had chosen to ruin the beautiful world he had given them, and cover the surface of it with massive cities. They had even started to leave their world, and head toward the closer planets in the solar system. In spite of all this progress, they still had not mastered themselves, and come to live in peace as he had intended.
The city of Chorazin was particularly despicable. It had once been called New York City, but the massive population boom that had occurred with the discovery of the genetic secrets of the aging process, had necessitated the massive expansion of the city to gargantuan proportions, until in the year of 2107 it had been renamed Chorazin and classified as the worlds second megalopolis.
Like the city of Huihuang Baoshi, that was recognized in the year 2088 and quickly took over most of the eastern coast of mainland China, the main problem of Chorazin was keeping its people fed. This was alleviated by the rooftops of most buildings being co-opted and used as farms, as well as massive farms stretching thousands of acres from the edges of the city. The food production was a year round industry, and most farms were enclosed in massive greenhouses so that crops could be grown in the harsh New England winter.
The Government had long since lost control of Chorazin, and maintained a presence in the city solely to keep up appearances. For all intents and purposes, the city was its own small country. The U.S. military was constantly on alert, but as they were merely place holders, the real law enforcement and counter terrorist operations were carried out by private security firms, of which there were no less than 20, all of whom competed for the same city contracts, even going to the extremes of initiating terrorist actions against their rival companies.
The city was administered by the Governors board, which included the governors of all the states included in the city. They were only thinly veiled puppets for the crime bosses, and mob elements of the city. The city officials were seldom in a position to enact any legislation that would curtail the actions of these criminal elements, and wouldn't even if they could, as this would have infringed on their financial gain. The term Black Market was laughed at by the dealers and merchants that traded openly in nearly legitimate stores in broad daylight.
Everything from slaves to low yield nuclear weapons passed through these shops, and yet the government rarely intervened. Drugs of the organic and designer variety were nearly household staples. The general population was apathetic to the changes that had transformed their city, and were content to do their jobs, and go home to their evenings entertainment.
God watched as these people reveled in their unholy city, and prepared for the cities Centennial celebration. His wrath was kindled against them, and he called the Angels both Heavenly and Fallen to him for the proclamation of his judgment.
Lucifer smiled as he heard the proclamation, and stepped forward to offer a counter proposal. He pointed out that God had given Sodom and Gomorrah several opportunities to be spared, at the request of Abraham, for the sake of his nephew Lot and his family. Why then should Chorazin not be given the same sort of opportunity? Smiling his most winning smile, Lucifer offered God a deal.
The city was indeed full of immoral evil citizens, but should the Just be punished alongside them? He asked. Of course not, he argued. They should be given the same chance as was given to the cities that came before them, before they were destroyed.
God listened intently, already knowing the plan that Lucifer was putting forward, but interested in his presentation nonetheless. He agreed that it would be unfair to destroy the city until it was put to the same test as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but he had already proclaimed that he would destroy the city for its wickedness. Lucifer nodded, and then presented his plan in its entirety.
Lucifer would be given free reign over the city, and all its inhabitants for the lifespan of a single human which with the aid of available sciences had been stretched out to nearly 200 years, or until such a time as the entire city was drawn away from goodness, and followed the broad path that leads to Hell. God thought this was an interesting plan, and it offered him a chance to be merciful, so he agreed, with a few minor alterations.
He would allow Lucifer to have a portal to hell into the middle of the city, so as to allow free and easy travel from the Pits to the city, but he insisted on a Heavenly Barrier to separate the city from the rest of the world. He also demanded that there be an equal number of the Heavenly Host manning the barrier, to ensure that the Demons never overstepped their bounds and attempted to enforce servility in the humans, or attempt to escape the barrier to terrorize the rest of the human world. The final stipulation decreed that neither God nor Lucifer would be active participants in the wager, and both instead had to choose "Seconds" to live in the city to maintain the presence and intent of their master.
Lucifer chose Sammael, a powerful fallen angel formerly of the seven Archangels, and the disgraced ruler of the Fifth Heaven. He had once been an angel of death in the service of God, but had grown tired of his duties and the limitations placed on him by God, and had jumped at the chance to join Lucifer when he had rebelled.
God chose Azrael, the Archangel of Death and Mercy. From the beginning of creation, Azrael had sheparded the deceased souls of the living to Heaven, under the command of God. An extreme supporter of the war against the Fallen, he made a name for himself stealing the souls of Hell from under the very gaze of his brother Lucifer.
Once everyone was informed of the wager, there was only one detail left to decide. Which human in the city would they use as their hourglass? Lucifer demanded that it be the youngest possible person in the city, and put forward that they not start the wager until the next child was born. God agreed, and upon the birth of the next child, he erected the barrier, and allowed Lucifer to open the portal to Hell.
This break from the rest of reality caused mass panic, but eventually, the citizens of Chorazin realized that they had no choice but to try to live life as they had before they lost contact with the outside world. They still had food production capabilities, and more than enough energy production facilities. It took a couple of months for people to realize that the massive hole into hell and the glowing barrier that surrounded their fair city actually had physical effect on the people that lived near them.
The people living in the center of the city, near the Hellmouth started to transform into hideous creatures almost always inspired by their personalities. Meanwhile the people living near the barrier began to transform into various glorious creatures, and visions of perfection. Initially this caused the citizens to panic once again, as they had just gotten used to the fact that they were no longer able to leave the city.
Soon, however, the people began to see that this could be a beneficial side effect to their unwanted imprisonment in the city, and the city began to reorient itself, with most of the normal citizens remaining in the relatively unaffected neutral zone between the Hellmouth and the Barrier, while the good and evil citizens moved closer to the source of their desired transformation.
Sammael and Azrael had not been informed that this would be likely to occur, and were thus equally surprised. Both decided to try to use the situation to their advantage, and began recruiting willing transfigured humans to become missionaries of a sort, and do some of the work they themselves were not allowed to do.
This give and take battle for the souls of the humans has waged behind the scenes in the city for nearly twenty years now, and both sides have become slightly frustrated with the stubbornness of humanity, and decided to begin operating openly to win the wager for their side.
In return, they had chosen to ruin the beautiful world he had given them, and cover the surface of it with massive cities. They had even started to leave their world, and head toward the closer planets in the solar system. In spite of all this progress, they still had not mastered themselves, and come to live in peace as he had intended.
The city of Chorazin was particularly despicable. It had once been called New York City, but the massive population boom that had occurred with the discovery of the genetic secrets of the aging process, had necessitated the massive expansion of the city to gargantuan proportions, until in the year of 2107 it had been renamed Chorazin and classified as the worlds second megalopolis.
Like the city of Huihuang Baoshi, that was recognized in the year 2088 and quickly took over most of the eastern coast of mainland China, the main problem of Chorazin was keeping its people fed. This was alleviated by the rooftops of most buildings being co-opted and used as farms, as well as massive farms stretching thousands of acres from the edges of the city. The food production was a year round industry, and most farms were enclosed in massive greenhouses so that crops could be grown in the harsh New England winter.
The Government had long since lost control of Chorazin, and maintained a presence in the city solely to keep up appearances. For all intents and purposes, the city was its own small country. The U.S. military was constantly on alert, but as they were merely place holders, the real law enforcement and counter terrorist operations were carried out by private security firms, of which there were no less than 20, all of whom competed for the same city contracts, even going to the extremes of initiating terrorist actions against their rival companies.
The city was administered by the Governors board, which included the governors of all the states included in the city. They were only thinly veiled puppets for the crime bosses, and mob elements of the city. The city officials were seldom in a position to enact any legislation that would curtail the actions of these criminal elements, and wouldn't even if they could, as this would have infringed on their financial gain. The term Black Market was laughed at by the dealers and merchants that traded openly in nearly legitimate stores in broad daylight.
Everything from slaves to low yield nuclear weapons passed through these shops, and yet the government rarely intervened. Drugs of the organic and designer variety were nearly household staples. The general population was apathetic to the changes that had transformed their city, and were content to do their jobs, and go home to their evenings entertainment.
God watched as these people reveled in their unholy city, and prepared for the cities Centennial celebration. His wrath was kindled against them, and he called the Angels both Heavenly and Fallen to him for the proclamation of his judgment.
Lucifer smiled as he heard the proclamation, and stepped forward to offer a counter proposal. He pointed out that God had given Sodom and Gomorrah several opportunities to be spared, at the request of Abraham, for the sake of his nephew Lot and his family. Why then should Chorazin not be given the same sort of opportunity? Smiling his most winning smile, Lucifer offered God a deal.
The city was indeed full of immoral evil citizens, but should the Just be punished alongside them? He asked. Of course not, he argued. They should be given the same chance as was given to the cities that came before them, before they were destroyed.
God listened intently, already knowing the plan that Lucifer was putting forward, but interested in his presentation nonetheless. He agreed that it would be unfair to destroy the city until it was put to the same test as the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, but he had already proclaimed that he would destroy the city for its wickedness. Lucifer nodded, and then presented his plan in its entirety.
Lucifer would be given free reign over the city, and all its inhabitants for the lifespan of a single human which with the aid of available sciences had been stretched out to nearly 200 years, or until such a time as the entire city was drawn away from goodness, and followed the broad path that leads to Hell. God thought this was an interesting plan, and it offered him a chance to be merciful, so he agreed, with a few minor alterations.
He would allow Lucifer to have a portal to hell into the middle of the city, so as to allow free and easy travel from the Pits to the city, but he insisted on a Heavenly Barrier to separate the city from the rest of the world. He also demanded that there be an equal number of the Heavenly Host manning the barrier, to ensure that the Demons never overstepped their bounds and attempted to enforce servility in the humans, or attempt to escape the barrier to terrorize the rest of the human world. The final stipulation decreed that neither God nor Lucifer would be active participants in the wager, and both instead had to choose "Seconds" to live in the city to maintain the presence and intent of their master.
Lucifer chose Sammael, a powerful fallen angel formerly of the seven Archangels, and the disgraced ruler of the Fifth Heaven. He had once been an angel of death in the service of God, but had grown tired of his duties and the limitations placed on him by God, and had jumped at the chance to join Lucifer when he had rebelled.
God chose Azrael, the Archangel of Death and Mercy. From the beginning of creation, Azrael had sheparded the deceased souls of the living to Heaven, under the command of God. An extreme supporter of the war against the Fallen, he made a name for himself stealing the souls of Hell from under the very gaze of his brother Lucifer.
Once everyone was informed of the wager, there was only one detail left to decide. Which human in the city would they use as their hourglass? Lucifer demanded that it be the youngest possible person in the city, and put forward that they not start the wager until the next child was born. God agreed, and upon the birth of the next child, he erected the barrier, and allowed Lucifer to open the portal to Hell.
This break from the rest of reality caused mass panic, but eventually, the citizens of Chorazin realized that they had no choice but to try to live life as they had before they lost contact with the outside world. They still had food production capabilities, and more than enough energy production facilities. It took a couple of months for people to realize that the massive hole into hell and the glowing barrier that surrounded their fair city actually had physical effect on the people that lived near them.
The people living in the center of the city, near the Hellmouth started to transform into hideous creatures almost always inspired by their personalities. Meanwhile the people living near the barrier began to transform into various glorious creatures, and visions of perfection. Initially this caused the citizens to panic once again, as they had just gotten used to the fact that they were no longer able to leave the city.
Soon, however, the people began to see that this could be a beneficial side effect to their unwanted imprisonment in the city, and the city began to reorient itself, with most of the normal citizens remaining in the relatively unaffected neutral zone between the Hellmouth and the Barrier, while the good and evil citizens moved closer to the source of their desired transformation.
Sammael and Azrael had not been informed that this would be likely to occur, and were thus equally surprised. Both decided to try to use the situation to their advantage, and began recruiting willing transfigured humans to become missionaries of a sort, and do some of the work they themselves were not allowed to do.
This give and take battle for the souls of the humans has waged behind the scenes in the city for nearly twenty years now, and both sides have become slightly frustrated with the stubbornness of humanity, and decided to begin operating openly to win the wager for their side.
