Azreal: Ángel de la Muerte
2023
My father doesn't exactly get a parent of the year award. He wants me (and the rest of my “family”) dead.
1978
There were many with cause to want him dead, and several commanded the resources to mount a frontal assault, but shrouded as he was with layers of sworn secrecy and false rumor few could have tracked him to his base of operations- and those that could would have difficulty coordinating a raid without alerting his spies within their ranks. As Angelo had heard nothing about an imminent attack he suspects preternatural forces at work. He is not incorrect.
For a pregnant moment time seems to a halt and he reflects on his predicament. Once upon a time he had followed the dictates of the god-machine indiscriminately and unquestioningly. His pursuer presumably still did. This gulf, difference of loyalty, perspective, congruence- was it bridgeable? What words shalt stave off his attacker's pursuit? Most basic, how does a demon (if that is what he was now) justify himself to an angel?
2023
All I remember from my mother was criticism- not praise- I was never good enough for congratulation. She raised me fall.
1978
Justifying himself to his hunter, Angelo confessed, “I had arranged the transportation of some of the rarest texts in existence, from their homes in occult libraries throughout the world (the famed libraries of Alexandria, the Vatican archives, the esoteric libraries located under the Giza pyramids, etc.) to an enormous bunker controlled by the god-machine located within the subterranean tunnels of New York City. It was my job to see to it that all libraries of import were infiltrated and corrupted by agents of the god-machine. Not every text I obtained was a rare deteriorating gnostic tome or obscure wizard's diary; I would pilfer easier to source texts too, such as 'The Dummies Guide to Woodworking' or a specific child's coloring book. I performed my duty faithfully."
His account was mainly factual, even dressed up as an impassioned plea. Angelo hadn't asked why the god-machine wanted these books, or what end they would serve. It was not an angel's place to question or wonder. All angels served ignorant of the metaphysics that powered the infrastructure they constructed and operated. It was enough that they acted as the god-machine willed, obediently. Enough, of course, until an angel fell.
2023
I would press my hands upon the windows and imagine what it would be like to be one of the ants scurrying far below. But I could only imagine. The tower was all I knew.
1978
Time speeds up. Angelo knows his deviation was betrayal, and his shift a marked obsession. If the god-machine caught wind of it, when the god-machine *uncovered his acts* it would inevitably dispatch a Sword to reclaim him. Recycle him. Eliminate everything that was he. And at last an angel had been sent. There was no denying it, Angelo finally admits to himself what his disobedience had made him. Angelo was a fallen angel. A demon. One of "the Unchained".
2023
I had no friends; family was my only company and except for my brother Joel they visited rarely.
1978
…something inside Angelo switches off. His connection to the god-machine is irrevocably severed. He had never felt so alone.
2023
Of course I had no shortage of reading material but the books were endless and it would take lifetimes to read them all.
1978
In a desperate gambit, Angelo makes an honest plea to his pursuer. "But the beauty of the books, the handiwork, the data humans transcribe and contain. Is this not a marvel worth savoring? To lock it up in a prison, away from humanity, away from study and appreciation....," Angelo let his voice trail off, letting his hunter complete the sentiment. Given everything he thought he knew about angels, Angelo's appeal should not work.
2023
The tower was all I knew. I never needed to worry about classes or teachers. I merely trusted that life would provide as it always had. I never imagined I would need to escape. Until my father and his ilk had killed my “mother” and “uncle” and the few that I had who were close to me. Until now.
1978
Escape?
Angelo and squeezes the trigger. Two soldiers' brains splatter splatter across Angelo's laptop. The ethics of this act is irrelevant to angel and demon alike, of course. Loyalty to the god-machine had nothing to do with morality, all it was was obedience to the status quo. The god-machine ran the world and the world consisted of the god-machine. The concepts were inseparable. To Angelo, the deaths of the soldiers was a necessary evil. To his hunting angel they were merely acceptable casualties.
The remaining soldiers, taken by surprise instinctively aim their rifles at the armored desk….
2023
There was no other exit.
My father doesn't exactly get a parent of the year award. He wants me (and the rest of my “family”) dead.
1978
There were many with cause to want him dead, and several commanded the resources to mount a frontal assault, but shrouded as he was with layers of sworn secrecy and false rumor few could have tracked him to his base of operations- and those that could would have difficulty coordinating a raid without alerting his spies within their ranks. As Angelo had heard nothing about an imminent attack he suspects preternatural forces at work. He is not incorrect.
For a pregnant moment time seems to a halt and he reflects on his predicament. Once upon a time he had followed the dictates of the god-machine indiscriminately and unquestioningly. His pursuer presumably still did. This gulf, difference of loyalty, perspective, congruence- was it bridgeable? What words shalt stave off his attacker's pursuit? Most basic, how does a demon (if that is what he was now) justify himself to an angel?
2023
All I remember from my mother was criticism- not praise- I was never good enough for congratulation. She raised me fall.
1978
Justifying himself to his hunter, Angelo confessed, “I had arranged the transportation of some of the rarest texts in existence, from their homes in occult libraries throughout the world (the famed libraries of Alexandria, the Vatican archives, the esoteric libraries located under the Giza pyramids, etc.) to an enormous bunker controlled by the god-machine located within the subterranean tunnels of New York City. It was my job to see to it that all libraries of import were infiltrated and corrupted by agents of the god-machine. Not every text I obtained was a rare deteriorating gnostic tome or obscure wizard's diary; I would pilfer easier to source texts too, such as 'The Dummies Guide to Woodworking' or a specific child's coloring book. I performed my duty faithfully."
His account was mainly factual, even dressed up as an impassioned plea. Angelo hadn't asked why the god-machine wanted these books, or what end they would serve. It was not an angel's place to question or wonder. All angels served ignorant of the metaphysics that powered the infrastructure they constructed and operated. It was enough that they acted as the god-machine willed, obediently. Enough, of course, until an angel fell.
2023
I would press my hands upon the windows and imagine what it would be like to be one of the ants scurrying far below. But I could only imagine. The tower was all I knew.
1978
Time speeds up. Angelo knows his deviation was betrayal, and his shift a marked obsession. If the god-machine caught wind of it, when the god-machine *uncovered his acts* it would inevitably dispatch a Sword to reclaim him. Recycle him. Eliminate everything that was he. And at last an angel had been sent. There was no denying it, Angelo finally admits to himself what his disobedience had made him. Angelo was a fallen angel. A demon. One of "the Unchained".
2023
I had no friends; family was my only company and except for my brother Joel they visited rarely.
1978
…something inside Angelo switches off. His connection to the god-machine is irrevocably severed. He had never felt so alone.
2023
Of course I had no shortage of reading material but the books were endless and it would take lifetimes to read them all.
1978
In a desperate gambit, Angelo makes an honest plea to his pursuer. "But the beauty of the books, the handiwork, the data humans transcribe and contain. Is this not a marvel worth savoring? To lock it up in a prison, away from humanity, away from study and appreciation....," Angelo let his voice trail off, letting his hunter complete the sentiment. Given everything he thought he knew about angels, Angelo's appeal should not work.
2023
The tower was all I knew. I never needed to worry about classes or teachers. I merely trusted that life would provide as it always had. I never imagined I would need to escape. Until my father and his ilk had killed my “mother” and “uncle” and the few that I had who were close to me. Until now.
1978
Escape?
Angelo and squeezes the trigger. Two soldiers' brains splatter splatter across Angelo's laptop. The ethics of this act is irrelevant to angel and demon alike, of course. Loyalty to the god-machine had nothing to do with morality, all it was was obedience to the status quo. The god-machine ran the world and the world consisted of the god-machine. The concepts were inseparable. To Angelo, the deaths of the soldiers was a necessary evil. To his hunting angel they were merely acceptable casualties.
The remaining soldiers, taken by surprise instinctively aim their rifles at the armored desk….
2023
There was no other exit.