| He put his hand over the phone, and said, �Hard to believe, but they�ve put me on hold. Can you imagine, putting God on hold? Adam, the reports I�ve seen about you have been pretty grim. The Genomex mutants as a group are aging, and a lot of them are suffering pain and odd complications. Did you ever develop any guilt about creating so much misery?� �I was helping sick children.� �Oh, Adam, remember who you�re talking to�and that I was there.� He turned a monitor around so I could see it plainly. �Watch this, and tell me about your good intentions again. You�ve left quite a legacy.� The images were horrible. Mutants, many of whom I recognized, suffering from out of control powers, powers inverted against their own body tissue, all manner of horrors. The worst were the ones with children, people I had placed in the underground. At the time, I felt good about getting them out into society, but now, they were in agonies from their complications and from the knowledge their children would suffer after them. Mason hung up the phone. �Guides will be here shortly. Adam, if you had just honestly recognized what you had done, and tried to make amends�we would have been willing to work with you.� He paused, and shook his head. �I don�t like to send people there, I really do not. It gives me no joy. You met Brennan out front. Brennan turned his life around, late in life, admittedly, but he did make the effort. You had so many more abilities. You could have worked such good for so many people.� He looked genuinely remorseful. �What if you sent me back, and I did good works?� �That�s against the laws of Heaven, Adam. I�m sorry.� The steel door slid open. A pair of women in red leather suits carrying tridents walked in, unsmiling. They had long tails ending in sharp points that they kept in constant motion, like a pair of nervous cats, and shiny black, leathery looking wings. I recognized them. Christina and Danielle. Christina did not hesitate, but strode right up to me, and poked me with her trident. �Ouch! That thing is sharp!� �What did you expect? Out of the chair. We have other business besides you.� Danielle addressed Mason. �We came as soon as you called. I don�t know how the bean-counters will handle this, but your traffic people have to learn to be more careful about where they direct souls. There will have to be some kind of intradepartmental cross-charge for this pickup, Mason. We�re busy harpies.� �I understand fully, and I promise I will have words will them. Now, if you would�� The two harpies seized me by both arms and began beating their wings furiously, rapidly soaring up and out of Mason�s office. Mason didn�t even watch. Brennan waved as we went by. I couldn�t wave back. Then, the two wretched harpies let me go, laughing! I screamed. I screamed for a long time, until I was hoarse. I woke up with my heart pounding. I stayed there in the dark for a long time, relieved to have the memory fade quickly, as dreams will. Then I remembered I had to get up and prepare for an arrival. I had arranged with a Genomex mutant I had made more than two decades ago, to work on her in vitro implantation�and of course, I made improvements of my own�she would be here in less than an hour. |
| Part II |
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