Satin:08/23/1998
July 1, 1998: I was lead off for the trial. The took me into the library and down into the archives into a small office with a desk and bookshelves. I am sat in a chair. They are very polite, but it is very clear I am not a guest, at least not yet. Michael walks in, and I fall to the floor, prostrating myself in front of him. I'm enjoying every minute of this, it's fun! And having fun is what I do best. Anyway, Michael tells me to get up and sit, so I do, but I keep looking down. He asks, "Why are you here?" I tell him I had a dream of a Prophet among men and gods that came from the heavens and that they were located at Duke campus, which I recognized from pictures in college brochures, so I had to come find him. He asks, "Who stands before you?" "The Prophet." He repeats himself, so I look up. I see Sara, so I widen my eyes and drop my jaw a bit, and stammer, "She's one of the goddesses!" "What do you bring?" "Just myself and what I can do." "Yourself is accepted. Prepare her." He leaves, bows to Sara on the way out. The guards look at Sara, waiting for instructions. She approaches me and stands in front of me. I look up at her in awe. Then I hear in my head, "What are you doing Satin?" "I'm trying to figure out what's really going on around here and what these people are told." "Ok. Just let me know if you need help." "Ok. Thanks. Oh, and don't tell anyone." "Ok." She then leaves the room. The guards visibly relax.I get taken on a tour of the complex. They ask if I have any belongings, because everything here is owned by the community. The guards protect the community, the Gods rule the community, and they are heard through Michael. They took me to the garden, and left me with Jonathan, a big black man who hands me a hoe. "What do I do with it?" I have never gardened in my life, and really do have no idea what to do with it. He starts hoeing, so I just try to do what he does.
What fun. If I never see another garden I will be happy. After a little while, Jonathan tugs on my sleeve and told me we have to go to a meeting. I followed him to an auditorium where Rachel is speaking to the people. "She's one of them!" I whisper to Jonathan. He just smiles and nods. What a laid back guy. Rachel seems to be going on about religion, and there seems to be some doubters, because she makes the podium disappear. That seems to impress 'em. She then announces Sunday masses and confessions. Everyone leaves. No one talks as they leave. How am I supposed to find out what these people think if they don't talk? What a boring bunch of people. I then remember the baseball field and change my opinion about at least a few of them.
I go back to the garden. Yipee. Guards come by asking if we have seen anything unusual or suspicious. They are acting very intimidating, so I act the part, but scan their surface thoughts to find out what the hell is going on. Oh! He's looking for me and he's not supposed to let anyone know that. Well, he found me, little does he know, poor guy. Wonder why they are looking for me?
At 6pm, we go to dinner. No one talks at dinner either. Are these fake people? How utterly boring!! After dinner I'm hanging out in the quad when, at dusk, a falcon appeared and transforms into Reuben in a rather spectacular fashion. Show off. All the gods then congregate around him. They briefly wonder where I am, and then Reuben told of a quintessence source nearby. Then he says there are too may ears here and they head back to the room. Not that it bothers me. I expand my awareness into the rooms, and listen. Reuben says the La Rue building at Duke Medical Center is locked and sealed and emanating prime and life energies. Apparently this is the building where the girl Kasee got kidnapped and rescued from. They think it may still be a Technocracy bastion. This info perks up David, who thinks they should go investigate. Amethyst tells them I am in the camp disguised as a new recruit. The bitch. Alex wonders if the Technocracy's powers are working better too, like ours. Rachel says our powers are better now because we have followers who believe in us. David asks what happened last time, which I'm grateful for since I wasn't there either. They tell how Kasee was kidnapped and they replaced her arm with a bionic one. Then she escaped. Then she was kidnapped again. Sounds like she was a magnet for trouble! I wonder what happened to her? They said she disappeared. I'll have to look sometime. Anyway, Reuben and Cab went in through the Umbra to rescue her. Apparently this perked Reuben's curiosity, because suddenly there was what looked like a soap bubble popping and a film spreading away from Reuben. I can see it physically now spreading out from the building. Other people stop and stare, which lets me know they can see it too. As the film passes the sun, it turns to twilight, and the moon rises from where the sun just set. Great, another change on the basic rules of the universe. Everything looks brighter. I heard Glen asks Reuben what was in the Umbra that could hurt us. That's when I notice things are moving in the woods, things only really glimpsed from the corner of your eye. Alex talks of the Veil being gone, and Reuben says it looks like the Gauntlet is gone now too. I send Glen a mental impulse to look outside, which he does, being the naturally curious type. I saw him look out the window and say, "Neat!" Amethyst comes up to the window and exclaims, "That's not neat! That's Oh Shit!" I keep myself from laughing, and turn to someone near me and asked, "What's going on?" "It's the end of the world. Isn't it beautiful?" This makes a familiar song pop into my head, which of course makes me want to dance. I look at the guy and say, "Well, if it's the end of the world, then let's do what Satin says. Let's Party!" I then of course sent the mental party impulse, which starts a party on the quad. Aahh, much better. These people are so much more fun when they are having fun. But then again, most blockheads are more fun when they are partying. Funny that.
I grab the nearest person and start dancing. I notice some people around me leave. Oh well, let them be losers. I keep partying with the people left, and keep listening in on the "gods." Alex goes on about entropy not moving right. That sounded pretty bad to me. Amethyst holds a one-sided conversation with presumably Crystal, in which it seems whatever has happened is Crystal's fault, or doing, and Amethyst isn't happy about it. But then again, Amethyst is never happy about much. But she does get a cup of tea out of the conversation at least.
I decide after that discussion that maybe knowing the new future would be a good idea. So I start a real dance of prophecy, realizing that this will probably blow my cover since I am bound to end up mostly undressed by the end of it, but oh well, more important things are now happening.