Calling All Angels (IC)

[Avenger Assembled]

As the city warmed against the slow onset of spring, still a month away or more, a monster prowled the halls of Carson's apartment building. Murdock had spoken at length with the representative of Yahweh's court in Lantern Hill, and that worthy (though baffling) being had sent the former Omegadrone to speak to a more temporal counselor. The angel and the Omegadrone had been perhaps too similar to really understand each other, the vast gulf between Heaven and the Terminus enough that while they knew each other's pain, neither of them could really communicate. Which had made it necessary to send the former Omegadrone to the man with the golden voice. The floor creaking under his heavy, metal-augmented weight, Murdock knocked on Carson's door.

[KnightDisciple]

Carson had been making himself a sandwich to ward off a bit of hunger when the knock came. He frowned in puzzlement as he glanced at his calendar. Nothing on schedule.

'Who could be coming by here without calling ahead?' he thought curiously to himself.

He walked to the door, glancing through the peephole for a moment before unlocking and opening the door about halfway. He stood there, not quite inviting Murdock in, but also not trying to repel him just yet.

"Can I help you, Sir?"

[Avenger Assembled]

The man outside was a strange figure to Carson's eyes, his brown, hairless skin lined with a pattern of what might have been tribal tattoos, his shoulders slumped ever-so-slightly, and whatever lay behind his eyes was flat. When he spoke, his voice was a steady metronome that neither rose nor fell. "My name is Murdock. I was sent here by the angelic entity of Lantern Hill. He told me to tell you that he thought you would make a better counselor for my needs. He apologized for the surprise, but said my reality was more persuasive than any of his words could be." A beat, a pause, and then an additional: "I am a sinner."

[KnightDisciple]

Carson blinks at the man's words. Then he steps to one side, opening the door fully to allow Murdock to enter. He closes the door behind the other man after he comes inside.

"Heyzel sent you? Well, I'm happy to help. Please, come inside."

He gives the man an evaluating look.

"While I'm not certified, or an official minister, or anything of that sort, I do work with troubled kids a lot. So I suppose I sort of count as a counselor. I'm not sure what you mean by persuasive reality...

As for being a sinner, that's nothing new. So are any other people out there in the world. All 6 or so billion of us. Me, I've sinned plenty. But I get the sense there's a bit more to this than your membership in the human condition."

[Avenger Assembled]

"It is an open question whether I am a member of the human race," said Murdock with that slow, measured voice. "While my genetics would suggest one version, my life and my deeds suggest another. Heyzel recommended me to you because he felt the perspective of a man, born of Earth, was more valuable than a being born in a different dimensional axis." He paced the room, slowly, the floor creaking slightly beneath his feet. "There are a dozen like me in this dimension. Perhaps more, perhaps less, depending on how many have survived their time in the hands of your governments. Of all those, as far as I know, I am the only one who remembers what we did. And what was done to us." When Gabriel questioned him about the reality of his situation, Murdock paused and said, "If I demonstrate, you will become wrathful. There is no plane of existence where I may walk the streets without disguise. All would raise their hand against me even where I was born."

[KnightDisciple]

Carson frowns a bit more deeply. This man is hard to read, and his words, while troubling, are also ambiguous.

"Are you hungry, or perhaps thirsty? If so, I can get you something. Either way, please have a seat, though..."

He eyes the way the floor creaks under the man.

"Do be gentle. Probably best to stick with the couch over there. It's sturdier than the other furniture."

He pointed to the particular piece of furniture. If Murdock asks for food and drink, he quickly prepares it. He then seats himself in a nearby chair, giving Murdock a steady gaze.

"So. You think that between where you come from, and what you've done, you're not only less than human, that no one will accept you. And that there aren't many of you on this planet.'

'Is it even possible to have reformed demons? Is that what he is?'

"Let me ask you something: These terrible things you did. You regret that they happened, yes?

Another question: Were they your choice? By that, I am asking if committing these foul deeds is something you willingly embraced and chose, or if it was somehow forced upon you by your nature?

Perhaps you are here now because, in a fit of irony, you rebelled against your baser nature.

Sorry if my speculation is off-base. I'm just trying to understand what you're looking for here."

'What would you even call an angel who rebelled against Heaven, then against Hell? An angel? A demon? Or something else?' he thought distractedly to himself.

[Avenger Assembled]

Murdock took water, more because he'd been told it was the socially acceptable thing to do than out of any real desire. Though the couch creaked as well when he sat down, it did seem less ominous than his heavy footstep on the floor. "Rebellion from what I was is not possible. I was freed by a quirk of fate. An accident in the void, an attack by an enemy that sought to destroy me." He looked down at his reflection in the water, the sounds of space combat in his ears, the hiss of his armor and the whining buzz of radio discharges sounding in his mind. "To leave the whole, to regain...individuality is a dream we told ourselves, suffering in the pits. When the others saw I no longer heard the Voice, they turned on me. I was lucky to survive." He took a drink, slowly, and replied, "As for choice, such things were not possible. The process of transformation is sufficient to ensure that. Will is gone. But memory. But memory of what had been, and what happened, survives. Oh yes.."

[KnightDisciple]

Now Carson was more confused than ever. This didn't sound like typical demon stuff.

'But how do I know what's "typical" for demons?'

"So...you were enslaved to some sort of overarching will? Unable to choose? Hm. So you were basically..."

Here, he shivers.

"You were trapped in your own body and mind, watching it commit horrible deeds? I...Truly, I'm not entirely sure what to say. "I'm sorry" feels hollow, and it would be a horrible lie to claim I understand."

He leaned forward, a concerned look on his face.

"That said, I'm willing to help. Your sorrow seems sincere. Heyzel sent you here. So...what do you need from me? A listening ear? An outside perspective? Tell me what you need, and I'll do my best to aid, such as it is within my ability."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I have seen gods die. And the faithful perish, with unanswered prayers on their lips, as the skies turn black above them and the stars go out. I have seen slaves cower in the darkness of the Terminus, worshiping the slayer of their worlds as a god of death and destruction who will one day sweep the stars from the omniverse and pull all that exists into the Doom Coil." Murdock knew that was the sort of talk most people on Earth-Prime didn't enjoy hearing, so he hmmed at that before going on, "I wish to know why these things have happened. I have spoken to what representatives of the divine I can find here. Your friend Heyzel recommended you to me, because he felt the perspective of a human being was more...valuable than his own. So I will ask you. Why is there evil?"

[KnightDisciple]

Gabriel sat back in his chair with a frown. While Murdock's words of watching worlds burn were troubling, his question was one that often got thrown in his face. So many people found themselves mad at their circumstances, and ended up blaming God, asking that same question.

"Well. I will preface my answer by saying that I am not a theologian. I try to understand as much as possible of my faith, but there are others out there who have more "book knowledge" on this. Then again, perhaps I have more..."real world perspective", as it were.

Ultimately, evil exists because everything has the capacity to choose. Long ago, Lucifer chose to say he knew better than God, that his ideas were better, that he deserved more. And in that choice was birthed Pride. Pride takes Choice and uses it to work ill in our lives. Pride crept into the hearts of Adam and Eve in the garden. Pride drives every dictator in history. They choose to follow that little voice inside them that says "I know better, and I'll make everyone understand, no matter how many people I have to hurt!"

Evil springs from taking choice, and making it solely about yourself. Selfishness. An unwillingness to help your fellow beings.

Unfortunately, such actions have consequences that echo throughout the ages. Power allows men to do terrible, terrible things, and often generations after they're gone, their actions are still felt across the nations.

This god of death and destruction: he has made choices that put himself above others. And he has power. This means that, sometimes, worlds fall to him. I only pray their souls found rest.

But you're wrong on one count: All that exists will not fall into the Doom Coil. After all. This planet has turned his efforts aside. It cost us, but something like that always does. I believe it's better to hold onto hope, right up until your last breath. Otherwise...we let the likes of the Terminus win. We prove them right. We give them control."

[Avenger Assembled]

Murdock folded his hands, studying Gabriel flatly. "Yes. Yes, I understand what you say. Your argument is that because what I did was not a result of my own choices, I bear no moral weight for them. That the fault lies with the original source of the evil, not those that became its unwilling tools." He hmmed. "And you're right. This world's defeat of the armies of the Terminus was a blow to Omega's armies from which he has yet to fully recover. If I truly believed in the inevitable victory of the forces of entropy, I would still be there." He wondered if Gabriel had guessed the implication of what he was; he hadn't raised the issue, which was better, really. It was not his place to debate Gabriel's theology. "Your perspective offers me a valuable understanding."

[KnightDisciple]

Carson nods.

"To give an example, back in October of last year, I fought a large number of undead, under the direction of a couple of necromancers. I would never hold the people who were once those bodies responsible for what happened. The necromancers, yes, but not those poor souls. In the same way, any who are totally enslaved, who cannot do anything no matter how hard they fight against the control...It is not their fault what happens."

He smiles slightly. The next words he speaks hold no condemnation, only compassion.

"I'm glad to offer you such understanding, all from my meager opinion. After all. Who am I to stand in the way of someone seeking redemption? Even a former Omegadrone. I'd be a poor Catholic otherwise."

He stands and walks to the sink, casually washing off his plate. Without turning his head, he speaks back to the other man.

"You sure you don't want anything else? I'd hate to have to tell Heyzel I only gave you water when you were hungry."

[Avenger Assembled]

"I rarely eat. It is generally unnecessary." The Omegadrone studied the other man, thought seeming to flick behind his eyes like gears whirling inside a machine's mind. But there was emotion on that lined face; this was no unfeeling automaton. "But if you have food and wish to share, I will eat with you." He said nothing more at that, apparently feeling the conversation was successful. "I have nothing to offer you but my service."

[KnightDisciple]

"No need for you to pay me back, this is simple hospitality. And I do have plenty of food, and do wish to share. I won't force you to eat, mind. I just want to make the offer clear. I don't have anything fancy, but I could scrounge something up."

Carson seems to be fixing himself another sandwich, with a few chips thrown onto the plate. He smirks as he sets it on an end table next to his seat in the living room.

"It's amazing how much of an appetite I have sometimes. I'm kind of surprised you don't eat much. Though...I guess you're probably...modified...to not need food. Makes a twisted sort of sense, at least."

He doesn't sit yet, waiting patiently for Harrier to decide on whether he's going to eat or not.

[Avenger Assembled]

Murdock was left baffled by Carson's words as he considered what he was trying to say. No, no, this is a friendly offer. He is a friendly man, and we simply have different experiences about food. "I would like to eat, if you are also eating." That was one rule that held between many of the cultures he'd seen. "Yes. There was nothing there that you would consider normal." He watched as Carson made food, and thought of his childhood, of the starving proles of the Black Ghetto. "The changes that were wrought on my flesh were significant. You would not wish to hear more."

[KnightDisciple]

Carson nods, and goes into the kitchen. He soon returns with a plate bearing a simple turkey and cheddar cheese sandwich with mustard, as well as a good helping of Pringles chips. Carson himself sits in his previous spot, taking a bite out of his sandwich, and using his chewing time to think.

"I doubt I would. I was thinking in broader terms. I mean, normal people have to eat. Soldiers on Earth thus need to eat. Being able to let your soldiers fight forever without food would probably let you do more, right?"

He shakes his head, realizing what he said.

"Sorry. Just...thinking out loud. So. Um. Glad neither of us is totally freaking out about this. I'll say that everything we talked about before still stands. Was there something else you wanted to ask me? Anything else you wished to talk about?"

[Avenger Assembled]

"If you wish for further conversation, I can provide it." Murdock didn't sound like he had feelings either way, just as he hadn't seemed to about most of their conversation. "I find that most people prefer not to hear what I say. They find it technologically or morally upsetting." He ate not with mechanical precision, but with the ferocity of someone who'd grown up poor and hungry, like some of the more abused children Carson had seen. "I work as a busboy at Champions. I find the work requires little conversation. I am not expected to have opinions there."

[KnightDisciple]

Caron frowned a bit at that.

"That's not totally fair. I mean, yes, I can understand why many people wouldn't be instantly buddy-buddy with you. Victim of the Terminus or no, you would still remind them. Still and all, it's just another version of prejudice. They see your armor, or hear where you're from, and suddenly they think they know what you're going to do. Even if all your actions prove otherwise."

He brightened a bit as Murdock mentioned work.

"Well, do you like working there, at least a bit? I mean, it's not for everyone, but it seems like a...colorful...place, at least.

As for having opinions, well..."

Carson shrugs.

"I hardly think it would be fair for me to have dumped all of those opinions of mine on you, without giving you the chance to ask questions and offer your own thoughts on something. If you're worried about saying something majorly upsetting, you could always start with more "minor" things. Help you get a better feel for that sort of thing."