Scene 1
Belzebub descends from hell to the Russian Steppes one gloomy morning . She is looking for a renewable source of energy. Hell, like everywhere else in the Universe, is running out of fuel options. She has heard about nuclear power, and that Russia possesses both the greatest knowledge and the least safety consciousness. A play ground for a Devil with firm intent. Belzebub was born and raised in Minsk.
But she cant do this on her own. She requires the assistance of an ancient breed of Cosmic Puppet Traveller, specifically three fellow-timeless beings carved from the finest Blackthorn, Hazelwood, Alder and Teak. She summons them to join her on the Russian Steppes to create a magik Quadrant within whose forcefield all dreams and nightmares come true. Thats the theory.
Introducing the Quadrant of Cosmic Puppets
[#1 X Ray puppet aka C Thru’ Marxathon ] – tattoo of an Egyptian phoenix on inner left arm. From Donegal. Black curly hair falling like a curtain across freckled skin, the bluest eyes since Sinatra, Steeped in the art, history and philosophy of Quadrants influence over human affairs. Nuclear focus: whatever !
[#2 Gamma puppet: aka Belzebub] – costumed, all red, amazonian torso, long black hair in a ponytail. Gamma symbol tattoo on left inner forearm. Russian scholar, highest IQ of Quadrant, a loner, endlessly searching for a lost world inside.
[#3 Alpha aka The Archangel] – The spiritualist of the Quadrant, keeper of the magik, tattoo of the Alpha particle on left inner forearm. French to her core. Shares a raison d’etre with Belzebub with French nuk-e-ler.
France possesses deep knowledge of The Nuk-e-ler but exerts a much tighter control over access and security. As a Western nation with a nuclear arsenal, Alpha the Archangel will require all her otherworldy diplomacy , cunning and strength wrapped in human form to fulfill her end of the deed.
[#4 Beta aka I-Man The Phoenix] – tattoo of a betaparticle on left inner forearm, a seer by instinct with strong connections into Jamaican and Middle Eastern culture. Born in Southern Sudan to Mizrahi Jewish parents. Target: Israel /Jamaica A lover of powerful puff and a good story. Nuclear focus: seeker of undeclared nuclear power/non-nuclear hypocrisy.
And the Fifth Beatle…
[#5 Lead puppet ] A Palestinian iron monger by trade with deep knowledge of ancient magik recorded in the Picatrix and other ancient Arabic tomes. Tattoo of tree of life on inner left arm, Special guest on this Illiad. Special purpose vehicle of a lead variety.
=============================================
Scene 2
The meeting nexus is somewhere high over Israel – four points equidistant from Mount Hebron . The geometric significance of their orientation is the focus of energies from all four sources toward one target. Four separate Odysses woven into a single Illiad.
On this mission to Energy Uncovery, each had heard of three similar quests through the Puppetsphere, a swirling. magical, star-laden carpetway along which all puppet beings pass on their silent, purposeful journeys to articulation and denouement. A bit like a messageboard for Woodners. In Puppet lore, when the notion of a quest is granted to more than one Celestial being, it is a strong indication of a mission of great importance. It happens very rarely but puppets prepare for such event as their highest calling .
The Quadrant made a pact to meet at key energy points originating in their respective earthly homelands. These lay lines stretched from St. Petersburg to Ireland, Palestine via France and across to Israel and Jamaica.
Each puppet sits atop the peak of a hill with a view over a wide area facing toward the geographical and psychic target.
“We have a common goal ” exclaimed Alpha across the misty plains of Southern Aquataine , the mighty Pyrenees looming behind her in case extra muscle was required.
“State your purpose, your target and destination my fellow Quadranteers” said Alpha majestically, her voice booming out across the plains and echoing down the vallies and oceans to the ears of waiting puppets, her Magii.
“In the honorable tradition of puppet seances, I declare my purpose: to seize the means of infinite energy production from this Mortal Coil and return it to its rightful owners. My target is the Sosnovyi Bor processing plant on Baltic coast near St Petersburgh . My name is Gamma aka Vershuka de Gamma or Gamma Gamma Hey aka Belzebub, bringer of Darkness and End Times. “[picture from instagram]
“Nice” said X-Ray, aka CThru’ O’ Marxathon , seer of the Truth and wronger of Rights. ” So you’re the dark one of the group ? Though Ive a few Dark Star stories that might set even your fiery locks ablaze.”
“Really ? G’wan then tell us, you Irish Loxie,…..” said Beta in one long rolling sentence laced with Jamaican Rum.
“Hold on a second, before we set Hell ablaze, can I just add there are higher ideals at stake here. The stories can be woven in later. And who might you be? ” said XRay to Beta. “Please state your Purpose, target , destination. If you dont mind” said X-Ray.
“Beta is ainm dom .Tubby of the Upsetter Lion, King of Zion, ever living, ever peaceful …but…running out of body Juice fast that keep belly warm and kids fed”. Beta looked down at the ground ruefully and continued “G’wan tinkin. Me say Beta is the Blackest bloodclat here in this here puppet circle – seen ?”
“Ok so you’re goal is to find a new source of Gods Juice, amidst the ganja cloud I see drifting across the valley towards me ? Any clues on a trail to follow ?”
“That about right”, said Beta, scanning his horizon. “Am friends with Israelites, the original people risen up and prophecy the End of Times. My roots is from there. Hell, me sense a reckonin’ is a’ comin and I get the feeling we carryin’ the catalyst for this event”
They all went quiet, thinking about Betas prophetic utterance, his lilting Jamaican accent lingering long in their echo chambers along with the whiff of ganj.
“Always happy to precipitate a catastrophe or an apocalypse” said Gamma warming to the task in hand. “So Mr Betaman where you targeting ? I don’t know of any Jamaican Nuclear industry. Where you hoping to source Gods Juice for your future needs ? “
“Ah, dem people in Israel have the chops but lyin’ also become their habit. It need undoing and me askin’ you three plus the power of my own ancestors to pool together and crack open that source in Palestine-Israel for use as Gods Juice. In a Universal Truth Telling and righteous spiritual uplifting in the home of Marley, his brethren and my little redhead dog, Afrobeat”
“Jaysis” said X-Ray , “its like a prayer meeting with the Devil, his Ganja bishop and the archduke of Herman Flap presiding over the psalms, nuclear waste and apocalypse timetabling. ” rubbing his hands in anticipation.
“So what we have in terms of a target list ?”
Alphadog piped up reading from a piece of paper scribbled with notes
“We have
St Petersburgh , Russian Republic.
Dublin , Irish Republic
Palestinian Israel
“What of you AlphaDog ? Which power source you lockin’ those luscious lips around for some take-home radiation.” “Some lovin’ spoonful of Uranium ? ” said X-Ray, coaxing the French puppet out of her reading focus.
“Not sure. En France, l’énergie nucléaire est un Dieu silencieux. They lead the world in know-ledge of nuclear processes, fuel containment and security. Their nuclear deterrent and dependency on nuclear power for 80% of their domestic power est unique en Occident.”
“Even for a megapuppet such as yourself or any of you guys here present, France is a shhh-alll-enge. Comprendez vous ?”
“Mais ouis Alph-a bien sur, nous comprendez” said the formally monosyllabic X-ray, surprising all in earshot with his gammon francaise.
“увесь час, увесь час (All the time , all the time) “replied Gamma, filing her nails and, not speaking, anything but the queens Russian.
“So , Alpha girl you appear to have work to do on your target. Any ideas of a plan, an approach , an entry point or groove to hook into ? You cant be coming at this cold, right ? And, eh, we’ve got about twenty minutes of connection time left before our Travellers portal closes off. Id get those notes down, shared and distributed to everyone here before that happens, ok ?”
“Sure” said Alpha “the plan thus far : we are planning to hit a convoy transporting enriched caesium and carry off as much as our radiation proof cladding will allow us to transport. From the caesium, we should be able to kick start a Unification process between us….
…that is , provided the rest of you Woodenesque Dilettantes deliver on your points of combustion on time, on budget and in flames. We will need fire, lots of it to bring the conflagration to its peak. I assume everyone is aware of protocols involved ?”
“Positioning, orientation, the words of incantation, the movement of both the material and its possessor @ each layline point are all critical , You all been practising or is this the first time you have heard they exist ? ” said Alpha, her eyes closed and mind focused on the whispering, crackling ether swirling around her head like electricity in a storm.
Gamma joined the conversation , standing over beside Alpha, close enough to smell her perfume. “Yeah , we’re good. Been practising a long time for just this moment . To the point Id say it gets triggered as instinct” said Gamma, her ponytail swinging out from her head as she sang the incantation along with the opening moves that would supercharge a connection between all 4 puppets.
Beta started to move to the incantation as well. It sounded like an American Indian rain dance chant ” Heya, heya….”. A stuttering movement of arms and legs, together then alternating out of phase, the target of the dance visible beneath her feet, subject to the rage and wrath of the Universe.
These materials are amongst the most unstable found in the universe and liable to spontaneously catch fire , burn brightly for 20 minutes then as suddenly stop.
Beta kept the incantation up = ” Amerowawon, tepo, sike tay, wan may doe…”
All the while watching the event horizon for psychic intruders.
===================================
Scene 3
The spell-based incantation works by co-ordinating the four energy sources through a reinforced and pre-enchanted leaden arrow at a specific target.
Incantation is very specific , it mentions each type of energy source, its role in the spell and the impact of combining all 4 + the target pinpoint – place described at intersection of lay lines or paths well followed.
If they get the incantation wrong it will trigger a nuclear explosion@ any one of the 4 points (sample pieces of each type of material rather than at target location for combined material – is it pushed there by spell or does it require someone to place a sample of all 4 rad sources together in rad-proof container ?
The spell is a combination of words, gestures, symbolism and blood/human fluids. All North American Indian incantation spells bring down the fires of hell.
==========
Setting the Scenery 4
Each puppet has a team of helpers, engineers, radio heads wearing color coded, tribal markings, radioactive units, suits reflecting the stars, moon , the passing spray of atomic particles, the gluons, muons, neutrinos, the soup of the soul visible to anyone with a heart as old as the Universe.
These puppets were niche being- beings, their teams less so but no less proficient in the arts of selection, detection, containment and theft of discrete quantities of radioactive material. Anyone encountering these beings in their ordinary ever day should remain silent, just let them pass with a smile. Do not attract their attention.
X-rays team break into the Nuclear Medicine Department of a private hospital in Dublin. This hospital recently purchased the most powerful X-ray source available for non-military uses, capable of irradiating the most recalcitrant & complex of human contradictions, conundrums, lies, and truths, medically speaking.
The device had been targetted way before the medical team in the hospital even had it installed. X-Rays puppet Crew were on the case tracking the whereabouts, target destinations for X-Ray machines with enough power to fulfill its destiny within the The Death Knell, the master plan concocted by these 4 masters + 1 to right the wrongs wrought on the people of Palestine amd Gaza City especially.
The plan involved convincing the hospital the machine had been damaged in transit and while still in warranty would be either repaired in situ or shipped back to the country of origin and replaced with a new one. The latter option would involve a very long wait so the goal was to get the parts required by the plan out of the “damaged” x-ray machine, complicated circuitry of copper, tungsten, voltage and current source in small portable boxes easily concealed on ships bound for the Med.
[Shadowplay of events]
Dublin Hospital
the process of
thievery & liberation
Encompasses disguises, coverage of emblamage
depending on ur point of puppet-view
They – the hospital – settled on the replacement, which makes the pilfering much easier
Sabotage , tracking, sophisticated deception ,
All in the name of X-Rays x-ray machine – 1 down, 3 to go.
========================
Sensory 5
Next to go was Alphadog and Alpha group – they were charged with retrieving a source of alpha particles somewhere on French soil.
In France, a primary nuclear power, a former colonial power, a neurotic, paranoid race of Northern Europeans uncomfortable with a multicultural europe and especially with her North African citizens who occupy a blind spot in French culture, all nuclear facilities are well guarded. The contrast between French pride in their technological prowess and a dessicated culture of sang froid, global retreat and racisme provided Alpha group with a way in.
Into this ice-bergian maelstrom rode the alpha-particle crew, their goal the liberation of just enough radioactive material to lock in 25% of the puzzle, The Death Knell.
The crew literally rode in on horseback across the marshland surrounding Frances largest fuel reprocessing plant. Their plan was to ride as close the ventilation pipe/culvert that surfaced roughly three kilometres from the heavily guarded perimeter of the plant. There was no way of penetrating military-level security so they had put a plan together based on their local knowledge of marshlands, 25km north of Marseille in the French department of Aix en Provence.
All the Alpha Crew were inner city born of African-Arab ancestry, their banlieu get-out were horses kept in urban stables built close to their Marseille tower blocks. Alpha particle cognescenti found out about this group on internet chat groups, trawling chat rooms for any references/means of gaining access to areas close to French nuclear facilities. Anfor people with the correct temprament and motivation. Money, bribery wasnt going to be enough with these complicated, French citizens.
Their collective name was Les Chevaliers Arabes and through their discussions around the marshes their knowledge of army bases, French military history, horse skills and most importantly, the reprocessing plant. Alpha particle Cognescenti had infiltrated their online chats and arranged to meet them. Les Chevaliers werent told the whole story, just enough to sow the seeds of curiosity, encourage a sense of bravado, a higher high and a mission for these French- Arabian Knights.
Deep beneath the marshes, reprocessed nuclear material was stored in barrels in supposedly inaccessible chambers sealed in concrete sarcophagi. Claims of 100% foolproof -ness always comes with some “reverse the process” countermeasure in case the material had to be moved or revisited as technology improves.
The air vent was not guarded as the marches were not navigable on foot or boat, and would not support the weight of a large vehicle. It was also well hidden from plain sight and aerial view. The Knights had found it on one of their rambling “explore beyond the beyond” excursions that lasted two weeks at a go. They had tied up the horses beneath a copse of trees a half mile from the ventilation shaft and begun their descent into the pipes, not immediately linking it to the processing plant.
French military activity zones were scattered across the marshes too but as they descended into the darkness, radioactive warning signs to intruders marked Keep Out on all doorways abutting the tunnel drew a shared conclusions from all 4 Knights, some expressing deeper reservations as a result. They persevered , their collective courage out-weighting the fear. About 2.5 kilometers into the 3 kilometre long ventilation shaft, a solid concrete wall about 4.5 metres high confronted them. Only a single glimmer of access, an air vent high up top right corner. But even while standing on each other shoulders, it was inaccessible so they beat a retreat.
All this information came out in the groups online group chats one night and AlphaDog Cognescenti trolls picked up the thread of conversation. They knew through their own in-depth research where the material was stored in the vicinity but their key problem was access.
And so, the dots were joined online and a plan concocted to pull just enough of the right sort of material from the right sort of barrel in the right sort of container thus shielding their new Knight allies from terminally poisoning themselves. We’re talking a pea size ball of alpha rad-source uranium-238 but radiation is radiation. An important part of the sell to this team of young adventurers was
“….you wont get sick as alpha particles do not penetrate human skin and as long as your eyes are protected, there will be zero damage. We will ensure you are protected and escape undetected as long a you follow our instructions to the T. Plus you will each get e5,000.00 in cash”.
The latter was a small fortune to these four young French dreamers from the Banlieu of Marseilles. And in truth, young men and fear of death are erstwhile strangers, live or die, car crash, heroin, plutonium , uranium were all the same to them so they bought the story.
On their mission journey, they had to carry an ultra light ladder and a radiation proof box, special eye glasses and gloves for gathering the material. Oh, and a drill to bore a hole in the specially encased containers. Not concrete or steel, but an everlasting alloy, thinner than aluminium but indestructible.
======================
Scene 6
Meanwhile 2,500 kms to the East, Gammas crew had organised a visit to the closed city of Pripyat in the Ukraine, 15 kilometres from Chernobyl, the site of worlds worst nuclear accident 36 years previously. The event was a co-production with a group of organisations monikered as “Make Russia Great Again”, “Bears R Us”, and “Putin on an Armageddon” all eager to support nuclear conflagration in the Middle East, whatever the source, whatever the price and with whoever wanted to initiate it. They were collectively let down when learning of the full extent of material required by the Gamma Cognescenti – a pea sized lump.
The notion of creating a new Russia from a peas-worth of gamma radiation source created a dissonance in their ranks that pushed many to break off and form their own “Bomb The <Wherever> brigade. So rather than confronting this opportunity to learn from the mysterious Gamma, from reconcilation of opposing ideas, to try create a new, well-funded and unified force to prolong the fight. and all those profiting therefrom, they split into opposing factions.
The Russian soul is not an easy bedfellow when it comes to stealing nuclear material or anything scared. Labrynthine beaurocracies, old school espionage, greed, pride, envy and political rivalries converged into a boiling hot quagmire of indecipherable allegories and metaphors, leading to the polar opposite of shared understanding or self-respect. This culture made the Russian character a spinning top of mirrors and self-mutating allegorical falsehoods . It was impossible to work out who was asking the questions.
Russia had a nuclear arsenal only bettered in size and quality by the American behemoth but not by much, It too gave birth to such complex personalities and allowed them to thrive, evolve and take their rightful place in the world. Russians are different and their approach to protecting nuclear material meant the Gamma gang had their work cut out trying to put a workable plan together.
Much befriending, vodka by the bottle, baksheesh and political favours compromised the plot tapestry. Gamma chose to focus on her own goal.
[Shadowplay of events]
Five sturdy Belarus/Russia dwellers
their dark arts, sorcery ,witchcraft, demonic afternoon teas swirl around them like a wizards cloak
proceed to the sarcophagus that is Chernobyl 2020
penetrate its outer, non-existent security systems,
traverse a courtyard where material scraped from the Deatheater that was Chernobyl 1986 reactor #2 is buried in concrete barrels.
They use a drill to penetrate one such barrel and extract ionised caesium, just a pea size piece lump, into a protective container
A container is whipped off in a lead-lined satchel to Gammas headquarters
==========
Scene 7
The next gang to move on their target were the Beta gang.
(#4 Beta aka I-Man The Phoenix – Target: Israel /Jamaica – Nuclear status : undeclared nuclear power/non-nuclear)
Israel, the bete-noir of nuclear states, has one exploitable weakness in the current context – its people, their interminable living vortex of past events, present entanglements and future uncertainties. An illusion of control fostered by a fanatical pursuit of future tech provided a clear opportunity for Beta-particle gang members to get access what they needed.
Fatima inserted a USB stick into her boss’ laptop and uploaded a customised version of an application he used to keep track of inventory shipped to and from the Negev Nuclear processing plant. Fatima worked in the IT division of the Israeli Defence Department which included all nuclear sites used to produce material for their under-the-radar nuclear arsenal.
The customised app made a copy every time Fatimas supervisor accessed the shipping schedule so the type, amount, destination and security codings – which Beta gang had already procured via same route. Those copies were transferred to a hidden drive on a central nosql database server and disguised as a location audit trail from her bosses laptop. These were common security files harvested and validated against a standard behavioural pattern of all Department employees. Only this data was hidden and inaccessible to the AI bots.
Fatima started up a replica bot targetting only the hidden files only whose hard wired audit record disguised both identity of bot and location of files with a standard path and virtual timestamp. She copied the results to an encrypted usb stick which she tucked inside her knicks with option of going deeper if strip & search squads descended onto the campus as they often did. Her Israeli masters trusted nobody and they knew there were spies in their midst. Their obsessions meant unpredictable and invasive strip searches werent unheard of.
Beta gang were waiting for one specific type of material to appear, Strontium 90. It was more stable, heat inductable source of radiation than plutonium 238. While self preservation was uppermost, Strontium-90 was a far less common by-product from military grade processing so patience was a virtue here. For Fatima, her day job and cover were solid, she was a trusted staff member with a penchant for fruity scents, dirty jokes and a sweet smile. Little did her colleagues imagine or suspect her alterego, a Quartermaster for the Beta Gang.
One sunny evening with the sun spreading across the walls in her office, Fatima spotted three shipments of Strontium-90 waste material in the data printout from her BetaBot. “Thats odd” she said to herself glancing around instinctively , ensuring her surprise wasnt visible to anyone.
“Nothing for months then three shipments all together, like a lure, like a talismanic signal”
“Have we been rumbled ?” she said, a knot in her stomach starting to wind in, followed by streaks of paranoia. She started tracing her steps, her software for error, for signs of detection. This was her baby, she was a gateway into the entire project. If they caught her now, it was in peril rigt across the world. She doubled down, pulled all her energy reserves into Beta had taught her to do.
“Focus, focus, focus, our goal is the restoration of natural order and balance through targeted annihilation of obstacles, natural, man or puppet made.”
[Shadowplay of events]
Three trucks, two decoys , one real,
Ttargetted by a raid on horseback in a narrow valley within the the Negev desert.
The decoy trucks are blown up, the target containing Strontium-90 was picked apart with care and a thumbful of raw material placed in a radioactive-proof casing for transport out of Israel to a place prying eyes and ears would never find it.
The raid caused political upheaval and a crackdown in Palestinian settlements as the natural target for Israeli anger. They found nothing, not a trace, no confession , no radioactive traces. Vanishment was the order of the day and it scared them shitless.
A material they officially denied having disappears from their possession so they cant tell the international community of a potential nutcase or nutcases on the loose with enough Strontium-90 to build a dirty bomb.
No, the authorities had to sit on their hands and hope for the best.
Four down, one to go.
=============================
Scene 8
The final gang is based on home soil, in Gaza City. Their goal was to establish a target for the other four sources of radiation – a lead arrow pointing toward a point of obliteration
(#5 Lead aka Special Guest – Target: Arab/Palestinian – the Protector/Protected/Assasin)
Pollution from water plants has long been a source of poison in Gaza. specifically from their lead pipes . Long the butt of jokes and source of sickness for a population denied the usual filtration processes guaranteed in public water systems anywhere else, a project to replace the corroding pipes with plastic wavins meant a large lead stockpile was being smelted down into bricks for shipment out of Gaza. Compared to the hunt for radioactive material in far flung places like Ukraine or France, accessing enough lead to create an arrow four feet long , three inches high was a walk in the dark( the lights were usually off due to power cuts).
The Lead Arrow aka The Anvil of the Gods both harnessed and focused a combined power of four radioactive energies into one killer beam of energy at whatever the Puppeteers of Palestine decided needed fixing. Healing, demolition, analysing, assassination, firebombing, celebration, rejuvenating, anything requiring an off-the-scale amount of energy combined with the oversight wisdom of the Puppets.
Locally among the Gazanianans, many suspected Leads Crew were building some sort of bomb or missile shelter or ammo factory. Which was good cover for the real story, the core of which was they ironically had lead on tap. It was too easy to get donations, some stolen , some disappeared . It made for a community contribution to a project that was ulitmately going to rid them of another source of poison in their food chain.
The arrow mould itself was created from a special rock found in the deserts of Palestine inside meteor craters, called Lonsdaleite. The Puppeteers magik ensured that lead and Lonsdaleite mixed at an atomic level such that radiation, Xray energy and even gamma rays could not escape through the material of the arrow. It was like a laser guided radiation cannon in the shape of a lead arrow.
The markings on the arrow were a combination of the four Puppet Overlords
- Beta
- Alpha
- Gamma
- XRay
[Shadowplay of events].
Lead smelt in Gaza
Heavy box pulling across from van to van
Pipes being replaced with a meteor falling into desert
magik combo of Lonsdaleite + lead
An arrow with the combined markings in gold embossed across its top.
Target practise: the destruction of a wall seperating Israel from Gaza, silent melting of the wall
People passing through the wall, peace , harmony by following the arrow.
===========
Scene 9
The Ceremony of Ignition, of Obliteration , of Release, of Harmony Restored
All 5 puppets representing the 5 elemental forces contributing gathered for the Ceremony in Jamaica in the home of one of musics great Spiritual forces. Lee Scratch Perry
To the sound of “Super Ape in Great Shape” https://youtu.be/b5jBn8oDBdU
The 5 Puppets passed a skunk joint purple pointed, orange-tinted to ease the mood. LSP opened a few windows to the yard outside is house in Kingston. The Black Ark contained his studio, famous the world over for the impact it has had on world music.
“OK, lets get this done, fellas” said X-Ray in his strong Donegal accent, opening a rucksack sitting at his feet. From it he took a small black pod of egg-shaped, polished metal, and placed it on the table at which they were all sitting . “I hereby submit the content of this post for Ceremonial intent. I will protect all whom it could impact through the powers invested in me as a member of this Circle.”
He opened the pod and took from it a small metal square and handed it to Lead, wearing the traditional garb of black cloak and goats-head mask.
Lead bowed to X-Ray and walked around behind him. X-Ray stood up, took off his coat and shirt, and presented his back to Lead. Lea reached out and pulled a tiny thread from beneath X-Rays skin using a tweezers. This hurt even these puppet beings used to a universal level of pain. The thread was actually razor wire 1 mm in diameter which sliced through X-Rays skin like a cheese wire through cheese .
” Can I please get that joint, deep end toke required right about now” squeaked X Ray, knowing what was coming next and doing his best to braveface it.
The wire when pulled out to its full length created a cylinder of flesh about 10 mm deep in X-Rays back. When Lead pulled on the wire one final time, a small cylindrical vial slide up and out of the hole where it had once rested.
Gently, Lead took hold of the cylindrical object and pulled it out of XRay, who was now pale and rocking gently, his high and pain mingling like two drunks on a St Patricks Day bender in Dublins Fair City.
Lead placed the cylinder on the table and wiped it down. He unclicked its clasp and opened it up to reveal an inner chamber the size of small finger nail. Into it he placed XRays small metal square, clicked the pod shut and returned it to the hold in XRays spine from where it had so recently been hiding. Lead stitched the wound up and handed XRay back his clothes. X-Ray , now pale to invisible, took a last toke on the joint and dropped it to the floor, muscles in his neck tense, his back aching, bloody but triggered as the first live piece of the Activation jigsaw, the core spirit-activation process by which the Puppet Masters might attempt to blow shit up in as silent a way possible..
Next up was Gamma who as the only female of the group needed no invitation to step up for the ceremony. ” Can you be as quick as you can ? For me ,I just need assurance you’re not going to fuck this up but, to your credit, X Ray who looks pale and interesting as ever”, she said winking at the now-seated figure ” but none the worse for your cutting ways” ” You have my confidence Lead” she said pulling her shirt over her head and turning her back to Lead pulling her long hair around to the side to reveal the same wire peeking out of her skin just above the strap of her bra .” You want me to disrobe further ?” “No your good Gam, just sit still and let me get this over and done.” He pulled out the same cylindrical pod from inside Gammas back and laid it out on the table. Gamma herself, arms enfolding her chest and shoulders turned to look at the pod.
“Always wondered what these implants looked like, its been in my back since I was a young girl” “Really ? ” said X-Ray. “So you were marked out for greatness early then , enfant savante etc ?” “I guess so ” replied Gamma. “My parents were linked to Grappo The Fiend , they supported his attempts to change the direction of puppet activism amongst the human population. To energise the networks of puppet theaters, circuses, puppet makers, museums, artists of all kinds who understand the power of puppetry. I was born into the lore. Grappo took a shine to me and I ended up an initiatee into Grand Master program at the age of 8 years. A Russian doll wrapped in Gamma The puppeteen.”
Gamma stretched out her arms and pulled a bag from the coat hanging next to her chair and pulled a small container from the bag . She laid it down beside the capsule and took a moment to absorb the reality of what was about to happen to her.
Lead opened the container in which there lay a tiny piece of highly radioactive material caeseium. His gloves protected him.
Nobody else in the room was likewise protected from the radiation but that was part and parcel of being in this group. Universal beings are not in need of protection, they are the protection . Only exception to this rule was their host The Upsetter who was hidden behind his studio glass partition, counting backwards from 5,000 to the beats of his inner drummer.
The pea size piece of caesium fitted snugly into the pod. Its metallic sheen surface seemed to shimmer for a second in the dimlight before Lead, focused and pensive, inserted it back into Gammas spine, reattached the razorwireto the skin plug and stitched her up.
Alpha and Beta went through the identical procedure with Uranium-238 and Strontium blims, neither expressing a smidgeon of delight at having their back bones exposed to the Universe. As with other members of this Doomsday elite, they lived with the knowledge all kinds of pain were twisted into the fabric of their smiles.
The colelctive walked gingerly out into the early morning Jamaican sun with the same inner resolve any being carrying an internal radioactive payload might adopt for fear of succumbing to a fierce melancholy about imminent death tarred over with full realisation of what they had tee-d themselves for. Picking a shady spot away form curious eyes, the team of six including The Upsetter who had brought a tray of lemonade and a box of spliffs , sat down to gather strength and breath out their evident fug..”Here ,have some finest Jamaican made-with-real-lemon-ade and one of my settle the stomach spliffs, nothing but purple granddaddy”…
They stretched long limbs and patted each others backs, examined the bandaged wounds, ran a portable geiger counter over Gammas lower back and arms to check for leaks. Nothing, not a ping..same for Alpha who carried the deadliest source of radiation, the very same one Atomic bombs are made from, one of the most unstable isotopes in the Universe, right next to her liver, spleen , kidneys and other soft organs worth preserving.
Again, not a peep.
“So we going to give this sorcery a go or what ?” said Gamma taking a slurp of lemonade, evidently thirsty after her surgery.
“I think we have to practise, all the preparatory steps in our
Carmen de sacro In impiarum animarum
deserve a field test now, right ?” she repeated urging the collective silence around her to move its lazy arse out of first gear…
“Anyone got a target in mind ?” asked Beta, struggling with a blim fallen into the folds of his sackcloth trousers.
“How about we melt the minds of someone about to commit a genocide or distract the rich and powerful from their money by …..” said X-Ray, his baby blues twinkling in the morning sunshine, proper willing to use his new found powers for mayhem. The Russian soul of Gamma followed close behind X-Ray watching the sway of his hips
“Nah, no high profile shenanigans ….yet… we have to practise on something we know, can feel , keep it close to home so we can a measure of what we are at here.” said Gamma again, pulling out of a deepdive dream into her fantasy, applying the brakes as her eyes swung away from X-Ray, afraid the electricity would spark world war sex.
“I think I have the perfect target” said Lead, the whole time empyting his glass of bright yellow lemonade, ” whadat thing you have ?” said The Upsetter standing right beside him. A flicker of a smile creased the jowls of man burdened beyond the beyond. “We just need to organise and move across the puppetsphere…..See you on the Upplands of Golan”
Having said goodbye to the Upsetter, the team each holding a bag containing documentation of material inserted into each Puppet, incantations , spare clothes, money, antiseptic wipes, plasters and food in form of energy bars, choclate and underripe bananas,moved out across the Puppetshere, each taking care to leave one at a time so as not to telegraph either their start point , route or destination to any listening entity. There were always entities snooping on wavelengths unkown especially during shadowtime when human energy use was lower and puppetsphere could draw down more for its own demented uses.
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Seen 10
One by one, they landed in the Golan heights on the Syrian side of the mountains guarded by the UN, a barrier to between Israel, Jordan and the Lebanon.
Their chosen location is Mount Hermon , a ski resort teetering tantilisingly atop the highest mountain in view of Israel, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
To prepare a hex for their work, their chosen architecture formed a star of David around the lead arrow, with the arrow pointing at their intended target. Lead jumped the fence and ran across the lower slopes of the ski resort toward the main hotel, Israelis flags fluttering in the high winds, the snow crunching under each footfall. The lead arrow weighed close to 90 kgs so the footprints were those of a Giant, the Mestpholiesian giant making its way toward ground zero for the Puppeteers of Palestines first engagement.
The other four Puppeteers XRay, Alpha, Gamma (Гамма) and Beta scanned the horzion, dazzled by the late afternoon sun reflecting off the snow. Each picked out a single peak or ridge within view of Mount Hermon and focused their considerable energies on establishing a psychic link by which they could transport themselves and their payloads across the surrounding vallies without being detected. This area was heavily fortified and there were mortal enemies , peace keepers and armies of religious zealots just waiting for the wind to change and launch all-out war on one another.
Not a great place to experiment with nuclear-fission, powered psychic energy beams but the team felt obligated to test their capabilities under unbearable stress and unthinkable consequences. This was, always had been the only way to be certain every facet of the incantations, the radioactive implants, their collective commitment to the Cause , their burndown rhetoric crystalizing into reality.
They all shook hands and hugged. “Dont fuck this up ” said Гамма to XRay, “I wont” he said back to her and the others. “You can be guaranteed Im coming back to claim my prize” “Вы можете быть уверены, что я вернусь, чтобы получить свой приз ” he whispered into her ear out of earshot. He let his lips brush the lobe of her ear very gently, sending a shiver down her back and into her clit. “Согласовано” she said without letting go of their clutch, rubbing his leg. ” OK you two, time to go to work” sighed Alpha. “You’re puppets for fucks sake. You should know better than to let human emotion in through into this space. You could be followed”
“Shes right” thought X-Ray. Once their minds dropped from puppet-only psychic frequencies, anyone with a high powered scanner could pick up their thoughts, lust-driven or otherwise. Time to detach and ascend.
Each puppet headed down the mountain alone oward their intended target out of reach of the other three and Lead.
XRay headed for Jandal Castle across to the north east from Mt Hermon. The village was spread across a valley about 10 km and 600 metres lower down, with the castle a focal point from the higher mountain, the latter visible as a snowy peak. X-Ray climbed unnoticed to the highest accessible point in the castle, took out his incantation notebook to review one more time the words, the timings and the intent of their mission.
Gamma took up her position directly soutth of X-Ray on a hill overlooking the town of Durbul again in Syria.
Alpha made her way across to Manara Hill south of Rachaya in Lebanon. The walls of the surrounding olive groves provided good concealment from locals out for mid morning strolls under the bright sunshine and blue Bekka Valley skies.
Beta was the last to settle as he had to cross into Israel to a place called Mount Meron where he hid amidst densse forest in one of the most beautiful nature reserves in Israel. He had a clear view of Mount Hermon to the Northeast and he set down his on leather bound incantation book, his timing beads and a senninbari with Japanese writing indicating the wearers willingness to die in an effort to achieve their goal.
Lead took the encrusted lead arrow out of its holding box and placed it gently on the ground, pointing directly at the main ski slope stretched out across the lower slopes of the mountain , a snow- covered layer of thick ice too dangerous to ski on. He added a bottle of hard water (aka deuterium ) as a stimulant into the fony at the base of th arrow.
Like a snow-covered, sea-ice field, the ski slope had a very high albedo, a measurement of radiation reflection. By reversing the natural vector on a naturally occuring phenomenon, thiss group of astral travellers, radioactive renegades were going to freeze solid all water in the local lakes, rivers, reservoirs, taps, baths, sinks, showers.
Albedo is a natural phenomenon used by those who watch the sky for presence of objects too faint or remote for visible radiation analysis. Albedo is a ghost index and Lead had used it to pinpoint a locale somewhere on the planets surface where ghosts like this ice field in combination with saline density of the water resulted in the kind of natural chemistry set he was looking for.
This whole area – the highest point for hundreds of kilometers – is surrounded by deserts and a heavily salinated water table bordered by one of most salinated seas on the planet, the Meditteraenian. Fresh water sources were therefore extremely precious, and had been for Millenia.
Water was a political as well as natural resource. Wars had been fought over access to and rights of ownership of countless, now evaporated rivers and lakes. Ergo this was not an area in which to play spin the bottle to decide who gets a drink and who goes thirsty. And ergo sum, a perfect habitat for the ultimate chemistry experiment involving deuterium-laced water, radiation cooling and the aforementioned albedo phenomenon whereby frozen and heavily salinated water covered in a layer of snow reflects 90% of any heat hitting its surface. Nobody would be able to reverse the process once it started.
The snow capped peaks of Mount Hermon represented an unimaginably, otherworldly reality to those living along the baked coast, the steaming salt plains , the perpetual availability of endless flow of cool, blue water.
That was their target.
The water supply. No permanent damage , just enough impact to send a warning sign down through the pipes of the surrounding civilisations. Even out the stress across the entire region in a manner deeemd fair and equitable to these 5 Universal Beings .
Why ? Because they could. To wake the human race up to the fact there were realities beyond their imaginations right here on Earth . Especially those bent on controlling those realities for their own ends. And lieing about the realities and destroying other possibilities with the need to prove that their own reality was _the_ reality. For the Puppeteer from Palestine, this amounted to heresy, a proclamtion of Anti-Life and they were not going to stand for its continued presence. It was time to bring it down.
[Shadowplay of events].
The incantation – singing Wind In My Heart by Talking Heads
The triggering
The firing
The consequences
The ultimatum and deonoument = a Promised Land without water.
So how do we shower, water our tomatoes and quench our thirst ?
Well, we’ll leave those conundrums and other riddles for the next time.
The End.
Secret Signs 