Edit - The side story
"The Last Night" occurs just prior to this episode. It contains a link back to here at the end, should you care to include it in your readings!
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“Thacker. Come in, sit down.”
A pale mist drifted through the marble doorway into the chamber. As glorious as the outer gallery was, this hall was beyond spectacular. Four pairs of square, maroon granite pillars graced the walls, each separated by light blue limestone panels, themselves engraved and chased with silver designs. Jade light sconces, alternate blue and green, topped the pillars and shed a slightly flickering glow upon the arched ceiling. As the mist moved away from the door, the ceiling glittered – the reflection and iridescence from thousands of opals paving the ceiling.
Midway up the columns, a shelf displayed some glorious artifact of natural mineralogy. Here, a fan of native gold tendrils, the size of two open hands, extending from it's quartz parent. There, a sparkling cubist display of tin, or silver, or copper florets. All metals, all extending from a native rock, all sitting on a intricately woven lace doily. At the base of the each column, a pedestal, with doily, supporting a mounted flower of crystals – calcite, quartz, amethyst, topaz, diamond. Each glittered in the diffuse light filling the chamber.
A cobalt blue porcelain hemisphere, edged with gold trim, sat upon a simple marble base. The bowl was tilted toward the desk – the altar? – at the end of the room. The mist floated across the mosaic floor and worked it's way into the bowl. It was a pale blue-green against the white interior. The desk was rose marble, it's flat top edged with sapphire, garnet, and amethyst. The face panels were inlaid with lapis lazuli and designs chased in silver and gold. The place looked like a wealthy mafioso geologist decorated with a taste for the Neoclassical blended with Art Deco. Behind the desk was not a throne, but a large rattan papa-san chair, decorated with black and white accents. A lace doily hung over the top.
Now he understood whose voice called him. He knew this was a temple when he was brought here. But this? This was the Sanctum in the Temple of Hades.
“It's been three days, Thacker. I see you've learned to get around fairly well.”
“Yes, thank you, my lord.”
“Basic courtesies will be fine. Nobody likes a suck up.”
“Yes, sir.”
A black visage faded into view. It placed a gold chalice on the desk, on a doily coaster, then sat in the papa-san chair. Only the eyes were visible.
“I'm not here to argue theology. By now you're starting to appreciate this place – my place – and why you're here. This isn't Heaven, this isn't Hell. And I'm not here as lord of the exiles or such. I chose this because I like it. This is what I do.”
The visage took a sip from the chalice.
“Consider this place more of a Purgatory than punishment. The souls here can spend their time regretting whatever or enjoying whatever. They can grow if they choose to, or they can imprison themselves in their own misery. But I see to it that those who want to move forward have the support to do so. That is my joy. Your spectacular execution was a lesson to you about how important your actions were to others in life. That said, it's behind you. If you want to wallow in it, that's your business.”
The visage leaned back in the chair. The rattan creaked.
“I'm not one to waste an opportunity, and you present one to me. So, I have an offer for you. You have Master's Degrees in Criminal and Abnormal Psychology. As Warden, you've settled riots and, more importantly, prevented them time and time again. These are the skills I'm looking for.”
“What would you have me do, sir?”
“You can decline this. You continue to settle into your new life, learn how to interact and become corporeal again, and follow the path you choose in this realm. But if you do this thing for me, I will return you to life, full, free, and unfettered, from whichever birth happens at the time. I make no guarantees of the life you find yourself in – what you make of it will be yours to decide. And, in the fullness of time, when you return, the shadow of your recent crime will be gone. Do you understand?”
'What would you have me do?”
“The peace I keep in my realm is of volition. The basic social contract of customs and courtesies. But there are always those who arrive for whom the world is simply to be plucked for their enjoyment. These people are a bane to all the others. Their joy is to create misery. I do not tolerate this. Those people I condemn to eternal frustration – at least until they change their ways. Their personal hell is self inflicted. Do you follow?”
“Yes, sir.”
“I have many people to help me do this, but there is a group who act in concert, a gang if you will, who oppose and disrupt what peace I can offer the rest of this world. Their leader, plus 144 others, have so far been resistant to my efforts. I want you to disrupt them. All I want from you is a single defection. That will show them I can reach them.”
“Who is their leader?”
“A demon condemned long, long ago. His name is Ba'el Zebub.”
“YOU WANT ME TO CO-OPT SATAN?”
“Yes, if you can! But I'll settle for a single one of his followers. Just one. And I'll give you 50 years to do it. If not – if you fail – at least it will be a good try, and you have the rest of eternity to enjoy this place.”
“I'll do it.”
“So quickly, eh? I wonder. I tempt you so easily, Thacker? I do have one huge reservation about you, though. Not about violating the Pact, not about your career. It's about why you killed Ed Clarke.”