On April 4, Rod M. wrote:

            Rod M. & David Tai
                 present

         a sequel to Dire Fates...

                    -*-

            - The Faith Machine -

   Abandoning the "XXXXX Fates" pattern.

                  Part 1
              When I Grow Up

                    -*-

Once upon a time, he had a name.

He couldn't even remember that anymore.  In fact, he barely
looked human, sitting in the cold dark empty steel cell,
shaved bald and wearing tatters of rags. 

He had a name, but it was nearly gone from his mind.  Almost
everything was gone from his mind now, scrubbed away by the
men in white coats.

Every day they came, putting wires in him, cutting him open,
putting things inside him, pulling things out of him,
burning things on his skin.

The memories he had were a precious few.

Sunlight.

A grassy hill.

A girl's laugh.

It all seemed so fuzzy now, what little memories he had
left.  He hung on to them desperately, and prayed that the
men in white coats wouldn't take this last bit of himself
away.

Once upon a time, he had a name...

But he wasn't sure what it was.

   Later you mention a vagrant named Bill who it was said had "the talent"
for magic. Is this him?

Once upon a time there were three goddesses, three
Norse goddesses to be specific.  As with many of the
triumverate goddesses of the world, these three were
composed of a maiden, mother, and crone.  They weren't
exactly of the same mindset as the other triumverate deities
of the world, but when it's all boiled down to the basics,
maiden, mother, and crone were what they were.

The Norse worshiped, feared, and adored them, fueling
their power with faith.

   Or Urd, anyway. It's widely held Verdandi and Skuld were added later
under influence from southern European trade partners.

Nothing lasts forever.

Time came and went, and with it the faith that had kept
those three goddesses in power.

Eventually, the three had to adapt to the new world, to find
their place in the grand scheme of things.  Through the
process known as Reconfiguration, the maiden, mother, and
crone became significantly younger.  the maiden was now a
child, the mother now a young maiden, and the crone... was
certainly not a crone any longer.

   "The maiden," with a capital T. Now, the crone's not a crone any more. ;)
Still has the shock of white hair, though...:)

As a part of the reconfiguration, memories were lost
accordingly.  The child only knew of her past because the
other two talked of it every now and then.  The maiden had
hazy, spotty memories of the glories of times past.  The
young woman that was once the crone remembered everything.
This was her blessing and her curse.  She would remember all
of the glories of their golden days, as well as the horrors.

She would never forget, and she would always guard against
repeating the errors of times past.

   I have a question: do you plan to explain just when _was_ the
Reconfiguration? It would be nice to know what led the Almighty to decide
that Skuld needed an overhaul.

With a satisfied grunt, John deemed all the significant
items in place.  Lines were drawn, candles were lit, all he
needed to do was the ritualistic bit and that would be that.

Throat was a bit parched, though... hrm.

   Heh. I never thought that an exorcist would need a tea break. :)

He reached for the cup of tea, when suddenly he noticed a
the lines and sigils flaring up bright white.

"Oh shit!"

There was too much energy flowing in, and unless he got Bill
out of there-

Suddenly, a familiar figure sprang from John's tea cup,
smiling brightly.

"Hi John!"

"DAMMIT, SKULD!"

There was a tortured scream, a demon's roar, and suddenly
Bill exploded in a shower of ropy innards, torn flesh, and
so much red...

                    -*-

"Skuld, dinner's ready."

   Says Bell. There's a hint of black humor in that statement's
juxtaposition to the end of the last section. Not enough to detract from the
seriousness of the scenes to follow. I like.

//CONSTANTINTE!//

   //CONSTANTINE!//

John Constantine cringed.

The rest of the bar stared at the television screen,
cigarettes dropping out of mouths as jaws began to fall. 

Football was on the telly, with Arsenal holding on to a 2-1
lead.

Was.

And suddenly an irate platinum blond woman was on the screen
staring down at them angrily.  Most of them were baffled at
the sudden interruption and a few of them were beginning to
feel a bit violent about it.  Such was the nature of
football fans. 

   (Or basketball fans, as you know if you've been to East Lansing, Michigan
lately...)
   

John just let his head thud on the bar.  As if the day
hadn't been a pisser already, _she_ had to come roaring in
too.

"Oy!  John!  Whassa meaning a'this?!" snarled the barkeep, a
notably violent Arsenal fan.

   And they clearly know whose fault it is.
   But then John Constantine is something of a celebrity, right?

"Okay, okay, I'm stepping outside!" yelled John to nobody in
particular.  "Just put the game back on!"

As John grumbled, cursed, and muttered while shuffling out
the door, the screen turned to static briefly and then the
game came back on.  Cheers went 'round the bar, except for
the patron that just left the door.

Said patron found himself grabbed angrily by the lapels of
his overcoat the moment the bar door closed behind him.

"What did you _DO_ to her?!"  Urd snarled.

"Hands off," snarled John defiantly, pulling his jacket out

>from her hands. "I did _not_ do anything to her." 

"She's at home right now crying her eyes out, right after
she went to visit _you_," said Urd.  "Now what the Hell
happened?!"

John scowled, pulling out a pack of cigarettes from his
jacket.  "She didn't tell you?"

"No, she was too busy crying."

With a cigarette finally in place, John turned to her.  "A
man died today."

"And?"

"Skuld was the reason why."

Urd took a step back, stunned.  "No, she's not like that
anymore," she muttered. 

"What?"

"Nothing," said Urd hastily.  "Keep on talking."

   John hasn't done his homework on the background of the Norns either.
Pity. It might have been helpful later, I suspect.

And so John told her about Bill Wendleton, the fatal power
surge caused by Skuld's arrival, and what was left of Bill
Wendleton.  Urd's fiery anger wilted and John's began to
grow as he told her about Mrs. Wendleton, the kids, and how
they'd rushed into the room and stepped all over daddy's
remains.

"And the moral of this story," said John sarcastically, "is
that when Johnny asks you to check ahead before you visit,
there's a bloody good reason why."

                    -*-

Once upon a time, he was able to see.

The men in white ahd taken his eyes out.  Distractions, they
had called them.

   "had"

Once upon a time, he would have screamed.

They had cut his vocal cords.  No need for them anymore,
they'd said.

Once upon a time, he would've run away.

But that was before they cut his arms and legs off.  Needed
to be stripped down to the bare essentials.

Once upon a time, he had many memories.

The men in white had scrubbed his mind.  Unneeded, those
memories were.  Besides, he had a more glorious thing to
keep in his mind than silly memories.

And now he was a clean thing, stripped down to the bare
essentials of a human being, without limbs, without eyes,
without voice, without mind.

   So, you get people to focus using sensory deprivation? More likely to
drive them mad, and thus useless. But I'm sure you have a good reason.

He was an empty vessel, one of a hundred locked into
individual metal chambers within a dark room filled with
wires and steel.

They was empty, so very empty, and the only thing left in
their minds was a desperate need to know something, to
believe in something... 

   "They were..."

And soon they would have it.

                    -*-

>From a control booth above the hairless, blind, silent

things that were once human beings, two figures looked upon
their work.

   I fancy Gendo Ikari and Kozo Fuyutsuki up there...:)
 

"Is it ready?"

"Almost.  We're going to run our first test next week."

"Be sure this doesn't run out of control like last time."

"Don't worry, sir.  We've good men in command this time, and
safety measures in place as well.  We won't have another
'Fear Machine' fiasco."

"Good." 

  ..he said, adjusting his glasses...:)
  Seriously, what is or was the fear machine?

"J-John?"

Silence.

She could hear nothing, not even the sound of her own voice.

>From somewhere far away, in the corner of her vision, she

saw a flicker of light.  Turning, she found herself
facing... a mirror?

It seemed like a mirror, but she could waves rippling across
its surface.  That wasn't the only thing wrong with it.  Her
reflection was all wrong.  All she could see was a
silhouette, but the shape was too tall, too shapely...

   In other words, exactly as Skuld was in "Urd's Fantastic Adventure" when
she aged ten years in ten minutes and was _very_ pleased with the results. :)
   (Didn't you mean "...but she could _see_ waves"?)

It was a grown-up.

Couldn't be Skuld, she was still a child.

Just a child.

With sadness and longing, Skuld reached out to the
silhouette, and the silhouette reached out to her.  Their
hands met on the icy surface of the water mirror, and Skuld
suddenly felt a sense of peace, of fulfillment...

She felt worshiped.

   As if she wasn't by otaku everywhere? :)

"They got Bill, John!  Got'em and dragged'em away!"

John hesitated.  "Bill?  The one that had the talent?"

"That Bill, yeah!  An'they been takin' away more of us e'ry
day, John.  Bad shite, mate."

John nodded.  "Right... seeya."

   We see below that John seems to believe Eugene. But then why make a big
show of not seeming to?

"Oi!  Waitabloodysec!"  Eugene grabbed the edge of John's
trenchcoat, leaving a dark stain of filth.

"Do NOT touch me!" yelled John.  He pulled the trenchcoat
out of Eugene's hands quickly with a snarl of disgust.
"What is it NOW?"

"Y'gotta protect me, John!" begged Eugene.  "Please!"

"Do I look like a bloody witness protection program to you?"
asked John.

"C'mon, John!  You knows people!"

John sighed.  "Eugene... y'know what I did when I had to get
outta town?"

"Wot?"

"Find a train, hitch a ride.  Go to it, old son."  John
patted him in the back, then strode away quickly.

   He's a hero, not a patsy.

"Th.. that's it?  You sonovabitch!  Get back 'ere!"

John ignored the raging yells, instead thinking of what
Eugene had said and what it might mean.  Homeless folk were
typically fodder for human experiments, so there was no
surprise there.  Now, the question was _who_ was doing it.
Lots of suspects there, yes.

There was avoiding it, he'd just have to check the usual
suspects and hope one of them didn't decide to kick the shit
out of him for doing so.

   Did you maybe mean "There was _no_ avoiding it"?

Belldandy's voice drifted in from the house, interrupting
her train of thought.  'Urd! We're about to light the cake!'

'Be right there!' she yelled back.

Inside, a large gathering of friends was seated around the
table.  Keiichi's friends from the auto club, from college,
Skuld's childhood friends Guor, Rotha, and Idun were also in
attendance, apparently granted leave from heaven for this
occasion.

   What, no Riana? :) (A Tamiya or Otaki cameo'd be nice here, if they did
indeed show up, now I think of it. You know they'll be trouble. Even
Hasegawa would work.)
   Seriously, didn't Idun show up in "Dire Fates?" More importantly, do
others in heaven remember the old Skuld?

And at the center of it all, smiling brightly, was Skuld.

o/~ Happy birthday to you o/~
o/~ Happy birthday to you o/~
o/~ Happy birthday dear Sku-uld o/~
o/~ Happy birthday to you o/~

'Make a wish, Skuld!' cheered Belldandy.

The youngest Norn closed her eyes for a moment, then took a
deep breath and blew the candles out.  The crowd gave a
cheer, then the process of opening gifts began.

Urd shook her head and smiled

   Perhaps Urd will be the mother, for it is she who missed a period. :)

Another year older, eh?  And in relatively peaceful
co-existence as well.

She was glad.

There were times, long ago, in the days that Skuld would
never remember, days of bloodshed and hatred, of petty
rivalry and bitter vengence.

   "Vengeance."

Skuld was alone, perched upon the roof, looking up at the
stars, a wistful and melancholy look on her face.

This... now this was usually Belldandy's domain.  The
motherly big sister thing, yessir.

But Belldandy wasn't around.

Hrm.

Heck, why not?

Gracefully, Urd leapt up to the roof, and quietly took a
seat next to Skuld.

'Hey, Skuld,' she said softly, putting an arm around
Skuld's shoulder. 'Why the sad face?'

The youngest Norn sighed and put her head on Urd's shoulder. 
'He didn't come.'

Urd blinked.  'He?'

'John.'

Urd's mood immediately soured.  'Oh.  _him_.'

   Capitalize "him."

Skuld missed the taint of disgust in Urd's voice and went
on.  'I guess... I guess he's still mad at me.'

'Skuld, look, you couldn't have known,' said Urd, embracing
her tenderly.  'Just... don't be so hard on yourself, okay?'

   Why does the image of Urd being tender disturb me? :)

Skuld sniffled a tear back and nodded.  'I just wish...'

'Hm?'

'I just wish I was all grown up.'

'Hey, don't say that.  Being grown up isn't all it's cracked
up to be, take it from me.  Enjoy being young while you
can, 'cause you'll regret it if you don't.  Okay?'

Skuld looked at Urd doubtfully, then shrugged.  'Whatever.'

Urd sighed.  'Just... don't dwell on it too much.  Learn

>from your mistakes, but don't get stuck in the past.  Okay?'

   This stuff just doesn't sound right from Urd, which may explain its
ineffectiveness on lifting Skuld's mood here. Or did you intend it to ring
hollow?

'Okay,' mumbled Skuld unenthusiastically.

'I'm gonna go to sleep,' said Urd.  'You should too. 
G'nite, kid.' She hesitated a moment, then gave Skuld a kiss
on the forehead and left. 

Skuld couldn't help but smile.  It was nice, being with Urd
that way.  They used to fight so much, but not anymore.

Maybe that was a sign she was growing up?

She hoped so.

   Well, it is true that they fight less and less later in the manga,
particularly after Sentaro Kawanishi shows up. 

"Fuck," grumbled Chas.  "I hate gridlock."

John ignored him, as he tended to do when Chas ranted while
driving. His mind was elsewhere.  A few minutes down the
road was a set of government owned buildings, one of which
was rumored to be holding something odd.

Eyes on the street saw strange coffin-like metallic
cylinders being carried into the building, as well as shady
government agent types.

The stuff of conspiracies.

   Again. The folks behind this wouldn't be SEELE, would they? :)
   More probably it's the Cold Flame. It never occurred to me that they'd
have this many resources to throw away, but of course to be effective
conspiracies need wealthy and powerful friends. Do these include Her
Majesty's Government, as you imply? (The forces of evil in the days of the
Blair ministry have presumably had to be bipartisan. :) )

Something in the air shifted subtly, something an ordinary
person wouldn't notice.  There was a prickly feeling of
static in the air, making the hair on his arm stand on end.

Somebody was doing something.

And whatever it was, it was something with a lot of power.

He was too late.

   Isn't he always? 

In their minds, there was nothing.

Absolute emptiness.

A desolate zone of human souls, longing to be filled.

And slowly, something formed in their minds.  An idea, a
concept, a symbol, an image formed before them all.  Their
starved minds clung to her like maggots to a carcass. 
Swarming around the very idea of her, adoring her, loving
her.... 

Worshiping her.

She was beautiful and glorious, terrible and merciless.  She
was a goddess, their goddess.  In their minds, in their
hearts, in their souls, they held her name most sacred.

Their goddess.

   Hotaru "Mistress Nine" Tomoe? :)

Skuld.

                    -*-

In her dreams, Skuld did not rest easy.

She heard the voices again, and felt the tendrils of power
swirling all around her.  A legion of voices whispered her
name, a chorus cried for her attention, and once again she
found herself facing the mirror of water.

And within the mirror, she saw the vision of what she could
be.

Beautiful.

Strong.

Irresistible.

Grown up.

   Well-proportioned. *duck*

The voices were coaxing her, urging her, begging her to step
forth.  And as her hand touched the mirror's surface, she
felt that same sensation again, the incomparable feeling of
being worshiped.  This time, however, the feeling was
intensified a hundred fold, overwhelming her mind with waves
of ecstacy.

This was what she wanted, what she needed, what she wished
for as she blew out the candles.

To be grown up.

For John.

   Ah-hah.

She rushed forth, and embraced the image in the mirror, and
it embraced her, and the two merged into one...

One goddess.

Skuld.

   You ended the last section with "Skuld" as well; try to avoid such
repetition.
   Very reminiscent of the merging of human and divine Verdandi in "Mortal
Fates." Was this intentional?

Urd's eyes flew up immediately, her senses on edge, as she
felt something _powerful_ nearby.

She sat up in her bed, focusing on the feel of it, trying to
identify what it was.

It couldn't be Mara, or any other servant of hell, really. 
The energy didn't have that feel to it.  Another goddess,
then?  It felt something like her own power signature,
yet...

"No... it can't be..."

Urd quickly got up and ran through the house in a panic.
She ran past Belldandy, who had just opened her own door,
probably sensing the same power.

Belldandy wouldn't recognize it, though.  She wouldn't
remember it.

Only Urd would.

   Still, Bell has access to more power. Doesn't Urd know you deploy the
heavy artillery/secret weapon _first_ and send the ground troops in second? :)

She felt that power in the Heavens, so many hundreds of
years ago as storms raged and the gods clashed.

She felt that power hovering over bloodied battlefields, as
mortal slew mortal in savage combat. 

"Skuld!"

Urd threw her door open, then gasped.

A tall, womanly silhouette stood at the center of the room,
power radiating from her body, her back turned to Urd.

"Sister," said the woman.  Her voice was sultry, seductive, 
and confident.

"Skuld... what did you do?"

"Do?" asked Skuld.  "What did I do?"  She turned around, and
Urd's worst fears were confirmed.  "I found myself," she
answered.  "Oh, what I lost to the reconfiguration.  So many
endless days of joyous battle, so many endless nights of
death."

"You... you remember."

"Yes, dear sister, I remember everything.  I remember the
dozens of lives I've lead, the endless battles I oversaw,
and most of all, dear Urd, most of all, I remember..."

   "...the dozens of lives I've _led_..."

The sudden blast of energy caught her off guard, slamming
Urd through the temple walls, engulfing her in flames.
Skuld stepped through the newly made hole in the wall,
glaring at her fallen sister.

"... that I really hate you."

   Oh my. :)

   Looks good so far. Remarks not as detailed as usual, but grad. school
sucks...-_-

Paul Corrigan
corrig11@pilot.msu.edu
Who missed the confusion last weekend, thank God...will you be at Anime
Central, Rod?