Instead, we talked about horror.
See, it's like I said, son. I was at !@#$ing Nuremberg. I remember everything that went on there, clear as a !@#$ing bell. I remember when they grilled the architects of the final !@#$ing solution about what the !@#$ they were thinking when they just sort of decided to !@#$ing kill the millions of people they'd told their citizens it was !@#$ing okay to hate, fear, and turn in for a big !@#$ "Attaboy, Citizen."
And I remember them just sitting there, in the witness box, and telling the story like it was !@#$ing nothing. Just another !@#$ day at the office with Adolph and Heinrich...
...
And I also remember that I wasn't at Nuremberg, actually. I was somewhere else. Somewhere I'm still not !@#$ing allowed to talk about.
Now how the !@#$ing !@#$ did that happen? It's like I can remember it, clear as !@#$ing day. The whole !@#$ing thing, too...
...
Okay, another mystery for another !@#$ing day when I'm not trying to tell a !@#$ story. Maybe it's the beer, or maybe it's weird-!@#$ !@#$ I don't have time to deal with, right the !@#$ now. Onward we go.
I was at the Imago Trials. I sat, I listened, I mostly kept my !@#$ mouth shut, and then I testified.
And then I !@#$ed myself. Hard.
But we're getting to that. Really.
* * *
Prosecution: ... so you eventually figured out how to escape the prison this other, more powerful race had constructed for you.
Green and Yellow: Yes. Obviously.
Prosecution: And what happened then?
Green and Yellow: We marshaled all the energy we had been saving for millions of your years. We focused it on one small, tiny corner of the city. We threw everything we had at that corner, with no regard for our own lives or safety. We all lost much of ourselves in the gambit, and some of us lost their lives...
Prosecution: I'm sorry? Was there something more?
Green and Yellow: Oh yes. There was something more, and now it is gone. If I had but a tenth of the power I once had, I could kill everyone in this room, here and now, with barely a thought. I could destroy most of the city immediately thereafter. I would not need to steal your bodies to do it, either.
Prosecution: But you are diminished?
Green and Yellow: I am. We are. We crippled ourselves trying to escape.
Prosecution: Did you know this would happen?
Green and Yellow: Yes we did. We were not stupid. But our love for one another was so great that we would have all gladly laid down our lives just so that one could leave the prison, and see our race returned to glory.
Prosecution: Did you know this would happen?
Green and Yellow: Yes we did. We were not stupid. But our love for one another was so great that we would have all gladly laid down our lives just so that one could leave the prison, and see our race returned to glory.
Prosecution: And one of you did manage to leave?
Green and Yellow: You ask me a question you already know the answer to.
Judge: He did, yes. Please answer that question.
Green and Yellow: One of us did escape, yes.
Judge: He did, yes. Please answer that question.
Green and Yellow: One of us did escape, yes.
Prosecution: Is this person here, today?
Green and Yellow: She is, yes. To me, she is Absolute Black and Bright White. You know her as Dark Star.
Prosecution: She does not look like you.
Green and Yellow: No, she does not. Her encounter suit was discarded long ago, when she made contact with the human she harnessed.
Prosecution: And just for clarification, by "harnessed," you mean "took over."
Green and Yellow: Yes. She came upon a small, fishing vessel, far off course. Inside of it was a young girl who had been thrown out to sea in a storm. Everyone else on board had been long dead, and she was insane from thirst and hunger. So I suppose what my sister did to her was something of a mercy.
Prosecution: Killing her.
Green and Yellow: You make it sound so pedestrian. We do not kill.
Prosecution: I beg your pardon-
Green and Yellow: It is given. We are the Imago, human. We change. We absorb. We harness. That young, dying girl was harnessed by Absolute Black and Bright White. Her memories, experience, and skills were absorbed by her, and added to us. She lives on in us, as has every human we have absorbed. We have given her immortality.
Prosecution: Did you ask, first?
Green and Yellow: Of course not. Did you ask your last meal if it minded that you add it to you, for as long as you might live?
Prosecution: I happen to be vegetarian, but-
Green and Yellow: Oh, the things I could tell you.
Judge: Perhaps it would be best if you confined yourself to the questions you are asked.
Green and Yellow: Of course, your honor. Do forgive me, human. Your meal was mindless and asking for it.
Prosecution: Well... I am certain a large number of people around the world just breathed a sigh of relief.
Green and Yellow: But now you know how we see you.
* * *
What they talked about then was mostly nothing you don't already !@#$ing know about, courtesy of my explosive fact-finding missions in China. But it did fill in some gaps.
The monster wearing the girl was Absolute Black and Bright White, and she was something of a legend to the Imago. I guess that's why Dark Star could !@#$ing suck the life and memories out of your !@#$ head by just !@#$ing making eye contact, instead of having to !@#$ing touch you, like the others. She fed off sealife and anything else she could get her !@#$ eyes on, and rowed back to shore, somehow.
And then she !@#$ing blended in, using her skills to infiltrate the military in the best way she could. She let those degenerate !@#$s in the Japanese underworld take her off to the brothel, knowing she'd make military contacts once her skills were noticed. After that, it was Manchuria, Unit 731, the creation of GORGON for her own needs, and then she !@#$ing vanishes, leaving the Japanese high and dry just as the War's come back to their !@#$ing doorsteps.
After that, the Imago had learned enough about human biology to be able to modify it to their needs. And their number one !@#$ing need was to open their prison up and let them all out. But the people who'd thrown them in there had been smarter than that: you couldn't get out (in !@#$ing theory, anyway) and you couldn't get in, either. Not without the !@#$ing key.
And that thing was well !@#$ hidden, thank you very !@#$ing much.
And that thing was well !@#$ hidden, thank you very !@#$ing much.
So they went out into the world to try and find the !@#$ thing. And that's when GORGON came to be, as I understood it. Or at least !@#$ing thought I understood it. All the time they were doing crazy super-science-terrorist !@#$, they were actually looking for the Object. Which, now that I think about it, explains a whole !@#$ of a lot.
And when they weren't doing that, they were !@#$ing marshaling their forces, and copying their technology as best they could from outside the prison. They were also taking control of the things that their jailers had patrolling the outskirts of their !@#$ing city, just in case something came back to try and bust them out.
Yes, son. The DEROS. Those massive things weren't supposed to be in league with the Imago, or GORGON. They were supposed to be watchdogs. But I guess if you beat and feed someone else's dog long enough, it'll start calling you master. And that also explains a whole !@#$ of a lot.
So they took control of the outside of their jail as best as they could, and used the DEROS to provide energy and defense. And they made massive submarine bases around their new tools, and infested the !@#$ing Irian Jaya. All getting ready for the day they got their !@#$ turtles in a row, and could march them into the !@#$ing sea in triumph.
And when they weren't doing that, they were !@#$ing marshaling their forces, and copying their technology as best they could from outside the prison. They were also taking control of the things that their jailers had patrolling the outskirts of their !@#$ing city, just in case something came back to try and bust them out.
Yes, son. The DEROS. Those massive things weren't supposed to be in league with the Imago, or GORGON. They were supposed to be watchdogs. But I guess if you beat and feed someone else's dog long enough, it'll start calling you master. And that also explains a whole !@#$ of a lot.
So they took control of the outside of their jail as best as they could, and used the DEROS to provide energy and defense. And they made massive submarine bases around their new tools, and infested the !@#$ing Irian Jaya. All getting ready for the day they got their !@#$ turtles in a row, and could march them into the !@#$ing sea in triumph.
And then, at long !@#$ing last, they found it, and then they took it. They were able to go down and open the prison up, and let their people out.
Which is where the really sick !@#$ began.
Which is where the really sick !@#$ began.
...
So that's the last they got out of Green and Yellow, for that day. They had an hour recess, we all got some snacks and came back, and when they started back up again they got that withered old Dark Star !@#$ up on the stand.
Now, you have to remember, son -- this !@#$ is nasty. This is the one who can !@#$ing kill you by just !@#$ing looking at you. She's a stringy old crone, creeping up on being a !@#$ing century old. And yet, as frail as she looks, and as !@#$ed-up as she seems, she's all there and more upstairs. Her eyes are !@#$ing black, powerful pits, full of hate.
And her voice... Jesus !@#$ing Christ, that wet, overly-friendly voice. Even if you're not looking at the !@#$, it's enough to make your skin crawl off your body and go down the street for a !@#$ing drink.
But seeing her talk? Hearing those words come out of that mouth, with those eyes?
Dear Jesus in Heaven, son. It's like watching the !@#$ing Exorcist for the first time all over again. And I know that !@#$ scared the !@#$ out of you.
The last time I saw that nasty !@#$ she was yanking my soul out of my !@#$ body, but at least she wasn't !@#$ing talking. Laughing, maybe, but dealing with evil, black laughter is kind of part of the !@#$ing job description.
But here I was, now, listening to her talk all !@#$ing afternoon, in that voice, about the planned genocide of the human race. And throughout it all she kept looking at me, and smiling, like there was some joke we were sharing.
I sure as !@#$ wasn't laughing, son.
* * *
Prosecution: So, Yasuda Aika-
Dark Star: I beg your pardon.
Prosecution: It is given.
(Laughter)
Judge: There will be order.
Prosecution: I beg your pardon, your Honor. I couldn't help it.
Judge: Noted. Please continue.
Prosecution: So you do not wish to be called the name of the girl you are... harnessing? Is that the right word for it?
Dark Star: That is correct. I am not her. She is within me, but I am not her, any more than you are the meal you had several years ago.
Prosecution: Does any of her still live within you?
Dark Star: Her memories, her ideas, her hopes and dreams. These are known to me, but they are not me, not any more than anyone else I have absorbed over the years. I keep those thoughts and memories locked up inside my head, like you keep your books on a shelf. I just happen to be wearing this one's dust jacket.
Prosecution: I see. Thank you for explaining that.
Dark Star: You are so welcome. May I go, now?
Judge: If you do not wish to testify, you do not have to. But I will not let you back up here when you change your mind, seconds before sentencing.
Dark Star: I apologize. I was trying to make a joke. We should keep this lighthearted, should we not?
Prosecution: So, for the record, what should we call you?
Dark Star: You should call me by my rightful title, which I have earned. Absolute Black and Bright White.
Prosecution: It's quite a mouthful. Is Dark Star alright, at least for the purposes of this trial?
Dark Star: No it will not. You will either refer to me by my rightful title or you will refer to me by my true name.
Prosecution: I fear your true name is not pronounceable. But you have another name, do you not?
Dark Star: ... I have another title, yes.
Prosecution: And that title would be Leader.
Dark Star: Yes, I am the leader of the Imago. I once sat above The Motion, The Sight, The Fist, and The Dragon, and ruled your world while you sleepwalked. I am the one who spoke to you, first, on the day we assumed control. I am the one who arranged for the words to be said by others, and ordered your rewards or your punishment.
Prosecution: So you are... you are the one who developed the plan for what took place over the last year?
Dark Star: Yes, I am the one who condemned you all to die. Green and Yellow was merely our most popular spokesperson, and the one with special duties in the United States of America.
Prosecution: You condemned us to die. Personally.
Dark Star: I did.
Prosecution: And how... how was this death to be accomplished?
Dark Star: For some it was immediate, or nearly so. I am referring to the ones that were absorbed by our False Faces, or else the mentally-damaged ones that we Imago directly harnessed. Some were fortunate enough to be absorbed by one of us. Others were thrown into the Overmind, there to perform the tasks we needed the massive mutability of the human brain to accomplish. The editing of information at lightning speed over the internet, the altering of thought and idea, the endless surveillance. Things of that sort.
Prosecution: And for others?
Dark Star: The children who were sent to the harvesting boxes you thought were schools all died slowly, their memories and dreams leeched from them a little at a time. It was necessary for us to recharge on what they had to offer, and with the surplus we powered our special devices and engines.
Prosecution: What sort of devices?
Dark Star: Oh, come now. Did you not have a nice, new car, Mr. Prosecutor? Did you not wonder where the power really came from?
(Gasps, a stifled scream)
Judge: Order. There will be order in this court!
Dark Star: Every time you drove to the store, a child, somewhere, had its soul sliced open again. And when those children were of no further use, we turned them into servitors and had them process and tend to those children we had not yet gotten to.
Prosecution: My god. ... I...
Dark Star: Come now, good sir. You wanted to know the truth, so here it is. To us, you are raw materials. You are building blocks for an Empire to come. Your sense of self-worth is an ignorant indulgence that we do not care to indulge. You were made to serve those greater than you, just as those things that are lesser than you are yours to do with as you will. And if we chose to let some of you use the byproducts of our needs, well, I believe you sometimes feed your livestock some of what's left when you process them?
Prosecution: And was that what awaited us all? Processing?
Dark Star: Oh no. We only intended to harness the children, but by the end we would have gotten to them all. We planned to tell you that we needed the superior brains of growing children to help us come up with a plan to overcome the threat that was coming, but then we were going to take those children, harness their energies, and store them within our escape craft.
Prosecution: Like batteries? You were going to... all the children?
Dark Star: Yes. All the children. Everywhere. Babes out of the nurseries, even. No exceptions.
Prosecution: And what of the rest of us?
Dark Star: Well, we were just going to leave you, before you proved to be so troublesome at the end. After that, we decided to kill you all and make do with what we had.
Prosecution: But if we had not rebelled, you would have just left us in peace?
Dark Star: Of course! We would have had bodies and energy and a ship, and no need for you. We probably would have destroyed our installations from orbit, and caused Deep-Ten to explode just to be sure you didn't attack us from behind, if you regained your senses too soon. And, yes, we would have annihilated that cursed prison, too, which may have caused the Pacific to go horrendously toxic. But it wouldn't have mattered much.
Prosecution: Well, it would have mattered to us.
Dark Star: Perhaps. But we do not concern ourselves with those we no longer need. It would have been cleaner to kill you all, just to be sure you did not rise up to take revenge. But considering what you now face, you could sit and scream yourselves hoarse for all we cared. For soon you must die, as is the rightful fate of a weak race such as yourselves in the face of what's coming.
Prosecution: What do you mean? What is coming?
Dark Star: The thing we have hastened to escape, human. The massive threat that is even now coming closer to this world, as it has so many before. The thing that was here, once before, and is now on its way back. You might know it as Ragnarok, or Gotterdamerung, or the Decreator. But it is the (Unintelligible Concept) and it is on its way.
Prosecution: And how do you know this?
Dark Star: Other than simply feeling it in our bones, as you might say? We were given reliable intelligence.
Prosecution: Who by?
Dark Star: SPYGOD, of course.
Dark Star: I beg your pardon.
Prosecution: It is given.
(Laughter)
Judge: There will be order.
Prosecution: I beg your pardon, your Honor. I couldn't help it.
Judge: Noted. Please continue.
Prosecution: So you do not wish to be called the name of the girl you are... harnessing? Is that the right word for it?
Dark Star: That is correct. I am not her. She is within me, but I am not her, any more than you are the meal you had several years ago.
Prosecution: Does any of her still live within you?
Dark Star: Her memories, her ideas, her hopes and dreams. These are known to me, but they are not me, not any more than anyone else I have absorbed over the years. I keep those thoughts and memories locked up inside my head, like you keep your books on a shelf. I just happen to be wearing this one's dust jacket.
Prosecution: I see. Thank you for explaining that.
Dark Star: You are so welcome. May I go, now?
Judge: If you do not wish to testify, you do not have to. But I will not let you back up here when you change your mind, seconds before sentencing.
Dark Star: I apologize. I was trying to make a joke. We should keep this lighthearted, should we not?
Prosecution: So, for the record, what should we call you?
Dark Star: You should call me by my rightful title, which I have earned. Absolute Black and Bright White.
Prosecution: It's quite a mouthful. Is Dark Star alright, at least for the purposes of this trial?
Dark Star: No it will not. You will either refer to me by my rightful title or you will refer to me by my true name.
Prosecution: I fear your true name is not pronounceable. But you have another name, do you not?
Dark Star: ... I have another title, yes.
Prosecution: And that title would be Leader.
Dark Star: Yes, I am the leader of the Imago. I once sat above The Motion, The Sight, The Fist, and The Dragon, and ruled your world while you sleepwalked. I am the one who spoke to you, first, on the day we assumed control. I am the one who arranged for the words to be said by others, and ordered your rewards or your punishment.
Prosecution: So you are... you are the one who developed the plan for what took place over the last year?
Dark Star: Yes, I am the one who condemned you all to die. Green and Yellow was merely our most popular spokesperson, and the one with special duties in the United States of America.
Prosecution: You condemned us to die. Personally.
Dark Star: I did.
Prosecution: And how... how was this death to be accomplished?
Dark Star: For some it was immediate, or nearly so. I am referring to the ones that were absorbed by our False Faces, or else the mentally-damaged ones that we Imago directly harnessed. Some were fortunate enough to be absorbed by one of us. Others were thrown into the Overmind, there to perform the tasks we needed the massive mutability of the human brain to accomplish. The editing of information at lightning speed over the internet, the altering of thought and idea, the endless surveillance. Things of that sort.
Prosecution: And for others?
Dark Star: The children who were sent to the harvesting boxes you thought were schools all died slowly, their memories and dreams leeched from them a little at a time. It was necessary for us to recharge on what they had to offer, and with the surplus we powered our special devices and engines.
Prosecution: What sort of devices?
Dark Star: Oh, come now. Did you not have a nice, new car, Mr. Prosecutor? Did you not wonder where the power really came from?
(Gasps, a stifled scream)
Judge: Order. There will be order in this court!
Dark Star: Every time you drove to the store, a child, somewhere, had its soul sliced open again. And when those children were of no further use, we turned them into servitors and had them process and tend to those children we had not yet gotten to.
Prosecution: My god. ... I...
Dark Star: Come now, good sir. You wanted to know the truth, so here it is. To us, you are raw materials. You are building blocks for an Empire to come. Your sense of self-worth is an ignorant indulgence that we do not care to indulge. You were made to serve those greater than you, just as those things that are lesser than you are yours to do with as you will. And if we chose to let some of you use the byproducts of our needs, well, I believe you sometimes feed your livestock some of what's left when you process them?
Prosecution: And was that what awaited us all? Processing?
Dark Star: Oh no. We only intended to harness the children, but by the end we would have gotten to them all. We planned to tell you that we needed the superior brains of growing children to help us come up with a plan to overcome the threat that was coming, but then we were going to take those children, harness their energies, and store them within our escape craft.
Prosecution: Like batteries? You were going to... all the children?
Dark Star: Yes. All the children. Everywhere. Babes out of the nurseries, even. No exceptions.
Prosecution: And what of the rest of us?
Dark Star: Well, we were just going to leave you, before you proved to be so troublesome at the end. After that, we decided to kill you all and make do with what we had.
Prosecution: But if we had not rebelled, you would have just left us in peace?
Dark Star: Of course! We would have had bodies and energy and a ship, and no need for you. We probably would have destroyed our installations from orbit, and caused Deep-Ten to explode just to be sure you didn't attack us from behind, if you regained your senses too soon. And, yes, we would have annihilated that cursed prison, too, which may have caused the Pacific to go horrendously toxic. But it wouldn't have mattered much.
Prosecution: Well, it would have mattered to us.
Dark Star: Perhaps. But we do not concern ourselves with those we no longer need. It would have been cleaner to kill you all, just to be sure you did not rise up to take revenge. But considering what you now face, you could sit and scream yourselves hoarse for all we cared. For soon you must die, as is the rightful fate of a weak race such as yourselves in the face of what's coming.
Prosecution: What do you mean? What is coming?
Dark Star: The thing we have hastened to escape, human. The massive threat that is even now coming closer to this world, as it has so many before. The thing that was here, once before, and is now on its way back. You might know it as Ragnarok, or Gotterdamerung, or the Decreator. But it is the (Unintelligible Concept) and it is on its way.
Prosecution: And how do you know this?
Dark Star: Other than simply feeling it in our bones, as you might say? We were given reliable intelligence.
Prosecution: Who by?
Dark Star: SPYGOD, of course.
* * *
You ever have one of those moments when literally every eye in the room swivels and looks right the !@#$ at you, and there's no !@#$ing escape? And, worse of all, you have no !@#$ idea what they were !@#$ing talking about?
Yeah, that was my moment.
Back in a moment, son. Need to drain the alien sex machine. And then some more beer, I think.
A lot more.
(SPYGOD is listening to Opium (Dead Can Dance) and having a Castelain Grand Cru, or ten)
(SPYGOD is listening to Opium (Dead Can Dance) and having a Castelain Grand Cru, or ten)
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