Children of a Lesser God

Laz's mind was not on work that day. Not that it required a lot of thought anyway, but still if one looked at Laz, it was kind of like watching a zombie.

Laz's was thinking about what he needed to do next and it was a lot.

There was actually a few moments of the day when Laz thought to himself,

'Why should I even bother? Why am I here? Because I was told by strange creatures that I needed to be here? I don't even know if this is where they were telling me to go. And on top of that, the more troublesome this gets, the more I think that maybe it's better to just take off and go somewhere else...'

By the end of his rant to himself, Laz had to admit that all the negative feelings made a good point. He didn't need to be here nor did he need to concern himself with all of this.

In his mind, Laz still felt he should be looking for his parents or finding a way to find his grandpa.

And yet, here he was.

This realization made Laz take a deep breath and want to step back. Of course doing so caused him to bump into a waiter and almost knock the poor man over. Lucky, Laz reacted quickly and helped him to not fall.

But the whole incident reminded Laz that despite his misgivings, he was still here running a side quest while the main quest seemed like it had almost been forgotten.

While he was having these thoughts though, he saw Julia greeting an older couple at the door before leading them to a table. He also remembered that Abraham was still at the apartment, too drained to get up and work.

Had he not been here, Laz didn't want to think about what would have happened to them, especially Abraham.

"Maybe this isn't where I want to be, but it's where I am," Laz said to himself with a sigh. He had already connected with the people he met here and for better or for worse, he couldn't just leave them alone now. Not when they needed his help.

After those many minutes of self doubt, Laz felt like a load had been lifted off of his shoulders. He had been doubting himself for a while now, but after accepting the way things are right now, he felt like he would be better able to handle it.

There is a huge difference between being dragged along by a horse and riding one.

With these negative thoughts out of the way, Laz knew his next task was to get the Vodun on board for the operation against the church. His biggest problem was that he wasn't really sure what he wanted to do.

"Alright, let's recap. The 'children of god,' are kidnapping people off the street and sacrificing them in an effort to open a door which was suppose to remain closed. Besides just the whole human sacrifice thing, the biggest problem here is that if they get discovered, I'm sure that us infected will be the first one blamed. We are the perfect scapegoat. So what can I do? Help them not to get discovered or try to stop them? And even then, I don't even know where these people are being killed, only that they are being delivered to that one office complex. Argh... this is fucking frustrating." Laz thought that maybe talking it out to himself would help him to think, but all it did was make the situation more upsettingly twisted.

"Well, whatever. The first thing I should do is to go meet with Madam Cal again and figure out who I can talk to about what over there. I mean, I could ask Freya for some info, but I'm still not one hundred percent with her, especially with that sleeping goddess telling her what to do. As nice as she is, it's too big of a risk right now.." Laz decided that maybe the direct approach was the best approach and while he was on his break, he called Madam Cal to set up a meeting.

"Aye. I figured you'd be a calling soon."

"Oh? Why is that?" Laz asked back.

"You've been active lately. Taking over de council while also getting in nice with the blood suckers means that you've got yer plans. I can see this. One of them could just be finding yerself a home. But both of them means you need something, am I right?"

Laz couldn't help but marvel at madam Cal's perception and her information network. After all, the things with the council had just happened the previous night..

"You've got an idea then what I mean to do?"

"You wouldn't need the help if it be something small, no? But so what? Even getting in good with the blood suckers is only a small means to da end. It don't mean that frozen hearted bitch be lending you her help now. No. So even though you've done this so far, you've yet to reach yer goal. And we be not sticking our necks out to cause trouble when we just trying to take care of our own. So don't matter what your plan is, the answer is no." Madam Cal was decisive and even though it sounded like she didn't know what Laz was up to, it also sounded like she didn't want any part of it.

But this was within Laz's expectations.

"You can make these calls for you and your people?" Laz needed to know just what role she was playing in their organization before he could move on.

"I be making the calls. You wondering who runs us, ain't that right?"

"Yes mam."

"It be me husband. So what I tell him, goes."

"Ah. Ok."

"Why does it sound like you not convinced by me words?"

"It's not that."

"You be planning something still, eh?"

"No."

"You be lying to old madam Cal and expect me not to know?"

"Of course not."

"You know boy, I'm starting to trust yous less and less."

"I'm honestly not sure why you ever trusted me."

"You be wanting to meet me husband I take it?"

"I just want to talk."

"Tell me den. What be you planning? I be telling you they be opening a door that shouldn't be opened cause dat what we be finding out. Ain't none of this got to do with us. Why should we be offering up our necks fer people who don't want nothing good to do with us."

"Because. Whether you want it or not, the problem is on your door step, knocking away at your front door. Freya said the same thing to me."

"Then maybe you should be listening to da girl. We don't be seeing eye to eye, but dat don't mean I think she's stupid or something. And why be it you sticking your neck out? You just be a traveler anyway, here for a bit and then gone again. What's any of this be mattering to you?"

"Weren't you the one who told me to check it out? You told me the spirit's told you to direct me this way?"

"Da spirits be distracted by flashing lights and shiny objects. Just cause they tell you to jump don't be meaning you should do it boy."

"Well, I checked it out. And you're right, I'm not some good person here. But I already have some idea of what will happen when things go bad. You think those children of god will take the fall out as their own fault? Even you said this door shouldn't be opened, but if we sit back and do nothing, that door will open. Then what?"

"Den we take it from der."

"That's just reacting. By the time you're surrounded, you won't even know what was hitting you. And then what? What if you are strong enough to escape? You'll be hunted. And those that didn't get away will be the scapegoats for the whole thing."

"Sounds like you experienced something like this before? Seems we don't be knowing everything about you after all."

"Let me talk with your husband. At least he should understand what I intend to do."

"Fine. I be setting it up with him. I get back to ya when it be done."

Before Laz could even say thank you, the line cut off. He wasn't sure if madam Cal was angry, frustrated or what, but it seemed like at least he had gotten the two parts of his message through. The first part being his target even if he lacked a plan and the second part being that he wasn't going to leave them alone.

Laz couldn't help but take a moment to wonder just what kind of person madam Cal's husband was.

Of course now, his biggest problem was that he still didn't know what kind of direction he should take.

Was he going to ask these people to wage a war? Obviously he couldn't do that. As he experienced last night, even if the normal infected was getting stronger, they still knew nothing about fighting. On top of that, they really did have to worry about the government's involvement in this assuming the children of god were being backed by the government.

Considering everything he had seen on the news, that was definitely what it looked liked.

Laz went back inside to finish out the rest of his break in the break room when he saw Julia standing off to the side, watching the TV.

"This afternoon, dozen's of arrest warrants have been signed and carried out, marking the arrest of dozens of 'infected' who have been monitored in recent months as joining groups who are known domestic terrorists. As you may remember, almost six months ago, in an effort to prevent known domestic terrorists from recruiting these increasingly dangerous individuals, a bill was passed making it illegal for known and unknown 'infected' persons to join groups or organizations with ties to any sort of domestic or international terrorism groups. Acting on a several tips and using their own information network, D.I.C. has made numerous arrests and are on the look out for additional persons of interest. Stay tuned for more on this story as it develops."

Julia turned away from the TV just in time to see Laz standing next to her while watching it as well. Although he had only met and come into contact with the members of the council last night, he still had a rather decent memory of the people he met, even if he didn't remember names.

Of course, none of that really mattered at the moment since he noticed that several of the people who had been arrested were present at the strip club last night. The only saving grace was that none of the foundation realm members were included on the list.

"We've got a problem..." Julia said, looking as white as a sheet.

"Oh.. I would say we have a really big problem," Laz responded with a sour look on his face. The only way that this could have happened was if they had been betrayed. And more than that, the question of if Julia and Laz were being targeted was an even bigger problem.

"So now what...?" Julia asked. Laz could tell she was a little shaky while her emotions were in flux.

"Now? Tell everyone to stay low and keep their heads down."

"And then?"

"We need to find the leak. But for now, the entire council is useless..."

Laz had lost the strongest card in his deck for negotiating with the Vodun and Freya. No matter how he looked at it, it was going to be trouble.