The rest of lunch had passed almost in silence. Alexander had done very little except take notes in his block. The members of the council were preparing to return to the throne room. Halfway toward the door that provided access to his office, Alex turned around:
"Dan? Do you think you can come with us because I'd like to hear your input on a few things?"
Suddenly Beatrice flew past and toward Samantha and Alexander. With tears in her eyes and a small voice, she said:
"Thank you for saving my Daddy from Hell."
Samantha embraced her and kissed her on the head. Alex had sunk through his knees so he could look into her eyes at her height:
"Promise is a promise, Sunflower."
Arriving in the throne room, he looked around for a moment and whispered:
"This is Shit..."
He sat down on the throne and said:
"If everyone will just keep standing for a moment I would like to make a quick change first."
He closed his eyes and two new doors appeared next to the door of his office. The door immediately next to his office now gave access to a corridor that led directly to the garden, and this meant that people no longer had to walk through his office. Something that could be annoying when he was at work. The second door provided access to a new conference room where the full council could meet. More intimate than the giant throne room. In that room, he had manifested a table large enough to seat the full council including the yet-to-be-appointed council members and Samantha's parents as well as his own. Once that was done, he walked to the new room and took his place at the head of the table with Samantha at the other head. Here the council members did stand until their God and Goddess had taken their seats, this was no longer informal, this was business.
"Raquel, I made a separate desk for you. Perhaps that would be more convenient for you to do your work? Otherwise, you are just as welcome to come and sit here at the table with us."
"No, MyLord, it is indeed better this way."
Quickly and happily she took a seat at her new desk. Something that also made her shoulders straighten, she now had her own official workplace near God. Alex took out his notepad and immediately manifested a pad and pen for everyone. He looked at Raquel and asked:
"Raquel, how would you feel about coming to work for me full-time? I do not mean only that what you are doing now taking minutes of these meetings. I mean as my personal assistant. This whole thing is going to be so incredibly busy that I need someone I can rely on wholeheartedly and I just feel I can rely on you."
The Angel grew wide-eyed; her God had just offered her to become his personal assistant. She didn't know how quickly to nod. The rest at the large conference table feared a neck injury for a moment because she nodded so hard and fast.
"Perfect, thank you very much Raquel you don't know what a load off my mind this is having someone like you next to me. We'll talk tomorrow about your new job, okay?"
And again, there was intense nodding. With that Alex proceeded to the order of the meeting. He rubbed through his curls for a moment and asked:
"Dan, do you want to enjoy your rest, or would you like to do some volunteer work?"
"Depends MyLord. What is going to happen to Trixie and what do you want me to do?"
"If I understand correctly Trixie can't and won't go anywhere on Earth. We have asked her about your side of her family but that seems to be a big no no. We have also asked her about her grandmother Penelope and that seems to be an equally big no but for other reasons. I think Doc Martin could be found to give her a home. However, I do not want to do this against Trixie's wishes. That is why I want to give her a choice. Either she goes to Linda, or she stays here, and I will elevate her to Angel just as I offered Ella. School will be provided anyway because Sam and I want Sarah and David to start school as soon as possible and a little later Elise too of course. Beatrice could join them. Angels normally learn much faster than humans because their brains work differently but since she will also be an Angel, she will be able to keep up with the same fast level. I think Jo will be able to manage that or am I mistaken?"
He looked at Jophiel.
"Although teaching is not our specialty, I think it will not be a problem to put together a curriculum, especially for children their age. Neither will a thorough education later since we can collaborate with other Angels, like those of Q and Laila."
Dan thought for a moment:
"I will definitely discuss this with Trix first and make it clear that she has options. If she says yes, however, I want to be there more for her and so only work a set number of hours a day."
"No problem, Dan. For that what I have in mind I think four to six hours a day can be absolutely adequate."
"That's more than fair, what is the job?"
"Working as a consultant for both Celine and Michael. Celine is going to put together and lead a department that will be comparable to uniformed officers patrolling the streets or railway stations. I would like you to select souls from Hell and vet them. From Heaven, we cannot select anyone because the whole archive here is a total mess and would have to be put in order first. We just lack the time to do that. I don't want anyone who has a laundry list of complaints for excessive force or who is overtly or covertly racist. I want to pair each of those officers with one of Celine's people so that those Angels learn what peacekeeping and de-escalation are. So, anything to do with fines and such can go in the trash. For Michael, I want you to select some detectives and FBI agents. People like you, in other words, who know how to conduct a murder investigation. Those in turn we are going to pair with an Angel partner after that department has received training."
The full council sat looking at him not quite understanding where he was going. They understood the first part but the second part not so well. So, Alexander clarified:
"Look, once the archives are in order, we will know the cause of death of every soul. If the cause is murder, then we can do something for the victim and next of kin. If it is a recent case, then we can help the police on Earth if they have not yet completed the case. Name of the culprit or a person's description, where they can find evidence, or find the body itself. In the case of cold cases, this way we can revive the investigation. In the US alone, there must be tens of thousands of such files. The archive in Hell is more or less in order, it just needs further digitization. We can use those files during our trip to train Michael's people. There are plenty of killers among them who got away with one or more murders. Michael's people will just make a neat little gift of those that we can deliver to the police on Earth. They may not be able to bring the killers to justice because they are already in Hell, but they will be able to close thousands of open cases and give relatives peace of mind. It will also send a clear message to would-be killers. Don't do it because from now on heat and justice will also come from the afterlife."
Lucifer, Ella and Dan immediately saw where he was going. Dan whistled:
"Murders on a whim won't get knocked down but a lot of premeditated murders will disappear. Settlements in the underworld, spouses wanting to kill each other instead of divorcing. Yes MyLord, I absolutely want to participate in both projects."
Alexander snapped his fingers and a laptop appeared in front of Dan.
"Thanks Dan. However, I also know how enthusiastic you are. Therefore, it will be ensured that you do not work more than six hours a day with a maximum of five days a week. Never during weekends because Trixie will also be home then. Okay?"
"Absolutely My lord, that's what I was planning and a little supervision in my case certainly won't hurt."
"And are you sure you are willing to participate in our little trip?"
"MyLord, we are going to try to save everyone, how can I say no to that?"
"Michael, Celine are you comfortable with that?"
Both nodded and Michael said:
"We can put Dan and the people he selects to good use, MyLord. The Angels we have at our disposal are warriors and would not know where to start."
"Well, Dan in that laptop in front of you are the files of the souls in Hell that we have digitized. You will see that the program is child's play, and you can search in all sorts of manners. Then if you three would just put your heads together and get that project up and running, I'd like to see your project proposal as soon as possible."
The three nodded.
" Azi and Anthony, are you coming along to get your projects started already?"
His two idiots looked at each other for a moment and then nodded in agreement. With a sneaky smile, Alex asked:
"And already set a wedding date?"
There was soft laughter around the table and the two turned a little red in the face. Anthony said:
" Yes MyLord, but we would like you to bless it."
"Gentlemen, it would be a true honor and pleasure. Please give your date as soon as possible to Raquel so we can start planning because if you think this is going to be a small ceremony then you are sorely mistaken. There are nine thousand Angels who will want to see and experience this event!"
One part of his answer put a smile on their faces and the second part scared them beyond belief.
"For all departments, first, this. I mentioned it this morning. I want a list from each department with the names of the volunteers who want to go with us. I would like to have as many volunteers as possible because I would absolutely hate to have to appoint Angels to go with us. For those who stay behind or want to go to Samantha's universe make it clear to them that this will absolutely not be held against them. Okay?"
There were nods in agreement around the table.
"Lucifer and Ella your projects have been partially derailed by this rotten state of affairs. Nevertheless, I would like to ask if you would like to come along. Ella to start your project on a small scale, I'll tell you why in a moment, and Lucifer for two reasons. First, to build a completely new Hell with completely new rules. Second, in your role as a police consultant to assist Dans and Michael's detectives. The way you look at cases very often provides angles that traditional detectives overlook."
Samantha interrupted him briefly:
"Alexander, you know that Heaven and Hell are created together with the universe. Therefore, the new Hell is going to be as rotten a place as any."
He replied with a chuckle:
"Yep, but who says I couldn't create a second Hell?"
Lucifer sat watching with eyes wide open:
"A second Hell?"
Ella was already chuckling.
"Yep, a new Hell. See in the new universe, a Hell is automatically created and the souls that have to go to Hell on Terra Nova are automatically sent to that Hell. Nobody is saying we can't make a portal from that Hell to the new Hell I'm going to make. No soul will end up in that wretched place anymore and no Demon will have to live there. In fact, it will be an empty shell that will only serve as a transfer zone. Maybe, just maybe we could leave the worst of the worst there if the people on Terra Nova also bring forth scum as Hitler. But that we can avoid. Like I said we will be involved with humanity and stay involved just to make sure they don't fuck up Terra Nova as well. The souls who are already in our hell here we can sort out in the same way. Let those who we decide that actually belong in Heaven pass through to the new Hell and from there immediately to Heaven. Those souls who are to be punished for a while stay in the new Hell where they can serve their sentence. Hell 2.0 so to speak."
Lucifer looked at Ella who was nodding vigorously and said:
Where Ella goes I go MyLord."
"Thank you, Ella, thank you, Dad."
"Q, you said you had 22 people?"
"Yes, Mylord."
"Well in the next two maybe three weeks I need all your people. For the jump as said only volunteers. Are you willing to go with us to the new universe?"
"Absolutely MyLord!"
"Well in the next maximum three weeks as mentioned I need the following from you. I want you to familiarize yourselves with as many modern techniques as possible. Concentrate on the medium-sized things first that have to do with infrastructure. All kinds of cranes, trucks, a freight train, a subway train, bulldozers, crushing rollers, concrete mixers, and so on. You leave out the smaller things like computers, laptops, tablets, and servers. We are simply going to take one or more examples of those with us. The really big monster projects are for later as you're going to see right away. First a word about how we're going to do that."
He lit a cigarette now that he was safely away from the children and thus did not have to face Samantha's evil eye. After inhaling deeply:
"In the last few thousand years, I have built an organization on Earth that is completely loyal. Only in recent years, since 1945, have I systematically made known the end goal to people who are loyal to what the intimate circle has come to call phase two. Making our existence known to humanity to prevent the complete destruction of humanity. This has now become not phase two but phase four. Terra Nova as I have christened the new Earth is phase one along with the new Heaven and new Hell. Cleaning up the present Heaven and Hell are now phases two and three, disclosure is four and relocation is five. The organization on Earth is intentionally not made secretive like the Freemasons and thus attracts very little attention. Anyone can step in and become a member. They are religious groups but certainly not zealots imposing their beliefs on others. To the outside world, they are fellow believers who support each other to become more successful; for example, they award each other contracts for certain projects. However, there is also a lot of emphasis on supporting charities. Within that organization, there are also secret circles where the truly initiated dwell."
He snapped his fingers once again and four laptops appeared. One for himself, one for Gabriel, one for Barachiel, and one for Laila.
"In the laptops of Gabriel and myself are all the data of our people on Earth. Q, if you can tell me tomorrow, tomorrow morning please, how many people you have who want to go with you I will pair them with the right people for the techniques that are critical to our plans. They will accompany your people on Earth to put you in touch with those machines to build the infrastructure on Terra Nova. Okay?"
"Understood MyLord."
"In the laptop in front of you are the plans for the really big things that would take too much time to make your own. By that, I mean cargo ships, airplanes, satellites, nuclear power plants, the space shuttle, and so on. Those are not a priority for now; but that way we should have everything or just about everything to build. Do you think this is feasible? Laila, in yours, are the same plans. If you and your people want to look at those and think about alternatives that are not harmful to nature, we might be able to start that already on Terra Nova."
While Q was thinking and Laila asked:
"Does this mean that you have always considered this scenario MyLord?"
"Yes and no Laila. No, because these plans were meant to be taken apart by the Q Department and yours. That way you could, for example, find a form of propulsion that is at least as efficient or preferably better than what is currently found on Earth but would be completely harmless to nature. With the plans to build a nuclear power plant, we could go from radioactive to cold fusion. On the other hand, yes, I calculated this happening but only with Earth. Because I was born in 1999 and therefore know all about climate change. When I said that I announced to our people on Earth from 1945 the exact purpose, of course, I first used atomic weapons. That was something they were familiar with. Global warming was still a completely foreign concept at that point. It would only come up decades later. Now that this universe is going to be destroyed that no longer plays a role. But global warming would have been the most likely scenario. Consequently, we would have to do an emergency evacuation of a few hundred thousand or a few million people to another planet to give humanity a chance of survival. I never considered that we would have to move to another universe."
Most members were nodding around the table. Just another proof that this new God had been thinking and planning all this for a few thousand years with the sole purpose of saving everything and everyone. Samantha sat looking at him proudly and Alex felt her emotion warm inside him. Q answered the question with a frown:
"MyLord, my people should be able to manage that. However, I would like to add the following so that we can fully concentrate on our task. If we can have the smaller items as you said picked up by other Angels and brought here immediately, we would save a lot of time and use that time for our actual purpose."
Alexander thought for a moment and snapped his fingers. Two laptops appeared again.
"Ella, Lucifer..."
He pointed at Ella:
"Can you order anything you can think of in the time we have? As far as I'm concerned, buy the entire catalog from Amazon. The electronics I listed earlier but also drills large and small, chainsaws, everything from hand tools, welding equipment, everything you can find on a construction site, everything you can find in a household, generators large and small, and so on. Hire advisors on Earth, plumbers, electricians, and the lot. For all I care tell them you are writing a post-apocalypse story and want to be as correct as possible if you paint how to rebuild a society. Those laptops also contain the details of several of my bank accounts plunder them."
Now he pointed to Lucifer:
"Dad, I need a safe space, a big warehouse where all that stuff can be delivered and picked up unseen by our people. Please also provide a 40-foot container in perfect condition that we can recreate here to haul all that material. And please help each other with that list. Send Dan and myself a copy as well. Maybe we can come up with something else. These laptops can communicate with each other regardless of where you are, Heaven, Earth, or Hell. But more than a few dozen I can't connect at the moment."
Jeremiel sat looking thoughtful and asked:
"MyLord, those billions of homes in the new Heavens won't be a problem. But on Terra Nova, we are going to be obliged to build more or less at the human pace. Housing for eight billion people on top of the work in Heaven? I fear we are not going to make that. Even if we have five hundred years."
"We don't have to, Jerry. Mercury's volunteers, or at least some of them, are also going to this Earth to analyze simple apartment buildings and simple housing there, to draw up plans for them. Many of those buildings can be built at lightning speed in Heaven in large pieces so that they can be quickly assembled on Terra Nova. The same for machines. Some of them in pieces so they can be put together like a puzzle. The people themselves, or rather the souls of craftsmen we are going to bring, are going to build themselves on Terra Nova."
Everyone was looking at him uncomprehendingly. It was Ella who said with preening eyes:
"Here we go again! Another solution from our God on a cosmic level..."
"Miss Lopez is already starting to know me a bit and is right."
Said Alex mischievously:
"This is where Azrael and her team come into play on the one hand and Bearus and Belios on the other. Look I'm going to make two pocket dimensions. You all know that every Angel has its own pocket dimension. No matter where you are or what you are doing that dimension is always there. Your wings are in it, but it can also hold your weapons and things that are peculiar to you. So, two pocket dimensions that are anchored to me and automatically go where I am. The souls that are placed in that dimension go into stasis, so time does not apply to them. For them, it is like going in one moment and coming out the next moment even though a hundred years have passed. Tens of thousands of people die every day. Azrael's team is going to recruit volunteers from among those souls and place them in one of those two dimensions. Belios and Bearus are doing the same thing in Hell. Two years ago, they started there with twenty-five thousand volunteers to digitize the files of the two and a half billion souls we want to save. This allows us to select volunteers from the eight hundred million files already processed. And I am talking about professionals who have experience in building. In addition, we are already going to house and take as many of the Level 1 and Level 2 souls into that dimension as possible. That way Anthony will have people who can help him with his island and Azi will have people people to help him with his project. For Raffa, that means that our monster project with two and a half billion souls can be partially relieved. Every soul we can already treat during our journey is one less to deal with once we get back. You Jeremiel will make a list of what kind of professionals we need. Put yourself together with some of your people and come up with that list. We are going to give that to Belios and Bearus. Azrael will get from me a list of other types of souls we need. I am going to temporarily link the new Heaven with Terra Nova, and this will allow the souls on Terra Nova to do physical work just as they do in Heaven and thus begin the new infrastructure that will be needed. Angels in this way because they are linked to Heaven can work at the same speed on Terra Nova. But also, machines that we make in Heaven and have wheels we can simply drive those out of Heaven onto Terra Nova. Quackbang!"
Ella bawled out:
"And what is this second dimension for?"
"Ah Miss Lopez, my dear nerd. We are not only going to take care of Star Trek 2.0 as you so eloquently called it this morning. We are also going to take care of The Next Generation 2.0!"
No one seemed to understand him. Samantha had a sense of what was to come, and Ella was just about trembling with excitement. Alex said in a very nonchalant tone:
"In that second dimension, we are going to place children and adolescents. Adolescents unfortunately we have in abundance in Hell thanks to Godfry and his shitty rules. Children are delivered here daily but are either unwanted by their families or cannot be placed with their families because of the chaos. Look around you. We have only just got here, and we already have couples here; Ella and Lucifer, Celine and Michael, Azi and our dear Anthony who has saved children time and time again."
He looked at Gabriel for a moment with a smirk. Letting him know that he knew that he and Anna were attracted to each other, and the latter got a red head.
"And I have a suspicion that these are not the only couples in the making. Now bring tens of thousands of souls to Heaven and into the city and many more couples will inevitably be formed. How many of them will want to foster? Samantha and I with certainty. Sarah, David and Elise will grow up and therefore will not live under our roof forever. We cannot have children ourselves because I am a Nefilim. However, I cannot imagine that after the children are out of the house, we would never wish for children again. I had resolved not to create new Angels anyway but to elevate people to Angel when the time arises. This is to avoid the fuck-up of your parents. And how many mixed couples of Humans and Angel will want a child or children? Well elevate the Human soul to Angel and the couple can have children. Boom, The Next generation 2.0!"
Satisfied, Alex sat looking at the members of his council. Samantha said dreamy expression:
"Wow, what a vision for the future. I wish this could be possible in my universe too."
His eyebrows moved up and down a few times:
"Tsk, tsk, tsk, darling have a little faith in your God...hihihi..."
With a jerk, she shot up to the edge of her seat:
"Out with it Alex! How would you like to do that in my universe?"
He wanted to tease her a little more:
"But Gummy Bear, Gumdrop, you do know that God works in mysterious ways..."
"Alexander Marcus Morningstar! Spill it!"
She almost shouted out and he snickered:
"Wow, now you really sound like your mom when your dad and I got in a bit of trouble. Not considered yet what I can do here on the primary throne I can also do in your universe?"
Ella laughed again:
"Let me guess Angel and Baby-making 2.0?"
"You see Miss Lopez totally understands. Even though in your universe it would be impossible to elevate Human souls to Angel, I can do it."
Samantha squeezed her eyes shut for a moment and said wearily:
"Alex, in my universe you would occupy the secondary throne, not the primary one. On top of that, we need to find a solution to our rather fairly large problem. In case you have forgotten, you cannot leave your universe for longer periods and I cannot leave my universe for longer periods of time once I am bound to the throne."
Ella was even now clapping her hands softly:
"Three, two, one, here it comes..."
"Miss Lopez has me all figured out and the rest of you seemingly didn't pay close attention in class this morning. Remember what I said about linking two universes together at one specific point in time and space?"
Slowly she nodded. Alex drew the lines in the sky again but also a third, a green one. First, he bent the red and blue as he had done at the general meeting that morning. And then in silence the green one so that all three universes met in exactly the same place. Everyone sat for a while watching the three slowly rotating lines in amazement. Samantha jumped from her chair, ran around the table, and practically collapsed onto his lap and into his arms. No one had anything against this clear break in the protocol; on the contrary, they wanted nothing more than to see their God and Goddess who had so much love for each other while their own parents were so cold-hearted.
"I understand that our universes are then connected, and we are not separated. But how is that supposed to work?"
A thick thump and Michael's head collided not so softly with the conference table. When he said:
"O please Grand Poeba tell us that you have another 2.0 somewhere..."
Ella just about slid off her chair.
"Well now that you mention it Uncle Mickey I do indeed. If that one specific point in time and space is the two throne rooms, then my primary throne here coincides with my secondary throne there and vice versa Samantha's primary throne there with the secondary one here. Quackbang Thrones 2.0!"
He waited a moment for dramatic effect and continued:
"Consequently both thrones are primary and there is no longer a secondary throne. Only complete equality between Samantha and myself in both universes. Even though Samantha could not elevate people to Angels on her throne, I can do it from my throne. A nice touch, our Angels can go to her universe, they just need to step through a portal. Samantha's Angels can do the same the other way around. Not to mention the souls in both Heavens. And that brings us not only to the next 2.0 but to the first 3.0. New couples because our Angels and her Angels are compatible with each other just like that. Quackbang!"
"Please stop Alexander, I'm going to pee my pants."
Could Ella just barely get out between her laughter.
"Come on guys, am I good or am I good!"
This time he was gagged by a fierce kiss on his mouth from Samantha while at the table everyone was busy talking. In his head, he heard her say:
"I love you so much and after the kids go to bed, I'll drag you to our bed and I'm so going to jump you."
"Now that is the best news, I got all day Spicy Red, and I love you to my darling everything..."
The meeting was at an end a little before five. Along with Trixie, Michael, and Celine, he had stepped toward the jail cell where Decker was to be found. He would be the first to go in and speak with her. After that, Trixie was allowed to say goodbye to her. As she stood waiting in the hallway, she suddenly asked Michael:
"Can you manifest a dollar coin for me, Uncle Michael?"
He looked at her strangely for a moment this was the first time she addressed him like the other children and because he could not imagine what the child could do with money in Heaven. He manifested the coin and gave it to her. She took the coin and looked at it intently. Celine saw that something had changed in the girl. The pain and sorrow she had felt since her father had been murdered on Earth by Decker gave way to anger. After a while, Alex came out of the cell and said to Trixie:
"Michael and Celine will remain near you at all times Sunflower. You may speak with her but absolutely do not touch her."
The girl looked at him sternly:
"No worries, Alex, I did not intend to!"
He looked deep into her eyes and saw a thunderstorm brewing. Trixie and her two bodyguards stepped into the cell. Decker said immediately:
"Monkey please come to Mama!"
She replied:
"No, I don't think I will! You hurt Lucifer! You killed Daddy! You hurt me! I don't know what you think of Alex but he's the one who gave you one last chance. He did it for me and even Daddy was okay after what you did to him. I'm staying with Daddy, Alex, Samantha, Lucifer and Ella! You are going to Hell. And if you ever come to Heaven, you won't be allowed where we live. The city where I'm going to live forever."
Trixie pulled out the coin and snapped at Decker:
"This is for your curse jar! I fucking never want to see you again!"
With these words, she tossed the coin at Decker, turned around, and left the cell quickly followed by Michael and Celine who both had big grins on their faces.
Alex had to sit on the throne for a while before he could finally go upstairs and begin the meal for his family. He already had to enlarge and adjust the suite again. Dan didn't mind living with the family for a while until they made the jump. After talking to Raphael about Beatrice's condition after her traumatic experience, he, like the healer, thought it would be better for her to stay near the other children for a while. The fact that Trix liked to hang out with the other five made his decision much easier. Dan would move into Celine's room now that the latter had moved in with Michael. Jasmine and Maila apparently got along very well with each other and with the other four. So, they wanted to share a room as did Trixie and Sarah. David got his own room and was very pleased with that. Finally, Elise got a room right next to Samantha and his which was provided with a connecting door so they could get to her quickly. With this, the third renovation was a fact. Samantha would help the girls decorate and he would help David make a real boys' room.