Chapter 21 – A Plan for David
The day of the Sanhedrin Council Meeting…
In last week’s episode, David failed a test of temptation. In this week’s episode, David faces the consequences, and discovers that there is more at stake than he could have known…
David stood alone on the rise overlooking the Tyropoeon Valley village. The sheep and goats grazed nearby. They were skittish today, picking up on David’s foul mood as he used his sling to hurl stone after stone at the plastic bottle targets.
He was so sick of this place, all of it, the whole fake village, fake costume, fake beard, fake everything. He was tempted to just go down to his car and leave. These people could all just kiss his butt. He still had contacts in Corvallis, and he could go down there and get a real job and get on with his life.
David had quit jobs before; in fact, he’d quit quite a few jobs before. He didn’t have the patience to work when things started going wrong and he was impulsive enough to just take off when things got rocky, especially since he returned from deployment. But he’d also hurt himself by doing that too. He’d learned the hard way that for every week spent without a job, he would spend an extra impoverished month working at some new job trying to pay off the bills that kept cropping up.
The difference this time was that he’d never been fired before. But as humiliated as David felt, he knew from hard experience that he needed to keep working for the full two weeks while he tried his hardest to set up the next gig. I’ve got to try to settle down and just suck it up until I can get out of here.
The alarm on his wristwatch beeped. He pulled back the sleeve of his shepherd’s costume and pressed the button to turn it off. It was time to make his rounds.
His pace was quicker than usual, and the change in routine upset his flock. David’s frustration with them grew every time he had to circle back to round up the strays. They jumped away when he brought his staff down, and it seemed he was spending more time chasing them rather than having them follow him like they were supposed to.
To make matters worse, when he reached the village, some old guy was walking through the streets shouting “Unclean! Unclean!” for some strange reason. People milled around everywhere, and one of the guests even picked up a rock and threatened the old man with it. It was too much for his flock; these wooly old ladies really couldn’t tolerate change. David spun around with his staff, clumsily trying to clear the few sheep from the pathway. Their agitation became too great. They broke away and scattered among the buildings and even into some of the residents’ homes, overturning pots and baskets as they went.
The old guy wore a heavy woolen cloak, and he was covered from head to toe in what looked like bandages. He looked like some kind of mummy as he made his way slowly up the pathway. To add insult to injury, as David scrambled to regain control of his flock, the spirit glue holding his beard lost its adhesion again due to the heat and sweat from his efforts. His eyes locked momentarily with the old man who hissed at him angrily, “If you are going to wear that thing, at least see to it that it doesn’t fall off!” Then he passed by.
Mercifully, Sabot came to his rescue, and he was able to get the flock moving as a cohesive group again out of the village. “Who was that guy?” David asked.
“Him? Oh, that’s the leper they call Rabban. He’s the head honcho around here, dude.”
David sat dejectedly on his hill, looking at his watch and waiting for the hours to slowly wind down until his shift was over. He wasn’t using his sling anymore; his earlier passion and anger had abandoned him, and now he just passed the time arguing silently with Lieutenant Rodriguez. Why don’t you just leave me alone? You’re the one who told us to fire, you son of a bitch. If you hadn’t been such a coward and blown your own head off, they would have court-martialed you.
As he watched the people and avatars below him through his XR glasses, David thought that maybe the best thing for him to do was to just chance it and get out of here. He thought to himself: I could leave tonight. But how much of that was his voice and how much might be tinged with Rodriguez’s bad advice? He wasn’t sure, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know. He was melting down into a hot mess, and it was hard for him to imagine that he could make it the full two weeks.
One of the avatars emerged from the village and started heading up the hill in his direction. He could tell it was an avatar from the unusually graceful gait as he made his way up the path in his slippers. On the rare occasions that guests visited him to examine his flock, they typically stumbled and clumped heavily up the hill, kicking up dust. The absence of dust was a dead giveaway that this was an avatar.
Other than that, it was probably the most realistic avatar David had ever seen. It was remarkable what they could do with the technology. The man’s shockingly white hair and beard swayed back and forth with his moments and even appeared to blow in the slight breeze. David struggled to imagine the time it must have taken to illustrate almost every individual hair on his head and face. You could count them.
Most unusual, however, were his clothes. Unlike the dull browns, grays, and black coverings that were so common here in the Tyropoeon Valley, this avatar wore silken white trousers with a shining white shirt that reached half-way down his thighs. It looked more like a karate uniform than an ancient Hebrew costume, and David wondered how he could maintain any sense of scenario fidelity. He came near enough to David that they could have talked, but instead, he just turned, took a seat on a rock, and began silently watching the village.
By this time, David had enough training from the Tyropoeon Valley staff that they trusted him to answer basic questions about shepherding and other strictly limited aspects of first-century Christian culture. They had re-activated his voice transmitter so that he could converse with guests. He remembered feeling pretty proud about it at the time, but now it didn’t seem to matter too much. “Peace be with you.” He greeted the stranger as he had been taught, placing his right hand over his heart. David had special permission not to include the phrase, “from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ” to accommodate his personal religious convictions.
“And also with you,” the stranger replied and turned back to watching the village.
The silence was interminable. The avatar just sat there, and for all David knew, the person operating it had left his computer and gone to the bathroom or something. Still, it was eerie. They had programmed this one with a lot of micro-movements, like blinking, shifting positions, and moving his head around. After a while, it started making David uncomfortable.
“Can I help you with something?” David asked.
The avatar’s head turned towards him, with an expression as if it were considering the question. “No,” he said at last and returned to watching the village.
“Do you mind if I ask what you’re doing up here?” David’s curiosity was beginning to get the better of him.
“I’ve been sent to observe you.”
So that was it. That explained the unusual look and high quality of the avatar. He must be part of the Tyropoeon Valley staff. It was probably some security measure to ensure David didn’t play the part of a disgruntled employee and break something or run off with one of the rare sheep.
David was angry. He hadn’t given them any reason to act this way. Just because he got a DUI didn’t mean he was a criminal. Maybe it was just their standard protocol, but it infuriated him. That made his mind up; I’m so out of here!
“So, you’re keeping an eye on me then?” David inquired with a surly edge to his tone.
“Yes,” the avatar replied. “I would have been here sooner, but I was delayed by a Prince of the kingdom of China.”
That comment made no sense to him. David assumed that the avatar was referring to the fact that the computer operator was speaking to him from China, somehow. That might also explain the strange costume. “Are you sure you’ve got the right guy? My name is David Wilson.”
“Yes, I’m sure,” the stranger said without expression.
“So… what?” David was trying hard to get to the bottom of this. “Are you here to help me out somehow or to make sure I don’t steal anything before I reach my termination date?”
“No. That’s not why I am here.”
David didn’t want to fight with him. “Well, you know my name,” he said dourly. “What’s yours?” He didn’t bother to extend a hand because the extended reality image projected by his glasses wouldn’t be able to shake it anyway.
Father, he has asked me for my name. What shall I tell him?
God answered him. Your task now is to answer his questions.
For a brief moment, a perplexed look passed across his face. Father, when you call me, I come. You know who I am, and I know your call. But the names these people use are meaningless. Most of the time, they appear to me to be just jumbled collections of sounds. Their names are just abstractions of a fallen race.
It was not always so with them, God answered.
What shall I tell him is my name?
Tell him your name is Abdiel; that will suffice.
Then the angel turned to David and answered, “My name is Abdiel.”
As Abdiel contemplated David, the angel observed a dark ethereal wisp of a creature that attempted to crawl deeper into David’s flesh to escape his notice.
Who are you? Abdiel demanded.
The smoky shade of the disembodied spirit that inhabited David’s body was extremely agitated by Abdiel’s presence. It shouted at the top of its voice, What do you want with us, son of God? It tried to hide within the recesses of David’s mind, but it could not escape Abdiel’s penetrating gaze. Do not torture us! It pleaded.
What are you? Abdiel persisted.
We are but a child of the Prince of the Caspian Sea, your Majesty, the creature whined.
Abdiel did not know who Prince of Caspian Sea was, but he assumed it was a creature like Tiānlóng. He deduced that the wraithlike being before him must therefore be the offspring of an unholy pairing of angel and human. It was a cursed soul of the Nephilim, an abomination. What are you doing inside David Wilson’s body?
We feed, your Majesty.
What do you mean? Abdiel didn’t understand.
We have taken up the form of the voice of his former commander, the one who ordered him to sacrifice the innocent. We feed on his guilt and shame.
Abdiel shuddered with revulsion. Father, I am angry with this obscene creature that torments David Wilson. It pretends to be someone from David’s past that haunts him. Shall I destroy it?
God answered. You cannot destroy it. Like you, it is immortal. Their kind can be cast out, and they can be bound for eternity; but even you do not possess the power to destroy them.
Is it one of Tiānlóng’s offspring? Abdiel asked in disgust.
No. It is the offspring of another. The Prince of the Caspian Sea is one of the fallen host between whom I divided control of this planet, God explained.
This planet is infested with their offspring.
God answered. Their days are numbered.
The profound implication was not lost on Abdiel. Still, he abhorred the way the creature relentlessly tormented David. Merciful Father, shall I at least cast this one out?
No, God replied. If you cast it out now, it will wander in the desert until it meets more of its kind. Seven demons more wicked than this would re-inhabit David’s body after you depart from him.
How do they endure it? It seems impossible. Abdiel was forlorn.
Their kind has more strength than you know. Then God showed Abdiel his plan for David.
David was growing tired Abdiel’s pitiful stare. “Well, Abdiel, it’s nice to meet you… under the circumstances,” he said grimly. “So let me spare you some trouble. I’m planning on leaving here tonight after this shift is over. You can have somebody check my bags and car if you want, but I can’t do this anymore.”
Abdiel replied, “You failed your test, and there is nothing I can do to spare you from the consequences of your actions.”
David felt as if he’d been slapped. However, he didn’t try to argue because he knew it was true. He hadn’t really thought about Rusty the stripper and his DUI as a test before. But surely it had been a test of his character, and in the eyes of this Christian institution, he’d failed it miserably.
“Everyone gets tested in this world, David Wilson, including me. But I am sad because I don’t think you even know why you failed.”
Adrenaline flooded through David’s veins and his faced flushed in outrage. His hands clenched for a fight and he bit his lip with the struggle to maintain control of his emotions. “Really? OK smart guy, why don’t you just tell me why I failed my test?” David wanted with all his heart for this pompous jerk to say something that would justify smashing his fist into those stupid, sorrowful eyes. He was so incensed that he’d almost forgotten he was talking to an avatar. He briefly imagined how foolish he would look if he threw a big roundhouse punch at empty air; it helped him keep his impulses in check.
Abdiel tilted his head slightly to one side, staring at David with the wide-eyed wonder of a puppy that hears a whistle for the first time and tries to comprehend it. “You failed because of the voice you hear inside.”
The fire in David’s blood froze to ice in an instant. He felt physical pain in his stomach as competing emotions collided in a train wreck of confusion. He felt vulnerable and naked, his innermost thoughts stripped bare before those wide penetrating eyes.
“Do you know what the voice is that you hear inside, David Wilson?”
How could he possibly know about Lieutenant Rodriguez?
When David didn’t answer, Abdiel continued. “When I listen carefully, I hear God’s voice. Whose voice do you hear?”
With a shuddering gasp, David understood that Abdiel was just thumping the Bible at him. You were a fool to think he knew I was here David, whispered Lieutenant Rodriguez quietly, as from a great distance away. How could anyone know that?
David thought it was uncanny the way Abdiel seemed to understand what he was thinking. “You know you can fight that voice, resist it, don’t you?”
David wanted Abdiel to look away. He’d never felt so exposed, and it made him irrational and defensive. “Well, I’m really glad God takes the time to chat with you, Mr. Abdiel.” If he couldn’t throw a punch, David would try to hit the avatar with sarcasm. “Good for you. But like I said, I’m sick of this place and all this holier-than-thou BS. I’m leaving tonight.”
“There is a plan for you,” Abdiel said simply.
David sighed heavily. He didn’t need any more of that Christian junk now. “Yeah, thanks. I’m sure there is. I figure I’ll go see some of my buddies down in Corvallis. I used to work construction there. I should be able to find something.”
“No,” Abdiel said in a tone that sounded more like a command. “There is a plan for you here.”
They stared at each other until understanding finally started to dawn, and David asked, “What plan?”
“Go down past the village, to the cave of the leper, and ask for the one they call the Rabban.”
“The Rabban? “David gasped. “You mean the guy who owns this whole place?”