Chapter 8

“Hello, again. It’s me, Jason Basileos. Now, I warned you all to surrender to me. Not only did you not surrender, but one of your governments, namely the one here at home, chose to attack me. Bad move. Twas very poorly done, too. Now, as you can see, the chickens are coming home to roost. Here I am, in the Oval Office, with the rather broken and docile remnants of the old order.

“Here, my friends, you can see the Resolute Desk, which I am using for the moment as I occupy the seat of government of the former United States of America. I mean, let’s face it, the Rapture finished off any semblance of executive leadership, and it did a number on Congress and the courts as well. Who knew that Jehovah liked politicians that much? Well, they are rather vain and pompous, and so is he, so perhaps that fits.

“Okay, anyway, you’ve seen what can happen if you defy me. It’s time to really make that lesson hit home,” I smiled as I raised my hands and fire shot out of the sky to incinerate the Kremlin.

“If you’ll pay attention to your news updates in the next few minutes, you’ll see that I’ve utterly destroyed the Kremlin with fire from the sky. Tabby, babe, do the honors for the administrative center of the People’s Republic of China in Beijing,” I instructed my Prophetess, who was also my sister and wife.

Tabby grinned as she lifted her arms to the sky while the camera turned angles to show her make the identical gesture that brought swift and sure destruction to the leaders of the CCP regime in Beijing. Seconds later, I got a text from the remaining leadership of Congress: we surrender.

“Unconditionally?” I texted back.

“Yes ... please ... you’ve won. The world is yours. America is yours,” came the answer, not that it wasn’t already true.

Only a few scared rabbits in Congress had held out in their delusion that they could hold the old regime together by whatever mechanism they could devise. They didn’t get it. America wasn’t disgraced by this, nor was any other country, because there were no countries anymore, and hadn’t really been any for some time now.

Multinational conglomerates had usurped the powers of nation-states and their governments some time ago, playing them off each other like so many puppets, but those days were over, too. At least they were finished now. I wasn’t going to share power with Wall Street, either. I would break them, too.

Oligarchy was dead. Long live the new breed of autocracy, one-man rule by the Antichrist. I then displayed the text for all to see, just as the news reported that the hastily formed rump Russian and Chinese governments, largely composed of technocrats and military officers, formally capitulated to my rule as well. This was a huge step forward. The three greatest powers of the old order were now broken. The lesser powers couldn’t hope to oppose me much longer, could they?

Messages and phone calls announcing surrender followed with breathtaking speed now. One government after another, one nation after another, they all yielded to my will, terrified of my vengeance. The Rapture had already destabilized much of the world and its economy, so there was that factor as well. There was a sense of fatalism, almost, many unsure of what to expect, but afraid that they could no more stop it in motion than they could a locomotive. All resistance that remained, for now at least, was crushed, snuffed out like a candle.

“Excellent news, my friends. Now, we can begin to establish the global hegemony necessary to unite all nations, states, tribes, etc. under one flag, one man, one regime, one civilization! Now, as a further gesture of submission to my domination, I will insist that every member of the United Nations vote in the General Assembly, where there is no veto, for a repeal of the UN Charter and the transfer of all assets of the United Nations, the command of all of its various peacekeeping forces, and control of all of its agencies and operations, to the new global authority that I have founded today.

“The name of this entity is to be the Imperium. Very simple name, right? As head of this new Imperium, I shall henceforth be as the Imperator, which simply means ‘Emperor’ as well as ‘Commander’ in Latin. There shall be a global Senate as well, of course. The courts will be set up and appointed by me, though I will consult with the Senate from time to time. The world shall be reorganized into ten different praetorian prefectures, each with a praetorian prefect chosen by me.

“Every praetorian prefect will hold elections within sixty days’ time for Senators from his or her prefecture, of course. Ten Senators are to be chosen at-large from each prefecture, each of whom must be at least fourteen years of age. That is the age of consent, of marriage, of suffrage, of membership in most associations and organizations, of legionary service, etc. As for political parties, have at it. I don’t actually care, as I won’t have to bind myself to any of their programs or agendas and I would rather that people declared their intentions openly, rather than let them slip underground with them.

“The seat of government, the capital of this new global empire, is to be Rome, of course. Where else? With Vatican City State essentially defunct, and the Roman Catholic Church now hereby dissolved, with all remaining cardinals, bishops, etc. now involuntarily retired, pensioned off, I will govern the world from the former Apostolic Palace. It seems a fitting location to me, at least. I will begin preparations to transfer all major government agency headquarters, of agencies that remain or will be centralized, to Rome itself as well. That may take time and work, but it will be done and it will be permanent once it is done.