Prologue

Tuesday, August 31, 2004

A lone man in long silver robes stood rigidly at the edge of a cliff overlooking a small city nestled in a quiet Colorado valley. The robes billowed gently in a soft breeze while the moon climbed in the dimming sky, full and white. The glare from it was unpleasant but not painful. This man had long grown accustomed to light exposure over the eons, but his physiology would never allow him to enjoy it.

Below him in the valley, the town moved at a slow pace. Humans driving. Humans walking. Humans existing. Repugnant humans. Stupid humans. Mortal blips in an eternal tapestry. They mattered so little and yet so much. The game played ever on, and they, the humans, were the pawns.

But one thing about pawns: they were the only pieces on a chessboard capable of evolving and thus could be dangerous if ignored.

Evolutions happened on occasion. A human could become a Nexus. A Nexus made things more interesting. They broke up the monotony of the game.

Whenever a Nexus was detected, the procedure played out the same. Someone was sent to the Oracles to determine the location of it. In this case, Alecto, the lone man on the cliff, had been sent. It had been a great honor indeed. With the location narrowed, the search would soon begin. Once located, only two options could follow: the destruction or the acquisition of the Nexus.

As he stared at the moon, Alecto wondered which of the two would occur. Destruction or acquisition.

Sadly, he believed he knew the answer. This was why the game had nearly devolved into a predictable pattern. It was also why thousands of years had passed since a proper battle erupted between his and the other side.

Now, the cycle was set to begin again. He had just left the presence of the Oracles, who could not or would not say more than riddles. Damnable beings, the Oracles. He snorted in frustration, and thick steam escaped his nostrils, curling and twisting like writhing snakes. All he’d been able to divine from the cryptic message of the Oracles was someone of great potential had been born or would be born in this town within a few years.

Alecto was 90% certain this was the town. It matched all the descriptions given by the Oracles. But so did a city in the Czech Republic. His instincts told him this was the place, but a contingency plan would be executed in the secondary location. It would be foolish to place the world’s fate on his instincts.

A growing presence of tremendous power pulled him from his thoughts. He glanced at the moon, squinting into the light, to confirm his suspicion. The moon, once white, now had the shade of a sickly grey column of smoke. A tingle of nervousness crawled through the man’s skin. Only one had the power to blot out the great lights of the sky. Would he come here? It had to be true. Alecto sensed his powers growing as the world around him dimmed.

The instant the moon was no longer visible in the sky, a powerful surge of hellfire split the air. The lone man turned to the spot and saw the fabric of reality rend like a curtain, revealing a portal into an entirely different dimension. A new figure emerged, and the man fell to one knee.

“My Lord,” he said reverently. “You honor me with your presence.”

“Rise, Alecto,” the deep voice of Lucifer, Lord of Darkness, commanded.

Alecto got his feet, still slightly bowed. Lucifer—the Morningstar himself—had come to the mortal plain. Why? He had servants and lieutenants to send as his voice or hand. Why risk his safety by stepping onto the mortal plane?

Lucifer was neither the tallest nor most physically imposing figure from hell. But no demon was greater. No one had more power to stand against the other side. Lucifer, who had once been in the presence of the other side’s Lord of Light, had stolen a significant portion of power and spent several eons increasing it.

“Report,” Lucifer said.

“I have just come from the Oracles. I believe the anomaly is here.”

“Male or female?”

“Female, my Lord. Of that, I am almost entirely certain. All signs pointed to such.”

“But...?

“It is always possible I am mistaken. My Lord knows how the Oracles like to twist words and shift meanings.”

“A female Nexus.” Lucifer’s eyes of molten silver narrowed until they were slits of shining light. “Females are more difficult.” He surveyed Alecto again as though seeing him for the first time. “You were sent here by whom?”

“Beelzebub.”

“He is your master?”

Alecto nodded. “He sent me to the Oracles at my Lord’s request.”

“Yes. Beelzebub has handled our last three Nexuses. Efficient and ruthless. We need more of that.”

“He oversees my work, my Lord.”

“Ever since the demise of Asmodeus and his ilk in the Great War, we need others to rise to the challenge.”

“I am ready, my Lord.”

Lucifer nodded with satisfaction at the earnestness of Alecto. “A female...”

“If I may, my Lord? Why does this news trouble you?”

“The last female Nexus was very difficult. We lost many of our soldiers in the fight. But so did the other side.”

“I crave your counsel, my Lord,” Alecto said. “I have been tasked with identifying the Nexus by Master Beelzebub. I have been well taught and trained, but you are the Prince of Darkness, the Morningstar. What do you recommend I do?”

“Identifying the Nexus will not be so difficult. All the potential Nexuses in an area have a certain aura. That aura can be sensed by angels and demons alike. The aura is the key. It evolves the closer we get to the critical point—the point where all the potential Nexuses no longer matter and only the true one remains.

“Then the aura begins to leave a mark on everyone they encounter on a personal level. You follow it like a trail, narrow it down. That kind of aura begins when the Nexus reaches the first major crossroad in their life. Once you have the Nexus identified, you must act quickly. There are two tricks to success: first is guessing the right candidate. Usually, the true Nexus will be someone of influence or great talent. The second trick is preparing these potentials, getting them under our influence early.”

“Yes,” Alecto said. “That is what it all boils down to. The game.”

“The game. It is not so hard. All humans lust for the same things: power, pleasure, wealth. You are the Overlord of Special Projects. You should be an expert in all three schools of demonology.”

Alecto did not want to admit that he had spent most of his time as an Obsessive and risen through the ranks rapidly. He had only marginal experience as a Persuasive and Possessive. Lucifer seemed to know this already, judging by how he surveyed Alecto.

“Watch.”

The Prince of Darkness snapped his fingers, and Alecto suddenly stood in a building where he had never set foot. He believed it was a medical library. Gone were the robes of power he’d been wearing, replaced by lime surgical scrubs. Lucifer stood next to him in similar attire. From the vista at the window, it was clear they were at a medical school.

The floor they stood on was filled with books. Two young men were finishing sorting more of them. When they put the last of the books on the bookshelves, they wheeled a wooden cart away, chatting quietly. Against a far windowed wall stood several desks with walls to offer privacy and seclusion to people studying. Some of the desks were occupied, but most were empty.

A young woman sat at one of these desks against the wall adjacent to a large window, her pencil dancing across a notebook as she copied notes. Alecto drew closer to her to see what she was studying: biochemistry. Alecto blinked, and the woman’s Obsessive files appeared in his vision.