Agents of the Demiurge Read Free Page A

far
side of the bluff. His wheels screeched as he came around the final
corner and he pulled off the main road to enter his housing
plan.
    The gate opened when it recognized the
electronic tag on his dashboard, then closed behind him. Rows of
townhouses stretched to either side of the road. Further on, the
houses became larger and sat on large lawns. Somewhere in the
center was a community center complete with rec room, gym, swimming
pool, and a convenience store dedicated to price gouging locals
unwilling to drive twenty minutes to the next grocery.
    Hess blew past the community center in his
rush, eyes catching on the immense Church building sitting on a
site he distinctly recalled being soccer fields and horseshoe pits.
“Not funny, Creator,” he said. “Not funny at all.”
    He parked on the curb in front of his
townhouse and ran inside. There were two suitcases in the back of
his bedroom closet. After locating them, Hess set about the task of
packing. Undergarments, pants, shirts, shoes, coat, tablet
computer, every bit of spare cash in the house, granola bars,
crackers, and a giant tin of almonds went inside.
    A siren from immediately outside interrupted
any further packing. A quick glance out the window revealed two
SUV's with official Church detailing on the doors. The tension that
had built in him ever since he saw the fist on Gwen's pendant
faded. Hess studied the people getting out of the vehicles.
Paramilitary by dress. Civilian by posture. Only one of them
carried himself like he knew his way around a fight.
    Hess seized a broom from the closet, set his
hands on the improvised weapon, and opened the door just before the
men got there. He stepped out and froze as if in shock, giving
himself a moment to fix everyone's position in his mind. Four men,
the confident one in front, followed by two weekend warriors eager
for some action, and a lone pale man bringing up the rear.
Housewives in all directions were poking their heads out of windows
and doors to see the excitement.
    Witnesses. He would need to run as soon as
the goons were dead. Hess squeezed the broom handle hard, letting
every other muscle go slack so that when he struck it would be with
the speed of a viper.
    “Jed!”
    Everyone turned to look at the source of the
shout. A woman whom Hess recognized as his date for that evening
jogged down the street towards the scene. The moment of distraction
her arrival provided would have been the perfect time to erupt into
violence and destroy his adversaries.
    Instead, Hess watched the woman lope towards
them at a pace faster than her curvaceous form looked built to
sustain. One of the men mumbled, “Girl's got bounce in all the
right places.”
    Everyone waited until the woman arrived and
leaned against the house beside Hess, panting. The leader of the
Church men cleared his throat. “Jed Orlin, your name has been
submitted to the Church of Opposition as a suspicious person. We
are here to investigate you.”
    Hess lowered the broom, lining up the head of
its shaft for his first strike, which would take the leader
directly in the throat. The woman's foot pressed down on the
broom's bristles, pinning it to the ground. She shot a fierce frown
at him.
    “Really? I'll bet I know who reported me,” he
said. “Her name is Gwen Furman and she works for me at TFK Motors.
Earlier today, I gave her an informal reprimand that she didn't
appreciate. She told me I wouldn't have the opportunity to put my
complaint on her record.”
    The lead man stared at him without blinking,
maintaining unflinching eye contact. “I can't reveal the identity
of the person who submitted your name. If we suspect someone of
making false reports, we will handle that ourselves. Right now, we
have to follow procedure and check you out. If you cooperate, this
won't take much of your time. If not, we will have to escalate our
investigation to the next level.”
    The woman spoke up. “Investigator, Jed isn't
a suspicious person. He just told