Hammersmith

         Luke rushed into the meeting slightly breathlessly only to find the meeting room in chaos. He saw Kirsten and Nguyen shouting at each other while Sally argued with the chimp-bat as a Coke can stood in the center of it. The can tipped over, covering the tabletop with its contents, and soon the beings began to settle down. Quietly, Luke snuck in and had a seat by Vale and Thalia, the leader of Fate for Europe. He nodded briefly to both of them as the can righted itself.

         "This meeting is now in order," it said.

         "Yes, God," the beings muttered.

         "Now as you have probably figured out, we have some serious problems here in Heaven," the can stated. "The detectives have been working ceaselessly to investigate Chloe's death, and initial findings show that Satan's realm played a large role in Chloe's death. However, the investigation has been slowed significant due to the recent infiltration."

         "And that has lead to a lot of Heaven's animals being mistreated," the bat-chimp piped up.

         "Hush!" the can hissed like it was being opened. "You do not have the floor."

         With that, the bat-chimp retreated in his seat, clearly agitated. He looked at Sally, but she only offered him a glare.

         "As I was saying," it continued, "there has been an infiltration. I suspect that Satan has ordered his minions to morph into animal form and sneak into Heaven to get Chloe. What he wants with Chloe now is at this time unknown, but as some of you know, I am having that investigated as we speak."

         "Sir, may I have the floor?" Vale asked.

         "Depends on the nature," God replied.

         "It is in relation to Chloe's mission," he said.

         "Then I recognize Vale," God said.

         "Chloe's mission is suffering greatly from Satanic influence, and Chloe seems aware of the danger. The problem is Edna will not allow her to fix things. I have already suspended Edna, but I have a feeling that Chloe is going to try to seek help outside my department. I have nothing against Chloe doing so, but I'm not going to let her intentions go unannounced."

         Kirsten raised her hand. "May I have the floor?" she asked.

         "Vale?" the can asked.

         "I yield the floor to Kirsten," Vale stated.

         Kirsten stood up. "Chloe has already begun to seek help outside the Love Department. I was approached by Scott's guardian angel, and he had spoken with Chloe about her mission. It turns out that a college friend is going to be Maya's guardian angel once she is instated tomorrow."

         The can sighed. For a moment, he simply sat and contemplated what Vale and Kirsten had stated, wondering why they hadn't come forward with this information sooner. Withholding information was worthy of suspensions, but suspending either of them at this time could possibly result in destiny being rewritten by Satan's hand. That was something he could not allow. He had to forgive them of this seemingly minor transgression, but it still stung.

         "Okay," he finally uttered. "That definitely changes things. Technically, Chloe has violated the rule that pertains to her seeking outside guidance. Vale, I'd like to see Chloe's records on my desk as soon as possible."

         Vale and Kirsten looked at each other, grimacing.

         "Will do, sir," they replied in unison and took their seats.

         "Anyway," the can continued, "these recent events have forced me to take some unlikable actions in order to protect the denziens of heaven. First, all of our animals must be quarrantined."

         The chimp-bat huffed but stayed seated. Quarrantine was a cruel thing to do to the creatures, However, if the infiltration was as bad as it sounded, he had no choice. The main issue would be how to handle this logistically. It would take a lot of time and a great amount of assistance to identify all of heaven's creatures and get them in the kennels. The mere thought made his head ache something fierce.

         "Second, Thalia and Kirsten will need to get all the angel managers on full duty until further notice. I'm not sure what exactly Satan has in mind, but now that I've had to pluck a guardian angel from Earth well ahead of her time, we need to be extra careful with the fates of your respective continents. I know the war is already putting tremendous strain on our resources, but taking away youth always makes continents more vulnerable no matter how it's done."

         Thalia and Kirsten exchanged long-suffering looks they were now accustomed to seeing. Ever since Chloe died, North America and Europe were on the decline, especially when it came to the youth. The war was causing a great deal of rebellion among the youth, and a lot of kids that were destined to do well for the world ended up getting killed in the Middle East. Many of them were to be world leaders like Chloe, but at this rate, character instead of intelligence was bound to dominate the political field for at least another twenty-five years. Neither one of them liked the prospect.

         "Finally, Heaven to Earth expeditions now must be pre-approved by me and brought to my attention through one of you. No one is going anywhere without my permission."

         At this, everyone grumbled. God could be difficult to reach much of the time, and an infiltration made him even more distant. This made things impossible for many of them, especially the guardian angels. Their work had to be done almost exclusively on Earth and were pretty much useless in heaven. God was worried, but keeping everyone sequestered in Heaven didn't seem like the smartest thing to do.

         "May I have the floor?" a petite woman wearing aa blue veil asked.

         "You may, Chimena," God said.

         "As the director of the guardian angels, I have concerns with the mandate for Heaven to Earth expeditions. My angels will not be able to get any work done if they can't get to Earth. As it is, Cate and Damian will not be spending much time in Heaven with the way things are going for Scott and Maya. How will they be able to do their jobs from the skies, especially Damian?"

         The can gurgled a bit before answering. "We'll need to discuss this in private, Chimena. Any further questions?"

         The other beings shook their heads in a daze, wondering how things had so drastically changed. Heaven was almost being locked down, and they really had no means to fight. Some of the beings, such as Vale, were especially worried. These beings were not only tormented by the repercussions of the lockdown but also the thoughts that they had the chance to prevent it.

         "Then everyone keep your eyes peeled for e-mails later on this evening. They will be concerning how to handle your departments during the infiltration. Meeting adjourned."

         With that, the can tipped over, and everyone left the room.


         On the way out, Luke caught up with Kirsten and Vale. He was curious about what they had revealed at the meeting and what had prompted their revelations.

         "Hey!" Luke shouted to the duo. "What's going on?"

         "What's going on with what?" Kirsten asked.

         "You two mentioned stuff about Chloe's mission," Luke continued. "I was wondering about that."

         "Hardly a walk in the park," Vale grumbled. "Why did I put her with Edna? Why?"

         "Edna's experienced," Kirsten replied.

         "But stubborn. You can't deny that fact," Luke chipped in.

         "No kidding," Vale replied. "I suspended her."

         "Now God is bound to ream Vale and I for this. We need to give him Chloe's records, Luke. We'll continue this discussion later."

         With that, Vale and Kirsten dashed to their department headquarters, leaving Luke standing in the courtyard, alone and disturbed.





         A soft knock on the door interrupted Chloe's dozing. She blearily opened her eyes and noted the the sunlight trickling through the curtains. What time was it, and who was at the door? She smoothed her wrinkled shirt and went to answer the door. Soon, she found Edna staring at her.

         "Good morning, Sleepyhead," Edna chimed.

         Chloe locked dark, murky eyes with Edna. "What now?" she muttered.

         "Chloe! What's gotten into you?"

         Chloe just conitinued to glare at her mentor and tried not to start an argument. She was way too tired and already dreading the day. Her pleading with Edna hadn't done any good in regards to keeping Scott and Maya together, especially during the past month. The fact that a friend of hers had been abruptly retrieved from Earth to try to help her straighten out her matchmaking mess was yet another blow to the project. All this stress was wearing her down, and as she slowly finished waking up while standing at the door, she realized she hadn't gotten any restful sleep for weeks. She also realized why Edna was at her room, waking her up.

         "Damn. Today's the day," Chloe muttered.

         "Yes, it is," Edna replied soberly. "I know you don't want to go to this, but Cate will be working with you. You owe it to her."

         "Sure, but this is still unbelievable."

         With that, Chloe turned her back and shuffled to her closet. She showered and chose her dress uniform, which consisted of a white blazer bedecked in insignia relating to her department and rank, an ankle length white skirt and white flats. After she dressed, she grabbed her Palm and made her way out the door to walk to the Ceremonial Grounds with Edna. As she got to the door, a rat skittered into the room.

         "Christ! That blasted creature!" Edna yelled.

         "Don't worry," Chloe muttered. "I'll take care of it."

         "But, Chloe-"

         "Edna, for Godsake, I'm a big girl," Chloe huffed. "I can handle one little rat by myself."

         "But what about...your uniform?" Edna asked to a retreating Chloe.

         Once she reentered her room, Chloe found the rat on her nightstand by her Palm charger. Looking closer, she saw the rat attempting to chew on the power cord. She raised her hands right above the creature's head and clapped her hands so forcefully her hands turned bright red. The rat jerked around, trying to find the source of the snapping noise that drove into its eardrums like a needle on a syringe. When it saw Chloe, it froze, obviously not sure what was happening. At that moment, Chloe picked up a shirt on the floor by her bed and smothered the rat with it. For a moment, the rat tried vainly to escape the confines of the cloth, but it fell still in a matter of moments. With that, Chloe picked it up and placed in a plastic bag before rejoining Edna, all the while blowing on her still raw palms.

         "What's in the bag?" Edna asked her.

         All Chloe said was, "I took care of it."




         Late spring in Avon Park was unusually brutal, between the choking humidity and the lack of clouds to filter the sunlight. Thus, people milled around in shorts and tank tops, possessively clutching water bottles and ice packs and diving into the lakes at any available opportunity. Many residents had taken some rather unusual steps to ensure coolness, from taking three cold showers a day to boarding up windows to ensure sunlight didn't get into the warmest rooms in their homes. At Donaldson Park, Maya and Beth braved the heat and sat at a bench, holding a tense conversation in between drenching themselves with barely unfrozen water.

         "You know, Maya, you should just dump the prick," Beth sighed.

         "There's no way I'm going to dump him!" Maya exclaimed. "I can't prove he's cheating on me."

         "Do you really need to be able to prove it? I've dumped guys without concrete proof, and I turned out to be right."

         "Every single time?"

         "Well......."

         "That's my whole point, Beth. That's not a chance worth taking."

         "So you'd rather take the chance of him dumping you for some other chick? Jeez, Maya, get a grip."

         For a moment, the girls fell silent and did what they could to keep cool. They both had a hard admitting it, but deep down, Maya and Beth knew that neither one of them would be able to persuade the other to believe what each felt was correct in regards to Maya's slowly deteriorating relationship. However, they also knew that this was the closest they had ever been. Neither one of them had expected to be even remotely friendly towards one another, but Maya's recent romantic forays had proven to be beneficial for a good number of people besides Maya.

         Beth set her water bottle down and wiped herr forehead. "Yeesh, Maya. I'm sorry for snapping at you like that."

         "No worries," Maya replied with an absentminded wave of her hand. "The heat's gettin' to ya. And besides, I contemplate giving up on Scott, but he's just made...I don't know...a monumental difference in my life. It would be wrong to toss that out the window without giving it some thought."

         "That's true," Beth mumbled. "Let's head inside. I think I've lost about thirty pounds by sitting around in this damn sunlight."

         With that, the girls grabbed their water bottles and sought an air conditioned space.




         Though the instatement for the new crop of guardian angels was still two hours away, the area around the arena was bustling. People of all ages were in the streets, eagerly greeting those who were able to enter the arena. Chloe and Edna walked through the throng of people; though Edna seemed ignorant of the crowd, Chloe gave the citizens of Heaven a hesitant but warm wave. Soon, they approached a gate where an older gentleman sat on a stool. He wore a light gray colloared shirt that matched his salt and pepper hair along with a pair of white pants and black dress shoes. Judging by the insignia on his shirt, Chloe guessed he was a security guard. Her inkling was confirmed when he asked for her and Edna's identification cards. The women removed their cards from their purses and handed them to the gentleman. He scanned the cards with a modified scanning gun, and after the cards were accepted by the computer, he allowed them into the arena.

         Upon stepping into the arena, Chloe quickly scanned the area. The design reminded her of the Colosseum in Rome, except that it looked more recently built. The marble walls of the field gleamed from the abundant sunlight, and the field itself was constructed of concrete but painted a matte shade of gray. Plush light pink carpeting covered much of the arena field and formed the skirt for the grand stage at the far end of the field. Several people dressed in gray and white milled around, checking sound equipment and setting up barricades. As Chloe and Edna looked around, an auburn haired lady approached them.

         "Greetings, ladies. I'm Carly, and I'm in charge of seating for the ceremony," the lady said.

         "Good morning, Carly," Edna greeted a bit overenthusiastically. "I'm Edna Runyon from the Love Department, and this is my apprentice, Chloe Severson."

         The three shook hands, and then Carly said, "Okay. You two have very good seats for this ceremony...wow."

         "What?" Chloe sighed.

         Carly flipped through some sheets on a clipboard and then said, "Your working with one of the guardian angels that's going to be inducted, so you get first row seats, left side. I'll show you."

         With that, Carly turned around and began walking toward the stage. Edna and Chloe hesitated but followed when it occurred to them that they were being shown their seats.

         As the minutes passed, more familiar figures made their way to the arena. In the field sat media personnel, relatives of the ten guradian angels that were in Heaven, and the people that would be working with the guardian angels in the following months. Among those who got seats in the field was Damian, who was seated next to Chloe. For a moment, they simply sat and watched as the stage was decorated with pink rose petals and the heads of the various department heads rushed on stage for attendence before scurrying to the back of the arena. Then, they watched in surprise as the stands began to fill with people who had obtained tickets to the ceremony.

         "Wow, " whispered Damian.

         "What?" Chloe asked.

         "This crowd," Damian said. "I've never seen so many people show up for an induction ceremony."

         "Oh. I'm just amazed at the sheer number of people here."

         "It is kind of amazing. This is one of the few times when you see how heavily populated Heaven really is, and to think of where you stand among the billions of people."

         Chloe simply nodded and sat down.

         Once everyone was seated in the arena, an orchestra commenced a slow, brooding piece. For a while, nothing happened, but then the department heads marched out in a single file line from the back of the arena. Like Chloe, Edna and Damien, they wore dress whites, but their pants had single stripes running the length of each pant leg that matched their department's color. After they completed their procession, the tempo picked up, and then the ten guardian angel inductees marched up the aisle to the stage, surrounded by the various guardian angel managers. Whether male or female, each inductee wore a light pink stole along with his or her dress white uniform. After a while, everyone made their way on stage.

         For Chloe, the ceremony was exhausting. It was an abnormally hot day, and her dress whites were made of heavy polyester. This heat made God's address feel eternal, especially since he was in reflective dress white robes. As well, she tried her best not to cry when she first saw Cate on stage. Cate's face was very thinned out, and her whole body had become lean. The dress whites made her look like a prisoner of war, and when she walked across the stage to receive her official guardian angel insignia, Chloe wept at her friend's ghostly appearance. It shocked her to see her friend look that way, especially since Cate looked healthy and serene on Chloe's last night in England.

         "She'll get better soon," Damian said.

         "It looks like she just died," Chloe remarked.

         "Well, that's because she did," Damian said. "In your case, they had to postpone your initiation into apprenticeship."

         "Why?"

         "Do you remember any part of the accident that claimed your life?"

         Chloe shook her head.

         "You were both disfigured and had been knocked into a coma," Damian continued. "It actually took you nearly 18 Heavenly months to be ready for initiation"

         At that, Chloe looked away from the stage and faced Damian. "A Heavenly month?"

         "Approximately nine hours Earth time," he replied. "Conversion between the two is nothing but a headache, though, so many of us use Earth time. Anyway, in regards to Cate, she looks bad, but she was conscious when she entered Heaven, so she only needed about five Heavenly Months to be ready. If she eats well at the party, she'll look much better."

         Chloe relaxed a little upon hearing that. "But why did I take so long? I don't remember much...except how Cate looked that last night."

         "All I'll say is you were very badly injured."




         After the initiation ceremony was over, Edna, Damian and Chloe made their way to the Tree of Knowledge ballroom for the party, where food, beverage and dancing awaited. However, as soon as they got in the door, Edna decided to talk to one of the guardian angel managers she knew, leaving Damian and Chloe in the back of the room. This didn't seem to upset either one of them that much, as they only came to the party to talk to Cate. It took them quite a while to find Cate, but they eventually found her at the dessert table where she was grabbing a hefty slice of pineapple upside down cake.

         "Cate Watkins?" Damian asked.

         At the sound of her name, Cate turned to face the voice. She'd been hearing her name all day, but nothing could have prepared her for this. When she had finally turned around, she dropped her cake and barely kept from collapsing at the sight of her old friend in dress whites.