Alpha reappears in the city, nearby the barroom and begins to trudge aimlessly throughout the city streets as large convoys of military trucks full of national guardsmen pass by causing the earth to shake beneath their tires. He looks up at the sky to see a setting sun masked in dark clouds, as the radiance of it’s light envelopes the sky and the moon in a crimson cascade of light.
As he looks about the city around him he sees chaos and ruin everywhere; with no voice of reason, of leadership, or guidance to quell the unrest.
As Alpha continues to stagger throughout the streets a melody begins to play from every loudspeaker, every car radio, television set, or cellphone that he passes.
It is the melody of “3 Libras” by A Perfect Circle.
And as Alpha walks throughout the city the melody fills the air and the lyrics to the song dance throughout it.
As Alpha passes by he notices the behavior of humanity acting out “in his name”. He watches as a group of people stand around a pyre burning flags, books, and sacrilegious media. Wearing T-shirts and holding signs with the words “Jesus is Risen” written on them.
He watches as men fight and argue over words that once felt so purposeful and endearing to him.
And as Alpha walks, he remembers and his memories flash before his very eyes in the cruelest form of deja vu.
He watches as a child is ripped from it’s mother, as the clothing and the environment around them shift and wanes within the context of his memory what he witnesses is just the same.
He watches as a man dressed as Jesus Christ carries a cross before him and though the portrayal of torment and suffering before him is but an act. He remembers other men, who walked the very same path.
He watches as a group of national guardsmen breach a doorway to arrest it’s occupants. And as he watches their uniforms and weapons shift and change to those of Roman soldiers.
He watches as a holy man espouses ignorance and intolerance, as he watches the holy man’s religious text changes, as do his garments and the scenery around him. But the context does not.
Alpha cannot help but feel overwhelmed with guilt as the melody of the song swells inside of him.
All he ever wanted was to do good, to be good. To teach the feelings he once held onto long, long ago. And somewhere, amongst the pain and the sorrow was a sense of understanding. A very small thing at first that grew and grew inside of him.
That all men really want the same thing, that in all of the violence and the mayhem these poor people were looking for the same thing. A thing he cast away from himself, deprived of himself, hardened himself.
And then he closed his eyes and he let himself remember the last conversation he had with her. Atop a cliff overlooking a small village long, long, ago:
Alpha: YOU CANT GO! PLEASE! PLEASE DONT LEAVE!
Minerva: You know I have to, we’re the last of our kind. We were never meant to stay here. There are things we want to do and those we must.
Alpha: But I love you! I LOVE YOU! NOT HIM! I’ve always loved you, you made me a better person. You taught me how to love! Please, please don’t take it away!
Minerva: I love you too, I always will. But that’s always been inside of you, nephilim. I didn’t put it there and I didn’t make you love me. You chose to, because you’re beautiful and I need you to stay that way.
Alpha: I don’t....I don’t think I can.
Minerva points towards the village below the cliffs edge.
Minerva: You have to teach them, protect them, love them like they’re your children. Because they are...they’re OUR children.
Alpha looks down sadly at the village beneath them.
Alpha: I...I can’t...not without you.
Minerva: Yes you can and yes you will. Love them like you love me and I’ll always be with you.
Tears now streaming down Alphas face he awakens once more to the reality surrounding him.
And he says the same words he did to her long, long ago just before blipping away.
Alpha: Okay.....I’ll try.
