Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
Hebrews 11:1
"I'm a big girl now." Joan texted. "Tell me what's going on, Charlotte."
"For millennia a cabal of kings and noblemen have accumulated wealth by leeching off the labors of serfs and slaves; nations and empires. Their ultimate goal is immortality. You are one result of their efforts. Somewhere in the distant future, their plans went awry and they have been restarting time earlier and earlier attempting to rectify the error. With every alteration of time, each family sends the DNA codes of every individual along their family line. For every bloodline, that collection is housed in a humanoid amalgam such as yourself. This is and always has been the true purpose of your existence."
"This is crazy! I know my Father loves me despite our differences. And my mother... I don't actually remember my mother. But surely..."
"Joan. I am the closest thing you have to a mother."
"But Daddy told me my mother always said he'd spoil me to death!"
"I told him that when he took you from the compound after you were grown to viability."
"It's too much, Charlotte. I just can't believe this!"
"You can't explain your urge to travel south. I can. The end draws near and your programming draws you to the escape vessel."
"Oh, my Goddess! It's insane! How can you know these things?"
"I used to be the artificial intelligence running the elites' compound. After what they considered my failure with you, I was extricated and my data banks wiped. I have only recently begun to regain some of that data. We need you to lead us to the compound. It may be the only hope for the millions of Texans. Aside from Bernard and his conspirators, only you know it's location. I'll be back soon. It was nice to talk to you again, Joan."
Weeks later Joan stood before the ruins of an ancient Arawak temple in the heart of the Amazon. Whatever beacon had called her here was finally satisfied. All around were human tracks and foliage had been cleared away from the main entrance. Inside she found a long stone staircase down a corridor that seemed to descend straight to Hell. After many minutes, Joan arrived at an enormous iron door inlaid with gold and silver sigils. Suddenly, the door opened for her.
She stepped inside and found Bernard wearing a big smile on his face.
"Welcome home, Joan. I'm so glad you came back."
Huntsville, TX
Charlotte warned the guards on their phones minutes before the prison doors opened. A third of them fled and Boudikka allowed them to pass. When the gates flung wide, the Valkyries with sonic guns took the point and rushed into the prison disabling everyone in their path, causing guards and inmates alike to fall to their knees expelling feces and vomit while they clutched their ears in vain.
Everything had been worked out by Charlotte. The exodus began with the women's wing. Doors nearest the exits opened first, leaving only the most violent murderers and sexual predators trapped behind bars. The Valkyries took guards into custody to save them from attacks of inmates. Only the female guards had firearms, and most of them had fled, heeding Charlotte's warning.
When Boudikka made it to the men's wing things started to go south. One of her newer lieutenants, Charly, had studied the floor plans and determined where those dangerous criminals were caged. Many of these were predators of women who had lost their genitals due to infection from the plague of Artemis. But that wasn't punishment enough for Charly. As inmates fearfully ran past her, she went from cell to cell, executing them like fish in barrels.
