spin_kick_snap | Just Outside the Rodenberry Building. The Mount, Ex-Los Angeles, Saturday Evening (Reply)

There were a lot of preparations to be made and slightly less than ten hours in which to make them, if all of Max's calculations were correct. There were spells to cast and rituals to devise and worst-case scenarios to prep for, which meant this was the absolute worst time to be interrupted for nonsense.

Which was, of course, why a crowd chose that moment to flow around the south corner of Gower Street. There were about three dozen of them, including children holding hands with parents. At the front of the crowd was Christan Nguyen. She was talking with a few people around her, and every several steps she'd raise the Bible in her hand a little higher for emphasis. When she saw the heroes, she waved and the crowd shift in their direction.

Kathy took an uneasy step backwards. Ms. Nguyen had been perfectly pleasant every time they'd spoken, but she still left Kathy vaguely uncomfortable, like she was a plucked chicken at the butcher's and Ms. Nguyen was waiting for the price to go down just the right amount.

Stealth	"They are all members of the After Death movement," Stealth noted. "Great," St. George replied. "Any idea what they want?" "With Ms. Nguyen's aggressive nature, I have been expecting them to make some list of demands under the grounds of religious freedom. There are several possible things they could be prepared to ask for."
Barry	"Maybe they're all out for an after-lunch stroll," Barry said, sounding more resigned than hopeful.
Max	"At least they're not carrying torches and pitchforks," said Max. "That's always a plus in my book."
Nick	"That a big problem for you?" asked Nick. "Probably a sign that you should think about another line of work."
Kathy	Kathy shook her head. "They're not the pitchforks-and-torches type," she muttered, thinking about Tori's sincere belief she'd be fine out among the exes. And Todd's relentless begging. "More like the here's-your-Kool-aid type." She eased back, unobtrusively trying to put more people between her and the crowd.
St. George	The crowd got closer and St. George took a few steps towards them. "Christian," he called out. "Always a pleasure. What can we do for you After Death folks?"
Christian	"We have a request," Christian declared. "I plan on bringing it up at the district meeting next Tuesday, but many of us felt this was a matter of extreme urgency." There were nods and echoes of agreement from the crowd.
Max	"George," said Max, "we're on a tight schedule here."
Christian	"Mr. Hale," said Christian, "you of all people should appreciate our worries. You and Ms. Li both. This is a matter of immortal souls." Her eyes flicked towards Kathy again. "You're both living proof that the dead can come back. You can lead the way for all our loved ones. It can be no coincidence that you both returned at the same time."
Stealth	"You are correct, it was not coincidence, but rather Max's own doing," Stealth said crisply. "However, that cannot be what you are looking to discuss with us. Please state your business so we can all be on our way."
Christian	Christian let her gaze slide back to Stealth and couldn't fully suppress the flash of hostility there. "We'd like you to stop shooting the exes outside the Big Wall."
George	St. George coughed in amazement. It came out as a puff of smoke threaded with yellow flames. "I'm sorry?"
Christian	"Perhaps explore some non-damaging way to stop them," Christian pressed. "We're concerned you may be injuring them spiritually, and perhaps ruining their chances of returning to this world."
Nick	Nick snorted. "They aren't coming back and all your praying isn't going to change that."
Christian	Christian looked pious and sad, a martyr facing a non-believer. "They can bring them back," she explained, pointing first at Max and then at Kathy. "With enough time and help, they could bring all of them back and restore the world."
Anders	"Or burn it down trying," Anders muttered. "Dead is dead. The fact we found a few loopholes doesn't mean we should go searching for more."
Max	Max jerked a thumb in Anders' direction. "This kid knows what he's talking about," he said, raising his voice. "I get that you need to cling to something. But those things out there aren't your loved ones and I can't turn them into those loved ones. They're just meat. Rapidly decaying meat. The people you know are dead. They've moved on. Maybe you should try it."
Christian	"Like you did?" A faint glimmer of something familiar crossed Christian's eyes. It was her old haughty, confident look, the one she used to give in council meetings. The one that showed up when she thought someone had made a mistake she could exploit.
Stealth	"Maxwell was a special case," said Stealth. "He should be considered the rare exception, not the rule."
Nick	"But there could be other exceptions," said someone in the crowd. "Yeah, trust me," Nick called. "You don't wanna be like Max. He's here cause roaches always survive."
Kathy	"But what about her then?" Kathy found herself in the unenviable position of having almost every eye swinging towards her. "I'm a different kind of exception," she said, a little lamely. Because how did you explain a demon who granted wishes who went to your old high school?
Max	"You don't know!" blustered another man. "How can you know what happened to their souls?" "I know," said Max. "I was there, remember?" Doubt flickered across Christian's face. "When it comes to cheating death, I'm the only guy that brought a parachute. Everyone else fell the whole way. And, believe me, having been dead, I can tell you know that they were the lucky ones. The last thing you should be wishing for is that they spent the past three years in purgatory like I did. I was ready for it and it almost drove me insane anyway."
Christian	A woman in the back sniffled. "You don't know what you're talking about," Christian declared. "You're just confused because of your journey."
Kathy	"You can't have it both ways," Kathy said, wrapping her arms around herself. "You want to believe we're the way to bring your families back? Then you have to believe what we're telling you, and we're saying it can't happen." Kathy scanned the crowd, trying to make eye contact with as many of them as possible. "Even if they could - you're damning them to a lifetime of remembering just what they did. Every person they killed, every bite of flesh they took, it lingers. They'll wonder if they've gone mad, if they deserve this second chance, if maybe it wouldn't be better just to stop it all for good this time."
Max	"Your friends and loved ones aren't outside the Big Wall waiting for someone to flip a switch so they can be alive and hug you again," Max said. "The real world doesn't work that way. Real problems don't get solved with a snap of the finger. The exes are just walking corpses. Dead flesh. That's it." Max snorted, looking up at the sky to gauge the time. They'd wasted more than enough on this nonsense. "So put the books down and let it go, all right? You're not praying, you're wishing. So just let it fucking go."
Christian	A man's shoulders slumped in resignation, but there was a little relief in it, too. Another person looked up at the sky and pressed their eyes shut. The sniffling woman started to sob and two other women wrapped their arms around her in solidarity. Christian clutched her Bible in a death grip. "You're just saying this to make us look foolish," she snarled. "That's why people believe in me just as much as you. They know they can depend on me when things get tough." She turned to her group. "You all know that, don't you?" Bleary eyes lifted to her and hanging head rose. "Yeah." "Yes." "Sure do."
Max	"Yeah, nobody here has to go out of their way to make you guys look foolish," Max said. "You're reaching, probably for power, and usually I'm the last asshole who has a problem with that. But this kind of thing is gonna get people hurt or killed - again - and that's shitty."
Christian	"You have to try to ruin everything, don't you," Christian snarled. "Keep all the good things for yourselves. You can't even let people have hope, you have to try to ruin that, too!"
Stealth	"This is a false hope," Stealth said. "Nothing good can come of it." "It helps people cope!" called a heavyset man from the crown. "It allows people to deny the reality of our situation," retorted Stealth. "That is a luxury none of us can afford."
St. George	"We have to look forward," said St. George. "If we just cling to what the world was - what our lives were - we're never going to accomplish anything."
Max	"Speaking of looking forward," said Max with another glance at the sky, there are some things we need to do here if we want there to be a future." He looked at the group and sighed. "Have fun with your pink elephants and purple unicorns, but try not get your adherents killed," he said with a jaunty salute and walked off.
Kathy	The rest of the heroes followed, leaving only Kathy and Anders standing in front of Christian. "I was with Tori when she died," Kathy said quietly. "I saw how fervently she believed that her friend would know her, recognize her. But she was wrong. All he saw when he looked at her was a fresh meal. That's all I saw when I looked at my friends back during the Battle of the Mount. I didn't see the man I loved - " she gestured to Anders "- or my adopted dad or my best friend. Just meat. There's nothing left, I promise you."
Christian	Christian looked ready to tear her Bible in half, lacking only the strength to do so. She glared at Kathy hard for a moment. But only a moment, and then the anger went out of her and she tucked the book back under her arm. "We'll discuss this more soon," she said, giving Kathy a pleasant smile. "I know you've been thinking about visiting our church, but I think you really ought to. You'll stop by sometime when you have a minute, won't you?"
Kathy	"I - yeah," Kathy surprised herself by saying. "Yeah, of course. When I've got some spare time. It's the least I can do."
Christian	"We look forward to seeing you," Christian said warmly. "And I think you'll be very surprised to discover what it is that we can do for you. And maybe even what you can do for us." And then she was turning around, collecting her followers with a few gentle urges to be strong in their faith, and carried on.