3.48 Truth Heals The Deepest Wounds

The unravelling truth was growing an audience. Lemurians and refugees alike moved closer to hear about and join in on revelations of hidden activities of the Atlan Empire. It was all making Zara feel quite sick, she didn't know what she felt, it wasn't anger, or hate, or rage, it was all of these things together. Neter listened with growing concern as an ominous picture was beginning to appear in his mind. Various elements of Dena's disclosures were snapping together with observations made during his investigation. Threads from Zara's story wove them together in the same places, they were all screaming to connect. He knew in his gut, Dena wasn't lying, nor was Zara, perhaps they just had a different perspective. There were way too many coincidences, this string of dots presented a terrifying scenario, the more he learned, the more things just added up. The slaughter in Fina... The slaughter in Culloom.... Atalon could have simply poisoned them to death but instead they died a horrific and traumatizing death, trapping their souls in Darkness. Why?

         Then, like a ton of bricks falling down upon him, the puzzle snapped into place. The book heist… The skull image on the chalk board... The boxes of dried pineal glands in the lab.... The trauma... The smell... The smokers... There was NO WAY it could all be a coincidence!

         "What's wrong?" Zara noticed he was flat-lining all of a sudden.

         Neter barely heard her. Not after what Dena had disclosed. He knew exactly what was going on! Energy Harvesting was an ancient agenda! This was simply the same old Archonic enslavement conducted at a highly organized level! Every nerve ending in his body was on fire, he could feel his Phoenix rising inside like magma inside, the flames of rage were about to blow....

         "Neter? Are you okay?"

         He took a deep breath but felt himself losing control, nonetheless. With violent outburst few had seen before, he pounded the table with his fist so hard it sent several goblets of wine toppling over, splashing wine onto the floor.

         Gasps of shock ended the discussion as he walked away enraged. Wide and frightened eyes exchanged questioning glances, fearful now for what they knew not, shocked by his violent outburst, watching in horror as Neter staggered over to the kitchen, shaking with rage.

         "It's an interesting beverage, not exactly what I’m used to…" Bell tried to make small talk as Neter poured himself a goblet of Moonwine and gulped it back. "Atalon ought to consider importing it. Have you ever offered it on trade?"

         Neter didn’t even hear Bell. His gaze returned to the refugees at the table, stealing petrified glimpses of him. His heart ached so badly for them, this all hurt so bad, they would all want to know why he was so mad. They deserved to know the truth. He glanced at Zara just as she glanced at him… This truth would break her heart so badly… If it could be broken anymore…

         "What's wrong?" Zara echoed as he sat back down at the table beside her, his heart clearly burdened. He took her hand gently, taking a moment to search for the right words, hoping he could explain the tragic truth without breaking her heart. It was impossible, nor would he want to. Truth healed the deepest wounds and they were all deeply wounded, they all needed to heal, badly. He took a deep breath, deciding to test her knowledge first.

         "Do you know what a pineal gland is?"

         Zara returned a blank expression, she obviously had no clue.

         Neter scanned the table for knowing faces, if his hunch was correct, then there would be aribu who knew what they were…

         Adon’s pulse lurched as the dreaded organ came up in the conversation.

         "I do" Josh piped up, willing to share his expertise. "We call them Golden Nuggets" he smiled proudly. "Only if they’re really crystallized though!"

         "Golden Nuggets?"

         "Pineal glands?" Dena echoed.

         "They just look like Golden Nuggets" Josh explained. "They're being developed for the Crystal Gens."

         "The Crystal Gens?" Dena hadn't heard anything about Golden Nuggets for the Crystal Gens.
         "Yes. The Crystal Gens will be equipped with electrical transmission capabilities, the Pineal Gland can be crystallized and it aids in transmission, apparently. I’m not in on the latest R&D.... Adon?"

         Adon couldn’t believe what he was hearing, he scanned the room for an exit.
         "WHAT?" It was way over Dena's head.

         "That’s why they’re going to Ebar" Josh continued to dish, now basking in the eyes of an audience. "That's why Orius was sent there."

         "Orius?"

         Neter detected holes in his story, the truth wasn’t so clear. Josh seemed genuinely unaware of the esoteric agenda behind said Golden Nuggets.

         "So tell me then, why are the Golden Nuggets packaged for marketing?"

         "They're being shipped to Ebar for R&D."

         "Boxes and boxes and boxes of the same Golden Nuggets, individually wrapped in consumer packaging are being sent to Ebar for R&D? R&D dead nuggets for what exactly?" Now Josh couldn't answer. "They're cultivating pineals for reasons other than Malodon's insane breeding schemes, I assure you."

         "What are you talking about?"

         "The pineals are crystallized because of trauma. That's all, it's the crystallization that makes them look golden. Given Dena's account of the Goddess Gags, my guess is that said conditioning is designed to engineer trauma to make their pineals golden. The astrological timing is used to maximize the effectiveness of the traumatic events."

         "WHAT?"

         "They aren't gags!"

         "Why would they do that?" Zara was lost, she didn't understand. "What does completely destroying someone's life have to do with creating a Crystal Gen race?" It seemed absurd, but it was that connection that led Neter to his conclusion. "I think it’s more like, the Crystal Gen race is a product of the very ancient Energy Harvesting program."

         The girls stared at him in utter horror, even Dena was confused now, eager to understand. "Energy Harvesting?"

         "They're harvesting them for commercial reasons" Neter continued. "That's why there's thousands of them packaged for sale." He paused to regain composure, turning to Josh. "Can you tell me who packaged them for sale?"

         Shaking his head with solemn defeat, Josh still couldn't answer, now realizing he ought to have questioned that very obvious anomaly himself. Neter was right. Fear gripped him now as he wondered what he didn't know, he glanced towards someone who would...

         Adon was silently taking it all in from the neighboring table. He shrugged, trying to discern whether or not Josh was acting or if he did in fact have something to do with it all.

         Zara was yearning for an explanation. "But why would they want to harvest crystalized pineal glands?"

         Neter knew that hiding the truth wasn't going to help her now. The truth was painful, there was nothing he could do to prevent that which had already happened, but by learning the truth she would be able to begin the healing process. She deserved to know the truth.

         "So that they can smoke them and get high."

         A moment of silence froze the room.

         "What?"

         "What the fuck are you talking about?"

         "So they can Smoke…them...?"

         "Smoke what?"

         Zara's found herself hurtling over the cliffs once more, plummeting to the depths of cold, hard truth, this time she felt the rock. Someone got up to go drink. Another followed. Dena was horrified, she was joining her own dots too now.

         "The Soloha…" She turned to Josh, wide eyed, jaw dropped in utter disbelief. The color had left Josh's face, too. He too saw the connection now, plain as day, he even recognized the smell, now that it was identified as such, how could he have missed that?

         "He's right." The conclusion was blatantly obvious but no one wanted to accept it. 

         "You sold us pineal glands?" Dena felt like she was going to throw up, she got up, panicking, flapping her hands. "That's just... EWWWWW! Oh. My. GOD! SO GROSS!"

         Almost hyperventilating herself, Zara could barely breathe, it felt like she was dying from heartache. Her mind was spinning so hard she was seeing stars. Flashbacks of torture, the lashings, the breeding nightmare.... The devastating day in Dion's Salon.... Her hand lurched to grasp her long gone hair, flashing an angry glance towards Dena.

         Dena shifted from frown to chuckle.

         "Yup" she confirmed, there was a humorous side to this, in her eyes. "Why did you ditch the wig Sugar Cheeks? That was an expensive wig, you looked good as a blonde. I thought that gag actually did you a favor!"

         It was just too much, Zara collapsed in sobs, burying her head in shame.

         Neter noticed the catty altercation, the reality of Atlan was much uglier than he could ever have imagined, were the other refugees among them as cold hearted as Dena? Soloha? Was that it's brand name on the street? Troubled on so many levels, he left the refugees to go cool off outside, but when he stepped outside the Unicorn was restless. He rested his hand on his neck, his coat was damp with sweat…

         Suddenly, a Black Panther darted behind him. It wasn't just the refugees who had to accept the cold hard truth. There were accumulating signs that Archonic energies were mobilizing, this was a quickening. It wasn't just the Unicorn and the Black Panthers. It was the unfolding truth bomb inside the temple; the Phoenix was mobilizing too. 

         In search of solace he wandered up the path to the astrological lookout. He let the truth digest as he gazed across the moonlit water toward the hideous city of death, the smoke rising in the moonlit mist like an evil tumor, rotting at the base of Gaia's sacred mountain. Was Atalon really going to blow up the entire mountain?

         There was a much greater evil in the air that the Phoenix had risen to battle on Gaia before, last time it battled the Archons it lost. They had heard the rumors, it was just unbearable to think that they could be true. Now it was their turn. Now his people had to pick up the ancient battle, without Sapparu's assistance this time.

         "I hope you blow yourselves to smithereens."