The civil know you
Better than you know yourself
Before they ever approach
they study you
They know your work
job satisfaction, achievements
associations and criminal record
They are aware of your buttons
and know which ones and how hard
to push them
The Civil can't make a Stradivarius
violin out of stone
They have no miraculous powers
They could within a certainty
have one crafted of wood for them
be it their desire to do so
The craftsman would surely believe
it was his own intention to create it
If you are chosen
there's a very good reason
and your nature is inclined
toward their objective
The rest is easy
They simply clear a path
for your destiny to continue
unobstructed
to its logical conclusion
given a maze of varying resistance
Warbel came to understand this
and committed himself
to destroy his own credibility
and thus block their advance
Being an unacceptable outcome
the Civil recruited Sparks
to resuscitate the narrative
Warbel suspects this as well
yet engages in effort
to prepare Randall for his contest
in expectation that his inclination
may parallel the Civil's intent
Perhaps through a proxy narrative
an informed David with his tiny sling
could bring down Goliath
It's worth a chance
05001
Wake-up call
I want to wake up
I want to be mad
Aggravated
Angry about
Anything ordinary
Any frustrating
Or bothersome thing
Why did this begin?
When?
I can walk away
I can walk away
05002
Jonathan Warbel visit 5
You mentioned numbers doctor
Can you tell me about them?
Did I?
What numbers and what
Would you like me to tell you?
I give you concepts
You speak to me of numbers?
I gave you zero
It’s a number
What would you like to know
About it?
Nothing much to tell really
There is evil in numbers
But you have all the questions
Perhaps you should tell the story
I’m afraid our time
Is too short for now
No time to waste
Busy schedule you know?
Perhaps tomorrow
Yes
Today is tedious
Come back tomorrow
Don't bring your numbers
05003
Cheated
It seems there’s a lesson
Don’t skip ahead
Challenge the instructor
Don’t be obvious
Blunt
I’ve been
Reprimanded
Chastised
Smote
Something’s wrong
I’m supposed to listen
But don’t question
What is that?
That's a question?
Still
I miss the company
The intensity
The adrenaline
I’ve become addicted to it
Ridiculous
But I am
05004
Jonathan Warbel visit 6
It wasn’t your question
Numbers
Sounded more like Civil
My reaction was instinct
It wasn’t your fault
I suspected it
But your question
Was the first confirmation
What if I’m the Civil?
You’re not
Look around you
You’re in a nut house
We're not supposed to say it
But it's true
So where’s the muse?
There’s got to be one
Or what’s the purpose?
I’m alive because I serve one
Though I’m unaware
If I didn’t
They wouldn’t think twice
You serve a purpose too
They want you here
For some twisted reason
The Devil believes in free will
They do not
They believe free will to be
Whatever they desire
Mine keeps me alive
As though my end
Might fault their will
Even then
If they chose to do so
They'd end me
They taunt and tease
My existence
I know most certainly
Probability holds
That my existence
Will serve them
But it’s all I have left
To impede them with
I live as a risk for a chance
When they have their way
With your free will
They gain amusement
But you gain experience
Whatever good it will do
It's as if they know
Your will to oppose
So they negate
Of course you oppose
And they win
They make sure you know
It was your free will
That beat you
It freezes your instincts
Like a deer in headlights
The circle is balance
Truth is a sphere
The shape of water in space
Much like our predicament
No matter which way we turn
It leads to chaos
I suppose you could say
The Civil might be fate
And you can’t change fate
But it’s yet to be determined
If anyone can affect fate
Alter the plans
Of the all-seeing Civil
It’s unfair to deny you the truth
Of the threat we face
It's huge
Incomprehensible
It’s existential
They rarely tip their hand
But at some point
Just for amusement
They do
Knowing you won’t see it
You won’t believe
What you’re looking at
When it comes
Be ready for it
Weigh your instincts
Seek purpose in abstract
05005
Warbel 104
One of my lies is balance
For centuries prophets predicted
Astronomers compared dreams
And star constellations
To serve Monarchs
Sighting perfect time for battle
Conquest and expansion
Plagues and politics
With chance as their adversary
Bet against the Civil
You’re betting against the house
At a point it becomes obvious
Chance left the room
They’re betting on reactions
To their actions
Their quest was not balance
It wasn’t noble at all
In fact quite the opposite
They knew
When the plates would shift
When the winds would blow
And in which direction
If they lost
They likely meant to
To deflect any suspicion
Throw off the scent
Imbalance was the end
Imbalance justified any means
Placing their hands just so
To catch wealth and power
Spend it as currency
To move with impunity
Influence with certainty
Merely to suggest was enough
To get anything done
And even if you knew
What could you do?
Actions lost to ambiguity
Without record
Until Sputnik
When eyes became aware
Very much like the tree
No longer blind
Computers don’t drop numbers
Misplace decimals
Forget to carry
They tell the truth of their input
To deceive now
Would require loss of data
Corruption of constants
And to do that
Would require structure
And for the sake of mankind
They placed their hands just so
To provide that structure
Detection and prediction
Uncertainty for cover
After all
It’s not a perfect science
Structure controls data flow
The ebb and tide of information
And they control the structure
Technology stepped up
It threatened to save the day
Space exploration of planets
How fortunately unfortunate
But
And there’s always a but
Those who noticed the effect
Couldn’t define what they saw
Or ascertain cause
Environmental kooks came close
Claiming civilization itself
Was destroying the planet
Not civilization
Try explaining it was the Civil
Good luck with that
NASA knows
Something’s out there
Above the sky
They’re not sure what it is
Perhaps the Russians
But then
They noticed something more
Worse than a nightmare
Suspicion at first
Then a secret
Earth's rotation is slowing down
And it’s leaning on its axis
The poles are shifting
And we are riding
On a big blue marble
Slowly orbiting closer
Eventually into the Sun
NASA can’t stop it
Or share it with the world
They don’t have a plan
Supposition seeps
It's natural
People have been calling
For the end of civilization
As far back as time itself
But there’s never been
A finite ‘when’
An hourglass of oblivion
A doomsday-clock
The good news is
We won't be here when it hits
Decades before then
We’ll burn up
Mr. Sparks do you fancy yourself
A reasonable man?
Can you connect the dots?
Then do so please
Why should I be the only one
To sound insane?
We’re at that point
Between the punch bowl
And fruit salad
I could be crazy
I could be wrong
But I'm not
You alright?
05006
Stand or fold
Bought into the game
Table stakes
Asked to ante up
Players at the table
Include insanity uncertainty
Obsession deception peril
All seem to have the jump
As we play the house
I question my invitation
My acceptance
Is it my will?
No one’s walked away victorious
They’ve perished
Now I am the mark
No way to guess
Which hands hold aces
Or how many
Assume a stacked deck
I sense my fate to be
A foregone conclusion
Yet it remains unknown
How to play this?
Best guess
Cautiously
It’s aggravating
You come to a point
Some external oblivion
Holds your fear
Like prey before it’s eaten
If this is courage
It sucks
I will not be prey
Like the lottery
Odds against winning
Grow higher by abstinence
I’m over thinking
Reset
Oncoming car
Crossing center stripe
Doesn’t choose me
It’s just there
I can affect the outcome
Play the hand you’re given
Don’t think
More than you must
Don’t freeze
Don’t be careless
Don’t concede
Given the option
Of choosing myself
Or someone else
In this position?
I’d choose someone else
Heck yeah
That didn’t take long
Seems rational
At this point
I was starting to wonder
05007
Editor’s cut 05007
Randall can’t help thinking too much.
To date, Susan’s been the only force
of nature to distract his attention and
give him rest from himself.
By introducing the concepts of
desire and community, she stretched
his reality.
05007ec