IN> Summer, 2008

[William Keith]

      "1992," Aluriel murmured.  "That was a good year."

      Mordekial nodded.  "Flaming arrow.  Dramatic.  '76 should have 
been..."

      "Media bums," said Aluriel.

      "Speaking of..."

      "I know.  We've put out a call for some handlers.  Should be some 
interested parties responding.  If we can just keep Hell out of the 
way, I think it'll happen this year."

      "And then what?"

      Aluriel grinned.  "You know the Lady," he said.  "When she gets it 
together, even for a moment..."

-----

      In 1960, the relay and lighting of the Olympic Torch was televised 
for the first time.  In 1964, the world expected it, and Japan took 
advantage of the popular ceremony to assign the final torchbearing to a 
child who had been born the day the bomb was dropped on Hiroshima.  The 
symbolism of peace overcoming fiery destruction was powerful, and as 
the cauldron was lit, millions of people all around the world saw in 
that flame a dream of unity, of peace, of personal uplift, of a global 
brotherhood of man.  The fire lit from the rays of the Sun became a 
receptacle for the hopes of those millions.

      And at that moment, halfway around the world, the Archangel 
Gabriel gasped, snapped upright, and thought very hard and very 
clearly.

      Even the Firemen were briefly unable to keep up with the Archangel 
when she was apparently operating near her full faculties.  Her 
Servitors across the world were organized and operations undertaken 
that, to this day, are not fully pieced together even to Heaven, 
despite extensive interviews with Gabrielites assigned missions during 
the time.  Apparent coincidences may be just that, or may have been 
Gabriel operating personally behind the scenes, or may have been the 
Archangel simply taking full advantage of crystal-clear prophecy for a 
brief moment.  During this time a number of major world events 
happened, including the sudden removal from power of Nikita Krushchev 
and China's successful test of a nuclear weapon.  That the latter did 
*not* produce a Tether to Infernal Fire, given the overall geopolitical 
situation at the time, was remarked upon rather extensively.

      In 1968 the event was not repeated; the Winter Games had the 
lighting of the flame nearly disrupted by a coup d'etat in Greece, and 
the Summer Games' ceremony involved extensive Ethereal-related imagery. 
  Given that a number of Media demons had been disbanded after the Tokyo 
incident, this was little surprise to most parties.

      In years since, the beneficiary of the lighting has varied.  In 
1976, the flame was "transmitted" through a satellite pulse and a 
laser, briefly creating a Tether to the Media.  A Divine attempt to 
disrupt the Tether by dousing the flame with a rainstorm failed when 
the Tether was re-established by the image of a human relighting the 
cauldron with his cigarette lighter.  1984 and 1988 saw a marginal 
improvement of Gabriel's state, and in 1992 the Archangel was active 
and focused for several days.  At 2004's Athens games the Olympian 
pantheon themselves finally got a significant share of the Essence, and 
were able to outmaneuver the Media on several fronts where they had 
been pressed.  They want it to happen again.

      The 2008 Games pose similar opportunities.  Attention is focusing 
this year on rumors that both Sides plan to make hay of connotations in 
the torch relay, at critical points including the passages through 
Pakistan, North Korea, Tibet, and the final run in Beijing.  Already 
political disruptions have occurred with Taiwan being taken off the 
list of relay stations, so Hell may presently be slightly ahead on 
influence at the moment.  Factions won't be resting on its laurels, 
though, and symbolism up and down the route will be vital to the final 
perceptions.  If the PCs are native to other continents, the flame will 
also be passing through Paris, San Francisco, and many other cities.  
Angels can be drafted to deal with any number of disruptive plans 
staged in the locales to be visited, climaxing with a globe-hopping 
visit to Beijing to ensure the final run goes off smoothly and with as 
litle rancor as possible, allowing the native symbolism to shine 
through.

      If successful, there then comes the question of what Gabriel will 
do with the short days available to her in clarity.  That, naturally, 
is an entirely different plot.

William