BARTLEBY
I was close, you know? I was so close to just slitting that bitch's throat. And do you know how I felt? Righteous. Justified. Eager, even.

Are you all right, man? Your eyes are kind of-

My eyes are open. For the first time, I get it. When that little innocent girl let her mission slip, I had an epiphany. See, in the beginning, it was just us and Him. Angels and God. Then he created humans. Ours was designed to be a life of servitude and worship and bowing and scraping and adoration. He gave them more than He ever gave us. He gave them a choice. They choose to acknowledge God or choose to ignore Him. All this time we've been down here, I've felt the absense of the divine presence, and it's pained me, as I'm sure it must have pained you. And why? Because of the way He made us. Had we been given free will, we could choose to ignore the pain, like they do, but no, we are servants.

Okay. You know, all I'm saying here is that one of us might need a little nap.

Wake up. These humans have besmirched everything He's bestowed upon them. They were given paradise; they threw it away. They were given this planet; they destroyed it. They were favoured best among all his endeavors, and some of them don't even believe He exists. And in spite of it all, He has shown them infinite fucking patience at every turn. What about us? I asked you once, to lay down the sword, because I felt sorry for them. What was the result? Our expulsion from paradise. Where was his infinite fucking patience then? It's not right! It's not fair! We've paid our debt. Don't you think it's time? Don't you think it's time we went home? And to do that, I... I think we may need to dispatch our would-be dispatchers.

Wait, wait wait. Kill them? You're talking about the last scion, for Christ's sake. And what about Jay and Bob? I mean, those guys were all right.

Don't. Don't, my friend. You see, don't let your sympathies get the best of you. They did me once. Scion or not, she's just a human. And by passing through that arch, our sins are forgiven. No harm, no foul.

My God. I've heard a rant like this before.

What did you say?

I've heard a rant like this before.

Don't you fucking do that to me.

You sound like the morning star.

You shut your fucking mouth.

You do. You sound like Lucifer, man. You've fucking lost it! You're not talking about going home, Bartleby. You're talking about fucking war on God. Well, fuck that. I have seen what happens to the proud when they take on the throne. I'm going back to Wisconsin.

We're going home, Loki. And no one, not you, not even the Almighty Himself, is going to make that otherwise.

Shit.



BETHANY
Why?! What the fuck do you want from me!? I fucking hate you! I hate you.

He can't hear you, you know. That's why we needed you.

Why didn't you tell me?

Would you, could you have believed me? It was something you had to come to gradually. Only after everything you've seen, everything you've heard, could you possibly be able to accept the truth.

I don't want this. It's too big.

That's what Jesus said. I had to tell him. You can imagine how that hurt the Father, not to be able to tell the son Himself, because one word from His lips would destroy the boy's frail human form. So I had to deliver the news to a scared child who wanted nothing more than to play with other children. I had to tell this little boy that he was God's only son and it meant a life of persecution and eventual crucifixion at the hands of the very people that he'd come to enlighten and redeem. He begged me to take it all back. As if I could. He begged me to make it all not true. And I'll let you in on something, Bethany. It's something I've never told anyone before. If I had the power, I would have. It's unfair. It's unfair to ask a child to shoulder that responsibility, and it's unfair to ask you to do the same now. I sympathize. I do. I wish I could take it all back. But I can't. This is who you are.

Everything I am has been a lie.

No, no, no no. Knowing what you now know doesn't mean you're not who you were. You are Bethany Sloane. No one can take that away from you. Not even God. All this means is a redefinition of the identity; the incorporation of this new data into who you are. Be who you've always been. Just... be this as well. From time to time.