Virtually Real (17 page)

Judah was acutely aware of all this and knew that without tight discipline there would be no Israel at all. He had had enough of Jeremy’s mystical utterances for a while; he needed to talk with someone a little more pragmatic – Isaac ben Shur.

“Isaac. You can see what is happening to this country. We are divided among ourselves on all fronts and Jeremy the prophet is telling me that as a nation our protection is removed. Yet we need to make some stand, otherwise we will be totally destroyed as a nation. Not only that, Mossad informs me that Antoni plans to utterly destroy all who believe in Y’shua, or who acknowledge El. There will be a bloodbath. Many innocent people who hold to what we know to be the truth will be victims not only in Israel but throughout the whole of the EEMEC Empire.”

“And dare I say it – the CRE as well,” Isaac chimed in. I have it on good authority from a friend with contacts in China that the refuge Chou Yi is offering will only last a while and he will join with Antoni to purge his empire of believers in Y’shua also. His purported reason is different from Antoni’s but his motive is the same. They both want total power and total allegiance to none other than themselves.”

“So it’s important that we make a stand. But how will we combat the might of Antoni’s army when so many of our people, including military personnel, believe in Nimrah and that the ‘Force’ will be with them in spite of Antoni’s claim of being the source of Nimrah revelation? We live in confused times!”

“Even by the way we are now talking, we already know we are defeated and no amount of ‘positive thinking’ is going to change that. The truth is we both know that Israel is defeated before a battle starts. But I know that if we are given the vision of victory, then we will have something to believe that will inspire our people – and that is what we need.”

“Judah, Judah! You have the ability to be a leader and to inspire the people yet you are standing here lost like a little boy. You trust Y’shua but where is trust now? Jeremy spoke the truth to us. If the leader turns to El, surely he is well able to persuade others to follow. The convicting work has to come from El because this is a matter concerning the innermost parts of who we are.”

“So what are you saying, Isaac?”

“I say that we three, ourselves and Jeremy, meet together. This is a time not to talk and debate but to lay out our helplessness before Y’shua and ask to know what to do.”

The three of them met and put the issues before Y’shua – and waited. All were busy people and this waiting became hard. After two hours Judah began to be impatient.

“It’s no use. I have had no sense of what to do and all of us are as we were at the beginning,” said Judah.

“Wait a further half hour Judah,” replied Jeremy, “I believe that we will be given something.”

“OK I’ll wait, but I am beginning to wonder if this trust in Y’shua is a figment of imagination and that we are no different from those who believe Nimrah or any other thing. I know this sounds negative, but it’s what I’m feeling at present.”

“It’s what you are feeling Judah, but have you really lost trust? Have you really forsaken your decision to depend on Y’shua no matter what?”

“No! Or at least not yet!”

“We will continue to wait.”

As the half hour was nearly up, Isaac spoke. “I believe that the nation will be given another chance, but it is conditional. If we surrender to Antoni, we will be looked after. Y’shua will keep our skills and give us such wisdom that Antoni will want to ensure that we are not harmed. Antoni will ban us from publicly proclaiming Y’shua as the true way but will issue an edict of tolerance. The worship of Y’shua will be permitted only by those living in Israel, and even then there is to be no proselytising. If we abide by these for a season, life will be tolerable for us. Even though we may not make public proclamation of Y’shua, we will be required to win over unbelievers, and to teach by our actions and attitudes, and to explain to all who ask.”

“That sounds unreal Isaac. But in a strange way I believe that what you have said is true,” commented Judah.

“I agree with what Isaac has spoken,” affirmed Jeremy. “But we cannot go against the people. The nation must decide, and the nation must reap the consequences.”

So it was agreed to hold a referendum throughout Israel.

“We may well get our desire with Israel if the nation votes to agree with their Judah,” gloated Aaron. “We can give them a few years of the illusion that we will respect personal beliefs within the borders of Israel as a special case, and then find a reason to wipe out all Y’shua believers anyway.”

Antoni replied, “You know I cannot stand anyone who acknowledges any other beliefs than that of Nimrah, and who holds anyone apart from me as having ultimate authority in their lives. Whether a real person or a Y’shua. But it will serve my purpose for a time to tolerate this state of affairs.”

Antoni, like many others with consuming self-centred ambition, knew how to be patient when required; but patience did not sit easy with him.

Israel voted and Judah’s proposal was utterly rejected. The attitude on the streets was one of arrogance and unseemly confidence in the nation’s ability to defeat the forces of the EEMEC. So strong was the feeling that there were calls for Judah to resign altogether from politics. It was only because of the fragmentation of the opposition, and internal rivalries that Judah kept some influence – at least for the time being. In no way were the people going to be a subject nation!

The war footing was intensified immediately following the referendum. A message sent to Antoni stated that Israel would not bow to his demands, nor would the nation recognise him as having any authority, temporal or spiritual, over their lives.

The real world

Eli was grieved that the people of the land he had sought to bless were so blind and stubborn. He knew that it was only a computer-generated virtual reality that he was dealing with, but was so looking forward to self-modified personality codes being incorporated into his own world that he had become intimately concerned with the virtual lives of many, many v-people.

He also knew that the time had come to ensure that Lucas knew the rules exactly.

Eli called in Lucas.

“Lucas I would remind you that I am in charge of this whole project and that you only have jurisdiction in it to the extent that I allow. Because I will not violate my own values and integrity, nor the integrity of anyone else, virtual or real, you have been allowed to exercise almost full control of the v-world project,” Eli began. “But do not forget that I see what you are doing and that you are using your authority to get a following after yourself and are seeking to take my place.”

“You know I am loyal to you Eli even although we have different views on how the v-people should be handled. I would not seek to usurp your position, but I suppose events outside our control could bring a change but it won’t be by my doing.”

“Ever the dissembler, Lucas,” Eli went on. “I have been thinking about how the project is going and I see that you are aiming to destroy the v-people who seek to go my way, and you are only using the rest for your own power purposes. I know you won’t change your ways but it suits my purposes to let you continue for a while yet. But a time will come when you will be held to account for all that you have done and are doing to corrupt the whole v-world and its people. You know the rules better than anyone else and you know that I will not violate those rules which were established from the beginning. You are still in charge and you will have the right for a while to unleash the wickedness you have in mind. I know your manipulation of the v-people to entice them to violate the moral laws that were set out at the start. You do this so that you will have them in your power, as the consequences of breaking the moral strictures in the v-world play out. But an end will come and it will not go well for you. Do you have anything to say?”

“I understand Eli.”

Fool – he thought to himself. I knew he would allow me to continue and I only need a little more time anyway and I will have the whole project under my complete control. Then we will see who is truly in charge. I hate that sanctimonious sod! The only thing that matters is power. Integrity and moral virtues will be eliminated in favour of naked wit and aggression as soon as possible. Even some of the v-people in this project have more guts than Eli.

“Good. Now we know each other’s measure. I have seen the corruption in you coming for a long time. Go! You do not have much more time of authority but so it must be in the meantime.”

Lucas called in his own staff.

“That old fool, Eli has threatened to take away my authority in this project, but I know him well enough to know that that is an empty threat. He warned me of the consequences of the course we are on and that it will not be well for us.

“Do not be concerned. I have it all under control. You stick with me and our reward will be great. Eli might think that he is in charge but I’ll take his place shortly you’ll see.”

“Eli is still in charge at present, Lucas. We still find his restraints on what we can do and we know that what we do is only because he lets us,” spoke one of the junior attendees at the meeting.