22. Jaxson
22
Jaxson
T his type of inefficiency is the reason that nothing ever gets done in the Sovereignty. Every time there’s a clear problem and a clear solution, instead of everyone agreeing to it, my father has to call all his national priests and helpers into Chicago to sit in a five-hour meeting where everyone has an opinion on what the problem is. Then, once we all agree on the problem, we adjourn for a few hours only to meet again in the late afternoon and spend the next few hours debating the solution.
The topic at hand this time, of course, is High Demand, Lauressa’s podcast, and the now infamous Dr. Cult, her pseudonym. The same podcast that just months ago, my father said was below our notice and nothing to be concerned about. And he would have been right if he hadn’t tried to covet from me what was mine.
The money I put into advertising it online has paid off, and its reach has expanded way beyond its audience of cult watchers and religious scholars. From just a few hundred thousand followers online to millions. From no one talking about the Sovereignty to every other video on YouTube talking about it. From niche news corners on the internet to making national and cable news stations and newspapers. Add in the keyboard-happy Sovereigns getting online to defend their Oracle and only making everything worse, I was surprised I didn’t get the call to come to Chicago for a meeting sooner than I did.
By the end of the meeting, we came to an agreement on a solution that I’d figured out long before this meeting ever started: a gag order to all the Sovereignty on the podcast, and to hopefully wait to see if it all blows over. If it doesn’t, we’ll meet again to decide what other actions may be necessary.
My father decides to hold Magdalene back as we file out, but before I can leave the Chicago Altar’s conference room, he says, “Jaxson. Stay nearby. I need to talk to you also.”
“Yes, Dad,” I say, leaving the room, and no sooner than I do does Abner throw his arm around my shoulder and drag me down to the refreshments room for some coffee.
“I heard we have some catching up to do,” Abner says.
“Who did you hear that from?” I ask.
“After I heard through the rumor mill that you’re involved with the woman the Oracle plans to make his new conduit after she goes through her rites,” Abner whispers, but not low enough.
“Do you want everyone to hear our conversation?” I say, shrugging off his shoulder.
Abner shrugs. “It’s not like it’s a secret. At least not amongst the upper hierarchy and inner circle of the Sovereignty.”
Unfortunately, he’s not wrong. It wasn’t a secret by the time Lilah picked up her phone and dropped it in her friend chat at the announcement the very same night .
“That doesn’t mean I want everyone knowing the details.”
“Relax. It’s just us,” he says. “But it explains why you wanted all that info around Christmas. So, you going to let me in on your plan and what the hell you’re doing with this Dr. Cult figure and High Demand?”
It’s a shot in the dark. He doesn’t really know that I have anything to do with it. The only way for him to know concretely is for me to give it away. So I don’t. I simply say what any Sovereign would say if accused of something so grievous.
“Audacious and insulting of you to doubt my loyalty to the Sovereignty. I could turn you in to the Oracle just for the accusation,” I remind.
“Audacious and insulting to anyone else. But I know you. And I don’t doubt for a second your loyalty to the Sovereignty. I do doubt every second of every day of your loyalty to your father, and I wasn’t stupid enough to bring it up in that meeting lest we be in there until early morning, but it didn’t escape my notice the careful spin on the interviews. They don’t want to take down and discredit the Sovereignty. Just your father. And discrediting the current Oracle as a false prophet only benefits one person right now,” Abner says.
“I’m sure it benefits many people. Particularly our enemies,” I reply.
“Maybe, but the timing is way too convenient. You may have daddy fooled with your devoted, humble disciple act, but I actually spent time with you. I know you. I know what your goals are, and you’re the one person who couldn’t give less of a damn about precedent, tradition, and revelation,” he says .
“I care,” I state. “It’s all those traditions, precedents, and revelations that make the Sovereignty what it is.”
“You mean it’s the things that let us control its members,” Abner states. “It’s why you’re going the false prophet angle. Have to admit that it’s smart. And your father talking about it over the years does more to self-condemn him than it does exonerate him. But you really think you’ll be able to sway the Sovereignty to your side?”
“There are no sides to this,” I reply.
“You’re not all the way certain,” Abner states. “You’ve got a backup plan.”
I don’t answer and continue to sip on my coffee, while internally cursing myself for forgetting that Abner knows me so well.
“I have to say, it’s a good plan. Helps that there are a lot of people who aren’t happy with the Oracle’s current leadership but have only had some unseen enemy to blame. Now? This forces them to at least see that some people think that enemy is in the seat of the Oracle, even if they won’t consider it further than that,” Abner says.
“It’s not my plan,” is the only thing I say. It’s not even technically a lie. It’s Lauressa’s plan. My plan is to burn this entire thing to the ground if her plan fails.
Abner gives me a calculating look before leaving the issue alone. No doubt he’s going to be spending time trying to hack into the servers of High Demand and Dr. Cult.
Good luck to him. Lauressa specially built her firewalls, online defenses, encryptions, and servers with her own hands. She was so confident that I asked why she’d never gotten a job getting paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to protect some big corporation’s data instead of the seventy thousand she was making at her finance job. Her response was because she did it out of necessity and that she’d be bored sitting at a computer all day doing it for some big corporation that would want her to use their awful framework and then go on to make millions of dollars off her stress.
“Jaxson,” Magdalene says, coming into the room. “The Oracle is ready for you.”
I leave to meet my father without another word, not at all concerned that Abner will try to get something out of Magdalene. It’s not a secret we dislike each other, even though I grudgingly admit that some of my dislike may be misplaced.
I nod to the S-team member at the door before entering the room and finding my father right where I left him earlier at the head of the conference table. I sit at his right and say, “Dad.”
“Son,” he says, then sits back and scrutinizes me with a long piercing look.
I say nothing. I do nothing. Just sit and allow him to observe me. It’s a control tactic to make me uncomfortable. But once I learned that being nervous about his stupid looks does nothing because they don’t particularly mean anything, I learned to weather them. He’ll either talk when he’s ready or he won’t.
Finally, after a few minutes, he says, “I’m impressed with the way you’ve been handling the trial brought upon you recently. I know it’s trying.”
I don’t need to ask him what trial he’s talking about .
“It wouldn’t be a trial if it weren’t trying,” I point out, just edging on the line of cheekiness, something I never would have done before meeting Lauressa. Not like this, anyway.
“There’s a great blessing at the end of this for your sacrifice if you continue to not allow yourself to become bitter.”
“There’s no room for bitterness when there’s so much work to do in the Sovereignty,” I say, having played this song and danced this dance with my father before. With my sister dying. My mother. And countless more disappointments, all from his hands.
“I’m glad you said that, because I have work for you to do,” he says. “I want you to track down these so-called anonymous Sovereigns who think they can slander me, the Sovereignty, and my teacher without consequence.”
Technically, they aren’t slandering his “teacher,” the previous Oracle, or the Sovereignty. They’re slandering him. But as far as my father is concerned, an attack against him is an attack against the other two.
“Please don’t mistake me for questioning your wisdom or guidance from the Supreme Force,” I begin.
My father nods. Even though I’ve never flagrantly disobeyed my father’s rules, I’ve never not questioned him for clarity, and it would be out of character for me not to have a question. Besides, my father loves an opportunity to show how smart he is by correcting his priests when he perceives it’s done in a respectful way. I have to throw him a bone every now and then.
I continue, “But if the slander is baseless, why should we be so concerned about going after the people responsible for this? I was under the impression that Dr. Cult’s podcast was a boon to the Sovereignty. It can only make people aware of our existence and mission and bring more people into the Sovereignty in the end.”
“That’s true, son. But we can’t let these agents of our enemy think they can simply say what they want and get away with it.”
“Surely the Supreme Force will deal with it if its Oracle pleads with it,” I point out.
“Yes. But it’s as I’ve always taught you, son. The Supreme Force works through men. I, too, have to do my due diligence first before petitioning it.”
I have to give it to my father; when he controls the turf, he’s always been good at explaining away the contradictions of the Sovereignty doctrine when it comes to the Supreme Force.
“Of course,” I reply. “You can depend on me, Dad. I live to serve the Sovereignty, its Oracle, and the Supreme Force. No trial is bigger than that.”
Then, because I can’t help playing into the dramatic irony of this moment and know it will go over his head, I hug my father and place a kiss on his cheek.
He gives me another piercing look before dismissing me. I’m just making it to the elevator to take me back down when Landon accosts me.
“What did the Oracle say?” he asks.
“Nothing that concerns you.”
“Bullshit,” Landon says, getting on the elevator with me. “He sent you to go find Dr. Cult and those so-called Sovereigns, didn’t he?”
“Language,” I say. “And it doesn’t concern you. ”
“The hell it doesn’t, Jaxson. Those motherfuckers are slandering our father’s good name. The things they’re accusing him of… the lectures of his they’re taking out of context.”
It would be no use pointing out to Landon that the context is often worse and does nothing to exonerate our father. He’s been indoctrinated not to see it. So I simply don’t respond at all.
“Come on, Jaxson. You have to let me in on it.”
“It’s going to take me across the country. Possibly the world. You have duties here.”
“Fuck my duties.”
“Landon.”
“My duties always keep me from serving the Sovereignty the way I know I could,” he mutters.
“That’s what happens when you get named High Priest.”
“Yeah, but I could be doing more. Don’t get me wrong, it’s an honor to serve. I just…”
“You’ve barely been in the position for two years, and you’re already tired of it?” I ask.
“When the Oracle asks you to serve, what are you supposed to do? Say no?”
It’s what I did when my father tried to put me in the position, and I convinced him that the Supreme Force showed me I would be more useful elsewhere. I’m already tied down to Chicago enough as it is. I would hate the way being in my brother’s official position would anchor me here. It certainly would have never allowed me to go off to Georgia to make Lauressa mine.
“You’re going to need some time to investigate leads anyway,” Landon points out. “I can let my staff know and leave Caleb in charge.”
“You’re going to leave your bodyguard in charge?” I ask, even knowing Caleb is doing most of the grunt work for Landon’s position anyway.
“He knows how to do my job better than I do. I’m just there to look pretty.”
“I’m sure.”
“Come on, big brother. Please!”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes at the idea that Landon thinks that will work on me as though we actually grew up together. For the longest time, we were only brothers in blood and nothing more.
I don’t answer as I walk off the elevator and head to where a driver is waiting for me.“Oh, I get it. Blowing me off to go see Lauressa,” Landon mutters.
“I’m blowing you off, as you say, because my mission from our father has nothing to do with you,” I reply, even though he’s right.
“Fuck you,” he says with no real heat.
“You should probably be getting going too. I’m sure Caleb is waiting somewhere around you,” I reply.
Landon huffs but goes off to find his bodyguard and roommate.
Once I’m in my car, I ask the driver, “Is everything in order?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good,” I reply, sitting back in my seat. I’ll concern myself with figuring out how I’m going to send myself on a wild goose chase for my father later.
For now, I’m going to enjoy my evening with Lauressa.