Demon Training-Greed (Blogophilia 2.11)

Dan and Marty come back from the restroom. The dagger gleams just below Marty's collar. He reaches back and pulls it out as Dan taps the microphone.

"Ahem...O.K. everyone, Ides of March is over. Put down the yellow snocones and let's get down to business."

A high definition digital billboard slinks in place behind him. The image of a broken disco ball scatters light around the room, while the entwined skeletons of Andrea True and Easy-E lip-sync a gangster rap version of "More! More! More!". Holographic visions of steel rings and costumed bracelets dance in the air. The audience begins to nod in time with the noise, while grasping at the invisible bling. Draper smiles at the reaction. Suddenly, he shuts everything off, bringing moans of complaint from the students. With a serious look on his face, he faces the audience.

"Glad to see even in death, it works." A pause and a grin. "I evoked the Greed response in almost every one of you."

Gluttony is the over consumption of resources. Greed, on the other hand, is about the acquisition of those resources. It doesn't matter whether those resources are food, sex, or in the last example, entertainment. The design is to mindlessly suck them up. Cut the supply, a sub routine is triggered to prompt them acquire more. When Mortals are successful by whatever arbitrary reason in vogue at the time, just the threat of disruption is enough to drive the exploit. What I did just then was trigger the deprivation reponse in you."

Draper taps the clicker. A picture of a Priest in his late 40's appears.

"I'll start with Father Paul. A clergyman and supposedly in the direct employ of Maker Industries. In his mind, he believes he is destined to represent Maker's brand of Mortal Discipline. He trains in the Seven Charities (Maker's version of this training) and endeavors keep those under his care on their programming. He comes equipped with high speed empathy and organization loops to manage the assigment."

"This 'market leader' position, if you will, comes with talents and resources to maintain the group. The Charities program refers to it as 'tending the flock'. I like sheep references myself." A sly grin comes across his face. "Make the pasture green right up to the slaughterhouse."

"But, I digress. Maker's Charities message to Mortals is consistent, no matter which of the Sage, Prophet or Tradition firms used. It goes: 'Be humble and work together to the goal'. That is, have all His creations work in harmony. Our job as Demon Testers is to divide and divert everyone against themselves to prevent this. Good ol' Paul here is often the key."

Marty Mammon raises his bloody hand and Draper hands him the mike. The Billboard switches to a picture of Paul in uniform chatting with a young couple.

"You see, when a Mortal like Paul gets chosen he is looked on as a 'better' and is expected by everyone else to run his programs flawlessly. But he's still a Mortal and just as weak as the rest. When all of you Demons were topside, you heard about how this Parson or that Rabbi had been taken down by Lust. Give a Mortal a chance to sin, they will take it. But we have found Greed and Gluttony to be much more effective on clergy over time. Religious types can't help themselves, especially if the bait seems to further Charities' aims."

A picture of ham steak sizzling next to an omelet on the stove pops up.

"They get drawn further and further down the path, the sacrificial pig for Ham and Eggs. This is how the recall script for Mortal 3.16 worked, although we had to run it on several people at once to get the result we needed, since the main target was so stubborn. After it was done, The remaining chickens flailed around, telling stories of the death of Kings, ready for the rest the programs to take effect. "

Draper takes back the make. In his best announcer voice, he yells.

"But, Wait! There's more!

Draper touches the remote again. A picture of the aftermath of a battle is shown. Burned and broken bodies litter the ground as the air reeks of death.

"After the leader falls, the Mortal unit subdivides into three pieces Supporters, Deriders, and Cynical. It will be your job to pick a side and promote or deny acquisition and consumption. Every time the cycle repeats, tension grows between the factions. Soon you will be able to kick in Envy and Wrath, especially with the Deriders. They often will be looking for revenge on supporters of the bad egg."

"So, how much time does this take? There isn't a deadline most of the time, so take as long as you need. We will get an 11th hour request from Maker to work on somebody specific occasionally, like a Walter A'Becket or a Joan of Arc. And we can do those in a New York minute, if I can use a phrase from topside.

Suddenly, an alarm clock appears on the screen. The sound was a cross of Big Ben and a Fighter jet. Rotten eggs drop down from the ceiling, covering the class in sticky sulfur.

"I’ve wasted time, now time doth waste me, to coin a phrase."

Marty shakes Dan's hand and he turns stage right. A trap door opens just past the podium. Dan drops screaming to his office. An embarrassed look crosses Marty's face.

" We really need new elevators. Anyway, get some rest. Or don't. The next segment will put you to sleep anyway."

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Topic (11th Hour) is Martien’s, he doesn’t count.

Prompt left over from last week:

Ides of March (back stabbin’)

11th Anniversay-Steel rings and bracelets

Shakespeare’s 11th (Richard II was the 11th performed by the Globe) “Tell sad stories of death of Kings” and I’ve wasted time, and now time doth waste me.”

EleventySeven-New York Minute

Pic-Rebecca Grusendorf

Pic guesses: Rotten Eggs (in blog), Bad Egg (in blog), Omelet (in blog), who farted, sulfur (in blog), Waiting for the dye job, Bunny rejects