Excerpt: Isis

“No, I mean…” I trailed off. “Yes, you’re right, but my point is, I always felt like something big like this would occur at some point in my life, something to finally shake up the world and put it to rights. Now the Titans are here and nothing’s changed. The same governments are in charge, wars still go on, people are still deeply unpleasant to each other, I’m still me. The thing is, if giant alien creatures descending from heaven isn’t enough to change the world, then what is?”
From behind the bamboo, Sara let out a sigh. “It’s been – what, a year and a bit since you found Cronus? Give things a chance!” She giggled. “Seriously, it took the Romans three hundred and fifty years to adopt Christianity. Even though we now have these new messengers – call it the Second Coming, if you want – don’t expect revolution overnight.”
“The Second Coming. Have people actually been calling it that?”
“Oh, definitely. There’s a huge movement which regards Cronus, Tethys, and Phoebe as manifestations of God, or Jesus. And not just the usual cranks: there are some genuinely respected religious leaders – whether Christian, Muslim, Hindu – who in all honesty are very worked up about this whole thing. You can find all sorts of stuff in the Bible to back it up, too: “They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory.” That sort of thing.”
“It all fits, doesn’t it? A heavenly visitor arrives and then the establishment has it executed out of fear for their own safety.”
“You’ve got it in one. People are really up in arms about how the ITR are mishandling their Messiahs. In some circles we’re pretty much the Antichrist – literally. The Beast in Revelation has seven heads and ten horns – hey, doesn’t the ITR have seven Units and ten field teams? I’m sure I saw something about how ITR translates to 666 in some weird numerology, too.”
“It’s insane.”
“Well,” she said, “it’s not really. It’s very much to be expected, in fact. People have a curiosity about the world, and when something big like this happens they’re going to latch on to it in the hopes that it will somehow bring some meaning into their lives. It’s not a sign of stupidity, or even faulty thinking. It’s simply human nature.”
“I suppose that’s right.”
“Who’s to say that the Titans aren’t gods? They’re obviously extremely powerful beings, intelligent enough to master space travel, and there’s more evidence for them than for a bearded old man in the clouds.”
“Hang on. If Cronus, Tethys and Phoebe are part of a new Holy Trinity – what does that make me?”
“The Prophet Warren, of course.”
“I’m not sure I like the sound of that.” I sighed. “I’m wasted here. I should move to Thailand and find a Thai bride and sit in my wooden hut next to the jungle in the sweltering heat drinking iced tea and writing novels. Then I’ll catch syphilis and malaria and spend my last days going happily, deliriously insane.”