_ | \ | \ | | \ __ | |\ \ __ _____________ _/_/ | | \ \ _/_/ _____________ | ___________ _/_/ | | \ \ _/_/ ___________ | | | _/_/_____ | | > > _/_/_____ | | | | /________/ | | / / /________/ | | | | | | / / | | | | | |/ / | | | | | | / | | | | | / | | | | |_/ | | | | | | | | c o m m u n i c a t i o n s | | | |________________________________________________________________| | |____________________________________________________________________| ...presents... Sanctified by Obscure Images >>> a cDc publication.......1990 <<< -cDc- CULT OF THE DEAD COW -cDc- ______________________________________________________________________________ The car rolled slowly down the twilit street as if trying to not wake anyone up. The driver of the car, breathing in the cold sludgelike air, struggled to remain conscious long enough to make it home. A tingling feeling was beginning to develop at the base of his spine, ignored by the driver as he lurched on down the street. Jason finally allowed himself a yawn as he pulled into a parking spot in front of his apartment building. The building looked vaguely menacing in the murky light that was beginning to batter its way through the smog. Another long night, not much like the rest, or at least that is what he guessed. A failing of his was that he was never able to remember what he did the night before anymore. The trials and tri bulations of a drunkard, he thought as he trudged up the stairs, his head thumping in rhythm with his feet. After fumbling for the locks on the door, Jason took off his ragged wool long coat and threw it on the floor. Being nearly as dirty as the floor, the coat blended in with its surroundings very well. In the kitchen area, Jason poured himself a glass of water and popped a couple of sleeping pills into his mouth. Setting down the glass, he tripped his way across the room to his bed. Sleep comes quickly to Jason's exhausted systems. The world moves in high speed, he is in a state of timelessness. The dreams are there, they are always there, but the mixture of exhaustion and drugs keep them at bay. The sun moves across the sky, baking the earth as it moves farther across the heavens. It passes the horizon on the other side leaving a fleeting warmth that lasts for a few hours after its departure. As the chill begins to wrap its fingers around the city once again, Jason turns over and wakes up. The same old grind. No working, no real need to, the old man is paying for nearly everything. He hasn't seen his father for more than a year now, his father being too scared to venture into Jason's domain. It wasn't that they didn't get along, Jason liked his father a lot, but they were just incapable of interaction. Refreshed from the extended rest, Jason flips on the television to see what is there. Thank god for cable television, there is always something on to catch the eye. Of course, watching the television was supposed to be bad for you, but who believes that shit anyway. The television twitters on, but the details are ignored. The TV never sleeps, it is always there to keep someone company. Jason crosses the room and scavenges through the cabinets in search of something to eat; finding nothing, he makes a note to go get some food later. Moments after the note appeared, it disappeared, not to reappear for months. Laying down on his bed, Jason tries to relax, letting the flickering love of the television bathe him. After a few minutes he falls asleep again, a light and easy slumber, but yet deep enough to dream. The buffers of the earlier sleep are gone; without interference they enter his dreams. Colors burst inside Jason's head, the beings were there. Escape was impossible once they're inside, so he decided to try and ride their stay out. The light was blinding, there were reflections off of everything. For a moment the intensity increased, causing Jason to writhe in pain, then the light dimmed to a tolerable level. He was in a field of silver flowers and silk butterflies, the trees were shining golden in the distance. The beauty was overwhelming, a paradise beyond in comparison to any place that Jason had ever been before. In front of him, some 25 meters away was an amazingly black platform with intricate gold lettering on it. The lettering was indecipherable, in some cryptic language that one such as he would not know. For some reason the impulse to sit down pulled him to the ground. He waited for what seemed like hours, not being allowed to move from his spot. His crossed legs went from normal to the needling pain of falling asleep, to numbness, and ending at a pulsating warmth that exuded pleasure throughout Jason's body. At the same time his eyes were pulled again to the lettering on the pedestal. The warmth in his legs flowed through his body and into his eyes. The letters began to melt, squirming around as if they were alive. A pattern was forming, and soon the letters reformed into words that Jason could understand. "To be at one with the universe one must first be cleansed," were the words that were formed by Jason's lips upon seeing the gold against the blackness. With the last syllable dying in the air, Jason's body, still folded in a sitting position, floated off the ground and moved to a stationary point several inches above the pedestal. The scenery fadeed into blackness; all that existed was the pedestal and himself. A golden glow enveloped him, and 5 fiery golden apples began to slowly orbit him. Jason's lips moved again uttering these words, "The cleansing is now." The apples moved faster and lost their shape, transformed into looking simply like balls of fire. Faster and faster the shapes began to orbit closer to his body, and when it seemed that there was no more speed to be gathered, the apples turned inward and slammed into his body. There was a terrific flash of light with the now erect form of Jason flailing in the middle of it. The pain was intense; it felt as if he were being shredded apart molecule by molecule, which wasn't very far from the truth. As the light grew brighter his appearance changed, skinny body replaced with a lightly muscled, completely healthy looking body. Of course this was only a form, one of many possibilities. Jason's brain was restructured, containing large amounts of information about his purpose. The light faded away and Jason passed out to dream uneventfully for a while longer and to recover. Waking up, the television is still flickering, some old kung fu movie is on. Surprisingly, Jason feels good, more alive than he had in a long time. Remembering his dream, he is shocked to find that the information he had acquired was still in there. He gets a glass of water and sits down in a chair to try and sort things out. His memories say that he is a special person, with a special code embedded in his genetic structure that make him the target of the beings. The beings, he finds out are not aliens who invade his dreams to frighten him; they are in reality others like him searching out their brothers. His job, he discovers, is to find a certain number of others like him, upon which point he will have earned his way into the Great City. The cleansing of outdated genetics made Jason a completely new person, with powers to hunt down and guide others through their cleansings. He seems to be virtually godlike. His memory tells of the Great City and the life that awaits him there, making his powers in this world seem insignificant. The initiation was necessary, however, for on the road to the Great City there are vast amounts of knowledge to be learned. When enough of the instructions of the elders are gathered, each piece to be delivered upon completion of initiation, one can move on to the Great City where the road ends and the true education begins. Jason completes several cleansings and begins to meet other of his brothers on the way to the Great City; he is excited to continue forward along the road. Hundreds of years pass by in a blur of existence, yet Jason has not attained the Great City. Time has a way of losing meaning after a while. Eventually the gates of the Great City are in sight, yet when he passes the gates into town he is shocked to find only one building. Nothing but a small wooden shack where he had seen grand towers. He enters the building and the guardian speaks to him, knowing the expression on his face from endless travelers before. "There is no Great City, you see. There is only the road." Jason looks at the guardian with disgust and says, "This is fucking pointless, this whole fucking existence is for nothing." The guardian smiles and replies, "You've learned the last lesson. You've traveled the long road of knowledge and finally came to the right conclusion. You've earned your passage, go on in." He points to a new door that appears in the back of the hut. Puzzled but curious, Jason walks through the doorway into the Great City. The guardian sighs as Jason closes the door. Another traveler walks in to the shack, and after a few words from the guardian walks back outside and down the endless road. _ _ ____________________________________________________________________ /((___))\|The Dead Zone........214/522-5321|Demon Roach Undrgrnd..806/794-4362| [ x x ] |Grassroots...........619/460-3249|NIHILISM..............415/285-9453| \ / |The People Farm......916/673-8412|Tequila Willy's GSC...209/526-3194| (' ') |Lunatic Labs.........213/655-0691|The Works.............617/861-8976| (U) |====================================================================| .ooM |(c)1990 cDc communications by Obscure Images. 07/23/90-#145| \_______/|All Rights Pissed Away. |