Page 87 of The Seducer
“Come sit here next to me.” The woman patted her hand on the stone bench with a kind expression on her face.
“Why do you have paintings on your face?” I asked with youthful curiosity.
“My tattoos symbolize my wisdom,” she explained in a soft voice. “They are the sign of a priestess.”
I studied the intricate designs in fascination.
“I have heard about you, Athena,” the woman said. “That’s why I have come to see you.”
“What did you hear about me?” I asked, hoping she wouldn’t find me too pushy.
“Only good things,” she assured me. “My name is Samone Chapman. I’m one out of ten high priestesses in the world.”
“I don’t know what that is,” I admitted and gave her a sideways glance.
“No? Well, I don’t blame you, because there aren’t a lot of priestesses around. I’m here because I’m hoping you could help us change that.”
“Me?”
“Yes.” Samone smiled. “People tell me that you are special. You are kind, caring, highly empathetic, and wise beyond your years.”
Folding my lips between my teeth, I looked down.
“Now that I have met you, I’m finding that you are humble too.”
“What is it that you want me to help you with?” I smiled, because I had already decided that if I was able to help this nice woman, I would.
“How much do you know about history?”
“We learn about it in school. The Toxic War and the way women saved the planet from complete destruction.”
“Yes.” She nodded, encouraging me to go on, so I shared what my teacher had taught me.
“It was a dark time before the Toxic War. Humans were divided into groups based on their race and color of their skin. It was a matter of luck to be born in a rich and peaceful country versus a poor and violent one. Once you were there you had to make the best of it, because other countries had borders to keep you out. The rich people didn’t want to share their wealth with the poor people, and in many places the poor became so desperate that they tried to take it anyway. That meant rich people were always afraid of being attacked, and many of them lived behind tall walls of protection.”
Samone tilted her head. “That’s right. The people in power back then were called politicians. Unlike today where the Council members are chosen because of their high integrity and willingness to serve the people, not all, but many politicians were power-hungry people who only served themselves. All day, they would sit in a large building and argue with one another, and very little got done.”
A small frown formed on my face. “I’m happy we don’t live like that anymore.”
“Me too,” Samone agreed. “I’m sad that so many died because of it. You see, it left the survivors with a heavy burden of collective grief and anger. And although it has been hundreds of years now, there is still residual energy left from thattraumatic time.”
I looked down and rubbed my feet against each other. “Why couldn’t people see that it was wrong?” I asked.
Samone took time before she answered. “We shouldn’t judge them; their minds had been poisoned for a long time and they didn’t know any better. Humans are impressionable, you see. Back then there weren’t any laws preventing bad people from taking advantage of weaker people. It’s hard to wrap your mind around it now, but it was perfectly legal to manipulate people into consuming more than they needed or could afford. Many families went hungry, while others hoarded unimaginable wealth for only themselves.”
“But wealth is a good thing, isn’t it?”
“Yes and no. Today we define wealth in a different way than they did back then. To us wealth means a healthy, meaningful, and fulfilling life. Wealth in the old days was defined by more superficial things like having a big house, the newest car, the latest electronic devices, lots of clothes, shoes, art, and any other things they could get their hands on.”
I frowned. “They kept that all to themselves?”
The high priestess tilted her head from side to side. “I’m sure that there were generous people among the rich who gave to the poor, but much of what happened back then is still a bit of a mystery to us.”
“That’s what my teacher says,” I agreed, looking up at her.
“The trouble is, Athena, that we know from our founding mothers, who lived through the Toxic War, that a large portion of the old Internet was falsified. They had advanced computer programs which could imitate people’s handwriting, but even worse they had programs that could imitate people’s voices to perfection. All the system needed was a few minutes of them speaking.” Samone shook her head. “It became impossible for them to know what was right or wrong. Good people were wrongly convicted for crimes they didn’t commit, and bad people walked free based on false evidence.”
“But why would they allow computer programs like that to begin with?”
