Yue

 You refused to repent?"

"I'm afraid so."

"You refused to repent when there was an angel sent by God to ask you to repent?" She raises her eyebrows far enough for the camera to be able to pick it up. "Was that really a good idea?"

"As I said, I'm not a Christian, or a Jew, or a Muslim, or a Sikh or a Jainist or Zoroastrian or… I apologise if I've forgotten any other religion that considers the judgement of the Silver City to be the final word on morality. I don't. Heck, I don't always agree with the gods of my own religion. As such, I feel no particular need to conform to his idea of morality."

"But.. you've actually met an angel, and you don't feel that it's a… A stronger argument than before?"

"I think it proves that the Silver City has some… Odd priorities. I've got a.. pretty reasonable sense of self-worth, but I don't really think it was worth Zauriel's time to try to get me to repent that."

Would..? Huh, Does that mean that he doesn't know about the other things I've done? Like… All those people I killed? Surely that was more important? I'd like to think that I've been making the best of a series of bad situations, but I doubt that everyone I've killed had it coming. Or was it based on intention; I was trying to improve Vega while in the Garden I was literally just there to steal? No, that doesn't work. If they were judging it by intent then they should have known why I wanted the pomegranate. I wonder what the limits of their knowledge are?

"Don't you feel… I don't know, privileged that you've got an angel looking out for your immortal soul?"

"Again, wrong religion. When I die, my soul will most likely find itself in Erebos where I will be judged by Lord Hades. There are a.. few other outside possibilities, but that's the most likely. Having spoken to both him and his priestesses a few times I think that while he won't exactly be impressed by my theft, he'll take my motives and the rest of my deeds into consideration before passing a harsh sentence. Regardless of the opinions of the Host, I won't go to Hell. As such I have no fear of eternal damnation, so the fear-based motivation for obeying angels doesn't exist."

"But, having actually met him... Doesn't that motivate you to change your mind?"

"Not really. Within a couple of hours of formally converting to Hellenism I met Eris, Goddess of Chaos. Since then I've met Hera, Hephaestus, Hades and Vulcan, among others. If you were really interested then I could probably arrange an introduction. Would me doing so make you feel compelled to convert to Hellenism yourself?"

She slowly shakes her head. "I don't think it works like that."

"Right. I had a brief conversation with an angel. If I belonged to a monotheistic faith that would have been quite significant for me. Since I don't… He was just a well-intentioned chap with wings. But since I'm sure that your viewers are rather more interested in what he had to say than I was…"

I shift the image on the screen back to the point of view I had when I flew up to meet him.

"There was a.. slightly odd tone to his voice that doesn't come across on the recording, and I've redacted parts relating to ongoing missions. But that aside, this is what happened."

Which is pretty much a direct lie, as leaving out the stuff about Blaze would render part of the rest nonsensical so that gets left out too. The rest should be rather unfulfilling to anyone watching, and the cut-off is awkward.

"Good morning. I'm the Illustres of the Orange Lantern Corps. Whom am I addressing?"

"I am Zauriel of the Host of Eagles, Messenger of the Most High."

"And are you here for business or pleasure?"

"I am here upon the Lord's business. There was a theft-."

"Let's not draw this out. It was…"

I ignore the recording in favour of watching the audience. Yes, I didn't expect a violent response, but I am a little impressed with how calmly they're taking this. Crosses are more than a little in evidence, but a quick scan shows me paraphernalia from a smattering of other religions as well. And one cheeky git with a little smiley badge, clutching a colander and watching with an expression of polite interest. I didn't bother asking about the vetting… Did they sell tickets for a mark up? Or -given the short notice- did they just let in everyone who could pass vetting fast enough? On the emotional front, a good number would rather have been in my place but the strongest overall theme is a joy that a figure from their mythology has demonstrated the truth of their god's commitment to the world. Particularly at Jesus getting name checked. Which winds me up a little. By that standard both the First and Satanus have a greater commitment.

And it's not as if Zauriel actually did anything useful. Would it have really killed them to find some sort of angelic demon-killing machine and send it our way? Or at least smack Remiel and Duma upside the head? Devil Jizz usage figures haven't changed since yesterday and I'm honestly not expecting them to.

Chance of the Silver City doing anything useful with those other pomegranates?

"None at all. Indeed, I would applaud it were it not for the fact that it has cost him his immortal soul."

I suspend the playback. "And I'm afraid that's as much as it's safe to show. We then took a brief-" And the audience are mostly still staring at the image of Zauriel. "-tour of the KordTech facility and showed him some of the anti-demon weapons we're working on."

"Was he impressed?"

"I'd.. say more shocked. Angels aren't particularly innovative, and we've been doing a lot of innovation lately."

"Anything you can share with the rest of us?"

As a matter of fact, yes. Despite understandable reservations on the part of Atlantis, the ongoing demonic attacks across the world have resulted in King Orin signing off on KordTech receiving a licence to produce high strength wards and anti-magic weaponry for law enforcement purposes. I haven't been part of all of the negotiations, but my understanding is that the aim is to prioritise selling to countries with the largest Devil Jizz problems first, then open up to any government that wishes to buy."

"What about military or civilian usage?"

"Not at the moment. Foreign military usage of counter-magic techniques is an extremely sensitive issue for Atlantis, as their entire nation runs on magic. A lot of the expertise KordTech is using comes from people under contract with the Atlantean government, and they can't be employed without KordTech precisely agreeing to terms they set. That, combined with the fact that there simply isn't enough spare capacity in the production systems means that non-law enforcement uses are off the table for now. That said, KordTech is following normal patent law so if anyone else wants to start up their own manufacturing centre with their own magic users… We're certainly not going to stop them."

"I'm sure we'll all sleep a lot more soundly once American police have weapons capable of fighting demons." She turns towards the camera. "Don't go away, anyone. We'll be right back after these messages."