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2017 Journal Entry – It's been five years since an entry. Some background information follows.
***
My own personal god Julia had been a member of a cult from 1993 to 1997. She believed that its leader, a woman named Maria, seemed capable of reading people's thoughts. Due to these suspicions, Julia quickly concluded that she too could be divine.
Julia has needed a wheelchair since 1997, the year that cult ended. She had started hacking databases the year before. The government agents looking for Julia didn't know she was a member of the that cult. They knew her as a hacker. They also didn't know she was a new president of a computer company.
She went from being a hand-to-mouth hacker in 2012 - when she met me - to rising within the legitimate tech world. By present time, 2017, she was a multimillionaire with three mansions.
***
Today, Julia took a course of action she had never done before. She asked me about my life.
The following is a transcript of our conversation:
"Alright, F.B., tell me about yourself."
"I'm not sure I understand, Julia."
"When did you start doing this gig of yours?"
"Thousands of years ago I was a priest in Egypt. Most of my religious training focused on Bast, the Cat Goddess."
"Stop - you went from your old Cat Lady, to me, Leader of the Pack?"
"Not quite that."
"Tell me more. It's high time I learned about my human / wolf followers."
"Instead of a focus on me, Julia, I'd suggest you establish a religion to gain believers, and thereby further increase your powers."
"I already have you as a follower, plus additional followers I have been stealing from the other gods. It's similar to when five years ago, I had a massive following online, during my life of crime as a hacker."
"In our cosmic parlance, those online people would have been called believers, not -"
"Whoa. What's 'parlance' mean, Mister Big Words? No god lingo."
"Here it comes: The beings like me, those who naturally take animal form and can assume the appearance of any human, are labeled 'followers,' while 'believers' are humans that -"
"You know, F.B., this is probably the longest time we've ever talked without the subject being about administrative and housekeeping matters."
"You have resources to build a sizable religion from the beginning: money, land, advanced computer systems, to name but a few."
"The cult leader I knew named Maria became a goddess that went the "maximum believers" route. She gained tens of thousands of believers, including some in the FBI."
"I know."
"Then the government nuked two of its own cities where most of her believers lived."
"I remember."
"If it’s cool, let's stick with the plan of gaining power through werewolf collecting, at a mere shoplifting-like level of theft, from the other gods."
"I will obey. Always."
"Right, that's been one hell of a perk."
"Anything else you want from me now?"
"Yes. Time for sex!"
ns 15.158.61.8da2
