“Mr.
Speaker, ladies and gentlemen, I am here at the request of the president to try
to help sort out this matter. We are
facing a crisis of a type and magnitude that this country, nor any other
country has ever faced before. In order
to truly appreciate what we are dealing with and figure out how we might stop
it, I think it would be best if we went back to the beginning and examined the
circumstances that led to the demonic outbreak that we now face. It all started with an upset public and a
single election.
“In typical
American form, the Democrats blamed the Republicans and the Republicans heaped
the blame on the Democrats. In truth,
the blame was uniformly distributed among both parties and the general
aggravation the American people had come to feel with their two-party
system. After each party had made it
clear in both action and word that the country was being held hostage in their
attempt to undermine the other side, Americans turned out in record numbers to
vote in the 2016 elections. In the end,
the division of the parties brought the greatest unity of Americans in
history. Every available office was
emptied and replaced by independents.
“Following
his election, President Omar Wells encouraged the American people to keep up
the momentum and unity. Two years later,
the remaining Republicans and Democrats were voted out of office and the government
was being run one-hundred percent by independents. President Wells congratulated the country on
having spoken so clearly. Within Wells’
first term, the deficit was cut in half, unemployment was at a record low, and
America was again an economic giant.
With such raging success and approval, it was no surprise when Wells ran
unopposed for his second term. That was
when the true, radical nature of the new government came to light, although, still
with the approval of the American public.
“President
Wells set his sights on crime and morality.
He argued that what he was seeking was not a Christian moral to run the
country, but a general set of rights and wrongs that any logical and
civic-minded person could abide by. In
order to enforce this morality, he pointed to countries with low crime rates
such as China and India. He argued that
the reason that they held such low crime rates was the severity of their penal
system. He further argued that by
stiffening all penalties and eliminating the majority of prison sentences,
Americans could shut down three-fourths of the prisons in the country and
further boost other areas of public welfare instead of coddling those who would
seek to undermine the peace and tranquility of American life. Thus, the Code of Wells was established, much
like the Code of Hammurabi in previous centuries.
“Penalties
were strict and swift, following a similar philosophy of times past of an eye
for an eye. Thieves had their hand cut
off. Murderers were put to death. Rapists and child molesters were operated
upon to make any sex impossible in the future.
Repeated offenders faced harsher penalties and committing a crime for a
third time almost always resulted in death.
Crime rates plummeted and the country continued to prosper and
flourish. Then came the last major
occurrences that allowed for the system in place today.
“The
American people loved their president.
In his seventh year in office, petitions began to flood the capital and
calls and letters were sent in record numbers to representatives. The American people wanted to be able to keep
the leader that had turned the country around.
Thus, the Twenty-Eighth Amendment was passed, abolishing term limits on
a person in the office of the president.
In return, the candidate would have to obtain 80% of the popular vote in
order to remain in office past two terms.
A long series of guidelines was put in place to address the fine print,
but, in the end, none of the extra rules mattered. Wells received 92 percent of the popular vote
and remained in office for his third term.
With this unprecedentedly high approval, Wells introduced and pushed
through the most extreme attempt to eliminate crime that had ever been seen.
“The logic
was that if harsh penalties, including extensive use of the death penalty, were
not completely providing a deterrent for all violent crime, perhaps a more
unconventional method of execution was called for in order to scare off
possible offenders. The idea was
supported by the public and other politicians.
This just left the challenge of determining what would work when the
threat of death was not sufficient. The
solution seemed to come out of nowhere.
“I received
my first phone call from the president at 11 pm on December 17th,
2023. To say that I was surprised at the
call was an understatement. I had no
political connections at the time nor had I ever sought out any kind of
position within the government. I simply
wanted to proceed with my own business and stay as far under the radar as possible. The president and his followers may have
claimed to not follow any particular creed, but history had shown that those
who sought a widespread code of morality often frowned upon people such as
myself and the business which I conducted.
My business was simple, I contacted the dead.
“You could
call me a psychic or a medium, it doesn’t really matter to me. My trade is an ancient branch of alchemy that
allowed me to make contact with beings in other spiritual dimensions. My work is a science and I am an expert in
utilizing that science. Even as an
expert, however, things would sometimes get out of hand and I had some close
brushes with things that were likely never human. Apparently, this was what had drawn the
attention of the president.
“’Is this
Jacob Swift?’ a deep voice asked from across the phone lines.
“’That
depends on who is asking,’ I replied.
One of the biggest problems I ran into in my line of business was the
people who had seen too many movies and thought that I was someone who could
easily make dead relatives spill the secrets of where they had left their
buried valuables or provide some kind of other world knowledge. The truth was that I guided disembodied
spirits into new vessels from which they could sometimes communicate or act
using the body of the host if they so choose.
“I see your
looks of skepticism at this last part.
Some of you even seemed horrified at the idea that I am presenting. Let me assure you that I am not talking about
facilitating possessions. I never used
humans as hosts. I always used animals
and even then major precautions were taken to ensure that the spirit was not
given too much power or the chance to transfer bodies.
“I followed
certain self-imposed guidelines, because it is nothing like the movies. If the receiving host is a higher-order
being, such as a human, they must be willing.
They must open themselves to the spirit in order to become the new
host. Also, there are certain words and
phrases that must be spoken precisely. So,
as you can see, there were multiple layers of protection and caution applied to
my trade. Often, the people I worked
with had no interest in talking to the spirits, but wanted their help in some
way. Some even wanted to extract a
revenge of sorts.
“Now, you
can look at me like that all you want. I
see some of you are even consulting each other and perhaps you are discussing
if I should be punished for my prior crimes.
You can be appalled by me and you can wish for retribution on behalf of
my ‘victims’ all you want. One of the
first things I made sure were in the agreement between the president and myself
was that I was to be exonerated of all previous crimes that may come to light
in the course of my working for the government as the new head
necromancer.
“Yes, Mr.
Speaker, I will get back to the story at hand.
So, to cut to the chase, the president convinced me that he was who he
claimed to be and he asked me to come to the White House to speak with him. He told me that he was aware of my line of
work and might have some need for my services.
He also assured me on the spot that I would be exonerated of all
potential crimes related to my business simply for meeting with him. How could I refuse?
“I arrived
at the White House and was escorted in after passing through a number of
security checks. I entered the office a
little tentatively. I have never really
been one to get all starry eyed at the idea of meeting someone famous, but I had
a lot of respect for President Wells and the work he had been doing for this
country. I’m sure that men and women in
your positions have been in the same room as the president. You know that he is a large and imposing man. He exudes the essence of power and
strength. It’s no wonder he has stayed
in power as long as he has. I wasn’t
sure what to say or what kind of proposal he could possibly have for me, but
the man did not allow dust to settle in the room before getting right to the
point.
“The
president quickly stood up when he saw me enter the room. His 6’4”, large frame seemed to tower above
me as he took his large strides to where I stood and engulfed my hand in
his.
“’Thank you
for coming on such short notice, Mr. Swift,’ President Wells sounded like he
truly did appreciate my presence.
“’Well, you
did make me an offer that would be hard to turn down,’ I had a small grin on my
face as I spoke. I think I was still in
the process of fully taking in and appreciating his stature.
“’I don’t
allow the office to go to my head,’ he said as if he owed me an
explanation. ‘I would never expect
people to come running just because of my position. If I want something from someone, I try to
make sure that the deal is always very two-sided.’ He took a folded piece of paper out of his inner
jacket pocket and handed it to me. ‘Just
as promised. This pardons you from any
crimes that may have been committed in the discharge of your business. That includes crimes that are not currently
recognized by our legal system, but could be if the nature of your profession
were to come to light.’
“I looked
over the paper and was amazed at how air tight it appeared. I am not a lawyer but it seemed pretty solid. I carefully folded the paper and placed it in
my own jacket pocket. ‘What can I do for
you, sir?’
“The
president walked over to his desk and pulled two chairs in across from each
other. He motioned for me to take a seat
as he sat down himself. I sat down and
waited to hear the proposal that would change my life and ultimately lead us to
where we are today. The president
crossed his leg and leaned over as if he were about to share some huge secret
with me.
“’Mr. Swift,
how familiar are you with my new initiatives on crime?’
“’I know as
much as any other citizen,’ I searched my mind for everything I knew about the
president and his initiatives. I laid
out what I knew and he shook his head as I spoke, acknowledging that I had the
general ideas right at least. I followed
up with the question that probably was on most American’s minds every time the
president spoke of harsher determents. ‘What
kind of punishments could possibly be put in place that would be any greater of
a threat to potential criminals then what you have already enacted?’
“’That’s
where you come in, Mr. Swift.’ The president
sat back and considered his words carefully.
‘Many of my opponents on this matter have stated that they don’t see any
earthly punishment that could serve as a bigger crime deterrent then those we
already use. What I want is a punishment
not of this Earth.’
“I stared at
him incredulously for a moment. I
couldn’t believe that he could possibly be suggesting what it sounded
like. ‘Are you saying, you want to use
spirits to somehow punish convicted criminals?’
There was a
spark in his eyes as he looked at me and I quickly realized this was exactly
what he had in mind in some manner. ‘Close,
but not quite, Mr. Swift. I want the
souls of the victims to be able to exact their own revenge.’
“’Mr.
President, are you sure this could ever be something America would embrace?’
“’I think at
this point, America will embrace anything that makes them safer. We are getting very close to living in a
country where people no longer have the need to lock their doors at night. I believe we are almost there, but we have
exhausted all traditional methods to reach this goal. I think the answer is to accept what would
have been previously considered unspeakable.’
“’You
realize that what I do comes with risks, Mr. President?’ I wasn’t sure that the President realized
exactly what he was asking of me. ‘I
can’t always guarantee that the spirit I want is the one that comes. Not to mention the fact that sometimes the
things that show up were never human to begin with. Most people would refer to these spirits as
demons and they can be very difficult to handle without the proper
precautions.’
“’But you
currently do just that, don’t you?’
“’Yes, but I
do it so infrequently that the risk is minimized. I believe that the more my skills are used
the more likely for something to go wrong.’
“’I trust
that you could put the proper precautions in place. You also need to realize that this is to
serve as a deterrent. If my plan is
effective, we won’t be using it that much.
Your skills could also be used to help us solve crimes that are unable
to be resolved through traditional means.
This could be the final nail in the coffin of the criminal element in
this country. You could be a part of
history, Mr. Swift.’
“I thought
about it. I should have thought longer
and more critically. I respected President
Wells and allowed that to cloud my judgment.
I justified my decision to myself by rationalizing that he would have to
get this plan approved by Congress as well so it was not my decision alone that
would put this into motion. In truth,
the idea of having my previously hidden talents not only legitimized, but put
into a high ranking government office was all that really mattered to me. The rest, as you know, is history.
“The
president was easily able to get the bill passed through Congress and with a
swiftness that surprised even his greatest supporters, the Division of the
Necromancer was developed and placed within the structure of the Department of
Justice. I was named the first Chief
Necromancer by the president. My first
task was to recruit and train additional necromancers. The job proved easier than I had
expected. It turned out that there were
quite a few people around the country that had been trying to make a living
with our unusual brand of science and they were more than eager to have a paid,
government position within which to ply their trade.
“I worked
out a strict set of procedures and policies under which all necromancers were
to always act and perform their duties.
I put in place every safeguard I could conceive while allowing the
flexibility I needed to adjust those precautions as the necessity arose. My people were trained extensively on how to
distinguish desired spirits from unintentional other-world specters. These “demons” to use the popular term, were
coined UOWS and a single misidentification could be enough to cost a
necromancer his or her position. In
addition, before utilizing any host, we always removed the animal’s tongue to
ensure that it was unable to speak should a UOWS be summoned. After all, what person would be more willing
to be host to a spirit then someone sentenced to a gruesome death?
“The first
criminal to receive the new death penalty was Torrance Floyd. Floyd, you might remember, murdered a family
of six in the most brutal of fashions, dismembering each of the children while
the parents watched and then hanging the parents over the pile of their
children’s remains. Part of the penalty
was that the nearest living relative of the victim or victims would be given
the choice of what animal they wanted to be used as a host and carry out the
execution. The grandmother of the
children was a most unforgiving type and chose sharks. A huge tank was constructed and filled with water. I saw to that summoning directly. One tiger shark was used for each of the
victims and the killer was torn limb from limb, experiencing a most
excruciating death. The president could
not have been more pleased.
“All was
going well. As Chief Necromancer, I had
a lot of duties to see to, including collaboration with local, state, and
federal law enforcement agencies that requested our services. As such, I found myself delegating more and
more of the work to my necromancers.
After two years, our work was becoming routine. As you may know, when things become routine,
they lose the sense of fear and urgency when it comes to the cautious discharge
of the procedure. To put it simply,
people get sloppy.
“Our current
situation was due to the execution of a man named James Worth. He had kidnapped, raped, and murdered the
wife of a prominent local businessman.
The crime was all that appeared in the news for months. Such a brutal crime had not been seen in many
years. Three necromancers were helping
the local police to try to identify the perpetrator. Right as I was about to get directly
involved, they finally identified, located, and arrested Worth. I assigned a necromancer to the execution and
considered the issue resolved. I wish I
had paid more personal attention to the case.
Perhaps if I had, none of this would have ever happened.
“The businessman
selected for Worth to be executed by a wolf.
I won’t reveal the necromancer’s name except by direct order of the
president. You can argue all you want,
anonymity has always been the right of a U.S. Necromancer. For the sake of simplicity, I’ll call her
Kathy. Kathy filled out her paperwork
per regulation. She made the proper
preparations right up to the point where she was supposed to either remove the
animal’s vocal chords or cut out its tongue.
Somehow, she neglected this part and that is where the trouble began.
“Worth was
chained to a cell wall and Kathy led the wolf in and started the ritual. From what I understand, it was a beauty of a
creature. It was large and intimidating,
of great strength and health. Kathy
performed the ritual flawlessly and then made her second fatal mistake, she
forgot to check the eyes.
“When an
animal is taken as a host by a formerly human spirit, it maintains its eye
color. Animals who have been overtaken
by a UOWS will periodically have a flash come over their eyes. It always happens at least once in the first
five minutes of the host-spirit bonding, but can easily be missed if one is not
looking for it specifically. A
necromancer is supposed to watch the animal’s eyes for at least five minutes
without breaking contact to ensure they don’t observe this phenomenon. If they do, they instantly perform a counter
binding, expel the spirit and kill the animal.
Kathy failed to watch for this and so she didn’t see the flash that must
have passed over the creature’s eyes.
She left the room, sealed it behind her, and walked away. Strike three.
You never leave the area until the criminal is confirmed dead by
life-detecting sensors in the room.
“From what
we can gather from video taken in the room, the interaction began quickly. Worth waited for the wolf to come for
him. He was resigned to his fate and was
going to go out with dignity. I imagine
the minutes must have drawn out and seemed to last forever. Finally, he addressed the wolf.
“’Are you
going to kill me or what?’ Worth asked
with a hint of humor in his voice. His
smirk quickly changed to a look of shock when the wolf responded.
“’I wasn’t
really planning on it.’ The wolf
spoke. More accurately, the UOWS inside
the wolf spoke. ‘In fact, I think we can
help each other.’
“If Worth
was shocked that he was having a conversation with an animal hosting a spirit,
his surprise didn’t last long. Worth was
an opportunist, and he saw a situation had begun to unfold that he could use to
his advantage.
“’What do
you want from me?’
“’I want a
new host.’ The creature responded. ‘I want to stay here and live out my
existence. Just like you.’
“’So, why
not stay in the wolf? You could attack
anyone who comes through that door, couldn’t you?’
“’I’d rather
not exist in such a primitive form. You
would be a good host. We could do much
together. I can see into your mind and
soul. There is a darkness in you that would
fit well with my desires.’
“’What does
it matter? They’ll just kill us both the
moment they realize what is going on.’
“’The humans
are distracted. If you allow me, I can
enter you and we can break out before they know what happened.’
“Worth
considered the offer for a moment. There
was no real precedent for this kind of situation, so he didn’t really know what
it would be like to be a host. In the
end, he must have seen no alternative.
“’Do it.’ That was all the creature needed. There was a bright flash and a surge that
permeated the air as if a lightning bolt had struck directly in the room. A moment later, Worth snapped his chains,
stood up, and flung a piece at the camera, knocking out our video feed. The rest is tragic history.
“As you are
aware, Worth got out of the facility, slaughtering everyone in his path. Not a single person, including my necromancer
survived. Over the next week, Worth went
underground. He could not be found anywhere. The only sign of him was the trail of bodies
he left in his wake. More disturbing,
however, was the huge spike in the number of disappearances in the area.
“We believe that Worth, via the thing
that had taken control of him, began to channel more UOWS into the world and
into hosts. We don’t know how he
convinces people to agree to be a host, but we have seen a rash of brutal
murders spread throughout the country in the last two weeks. That is what brings me here. The president believes that a full-scale
mobilization of the military, aided by every necromancer in the government’s
employ, must be dispatched immediately to deal with this threat. We believe that if this is not stopped, it
could spread outside of our borders and become a threat to humanity as a
whole. In short, gentlemen, we could be
looking at an extinction event if we do not take action now.”
---
The Chief Necromancer sat back into
his seat and took a deep breath. He felt
he had explained the severity of the situation to the point where they would
have to take him seriously and approve the action the president was
recommending. The Speaker of the House
leaned forward.
“Thank you, Mr. Swift,” the old man
spoke clearly so not a syllable was missed.
“We will take your thoughts and the desires of the president in mind as
we deliberate what to do.”
“I don’t think you understand,” Swift
insisted vehemently. “There is no time
to waste. We have to act now!”
“Thank you, Mr. Swift. We will be as quick, yet thorough in our
deliberations as we can.” As the speaker
of the house leaned back into his chair, Swift caught a glance of something
that told him everything he needed to know about the situation.
He knew that no matter what they did,
it was already too late. The outbreak
would continue until humanity fell. He
could see that in the speaker’s eyes.
The eyes that flashed.
Now, I did not experience the main draw, meeting Bruce Campbell, but I do know that Horrorhound utilized a ticket system to ensure that people did not have to stand in line all day. The lines utilized roped off ques and overflow areas, which made it run much smoother then in previous years where lines had to be continuously moved to avoid blocking key areas and creating fire hazards. I met three of the attending celebrities and had great experiences with each one of them. 
