Heaven

Meanwhile in Heaven, the Archangel Michael paced back and forth in his office, stewing over recent events. He was anxiously awaiting the return of three of his Host and the information that would provide him with.

In Heaven, a Host was group of angels who worked for an Archangel. They varied in number, abilities, and tasks. In fact, most Archangels divided the members of their Host into different categories based on their functions and needs.

Angels and Demons were created for different purposes, and none strayed from that path. For example, lust Demons never tried to become wrath Demons and Seraphim never tried to become Archangels. Everyone performed the task they were created for and never even considered doing something else. In fact, some Angels ceased to exist once they completed the task they were created for.

In this way too, there were different ranks. Heaven had a particularly rigid caste system in which an Angel was created as a particular class and never promoted above it. Occasionally, however, an Angel could be demoted to a lesser caste, but that was rare.

Demons, he assumed, worked the same way. He'd never given it much thought. But in his centuries of existence, he'd only encountered a few Archdemons, and they were always the same ones, so he felt secure in his assumption.

But something had changed recently. A System had been created that could allow a Demon to gain knowledge, skills, and abilities. They could actually evolve into more powerful Demons. This did not bode well for maintaining peace between the Realms.

A knock on his door, broke him out of his reverie.

"Report!" barked the Archangel Michael as the lesser Angels entered. He had no time for formalities or pleasantries.

The three lower angels shuffled nervously and looked at their feet.

"You failed, then." Michael said. It was not a question, but a statement of fact.

"Yes, Sir." They admitted in unison.

"The Imp escaped" Micah admitted.

"And the System?" Michael demanded.

"It is gone as well. However, it does not appear that the Imp took it." Said Malachi.

"Really?" Michael was surprised by this development. He knew the Imp had been sent specifically to acquire the system and return it to its original developer.

"So, where is the system?" Michael asked, swiftly losing patience with this trio of incompetent angels. No wonder they were still at such a low rank.

"Gone" Nicodemus shrugged.

"I know that!" Michael exploded.

"Where in Heaven did go? And how?" Michael bellowed.

Nicodemus bit his lip and seemed unwilling to answer.

"Spill it, Cherub." Michael spat using the demeaning term for lower angels.

Nicodemus flinched at the insult, but still hesitated to answer.

Michael grabbed him by the throat and leaned towards him menacingly "Tell me what you know, or you will be Banished." He threatened.

The threat worked. The ultimate punishment for an Angel was to become one of the Fallen and banished to the mortal realm.

Of course, the original Fallen Angels had chosen to Fall. And many of them became Demons. As Demons, they became powerful eternal adversaries of the Angels.

But those who did not choose to Fall – i.e., those who were Banished – would lose their powers, and forever be denied entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven. Most of them became homeless addicts forever chasing a taste of Paradise. Then, after a long miserable existence, they would die in despair, their souls dissipating into Nothingness. It was an eternal death that no one wanted.

"I don't know much about it." He said. "But the system has become…" he struggled over the exact words "sentient and self-aware."

"Systems are" he scoffed.

"Yes, but…" he sighed. "I mean…the system escaped on its own."

"How is that possible?" Michael roared.

"I don't know." Nicodemus admitted. "I didn't think it was possible."

"It's obvious you don't know much" Michael said sarcastically.

Michael was incensed. How did he get saddled with these useless creatures? He couldn't even call them Angels.

He turned to the 3 trembling young Angels. "Dismissed, Cherubs! Get out of my sight and don't come back."

The three nodded their heads and escaped to their cloistered cells as quickly as they could still chafing at the insult of being called Cherubs.

To humans, Cherubs were cute plump little naked babies or toddlers that flew around getting into mischief. In Italian Renaissance art, they were always depicted as chubby boys and often portrayed as peeing on things. Called putto, they were even carved as 'peeing' fountains where the water flowed through the statues of putti and came out through their hollow penises.

They were popular in art depicting classical mythology. At some point, they became conflated with the Roman God Cupid, who was himself based on the Greek God son named Eros, who was the son of the Goddess of Love, Aphrodite. As 'cupids' they wore diapers and shot people with arrows causing them to fall in love.

It had nothing to do with the ideas of Christianity, yet they became symbols of innocence in Christian iconography as well – at least to human artists. Some theologians even described them as the second-highest rank in the celestial hierarchy.

But in Heaven, Cherubs were little more than amorphous blobs who had no powers, no intelligence, and no will of their own. It was like being called a soap bubble.

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Michael sat at his desk and pondered what he'd just learned. Admittedly, it wasn't much but it was also very important. Not that he'd tell that idiot Nicodemus that he actually had provided some useful information.

The Demon System being self-aware enough to escape from Heaven itself, was a development that no one had foreseen. They were still struggling with how the System came into existence in the first place.

If a human could acquire it and become an Archdemon, theoretically one powerful enough to challenge the King of Hell himself, it could irrevocably change the Three Realms.

Things had been relatively calm for centuries between the Realms. The Demons gained a few souls, then the Angels won them back for God. They went back and forth in this way incessantly, always seeming to maintain the status quo.

Truth be told, many Demons and Angels wanted to maintain the balance between their Realms. They were tired of endless War and simply wanted to enjoy their existence. Of course, no Angel would ever admit that aloud.

But this System 666 had the power to change all of that. Therefore, it needed to be recovered and destroyed at all costs.