The Divinity Read online

  The Divinity

  Chloe Ellison

  The Divinity

  Chloe Ellison

  All Rights Reserved ©2019 Chloe Ellison. First Printing: 2019.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Author's Note: All characters in this story are fictional, and 18 years of age and older.

  DIVINITY LOG: Max Speer

  LOG Entry 1

  07/17/2017

  My name is Max Speer and I’m an operative for an off the books program called Project Divinity. My spot in the program was secured through energetic readings as a child , and through subsequent training and tests that followed me through my life. This went on without my knowledge, or the knowledge of my parents. There were approximately 144,000 participants in the program, all subjected to various types of manipulation, training and aptitude tests, always set up by other agents or operatives involved in the training aspect of Divinity. As of this writing, only 42 subjects have completed the training and graduated to actual field work. Thousands more have been terminated, removed from the program without ever knowing they were involved in the first place.

  Random opportunities would present themselves to me growing up, things like a world class muay Thai coach opening a gym down the street from my house. My high school wrestling coach was an Olympian who took over the team the year I joined it. He moved into the area randomly. None of this was any more than coincidence in my eyes. At the time. These types of coincidences abound, from jobs, to girlfriends, to narrow escapes with the law in my moments of lesser judgement. There was a lot of effort put into keeping me out of trouble.

  My performance was being graded all the time, and I would remain in pre-training mode until I transcended the training program. What that required was obtaining certain skills, based on my aptitudes, and then I'd be told of my involvement in the unit. Meeting God in the middle as the powers that be call it, and then receiving divination from above.

  A free death! New name, social, address, job, clothes, all the stuff a proper spy might need. Getting to that point took me 28 years, a painful process that I'm proud to say I've completed successfully. Some agents are officially still alive, and can see their families and friends on a semi regular basis. The resr of us are no longer considered living.

  Once that was out of the way, the real game could begin. Mission readiness training.

  I’ll expand and detail my progress through initial training, all the fun stuff, as I move through the log.

  This is Max Speer, the Heart Warrior,

  over and out.

  DIVINITY LOG: Max Speer

  LOG Entry 2

  07/18/2017

  Back to my story. This is my first official month in the unit, my 30 day anniversary was yesterday, hence the start of my log, a project undertaken by every rightfully divined agent. That still feels good to say. The best of the worst. Satan's Rascals. My spot is secure unless I blow it, but I’m still the new guy.

  Since my preliminary training has been completed, I've now moved to the mission training portion of the program. My mission aptitude is off the charts, as one of three currently surviving agents qualified to take on risk level 10 missions, those with a high risk of death.

  My trainer is agent Kynsey Brixley. We’d met before on the civilian side of things. It's actually common practice for potential agents to be paired up and placed in scenarios where they are likely to meet. Various technologies are used to ensure interaction. Potential agents, including those who never qualify for divination, are given genetic upgrades electromagnetically. These upgrades depend on the specific agents makeup, but their acquisition make agents distinctly different from regular people. It's in the DNA, our blood, and in our brain waves.

  When agents meet, they are drawn to each other. It's crazy really, and oftentimes agents will enter romantic relationships during preliminary training, only to later find out that they are both agents. In worst cases, only one passes preliminary training, and the remaining partner is left to fend for themselves. In special cases, the “awakened” partner can be used to fast track the preliminary training of the other.

  That's the situation that occurred between Kynsey and I. Potential agents are time coded, meaning they’ve been mapped out and there are mathematical algorithms that determine with decent accuracy when each potential agent will become ready for divination. We are also blasted with focused radio waves that crank up parts of our brain. That said, certain barriers can drastically alter these times lines. Things like addiction (common in agents), trauma, trouble with the law, general laziness, bad life choices, etc…

  My original divination date was set for 2011, when I was 22. I had fourteen other dates set, and finally transcended officially in June of 2017.We all have our demons, and mine were old friends that kept me from the promised land. Kynsey had an original divination date of June 2017, but woke early, in February of 2016. So she beat me by a long shot. Whatever, it would have been a whole lot easier if I knew what I was getting ready for, or even that I was getting ready for anything at all.

  We met for the first time in 2010. The idea, from the perspective of Project Divinity, was to have me act as head trainer for Kynsey, and to fast track her after I woke. This was based on a mixture of our genetic compatibility, and our specific gifts in terms of aptitudes. My training was right on track at the time, and would fall off the rails in the years following our chance meeting.

  I have to write in this thing daily, it's part of my therapy program. Not big on the idea of therapy, but I know I'm fucked up. If it's just writing out my story, and my issues around Agent Brixley, it’s no big deal.

  Speaking of which, Kynsey Broxley is a ridiculous name even for the Divinity program. I know her old one, the one she rocked as a civilian. Anyway, back to actual training. Stand strong and rock on. Agent Max Speer, out!

  DIVINITY LOG: Max Speer

  LOG Entry 3

  07/19/2017

  Things are picking up quick, and I can’t believe the complexity of this program. I also kinda dig the way things are structured internally, something I don’t think I’ve ever said before about any sort of organization. Agents choose their own missions, period. If you are qualified and want to take it on, it’s yours if you say the word and complete the training. No so called superiors to hold you back from what is rightfully yours. I’m excited to begin knocking out missions, and securing my spot as the most decorated agent in the unit. The most beautiful angel, if you will.

  I’ve been assigned to Five Team, consisting of two other agents, and two team leaders. Agent Kynsey Brixley, Agent Randall Koch(another risk 10 guy, I like him already), and team leaders Barthelemy Ewing, and Lucinda Winters. Our team therapist is called Mama Maryam. She’s sexy, curly haired and ample breasted. If I am going to talk about my feelings with someone, it might as well be her. Sweet too, if not a bit on the woo side of spirituality. She has requested that I use these early log entries to fully update my past with Agent Brixley from my perspective, a task I am told she has already completed. Can’t wait to see how irrational her side of the story is, while I will attempt to present nothing other than objective facts in my account of the raw deal I was handed by “Kynsey”.

  Back to the year 2010. Yours truly was widely considered the top amateur mixed martial arts prospect in the country. My record was 17-0, and I was competing in a title fight against an undefeated opponent to close out my amateur career, with the plan of turning professional following the fight.

  Kynsey was arranged to be t
here, at the fights without any knowledge that she was there to see me perform. It was her first time attending fights as a spectator, brought along by her retired military father and his close friend. At the time, she was a brace faced, flat chested, knobby kneed 16 year old. Needless to say, I didn't notice a random teenage girl in the crowd, but she noticed me.

  The fight was a route, my best performance at the time. After a methodical beat down, I finished the fight late in the second round with a head kick knockout. The crowd went crazy, and so did I. They suspend amateur fighters for climbing the cage, but since it was my last one, I hopped on top of it for a little post fight flexing. All in good fun.

  After the fight, I have two Bud Lights in hand, and guess who walks up with something to say? A tiny little blonde with a squeaky voice. She didn't go by Kynsey back then, but for the sake of the story.

  Anyway, I was shirtless and high on the adrenaline rush of having nearly decapitated another man in competition. She was fully clothed, high on the endorphins of standing a little too close. Hard to recall what all was said, but we parted ways after having exchanged numbers.

  Before the judgements get going, two things. Yes, I was and am very cocky. No apologies. And yes, I was 21 and she was 16. I already told you that agents are unnaturally drawn to each other, and it was only a phone number. Before I wrap this up, let me also add that she seemed quite taken with me. Googly eyed would be the best description, let the record state. My minimum writing time is up, I'll pick back up tomorrow.

  DIVINITY LOG: Max Speer

  LOG Entry 4

  07/20/2017

  Where was I? Oh yes, my first meeting with Brixley. Also, coincidentally, about the time my own training took a downfall. Correlation isn't causation, I know this well. I also stand by the mantra that where there’s smoke, there’s fire. You draw your own conclusions.

  I'll be honest. As much as I don't care for Ms. Brixley these days, she was a breath of fresh air when I first met her. You've got to understand, isolation is a major part of being in this program. When your IQ is 30 points or more outside of the standard deviation, you have extra DNA strands turned on that enhance perception, and your energy levels remain fixed in mania like states of Euphoria daily, it isn't easy finding others that click with you. Before I met Kynsey, I didn't know the difference. That's simply how other people were to me, so when we hit it off, it was unlike anything I'd ever experienced.

  In the program, they call it the love bite. When compatible agents come in contact, there's often no separating them. The problem? She lived halfway across the country, and had been visiting her father in Kentucky when my fight took place. So as quick as she had appeared, she disappeared. My introduction to magic, and I didn't like it one bit.

  We stayed in contact, texting back and forth at all hours. We had similar non sleep patterns, a feature of having your brain fully mapped out by the Divinity program. They like to target potential agents at night, using radio waves to crank us up so that we can't sleep. It's all training, for sleep deprivation, focus, and to teach us how to be efficient with our time. No matter how uncomfortable it is.

  Kynsey resonated with me, and I hung on her every word. She was perfect. A flashlight of wonder that banged her drum 24 hours a day, just like me. We spoke about symbols, mythology, sound, light, and whatever else struck our wonder gong. Plans for the future. The mysteries in life we were both so drawn to.

  “What do you think happens when you die?” or “Do you believe in God?” and we never cared about the finality of the answers, of the beliefs themselves. It was more about the whys and hows, the juicy stuff. Rehashing the same ideas was never a problem, because it was always novel. We talked about what we saw as important. As much as I liked to hear myself talk, she seemed to enjoy it more. The first girl who saw me, really saw me. And I saw her too. I couldn't stop staring.

  The years passed by, and we always stayed in touch. No matter how many times I changed my phone number, or switched girlfriends, or cities and states, I always had her digits. I swear I could feel her sometimes, and she always seemed to text me when I needed to hear from her most. Her words were like cool water on a hot day, reminding me that not all hope was lost. There were cool girls out there! If only I could find one like her.

  Things heated up when she turned 18. I could legally receive sext messages from her phone, and the sight of her body squeezed into a selfie was always more than enough to make me howl up at the moon, the sun, or whatever happened to be above me in the sky at the time.

  During this period, I had picked up some extra curricular habits that I didn't have when we first met. Cigarettes, chewing tobacco, alcohol, Marijuana, magic mushrooms, and LSD. Dropped mostly out of the gym, although I'd make an occasional appearance when I had a fight coming up. Professional prize fighting is a harsh game, tougher still when you show up on fight day hung over and out of shape. I managed to be moderately competitive despite this, stealing fights here and there, but my record and status as a serious contender took some major hits. So did I. Not that I cared, it paid the bills while I lived the hippie life, couch surfing across the country one city at a time.

  My focus was learning the system, how it worked and why we used it. My favorites were clinical psychology, behaviorism, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, and conspiracy. I couldn't stop studying, and I couldn't take life seriously. My unofficial diagnoses was part ADD, part alcoholism, and a serious case of apathy. My middle finger was stuck, and fuck it was my favorite line.

  On her side of life, things were brighter. She held down steady jobs, received zero brain damage in her chosen professions, and continued to check items off her list of required training. I’d all but dropped out of the program, and kept my demons hidden from others and mostly from myself. I was capable enough to slide by without effort, even if it was by the skin of my teeth.

  Near the end of 2015, being away from Agent Brixley had become too much for me. After exiting an Ill fated relationship, and while peaking on two hits of LSD, I finally professed my love for her via text message. Classy, I know. There was nothing I could do, the love bite had sank its teeth deep, and my serotonin was through the roof. Plus, every word was true. I still have the conversation, I'll dig it up for tomorrow's entry.

  Max Speer

  DIVINITY Log: Kynsey Brixley

  LOG Entry 412

  07/21/2017

  I can't believe I have to do this again. I've already written about our past, but Mama Maryam suggests I use today’s entry to go over details about Agent Speer and I. I fully trust Mama Maryam, but this is old news for me. My suggestion was to put Max and I on different teams, so we could avoid potential drama and therapy, yet here we are. Teams are put together via complex algorithms involving compatibility scores for missions, which I get, but with plenty of other agents available for trades, I don't understand the program's decision to keep us together. I think they actually enjoy triggering us.

  Considering that these logs may be referenced in our upcoming couple therapy session, a term I despise considering I wouldn't be caught dead in a relationship with Agent Speer, I will do my best to thoroughly voice my concerns. Here goes.

  First things first, he blames me for everything, and I think he is emotionally compromised past the point where he can view things objectively. I also believe he is jealous that I completed my pre-training before he did, and has convinced himself that i am currently involved in a romantic relationship with Agent Rocko Matias. This is not a misconception that I feel any need to correct, considering the immense dissatisfaction it is causing him.

  While I have no current qualms with Agent Speer, I do see him as a reckless liability, one with high potential for completing risk ten missions, but who also carries an almost guaranteed future death sentence. This observation is based on in depth review of his training file, previous knowledge of Agent Speer in his civilian life, and seems to be shared by most, if not all of the other agents in Project Divinity.

  To corrobo
rate this testimony as evidence, which Agent Speer will surely demand regarding this assertion, I reference an office pool, the first of its kind, about this very issue. A simple over under, on how many years years he will survive, and how many risk ten missions he will complete. This pool was not my idea, but considering my extensive knowledge regarding his past I would have felt remiss not to take advantage of such easy money. My prediction regarding his fate is one based entirely on objective reasoning, and in no way reflects my personal preferences. Agent Speer is cocky, delusional, and has been a major thorn in my side since his divination process took place. That said, I do not want him to die, and I do not want us to fail a high risk mission because of his inability to properly assess risk. Now that the disclaimer is out of the way, I chose the under on one year, and gave him the benefit of the doubt on completing one risk ten mission.

  Considering the difficulty of ten missions, and Agent Speers’ likelihood of accepting such a mission before he is truly ready, I’m still not optimistic about his ability to make it through one alive. As his head trainer, I will do all I can to ensure his ready status on any mission he should choose to accept. I'm betting on my ability as a trainer, not his as an agent.

  That is my honest overview on Agent Speer, and I feel that it does more than suffice what is required on my part to address in this log, but I will go a step further, to counter the vitriol he is likely to spread regarding our past.