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CHAPTER 24 The Aftermath
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Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods PROLOGUE
“When the tiniest of infractions, like an unintentional death of a butterfly, could then snowball into drastic changes in history.” – Ray Bradbury, on the Butterfly Effect The Philippines have become a different place. Its history had jumped off a cliff and landed belly-flop onto a pool of peculiar circumstances. From this arose something out of the ordinary and remarkable. It is a weird thing, like a primordial creature with newly evolved limbs, surfacing out from some prehistoric swamp bringing forth strange life. It is something that grasps our imagination and unsettles our core beliefs. An unknown being of a trickster nature and whose motivations are as mystifying as itself resolved to change a particular incident in the country’s established history. At first glance, the incident in question looked unimportant to the ordinary onlooker but proved consequential in the great scheme of things. It was a seemingly ordinary and distinct event, which turned out to be significant in est
Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 1 Zeke
Another Day, Same ShitZeke pressed the mute button on the Avaya phone and cursed in silence. Fuck. I hate this job.He remembered what his trainer had said to smile always. It would come across the opposite end of the phone. At first, he thought about how ludicrous it sounded and how silly he'd look, smiling by himself while talking on the phone. However, he realized that—once he finished the two-month training and took calls—his whole temperament would change once he did it. It made a difference and affected the whole call flow. So he took a deep breath, exhaled, smiled his creepy jack o' lantern smile, and unmuted the Avaya."Thanks for staying on the line Mr. Grass. Is it Mr. Grass again—?""GLASS. G-L-A-S-S, you dumb shit. Grass is for cows. Wait a minute. Am I speaking to an American? Because you don't sound like one. You sound like a talking monkey.""Mr. Glass let me assure you, I am an American. Now about the reason for your call, you mentioned about a charge on your bill tha
Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 2 Secretary Jorge La Selva
Dealing With the New SecretaryThe Head of the Department of Waste Management had a big head—literally and figuratively—for such a shitty department (pun intended). He was a recent hire direct from the Mother Country, so along with him was a lot of baggage.His name was Jorge La Selva. His last name meant "jungle" in Spanish and was rather suitable since he always acted like he came from one and he was its king. He also had one of those big Hollywood actor heads like Ben Affleck, which looked handsome across the movie screens but was a humongous meathead in real life. Furthermore, he was a giant pain in the ass for everyone especially for the Chief of Staff Church, since it was part of his job to monitor all departments and department heads in the Colony.Then newly appointed Secretary was brought in supposedly to fix the ills and deficiencies of the department, which mostly came from the insurmountable garbage that the Colony pooped out daily. He was facing a lot of administrative cr
Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 3 Jennifer, Formerly John
What She Was BeforeJennifer's old name was John. He led a very different life as a man in the Mother Country. At that time, he was an embassy diplomat who assisted ambassadors and politicians from different Colonies and countries. It was his official job. Unofficially, he was a top-secret government assassin, code-named John Bedlam: agent of chaos.He racked up thirty-one confirmed kills in his whole career before the so-called "rebirth." He had a high success rate and was regarded as the most prolific killer working in the Mother Country. His targets were mostly high-value and especially hard to kill. He was a total badass, but everything changed after a job in the Philippine Colony. It was a life-changing event and made him question his role in the government and his very existence.John's First Time in the Colony John was an attaché assigned to a visiting senator; it was his official cover and main function.The senator came to the Colony for business: he was peddling a new kind
Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 4 Zeke
Zeke in the Land of the Thin MenZeke woke up. He felt especially groggy and sluggish, like the way he felt when he had too much to drink the night before. He tried to think of the last thing that had happened to him before he lost consciousness, but nothing came to mind. The clearest thing he remembered was riding in Trevor's Ford Fiesta about to take a pill from a bottle of Quaaludes. Everything was hazy after that.He also didn't recognize the room he was in. He was lying down on a bed made of bamboo and could feel the coarse bumps on his back. Except for the bed, everything else was made from coconut byproducts: walls and floor made from lumber, roofing from interwoven leaves, chairs made from husks. He was inside a very rustic hut with no electricity and no windows. However, daylight was emanating from the wall cracks and dust-filled air was dancing in its rays. He stood up and saw a makeshift door made from lightweight balsa just a few feet from him. He pushed it aside and went
Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 5 Secretary Jorge La Selva
An Idiot's Guide to Killing "I'm not scared of anything, Stevie. Because danger is my middle name," said the Secretary with fake aplomb. Yes, you are, you bigheaded asshole. You're afraid that your precious home away from home will come to an end, Steve thought. It was noon the day after. Both were sitting down inside the small office of the defunct Department of Waste Management. The previous night's events were still fresh in Secretary Jorge La Selva's mind, specifically, the one about Steve's drunkenness and—what he assumed was—disloyalty. Steve's conversation with Jennifer Coolidge looked suspicious and he was trying the find out the gist without directly asking for it. He was attempting to be sly about it. However, he was failing miserably since he was as transparent as clear plastic. He was vainly trying to act composed, hoping that Steve wouldn't find out. But Stevie always did. He had a knack for finding out the underlying meaning of things, distilling its essence in its c
Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 6 The New Jennifer
A Total Transformation John's short time with Bea Arthur at the brothel in Neo Manila had a profound impact on him. It awakened something that had lain dormant in his subconscious mind and filled a space in his soul. He understood that the manly "John Bedlam" persona he concocted was not his true self and was more feminine than he realized. He was a woman trapped in a man's body. And to be true to himself, he had to make a complete transformation. Transitioning from man to woman took a while and cost a lot of money, but it was worth it since the result was fabulous. He first had hormone therapy to create feminine characteristics like redistributing body fat to different parts of the body to make him look womanly. Then he had breast augmentation surgery, facial feminization surgery, laser hair removal, surgery to make his Adam's apple smaller, testes removal, and lastly creating a vagina by inverting his penile skin. After his body became a fully functioning woman, he had plastic s
Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 7 Zeke
The New and Enlightened Zeke After the brief sojourn into the far reaches of his subconscious mind, aided by Brother Bart's newly created Sativa strain called the Touch of God, Zeke felt fantastic. Even though the conditions in the Valley were oftentimes unforgiving, he was now able to look at it in a positive light. It also sharpened his resolve and laser-focused his goal to escape his predicament. However, the Sons of Lapu-Lapu, whom he thought were integral to his plan, were untrustworthy since they were high all the time. They also tended to reply in incomprehensible rhetoric when asked even the simplest questions. A simple: "How are you?" directed to one of the Sons resulted in a philosophical soliloquy about the meaning of life. No matter, he thought. I can do this alone. New Arrivals While Zeke was setting up his escape plan into motion, new convicts arrived in Beta Quadrant. They were dropped off by a cargo helicopter in a large wooden crate in the middle of the barren
Latest chapter
- Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 24 The Aftermath
- Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 23 All the Pieces are Coming Together
- Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 22 Zeke
- Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 21 Chief Church
- Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 20 Secretary La Selva
- Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 19 Jennifer Coolidge
- Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 18 Zeke
- Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 17 Chief Church
- Neo Manila: Rise of the New Gods CHAPTER 16 Zeke
