Virtually Real

by D. S. Whitfield

  The invasion of Israel started with a neutron bomb blast with huge magnetic pulses that destroyed electricity supply networks, computers and communications systems within Israel’s borders. Neutron bombs had been developed from the original crude versions of the late 1900’s to highly focussed and accurate devices. The co-ordinates of a country’s boundaries could be put into the device and a series of high intensity magnetic pulses would sweep over the territory without affecting anything beyond the borders.

  So Israel started its counter without electronic communications!

  But it so happened that in the preceding three years that Israeli scientists had proposed a backup system of entangled-pair quanta communication (EPCOM), based on the results of teleporting quantum energy states developed at the beginning of the century. This was costly to build but had the advantage of providing zero signal delay and independence of radio or fibre-optic systems. So Antoni’s first advantage was not as effective as intended and this only incensed him more.

  Antoni’s next plan was to prepare an assault by simultaneously opening fronts on each of the Israeli borders. This would stretch Israel’s resources and weak points would become apparent. He was not going to let Israel have any idea of where the main threat would occur. Ever the one for keeping people guessing, Antoni played this card to the full.

  There had been no air strike or any other mass destruction imposed on Israel in the early stages, but an intense propaganda war was waged. The amnesty Antoni promised to Israeli’s who would co-operate was delivered by his most charismatic spokeswoman, Diane Artimis.

  She was a highly skilled spokesperson for Antoni, and being of part Israeli and part Greek descent helped her as an ideal person for this task. She looked beautiful with a perfectly formed body, kept fit by judicious exercise and diet. Her black hair and dark eyes could engage anyone and her voice had a warmth which would soften the most hardened sceptic – man or woman. Apart from her obvious talents she had a sharp, clear mind and underneath the apparent softness, could put forward such reasonable arguments that others found it difficult to refute her. But as with most human reasoning, the axioms on which beautiful structures of logic are built are rarely questioned!

  Such was the person who now spoke on Israeli TV and mass media.

  “I am authorised to speak directly to the people of Israel,” she began on one of the satellite transmissions popularly used by Israelis. “Your government has decided to oppose Antoni and the opportunities he has offered. But I want to appeal to you directly. Antoni respects the Israeli people deeply and does not want to wage war with all its horrors; destruction and maiming of loved ones. He has restrained himself to ensure that all those who want to align themselves with his cause will be assured of safe passage and personal security. Should further hostilities develop between the EEMEC and Israel, all those who surrender will be treated well and, if they wish, will be re-settled in the Eastern Empire where Chou Ling Yi has promised a safe refuge. We know that many of you believe in Nimrah, and have seen the power that has been given through Aaron Nawkish, who acknowledges Antoni as the one through whom revelation has been given. You have experienced the blessings in the past. To the believers in Nimrah I say do not try to use its principles against the rest of your fellow people. You cannot succeed because the Great Power, which is behind Nimrah, resides in Antoni.”

  With these, and similar arguments, Diane wooed the wavering.

  “How do we stop the seductions of this woman, Rabbi?” Judah ben David asked Moesh.

  “The words she uses and the good feeling that people get from her are influences coming from the Great Power himself. But if we want to know more we will have to consult with Jeremy. He is the only one I know who will know what we are to do.”

  Judah called Jeremy and put the same question to Jeremy. He replied, “The nation has chosen its course. The people and the Knesset have spoken and the protection of Y’shua is lifted. The nation has chosen the promises of Nimrah and rejected ...”

  “You sound like one of those Old Testament prophets Jeremy. Get on with it!” said Judah.

  “El will come to a point where he will give a people over to that which they trust. He will not contend with them after they have made up their mind. Most people in Israel have come to believe in Nimrah – some openly, some by default. Therefore the power behind Nimrah will be the power that controls those people. For who is believed in determines the outcome – not necessarily what is believed.”

  “So you’re saying that our citizens who do not trust Y’shua will ultimately be the cause of our defeat!”

  “Yes. And the voice of Diane will have more power than your own. The unity of the people of this nation is broken as I warned. You are now seeing the outworking of what was sown several years ago. Y’shua gives us two big tests of our faithfulness; the test of hardship and the test of luxury; the test of poverty and adversity and the test of plenty and of ease. He does not prolong these any more than is needed. This nation has failed the test of prosperity and fallen away therefore Antoni will be victorious. Many of our people will defect and leave the country, and then Antoni’s forces will come in and enslave the rest.”

  “But what about those who still believe in Y’shua? Will they be alright?” Judah felt a need to really understand.

  “Those who believe in Y’shua will be cared for by him, but that does not mean that their lives here will be more fortunate than that of their brothers. No! Those who follow Y’shua will be persecuted, will be killed, tortured and reviled. Antoni has already roused the nations to the point where many will do these things and believe it right to do so. So it has been throughout history that these things happen, and so it will continue to the end.”

  “So what is this ‘end’ that you refer to Jeremy?”

  “Look I will tell you something that I have been shown by El. Few can see this, but it is nevertheless the truth. Our lives here have a substance and reality that has been created or generated from another realm. This realm is a true reality out of which we have been created, but what we experience is only an image. To our real inner being this image behaves as a tangible reality and is a source of sensory inputs. The inputs may appear as direct physical stimuli or as presentations to our minds and/or emotions. The purpose as always is to establish what I call character-quality decisions that will finally be fixed in our being. Who we choose to believe from these inputs or stimuli will ultimately affect who we are and our destiny in what I term the real world.”

  “But you still haven’t said what the end will be!”

  “All this that we see, feel, touch, smell, taste, think about as real will be taken away. It will disappear. But the inner being that is our real selves will continue into another environment. Once something real has been created it cannot be ‘un-created’. Once mankind knew how to make atom bombs it could not be undone. The knowledge may get lost if civilisations fail, but the reality is still there. So it is with us. The inner part of us has been created and cannot be uncreated – it will continue for as long as the real world which created it endures, and from our perspective here that is eternity.”

  “So all of us have a destiny someplace else and that cannot be avoided. Like it or not!” Judah mused, and continued, “But what will they experience in what you say is the real world?”

  “I have only been shown glimpses, but I do know that we will experience in our souls in the same manner as we do now, but where we are finally placed will determine what we experience.”

  “I repeat. What is that?”

  “I have said enough Judah. Sometime when you are ready we can share more, but you have an invasion to prepare for. Do now what you need to do, but remember who you choose to believe will determine who you are, and that will determine your fate. I know that you are no longer Prime Minister but do not under-estimate your influence – even if many appear to take no notice of you.”

  Judah wondered if he was any the wiser after Jeremy’s discourse. He always felt tha
t there were more questions to be answered. It may be better to keep ignorant!

  The propaganda war was well under way. Antonio’s Diane Artimis was already having an effect. Her beautiful form, warm voice, and sound reasoning that covered both emotion and intellect were very hard to resist. Even Judah and his close friends who could see what was happening would find themselves doubting each time they watched or listened to her.

  Many Israelis succumbed and a large number of intellectuals, top scientists and engineers decided to abandon their country as they could see it heading into a path of conflict that was not necessary. At the same time Chou Yi was offering special privileges to the scientists and engineers who wanted to migrate to China or the countries under its sphere of influence. There was a hint that in the event of hostilities between the EEMEC and Israel that the Chinese Republican Empire (CRE) would be a very safe haven and that they would be able to continue their research and work uninterrupted.

  So Israel was finding itself drained of its best. In spite of this, most Israelis were gripped by a fever of patriosm and nationalism and despised their fellows who were ‘betraying’ their country. Thus Israel became a divided house. It was divided on religious beliefs and values, it was divided on secular policy, and it was divided on allegiances.

  Judah was acutely aware of all this and knew that without tight discipline there would be no Israel at all. He had had enough of Jeremy’s mystical utterances for a while; he needed to talk with someone a little more pragmatic – Isaac ben Shur.

  “Isaac. You can see what is happening to this country. We are divided among ourselves on all fronts and Jeremy the prophet is telling me that as a nation our protection is removed. Yet we need to make some stand, otherwise we will be totally destroyed as a nation. Not only that, Mossad informs me that Antoni plans to utterly destroy all who believe in Y’shua, or who acknowledge El. There will be a bloodbath. Many innocent people who hold to what we know to be the truth will be victims not only in Israel but throughout the whole of the EEMEC Empire.”

  “And dare I say it – the CRE as well,” Isaac chimed in. I have it on good authority from a friend with contacts in China that the refuge Chou Yi is offering will only last a while and he will join with Antoni to purge his empire of believers in Y’shua also. His purported reason is different from Antoni’s but his motive is the same. They both want total power and total allegiance to none other than themselves.”

  “So it’s important that we make a stand. But how will we combat the might of Antoni’s army when so many of our people, including military personnel, believe in Nimrah and that the ‘Force’ will be with them in spite of Antoni’s claim of being the source of Nimrah revelation? We live in confused times!”

  “Even by the way we are now talking, we already know we are defeated and no amount of ‘positive thinking’ is going to change that. The truth is we both know that Israel is defeated before a battle starts. But I know that if we are given the vision of victory, then we will have something to believe that will inspire our people – and that is what we need.”

  “Judah, Judah! You have the ability to be a leader and to inspire the people yet you are standing here lost like a little boy. You trust Y’shua but where is trust now? Jeremy spoke the truth to us. If the leader turns to El, surely he is well able to persuade others to follow. The convicting work has to come from El because this is a matter concerning the innermost parts of who we are.”

  “So what are you saying, Isaac?”

  “I say that we three, ourselves and Jeremy, meet together. This is a time not to talk and debate but to lay out our helplessness before Y’shua and ask to know what to do.”

  The three of them met and put the issues before Y’shua – and waited. All were busy people and this waiting became hard. After two hours Judah began to be impatient.

  “It’s no use. I have had no sense of what to do and all of us are as we were at the beginning,” said Judah.

  “Wait a further half hour Judah,” replied Jeremy, “I believe that we will be given something.”

  “OK I’ll wait, but I am beginning to wonder if this trust in Y’shua is a figment of imagination and that we are no different from those who believe Nimrah or any other thing. I know this sounds negative, but it’s what I’m feeling at present.”

  “It’s what you are feeling Judah, but have you really lost trust? Have you really forsaken your decision to depend on Y’shua no matter what?”

  “No! Or at least not yet!”

  “We will continue to wait.”

  As the half hour was nearly up, Isaac spoke. “I believe that the nation will be given another chance, but it is conditional. If we surrender to Antoni, we will be looked after. Y’shua will keep our skills and give us such wisdom that Antoni will want to ensure that we are not harmed. Antoni will ban us from publicly proclaiming Y’shua as the true way but will issue an edict of tolerance. The worship of Y’shua will be permitted only by those living in Israel, and even then there is to be no proselytising. If we abide by these for a season, life will be tolerable for us. Even though we may not make public proclamation of Y’shua, we will be required to win over unbelievers, and to teach by our actions and attitudes, and to explain to all who ask.”

  “That sounds unreal Isaac. But in a strange way I believe that what you have said is true,” commented Judah.

  “I agree with what Isaac has spoken,” affirmed Jeremy. “But we cannot go against the people. The nation must decide, and the nation must reap the consequences.”

  So it was agreed to hold a referendum throughout Israel.

  “We may well get our desire with Israel if the nation votes to agree with their Judah,” gloated Aaron. “We can give them a few years of the illusion that we will respect personal beliefs within the borders of Israel as a special case, and then find a reason to wipe out all Y’shua believers anyway.”

  Antoni replied, “You know I cannot stand anyone who acknowledges any other beliefs than that of Nimrah, and who holds anyone apart from me as having ultimate authority in their lives. Whether a real person or a Y’shua. But it will serve my purpose for a time to tolerate this state of affairs.”

  Antoni, like many others with consuming self-centred ambition, knew how to be patient when required; but patience did not sit easy with him.

  Israel voted and Judah’s proposal was utterly rejected. The attitude on the streets was one of arrogance and unseemly confidence in the nation’s ability to defeat the forces of the EEMEC. So strong was the feeling that there were calls for Judah to resign altogether from politics. It was only because of the fragmentation of the opposition, and internal rivalries that Judah kept some influence – at least for the time being. In no way were the people going to be a subject nation!

  The war footing was intensified immediately following the referendum. A message sent to Antoni stated that Israel would not bow to his demands, nor would the nation recognise him as having any authority, temporal or spiritual, over their lives.

  The real world

  Eli was grieved that the people of the land he had sought to bless were so blind and stubborn. He knew that it was only a computer-generated virtual reality that he was dealing with, but was so looking forward to self-modified personality codes being incorporated into his own world that he had become intimately concerned with the virtual lives of many, many v-people.

  He also knew that the time had come to ensure that Lucas knew the rules exactly.

  Eli called in Lucas.

  “Lucas I would remind you that I am in charge of this whole project and that you only have jurisdiction in it to the extent that I allow. Because I will not violate my own values and integrity, nor the integrity of anyone else, virtual or real, you have been allowed to exercise almost full control of the v-world project,” Eli began. “But do not forget that I see what you are doing and that you are using your authority to get a following after yourself and are seeking to take my place.”

  “You know I am loyal to you
Eli even although we have different views on how the v-people should be handled. I would not seek to usurp your position, but I suppose events outside our control could bring a change but it won’t be by my doing.”

  “Ever the dissembler, Lucas,” Eli went on. “I have been thinking about how the project is going and I see that you are aiming to destroy the v-people who seek to go my way, and you are only using the rest for your own power purposes. I know you won’t change your ways but it suits my purposes to let you continue for a while yet. But a time will come when you will be held to account for all that you have done and are doing to corrupt the whole v-world and its people. You know the rules better than anyone else and you know that I will not violate those rules which were established from the beginning. You are still in charge and you will have the right for a while to unleash the wickedness you have in mind. I know your manipulation of the v-people to entice them to violate the moral laws that were set out at the start. You do this so that you will have them in your power, as the consequences of breaking the moral strictures in the v-world play out. But an end will come and it will not go well for you. Do you have anything to say?”

  “I understand Eli.”

  Fool – he thought to himself. I knew he would allow me to continue and I only need a little more time anyway and I will have the whole project under my complete control. Then we will see who is truly in charge. I hate that sanctimonious sod! The only thing that matters is power. Integrity and moral virtues will be eliminated in favour of naked wit and aggression as soon as possible. Even some of the v-people in this project have more guts than Eli.

  “Good. Now we know each other’s measure. I have seen the corruption in you coming for a long time. Go! You do not have much more time of authority but so it must be in the meantime.”