Death in the Cloud by E. J. Simon

Author:E. J. Simon [Simon, E. J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: E. J. Simon
Published: 2020-07-09T18:31:00+00:00

Chapter 50

Astoria, Queens, New York

Michael kept his eye on the ladies’ room door, hoping Donna would take her time. He knew that Father Papageorge would speak more freely if it were only the two of them.

“How did I know about your planned meeting with Alex?” he said. “Michael, let me say, there is still so much I do not know or understand. But I was aware from my talks with Father Papadopoulos and then from reading his journal of Alex’s great experiment, his breakthrough.”

“Did he confide in you during his discussions with my brother?”

“He did, but toward the end, before Father Papadopoulos’ heart attack, he seemed to keep more to himself. I believe he warned Alex that this technology was a threat to many people, that he had to be careful.”

“A threat?”

“Yes, the promise of immortality, of the everlasting spirit, it is the particular domain of the established—and not-so-established—religions. It feeds the spirit of the believers and those who seek to believe. It is the power of the church; it is how they exert control, keep the flock, and perhaps how they fill the coffers, too. But Alex and this new computer breakthrough had one big advantage over the church’s version of the hereafter.”

“What was that?” Michael said.

“Unlike the church, he could prove it. If his version of immortality got out, the world could see it—on every computer, perhaps every mobile device. And worse, no one had to believe, or go to mass, or fast, or give to charity, or to the church at all. No one even had to be…good. Don’t you see the threat? It’s a wonder that this new Alex hasn’t also been murdered, obliterated, crucified—symbolically of course—or, shall we say, deleted? Once the Catholics got wind of it, they were truly threatened. Or at least some in the Vatican were…perhaps not this Pope.”

“You still haven’t answered my question. How did you know that Donna and I would be here, waiting to meet Alex?”

“Fair enough. You are, like your brother, good at extracting information from those who prefer not to share it. So, I will tell you more than I would prefer—for both our sakes, I might add.”

Michael looked toward the ladies’ room, “Tell me before Donna returns.”

“Despite the fact that this technology—the Internet, cyberspace, computers, cell phones, iPhones, whatever—are all relatively new, certainly compared to our religions, there are definite similarities between the two phenomena.”

“How do you mean?” Similarities between the Greek Orthodox or Catholic Church—and Apple, for example?”

Papageorge laughed. “I wouldn’t phrase it quite like that but, yes, between the cyberspace that Alex inhabits and the spiritual space that all religions live in. “They both exist in the invisible world. There are no wires, yet ‘the cloud’ is all around us. The Holy Spirit and the Internet are everywhere and yet nowhere to be seen. They both travel through the unknown, the invisible roads of the human mind and spirit.”

“And how does this explain how you came to be here, tonight?”

Father Papageorge lifted the second glass of ouzo to his lips, this time slowly sipping it.

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