_ | \ | \ | | \ __ | |\ \ __ _____________ _/_/ | | \ \ _/_/ _____________ | ___________ _/_/ | | \ \ _/_/ ___________ | | | _/_/_____ | | > > _/_/_____ | | | | /________/ | | / / /________/ | | | | | | / / | | | | | |/ / | | | | | | / | | | | | / | | | | |_/ | | | | | | | | c o m m u n i c a t i o n s | | | |________________________________________________________________| | |____________________________________________________________________| ...presents... JOIN US by Flack __//////\ -cDc- CULT OF THE DEAD COW -cDc- /\\\\\\__ __ Grand Imperial Dynasty __ Est. 1984 \\\\\\/ cDc paramedia: texXxt 427-08/29/2024 \////// Est. 1984 ___ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ ___ _ _ __ |___heal_the_sick___raise_the_dead___cleanse_the_lepers___cast_out_demons__| /+/ PART I: JOIN US \+\ "Join us," they whispered. I took a break from preventing my screen saver from kicking in and spun around in my leather chair to address the people standing behind me. No one was there. "Join us," I heard again. The voices -- electronic and distorted, almost dysmorphic in nature -- were coming from the hall. After forwarding my phone to the snack bar and setting my online status to "In a meeting," I grabbed my hat and shades and followed the whispers out into the hallway. I walked quickly and quietly around the corner, but not fast enough to catch the elevator doors before they closed. More curious than ever, I opened the door to the stairwell and quickly trotted down the concrete stairs in hopes of finding the source of these peculiar voices. When I reached the lobby I saw the front door swinging open in the wind. "Join us," the voices said all at once -- different tones and timbres, but unified. Many voices, yet one voice. As I stepped out on to the sidewalk, gray storm clouds parted and I heard the voices again behind me. Close, now. I turned and saw the herd for the first time. "Join us." It was then I realized they weren't asking me. They were telling me. - x X x - /+/ PART II: STEER CLEER \+\ I watched in amazement as the cows in the mural moved into position. The herd of cows, now thousands strong, aligned themselves until they were all facing the same direction. South, I think. Despite the pile of work and responsibilities waiting for me back in the office, I felt compelled to discover what the herd wanted me to find. Whatever it was, I wanted to find it for them. What I didn't understand at the time was, all they wanted was for me to find it for myself. I continued walking south, past the food cart on the corner and the line of people waiting for their lattes, until I had arrived -- both figuratively and literally. I found myself standing in the middle of the park. My job, my car, my laptop... none of those things were here. The further I got from them, the less their electronic static cluttered my mind. It wasn't until it was totally silent that I could finally hear. "Join me." - x X x - /+/ PART III: THE TUNNEL \+\ I found myself drawn to the statue -- an idol -- and wondering, if anything, what it wanted. I studied its shape while standing next to it. I was in awe of its mass. I rapped the side with my knuckle -- the thing was solid, must've weighed at least a ton. How I had missed a solid concrete statue standing in the middle of the park I passed every day, I'm not sure. I stared into the beast's cold eyes, wondering why I had been brought to this place. The voices that had drawn me here were gone. The wind was still. The park was silent. For the life of me, I could not understand why the cow had called me here, to this place, at this time. And then I realized, I was here because I wanted to be here. That's when it winked at me. The large statue slid aside, revealing a set of clay stairs that led down into the red dirt. It was impossible to tell if the stairs had been there for a day or a century. The same curiosity that led me to this park led me down into the darkness. The steps led to a tunnel. We -- all of us -- were there; perhaps not physically, but spiritually. We were all flowing through that tunnel. I felt unworthy to be a drop of water in that stream, and yet the stream was a little bit different because my tiny drop was in it. There was no upstream. This river flows in a single direction. At the other end of the tunnel was another set of stairs. I climbed them, soaked in the experience and enveloped in the warmth of the herd. As I emerged into the sunlight, I found myself standing in the field, now one with the herd. I didn't look behind me to see if the stairs and tunnel were gone, even though somehow I knew they were no longer there. It wouldn't have mattered; there was no going back at this point, only forward. I had found the c0ws. I was home. Join us. ___________ BLATTA---NON EST----VACCA ___________ \ / \ \_ _/ / \ / |A G L A| \ \ / / |A G L A| L ||\/X\/|| O \ EST_ _EST / L ||\/X\/|| O || \./ || \ \ / / || \./ || |\ ||_3 4_|| /|NON cDc NON|\ ||_3 4_|| /| | -------._((___))_.------- |EST | EST| -------._((___))_.------- | |\/)(\/\ [ x x ] /\/)(\/| \ | / |\/)(\/\ [ x x ] /\/)(\/| |(YHVH) >A \ / O< (AHIH)| \ EST / |(YHVH) >A \ / O< (AHIH)| |/\)(/\/ _ (' ') _ \/\)(/\| \ | / |/\)(/\/ _ (' ') _ \/\)(/\| | -------' ) (U) ( '------- | \ | / | -------' ) (U) ( '------- | |/ || . || \| SEMENES OPTIMATES |/ || . || \| || / \ || DAEMONIS || / \ || V ||/\X/\|| E V ||/\X/\|| E |A D N I| the original e-zine |A D N I| /_________\ - today, tomorrow - /_________\ xXx DYNASTY xXx FOREVER xXx DYNASTY xXx _ Oooo xXx / RULE BOVINIA \ xXx / ) __ /)(\ ( . \ / ( / \ \__/ ) / Copyright (c) 2024 cDc communications and the author. \ . ) \)(/ (_/ CULT OF THE DEAD COW is a registered trademark of oooO cDc communications. _ oooO All rights left. Edited by Grandmaster Ratte'. __ ( \ / . ) /)(\ / \ ) \ \ ( \__/ Save yourself! Go outside! Do something! \)(/ ( . / \_) xXx BOW to the COW xXx Oooo .ooM