Numinosum: "… a dynamic agency or effect not caused by an arbitrary act of will…. The numinosum—whatever its cause may be—is an experience of the subject independent of his will…. The numinosum is either a quality belonging to a visible object or the influence of an invisible presence that causes a peculiar alteration of consciousness…." ~ Carl Jung

Prologue

He walks along the dark river, the smell of its polluted waters a striking contrast to its gentle lapping as it rises and recedes over the pebbled beach. No longer does he need a flashlight, his animal eyes keenly scan the black field for the ruins.

The Mill stands as it always did, a testament to the sheer determination of man to conquer his environment. Once the water was filled with barges bearing raw goods, the air black from the ceaseless labors of belching smokestacks. Once thousands from the town toiled here, their resentment of management and the order it represented periodically erupting in strikes. But never did these minor events halt production; immigrant labor was just around the corner in the next town, waiting to be trucked in. It was a lesson of brute strength, obstinate will – the backbone of the Godfrey character. There were those who were born to be leaders and those who stepped up to the challenge.

But the truth is he isn't sure which it had been for him.

The incessant drizzle has left wide puddles within the building, its roof too dilapidated to continue to earn that name. He neatly jumps them, hopping from dry spot to dry spot, though it hardly matters. He's soaked through to the skin from his walk. He moves deeper into the structure's bowels, past the crucible that lays as it always will - on its side, the Unknown Proletarians' Tomb - and finds what he was looking for. On the far wall of the control room is a grotesque display of wings – shadows of blood, an artist's vision of death; quite possibly rust, patterned by some mechanical explosion so long ago. He isn't certain. He looks up at the portrait, intentional or otherwise, and closes his eyes, breathing in the decay.

And then he turns and walks away.

Forever.