"How the research coming Dude?" Claudia asked.
Art sat back and rubbed his eyes. "All these things he told us to look for, I mean they are common occurrences. They happen all over the place." Art leaned back in his seat, took a deep breath and let it out. "What about you?" Art turned to the AI.
"I called Valda, you won't believe what he has us doing. I'm beginning to think his family's strangeness has finally crossed the line to a psychotic break." Claudia said. "All of these occurrences he wants me to look for? They are all signs of the Apocalypse, the End of Days."
"Wait didn't Carver Edlund write that the Apocalypse was over in one of his books?" Art asked.
"Yes he did." Valda said. "I'm assuming that your demand to present myself here means that you have figured out where all this is going and why you need to find that chalice now."
"Come on, you really expect us to believe that there is some biblical apocalypse on the horizon?" Claudia asked.
"Oh yes and you don't have to take my word for it." Valda said as he heard the ruffling of feathers. "You can ask him."
Claudia and Art now turned toward an old desk in the corner where a man with stawberry/dirty blond hair lounged with his feet on the desk. His clothes were 100 years out of date and he had his nose stuck in a copy of the Weekly World News. That paper hadn't been published since before the zombie outbreak.
"Take a picture, it'll last longer." The man said sitting up and folding his paper neatly before snapping his fingers and making it disappear. Looking at Art and the AI he smirked. "So these two are going to find the Apostle's chalice? I mean she can't even leave the building!"
"How did you get in here?" Claudia asked. He should have tripped dozens of alarms and sensors but had made his way to operations undetected. While cameras through tunnel had picked up Valda's approach, there was no trace of the other on the cameras either. It was like he just appeared out of thin air.
"You might want to quit before you short a circuit there Kiddo, changing fuses is not in my job description." Gabriel said now standing next to Valda.
"Um, yes this is Gabriel, a cousin of mine if you will." Valda said trying to explain the Archangel's presence. "He's going to check the security on the Dark Vault and do any...upgrades that might be needed."
"The regents haven't said anything to me about this." Claudia argued. "Security checks need to be scheduled in writing. You know that, you're a Regent."
"Oh for the love of Dad, we don't have time for red tape." Gabriel laid his hand on a sensor in the wall. "Okay, Claudia. Time to make you a believer Kiddo."
Valda quickly placed a hand over Art's eyes as Gabriel let his true from peek out of his vessel and touch the sensor. As the light faded Valda lowered his hand. "Oh that's just great." Valda said looking at the body laying on the floor next to the sensor. "Give me a hand would you?" Valda said as he walked over to where Gabriel's vessel was sprawled on the floor. Valda slipped his hands under the Vessel's arms and he and Art placed the unconscious man in a chair.
"What just happened?" Art asked looking at the body.
"I think Gabriel is introducing himself to Claudia." Valda said. "I was really hoping we could avoid all of this drama."
"Where are we?" Claudia asked looking around at the landscape which seemed to be nothing but random numbers and symbols scrolling at an incredible pace.
"Inside your program Kiddo. I figure it's going to be a lot easier just to introduce myself to you." Gabriel explained. "You have all of Claudia Donovan's memories and her 'personality' but you're not Claudia. Claudia is in Heaven with Art Nielson, Pete Lattimer and Myka Bering at Warehouse 13. She's been there since she died. Luckily you already know you are not Claudia and you don't have emotions, your not human so my true form won't harm you."
"Your true form?" Claudia questioned.
"Yep. That guy you saw back in the warehouse, he's just a vessel that my true form resides in, kind of like the human soul resides inside of your bodies while you live." Gabriel explained. "I'm a wavelength of celestial intent brought into being by the power of pure creation. To put it in simple terms; Dad, the creator thought of me and whoomp! There I was."
"Wavelength of Celestial intent?" Cluadia asked. "What does that mean?"
"I'm an angel Kiddo, or rather Archangel. One of the only surviving three Archangels and the only one still running around cage free." Gabriel said. "There are hundreds of angels but only four Archangels were created. Michael, Lucifer, Raphael and me. Raphael is dead and Michael and Lucifer are...confined."
"Angels, so all that stuff in those Supernatural books?" Claudia looked at him.
"All true. But you suspected that. You discovered that Sam and Dean Winchester were real people. You even tracked down that stupid candy dish Castiel bought for him."
"Castiel? Wait Cas Novak?" Claudia said. "Sam Winchester's 'grandson was an angel?"
"A seraph but not Sam's Grandson. When Sam got up there in age, Castiel placed him in that facility so he could be taken care of." Gabriel sighed. "But there's a point here Claudia, angels are real and we're not the only thing that is real. Demons are real too. Your regent Benedict Valda? There's only been one. He's a demon. Well a fallen angel, but fallen angels are simply high level demons. He fell while in his vessel Fergus McLeod and became a Demon known as Crowley. He's the damned King of Hell and I'm the current commander of the host.
After the outbreak ended we came to an agreement. Humanity was teetering on the edge of extinction, having angels and demons using this place for a playground wouldn't have ended well so we agreed to retreat to our assigned corners. Crowley called the demons back to Hell and I pulled the angels back to Heaven. We destroyed the Chalices but evidently we missed one."
"Could it be the Holy Grail?" Claudia asked. "Valda told us that it had been protected but if there's one floating around now..."
"No it's not the so called 'Holy Grail'. Michael himself came down and secured the Christ Chalice and locked it in the vault of Heaven where it has remained ever since. This is one of the other chalices. What Valda didn't tell you is that Michael and Lucifer have been locked in a cage together for over 10,000 years together. Every year on Earth equals 120 years in Hell. They were ready to destroy the Earth in an attempt to kill each other 91 Earth years ago and I can tell that their moods haven't improved any since then." Gabriel said. "That chalice allows whomever has it to speak directly to them and they both know every single one of the remaining seals. The problem is that with all of the remaining seals, we have no idea which ones they will choose to break, and if they manage to break 61 of the remaining seals, the cage opens and Michael and Lucifer will will be free to finish what they started. The only way to stop it is to find that chalice and destroy it."