Forge of Creation

A Rite of Passage

These hallowed halls hide more than vestments and sacramental wine, I’ve come to learn. The archives beneath the Vatican’s marble floors contain earth-shattering truths. As Cardinal Diego Ventimiglia, prefect of the Secret Archives, I steward histories that are never meant for public eyes. Tales of forces beyond human reckoning.

In my decades administering our holy catalogs, I occasionally uncovered strange references among the ancient texts. Hints of angelic beings who walked among primitive men, bestowing knowledge. Whispers of secret societies guiding mankind’s religions and governments toward cryptic ends. But only last year did the full incredible reality dawn within these dusty subterranean stacks.

My assistant had fallen ill that dreary winter day, leaving me to retrieve an requested manuscript myself – a rare original copy of Hermes Trismegistus’ Emerald Tablets. I knew the collection’s location deep in the most secure vaults, accessible only to the highest church leaders via hidden mechanisms. Ancient security for ancient secrets.

The book was not where expected. In its place, a cache of even older writings – unknown pre-human languages etched on gold foil pages. My heart raced. This codex should not exist. Deep into the night I pored over the mysterious tome by lamplight, referenced esoteric keys until meaning slowly revealed. Astounding chronicles of beings called Anunnaki came to light, their planet destroyed eons ago. Earth became their colonial salvation. Tablets told of technology since lost, society’s true architects across primal history.

Throughout all, the same secret symbol appeared beside an unfamiliar name: Illuminati. As comprehension bloomed, hands shaking, I concealed these revelations. The church could never endorse such radical history challenging mankind’s genesis assumptions. Yet other questions remained unanswered. Why hide this here of all places? What were they still concealing?

Further hidden vaults took years to uncover, each barrier alone requiring obscure rituals of decryption. Until finally, a chamber accessible only by intricately tuned sonic tones sung in precise chorus. Inside, technologies beyond imagining – yet clearly bearing traces of humanity’s own destiny. Devices to manipulate life itself, transmute elements, warp gravity, slip the bounds of linear time. And more prehuman texts, at last telling the full shocking tale.

We were never alone. Remnants of that godlike Annunaki civilization manipulate all earthly power structures to this secret end: prepare to repel an invasion of unfathomable magnitude from the depths of space. Conscript all humanity if needed, revealing themselves as our creators returned, prophecy fulfilled. For other interstellar races watch, patient predators with ruthless designs on mankind’s raw psychic potential held rare in the galaxy.

The vault swam around me. What could justify such existential deception, even in service of resisting a greater conquest? Were we but livestock to these remnants and outsiders alike? Yet the archives held no clear answers, only necessity. Thus the burden of this terrible unveiling falls unto my shoulders alone until leaders divine or earthly show the path through coming tribulations. Keeping this volatile secret may soon prove the least of mankind’s worries.

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The rusted manhole cover slipped back into place above Diego’s head, sealing the secret passageway. The musty darkness pressed in as he descended ancient stone steps by touch alone. His rosary beads provided meager comfort against the Preservationist’s dire revelations that echoed hauntingly in his mind.

Invasion. Claiming to be emissaries of the Prophet, they had appeared unannounced in Diego’s private office mere hours before. Their message left no room for doubt. The Zshal – the brooding entity that ruled the Preservationists from the shadows – had set its sights on Earth. Even now, its bioengineered infiltrators walked among humankind, seeding chaos to fracture any resistance.

Reaching the passageway’s end, Diego whispered words of warding learned from his years unlocking the Archives’ deepest secrets. A shimmering portal engaged, empowering entry into a room housing technologies beyond human imagination.

Diego had returned here, the secret inner sanctum, seeking insights into the Zshal’s sudden interest in Earth. But instead of solace, he found a stranger… examining the vault’s neural interface crown with keen interest. Gaunt features, bald head, spindly fingers…clearly not human. As Diego announced his presence, the figure turned, appraising him coolly through lidless eyes set wide above hollow cheeks. One word hissed from its too-thin lips. “Cardinal…”

Every instinct screamed danger, but Diego stood his ground. “Who are you? Why do you defile this holy space uninvited?”

“Forgive this intrusion”… silken tones oozed as it spread its hands, placating. “I am Infiltrator 7, emissary of the great Zshal. Sent to deliver wisdom in this coming time of… transition.”

Cold dread clawed at Diego’s spine. An infiltrator, here?! “You peddle only lies and subjugation! Neither holds sway here,” he retorted, fist clenched on his rosary in defiance.

Dry laughter echoed. “Such charming naivete… No matter. I merely follow the Directive.” In a blur of motion, the Zshal agent was suddenly at arm’s length, an ampule glinting in its grasp. “When you wake, Cardinal, you will see truth. The Zshal guardianship is… inevitable.”

Diego reacted on instinct, silver rosary beads sailing towards the Zshal’s head. But impossibly fast reflexes caught and crushed them effortlessly even as noxious fumes erupted from the shattered ampule. Diego’s vision dimmed, legs buckling underneath him as cloying darkness took hold…

He awoke to pounding at the sanctum’s portal. Disoriented, he found the Zshal agent gone… and red warning strobes flashing as an unfamiliar artifact affixed to the chamber’s datacore unleashed complex algorithms. Diego’s groggy mind raced to comprehend. This trespass went beyond espionage and sabotage – the Archives’ very foundational knowledge was being decrypted, sucked dry!

Scrambling to his feet, Diego keyed the portal and that blessed sound ceased. Progress Foundation agents poured in, securing the chamber under highest protocols. As Diego slumped exhausted against the wall, their leader approached, face grim. “This incursion confirms our worst fears about the Zshal. What they just stole could disclose all Earth’s hidden weaknesses. You should prepare, Cardinal… events move quickly now to crisis far beyond what any faith or nation can deter. God forgive us and lend strength…we face extinction incarnate.”

The Archives’ secrets were now prized weapons for Earth’s enemies. And only a thin shroud of time likely remained before true Armageddon dawned…