"In the beginning, there was only the Word." "And with the Word He spoke into being the realm of Heaven and its angels." "And He spoke into being the sun, the moon and the stars." "And then the Earth, its oceans and its beasts." "And finally He spoke into being His masterpiece:" "Us." "And we were His children to love, keep and protect." "Placed above all others, we were His most cherished creation, most beloved on Earth and in Heaven." "This was the Word as it was spoken to the prophets, and then it was handed down to us." "The Word of God our Father in Heaven." "And a thousand generations found shelter in that Word." "So here we are tonight, the Word become flesh and blood." "Our flesh and blood." "But I got news." "The Lord, He didn't keep his Word." "No." "He backed out on it." "He abandoned His kids a long time ago, and He ain't paying' child support." " Am I right, Maggie?" " You got that right, preacher boy." "Brothers and sisters, our Father is a deadbeat dad!" "Amen to that." "That's right." "And we can all forget about the "divine plan, "" "because there is no divine plan." "It's a blind universe out there, friends." "Our lives are nothing but a chain of unrelated accidents." " Get used to it!" " Get used to it!" "Bad things happen to good people for no reason." "Get used to it." "Get used to it!" "Good things, they happen to bad people for no reason." "Get used to it!" " Get used to it!" " Say it again!" " I can't hear you!" " Get used to it!" " Do you want salvation?" " We want salvation!" " Do you want it now?" " We want it now!" "God is dead!" "God is not dead." "He just doesn't give a damn." "Please help me." "Please." "Oh, God." "No." "... I heard he's dead ..." "Praise the Lord." "It's done." "No." "No." "I did what you told me." "The blasphemer is dead." "... the heart ..." "Oh." "Oh." "... the heart ..." "Oh, but I... couldn't." "They pushed me out of the way before..." "I'm sorry." "I can find him again." "I can." " I can!" " ..." "No ..." "Yes." "Yes." "Please." "No." "Don't go." "Don't leave me alone." "Please." "Please?" "Ohh." "Oh." "Oh." "Ah." "Oh." "Hey, Joseph." "L-282's mom wants his corneas back." " Did you give her the "gift of sight" rap?" " Yep." "She says they were harvested without her consent." "She wants her kid to go to the next world intact." ""Take heed, you senseless ones." ""Does He who formed the eye not see?"" " Huh?" " Psalm 94." "Deal with it, Carl." "All right." "Let's see what we have here." "Ahhh." "Lead poisoning." "Okay, Rasputin." "What army did you piss off?" "All right." "Let's do a liver temp." "Thermometer." "Okay." "Do the honours." "Okay." "Eh." "The liver's that away, Magellan." "There you go." "T.O.D. approximately 8:00 P.M., huh?" "All right." "See what else we got on our John Doe here." "Um..." ""Danyael Rosales."" "Danyael." "Funny spelling, huh?" ""Father unknown." "Mother, Valerie Rosales, deceased."" "Valerie Rosales." "Oh, Jesus." "It's starting again." "It all comes back." "Over and over, again and again." " Never stops, never ends." " What do you mean?" "Look." "Look at that burn pattern." "Look." " It's like..." " Go on." "It's like she got hit with napalm and never moved." "All right." "These are from the scene." "Okay." "If you get hit with a blast like that, don't you curl up into a tighter ball, expose less skin?" "Are you asking me?" "I've asked myself a thousand times." " I don't know." " Look at the body position." " I'm lookin'." " Closer." "Look closer." "It's like she was shielding something." "Yes." "Yeah." "That something... was her child" "She was protecting her child." "You gave him your life." "And it still wasn't enough." "So you, uh, personally knew the victim, huh?" "We go back." "I know him from..." "before the big bang." "The big bang?" " When exactly was the big bang?" " The beginning." "Good night, Joseph." "Yeah." "Good night, Kyle." "All right." "Look." "I'm going to let you go, but I may have to call you back... later on down the line, as a material witness." "Gabriel..." "Is there no last name?" "I mean, is it like the artist formerly known as Yanni or something?" " Sting." " I thought it was Yanni." "Shows you how far out of touch I am." "Is this... this address current, "Gabriel"?" "I can tell you in two words: un-fortunately." "Is that with a hyphen?" " Slash." " And... date of birth?" "There's no date of birth here." "Why is that?" "I asked the woman at the Department of Motor Vehicles that same question." "She told me not to bother her on a coffee break." "D.M.V." "All right." "Why don't you tell me?" "How old are you?" "Thirty-nine." "Hmm." "H-How old do I look?" "Be cruel." "I'll just put down "39" instead, huh?" "Great." "You know what?" "The fact is, I'm old enough to know better, Sparky." "What'd you call me?" "That's what they called you when you were a kid, right?" "Yeah." "You did good" " Can you buzz me in, Clark?" " All right." " Where's your morgue?" " That's off-limits to the public, sir." "A.Z. Jones, FBI." "That'll be two floors down." "Tunnel access to the subbasement." "I'm gonna have to ask you to identify the body, ma'am." "I'm also gonna have to ask you wait just a little bit longer here." " There'll be somebody along to help you." " Thank you." "I always knew we'd see each other again, but I never thought you'd look so... different." "We become the thing we fear." "I let myself go." "Obviously." "Or I wouldn't be here." " Ah." " I need the heart." "You, more than anyone, know what he is." "He's their last hope." "I never know what side you're on, Zophael." "Well, that should be infinitely clear to you now." "Come back to us." "We can retake what's rightfully ours." "We can make it like it was before the monkeys." "Remember?" "Or has this place completely befouled your senses?" "I like it here." "I even learned to drive." "You know what your one flaw is, Gabriel?" "You only see what you want to see." "Have you ever looked around?" "Our Creator poured all His grace into this world, but do you see it?" " Do you see it anywhere?" " Not yet." "Destroying Heaven is not what I was up to, Zophael." "Not even Lucifer is that arrogant." "Go on." "Out of my way... monkey." "I had to know." "Ah." "Thank you for not jamming." "Where did he go, Joseph?" " What?" " Where is he?" "No." "You don't just stand there straight-faced and tell me he walked right out of here." " You don't do that." " I'm sorry." "Sorry?" "How am I supposed to take that, huh?" "Probably the same way I have for a very long time - badly." "I just lost the only thing I cared about... in this whole fucked-up universe." "You haven't seen "badly," sir." "Not yet." "What's it like to wake up as dead meat... with the buzzards circling?" "Do I know you?" "I know you... from..." "before you were born." "Both times." ""Zophael." "Spy of God."" ""Bridge between rebel and loyal factions within Heaven." ""His true allegiance is unclear from religious texts."" "My kingdom for a straight answer." "Pyriel." "Pyriel." "Who the hell is Pyriel?" "He died in my arms." "T.O.D. was 8:00 P.M. That was taken six hours later." "Look." "I still don't believe what you're tryin' to tell me." "I was afraid of that." "All right." "Let's go." "Where?" "There are things that ghosts and civil servants just shouldn't know." "No." "You drive." "Danyael." "Embryos and idiots." "I hate this place." ""In the final hour shall come one born..." ""with the heart of an angel and the soul of a man."" "Ever hear of a nephalim?" " A what?" " Take your vitamins, Vincent." "Good boy." "Nephalim." "Half angel, half man." "Old Testament's chock-full of, 'em." "They're very nasty guys." "And very, very hard to kill." "Am I right or am I right, Boris?" "Are you saying Danyael's a nephalim?" "Am I?" "I guess I am." "Do you really believe that?" "Look." "I've had four gutted hermaphrodites... burn to black pitch right under my nose." "I've had one cop, my best friend, driven insane by the angels shrieking in his head... before somehow spontaneously combusting... in a madhouse he had mistaken for a monastery." "A pretty young woman, now dead, knocked up by a stranger... who left her three months pregnant in only 48 hours." "And just yesterday, a young man, allegedly her son, shot up six ways to sundown, crawled out of a drawer... and waltzed out like Lazarus." "So, yeah, I'm pretty much open to a buffet of possibilities." "Any suggestions?" "No." "What's the "D" for?" "Uh... "doughnut."" "I'll take one of those with the... coloured fragments on it." "Did you see a young man about this tall, dark hair, dark brown jacket, come in here earlier?" "Look." "That'll be 63 cents for the doughnut... and about, uh, 50 bucks for the recollection." " What kind of an answer is that?" " A minimum wage answer." "You answer my question, or I'll personally see to it that you spend the next millennium... chained to a damp wall wondering just what it is... that's been winding its way up through your bowels for the last 750 years." "Cool." "Look." "The dude came in here about a half an hour ago... and scarfed down about two dozen mixed in less than five minutes." "He was, like, on this serious sugar rush, you know what I mean?" "Spontaneous tissue regeneration tends to do that." " What?" " Where is he now?" "Oh." "Hiding in shit... just like a monkey." "No matter how many times you tell them, they never seem to learn." "You must always, always remove the heart." " What are you?" " Judgment." "Don't push your luck." "Ah." "Ah?" "Crazy me." "Nice coat." " Killing you would be so easy." " Eh?" "Fried food can kill me." "A mugger can kill me." "You're not so special down here, "Jones."" "How do you bear what you've become, Gabriel?" "You, who were once exalted above all others." "You been with a woman, Zophael?" "It's like dying." "You moan and cry out." "You get to a spot... that has you begging for release." "Once," "I was an angel of death." "Now, I die every day when I have the cash." "Enough about me." "You must be scared." "What if you lose?" "You must be scared you might become like me, right?" "Yes." "My dying memory is being in your arms." "I remember slipping away and thinking," "God, how lucky I was to hold you one last time." "But..." "I kept slipping... until all around me there were just bodies." "I don't understand." "No!" "Maggie, get out of here." " Get out!" " No, Danyael!" "No!" " Maggie, get out of here." " No!" "No, Danyael!" "Please." " Please don't go." " Maggie, I said go!" "911." "How does it feel, Danyael, to know that you're almost perfect?" "If not for the monkey inside you." "What am I to you?" "What is this?" "I said, "What is this?" And why am I drawn to it?" "Pyriel." "Who?" "The whited sepulchre." "The next God." "Help me, please." "Come closer." "I tried to reason with him." "I tried everything I could." " Help's on the way." " Good." "That's good." "There now." "That's better." "Please." "Let me explain." "Looking for these?" " Take the car." "You can have it." " I'm afraid that won't do." "After you." "Yes, yes, I know." "You keep a gun under the front seat of your car... ever since you were robbed in that dark cul-de-sac, in that very, very bad part of town." "But the idea of actually using it is a bit... what?" "Repulsive?" "So therefore you keep the bullets stashed safely... in the glove box." "I'm not here to hurt you." "Promise." "# Ea-rth angel, Earth angel #" "Hmm." "Is this the best you can do?" " Do we have a problem?" " Look, why do you even need me, huh?" "I can't drive." "I believe this can go faster." "Sure." "Whatever you say." "We really don't have time for this!" "Monkey." "Good trick with the car." "I'll have to remember that." "Jerk the wheel to the right, and... wow." "I swear to God, I'll use this." "I'm sure you will." " But why don't we just talk instead?" " Don't!" "I said don't!" "Fact:" "I am an angel." "I'm also your friend." "We can both help each other, but you're going to have to be willing to listen to me." "Are you ready to listen?" "I usually measure time in eons, but in this particular case, every second counts." "Please." "I told you, I'm not here to hurt you." "We both see things the same way, you and I." "A world abandoned by the Creator." "A universe in chaos." "Danyael Rosales saw it too." "He saw it more clearly than any of us." "But he's lost his way now." "He's been deceived by my brothers, who still cling to old ways, old truths... who still harbour some cold, empty faith... that our beloved Father shall somehow return... and deliver us from this... wasteland," "this... killing field." "But that will never, never happen, Magdalena." "You know it." "I know it." "And most of all, Danyael Rosales knew it." " Until now." " Why?" "Because he's being driven by forces... beyond his control." " Where's he going?" " He's going to stop our saviour, the only one who can set things right again with Heaven and Earth." "Saviour?" "His name is Pyriel." "It means "light of Heaven."" "He came here in the first war." "Led the army of God that cast Lucifer to a far more distant shore." "And here, he's remained." " Is he evil?" " No, no." "Evil is the realm of darkness." "Pyriel is the light." "He is the shining beacon that will lead us... from an eternity of rotting despair... unless..." "Danyael's there to stop him." " Why would he do something like that?" " Shh." "Magdalena." "We've always communicated with your kind through voices." "Voices." "Voices that make saints weep... and zealots kill." "Voices that drive an angry mob to incinerate a mother... desperately shielding her little boy." "It is those same voices that now speak to Danyael." "Danyael would never listen to them." "Whatever was human in Danyael Rosales died before he rose from that morgue." "He is no longer your Danyael." "You know it." "You felt it." "Didn't you?" "Why should I believe you?" "Because you have to." "Everywhere I go, you're there." "I close my eyes, you're there, ever since I can remember." "You're no man." "You're a boy... running from his dead mama." "What's the boy thinking?" "Does he think about destiny?" "Does he think he'll live to see another day?" "So many who want him dead, yet he gets by." "Does he stop to wonder why?" "Does he think he might be here for a purpose?" "Does he wonder what that purpose is?" "I do, every moment of my existence." "Before you were born, I tried to rip you from your mamma's womb." "I failed." "The Sword of Heaven... could not still this tiny mortal heart." "How come?" "It's not being here that perplexes me." "It's... the not knowing." "How come you?" "What could you mean?" "Do you know who?" " Nothing." " Clearly the facts say otherwise." "You're the Word." "Whatever it is you're destined to commit upon this Earth, it's His will." "It's what He wants." "No angel, however powerful, can be anything but a messenger." "Danyael... you're a message." "And now... for the first time in a gazillion years, I get to know what it is." "I get to know what that message is." "Okay..." "I did my time in Sunday school." "If this... "Pyriel" is like..." "the Second Coming or something, how come I don't know anything about him?" "Maybe you just chose the wrong religion." "I dreamed of you." "I'm Mary." "I know the enemy ghost." "Last night I dreamed the end of one history... and the beginning of another." "The darkness was met by the coming of a great warrior." "I dreamed of you." "You look smaller in person." "Tell me something." "Do you still love your God?" "The truth." "As much as He loves me." "Say, ma'am, I wonder if you could tell me how to get to Gila Flats." "Yeah, it's, um..." "It's over on the Hualapai reservation." "I don't suppose you could be just a tad more specific," "Madge." "Where's your friend?" "Oh, you have a long memory." "Rachel is, uh... under the weather." "She's bedridden." "But I'll tell her you inquired." "What do you want?" "Everything." "But to begin..." "I need some coffee, fresh-brewed, Sweet 'n' Low, non-dairy creamer, small grapefruit juice, three eggs, yolks firm not hard, bacon crisp, hash browns, dry wheat toast, butter on the side... and a portion of your famous blackberry jam." "It's gonna be a long day." "Remember, we're here to stop him, that's all, and nobody gets hurt." " Go up the hill and turn." " I suppose you caught his scent." "Something like that." "There." "You've done well." "I'm proud of you." " Do not lose him." " I won't!" " Okay." "Now what?" " Go faster." "What's that?" "Ignore it." " Don't let up." " I won't!" "Turn left." "Hard left." "I don't see him." "He's there." "Jesus!" " Faster." " We'll run him over!" " Exactly." " I can't do that!" "I told you what's at stake here." "That wasn't the deal." "Nobody was supposed to get hurt." "How did you think we were going to stop him, Magdalena?" "With a prayer?" "I don't know, but not like this!" "He's almost at the destination." "We have to kill him." " We have no choice." " I do." "I'm warning you." "Whoever you are, whatever you are, I'm not afraid of you." "You should be." "She's still in there, Danyael." "Dying, I suspect." "Not that that really matters." "So, this is what it must feel like... to be human." "Not quite." "Maggie." "Danyael." " Danyael." " I'm here." " Look behi... behind you." " What?" "This is what it feels like to be human." " Bring her back." " I can't." " You have to." " What are you afraid of?" " Nothing." " Why so desperate to get her back?" "'Cause you know what Heaven's gonna be like for her... if you don't finish what you start." "I love you." "Are you an angel?" "Once upon a time." " I don't want to die." " Yeah." "Who are you?" "Gabriel." "Hold my hand, Gabriel." "Please." "Oh, my God." "I'm so afraid." "Don't be afraid." " Where is Danyael?" " He's fighting... for you." "... Pyriel ..." "... Pyriel ..." "The child of divine fornication." "What do you want from me?" "I have come to help the monkeys perish by... mutual slaughter... and then sow the Earth..." "with a better seed." "Genocide." "It happens now and then." "Turn away, nephalim." "Blight not... and keep warm." "Fuck you." "There is no such thing as destiny." "You above all should know that." "What am I doing here?" "The one thing your kind excels at... dying." "It's not a mindless, indifferent, blind universe, Danyael." "It never was." "Get used to it." "Shh." "In the end there's still the Word, everywhere." "In Heaven and its angels, the Earth and the stars, even in the darkest part of the human soul." "It was there the Word burned brightest." "And for a moment..." "I was blinded"