The Demon Temptation Division

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Since the Tao is like Duct Tape and holds the Omniverse together in balance, it has a light side and a dark side. The Guardian Angel Branch has to be balanced out by the Demon Temptation Division who's goal is to test the focus of peoples evolution by tempting them with substitute gratifications for wholeness and sacrifices to holding onto the ego.

Belle was one agent of the division that already tried to tempt Chris but he was strong to recognize the limits of those gratifications. I figure that Blake Collins isn't and he'd already succumb to Belle's offer.

When Chris also isn't satisfied with the gal that Minerva picks for him because she isn't a close enough resonance match for him, he'll try to do something heroic to get into Elysium to find her and set out to reform the corruption with the defense contracts at Lockheed.

That will give Blake the motivation to ask Belle for Chris to be taken out and tie up the loose ends of the characters with giving them more to do in the developement of the plot.

Past Experiences

I think what Chris will tell Minerva in the car on the trip to Sant Cruz is about his background and why he made the chakra template for the particle beam. That will relate to the idea of soulmates and resonance matches in the chakras. His explanation will help Minerva understand more of what the chakra level was doing on her assignment list.

Since Minerva has trouble grasping what makes cars go, Chris will try to clear up the difference between scientific processes and the magic or miracles she's used to. Like combustion or the chemical processes in developing photographs.

To show the kind of affect she has on people, while heading to the temple they stop at a light and a guy stares at Minerva and when she smiles and waves at him, the guy is so stunned by her beauty that he forgets to go when the light changes and causes a traffic backup.

As they are walking down the Boardwalk, some guys can try to hit on Minerva and Chris will drive them off. Minerva will open up and tell him that most of her experiences with men are that they only treat her as a servant or sex object. Chris can agree that can happen with a lot of guys but not all of them are like that and it makes it a lot harder on the guys that aren't. Taking her on some of the rides, dancing to the concert music and playing some of the games there will help to show her he's not just after her body.

Maybe at one of the games Minerva can make a coin bounce or a ring hang in a miraculous way to show that she still has her powers, she just has to learn ways to focus them better.

There has to be some more obstacles and goals for Minerva to achieve before she can get back to Elysium. Maybe I should have them go to the Boardwalk before they go to the Kiva Retreat. That way Minerva can soften her attitude toward Chris and start to be attracted to him before they contact Odin. Then Odin can tell Minerva that her next assignment is to find a girl for Chris. That'll set up a conflict in both of them that she doesn't want to admit that she's attracted to him and he doesn't want to stop her from completing her assignment and going back home. It also gives them a reason to separate before Chris takes the big risk to get her back. It's the old "starcrossed lovers" syndrome that has been used in a wide variety of romances, where he's a mortal in the ordinary world and she's an angel with a job to do so the societies they are in won't accept the match easily. A lot like Ariel and Eric in "The Little Mermaid"

Going to the Boardwalk first also gives them an example of Minerva still retaining her powers that shows that she has the ability to contact Odin if she can relax and focus, that will let Chris tell her that she might be able to do that better at the Kiva Retreat. When they get to the Kiva Retreat House, Minerva can recall how the peaceful atmoshpere there reminds her of the gardens in Elysium when she sees someone pick an orange off a tree and it will help her relax more and focus on contacting Odin.

Since Chris is going to be resistant to accepting another gal, maybe I could have him object to her idea of a dating service by claiming places like Great Expectations have the problem of the people that use it are looking for those with wealth and power, not the qualities that he's interested in. Minerva might suggest that he change it to something he liked better or start his own dating service and Chris could try to introduce some more Zen and Tantra ideas into the service more like Match.com is starting to do now.

But that would mean that I would have to come up with a character good enough to be an acceptable match for Minerva to believe she had done her job and still have something lacking that Chris wanted in Minerva.

Zen Lessons

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I was thinking that after they get back from Santa Cruz, that Chris could get the idea of using zen practices to get Minerva's powers back from watching martial arts movies like "Hero" and "The House of Flying Daggers." The part about extending your senses, like the geisha did with the echoing of the drum strikes and ballet of the sword fights. They could even practice "zen bowling" like Pat Morita did in "The Next Karate Kid"

While at the bowling alley Chris can also use the pinball trick from the movie "Tommy" and try to get Minerva more in touch with her senses by blindfolding her and getting her to play a game of pinball. That should help her become more in tune with her intuition and the rhythms needed to keep up with the movements of the ball.

Since the whole thing is about both of their growth and Minerva's on the job training as a Guardian Angel, I should put in examples of the lessons she has to grow as a person and gain experience. Odin can tell her that being grabbed by the particle beam was part of her karma and Chris's from the choices they made. Along the way she'll get a lot more practicle understanding of the principles of the formulas in her assignments like the raising of the chakras, the states of consciousness, the levels of Atman and the 8 brain circuits.

Like Sisko explained to the Prophet's, it's like a baseball game, the rules might be fixed and determine the general play, but each pitch has a different outcome when it is thrown and the each batter has a different reaction to it and choses how to deal with the play.

Same with the Grande Game, the rules are always toward growing into unity, letting go of fear and expressing love, but each person chooses, how, where and when they want to handle each step along the spectrum. That's what Odin will remind Minerva of in their conference.