Judas Iscariot
Judah Isaacson
What will a man do for love?
For you, the answer is anything. You thought that you meant that for the past several years, but it was only the last few months that you really understood it. For a long time you thought that sacrificing yourself for the cause of the woman you loved was the ultimate sacrifice you could make, and you gladly made it. You set aside opportunities for a prestigious career, you set aside chances to make yourself wealthy, you even made what you thought was the most selfless sacrifice: doing all this while the woman you love married another man. Today though is the ultimate sacrifice; it is the day you sacrifice not yourself, but the woman you love, for the cause that means more to her than her own life.
You never thought you would wind up here. You majored in English lit and early on you got wrangled into some of the environmental activist groups on campus. You weren't that interested, but it grew on you and by senior year, you were a full fledged environmental activist. You even ended up being treasurer for your local chapter of the Wildlife Conservation Society. You've always been good with money. You minored in Economics because it was easy and it was something that might prove practical down the road.
After graduation, you managed to get a job with a non-profit organization. That's how you met Barry. Your supervisor was working with him on a big project when you started working there and you were tacked onto the project for training. You two hung out a lot outside of work after that. You went out for drinks and whatnot. It was through Barry that you met Chris. Chris and Barry had apparently known each other for quite a while and got along well, but there was a spark between you and Chris when the two of you met that they never had. You two had so much in common and you know that you would do anything for her. That is how you got involved in Chris' MAGE I (Movement Against Global Exploitation Institute).
You weren't that surprised that you became the group's de facto treasurer, keeping track of what little money that they had and not asking where it came from. But what you were really there for was to listen to Chris talk. You loved her discourses on big businesses and their effect on the ecology. She could read out of the phone book and you would be enraptured. You knew from the beginning that you would follow her to the end.
And you still will, even though her relationship with Barry has turned to marriage. You don't have any idea what she sees in him, they are two completely different people. She is the greatest person to walk the earth, while Barry is a somewhat slimy politician forced to resign from Congress for sexual impropriety. You can't shake the feeling that if you had done something differently, acted somehow better or... something, it would be you, not he that shares her bed.
Of course there is other stuff going on than Chris and you (or lack of same). Chris' MAGE Institute has been doing some very important things and it truly is her life's work. Nothing means more to her than the MAGE Institute and the success of its mission has become your devotion. The MAGE Institute been dealing with the government, talking to Congress, making sure that the public is aware of the catastrophic state of the world. You have all been working to find solutions and get them adopted. It's good work, vital work... if only the people in power would listen.
Desperate times have come and many things need to happen. The world needs to make a change. It has to start with the United States government. They need to make many changes, it has to come from the inside, and it needs to happen soon. Parts of the MAGE Institute think that continuing to advocate change to the public is the way forward, but you think that's going to fail. Look at how well that has worked in the last several years. You have already seen that the public will screw things up if left to their own devices.
You think it's time to take things into your own hands. There's one problem, though. While you agree with everything that Chris is saying, she's causing more harm than good to the cause now. In theory, telling the general public everything may help in the long run, but in the short run nothing is getting done and she has now antagonized the very public officials who are the only ones who have the power to make the necessary changes.
MAGE can't have a public face like Chris at this point. She's too well known and controversial. If MAGE is going to make change, it will need to be underground change. MAGE needs to infiltrate the perpetrators and wrongdoers and get them to change in any way possible. If Chris had only used the ammunition she had for blackmail rather than public disclosure...
Chris always gets that disapproving look when a member of MAGE does anything she sees as 'drastic' though she hasn't opposed it vocally. She clearly recognizes the need, but seems unable or unwilling to take the necessary steps herself, as much as the cause means to her. You approached the other day, the day after her last appearance before Congress. You told her that her name and face had become too 'tainted' to do MAGE any good. She looked disappointed in you (she's good at that), but she couldn't disagree. It is tearing you apart, but the time has come to take action against her, and part of her both knows and accepts this even if no one else will.
Chris invited you and a bunch of other people to this Passover thing. You don't really know what she wants to do at this event, but you know that this is the time for change within MAGE. The good of the world, and her dream, is worth more than your happiness, or her own. The group will likely have to be divided into those who keep advocating to the public, and those who are willing to use blackmail, espionage, and small-scale sabotage to get things done. Chris will have to become a martyr for the cause. She will do more for the world out of the picture than she will as a figurehead.
It's killing you to do this to the woman you love, but it needs to happen. You made the call earlier on today to the authorities letting them know where she would be. This needs to happen for the future of the human race. The future starts in the next few hours, one that needs to be better for the sacrifices that you and Chris are each being called upon to make.
People You Know
Chris Carpenter - The love of your life, and the person you know you've betrayed. You hate yourself for it, but you know the world will be a better place because of her sacrifice.
Barry Magdalene - He used to be a congressman... until he got caught with a prostitute. Now he's married to Chris and while they couldn't be happier, you're miserable about it.
Pearl Skala - Pearl does PR for a big fishing company. Since meeting Chris, she's changed her loyalties and is now running corporate espionage for MAGE.
Andrea - She's a bit too much of a peacenik for what you think needs to be done. Her head's in the right place, though.
James Papadopoulos - He's a tough-guy ex-marine who's been working on some of our more... destructive assignments. He might be a little extreme in his methods, but his goals fit with the group.
John Papadopoulos - Couldn't be more different from his brother. He's a gay high school English teacher who believes in the goodness of humanity. He's a nice guy, a little touchy sometimes, though.
Philip Harrison - Phillip is one of those Christian on the streets guys, telling people about God and the bible. He's a little extreme in his views on religion, but he's generally a good guy, helps out people in need... like Frank.
Col. Frank Bartholomew - That guy went through some dark stuff in Rwanda, and he came back broken. Thankfully he ran into Phillip, who's been helping him and taking care of him.
Tamasa Valappil - She's come to the conclusion that MAGE is overreacting and the problems aren't as bad as some people make them out to be. She couldn't be more wrong.
Jamie Schreiber - She's a nice but nervous kid who looks up to Chris and has been getting more and more worried about the way MAGE is headed.
Eve Matthews - She's another accountant. She's had a tough life ever since the accident, but MAGE seems to have given her purpose again.
Simone Cylima - This girl can do things with computers no one else can. She's been a big help with MAGE, even if she's been working with some of the more... extreme members.
Jude Fairchild - Another one of the aforementioned "extreme members." He's been working on taking Chris' words to a new and interesting level.
