INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS: PART III

OR

“YOU CAN CALL ME GOPPO, OR YOU CAN CALL ME BOPPO, OR YOU CAN CALL ME BELIAL, OR YOU CAN CALL ME BELPHEGOR, OR YOU CAN CALL ME BEELZEBUB, OR YOU CAN. . . “

Warm Cognescentii greetings again, most honored reader!

And welcome to the latest transmission of the Saga of the Terrific Trio! Brrr…even from here in the cozy Hallowed Halls of the Holy Cognescentii at the End of Time, I still shudder to look at these creatures. For long-time readers of these transmissions, you know that our dear little Goppo—the real Goppo!—did indeed get his “throat ripped out” by the “boss” (aka, Gelmut, [former?] Lord of the Vampires), as seen again HERE. Gelmut, despite Anasha’s warning, apparently didn’t pull out in time. So…er…is this the real Goppo? Just who is this?

Well, he answered to the name “Goppo,” but he doesn’t claim to be Goppo “anymore.” On your planet, vampiric lore has it that the soul of a person turned into a vampire is somehow corrupted and turned evil against its wishes. This is simply impossible. Rather, as I mentioned in my earlier transmission about vampiric lore, the true essence (i.e. the soul) of the being infected by vampirism on the Wyrld,  has left the building, so to speak. Rather, someone, something else, moves in. Having full access to the dead being’s neural network, the thing knows what the body’s previous owner’s name was, his or her likes, dislikes, family history, etc. In fact, it’ll always answer to the previous owner’s name. But that’s not its true name.

You see, on the Wyrld, demonic possession and vampirism are just close relatives of one another: one happens to a live victim; in the other the victim first dies. Vampires on the Wyrld will not willingly reveal their “true” names since this would give a lever of control to those skilled in Exorcism (a sideline of the Cognescentii, by the way). Instead, vampires would have the denizens of the Wyrld believe that their hosts have simply changed their character as a result of their vampirism.

From the ashes of defeat, Evil again raises its oily head. Last week we were witnesses of the return of Anasha, now the Vampire Queen (after all, you can’t keep a good vampire down, even with a few tons of rubble). But where was Gelmut? Could it be that Anasha has intentionally left him buried under the rubble of the Coliseum with G.A.’s arrow still in his heart? This would explain her advancement as the unquestioned ruler of all vampires.

Also, as I mentioned in my earlier transmission, vampires are under the control of the master vampire that created them (at least until the destruction of that vampire). But here in the case of “Goppo,” Gelmut, the vampire that created him, appears to have already “died” before “Goppo” even rose. What would this mean? It means that “Goppo” is already a free agent, free to go and do whatever it wants.

We’ll see just what that is in the weeks ahead. Until then, honored reader,

With Cognescentii blessings!

~ The Traveller