First In case you guys didn't read Chapter 9, which I posted yesterday on regular schedule, here's a link

Now, here's One Man's Worth Link and a little background:

This story is set 2 weeks after Chapter 12, so there are a few spoilers.

The inspiration for this Christmas Special came from two sources: One Man's Worth is the title of X-Men TAS Cartoon and Comic Book about the death of Professor Xavier causing a horrible future to be fixed by "Bishop", a mutant time traveler. The second inspiration came from a dream I had riding the bus the day after the Paris attacks about the possible attempted Assassination and mass murder at a Christmas event that would echo throughout the world.

With that said, a Papal assassination and the destruction of St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve during Mass would be one of the most powerful impact terrorist attacks with reverberations across the world; even dwarfing the 9/11 attacks. Despite Catholicism not having as much sway as it once did, the image of a Pope being gunned down by an Islamic terrorist would spark the next Crusade without question. Playing into the hands of interested parties, like the Fundamentalist Christian organization behind the Cyber bullying and attacks in the story.

The story was written with a few tissues and some hard to write areas, because I honestly do like the current Pope and hope this story never comes true. However, there are undercurrents in our society that this story focuses up to the top: racial profiling is still an issue, an issue that can help terrorists who understand the subtle racism of Western nations. It doesn't take much more than a fake ID, some fake papers, and a fairer skin tone to mask a terrorist as a reporter.

I also wanted to create a gay Christian Character of authority, honor, and a strong conviction in God, who would be the antithesis of John Milton, the antagonist. Enter Bishop, soon to be Cardinal, Alexandre Souza. In book 1, I will keep him as a minor character in the background, but Book 2, he will be a major character as the story expands in scope and depth.

Would a celibate gay man become a Catholic priest, then rise through the ranks to become a Cardinal? Yes, it has happened in the past, not just for child molesters, but actual Cardinals and, historically, a few popes if you believe in the histories. Alexandre Souza is also a Brazilian, a very progressive South American nation, I dare say even more progressive than some Europeans nations. The interplay between him and Jorge (Pope Francis real first name ) was fun to write as they share history being South American Catholic leaders.

As for the potential for terrorism in Vatican guarded by police and Swiss Guard, Pope John Paul II was nearly assassinated in 1981 by a Turkish man, who shot him 4 times, but miraculously missed his vital organs. The gunman only had 1 handgun and was overpowered by two civilians and a nun (Swiss Guard was no where to be seen). That was 1981 with just 1 shooter and a handgun, in my story they were facing AK-47's, grenades, sniper rifle, and handgun fire with the disadvantage of high ground being ceded to 2 "fake" cameramen.