Electromagnetic Angels

Last night I caged the angel. It's now sitting in the cage, slumped with its head almost in its lap, its wings radiating out around it like some brilliant glowing orchid. They pulse with energy, regularly enough for me to think they might pulse in time with a heart beat. It hasn't moved or spoken for a couple of hours, which is a relief. When I first captured it, it howled like a wounded dog until it grew hoarse, and then it cried like a small child. I had to steel myself against it, plug my ears with plasticine and refuse to go near the garage the cage is in until it grew quiet again. I was a modern day Odysseus against the Sirens I'd like to think.

The angel is caught in a Faraday cage. I realised that it would trap them when I saw one get into a car, clearly not knowing either that this would be a problem for it. When the doors closed and just after the driver started the engine, the angel began to glow more brightly, and became visibly distressed. The driver appeared to be trying to calm it down, as she braked and I could see her gesticulating, but the angel just seemed to get more agitated. Then the door of the car opened and the angel fell out onto the road. There was a loud bang, as if the car had backfired, and a stench of ozone that made me choke, and the angel was lying on the pavement, moving erratically and looking dazed, but unharmed. It took it a couple of minutes to recover, and then it lifted off into the air and disappeared over the trees and rooves, heading towards the river.

It took me a few more minutes to work out what I'd just seen: capacitance, and discharge. I checked the pavement, and sure enough there were scorch marks there, and slight evidence of melting. Our angels were electromagnetic.

They're certainly not holy, but then our demons aren't exactly unholy either. Between them they've brought down the major religions of the world, and created all kinds of social problems. In some ways they're like superbugs; how do you kill an angel? Projectile weapons just pass straight through them. Edged weapons work a little, but if you're close enough to use a knife then you're close enough for the angel or the demon to get you, and they can microwave you in just a couple of minutes.

Electromagnetic properties though... it explains why iron edged weapons work a little, they can disrupt the field lines. Perhaps a projectile weapon that's lots of iron filings, or iron shards might work, something that could break the field altogether.

Now that I've captured an angel I've proven some of this. We might have a chance to fight back again and reclaim our world.