The Study Wall

Luke Smith arrived at the Smith family home in Craigmore on a morning of light drizzle, having entered Adelaide through the cleaner's cupboard at Adelaide Airport and caught a taxi north. He had not visited the house in several years. His intention was specific and premeditated: to take his parents, Noah and Greta Smith, through a Portal transit to Clivilius. The instrument of their consent would be their faith.

Noah Smith answered the door in his dressing gown. His shock at finding his estranged son on the doorstep was immediate and unconcealed. Greta Smith, hearing Luke's name from the hallway, ran to embrace him. Her first question was about Paul, whose silence over the preceding days had driven her to contact the police. Luke did not answer. He asked to speak with Noah in private.

Greta's objection was sharp. She insisted the family kept no secrets. Noah overrode her, led Luke into the study, and closed the door behind them. Greta retreated to the kitchen.

In the study, Luke told his father he had received a vision of a great new civilisation. The framing was calculated. Before arriving at the house, Luke had resolved to present Clivilius in language his parents' faith would interpret as prophetic revelation. Noah's response exceeded the strategy's requirements: he identified the vision at once as the New Jerusalem, connecting it to a dream of his own — one in which swirling colours had featured — and to a revelation he had recently received at the Temple. The family had already been preparing to relocate to Salt Lake City on the strength of that Temple revelation. Luke offered no correction. The alignment between his constructed framing and Noah's genuine expectation was seamless.

They cleared the study wall together, hauling the computer desk from its position and scattering papers across the floor. Luke produced a Portal Key from his pocket and activated it against the bare wall. The surface became a field of swirling colour and colliding sparks of energy. Noah recognised the image from his dream. He pulled Luke into a fierce embrace and told him he had always known Luke would lead the family to the New Jerusalem.

When Luke asked whether Noah would follow him through, Noah promised to follow him to Salt Lake City — the destination he had been preparing for, not the one Luke was offering. Luke did not correct the misunderstanding. He directed Noah's attention back to the Portal.

Greta opened the study door. She stood with her hands on her hips, demanding to know whether their private discussion was finished. The swirling colours on the wall seized her attention before Luke spoke. He told her the New Jerusalem lay just beyond the Portal. Noah took her hand and asked whether she loved him. She said she did. He told her they would follow Luke and that he would lead them to the New Jerusalem. Greta asked what had become of the plan for Salt Lake City. Noah spoke of his dream and of God's elect. Together, hand in hand, they walked through the Portal.

Neither of them had been told the transit was one-way.

Jerome Smith had been awake since before six. He had not been present for any of the conversation in the study and had no knowledge of Luke's pitch or the Portal's activation. He arrived at the study doorway after his parents had already gone through. The wall was still alive with colour. Luke told him to go after them. Jerome stepped through.

Luke was the last to follow. The Portal closed behind him, and the study wall in Craigmore returned to plaster and paint.