FICTION: 7V

7V

A fiction story by Mark Townsend

Transcription from  Interviews with Pablo Delgado.

"Yo soy Pablito. I was the Bi-lingual guy in the early days. [Pauses, Laughs]

Now, everyone wants to know how 7V got started; so I'll tell you. They eventually had their own art and music, their own historians, writers and spokesmen. Each movement was characterized by something special, like styles, long hair, cannabis or morbid outlook. For 7V it had to have been the intellectuals sneaking around. But in the beginning, it wasn't like that. Those were really wild and weird days.

Michael started the group. The guy was a looker, and girls liked him. He was handsome and fair, with blue eyes and straight black hair that he  flipped out of his face all the time. Michael was a great guy. It was about God, not Michael. People who wanted to hear about God instead of the atheist agenda. He was a leader, but he was not an egotist. He used to come in and say "What can we do today, and how can I help?" He was patient and self-disciplined. He was sharp as a sword, and slow to express any anger. I admired how calm he remained all the time.

He started the group and called it "Seven Vee" because he thought these seven words were important. Michael got excited about these words. Later on, he was interviewed anonymously, when the group started attracting attention. His face was in shadow, and he said the seven words made him feel "hopeful and optimistic, heroic and ornery." He tattooed 7V on his shoulder, and when other guys would ask him about it, he would take them into his confidence and tell them it was important, and ask them if they wanted to be part of a movement. They are just seven words anyone could have found; but he made something big out of them. At first, they were Veracity, Vision, Virtue, Volition, Vigor, Valor, and Victory.  But later, Michael shuffled them around slightly and started calling them all THE SEVEN VIRTUES FOR VICTORY. Then, Virtue became Values, and Victory became Vigilance.  So,  the list read VERACITY, VISION, VALUE, VOLITION, VIGOR, VALOR, VIGILANCE. 

Two other guys become like his lieutenants. One was Hoho, because he remembered the quote from Michael's interview about  "hopeful and optimistic, heroic and ornery" so he became H.O.H.O., get it? I guess Hoho liked those words better than 7V almost! [Laughs] It wasn't like he ate a lot of Hohos, like some said. Hoho was a normal looking guy, with sandy colored hair, sorta long.

And there was Tim, who was very smart and very quiet. Tim was thin, but had a metabolism that burned junk-food while he sat in his ergonomic chair at the computer, where you could usually find him. He did go out, but only after planning everything first! He was a nerd, and good at tech, and got more computers or memory, when he could. Hoho and Tim became Michael buddies 24/7. I mean they were always together! They all wore black turtle-neck shirts under a blazer, with fine gold 7V chains,  and got the tattoo. They went out at night and defaced stupid bill-boards with the 7V sign; or they intervened when someone was in trouble, always helping people, picking up trash. They were good guys! That's a fact. Something motivated them that made them like heroes. Then they started printing up these mysterious flyers, like you see here, saying 7V at the top, listing the seven "vee" words, and challenging people to do something to turn the tide of sludge and corruption. It took off like wild-fire!

Secrecy was the most important thing to Michael. He wanted to attract people to the philosophy that began to grow up around 7V, but he wanted to keep his cards close to his chest. He wanted them to think and act first. Whether they found their way to meetings wasn't important to him. He didn't want followers because he wasn't into that. He wanted people to have hope and do something!

If they did manage to follow the complicated directions to some obscure meeting place, they had to swear to secrecy. This is what the people mostly liked -the mystery of it. Most of them were young guys, active idealist men in college, or trying to make it. They treated drugs and alcohol as old news.

They had their own meetings and spoke out in the general meetings, which gradually got bigger and bigger, and caused Michael to break them down again and again. Where and when we met was always a challenge, and people often gave up, because it was too hard to follow all the crazy directions. You had to be on the move, like a scavenger hunt. Michael said that was how they got screened. He didn't like large groups moving together; they had to be small, like two to four folks, and show up unobtrusively. "If they couldn't make it, then they probably couldn't take it"  was what Michael and the core people started saying. But there were exceptions. Some rich guy might fly in, and arrive in a limo. The fund box started growing, and we were able to finance lots of projects. The result was people who were determined and willing to sacrifice to the cause, and the objective was action, reflection, and more action.

Sometimes they brought their girl-friends, [Pablito smiles] and pretty soon the girls formed their own "auxiliary", I guess you could call it. The girls made things even better, when they got into 7V in large numbers. In Mexico, the women were smart enough to stay out of the Shadow group.  But not up here. As they got older, the guys started getting married, and their wives would come into it. Michael himself married Jenat, the Arab lady. You probably remember when they were on CNN.

My family had come up legally from Mazatlan in Sinaloa. My dad didn't like the cartels and the violence. He had a lot of friends. He knew a lot of people. He tried to show wisdom and protect who he could, but some of them were lost to the drug wars. My mom dad were smart and had a travel agency; so he came to Denver and started another one that specialized in tours on the Mexican coast. They kept making it better and better. So, I grew up speaking both Spanish and English and trying to do well in school, because my mom, and the other relatives we had here, wouldn't let me go down, and they must have seen something in me and encouraged me, because I never felt the need to act out, or run away, take drugs and so on. I admired and loved my parents, and I liked it when they said I was "chico bueno." Pop told me about the holy death cult of "Santa Muerte" down there; he said it was the reason he moved away. He didn't think it protected him, like they said it did, unless unwittingly, it made him move away! It was the gunmen who had no hesitation to blow your head off, if you got in their way, or looked at them cross-eyed!

So, you can see, with that kind of background, my parents were really good, and showed me, we should help people and not scare them. My mom would go to different churches, and take me with her, so I came to understand them; and we read a lot. I studied La Raza and Alianza movements in California and New Mexico, and would sometimes go back and visit Mazatlan, until I felt I had two homes, one up here and one down there. It must have been on one of my trips down there, when I shared the 7V with someone, that it got out and got into  Santa Muerte and into the criminal gangs. [Pablo stops to take a breath and rub his face]

I already understood, "every soul will taste of death." That was obvious; but I knew you could also die of bad habits too; and Sinaloa had some bad ones!

Me, I was walking down Colfax on a nice day, and turned off to some small eatery, and there was this beautiful poster for 7V. It said to call a number, so I did that. I found out they kept a lot of numbers and short term phones, and they had people who did nothing but answer the phones and explain the deal.   I was given some directions to a meeting and went. It wasn't too hard to find.      I was by myself then, and eager to find out what it was all about.

About that time, 7V really started to catch on in Denver [Pauses to take a drink of water]  

We saw we were in something big. It was like the generational movements from the past, like the Beats, the Hippies, the Grunge, and now it was 7V.   We were all 18-28 years old, on average. There were others; but most of us were street-wise, cool guys, and we were tired of anything fake. We didn't feel we had to be outwardly anti-establishment, but inwardly, you see. Always inward! That was the thing! Yeah, we got the tat. It was a badge of honor to have a 7V tat under your skin, not one of the decals that non-7V people made and sold. We never made decals. We were pretty strict, and if that was a cult, then it was a good one.

There were unreal meetings and real meetings. The unreal meetings were organized without any word from Michael, and got off-track sometimes, and got into trouble. That wasn't what we wanted. NO POLICE interference was the idea. No breaking the law at all! We were supposed to help people, not scuffle with them! I remember lots of times, coming upon some big 7V festival on a golf course, or something, and there would be music and vendors, and all that, but it wasn't from Michael. He was happy to see it taking off, and tried to talk to their organizers. Some were open to consultation and joint-planning, and others were not. I'll get to the Shadow 7V later! I need to explain other stuff first.

In the real meetings, where Michael was chairman and facilitated general consultation, -those were the place to be! There would be the shield up front, that had been made of ceramic and enamel, at some cost, I imagine. It showed the red 7V logo on a white background, and the seven words at the bottom.  There would be silent meditation, begun and finished with small chimes, and then discussion of news and events. We reviewed what had been done somewhere, and then revise or alter the plans and prepare to go out again. Then we broke up for something to drink or snack on, sometimes catered food; and those were where the informal conversations flourished.

We liked Anonymous, a lot of us, and the group was similar, and secretive. But we wanted to increase awareness from sit-ins and pressure. We wanted to do more than camp out for the cameras, like a lot did, like Occupy.

During the winter, you couldn't find anyone because publicly, nothing was happening! That is when we had these deep ideology sessions somewhere, in homes, or hotels. But when spring came, then it got going. After a few years, when the songs about the legend started being the rage, it mushroomed and went viral, and groups appeared in all the major cities; and lots of small places in North America and Mexico; and then in lots of other cities across Europe, and the Far East. It was a heady time. Really fun! [Whoops WOO HOO!]

After about eight years, that's when the "Shadow" arose. Michael said that every light had to cast a shadow, and the Shadow 7V came out and they were wicked as hell.

At first, even they might have thought what they were doing was a joke. But they had die-hard people, real Goth types, but they wouldn't wear black like us. There were militant supremacists and vampires, for all  I know. It got bad. There were  shootings and abductions and enslavements, like Boko Haram and ISIS.

The way I understand it, the Sinaloa cartel made their own 7V down there. They even had their own "Miguel" and they swore they were going to do everything their way! They didn't care about unity and peace, but only showing macho cruelty and crime. They had safe-houses, and high-tech, a lot of money and resources. This Mexican "Shadow group" created a list of Anti-V words: "Voracity Vanity Vices Violence Violation Venom and Vanishment". Yes, I remember. I was there. There were tales on television of them increasing abductions and ransoms, rapes and murders. They said the weak should get beefed up if they didn't like it. They would come armed and take whatever they wanted and laugh at any public pleas trying to set them straight. And then they would vanish; and we couldn't find out for a long time, where they went or how they operated.

It was in 2028, just after the Movement had been around eight years, that the Sinaloans sent moles up to Alamosa, in the San Luis Valley, and started doing fast, bold crimes. From there, the "death-heads" came into Denver looking for us, and that was when it started to get bad.

Michael called it the "infection" in Alamosa, by the "virulent" Shadow group.     It had morphed and mutated into something terrifying. So the core leadership around Michael decided [pauses to cough] -the core guys who had developed this ultra-secret, ultra-capable think-tank, with money and ambition --they decided they were going to have to do something about the Shadow group.

Michael said he was going to Sinaloa, and he was going to go public and show what it was all about, because he didn't like them smearing his good reputation, or making 7V look bad, like it had never been good, and was now what the Mexicans had made it. Even the core group tried to discourage that. They would tell him to think again about going into that mess. But I knew he would  do whatever he wanted; so I advised him on it, helped plan and organize it and went down with him.

As soon as we got to the airport, and we were walking down the hall where the art is on the walls, I knew we had been spotted and trailed.  We got into a cab and these two other guys got into a cab behind us, and they followed us. We told the driver to do whatever he had to do to get rid of them. He sped up and got far enough ahead, and made a lot of turns. All this time, he is talking on his phone with someone he knows, and he goes to this address, just as the electric garage door is coming up; and he went into the  garage and the door came down.

Jenat didn't go with him, but she was feeding us data from Denver; and she is climbing the walls, because of all the rumors flying around. You have to remember, this was the furious peak of the movement. Everything had been building up to this. [Pauses and shows a shudder of emotion]

Michael had just done the Rolling Stone interview, that people call the collector's edition. In it, he said he was going to Sinaloa. He didn't try to hide it. So everyone in the whole world knew about it and watched it happen. [Pablo finds it harder to tell the story. His pauses are longer, his thoughts drifting]

I remember this one documentary on 7V came out. They were telling about Michael as Prince Valiant. They weren't trying to make fun of him at all. It was done respectfully. They were trying to honor him; and you could tell, they didn't have a practice of honoring anyone. But they were doing the best they could. They told how gorgeous girls would hound him, and hang on him. But he was like a statue! He never flinched or faltered.  They spoke about the good example he had set. [Sighs]

We were in Mazatlan, and he went on TV about 7V. Michael tried to diffuse the chaos that was happening outside! There were mobs in the street, when news of his arrival broke. He says "I want to diffuse the rioting" He wanted them to stop; but they were not going to stop. They had something in them like madness, and it wasn't just the crime and the cartels. It was the death cult and they were death-heads; and I think they were going crazy because...because evil had the upper hand on them. It was in the ascendant.

Then a call comes into the station, while we are on the air, and it's Miguel, the alter-ego, and he wants to come on the show. They tell him no at first, but then they let him come in, with one other guy, just like Michael had me with him.  Tim and Hoho and some others were at a hotel and would not come out, but were on their phones all the time. So, they tell Miguel he can come in with one other guy. No guns. Then he says he has to wear his mask and he will not show his face. So the deal was off.  From what they've told me since, another call came in to the station manager that was threatening in tone, and word came that Miguel could come in with his mask on. I know everyone has seen the show replayed countless times, but I'm telling you how it looked from where I was sitting. [Big exhalation from Pablo]

So, Miguel comes in with his guy, and they sit down across from us in the seats arranged for them; and they are both wearing death-head masks. And they are dressed really sharp. Silk suits with the 7V logo embroidered so beautifully above the breast pocket, and Miguel comes forward first, with a white silk scarf draped over his shoulders, like the Dalai Lama! He has on these big ostentatious rings, and he clasps his fingers together on his lap and doesn't move a muscle.

The interviewer asks if there is some way the two of them can come to a peaceful resolution. Michael starts to speak, and then stops. It was like he knew there was no way that this monster would agree to anything. So he just sat there. And the seconds tick by. So the interviewer tries to get some conversation going, and ask Michael personally to describe how he started the movement; and Miguel blurts out that "The Darkness has existed from the beginning!" You get the picture how his mind worked.

After the stunned silence, the interviewer asks that there be no more interruptions and that Michael be allowed to speak. "Do you agree to that?" he asks Miguel; and Miguel says "Alright."

Now, Michael begins to describe what everyone knew -that he wanted a movement for goodness to have a virtuous effect in the world, and you could hear Miguel snort behind his mask, as if this goodness and God were a joke!

Then Michael came right out and described why he had done it all. It was because he followed the BAHÁ’Í FAITH and loved BAHÁ’U’LLÁH.   Now everyone knew. Some of us had found out before; but he had done a real good job of concealing it. Everyone had been wondering what he really believed and what his motivation could have been; and how was he able to catch the imagination of his generation; and he told them straight out. It was no longer a secret, and somehow Michael knew that the time had come to be clear about it. So Miguel snorts at this too; and when it is his turn, he proposed that the two of them go out together alone. We shout "whoa!" The seconds object to this right away, but Michael cut them off. He was willing to go anywhere, anytime. Miguel says his car is waiting, and I said "No way!" But Miguel hollered "And No cars or choppers can follow us!"

Michael shushed me up and agreed to go with Miguel in his limo. So Miguel stands up and the show is over.  Michael embraced me and they walk out of the station and get into the limo; and that is the last time I saw Michael alive. I don't think he really suspected that Miguel had promised his people that he would kill Michael, even if he had to do it himself, or even if it involved his own death as well. And  Michael was walking into that?

From what forensics has learned since, we know that they went on a long, slow drive into the hills. They must have been talking a lot in the back of the limo, with the window closed between them and the driver. They get to the finca of one of Miguel's supporters, and there is no one there. They go into the house, and sit at the table and talk for another two hours, until about 2am. Then, Miguel drank some concoction that would put him out, as if he was dead, with barely any pulse. And Michael thought he had killed himself. That was when Miguel's people burst in. They think Miguel is dead and go into a frenzy. Where were the police? They were being obedient and didn't show up until it was too late! [Pablo takes a drink and covers his face in his hands. Finally he resumes]

Miguel's death-heads start to tear Michael apart. They beat him bloody with something metal. He must have become unconscious when they took him out to a gallows that was already set up, and proceed to crucify him. Once they got him nailed to the wooden beams, they used him for target practice.

Then, it was discovered that Miguel was not dead, and he recovered enough from the cocktail to show himself. Some in the mob were inactive and not taking part. They must have been looking at Miguel and thinking that something was wrong -that Miguel and not killed Michael AND himself, like he promised he would. And the idea that death was not so attractive to Miguel began to bother them. But the moment they made their move against Miguel, they were cut down. Then, another gunman there turned and shot Miguel, and there was a flurry of shooting and killing before it quieted down, and then the police finally showed up. A lot of bodies. A lot of blood that night. Michael's body was taken down and driven to the morgue; but there was hardly anything left.

The body was quickly claimed by Jenat and the family; and all the friends were having memorials. He was buried in the public cemetery in town, in a place with trees that became a site of visitation for those who loved him. That was how Michael overcame the Shadow 7V. That was how he was Victorious!

[Pablo brought the interview to a close and left in a dignified manner.]

Seven Virtues for Victory

1.Veracity

2.Values

3.Vision

4.Volition

5.Valor

6.Vigor

7.Vigilance

Veracity

Say: Concourse of holiness, unsheathe the swords of wisdom from the scabbards of utterance, and thereby aid your Lord, the All-Merciful. Beware lest you wreak corruption in the land after its reformation, and fear God, to whom all affairs return in the beginning and the end. Should the idolaters creep up on you, drive them away with our word, not with your blades, and do not contravene what you were commanded in the Book. Be steadfast, people, in following the path, and allow fire and rapture to consume you in this Cause and on this foundation. If you fail to pursue this path with perseverance, God will send another people that will be firm in his Cause and will commemorate him with distraction, yearning and ecstasy. Nothing in the heavens or on earth will deter them. On these the angels and the Spirit will pronounce blessings, as will the concourse of holiness, and those who were within the pavilion of nearness behind the veil. Is there anything that does not mention their names and thereby draw near to God? Say: By God, their names are tolled by the bell, crowed by the cockerel of paradise, and sung by the rebec. Thus are the words of your Lord completed in veracity and justice. Nothing can alter the words of your Lord, but none can comprehend this truth save the souls endued with excellence and immortality.(Súriy-i-Asháb, Surah of the Companions - Cole)

“Say: Honesty, virtue, wisdom and a saintly character redound to the exaltation of man, while dishonesty, imposture, ignorance and hypocrisy lead to his abasement.” (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 57)

Vision

O Eyes of this Temple! Look not upon the heavens and that which they contain, nor upon the earth and them that dwell thereon, for We have created you to behold Our own Beauty: See it now before you! Withhold not your gaze therefrom, and deprive not yourselves of the Beauty of your Lord, the All-Glorious, the Best-Beloved. Erelong shall We bring into being through you keen and penetrating eyes that will contemplate the manifold signs of their Creator and turn away from all that is perceived by the people of the world. Through you shall We bestow the power of vision upon whomsoever We desire, and lay hold upon those who have deprived themselves of this gracious bounty. (Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 11)

In this Day whatsoever serveth to reduce blindness and to increase vision is worthy of consideration. This vision acteth as the agent and guide for true knowledge. Indeed in the estimation of men of wisdom keenness of understanding is due to keenness of vision. The people of Baha must under all circumstances observe that which is meet and seemly and exhort the people accordingly. (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 35)

Let your vision be world-embracing, rather than confined to your own self. The Evil One is he that hindereth the rise and obstructeth the spiritual progress of the children of men. (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 86)

O ye that dwell on earth! The religion of God is for love and unity; make it not the cause of enmity or dissension. In the eyes of men of insight and the beholders of the Most Sublime Vision, whatsoever are the effective means for safeguarding and promoting the happiness and welfare of the children of men have already been revealed by the Pen of Glory. (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 220)

“May you receive the clear vision ofthe Holy Spirit, so that your heartsmay be illumined and able to recognizethe Sun of Truth shining through allmaterial clouds, His splendour floodingthe universe.” Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 46)

Virtue

O people of God! Do not busy yourselves in your own concerns; let your thoughts be fixed upon that which will rehabilitate the fortunes of mankind and sanctify the hearts and souls of men. This can best be achieved through pure and holy deeds, through a virtuous life and a goodly behavior. Valiant acts will ensure the triumph of this Cause, and a saintly character will reinforce its power. (Baha'u'llah, GWB XLIII)

Aid them, O Lord, to acquire such virtues as will exalt their stations among the peoples of the world. Verily Thou art the Powerful, the Mighty, the Most Generous. (Baha’u’llah, Lawh-i-Dunya, TB p. 92)

Volition

"Not of Mine own volition have I revealed Myself, but God, of His own choosing, hath manifested Me."  (Baha’u’llah, quoted in God Passes By, p. 102)

All that which ye potentially possess can, however, be manifested only as a result of your own volition. (Baha'u'llah, GWB LXXVII)                                                                                                                                                                         Man has volition; nature has none. (Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 17)              

Mere knowledge of principles is not sufficient. We all know and admit that justice is good but there is need of volition and action to carry out and manifest it. For example, we might think it good to build a church but simply thinking of it as a good thing will not help its erection. The ways and means must be provided; we must will to build it and then proceed with the construction. All of us know that international peace is good, that it is conducive to human welfare and the glory of man but volition and action are necessary before it can be established. Action is the essential. Inasmuch as this century is a century of light, capacity for action is assured to mankind.(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, #47)

Vigor

Day and night, while confined in that dungeon, We meditated upon the deeds, the condition, and the conduct of the Bábís, wondering what could have led a people so high-minded, so noble, and of such intelligence, to perpetrate such an audacious and outrageous act against the person of His Majesty. This Wronged One, thereupon, decided to arise, after His release from prison, and undertake, with the utmost vigor, the task of regenerating this people. (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 21)

Valor

Some have accounted this valor displayed by these people as a thing miraculous, but when a band of men are besieged in some place where all avenues and roads are stopped and all hope of deliverance is cut off they will assuredly defend themselves desperately and display bravery and courage. (Abdu'l-Baha, A Traveller's Narrative, p. 24)

Might it, then, not be reasonably expected that you, the youth and young adults living at such an extraordinary time, witnessing such stirring examples of the valorof your Iranian fellows, and exercising such freedom of movement, would sally forth, "unrestrained as the wind," into the field of Bahá'í action? (The Universal House of Justice, A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters 1983-1992, p. 16)

Vigilance

'Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity, temperance, decency and clean-mindedness, involves no less than the exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic and literary avocations. It demands daily vigilance in the control of one's carnal desires and corrupt inclinations.' (Shoghi Effendi,  Lights of Guidance, p. 364)

Victory

Victory and overlordship are His; all might and dominion are His; all glory and greatness are His. He, of a truth, is the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful, the Unconditioned." (Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, LVII, p. 86)

Verily I say, fear of God is the greatest commander that can render the Cause of God victorious, and the hosts which best befit this commander have ever been and are an upright character and pure and goodly deeds. (Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-‘Ahd, TB, p. 222)

People of the earth, strive for victory in these days, and let not the numbers of the idolaters frighten you. Thus does the pen of grandeur counsel you on behalf of the Glorious, the Enticing One. Know that triumph can never be attained by unsheathing your swords, but rather depends on purifying your souls. Concourse of companions, should anyone sever himself from all who are in the heavens and on earth, and arise to fulfill the divine plan, God will, through him, render victorious the sincere among his loved ones, and will pull down the standards of the idolaters from all parties. By God, the true victory is your detachment from all else besides God and your steadfastness in my love in this day, when the feet of the eloquent have stumbled and a pack of jackals has issued from the thickets of hypocrisy. These persons disbelieved and turned away, doubting that they could attain the presence of their Lord, even after he manifested himself from the sacred horizon with scriptures and the book. (Súriy-i-Asháb, Surah of the Companions - Cole)

It behoveth the people of Baha to render the Lord victorious through the power of their utterance and to admonish the people by their goodly deeds and character, inasmuch as deeds exert greater influence than words. (Tablets of Baha'u'llah, page 57)

When the victory arriveth, every man shall profess himself as believer and shall hasten to the shelter of God's Faith. Happy are they who in the days of world-encompassing trials have stood fast in the Cause and refused to swerve from its truth. (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, CL)