The Infernal Machine

A True Story by Jason Nebergall

It is said that Chicago is ruled by a political machine. This machine, the Cook County Democratic Organization was formed after the assasination of Anton Cermak, Chicago's mayor until 1933. Cermak won power by consolidating the various ethnic political bases into one tightly organized group. While the machine was not and is not infallible (witness the nadir in the machine's power in the 1980s under mayors Jane Byrne and Harold Washington), being the work of many people with many agendas, it continues to this day to dominate Chicago politics and leadership.

What often goes unsaid is how, in the 1960s, the machine was able to reach the apex of its power.

It was 1955 when Daley was first elected mayor, a position he was to hold for 21 years. However, it was in 1953 when he first placed his hand on the lever of power.

A driver pulled up to his Bridgeport estate early that year. It was nearly 11:00 in the evening. A chauffeur exited, opened a door, and let the future mayor into the back seat. In the compartment, across from Daley, was a cloaked figure, nearly 7 feet tall, face obscured by a hood, and holding a short sceptre. Daley was frightened, but knew through his dealings with alderman over the years how to disguise his fear.

Daley and the creature drove to Northerly Island. The car stopped, and Daley waited nervously for the driver to let him out. Once out, Daley noticed the creature was already out of the car- yet the other door had not opened, nor had the creature followed Daley out. The creature walked towards Adler Planetarium, and Daley followed.

Near Adler was a cave, difficult to notice, especially in the winter darkness. The creature raised its hands, and a turret elevated from the cave. A door, inscribed with symbols of a people lost long ago, opened.

The creature and Daley descended a spiral staircase, the only sound being Daley's heavy breathing. Their footfalls were deadened by the strange metal that comprised the staircase, each step slightly taller than most earthly stairsteps. They walked into darkness, and then, a fiery glow appeared. Daley reached the bottom, and in the light saw that the creature had disappeared.

There sat, in what appeared to be a large barrel-vaulted throneroom, a skeletal entity, holding a large scepter and wearing a crown of ice. Atop his scepter was a golden apple, shimmering in the pulsing orange light. To his right was a blackened skeletal cow, to his left, the original Statue of the Republic from the World's Columbian Exposition loomed.

"We are a society dedicated to the creation and preservation of disorder," said the entity. "Only through machinelike discipline can such an entropic state be perpetuated." The voice, like an exquisitely modulated cricket scraping, echoed through the room. Daley felt a sense of calm.

The rituals began at midnight.

First Daley was stripped, violently, by unseen forces.

TO BE CONTINUED???!!!