Original Design

by William Latoria

  The man didn’t hesitate for a second, “With all my heart, yes! Yes! I accept this task!”

  “So be it.” Pious replied. Blackshade watched as the light in Pious’ finger passed through it and into the old man’s head. The light flooded through his body, and for a moment Blackshade could see the man’s entire nervous system, as if he was looking at a virtual medical scan. The light pulsed inside of the man at one point, giving him a glimpse of his skeletal structure before fading, leaving him kneeling on the ground, hairless, naked, and his skin an odd greenish-black color.

  Pious tilted its head back and opened its left hand. One moment it was empty, the next there was a miniature version of Pious green stone staff in its palm, and a neatly folded version of the robes Artificer had given him. Only these robes were a bolder green in color and had a cowl that matched Pious’. Reverentially, Pious placed these items in front of the old man, who had now stood before Pious. Before the light had entered the old man, his body had been hunched and frail, now his body was well muscled and looked about fifty years younger.

  The man looked down at the items Pious offered him and gave them the Omega salute. The gesture was remarkably respectful, but something about how the man performed the salute gave it a holy feel. He reached down and wrapped the robe around his body, then he reached down and picked up the staff, standing before Pious like a miniature version of the Omega. The look on the man’s face wasn’t proud, he didn’t look excited or anxious, he simply looked peaceful. He raised his staff over his head almost and addressed the crowd.

  “Friends, family, young, old, weak, and strong, please hear me.” he began, his voice strong, confident, but decidedly human. It was very much unlike the angelic/demonic voice Pious spoke with. “Thanks to Pious’ wisdom, and the graciousness of Lord Fuin, I now have the knowledge of a true God coursing through me, and I will gladly share it with anyone that wishes to listen. Know that Lord Fuin is not like the false Gods of our world. The Almighty Fuin does not punish or reward you for perceived good or evil deeds. He cares not, if you give to charity or if you shun those that are worse off than yourself. He rewards those that help themselves, those that seek to better themselves in order to further their species, rather than just their own goals. Lord Fuin smiles down on those that offer pure acts of assistance to those that are important to them, rather than those that perform hollow acts that benefit those they do not know or care about. Through his teachings, good and evil do not exist. Good and evil are relative dependent on the individual. What Lord Fuin does reward is those who persist against adversity in order to do well, and resist evil as they see it. He is pleased by those that can accept when they are wrong and endeavor to correct their mistakes. What I’m offering you all is the knowledge that will unite us as a species, the knowledge that will give us all a certain path to a divine future, and that will see us all, as a species, rise up to our truest potential. I am but one man, but with your help, we can learn the teachings of Fuin together, and unite our species. I wish this for the families we all wish to create, for the honor of our race, for the pride we have in ourselves, and the life we will create for our children. I pray for all of this in his name, Tartum Fuin.” As the man finished, he folded his arms in front of his chest and lowered is head in a benevolent Omega salute.

  “Well said, Andrew Booned.” Pious told him, as it moved to stand beside the man. The difference in their sizes was almost comical, which was only enhanced by how identically they were dressed, but no one was laughing. Many in the crowd were kneeling or offering the Omega salute themselves. Some of the people in the crowd were crying and had expressions of extreme relief plain on their faces. On their foreheads, Blackshade saw the words, “Finally’, or ‘Praise Fuin’, or ‘YES’ flashing across them. Many of those in the crowd were chanting, “Praise Fuin!” which was beginning to take on the fervor of religious excitement. Blackshade wasn’t blind however, he saw that there were many people in the crowd leaving, or clutching their religious symbols with dark looks on their faces.

  Just as Blackshade was wondering what was going to happen next, he saw a chubby Hispanic woman, somewhere in her late twenties stride out of the crowd. She had dyed her hair a bold red color and was clutching a large golden crucifix in one of her plump hands. The crucifix was attached to a thick gold chain that wrapped around her ample neck. She was wearing a long white dress that flowed over her body and ended just above her feet. As she came forward, Blackshade could see the fear in her eyes, and judging by her demeanor, he questioned her mental stability. Despite her obvious fear, the woman was clearly determined to speak with Pious and his newest disciple.

  “I don’t believe that my God isn’t real!” she shouted at both of them, “I’ve seen him! I’ve also seen heaven! So I know in my heart and soul that he exists!” she declared, shouting so that she could be heard by everyone. For all the fear she was exhibiting, Blackshade was impressed by how steady and sure her voice was.

  A small group of people that were also clutching crucifixes flanked the woman offering her their support on her statement. Some of them were praying, others stood confidently behind her daring those around them to disagree. Those that had been chanting Fuin’s praises obliged them almost immediately. Blackshade saw the words, ‘I am a God Warrior’ and, ‘This is a test’ scrolling across some of their foreheads.

  “Shut up, you fat bitch!” a man said, rising to his feet. He had been prostrating himself to voice his worship of Fuin but returned to his feet to defend his new found faith. Blackshade sighed in frustration, as he began to make his way towards them to stop any violence before it could begin.

  Andrew’s voice stopped him in his tracks, “Stop, brothers and sisters! Let the woman speak! All are equal under Fuin’s grace, and she is no different! Whether she believes or not! If you are truly devoted to Lord Fuin then I beseech you not to silence her!” the new found religious leader told them. His voice was pleading, but there was an edge to it that brokered no defiance. Blackshade was relieved when the people that looked like they were about to attack the woman’s group backed off and looked ashamed.

  Pious took a few steps towards the woman, its face kind and understanding once again. The power it had received from manifesting Fuin seemed to be gone now, but the Omega looked no worse for wear from the experience.

  “What is your name, little one?” Pious asked the chubby woman.

  The woman visibly blushed at the request, the words, ‘Little one’ racing across her forehead as a smile spread across her lips. Blackshade surmised that she hadn’t been called anything like that in a long time and was responding very positively to the perceived complement.

  “I’m Mary. Mary Valdez-Little.” she answered. Now that she had the Omega’s attention, she didn’t seem to know what to do with it and shifted her weight from foot to foot nervously.

  Pious noticed her discomfort, “Please, be at ease, little one. I will not harm you, nor will I allow anyone to harm you.” it told her gently, “You say you have seen your God, and that your God has manifested before you. You also say that you have seen an afterlife. If you would, please describe these events for me.” the Omega requested.

  Mary blushed furiously, but she smiled, Blackshade noticed that when the woman smiled she was quite pretty. The words, ‘He is so nice’ flashed on her forehead. “Well, of course.” she answered, her smile becoming radiant. Blackshade noticed that the woman seemed to like being the center of attention, “When I was a teenager, I went through a rebellious phase. Drugs, alcohol, sex, you name it, and I did it. I was out one night after putting only God knows what in my body, and my boyfriend at the time wanted to get something to eat. We were both really messed up and shouldn’t have been driving. This was a year or so before conveyances were automated, and he had his dad’s old manual conveyance. We must have been going seventy or eighty miles an hour, when he lost control and crashed into a traffic light. I went flying through the safety glass of the conveyance, because I was not buckled i
n. I don’t remember anything after hitting the glass, but my doctor told me later that I flew ten feet through the air and slammed into a building.” she looked down, suddenly sad, “My boyfriend died.” she told them, wiping at her eyes. Everyone waited patiently for her to continue.

  “I don’t remember anything else from the accident, but I do remember what happened before I woke up at the hospital. Everything was black for a long time, then this bright white light surrounded me, and I was floating through a tunnel. It was incredible! It was so bright, but it didn’t hurt my eyes or anything like that, and I felt… comforted by it. Like it was a security blanket or something. I don’t know.” she explained, pausing as the memory began to overwhelm her; a few tears fell unchecked from her eyes. She was looking away from Pious now but continued her story, “I don’t know how long I floated through that tunnel, the light was so bright, I’ll never forget that, I remember thinking that the light should be hurting my eyes, but it never did. Like, when you look at a lightbulb it hurts a little? Well, this light was like a hundred lightbulbs, but it didn’t hurt me at all. In fact, nothing hurt! I felt fine! Not like I was dead or anything. It was God! I knew it!” she explained. Her description of the tunnel caught Blackshade’s attention, what she was describing was exactly what he had seen when he was on the Omega ship. That is, until Notes and Artificer made him able to roughly see what was inside. He wondered if what Mary saw was something like that, and if so, did that mean she was on an Omega ship as well? He looked at Pious to see how the Omega was responding to her story, but all he saw was the same understanding smile he had worn since asking her to tell her story. He returned his attention to the woman, curious how her tale ended.

  “Anyway, the next thing I remember is hearing my Paw-paw call out to me!” her tears began to flow in earnest as she remembered her relative’s voice, “I remember wanting to go toward his voice, and then all of a sudden he was standing before me, just as I remembered him. He looked good, and was in a bright white suit… he looked so handsome…” she paused to control the sobs that were beginning to wrack her body.

  Andrew walked up at this point and put a comforting arm around her shoulders. “Take your time, dear. Take all the time you need. You’re doing great.” he told her compassionately. The woman seemed to take strength from Andrew’s presence and wiped the tears from her eyes. Andrew stepped away from her once she had control of herself again and nodded at her to continue. Blackshade smiled when he saw the words, ‘They are both so nice’ scroll across her forehead.

  Mary took a deep breath before continuing, “I actually got to talk to him. He told me that my Nana had run into money problems, and that he had hidden a bunch of money in a safe in their basement. He meant to tell her where it was and the combination to open it, but the stroke that killed him was so unexpected that he never had the chance. I told him I didn’t want to leave, I told him I wanted to stay and live with him in Heaven. He hugged me so tight, and told me he loved me and was proud of me. Then I woke up in the hospital.” she said. Tears were now streaming, unchecked down her cheeks. “I broke both my legs, a bunch of ribs, cracked my skull and lacerated my liver. The doctors said it was a miracle that I survived at all, but it wasn’t! It was God’s will! My Paw-paw was telling the truth. A few months after I got out of the hospital I went to my Nana’s house and took her straight into the basement. We found the safe behind a wall Paw-paw had built when he finished the basement, and I knew the combination! There was over twenty thousand credits in that safe, which my Nana used to pay all the bills she had fallen behind on! It saved her home, and her life!” she looked up defiantly at Pious now, “If that’s not proof of God then what is? How would I have known the location of the safe? How would I know the combination to the safe? How would I know there was money in it? It was God using me to help my Nana in her time of need, that’s how! You can’t deny it!” she told Pious, defiantly staring up at the Omega.

  “Bullshit!” someone in the crowd called out. “Pics, or it didn’t happen!” someone else yelled.

  Another man came forward from the crowd. He walked over to where Mary stood and placed his hand on her shoulder. She looked over to him and smiled shyly at him. The man looked like he was in his late thirties, was also Hispanic, well dressed, and also wore a large gold crucifix around his neck, although, his crucifix was much nicer than the woman’s. The man turned to face the crowd, “Mary is telling the truth! She’s my sister and everything she’s telling you is true!” he called out to the crowd, he turned to look at Pious, and balked a little once he was face to face with the Omega. The words, ‘Oh shit’ appearing on his forehead.

  “I swear to you; she’s telling the truth. I swear to God, she is.” he told Pious earnestly.

  Pious nodded, “I know Mary is telling the truth.” the Omega confirmed, “And I know what it was that she saw and how she obtained the information from those you knew were ceased.”

  A collective gasp emanated from the crowd, Blackshade had to admit, he was very curious as to what Pious was talking about. The giant Omega stood before continuing, towering over everyone watching, “What you experienced was not divine, nor did it have anything to do with a God.” it began, “However, I do believe you saw your ancestor and had a conversation with them. I believe that your ancestor conveyed to you not only the location of this secure container you mentioned, but the code required to access it.”

  Mary looked up a Pious, a confused and hurt look on her face, “What do you mean it wasn’t divine? How can you say that? You believe I talked to my Paw-paw, but you don’t believe it was through God?” she asked.

  Pious nodded, “Correct, little one.” it answered, “According to your tale, you were in a terrible incident where your functions ceased for a long enough period of time that your central consciousness began to transfer to the Orbital Automaton Recorder. As your consciousness was transferred to the recorder, its deoxyribonucleic index protocol must have triggered and it brought your ancestor’s consciousness to meet you. The conversation you had was how you perceived the information merger that happens as your consciousness is processed into the Recorder. While this process was happening, the medical humans were able to get your body functioning again, and the emergency expulsion protocol must have activated in the Recorder, which stopped your consciousness transfer and returned you to your body. A malfunction from the Recorder is the most likely reason why you kept a portion of the information you received from your ancestor, and the white light you saw was simply your cerebral’s inability to interpret the Recorder’s procedure.” Pious explained, sympathetically. “To put it simply, your life experiences began to transfer to a database that houses ceased consciousness for later recovery. Before the transfer could complete, your body was returned to functional status and emergency protocols in the Recorder enacted, returning your consciousness to your body. A malfunction in the protocol allowed you to retain some of the stored knowledge you were exposed to, which is why you were able to locate the secure container and access it. There was nothing divine about your experience at all, little one. I am sorry.”

  Blackshade was not surprised to see the word, “CONFUSED” appear on the foreheads of Mary, her brother, and many people in the crowd. Hell, he knew for a fact that if he could see his own forehead, the word would be flashing there as well.

  Mary’s brother looked up at the Omega, “What is an Orbital Automaton Recorder?”

  Now it was Pious’ turn to look confused. It pointed up at the half moon that glowed quietly in the sky, “That is an Orbital Automaton Recorder. I believe you refer to it as a moon.”

  As one, the people looked up at the moon. Murmurs of disbelief met Pious’ declaration. “What do you mean? We don’t understand!” a voice called out.

  Pious looked very confused, “We have scanned your histories. Your governments know that the moon is not a naturally occurring phenomenon. During your second sortie to it you discovered that the structure was mechanical in nature, although your r
eports show you did not know what it was for. Your… astronauts… have been to the moon and have studied it comprehensively. Your results were inconclusive from what I understand and your collective governments banned travel to the Recorder until your technology caught up to its sophistication. I understand your fear of the Recorder, but I am surprised that its existence is not common knowledge.”

  Blackshade was speechless, if he understood what Pious was telling him, the moon wasn’t just some barren rock orbiting the planet, but some sort of Omega technology that seemed to be where a person’s consciousness went upon death.

  “Are you saying the moon is heaven?” Blackshade asked, skeptical.

  Pious shook its head looking amused, “Not at all. As I’ve said, your Gods do not exist, no God created Humanity, Omegas did, and so the idea of an afterlife for your species is fundamentally flawed.” it explained, “The Orbital Automaton Recorder is where your consciousness goes when you cease to function. It was developed as a database of lessons learned by the humans we left on planets to gather resources. When we returned to retrieve the resources and your kind, the Recorder would give us a detailed report of everything you encountered during your time on the planet, as well as why the units encoded to the Recorder ceased to function during their time on the planet. It was invaluable to the development of your adaptability protocols and gave centuries to your longevity and usefulness.”

  Blackshade was trying to wrap his head around this, “So, if you brought us to Earth to be biodegraded, why would you bother to bring a Recorder as well?”