Chapter 1 – Piety in an Unlikely
Place
“I’m sure this will be enough to
pay for your cooperation, Mr. Wyatt.”
Not really, but what choice do I really
have?
“Yes.”
“Thank you for your compliance. Have
some time off while you’re at it. You seem to be shaken.”
“Thank you. You’re too kind.”
“You’re welcome. Go and be perfect.”
“I strive for it every day.”
Or at least I try to, especially in
front of people like this. Working down in the mines day in and day out is supposed
to help me achieve perfection with how taxing and humbling it can be. It’s a
low paying job with the highest reward being the sweat and tears that are meant
to cleanse our souls. I like most others believe in the God we worship, but the
Pious pride themselves on their perfection that they say they’ve earned from Him.
The Pious live in their city that some believe to literally be made of gold
because of how it looks and the gold mines beneath them.
Those who aren’t Pious live outside
of the bright city and in less than ideal conditions let’s say so that we may be humbled and perfected through it. The mines that I work under hold treasures of
all kinds that my city runs on. If we find something rare, like diamond or gold
we’re allowed access into the city to work as a maid or cleaner for the Pious.
Nothing too good, but probably better than what we have now. If you really want
to be among the elite, you need to be “perfect”. This means hardly sinning or
rather hardly going to confession.
The less you go to confession, the
closer you are to a promotion. The fewer people know of your sins, the more
attention you get from the Pious, and more likely you are to get a better job
from them. This is why I was paid and given time off. They don’t want me
reporting the dead body I walked over and dug up to the higher-ups. I don’t
know who the body belongs to nor do I want to know because I either accepted
their offer or I would end up as one. The only way justice can happen for the deceased
is for God to answer my prayers, and He seems to be either waiting for the
right moment or denying my prayers as of late.
The typical penance for a person
that gets caught sinning or confess a particularly bad mortal sin is to
publicly pray in itchy clothing, naked, or while being flogged. Sometimes you are required to be your boss’s
slave for a period of time. I’ve heard rumors of the sinful things that the
bosses make their slaves do in private. Should the slaves refuse to do every command
of their boss then it’s likely that they’ll end up like the body I found. It makes
sense considering the number of slaves in the mine. The body could belong to a
slave who died from exhaustion and the boss hid their body to hide her mistake
to get closer to her promotion.
This whole system makes me sick to
my stomach. To get around it, a lot of people and I don’t confess our venial
sins even though it would spiritually help us. I’m sure there are people that
make excuses for their more serious sins just so they can make more money. It
wouldn’t surprise me if certain priests and the higher-ranking officials in the
priesthood frame the sins of one person on another, especially since there are
priests who will break the seal of confession for profit and promotion. The
Pious control everything and there are very few of them that I consider to be
good people who are trying to weed out the bad. Because of this, I have to take
justice into my own hands.
Today is one of my few days off, so
I take advantage of it by going to one of the many propaganda stations that the
Pious use to spread their messages and teachings. To sabotage it, I’ve taken
the tools I have from the mine, rework the wiring, and once they activate it,
it blows up and falls onto a row of their parked cars. The Pious have many
other stations like this, but at least it’s good not hearing their constant messages
in one part of the city. After, I tear down some of the Pious posters and
destroy and vandalize their art. These things may be made well though they’re
an eyesore to me.
While doing my part to clean up the
city, I hear something behind me. There shouldn’t be anyone in this area at
work time, so maybe it’s just my imagination. The authorities that go through
these areas don’t always come this way because of how “dirty” it is. They won’t
always get people to replace and clean their propaganda because of this. Again,
I hear a noise. To be safe, I check around the area then hear another noise.
There’s no one here. I don’t even see anything on the ground that could’ve
dropped that made the noise. The buildings around this area are falling apart
so I would expect to see a part of them on the ground. Huh?! Someone tapped my
shoulder from behind.
“Ye-!” I say before seeing who it
is and falling down.
It’s a sinner that’s been locked up
because of his horrible crimes. I know it’s one of them because of his
scary-looking clown mask, the black hole in his cracked chest, and his boots
that have gold dust on them. These kinds of sinners are slaves in the gold
mines to work for the Pious. I’ve heard that working in the gold mines is worse
than working in the normal ones. This sinner is staring me down…while holding
out his hand?
“Come with me, if you really want
to make a difference,” he says in a deep voice.
“What? Why should I trust you when
your sins have made you look like a monster? I know what you are, and I should
report you to be rearrested!”
“You know that wouldn’t be the
right thing to do.”
“Why do you think that?”
“Because I’ve been watching you all
day tear about the propaganda of the Pious. You know that these perfectionists
don’t have the best intentions nor God’s will in their hearts, but you’re going
about it the wrong way.”
“How? They feel the hurt that I put
on them. This isn’t the only time that I’ve done this and there’s more that I’ve
done besides destroy a tower and rip apart posters and deface statues.”
“They may feel the hurt, but you
make the others below them clean up your mess. I’m sure you’ve been forced to
clean up your own messes as well.”
“As long as they know that there
are people out there who disapprove of their actions, it’s fine with me.”
“I’ve been down the same road you’re
on. It’s not worth it.”
“What makes you think you know me?”
“I’ve worked in the mines before. I
used to cause all kinds of mischief with my friends and family until we got
caught. Some got executed. Others were given the same torturous treatment I was
given, and now, none of them are alive. You know this to be true. You know that
the Pious treat everyone unfairly for their own gain.”
“Okay, what do you suggest that we
do?”
“First, take my hand and get off
the floor.”
“Right.” I look at his hand for a
second and consider again whether or not I should join him, but then again, having
help is better than no help, so I take his hand and get off the ground. “Okay,
so what are we going to do now?”
“We’re going to go join the others.”
“The others like me who are against
the Pious?”
“In a way. They are others like me.”
“Other escaped sinners? This is
going to be interesting.”
“I’m glad you think so.”
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