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The City of Light is a place of happiness and prosperity, but at the same time, it sacrifices one thousand baptized infants a day to keep the lights on and consumes its dead to make them hear their voices from beyond. Matteo is instructed by who seems to be God to use his new supernatural abilities to bring about this city's ruin. Will he overcome his doubts or are they well founded?

Holy Darkness: Chapter 3 – A Home in the Ruins

“People will know that the end of the world is near when the City of Light that the one true apostle founded has fallen. The faithful are instructed to end their lives so that their souls may seek shelter in Heaven. Those who are untrusting of God’s protection must wander the Earth to inform the pitiful outsiders of what they know and bring as many to the truth as possible before it’s too late. Know that riches and good health are the signs of the faithful while suffering and poverty are signs of damnation. Do not accept any god who teaches the opposite.” – according to the Sacred Scriptures of Truth and Light

Chapter 3 – A Home in the Ruins

While Matteo is traveling through the ruins that his black roses have caused, he sees many poor people from the Exclusion Zone taking refuge in the ruins of the city. Some praise God and start to set up tables for a party. A group of people from the city approach these people and threaten them with weapons for celebrating the city’s fall. Matteo intervenes and as soon as he is seen, the attackers fire their weapons of light at him only for the light to be swallowed into Matteo’s darkness and his black roses and thorns to drag his attackers into the ground. Those who didn’t attack beg for mercy or run away.

Unsure of what to say to those who ask for mercy, God inspires Matteo to say, “Rise and sin no more. Be at peace because God knows the sincerity of your repentance.”

Hearing this fills these people with hope as they thank Matteo for telling them this. They then join those from the Exclusion Zone in preparing to celebrate. Matteo leaves the area before they ask him to join them. There are a couple other confrontations like this that Matteo comes across that he intervenes in before he makes it back home to find that everyone is already in the city making their home in it.

Matteo is happy to see this, however, God says, “They are mingling with dangerous people. We must separate the wheat from the chaff.”

“Who is who? Tell me who to get rid of it and it will happen,” Matteo says while being anxious to protect the people from his home.

“Appear to them, speak, and then you will see.”

Doing as God says, Matteo appears to the people from his home and those from the city. The people from the city cower in fear as they say that he is the Black Rose that they’ve been referring to. Matteo tries to tell them who he really is and the reason why he did everything that he’s done, but no one believes him as they think that he got his powers from the devil. Black thorns come up from the ground and take away everyone back into the ground.

“What…what happened?” Matteo asks.

“They weren’t willing to trust you despite the good that’s been done through you. All they saw was the destruction and thought that it was unjust,” God says.

“So, what’s going to happen to them?”

“They’re going to live on their own away from those who choose Me.”

“What are we going to do? Create our own Exclusion Zones?”

“It’s not going to be like how it was before. I will send people to change their minds and put them in a situation where their penance will attempt to open their minds.”

“If You say so. Tell me something that will make me sure that life will be better from here. We’ve destroyed an entire city of happy people who’ve either killed themselves or are living miserable lives now with only a few of them seeing the light in the darkness.”

“The City of Light no longer lives in a state of sin that damns millions of people to Hell. It’s better for people to live humble lives filled with struggles than for them to live comfortable sinful lives because those who sit in the comfort of their own sin will go to Hell while those who struggle will find their eternal rest in Me. None of the luxuries that the City of Light enjoyed could be saved because it all operated on sin, pride, and greed so they all had to be done away with. You know this to be true, which is one of the reasons why I chose you to be my servant to carry out My will.”

“Okay, okay. I understand.”

God instructs Matteo to go through the City of Light to separate the repentant from the sinful until he is told to visit one area of the city on the sea. Matteo goes to this location to find a single girl that looks to be his age looking out at the sea.

“Go to her and explain who you are. She will be your lifelong companion,” God instructs.

“She’ll accept me despite this look of mine?” Matteo asks.

“She will. Don’t be afraid of her or her opinion. You’ve come this far and is she really who you’re most afraid of?”

“No-no!”

Matteo approaches the girl and introduces himself. To his surprise, the girl is thankful for what he’s done and believes him.

“Can…can I see your face?” the girl asks.

“Let her take off your mask,” God says in Matteo’s head.

“You can.”

The girl slowly takes off Matteo’s mask and smiles as she says, “You look cute.”

Flustered, Matteo says, “I-I do? I thought the thorns in the mask would do a number on my face and eyes. It sure felt like they did.”

“It doesn’t look like it did that much damage. Look at your reflection in the water.”

Matteo looks in the water and sees that he has very few scratches around his eyes and cheeks. Thankful for this, he thanks God and apologizes for his doubts. He is then instructed to gather people to where he is as these people become the ones to build his new town. As he grows older, he becomes the ruler of the town on the sea. His black thorns help him fish for food for his home and new family. These thorns are also used to defend the town from attackers and help him build a defensive wall and bridges to the nearby islands and land. The town later becomes the biggest in the world and the one that people flock to once they hear that he was the one who God used to bring about the world changing events. He then begins to see a bright future ahead for humanity that God told him about as he lives his new life as the hero who brought light to the world through darkness.

Holy Darkness: Chapter 2 – Sacrilegious Body

“The one true apostle of God had many followers who were close to him and they ruled beside him with many wives. When it seemed like he was going to die, they made plans so that his teachings would last forever. They wanted to do this by having a way to communicate to their followers even in death. To ensure that he and his followers would have a connection to their descendants, they instructed their followers to eat their bodies since the physical body is connected to the spiritual body so eating their bodies after death would give them a taste of Heaven, so to speak, and keep the teachers and learners connected on a spiritual level. In addition, thanks to the prosperity that the apostle had brought, they have been able to graft the elders to the young so that the elders can continue living through them.” – according to the Sacred Scriptures of Truth and Light

Chapter 2 – Sacrilegious Body

Matteo wakes up feeling more refreshed than he expected and has the feeling that the previous day was a dream until he looks at his cape and the pain of the thorns starts again.

“Good morning,” he says to God before going through his morning prayers. “What am I going to eat? How am I going to eat like this?”

“You will not be needing food or water. I will sustain you,” God says.

Matteo then remembers that he didn’t eat any dinner yesterday and he feels as filled as he did despite usually being hungry around now.

“Okay, so has anything changed since I fell asleep?”

“Much has happened when you were sleeping. There were some in the city who have converted and left it, but at the same time, the people in the city have become worse. At the hole where the cathedral of the traitorous apostle was, the city has sacrificed the thousands of women who had the role of birthing infants that be a daily sacrifice and have thrown many infants into the hole, which is the reason why the lights are still on.”

“Is that still happening now? It can’t be as effective for them because they don’t have their idol to sacrifice to.”

“The large hands from under the hole has grabbed many to stop them and black thorns decorated with black roses surrounds the hole and is taking root in the city. Because you were seen with similar black thorns, the people of the city have given you the nickname, ‘The Black Rose’.”

“The Black Rose, huh? That’s not a bad nickname.”

“It isn’t. Don’t let your pride in it get to you.”

“I’m sorry. So, what should we do?”

“As far as the sacrificing goes, I have stopped it, but there is another travesty that is going on. The people are consuming the dead and the leaders of the false church are attaching the bodies of their followers to extend their lives.”

“How are we going to stop them? Are we going to just touch them and make them fall into pieces?”

“No. First, we will separate the bodies of the followers and previous leaders from the current leaders. Then, with the smell of your black roses, the people will vomit the remains of their loved ones that they have consumed.”

“I’m not sure what sounds more disgusting them vomiting out the remains of people or them eating them.”

“They think that eating the remains of a family member they thought went to Heaven allows them to hear the voices of that person, but they are actually hearing the voices of demons that impersonate those people.”

“What happens to the remains of a person that they don’t think is in Heaven?”

“Those remains are burned away. It’s why they don’t have any graveyards in their city. Instead of funerals, the people in the city have feasts to celebrate a person’s death and their ‘ascent’ into Heaven with the body of the deceased being cooked and made into a consumable dish that tastes delicious to them.”

“Uck. I don’t even want to have the thought of it in my head anymore. Lead the way, my Lord.”

Matteo sinks into the shadows and makes his way into the city. Since the lights in the city are dimmer, there are more shadows for Matteo to go between. At one of the funeral feasts, Matteo sees dozens of bodies being taken into the kitchen.

“We’re going to have a feast unlike any other,” one of the chefs says.

“I understand why you had to take your life. What happened is beyond believable and I hope that you will intercede for us in Heaven,” a family member says to one of the bodies.

Going into the dining hall, Matteo finds people gathered around candles and lamenting the loss of their businesses and loved ones. At the front of the hall is a large priestly man with twenty bodies grafted on his body by some kind of invisible force. These twenty bodies are clothed in golden and crimson robes and appear to be alive and talking without any noise coming out of their mouths. The man that the bodies are attached to stands up and the crowd silences themselves. Matteo travels through the shadows in the room to get to him while they are distracted.

“We are gathered here today on this somber occasion over the loss of so many people including the loss of the one true apostle. Some depending on the energy he gave us to go about our daily business while others quite literally depended on him because his energy fueled their life support system in the hospitals. The Black Rose who pretended to be God will be caught and executed for his blasphemy and evil actions,” the priestly man says.

Matteo nears the man and his shadows begin to infiltrate his body as God begins to subtly remove the bodies from him.

The priestly man continues, “The voices of my past teachers, their followers, and their teachers have told me not to worry because a bright future lies ahead of us. Let us eat the remains of those in Heaven to connect ourselves to them and gain their wisdom.”

Before he can give a toast, the bodies fall off the priestly man to everyone’s shock. The man then appears as if he were lobotomized as all his knowledge leaves his head. The bodies that were attached to the man disappear into dust as black roses and thorns begin to grow on the ground. Seeing this makes everyone run out of the hall in terror while screaming Matteo’s nickname. As the black roses grow, they take the bodies of the dead and bury them in the ground as they take root into the ground and travel underneath the city as they seek more dead to bury. Matteo travels through the City of Light and does the same as many more black roses grow and spread.

The lights dim in the city as the day goes on, and sections of it are abandoned such as the ones that float on the sea and the others that sit at the frozen top and bottom of the world. It isn’t until Matteo reaches the part of the city that’s built on the sea does he stop to take a break. God lets him admire the sea and the sea creatures swimming around it as Matteo has deserved this sight as part of his reward for his service.

“What do you think?” God asks.

“It’s beautiful. I’ve heard stories about the sea and the creatures living in it, but I wasn’t sure it was true. The biggest body of water I’ve seen are small lakes so seeing this much with so much life in it is…astounding,” Matteo says.

“You could live here if you wanted.”

“I could? How can I? This part of the city is deserted and the lights that were keeping the wildlife away are off so nothing is stopping them from bumping into them and destroying the supports that keep the city on the water.”

“I will bless the part of the city that you will choose to live in and that will be inherited by your family to rule over.”

“My family? Rulers? That’s hard to believe since we’re hardly anything in our own home. We just clean and help others around the town, but if you say that they’ll be, then I believe you. What’s next on our list? There can’t be much else we can do to the city.”

“There isn’t much else that the black roses can’t take care of, however, the Exclusion Zone is our next place of interest.”

“Why’s that? Has something happened to my home?”

“Though there are more people faithful to Me there than in this city, there are still some that are no different than the people who inhabit the city and must be separated from the faithful so they do not become corrupted.”

“I get it. Let’s get going then.”

Matteo heads back to his home lead by God as the once great City of Light dims until all the lights are off and the black roses and thorns that were planted by his presence start growing to massive levels to choke and bury parts of the city underground.

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In the future where world wars are fought because of companies, Antonietta and her company, Tau Enterprise, have lost all their office buildings supposedly by rival companies. With most of her allies abandoning her, she must use whoever and whatever she has left including her personal assistant, Joseph, to reclaim the godlike control she had over the world.

Holy Darkness - Chapter 1 – Lights Out

“The one true apostle of God was disgraced by the other eleven, but when the true apostle was blessed by God, he blessed humanity with his many gifts and brought them into a golden age never seen before. The eleven apostles and their followers became the disgraced and were not allowed to share in the gifts. Today, the one true apostle sits upon a golden throne barely alive animated by the power within the throne and must be powered by the sacrifice of a thousand newly born baptized souls so that the golden age will continue and allow humanity to prosper.” – according to the Sacred Scriptures of Truth and Light

 

Chapter 1 – Lights Out

It’s another day in the dark of Exclusion Zone and Matteo looks out at the City of Lights and all its wonder. The city gives off a cold warm feeling from its lights because of what goes on behind its walls. He wishes he could do something besides pray and hope that God does something about it.

As if to answer his prayers, a voice says in his head, “Today is the day justice comes to the City of Light. Rise, Matteo, it is I who will aid you in this quest.”

“Is…is that you, Lord?”

“It is I who was, am, and will be.”

Excited to get a direct answer from God, Matteo asks, “How may I serve you?”

“You will go into the city and destroy the statue of the traitorous apostle whom they sacrifice one thousand baptized infants a day to.”

“We’re going after the world’s primary source of power already?”

“The cries of the blood of generations of infants scream to me with every second that they are not avenged and I cannot stay silent any longer. It must be eradicated today.”

“O-okay. Who should I get to help me and what should we use to bring down the statue?”

“You do not need anyone because I will accompany you.”

“But what can I do? I’m a simple boy who hardly does anything useful around here.”

“You do not need to do anything other than follow my instructions. Do not fear because I will be with you as I always have.”

“Forgive me for feeling doubtful and fearful. This is all so much at once for someone like me, but I trust in You so…shall we go?”

“Yes, but first you will be blessed with an appearance fitting of your role.”

Matteo is wrapped in shadows and a half skull mask appears on his face with black thorns that keep it on his face. He wears a pointed hood and fair pitch black outfit that would fit in with the luxurious citizens of the City of Light if it weren’t so black. The cape that he wears has the same black thorns that keep the mask on his face though they don’t feel as painful to touch.

“M-may I ask the purpose of the thorns?” Matteo asks.

“These are to remind those of the City of Light and the Exclusion Zone that to suffer is to love. Trust Me when I say that if these people knew had the slightest understanding that to suffer for someone was true love then you wouldn’t have to wear these thorns but be steadfast because I bear those thorns of suffering with you.”

This explanation both convinces Matteo that this is truly God talking to him while also making him feel more doubtful. It’s been said in the Exclusion Zone that God will come with vengeance, however, he didn’t know that it would be like this despite it making sense to him.

He then asks, “What approach should we take to get into the city? They don’t let people from the Exclusion Zone in unless they show their repentance to them.”

Matteo shutters at remembering the people who went up to the gates naked and the ones who presented their baptized children as fuel for the throne of the apostle.

“We go up to the gates and enter the shadows of the people entering it.”

The ridiculousness of what has happened so far and what Matteo has already accepted makes this plan seem logical to him so he does as God asks. Matteo gets to the gates and enters the shadows of a group of people entering the city without even thinking of how to do it. These people are all dress in vibrant colors and ride on mythical unicorns created by the people in the City of Light.

Once inside the city, Matteo asks, “How are we going to get to the throne now?”

“There are many lights in this city and with light comes shadows. We have many to jump between. I will guide you through them.”

“Thank you because I have no idea how to get to the throne.”

As Matteo looks around, he gets a real view of the City of Light. The city itself stretches across the world and is the only city in the world not counting the same Exclusion Zone settlements that are in between it. Matteo sees how happy people are here compared to his family and friends in his home. He sees all of the wonderous tech, blooming flowers, and beautiful structures that make this place look like a paradise. It even smells great with what smells like a dozen distinct flowers for each part of the city that he’s in.

“Don’t be fooled by this place and the happiness that it presents,” the voice of God says in Matteo’s head, “It is built on blood, selfish sacrifices, and the worship of false idols.”

“False idols? I thought they worshipped You in the wrong way.”

“The best way the Deceiver tricks people into doing evil is by making it seem good and reasonable. For example, it is reasonable for them to sacrifice baptized children because the children will go to Heaven while their world spanning city continues to operate. They think no one gets hurt and it’s a positive outcome for both them and the infants, but they’re wrong since they’ve denied the infants their right to life and they’ve wronged the mothers their right to their children.”

Excuses for the actions of the citizens come to Matteo’s head, but none of them stick. A wave of anger for the city then starts to flare up inside of him. This anger was there already for how the city treated him and the rest of the people in the Exclusion Zone along with the infants. Now that he knows that their actions are completely inexcusable, he has to temper himself so that he doesn’t start to hate anyone. Before he knows it, he stands in front of the golden throne with the corpse of the traitorous apostle. The body is decorated with all kinds of gems and valuable jewelry just like the golden throne.

“Okay, how are we going to destroy this?”

“Touch it and it will fall to pieces.”

Matteo does as God says and the throne shatters to pieces along with the corpse and everything on it. Power goes out throughout the entire city and business is completely brought to a halt. Everyone quickly panics and heads to the golden throne to see what happened and sees Matteo exiting the massive cathedral. Both the crowd and Matteo are unsure what to do at the sight of each other, so God inspires Matteo to speak.

He says, “Reap the rewards of your sins, you wretched people. It is I, the Lord whose face you spit in with your every action. I have come in fury and vengeance to destroy every wicked thing that you have created. If you do not repent and destroy the rest of your vile creations, then I will destroy them Myself along with your city.”

The crowd takes a couple of seconds to respond and when they do, they’re furious and yell at Matteo though they do not charge at them because his destruction of the throne still scares them.

“So be it then.”

Matteo’s right arm jolts back and the cathedral behind him implodes on itself along with the ground that it was on until nothing is left but an abyss where it once was. Some of the crowd gathers around the abyss only to be grabbed by large hands that pull them down. In the chaos and confusion, Matteo uses the shadows to escape the city and go back to where he was resting.

“Alright. With that done, the entire City of Light will collapse. I guess I shouldn’t call it City of Light since the lights are off, right?” Matteo says.

“They’ll find other ways to continue their sinful lives and excuse their actions. Take a look.”

The lights in the city come back on though they are dimmer than they were before.

“Did some of them convert yet? What we did had to bring some people to their senses.”

“It shook some of them, but they haven’t completely awoken yet. There’s still much to be done.”

“Okay, okay. When are we going back in? Should we strike when the iron is hot and going in now?”

“You should rest now and let the events of today go through their minds. It may convert those who were already questioning their lives.”

“Where should I rest? Can I go back home like this?”

“The people in your home will not understand what you have done and think that you may be under the influences of the Deceiver. I will take you to a nearby cave where you can safely rest.”

“If that’s what I need to do, then okay…”

Matteo is taken to a dark cave where he sits down and tries to hold himself to warm himself up and hurts his hands when he touches the thorns on his cape. Feelings of loneliness and cold begin to enter his body until he feels a slight warmth.

“I am still here with you. Do not forget that.”

“No, I won’t forget.”

Matteo then goes to sleep with the hope that he did the right thing today despite his feelings telling him otherwise.

Becoming More Human: Chapter 4 – Hitting Rock Bottom

Chapter 4 – Hitting Rock Bottom

Antonietta continues to sleep on Joseph’s shoulder even as he tries to wake her up when they arrive at their destination. They get out of the car and once Antonietta remembers what they’re doing, she immediately snaps out of her daze and walks into the front door of the factory only to be hit by a rocket blast that sends Joseph flying back.

“Antonietta!” he screams as he looks at the fires of the explosion.

He sees a figure rise out of the flames. This figure is Antonietta without her skin. Her entire skeletal structure is cybernetic as if she was a robot in human skin. Antonietta looks forward then at Joseph who she knows is looking at her. She then tries to see who attacked her and is shot in the head resulting in her head coming off. Her attackers then shoot the rest of her limbs off and keep shooting her body. Joseph runs towards Antonietta’s torso and covers it with his own body resulting in him being grazed by a few shots.

“She’s nothing but a torso now! Can’t you leave me just that?!” Joseph yells out to his attackers.

A group of mechanics comes out heavily armed with the two arms on their backs putting away their weapons. One of the mechanics steps forward and spits on the ground.

“I guess she’s no longer a threat without her head. The programs she had and her connection to her bank account is gone with it,” the mechanic says. Joseph stares at the workers silently trying to control his anger. “What? Did our ambush surprise you that much? You didn’t think that a revolution of workers was just confined to Tau Enterprise, did you? No, it’s spread across all companies including the taxi company that drove you here. You can join us, you know? I’m sure you’d be glad to off that woman’s leash.”

“She’s…she’s still special to me. I can’t abandon her even like this.”

“I respect your dedication to your girl. The next World Enterprise War is starting, but this time, the workers will come out on top. They will realize that we’re the primary driving force being every company. They’ll know that there are more mechanics than managers. More slaves than masters. Think about what you could do with us.”

“No, I refuse because you’re just like them. Another force that wants to mold the world to your own vision of what it should be.”

“Think what you want to think man. I hope you live a happy life with your torso girlfriend.”

Joseph takes Antonietta’s torso and runs off to a safe location where he thinks that no one will bother with him.

“I’m so sorry, Antonietta,” he says to her with tears in his eyes, “I wish I could’ve done something to help you.”

“You…couldn’t have. Don’t worry about it…” a voice says from Antonietta's torso. Joseph looks at the torso to see two pinkish eyes open on the chest. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this secret earlier.”

“Don’t be. How are you still alive?”

“Thanks to the blessing of modern technology. All my vital organs are in my body. I can even move around if I want.”

Spider-like legs come out from the side of Antonietta’s torso.

“Wow. I’m surprised if anything can kill you at this point. Do I have the same thing implanted in me?”

“I made sure you do. I wouldn’t want to lose you so sorry for keeping that from you as well.”

“Well, what do we do now?”

“My parents knew a mechanic that should be able to put me back together.”

“Can we trust him?”

“I think so. He’s loyal to my parents for bringing him out of poverty.”

“Okay, let’s hope he still remembers what they did for him.”

Joseph brings Antonietta to the mechanic and he immediately takes care of her. The repairs happen for three days until Antonietta gets her arms, legs, head, and human skin on her body again. She rests on a bed while watching the news with Joseph. The reporter on the news talks about a working rebellion happening across all businesses and most companies labeling them as terrorists because of the destruction being caused both economically and literally with offices being destroyed.

“It’s a good thing that we don’t have to worry about that anymore,” Joseph says.

“Yeah, but I still failed my parents,” Antonietta says while considering what to do.

“No, you didn’t,” the mechanic as he goes through his folders to give Antonietta a letter, “This is a letter that your parents gave to me just in case you ended up in this situation. They were kind of hoping that you would fail so you could live a simpler life instead of the business and political world that’s rampant with corruption.”

“I see now. Thank you for giving this to me. Where do you think we could live a simpler life?”

“You could go out to the countryside where the worldwide companies don’t really bother anyone as long as they get their food and supplies.”

“Wait, we? You want me to come with you?” Joseph asks.

“Of course. What would I do without my personal assistant?”

“He’s more than that to you, Antonietta, admit it. I’ve seen the way you two act when you’re together. It reminds me of how your mother used to act around your father.”

Antonietta and Joseph blush until they see the mechanic with a ring in his hand.

Antonietta takes the ring and says, “This is nonna’s old wedding ring. Mom used to say that she wanted me to wear it when I get married.”

“I went to your parent’s house to get it. Well? What do you think, Joseph?” the mechanic asks.

Taking the ring, Antonietta asks on one knee, “Will you marry me?”

“Um, he’s supposed to propose to you. Not the other way around.”

“Oh, uh. I knew that! It’s just uh…”

Joseph takes the ring, gets on one knee, and asks, “Heh, will you marry me?”

“I-I do!”

Antonietta kisses Joseph. They then arrange for a wedding in the countryside at a Catholic church. After the wedding, the mechanic calls his friends in the countryside to get them a job and recommends them a place to live. Joseph buys a cottage and once they get settled in, they sit on the porch holding each other as they look out at the natural beauty of the countryside untouched by humanity.

“I think you were right when you said that God wanted me out of power and where I was because this is so much better. I used to have godlike control over the world and now I’m more human so to speak. I have to say that less is truly more,” Antonietta says.

“Isn’t it? I could get used to living here like this.”

“Our house could use more pink and dark pink in it though.”

“I know it’s your favorite color but come on. We can’t have everything in pink.”

“Yes, we can. I’ll even get you dark pink clothes.”

“Why dark pink?”

“Because dark pink is manlier.”

“Haha, if you say so.”

Antonietta and Joseph continue to hold each other as they enjoy nature’s beauty and each other’s company in the morning sun.

 

The End

Becoming More Human: Chapter 3 – No Certainty in Flesh

Chapter 3 – No Certainty in Flesh

Joseph carries Antonietta to a large church that has three large mechanical skeleton angels overshadowing it as if protecting it from the rays of the sun.

“We’re here,” Joseph says.

“Thank you for your assistance and here is your tip,” Antonietta says as she kisses Joseph on the cheek.

“You just wanted to be carried. Everyone was looking at us funny while I was carrying you for blocks.”

“So what? I was enjoying myself. Maybe we should do this again. Oh, maybe I’ll carry you one time.”

“No, thank you.”

“Don’t knock it until you try it. Anyways, let’s see what this freakish cult has to tell us.”

Once entering the church, they find dozens of people praying and talking. Most of these people look more like robots than human since most of their body is replaced with mechanical parts. At the front of the church is a mechanical man with three distinct heads, three mechanical pincer arms on his back, crab-like legs, and a cog staff with an eye in the center. He preaches about the divinity of the machine and how it is God’s blessing that He gave humanity the capacity to make so that we could have immortality in this life and be assured of it in the next should we die. After the lecture, the man sees Antonietta and Joseph, dismisses the people around them, and asks to have a private conversation with them.

“I am so glad to be graced with your presence, Antonietta, or as some call you, the Cybernetic Queen,” the mechanical man says.

“Given recent events, do you know why we’re here?”

“I can’t say that I do. Have recent events opened your eyes to the blessing of the machine? Before we continue, I must thank you and your company for getting rid of AI from most of the world. We view it as an abomination since all men, women, and even children can take their job and role.”

“I’m here because I heard that you or someone here was involved in the destruction of my company.”

“I wouldn’t have a motive to do so especially because of what I said. I’m afraid you’ve been given a red herring to assume that my church is responsible though it isn’t without its truth. There have been members of the faithful here that worked at your offices and factories were conspiring against you and yours. I tried to convince them not to, but they wouldn’t listen to me.”

“My own workers did this? Why would they? My company gave them everything they needed to work and live fairly. Cybernetics to do the job, the best wages, and benefits in the world. We even got rid of AI-controlled machines and computers just like you said to give them a job.”

“Some don’t like the position they’ve been put in. Your company and other companies give them the cybernetics to do their job and affordable repairs if they need it, but now they’re stuck with those cybernetics for that job and are tied to the company if they want to be repaired. The cybernetics for a CEO, human-computer, mechanic, and stock worker are all different after all. They’d have to get rid of their cybernetics and get them reinstalled if they want to work somewhere else whether it’d be a company or job position and you know that doing that could result in death.”

“We’ve been trying to fix that issue and now the research that we had is gone. They’re going to have to rely on other companies if they want their cybernetics changed for a different job.”

“They’ll be rewarded for it by their new masters. I’m not sure if they’ll like serving different slavers though.”

“Are you calling my company a company of slavers?”

“I simply used the wrong word. When someone gets a job, they are essentially stuck in that job until they die similar to a slave.”

“I get it. It’s just how the world works now. You either accept your role or have no role at all and are just taking up space.”

“Maybe you should visit your workers. Your factories haven’t been touched by the attack and the workday is yet to be done.”

“I’ll do that.”

“Oh, and before you go, are you sure you do not wish to convert? You’d fit in here perfectly given that your body is mostly machine with hardly anything human left.”

“I’ll pass.”

“What about you, her last assistant?”

“My faith as a Catholic requires that I only get cybernetics if I need it for my job or if my body begins to fail,” Joseph says.

“Ah, a Catholic. I used to be pope and the leaders of the largest denominations of Judaism and Islam.”

“What are you talking about? How could you be all those?”

“We all worked behind the scenes of our faiths to bring everyone together under one faith of the machine, but we were exiled and had to start our faith from the ground up. To show our devotion to God and our trust in Him, we combined our bodies into this one machine that we all control like our one triune God is one God and yet three persons.”

“I know who you are now, or at least the past pope part. You’re Pope Benedictus X.”

“Yes, I’m glad that I am still remembered by my old flock. Are you sure that you will not join us?”

“I’m positive.”

“Then I’ll pray for you. You’re the spitting image of a normal man and you don’t fit in this situation without Antonietta by your side. I suggest keeping her on the path to Heaven because she’ll be lost without you.”

“I understand that.”

Antonietta and Joseph leave the church and sit on the steps of it.

“What’s wrong, Antonietta?” Joseph asks.

“My own workers despise me. I thought I did everything I could for them. I never abused you or came off as a neglectful boss, did I?”

“Not to me, but then again, you did give me special treatment. I’m starting to wonder what we would’ve done if we heard what the heads of HR and PR had to say. They didn’t get to talk at the meeting and probably would’ve told us something about worker dissatisfaction since I heard rumors of it.”

“Yeah, I blame myself for that. I was always thinking about the threat that our competitors posed that I didn’t really consider a problem that could grow within. I thought I was doing everything that my parents wanted me to.”

“Hey, this isn’t over yet. We’ll talk to our workers and see how we can make it up to them.”

“You think they’ll listen to us? They blew up all our offices.”

“We can’t get the authorities to arrest them because we don’t have evidence of them being responsible for the bombings other than a single person telling us that they did it. If we approach them with understanding, we should be able to reach some kind of deal.”

“That or I disable their cybernetics and force them to confess and we can reach a deal that way.”

“I’m not sure if that will make them view you more positively. In fact, it’ll probably make them hate you more for going for the more obvious approach.”

Antonietta sighs before saying, “Fine. We’ll try it your way and if everything goes wrong, we’ll do it my way.”

“Agreed, so do you want me to carry you to the nearest factory? It’s not that far.”

“What? Hahaha!”

“What? I thought you liked to be carried.”

“I do, but to be honest, I had you carry me because I was starting to lose it since I started to realize what I was up against with only you at my side. I’ll call a cab to pick us up.”

“If this is too much for you, we can stop, rest, and come back.”

“No, it won’t change anything other than making me more anxious to see justice achieved for us. We’re ending this today before the day ends.”

“Antonietta, it’s okay to admit that you’re tired.”

“I’m the ‘Cybernetic Queen’ as they say. I had the entire world under my control and protection.”

“The keyword in that is had. Maybe it’s God’s will that you don’t have that power anymore.”

“Well, you’re wrong! I am doing what I am supposed to. I am doing what my parents trusted me with, now come on, the cab is here. We have employees to discipline.”

Joseph quietly enters the cab and Antonietta rests her head on Joseph’s shoulder after a short while and outburst of anger then falls asleep after. Meanwhile, Joseph wonders to himself how he can help Antonietta besides acting as her moral compass.

Becoming More Human: Chapter 2 – Investigations and Interrogations

Chapter 2 – Investigations and Interrogations

Joseph prepares Eggs in Purgatory along with some baked bread for Antonietta while she makes her plans.

“You know, I never understood why you never learned to cook,” Joseph says.

“Why’s that?”

“Your mom made it a point to teach you, didn’t she?”

“Eh, I’m too busy to cook. It’s why I make you do it and why I gave you her cookbook and apron. Besides, you look cute in it.”

“What? This is her apron? You didn’t tell me that.”

“Oh, that’s right. I thought you might’ve known when I gave it to you with her cookbook, but whatever. Anyways, is my dinner ready?”

“Yes, here it is. It’s actually appropriate that we eat a so-called poor man’s meal now that most of our businesses are gone.”

“I wouldn’t speak too soon.”

After eating, Antonietta says, “That was delicious as always. You cooked it exactly how my mom made it.”

“I try to. So, what’s your plan?”

“My remaining allies are coming to meet us at a secret location underneath my parent’s house. They should be there in an hour.”

“They’re going to be here that fast?”

“Information moves fast in this world. News of the attack makes it to people as if they were in the same room and they act accordingly. Even though there are dozens of things happening in the world and we get all this information at once, we prioritize what needs to come first, and with this on our plates, there’s only one thing we know that we need to focus on.”

Joseph and Antonietta drive down to Antonietta’s parent’s house and meet their allies in the secured basement. These allies of theirs are from other countries and other parts of the country they are in. They all go over the attack and where they were when it happened with some reporting people from their own branch trying to finish them off. Joseph tells them their own story of how they were attacked after and how their cybernetics were modified by other companies.

“It’s strange to me how our own employees obtained cybernetics that could hack into our own and disable us for a second,” one of their allies says.

“Tau Enterprise was a primary force in rebuilding the world after the World Enterprise War. The work of our ancestors is within every fiber of the world they built up for us. We sustain the world with the goal of the common good in mind. We are going to march into the offices of the places that our attackers got their cybernetics from and demand answers if not take them for ourselves. I have authorization from my friends in law enforcement to do whatever we want, so don’t hold back.”

“Antonietta, this could cause trouble and might even spark another world war,” Joseph points out.

“The past World Enterprise War was started by countries controlled by their businesses because one alliance of countries was cheated by the other. This won’t end up that way. I promise.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“Well, then ladies and gentlemen, let’s go out there and remind our enemies whose own bodies and livelihoods exist because of us.”

Antonietta, Joseph, and her allies head to the closest office of a major business and walk into their building.

“We demand to see your boss. They were supposed to lend us support and answer why some of our employees that attacked us had modified tech done by your company,” Antonietta sternly says.

“Excuse me, but how can you say that their tech was done by us?”

“My cybernetics allow me to track where a piece of cyberware is from based on the model and coding and tell your boss to sit tight on top of what you already told him about getting ready for a fight. Thank you.”

The people from the company fall around them as their cybernetics are hacked by Antonietta and her allies while Joseph watches and silently prays that everything ends well. They continue up to the floor where the company boss is. On this floor, there are many others on the floor groveling in pain.

“Everyone in the building is neutralized,” one of Antonietta’s allies says.

“Good. I want everyone on the ground until we figure out what’s going on here,” Antonietta says.

They enter the company boss’s office where he is unable to move from his chair.

“Let him speak.”

“Ant-Antonietta! You’re mistaken about me being involved in that attack!” the boss says.

“I’d like to believe you, but you have all the symptoms of a liar, sweating, shaky voice, feeling nervous. You aren’t lying to us, are you?”

“Oka-okay! I backed out from the plan at an early stage so I don’t know much and don’t who organizes it, but I do know that the mayor has something to do with it.”

“The mayor should one of our most loyal members but given recent events and my scans telling me that you should be telling me the truth, I’ll believe you. Thank you for the information.”

The people in the building aren’t given control over their bodies until the group leaves the building and even then, their communication devices are all sabotaged and have to be fixed. They then go to the mayor’s office. This time, no one tries to attack them and the group manages to see the mayor by saying a secret code word to his secretary. The group enters the office of the mayor who is hard at work on multiple computers. His arms have multiple mechanical fingers to handle all of the control panels and be aware of most of what is going on in the city, the country, and world events that he needs to take note of.

“Please don’t mind my appearance,” the mayor says as part of his face moves to see the group in the office, “You gave the code to signal an important and immediate meeting. How may I help you?”

“My scans are telling me that he’s been compromised,” one of Antonietta’s allies say.

“Take him off his inhibitors and remind him of himself,” Antonietta says as her allies do what she says and tell the mayor of certain events in his life.

“What? Wait, what happened? What are you doing here?”

“Who have you been talking to recently that we don’t know about? Don’t bother lying because you already know what we’ll do.”

Joseph is a bit confused by the situation especially by the mayor’s sudden panic and sadness.

“Please, please just let me go already! You people play me like a puppet and I’m tired of it!”

“We are helping you help the people of the city, the country, and the world. All you have to do is your job and we’ll do the rest.”

“You think what you’re doing is the right thing, but you’re doing nothing by playing god with the lives of the people in this world while keeping yourselves comfortable in power!”

A sharp pain makes the mayor scream.

“How dare you say that when we’ve been keeping crime and corruption from influencing the world for decades while you people sat back while we did the dirty work! Now, tell us who you’ve been seeing behind our backs!”

“Okay, okay! I’ve been talking to the heads of Collective Commoners. They use me just as much as you do, but at least they let me act like my old self.”

“Put him back on his inhibitors and tighten up the firewalls.”

The mayor screams out in pain until he suddenly becomes calm.

“I see that you are alive and well. I’ll help you in any way that I can,” the mayor says.

“Thank you, but you already have.”

“Oh, then I wish you the best of luck in finding the people who have wronged you and our friends.”

Joseph doesn’t say anything about what happened until he enters the car with Antonietta and they head off for the office of Collective Commoners.

He asks, “What was that about?”

“Well, there are certain people in business and politics that we give…special kinds of cybernetics to that make them more friendly towards us.”

“Really? Because it seems like you’ve brainwashed the mayor.”

“It seems like brainwashing, but it isn’t. Sort of. It’s something that all businesses and politicians request for certain people they want to make sure that they aren’t going to be a problem.”

“This isn’t right, Antonietta. You have to fix it.”

“We aren’t going to make this public. It would completely ruin us.”

“Then keep secret. You’re a persuasive person, aren’t you?”

“I guess so. Fine, I’ll do it after we’re done with this.”

“You shouldn’t listen to that boy, Antonietta. His morals are too strict for what needs to be done for this world to thrive,” one of Antonietta says.

“Don’t call my assistant a boy. He may be younger than us, but he’s a real man to speak up when he does for what he knows to be is right.”

“Tch. That lapdog of yours will be the death of you.”

“Demean him again and I’ll be the death of you.”

Everyone is silent until they reach the Collective Commoners offices. An ambush awaits them and is sprung as Antonietta, Joseph, and their allies fall to their ground as their cybernetics are hacked into. Several people with guns and swords and launchers for arms point their weapons at Antonietta and Joseph who still manage to barely hold themselves up.

A woman steps forward along with ten other people. She says to Antonietta, “You didn’t think that you could stroll up to everyone unexpected and do what you wanted, did you? How are you still alive after the hacks we put into your system?”

“You’ll see why.”

Antonietta’s and Joseph’s cybernetics return to normal while everyone else in the room falls to the ground.

Looking over to their allies, Joseph says, “They are dead. Why are we alive?”

“I’ll tell you later. Honestly, I didn’t think it would be this easy to get you all to come to me, but I appreciate that you made it easy for me since this going from one place to another is getting tiring and starting to irritate me. Tell me who else I need to find so they can pay for what they did to me and my family’s legacy.”

“Heh, how about you ask the newest and biggest cult? That is if you managed to live.”

Explosives go off that collapses the entire building into itself with Antonietta and Joseph trapped underneath. Just like the previous building collapse, they manage to survive thanks to their cybernetics that let them compress their bodies so they aren’t crushed.

“I’m getting sick of having buildings fall on us,” Joseph says.

“Me too, but at least we have an idea of the next people we should visit. I’ll get us out of here,” Antonietta says as she uses the cybernetics in her arm to cut apart the debris around them, “Do you know what cult they were talking about?”

“I think they’re talking about the gnostic-like cult of technophiles. They’re the newest cult that says this future generation of mankind was meant to obtain immortality by replacing their human body with cybernetics.”

“They’re going to be a joy to talk to, but I wonder what they have to do with it. They don’t seem like the kind of people to be against us since we’re the primary distributor of cybernetics.”

“We’ll see what they say when we see them.” Antonietta cuts her way out of the debris and frees them from it all. “Now, can you explain to me why our allies died while we lived?”

“We have special programs in our cybernetics that feign being damaged so that we can make our enemies think that they have an advantage on us and ours is such that it won’t turn on us. It’s the same thing that happened when we were attacked the first time.”

“But why do just you and I have it?”

“Because…because you’re special to me, Joseph. I can’t lose you. You’re my ticket to Heaven where my parents are and I won’t let them down. It’s another reason why I have to punish the people who turned the company to dust. I won’t let them get away with destroying something they trusted me with.”

“I understand. You still have to do the right thing and not just what you think is the right thing. Following what God wants you to do is how you get to Heaven.”

“This is what I think is the right thing. I’m still in a position of authority. Despite not having my entire business compromised and all my allies dead or gone, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve that will get us the justice we deserve.”

“Okay, I trust you. One of the cult’s meeting places isn’t too far from here.”

“We’ll have to walk since all the cars are destroyed. It looks like you’ll have to carry me there.”

“What?”

“You’re my personal assistant, so you’ll have to assist me in getting there. Come on.”

“After having two buildings fall on us, you think I can carry you there?”

“Yes.”

“Heh, your cybernetics are better than mine, so you should be the one carrying me there.”

“Okay,” Antonietta says as she picks up Joseph.

“H-hey! I was joking! I didn’t say that I wouldn’t carry you there.”

“It’s fine. I like doing this anyway.”

“Hold on, put me down. I’ll carry you there.”

Antonietta puts Joseph down and he carries her.

“Actually, you might be right. I think this may be better.”

Antonietta rests her head against Joseph’s chest as he carries her to their next destination. While carrying her, Joseph sees a peaceful smile on her face that makes him smile as well since he almost never sees this kind of smile on her.