The Mercy in Punishment: Chapter 4 – Measured Mercy

Chapter 4 – Measured Mercy

Before conducting our questioning of Penelope, I decide that Raziel should take a breather, during which we notice that the news and people online aren’t talking positively about the Neglected anymore, and don’t seem to know why they were. I look at the time and the night sky and begin to feel the weight of not taking a break, eating, and resting for the past few hours.

“It reminds me of the all-nighters I pulled as a normal officer,” I say to Raziel in the breakroom. “Even after getting a bit of a boost from Timeo, I still feel exhausted from all we did today.”

“I remember the days I would spend without getting rest or just a few hours of shut-eye before getting back to work, as both a cop and vigilante to obtain justice, so I understand the feeling,” he says.

“I’m not complaining about it. Just talking about it makes it easier to bear. What isn’t easy is thinking about what we should do about the woman who orchestrated all this. She’s responsible for the deaths of Jeph, Tim, a lot of innocent people, and the guards who tried defending them.”

“God will give you the answer when the time is right. You’ve dealt justly with the rest of the Neglected so far, so I trust that you’ll make the right decision.”

“I hope so. Thank you.”

Raziel nods, and we go see Penelope in the same questioning room that we talked to Zahara in. She sits calmly on a couch in a ladylike manner with her legs crossed. Raziel leans up against the wall while I take a seat across from her.

“You seem happier than I imagine you would. What’s on your mind?” I ask.

“Nothing. It just feels relieving to be honest with myself for what feels like the first time in forever,” Penelope says.

“I’m glad that you feel that way and are being honest. It’s good for your soul.”

“It is, and it’s good for you as well. I was influencing the media and everyone in the city to talk positively about the Neglected and what we did. I’m sure it’s relieving to have the public on your side.”

“So, that was you doing that, huh?” Raziel says. “Here I was thinking the media was acting stupid again.”

“They indeed do, but the woman I talked to wanted to be sure that they talked positively about us, so we could get more people's support from people not under our influence. I’m sure you’d like to know more about her.”

“We do. What do you know of her?” I ask.

“I know a lot about her, but not her name. She was once a Catholic nun who was abducted and corrupted by the sixth family through rape, dark rituals, and other forms of torture. She acted as a brood mother for the sixth family until you saved her. After, she tried to go back to the life she was taken from, but found it very difficult as the dark rituals and her giving into them left a hard to get rid of mark on her soul. I see you’re assigning blame to yourself, Polina. Don’t.”

“I’m trying not to.”

“It was her choice to go back to her old ways, and when she saw that she was perversely sinful without the sixth family’s influence, she blamed the people who tried to help her rather than herself.”

“So, that’s how she put us in the situation we’re in.”

“Yes. She used her spiritual powers to find desperate people like Zahara and me and influenced us in our weakness to act on our emotions and temptations to get what we thought we deserved.”

“Do you know where she might be and if she has any backup plans?” Raziel asks.

“She’s been right under your noses this whole time, in the Coronamento Corporation rehabilitation facility in the center of the city. I don’t know of any backup plans, but I’d expect her to prey on those people to build another army to strike against you.”

“We’d better hurry then. Thanks for your help. You’re free to go after you sign some papers,” I say as I quickly get up.

Before I exit the room, Penelope asks, “Is that it?”

“It is, and unless you want to help by signing the offer you’ll be given, you’ll be free to go back to build your community.”

Penelope looks pleasantly surprised. Raziel and I tell the police and Dominion what we know and head to the rehabilitation facility. When we enter it, we find that none of the lockdown procedures for dangerous patients are being followed, probably due to the woman we’re after’s influence. There is a normal number of visitors and workers around here, and nothing seems out of the ordinary.

“Watch out!” Raziel says.

Both he and I move, just as a hail of gunfire rains down on us. We get shot in the head, but our helmets are thankfully durable enough not to be pierced or destroyed by the shots. The surrounding visitors and innocent workers panic and run for cover.

“Thank you for saving us, my angel,” Raziel says. “Now, ensure that none escape.”

A fire engulfs the building, covering all exits and windows, shielding the innocent, and taking hold of some of the people attacking us to enact God’s judgment of death or mercy on them. The foes we’re facing are a mix of people with guns and those with powers. Using my powers, I find that some are convinced by the woman to fight for her, while others are fighting against us against their will. Regardless of the reason, I try to break the woman’s hold over them, especially on those who are sympathetic to her cause.

“You’re helping someone who isn’t acting in her right mind! She needed more help than she got, but that doesn’t mean she should hurt others for what she considers justice,” I say.

I manage to get many of the security guards and ex-criminals, and reformed villains back to their normal state of mind. They help me against those who continue to fight against us, and help lead me to where the woman we’re after is. Going to the lower, underground floors, where the holding cells are for the most dangerous criminals and villains, we find dozens upon dozens of people who are under the woman’s influence, and are also met by the building’s robotic security forces, who also attack us. Calling for backup as we’re overwhelmed, I’m surprised by sniper fire that destroys many of the robots and takes out our human foes. Looking around to see who helped us, I’m surprised to see Zahara sniping from one of the vents in the wall.

She waves at me and says on my comms, “I’m still a cop and soldier through and through. Come on, Polina. We have a city to protect.”

“Thank you!” I say.

Pushing forward with Zahara’s sniper support, the odds begin to shift in our favor. Eventually, more help arrives from the police and Dominion, and victory appears within reach. That is, until an ear-piercing scream drops everyone to their knees and plunges us into darkness. Everything becomes darker and more claustrophobic until I can see nothing but what’s directly in front of me. A woman in a black dress and veil approaches. She has tiny horns protruding from every part of her body, and she must be the one I’ve been searching for. Her eyes are black as the void around me, and her mouth is drooling some black liquid.

Knowing her name now through her mind, I say, “Lily.”

“Don’t even try to get me to change my mind. I won’t do it. I don’t deserve mercy or want it. I want pleasures and riches to make up for the pain I’ve gone through,” Lily says in a distorted voice that feels like fingers in my ears that poke through my brain.

“You keep denying it, but you know in your studies as a nun that no one is beyond salvation, until the moment after their death. You know this isn’t satisfying to you, and you’ll only be more miserable in the end.”

“So what? I don’t care anymore. Even if I try to repent and try again, I’ll only fall into sin again.”

“We all fall to sin again and again. Still, God continues to allow us to live, repent, and try again. Give up, and I’ll make sure you’re given twice the help you were given before.”

“No, no, I don’t want to be helped! No, instead, I want nothing but pleasure and what God has denied me. Don’t worry. I haven’t forgotten the value of charity. As such, I will gift you with what was done to me.”

Several nude people approach from the darkness around me. They try restraining me and taking off my armor. The powers Lily is using are making it hard to fight them off.

“Please, Lily!”

“Beg God for help, not me. Oh, I’m sorry. He won’t hear your prayers, like how He didn’t hear mine.”

I do exactly that and pray to God for strength and help, and soon get it. The darkness around me evaporates as if someone flicked on a light in a dark room, and I feel myself more in control of my mind. After fighting off the nude people around me, I turn around and see Penelope.

“I figured you’d need my help,” she says.

“I am beyond thankful for it,” I say.

Penelope and I use our mental people and words to talk down Lily.

“Despite what you tried to do to me, I forgive you, Lily,” I say. “It’s not too late to give up and try again.”

“The virtuous woman God made you to be still exists within you and will never be snuffed out, no matter how much sin you’ve committed. It’ll be okay,” Penelope says.

Lily falls to the ground and starts to cry. Her black eyes turn to normal green ones as she says, “My life will be miserable from here on out, and it is going to be miserable no matter what. Is this how a merciful savior treats the wounded and weak?!”

“Sometimes, that’s what mercy is,” Zahara says as she approaches from behind us. “A slap in the face, wake-up call can be the best act of charity someone can receive. I should know after receiving one.”

“I may have lost everything that I built up and tortured for over the years, but it was worth it to see the error of my ways,” Penelope adds.

“Shut up! I don’t deserve a second chance.”

“That’s not true,” I say. “Look at yourself. You’re still alive and breathing, and surrounded by helping hands. If that doesn’t mean that God still wants to save you, then I don’t know what mercy looks like.”

Lily finally stops trying to use her powers, gives up, and cries. Penelope, Zahara, and I embrace her as the people under Lily’s control regain their senses. Once all the prisoners are back in their cells, we promise to offer Lily and everyone else more help than we did before, and most of them are grateful to accept it. Penelope, Zahara, Raziel, and I leave the rehabilitation facility while everyone else stays to clean up the mess, care for the dead, and tend to the wounded.

Zahara breathes a sigh of relief and says, “It feels good and right to be a law enforcer again.”

“I can get used to it, being a hero, if more situations end like this,” Penelope says.

“I’m sorry to say, but they don’t always do,” I say.

“Really?” Zahara says, annoyed.

“It’s true,” Raziel says. “Sometimes they end with most of the culprits dead and unrepentant. Other times, more innocent people die than guilty, and souls end up being completely lost to the evil that infected their souls.”

“That’s a downer to hear,” Penelope says.

“That’s why we try to be as merciful as we can to the degree necessary in the situation we face. Today ended well because of all of you,” I say. “I think it’s time we started our own subsidiary of the Dominion. Don’t you think so, Raziel?”

“I do, especially with our two new members here.”

“We’re going to be the heads of it alongside you? Why?” Zahara says.

“Hehe, are you really surprised after all she’s done for us?” Penelope asks.

“I guess I shouldn’t be.”

“Without your help, things would’ve ended terribly, and with it, we can forge a brighter future for Meridian and ensure that those needing second chances get the help they deserve, even if it comes through a harsh wake-up call at our hands.”

“I’m in,” Zahara says.

“I am, as well,” Penelope says.

“I’ll always be by your side, so you don’t need to hear a confirmation from me,” Raziel says.

“It’s settled then. Let’s go celebrate with breakfast. Raziel has to treat since he’s the only man in the group.”

“I wasn’t going to mind, but now that you said that, I do.”

We all laugh and walk toward a favorite spot I know in the city that serves breakfast at six in the morning. I watch the sunrise and feel a renewed sense of hope. With this feeling, I say a small prayer of thanks to God for what He’s allowed today, and for the promise of an even brighter future for me, my new friends, and the people we will meet who need our help. May we be the help they need, and I hope they accept the hand of mercy that reaches out to them, even if they refuse it at first.

 

The End