Becoming More Human: Chapter 1 – The Fall

Chapter 1 – The Fall

The heads of Human Resources and Public Relations go to today’s meeting with important information.

“You think Antonietta will actually listen to us?” the head of HR asks.

“I hope she does. That is if Joseph doesn’t hold her attention.”

“Her lapdog shouldn’t have much that’s new to adviser her on. I swear there’s something going on between those two.”

“It can’t be anything too dirty. He’s a religious nut after all. It suits him that it’s a miracle that he even got the job since he hardly had any job experience coming in.”

“Didn’t you hear why he got the job? Before Antonietta’s Catholic mother died, she smiled and said with confidence that she’ll see her in Heaven despite Antonietta having not practiced her faith in a while.”

“So?”

“So, when the candidates for the personal advisor role was presented, she chose the Catholic because she wants to prove her mother right.”

“But she hardly acts religious at all, but then again, what would I know. Besides, it’s not like the whole company of Tau Enterprise will have Catholic values or send more money to their church because of Joseph.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he told her to.”

The two leaders enter the meeting room with Joseph and Antonietta sitting at the head of the table discussing their current situation.

“We were waiting for you two, so sit down and let’s get started,” Antonietta says.

Once the two leaders begrudgingly take their seats, Joseph says that, “We’ve been having another great month in terms of sales and growth thanks to you all. The only concern I have that I would like to address in the meeting is our customers and employees. Our cybernetics that we give, sell, and maintain to both groups should be as top quality as our relations with them and I’m hearing rumors that some are dissatisfied with the way they are treated. I know that there are some difficult people to please out there, but we should be doing our best to make even these people as happy and satisfied as we can.”

“How are we with our relations with our competitors?” Antonietta asks the head of Ally Relations.

“Our trades and negotiations with them are going well though I still think they are still jealous of our company’s power and influence.”

“That’s just how business is so tell them to deal with it in the nicest way possible. Remind them that without my family’s legacy and kindness then they wouldn’t be able to keep up with us. How about our relations with our overseas customers and businesses?”

“Our joint report is relatively the same as said in the brief summary of our relations with the companies here. We have emailed you our full detailed reports if you want to know more.”

“And you’ll tell them the exact same thing, but in the appropriate language for each culture. Our ‘allies’ in business need to remember what Tau Enterprise did after the World Enterprise War. Remind them, in detail, about our charity and how their company continues to stay afloat because we let them.”

“Antonietta,” Joseph says.

“What?”

“Being too boisterous of the things we do won’t make them more appreciative of us. In fact, it might make them hate us more.”

“I guess you’re right. Try not to remind them about what we did for them then unless you have a reason to.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Human Mechanical Development and Maintenance. What have you got for us?”

“Progress on upgrades to our cybernetics is steady as always though the lingering members of the medical community are still bothering us about taking their business and some have even tried suing us.”

“They should know by now that we can do anything they can do, but better. Send them to me and I’ll look through those cases and respond to them on Sunday. Offering them work and training in your department typically gets them to reconsider since they’re more worried about feeding themselves and work rather than their profession.”

“You can’t, Antonietta,” Joseph says.

“Why not? It’s not real work.”

“It still counts.”

“Okay, I’ll hold it off until Monday or maybe just throw it away and let our lawyers handle it.”

“Why don’t you look through the cases on Saturday?” the head of HMDM asks.

“Joseph and I have an important meeting on Saturday, and I don’t need your suggestion, thank you.”

“Getting special treatment again,” the head of HR accidentally mutters out.

“What was that?”

“Nothing, ma’am. I’m just muttering to myself.”

“Well, don’t say anything unless you have something useful to say. Speaking of that, your friend and you are next to present their report. I hope your late arrival was for a good reason.”

“Yes, it was and we’d like to point out a growing problem-”

Before the report can be presented, multiple explosions from within shake the building and kill hundreds of people within it. Antonietta and Joseph manage to survive while everyone else that was in the meeting room has been killed. The explosions have brought them down to the ground floor with rubble surrounding them and falling from above. They escape the wreckage just in time as the upper half of the building topples over into the nearby building.

“See? I told you it was a good idea to get these enhancements just in case someone decided to come after us,” Antonietta says.

“I didn’t have a problem with getting it. I wasn’t sure to get them at the time is all,” Joseph says as he moves his arms and legs to get the hurt out of them.

“Whatever. You still owe me a home cooked dinner.” While they look over the destruction of their building, a rescue crew comes to them. “There you are. We keep you on standby with pay for a reason so get to helping the people in the building.”

The rescue crew takes out weapons while Antonietta’s and Joseph’s cybernetics malfunction so they are unable to walk or use their arms.

“Unfortunately for you, ‘Cybernetic Queen’, this is the day that your entire empire falls to the ground. Look at the news on the screens above you and the reports in your head.”

Antonietta and Joseph see that multiple Tau Enterprise buildings have been destroyed from the inside across the world through the communication devices in their head and the news that is being shown on the outside.

“What’s going on?!” Joseph says.

“Nothing that you should know because you’ll be joining your girlfriend with that God that you talk about so much-” Suddenly, the attackers are unable to move. “Wh-wha-di-do-”

“Did you think that I wouldn’t have a plan for this?” Antonietta says as her and Joseph’s cybernetics return to normal and Antonietta’s eyes begin to glow dark pink. “My company makes the very body that you use daily and I have the keys to it.”

The attackers barely manage to pull the trigger, but their shots go directly to Antonietta, however, her skin moves out of the way in a flash to reveal her cybernetic skeleton before it instantly goes back.

“Wha-t-ar-you-”

“I’m the Cybernetic Queen like you said. I’ve heard that nickname said about me here and there, and I think I’m starting to like it. Were you the only ones who set up this disaster?”

“It-it-it’s bigger than you and me, and I’m just a pawn in the game who doesn’t know anything.”

The limbs of the attacker’s fold into themselves and their pain senses are overloaded.

“That’s not what I want to hear! Tell me more!”

“Antonietta! We need them alive. They’re no good to us dead!” Joseph says with a hand on Antonietta’s shoulder.

“Tch, fine. I can already look up where you got your cybernetics altered from. I’ll use everything that I have at my disposal to bring your little cabal down. It’s not over just because you blew up a few of my businesses. It’ll be over when I’m in pieces and good luck trying to do that with a broken body.”

Antonietta steps over her attackers and sends out messages to her contacts across the world.

“We should get you to a safehouse or your home so you’ll be safe until our allies help us out,” Joseph suggests.

“That won’t be necessary because I’m taking care of this myself. Most of my so-called allies are either dead or not responding, my home has been destroyed, and I’m not sure if my safehouses are safe because of it.”

“You’re doing this by yourself? I don’t think so. I’m coming with you.”

“I wouldn’t have it any either way. I need my little moral compass with me.”

“We should go back to my place then. It isn’t destroyed from what I can see from my security cameras so it should be relatively safe assuming they don’t think to go after it.”

“Do we have to? I’m really itching for revenge.”

“I’ll make you that dinner I owe you then.”

“Deal.”

Antonietta calls her car over that drives itself over to them. Joseph and Antonietta then drive off while Joseph thinks of their next plans and Antonietta thinks about dinner and getting revenge.

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When faith in God is low, not even a miracle will convert a faithless heart. This is when God must remind humanity of His justice and mercy. He gives and takes away. He is the master over reality. He is who lets man live with every word that proceedeth from His mouth. He is who was, is, and will be. This author's edition includes Inevitability of Loss, Living Only by Faith, and Sacrifice of the Self along with Behind the Story extras that detail a few of the thoughts and inspirations for the stories.

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When no one cares about the truth, God intervenes by making mankind solely reliant on Him who is truth itself. There is no hunger, thirst, or disease, but there is the consequence of a person's body becoming twisted because of the lies they accept as truth. Gianna is a young woman in search of real truth in the ruins of a war-torn world and will risk her life to find it.

Sacrifice of the Self: Chapter 4 – Death and Rebirth of Self

Chapter 4 – Death and Rebirth of Self

Altair drives around the wasteland until we stop at city hall. This place is a sprawling cathedral that seems more like a place of worship than politics. I’m sure it looked impressive back in the day when it wasn’t destroyed.

“Do you think members of the true faith are here?” I ask Altair.

“These had the best shelters so they should.”

“They were also the places that were attacked the most during the war and after it because of all the knowledge within it.”

“There’s still a chance that there will be people in it. Maybe we can even find a map of churches that will have shelters.”

“Okay. Let’s try since we have no other options.”

“We’ll check the place out together to see if it’s safe. You guys good staying here by yourself?”

“We’re good. Do you want to bring a weapon with you?”

“No, you know I’m a horrible shot anyway.”

While we walk to city hall, I ask, “They can take care of themselves with those guns?”

“They can, but it’s not like they’re going to shoot first. We have those books that we can offer if someone wants to drop by and cause trouble.”

“But still, I don’t think you have enough ammo if trouble is going to be caused. What does it take to kill a person nowadays? Ten bullets to the body or head?”

“I’m surprised that you know that and it’s ten bullets to the head. It’s going to be fine, Gianna. We’re going to be in and out.”

Going into the city hall, we find ruins and rubble as I expect, and an elevator that doesn’t work. This must lead to the underground shelter so we look nearby and find a staircase that leads down into a basement with a large steel door. The door is open and has claw marks on it.

“This isn’t looking good, Altair,” I say as I look into the shelter that barely has functional lights.

“If no one is here, then we can at least find a map to another church that has a shelter.”

“Eh, okay.”

We go into the shelter and look for a map in the destruction of the shelter. It looks like there must’ve been a fight here with claw marks and what seems to be dried blood on the floor.

“A map is what you want, is that correct?” a voice echoes throughout the shelter.

“Who are you?” Altair asks.

“A teacher from days long past. A leader whose name everyone used to honor including the pope and his bishops.”

“Can you help us find a map to the other churches that have shelters? Do you have one here?”

“I do, but it comes at a price.”

“What’s that price?”

“Answer my questions.”

“Okay, shoot’em at us.”

“Does God hang on a cross?”

“He does.”

“Wrong.” How is that wrong? Maybe it was a trick question and he wanted a specific answer. “The purpose of all mankind is to love and serve.”

“It’s to love and serve God and love one another as yourself.”

“Double wrong.”

Something is wrong about this. Where is this man we’re talking to? I can hear something moving toward us. It sounds like a slithering kind of sound. Is this person twisted?

“No, you’re wrong. Why would the leaders of the past bow to you?”

“Because I knew and still know the real truth.”

“Then why do you think that I’m wrong?”

“I do not think that you are wrong. I’m saying you are.”

“Why? Tell me why I am wrong when I am not the least bit twisted.”

“I am the one asking the questions and I have one more question to ask. Why would I say that the truth is wrong?”

Altair looks like he’s really thinking about the answer while still searching for the map. I keep looking while thinking about the answer too. It feels like I should know it…

“He doesn’t want the truth to be true,” I say to myself.

“Your girl has the right answer. This has bought you some time. Answer this next question for some more. Why would I deny the truth its rightful place?”

“Because you want your falsehoods to be true!”

“That’s one way of putting it, but I wouldn’t call them falsehoods or even deceptions. What is called lies will be the truth. I may be alone, but the public is uninformed. I will be the god of the new truth and humanity will ascend in their twisted nature and rule the earth in spite of God’s will. Here is your map.” A map is thrown at Altair. “You have five minutes before I start chasing you. Use them wisely.”

Altair and I run to the entrance of the shelter and close the large door behind us as best as possible until we feel the heavy banging of the man behind it. His claws seem like they’re going to break through the door so we run as fast as we can.

As we get outside, Altair screams to his family, “Start the truck and get ready! We have trouble!”

His family starts the truck and readies their weapons. I look around to see if the man is chasing us and I don’t see anything. I swear I heard the door breaking open as we exited the building, but I don’t see him. We get in the car and drive off. Did we escape that person? I hope-Is there something crawling on the roof of the truck? A claw coming from the roof of the truck. almost hits Altair who swerves the car in a panic.

“We got uninvited company on the roof of the truck!” Altair says while his family fires their guns through the top of the truck.

A slithery snake-like man falls to the front of the car as we finally see the twisted man who was talking to us. He looks like a snake with his legs fused together. His one arm has two claw-like pincers on them while the other arm has his head on it with jagged teeth and one protruding eye in the front and back of his head.

“He’s here!” Altair says.

Two members of his family shoot the snake-like man in the face to make him fall off the truck and he is run over.

“Whew. This is how it usually was with you before you became a librarian?” I ask Altair.

“Yeah, but I’ve never seen a twisted snake man before.”

“You must’ve lived an exciting life.”

“It sure was and I’m not entirely sure why I left it. If you want, you can join us after you find what you’re looking for in the church.”

“I’ll think about it.”

Why did I say that? This kind of life isn’t for me. I’m better off reading books and learning than action and adventure. The map that we got proves to be worth the risk as the second church we visit is the one with members of the true faith in it that still practice and believe in its teachings. The shelter under this church isn’t as luxurious as the hotel I was at before and looks more like a convent, but it’s better than nothing. Altair and his family talk to the people they know in the church, what they’ve been through, then introduce me to everyone who I tell my own story of getting here.

After a while of relaxing, one of the priests in the group approaches me and asks, “Hello, Gianna. I have to thank you again for helping Altair come back home.”

“Oh, I didn’t really do anything. I just happen to be there when he needed me.”

“It was Divine Providence that you two met.”

“It sure was. Say, do you know where your library is? Also, do you think I can receive the sacraments? That would really help me grow closer in truth, to God.”

“I’ll arrange for you to receive the sacraments and the library is on the top floor. What are your favorite books to read?”

“Non-fiction, theology in specific because I want to know the very depths of truth.”

“Ah, yes. It’s the most important topic to know. What will you do after? Altair has been wondering if you’re going to drive with him and his family to gather knowledge and other people to bring to us and to God.”

“He asked me about that not too long ago and I told him that I’ll think about it. I don’t know. It’s not the kind of life that I see myself living. I’d rather learn and read books.”

“And then what? Are you going to be a teacher?”

“I don’t know.”

“You’re going to have to do something with the knowledge and gifts that God gave you. You can’t just keep to yourself.”

“I don’t know. Part of me wants to do something and another just wants to read all day.”

“How about we start by answering this simple question? Who are you and what do you do?”

“I’m a girl that likes to read and look for real truth.”

“That sounds like a person that would fit in well with Altair and his family.”

“But I’m not the kind of person that risks their life for another.”

“You think you aren’t, but God knows you better than you do. Think about the twisted people out there. They think they know truth better than God does and because of that, their bodies have become twisted to reflect the warped state of their soul. If you deny your calling, then you become no different than them. This is what it means to submit yourself to truth, to God. You sacrifice your own opinions and thoughts about what is true and give yourself to God who molds you into the person you are meant to become.”

That’s a lot to hear in a short breath. It makes sense now that I really think about it and remember the things that I read.

“Okay, fine. I’ll find a way to help out and make myself useful in the way that God wants me to.”

“Thank you, Gianna.”

“No, thank you for helping me realize how I’m supposed to see the truth.”

For the next few days, I receive the sacraments and get to know everyone in the church. Surprisingly enough, I don’t feel the need to read or learn more after receiving the Eucharist, which is said to be the Body of God. I guess receiving truth itself in a literal manner is all I really needed. Later, I join Altair and his family in gathering books filled with truth and bringing people to the real truth. It’s a life I didn’t see myself living a few days ago, but this is the truth within me that I didn’t see until truth itself opened my eyes. Now the old me is gone and the real me is living.

The End

Sacrifice of the Self: Chapter 3 – The Truth of My Choosing

Chapter 3 – The Truth of My Choosing

I’ve never been on the surface long to see what it’s like and I’m not seeing anything that I didn’t expect as Altair drives across this barren wasteland. It is interesting to look at the destruction of society with what must’ve been a beautiful world with buildings that reached the sky and statues of wise men from old. Part of me wishes I could’ve seen it the way it was before rather than in pictures and tales.

“We’ve arrived at your destination,” Altair says as he stops the truck.

“You sound like one of those old automated taxi drivers that I read about. What? Do I have to pay a fee for your services?”

“Helping me out of the library was enough. Wait, what is your name?”

“Gianna.”

“It’s nice to meet you. I hope to see you again.”

“Thanks for the ride.”

I usually see people once or twice before never seeing them again with the exception of a few people, but even they’re gone. Anyways, I head into the cathedral to find basically everything destroyed. Thankfully, there’s are signs that lead to a downstairs part of the cathedral. The downstairs area has a hallway decorated with damaged statues of saints, angels, the Queen of Heaven, and crosses. On the floor is a ripped red and gold carpet that started at the top of the stairs and goes down a tunnel lit with torches. It appears that this tunnel was made as some kind of shelter and escape since I saw some storage shelves and beds in the rooms that I passed by.

Going through the tunnel, I begin to see statues that seem to be made more recently because of how clean they look relative to the other statues. These seem to be statues of twisted people. I don’t know why someone would make statues of people who are twisted. I have read about people thinking that certain twisted forms are the true next form of humanity, but these people didn’t worship the true faith, or at least I don’t think they did. As I go even further into the tunnel, I find a still functioning elevator that takes me to an underground hotel.

This place looks completely untouched with its beautiful decorations, water fountains, and chandeliers. The people here are a mix of normal-looking and twisted. For some reason, the twisted people appear to be inversions of beauty models and even angels for some reason. These are probably the people who made the newer statues I saw.

“Hello there, young lady. May I ask you your name?” a person at the desk says.

She looks a bit twisted, but not much.

“It’s Gianna. You have to ask if you can ask my name?”

“You know how hard it is to live nowadays so people can be touchy even when I ask their names. I’m glad that you managed to find your way here. Are you here to rejuvenate yourself with real truth?”

“That’s one way of putting it. Why? Do people come here for other reasons?”

“Some people come here for safety, a friendly community, and to worship in peace.”

“Do you send out people to bring them here? I’ve only heard of underground shelters like this in rumors and fictional books.”

“Very few volunteer because of how it is outside.”

“Makes sense.”

“Anyhow, I’ll show you around the place if you’d like. I can also answer any questions you have along the way.”

“Okay, I’ll take a tour.”

“Splendid. This way.”

The woman leads me first to a place where people are reading books in a library that looks similar to the one I was just at, though this one thankfully doesn’t have any librarians in it.

“Since you’re here for real truth and you mentioned fiction, I thought that this would be the first place to show you. Fiction is just as important as non-fiction since it can convey lessons and challenge you with the stories that are told. It is said that God used fictional tales to teach people when He came to us in the human form. We have many genres and types of fiction by authors of the past and present who continue to write and inspire future generations,” the woman says.

“This may be all you have to show me since I’m itching to see what’s here, but let’s continue.”

“Sure thing. It gets even better from here.”

“How so?”

“You’ll see.”

“When and how was this place built?”

“Years ago when the Church had all the countries of the world at her beck and call. Her leadership knew that there were people in those countries who would turn on her so they constructed these shelters with the plentiful amounts of resources she had to house the faithful and those who turned to her for help. Speaking about housing, here is the next place where everyone is living.”

“Amazing! This place looks like what the old world used to look like from the books I read.”

Green grass, flowing water, businesses, marketplaces, schools, and dozens of homes. It’s all made to fit in this underground location so it doesn’t look exactly like how the world used to look, but it’s still amazing that a place like this was built underground.

“This is where all the workers and leaders rest and live together as if nothing happened in the world above.”

“What are the rest of the rooms that we passed by for then? They looked like hotel rooms.”

“Some are for storage, some are in ruins because of the bombs, and others are for special personnel.”

“Do you have any law enforcement here? Surely not everyone who enters and lives here is a perfect person.”

“We do have guards and officers who are stationed in certain areas, but it’s mostly peaceful here. We also have an area below that’s used for people who misbehave. There they do penance for their acts until they are allowed to rejoin us.”

If there are guards here, they aren’t wearing uniforms or anything that shows that they are guards.

“Alright. Let’s keep going.”

“Certainly.”

“Can you tell me why some people here are twisted? If real truth exists here, then most people here should appear normal or close to what humans normally look like.”

“There are some who are slowly turning back to human while others stay relatively the same in their twisted state for whatever reason. I don’t see a problem with it if they’re happy with how they are.”

“Okay…”

Happy with how they are? Wouldn’t you want to be better or at least normal?

“Here is the next and largest section of our tour, the non-fiction library. Believe it or not there are new non-fictional books being written as we speak as new truths are discovered.”

“Really? I would think that this place would be more crowded because of that.”

“That’s because it’s so big and there’s so much information in here that is useless.”

“Useless how?”

“What’s the point in knowing the entire history of the world and random scientific theories and facts when you don’t use it? Besides, the only truth that matters is the living truth that is God who is the source of all truth, am I wrong?”

“No.”

“Alright then. Let’s continue on with the next and final part of the tour.”

I want to say more, but I don’t want to argue. How could you not want to learn more about everything about the world? What’s better than learning? There’s a lot of noise coming from the next section that we’re going to. I wonder what’s going on. I can’t even tell when I’m looking at it.

“This next place is strange. I thought this place was home to the real truth. What’s with all these different places of worship?”

“This is home to real truth. That truth just manifests in different ways for people. That’s why some are fine with the twisted forms that they have.”

“But there are other kinds of different kinds of faiths here.”

“What is true for one person is not true for another.”

“What? How does that make sense especially when God is the source of all truth like you said?”

“God changes truth when he wants to. All that matters to him is that you act faithfully to the truth that you believe to be true.”

“I still don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“Look and see. One person sees God on the cross, another sees God in nature, yet another sees multiple Gods, and one other sees God in himself even though he doesn’t believe in him.”

…This isn’t right and it isn’t sitting well with me. This isn’t any kind of real truth. My body feels sick as I try to rationalize it.

“I’m going to the non-fiction library. Thank you for the tour.”

“You’re welcome! When you’re done at the library, you can find me later or another worker to set you up with a house.”

“Thank you.”

I honestly feel uncomfortable here. This all seems wrong. In the non-fiction library, I find sections on all kinds of faiths and beliefs. This whole theology section can be its own library. Even when I go to the section that was from the one true faith, I find multiple denominations with their own fundamental contradictions to the faith it claims to be such as differences in ways to be saved, certain actions not being sins, and an overreliance on the Scriptures while going against the Church that it came from. Okay, okay. I’ve been living with people who have different beliefs than me. I can do the same here. There are even people here who look human and worship in places of the true faith.

Going back to the woman, I say, “Alright. I’m ready to be set up with a home.”

“Great to have you with us, but first, I must get you to agree to our most valued truth that we hold dear. You must accept all the truths in here as the truth no matter how contradictory this may seem.”

“Does this have something to do with what I said earlier? I won’t try to convert anyone in here to the way I think and keep to myself.”

“But your beliefs define how you act. A person who doesn’t value themselves will act accordingly and be hateful of themselves and may even kill themselves. Lies and falsehood corrupt people and turn them into horrible and uncaring monsters that spread their ignorance.”

You would know about some of that.

“I get it, but I can’t believe this so-called truth of accepting other ‘truths’ when they’re so contradictory to one another.”

“Every person decides what the truth is. It’s their God-given right.”

“No, they don’t have the right to decide what the truth is for themselves. They aren’t gods, there’s only one truth that they have to accept, and you arguing with me about this proves it.”

“…so, I’m assuming that you won’t accept our truth. That means you have to leave. You’re too much of a danger to everyone here and yourself.”

I look around and see that I’ve attracted a little crowd.

“Can’t we live together despite our differences?”

“No, we can’t otherwise arguments like this pop up and conflict will naturally follow. It’s how the world fell and why we have to live like this. What are you going to?”

I consider the consequences of each choice and decide that it would be better to leave even though I’m afraid and a little jittery when I walk to the elevator. Accepting lies is not worth the truth that I can gain out of it. I might as well accept the lies as truth at that point. What surprises me to see as I enter the elevator is people coming with me. They enter the elevator and a small line waits outside since it’s so filled.

One of the people say to me, “The truth isn’t worth accepting lies. Thank you for helping me see that.”

The other people agree and congratulate me for my bravery. I’m speechless and can barely say anything to them to thank them for their compliments and say how it wasn’t too hard to do what I did. We leave the cathedral and the group of strangers tells me to come with them, but I tell them to go ahead of me while I sit down and think about where I want to go next. They agree and go on ahead. So, if this cathedral has been taken over by idolators, where should I go next? What if other libraries and shelters have been taken over like this? In the distance, I hear a truck coming and see that it’s a familiar one. It can’t be. Oh, it is!

“Altair!” I say as he stops in front of the cathedral.

“Gianna! What’s going on? You haven’t been sitting here all this time, have you?”

“No. There are idolators who have taken over the libraries and shelter under the cathedral.”

“Oh, that’s a shame. What are you going to do next?”

“I don’t know. I guess try to find another one without liars in it?”

“Sounds like we have the same plans. What do they call this?”

“Divine providence, I think.”

“That’s it! Want to ride with me again?”

“It’s better than aimlessly walking.”

“Hop in then.”

I get in the passenger’s seat and drive off to another cathedral with Altair. Hearing something in the back, I look behind me to see a group of people who wave and say hello to me. They don’t appear to be twisted at all, which is welcome to see.

A child in the group asks, “Is this that pretty girl that you mentioned?”

“Ah, it’s not the time to mention that,” Altair says.

“What are you a traveling service?” I ask.

“You could say that. These are members of my family. You see, I ran away from the true faith to find more truth for myself and you know how they ended up. I drove back to the church we took shelter in and found it destroyed and found my family close by. We’ve been driving to churches to see if other members of the true faith are in them and haven’t found anyone yet. I was actually hoping that you found them when I dropped you off.”

“There might’ve been at one time, but not now.”

“That’s fine. I’m sure we’ll find others soon.”

“I hope we do.”

Sacrifice of the Self: Chapter 2 – Madness Overload

Chapter 2 – Madness Overload

There are so many books in the back of this seeker’s truck that are filled with false information and stuff that I already know and it even isn’t that rare. I wonder if these seekers are really from a group of information gatherers who are trying to kneecap their competition. It could also be that they’re bringing this common knowledge to places that don’t have it. A third possibility that they’re a group that takes from the rich and gives to the poor. These kinds of groups are rare and it would explain why no one was hurt or killed when they arrived, as far as I know. Their appearance is twisted a bit so it could be true. It doesn’t even matter if any of this is true or not. Once we get to the library and I find what I need, I’ll never see them again.

Speaking about that, we’ve stopped at the library. Huh? They’re taking some of the books out of the truck. Thankfully, they aren’t taking the ones I’m hiding under. I guess they think the rumors of trading books with librarians is true. Hopefully it is, but I doubt it because of how crazy they are about hoarding knowledge. I follow behind the seekers as quietly as I can until we reach the inside of the library where all the books are. The outside of the library may be heavily damaged because of the wars fought over places like this, but the inside is pristine even though I can barely see anything.

The statues don’t have a scratch on them and all the books are neatly organized by genre, author, and the year they were published. I’d make this place my home if I could. Books on medicine, history, and science tempt me to read them, however, I don’t have much time to look through them. Religion is the section I’m looking for since God is the source of all truth. I can already hear talking downstairs so I hurry to the religion section just in case they start trouble.

Woah, this section could almost be its own library with all the books in it. These statues must be of those saints and angels that I’ve heard about. I always thought angels would look more abstract than human. There’s also a cross with what is supposed to be God hanging from it or at least it’s what the book next to it says. I don’t see any Sacred Scripture in here so all I have are books quoting it and the lessons I’m supposed to take from them, which is a decent substitute, I guess. Let’s see what else we have here. Divine simplicity, Purgatory, mortification, and sacraments. What are these things?

Oh! What’s this book? It’s in a section about God. The release date of the book marks it as being fairly recent. Twisted humanity, it’s called and it’s about why people’s bodies become twisted. As a person embraces falsehood, the truth of their humanity is twisted as well and their souls become as twisted as them depending on how twisted their soul is and why. I knew some of this, but I didn’t think about the truth of what it means to be human. Humans were created to love and serve God and to sin is to go against truth and nature. Original sin from our ancestors has weakened our intellects so that we are tempted to sin and go against God while thinking that we are in the right as we make ourselves gods.

Interesting. This seems to be true since my body is reacting positively towards it. Okay, so since this is true, how am I supposed to serve God? The book mentions different commandments and implications within the commandments so I can stay away from the chains of sin and falsehood. I don’t know my role in life other than to seek the truth. It’s not like I have a job, a family, friends, or a home to go back to so I might as well continue searching for more truth. It says here that the sacraments can help me grow closer to God and are used to clean and save my soul. These sacraments have to be carried out in a specific way and by certain people so I can’t just administer them to myself.

This is going to be my goal now. I have to find the remnants of the true faith in order to fully experience the truth and live. I’ve heard rumors about them being hidden underneath churches. If that’s true, then it would’ve been more well know, but since it’s the only lead I have, it’s the first place I’ll have to check. Since I don’t see anyone else around here, I guess I can read some more. There were gunshots that I wasn’t bothered to pay attention to because of what I was reading, but that didn’t last long. Let’s see what else we have here. Recorded miracles, examinations of conscience, no salvation outside of the Church…so many topics to read through. Ah-

I feel an icy cold presence around me. It couldn’t be. Can it be?

“Ah!” I say as long and thin arms begin to wrap around me.

“Shh,” the tall and twisted librarian says from behind me, “You don’t want to attract the others.”

These librarians are really twisted and disturbing to look at with their elongated mouth, eyes, and limbs. I didn’t even hear it coming nor did I notice. I was too entranced by what I was reading and looking at the books around me to see if there was one lurking in the shadows. Its touch feels cold with a strange sense of warmth to it. Its voice also sounds strange and echoey probably because of its strained neck.

“What do you want? I didn’t take anything,” I say to the librarian.

“I know and I don’t care if you do. After reading over the theology books, I’ve come to the conclusion of what I should do. I can’t just stay here and contemplate the endless mysteries of life and the things that these books don’t cover or answer completely. I’m getting out of here and moving on with my life.”

“That’s good to hear, but what does that have to do with me?”

“Librarians don’t like it when people like them touch their books. The others that entered the library with you. They tried fighting the librarians, but I don’t know what happened to their bodies and I don’t want to know especially since the librarian who is interested in medicine and is curious about how the human body operates.”

“So, what are you trying to do?”

“I’m trying to get you out safely. They shouldn’t bother with us if they see that I’ve got you and if we move fast.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

The librarian leads me out into the wider library while looking around. It’s strange that I’d get help from it though it might not be so strange since he was in the theology section. While looking around the library myself, I see a librarian walking down one of the aisles. Is that how the friendly one behind me is walking? It walks so stiffly and moves so unnaturally. If I saw the friendly one walking towards me like that, I would’ve run away.

“Altair, you’ve found another intruder?” the librarian says.

“Yes, I’ll be escorting her out myself.”

More librarians gather around us to look at me. Their gaze makes me want to run away. I don’t think I’ll get far if I do and I’m afraid to think about what they’ll do if they catch me. I’m already hearing muffled screaming in the distance from what must be the seekers.

“She doesn’t touch anything, did she? Did she take anything?”

“She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I see. Well-”

“We should interrogate her. We didn’t see her enter with the others and she doesn’t look like them. Maybe there are more like her around here.”

“Maybe we should experiment on her. Her body is in the closest thing to the form of a normal human body that we’ve seen in a while.”

“Hmm. Neither of those sound like bad ideas.”

“Let me touch her.”

“Let me pluck out her eyes.”

“Let me taste her skin.”

They’re getting closer to me and I don’t know where to go besides backing into Altair behind me. What should I do?

“Stop it! All of you! She’s not some freak that you can experiment on! She’s human like the rest of us!” Altair says as he backs us away from the approaching librarians.

The librarians start reaching for me so Altair picks me up and runs away from them. He runs through the aisles of the library while dropping cases of books that drop on them and get the other librarians to panic and pick up the books. With them distracted, he runs towards the exit and hides us on the side of the library as some of them come running after us. They look around the perimeter of the building and I think they’re going to see Altair, but they don’t so they go back inside.

“That was close,” I hear Altair say.

His voice sounds different now. As I turn around, I see that he looks more human now like me.

“Altair?”

“Yes? What the? I look human again? I’ve heard that some people who become twisted change later after accomplishing some act of redemption, but I didn’t think that it would be true for me.”

“Ah-um. You need…”

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

I look through the seeker’s trucks and find some clothes for Altair.

“That’s better,” I say, “Thank you for helping me get out of there. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

“I wouldn’t know what I would’ve done either. Librarians don’t like it when you leave the group. I’ve tried that already. Anyways, where are you headed to next?”

“A church that could possibly have the true faith hiding somewhere under it.”

“I could drive you there, but then I need to take care of something important after that.”

“Oh, okay.”

It would be nice not to do this alone, but at least he can drive me to the place I need to go. I’m closer than I’ve ever been to discovering real truth. Not that many people find it and I’ve heard stories about those who do. It’s like going to Heaven and being freed. Here's hoping that it’s some kind of freedom from this dead world that I live in.