Interlude: Child of God

Energia: Titans of Verità
Part 2
Table of Contents (For Catching Up) *Fixed*

Scott had a long day ahead of him. Not that he was bothered by it; most of his days were like that. He’d been busy ever since God made its first appearance in Unity. His progress had been painfully slow. But finally, after all these years, he was starting to see results.

First, after he had woken up early, he pulled the curtains aside and checked the weather. Clear skies. No sign of God today either. He shrugged. No matter. If all went according to plan, then God would return soon enough. Still, it was as much of a letdown now as it was when he first looked all those years ago.

After shaking off his disappointment with an even more disappointing breakfast of bread and butter, Scott moved on to the next item on his daily itinerary. Donning his best suit, a smooth brown and black piece that did little to hide his refined muscles, he made his way out into the streets of Unity. Almost as soon as he walked out of his apartment in the Central Sector, he came across a man dressed all in white, calling out to anyone who passed by. “The return of Verità’s gods is inevitable!” He cried with a dramatic wave of his hands. “Only in worship will our souls be saved! Relinquish your futile possessions and give yourselves unto them!”

The words brought a smile to Scott’s thin, snake-like lips. He remembered when he was the only one in the city spreading the truth. It always satisfied him to hear others taking up the cry. Maybe humanity could still be saved after all.

For the next two hours, Scott made himself busy by looking for similar believers. He quickly passed between the various Sectors of Unity, moving as quickly and unnoticed as a ghost. Every time he saw another worshipper crying out, he added to the count he kept in his mind. By the time he returned home, he had counted seventy-nine. Eight more have joined our cause.

With that business concluded, he moved on to the most important task of the day. He quickly made his way to the Israeli Sector, riding from the Central Sector on the bullet train. After his papers were checked and he was allowed in, he made an immediate left and made for the edge of the Sector. He passed through long, twisting alleyways, ignoring the haggard homeless that begged for credits in broken English. Fear not. He thought as he passed. Soon enough, you’ll have no need for such silly things.

After a long twenty minutes of walking, he arrived at his destination: a large warehouse pressed up against the wall. Similar warehouses surrounded it from all other sides with little to differentiate one from another. But Scott had long memorized this one as his own.

He approached the large, metal door and knocked. First once in a loud boom, then thrice more in a quick and quiet rhythm. The door swung open, pushed by a young Israeli man in a blue jumpsuit and a yellow hat. When Scott entered, he pulled the door closed.

“Impressive work as always.” Scott commented as the door closed with a bang. “Your strength is always a marvel, David.”

David shrugged and brushed his hands off on his suit. “It’s nothin, really.” He said in fluent, heavily accented English. “It’s only heavy if ya don’t know where ta push.”

“Is that so?” Scott nodded as he and David made their way deeper into the warehouse. “I wasn’t aware there was an art to it.”

“There really isn’t.” David shook his head. “So, what’re you here for today, sir? Here to check on the livestock?”

“Correct.” They passed by several large wooden crates towards the far end of the room. Scott didn’t know nor did he care about what was in them. He knew that his pets were held further in. “It’s nearly time to set them loose. I’d like to make sure that they’re ready. I assume they’ve been behaving?”

“Not at all.” David shook his head. “Hanz says that his machine can’t work until he finds the right frequency. Parently there’s some weird thing livin in the water that’ll give him what he needs.”

“I see.” Scott sighed. “A shame. It seems we’ll need to use less of them then I had hoped. I take it our tracks are covered?”

“Should be.”

Scott stopped in place. “Should be?”

“Hanzo said he got it done.” David explained. “But he wasn’t clear on the details. Just told us not to worry about it.”

“Which is always cause for concern.” Scott shook his head. “Apologies David. But I’m afraid that I must ask you to double-check his work after we’re done here.”

David let out a long, annoyed groan. “Will do.”

They continued on until they reached the far hall of the warehouse and stopped in front of a large box drapped in a violet cloth. The makeshift curtain swayed back and forth gently, despite the lack of any wind in the building. Scott looked to David, then nodded. With one powerful pull, the warehouse worker ripped the blanket from the cage.

The dozen or so creatures within lay on their backs and snoring loudly. Their thick white fur seemed to glisten in the darkness like diamonds. Six burly arms, three on each side, were spread out around each of the monsters.

No. Scott reminded himself. These are the children of God. They wouldn’t be here if they weren’t.

He leaned in to get a closer look of the children. In many ways, they resembled Earth apes. But these had so much more to them. Something more beautiful.

David peered over his shoulder. “Scary ones, aren’t they?” He whispered. “Look like they could fold the bars like paper.”

“They could.” Scott nodded.

David quickly took a step back. Even after all this time and all his devotion, he still wasn’t comfortable with the children of Verità’s God. Not that Scott could blame him. Not everyone could handle the presence of divinity.

“Relax.” Scott chuckled as he stepped away from the cage. “The fact that they haven’t is a good sign. It means that God meant for them to be here.”

“O-oh.” David nodded, though he still stared uncomfortably at the herd of God’s children. “R-right. Lucky us, eh?”

“Luck had nothing to do with it.” Scott smiled as he ran an eye over the sleeping animals again. “I am God’s chosen, remember? It’s only natural.”

“O-of course! Right you are, as always, sir!” David wiped a bead of sweat from his forehead. With effort, he tore his eyes off of the cage. “So, we done here?”

Scott considered for a moment. He checked his watch. He still had a few hours left in the day. That didn’t take as long as he thought it would. “Yes.” He said at last. “That will be enough for now.”

After poorly hiding a sigh of relief, David led Scott back towards the entrance of the warehouse. “Anything else on your artinerary today, sir?” He asked casually but quietly. His new anxiety regarding his charge was as clear as day.

“Only one more.” Scott replied calmly. “I’ll need to call the good doctor. Check in on our… problem.”

It didn’t take David long to figure out what he was talking about. “Troublesome thing, ain’t it? Are we even sure we should bother with it? Seems like more trouble than it’s worth.”

“We have no choice.” Scott continued, trying to keep his voice level. He always felt unusually annoyed when he was talking about their problem. “It’s too dangerous to leave alone. We either need to make it ours or destroy it.”

Unfortunately, they had yet to find a method of doing either. Scott was confident in his plan. Not a day went by that he wasn’t tempted to put it into motion immediately. But that thing… that ungodly thing concerned him.

They returned to the entrance. David quickly pushed the door open and closed it tightly behind them. He gave Scott a polite bow, then ran off into a nearby alleyway. When he was gone, Scott gave the warehouse one last look.

Soon. He thought with a thin, satisfied smile. They’ll all understand. So very soon…