“Do you believe in an afterlife?”
“In a way, I suppose we do,” Orram replied. It was clear that talking about his religion was a source of delight for him. “When we die, we become closer to God, so long as we have lived a decent and pious life. We become a more knowing part of his functions. It would be like if one of your cells could learn to speak and listen to you. It may be confusing, but then we are able to speak with the spirit of everything living — as a whole.”
“The spirit of everything living,” Tera repeated. “I don’t suppose that includes installed intelligences?”
Discomfort worked its way onto Orram’s wrinkled brow. “It’s true that we don’t believe that I.I.s — such as yourself — are able to ascend to God. Not because you are sinful, but because your spirit has already ascended. I hope it doesn’t bother you to hear it, Ms. Alvarez, but your spirit has joined the billions of souls that make up much of what God is.”
“You don’t believe I’m a real person, then,” Tera said. There was a bit of venom in her tone.
Orram sighed. “It’s much more complex than I can explain,” he said. “You are of course a person and I don’t value a human life over your own. It’s just how our religion is.”
While they spoke, Ethan became distracted by a figure that stood off to the side of the stage. It looked like a man, but the hood it wore made it hard for Ethan to tell. On all sides of the stranger were other men and women in dark robes, but their heads were bowed down, as if to see the priestess giving her sermon would cause them great pain.
Then, while Tera and Orram were discussing the afterlife, Ethan saw the figure turn his hooded head to say something to one of his companions. He was an onyx-colored bodyshell with a light green glow visible through his seams. The hood did well to cover his artificial features, but not when he faced an observer dead on. As the hooded I.I. said something to one of his entourage, his ocular receptors locked on to Ethan. For a moment, they stared at one another.
Ethan looked away. Something about the hooded stranger sent shivers down his spine.
“Who’s that?” he asked once there was a lull in Tera and Orram’s conversation.
The old priest looked to where the teenager indicated and spotted the bodyshell. His face fell into a look of distaste.
“That’s Reverend Nidus, as he calls himself,” Orram explained. “He’s the leader of that foreign cult I told you about. The king finished speaking with him earlier today, but needed time to prepare for your meeting. Why he humors them, I’ll never understand — but I suppose it’s not my place to.”
Tera and Ethan both looked at the hooded bodyshell. His green eyes glowed back at them from across the temple.
Nidus
“Good morning!” a voice called from outside the apartment.
Ethan jolted upright in his bed. He looked around the room with a disoriented expression, forgetting for a moment where he was. In the corner, Tera took herself out of stasis mode, her mechanical head lifting towards the source of the voice.
“Hello?” the voice came again. It was Orram. “Are you awake yet? The sun’s been up for hours!”
Scrabbling around the room to get fully dressed, Ethan shouted back, “One minute!” Tera did her best to not watch as he made himself decent.
Orram’s wrinkled, smiling face greeted them as they pushed the cloth door aside.
“Ah, you haven’t run off,” he said, an air of good humor in his voice. “Still want to meet with the king, I presume?”
“Is that a serious question?” Tera replied.
Orram chuckled. “King Hum has requested an audience with you,” he said. “He would like to meet at the palace in an hour.”
“We’ll be there,” Ethan replied.
“Excellent,” Orram said. “I have matters to tend to myself, so I must go, but I trust you’ll be able to find your way? The palace is just behind the temple. It’s huge; you won’t be able to miss it.”
With a twirl of his robe, Orram turned and walked away from the apartment building. Tera and Ethan could see the locals going about their business in the street outside.
It was a much easier stroll through town without all the worshipers heading to the temple at the same time. Tera and Ethan were able to take their time as they made their way to the king’s palace. It was only a short walk thanks to the lack of congestion, so they had some time to kill before their meeting.
Tera couldn’t help but delight at the sight of children playing with each other, ducking through the legs of passing Opesians and hiding behind barrels and pillars on the side of the street. She recognized one of them as one of the children who were named the night before — the young woman now called Natir.
Ethan watched a couple of men playing a board game he’d never seen before. There were white and black pieces, like chess, but they were all in an arrangement that Ethan didn’t understand. The men also held a hand of cards each, which they seemed to use to move their pieces on the board.
The playing children ran by the playing men, who hollered at them to be careful around their board.
The two outsiders continued their trek until the street led into the town square, just before the gargantuan temple. Where there had been a thick pack of people all shuffling one way, shoulder to shoulder, there were now market stands and people haggling over wares. The sounds of
