by Damian Foyle
Chapter 02
Fortunately for me, Reverend Samuel’s church was three hours away driving -two hours if you were suicidal. With John at the wheel, it would at least take 4 hours.
"Take it easy," I said to the driver. "I need to make some research before we get there."
I took out a sleeping pill from my emergency-kit and washed it down with some whiskey. It hit me like a brick. I woke up hours later to someone shaking me violently. John's tiny, kid-like hands dug into my shoulders and sent up jolts of pain.
"Mike, come on man. We’re here."
"All right, all right. I’m awake. You can stop trying to kill me now," I said and wiped away the narrow trail of drool going down my chin.
Say all you want about the Church of Science, but never ever deny they know how to be pompous. The church building, a slightly smaller version of that behemoth in Texas, was a massive construction of metal and stone,. It reached high into the sky –heavens if you like, in a tangle of wireless receivers, satellites, antennae and every other receiver and transmitter known to mankind, and some more junk. A bit like a giant bug designed to spy on God’s phone calls.
That morning, it looked even more stupefying with the sun rising behind the building catching that absurd web of metal. I suspected the road leading to the church was designed exactly for this purpose.
A mixed crowd had already gathered outside the gates, preaching everything from the end of days to the importance of proper anti-virus software. A young pupil, dressed in blue and red, greeted me inside the church ground.
He didn’t look that different from any other gadget obsessed teenager around the world. I followed the kid through the church ground and into the building itself.
I had always found the name, Church of Science a bit misleading. If someone asked me to name them honestly, I would say Church of Gadget-Fetish-Come-Religion. Your average Believer had a limited understanding of science and principles of the universe. Mostly, they were harmless and they liked shiny stuff. Yet, this priest waiting for me inside the building -Reverend Samuel Stone, was one dangerous man; well educated in science, theology and human behavior, also a damn good public speaker. It wasn’t by chance he was one of the most prominent figures of the organization. He was the poster boy.
He was at least a head or two taller than me, well built, and he had hands like shovels. I could easily imagine him in another century, living off the land, chopping trees and wrestling with bears for fun. He was not the kind of person you would expect to see in the ranks of clergy.
He had his hairs braided with fiber optic cables, giving the illusion that they grew out of his scalp. Right side of his face was covered with an intricate design of church patented skin circuits going down to his neck and disappearing under his sky blue tunic.
"Morning, Reverend," I said and put on my professional smile. "Thank you for accepting me on such short notice."
"Don’t mention it." He grabbed my hand and shook, causing a small tremor going up to my shoulder. I tried not to grimace at the threat of a dislocated shoulder.
"Shall we go?" He finally said and led me to the lift on the other side of the building.
"I assume the incident hit you harder than everyone else," I said in the lift, trying to get a feel for the situation.
"Not so much, but it certainly caused some excitement to be honest." He stopped for a moment. "If you don’t mind, I need to take this call, Mr. Connolly."
"I don’t mind at all," I said, happy to be eavesdropping Reverend Samuel’s urgent phone call.
To my surprise, he just stared out the lift, his throat slowly moving up and down. Sub-vocalization, nice trick. Even the military didn’t have that kind of technology yet. He was either showing off or just pulling my leg. Either way, I didn’t mind it. It was still an intriguing display of power and personality.
"Let's start with the juicy bits, Reverend," I said when we were settled in his office on the top floor. He was sitting behind a gigantic desk, with a floor to ceiling window behind him and me directly in front. The sun was rising behind him, threatening to burn my corneas. He didn’t seem to bother much about that fact. I took out my sunglasses and gave him a smug smile.
"There is already a gathering outside the church gates, with some -let's say interesting participants. What do you think of their comments about the Techno God and the 256 Bit Jesus?"
He gave an unpriestly snort. "Officially, the church policy is to ignore those kinds of comments," he said. "We strongly discourage it among our believers. Personally, I think they're just off their hinges."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, I admit your church's doctrine is well articulated but isn't it the same in its basic message?" I asked. It seemed to hit the spot.
"Nonsense," he said leaning forward. "You of all people should know that, Mike."
"I do know how it is," I said, my voice carrying old resentments.
He leaned back, his repose restored. "It might seem similar to an outsider, but our belief system isn't based on the ramblings of a madman," he said. I could argue that point, but it didn’t seem like the time. "Our founder predicted a series of events that would lead to a technological entity with seemingly godly powers."
"A super A.I.?"
"Name it however you want; artificial intelligence, Techno God... whatever. Most people define God as a being, existing in every part of our universe, seeing all and judging all. GlobalNET already reached a point where it's in every aspect of our lives."
"Are you saying GlobalNET will evolve into godhood?"
"No. Of course, not. It's only a piece of technology, but GlobalNET is capable of acting like a neural system for such a being. Tell me. Didn't even the most insignificant appliance in your house deliver the same message this morning?"
"And where-" My phone rang. "Excuse me. I need to take this. I'm in the middle of an interview here, Gene. Can't it wait?"
"I just wanted to give you an update. Forget Rio. Finish the interview as soon as possible, then you'll be flying to Free Zone 13."
"Come on, Gene. FZ13 is cut from GlobalNET. Don't waste my time with this."
"Yeah? My sources inside Free Zones reporting the same message showing up must be lying then. Twenty minutes, Mike." She hung up.
"I'm sorry Reverend, but I think we'll have to cut short. I have a few more questions for you."
"No problem. Did I hear you talking about Free Zone 13?"
"Yes," I said. I saw no reason to keep the news from him. He probably had the same "intel" while we were in the lift. "Apparently, FZ13 had a similar incident. How about you guys then? I know the church has a private network even the spooks can't penetrate."
He didn’t seem surprised by the question. He just nodded. What do you know? This seemingly small incident was turning out to be a great story after all.
"When do you think the church will officially comment on this... uhm issue?"
"It should be ready in a few hours. Our technicians are working hard on it, trying to find the source. There will also be an announcement regarding where this incident fits in our doctrine."
"And what do you personally think about all this?"
The answer was something I didn’t expect; pure honesty. "I'm excited and scared to death at the same time," he said. "Whatever this is, it sounds eerily like how our founder described the first days of Emersion."
Yeah, right. I said to myself leaving his office. Good luck with that.
I remembered long dinners of my childhood; my mother preaching about the Emersion, the Coming and the Singularity and my father on the other end of the table, muttering Sinners, Hell and Rupture under his breath while slowly drinking himself to death.
It isn't a popular subject for me.
