Smiths believe in a heaven called Machine, which can be here and now, if one’s life is copied properly from the holy texts just as, in one’s work, one endeavors to copy technology properly from the holy blueprints.
Smiths despise a god-Gear they call Plutoloki. According to their mythology, he was once a Gear of Epimetheus but, jealous of the great technology found and delivered to the Gears by Epimetheus, and of the honor the other Gears bestowed on Epimetheus, Plutoloki changed his mind such that it became perverted and resembled the hands and eyes of their lord. Machines fell from his modified head but they were twisted, unreliable, and aesthetically displeasing. Greatly angered by his own incompetence, Plutoloki created a great machine of unlimited destructive capability. Some stories say that it was a gourd of ash that spread matter resting in the inside of the earth into the atmosphere, thus poisoning life by upending the hierarchy of inorganic elements, while other texts say that his gourd of ash converted machine into flesh and flesh into machine, and was also a machine that replicated itself, so that while the earth itself was not harmed, all life upon it had to be destroyed and begun anew. Plutoloki was bound by the loyalist Gears and thrown into the earth, where he will remain bound until the end of days, when he will rediscover the Final Machine and activate it, thus destroying the world.
Appendix 5: Hierarchy of the Law
City Officials - The rulers of Pontius who spend all day and all night making up and editing the Laws. There are too many types and ranks of officials to list without great difficulty. Some officials are elected while others assume office by right of birth, depending on the type of official and what he is in charge of. There are many factions within Cathedralia, and officials who spend more than a day out of Cathedralia can find themselves ousted or their faction completely dissolved. Younger officials work in shifts and sleep in bunks in or near the debate room, while older officials have a great number of secretaries who fill in while the sponsoring official is out.
Judges - These men make judgments on the Laws and prosecute criminals. They are most often veteran Lawmen or retired officials.
Grand Arbiter - One who is in charge of and directs the Directors at all Precincts. The Grand Arbiter is treated with the same respect as a judge.
Directors - Heads of Precincts. There is usually one Director per Precinct. They are in charge of Lawmen and detectives and regulate the focus of investigations.
Lieutenant Detectives - Head of a group of detectives. They usually only provide light supervision and give their detectives some amount of leeway. Lieutenants are expected to go into the field like any other detective.
Detectives - Follow through with the directives of Precinct heads and are expected to bring in-depth investigations to a close. Any Detective can order any denim-clad Lawman around.
Lawmen - The enforcers of the Law who sniff out troublemakers, fight other gang members, and arrest Lawbreakers in order to bring money into their gang. In terms of combat capability, they receive much more training than Ugly Body, Coil Soldiers, and Smith Magi.
Appendix 6: The Laws of Pontius
The Laws of Pontius are manifold and complex because the officials constantly try to stay one step ahead of the gangs. Often the Laws change so fast, or are so buried in detail, that a judge can have a man tried, convicted, and hanged before it is discovered that the punishment for his crime has long since changed. Many of the Laws are also contradictory; vast numbers of lawyers and clerks pore over the Laws and file reports on such contradictions, with the understanding that city officials will, some day, rectify the problem.
In short:
Guns are completely illegal unless one works to enforce the Law. No buying, no selling, no making, no holding, and certainly no using. Failure to report the existence of a gun can result in a stiff fine, if the Law should choose to pursue the matter.
Other weapons are mostly illegal, depending on size of the instrument, hardness or sharpness, history of its use, where it was bought, possible benign purposes, et cetera.
Most recreational drugs are illegal to buy, to sell, to make, to hold, and to use. Some drugs are legal depending on prescription from a doctor, history of its use (that is, if it has an unseemly reputation), and social station of the user (that is, if the person is of noble station and thus “means no harm” by his use of drugs).
The renting of one’s body for sexual acts is illegal. The reasoning behind this, according to the Law, is that if the mass of men and women were considered sovereign over their own bodies then they would, due to the inherent corruption of human nature, give themselves over to all manner of wanton sexual behavior. No one respects the Law if it is undermined by uncontrolled immorality.
Abortion is illegal. The act of ending any form of human life is solely the realm of the Law. Many are the speeches given by judges on the sanctity of sex within the confines of legal marriage; a woman ready to have sex is ready to be a mother, no exceptions.
The owning of slaves is illegal, period, no exceptions. However, there are a vast array of Laws concerning the proper treatment of slaves. There are so many Laws on the finer points of this matter that there are many, many loopholes. In fact, there are many, many slaves in Pontius.
Murder, rape, and theft are all illegal in a variety of different forms, such that skilled lawyers or judges can pursue the matter in a variety of different ways. These simple acts become epic in scope when it comes to the Law, the true irony being that no matter how many different ways the Laws are written, re-written, and stacked on top of one another, that the loopholes never seem to disappear.
To stay in jail until trial or post bail? Persons accused of crimes are processed in their local Precinct. After that, they can either sit in jail until their trial, which can take months or even years, or they can pay the Precinct a certain amount of money and then leave with the understanding that they will return for their trial. The monetary amounts of the bail are usually very high, and the Smith and Coil gangs are notorious for paying member bail amounts so fast that their members rarely see the inside of a prison cell (the cells are usually packed so full of Ugly youth that their rivals would not last long anyway). However, gang members are also notorious for never showing up for their trials. Usually only the poorer citizens of Pontius are forced to wait in jail cells until their trial date; many of these people have not been arrested for violent crimes, but have instead been arrested for buying, selling, and using drugs, or were caught carrying a weapon to protect themselves from the gangs, or were caught renting out their bodies in order to survive in a harsh economic climate. Members of the Body of the Ugly usually stay in jail longer than other gang members, and most of them are expected to go through the entire process of jail and trial at least once, and then spend a little time in prison so that they can be educated in the ways of misery.
Appendix 7: Gods of the Wasteland
“Come and see,” said the living creature, and I looked and beheld the two hundred and fifteenth link was broken. I covered my eyes against the sight but the creature described these things to me, so that I could write them down and they would not be forgotten.
There is a god that is Many. It demands sacrifice, and adoration, and it takes from the world what it will and where there is part of it there is all. This god is called demon by those who resent it, and lord by those who emulate it with their own flesh.
There is a force called Outworlder. It demands sacrifice, and ritual. This god is called good, and great, and is named Defender and is also called Loyal. Many dogmen raise spears to his name and also good men of Srila praise his holy name. This god is, and is not flesh, but has an intent and part of the intent is of a voice.
There is a beast that is One. This god is in the shape of a lion, and is great and powerful, and its limbs are like coiled iron and its breath like fire, and it speaks but none can answer. This god demands no sacrifice, but rather, enjoys its opposite, for it stalks and eats living human flesh.
There is an edifice called
Unmoving. This god has a place and is unmoving, on the Fields of Epimetheus, and has its part in heathen ritual but this god demands no sacrifice, nor even anything from anyone. This god waves a sword of fire this way, and that way, and is unapproachable.
- from the Book of the Red: Revelation of the Flesh: 9:36
Demonworld Book 3: The Floyd Street Massacre Page 34
