The Gift of the Broken God

The humming sound filled the room, a low, steady note that seemed to vibrate in the air, in the floor and in the bones themselves. Lion and Airen stood transfixed at the entrance to the laboratory-sanctuary, staring at the object in the center.

It was undeniably a piece of technology. It looked like a processing chip or a data core, made of a dull black material that absorbed light. But it was technology designed by an intelligence that didn't know, or care about, the laws of physics. A perfectly circular hole in its center revealed the metal of the containment table on the other side, but every few seconds, the space inside that hole rippled, distorted, showing for a fraction of a second a field of stars that did not correspond to any known map. The light around it bent, like hot air on asphalt, but without heat.

It was hypnotic and unnatural.

Putting the initial shock behind him, his training took over. Lion pulled a scanner from his wrist, beginning to take radiation and energy readings, while Airen, with impassive calm, pulled out a small recording device to take photos and videos from multiple angles.

"The readings are chaotic," Lion whispered. "Normal background radiation, but exotic energy spikes I can't identify. It's like I'm here and somewhere else at the same time."

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" The voice, strangely calm and resonant, made them turn around, weapons raised. From a hidden door in the far wall, the tall, hooded figure they had seen at the execution had emerged. He did not appear hostile. He walked slowly toward them, his hands open in a gesture of peace.

"Fear not," the man said. "They are not intruders. They are the first pilgrims."

"Who are you?" demanded Lion, keeping his gun pointed at the man's chest.

The hooded man stopped a few feet away. "I am the first to hear and the first to understand." His voice was that of a completely crazed zealot, but devoid of the fury Lion expected. It sounded serene, like that of a teacher explaining a simple truth to a child. "You serve a government of lies. Nepantla, the Unified System... you are jailers who have put a veil over the eyes of humanity so that they will not see the glorious truth."

He pointed to the levitating object. "But our God is generous. He saw his chosen people, trapped in a cage of false physics and broken promises, and he sent us a gift. A key."

"A gift?" replied Lion skeptically. "It looks like a gun."

The hooded man let out a soft laugh. "Every great truth seems a weapon to those who live in lies. This is not a weapon. It is a promise. The promise of evolution. The promise that we will be freed from this weak flesh and join a greater, more real consciousness." His voice rose, filling with a hypnotic fervor. "Soon, very soon, the Herald will use this key to unlock the door! And then we will all be one with him..."

A sound was heard, and that sound was almost imperceptible, a high-pitched whisper that cut through the leader's monologue. Lion had not even seen Airen move.

A small hole appeared in the center of the hooded man's forehead. His eyes widened, not in pain, but in deep and utter surprise. He brought a hand to his face, as if to touch the wound, and then collapsed to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

A tense silence filled the room for a second. Lion looked at the body, then at Airen, who was already lowering his silenced pistol, his face as impassive as ever.

"He talked too much," Airen said, as the only explanation.

And then, the low hum of the room was replaced by a deafening howl. The blue and white lights went out, replaced by the frantic flickering of red emergency lights. A computerized voice, cold and unpanicked, echoed from speakers in the walls.