Never Again

I couldn’t have expected that my first day of work would consist of the homicide of a hundred innocents.

Your orders are as follows: Dispose of those who oppose DEUS. Failure to do so will be interpreted as rebellion against the system.

Orders were orders, and those who acted against them were nothing more than worthless dust clogging up the fine-tuned gears of DEUS’s machine.

I wasn’t worthless, so I picked up my gun and fired.

One after another, bodies crumbling down, society as a whole getting rid of one more nuisance with every bullet.

Good job, Agent. You’re now dismissed.

***

There were no more tasks waiting for me that day. I went back to my home, walking through the crowded streets of the city center. The silence was only interrupted by vehicles blazing through the roads, the drivers on their way to fulfill their next task without wasting a single second.

Like the perfectly oiled machine that it was, all the pieces of society moved at the same exact pace. Every step perfectly coinciding with everyone else’s, creating a breathtaking rhythm – a harmony that couldn’t be broken.

I, of course – hated it with all my might.

That day, I swore I would never kill an innocent again. No matter what the system says, what they want me to believe – I won’t submit to this perfect society. Not if that perfection means I must become a cog, its only purpose to impeccably follow orders and be killed if I don’t.

Do you really wish to rebel against DEUS that much?

That voice in my head. It wasn’t DEUS’s. Then, who…?

Yes. I do.

Why? Isn’t objective morals and justice something humanity has pursued for eons?

Morality is a myth, justice an illusion. I want to be free, to be able to make my own decisions. If that gets me killed, then so be it – I will die a free man.

I understand. I did well in choosing you. Number 311696… no, Abdiel. Team up with me. Together, we will dethrone God and destroy the world.

Who… are you?