Ravens of Eternity

304 Infiltrating the Illuminated, Pt Induction Temple, House of The Illuminated

Polovari seemed like any other civilized planet that the Ravens had ever experienced and encountered in their various jobs. It was certainly far more developed than any colonial planet, but not quite as overdeveloped and exploited as any capitol planet.

Large cities dotted its landscape, though there was still a great amount of lush vegetation here and there as well. It also had beautiful mountains, vast oceans, and robust forests. Of course, it also enjoyed a planet-wide climate control system, and a steady stream of energy from a partially-complete dyson sphere around the system’s star.

The Ravens found its capitol megacity rather pleasant despite its massive size. City planners had designed it to be sprawling, but also spacious. Its streets were wide, as were the hover lanes above them. Most buildings seemed wider than they were tall.

Large parks, amphitheaters, art installations, and so on filled entire city blocks, and were dotted all over. Each one had clusters of people enjoying the space.

But those amazing public spaces were far from ubiquitous. Certainly not as widespread as the many shrines, chapels, and oratories scattered everywhere. Some were even across the street from each other, or right around the corner.

And they were always occupied by people. Some were even overflowing, as though some simply couldn’t get enough.

Their hopper came to their destination – the megacity’s Temple of Focus. It was a massive building that was some mix of futuristic curves and ancient gothic design. The roof stretched from the ground all the way up to the top, where it came together in a steeply curved pointed archway.

And all along both sides of the building were dozens of beautifully curved flying buttresses that seemed to help support the building. Though they were clearly there for aesthetics.

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Four of the Ravens walked through the courtyard and headed towards the massive entrance. Above the open doors was an intricate circular window that held the log of the Illuminated – an eye in the middle of an outward palm.

Eva and Lucifer noted the absolute lack of security on the premises. At least, none that they could see.

The Illuminated who worked at the temple were wearing simple clothing, and had no visible weapons on them. They most certainly weren’t wearing any armor.

Miko took note of the multiple open nodes, some without any digital security in the slights. She found it odd that they were practically unhacked, and so made sure to correct that oversight. And of course, she dropped in her dataworms wherever she deemed necessary.

The power grid, for example. Just in case.

Amal took note of all the people as they walked around. Many seemed happy, and completely content. They seemed rather genial and relatively happy with their lives. Few held any frowns on their faces, though Amal felt they were brought on by worry rather than sadness.

Even then, she felt that there was something else underneath it all. And that nagged at her.

Just as they got closer to the open entrance, a large crowd of people began to exit. The Ravens were forced to step aside and watched them leave.

All were wearing humble, simple clothing in varying degrees of tan and beige. Almost no-one had any kind of jewelry or accessories, simple or not. In all, it seemed as though these people truly had humble lives. At least, when they visited the temple, anyway.

More than that, every single person in the crowd was chatting gaily with each other. They were in small conversations, all about what they had just heard in the lecture prior. Some debated with the philosophical nature of the questions they were exposed to.

All seemed luminous and bright, and Amal was especially astounded at their general happiness. It certainly felt genuine to her, save that little nagging feeling.

Once the crowd had moved on, the few ushers at the door welcomed the Ravens inside with welcoming gestures and wide smiles.

Lucifer was instantly put off by them. Ze imagined them practicing exuberance in front of a mirror, just to get the performance right.

“You’ve just missed the Abbot’s lecture,” said an usher, “however, he’ll still be on the floor for the next hour.”

Eva thanked her, then moved through the doorway and into the spacious lecture hall inside. She found it interesting that they called it a temple, and yet treated it like a university.

The main lecture hall was grand. It held a high vaulted ceiling, which had a number of beautiful stone columns that held it up. The walls were painted with grand motifs, which seemed to illustrate the Illuminated’s history, along with this particular temple’s history.

Although Eva expected images of monotheistic gods and their prophets in the images, there was actually nothing of the sort. It was always regular people leading other regular people.

One of the more beautiful paintings was of a small group of people sitting under a tree. One was standing up, though he was leaning against the tree’s trunk, and was teaching the others out of an unfurled scroll. The group looked up at the lecturer with wide eyes filled with awe and adulation.

There were other situations painted on the walls, of course. One was of a vast city burning to the ground, where a man in robes led fleeing civilians to safety. Another was of an ancient war, where an unarmed, enrobed man led a unit of heavily armed soldiers in a charge against the enemy.

Affixed to the very center of most of the paintings were actual stone slabs, all of which had a turn of phrase etched deeply into them. All seemed like a simplified morality. The kind that was bite-sized and easy to chew.

‘Share unto others’, ‘Protect your flock’, ‘Lead with a hand, not the sword’, and other such “commandments”.

There were double doors scattered around the walls as well, which no doubt led to the rest of the massive temple. A few were open, and they seemed to lead deeper inside.

In the very center of the massive hall was a meter-high circular podium with a circular lectern on top of it. Surrounding the podium were dozens and dozens of rows of curved benches. They expanded outward in concentric rings, as though they were ripples in a pond.

A dozen or so people remained behind after the lecture, and stood in a loose crowd near the base of the podium itself. Sitting on the edge of that podium was the Abbot himself.

And like most of the others the Ravens had seen, he was also wearing unadorned simple clothes. Though his were a dark brown, and contrasted sharply against the others around him.

The Ravens stood to the side, listened to their discussions, and waited until everyone left. At which point, the Abbot hopped down and went to where they were seated.

He gave them a genial smile as he introduced himself.

“Hello, I’m Abbot Blythstone,” he began. “It appears you’ve all been waiting to speak with me? If so, thank you for your patience. What might I do for you?”

“Oh, we’re just, you know, looking around,” said Amal. “We had to run from the Federation, and we’re looking for a House to join. We heard a bit about your House and figured we’d take a look.”

“Well, you’ve most certainly come to the right place,” Blythstone replied. “Polovari is one of the Illuminated’s best induction planets. We take in curious souls such as yourselves and welcome you with open arms.”

“I hear that joining the House requires a donation, is that true?” asked Miko. “I do not wish to lose my ships, or equipment.”

“Oh, that’s a silly rumor,” said the Abbot. “Joining the House as a regular citizen requires nothing, all we ask is that people come into Temples at least once a week. That, and pay taxes, of course. Joining the Order of the Illuminated itself, however, is a different story altogether.”

“Wait, so all we would have to do is sit in your lectures and listen to you talk about the greatness of the Illuminated?” asked Eva. “In return we get a nice and simple life? Sounds a bit too good to be true.”

The Abbot laughed heartily.

“I understand your apprehension,” he mused, “but we don’t preach the magnificence of the House here. We only start discussions – the nature of life, the meaning of existence, the purpose of it all. We simply ruminate and learn. I find it makes for a truly great society.”

“I can get behind that,” Eva replied. “We learn, we grow.”

The Abbot gave a single nod in agreement.

“Tell me about joining the Order,” said Lucifer. “I quite like the idea of teaching others, of learning more. I could see myself doing both constantly, here.”

“Oh? Well, you might fit in quite well. The Order is a bit of a working experiment, but one that works very well. We consider ourselves a true meritocracy. Here, those who give themselves to the House fully are equally rewarded in turn.”

“The more you give, the more you get?” asked Eva. “Sounds like it’s really open to corruption. We just escaped from that, and wouldn’t wanna get in another. No offense.”

“I agree with you, and it would be true, if not for the counter rule the Order also adheres to. The more one takes, the more is taken from them in turn.

“We are a people who have gathered out of the far corners of the galaxy, from everywhere, just like you. We all saw the foolishness in other governments, be they republics or aristocracies or empires. Like you, we rejected them.

“The problem then, is how to govern without those old, tired methods? And here, we’ve found the best way – by thriving on merit. But we find we must also punish wickedness. Swiftly, but kindly. It is a matter of prosperity, after all.”

“I guess, as the Abbot,” Eva said after a few moments, “you’ve given a great deal to the order. What did you give up? I mean, just curious.”

“Everything, everything,” he exclaimed. “Whoever I was no longer matters. I came here, became a regular citizen. I listened to a few lectures. And over time, realized I wanted to be a lecturer, like the Pontiff who taught me. So I gave everything I had, and continue to give all that I gain.”

“And now you’re an Abbot,” said Amal.

“It took great sacrifice, of course. But it was all well worth it. I’ve been blessed with the ability to teach on such a wide scale, to enrich the city all around. To help those like yourselves join. And it goes beyond this Temple – I’ve also built a Scriptum in the southern end of the grounds.

“And of course the Seminary across from it. There, we provide education for all newcomers, and for any who wish to learn from Illuminated halls. None have to wait for my lectures in order to grow. I recommend you take just one lesson there – I’m sure you’ll find it enlightening.”

As the Abbot continued ranting on, Miko sent out a message to the other three through Lucifer’s private network.

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Miko: sus

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