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895.M41
Hive Sector 1-45-679-9999-99999
Planet Badab
Late in the workshift, workers manned their stations, wiped their sweat, and waited for the last work call to be over. It was an ordinary day, a montonous 15 hour shift of machining and assembling various materials. Foremans yelled at their workers in the pits of machines deep beneath the upper levels of the city. They usually didn't see sunlight for months at a time. Working, sleeping, eating, and then back to working was their normal cycle. At times they could be let off an hour or two early, if it was a holiday.
It was day to day. But romance was in the air this time around. A young man by the name of Antinnes was constantly pestered by his co worker. A divinely beautiful female who called herself Sofia. Her golden eyes emulated her smiled when she talked to him. Constantly passing notes to him and smiling at him from across the assembly line. It made the day interesting for Antinnes. But something told him to stay away. So he did what every young man would do. He did what he wanted.
Late one night they met after the last work call. Something was different though, Antinnes could feel it in her voice. She acted with a serious attitude, not a romantic one, pressuring him to walk with him. She led him lower into the bowels of the city. Deeper and deeper they went to the lowest levels, all the while she questioned him about his attitude of the work they did, and if his life had meaning. He followed her nontheless, tormented by his workplace, this was the first interesting thing he had.
He answered like every good imperial citizen even though he was lying through his teeth. He hated his work and he hated his life. Forever doomed to operate the forges, forever doomed to a monotonous life of servitude, in the name of an emperor he doubted even existed. He had theories there was only one planet and they used lies to control them but he would not let her know that. She could be a spy, or a member of the infamous inquisition.
Inevitably she pried the answers she wanted from him. He broke down infront of her when she probed him for answers. Like a small child he cried about his work ,told her he hated his life, and searched for something more. She smiled then said, "You are in luck my perfect. You are in luck. I can save you, but I need to be able to trust you..." she held him.
Her eyes gleamed into his. He was lost in her perfect face, her perfect eyes as she touched him with her perfect hands.
"You can trust me," he replied lowering his defenses completely. He broke at that point. He wanted salvation and he was willing to risk everything to get it.
"There is another god Antinnes. A god of beauty, a god of perfection, a god of deliverance."
Antinnes eyes widened. Heresy. He knew it. They would be burned. If anyone else caught them speaking such words the consquences would be dire. He started to panic. He pushed her away as he felt his heart rate dramatically increase. He backed away from her, frightened. His decsion had been too rash. Too drastic, his life was on the line now. Because of-
She touched his face. He looked into hers. Seeing the beauty. Seeing the salvation in her eyes. Seeing the beauty that she spoke of. She wasn't like anyone he'd ever met. Her eyes calmed him down, sedated him. All his worries disappated. He took a deep breath.
"Antinnes... My love. You will be okay. I promise." she said, "Follow me."
She pulled him through the corridor, her grip as light as a childs. He followed her to a door laden with amythest. The deck was old. Too old. Antinnes never knew the cities went this far down. The cracks on the walls, the feeling of things watching him, and the smell of something dead made Antinnes think no human had been down here for quite sometime.
"To be perfect." The door hissed.
"To be saved." she replied.
The door gently slid open revealing an arbituary of purple candles and light. The smell was one of narcotics and sex. She pulled him through clutching his hand tighter than before. He followed unsure, frightened, but above all excited. He felt alive for the first time in his life. This was truly living.
Inside others were indulging in decadence. Orgies of excessive behavior potracted themselves through the large atrium. In the center stood one man. He wore violet robes that seemed to sparkle and shift. The symbol on his robe was the same he'd seen throughout the room.
The robed man approached Antinnes.
"Is this the one Zahia? The perfect one?" He asked her.
He felt happiness, he was perfect. Like all of them. Was this his destiny? To be apart of something great? To live instead of labouring for survival?
She nodded and bowed.
He replied in a different language then turned to Antinnes. He swallowed, fearful but excited. He would not let the fear get to him. There was no going back now. He didn't even notice Sofia, or Zahia as the robed man called her, get behind him.
He felt a pierce of pain. His vision dulled as the rest of the room's members closed in on him. He turned to Sofia. She wasn't smiling. She stared at him, blankly. Watching him collaspe on the ground. They spoke in other voices, other languages. Blackness consumed his vision the last thing he saw was her eyes. They cared not for him. He would die a betrayer and more so, a loner.
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