Chapter 509 (2/2)

Alan’s eyes flashed. Even though he was growing increasingly annoyed, Alan kept his language as neutral as he could manage. After all, Father Foster was ahead of a growing congregation. Almost 200,000 people attended one of her affiliated churches on a daily basis. She was not a constituent to take lightly. “You mean to say, you wish we would not provide to them the benefits of our accumulated knowledge of the System.”

“Yes.”

The room became silent for almost a minute, Alan mulling the information over. And from the expression on Father Foster’s face, she knew she had already won.

Alan wouldn’t go so far as to label the group as a dangerous element, but they were becoming something much more… unpalatable in recent months. Their distaste for the System was shared by many people, and those accumulated emotions created a bond between displaced people. Feeling unsafe, finding solace in god was a historic pastime. But with the looming threat of this new Zone, that appeared eminently capable, Alan was losing his patience.

Finally, he said, “I understand your… religious motivations, but from a secular point of you, can you understand why I think that might be shortsighted? If some new facet of the System causes unexpected danger, your people might be exposed to something they have no knowledge of-”

“We appreciate your concern,” Father Foster interrupted, a small smile on her face. Below her eyes, the bags were like rotting plums. “But I assure you that if not in details, we cover the general idea in our sermons. Besides, what adult does not know the evil of this world? As children, we are born pure, closest to God. Every new vision is another miracle, with God’s hand clear and his grace delightful. But as more and more information is revealed… we learn about jealousy, selfishness, limitations, and rules… we hear about murder and rape, about monsters and demons... Do the details really matter?”

Alan mulled that over for a bit and was about to respond when Father Foster continued.

“Besides… if the scenario you speak of comes to pass, and a calamity befalls our little enclave… would that small amount of information make any difference?”

To that, Alan could think of nothing to say. Father Foster’s smile was smug.

*****

Randidly idly sipped his drink, unsure what he was doing at this “party”.

Well, there was no need to think about it as a party in quotes. This was… an actual party. It reminded Randidly of the parties that you would see in Romantic-Comedy movies before the System arrived. The venue was the penthouse apartment in those expensive condos near the factory. There was a DJ playing out by a pool, and it seemed like three or four attractive people were on every couch and in front of each painting, laughing uproariously at a recent joke.

Overall, Randidly found the whole thing incredibly insufferable. In addition, he had spent several of his first 10 minutes here sneezing repeatedly. Some of the women and men in attendance had easy smiles and soft hands that revealed them as trucked in help and not steelworkers, and the cologne was thick in the air.

Finally, Randidly discovered a buffet table and helped himself to some ribs and mac and cheese. Although the ingredients were somewhat different than his childhood, the whole experience was remarkably nostalgic. It tasted like cafeterias and childhood and was a far cry from the current world of monsters and Skills. For a few minutes, Randidly was at peace, shoveling the food into his mouth, careful to not spill on his nice forest green shirt.

The outdoor pool area was connected to a long hallway that led to a kitchen and a bar, as well as the bathrooms. There were two in this apartment. Randidly was currently in a sunroom that was the nearest room to the pool side of the hallway, with windows to look out at the pool area and the developing town below.

With his extremely high Perception, it was easy to listen in on the conversation. Aside from the absolutely obnoxious flirting from the Tooya and Diego, most of the talk was on the latest rumor that the Zone was slowly expanding, the time freezing barrier creeping backward. Apparently, in the North, a whole suburb was revealed. Just like that, 10,000 new souls were added to Zone 1.

Randidly was making plans to check on whether this was true when someone walked into the room.

“Ah,” Randidly said, standing. “Hello, Sonya.”