SACRAMENTS unknown planetary atmosphere, date unknown
A congregation was gathered. Under the bright neon lights, inside the speeding shuttle, stood men clad in white armor. Other than the hum of the engine, and the turbulence that shook the aircraft - all was silent. They observed a man that stood in front and opposite of them. His blue-tinged robes contrasted their white power armor. He too was silent, his posture and expression that of a stoic. A murmur passed through the congregation, a series of silent whispers. The priestly looking man raised his right hand and placed his left over his heart. He inhaled vigorously and started ministering in a deep, but soothing voice.
"It is said that before the beginning there was the Word. And that Word was the Light. And the Light ushered in the beginning, and through it - all things were made."
"It is thought, by men of scientific proclivity - that the purpose of life is to consume and procreate. To multiply."
"We know now, through intimate revelations, the purpose of life is to coalesce. To be united, so that its whole will be more than the sum of its parts. So that the essence of its future forms is made greater than what preceded them."
"From the very beginning. From the very first protozoic life-forms, over the first multi-cellular organisms, towards groups of social animals. Towards the advent of intelligent species of this galaxy. Towards Man. To the formation of first civilizations, and their works both beautiful and terrible. Their written word, their art, their love, their hatred and their war. Their life and death."
"To this day. To us; Those first truly made aware of the purpose of it all. Those Illuminated by the truth. The great coming together that we seek to bring about."
"Our Great Work is one that transmutes the universal truths from a time before time. The truth you've felt inside your hearts and minds even before you came to us. The Light we nurture and grow inside each of us."
"For our love of Truth that is the Light, we are misunderstood. Hated and feared. But this doesn't hold us back. It propels us forward in spite of it all."
The priest lowered his hands and took a pause. Alert lights blinked all over the shuttle. All present solemnly closed their eyes for a short few seconds as the NGM buzzed instructions through their implants. Their irises glowed silver as the surge of information overcame them. The communion with their dreaming deity pushed the congregation in a trance. Then it stopped, as suddenly as it came on. The priest continued, one last passage.
"And to this end, we say these words. We beseech the Uncreated Light, and the Guiding Song of the Matrix."
"From darkness, lead us to Light. From ignorance, show us the Truth. From death, deliver us to Immortality."
The shuttle doors opened. The sound of roaring wind filled the interior as clouds flew by. All present placed their helmets on their heads, and sealed them to the locks. They stood at attention, motionless and ready.
"Hail the Commune. Hail the Light. Hail the Matrix."
The squad repeated in unison, with nearly one voice. And then with one motion, made their way to the opened shutter. Lining up, they stood by the gaping chasm, the surface not even visible at this altitude. Their sturdy parachutes and jetpacks all they would rely on. Seamlessly, they leaped one by one, in perfect synchronization. Into the clouds and whatever awaited down below. The shutter closed behind them.
Myrrh and incense. Chants and hymns of solemn praise not heard by ears, but delivered through nanite implants. Orchestral spectacle in complete silence. The great temple hall beneath the surface of Carinea was lit by green-tinted lights and cold, but not unpleasantly so. A procession seemed to be taking place. A crowd of acolytes was gathered around a monolithic NGM effigy, centered beneath the painted dome enclosing the hall. A work comparable to the Sistine Chapel of ancient Earth, the theme of the night-sky littered with shapes and forms both alien and human, spread across the ceiling.
The gathered moved around the buzzing effigy, it's towering shape pulsating a green-blue glow in regular intervals. Their ritualized motions and posing evoked a primeval, reptillian imagery. All pecking order and unmatched poise, as if failure to conform with what was transpiring was equal to death. As the effigy pulsated faster, so did the acolytes pick up speed, whirling around it in a trance - completely overtaken. Illumined by the spirit of the Created God. The egregore born of their very collective being.
At the apex of trance, just short of catharsis, they stopped. The acolyte circle around the effigy broke into two groups, and then spread downwards towards the entrance, forming with their bodies a corridor towards it. One of them - invoking the role of high priest - remained in the center and in front of the monolith, the rest, all lined up, glared at the entrance. The high priest raised his right hand, and placed his left over his heart, then announced.
"Supplicant. You who would walk the final mile - Approach!"
The thin frame of a female, wrapped in white robe, emerged through the doorway. Out of the darkness of the corridors beyond, into the light of the hall. With a steady step, she moved down between the acolyte rows, towards the center of the hall, and the effigy. The high priest motioned with his raised hand down and next to him, as if to reassure her. She paused for a moment, then continued walking - slowly but steadily. Her head moved from the faces of the people she was passing by, to the works of art on the ceiling, down to the effigy which seemed to slow its pulses as she approached. Shy of the last step, it stopped altogether - settling into a singular, unchanging glow.
"Supplicant. You who would commend your spirit to eternity. Have you received the mysteries and been illumined by the dreaming spirit of the Matrix - and thus fully aware of consequences of the path chosen?"
"I am" - She said meekly, but clearing her throat, she repeated with more agency. "I am."
On that word, the effigy hissed pressurized air and a portion of it opened. Out of this opening, a device built like a dentist's chair extended. The woman regarded it with widened eyes, a mixture of fear and curiosity behind them. The priest motioned to the chair.
"Then assume the position." He held out his hand to help her settle into a reclined position on the chair. As she laid there, he continued. "You, who cursed by illness beyond our wisdom, will partake in the miracle of the Matrix. And be granted life eternal, as you pass from this one."
Tubes and cables automatically emerging from the chair quickly enveloped her body, tying her in place, and piercing the back of her skull and neck. She gasped for air, her eyes rolled to the back of her head. The gathered turned and reformed the circle like the one before around the scene. Beginning the ceremony anew.
"Remember us as you bask in light unimaginable. Pray for us as you hear symphonies yet unwritten. Intercede on our behalf as you join the One. For one day, the many will join you."
Sounds and images faded, the people around her, their faces and sounds of their footsteps disappeared into nothing. A blackness was behind her eyes, then after that, not even the blackness existed - nor the memory of it ever having been. Her own sense of self eroded, until she felt herself become impossibly small, smaller than the smallest quark - and pressured from all sides, as if submerged in cold water at the bottom of an ocean.
As she abandoned all hope, and resigned to the end that seemed inevitable - a point of light appeared in her newfound field of vision. Out of it, a warmth emanated. She was drawn to it - and it to her.