"Uh...thanks." Taken aback, Mercy steadied herself and tried to calm down. Inside her womb, her child began to wriggle and squirm as a result of the adrenaline boost that had just crossed the placenta. A clerk, gushing apologies, arrived and began to clean up the mess.
The Revenant turned and walked away without responding to Mercy. She watched him go, feeling confused and sad. He'd just saved her and her child from possible serious injury. How could he be condemned to the Lake of Fire?
The rest of the day was uneventful, but Sergei looked concerned as she sat bowls of steamed vegetables on the table that evening.
"You've hardly said ten words all day today," he remarked. "What's wrong?"
"I was in the supermarket this morning and slipped and almost fell. One of those...people...grabbed my arm and saved me from falling. I thought you said they can't think for themselves anymore."
"Reflex actions would remain," Sergei replied. "When he saw you fall, it must have activated a permanently stored memory in his neurons. That part of him realized a fall could cause serious injury and automatically resulted in his action." He smiled. "I myself am awfully glad he was there to save you." He held out his arms, and Mercy went into them. They cuddled for a few seconds, relishing in the closeness.
Mercy went into labor several months later. She called Sergei at the lab, then lay down in bed and waited. About half an hour later, Sergei arrived with the midwife.
"Are you all right, hon?" he asked his wife.
Mercy nodded. "It doesn't hurt. It's - interesting. I've never felt anything quite like it before."
A couple of hours later, her water broke, and around midnight, the midwife told her it was time for the baby to be born. She gave several mighty pushes, then felt her child leave her body. A moment later, she heard the newborn's lusty wail. She and Sergei grinned and clasped each other's hands.
"You have a beautiful new daughter," the midwife told them.
Mercy reached for the baby, and the midwife placed her into her mother's arms. She had dark hair and eyes like her parents and soft, delicate skin. She made little mewing noises until she found a nipple, then latched on and began to nurse.
"Oh, Sergei, she's perfect!" Mercy breathed.
He nodded. Not particularly gifted at expressing emotion, he nonetheless felt awe and wonder at the miracle he'd just witnessed.
Several years passed. The number of Revenants grew exponentially. Some unbelievers began to exploit them, forcing them to perform menial labor around the clock with no compensation until they collapsed with exhaustion. Christians generally viewed them with a mixture of pity and revulsion, tending to avoid them as much as possible. As an illustration to youngsters of the consequences of refusing to accept Christ they were even more effective than the threat of hell fire, and for that the Christians came to see them as very useful.
One day several groups of children were enjoying picnics in adjacent areas of the park. In one group, Ekaterina and Kenny were helping the kids make shadow boxes of the disciples in a boat and Jesus walking on the water toward them using old shoe boxes and finger paint. In the second group, former Grand Duchess Maria Romanova was teaching her young charges how to make the sign of the cross. The tragic young woman who'd wanted to have twenty children someday had been, like Chloe Williams, compensated with her own brood.
The third 'group' consisted of one child, six-year-old Nicolas Carpathia. The successors of Ignace and Lothair, younger Jospin cousins, were teaching him the tenets of Luciferianism. As Antoine and Rene got into a heated argument over some minor issue, Nicolas wandered away, intrigued by what the first group of children was doing.
Seven-year-old Selah Thompson watched him approach, wondering who he was.
"Hello!" she called. Nicolas just stared. "My name's Selah. What's yours?" she asked.
"Nicky."
Selah smiled and held out her hand. "We're learning about Jesus. Want to join us?"
Nicolas took her hand and allowed her to lead him to the COT group.
From the second group, three-year-old Marika Korolev watched the other two children walk away and began to follow them.
"Where are you going, Marika? Come back!" Maria called to her, but she didn't hear.