CHAPTER 2
Planet Sonja, Code LV-117
Location: Ark's Inner Sanctum
Artificial sunlight shone down from the Ark's holographic roof, washing the city below in white light. Bustling city streets were filled with countless citizens, each walking slowly to their unmarked locations. Cars darted around corners quickly, efficiently avoiding the populace. Holographic screens throughout hung from buildings, corner street signs, displayed blue tinted images of people smiling, having a good time with family and friends. They'd shift to inane pictures of forests, mountain vistas, oceanic views, each seemingly more beautiful than the last.
The city had all the trappings of the real world, but were merely the frills of a well-thought trap. In truth, the people walked around tediously, each keeping to themselves. Streets were patrolled by armed guards who would shoot anyone who stepped out of line, often without a warning's whim. People knelt in their living rooms, praying to the cross of the Ark. The buildings looked like the souls they entrapped; tattered, worn and broken.
On some hidden cue, the holographic screens shifted to reveal a weathered fifty-year-old man's face. In the streets, people froze, stopping to stare up at the displays. He smiled, but the smile was dishonest; he spoke, but his words were filled with more lies than truth. The people froze from his words, staring up at the image of his face.
"Citizens of the Ark, I come to you with words of life and truth. I, Father, bringer of life and savior of thousands. It is Father who built the Ark's to keep you safe from Mother's children. It is Father who protects her great interest. Fear not our Mother, for she weeded out the old and weak, allowing only the strong, the survivor inside of each and everyone of you to make it here, to salvation. And it is Father, who will provide that protection she so desperately wants you to have."
People in the streets looked around at each other, then turned their attention back to the screens.
"I come to you for your support, your unforgiving loyalty to the faith. For if you give me your soul, your heart, your very being to Mother, you shall be set free from these in trappings and sent to the great beyond."