Microstory 1878: Devoted to Self

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I dedicated my life to the attainment of absolute goodness and purity. I believe in evil. I believe in the Devil. And of course, I believe in God. I was born into a family of hedonistic atheists, who cared for nothing but earthly pursuits. They did not study the bible, and they had no faith. For the ones who died before me, I know that they are now in hell. They have to be, for they did not heed the word of our Lord and Savior. I heed it, and it’s all thanks to an amazing little girl I met on the school bus. She went real dark for our first discussion, talking about God’s wrath, and the punishment man has faced due to his sins. I was so scared, I went straight to church immediately after school, and had to walk all the way back home afterwards. My parents were so upset and worried, but they should have been worried for themselves. For I had just begun the long walk on a road of righteousness, and they were filled to the brim with sin. It was not easy, learning everything I needed to be a good Christian, but I never gave up, and I never compromised. Here’s what I believe. I believe that a woman has the right to choose what to do with her own body...unless that choice affects the life of another. I can’t understand how it could be any other way. Yes, you have personal autonomy, but so does the child. You cannot take that away from it. I mean, it’s not okay to kill people after they’re born, is it? I mean, I guess you have to if you’re in a war. And I suppose some criminals need to be dealt with to a level of irreversibility. This world must be cleansed from sin, and sometimes death is the only way to achieve that goal. But that baby is not evil, is it? I mean, I guess it is, because of original sin. But still, leave it alone!

The point is that there is only one path to Heaven, and I’ve finally reached the end of it, so my reward is near. All those people, dedicating their time to worthless endeavors, like the accumulation of wealth. I earned my money the right way, by raising and slaughtering cattle to nourish the world by my man’s side. I do not value material possessions. I constructed a large house to shelter my family, because God says to be fruitful and multiply. I own a nice car, so I don’t have to buy a new one every year. I make it last at least five years, or it gets too old, it’s not worth it anymore. I shop at boutique shops, because they always have the best stuff. And of course, I eat gourmet food, because that is the healthiest kind. But other than that, my entire self is devoted to God, and his teachings. Everything I do is to serve him, and his will. I haven’t even counted the number of people that I’ve converted to the side of light using The Good Word. Though I’m sure they number in the thousands; maybe even tens of thousands. But you don’t hear me bragging about that, because pride is a deadly sin. I am a sinful woman, just like anyone, but I make up for it, unlike all those other people who insist on spitting in the face of truth. I can’t wait to see what the eternal paradise looks like. Oh, it will be so grand. Every need will be provided for me, and I shall sit under the throne of our Creator. This is it; it’s everything that I’ve been working for. All those backbreaking hours at the charity galas and church bake sales will finally be worth it. I hope they serve rosé. Oh, tee-hee-hee, I’m just kidding, but really, I’m not. Because I deserve it. I’m a good person. No, I’m a great person. Nay, I’m the best. Feel free to take me now, Jesus. I’m ready.

Microstory 688: Force of Faith

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While the quantum darkness was a perilous and depressing time for Lightseers, we returned from it stronger than ever before. We saw an uptick in conversions, of course, as people now had definitive proof of the Light’s power. There were changes for preexisting Lightseers, though. After careful study, experts now strongly believe this to be a attributed to a nonmaterial, but measureable, force. As vague as it may sound, we call it the Force of Faith, and it is sort of a cousin of the Light of Truth. It cannot be seen, as the Light can, but it is just as divine. While the quantum darkness can permeate vast distances for insidious and malevolent purposes, the Force of Faith does so to strengthen belief. While probably nothing is capable of precluding crises of faith altogether, this new force is a mighty enemy against it; a ward, a wall, a shield. Scientists are still trying to understand and codify this new physical phenomenon, and are unsure why it has not been detected before. The obvious answer is that it did not exist before; that it was somehow created out of necessity, and is responsible for the salvation from the darkness that preceded it. The truth is that we still do not know, but that’s the point of faith, isn’t it? If we knew things to be true with undeniable evidence, then it wouldn’t be faith at all; it would just be a standard fact. Perhaps religion thrives in the face of adversity, and requires the opposition of those who do not believe in it. If everyone believed, no one would be special, and the Light wouldn’t matter so much anymore. Perhaps. Whatever the truth, we believe in this, never more staunchly than now.

Microstory 665: Acceptance of the Enemies

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A few things came to light following the realization of the Hailstorm of Love. Some people were so desperate to make it happen that they went against the rules of the taikon, and tried to orchestrate it. They used weather control technology to create and intensity a hailstorm on a planet out of its season. The thinking was that, if it could never hail on its own, it would be sufficiently rare enough to qualify. Normally, the Light would ignore this infraction, for it did not have any bearing on the actual taikon, but something else happened as a result. The planet they chose as their site for the storm happened to be inhabited by a small but powerful group enemies. Their beliefs are not relevant to the situation, but they were a not insignificant threat to the Light of Truth. Many of their kind died in the storm. Their loss, and the destruction of their homes, led the survivors to flee their world, seeking refuge wherever they could find it. By this point, the Light had overtaken the greatest number of believers ever. The newly converted were especially hostile toward any threat against the Light...placing the refugees firmly in danger. These refugees thought for sure that they would suffer a similar fate to their brethren, but then something happened. A group of mercenaries arrived and provided safe passage through the galaxy, ultimately transplanting them on Kesliperia, where they were duly accepted by the grateful converts from Lapsar...and our numbers grew further.

Microstory 655: Beginning of the Famine

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The Sacred Light is an unforgiving power. Many people flock to our religion in hopes of finding security and serenity. And it’s true that the warmth of the Light can bring peace to all who let it shine upon their souls. But it can also be dangerous, violent, and hurtful. Lightseers, and Fosteans as a whole, have a long history of being history of being persecuted and mistreated. We’ve talked a lot about the dirty communists who once plagued our leadership, but what we’ve not explained is that our past is what defines us. We could not be as powerful and self-assured today had we not suffered and struggled. During one of our holiest of observances, we recognize the battles our ancestors had to go through; clawing their way from the darkness. We call it Dimbaz, and it is during a period of three days that we remember their sacrifices by emulating them. We purposefully hide our eyes from sources of light that are too intense, generally by wearing masks, visors, or other headgear. We also practice a level of fasting, where some will keep themselves from food the entire time, while others will merely eat sparingly. This year’s Dimbaz fatefully fell just after the Week in One Day taikon series, and during the fulfillment of the fifty-fourth taikon. Fittingly, Sotiren Zahir foretold that soon the galaxy would find itself in the middle of a great famine. This was hard to believe seeing as food is such an easy commodity to come by. No one lives on any orbital without preexisting, or terraformed, life. We’ve advanced food science to the point of being able to manufacture nutrients from almost nothing, so there isn’t any logical reason that we would have to experience a famine. Sure, there are parts of the galaxy where people live on less, and certain peoples don’t work hard enough to earn a decent amount of sustenance, but these are isolated cases. Even if there were some kind of famine, surely it would affect only the sinners, and our rivals. We believe in the Light, and all its glory. Surely we would be protected. But we weren’t. What occurred next was no simple food shortage. It wasn’t just that we weren’t growing or processing food at a reasonable rate, or suffered a blight that somehow managed to spread between the stars. Food just started spoiling too quickly. We eventually found an explanation for this horrific turn of events, but knowing the science behind it did nothing to detract from the fact that it happened. As terrible as it was, it was a necessary step towards the next chapter of the story of the taikon.

Microstory 654: A Blind Man Made Guide

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Back in ancient times, a number of conditions caused people to be seemingly irreparably blind. It was often the result of a bad connection between the eyes, and the brain. Medical advancement eventually solved all of these issues so that today, blindness is all but impossible. Even the poorest of us have access to the right treatments to cure, or at least work around, a lack of sight. Arkeizens are little good as thralls if they can’t see, so they too are provided with the necessary medical care. Many people are born without the ability to go blind outside of some kind of physical trauma, because any genetic predisposition to poor eyesight is usually weeded out. Lightseers have long questioned the realization of this taikon, because a blind person, even if they existed, would ultimately be fully capable of becoming a guide. We weren’t even sure what that word, guide meant in this context, but none of the possibilities would be prohibitive to blindness. The ability for a blind person to do anything in our worlds could never be rare enough to qualify as a taikon, because as previously stated, a cure should be easily available. But again, the Sacred Savior has proven himself to be complete infallible, his words ringing just as true here as they do elsewhere in the Book of Light. When the recent converts first touched down on the new Kesliperia, they were welcomed by the light of two stars. The second had recently come into existence, with no decent scientific explanation for how that was possible. One of the passengers on the exodus ship was a woman who never had the privilege of a name. She was born in the Caves of Dormancy, a system of tunnels in one of the moons orbiting Raista where a strange light-hating cult lived. She had rarely seen the stars, and had never beared witness to the majesty of a sun. This one would be her last. So enamoured with the wondrous sight, she stared at the two suns in the sky, ignoring the words of warning from those around her. Everything seemed fine once she found the willpower to pull herself from it, but the damage had been done. Not two days later, she discovered herself to be blind. Doctors could have fixed her, but quickly learned that they should not even make an attempt. The blinding light of truth had manifested itself in a profound way, providing the unnamed cavedweller the powerful gift of clairvoyance. Upon realizing this, she immediately pledged loyalty to Lightseed, and began a mission to guide new Lightseers to the truth and peace that she had finally found.

Microstory 653: Forgiveness of the Sinners

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The religious order of Lightseed has had its fair share of naysayers, rivals, and outright enemies. Though we are the largest religion in the galaxy, said galaxy consists of more than a trillion people, so it’s just statistically unlikely that we would have all of them. Sotiren knew this the entire time while he was working through his belief structure in the beginning. He wanted there to be something that all Fosteans could find comfort in, but did not require they actually do so. There are those, however, who actively operate against our interests, and they have only become more invigorated by the initiation of the foretold taikon. Whereas before these were isolated, or at least segregated, groups, they have now come together in a more official capacity. They began to call themselves Lapsar, a true insult to our devotion to the Light of Truth. This new organization has been giving us the most trouble during our attempt at rearranging the galaxy in our image. But that doesn’t mean that they are winning. We have been steadily depleting their numbers and resources every day; sometimes through war, but also through conversion. Their ideals are actually not all that different than ours. Some believe the reason they exist is out of an instinct to not conform with reality. Once they see the true light, they often realize their mistake. The most dramatic of these conversions, however, has come with the occurrence of these last taikon; the ones belonging to the Week in One Day series. They caused the largest faction of deniers remaining to start questioning their previously held convictions. Just as the Day was coming to an end, an exodus ship fell out of the interstellar simplex dimension in orbit. Former Lapsarians began transporting their numbers down to the surface of the new Kesliperia, hoping to find a new home. Seeing as the original Kesliperians were already dead, there was no harm in allowing the converts to stay. We were happy to have them, and now they will be able to move on with their lives in true peace.