the archangel project

there is silence [[nothingness]] except the dim hum of the [[server room]]

you can't make out your surroundings it is as though a [[veil->awakening]] were pulled over your eyes

there is a dim hum of fans you can feel that you are in a room filled with the guts of a great [[computer]], spilled across the floor you cannot see it, but you [[know->intuition]] it is there all the same there seems to be a [[mask]] affixed to your face

as you stand, your muscles twist, almost of their own accord. it feels as though your flesh writhes beneath your skin, tissues curling around one another like snakes you stumble forward, before running into a shelf. you feel at its contents. it appears to be covered in wires and screens and other electronic components you are unsure where you are, within which [[machine's->machine]] belly you have awoken the last thing you remember was [[falling]]. everything else is hazy

you feel at the mask covering your eyes it is metal, wrought into elegant loops and ridges that you trace with each fingertip. it covers just your eyes, leaving your mouth and nose unobstructed if you [[take it off->unmasking?]], perhaps you could see

not a sixth sense more of an intutition you can feel the shape of the [[room->server room]] in your mind

you pry at the engraved metal mask it refuses to move. [[pull harder]] [[leave it alone->server room]]

as you pull, your face erupts with pain it hurts as though you are trying to rip the skin off your face [[keep pulling]] [[leave it alone->server room]]

the pain sears, sending tendrils of fire throughout your body thick liquid drips from the edges of the mask you dab some with your finger [[taste]] [[wipe away]]

the sanguine taste of iron sours on your lips [[i should stop pulling->server room]]

you wipe at your face, smearing the liquid across your cheeks it hurts too much to continue [[i should stop pulling->server room]]

the Churchlands were littered with machines rooms and rooms of circuits and signals and electric veins crackling with energy. most were dead, left as a husk of an edifice to knowledge the energy demand for these machines had been so great, the Church had decreased everybody's rations. water became scarce, as it was in high demand as coolant dozens of artificial intelligences consumed the resources of hundreds of thousands of people then the [[Hunger]] began.

you are unsure from how high you fell or when you hit the ground or who you were before the fall but you were not Exorcised, because you seem to be [[alive->computer]]

it was a knawing at the foundation of the Church the people grew angry, and rose up in protest. they were swiftly crushed by the Exorcists a [[thump]] resonates from outside of the room, snapping you back to the present

more thumping voices echo from outside of the room you can feel them approach, three, maybe four bodies [[hide]] [[run]] [[stay]]

you crouch behind a rack of computer parts the door opens it is not the Exorcists vaguely, you sense three [[technicians->hide2]] enter the room

you fumble blindly around the room you find the back wall, and feel for a handle there [[open it]]

the door opens it is not the Exorcists vaguely, you sense three technicians enter the room "ah, it seems she has awoken" says one technician [["who are you?"]] [["where am i?"]]

you struggle with the handle for a second until it twists, then slip out the door [[what now?]]

its hard to tell, but your intuition tells you that you are in a hallway there seem to be two paths [[go left]] [[go right]]

the technicians enter the room. the silence is pregnant. "GUARDS!" screams one technician. [[run]]

you creep down the hallway, one hand brushing against the wall as an anchor a door swings open "there she is, there she is!" shouts a voice in seconds you are grasped by rough hands, and handcuffs are slapped onto your wrists [[shit]]

you race down the hallway, only to find another door you open it, and are blasted with blistering hot air sunlight falls on your skin for the first time since waking it [[burns]] you run out of the building, into the arid landscape of the Churchlands your muscles begin rippling once again, and a searing [[pain]] writhes in your back

one man laughs. "who are we? we made you." that doesn't feel true. "wait," you say, "i have parents, a family. i just can't... remember." "come with us," the man orders you bristle. "at least answer my questions first, please." the door opens again, and six or seven guards rush in. they restrain you, slapping cuffs onto your hands [[shit]]

one man laughs. "where are you? that's classified." the man says. "come with us," he orders. you bristle. "at least answer my questions first, please." the door opens again, and six or seven guards rush in. they restrain you, slapping cuffs onto your hands [[shit]]

you are seized by the guards, tackled to the floor your head smacks against the ground falling you are falling a single hand raised to grasp nothing [[unconsciousness takes you->unconscious]]

the sun in the Churchlands is so hot it blisters, melting your skin the ozone layer was stripped by the emissions of the machines, the naked body of the earth exposed to the fury of the sky your muscles begin rippling once again, and a searing [[pain]] writhes in your back

the muscles of your back slither and strain against your skin it is a pain nearly undescribable once the pain reaches its apex, the skin rips open, and three sets of wings unfold blood runs down your back somewhere behind you, you sense the [[guards]] approach

"patient 1 is escaping!" one guard shouts you have to escape [[run->run2]] [[try to fly]]

you run, but the guards are faster they overtake you, knock you to the ground, kick you until you stop struggling you are cuffed and dragged back into the building [[shit->shit2]]

you beat your newly molted [[wings]] blood splatters across the ground the guards are sprinting towards you you need to fly [[now]]

it is strange, to flex a new muscle a truly novel sensation maybe that's what you needed to [[escape->try to fly]]

you beat your wings again, more frantically this time its not working the guards are getting closer [[take a deep breath]]

you imagine the sparrow the rhythm of its flight the sureness it is beautiful [[become the sparrow]]

you get a running start and imaging the spirals of air beneath your wings the oscillation of your wingbeats it is math in motion poetry in equations you were always good at that back when you were more than "patient 1" when you were [[ophania]]

as your wings beat, you begin to take off you remember your name your face it is beautiful [[return to start->awakening]]

you are seized by the guards, tackled to the earth your head smacks against the ground falling you are falling a single hand raised to grasp nothing [[unconsciousness takes you->unconscious2]]

nothing then, awareness not sight you are strapped to a table, wings crudely pinned behind your back lab equipment, machines, pages of notes there is [[someone else->someone2]] in the room

nothing then, awareness not sight you are strapped to a table lab equipment, machines, pages of notes there is [[someone else->someone]] in the room

"you must have questions," a gravelly voice says [["what do you want?"]] [["what did you do to me?"]] [["do you know who i was?"]] "i remember now. i can see through your [[lies.]]"

"you must have questions," a gravelly voice says [["what do you want?"]] [["what did you do to me?"]] [["do you know who i was?"]]

"i made you better. stronger." the voice said. "you have an important role to play." "what the FUCK DID YOU DO TO ME?" you shout. you are sick of the half truths your anger is palpable. it fills the air with thick syrup, through which all motion seems to slow you sense a tingling on your skin. you are on fire, yet you do not burn the room begins to shake, objects seized by your fury. they begin to float in the air, and circle around you the voice speaks again. "well done. we need your anger. your rage." "you made me into a monster," you growl "i saved you. you nearly died during the fall. you can get your revenge on the people who took everything from you. who took your [[memory,]] your life. join us. bring order to the Churchlands. we can destroy the devils that tried to ruin you." "tell me what i need to do." you say "all you need to do..." the voice begins. suddenly, a needle jabs your neck, and you slip into nothingness. "we made you a weapon. its time to get your [[venegance.]]"

"you were a devout Churchwoman. the terrorists bombed your congregation. they killed your family, threw you off a cliff. i found you, saved you. i alone cared for you. i gave you the power to make them [[hurt->someone]] like they did to you"

"what do i want?" the voice chuckled "the same thing we all want. peace. stability. of course, we all make sacrifices for it. some more than most surely you [[understand->someone]]"

something about the story feels wrong. you can't remember what but who are you to [[doubt?->"what did you do to me?"]]

it comes to you in a flash the Excorcists, breaking down your door slaughtering your family. you remember stepping into the void, nothing left to live for. your broken body striking the floor "you killed them. you took everything from me," you spat. the voice laughed. "no, i gave you everything. i freed you." now it is your turn to laugh. "i'm going to take everything from you." [[seize true venegance->true venegance]]

darkness you are moving carried in some sort of vehicle [[emptiness]] takes you again

what happened next was blurry you were shown an encampment you were told the terrorists who destroyed your family hid there you were given the power to destroy them. the power to get justice. closure. [[make them pay]] [[let them live]]

anger bubbles boils rises beyond its lid, spilling over fire rages around you, the very earth ripped up, spun into a cocoon around you finally, you release the rage with a great blast of energy the earth falls back to the ground as a great ball of fire arcs toward the encampment you hear screams, alarms. the crying of a child fire rips through the tents, incinerating eveyone within. their deaths are quick. merciful, even. a mushroom cloud of smoke rises from the crater you feel nothing. nothing at all. [[return to start->awakening]]

"i won't do it," you say. "that camp is full of innocent people. no venegance is worth that atrocity." the voice laughs. "wrong answer." you are struck in the back, knocking the wind out of your lungs you crumple to the ground. a blade is held to your throat. "ready patient 2," the voice says. "goodbye, my angel." the blade slices through your throat your [[death]] is quick. merciful, even.

death is like falling you stood at that edge and stepped into the void [[return to start->awakening]]

you swirl with fire, the room whipped into a tornado of agony the voice shouts for guards. moments later they burst into the room you blaze with light, before imploding, sucked into a tiny point you collapse, sundering your very atoms the blast vaporizes you instantly. it scours the lab, vaporizes the great machine with atomic fury. [[closure.]]

you are falling your wings spread wide, catch the air you slow your plummet to a stop, hovering in the air below you, your family calls faintly above you, the pearly gates swing wide [[fly to the gates]] [[let gravity take you]]

you fold your wings, let the air claim you your family whispers love as you strike the ground it is beautiful [[return to start->awakening]]

you beat your wings, spiral upwards towards the great gates just as you reach them, they swing closed you grasp at the bars of the gate, then fall to your knees the cycle of violence unfolds before you you dissolve into ashes, carried by the breeze. it would be beautiful. but it isn't. it's only tragic [[return to start->awakening]]