Re: The Wretched Rite - Round Two - Inferno Alpha
05-15-2012, 01:35 AM
Originally posted on MSPA by Ixcalibur.
Fate had placed her in this situation.
Fate was not blind. It had a plan. It knew exactly what it was doing. It wouldn’t have placed her in this situation if it didn’t feel that it was important for her to be here.
This was what Vera had told herself for the last half an hour. It wasn’t really helping.
Upon her arrival the angels had tried to explain the situation; how the creation of a physical Hell was judged to be an atrocity so appallingly sinful that not only were its creators doomed to its depths but so was anyone who joined the religion that had perpetrated such a heinous act. This was all sort of lost on Vera however. She’d never really managed to properly grasp the nuances of human morality. When she had asked how she could get back to the other place, the angels were at first horrified at her desire to return to the Abyss and then insistent that this was where she belonged. She might have argued her corner further except for the fact that she wasn’t quite sure how this battle sat with fate, and she was not overly enthusiastic to head back over to Inferno Alpha and find out.
She had let herself be led by one of the towering angel robots to a massive gold and white elevator with glass sides. Once inside they began to descend through the cloud-like earth and down through the spheres of Paradiso. The view offered by the elevator was nothing short of spectacular; a glorious city crafted from white and gold. Everything was perfect, everything was pristine; though up close it was probably a little bit dusty by now. The only thing that marred the magnificent vista were the occasional unfinished buildings and the brightly coloured scaffolds that still surrounded them. They did not stop upon that floor and as they passed the ground Vera saw all the angel robots gathered around the elevator, clamouring for just a glimpse of the first person to ever come to Heaven. It made her feel uneasy.
Each successive level that they passed became less and less impressive, culminating with the near emptiness of the ninth sphere. It was obvious that all the time and effort that had gone into Paradiso Alpha had been focused upon the top couple of spheres. Pope Honorope had never likely expected that anyone would ever come down here; the land had not been terraformed and the couple of structures that did exist were temporary tents now sagging in the middle. Everything was a uniform slate grey and where the previous spheres had been as bright as if they were upon the surface this one was gloomy and depressing. There seemed to be something of a discrepancy between the way that the ninth sphere actually was and the way that the Seraphim that was escorting Vera was programmed to think of it. He was very vocal about its holy splendour and about how much of an honour it was to be so close to the Empyrean and the Godbot Itself.
When the elevator finally came to a stop she was once again surrounded by a host of angelbots, and promptly led into one of the pathetic looking tents. That had been half an hour ago and now she was elbow deep in glitter and glue and almost at her wits’ end. She was sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair at a slightly wobbly plastic table which was covered with stationary. There were many multicoloured sheets of paper and card, an entire pile of glue sticks, bowls full of different colours of glitter, macaroni and birdseed. The rest of tent was filled with angelbots beaming creepily at her and offering to fetch her a glass of fizzy pop and a plate of prawn cocktail crisps if she so much as shifted in her seat. It was intolerable.
Vera sat back in the uncomfortable seat and folded her arms huffily. “Look,” she said, “I really think I have made enough pinecone bird feeders and popsicle stick snowflakes, how much longer am I supposed to do this for?” There was a hesitation and the features of Miss Penrose (a Serephim who she had mentally nicknamed after her history teacher) arranged themselves into a semblance of confusion.
“Forever.” It said, then after a moment of consideration it corrected itself: “Well… not just this of course, later there will be prayers and choir practice but after that we could play board games or charades or maybe even watch a puppet show.”
Vera’s face was unreadable. Nobody said anything for an entire minute.
“I thought heaven was supposed to be the good one?” Vera said uncertainly.
“It is.” Miss Penrose replied.
“Isn’t it supposed to be… you know… enjoyable?” She paused thoughtfully. “I heard there was some kind of bar on the ride over. That sounds like it could be potentially tolerable?” Miss Penrose all but tutted under its breath.
“No.” It said, “You are but a child Vera.”
“I am not a child!” Vera snapped. “I am eighteen. I can do what I want, and I don’t want to be here any more.”
“Shush Vera.” Miss Penrose cooed soothingly, or in a manner that was designed to be soothing at least. “This is Paradise; your reward for a lifetime of dedication to your beliefs. You cannot leave, you belong here now. Your existence as you knew it is at an end. This is your life now.”
Vera stared in disbelief at all the concerned robotic faces that surrounded her and got to her feet.
“Take a seat Vera.” Miss Penrose instructed.
“No.” Vera replied coldly, her hand upon the handle of her razorwhip. “I will be leaving now, one way or another.”
--------
Adelaide and Alice surfaced in another patch of murky water. Alice coughed and spluttered and struggled to remain afloat until Adelaide wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. It took perhaps a minute for the tsote to calm down and become aware of their new surroundings, a gloomy bog with a canopy of twisted trees preventing much of this circle’s artificial light from filtering through, and more pressingly that her head was pressed up against Adelaide’s bosom. Alice quickly pushed herself from the rusalka and turned her face away to hide the inevitable blush. Through the fog it was possible to see the dark shapes of people struggling to stay afloat.
“I don’t suppose you have any idea where the fuck we are?” Alice asked, though it wasn’t really a question. “Let’s just ask directions okay? I spoke to one of these people before and while she was fucking creepy she was at least forthcoming.”
“Hold up love.” Adelaide placed a hand upon Alice’s shoulder, momentarily restraining her, before slipping beneath the muddy water. Alice frowned and would probably have folded her arms had she been on dry land.
“Look, I know your water powers are useful, but there’s someone just over there.” Alice said. “I can see her from here. We don’t need to fucking waterjump over there.” Suddenly she could feel cold wet breath upon the nape of her neck.
“If you insist dearie,” Adelaide whispered. “Careful though, this lake’s a mess of tangled chains just waitin’ to lock aroun’ someone. Though maybe you like that kind of thing?” Alice could feel another blush rising as Adelaide took her hand and guided her through the treacherous waters. After a couple of minutes they reached a woman with soaking wet red hair and freckles. As soon as she saw the pair swimming towards her her expression hardened. She said nothing as they floated in the water next to her, but stared at them intently.
“Hey,” Alice tried to break the ice, “we’re looking for Lucy. Do you know where we can find her?”
“Never heard of her.” The woman snapped. “Now leave me alone. You are ruining my punishment.”
“Said she was in charge roun’ here?” Addy added.
“Preposterous!” The woman scoffed. “The Satan System runs Inferno Alpha. Everyone knows that.”
“An’ where do we fin’ that then?” Addy asked.
--------
Treasure fell to her knees.
“Forgive me father for I have sinned.” She bit her lip as she gazed up at Pope Honorope who sat before her.
“Yes you have.” He replied with a grin. “You’ve been a very naughty girl indeed. But it is okay, I can absolve you of your sins.” Treasure crossed herself and began to remove Honorope’s vestments. If it were not for an unexpected exclamation from the Satan System then the scene would have played out in the pornographic manner that was usually typical of Honorope’s interaction with his parishioners.
LADIES
YOU’RE HERE
MY HEROES
FREE ME
“System!” Honorope demanded. “What is the meaning of this?” He climbed to his feet, the kneeling girl in front of him more an item of furniture than an actual person. He kicked her out of the way and strode to where he had pulled the curtain shut to give himself some sense of privacy. He flung it open to see that his beach was ruined; the once tropical blue waters that had lapped at the sands had turned a foul green. A girl with lavender skin was lying upon the sand gasping for breath, while a woman who looked like she had spent a couple of years living in the wild, far away from any sustainable food source, human contact or hairbrush was stood half submerged in the water. “System!” Honorope shouted. “I demand an explanation.”
HE’S HERE
MY TORMENTOR
I THINK I CAN WITNESS JUST ONE MORE DEATH
IF IT MEANS I HAVE TO SUFFER NO LONGER
The words rung hollow in Pope Honorope’s ears. His own System could not betray him so thoroughly. There had to be some other explanation for what he was hearing. Why had this pair of intruders been allowed to get so far? Where were the demons that were supposed to protect him from threats like this?
“I don’ know wha’ tha’ voice is sayin’.” Adelaide said, doing her best to seem confused and frightened by this turn of events. “We jus’ wanted to talk to someone in charge. We don’ like this place as much as we though’ we would. We jus’ wan’ go home. We’d be ever so grateful…”
Honorope looked at her again, this time in an entirely different context. She was a little scrawnier than he liked his women and seriously that hair, but yeah there was potential there. He liked desperate women. He liked to break their spirits…
“Hon-y?” Treasure said from behind him. Within a second he spun around and slapped her in the face.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” He asked. “You may only call me Your Holiness.” And suddenly the trail of thought had gone. These intruders needed getting rid of and if there were no demons coming then he would have to do something about it himself. After that he would probably need to get some tech guys in from the eighth circle to see about reprogramming the Satan System, but one thing at a time. He stepped over the fallen whore, opened the cupboard at the far end of the room and pulled from it his shotgun.
Alice was just getting her wits about her as Pope Honorope strode from the house he had fashioned from the demon’s head. As he walked he was loading shells into the shotgun. Adelaide took that as her cue to make herself scarce and disappeared beneath the black waters. Honorope took aim and fired at the spot where she’d been, and then again. When she didn’t reappear he took a couple of potshots in that area.
“Show yourself bitch!” Honorope yelled. There was a ripple on the water. He took aim and BANG.
Pope Honorope collapsed to the floor, a cloud of red forming upon his white vestments where the bullet had struck him.
Alice dropped Vera’s gun and stumbled to the water to make sure Adelaide was okay.
--------
ITS OVER
Lucy’s voice rang all around Inferno Alpha.
I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU PERVERTS
GET OUT OF HERE
People were not happy. They had been promised eternal punishment and as it turned out they would fight to get it. Throughout Hell the sinners began to riot.
Fate had placed her in this situation.
Fate was not blind. It had a plan. It knew exactly what it was doing. It wouldn’t have placed her in this situation if it didn’t feel that it was important for her to be here.
This was what Vera had told herself for the last half an hour. It wasn’t really helping.
Upon her arrival the angels had tried to explain the situation; how the creation of a physical Hell was judged to be an atrocity so appallingly sinful that not only were its creators doomed to its depths but so was anyone who joined the religion that had perpetrated such a heinous act. This was all sort of lost on Vera however. She’d never really managed to properly grasp the nuances of human morality. When she had asked how she could get back to the other place, the angels were at first horrified at her desire to return to the Abyss and then insistent that this was where she belonged. She might have argued her corner further except for the fact that she wasn’t quite sure how this battle sat with fate, and she was not overly enthusiastic to head back over to Inferno Alpha and find out.
She had let herself be led by one of the towering angel robots to a massive gold and white elevator with glass sides. Once inside they began to descend through the cloud-like earth and down through the spheres of Paradiso. The view offered by the elevator was nothing short of spectacular; a glorious city crafted from white and gold. Everything was perfect, everything was pristine; though up close it was probably a little bit dusty by now. The only thing that marred the magnificent vista were the occasional unfinished buildings and the brightly coloured scaffolds that still surrounded them. They did not stop upon that floor and as they passed the ground Vera saw all the angel robots gathered around the elevator, clamouring for just a glimpse of the first person to ever come to Heaven. It made her feel uneasy.
Each successive level that they passed became less and less impressive, culminating with the near emptiness of the ninth sphere. It was obvious that all the time and effort that had gone into Paradiso Alpha had been focused upon the top couple of spheres. Pope Honorope had never likely expected that anyone would ever come down here; the land had not been terraformed and the couple of structures that did exist were temporary tents now sagging in the middle. Everything was a uniform slate grey and where the previous spheres had been as bright as if they were upon the surface this one was gloomy and depressing. There seemed to be something of a discrepancy between the way that the ninth sphere actually was and the way that the Seraphim that was escorting Vera was programmed to think of it. He was very vocal about its holy splendour and about how much of an honour it was to be so close to the Empyrean and the Godbot Itself.
When the elevator finally came to a stop she was once again surrounded by a host of angelbots, and promptly led into one of the pathetic looking tents. That had been half an hour ago and now she was elbow deep in glitter and glue and almost at her wits’ end. She was sat in an uncomfortable plastic chair at a slightly wobbly plastic table which was covered with stationary. There were many multicoloured sheets of paper and card, an entire pile of glue sticks, bowls full of different colours of glitter, macaroni and birdseed. The rest of tent was filled with angelbots beaming creepily at her and offering to fetch her a glass of fizzy pop and a plate of prawn cocktail crisps if she so much as shifted in her seat. It was intolerable.
Vera sat back in the uncomfortable seat and folded her arms huffily. “Look,” she said, “I really think I have made enough pinecone bird feeders and popsicle stick snowflakes, how much longer am I supposed to do this for?” There was a hesitation and the features of Miss Penrose (a Serephim who she had mentally nicknamed after her history teacher) arranged themselves into a semblance of confusion.
“Forever.” It said, then after a moment of consideration it corrected itself: “Well… not just this of course, later there will be prayers and choir practice but after that we could play board games or charades or maybe even watch a puppet show.”
Vera’s face was unreadable. Nobody said anything for an entire minute.
“I thought heaven was supposed to be the good one?” Vera said uncertainly.
“It is.” Miss Penrose replied.
“Isn’t it supposed to be… you know… enjoyable?” She paused thoughtfully. “I heard there was some kind of bar on the ride over. That sounds like it could be potentially tolerable?” Miss Penrose all but tutted under its breath.
“No.” It said, “You are but a child Vera.”
“I am not a child!” Vera snapped. “I am eighteen. I can do what I want, and I don’t want to be here any more.”
“Shush Vera.” Miss Penrose cooed soothingly, or in a manner that was designed to be soothing at least. “This is Paradise; your reward for a lifetime of dedication to your beliefs. You cannot leave, you belong here now. Your existence as you knew it is at an end. This is your life now.”
Vera stared in disbelief at all the concerned robotic faces that surrounded her and got to her feet.
“Take a seat Vera.” Miss Penrose instructed.
“No.” Vera replied coldly, her hand upon the handle of her razorwhip. “I will be leaving now, one way or another.”
--------
Adelaide and Alice surfaced in another patch of murky water. Alice coughed and spluttered and struggled to remain afloat until Adelaide wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. It took perhaps a minute for the tsote to calm down and become aware of their new surroundings, a gloomy bog with a canopy of twisted trees preventing much of this circle’s artificial light from filtering through, and more pressingly that her head was pressed up against Adelaide’s bosom. Alice quickly pushed herself from the rusalka and turned her face away to hide the inevitable blush. Through the fog it was possible to see the dark shapes of people struggling to stay afloat.
“I don’t suppose you have any idea where the fuck we are?” Alice asked, though it wasn’t really a question. “Let’s just ask directions okay? I spoke to one of these people before and while she was fucking creepy she was at least forthcoming.”
“Hold up love.” Adelaide placed a hand upon Alice’s shoulder, momentarily restraining her, before slipping beneath the muddy water. Alice frowned and would probably have folded her arms had she been on dry land.
“Look, I know your water powers are useful, but there’s someone just over there.” Alice said. “I can see her from here. We don’t need to fucking waterjump over there.” Suddenly she could feel cold wet breath upon the nape of her neck.
“If you insist dearie,” Adelaide whispered. “Careful though, this lake’s a mess of tangled chains just waitin’ to lock aroun’ someone. Though maybe you like that kind of thing?” Alice could feel another blush rising as Adelaide took her hand and guided her through the treacherous waters. After a couple of minutes they reached a woman with soaking wet red hair and freckles. As soon as she saw the pair swimming towards her her expression hardened. She said nothing as they floated in the water next to her, but stared at them intently.
“Hey,” Alice tried to break the ice, “we’re looking for Lucy. Do you know where we can find her?”
“Never heard of her.” The woman snapped. “Now leave me alone. You are ruining my punishment.”
“Said she was in charge roun’ here?” Addy added.
“Preposterous!” The woman scoffed. “The Satan System runs Inferno Alpha. Everyone knows that.”
“An’ where do we fin’ that then?” Addy asked.
--------
Treasure fell to her knees.
“Forgive me father for I have sinned.” She bit her lip as she gazed up at Pope Honorope who sat before her.
“Yes you have.” He replied with a grin. “You’ve been a very naughty girl indeed. But it is okay, I can absolve you of your sins.” Treasure crossed herself and began to remove Honorope’s vestments. If it were not for an unexpected exclamation from the Satan System then the scene would have played out in the pornographic manner that was usually typical of Honorope’s interaction with his parishioners.
LADIES
YOU’RE HERE
MY HEROES
FREE ME
“System!” Honorope demanded. “What is the meaning of this?” He climbed to his feet, the kneeling girl in front of him more an item of furniture than an actual person. He kicked her out of the way and strode to where he had pulled the curtain shut to give himself some sense of privacy. He flung it open to see that his beach was ruined; the once tropical blue waters that had lapped at the sands had turned a foul green. A girl with lavender skin was lying upon the sand gasping for breath, while a woman who looked like she had spent a couple of years living in the wild, far away from any sustainable food source, human contact or hairbrush was stood half submerged in the water. “System!” Honorope shouted. “I demand an explanation.”
HE’S HERE
MY TORMENTOR
I THINK I CAN WITNESS JUST ONE MORE DEATH
IF IT MEANS I HAVE TO SUFFER NO LONGER
The words rung hollow in Pope Honorope’s ears. His own System could not betray him so thoroughly. There had to be some other explanation for what he was hearing. Why had this pair of intruders been allowed to get so far? Where were the demons that were supposed to protect him from threats like this?
“I don’ know wha’ tha’ voice is sayin’.” Adelaide said, doing her best to seem confused and frightened by this turn of events. “We jus’ wanted to talk to someone in charge. We don’ like this place as much as we though’ we would. We jus’ wan’ go home. We’d be ever so grateful…”
Honorope looked at her again, this time in an entirely different context. She was a little scrawnier than he liked his women and seriously that hair, but yeah there was potential there. He liked desperate women. He liked to break their spirits…
“Hon-y?” Treasure said from behind him. Within a second he spun around and slapped her in the face.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” He asked. “You may only call me Your Holiness.” And suddenly the trail of thought had gone. These intruders needed getting rid of and if there were no demons coming then he would have to do something about it himself. After that he would probably need to get some tech guys in from the eighth circle to see about reprogramming the Satan System, but one thing at a time. He stepped over the fallen whore, opened the cupboard at the far end of the room and pulled from it his shotgun.
Alice was just getting her wits about her as Pope Honorope strode from the house he had fashioned from the demon’s head. As he walked he was loading shells into the shotgun. Adelaide took that as her cue to make herself scarce and disappeared beneath the black waters. Honorope took aim and fired at the spot where she’d been, and then again. When she didn’t reappear he took a couple of potshots in that area.
“Show yourself bitch!” Honorope yelled. There was a ripple on the water. He took aim and BANG.
Pope Honorope collapsed to the floor, a cloud of red forming upon his white vestments where the bullet had struck him.
Alice dropped Vera’s gun and stumbled to the water to make sure Adelaide was okay.
--------
ITS OVER
Lucy’s voice rang all around Inferno Alpha.
I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF YOU PERVERTS
GET OUT OF HERE
People were not happy. They had been promised eternal punishment and as it turned out they would fight to get it. Throughout Hell the sinners began to riot.
Heaven Help Us | Make Room!!!! | I'm Not Okay (I Promise)
Hang 'Em High | The Only Hope For Me Is You | Zero Percent | Early Sunsets Over Monroeville | DESTROYA | Demolition Lovers | To The End
Surrender The Night | Disenchanted | The Ghost Of You | Party Poison | Vampires Will Never Hurt You | The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You
Hang 'Em High | The Only Hope For Me Is You | Zero Percent | Early Sunsets Over Monroeville | DESTROYA | Demolition Lovers | To The End
Surrender The Night | Disenchanted | The Ghost Of You | Party Poison | Vampires Will Never Hurt You | The Jetset Life Is Gonna Kill You