Electric Chapel

(Game date: 4/22/2021)

 It wasn't a residence.

Oh, it was in a residential neighborhood, all right.  But the geolocation that I traced the call back to led me to a fragging church.  A spired, stained-glass, holy-rolling church.

It was surreal.  People in their bougie homes, without a care in the world, completely unaware that this clean, upright house of worship in their midst was a sanctuary for the worst kind of scum.  

Vamir put his invisibility spell on the spy-eye, and we set up a stake-out.  As soon as the doors opened, which happened at the pre-programmed crack of dawn, I zipped it inside.  

The interior presented every bit the cathedral as the exterior.  High, ribbed vaults overhead led up to pointed arches in the ceiling. Holographic lights projected images onto walls and even into open air behind the altar. Other, closed, doorways hinted at different areas of the building.  A man stood at the altar, behind and above which holographic motif depicted a skull-like design, very similar to that worn over the faces of some of the "congregation."

I tried to get scans of the the people in the room, but between the aforementioned masks, hoods, goggles, and my unfamiliarity with the drone, I wasn't very successful -- even after the "priest" called for their attention and they stopped milling about.  

The sermon didn't seem to be of religion and spirituality so much as it was a rallying cry.  He talked about the evil forces of the city, most of which he claimed were specifically arrayed against the good people gathered here.  He directly referenced explosions (never mind that his own people who set quite a few of them off), and bemoaned the "innocent, hard-working lives lost in a senseless attack" (I heard retching sounds behind me at this point).

All in all, I didn't think he sounded particularly inspiring nor charismatic, although he certainly held his congregation's attention.  Even though I avoid religious services as a rule, I have heard better.  Only two things caught my ear:

1. The priest spoke with the same voice that told Lohrig, "You messed up, kid."
2. "After today's sermon, I will be asking those who are ready to further their embrace within the fold to speak with me."

As he continued his sermon-cum-manifesto, I checked the building for anything hackable -- and came up remarkably empty.  All Matix connections came from the BANlinks carried by the gang members.  There was undeniably Tek in this place; all of the holograms attested to that, but it must be hardwired.  This pointed to an extreme level of paranoia, and I can't say that it was not justified, considering how easily this gang made enemies.

Only one person seemed interested in "furthering her embrace within the fold."  She approached the pulpit, and the leader led her to small door just off the nave.  The spy-eye followed her into a small room, dimly lit with a directed ray of light striking down near the center.  She stopped near the center, and a disembodied female voice said, "Blessed are those who seek to deepen their embrace within the fold. Are you ready?" 

She nodded, then reached out, as if she were hugging someone.  Then she seemed to fall into some sort of blissful state, either a spiritual or a drug-enduced rapture.  She swayed slightly, but stayed upright.  After a minute or so, she blinks her eyes, her trance broken. The disembodied voice spoke again, "You are honored by your service. Go, but speak nothing of what you have experienced in this room. All who would enter here must do so in trust." 

The woman nodded without speaking, genuflected, then left via the same door.  I took the drone out of the room, and the building.

I had the beginnings of a plan:  Hijack a few anthrodrones, buy a few cheaper ones if I don't get enough, and load them all with high-grade explosives.  Infiltrate the next service, and destroy the flock, shepherd, pen, and all.

It's a good thing we didn't act on that.

..::Kai::..