Simguru Pranav Antal created Paradise, and entrusted Enforcers to maintain its delicate balance. The most famous of these elite police units is Enforcer Zaan...
1
I attend a symposium on Bletani where an Administrator called Laesk is speaking. As I sit and watch his presentation, my Instructor passes across a datapad.
"Play the video. It is one of many."
I obey the instruction, and feel deep revulsion as I watch the footage.
While Laesk talks of purity and virtue, I watch footage of him parading slaves like meat before abusing them in a narcotic fuelled frenzy.
My instructor speaks again.
"The human spirt is weak, Novice. We are its shepherds, purifying those who lose their way. For you to ascend, you must offer Laesk final absolution."
As the seminar concludes, I travel to a reception where diplomats and officials informally discuss matters of state. Laesk is there, polluting gullible minds with lurid stories while consuming disgusting quantities of food and drink.
I introduce myself. Security detail.
He promptly ignores me, talking instead to a group of women while gesturing to an attendant for more wine. As the evening continues, I watch Laesk debase himself further as his malignant influence grows. Soon he makes excuses to leave, closely followed by a young woman dressed in a flowing gown.
Shadowing, I summon his personal transport to take the drunken pair back to his waiting ship.
After a short flight we approach the docking port where the Administrators Orca Progress is berthed. Soon we are in the depths of space, the Orcas immense viewports giving perfect views of the system as we depart.
2
A nearby red giant bathes me in crimson. It is time.
Laughter can be heard as I approach Laesks cabin, while outside two men stand guard. I tell them to leave unless they want to be judged, their arrogance melting into fear when they realise my true identity.
Behind the door I am greeted with a luxurious cabin full of sweeping curves and opulent décor. Laesk himself is at the far end, cavorting with the woman in a huge low-g bath while thin wisps of steam curl into the air. As I approach she begins to scream, Laesk demanding a reason for the intrusion.
I slowly pace around the pools edge pushing bottles of wine into the swirling bath. Soon grotesque patterns fill the water as it deepens to a cherry red.
He shouts for the guards, but I slowly shake my head.
In hushed tones I begin to speak.
I am your conscience made flesh, heathen.
I throw my datapad to him, and as it floats on the tinted water it plays the surveillance footage. While the screams of Laesks victims fill the cabin, I circle the pool reciting my sacred tenets as his eyes widen with fear.
I know you.
You are transparent to me, your motives, your life.
I know your future, for I shape your present.
He threatens my family with death, but intimidation is futile. I have no family to murder, no worldly ties to corrupt. In becoming what I am I sacrifice everything so that my kind can judge without restraint.
I continue, driving my words into Laesk like rivets into metal.
I will find your weaknesses and purge them.
Without weakness you shall find Paradise.
Without weakness you shall be free.
Laesk audibly whimpers. He tries to pull himself out from the pool, but I push him back with the heel of my boot. Trembling, the desperate statesman starts offering me money, drugs, anything to let him escape. His useless bribes sicken me, magnifying my rage.
Many find the Path.
Others must be shown it.
Some must be taught it.
I look to the woman now cowering in the corner, and gesture to the door.
Go. This is not for you. Do better with your life.
Snatching a towel she flees, sobbing.
Laesk then grabs my leg, pleading for forgiveness. In response I push his face close to the floating screen, so this filth cannot look away from his crimes. As he contemplates his fate, I order the pilot to change course.
Soon the glow of hyperspace fades, and Polevnics stars fill the cabin with a supernatural light. I bend forward, my voice full of contempt as I pass judgement.
You are weak Laesk, your hypocrisy a poison. I will cure you, and cleanse you of this infection.
As the ship approaches the gaping maw of Tanner Settlement, I speak my final words to this vermin.
If you survive purification, Utopia shall forgive your sins.
3
I gaze into the simulation chamber as Laesks mind slowly drowns in a sensory hell. He claws at the window, reliving his victims terror in a ceaseless, inescapable loop. Only now does he understand the suffering he has caused, and the price he must pay to return to Paradise.
Behind me, my Instructor enters the control room. He glances at the dissident wracked in torment, and then back to me.
"Your training is at an end, Novice. In the beginning you renounced your previous life, your name, all privilege; you are now purified, reborn as an Enforcer. As your status demands, you must now choose a new name as your old life ends, and another begins."
I focus on my pale reflection as Laesk falls to his knees.
I respond without hesitation.
I am without weakness.
Without weakness I am free.
I have chosen my name, Instructor.
I shall be called Zaan.
1
I attend a symposium on Bletani where an Administrator called Laesk is speaking. As I sit and watch his presentation, my Instructor passes across a datapad.
"Play the video. It is one of many."
I obey the instruction, and feel deep revulsion as I watch the footage.
While Laesk talks of purity and virtue, I watch footage of him parading slaves like meat before abusing them in a narcotic fuelled frenzy.
My instructor speaks again.
"The human spirt is weak, Novice. We are its shepherds, purifying those who lose their way. For you to ascend, you must offer Laesk final absolution."
As the seminar concludes, I travel to a reception where diplomats and officials informally discuss matters of state. Laesk is there, polluting gullible minds with lurid stories while consuming disgusting quantities of food and drink.
I introduce myself. Security detail.
He promptly ignores me, talking instead to a group of women while gesturing to an attendant for more wine. As the evening continues, I watch Laesk debase himself further as his malignant influence grows. Soon he makes excuses to leave, closely followed by a young woman dressed in a flowing gown.
Shadowing, I summon his personal transport to take the drunken pair back to his waiting ship.
After a short flight we approach the docking port where the Administrators Orca Progress is berthed. Soon we are in the depths of space, the Orcas immense viewports giving perfect views of the system as we depart.
2
A nearby red giant bathes me in crimson. It is time.
Laughter can be heard as I approach Laesks cabin, while outside two men stand guard. I tell them to leave unless they want to be judged, their arrogance melting into fear when they realise my true identity.
Behind the door I am greeted with a luxurious cabin full of sweeping curves and opulent décor. Laesk himself is at the far end, cavorting with the woman in a huge low-g bath while thin wisps of steam curl into the air. As I approach she begins to scream, Laesk demanding a reason for the intrusion.
I slowly pace around the pools edge pushing bottles of wine into the swirling bath. Soon grotesque patterns fill the water as it deepens to a cherry red.
He shouts for the guards, but I slowly shake my head.
In hushed tones I begin to speak.
I am your conscience made flesh, heathen.
I throw my datapad to him, and as it floats on the tinted water it plays the surveillance footage. While the screams of Laesks victims fill the cabin, I circle the pool reciting my sacred tenets as his eyes widen with fear.
I know you.
You are transparent to me, your motives, your life.
I know your future, for I shape your present.
He threatens my family with death, but intimidation is futile. I have no family to murder, no worldly ties to corrupt. In becoming what I am I sacrifice everything so that my kind can judge without restraint.
I continue, driving my words into Laesk like rivets into metal.
I will find your weaknesses and purge them.
Without weakness you shall find Paradise.
Without weakness you shall be free.
Laesk audibly whimpers. He tries to pull himself out from the pool, but I push him back with the heel of my boot. Trembling, the desperate statesman starts offering me money, drugs, anything to let him escape. His useless bribes sicken me, magnifying my rage.
Many find the Path.
Others must be shown it.
Some must be taught it.
I look to the woman now cowering in the corner, and gesture to the door.
Go. This is not for you. Do better with your life.
Snatching a towel she flees, sobbing.
Laesk then grabs my leg, pleading for forgiveness. In response I push his face close to the floating screen, so this filth cannot look away from his crimes. As he contemplates his fate, I order the pilot to change course.
Soon the glow of hyperspace fades, and Polevnics stars fill the cabin with a supernatural light. I bend forward, my voice full of contempt as I pass judgement.
You are weak Laesk, your hypocrisy a poison. I will cure you, and cleanse you of this infection.
As the ship approaches the gaping maw of Tanner Settlement, I speak my final words to this vermin.
If you survive purification, Utopia shall forgive your sins.
3
I gaze into the simulation chamber as Laesks mind slowly drowns in a sensory hell. He claws at the window, reliving his victims terror in a ceaseless, inescapable loop. Only now does he understand the suffering he has caused, and the price he must pay to return to Paradise.
Behind me, my Instructor enters the control room. He glances at the dissident wracked in torment, and then back to me.
"Your training is at an end, Novice. In the beginning you renounced your previous life, your name, all privilege; you are now purified, reborn as an Enforcer. As your status demands, you must now choose a new name as your old life ends, and another begins."
I focus on my pale reflection as Laesk falls to his knees.
I respond without hesitation.
I am without weakness.
Without weakness I am free.
I have chosen my name, Instructor.
I shall be called Zaan.