Chapter 5 part 2


Rei inclined her head slightly to the left as she considered the man's words. She drew her soft lips into a straight line as she narrowed her concentration. Sigmus Practicar. The name sounded familiar. Suddenly, in a flash, she saw in her mind's eye the picture of a book she had seen on the holonosphere. The picture as she recalled it had featured scales tipping out of proportion. She concentrated a little harder and remembered some of the words. The Debt We Owe, she recalled. The rest was starting to come into focus. Redressing the Short-Comings of Our Reverence. Sigmus saw the flicker of recognition in her eyes.

"I see that you have heard of me. What do you think of my service then?"

"I think you wrote a book discussing an opinion I do not share," replied Rei.

"Do you mean to say you do think the level of reverence is as it should be? Your actions would certainly support that assumption," said Sigmus.

"I mean to say I do not think statues of imperfect people worthy of religious reverence."

Sigmus raised his eyebrows. His forehead crinkled below his receding grey hairline.

"So you are a blasphemer, then. There were many of you in the beginning, but I am surprised to see such an educated young lady as yourself hold that position."

"As I've said," replied Rei, "I have read the works of the shapers. These were man and women who struggled with complicated issues. They hoped to receive guidance from powers on high. They did not claim to be those powers themselves. People worship their visages because they are ignorant, and because they have been told to."

"That is an arrogant opinion, young lady."

"It is an informed one, Mr. Practicar. If you need no actual assistance, I have plenty of work I should be doing."

"Before you go, young lady, I have one question. How is it people ever come to worship anything as a God unless they are first told to?"

Rei shot Mr. Practicar a final sharp look. With his greying hair and rumpled suit, he did not quite strike the pose as someone respectable. Rather, he had the appearance of  someone who, the night before, had stayed up too late and remembered at the last second that he had a job interview that morning. It was a strange contrast against someone so adamant about the form reverence ought to assume. Since the holonosphere had come to be, most people did not worry so much about ironing their clothes because they could at least provide the appearance they had. For some reason Mr. Practicar did not feel the need to augment or change his appearance, but instead felt compelled to lecture people on piety. Rei turned on her hell and walked away swiftly and with purpose.

Still, something about the question Mr. Practicar had asked bugged her. The reason she identified as an atheist is because she did not worship the shapers. She was still surprised she had admitted to Mr. Practicar what her beliefs were. Such admissions could prove dangerous. She was vaguely aware of the history of other Gods and religions. Most of those books had been severely restricted in access. What she knew of those religions was that in each and every instance, someone had taken something or someone to be a God and had worshiped it. They all had been told to do something and had believed it. In that respect, the Shapers were no different. Rei inwardly huffed to herself. People must engage that sort of behavior because they are not willing to think. Just because someone tells you something it does not make it true. Of course, it does not make it false either. If the Shapers had been before her and declared themselves Gods, they could be telling the truth, or they could be lying. The truth was, Rei did respect the Shapers immensely, because they had been honest. Nowhere in any Shaper text had she read they considered themselves divine. Yet, it was widely believed they were nonetheless, and that wide belief was enough to make it so.