The Iniquity of the Federation (Part 3)

The Year was 4500 of the Common Era and the Federation reigned supreme...

Author’s Note: Welcome back to The Iniquity of the Federation! This is the final installment. If you’re new to the series, click below:

For the previous installment, click below:

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Photo by K. Mitch Hodge on Unsplash

“Do you reject Satan?”

“I do.”

“And all his works?”

“I do.”

“And all his empty promises?”

“I do.”

***

In the numbers-ridden Central Command of the Great Domain, Big Brother smiled as he looked at the map of the Earth. It had been a few months since the outbreak of The Suff. After almost a trillion deaths, the suff attacks had subsided. In fact, yesterday was the first time in years that not a single suff-related incident had been recorded.

The Federation was eager to declare victory. After all, they had waged a war against The Suff. The most talented hackers and Domain trackers were recruited to take out this dark menace. Then, the Federation imposed great restrictions on the Domain and society as a whole. Originally, it was meant to last a week, then two weeks, then a month, and it went on. Big Brother could remember the protests he received from his advisors like it was made yesterday. The leader of the Federation remembered one particular criticism of his action:

“By imposing these severe restrictions on the Domain, you are destroying the Federation’s control over the people!”

It was a reasonable point, so reasonable that Big Brother refrained from electrocuting the man who dared defy him. However, The Suff made people afraid to make use of the bunny units. It was an existential threat to the Federation.

Big Brother had no intention of letting his ‘War on the Suff’ to go on indefinitely. In fact, he wanted for the whole thing to end in a week. But the situation only got worse and worse. There was no way people would believe a declaration of victory, not even with the Federation’s propaganda organ.

But now, the worst of The Suff had passed. Big Brother was certain that the Federation’s actions had nothing to do with it. But the general populace was always utterly ignorant. It would be child’s play for the Federation to pass off the disappearance of the Suff to be the result of their actions.

With the seeming disappearance of The Suff, Big Brother could now focus on an issue he had put off for so long: Unit 49,316. That bunny had been one of his favorites, always living up to the standards that he and the Federation had set. The fact that she had escaped was… disappointing, but Big Brother was not the type to lose himself to emotions.

Sixteen, as Big Brother had once called her, had to be retrieved. Not because that literal bitch had spurned him, but because a turncoat bunny was a threat to the continual functioning of the Federation. Big Brother had overlooked her transgression for so long because of The Suff. But now, that computer virus had disappeared.

The Suff could no longer protect you now, Sixteen.

But Big Brother’s thoughts were interrupted by the approach of an underling. He slowly approached him, fear evident in his eyes. “B-big brother.”

Thankfully for the hapless machine spirit, the leader of the Federation was in good spirits. “What is it?”

“The man you requested had arrived.”

“Bring him in.”

The underling then waved his hand.  That was a cue, leading to the appearance of a third man. He was an imposing man, even taller than Big Brother. Wearing no shirt, his bulging muscles were clear to see.

“Looks impressive,” Big Brother said. “I hope that’s not just your Domain form.”

The bulky man grinned. “Nah, it’s even more impressive IRL. Trust me, I work out.”

“Though I can easily verify for myself, I’ll take your word for it,” responded Big Brother. “Honestly, I’d rather just send a battalion of robots to destroy the place I’m sending you to. But this… Benedict is located within the mushrooms of the Congo. The Federation thought it would be a waste to burn a whole swath of the jungles just to take out one runaway bunny.”

The man shrugged. “Works for me, I have a score to settle with that bitch anyways.”

“I am well aware. In any case, I have a squad of robots to help you out. Don’t let me down, Rhik.”

***

Image generated with Midjourney

Located within the towering white mushrooms of the Congo Jungles was the Benedict Community, where hundreds of believers, branded by the world as Cross Cultists, were taking refuge from the Federation. In Benedict, wooden houses were etched into the main body of the mushroom, creating an organic house that existed in harmony with nature – Federation-made nature, but nature, nonetheless.

At the very middle of Benedict was the church building, appropriately named St. Benedict’s. It was the largest building in Benedict, and the center of the community. It was here that the woman formerly known as Sixteen had spent much of her time after being rescued from Meridian. At the moment, she had just been baptized. She smiled as she saw the water pouring down from her forehead. In front of her was the man who had baptized her, Fr. Joseph Colacho.

From this point on, Unit 49,316 had died. In this place, rose Sr. Mary Colacho. Not a sister just yet, but that was something she aspired to be.

After the baptism, Mary and Joseph proceeded to make their way out of St. Benedict’s. But they had just taken two steps from the altar when they were approached by an elderly woman.

“Congratulations, Mary!” she said. “The angels are surely celebrating up above.”

Mary smiled. “Thank you, Dolores.”

But before Mary and Joseph could even made another step, another person approached them. This time, it was a younger man.

“Mary. Congratulations.”

Again, Mary smiled. Though this time, she couldn’t help but feel sorry for the man, Peter. He had been very friendly to her ever since she moved in and it quickly became apparent that he held feelings for her. Joseph had vouched for Peter’s character to Mary and was more than happy to unite the two in holy matrimony. But Mary aspired for something much higher. Nevertheless, the girl politely thanked the man.

As it turned out, it took the two almost a quarter of an hour just to finally reach the humble steps of St. Benedict’s. Both Mary and Joseph had lost count on how many people had congratulated her. It might have been the entire community for all they knew.

“Phew,” Mary said, her brows sweating. “We’re finally out of there.”

“What are you going to do now?” Joseph asked.

“We’re going to celebrate, of course,” Mary said. “Sir Joachim should be home by now. I’m sure Lady Anna will cook us something really good.”

“Yes, of course. Mother and father. Of course, they’re your parents too, Mary.” Joseph’s expression was one of chastisement.

“I know,” Mary said in sadness. “I just can’t get used to it.”

Joseph nodded, not knowing what to say. He knew that as a former bunny unit, Mary did not grow up with a family. The closest thing she had to a father was Big Brother. The priest had little knowledge of the Federation’s leader, having received some tidbits of him from either Mary or pr0ph3t. But he could surmise that it was not a particularly warm childhood – that last word being used rather loosely.

“However,” Mary continued on, “that was all in the past. It’s all still strange to me. But everyone here in Benedict had shown me what it means to be a community. Your parents had shown me love. And you, Joseph, I am proud to have you as my brother.”

“Mary,” Joseph said, his cheeks red. “You really know how to sweet talk people. Maybe that’s why everyone here loves you.”

“I don’t know about that,” Mary responded. “I just know that in Benedict, there is warmth. The Federation has only cold streets. I wish things can be like this forever.”

***

Lunch had been delicious, as usual. Joachim and Anna had cooked up a delicious meal: mushroom stew mixed in with mushroom casserole. It was a vegetarian meal, though not intentionally. Might as well make the most of the surroundings.

Mary, despite her short stature, was a big eater. She gobbled up the food in front of her, to the amusement of her family.

“Slow down there,” Joachim said. He was a man with receding white hair and beard; his wrinkles, much more than his hair, showed his age.

“Yes,” Anna chastised. She was an old woman with hair white as her husband’s. “That’s one of your bad habits. No husband wants a sloppy wife.”

“But An- mother,” Mary protested. “You know my intentions.”

Anna smiled. “Of course, my dear. I’d say that’s even more important. Can you imagine a bride of Christ being as sloppy as you are? That would be criminal!”

Joseph chuckled. “I’m sure Mary is learning.”

And the conversation continued on to topics of lesser importance. It did not take long before the food was finished. As always, Anna made sure to thanked God for the food that had been given to the family. Afterwards, she began to clean up the kitchen. Meanwhile, Joachim took his rest on the family couch and promptly fell asleep.

Given the situation, Mary took his opportunity to have a heart-to-heart with Joseph. No- it had nothing to do with the feelings she had once nursed for the priest. That was an episode that she would like to forget. But though she had walked away from her old life, she knew Big Brother. She knew that the man who had been a constant presence in her life for so long would not simply overlook her escape.

Joseph had just finished cleaning up the dishes. And he was more than happy to humor Mary’s request.

The Colacho residence was located at the edge of the giant mushroom where the Benedict Community was hidden in. Because of that, it had a window which gave the two a look of the outside world.

The widow was huge. The Colachos would have made a veranda for the view, but that would risk exposing Benedict to the Federation. Instead, Joachim constructed a viewing room decades ago in order to gaze at the vista.

Below the mushroom where the Benedict Community lied was a lush tropical rainforest. Mary could see seas of green down below. On the higher levels were other white mushrooms. It was a complete contrast to the Meridian Monolith. But looks could be deceiving – the Federation was the ruler of the world and had been for centuries. That was why she wanted to know straight from Joseph, how bad things really were.

“Level me with me,” Mary said to Joseph. “What’s the Federation doing right now?”

Joseph grimaced; he did not want to say it. But he knew he could not hide the truth from his sister. “I got word from pr0ph3t last week. The Federation’s war on The Suff was successful. It’s gone now.”

“Which means,” Mary followed up, frowning. “Now Big Brother can focus his attention on me. We’re all going to die, it’s just a matter of time.”

“It’s not your fault,” Joseph said.

“That’s a lie and you know it!” cried Mary. “If I hadn’t come here, then…”

“You would have continued on living a life as a bunny unit,” Joseph shot back. “Is that what you want? Do you think that’s God’s plan for you?”

“No! I…”

“Each and every one of us here are ready to die, or at least we should be. You know of our Faith’s history with martyrdom.”

Mary frowned. “Obviously! I’ve learned that from my catechism class. I just wonder if it’s our fate to be on the losing end of things.”

“It might be, at least on this world,” said Joseph. “But we know we have the hereafter to look forward.”

“And the future?”

“What the future may bring, I do not know. But I do know that there is an ebb and flow to history. In some eras the Church reigned supreme over the social order, in others she was persecuted. Our era is very much the latter, but perhaps we may see the former in the future.”

“Forgive me to say,” Mary began, “but I doubt this. The Federation have existed for centuries, and I don’t see them going away any time soon.”

“Perhaps not,” responded Joseph. “I will admit that some of us are discouraged by how long the Federation has lasted. Or to be more specific, how Our Lord had yet to return even after all this time, despite the iniquity of the Federation. The iniquity of man. As for me, I accept the lot given to me – to us. The state of the world… it is all in the hands of Providence.”

Mary said nothing in return, though she smiled. She accepted Joseph’s answer and was satisfied.

With the sun shining over them, neither Mary nor Joseph cared for their own lives. They were ready to die. This was a good thing, for the Benedict Community would no longer be around by sunset.

***

The destruction of the Benedict community happened quickly and suddenly, like a thief in the night. Joachim Colacho was the first to be martyred, though he himself did not know it was coming until he had lost his life. The old man was still asleep, deep into the evening, when a missile was launched into the mushroom of the Benedict Community, it landed straight into his bedroom, and he was killed in the ensuing explosion.

The Colacho residence became the entry point into Benedict for the Federation’s kill squad.

Upon hearing this explosion, Anna ran straight into the source of the explosion. Such was the concern she had for her husband. She quickly realized that her husband was dead. She soon joined him when a bullet flew in and pierced her head. Anna Colacho died instantly.

While all this was happening, Mary and Joseph was at St. Benedict’s, praying together at the pews. But it was clear to Mary that something was bothering Joseph. Throughout their prayers, the priest had been saying the wrong words. Eventually, the frustration bubbled over that Joseph stopped his prayers.

“What’s wrong?” Mary asked.

Joseph grimaced. “I’m sorry, I’m distracted right now.”

“It’s not like you to get so worked up like this.”

“True,” Joseph said sheepishly. “Honestly, it has something to do with pr0ph3t. He hadn’t been giving me any updates in the last few hours. He usually said something to me every five minutes, even if it’s just to let me know that he’s still around.”

“Could that be a glitch in the Domain?”

“I sure hope so, but pr0ph3t is usually very upfront with these things.”

Mary was about to say something in return, but a large explosion shook the entire place. The sound itself was unmistakable. It was clear that something terrible was happening.

Joseph frowned. He turned to his sister. “Mary, go hide. I’ll go take a look.”

“But they’ll kill you!”

“Indeed. But you, they might not. That’s why you must hide.”

Mary wanted to argue but she held her tongue. Her life as Unit 49,316… she did not want to return to that. She would rather die.

And so, she stayed in St. Benedict’s while Joseph went forth. What the priest saw at the steps of the church building horrified him. Fires were everywhere, the wooden buildings of Benedict was burning down. If the fires stayed this way, the mushroom itself would very well fall down.

Meanwhile, metallic humanoids swarmed around the place; those were the Federation’s battle robots. Some were holding men and women who were struggling against their metallic captors. Joseph recognized the captives, they were his friends in the Benedict Community.

There was one person that Joseph did not recognize, a muscular man with a large rifle strapped on his back. It was not very often that the Federation employed flesh-and-blood humans to do their dirty work for them. Joseph was not privy to that fact, but he would have guessed that given how he had stuck out like a sore thumb.

“Sixteen!” the man shouted. “Where is Unit 49,316?”

“What is it to you?” said an old woman being held by a Federation robot. She was Dolores.

Joseph was expecting the worst. He knew how combative Dolores could get at times. But this was not the best time to be confrontational. The muscular man took out the rifle that was on his back, about to shoot the old woman dead. But Joseph was able to intervene on time.

“Please,” Joseph interjected. “Tell us who you are and why you’re here.”

“Hmph.” The man shrugged. “The name’s Rhik. And I have a score to settle with Federation Unit 49,316. And don’t bother lying, we know you harbor that runaway bunny.”

But before Joseph could respond, Dolores spoke: “We’re not giving her up. If you think we’ll just…”

A loud noise of gunfire rang. Blood poured out of Dolores’ head.

“No!” cried Joseph. With anger, he faced Rhik. “She’s just an old woman. Why did you do that?”

“She, like the rest of you cultists, are in violation of the Federation’s laws by holding on to your outdated beliefs,” Rhik responded. He then grinned. “More importantly, she was pissing me off!”

Joseph said nothing as he seethed. But he knew there was nothing he could do nor say in response.

Rhik pointed his rifle at another person being held by a Federation robot, Peter. “Now then,” the muscular man said, “Give up Unit 49,316. And while you’re at it, renounce your cult. Then we’ll let this pitiful village be. You cultists should know, the Federation is more than willing to spare those who do so.”

For Joseph, the world slowed down. The priest feared that his flock would apostatize to save themselves. It would not be the first time such a thing had happened. But his fears were unfounded, every single one of them kept their mouths shut.

Rhik growled, then fired his rifle at Peter, killing the man instantly. “That’s two, will anyone fess up?” he said, pointing his rifle at a small boy, he could not be older than six or seven.

Again, everyone said nothing.

Rhik was ready to shoot before a feminine voice rang out:

“Stop!”

“Mary!” cried Joseph. “No!”

“Stop it, Rhik!” she said. “I will go with you, just please spare them.”

Rhik gave out a sinister grin. He threw his rifle to the ground. “Sure, why not?”

“Truly?” Mary responded.

“My mission is to get you, Sixteen. Dead or alive,” Rhik said. “What’s a few cultists gonna fucking do?”

“No, Mary!” Joseph said. “You know what’s going to happen to you, right?”

Mary nodded. “Of course. But I can’t stand to see everyone in Benedict dying on my account.”

Joseph shook his head. “Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”

“I know my Bible, Joseph,” said Mary. She took his hands on hers. “Thank you for all you’ve done for me.”

And with that, Mary headed over to Rhik.

Joseph looked on in horror as she saw his sister about to throw her soul away out of a misguided attempt to save him and the Benedict Community. Please God, no! he thought. The priest knew full well that Mary was on her way to return to her old life as a bunny unit. Lord God in Heaven, please! Don’t let her slip away. If there is a way to save her, show me!

And the priest caught sight of Rhik’s rifle on the ground, very close to him. It was a big weapon, but he knew he was strong enough to make use of it.

Without hesitation, Joseph jumped to the ground. He picked up Rhik’s giant rifle. Then, he pulled the trigger and held on to it. The whole round was fired off in Rhik’s direction. It was a snapshot, but Joseph took care to avoid hitting Mary.

Rhik was armed with an energy shield. and it had absorbed most of the hits. But one was able to pierce through and hit Rhik’s muscular shoulder.

“Son of a…”

It was a Federation robot who responded as it fired at Joseph. The bullet pierced through the priest’s chest.

Mary looked on helplessly as the whole scene was unfolding. As Joseph was shot down, she wasted no time. She left Rhik behind and rushed off to her brother’s side. Blood was all over him.

“Joseph!” she cried, tears falling from her eyes. “Why did you do that?”

“Because I love you, Mary.”

And the priest breathed his last.

Mary’s tears intensified as she was processing what had just transpired. As she was crying, she put her head on Joseph’s bloodied chest.

Rhik was not in the mood for sentimentalism. “Sad,” he said sarcastically. “But we have to go.”

Mary shook her head. “I was a fool. Joseph had sacrificed his life to save my soul. No, I will not go.”

Rhik, still holding on to his bloodied shoulder growled in frustration. “You will die!”

“It was never my own life that concerns me,” Mary said.

Rhik screamed, he was ready to attack Mary. But he soon fell on his knees in pain, that wound was worse than he had first thought. But he was far from helpless, he looked at the woman in hatred. The woman who had spurned him not once but twice.

Rhik turned to a Federation robot next to him. All along, he had intended to command his robots to kill everyone in Benedict and torch the village to the ground once he got Sixteen in tow. But now he would have to kill the runaway bunny along with rest. Frustrating, to say the least.

“Kill them all.”

As Mary saw the robots about to fire at her, she made the sign of the cross. Silently, she was praying. Her prayers were left unfinished as her body was shredded by bullets from top to bottom.

***

To say that Rhik was despondent would have been a severe understatement. He did not expect to be wounded on what should have been an easy mission. But more angering was how Sixteen once again rejected him. Big Brother, being the aloof machine spirit that he was, simply told him to find some other bunny unit.

Rhik found this upsetting, but he knew that he had to move on. And he did. Speaking of, he had an upcoming appointment with a bunny unit. At the moment, he was getting ready. He loved how he didn’t have to worry about lingering injuries in the Domain. Though his real body was still nursing a wound, in the Domain he was as good as new.

But just as he was about to leave his ‘Domain Home’, he found himself unable to move. And what he heard next chilled him to the bone:

“The suff…”

“No,” Rhik said in horror. “You’re supposed to be dead. Fucking dead! The Federation said so!”

The figure was dark, only its silhouette could be made out. But there was no mistaking it. It began to open its arms, ready to embrace its next victim.

“The suff…”

***

In the Great Domain, pr0ph3t resisted the urge to scream in anguish. He was finally able to break out of the firewall that Big Brother had put around him, only to discover that he was too late. The Benedict Community had been destroyed. But the machine spirit put his trust in Providence. The Faithful at large still remained - underground and scattered all around the Earth.

For the iniquity of the Federation was not yet full. There would come a day when the Federation would answer for its sins. But that day was not today.

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The End.

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