God from the cage. A short story set in the world of my work-in-progress novella.
2025-05-03
“Good morning forty-eight-fifteen. Are you ready to be good today?” I ask.
“Good? Good!? Why would I be good when I am above you petty little insects and your pretentious morality? It is only a matter of time before you become part of my horde, and your kind kneel before me. I am THE god of hegemony! I have no room within the fibre of my being for arbitrary concepts like goodness. All that I am, was or even could be has been subsumed by my divinity. The very concept of hegemony has hegemony over my soul. You are an arrogant little human if you believe you can project such human concepts onto a god.” 4815 answers, displaying a failure to understand the position he is in.
“Torch him.” I command my research assistant.
“Sir, are you sure that’s wise?” The boy asks hesitantly.
“I said torch him. He won’t get to keep his pets unless he behaves.”
He is young. He will yet learn that neither gods nor archetypes can be treated as humans.
A cacophony of screams pours through the intercom. A thousand voices, none of them human.
“Sir may I mute the intercom?” The boy asks, seeming perturbed by the eldritch choir.
“If you wish” I oblige.
“Good morning 4815.”
“Morning doctor.”
I examine the monitor to see the familiar humanoid figure surrounded by an undulating crimson liquid that almost reaches the subject’s knees. The uninitiated might consider the sight of a man standing in a chamber filled with blood to be horrific. Their horror would be too mild of a response. Knowing the reality of what is stored in this cage would drive lesser men mad.
“How civil. I’m proud of you 4815.”
I could see the subject grit his teeth in response and glare at one of the cameras within the chamber.
“What are you thinking of right now 4815?”
“Your death, doctor.”
“Oh, please elaborate. How are you planning to kill me?”
“Do you take me for a fool, doctor?” He says using words dripping with venom.
“You are trying to goad me into revealing my fantasies so you can justify incinerating me and my horde again. I will not fall into your trap ‘doctor’” The subject emphasizes the word doctor. Using the tone of the word he tries to turn it into a verbal dagger with which to attack my ego and my pride.
“No, 4815. I can incinerate you and your little pets at any time I want and for any reason I want, or even for no reason at all.” I decree.
I continue: “Not that it would make much of a difference. You don’t feel pain, do you?”
From the monitor I could see the subject smirk at my inquiry.
“You do not know do you? The god of the god is not omnipotent? How amusing. Yet you have all the arrogance of an omnipotent god.”
I could not help but chuckle. Even though the words were laced with spite, the term god of a god seems fitting, albeit incorrect.
“I hope you see that I am a generous god, as you are not swimming in a sea of flame.” I respond.
“Oh, I thank thee, my deity most supreme!”
“Now, let’s cut the bullshit and answer the question. Do you feel pain 4815?”
“Very well, I suppose a being as pious as I must oblige the creature most supreme who is above me! I do feel pain, as any Ephorosi would. Perhaps I feel it differently than you humans, but I feel it nonetheless. Every wound I incur wounds my mind and soul all the same, telling my consciousness of the damage before I see it with my eyes.”
“I see. Yet we have seen you walk through flames and bullets. Are you resistant to pain then?”
“I think I feel everything the same way as others of my race do. However, I can ignore the sensation. Push it aside when needed. My mind is single tracked, and when my holy calling pushes me forward it pushes aside even feelings of pain”
“So, you feel pain but can focus your mind on a task so extremely that you can ignore even tremendous amounts of pain?”
“You have said the same thing, only more foolishly”
“Intriguing, thank you.”
His explanation seemed plausible, but had to be verified before I could add it to his file.
I activated the incinerators.
Subject: 4815
Alias: Verbecke; Aspect of Hegemony; Supreme Primarch of Falacer
Acquired: Captured on ████████. During the battle of Vesta Prime, the interstellar warship Hegemony was incapacitated by the Sol allied forces. With only maneuvering thrusters and no defensive capabilities the ship was boarded by 6 squadrons of marines and 4 incinerator squadrons. After fighting their way to the helm, Subject 4815 was subdued with sustained fire from 8 incinerator weapons. This allowed the subject to be placed into a temporary superheated container for transport facility Lucina-6 for long term containment.
Description: Subject 4815 is a Ephomorosi male of 60–80 years of age. Prior to the Sol-Ephomoros war he was the leader of a separatist faction on Falacer (Ephomoros e). According to intelligence gained from the Falacer government, the subject became an abstract on ████ ███████. The event had a single eyewitness who was later interviewed extensively. See [Appendix D] for transcripts of the interviews. The acquisition of an abstract greatly increased the military capability of the subject and led to the Falacer civil war. The subject was eventually victorious and established himself as a military dictator with absolute power. It is unknown when the subject attained godhood, but it is certain that it was attained by the time he became the Supreme Primarch of Falacer.
Anomalous attributes: The subject is capable of expelling a living amorphous liquid from his veins. The amorphous liquid entities are collectively referred to as 4815-A and are colloquially known as “Witchblood”. So far it had not been determined if 4815-A has completely replaced blood withing the body of the subject or if the subject is capable of transmuting his blood into 4815-A. 4815-A possess rudimentary intelligence and are capable of near instantaneously consuming any biological matter by touching it. The consumption of matter this way will lead to the growth of the mass of the 4815-A instance in proportion to the matter consumed. Numerous field reports indicate the 4815-A instances exhibiting behavior indicating a hive-mind between them, but this has not been definitively confirmed.
The subject seems extremely resistant to physical harm. Subject has survived prolonged exposure to temperatures above 3000 degrees Celsius and below -200 degrees Celsius, continuous fire from several high-caliber firearms, exposure to vacuum and exposure to several airborne neurotoxins.
The subject seems to respond to pain, although seems extremely resistant to it. Further testing is required.
These anomalous attributes seem to be connected with the number of sapient individuals who are subservient and loyal to the subject. Research is ongoing to determine the exact nature of this relationship.
Containment: The subject is to be contained within a secure humanoid containment unit fitted with one primary incinerator capable of heating the entire room to at least 1500 degrees celcius and at least 2 redundant backups in case the primary incinerator fails. At a distance of at least 500 meters but no more than 1 kilometer from the subject, placed within humanoid containment cells are to be no more than 50 and no less than 20 individuals who are sufficiently subservient to the subject, collectively referred to as 4815-B. They are to be implanted with remotely activatable explosive devices.
No organic material is to be brought into the containment chamber without approval from the project lead.
Project Eclipse is the ongoing project of controlling remaining loyalists that are not contained by the project and designated 4815-B. See [Appendix E] for details on the project.
In the previous week 4815 has been extremely active and aggressive in his escape attempts. Incineration has been used frequently to contain 4815-A mass but has been ineffective in ensuring compliance. I have submitted a request to terminate 4815-B subjects in an effort to coerce 4815 to comply with demands. This request was approved by the Sol Defense Council giving me authorization to terminate up to three 4815-B subjects.
“Good morning 4815”
The subject does not respond.
“I said good morning 4815”
The subject still does not respond.
I detonate one of the implants embedded in the 4815-B subjects. 4815 winces in response and stares daggers at one of the cameras.
“Do I have your attention 4815?”
The subject responds by growling faintly.
I detonate another one of the implants.
Now in a more aggressive tone I repeat my question: “Do I have your attention?”
The words of his reply are forged of sheer malice: “Yes, doctor.”
“Can you sense when they die 4815?”
“Of course I can! Surely you have eyes with which you can witness the torment that you appear to find so delightful!”
“How do you sense their deaths? Please describe it to me.”
“Why should I explain such things to you? You could not possibly comprehend such things.”
“I still have my finger on the trigger 4815. Please describe the feeling as well as you can.”
The subject barks words in the Ephomorosi language. Presumably curses, but this would require a translator consult to verify. The subject continues in English:
“I feel it as a tug on my soul. Like a minuscule part of of my being is lost.”
“And does it affect your powers? Answer honestly.”
The subject growls again in protest of the question.
“Yes. It causes my divine power to wane slightly.”
“Does that mean your powers are connected to your followers?”
“Oh congratulations doctor. What an astute deduction. You have stumbled upon the most basic principle of divinity known to the Ephomorosi for millennia. Keep this up and we might make civilized beings of you yet!”
“In the future I suggest you cooperate with our research and cease your aggressive behavior. Do not use your powers unless instructed to, and do not attempt escape. If you do not comply…”
I detonate another implant.
“Is that clear 4815?”
“Extremely clear, doctor.”
The 4815-A mass retreat into the body of the subject at an alarming rate through every possible orifice. During the process the subject never breaks eye contact with the camera.
“Good afternoon 4815”
“Good afternoon doctor”
“I have some news for you 4815. Several of your high-ranking officers and ministers have been tried and found guilty of a multitude of war crimes and crimes against humanity”
4815 scoffed at my remark.
“If you were not here you would have certainly been convicted for the same crimes. How does that make you feel 4815?”
“I feel nothing. Your idea of justice is a laughable farce. War crimes and crimes against humanity are just inventions of the victors of war to justify the oppression and persecution of the losers. They are an excuse you use to strip us of the freedom you claim to hold so sacred.
If those silly little courts of yours that you love so much did what they were supposed to do, your whole race would be put on trial.
I’ve seen your starving colonies, your space outposts gasping for air and your desecrated ancestral home. I don’t have the stomach to slaughter as many of you as you people have slaughtered of yourselves. Through wars, economic inequality and other engineered misery your kind have shown a profound contempt for all life, even your own. In a just system, you and your kin would be tried for attempted self-genocide.
I cannot fathom why you all wish to continue to torture yourselves and your kin just for the sake of freedom. I could give you the incredible bounties of an empire like no other. Enough food, water, air and land for everyone all at the insignificant cost of bending the knee. Yet all of you wish to fight tooth and nail for a way of life consisting of famine, poverty, sickness and violence. I offered you heaven and you barbarians spat in my face.”
“Intriguing, thank you 4815”
I turn to my research assistant to address him:
“Please make a log of this and then reward him for his cooperation in whatever way you see fit.”