Season 05 - Episode 23

‘her forever more’

Ko and the rest of The Resistance are standing silently in the doorway of Ny's room, waiting for a gap in the seemingly endless flow of people streaming past. Finally, the crowd thins slightly so that they all step out to join, falling into step with what feels like the whole of the rest of humanity.

Heads down they walk, drifting along, now a part of the crowd, all moving in the same direction as if drawn on by some invisible, irresistible force. Ko trudges robotically, shoulders slumped, head down. He stares through the person in front of him, eyes locked onto the small of their back but seeing nothing at all.

Qi and Syl are on either side of him, lost in their own slow shuffling worlds. Meanwhile, Es and the young, former-monk Mo, are right behind. If they have any thoughts they don't betray them, just five more blank faces in a dull grey mass.

Every so often they pass a Seraphim, standing duty, head and shoulders above with their back to the wall, watching the crowd as they file past. They are there to look out for trouble, resistance but find none. There's not an ounce of fight left throughout the whole of the crowd.

No-one speaks as the impossibly silent multitude make their way towards the site of The Collapse, the largest open space in all The Levels. Occasionally their corridor joins with another where everyone moves slowly and carefully to maintain their progress. At the wider corridors the different crowds merge, blending together and flowing along. At the narrower there is waiting, merging in turn, but still always, always motion.

In many places the scars of the war hinder their progress, collapsed ceilings or floors, heaps of rubble, tangled metal. Yet the crowd flows on, slipping around, taking the long way, their patience never faltering.

Still not a word is spoken. There are no sneezes or coughs, no whispers or sobs, even the children, the youngest babies, all are silent and calm. The silence is eerie, unnerving but even this draws no response from anyone.

There is no fear, no anger, no passion or feeling. There are only bodies in motion, subjects of the God Empress, moving by her command, gathering to hear her voice, ready to bow to her grace.

At the next corner comes a subtle shift in the atmosphere or perhaps in the depth of the silence. Sure enough, after one corner more, the corridor up ahead opens outwards, up and down, left and right. As the crowd approach they spread out into the space, lining the edge of the vast, plunging chasm left by The Collapse.

They take their places in an orderly fashion, forming neat rows without exchanging a word. No-one looks to one another, no-one touches one another, each person stands simply, alone in the crowd, ready to swear their own oath.

The God Empress has yet to arrive but on the opposite side of the void, many floors above, a great platform has been prepared, decorated in white and gold. This is where she will stand. This is where she will address them. This is where they will return her call and pledge themselves to her forever.

More scattered Seraphim punctuate the drab crowds here and there with their shining armour. Nobody knows when the God Empress will arrive, it could be minutes, hours, days but they wait, without question, without complaint.

On all four sides, including above and below the God Empress's platform, the space is filling with bodies, people upon people upon people. Countless, myriad, endless. All are gathered, all are ready.

Nobody says a word.

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