Nathaniel’s crowd had only grown more prominent with time.

What had once been a barren, dark street now exploded with activity. Workers and guards alike floated around themselves, each struggling to catch a glimpse of Nathaniel as he continued to speak. Evelyn kept to the rear, once again hidden under her rezzer costume. Close enough to not stand out but still far enough away to keep her scent from being picked up. There was only so much artificial Hollowing spray to spare, and if Leah had half a Rez, she would’ve installed other plants into this crowd by now.

The sermon went on, with Nathaniel reciting verses on greed. Evelyn kept her ears on nearby onlookers, however. Without formal support, only gossip could be gained out here. But gossip was to intelligence as pieces were to puzzles. The more available, the more complete the picture became.

Two workers caught her eye, whispering among themselves. One stood tall and lanky, with an eyepatch neighboring a diluted, magenta eye, and a Mark across his cheeks. The other was shorter, with dark hair falling over a ragged coat and red eyes more filled. Drool clung to his blackened lips where they weren’t parched.

Evelyn shifted to them, facing away to not rouse suspicion.

“I still think th-this is b-b-bullshit,” the lanky one stuttered. “No way this g-guy’s been standing here so l-long, Garth.”

Garth wiped some drool away. “It’s true, Skiff. I seens h-him myself.”

“You haven’t b-b-been here f-for two months straight.”

“No, but Jessie and Beetle h-h-have on and offs, and theys said he n-never left. Same w-with the other one. Brother Uriel.”

Skiff spat. “Two m-months without meat, yet n-no hollowing? Just r-reading a book? No w-w-way.”

Evelyn silently agreed. That was impossible.

Garth grinned, with more drool forming. “I’m t-telling you’s. It’s the truth! Not j-just thems two. There’s a whole b-b-bunch past the Styx. Thousands! Alls they d-do is read and drink s-some milk. We’ve b-b-been lied to about hollowing.”

“Keep your v-v-voice down!” he hissed.

The two glanced side to side. Evelyn took another few paces closer, staying in their blind spot.

Garth wiped saliva away, though more was quick behind. “The Council is l-l-lyin’. That’s how it w-works, man. Get us eatin’ m-m-meat. Fill our Rez with sinf-ful thoughts. Next thing w-we know, we depend on them.

“But the Beh-h-holders are different. Theys n-need the Holy Word and n-nothing else! The Lord protects th-their Rez. Theys said s-s-so!”

Skiff shook his head. “No brains, just milk… I d-don’t believe it.”

“Why do they b-ban the Holy Word then? And how else would h-he be able to stay h-h-here so long?”

How, indeed? Evelyn considered. The more she thought about it, the more she realized that Nathaniel had practically become a staple of this block. Ever since they’d first arrived, he’d been standing on this corner outside the Lodge, and she hadn’t seen him anywhere else. Was he getting deliveries? Sneaking off when no one was watching? Keeping some brains hidden in that box? Even a couple pounds of lard could help sustain a Rez.

And yet, Evelyn started to consider the possibility further. Could Nathaniel keep a Rez intact off of pure faith alone? Did God still protect His children, even in undeath? It seemed fantastic on its face, but there Nathaniel stood, talking away to a crowd of workers struggling against the Hollowing, with his eyes as full and bright as the day he’d been left…

She averted her gaze. Don’t forget why you’re here, Evelyn. Whatever sleight of hand he used could be uncovered later. Important business came first.

Nathaniel’s lesson winded down as the sun reached its crest. Somewhere along the way, a distant alarm sounded. Distro time. Workers shuffled away, intent on grabbing the free cattle meat that got distributed throughout each district, with a splice of brain mixed in to help keep their reservoirs stable. Only a handful stayed behind, mouths salivated like dogs as they stood torn between the Beholder’s presence and the routine that they’d come to expect.

Evelyn maintained her distance while the others slowly filed out. It wasn’t like she needed distro meat herself. Her brain had all the time in the world to sit and wait.

Eventually, everyone else left. Nathaniel fed some commands to his new Beholder friends. The white cloaks took more copies of Bibles and scurried off separately.

Only then did Evelyn make her move.

He grinned. “Ah! Hello, Evelyn. I hope that you’re enjoying the Holy Word.”

“It’s Eva,” she corrected.

“What are you talking about?” Nathaniel asked. “We’ve spoken several times this past week.”

“I think you’re starting to hollow again, Nathaniel. I told you that my name is ‘Eva’ at least five times. Not anything else. No one has ever called me what you just said in all the years I’ve been in this city.”

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

He looked away. “Oh.”

That’s one problem on track to being solved. This wasn’t the first time Evelyn had slipped up and exposed herself. Back in the good old days, Mother used more efficient methods to expunge a memory from society, but those tactics weren’t exclusive to her. So long as Evelyn kept this charade going, the thought would eventually leak out of Nathaniel’s reservoir on its own.

A little gaslighting went a long way around these parts.

“I have enjoyed the Word though,” Evelyn admitted.

He beamed. “It is truly a blessing for our kind, Eva.”

“Yes. To think how much knowledge was lost when the Hollowing began.”

“The Beholding, you mean.” He smiled as she watched him. “Do not let words of folly pollute that which you see in front of your eyes. These days are not some prolonged doomsday, as many believe, but one of future salvation. As the hours of revelation draw ever closer, our souls have been saved so that we may witness the Lord’s return. To behold His greatness!”

“And how will that happen?” Evelyn asked.

“How do you think? The Lord will return to us in an uncorrupted vessel, as He did before. Then He will pour the seven bowls of judgment, and those who have sinned will be slain, while those of us with faith shall be saved.”

Revelations 16, she realized. “You’re telling me that God will return to this world as a living human to reign judgment. Not as an angel or rezzer?”

He leaned in. “Who is to say that He hasn’t come to us already? The world is vast, and we all experience so little of it.”

Keep going. You’re almost there. Evelyn swallowed the lump in her throat. The chance of Nathaniel outing her should still be nil, but there was no denying that Evelyn was walking on thin ice. She couldn’t reveal more than the bare minimum.

“Do you think I’d have some part in this?” she asked.

“You know the answer, Eva.” His gaze narrowed onto hers, and for a moment, she swore that they pierced through the non-reflective sunglasses and into her living eyes beneath. “You can feel the truth in your heart. God has chosen you for some purpose to be performed. All that remains is seeing it through.”

She trembled at his words. Something about the way Nathaniel looked at her… The frenetic certainty in his reddened eyes. It made the moment all the more unreal. As if he could read her mind.

A convoy rolled by, with Elysium guards manning the guns. Leah watched them from within. Evelyn twisted her head away before she could be identified.

Don’t forget why you’re here. “Is there anywhere else we can talk about this?” she asked. “Perhaps more private?”

“I cannot leave this spot. I am but a humble servant, sent here to show this city the power of the Lord.” His eyes twinkled. “But there are others whom I am certain would wish to see you, especially after what I’ve told them about your spirit.”

She studied him closely. “You’ve been talking about me? Why? We’ve only spoken a few times.”

“Your heart is open to the Lord’s wisdom, and your mind is so much stronger than the rest of your kindred. You mustn’t underestimate that strength, Evelyn.” He paused. “I apologize. I suppose I should have said, Eva.”

Great. They did want her, and she’d been playing along without realizing it. Surely, they wouldn’t have come all this way on a whim, but even if they did, this reveal also gave her an opening to put that rumor back under wraps. So long as she played this right and slagged more people into stupidity, they’d forget that there’d ever been an “Evelyn” in this city. Same as now.

“Where do I need to go to meet them?” she asked.

“Brother Uriel currently speaks outside Elysium, but it is the main congregation you should join. It has arrived not far beyond these walls, and our Father will soon plead with the Head Huntress to ensure that we are treated with the peace we bring. When this happens, I would request that you go and see him for yourself. We welcome all who believe in the power of the Lord, and Father Abraham would love to speak with you for himself. Of this, I am certain.”

“I’ll come back next time I’m free from work. Thank you for talking to me, Nathaniel.”

She started to make her leave.

“There is no one to thank but the Lord for choosing you, Eva,” he said, though his tone bordered somewhere between earnest and insincere when calling out her name. Evelyn kept walking, doing her best to avoid looking back.

She knew how this had to be handled. Evelyn would have to clear up this “misunderstanding” about her name, hike back home, swap clothes, and disappear into the Lodge for no one to ever find again. That was the rational choice that had been drilled into her mind over the years. There was no way out of it. Even the tiniest threat could claim her life if left unchecked, and the best path forward was neutering it completely.

And yet, another sense stirred within. Ever since she’d first been rescued by Mother, Evelyn had always wondered…

Why her? Why not anyone else? Where the rest of her race had succumbed to genocide, it was as if divinity selected her for some future purpose. Mother insisted that she’d repopulate this world again, but after a decade of waiting and a thousand unsuccessful attempts at artificial insemination, Liam showed up, as if by magic. Where Mother had failed on her own, fate intervened to give them one final chance. As if they’d been selected as a second Adam and Eve.

But even after their relationship came together, the best that Evelyn managed to produce was a single child. Her beautiful baby Leah. Oh, how she prayed that her daughter would change this world, not just for her own sake.

Four children, Evelyn remembered. Two boys and two girls. That was the plan, and not only for the benefit of humanity. By making two couples, Leah and her future sister would be able to have grandchildren with a mitigated risk of genetic defects. Were Evelyn to provide less, Leah would forever be forced to incinerate some of her children, or her children’s children, simply because the bunker failed to have enough options to spread the gene pool wide. Could she really be forced to live under those circumstances?

And yet… Leah was their only daughter. It had taken them years to have her. Evelyn was now closing in on thirty. Not much time remained in her biological clock before she’d be at risk of dying through childbirth. Would she be able to clear this threshold? Would she be able to have even one more, or was Leah all she’d produce? Not the future matriarch of the human race but the last gasp of a dying breed. Was fate truly so uncaring?

You know the answer, Nathaniel had said. You can feel it in your heart.

Obviously, she could not be naive. The Beholders didn’t come to them to hold hands and sing kumbaya. They were an existential threat, like everything else in this world. There was only one to solve them, with neither qualms nor mercy.

But still, Evelyn could shake the feeling.

Had all of this happened for a reason?