He was born of pain. Now he baptizes the world in it.
---
6:00 A.M.
Above the Tyrrhenian Sea — Resistance Interceptor Aircraft
Naomi grips the edge of the console as the jet slices through storm clouds.
On the monitor:
A live satellite feed of a convoy moving through the outskirts of Rome.
Convoy Contents:
Four Choir tanks
Two armored semis
One cryo-unit: ISAAC
> "They're transporting him to the Colosseum," Taye reports from Geneva.
"Broadcasts say Silas is holding his 'first sermon' there at sundown."
Naomi narrows her eyes.
> "If he speaks, we lose."
"He was always more dangerous with words than weapons."
---
6:30 A.M.
Rome — Streets Leading to the Colosseum
Citizens flood the roads.
Not running from war.
Walking toward it.
Draped in golden cloth.
Chanting verses from the Hollow Gospel.
Children with blood-painted eyes.
Entire families wearing masks of Silas's face.
Police forces retreat.
Military checkpoints fall silent.
Because many of them have joined.
---
7:00 A.M.
Naomi Lands Outside the City
Her team meets her with bad news.
> "Rome is gone," her second-in-command mutters.
"They don't see him as a terrorist anymore.
They call him 'The Reclaimer.'"
Naomi replies coldly:
> "Then we take back what was stolen."
---
7:33 A.M.
Colosseum — Sermon Preparation
Torches burn across ancient stone.
Silas stands on a platform built from coffins.
The Choir kneels around him.
Beneath the stage, Isaac's cryo-chamber pulses with low blue light.
A speaker crackles to life.
A countdown begins: 5 hours until the sermon.
Silas turns to the Choir.
> "We made them watch pain."
"Now we make them pray to it."
---
8:00 A.M.
Resistance Global HQ — Paranoia at Critical Mass
Taye issues lockdown orders.
Encrypted comms only.
No trust. No external contact.
But it's too late.
Two generals defect.
One detonates the Geneva vault.
Twenty-five agents vanish within an hour.
Resistance forces across five continents stand down.
Because Hollow isn't knocking.
It's already inside.
---
9:00 A.M.
Naomi Moves
With a strike team, she carves through the outer Choir defenses.
Tunnels beneath the Colosseum are blood-soaked.
Bones in patterns.
Symbols carved into the walls.
One line repeated over and over:
> "He bled. So we could bloom."
Her team is cut in half by Choir gunmen.
Explosives slow them.
But Naomi keeps pushing.
Because if Silas opens his mouth on that stage—
the world may never close theirs again.
---
10:00 A.M.
Silas Prepares
He bathes in blood.
Not symbolic. Literal.
Choir members slit their throats over a basin.
He whispers to their corpses:
> "You made me real.
Now I'll make you immortal."
He dons robes made from stitched flesh.
And finally, he lifts Isaac's cryo-pod.
The boy inside is stirring.
But not yet awake.
---
Final Scene
Naomi breaches the inner sanctum beneath the stage.
Blood in her eyes.
Gun in her hand.
She finds a golden mask.
Freshly painted.
Then the sound above:
The crowd cheering.
Silas walks to the center of the Colosseum.
Tens of thousands chant his name.
And then—
he lifts his hands.
> "They broke me to make me quiet."
> "So I broke the world to make it listen."
---
Final Line:
> "Today, I speak," Silas says,
"and the world becomes my sermon."
---