It was like smoky gray paint thrown across the canvas of the sky.
Was it morning? Night? Afternoon? No one was sure or cared, for the amount of smog adorning their heads like cinderblock crowns ensured it was the last thing on the minds of this nation's denizens.
Hundreds of industrial plants and warehouses pumped out smoke like steam locomotives from their chimneys and choked the overcast sky, and said smoke was so thick that if light were present, it couldn't reach the streets, nor could the lights from the stores and high rises do the same. A constant blanketing blackness that trapped the city within a nimbostratus, affecting everyone, from the peasantry to the elite—everyone but one.
Nothing across the nation's vast expanse could compete with the panoply of pagodas that skewered heaven with 'Pandemonium' embossed and interstitialed with nine golden doornails in rows tantamounting to tracts of forty-nine-thousand-nine-hundred and ninety-nine score along its side. Pristine with no melted or corroded bits or pieces, unlike the rest, and having slippery yellow and red glaze shining with first-day appraisal and tops adorned with golden canopies made of fine-grained resinous wood and surmounted with copper-gold phoenixes. The roof was light and elegant, sloping with wide spines so steep that someone would tumble off the gradient if trekking up, and its impetus transcended the nimbus clouds and received what the people were denied: sunlight.
And amongst this, one heaven-piercing lance fired ardored fireworks like a lion signaling its suzerain reign with spidermum flower-like explosions that flashed and arched its glow before death and basked the stained glass window which depicted a Man who exemplified the feminine and masculine beauty with a tight face and long, sleek black hair reaching the mid-back with a kimono matching and starkly contrasting said hair with the outlined golden edges and obi while being adorned with an intricate halo.
"Disgusting." The Man's eyes illuminated and penetrated the clouds to the ground from his floor-to-ceiling window pane while counting sins to cross them off like some angry God with an unending vexation.
The huddled masses below lined the street on either side with pails in hand and so gaunt to the point of emaciation with dry skin of a powdery quality and He watched their taut skin stretch and relax while passing over their bones with dim light shining their ashen complexion and sunken yellow eyes that pushed deep into their sockets and missing hair patches and cracked lips with flies buzzing around. Soon they rocked back and forth with their pails overhead to collect incoming rainwater.
A horde of those unfortunate enough to stay and ardently cling to life. But a brief spark blew into them from their answered yearnings, and they cheered with raised pails.
Then an accustomed smell grew pungent as rain beat the street like a stream on a stone and infinitesimal bits fell off the sidewalk and disappeared into the sink drain pumps that underpinned the road from side to side within the storm drains.
The exposed people's skin reddened, but they were too busy tilting their heads with the dim street lights striking their jaw and across the cheek, highlighting the rise of the eyebrows and hallow eyes to the bridge of the nose which was drenched from their pails covering their mouths with water gushing over and pouring a mixture of yellow bile that coated the streets from vomit. One by one, the group keeled over and lay in their waste while frothing at the mouth.
In their state, the lower lip shadowed while the upper tightened and revealed the black hole that was their mouth with their singular upper tooth peaking through the vacuumed darkness.
"Filthy animals," as if spitting the words at them with his upper lip curled back.
"Lord Luce." The chamberlain was a bespectacled older man dressed in a dapper three-piece suit with white gloves and removed his shoes but kept his socks while on the tatami floor and entered with a respectful and diffident bow and said, "I have news of interest." And he remained bowed as Luce's shadow stretched within the sparsely lit room and darkened it more than a black hole threatening to swallow everything, including the light from the stained glass windows and gold-leafed walls.
"Speak."
"Yes, my Lord." The older man raised his head and said, "The situation on Pandora remains the same. Your forces are at a standstill with Hades and Morningstar."
"Is that all."
"N-No—ahem—we have news from Sodom, specifically concerning Thaddeus."
Luce backed barefoot from the window and looked upon his servant with sun-kissed skin of no faults and eyes that held a level of power that weakened you. On either side of the room were pine trees that touched the ceiling.
Then the older man lowered his head again and the silence made him vomit the rest of the information. "A terrorist attack occurred within the Corporate District. Some of your men reported a chip stolen by the Rising Tide. We don't know the chip's contents or if it's been hacked."
"This one is disappointed in the motley crew left in Luce's stead." Luce walked over to a pond that had vegetation and rocks settled atop the surface and looked down and said, "My little mirror lake. Except there is only one pure one…" He then returned to his window pane and looked down similarly and added: "What separates a man from God."
The older man lifted his head at the…question? His tone wasn't answer-seeking. So, he remained quiet.
"There was a story about a man who became a god. he served his lord faithfully and, as a reward, was exalted to heaven and given a seat by his god's throne. You see the problem in this."
"Uh…" The older man stumbled his words, and when a stare hit, whatever he could say was lodged in his throat, for a dark green replaced his Master's once pitch-black eyes. So ominous and unlike ordinary circuitry. Luce sifted through and tried uncovering something deep with the intensity of being underneath a microscope. Everything was displayed and worn on the sleeve.
But working with Luce for the past few decades required abandoning logic and reason. This is why the city viewed him as God.
"Of course you don't. That's why you're a servant and will remain as such." Luce, in derision, added, "And that's why those animals down there will continue to be in their station in life. And that's why that fool in the story didn't make it further than earning the moniker of 'Lesser God.' A pitiful existence." The older man could see the dark green leave Luce's eyes and the vascularity along his neck and forehead become pronounced while He gnashed his teeth. "Three-hundred-sixty-five years of worship and faith in another, just to become a lesser god. What an oxymoron and contradiction. There can't be such a thing as a lesser god. Only God and nothing else, which I AM!" He looked at the window pane and palpable heat within his voice. "That's what separates a man from a god: faith. But misplaced faith serves nothing. Those people down there have faith in something else to receive water. The man in the story had faith in a superior being. And that fool thaddeus, who was meant to be different, has misplaced faith in others and believes he could usurp Luce."
"My Lord!" No longer able to hold his tongue, he asked, "You knew he would betray you? But why?"
"A lion is not bothered by a fly buzzing around. Luce knew he wanted the spot from the beginning. Nothing is hidden from Luce's sight." The evanescent dark green returned. "Luce was more curious about how he would do it and planned to utilize that ambition for greater use. Now it's causing more headaches than entertainment." He breathed deeply and said, "If that fool thaddeus left information in that chip concerning Pandora, it will harm Luce. The cockroaches will come out in droves and look for the ancient technology that brought humanity out of the industrial age and into this respectable era. We'll be like those luddite elves knacking off of trees to survive if some unworthy fool gets their hands on it."
"My Lord! Do you believe…such technology can be found again?"
"Have my ship ready. Luce shall sojourn in Sodom."
"Of course, my Lord." The servant bowed profoundly and walked away but didn't make it far before being halted.
"Also—" The chamberlain looked back. "Have the police remove those animals and repave Luce's street. Their filth cannot stay."