Chapter Text
The Father’s office was a familiar place for Simon. Not a comforting one, but familiar. Its walls were decorated with plants, with special homage all over to the Last Tree. As Simon waited for the Father, he whispered a few prayers to the Tree, hoping it would give him courage for whatever the Father called him for. He hoped it was the call he had been waiting for for weeks now. The Final Task before he could Ascend into the position he had trained for his entire life - the Butcher. Simon knew it was coming when the former Butcher was killed by heretics outside of Eden who didn’t understand the mission of Eden. He couldn’t crush the squirming nervousness inside of his stomach though - what if this meeting was not about the Final Task at all? What if the Father had found out that Simon was guilty of something (what it was, Simon didn’t know) and cast him out into the outside world, doomed to live and die amongst unbelievers?
Simon’s thinking was interrupted by the door behind him, made of wood and intricately engraved, opening and revealing the Father. Simon stood out of respect, waiting for the Father to address him first and take his place. Dressed in the typical adornment of a Father, brown robes with green embroidery throughout made of fine cloth, he smiles at Simon and walks behind his desk.
“Simon, my child,” The Father says in his sober voice. “Your time has come that you have prepared for. I have a Final Task for you.”
Simon’s heart soars as he sits down, but his face betrays none of it, setting itself into grave determination. “I am prepared, Father. I hope to please you in this time of testing.” He leans forward, ready to accept whatever the Father had designated for him.
“I had hoped to hear that. Although,” The Father’s face turns stern. “if you fail, I don’t need to tell you how grave the consequences are. There is no retaking a Final Task. This is the True Testing of your loyalty and faith to Eden, your Last Task - one way or another. I would hate to see you fail, you have been trained for most of your twenty-five years. It would be a shame for those resources to go to waste on a failure.” The Fathers face is sharp, almost cruel. Simon knows how it feels to fail his Father, as a younger man he failed often, and has the marks to prove it.
Nervousness pools into Simon’s gut where it solidifies into steel by pure willpower. He would not fail Eden. He would not fail his Father. “Father, I have prepared for this moment for years, I will succeed through any means. You will not have the burden of wasted resources by my hand.” Simon bowed his head in reverent respect, he would have knelt if he weren’t already sitting down. “Please, Father, assign me the Task. What must I do to Ascend?”
The Father smiles slightly, a rare sight when so much burdened his mind. Leaning over, he pulls a file folder out of a drawer in his desk and pushes it towards Simon, but holds it firm when Simon reaches for it.
“Let me explain first, my child, don’t be so eager.” The Father said, before he and Simon draw their hands back, Simon’s to his lap and the Father’s folded under his chin. “There is an unbeliever out beyond Eden that knows about us. Instead of using this knowledge to follow the Last Tree’s call, he uses this information to commit heresy of the highest degree against Eden, claiming the Last Tree is not as it is. He spreads lies to the world, using his position of power in certain secular communities to persuade people. I need you to track this heretic down and bring him back here.”
Simon nods. This was a task he could do. Simple, but of the highest degree of importance.
“There is a catch.” The Father intones, levelling his eyes with Simon. “This is not a normal man. While of average height and strength, he possesses much knowledge and will try to use his intelligence to manipulate you. He will frame his lies with kindness and concern for your supposed well-being. It is important you block out his words, do not let him get past your defenses. He is highly dangerous and manipulative, you cannot fail. He must face judgement.”
Simon couldn’t believe what he was hearing about this heretic. It was unlike any he had fought before, a different kind of challenge for him to overcome. He remembered his lessons on unbelievers, how they would lie to you about yourself and your place in the world. He previously understood these people to be cruel, demeaning. Masking these lies with kindness and gentleness was a different obstacle for Simon.
“I will not fail, Father. The Last Tree demands this heretic’s sins be answered for, and I will be its sword of judgment in its honor.” Simon declares. His training, his life, had prepared him for this. He would die before he failed now. “When do you want me to start?”
“You leave at dawn. I have sent clothes and materials for this mission back to your bunk. Take the folder,” The Father pushes the folder towards Simon, who grabs it and places it on his lap. “You should look through it, read about him so you know what to expect. Meet The Mechanic at the garage near the exit tomorrow and she will give you further instruction.” The Father looks at Simon, gaze reading him, as if calculating how well he will be able to achieve this Final Task.
“Do well, Simon. You are dismissed.”
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Walking into Bunk Room A, Simon makes his way through his Brothers and Sisters with ease, holding the folder given to him to his chest. He spies a backpack on his bed, and pulls it to the side before sitting on his bed to examine the folder. It was clean, surprisingly. Not many things here were, as it was considered honorable to be touched by the Dirt Which Sustains the Last Tree. He considers opening it, but looks around, seeing the amount of people just walking around the room. It isn’t safe to examine this here, nor to open the backpack. What if there were details of the man’s heresy? He could accidentally expose these lies to Eden, and the Father would know it was him. He could not fail. He would not be punished for his sins again. Rolling his shoulders, Simon tucks the folder under his arm and stands to leave the room. He puts the backpack on and starts to walk away, but feels resistance from his back after a step.
“What do you have there, Brother?” A curious voice sounds from slightly above him, giving his backpack another tug. Simon resists a smile and turns around, looking up at the bunk above his bed.
“I don’t think that’s any of your fucking business, Sister Arabella.” Simon briskly responds. He knew someone had been watching him, and he should have known it would be her. She lay across her bunk, wearing her day clothes, made of layers of rough fabric, with her hood down. Smiling at him slyly, she pushed her long auburn hair out of the way as she rested her head on one hand.
“Surely you won’t be leaving us tomorrow for some big mission? One you have been silently pining over like it’s an extra ration?” Arabella asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“No, I’ll be avoiding you all day instead. That’s my mission.” He sarcastically responded, smacking her lightly when she pouted at him.
“What do you have to do? Kill someone? Find something?” she whispered, low enough that no one else would hear. Simon glanced around. He wasn’t sure if he was allowed to tell anyone what his Final Task was, though he knew it would be clear once he brought the heretic back to Eden. Taking a step back towards the bed, he told her in short, quick sentences the task he had before him and watched her face grow white as he described what the heretic had done with the Tree’s call and his power. “Can I see him?” Arabella asked, in a tone which was unsure if she even wanted to see the face of a man who had committed such sins.
Simon looked around before slipping the folder back out from under his arm and cautiously opening the front page. He was greeted with a picture of a man who seemed a little older than he was, with much shorter hair than Simon’s. The Heretic was blond, with large, framed glasses on his face, and kind manipulative eyes. He wore a shirt that made no sense, the bright designs of it showing the consumption and greed of the secular world. Looking over the portrait, Simon’s eyes caught on the bottom of the page, where the Heretic’s name was in bold.
Dr. Ryland Grace.