The Unwritten Sin

Chapter 3

Wilder sighed, and turned over on the small bed. The springs squeaked and groaned under his weight. He dropped the notebook onto the floor, and covered his face to quell the sobs.

Wilder hadn't come back to Phase City in over three years. He left with one of his so-called friends after his mother and father both passed into priesthood. Priesthood was given to someone who had mastered the Virtues all seven times. Then, in their last incarnation, they became priests, like James, who lived in a Ministry, and helped others go through their own sins.

Wilder had never been close to his parents. Parents were not seen as they were in the Dark Age.

Parents in Phase City and in all of Earth were only those who had passed one or more of their own sins, and helped others establish themselves. Conquering a Sin usually took anywhere from three to ten years. Since the Ascendance, humans have been pushed out of the Machine, sticky, wet, and sobbing, in different shapes and sizes, and all at peak perfection; looking about 23-25.

The bodies do not age, but they can be wounded. In addition the bodies can be manipulated in any way. It is possible to lose limbs, or gain an excessive amount of weight. When someone dies or is reincarnated, they get a brand new body from the Machine. They do not remember their previous life, although they will have the old tattoo. They can look themselves up in the Great Hall, where the Machine is located. They can read their own personal record about their past lives, their past friendships and enemies, and their past sin if they don't recognize the tattoos.

Wilder, having been on his first Sin...never went to the Great Hall. He had no reason to.

Wilder cried himself to sleep. The sun had fully set, and the moons were rising when he awoke.

Wilder stood up shakily and stumbled into the kitchen. The light buzzed as he switched it on. He checked his cell. 

5 new messages. 

Wilder looked through them with disgust. They were all from an unlisted number, and he knew exactly who it was. 

He shoved his phone deep into his pocket, and decided he was going out to find something else to eat. James was right. His eating habits were shit.

Wilder locked the door behind him, not because there were valuables in the apartment, but out of habit. His parents had never loved each other, since love was no longer biologically driven, and they fought constantly. Due to the contract they signed when they adopted Wilder, they had to both be present to get him through his Sin, or if they moved onto another incarnation, whichever came first. Unfortunately for Wilder, they moved onto priesthood without him.

Wilder had never felt so alone. He walked down the narrow street. It had begun raining, and the streetlights bled into the sidewalk. Wilder toyed with the idea of going into a real restaurant, but he had an ache in his heart, and discarded the idea. There was no reason to try and pretend to be a part of society when he had no one to spend his time with.

There was James, but as far as Wilder knew, there was no final test to Ascend from priesthood to the afterlife. He assumed James had stuck around the mortal coil for selfless reasons. He sighed, and walked up to a mobile food truck. He fished out a fistful of credits, and got a Lunar Grilled Cheese, made with real moon cheese. The food tasted like ash in his mouth. He sat on the pier at the edge of Phase City, and stared out over the ocean.

Wilder came here often. He felt the ocean called to him. He finished his sandwich, and began to sob again. He didn't understand how to get through it. He didn't know what to do. He sat on this pier most nights, and contemplated falling off the edge. Dark water crashed below him, looking strangely inviting. He lay on his back and stared at the stars, and selected a song from his cell.

Pleasant music rolled through his head, as he tried to numb the pain of existence.