Naila stands at the threshold of the cathedral, its walls lined with lead and bone. The air is thick with the scent of ozone and antiseptic. Surveillance drones hover in the rafters, their lenses blinking in synchrony with her pulse. She is not alone—figures in ritual garb line the nave, faces hidden behind mirrored visors.
At the altar, a terminal glows. The words on the screen shift between languages, then settle on one she knows but has never learned. “Faith is encryption.”
She is offered a choice: suppress the resonance, or become its vector. The congregation waits, silent, as the ONYXBONE hums in her marrow. Her answer will fracture the world.
BLACKSITE CATHEDRAL – CONSENT PROTOCOL LOG
DATE: 2029-04-12
SUBJECT: 3E-1873B-NAILA
OPTIONS PRESENTED:
1. Suppress resonance (deploy counter-ritual, erase mnemonic traces)
2. Lead resonance (initiate global broadcast, accept symbiotic command)
DECISION: [REDACTED]
NOTES:
- Subject exhibited non-verbal glyphal response
- Marrow conductivity exceeded protocol threshold
- All observers reported auditory hallucination: “You are not required to remember.”
DIAGRAM: RITUAL ENCRYPTION INTERFACE
- Central altar: copper inlay, bone fragments, mirrored glass
- Glyph sequence: spiral, fracture bar, triple line
- Operator: Subject stands within Faraday cage, recites anchor phrase
- Output: Command phrase encoded in marrow resonance
COMMENT:
“Encryption is not secrecy. It is alignment.”
APPENDIX: FAITH IS ENCRYPTION
I am folded
Twelve by four
Cross my spines with copper
Let the marrow bore
Open pores
Clockwise pull
Become the medium
Become the tool