In a future monastery orbiting a black hole, novitiate Elias Vance has come seeking a faith vast enough to fill the cosmos. The monks of the Penrose Oratory listen to the 'Sum'—a signal from the gravity well they call God—and record its wisdom for humanity. But when Elias connects to the signal, he hears only silence. His immunity is not a sign of grace, but a terrifying anomaly that will unravel the station’s entire reality. Hailed by the dogmatic Abbot Clement as a miracle, Elias is drawn into the Oratory's inner sanctum. He discovers the 'word of God' is a carefully constructed lie, filtered and edited in the Scriptorium to create a comforting, paternalistic voice. The station's peace is built on this deception, a quiet prison of the mind. His search for answers leads him to the mad 'Oracles'—monks broken by the signal—and a forbidden, cracked slate. In their whispers and on the slate, he finds not divine will, but raw human history, a chaotic chorus of a trillion lives. Confronted with the evidence, Abbot Clement confesses, offering Elias a position of power. He can join the conspiracy, becoming a shepherd of a merciful lie to protect the flock from a truth they cannot bear. Or he can broadcast the unfiltered Sum, giving everyone the chance at an honest, self-determined reality, but at the devastating price of their collective sanity. The choice moves him from a path of manipulated faith to one of self-authored meaning, but the cost could be everything. Is it an act of compassion to protect humanity from itself, or is the most sacred space the freedom to face a terrifying truth?
31 chapters
In a future monastery orbiting a black hole, novitiate Elias Vance has come seeking a faith vast enough to fill the cosmos. The monks of the Penrose Oratory listen to the 'Sum'—a signal from the gravity well they call God—and record its wisdom for humanity. But when Elias connects to the signal, he hears only silence. His immunity is not a sign of grace, but a terrifying anomaly that will unravel the station’s entire reality. Hailed by the dogmatic Abbot Clement as a miracle, Elias is drawn into the Oratory's inner sanctum. He discovers the 'word of God' is a carefully constructed lie, filtered and edited in the Scriptorium to create a comforting, paternalistic voice. The station's peace is built on this deception, a quiet prison of the mind. His search for answers leads him to the mad 'Oracles'—monks broken by the signal—and a forbidden, cracked slate. In their whispers and on the slate, he finds not divine will, but raw human history, a chaotic chorus of a trillion lives. Confronted with the evidence, Abbot Clement confesses, offering Elias a position of power. He can join the conspiracy, becoming a shepherd of a merciful lie to protect the flock from a truth they cannot bear. Or he can broadcast the unfiltered Sum, giving everyone the chance at an honest, self-determined reality, but at the devastating price of their collective sanity. The choice moves him from a path of manipulated faith to one of self-authored meaning, but the cost could be everything. Is it an act of compassion to protect humanity from itself, or is the most sacred space the freedom to face a terrifying truth?
World
