God's Plan

The desert winds had somewhat subsided on the trail out of the Garden. With Lucas 40 securely bound and tied onto the Angel's right shoulder, Henry 38 made his way down the dusty road to the Hospital, to deliver his bounty to God. Having completed his mission in 15 minutes, he had roughly an hour left to make the delivery about a half an hour away. 'There might've been enough time to do some light snooping around the Ruins of Babylon on the way...', Henry thought to himself, '...but I'm stuck with this bumbling oaf.' Scratched up though the Angel's eye might be, it was one of God's eyes regardless, and if it were to catch Henry trying to dig up the past again, there might be a punishment in tow. Henry winced as he felt the old scars on his back stretch. He never understood God's insistence on keeping the past unknown. 'Ashes to ashes, dust to dust.' the sermon goes, on and on like a looped recording, and yet Henry could still never quell this sense of curiosity in him. 'If God made all of us as we were meant to be, surely it could have made us to have no interest in the past, as it insists we do. Either it made me imperfectly, or there is a purpose to this curiosity that I haven't surmised yet. Hmm...perhaps without it, I wouldn't be such a good Shepherd. This job does often require a curious mind...' The thought occupied Henry for quite some time, until it was interrupted by a stirring from the Angel's shoulder. Lucas appeared to have woken up. This was not going to be pleasant.       "Huh...what..." "Hey Lucas 40... sorry about the whole scuffle earlier... the flock don't usually come in quietly, so... but you'll see it's for your own good." "Oh no...Shepherd, you gotta let me go! They're gonna kill me!" "No one's killing anyone, trust me. The maximum sentence for your crime is three years, and it probably won't even be that. God just needs to help you see the error of your ways. Why have you been slacking off on your chores?" "The error of my ways? I haven't made any errors! I've been meeting quotas. Ask anyone at the Gardens!" "Well between your friends at the Gardens and God, I think I know whom I'll trust more." Henry coyly tapped at his wristwatch, itself lightly beeping a faint countdown timer. "Oh how convenient for you. A wristwatch tells you to grab random flock from their homes, doesn't explain why or what for, and you just blindly obey! Trust in the system, no thinking necessary." "I know why. It says right here: Dereliction of Chores. If God asked to speak with you personally, then you're not exactly innocent, are you?" "You don't get it man, there will be no speaking! They're just gonna kill me off, to silence me. That's why you gotta let me go! God is afraid of guys like me, cause I know things! I'm dangerous cause I'm trying to spread the truth to the people! Don't you care about the truth?" "Well sure I do... but I know what the truth is here. You're just trying to avoid getting punished. I get why you'd be scared, but trust me: it's for your own good." "Alright alright, we got off on the wrong foot...you know my name, what's yours?" "Henry 38" "Alright, Henry 38: you're a Shepherd, you've brought back what? Dozens, hundreds of the flock, right?" "I'd say dozens for now." "Right, so let me ask you this: Of all of the flock you arrested over the years, has any single one of them admitted their crime? Did anyone ever just obediently follow you into the Hospital?" "Well... no. They all claim that they didn't do it." "And you don't find anything odd about that? Isn't it strange that there is no evidence, no witnesses, no investigation? God just says 'he did it' and you just bring me in, no matter what I say?" "Well of course you'd say anything to be set free. You're doing it right now!" "Alright, then how about this: How many of the ones you brought to the Hospital have you seen back out?"       Henry had a sudden moment of pause. He genuinely struggled to remember anyone that he put away out with the flock again. Up until that very moment it hadn't occured to him to check. "Well...we all look the same. Maybe I did see them but just didn't recognize them. Maybe they got moved to a different place, given a different chore..." "Sure, sure, keep making excuses for your almighty God. Meanwhile it makes us murder each other while we keep farming up tasty foods for it to eat alone!" "See, you do resent the workload! Buddy, just cause you don't want to work, doesn't mean that God is gonna kill you!" "You're not listening, man! I didn't do anything! God found out that I've been spreading the truth about it, so it made up a reason to arrest me and take me in!" Henry chuckled at that claim. At this point Henry was just curious to see how far this Lucas was willing to go with this story. "Alright, I'll bite: what truth?" Lucas 40 seemed genuinely taken aback by that response, as if he never actually believed he would be given the chance to elaborate. That look quickly faded as he siezed his chance to spin his tale. "A couple months ago, I was heading down to the deposit point at the Garden to deliver my quota, when I heard two people talking in that room. I peeked around the corner, and I saw Archangel Gabriel just... standing there, motionless. But the two voices kept talking, both coming out of Gabriel's mouth. It's like there were two people inside of him, having a conversation. They were talking about some type of food they missed eating, I think they called it... 'hamburger', something like that. Anyway my hand slipped and made a noise, giving me away, so I jumped in like I was running, and Gabriel gave me some nonsense about the ruminations of the Divine, but I could tell that it was onto me. That's why I'm here, tied up on the shoulder of an Angel. I swear on whatever real God there might be... I think... I think Gabriel is just a tin can that's being operated by someone remotely!"       At this point, Henry 38 had enough. This wasn't the first time he'd heard flock tell stories of strange behavior by God or it's Angels, but this was by far the most insulting, heretical absurdity he'd ever heard. It was known that God and the Angels often spoke in different voices, but that was just one facet of it's providence: proof of how much it cared to put it's flock at ease. "I'm still bringing you to the Hospital." "Are you shitting me! After what I just told you? You fucking Angel! But alright, can you do one thing for me?" "Depends on the thing." "Memorize my face." "Uhh...what?" "Come over here, look at me, and memorize my face! And I'll memorize yours. That way, if I come out of the Hospital, I'll find you, or you'll find me, and then I'll admit you were right. Isn't that fair?"       Henry thought about it for a moment. It really never did occur to him to check up on his flock after he'd delivered them to the Hospital. After all, the sentences usually last several years... Perhaps it was time to put his faith to the test. What harm could there be? Lucas 40 was right: the worst that could happen is he'd be back out in a couple years and admit he was wrong. Henry commanded the Angel to stop, then walked behind it to face Lucas, himself still bound to the Angel's shoulder, trying his best to lift his head up to meet Henry's gaze.              They both focused their attention onto the face of the other, staring intently and cataloguing every detail. It was evidently uncomfortable for both men, and yet neither man wanted to be accused of a half-hearted effort. Henry observed the large, hooked nose that exemplified the Lucas archetype, detecting a hint of envy in his own heart at the sight of it. The sharp, protruding cheekbones, literally poking out from out of the thin flesh of his face, and his characteristically round, meaty chin, gave Henry some comfort. Of course, nothing defined the Lucas more than a full head of honey blond hair, which Lucas 40 had in spades, hanging over his face and around his shoulders. For a moment, Henry thought that, were they combined, they might have had enough material to make one truly perfect man. He could tell that Lucas was thinking something equally intense as he stared back at Henry, though what it was Henry didn't dare ask.       This intimate minute passed between them like an aeon. Eventually Henry 38 blinked, then sheepishly nodded to Lucas 40, who reassuredly nodded in kind. They then resumed the trek to the Hospital. They continued in complete silence for a time, ruined only by the soft rustling of sand beneath their feet... then by Lucas' voice. "I need you to do me another favor." "What now?" "If I don't come back-" "Oh come on! You're gonna be back! No one is disposable!" "JUST LISTEN! You're a nice guy, I can tell. You care about the flock. If I don't come back... please look into the arrests. Look for patterns, something suspicious, anything. Please." "I wouldn't even know where to look for that-" "Please... I'm begging you... don't let me die for nothing." At this point Lucas' eyes started watering, and a light sobbing and sniffling echoed from behind the Angel's shoulders out into the wide expanse. Henry tried his best to ignore it, but it wasn't long before he just felt sorry for the flock. "Alright alright, if you don't come back I'll... look into this thing." "Promise?" "I promise." "Thank you, Henry." The sobbing and sniffling subsided soon after that, and once again the valley was given back to the whistle of the wind.

* * *

The Hospital, despite being proportionately much smaller than most of the Ruins of Babylon, seemed much more imposing nevertheless. The white walls, the concrete walkways, the bright neon-red glowing letters spelling out the word 'HOSPITAL' on top of the roof ledge at the front entrance, these were all signs that the God of Haven had much better architectural sense than the God of Babylon. Even the name was clearly chosen with great care. Hospital: a beacon of hospitality. As Henry walked towards the main entrance, his Angel and bounty in tow, the glass doors once again slid apart in open invitation, and Henry once again gazed upon the sacred place where God lives.       Instantly he felt a light shiver as the cool Hospital air enveloped him, as his eyes adjusted to the fluorescent lights inside, revealing the same old Reception room: rows of benches on either side of the wide hallway, and a dark red carpet leading to the built-in Reception desk, where the famed Chaplain Sophia 12 was sitting, as usual, clacking away at the keyboard of her Computer.       One of the Sophia's distinguishing features unique to the general population of Haven was their curly copper-red hair, which most of them chose to cut short out of convenience. By virtue of her work as Chaplain being mostly stationary, Sophia 12 chose to grow her hair out. Oddly enough, instead of just flowing down as expected, it instead bunched up around her head, making it resemble the shape of a bush, more grey than red by now. She also distinguished herself through the wearing of her specially alloted glasses. Apparently without them she'd be effectively blind, that's how poor her eyesight was. That, and her unusually hunched spine seemed to suggest she was practically designed to sit at a desk all day. Henry had to admit that, as hard on the eyes as she might have been, hearing her occasional sassy jabs at him while delivering arrested flock was sometimes the highlight of his day. This was a necessary comfort, particularly on account of who else was in the room: the Meek.       Everyone of God's flock emerges imperfect. Some are missing organs, body parts or glands, and others have them in the wrong amount or order, but most can survive by exchanging and coexisting. The Meek are not so lucky. Usually they emerged with insufficient brain matter, or with abnormalities in their DNA, so often they didn't even have the mind to understand what's happened to them, much less contribute to the flock. Some could hardly even be considered flock; just piles of organs loosely held together by fickle skin, screaming aimlessly for sustenance. Still, their God, in it's endless generosity, took care of them in the Hospital as well as can be, through the attentive care of the Nuns beside them. No one in the flock was disposable. All were equally valuable in God's eyes. While that thought was reassuring, just looking at these poor souls made Henry extremely uncomfortable, which is why he found Sophia 12's perpetual calm, aloof demeanor so astounding. Truly God was wise to choose her as Chaplain.       With his Angel in tow, Henry proceeded towards the Reception desk, trying his best to ignore the couple Meek sitting on either side of the room, each with a Nun attending them and their nonsensical whimpers. Maintaining composure, Henry lightly coughed to get Sophia's attention. "Huh? Oh well if it isn't Sir Socket Face! This is your Bounty, I take it." "Yeah. Lucas 40." "Cutting it a bit close this time, huh? You're usually pretty punctual." "Well... well I'm on time ain't I?" "Sure, you are. Alright, the bounty's been processed. I'll have a Messenger bring the reward to your room. Please instruct your Angel to send him to Rehabilitation."       Henry turned around and gave the Angel the given instruction, which the Angel obliged only after the third re-iteration. The churning of it's gears violating the tranquility of the Hospital, the Angel made it's way down the hallway behind the Reception desk, carrying the increasingly nervous Lucas 40 on his shoulder. Henry stepped up to face Lucas as the Angel kept walking on. "I remember you, Lucas 40. When you come back out, find me at the Clergy House." "And if I don't... you made a promise." "Yeah alright, alright, I'll take a look. See you on the other side."       Henry stepped back to look on as the Angel proceeded to push the doors at the end of the hallway. Just before they made it past the doors, Lucas lifted his head up to look back once more at Henry. The glare Lucas gave Henry sent shivers down his spine; the kind of glare that spoke of so many emotions at once: hatred, disgust, betrayal, fear. The doors flapped shut behind the Angel, but Henry could not move on. A terrible feeling had lodged itself in the back of his mind, a feeling he'd been avoiding to acknowledge since the moment he started talking to Lucas 40. He knew then that talking to Lucas was a huge mistake, for it bore an irreversible demon in his mind: Doubt.       The boisterous scream of a Meek back at the benches snapped Henry back into the present moment. He realized he had no more reason to be there, so with only a half-hearted 'Goodbye' towards the unphased Sophia 12, Henry 38 stepped back outside the Hospital into the comparatively scalding hot air of the valley. It was finally time to go home.       Perhaps, if he'd keep a slow pace and wander around a bit, his reward would reach his room before he did. He just had to beat the sunset, before the temperature would start to drop.