Chapter 1: Why does God where a Mask?.
The Combine recruit stood steady and silent against the blaring sun. The plaza where he stood was nearly empty, with only a few sulking citizens and Combine guards occupying it. Three days, it had been three days since he had joined up with the Combine “Overwatch”.
He had no other choice, really. His family was long since dead, and he wandered the streets for awhile mingling with the homeless and the insane, he preferred to be neither. He might have been faceless, but at least he was well fed and slept sound at night.
Even if that sleep was nothing more than an artificial electric abyss. He dreamed of nothing during those dark, empty nights with only the persistent groans and creaks coming from somewhere far off in the alien Citadel’s interior to keep him company.
But, once he woke up and shook the last of his electric fantasies away he would grab his stun baton and make his way out into the streets of City 17. There was no other feeling like it, dominating your fellow humans. Knowing -you- were in charge, and nobody else. He ignored the Breen casts. Some old man droning on and on about “humanities flaws”. *** you, he thought. I like myself just fine. He knew when it came down to it, he and his buddies were in charge. And it looked, for the foreseeable future, it would stay that way.
Things would have been perfect, if his friend Jake Harbor would’ve stayed in the city. Except Harbor was always a man looking for bigger and better things. After he led that raid into some apartment building down the street and killed at least a dozen rebels, the Combine Elite offered to promote him. And Harbor took it without hesitating. Sure, he had to go for “off-world training”, but that didn’t stop him. That was the last he ever saw of his friend, and one of the reasons he joined Civil Protection. He didn’t have his protection anymore. It was time to step up in society, even if that meant leaving a little of his humanity behind.
Every time an elite unit of Combine officers would march by, leading a raid, or escorting “offenders” to the prison, he wondered if his friend’s face lay behind one of those masks. He tried not to think about it too much. He had a comfortable life, a steady supply of food, some rec time at the reproduction simulator; he might even live forever, if the rumors were true. He existed, that was all that mattered.
The Recruit watched as a mother and her twelve year old son cautiously walked past. “Mommy, why does God where a mask?.” “He’s not God, just a man Timmy, now sush”, the mother offered. “Well, he tells us what to do, makes our decisions for us”, the mother steered the child away before the recruit could hear the full conversation.
“Hey, Aaron, you there buddy?:. “Yeah, I’m here”. “Okay, our CP Sarg says your supposed to head back to the Citadel, time for some, err...training”, the voice told him. “Alright, let me get someone to cover my position”. Well, Aaron thought. Its time to move on up in the ranks and show them what a real God can do.
The Combine recruit stood steady and silent against the blaring sun. The plaza where he stood was nearly empty, with only a few sulking citizens and Combine guards occupying it. Three days, it had been three days since he had joined up with the Combine “Overwatch”.
He had no other choice, really. His family was long since dead, and he wandered the streets for awhile mingling with the homeless and the insane, he preferred to be neither. He might have been faceless, but at least he was well fed and slept sound at night.
Even if that sleep was nothing more than an artificial electric abyss. He dreamed of nothing during those dark, empty nights with only the persistent groans and creaks coming from somewhere far off in the alien Citadel’s interior to keep him company.
But, once he woke up and shook the last of his electric fantasies away he would grab his stun baton and make his way out into the streets of City 17. There was no other feeling like it, dominating your fellow humans. Knowing -you- were in charge, and nobody else. He ignored the Breen casts. Some old man droning on and on about “humanities flaws”. *** you, he thought. I like myself just fine. He knew when it came down to it, he and his buddies were in charge. And it looked, for the foreseeable future, it would stay that way.
Things would have been perfect, if his friend Jake Harbor would’ve stayed in the city. Except Harbor was always a man looking for bigger and better things. After he led that raid into some apartment building down the street and killed at least a dozen rebels, the Combine Elite offered to promote him. And Harbor took it without hesitating. Sure, he had to go for “off-world training”, but that didn’t stop him. That was the last he ever saw of his friend, and one of the reasons he joined Civil Protection. He didn’t have his protection anymore. It was time to step up in society, even if that meant leaving a little of his humanity behind.
Every time an elite unit of Combine officers would march by, leading a raid, or escorting “offenders” to the prison, he wondered if his friend’s face lay behind one of those masks. He tried not to think about it too much. He had a comfortable life, a steady supply of food, some rec time at the reproduction simulator; he might even live forever, if the rumors were true. He existed, that was all that mattered.
The Recruit watched as a mother and her twelve year old son cautiously walked past. “Mommy, why does God where a mask?.” “He’s not God, just a man Timmy, now sush”, the mother offered. “Well, he tells us what to do, makes our decisions for us”, the mother steered the child away before the recruit could hear the full conversation.
“Hey, Aaron, you there buddy?:. “Yeah, I’m here”. “Okay, our CP Sarg says your supposed to head back to the Citadel, time for some, err...training”, the voice told him. “Alright, let me get someone to cover my position”. Well, Aaron thought. Its time to move on up in the ranks and show them what a real God can do.
that is cool 
