THE COUNCIL HAD NOT EXPECTED HER ENTRANCE, BUT, then, they never knew where the Earth-daughter might be nor when she would choose to appear. She came and went as befitted a goddess, with the same inscrutability as one might expect of the supernatural. Lately, it was said, she had departed from her cloistered life and actually gone out among the trainees in the valley, and even beyond, to visit tribes whose faith had been wavering.
“My master, whose glory illuminates the days and gives life to the world, commands your presence this night in the great hall,” she told them. “Come now and follow me.”
They arose and followed; one never questioned one’s deities. They used the back ways forbidden to all others, and entered the huge cave with its statue of the Great God from the side. It was late; no others were about, and no rituals were performed at this time.
She knelt down before the great statue, and they, the elders and leaders of the church, prostrated themselves and waited.
“Master, Your obedient and loving daughter who is part of you obeys Your holy commands. Command us, greatest God of all, who created us and the world.”
Now sounds emanated from the great statue, as if, somehow, it had begun to breathe through enormous stone lungs. The head and torso took on a more fluid, plastic look, and the eyes moved. And then the Great God spoke, in a mighty, inhuman voice that instilled instant awe and fear in the hearts and minds of onlookers.
“A large amount of anomalous data has been sent to Us over the past weeks,” it said. “They produce cause for concern, indicating increased demonic activity against Our people and Our will. We have sent Our daughter to investigate, but She had found nothing that could not be dealt with. We are reassured, but require a final confirmation before dismissing the matters. The ultimate goal of demons is to thwart Our holy and absolute will by taking from Us the Ring which We have given to you as a sign and symbol of our faith. If you have the Ring, hold it up so We may look upon it.”
The chief administrator rose to a kneeling position, then, fumbling, removed the ring from her finger and held it high. Great eyes turned and focused on it.
“Very well. Guard it with your lives and souls and honor. The demon forces are strong and may make the most bold and outrageous attempts to get it. Our daughter will help you to protect it even more. Obey Her in all things when battling the greatest of demons, lest you lose not only your lives but your immortal souls. She is a part of Us, and Her glory a reflection of Our own. Go now and enact Our bidding and carry out Our sacred will. At all costs the tests must be run, the system must be preserved.”
They groveled and made the responses and prayed for mercy and wisdom, but the Great God’s statue had already lost its fluidity, its life, and returned to being the statue it otherwise was.
The Earth-daughter rose and turned and looked down on them. Poor, simple creatures; slaves to do whatever bidding she commanded. The Great God had been wrong; the last important test had just been run.
She was now the goddess and mistress of all Matriyeh. Matriyeh . . . the first world and people freed from the system. With the computer’s own help she’d analyzed the memory recording modules and now understood how they worked and what were their limitations. From now on the collectors would make two stops, not one, when they returned from the field. Using the more sophisticated portables, her priestess-slaves would first evaluate and then reprogram those modules so that the Great God heard only what She wished it to know. The modules going out to reprogram the third rank would also carry Her will and Her messages, not Master System’s. It was already mostly done. The religion itself was being reprogrammed, the old beliefs crumbling before the new truth. Polytheism was dying, replaced with a different, almost monotheistic pantheon. There was only one deity for the masses and it was Her, there was only one system, and it was Hers to make. And if they doubted, or questioned, She would walk among them and even the biggest, toughest chiefs would grovel in the mud and worship Her.
Soon they would have more reason than magic tricks to do so. Soon the priestesses would be instructing them in the art of planting, of building, and the new doctrine of cooperation and alliance. It was a challenge, but one she welcomed, for nothing was beyond a goddess, and she was determined to be a great one and give them more reason for worship than most religions.
She wondered, idly, about the ones she’d left behind. If they got all five rings, if they inserted them, if they gained collectively power far greater than even she could dream of, would they be worthy of worship?
It was irrelevant. This was Her world and Her people, and this was Her entire universe from this moment on. If those others attained their godhoods, they better damn well keep off Her back . . .