[center][h1]The Curious Sky[/h1][/center]
[center][img]http://i296.photobucket.com/albums/mm186/Littlekeith/WDMC_Golden_City.jpg[/img][/center]
[center][h2][i]Primum, 23:59 hrs, 4021 A.I. The High Illuminator's chambers.[/i][/h2][/center]

[i]"Why do you hesitate, my child, come forth. There is nothing to fear."[/i]

[i]"Fa- Father Illuminator, I have something that I wish to speak of. It is most dire."[/i]

[i]An old, wizened man, in golden robes, with white trim raised his eyebrow. "Yes, my dear? What might it be?"

The young woman, a beautiful blonde, who had just made the lowest rank of Illuminator, looked up, with tears in her eyes, lip quivering. "Father Illuminator, I know that this is hard to believe, but... the Inquisition, they..." She choked up, sobbing. "They- they destroyed an entire town. I don't know what they'd done, but surely it wasn't punishable by death, was it?"

The High Illuminator smiled, and raised the young woman's chin, and said, "I'm sorry, my dear."

The girl, confused, sniffled, and said, "Wha-"

BZZZZZZZZZZT. A lance of brilliant energy came from a Holy Armsman, the guard selected directly from the Pantheon for the High Illuminator. In his arms, he held a sacred relic, given to the priests directly from the gods themselves. It pierced the woman's chest, and passed through, the spark leaving her eyes, a look of terror and betrayal in them. The High Illuminator smiled, and said, "I'm sorry I had to do that. Wouldn't do if you knew too much, now would you?" [/i] 
[b]Anyone with ties to the Church would notice the disappearance of a First Light Barbara Kenias, especially if they were in Primum. [/b]

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[center][h2][i]Custos, the next day, 0709 hrs.[/i][/h2][/center]

The streets were packed but clean, as usual. Everything was springtime and roses, the factories were humming, the offices were buzzing, and the people were practically singing and dancing in the streets. It made Benji Novak sick. Why couldn't people [i]see[/i] what the Church was doing to everyone? That beneath this saccharine-sweet outside, that no one was willing to pass Shatter Alley at night? That if anyone looked into what the Inquisition was doing in the Grand Manufactory, they'd take a trip off the cliffs? He shook his head. No, part of the responsibility of having this kind of information was pretending to not know. Picking up a flyer on a barrel, he examined it. It was that cocksure fool on the cliff's work, what was his name... Strong. Yes, that... propagandist who worked for the Resistance. Benji didn't quite see how propaganda would accomplish anything. The truth in its pure, undefiled form was enough. 

However, he was not here to contemplate the campaign against the Church. The Novak family had done well to keep their hands clean, even if they were the suppliers of weapons for half the Resistance. He was there to pick up some information, for the project that had the Research Wing abuzz. His contact was a machinist, who specialized in Landwalker engines. He was able to create a prototype for the- 

BANG. 

A bullet, fired from a rifled barrel, about a kilometer away, penetrated the man's face, right between the eyes. The sudden murder in the streets stopped the movement of the normally bustling people, until a woman screamed. Then, all hell broke loose. 

[i]About a half hour later...[/i]
Several Inquisitors, the type that would normally serve as a sort of police force, were gathered around the body with note pads. Such a public murder hadn't happened for years, and on such an important figure, they were barely prepared to investigate. The most they could do was tag the body with a black piece of paper, tied to his finger, and carry the corpse, covered in a sheet, on a stretcher, to the morgue. [b]The whole city had heard by now, but anyone with ties to the Novak family or Church would've discovered it first. [/b]