Confessor Cromwell
Feb. 4th, 2009 02:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
aaaaaaaagh_skyAs Ellen turned away from Moriarty's, a glimmer of reflected light caught her eye. Over the years, water had pooled at the bottom of the crater in which the town was built; the bomb at the very center was surrounded now on all sides. The water didn't seem to come very far up the sides of the bomb, though, not from what she could see. She shivered. That had to be powerfully radioactive stuff. If there was anything she could wear to protect her legs from it while she worked...
... was that someone standing next to the bomb?
Ellen squinted a little more closely. It looked like... yes. Yes, it was. It was a human, up to his knees in the radioactive water, and waving his arms over his head. Oh, that wasn't good at all.
She backed away from the railing and made her way down along the sloping walkways, hoping the person she'd seen had enough sense to get away from the bomb even if he couldn't get out of the water. If he was stuck, though- well, if he was stuck, she did have a... she'd have to find out if there was a doctor in town until Doc Hoff came back, actually. Stimpaks didn't cure radiation sickness. But with any luck, that wouldn't be the case, right?
When she reached the bottom of the ramp, several people were gathered around the edge of the water, watching the man by the bomb. None of them were doing anything, though. Ellen stared at them a moment, but before she could ask why no one was acting, the man began to speak.
"Behold!" cried the man, lifting his arms over his head. He was pale-skinned and hollow-cheeked, with deep-set eyes of burning earnest and carefully trimmed greying blond hair. "He is coming with the clouds! And every eye shall be blind with his glory, every ear shall be stricken deaf. Hear the thunder of his voice. Let the men, women and children of the Earth come forth to gather and behold the power of Atom!"
"Oh my God," Ellen said involuntarily. "Is he-"
"Worshipping the bomb, yup," said the tanned, bearded fellow next to her resignedly. "Yup. That's Confessor Cromwell for you."
"Let those who dwell here in this favored land attend now to the word of the prophet of Atom. Come forth and drink the Waters of the Glow-"
"He's not serious, is he?"
"Serious as a case of lockjaw."
"For this ancient weapon of war is our salvation! It is the very symbol of Atom's glory. Let it serve as a reminder of the division that has occured in the past. And the resplendence of the promise of our division in the times to come!"
Ellen shook her head slowly, too horrified to look away. Sheriff Simms had mentioned 'those crazies at the Church of Atom', but she'd never thought-
"Give your bodies to Atom, my friends. Release yourself to His power! Feel His glow, and be divided. There shall be no tears, no sorrows, no suffering. For in the Division we shall see our release from the pain and hardships of this world."
"Did he just say-"
"Sure did. He says it all the time."
"Yea, your suffering shall exist no longer, it shall be washed away- in Atom's glow! Burned from you in the fire of its brilliance!"
"And nobody's done anything about it?"
The man shrugged. "The rest of the Church of Atom works pretty hard for the town, and Confessor here's the best entertainment around on a Friday night if you can't afford Nova."
Ellen decided not to ask what Nova was. It seemed like a bad idea.
"Each of us shall give birth to a billion stars formed from the mass of our wretched and filthy bodies," Cromwell continued, a beatific smile spreading across his bearded face as he raised his arms to the bomb. "Each of us shall be mother and father to a trillion civilizations. Each of us shall know peace, and know an end to pain, and shall know Atom in His glory." He turned to the watchers a moment. "I urge you, my friends, come drink with me and pray."
Ellen squeaked. "He's not going to-"
But he was; he was already kneeling in the water, hands cupped in front of him. She recoiled physically as he declaimed, "Glorious Atom! I give unto You these feeble bones, I present to Your will this frail body-"
She'd had enough. Ellen turned away in revulsion and left the man to his continued insanity.
... was that someone standing next to the bomb?
Ellen squinted a little more closely. It looked like... yes. Yes, it was. It was a human, up to his knees in the radioactive water, and waving his arms over his head. Oh, that wasn't good at all.
She backed away from the railing and made her way down along the sloping walkways, hoping the person she'd seen had enough sense to get away from the bomb even if he couldn't get out of the water. If he was stuck, though- well, if he was stuck, she did have a... she'd have to find out if there was a doctor in town until Doc Hoff came back, actually. Stimpaks didn't cure radiation sickness. But with any luck, that wouldn't be the case, right?
When she reached the bottom of the ramp, several people were gathered around the edge of the water, watching the man by the bomb. None of them were doing anything, though. Ellen stared at them a moment, but before she could ask why no one was acting, the man began to speak.
"Behold!" cried the man, lifting his arms over his head. He was pale-skinned and hollow-cheeked, with deep-set eyes of burning earnest and carefully trimmed greying blond hair. "He is coming with the clouds! And every eye shall be blind with his glory, every ear shall be stricken deaf. Hear the thunder of his voice. Let the men, women and children of the Earth come forth to gather and behold the power of Atom!"
"Oh my God," Ellen said involuntarily. "Is he-"
"Worshipping the bomb, yup," said the tanned, bearded fellow next to her resignedly. "Yup. That's Confessor Cromwell for you."
"Let those who dwell here in this favored land attend now to the word of the prophet of Atom. Come forth and drink the Waters of the Glow-"
"He's not serious, is he?"
"Serious as a case of lockjaw."
"For this ancient weapon of war is our salvation! It is the very symbol of Atom's glory. Let it serve as a reminder of the division that has occured in the past. And the resplendence of the promise of our division in the times to come!"
Ellen shook her head slowly, too horrified to look away. Sheriff Simms had mentioned 'those crazies at the Church of Atom', but she'd never thought-
"Give your bodies to Atom, my friends. Release yourself to His power! Feel His glow, and be divided. There shall be no tears, no sorrows, no suffering. For in the Division we shall see our release from the pain and hardships of this world."
"Did he just say-"
"Sure did. He says it all the time."
"Yea, your suffering shall exist no longer, it shall be washed away- in Atom's glow! Burned from you in the fire of its brilliance!"
"And nobody's done anything about it?"
The man shrugged. "The rest of the Church of Atom works pretty hard for the town, and Confessor here's the best entertainment around on a Friday night if you can't afford Nova."
Ellen decided not to ask what Nova was. It seemed like a bad idea.
"Each of us shall give birth to a billion stars formed from the mass of our wretched and filthy bodies," Cromwell continued, a beatific smile spreading across his bearded face as he raised his arms to the bomb. "Each of us shall be mother and father to a trillion civilizations. Each of us shall know peace, and know an end to pain, and shall know Atom in His glory." He turned to the watchers a moment. "I urge you, my friends, come drink with me and pray."
Ellen squeaked. "He's not going to-"
But he was; he was already kneeling in the water, hands cupped in front of him. She recoiled physically as he declaimed, "Glorious Atom! I give unto You these feeble bones, I present to Your will this frail body-"
She'd had enough. Ellen turned away in revulsion and left the man to his continued insanity.