Cathedral of Holy Celestine Machina

[JennyDK]

The biggest, most used and well made site of worship of the faith.
Everyone is welcome here, believers or not and everyone is treated with open arms.
The only strict rule is to not carry weapons inside and before fully entering, there is a storage building where visitors can have their armaments kept safely.

[DoctoroMindbender]

Kenzo closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. In through the nose. Out through the mouth. Steadying his mind, and allowing his bio-regulator to adjust his chemistry. Though it did not show on the quiet calm of his features, of in the meticulously groomed uniform, this place made him uncomfortable. It wasn't that he was disarmed. A sacred space was no place for arms. It certainly wasn't the open display of implants. Even those that weren't branded by Yamazaki undoubtedly contained parts from the corporation's foundries, which provided a comforting familiarity. Kenzo was not a follower of the Holy Celestine Machina, but was here as a matter of duty. While he understood many religions had structures with the same cavernous grand architecture of the cathedral, he always found such artifice to be alienating, preferring instead the simple shrines and serene quiet of gardens tended by saffron robed monks. He was bringing an offering from his supervisor, who was a member of the church, but was called off-world to meet with the board of director without warning.

The Cathedral's information service fed directions directly to Kenzo's AR implant, which rendered a meandering phantasmal line towards his location. Kenzo followed it, though even his discipline could not stop his eyes from wandering. There was so much going on in this place that he found it hard to focus, to be mindful of any single thing. Kenzo considered the possibility that this was what made him ill at ease. This thought was cut short, a chirping in his auditory nerve, that told him that he had arrived. He stood before an altar, covering it was a hodgepodge collection of offerings: Small electronic scraps no longer identifiable, icons produced to order from mass market 3D printers and all manner of home made items. In his hand, he carried an envelope, of parchment, sealed with the wax mon of the Yamazaki family. Such an old fashioned thing, to offer in such a place - but it was not Kenzo's place to question it. He moved his mouth, and said words he had memorized by rote for this occasion. His mouth struggled with them, the syllables were there but this was not words of a fluent speaker or even the double speak of a linguasoft, but machine words not meant to be uttered by human tongues. Hoping that he had honored Tanaka-sama properly with his recitation, he lightly laid the envelope down among the other offerings.

He again closed his eyes, taking the deep rhythmic breaths of meditation, trying to find his center in this place that seems foreign to him in a way that other places did not. There was clearly something spiritual here, for those people gathered here. He did not understand it, but he could at least attempt to respect the reverence of the followers in the Cathedral even if it wasn't his way.

[inkylore]

Morning skies, and dark stars. The Cathedral of Holy Celestine Machina was a place of worship, and perhaps a religion that seemed ahead of its time. Rem was not a follower, but one might be hard press to believe that, granted the rate at which he visits. He simply respected the way they ran things, their rulings, and their belief system, though he admits their first ruling about transcending flesh was a bit iffy it probably wasn't far odd from where humanity was headed given the number of cybernetics they were toppling on nowadays.

as fore mentioned, Rem was there to solely pay his respects he might have done so by paying with a donation or listening to a lecture but that was the extent that he could afford to give. it would be the height of arrogance to try to get into a deep discussion on the topic when he purely had no true interest in the practice. his belief was purely superficial, and it would probably remain that way at least for a while. rem traditionally made the habit of visiting the cathedral during the day. the rate of danger was lower then so he could afford to travel carelessly without weapons or at least he believed anyway.

the entrance was just within reach upon a long ascending staircase. he liked to take his time walking up those stairs but sometimes if he was tired he'll skip them and clime the inclined plain of the structure beside the staircase which in hindsight sounds more tiring than taking the actual stair but it's what worked for rem at times so no one could really complain. entering inside he always found himself short of surprised when he saw the inside was basically a hall with a carpet down the middle, worshippers standing around disorganized yet attentive. for security reasons, Rem could only speculate that the lecture was a hologram of the holy woman herself. then again he hadn't been to an actual lecture in a very long time so maybe they changed some things? he remained uncertain.

[JennyDK]

Today is another nice and quiet day in the church, with both new and old practioners present, awaiting the next sermon to be held soon. Of course, a place like this also attracts tourists or other curious souls from all over. The people here make sure to keep it all clean and tidy and neat every day, so in contrast to many other places in town, this one is definitely being kept well. There is a fair attendance present, but not enough to make it too crowded - either that or they have much than enough room for everyone. There is a respectful silence going on, with people only whispering between each other, rather than breaking this sort of tranqulity. Some even come here simply for a chance to sit and meditate, even if they are not of the same faith as well. Guests are not being approached by any clergymen as they let them come to them if desired.

After a bit of time, the upper portion of the room has people appearing on the balcony. It appears to be a pair of cybernetic enchanced priests that then approach the middle of the balcony. They briefly introduce themselves to the crowd, before then introducing the sermon holder of the day - the famous Jessica Proud, who then appears herself for the room to see and hear. She goes on, welcoming everyone present.

[inkylore]

the figures atop what could only be compared to a pedestal drew Rem's gaze he was confused yet curious it surpassed the expectations he had for this would be lecture and this "proud" woman who was she exactly? should he have known who they were? By the crowd's reaction, she seemed important and yet at the same time he too felt he had seen her before. this unfamiliar ness with the church made it hard for him to recognize things or people he ultimately should have if he had been more dedicated to the church's cause. still, this woman atop the balcony gave him an eerie feeling the way most of her body had been dedicated to cybernetic enhancements. She seemed to have hammered or rather embodied the church's first rule or at least to have gotten as close to achieving it as possible. some might have questions in relation to the womens appearance or unrelated. rem was trying to hold his tongue, keeping his arms crossed and lightly tapping his feet his eyebrow twitching quite a bit. if given the chance to ask, how and why she came to be he doubts he would be able to will himself to do so. on the other hand, he wondered what feats she was able to accomplish with said enhancements. or even more so where did she acquire them in the first place.

[JennyDK]

The sermon soon properly starts off and beyond the clear view of Jessica, her figure also comes fully life to life in a large hologram, in the middle of the room, for those further away to be able to see. She begins with some stories and events she has had since last time as well as some told to her from other practioners and outsiders, who have recently converted. These stories are then each coupled with small speeches about the religion of theirs, giving a more well rounded and complete image of how these principles and beliefs are applied to every day life and to more grand ideologies. The next portion has her speaking of the latest visions she has had from the Holy Lady herself - to this, most of the practioners kneel down to pray and show worship towards their goddess of the machinery.

[inkylore]

it should come to no surprise that Rem was one of the few not to pray, that said he also had a hard time buying a good portion of it especially this vision of a holy lady. with the advancements humans were making, a number of explanations could be reached for what Mrs. Proud was seeing, artificial or even virtual reality. She was practically half machine at this point and at no point was machinary immune to hacking, not that he would presume that, that was going still a person could dream. rem turned his rist over to spot the time of his watch. though it was rude to think he was reminded whyy he rarely partook in these lectures and that was that it always seemed to go on forever. realistically he didn't have to stay he could havee left befor, after or in the middle. but he felt a moral obliation to see it threw so thats what he was going to do. his mind was starting to wounder though. what would he do after this. should he partake in intertainment, go out to eat and the one that always came around: were there any stripe club or brothel like joints in the city. he'd be supprised if there weren't. it probably wasn't the kind of thing he should be thinking in church though... he couldn't help but wounder if there was a cybernetic that could read minds.

[JennyDK]

Once the most important parts have been done and is over with, Jessica makes her final statements and initiates a short communal prayer for the crowd to participate in together, then finally thanking everyone and telling them goodbye before moving out of the room once more. The other priests return and give a few official statements and news concerning the overall church as well as the local area, marking the end of the whole thing. After that, the place soon goes back to people doing their own things around the cathedral.

[inkylore]

rem released a sigh of relief finally thankful it was over. 

" sigh, finally i can leave with a clear conscience "  he wasted no time waiting and left immediately he only which he could leave faster but as he was approaching the half way point he figured he could probably leave them a donation of some kind, a bit of money for there trouble and all. looking about he tried searching for anything to resemble a donation box. up until now he had solely donated electronically. he started to wondered if there even was a donation box of some kind. this was trouble some he couldn't seem to find one and yet, he didn't want to make the effort to ask someone and risk starting a conversation he had no intrest in the first place. he could just leave but he really wanted to donate something...

[JennyDK]

After the sermon is over and done with, most tourists and guests leave the place as it returns to its normal duties once more. A few curious people converse with different clergymen here, both the "lower" tier ones as well as higher ones. This leaves him fully able to explore or do as he pleases within the cathedral - at least within the publicly accessible rooms, like this one. He looks a bit "searching" one of the nuns thinks and decides to approach him. Her robe is fairly conventional, but her hands are clearly prosthetic. Her face is youthful and pretty still, even with an eye implant, that is basically a large mechanical eye. She steps closer yet until she can initiate conversation softly."Greetings. Is there any way I can help you? You appear as if you are looking for someone or something...", she says in a melodic and lovely voice.

[inkylore]

" no not there either" . a voice spoke, a request for assistance and as a result rem became choked up. this was the scenario he desperately was trying to avoid. he turned  around slowly, by his expression one could tell he was very distressed by something. " Oh, your a sister, wait". rems expression became more relaxed but had shortly realized, he was nearly the only one there. " oh dear, have I really been here for so long". covering his mouth he had a moment of second hand embarrassment, perhaps he should have simple left and donate electrically like he usually did, though now he felt it was too late to do even that in this very particular. well she's here now, might as well confess.
"i-in the older days of worship, they used to have donation boxes, and well I-I was wondering if the cathedral had a similar practice here" rem explained.

[JennyDK]

The nun either does not notice or do not have any investment in his embarrassement of the situation. She simply does her best to aid him with whatever thing he needs to do, if it is within her capabilities. She gives him proper time to get through his request before answering back. Meanwhile, her eye grows bigger and smaller in lens as she scans him just to be on the safe side and thankfully finding nothing suspicious or alarming."We do have those still. These are located near the booths where practioners may converse with our clergymen. I can take you there if you wish...", she calmly speaks back.

[inkylore]

" Y-yes please" there was a lingering tone of shame in his voice, admittedly for him to try to avoid this situation he could check area's populated by followers, especially the clergy. and that still hadn't change, if he had to go up there all by himself he honestly would rather not and bail all together. he knows what the rules say, but he doubt all would follow it so blindly or easily so naturally he holds a sort of trauma, not with the religion it's self but the very concept of religion. at the heart of it maybe he should get this over with and stop coming all together. he was becoming exhausted just thinking about it...

[JennyDK]

"By the way, my name is sister Helena. It may just be me, but you seem a bit...unwell. Is there something wrong? Do you require any sort of help?", she asks whilst slowly guiding him towards the booths, which are located in another part of the cathedral. After all, some people have nowhere else to go or noone else to talk to and despite not being religious, then they come to these places in a desperate hope and attempt for some sort of aid.

[inkylore]

" i mean your helping me now aren't you?" oh dear she was on to him, well it was expected, maybe he should start wearing a mask to help hide his expression..
but never mind that if he could just donate a little something he could hurry and get out of this place. and just at a time as weird as ever intrusive thoughts came about, they were't random or particularly dangrous they were something else... images of the influental jessica proud and other nuns in suggestively sexually situations kept popping up each one becoming more and more sexual then the last. he was starting to pitch a tent... he soon began questioning how that would work exactly. his expression shifting to a mixture of confusion and suprise as if he had just had an epiphany and had to back track and recalculate said realization...

they approached the box soon enough and like wise rem donnated what he could but as he did so i thought slipped out... " maybe she changes parts like people change clothes? i don't know" rem spoke in a low tone   

[JennyDK]

Sister Helena gives him a puzzled look as he states his answer back to her, as it doesn't really sound very...convincing to her."I suppose, but do you get this nervous over asking for directions? There are people here you can talk to if you need it. No force meant, of course", she replies back, not letting the point go, at least not for now. Even if she saw him being aroused, she would likely overlook it. After a few minutes of walking, they finally reach a row of booths, that are set up for people to basically talk to clergymen about anything really. She watches him give him his donation in silence."Excuse....me?", she asks.

[inkylore]

" hmm? is something wrong" rem spoke, he seemed a bit more calmer now, perhapps because his intrusive focus about what the life of mrs. proud was likke had effectively made him forget his passed moments of concern. he probably didn't even realize that he ultimatel let a intrusive about mrs.prouds body slip. yet it was unlikely sister helena had the context to piece together what was going on threw his head. good thing too a holy women finding out that rem was having perverted thoughts about  fucking and breeding the most dedicated follower, what would she think, and what would others if she reported it to them. rem could imagine he'd never live it down. though maybe the church staff isn't that shallow minded. by now what the helena asked earlier likely fell on deaf ears at the time..

[JennyDK]

Sister Helena is getting a bit concerned as well as uncertain how to proceed as he seems to ignore her. Rather than deal with what could possibly be some sort of problem, she finds a way to exit herself from the situation and conversation."I..... see. Well, free to approach any of us, if you need assistance", she simply states before slowly moving away and towards the nearest guard, just to inform them to keep a bit of an eye on this odd person.

[inkylore]

the reply didn''t exctly line up with rem's response, and it niched his mental composure, bringing on a hint of anxiety. with so little concern being brought back he panicked a bit but tried to keep a brave face and left the  cathedral, almost at bolting speeds, settling for speed walking as to try to not be suspicious as his mental panic would allow. once he made it out he slowed down a bit, reminded more by the erie gazes of why he restrained to visit the place as often as a normal personn might, the potential judgement he might recieve was a risky...

it felt over bearing even still. 

" i think its time to find something to eat" rem left the area completely after that...