20 INT. VENT SYSTEM - DAY
Aether is running desperately. She can barely stay upright - she''s not used to sprinting, and is tripping over her own feet every few seconds.
ANNOUNCEMENT (V.O.)
Repeat. Heat exhaust will be released in five minutes. Please vacate the ventilation system immediately.
She reaches a junction and turns left. But she immediately panics, turning around. Too late. Violet light flashes around her, and she is suspended from the ground, paralysed with her limbs spread out. Sophia approaches from behind, gauntlet glowing brightly, holding her aloft with an intangible force. The other Warpriests follow behind, lowering their weapons.
SOPHIA
I never thought I would find myself using the Star''s blessing on the
Shrine itself. Ironic, no?
AETHER
Let go!
SOPHIA
(sarcastically)
Oh, of course, right away.
She tightens her grip, and Aether cries out. Sophia simply sighs, thoroughly bored.
SOPHIA
Sometimes I wonder if you would have even succeeded in your studies if you tried. But for all your idiocy, had you chose an excellent place to give me the runaround.
Sophia gets closer and closer.
SOPHIA
Did you think I couldn''t use my powers down here? I had doubted you thought it through that far, but it seems you did actually understand the nature of the blessing at least that much.
WARPRIEST #1
Is this safe, Holiness?
SOPHIA
Firmly. I would need to exercise a far greater extent than just this to endanger the integrity of the Shrine. Now then, if we are finally done
here...
JOSEPH (O.S.)
Not yet!
Joseph is at the far end of another corridor, poised to charge forward at the group. Even masked, Sophia is clearly far beyond the limits of her patience. She swings her gauntlet, her headdress shining violet. A invisible wave of force is launched at him, and immediately bounces back. The wave throws Aether to the ground, along with the four Warpriests. Sparks fly from Sophia''s armour as she takes a
step back, poised as though someone just threw a football into her gut. She has grasped herself.
SOPHIA
What is this?!
JOSEPH
(surprised)
Oh my god. Did that actually work?
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
He disappears, seemingly into a wall, before Sophia realises what happened. The real Joseph - not a reflection this time - rushes from around the corner while the Warpriests are stunned by the blow, pulling Aether to her feet in a scramble as the two flee. A scattering of bullets from the ground fly wildly off-target, failing to catch them.
SOPHIA
System override! Terminate processes and reboot!
The lights on Sophia''s gauntlet and headdress blink out, and her stance drops as she almost falls to the ground from the sudden dead weight of her armour. The Warpriests, able to move again, begin to haul themselves to their feet.
21 INT. VENT SYSTEM - DAY
Joseph and Aether have entered the corridor with the decoy doors once again.
AETHER
How''d you know that was a reflection anyway? The angles were perfect, even Sophia thought it was real.
JOSEPH
The lines on the ceiling. They''re the only things that don''t reflect. Which means...
ANNOUNCEMENT (V.O.)
Heat exhaust will be released in sixty seconds. Evacuate the ventilation system. Fifty-five. Fifty-four.
The voice continues to count as Joseph leads Aether through the various "dummy" doors.
JOSEPH
...the line also leads the way through the tunnels too.
He reaches a door that the line connects to, and grabs the handle. Sure enough, it''s the real thing. He swings it open,
gesturing for Aether to step through. Aether is visibly astonished.
AETHER
Perhaps you''re not as braindead as you look after all. That''s nice to know.
JOSEPH
I will... choose to take that as a compliment. Imagine if I couldn''t find a reflection like that though. Come on, we''re on a timer.
With plenty of time left to take two steps, Aether leisurely walks through the doorway, and Joseph lets out a heavy sigh of relief. He moves to step through, and hurries himself up when he hears the marching Warpriests once again.
22 INT. VENT SYSTEM - DAY
The Warpriests round a corner, scouring now for a way out before it''s too late.
WARPRIEST #2
I can''t find anything.
WARPRIEST #3
The two of them must be out of here by now.
SOPHIA
There will be an exit.
ANNOUNCEMENT (V.O.)
Venting heat exhaust.
The vents begin to rumble as the temperature rises. From around the corner erupts a wave of white-hot wind, rushing toward the five of them at blinding speeds. It''s too fast to outrun, blasting with force and heat impossible for a human being to withstand for even a single second. One of the Warpriests finally cracks.
WARPRIEST #2
(desperately)
Oh god. Oh god!
Sophia simply raises her hand out toward it. The roaring wind splits around the five, parting like the Red Sea. The heat is cleaved, forming a perfect safe zone within in the tunnel they stand in.
SOPHIA
We have no need for something on the level of God to save us. A miracle on this small scale can be carried out through the works of faith alone.
WARPRIEST #1
I''ve... never seen something like this before. I thought I''d never get to. The blessing of the First Star...
WARPRIEST #3
No wonder, Holiness. Your purity must be unmatched to be favoured by the First Star itself.
SOPHIA
This was not a power granted to us. It is a power we took from the cosmos using the strength of our conviction. I only inherited that conviction.
She turns to the Warpriests, removing her helmet to reveal her face.
SOPHIA
This is a fraction of a fraction of The End. I implore you to burn this moment into your mind, and to truly understand what it means to create a God.
She stands tall in the midst of the searing wind, the very image of a demigod.