Returning to the Office

It’s hard to say why I left the Enlightenment with Sunshine and Dingo. For one thing, they kept demanding more from their members. Read this book, study this concept, or discuss this issue. At first, back when we were all tearing down the ideas of the Nod Religion, it had been great. There was so much to undo and so much critical thinking. But at some point Iago started trying to replace it with his own doctrine. Maybe the Enlightenment had already started drifting at that point, already quit being an escape and just another place to be. But when you sat down and looked at all the genetic improvements the virus brought about, it very rapidly lead to some odd conclusions for some people. For starters, our weakness for sunlight was suddenly not such a problem. It was easily avoided, after all. Our extended age meant our leaders were older, wiser, and less concerned with the material world than someone mortal. In fact, why should we even live in a mortal world? Weren’t they the transient ones and we, the forever beings, better able to sustain society? This line of thinking was started up by another member of the Enlightenment but when Iago realized it started drawing back members who’d left, he jumped on it. Critical thinking suddenly became, “Question everything except us”. Suddenly you weren’t setting up a safe house for your friends, you were setting it up for the cause. And it was very easy to disappoint the cause. I was being bitched at for not doing my reading, Sunshine had failed to properly rob a victim, and Dingo just hated authority. We’d already learned how to survive on our own before we showed up. So we packed our bags and marched off in the early hours of the night. I directed Ferris down a street I still remembered well and even waved to two sentries innocently examining a window display next to Headquarters. It was still night and everyone would be up. “Drop me off here. Keep driving and don’t pull over for anybody. If I don’t call you in about an hour,” I said curtly. Walking up to the building had worked once, after all.