5 The crucifixion

As Andrei drove back to his home in Basa city after ruining a company. He could not help but notice all the half-dead people around major streets. He saw crosses there, not just of one kind but made in many different and fascinating ways. The creativity of the modern crucifixion robot amazed him.

Some crosses had their victims with head down to the ground, some impaled with their private parts, others stretch out their arms on a gibbet. At times he saw only one vertical stake with multiple bodies hanging around it like a traditionally decorated Christmas tree, but only with heads and guts hanging around it.

He turned on his radio with excitement. "The deputy inspector judged that the rebels had forfeited their right to live in March 24th, 2056. After encouraging to damage government properties and persecute government officials, we had to take action. 6,000 rebels were crucified along the streets of Base City not including those that died during the arrest. They should have known that resisting an arrest is futile."

The police used government issued crucifixion robots. Those robots could recycle wood, plastic, metal, and even people. First the a machine totally minces everything in it to shreds. Then it compresses the materials in it while evaporating moisture. After that it will form a stake or a cross, depending on the quantity of the processed materials. It could use a person to form a stake within half a minute.

After the stake or cross is formed the police will administer lethal poison just in case the victim manages to hold out too long or escape. Since death does not follow immediately on crucifixion, survival after a short period of crucifixion is certainly possible. Andrei saw many people crucified throughout his years , and he remembered three of them as his former acquaintances. He was very sorry at first, but as time passed he grew accustomed to dead people. This was just life for him.

After driving around in his car, Andrei actually forgot to go home in excitement and carefully watched every wretched person he came across. He saw Red Devil on one of the crosses.

Andrei slammed the brakes and got out of his car.

Is it not miraculous how one's fortune can turn so quickly, so completely? One moment, being smug and self-righteous in front of Andrei, the next, gainfully employed by the government as a street sign. Red Devil writhed as every move he made ignited spasms of pain, while visions and voices, obscene and monstrous, haunted him.

The length of time required to reach death could range from hours to days depending on the method, the victim's health, and the environment. Red Devil was near his long awaited death.

Andrei scratched his head and slowly walked in front of him. "All we have are the memories of the past, the moment of the eternal present and the hopes and fears for the future."

Red Devil coughed out some blood. "Don't get depressed on me, partner. I've had a minor run-in with the wrong sort. Can I have one last wish?"

Andrei liked to treat Red Devil with an uptight tone, but he was more than ready to help him despite the tone of his voice. "Why... Why should I be forever giving you handouts? There's nothing for me to gain from you."

Red Devil gulped, visibly getting ready for a long monologue. "I still feel hollow inside as paying for sex cannot fill the void a wholesome relationship can. All men, even if they deny it, need a genuine woman in their life. Real men - not the effeminate men today - have a strong desire to nurture. They want to take care of something weak and build it up. For many, that manifests in a family. Without a family most people will not live healthy or productive lives. Chasing the never ending money or revenge is a means to nowhere. Note that you're no closer to avenging your dead family."

Andrei could not help but start crying. He didn't really do anything special or different to cope, he just cried like a baby. It's cliche, but people just keep living and putting one foot in front of the other. Everyone says time heals, but it doesn't really. It just makes you forget. He almost forgot his good times with his family. He did not appreciate enough the time he spent with Red Devil.

But life can be good again, just in a different way.

Red Devil could not help but smile. Andrei's shell is cracked, he just needs a little push to do some good. "We are now nothing more than a global marketplace, where every human interaction is treated as a transaction. This is a gigantic disaster at the cost of humanity. Presently, we can only look at this system and draw the conclusion that it exists for the sole purpose of preventing people from interacting in a way that is normal and social. There is no justification. The role of the elite, or the ruling class, or the state, or whatever was at the top of a social order and charged with managing it, was to serve the people by providing them with a path to work, to do the right thing, and to be rewarded for doing so."

"Now, somehow, we've decided that society owes the individual absolutely nothing, it is every single person's own duty to simply figure out a way to make their own lives work and do the right thing."

He pointed his weak fingers at a girl crying under a stake. "See her? I want you to protect her. I want you to give her the family she just lost. I've been eavesdropping on what she had to say to his dad. Her sister, Veronica just died, I'm sure know that name. Her mother died in childbirth. His father is sharing my fate. She will have to take care of all the gambling debt her father amassed. I'm sure you know what loan-sharks do to pretty girls like her."

"I want you to be a good person."