Mad Gods - Predatory Ethics: Book I by Athanasios Page B

my brothers. For the same reason, I knew they would stand with me.
Each of us stood shoulder to shoulder in defense of the other. We did not stand
to defend any rules or laws. We stood for each other. In the end, nobody stood
for principle. Whoever stands, stands for the people they hold dear, for those
who matter. Principles and laws are just so much air and smoke. At Thermopylae,
I saw past this. I hope to remember it.

 
    TIME: AUGUST 16TH, 1961. ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT

 
    Mesmerized, Kosta read on. The lives spoken of
touched him and tugged at his consciousness. There was no doubt about the
reality of the record. The emotions and attention the stories evoked were
enough to confirm its authenticity. The author’s visceral telling of thoughts
and passions exposed a longing. A need to stop the unending battles —
battles where the foe never mattered, for it was never the same. The fight went
on and on. The author wished to be able to stop, to not only live a life, but
to also enjoy living it.

 
    - Idammah-Gan
Codex - Depth of
Correction II —

    TIME: 8TH MONTH, 17TH DAY, 4TH YEAR OF THE REPUBLIC. IBERIA

 
    This time, they call me Remus.
    It’s strange what you notice when you’re dying. At
worst, the gash in my side was a distraction. Through the grill of my helmet, I
see everyone in a shade.
    This is what I notice.
    I’m calm and that surprises me. I’ve dropped to my
knees, while my opponent grabs my chin and snaps my head back. His blade
touches my straining throat. I don’t care to look at the official decision.
Soon enough, I’ll know.
    As I wait, I encounter a familiar, errant thought.
    Where will I end up this time? Once the gash my
opponent just opened in my jugular stops pumping out my life, what will I be?
    I know I’ll come back. I’ve been coming back since -
I can’t remember when, though this is the first time I’ve thought of this on
the bright side of death. I know why and I’m dying. I know all of life’s
answers. The reasons these people reveled in my death. They scream and jeer at
my falling body. I represent everybody whom they hate. Everything that has ever
hurt or pleased me no longer requires an explanation.
    I’ve dropped forward to lie facedown. I see this from
afar. I see my opponent step away from me and throw up his hands, basking in
the cheering and adulation. I convulse three more times and am finally still.
    It feels like I’m rising above this scene. It’s now
growing dim and distant.
    There is nothing here, but my awareness. There is
only blackness, and beyond this blackness, there is void. There is nothing
here, nothing. I’m the only one who can see this.

 
    TIME: AUGUST 18TH, 1961. ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT

 
    With the account of each subsequent life, the
author’s wishes are deeper. Beneath the continued battle, the story of his lives
floats on a layer of colossal frustration.   He believes he can reach the light, which is his
destination. Every time he thinks that he’s almost captured it, the distance is
halved, yet he never succeeds. The light is always just out of his reach.
    Kosta knew that he would never be able to reach it.
He used the wrong vehicle. He finally saw, understood, the connection he felt
to the author’s longing: it was the hope for peace. They shared a revulsion
against the turmoil and chaos into which they were forced. The monumental,
historic struggles for souls, world influence and control, were no longer
appealing. The struggle Kosta now sought was more personal and, in the end, was
merely that for which anyone ever really fought.

 
    - Idammah-Gan
Codex - Depth of Correction
III -

 
    TIME: AUGUST 19TH, 33 A.D. GOLGOTHA, JERUSALEM, ISREAL

 
    My mind is in a complete fog. People are crying. I
can’t tell how many and for whom. There is nothing of which I’m sure, except
for the pain in my wrists and ankles. I try to look to my left and to my right,
but I cannot see past my extremities. I only wish that I couldn’t see even