Sermon by the Pastor of Purity (PL 1)

Near a crowded sector of Old-Tokyo's bazaar, a large stage has been set up. On this stage, three large poles, each with a mutant of Neo-Tokyo tied to it, rise above a small pile of kindling. Standing calmly in front of them is a bald man with a soothing presence and a honeyed voice, who preaches of keeping the blood of humans pure for some time, before turning to three tied to the poles, and raising a torch he says, "And so, we of this holy mission to burn away humanities impurities, to cauterize, so to speak, the grievous wound we have suffered, shall sentence these three mutants to fire." The three on the poles look down on the crowd with a pleading faces, but the armed guards finger their weapons, ready for any trouble.

(PL 2)In the crowd, a man with a red trench coat watches the sermon with a stern look on his weathered face. His left arm seems to not reside in the corresponding sleeve, which flaps gently in the breeze, and he wears a monocle over his left eye. His spiked red hair and bushy beard, which reaches his collarbone, and mustache look unkempt, giving him a wild and vicious appearance. He walks with a pronounced limp with his right leg, as if walking on a peg-leg. He pushes his way to the front of the crowd, but remains silently in the front row, glaring at the preacher.

The preacher gives the man in the trench coat a distasteful glance as he turns to the first victim, a girl with long wiry hair, and a skin mutation who struggles in vain as he lights the kindling under her.

The man in the coat watches as the preacher lights the flame. As the flames grow, the man pulls up his left arm out from within his coat, and lifts in to be in between the fire and his face. His arm appears to be completely paralyzed and frozen, with the muscles tensed and seemingly unable to relax. He gazes into his arm intently, then turns it slightly towards the man. He chuckles, then withdraws his arm back into his coat. He speaks up and faces the preacher, "Do you do this often? Burn the wicked mutants who curse this land and taint the human populace?"

"How else shall humanity ever free itself from this blight?" says the preacher as he moves to the second and third poles, lighting the fires underneath the struggling mutants. "How can we live in peace, when we know these inhuman monsters can come to slay us, destroy our homes, kidnap our children? There shall come a day when our children are pure enough to be let into the dome, and that day shall not come so long as these mutants are allowed to roam free," says the preacher as some in the crowd cheer, and throw old boots and fruits at the burning victims of the crusade.

The loud cheers of the crowd drown out the nearby sound of marching boots. In the distance, one can hear the thumping of over a dozen booted feet all marching in unison. After every couple paces one can hear a stern voice shout "Steady!". After a few moments of this monotonous rhythm a squadron of soldiers dressed in grey appear from around a corner. The men are dressed in full-body jumpsuit-like outfits with a black inverted triangle emblazoned upon their right breasts. Ominous grey helmets with black visors cover their faces and from a distance, each man looks identical to the rest. The squadron halts in an orderly formation and stands at attention.

The coated man continues to question the preacher, "Have you know idea how people work? Just living out here will cause you all to always and forever be mutated and impure, as you say." He gazes around at the crowd. "No man, woman, or child here has any hope of ever becoming 'pure' enough to enter the Dome. Give up your hopes on becoming a citizen there." He points a finger towards the preacher. "That man knows nothing of this world or how it works, and will only mislead you further into the shadows of ignorance. You astound me." The man turns heel and begins his heavy limping out of the crowd, pushing past them with force. He looks up to see the black garbed men standing in the distance. He smiles and seems to lightly cover his left eye with his right hand. He chuckles and says over his shoulder, "By the way, your death approaches, good sir." He continues to chuckles to himself, before vanishing into the distance.

The pastor takes a deep breath as the flames climb up the poles of the three victims, the first two thrashing, and crying for help. However, the girl remains calm and collected, despite the flames now climbing up her legs. The armed guards watch the squadron carefully, and one goes to nudge the pastor as he was absorbed in watching the burnings. He turns, and eyes them cautiously. He mutters in the ear of one of his guards who nods, and jumps down from the stage, walking towards the squadron, and clearing his throat. "Can we help you?" He asks nervously.

"By the authority of Nebu-sama, Department Head of Public Order, this unlawful gathering is to be disbanded at once!" shouts a tall lanky man wearing an officer's cap. His uniform is decorated with various medals while a black cape trails behind him. "Under proclamation 137 of the Council all gatherings of Old Tokyo "citizens" exceeding membership of 20 unless for solely economic purposes are to be considered suspect of insurrection or conspiratorial actions!" the officer shouts sternly. "Desist or prepare to be neutralized!" he cries. As he finishes his command the grey garbed soldiers raise incredibly high quality (by Old Tokyo standards) rifles at the crowd.

The man clears his throat, glaring at the men gathered. "We have expression permission to gather here as subsidiaries of the department of human resources. Full permissions granted by the authority of Mr. Taksu," says the messenger. The crusaders of the pure tense, and hold their weapons close. The crowd freezes, and look on the verge of panic. Momentarily forgotten, the girl on the first pole clenches her teeth as the fire reaches her restraints.

"Where are your supervisors? Proclamation # 137 strictly outlines that all actions of the 'Purity Crusade' must be accompanied by one recognized official member of the Department of Human Resources who possesses no less than 1 month of service for each Old Tokyo assembly member exceeding the standard limit of 20. If you have no such supervision then it is best that you return to your dwellings and sleep for the night. All matters of cleanup and waste disposal shall be attended to by the Department of Public Order." the officer calmly and assertively states. The soldiers stand motionless, each steadily aiming his rifle between the eyes of a nearby crowd member.

The messenger nods, and fumbles in his pockets, producing a worn piece of paper, a certificate signed by Taksu. "Each of our dozen members here in cloaks, and our pastor all have this proper paperwork. This should be sufficient for our current gathering", the messenger stammers. Behind the pastor, who has his eyes fixed on the soldiers, the girl snaps the rope binding her, and throws herself into the ground, rolling to snuff out the flames set on her. After they go out, she seems almost undamaged by the burns, her calloused skin quickly regaining its color.

"As explicitly stated by both I just a few moments ago and the Council's Proclamation there must be 1 HR Department official accompanying you for each member exceeding 20. This should not be a hard requirement given the size and funding of the Human Resources Department. Failure to meet this requirement means that this is considered an illegal gathering due to the high potential for insurrection, unnecessarily violent and destructive behavior, or the creation of public unrest." the officer briefly glances at the girl before turning to his platoon "Bag her for evidence." he coldly commands. The soldiers turn their aim to the mutant girl and proceed to fire a barrage of powerful tranquilizer darts at her.

"And as I stated.." begins the messenger, "Myself, these twelve men, and the pastor are all officials, the proper paperwork is one our persons." As the messenger talks, the pastor turns to the girl, "When did you.. you little rat..!" he grunts. The girl raises her arms in defense, and the first few darts don't pierce her skin. But one embeds itself in her stomach, and she stumbles, and throws herself into the crowd, who quickly form a circle around her.

"Touch the evidence and I'll have you executed by firing squad." the officer warns. He turns to one of his lieutenants and commands him to retrieve the "evidence". "While this paperwork appears authentic I'll also require your Dome residency license alongside your warrants for the capture and destruction of these things. Otherwise, I'll have to report you to Nebu-sama for unnecessary disturbance of the peace." the officer hostilely declares.

The messenger grits his teeth, as dome residency is mentioned. "Taksu said we didnt..." he says as he gulps. The pastor nods slowly to a few men in cloaks flanking the crowd, who disappear into it, drawing weapons. Despite this, the messenger continues, "Taksu said we had special permission to enact department business, as er.. part of his 'auxiliary citizens' program," he says hopefully.

"Auxiliary citizens? I have received no information regarding such a program and even if it exists I have also received no notifications that such a status imbues one with the authority to supervise civil gatherings. For now, this congregation is suspended until I hear otherwise. Since this is your first offense I'll leave you with just a warning but if you proceed to assemble groups of 'citizens' exceeding 20 there will be dire consequences." the officer tips his cap and returns to the center of the soldiers' formation. Several grey suited soldiers approach the mutant girl and begin restraining her with high-grade titanium cuffs and a remote shock collar. They then proceed to drag her into the safety of the Public Order squadron. "This 'girl' is to be confiscated as evidence. Should you repeat offend it can and will be used in a court of law against you. Until next time, obey the laws and you shall be rewarded, citizens. Unnecessary troublemaking will be met with suppressive force and just punishment." the officer loudly declares.

The messenger cocks a brow, "Used against us? What are you going to do, set the savage loose in the courtroom?" says the messenger. The pastor pipes up from the stands, "For now, dear crusaders, I ask you disband. Our friend on Neo-Tokyo shall have this sorted out, and the crusade's shall continue in no time," he turns to squadron, "All within' the letter of the law, I assure you." says the pastor in a soothing voice.

The girl eyes flutter as she attempts to keep conscious, mumbling in protest, "No.. let me go, I didnt do anything... I swear.."

"You may have done nothing but your involvement in this unsanctioned gathering means you must be contained for future interrogation. Take her to the containment facility." The soldiers grab her by either side and lead her to a nearby armored vehicle. The squadron marches away from the scene of the rally in silent unison and soon the sound of synchronized marching has faded into the distance.

The pastor quietly nods to his followers as the crowd disperses. The remaining guards and the messenger pack up the boards, and other pieces of the stand, loading them into two trucks, driving away after. The only evidence that remains of the gathering are three piles of ash, and two charred bodies of unlucky mutants. The girl with the wiry hair thrashes about, until she slumps, either having gone unconscious, or given up.