Doubt began to rise in me that we were doing the right thing by destroying all of this. No doubt these inventions could be used to do great evil if they fell into the wrong hands, but think of the good that could come of using them. No doubt their existed in this room of wonders and inventions the key to all the problems our people were faced with.

The gallery was lit by devices such as the one I had seen in the room at Thunder Ridge. They seemed to be glowing brighter I thought as we moved deeper into the room. I could hear Seth exclaiming over the stuff around us excitedly and a quick glance showed that Father John was equally engrossed. I wanted to see where the brighter light led and so I separated from the others in pursuit of it.

Making my way around yet another pile of more priceless artifacts I saw where the brighter lights led to. There ahead of me was a circular area that was brightly lit up. It was not jumbled with artifacts as the rest of the gallery was. Five pedestals stood alone in the space, with each pedestal displaying a book upon it. The fifth pedestal was in the middle and its book was larger than the others.

I drew close and looked at the first book's title, Matthew. I went to the surrounding pedestals and read the names, Mark, Luke and John. I had heard of the names. These were the four gospels authored by disciples of the Son of the Creator.

Excitement rose in my heart at the greatness of my discovery. What had Thaddeus said was wrong with these books? I carefully reached out and picked up the book nearest to me, which was the Book of John. Opening it I began to read.

I came to a verse that I had memorized by heart from off one of the walls of the chapel in Ta'arny and confusion rose within me as I read it. It was worded completely different then the scripture from the chapel, which made the meaning one gleaned from it different too. If this book was so badly off on the translation of just one verse how much else could it be off from the original manuscript by?

I saw the wisdom of my grandfather's words and I closed the book and looked at the inside cover seeking to ascertain its origin, which my grandfather had said originated with the Zoarinians. In small black lettering that I almost missed at the bottom of the page it read, 'The fully revised version of St. John, as interpreted by The Enlightenment Authority Order'. Enlightenment Authority Order? Feeling like my fingers were burning I put the book back on its pedestal.




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