Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 3

Malevolent

Though these topics were rarely mentioned between the species.

"I am no religious scholar, and up till this point, I had not aligned myself with any one religion though my family line is historically Christian, so I cannot say weather these words are true...." He trailed off nervously.

"I can."

The group turned to look, watching as one of the Admiral's marines stood and stepped onto the council floor.

"And what do you know of this/" Asked the council woman

She opened her mouth but Admiral Vir spoke first, "She is our Ships chaplain, so she can actually preform certain religious rites if required.... Its her job."

The room muttered and Admiral Vir stood back as she took the floor, "The admiral has been right up to this point, those three major religions do share a common belief in the old testament teachings, though it isn't always called that. The old testament is a collection of books translated from manuscripts that date back more than four thousand years in some cases, and speak of events that happened even longer ago than that. Before humans had systems of reading or writing, or before they had tools to do either, they passed down stories through word of mouth, or oral traditions. Eventually these stories would have been inscribed on stone tablets and then on papyrus or other forms of paper and then compiled together to form the books that set the foundation for these three major religions." She paused turning to look out towards the stars that dappled the sky beyond the glass, "In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and the earth was without form and void; and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters."

The room was silent now, and beyond the station window, stars and galaxies spun past in a slow spiral dance, "Genesis 1:1. And 1:2" She said quietly, "There are multiple translations of these words, but, the spirit of the book remains the same. Genesis is the first book of the old testament, and supposedly describes how God created the universe, separating dark from light, the land from the sea and the sky from the water.... How he created light." The room shifted subtly.

Under his breath Admiral mouthed.

"The architect."

"Eventually it depicts the creation of animals and plants which were put on earth, and finally, the creation of man."

She turned to look over at the still smiling human, whose expression was one of fond memory, while at the same time shaking his head slightly in amused disbelief.

"Adam was the name given to the first man that was ever created, and if true, it is the oldest name that we have."

The muttering sprung up around the room again.

The chairwoman leaned forward in her seat, "So, let me see if I understand this correctly. Humans have a religion that sounds remarkably like the stories laid out I the Eden archive, and no one bothered to mention this?"

Admiral Vir stepped forward, "Please, Chairwoman, I.... it's a bit more complicated than that. The story that is set out by the archive, while similar has some fundamental differences that....."

"Fundamental differences." She said sternly, "What differences are important enough to be fundamental. A supreme being created the universe and separated light from dark. It seems to me that all the important similarities are there." She sighed and turned her head to look at the still smiling human, "And you, You are claiming to be a fully matured Deus, AND this supposed "First Man."

There was silence around the room again as all the delegations leaned forward to hear him speak.

Their breath was held.