Church On State -part 1- By Top Tier Story Info

Abel doesn’t kneel. He looks past the Enforcers. Directly at Cain.

CLASSIFICATION: APOSTATE (LEVEL 5) CHARGES: Heresy, Sedition, Impersonation of Clergy, Unlicensed Miracles.

Lying to the State is a Class B sin, Cain. You might lose a merit badge. Church On State -Part 1- By Top Tier Story

Across from him: a MAN (50s), weeping. His shirt is torn open. A SINNER’S MARK—a barcode tattooed over his heart—has been partially burned off.

The State says you are unworthy. The State says your sins are debts. But I tell you: grace is not a transaction. Abel doesn’t kneel

Two boys, 15 and 13. CAIN (younger) and ABEL (older). They sit on a rusted fire escape. Below: a city that hasn’t yet become a church.

The file expands. A PHOTO: a man in his late 30s. Softer than Cain. Kind eyes. Wearing a stolen deacon’s vestments, preaching to a crowd in an underground parking garage. Across from him: a MAN (50s), weeping

A RATTLING at the door.