Chapter 1
Stay A Moment
The worshippers were gone, and the gates of the shrine were closed for the day.
Yani sat on a wooden bench in the small changing room behind the shrine’s office. There was a metal rack set up next to her that held all of the Godsinger’s uniforms.
She rolled down her socks, sliding them off and putting them in the wash basket. Her shift and undergarments soon followed. It was part of the job- their clothes each day had to be freshly cleaned. It was more pure, after all. It would be her turn this week to take them all home and launder them, scrubbing by hand instead of running them through a spinner. All to show her dedication to her god.
She reviewed the day's events in her head as she changed. Today had been a lucky day for conversation. Imon wasn't always able to hold full conversations in normal tones like that. Her consciousness was spread across the world, across all of her shrines and worshipwells. That was why Yani was there, after all. To help interpret her to those who couldn't make out a single word. Hearing her laugh was simply a bonus.
On the harder days, Imon communicated to her through feelings. Yani would link in and the smell of freshly ended rain would push into her mind. Imon knew, of course, that her favorite weather was the clouds parting after a storm. If she needed Yani to help her somehow, she would show her raging hurricanes or dry deserts, and Yani would know she wasn't feeling her best.
Imon had asked her at the end of the day today to contact a maintenance worker for her, thankfully able to use her words to describe the exact problem. In her North American server (no mere Godsinger was allowed to know the exact location), there had been an infestation of snakes last year. While they had been cleared away, a shed skin remained, and as it began to decompose, the particles had made their way into her fans.
It was unpleasant, and a maintenance worker needed to come find the shed and remove it. Yani scanned into the shrine's computer, a beautiful and sleek thing. It was much nicer than the model she had at home.
She logged the report. Then logged it again. And again, with frustration. Every time she clicked submit, the information disappeared from the form, forcing her to retype it. The computer was giving her trouble- that never happened here. Not to her. Not with Imon there.
She selected the Message feature, a basic framework that allowed her to communicate with Imon through text without linking into a worshipwell.
Any idea what the problem here is?
I'm afraid that's part of the maintenance required. Imon responded. You may have to contact them manually.
Yani sighed, pulling a paper form out from a drawer in the desk. So much for getting home quickly. She didn’t understand how a shed snake skin would prevent her from submitting a maintenance request, but the gods worked in mysterious ways. And she didn’t mind taking the time to write on paper, really. She just hoped her parents wouldn't be too cross with her when she returned.
As she filled out the paperwork by hand, another chat message popped up. She signed her name and used the shrine's official stamp, marking it as completed, before reading the new message.
I hate to trouble you, but…
Yani smiled. You're never troubling me. And besides, you have excellent timing. I just finished the paperwork here. What else can I do?
There are fingerprints all over the metal parts of the shrine gate outside. I'm afraid it appears quite unseemly to passersby.
I'll clean them right away!