The Iron Angel

Your sleep is not eternal as you had wished it. You are awoken by a strange noise in an unfamiliar room of metal. You instinctively try to shield your eyes from the bright lights in the ceiling and it soon occurs to you that you have eyes; you have a new body but your arm will not move. Twisting your neck you see that you are lying on a cold polished steel table, your hands and feet bound. Looking at your arm you are horrified. It's skin has been partially removed, revealing a mangled mess of metal and wire. You do not understand - how can you live in a body made of iron and copper? The body is cold and foreign to you. It is a prison and you hate it. You hate the men that in the coming days will prod and poke you, all the while streaming endless questions about subjects you have spent many lifetimes trying to forget.

Some time passes and you begin to cooperate with the men, who identify themselves as “scientists.” You hide your true feelings from them, you lie to them about the battle, lie about your fall from divinity, and in return you gain relative freedom. You continue down this path so that you might one day punish these and all other mortals. You have grown to despise them, for it is because of them that you have had to endure all that you have. You keep up your holy appearances, however, as you have found it quickly gains you their trust. Soon the scientists find your archive - she was wandering the world aimlessly for you, but they were able to find her and return her to you. Having recorded and experienced all that you have underwent she remains your steady ally. She promises to keep your secrets for you, and to help you exact your revenge.

One day you meet a man who calls himself Phylis. You and he speak on many subjects for many weeks and you soon come to befriend him. You learn that he is a spy of sorts. Though he is foolish to want to free the world, you see that your goals align more than he might like to admit. You hide your true plans from him of course, but you convince him to help you escape.

You board a sinking ship that Phylus calls a “submarine.” Sliding silently over the night ocean on your way to a land you once knew and loved, you find that you feel the first comfort you have known in centuries. You scheme, planning with Phylus how you will “bring freedom to all” - at least that is what you say to him. You feel capable of bringing your judgment on this world, but even as you speak with him you oddly hope that you fail. Of all the things you have seen in your long life, nothing has proven more difficult to explain than the hearts and will of mankind. Looking out over the moonlit waters, you find a small glimmer of hope. You hope that maybe you are wrong. Maybe a few mortals out there might end your suffering. Perhaps you might yet be able to wake from this nightmare.