Pope Urban IX sat peacefully on his prayer mat, his eyes closed as he meditated while continuing his prayers. He had just broken through the first stage, and before he could examine the notifications that had appeared before him or practice the new breathing technique, something completely unexpected happened. The technique was unusual because it could only be activated while he was praying, making it different from almost every other cultivation method humanity had created. Before he could investigate it further, however, the entire city of Rome began to shake.
This was not an ordinary earthquake, and Urban immediately knew that something was wrong. The air itself appeared to tremble around him, creating distortions that had nothing to do with the movement of the ground beneath his feet. He had never experienced anything like it, and his confusion quickly turned into concern as he wondered whether something had happened to the people outside. Before he could leave his chambers to investigate, a beautiful woman beyond anything he had ever seen suddenly appeared inside the room.
She looked furious.
"Hello, ma'am. How may I help you?" Pope Urban IX asked cautiously, his voice betraying the trepidation he felt.
"Ah, it seems you are awake and have passed through adulthood, which is good," the woman said, barely acknowledging his greeting. "Don't worry about the shaking; just attribute it to your god. Although, if I have to do that for everyone else as well, this is going to become a real pain." Gaia shrugged as though the destruction she had nearly caused across Rome was nothing more than an unfortunate inconvenience.
"Sorry, but gods other than mine are preposterous," Pope Urban IX replied, his expression becoming offended despite the strange circumstances. He remained wary of the woman standing before him, especially because she had appeared from nowhere and seemed completely unconcerned about the shaking city. Whatever she was, Urban was certain she was not human. His instincts told him that this encounter was far beyond anything his intelligence agencies could have prepared him for.
"Right. Seeing as you reacted that way, it seems my anger woke you before you had the opportunity to examine all those notifications," Gaia said, waving one hand casually. A table suddenly appeared in the middle of the room, complete with a steaming pot of tea, several cups, and a plate of biscuits. "Have some tea while we talk. And take a biscuit as well."
Urban stared at the table for several seconds before slowly sitting down. He was still confused, but the sheer absurdity of the situation had pushed him beyond the point where asking whether something was possible seemed useful. He poured himself a cup and took a cautious sip, only to discover that the tea was surprisingly good. "May I ask who you are?" he finally said. "You clearly aren't human, because I have never heard of anyone capable of summoning furniture and tea from thin air."
"No, you're right. I am not exactly human," Gaia replied with an amused smile. "And good name, by the way. Naming yourself after the man who started the Crusades was certainly a choice." She took her own cup of tea before continuing. "As for what I am, just call me Gaia and let's leave it at that. The rest will come naturally."
Urban narrowed his eyes slightly but did not argue. There was something about Gaia's presence that made it impossible to treat her like an ordinary person, regardless of how casually she behaved. He could feel power surrounding her, yet it was unlike anything he had experienced from another human being. Before he could ask another question, Gaia's expression became more serious.
"Now, let me get the ugly truth out of the way," Gaia said.
A black sphere suddenly appeared above the table.
Urban recoiled immediately.
The object was difficult to describe because it seemed to violate his understanding of what should exist. Something about it felt fundamentally wrong, and his newly awakened instincts reacted before his conscious mind could understand why. His stomach turned as he stared at the revolting mass hovering before him.
"What is that?" Urban demanded, his voice suddenly strained. "That should not exist here. Please get it away from me."
Gaia's expression softened slightly as she studied his reaction. "Right. That is the proper reaction, even if it is only a piece of your god."
Urban froze.
"Pardon?" he asked slowly.
"What do you mean, my God?" His expression hardened as indignation replaced his fear. "And how dare you harm God?"
"Relax. There is no need to get worked up," Gaia said, raising a hand to calm him. "It isn't like your god is actually alive at the moment."
Urban stared at her in complete disbelief.
Gaia then began explaining the truth behind the entity humanity called God. She explained that humanity's collective belief had created a powerful spiritual existence around the concept of God, allowing cultural energy to eventually give that entity the potential to influence reality. However, the entity had also absorbed centuries of human emotions, fear, desperation, hatred, and countless other negative influences, leaving it dangerously corrupted.
The revelation was almost impossible for Urban to process.
"So, you are telling me that God is real, but only because humanity believed in Him?" Urban asked slowly. "And He now needs people with pure and devoted hearts to borrow His power so that the power can be cleansed by their own cultural energy?"
"Yes. Good. You understand the important part," Gaia replied. She leaned back slightly, apparently relieved that he had grasped the concept so quickly. "Now, no more questions for the moment."
Urban stared at her.
"I have a few," he replied.
Gaia sighed.
"Namely, who are you that you can put my God in a cage and tell Him to behave?" Urban asked, his voice filled with excitement rather than anger this time.
Gaia immediately noticed the change in him. His belief had strengthened rather than weakened, because she had just given him something that humanity had desperately lacked: proof that the being he worshipped actually existed. His faith was no longer based solely on belief, because he now possessed knowledge that could not be dismissed as a mere theological argument.
"Good," Gaia said quietly.
Urban's eyes widened.
"I am the consciousness of this planet," Gaia explained. "My power accompanies everything on this world, regardless of what someone tries to do. There is one particular pest I have trouble rooting out, but that is hardly a fair comparison because we are not fighting on an even playing field. He is supposed to be fighting my boss, after all."
Urban remained silent as he tried to understand what that meant. Gaia had casually explained that she was the consciousness of Earth, that she had imprisoned his god, and that something else was powerful enough to cause her problems. Each revelation seemed more absurd than the previous one. Yet the more he listened, the more certain he became that Gaia was telling him the truth.
"But you can do something about them," Gaia continued. "They will certainly try to corrupt your gods, because they can use corrupted gods to influence and eventually control humanity. That makes us natural enemies."
"Right," Urban muttered. "That is a lot to take in."
He leaned back in his chair and stared into his tea. The entire day had overturned almost everything he had believed about the world, religion, cultivation, and the nature of existence. Only a few hours ago, he had been a religious leader waiting to advance his cultivation. Now he knew that his god was real, that the god was imprisoned, and that another force existed which threatened both humanity and the entities created by human belief.
After a moment, Urban looked back at Gaia.
"And why are you named Gaia?" he asked. "I hope you aren't planning to start your own religion. You said yourself that you are responsible for all of humanity, so creating a religion around yourself would create an obvious conflict of interest."
Gaia blinked.
Urban continued before she could answer. "And I assume you are talking about those corrupted humans as well?"
His tone contained genuine curiosity. More importantly, he was clearly interested in gaining the favor of the being who claimed to be Earth's consciousness. If Gaia wanted the corrupted humans destroyed, then helping her seemed like the obvious choice, especially if those people truly were enemies of humanity.
"No," Gaia replied with an amused smile. "I was simply named by the Sonnenbergs."
Urban raised an eyebrow.
"Their family had a rather significant influence on history, so the name stuck," Gaia explained. "I never saw any reason to change it. Besides, Gaia is an appropriate name for Mother Earth."
Her expression then became serious again.
"And yes, you are right about one thing," Gaia said. "I want you to help uproot the corrupted humans."
Urban's expression sharpened.
"They want nothing less than to devour the entire universe," Gaia continued. "The struggle against them and whatever stands behind them may very well become the work of our lifetimes. I intend to fight them for as long as necessary, but humanity will need people willing to stand beside me."
She smiled.
"So, are you in?"
Urban did not answer immediately.
Instead, he looked down at the black fragment of his god that Gaia had placed before him, then back at the woman who claimed to be the consciousness of his world. The implications were staggering, but there was something else that caught his attention. Gaia had said she already had a place where he could begin.
"And where exactly do you want me to start?" Pope Urban IX asked.
Gaia's smile widened.
"I have a place in mind," she replied. "And conveniently, it is somewhere you can spread your religion quite easily."