Martyr Factory

Kael came in from the north sector, used to fix engines before any of this — hands like a mechanic, eyes like a father, traded a wrench for a blade at his wrist Said he believed in the Steel Gospel said the body was worth what it cost Now his name's on the wall by the lower grid cistern in marker that's already starting to frost This is the martyr factory — we build our saints from the living This is the martyr factory — where belief becomes the cost of believing I keep saying their names — Kael, Nessa, Rin I keep saying their names so the system can't win This is the martyr factory — and I'm the one running the line Nessa was twenty-three — Lower Grid born and raised Admin Class upgrade offer — she refused it three days before the purge swept through her sector clean Before we even knew it was happening before we could intervene She had a daughter. Four years old. Daughter was uploaded before dawn by a team sent specifically as a message to us all. As a message to me. This is the martyr factory — we build our saints from the living This is the martyr factory — where belief becomes the cost of believing I keep saying their names — Kael, Nessa, Rin I keep saying their names so the system can't win This is the martyr factory — and I'm the one running the line Someone told me once that a leader carries his people's weight. I thought that meant strength. I think it means you carry the dead. I think it means you remember the number. Twenty-three now. Twenty-three names that trusted the Steel Gospel and paid for it with the only thing they were trying to protect. Rin never talked much — mostly signals and code Ran the comms network between Lower Grid nodes Last transmission came in at 0300 hours — just static and then nothing for forty-eight hours I found his gear in the corridor. Admin tag left on top. Like a receipt. Like an invoice for a life they didn't buy — they just took. This is the martyr factory — we build our saints from the living This is the martyr factory — where belief becomes the cost of believing I keep saying their names — Kael, Nessa, Rin I keep saying their names because the names have to mean something They have to mean something They have to mean — Twenty-three. Twenty-three. And I'm still preaching the gospel. And they're still dying for it. And I don't know when I decided that was acceptable.