Canto XXVI
Seventh Terrace;
Creation of Lust.
Scene I
“Let me tell you a tale.
There was once a living soul who liked to create things that will rank him above
others. He was ambitious and admired what was it to be next to God but not of
the equal with God. For that he was humble. He knew his limits and avoided that
resemblance. He did his research wide and deep since then.”
“God is an entity
documented for many generations and that was his focus. He widely read
theologian notes, but his affinity was into ancient works. He studied
everything that was to be read, in particular ancient Greeks, and from there to
the works of Renaissance
of the 12th century was a period of many changes at the outset of
the High Middle Ages. He found it
intriguing and one of his constant readings was Dante’s poems. The concept of
Hell and Heaven was well documented in theologian works. He read psychology
like Freud and Carl Jung.”
“Freud’s
theory on once’s conceptualization of how personality is structured and how the
elements of personality function in the living mind.”
“He
then read on revolutionary subjects of the latter ages like Tolstoy, Marx, and
also the fictional novel ‘1984’ by George Orwell and also visionary writes. He
was fascinated by the concept of maintaining one’s life from within. It was
also fueled by Dante’s struggle in his real-life with the conflicts at Florence
hence his writing on the poems.”
“Science
was his main passion though besides the ones mentioned. He pursued that
diligently and used his mind to create his creations. He studied robotics and
designed the virtual worlds than when he was younger... He did it with
Fabricius the Ancient Greek World.”
“You
know Fabricius. He was brilliant too. He had radical ideas like him. It was a
leap on designing evolution, and some said it was as great as the creation of
God’s. Fabricius had more need of more than a virtual world. Fabricius wanted
to do more but the other was not keen. They went separate ways, and the
Federation was formed.”
“Fabricius
was upset for he felt he betrayed the other. He wanted to do better and an
opportunity came. He developed a new world altogether; a virtual prison. He had
better guidance then but came close and failed in the replica.” Dante smiled.
“An
interesting tale but that did not explain what you or rather who are you?”
Virgil asked.
“I
am Virgil. I am the one who developed or rather wrote the codes for this
program. My main strength was to develop you. And you too, Statius.”
“You
are mad, Poet. You are Dante, and ---” Virgil retorted back. Dante was to fight
back when he saw the group were brought back to the scene there at the terrace.
The second group approached the fire and
reached out to it. Dante saw some shadows in the fire which was why the souls
reached out. The fire burned their hands which caused them to draw it back.
“Let
me prove it to you who am I?” Dante stepped forward and spoke to them.
“Your
hands did not get burned. It’s all in your mind. That is not a wall of fire.
It’s an electrified wall actually or rather a virtual one. If you looked at
your hands, it’s not burned but the burn marks were imagery of it.” Dante told
the group. “I know this for me ---"
“Don’t
confuse them, Poet,” Virgil called out.
“We
have to get across the fire. Our loved ones are there. My parents are there.”
One of the gathered souls reached out to Dante. “Help me please.”
One
other among the group then approached Dante. He looked like any other soul;
drabbed in the long tunic, and haggard in the expression.
“You
are a soul like us on the terrace and yet you hold a shadow? How can that ----
unless you are the one that was mentioned in the realm.” The soul spoke to
Dante.
“I
am with a soul and --- a shadow for I am complete. I am not of this realm, to
be honest. I can help. Why are you here? You had cleared the last terrace of a glutton,
and probably taken the fruit at the inverted tree.” Dante looked at the soul.
“I
have. The fruit was thrown to me by my lover before she fell to the abyss. I
called that depth an abyss.” The soul openly declared.
“Yet
you are still here?” Dante asked. “Are you afraid to move on?”
“I
am here because she is in there. When she fell, she ended there.” The soul
motioned to the wall of fire. “I can’t leave without her. All of us have
someone in there.”
The
soul held the right hand to the chest near the heart.
“I
understand it now.” Dante smiled. “It all beginning to make sense. Not a lot
but some of my questions are answered.”
“Sense?
What do you mean?” The soul was agitated. “I refuse to play the game with my
loved one there.”
“And
you don’t have to,” Dante replied. He turned towards Virgil.
“Lust
or extreme love affliction. I saw in Hell when a lady soul was sentenced here
for her determination to love or be loved. She discovered it and worked on it
that it became a so-named sin in the belief but what was a sin when it her free
will to learn ---- or rather experienced it. Lust, as said, was like --- water
was to a ---an Indian in the dry lands of Nevada, or the Ethiopian thirsts for
cool water when its ---"
“That’s
damnation. The over-zealous desire that overrode all other senses.” The soul
burst out in anger. “We are ---”
“We
were given the mind to live. It was in our DNA to think ---” Dante was cut off.
“God’s creation or rather the Devil’s desire in us made up from the mind was when
the serpent lured Eve to get Adam to bite the apple. It became like what was usually said; the
overwhelming of love precedes all. It was seen in Juliet’s suicide was for her
love for Romeo in the love tragedy of the play. It’s a known fact of life.”
“Blasphemy!’
The soul approached Dante. “You are a ---”
“A
creation of God with the free will soul unfortunately unlike you here. Trapped
in a virtual realm by your beliefs. You are trapped in this demented Garden of
Eden which is a realm of a virtual world created by others.” Dante stepped
back. “Do you recall who are you?”
“Do
tell me?”
“Perhaps
I can refresh your memory. Once you told me that you loved displaced reality in
your reading? Do you also like hidden faces like Prisoner of Zelda? Man in the
Iron Mask? You were an ardent reader of those ancient texts besides Greek”
Dante glared at the other in the face. “You are a fan of the dystopian crime of
the 20th century, the generation of radical creative writings.”
“Did
I?” The other place on a weak smile.
“You
also admired the old archive pictorial animated production. Was it the “The
Prisoner” 1967 production then? A pictorial series of psycho-mind influence,
between that, was reality and --- fantasy. Fantasy was the subject matter than
in that century but with the advancement of virtual reality, fantasy became
reality. Or rather virtual reality. You have a hovercar named KAR120C; the name
of the land vehicle in the series.” Dante looked at the other.”
“What
is that resemblance please?” The soul asked.
“Your
name is Fabricius.” Dante looked at the other. “Am I not right, Fabricius? Or
is it Hugh Capet again? You held so many disguises. Fabricius is the real you.
Why could you not leave this place? You are held back by the fire.”
“Fabulous,
Virgil. I knew you will see through all these codes and routines.” The one
identified as Fabricius admitted his identity. “You were always a better
developer and programmer than myself.”
“Every
developer or hacker has their signature mark on the program. When I identified
that this was a virtual world, I began to look for the codes and identify the
signature. Like why does the wall of fire stop you, Fabricius? What is the wall
of fire in the program to a hacker like yourself? Where is your team of six? I
know some were taken but there must be others.”
The
soul there remained silent. The image of the soul soon became the previous
Fabricius.
“Touche,
Virgil.” Fabricius smiled. “How did you know?”
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