Russia – Outskirts of Saint Petersburg
Winter Wind: -12°C
Time: 3:14 AM
Lily hated the cold.
The snow crunched beneath her boots as she trudged down the uneven road, puffing warm air into her gloves with a melodramatic pout. Her fur-lined white cloak fluttered around her like a frost-kissed angel, though the scowl on her face made her look more like an annoyed fox than a celestial envoy.
"I swear, next time I won't be accepting such a stupid mission," she mumbled, arms folded tightly against her chest. "Who sends their favourite girl into Siberia just to talk to two drunk old men? Stupid Luthar and his stupid plans."
She slipped slightly on a patch of black ice and nearly face-planted into a frozen mailbox. Her wings fluttered out reflexively to balance her, earning a loud protest from a nearby crow.
She muttered at the bird on the road," Why are you not shivering?" Of course, the bird couldn't reply; it just ignored her and flew away.
The shack appeared at the end of the narrow street—a rust-streaked iron door, a flickering outdoor bulb, and windows half-covered in frost. Inside, she could already hear the faint clinking of bottles and the metallic hiss of welding equipment. Dim coughing echoed through the walls.
"Well, here we go," Lily sighed, fluffing her hair with both hands. Her radiant eyes shimmered in the dark like captured starlight. She gave the door three soft knocks, humming a cheerful tune.
Inside, Ivan Vanko grunted and turned his head toward the noise. His father, Anton, looked up from his workbench, coughing violently into a rag.
"Did you invite someone?" he asked, his voice low and wary.
"I haven't invited anyone in fifteen years," he muttered. "Especially not at three in the morning."
The door creaked open on its own.
Standing at the threshold, framed by a falling curtain of snow, was a girl far too clean, far too beautiful, and far too cheerful for this part of the world. Lily stepped inside without waiting for permission, rubbing her hands together.
"Good evening, Vanko family!" she beamed. "You've been blessed by Omnissiah!"
Ivan stared. "What?"
Anton blinked. "Are you lost?"
She skipped forward, pulling a parchment scroll from inside her cloak and holding it out with both hands. Its surface was inscribed with precise golden script, radiant circuitry coiling around archaic symbols.
"You have been chosen by the Cult Mechanicus to serve under the divine will of the Omnissiah," Lily said solemnly, though her grin never faded. "You will be initiated by Cult Mechanicus and serve under Luthar Ferranus Cogbane most prestigious tech priest."
Ivan gave her a long, slow look. "Did someone hit you on the head?"
"Oh, don't be rude," Lily huffed, sticking out her tongue. "This is a rare opportunity. Very prestigious. Not many humans get offers like this. Usually, we just catch them."
Anton's hand trembled as he reached for the scroll—but his cough stopped him. A fit wracked his chest, and blood flecked his lips.
Lily knelt beside him immediately, her expression softening with genuine concern. "You don't have long, do you?"
Anton managed a bitter smile. "What could I say? Medicine doesn't come for free."
Lily nodded gently. "The priest knows. That's why I'm here." She held up her hand, and a flickering holographic projection of Anton's internal organs glowed into being, revealing the decaying tissue, the dying liver, and the inflamed lungs.
"He can give you a new body," she whispered. "One that never decays. No pain. No sickness. Filled with the machine god's blessing and will… You can live for eternity."
Anton stared at her like a man glimpsing salvation through smoke.
Ivan stepped forward. "And what's the price?"
"For your father?" Lily tilted her head. "Faith."
"And for me?"
She turned to him then, and her aura shifted subtly. The innocence remained, but something ancient stirred beneath her gaze—like a storm behind stained glass.
"Absolute loyalty," she said. "You'll become a Priest of the Machine God. You'll learn to communicate with the machine and have a chance to witness miracles with logic. To speak to steel and command weapons beyond the understanding of humans."
Ivan's expression tightened. "I don't need a God and definitely not some crazy cult."
"Everyone needs a god, especially when that god is a concept. Lily said. "Luther wants you under him. The fact that I am sent here to invite you is showing his sincerity; normally, he would just kidnap you and then put a few bombs, which is much more effective."
"cult with explosive tendency"
She gave a gleeful giggle. "Oh, it is. But we're very friendly!"
Ivan looked between her and his father. The older man had fallen silent, staring down at the glowing data scroll with wide eyes.
"What happens if we say no?" he asked, arms folded.
"Then I walked away," Lily replied cheerfully, rising to her feet. "No threats. No assassins. Just a missed opportunity." She spun once and sighed dramatically. "But Luthar will be annoyed that I spent two hours in sub-zero weather just to get rejected. And I will whine about it for weeks."
Anton finally found his voice. "If I accept… how soon can I get treatment?
Lily beamed. "Tonight."
Ivan raised a brow. "And want me?"
Lily stepped closer, her expression still sweet—but her eyes gleamed with something colder beneath the surface. She gently tapped his nose with a gloved finger.
"Of course you will come too," she said cheerfully. "But if you try anything clever... We'll show you why even Hell is considered merciful compared to a Mechanicus reconditioning vault."
Ivan flinched slightly but didn't pull away. His eyes locked on hers—searching for a lie, a hidden agenda. But Lily only smiled, glowing with ethereal warmth that didn't match the ice forming on her cloak.
Anton reached forward and touched the metallic scroll Lily had unrolled. The parchment shimmered faintly, its surface lined with etched circuitry and mechanised veins.
A soft click sounded, followed by a pulse that ran from the scroll up Anton's arm. The glow sank into his chest, and—suddenly—his coughing stopped.
He sat back in his chair, chest rising steadily for the first time in weeks. Colour slowly returned to his cheeks.
Ivan's eyes widened. "What the hell was that?"
Lily smiled gently, closing the scroll and returning it to her satchel. "A field-release medical lattice—nano-stimulants paired with targeted neuro-cleanse agents. It's not a cure... but he would enjoy this; he wants to die before his transformation."
She turned to Ivan, reaching into her coat and producing a small vial.
"And this is yours," she said. "It'll help you sober up. Reason better."
Ivan didn't move. He stared at the vial and then at his father. Finally, he took it from her hand—slowly, deliberately.
"You'll regret it if you try to control me," he warned.
Lily tilted her head, eyes sparkling with amusement. "The Omnissiah already wrote your path. I'm just the delivery girl."
Author's thought: Well at least now, people would not panic that all the cult members he is collecting are cute girls.
By the way, have $5/month as a higher tier for those who want to go the extra mile in helping, but I don't want to reduce the benefit for people who are paying less. So I had given shoutouts. But looks like it's not enough to attract more people so I am looking for new suggestions for $1,$2 to $5
On Patreon l have 45 advanced chapters
https://patreon.com/Silvervir?utm_medium=unknown&utm_source=join_link&utm_campaign=creatorshare_creator&utm_content=copyLink