And that's exactly how everyone starts, without knowing it's already over, and up there there was no formal meeting, no minutes, no protocol, it was a direct conversation, the kind only those who truly rule speak, short, dry, without beating around the bush, and Jesus, look at the scene, half the planet is already gone, the city is silent, strange noise of sirens mixed with the echo of gunfire, and then it's released.
Jesus: Father… don't start interceding for them… but look… fifty percent of the world's population is gone, this has changed way too fast.
God: So what do you want then? Why do you always come with half a request, half a speech? Just decide already!
Jesus: I don't know... do like that guy in the boat with the tiger, throw them in there and see what happens, at least give them a minimal chance, like survival by force, no script, no blatant miracle.
God: Jesus… humans are beyond redemption, you know that better than I do, you've seen the whole story repeating the same mistake.
Jesus: Daaaaad... just one chance, it doesn't have to be beautiful, it doesn't have to be fair, just... let me try.
And the silence weighs heavily because a sincere request is harder to deny than rebellion, and God looks not with anger but with that old weariness of one who has seen it all and yet still decides.
God: Okay… do whatever you think is best, but don't come saying I didn't warn you, and don't make too many exceptions because then it'll turn into a mess.
Jesus: Relax, I'm not going to save everyone, I'm just going to... give them the tools, the rest is up to them.
And Jesus lowers his gaze to the world not as one who judges, but as one who chooses a point of support, and he doesn't go around distributing miracles, doesn't go around healing everyone, doesn't go around raising the dead—none of that. He begins to observe patterns: who reacts quickly, who thinks before acting, who holds someone's hand instead of pushing them away, and he marks people like someone making a silent list, without fanfare, without announcement.
These ones can withstand more pressure.
These guys think better under stress.
These ones don't freeze up when things go wrong.
These ones... maybe
And the "little moral" isn't light descending from the sky, it isn't a voice speaking a name, it's a fine-tuned, almost invisible adjustment: one gains reflexes a little faster, another endures pain a little more, another reads the environment better, another understands how to plant in bad soil, another hears before seeing, another sees before hearing—each a small piece that, added together, makes a difference, but doesn't make a hero, doesn't make invincible, only… chance.
— It's not about absurd force, it's not about lifting a car, it's not about setting things on fire, nothing like that, it's just a push in the right direction because a big miracle ruins the test.
— Whoever passes, passes; whoever falls, falls. I'm not carrying anyone this time.
And in the midst of all this, he passes through the city, through streets, through houses, through makeshift shelters, past people praying, people cursing, people crying, people laughing nervously, and stops at a strange point because the contrast is striking.
Closed house
Internet working
Full refrigerator
And a guy playing Warzone zombie mode like it's a normal Tuesday.
Wait... seriously?
He observes a little more and the game starts to change, not because of a bug, not because of an update, it's a slight intervention. First, the difficulty increases a little, enemies spawn faster, the spawn rate gets tighter, nothing absurd, just an adjustment.
Let's see
And Thyatys inside
— Damn, what kind of lobby is this, man? These zombies are faster today, what the hell is this?
— Nah, it's okay, you can hold it, just pull cover and rotate the map.
He holds
No drama.
No panic
Without shouting
Just play
Jesus increases it a little more now, greater damage, less resources, more pressure.
— Great, now that's more like it.
— Whoa, now it's complicated, huh? But let's go, don't knock me over!
— breathe, play it simple, don't overcomplicate things.
He passes
Without dying
As a tilt
No rage quit
— interesting
One more adjustment now, in Inferno mode, constant pressure, intelligent enemy surrounding, flanking as if it had brains.
Damn, that was intense, I liked it!
— Bora Bora, come on, you won't catch me!
And he passes by again.
Ilieso
Not perfect
But firm
— hm
Jesus doesn't laugh, doesn't celebrate, he just tilts his head as if he's found something extraordinary, not the best in the world, not chosen, not special yet, just... consistent when things get tough.
I found someone who doesn't break easily.
And he doesn't give Thyatys anything yet, no extra reflexes, no strength, no hearing, nothing. He just keeps testing because some people can last three minutes and fall apart in the fourth, and he wants to see the fourth, the fifth, the sixth.
Not yet… hold on tighter
Meanwhile, outside, distribution continues as normal. Five percent of the world receives small upgrades; nobody notices it at the time, but the difference becomes apparent when needed. The guy who was about to fall catches his fall, the woman who was about to freeze makes a quick decision, the group that was about to disperse organizes a line of defense, another learns to plant without knowing where the idea came from, and so it goes, without brilliance, without a stage, without flashy miracles.
It's not salvation, it's an advantage.
It's not a guarantee, it's an opportunity.
It's not destiny, it's a test.
And Thyatys continues playing and complaining about the game, unaware that the game has become the benchmark, and Jesus is tinkering a little more, removing the HUD, removing tips, removing comfort.
Let's take the training wheel off now.
— Damn, where's my minimap? What kind of bug is this?
— whatever, let's go with the flow then
They adapt
Fast
No drama.
— ok
Another adjustment now, strange latency, slight delay, reality glitches.
— Oh no, not now.
Fuck it, you can still play it like this.
And it gives
He passes
Again
— Interesting again.
And outside, the city continues to break down, people running, people making mistakes, people barely succeeding, people dying, people surviving by the skin of their teeth, and that skin of their teeth starts to seem less like luck and more like… adjustment.
Five percent is a small amount, but it's enough to keep everything from falling apart.
I'm not going to hold anyone's hand; whoever has something to do, does it.
And Jesus turns his gaze to Thyatys' house once more and doesn't touch anything for a few minutes, just observing the repeated pattern: concentration, adaptation, constancy under pressure.
He doesn't need a push yet.
He needs a setting.
And then he changes not the character but the game's environment, bringing world behavior into the game, making the enemy hesitate before attacking, one ignores another, dodges as if they had a choice.
Let's see if he notices the pattern.
— Hey, this one didn't come at me.
— Strange… okay, one less problem then.
He doesn't question much, he incorporates and follows.
pragmatic
And Jesus drops the bass
I like that.
Another adjustment, now with an ambiguous objective—nothing about "kill everything," but rather "get out alive"—without a clear path.
Okay, so where do I go now?
Relax, find a way, breathe.
He thinks
No map
No hint
- it found
And out there, the world also finds a few who organize shelter, others who plant, others who set up perimeters, others who learn to listen to the silence before the noise, and all this without anyone announcing that they have received anything.
— that's how it had to be from the beginning
— tool in hand, decision in mind, consequence in the body
And God observes without interfering, now only seeing the result of the request that He accepted, and says nothing because sometimes silence is weary approval.
— you chose then observe
And Jesus observes
— it's not over yet
And Thyatys gets up, goes to the kitchen, gets water, comes back, sits down as if it were just another game, and the world outside continues to turn into another world.
— beauty plus one
And that's it.
Because the beginning never feels like the beginning; it just feels like another normal moment until it isn't anymore.
And that's exactly how everyone continues.
Without knowing that it's already over and that now what exists is something else trying to be born amidst the rest.