Mom, I'm Bulletproof

Chapter 20.1: The Temple

"What do you want, U.S. Amy?"

Amy opened her eyes. She had no idea how much time had passed.

She was in a giant chamber, larger than a major sports arena, with its red-tinted ceiling high above her and the walls so far off to the distance they could be considered the horizon. All around her were glowing golden pyramids, each one about the size of a two-story house.

Madam Corruption stood before Amy with her arms crossed.

"What do you want, U.S. Amy?" she said.

Amy had been laid back on a black metal slab, prepped up at 45 degrees to ground floor. Her arms and legs were still bent out of shape, bruised and purple from her fight on the sub.

"What do you want, U.S. Amy?" Corruption asked again.

Amy, despite her mangled limbs, decided to fly right at Corruption, but was held in place, unable to move below her neck.

"The neuro-tose field ensures that you cannot attack me," Corruption said. "This is the last of my power keeping you in place, you know. You and your friends did quite a number on the Temple's oceanic factory."

Amy started to say, "You mean your submarine?" but her words came out garbled and guttural.

"Your jaw is broken, remember?" Corruption said with a slight smile. "But you don't need to speak out loud to communicate with the Temple. The Temple is within you and all around you, all at once."

Corruption held up both hands, gesturing to the golden pyramids all around them.

"See this?" he said. "This is the Temple's neural network. These devices are tied into the minds of all humanity. The neural network taps into you all, all at once. This is how the Temple understands humanity. It's all here, all of humanity's fears, flaws, and desires. The desires are of particular interest. So tell me, U.S. Amy, what do you want?"

Although Amy's broken jaw did not move, she heard her own voice echoing throughout the chamber.

"I want to be a superhero, and for that to be my career."

Corruption closed her eyes, inhaled a deep breath, and smiled.

"There," she said. "Do you hear the sinfulness in your voice? Thinking of yourself as you profess to think of others?"

Amy concentrated, trying to force her jaw and tongue into forming words. But they wouldn't. At the same time, her own voice boomed around her. "If I have these powers, why not make a profit from them?"

"That's right," Corruption said. "We're inside your mind. We're inside everybody's minds."

Amy gave her an angry glare.

"We won't be repeating that thought out loud," Corruption said. "Perhaps we should discuss matters in a more natural way."

She turned to the side and appeared to speak to no one. "Bring forth that which does not belong."

Two red-robed Temple agents wheeled forward a body under a sheet on a modified gurney. They pulled it up to Amy. Corruption pulled back part of the sheet and pulled out a delicate female hand, pressing it up against Amy's broken forearm.

Amy felt comforted, as warmth wrapped around her, followed by a slight euphoric dizziness. It faded as soon as it came over her. She could move her mouth and she saw her arms and legs return to their normal shapes and colors.

"That's Future Girl under there," Amy said. "Is she dead?"

"Of course not. Like you, she has a role to play in in the Temple's greatest of all accomplishments.