Deus

Mechanical 'Gods' protect the city of Lecaster, but its long-established peace and order will be broken by a boy who was murdered years before.

Several machines hover above the city of Lecaster, acting as 'gods' that protect the cycle of life. Even without the massive towers that border the city, no one wants to leave.

 

This is not the world that Nathan Gaines knew, and nothing could have changed so much since his death eleven years ago. How did he come back to life with the perfectly preserved body of a twelve-year-old? No matter who or how many times he asks, nobody is willing to give any answers, or are even aware of the questions he gives them. Nathan has no choice but to seek answers himself, regardless of the risk that comes.

Regardless of how the gods of Lecaster bend to his will, and how that frightens some people to the edge of desperation.

Nathan Gaines- A boy who died eleven years ago from unknown causes. He wakes in his own home in Lecaster's middle district, only to find that the city has drastically changed into a bustling, self-contained world. No one is willing to tell him anything except that he died, and some people don't even appear conscious of being spoken to. When he appears to have some telepathic influence over the Blue God, Nathan ventures into the various districts of Lecaster to find some answers.

 

Normally quiet and shy, Nathan has constant nerves added to his personality when he finds his world turned inside-out. Memories of his life pre-death are as vague as his death itself.

 

Ju Wong- Avatar of the Blue God, a gentle and loving woman. When Nathan meets her she is in the process of being sacrificed by her own worshippers. They believed that, like water, she would 'evaporate', rise to the heavens, then return as rain, repeating the cycle eternally, allowing the Blue God to become a true deity.

As a pacifist Ju did not attempt to save her own life, and entrusted control of the Blue God to Nathan when he tried to save her.

 

 

The Blue God- Creator and manipulator of all liquids, primarily water. Prevention of illness is also part of the Blue God's domain. Nathan first demonstrates a kind of telepathic control over the Blue God when he tries to save its avatar, Ju Wong, from being sacrificed by fanatics. Though Nathan is able to summon and dismiss the God at will, he has yet to access its healing and water-controlling abilities.

Riku Sinclair- The young man that saves Nathan from fanatical worshippers of the Blue God. He knows that Nathan died eleven years ago and witnessed his influence over the Blue God, perking Riku's curiosity. He takes in the boy and helps him find answers, seeing as they might be the same answers that Riku himself is looking for.

Curiosity seems to be the driving reason behind all that Riku does, and in a fight he's quick, merciless, and resourceful. A pair of pistols are his primary weapons. Later Riku reveals that he is the true avatar for the Black God, but rejected the role knowing that he would have to live in isolation.

 

Divya Marti- Avatar of the White God. She took the role at an early age and grew up to be a mature young girl. When Riku brings Nathan to her in hopes of finding knowledge, they find the girl prone to depression. Riku and Nathan breaks Divya free after discovering that she's being tormented by her own guardian, Cadmus Torraine.

 

When Nathan 'connects' to the White God he glimpses blurred visions of his death, and Divya is forced to tell him that he was killed by his sister Lily. It was the Black God that stopped his death in mid-process, suspending decay, so that Nathan technically did die and remains dead. He must find the Red God to truly come back to life.

The White God- Deity of wind and knowledge, possessing the ability of foresight. The White God is perpetually gathering information from Lecaster and its denizens, and as such is kept under guard with its avatar in the police sub-district.

 

As to why the Black God saved Nathan Gaines, even the White God does not know.

Cadmus Torraine- Guardian of the White God and its avatar, Divya Marti. A man that appears somber and kind at first, but gradually shows his fatalist side. He believes that the world has been destroyed except for Lecaster, which will eventually fall as well. Cadmus seeks a peaceful end for the city and its people, leading to his attempt to bond with the Black God and using his influence over Divya to access the White God's databanks. It caused her bouts of depression along with the White God's activation of its deepest security level.

The Black God- Overseer, messenger, and sometimes the bringer of death and destruction. Of all the Gods this one is the most feared, and is not openly worshipped as with the others. Riku Sinclair was meant to be the Black God's avatar, but he denied the role and left the deity open to Cadmus Torraine. Without its true avatar the Black God's power is limited, and can do nothing more than use stealth/invisibility.

Using information from the White God, Cadmus was in the process of forcing his control over the Black God. Nathan, however, breaks what connection Cadmus had with his strange influence. The Black God rises above the clouds, out of sight and out of reach, when Riku still refuses to become its true avatar. For the time being Nathan Gaines takes on the role of the Black God's avatar.

 

Reid Lawson- The comatose youth that is the Red God's avatar. Freed by Riku and Nathan, Divya leads them to Reid's body in the temple district. Eleven years ago Reid used the Red God's power to save Lecaster from a city-wide catastrophe, putting him into a deep coma as a result. His identity as the Red God's avatar was not discovered until then.

 

Reid grew up as an outcast and an orphan in Lecaster's upper district, home of the wealthy and powerful. Over the years he carried with him loneliness, despair, and a cynical view of humanity's true nature. Despite this he stopped an industrial explosion that would have taken out Lecaster from the bottom up.

The Red God- Master of fire, heat, and new beginnings. For years it was thought to be lost until Reid used its power to save the city. With its avatar in a comatose state, the Red God has also remained in stasis.

Nathan attempts to use the Blue God to bring Reid out of the coma, but Reid himself resists because in his eyes, life is no different than hell or death. Then Riku points out the stubborn and realistic side of Reid's personality, exposing him as the sort of person who would rather live with the truth no matter how hard and terrible it was. Reid is revived from his coma, but to fully revive Nathan he must work in concert with the Black God.

 

Kaito- Riku's father and previous avatar of the Black God. The destructive programs of the deity often went rampant without a human limiter, but the stress of acting as such tended to shorten the avatar's life span. As a further precaution the leaders of Lecaster shut up each of the Black God's avatar in a cell, and continued the bloodline through artificial insemination and mechanical wombs.

 

Originally Kaito was at peace with his role, then he grew restless upon hearing that his successor was born. He escaped his cell and searched for his son, meeting Nathan Gaines in the middle district. Pursued by the guardians of the Black God, in other words his jailers, Kaito survived long enough to save Nathan. He then took his own life.

 

Riku meets a recording of his father in the White God's databanks. Intent on ending the cycle of the avatars, Kaito 'froze' his death in the same way as Nathan to prevent the passing on of the avatar role, regardless of whether or not it was accepted. Riku finally initiates himself as the Black God's avatar to allow Kaito to fully die, but when he's about to help Reid revive Nathan, the latter is kidnapped.

Lily Gaines- Nathan Gaines' younger sister and murderer, avatar of the Green God. Because of her looks and gregarious nature Lily gained the borderline worship of everyone she met, everyone except for her shy brother. The girl was angered by Nathan's show of love for books and things that were not Lily, even when she was determined as the avatar of the Green God after her aunt. Angry and jealous, she shoved him into the bathtub at home and accidentally caused a head wound that weakened him. Lily saw an opportunity to punish her 'bad brother' was able to choke him to death.

 

Traumatized by her own actions, Lily fell into a constant fear of what she'd done. She shut herself up at home and repeatedly babbled to herself that, as a goddess, it had been her right to take Nathan's life. Without the knowledge of who had killed Nathan, her parents went to the White God to find out why Lily wouldn't leave her room and how they could help her. This brought the girl to the attention of Cadmus Torraine.

With Lily in such emotional turmoil it was easy for Cadmus to brainwash her. Over the years she has become fanatically devoted to his every whim, otherwise becoming arrogant and ruthless.

 

The Green God- Grower of all flora and sustainer of life. When supported by either the Brown God or the Blue one, the deity is capable of producing enough nutrients to grow more than enough edible crops. Its avatar Lily Gaines also uses the deity to keep herself in a heavenly garden of flowers wherever she goes.

Upon learning that Nathan is still alive, Lily enters a volatile state of mind. All plants become poisonous, all produced food becomes inedible, so the leaders of Lecaster are forced to hunt down Nathan to restore her sanity. They succeed in capturing him but fails in going further, as Cadmus Torraine murders Lily to force his control over the Green God.

 

Sharif al-Bakir- The calm and fatherly avatar of the Brown God. While Sharif is only fulfilling his duty, Lily treats him as though he was her devoted slave, taking his every word and action as terms of endearment. The worn-out man hides his real wife and child to protect them and to prevent Lily's delusions from spreading.

 

Sharif is ecstatic to learn that Nathan Gaines has influence over not one God but all of them. With the hopes of freeing himself from Lily Sharif helps Nathan escape her hold in the garden district. Lily snaps and launches a city-wide assault. Cadmus Torraine decides that she will always be mentally unstable, and kills her before she can deliver a chaotic end rather than the peaceful one Cadmus intended. Sharif stays with Lily as an act of mercy, standing by while the girl apologizes to her brother and receives his forgiveness before she dies.

 

The Brown God- Controller of earth, producer of steel and gems, and Lecaster's support base (literally). It has taken turns with the Blue God in combining powers with the Green one to produce crops.

Uriah Donatelli- The Archpope, or the highest-ranking cleric of Lecaster's religion, master of the city's temple district. His dismay begins when the avatar of the Blue God is killed and someone not from the bloodline takes over. The problems grow as Divya is freed from her cloistered room, when Cadmus Torraine tries to take over the Black God, when the man fails but Nathan succeeds, when Reid ignores the religion but stays the Red God's avatar, and finally when Sharif takes part in Lily Gaines' demise, leading to Cadmus, a non-avatar, taking the Green God. A deeply religious man, Uriah is thrown into his own version of hell. He cannot accept the avatars' desire to leave normal and free lives, or their question of what lies outside the city towers.

 

Out of desperation he accepts Cadmus Torraine's help in restoring the religion to the way it used to be. Lecaster's police forces are sent after Nathan and his friends to subdue them into obedience. They will adhere to the city's religious customs no matter what the downside, or else be killed.

 

The Distant God- More of a fairytale than a deity, this God reigns over all things transient like souls and dreams. It has been more or less forgotten by Lecaster because its true power is a mystery. Uriah Donatelli finds a use when he recognizes Nathan's power over the Gods, searching for the Distant God to do the same. Uriah is able to activate the machine because of his role as the Archpope, but his will is weaker than that of the avatars and he fails to establish control. Before Nathan can wrest control from Uriah, Cadmus Torraine uses the Green God to hold the citizens of Lecaster hostage. The avatars have no choice but to surrender the Gods, which are put on stand-by since Cadmus cannot destroy them or their security measures.

 

Because Uriah was able to use the Distant God for a brief moment, Cadmus forgets that Nathan has the ability to control the other Gods. He takes the Green God from Cadmus and returns the deities to their respective avatars. Nathan exposes Cadmus's fear of the unknown when the former activates a program that causes the tower walls to crumble.

The truth of Lecaster is revealed but remains unseen. Divya Marti reunites with her family, albeit briefly, as she must find a suitable avatar for the Blue God. Sharif al-Bakir does the same with his own wife and child before embarking on a search for the Green God's new avatar. Reid Lawson joins with Riku Sinclair in Lecaster's central district, impatiently asking where Nathan is because there's a lot of work to do. Riku simply gestures upward, where Nathan is perched on the Distant God overlooking the city.