The Manipulator

Blinking for a second has he woke up for a brief moment, Ther took the time to look around his room. The stark apartment contained only the bare necessities for life, a small bed folded into the wall to his right, next to a sink and his mini-refrigerator. The wall in front of him glittered slightly, the holographic windows roaring online as he came out of the nets after his thirteenth continuous hour.
Going over to his sink, he pulled a glass from the dishwasher and turned on the faucet while looking into the mirror. Deep shadows colored his dark brown eyes, which were framed with deep lines that crisscrossed his entire face. His hair fell messily down his back and into his eyes, red strands falling into the skink as he scratched his head. Pulling the glass from the sink, he looked in disappointment as he noted the red-brown flakes floating in the water. Pouring the offending liquid down the drain, he grabbed some water from his toilet and took a deep draft.
Turning back towards his door, he noticed the manila envelope that rested on the floor. Another mission he guessed, probably the same one as last time. Reaching down to pick up the thing, he felt his stomach sink in dread as he read the sender. General Michel was not a man who liked failure, and he was also a man who did not understand the meaning of the word impossible. Breaking the imperial seal that secured it, Ther groaned as he proved his assumption to be correct.
It was his fourth expedition to find the damn thing, and quite frankly, Ther was tired of it. Three of his favorite puppets had been lost trying to breach the walls of the city’s temple, another five had been lost to the guards, four more to the inner sanctum’s security, and ten more had been thrown uselessly against the innermost sanctum’s doors. The mission was difficult, even for as skilled as a Manipulator as he was, and he could hardly afford more failure. The General might have him demoted if he failed, and then he might actually need to start paying his electrical bills on his own, which he could never afford.
Sighing in despair, Ther turned to look at the machine that ate up his time and savings. The monstrous thing took up the entire wall, tubes and wires covering every available inch of space. Two gigantic towers glowed slightly even with a complete shutdown, and flanked a glowing chamber in the wall’s dead center. The red gel that filled the back of the thing beckoned to him, promising the soothing relief of the outer worlds, and his nerves ached to return.
It was just as well he supposed, this assignment could not be failed again. Stepping back into the chamber for the second time today, he allowed himself to dissolve into the warmth. When he woke up moments later, he found he was a priest. The old bastards at the top finally figured out that they might need someone from the temple to try and breach the thing. His heavy robes made it difficult for his old body to move, but they kept out the worst of the draft that these older puppets sometimes felt. He seemed to be one of rather high standing this time, as his room was decorated lavishly with gold and silver, and his vestment as a bright green.
Why the outer worlds color coordinated their social tiers was a mystery to him, but he knew that he was in for a treat today because of it. He had never been in a puppet with green clothing before, so the experience alone would be worth the demotion he might get for failure. Stretching his old bones, he forced the puppet out of his gigantic bed and onto the cold metal floor. Pulling his slippers onto his freezing feet, the sent his puppet out of the door.
Outside, two guards flanked the room’s wooden door. Their armor was made out of thick scales, with the temple’s insignia emblazoned onto their chest. Wondering for a brief moment if the brass had accidentally handed him a fugitive, he hesitated in the doorway for a moment. While he was trying to make up his mind as to whether he should advance or not, the guards noticed his presence and bowed deeply to him.
“Patriarch,” the larger of the two said through his faceplate “we apologize to inconvenience you like this, but we are here to accompany you on your errand today. Too many of our citizens have been acting strangely, and we fear that someone may try to strike at your holy presence.”
Laughing at himself in relief, Ther turned his puppet towards the guards.
“That is quite alright soldier, one can never be too careful.”
“Yes sir,” the guard agreed rapidly “would you like us to escort you to the temple now? We have received word from Matron Eliza that the new Purifier is ready.”
“Yes, prepare the way, I will be along in a moment.”
“Sir!”, and with that the guards left.
Ther could hardly believe his luck, this priest was the Patriarch! The brass had really outdone themselves this time, maybe there was someone up there with some intelligence after all. He even had a legitimate reason to see the purifier, this mission was going to be a piece of cake! Smiling broadly, he prepared his puppet for his interview with a spring in his step and a song in his heart.