Bilca, the underground city on the moon-
The buildings around the central plaza of the temple district were brightly lit.
Over a thousand clerics, knights, and nuns stood on successive tiers and began chanting the Birka Scriptures.
In the central plaza, an enormous mechanical altar radiated a dazzling, white-hot light.
Around the altar's base, high-ranking clerics stood in concentric circles.
Half were black-robed Scroll Priests, and half were red-robed Tech-Priests.
Outside their ranks, hundreds of monks and nuns began praying devoutly.
Metal scraped within the mechanical altar. The space-opera-style apparatus began transforming, rising from ground level and unfolding into a platform.
The clerics began reciting ancient prayers of consecration. Passages from the Birka Scriptures, describing electromagnetism and mechanics in the style of allegorical poetry, echoed melodiously.
St. Elmo's Fire descended-
Without warning, a flame-like, blue-white glow blazed from the altar.
People throughout every district of Moon City entered into prayer.
Even the "slaves" here at least went through the motions, making a show of praying along with the clerics.
Perhaps it was because life here was far better than it was for their "counterparts" on the Blue Star.
A considerable portion of the so-called slave class had genuinely developed varying degrees of religious devotion.
Everyone had been informed of today's ceremony three days earlier.
Now, all eyes turned toward the temple district in the city center, watching the raised platform that had appeared in its central plaza.
The city's various sounds were instantly replaced by a deeper, grander "voice."
It was a mass of "thoughts" formed from countless voices.
Rather than physical vibrations in the air, it resonated directly within everyone's minds.
Temple district, Dome Cathedral-
This was Moon City's central administrative district, as well as its religious audience hall.
Chalk white dominated the interior, and the architecture resembled Christian