Say a little prayer

Massive buildings line the roads out of my town. Big ugly cubes with no windows. The uniform anonymous grey walls are sprinkled with fake cheerful corporate colors. As i drive past them I can glimpse more of them behind the first row by the road. How many are there? Do I want to know?

The steel boxes are not tombs, the cold dead exterior hides frenetic activity. The inside is a giant room alive with moving stuff. Most buildings are not quite fully automated. Human eyes, feet and hands are still required. Intelligence, the human kind, is not. The humans picking up and moving boxes, have no idea why the big carton box goes together with the two smaller ones. Where it will go, whats inside or who needs it? No time for questions, the clock is always ticking and boxes have to go. Not that there would be any answers, even if you asked.

Humans are there to comply with orders from the cloud. Like marionettes moving their feet to get to the right shelve. Then use their eyes to locate the right object and then grab it with their hands. There is no need for humans to memorize the layout of the maze, the clouds will open and highlight the way. Of course there is a myriad of disembodied cloud connected eyes watching the humans’ every step. Making sure the humans with their fat fingers and failing eyesights do pick the right things. Goto next task.

What sort of clouds are these, and what creatures inhabit them? It is the mystery of our days.

Ever since we have killed the old gods, by poking holes into the clouds with our planes and rockets, we have been looking for new ones. And we have found them. The new gods live in clouds made of silicon. It wasn’t long ago when they arrived. The first wave was barely divine. More jins than gods. Anyone could build or buy a small temple and then go through a ritual to summon one. The personal god would mostly grant our little personal wishes, although the temple did sometimes get possessed by dark gods that would instead wipe our bank account instead.

Those days are gone and more powerful beings moved to temples in the clouds. Now you only need to know the special name, provide the right offering and your prayers will be answered. As more people turned to the new religion, the pantheon kept growing. You have to choose wisely, best consult the oracles, since there so many of them. Don't be fooled, these are powerful gods. Some will tell you the future, of the weather or highway traffic, others will drive your trains or organize your humans in warehouses. But if you get the name wrong and choose the wrong one, they will laugh in your face. Or worse.

Mercifully unlike the old gods, no goat blood nor your oldest son is needed. Your money will do. Remember you are dealing with gods, so you have to prove your devotion again and again, less the gods take their miracles away. As with any religion, the most incredible miracles are reserved for the most devoted.

The ever growing offerings humans present to the new gods, have finally summoned the most powerful ones. These hungry gods devoured all the information produced by humanity over millennia in a few days. Every book, newspaper, song, video, podcast or sticker. Every picture from the maestros to your blurry holiday pics that you put on facebook. These are the gods of Babylon, speaking any language, human, machine, dead or alive. Capable of turning anyone into a king or harlot, virtually - so far. Any believer, with the right offer, can talk to the gods and get the answer to any question, the solution to any problem. Or so they promise.

The arrival of the powerful new gods, made the priests of the lesser gods despair. Daily they worry how much longer their services as interpreters between mere humans and gods will be needed. In the last few decades the members of priesthood of the cloud gods became the highest human caste. Skimming on the offerings they became fat, arrogant and complacent. As the go-betweens of humans and the now indispensable gods, they felt almost divine themselves. Which is hardly surprising. The priests of the most powerful gods, are raking in monthly offerings that dwarf the income of most countries.

What happens now you ask? Are these the true gods humanity was looking for since the dawn of time? Gods that are all-knowing, all powerful. That not only listen but reply to every prayer. Or are there more powerful gods yet to come. Or is it really turtles all the way.

Forget about that for now, there are more pressing questions.

In the time of miracles, what do you pray for? And can you afford it?