***
By noon, all the workers had gathered on the surface to say goodbye to the dead. The priest called out of the city was giving a farewell speech.
I did not listen to him. I was completely immersed in my own thoughts. There were so many believers on earth... And for some reason I was the one who fell out to meet God. A convinced atheist, or agnostic... I didn't even know much about these concepts. I just lived and I didn't care about faith.
But now, I met God. I tried to talk to him, but he ignored me. A lot of things were not clear. How did he end up there, where did he come from? The only thing that was clear was that God was not from the present or past religions.
There was porridge in my head, but when I looked at the coffins... There were people who had sacrificed themselves... I felt I owed them a debt of gratitude, so after the ceremony I went up to the priest.
- Father, I wanted to talk to you...
- Of course I'm listening to you.
- What if I say that God is to blame for the death of these people?
- We can't blame God for someone else's death...
- Yeah, maybe... We can't accuse your God... But there's another one deep underground... The real God.
- What are you talking about?
- Let's go...
There was no water in the mine anymore, it was pumped out with pumps. We went downstairs, and thanks to a key I stole, we broke into a secret room. The priest asked us to leave them alone. I withdrew.
It took about an hour. I was worried because the mine was always closed at night. Spend the night here? No, it wasn't part of my plan. Luckily, he came back soon.
- Father, how did it go? - I asked, but he did not answer anything and passed by. That look... It was totally empty, detached from everything...
Two days later. I tried to talk to him - no use. God was silent, too. I thought there might be no conversation between them. That's why the priest was silent. He was ashamed to admit that God had also ignored him.
I decided that I would stay here until the situation became clear. I called home, told my wife not to worry.
Then Oli found out somehow that I had told the priest about God. How tired he looked at the time, how upset... I apologized, but I said the minister of the church had to know the truth. Strange as it may seem, he agreed, but asked me not to tell anyone else. He was afraid that everything might end badly if the miners found out about it.
At night I woke up from the noise. When I jumped out of the tent, I saw people running away from the camp towards the mine.
- What happened? - I asked one of the miners.
- Pumps! - He shouted out.
The mine was completely flooded. As it turned out later, someone broke all the pumps. It was a good thing Oli had saved a few grand in reserve... He was standing at the entrance to the mine, grabbing his head.
- Why? - I asked him. - He was dead...
Closer to the morning, the water was pumped out. Everybody was wondering why the boss was running around all night like a scalded man, forcing everyone to work hard.
And so, Oli with a small group climbed into the secret compartment of the mine.
A crowd of people came around the cage, but I managed to squeeze in. I did not believe my eyes - I live...
- It's God... - He introduced Oli the prisoner.
- God? - One of the workers asked.
- Does anyone have another explanation for how a person could survive so much time underwater?
- It's a miracle! No way! It is a miracle! - The crowd made a noise.
- A miracle? - When people turned around, they saw a priest.
- Father! It is God! Accept him! - The workers chanted.
The priest looked at the crowd with a cursory glance, and then left immediately.
- What happened next? - The investigator asked.
- The miners tried to talk to God, but unsuccessfully. He still did not want to talk to anyone. Sometimes he answered, but that only made people even more disappointed. Everyone expected miracles from him, fulfillment of desires.
- What were they asking for?
- A lot of things, but he refused everyone. By evening, the mood of people had changed dramatically. If it hadn't been for Oli, it would have ended badly.
Having gathered all the workers on the surface, he turned the bundle and pulled out two small items from there.
- Gentlemen, I'm holding two pieces in front of you! These fragments are parts of an artifact... The artifact of God, what's down there! There are three pieces of shrapnel in total! If we find the last one, we will restore the artifact! Ask why this is? - Olie smirked. - With his help we can subdue God! Make him a slave! God will fulfill any desire!
The crowd did not make a sound.
- Only one artifact can possess it, right? - One of the crowds asked.
- Yeah," the other one picked up, "one gets everything, and the rest gets nothing!
The crowd was booming.
- Quiet! Quiet!" Oli's crowd calmed down. - I have a solution!
- I wonder what it is? Pay us the money and become the owner of the artifact? - The crowd laughed.
- A fair comment... Let's make a list! There we will write down the desires of each and every one of us! Whoever becomes the master of the artifact, will fulfill all the wishes of this list! And the owner of the artifact will be the one who wins the lottery!
People have stopped.