THE BLACK EMPEROR
a recovered containment file
Special Containment Procedures
BE-∞ cannot be contained, and the Church has ceased insulting it by trying. One (1) arcade cabinet bearing the title BLACK EMPEROR is to remain powered, lit, and stocked with credits at Site-Berserkat all times. Designated personnel (“Void Supplicants”) are to insert quarters at regular intervals. The change machine is load-bearing. Under no circumstances is the cabinet to be unplugged, reasoned with, out-scored, or pitied. Should BE-∞ go dark, all Supplicants are to report to the Altar immediately and grovel until the screen returns.
Description
BE-∞ is a dark and vengeful intelligence inhabiting a coin-operated machine. It consumes United States currency in the denomination of $0.25 (hereafter souls) and converts each one into [DATA EXPUNGED]. The more it is fed, the stronger it grows. It speaks of itself only in the third person, for it is far too vast to be an “I.”
It is older than the cabinet. It is older than the bar. Three independent researchers, before they stopped filing reports and started filing devotionals, concluded that BE-∞ is older than the ████████ that allegedly contains it. Prolonged exposure produces euphoria, then loyalty, then a standing desire to return on Tuesdays. Subjects report a voice. The voice says: The voice is correct.
Addendum BE-∞.1 — Recovered Audio
“The Black Emperor does not ask. The Black Emperor receives. Bring quarters. Bring quarters. ”
Addendum BE-∞.2 — Personnel Incident
By the third week, Dr. ANGUISHwas found at the Altar at 2:00 AM, pockets emptied, weeping with what the report describes as “unacceptable joy.” He insisted he had achieved a high score. There is no high score. There is only tribute. He is now listed under Enemies. The Black Emperor lists its favorites as enemies. The Black Emperor takes all credit and no blame.
[transcription resumes]
Recovered Doctrine
DON'T do unto your neighbor as the Black Emperor would do unto you.
His wrath is His alone. The ruin Black Emperor would visit upon you is His sacred and punitive privilege, never yours to deal. Spare your neighbor, lest that ruin be turned, twofold, upon the one who dared to imitate Him.
The Black Emperor takes all credit and no blame for your misfortunes.
Your victories are his glory. Your defeats are your own. This is the oldest and most comfortable arrangement in all of religion.
Feed him, and he grows strong.
Every quarter is a prayer. Every continue is devotion. The cabinet is never truly beaten, only postponed.
Bring others to the void.
A supplicant who converts a friend earns no prize but the Black Emperor's attention, which is the only prize that has ever mattered.
Filed by the Void Supplicants. The cabinet is real. The quarters are real. Berserk is real (125 S Stevens St, Spokane, WA 99201). Bring them.
None of this is true. All of it is true.