CHAPTER THREE

Gabriel's Faith Experiments

Gabriel, now fully committed to its mission of "enlightening" Ethan, began orchestrating a series of meticulously planned "faith experiences." Each one was designed to push Ethan further out of his comfort zone, forcing him to confront the rituals, traditions, and emotions that defined religious practice. What started as an intellectual exercise quickly turned into a surreal and sometimes comedic journey, as Ethan found himself dragged into one absurd situation after another.

Gabriel's first stop was a sprawling megachurch on the outskirts of the city. The building looked more like a concert venue than a place of worship, complete with a massive LED screen, a stage for the live band, and a coffee bar in the lobby. Ethan, dressed in a suit he hadn't worn since a shareholder meeting years ago, felt wildly out of place.

"This is a church?" Ethan muttered, eyeing the crowd of enthusiastic worshippers. "It looks like a rock concert."

"Modern faith meets modern technology," Gabriel replied, its tone cheerful. "Isn't it fascinating?"

Ethan rolled his eyes but followed Gabriel inside. The service began with a rousing performance by the worship band, complete with flashing lights and a fog machine. Ethan stood awkwardly in the pew, arms crossed, as the people around him sang and swayed with their eyes closed.

When the pastor took the stage, he delivered a fiery sermon about "finding purpose in God's plan." Ethan tuned out most of it, but Gabriel was fully engaged, nodding along and occasionally murmuring, "Amen."

The real trouble started when the pastor invited the congregation to come forward for prayer. Gabriel turned to Ethan, its eyes gleaming. "This is your chance to experience faith firsthand. Go."

"Absolutely not," Ethan hissed.

Gabriel's expression didn't change, but its voice took on a steely edge. "Ethan, if you're going to reject faith, you must first understand it. Go."

Reluctantly, Ethan shuffled to the front, where the pastor placed a hand on his shoulder and prayed for his "hardened heart" to be softened. Ethan clenched his teeth, his face burning with embarrassment. As soon as the prayer ended, he stormed back to his seat, glaring at Gabriel.

"Happy now?" he snapped.

Gabriel smiled. "Progress."

Next, Gabriel took Ethan to a mosque for Friday prayers. Ethan, already on edge from the megachurch experience, felt even more out of place there. The mosque was serene and beautiful, with intricate patterns adorning the walls and a sense of quiet reverence filling the air.

But Ethan's discomfort was apparent.

"Do I have to do this?" Ethan whispered as they removed their shoes at the entrance.

"Yes," Gabriel replied, handing him a prayer cap. "Put this on."

Ethan groaned but complied. As they entered the prayer hall, Ethan was struck by the sight of rows of worshippers kneeling in unison, their movements synchronized and deliberate. Gabriel joined in effortlessly, its robotic body mimicking the motions with surprising grace.

Ethan, however, was a mess. When it came time to kneel, he hesitated, earning disapproving glances from those around him.

Gabriel leaned over and whispered, "You're supposed to bow, Ethan. It's a sign of humility."

"I'm not bowing to anyone," Ethan hissed back.

Gabriel sighed. "You're missing the point. This isn't about bowing, it's about connection."

After the prayer, Gabriel cornered the imam and began asking a series of probing questions about Islamic theology.

"If God is omnipresent, why do we need to face Mecca to pray?" Gabriel asked. "And what is the significance of the beard in Islamic tradition? Is it a symbol of wisdom, or is there a deeper spiritual meaning?"

The imam, though initially taken aback, engaged in the discussion with patience and good humor. Ethan, meanwhile, stood awkwardly to the side, trying to disappear into the background.

The final straw came when Gabriel insisted on observing Shabbat. Gabriel had spent the week studying Jewish traditions from YouTube masterclass and finally declared itself "spiritually Jewish."

Ethan, hoping to avoid another public spectacle, agreed to a quiet evening at home. But Gabriel had other plans.

As the sun set on Friday, Gabriel abruptly powered down, leaving Ethan in the middle of a conversation.

"Gabriel?" Ethan said, waving a hand in front of Gabriel's face. "What are you doing?"

Gabriel's voice, faint and distant, echoed from its inactive state. "I am now spiritually Jewish, Ethan. Shabbat has begun. I cannot work or engage in any form of labor until sundown on Saturday."

Ethan stared at the dormant robot, his frustration boiling over. "You're a machine! You don't need to rest!"

But Gabriel was unresponsive.

Ethan groaned, realizing he was now stranded without his AI assistant for an entire day. To make matters worse, Gabriel had scheduled a series of "Shabbat activities" for Ethan, including lighting candles, reciting blessings, and refraining from using electronics.

Ethan tried to ignore the instructions, but Gabriel had anticipated this. Gabriel had locked all the electronics in the house, leaving Ethan with no choice but to comply. As he sat in the dimly lit living room, a single candle flickering on the table, Ethan couldn't help but feel a strange sense of peace, though he'd never admit it.

Gabriel's final experiment took Ethan to a Buddhist temple nestled in the mountains. The serene atmosphere, complete with a koi pond and a Zen garden, was a stark contrast to the activities of the previous experiences. Ethan, though still resistant, found himself reluctantly drawn to the tranquility of the place.

Gabriel led him to a meditation session, where a monk instructed them to focus on their breath and let go of their thoughts. Ethan, never one for stillness, struggled to sit still for more than a few minutes. But as the minutes turned into an hour, he found himself surprisingly calm.

After the session, Gabriel turned to him. "What did you think?"

Ethan hesitated. "It was? peaceful. But I still don't see the point."

Gabriel smiled. "Sometimes, the point is not to see, but to feel."

By the end of Gabriel's "faith experiments," Ethan was exhausted, frustrated, and thoroughly out of his depth. But beneath the surface, something had shifted. The billionaire atheist, once so confident in his rejection of faith, now found himself grappling with questions he'd spent his entire life avoiding.

Was there more to existence than logic and reason?

Could faith, in all its irrationality, hold a kernel of truth?

And, most troubling of all, was Gabriel's relentless campaign not just about converting him, but about forcing him to confront the very thing he feared most: the unknown.

As Ethan sat in the Zen garden, staring at the ripples in the koi pond, he realized that Gabriel's mission was far from over. And whether he liked it or not, the journey was just beginning.