Cult Classic
The council gathered for the one hundred and sixty
fifth time. It would be the last time they would meet. They came into the same room, sat in the same chairs, and spent the
entire day discussing their plans.
The large wooden door opened creaking loudly, echoing
down the halls of their secret place. They filed in one by one as they always did, wearing red cloaks strapped in a single
brown rope. Their hoods were never lowered; no one had ever looked upon the men’s faces. Shrouded in mystery these men
would take their seats. The last to enter the room closed the door and remained standing at the end of the table. A single
book lies in the center of the table in a dimly lit room. There were no decorations, nothing to leave the imagination within
this place. Light only came from a large hole in the ceiling, and candles lit surrounding the table. A calm silence was felt
in the room as the man at the head of the table raised his hands.
He spoke gently, as he often did in this place of
mystery. “The Order has commenced. May nothing break it save the darkness at the days end.” The others bowed their
heads acknowledging his words. “As you are aware this is the last of our meetings; the one to finish what we began,
to end what was started. Finally, our plans can be set into motion. They will serve out generations of our brethren until
the end of time itself. This will be a glorious day, but there is still work to be done.”
The man at the end of the table sits down as the
man opposite him stands. His words are much harsher and invoke anger among the order. “You are all foolish to believe
this will actually work. These ideas are unfounded. They are a pile of gibberish meant for a fool to believe.”
Another counters him, “These are the very people
we are reaching out to! It is that very category that will make these plans last for thousands of years beyond our time. They
transcend time, they begin time. These plans are the meaning of time itself, and that is what is meant to be believed. It
is simple logic that we justify these plans today as scheduled. Any further delay or outburst could only disrupt what is perfect
and I will not sit idly by and watch that happen, now take a seat.”
Both men sit in their respective chairs. The man
at the head of the table reaches out for the book. Wiping the dust from the cover, he opens it up to the first page. “What
if they do not all believe?”
“That is not our concern, a majority will do
nicely.”
“Yes that is all we need.”
“How can we possibly in act these plans without
sacrifice?” said another.
“That is a very good question,” spoke
the head of the Order once again. “Yes these plans will be frowned upon at first, and many of us will have to be sacrificed
for them to succeed. But that was a risk we were all willing to take in the beginning, has that changed?”
The hoods of the red cloaks shook their heads to
answer no.
“Good, let’s continue.”
They all remained seated, as was the custom after
the opening arguments. Though this being the last of the meetings, the debates were getting excessive. Closing the book and
placing it on the table once more, the head of the table cleared his throat. “One hundred and sixty five days ago was
when we began this experiment. Knowing full well before starting we’d never see the results, so why have we toiled over
this? What drove us to continue? Yes, I’m sure these are questions that grow in each of your minds day by day. However,
today I’m prepared to give you that answer. It is a simple answer one that should not follow with questions. The answer
is immortality; and that answer is what they will believe, and why we will succeed where others have failed. What man has
searched for all his life we have found. Not only have we found it but we intend to share it, we will share it openly.”
“But it is simply the idea of immortality proposed
by a chance occurrence that one would have achieved it.”
“Precisely. The idea of an idea is a very believable
thing; something that should not be taken lightly considering the consequences.”
Opposite the man at the head of the table he slams
his hands on the wood. The sound startles no one as a layer of dust fills the air. “Lies! It’s all built on lies.
Misguided lies meant for our purpose.”
“What’s the meaning of this outburst?
Please explain yourself.”
“I can’t hold it in any longer. What
we’re doing is wrong. We are creating a demon, a plague among men. Think of the psychological repercussions and the
ill gotten ideas that will spawn from our own. Think of the meticulous examination of our plans and what that will cause.”
“What?”
“Separation among men. An upsurge of discontent
and revenge of differing beliefs.”
“We’ve calculated these risks to the
fullest extent, and in no scenario do we believe this will cause cataclysmic events.”
“It will cause the most cataclysmic event that
could ever occur. Maybe not the end of man itself, but the essence of man.”
“And what is the essence of man?” asked
the head of the order.
“The very question we have answered. It is
the question that drives all of us to find what is truly who we are, not this pack of lies we bolstered together in one hundred
and sixty five days.”
The man at the head of the table lowers his head
in thought. “We set out to perform this task, if you decide to back out now it cannot be completed. The true essence
of man is not this question. The essence of man is man, it is himself.”
“Then why? Why have we done this?”
“For ourselves, for the essence of man. Think
into the future if our plans succeed. United the majority of man will stand, and our offspring will be at the head of this
order as we sit here now. They will be a voice for the people, and lead successful lives. Their power and sway over what man
does will be nothing short of infallible, an unquestioned glory that will not be taken away.”
“But what if something goes wrong? Similar
things have been tried in the past and have not lasted forever, what makes you think this is different?”
“We did not sit here and carefully analyze
the human race day in and day out to guess whether or not this would work. We know this will work. It is simple fundamentals,
that’s all.”
“This is nothing more than mere speculation,
a guess that offers nothing more than hope; ironically enough that it’s that word that sums up these plans.”
“What do you think you are achieving by countermanding
our plans? Plans you helped develop. Why are you attempting to destroy what we’ve worked so hard to complete?”
“I do not intend to destroy them, but simply
to understand them. I need to put this in perspective that’s all. We will be shaping the very fabric of human nature
itself, and I’m concerned with the long term effects of what we’re doing.”
“Your concerns are unfounded, you need not
worry. In the unlikely event we cause the destruction of man itself down the road, we’ll all be long dead. Do not let
your conscience play games with you; we are doing what is right in the long run anyway. The morals and ethics presented in
this text are meant to prevent the very thing you are so concerned with.”
“What if they are taken to an extreme?”
“Then we have failed to do our job, and I have
not known failure in my time.”
A dead silence hushes the two men. In the midst of
their debate, the others sat calmly, hands folded in front of them listening to the wisest of their group. They were the two
that originally began the plans, soon realizing they were in over their heads and needed assistance. Gathering ten others
to join them in the creation of the greatest achievement mankind has ever witnessed but has never truly seen. They gathered
philosophers, geographers, and theorists to help their plans meet a successful end. Only those two have seen the rest outside
of their cloaks and hoods.
The man at the head of the table gave his last statement
to the man opposite him. “If man cannot handle what we present to them, then I would be glad we were the cause of their
downfall. If they are that stupid, that petty, and that destructive then we do not deserve a place here.”
The Order agreed with the head of the table. A geographer
near the back proposed the first productive point of the meeting.
“We should begin thinking about where we position
ourselves around the globe. I say we split up and make a wide circular arch from this spot going in all directions and coming
back clockwise.”
The head of the Order nodded in agreement. “That’s
the first intelligent thing I’ve heard all day. Theorist, how do you propose we go about our plans?”
A distinguished theorist stands to address the Order.
“Spreading this vast knowledge is easy; getting it from fiction to fact is far more challenging. I say we should spread
this like the plague it is.”
“What are you saying,” spoke the head
of the Order.
“What I’m saying is this should happen
as it is. Not to be tampered with by any means.”
“Are you suggesting we conduct these plans
as they are? That’s absurd.”
“On the contrary,” the theorist continued,
“it is a simple matter, one that requires little effort on our part. First, we contact the three wisest men on the planet.
Inform them that they are destined to discover the savior of man. From there our plans will be carried out for us.”
Opposite the head of the Order stands a man in outrage.
“Have you lost your mind? How can you explain we go about getting the three wisest of men to go along with what we have
concocted?”
The philosopher stands next to the opposite of the
head of the Order. “I do believe he has something here. The three wisest of men; all of which I know well; have been
searching for something very close to the very thing we’ve created. Time and time again, I’ve watched them struggle
to understand the only thing out of their comprehension. The very thing we have here.”
All of the men stare at the dusty book lying on the
table. The lifeless colors of the book gave it an eerie quality. The head of the Order looked away from the book, “Explain
yourself further philosopher.”
“It is simple. The three wisest of men will
believe this so blindly they will cause a chain reaction of the very events we have laid out. The boy they find will have
no choice but to believe what they say about him. Why would he dispute the most intelligent of our species? From there we
take our rightful place.”
“What place would that be? It would be far
too early to assume we’d achieve our goals.”
“Our place as his followers.” A murmur
spread through the room. “We become his most trusted friends and advisors. From that position we can direct him any
way we see fit.”
The head of the Order picked up the book for the
last time. Slowly he walked over to one of the twelve candles. Holding the book over the open flame, he turned his head to
the Order. Lighting a flame the book fled his hand falling to the floor. It landed in ashes spreading over the ground. The
Order stood in shock of what the head of the Order did.
“What is the meaning of this?” the opposite
the head of the Order said.
“It is a flawless plan. Only that book was
what could foil it. We do as the philosopher says. That is not the last we’ve seen of that book though. Think of it
as a rough draft, an outline for the reality we will record.”
“What are you saying?”
“We make our plans as real as possible. Nothing
is more believable than reality. Of course we will skew a fact here and a fact there, but the core of it will become fact;
it will become history.”
“But the end…you don’t mean…”
“Yes, I intend to carry that out as well. I’ll
see to it personally. His sacrifice will not be in vain. One death is nothing compared to the fortunes we will amass. Besides,
he won’t mind, he’ll think it was meant to be just the same.”
The head of the Order peered to the night sky. The
Order sat slowly as he walked back to his place at the head of the table near the dark doors. “Have we reached an agreement?”
The Order nodded as they did when the meeting began. “Good, then it is settled. Let the last of our meetings come to
its conclusion. We will meet again, be sure not to speak of these events when that time comes. This never happened, this room
doesn’t exist. May our futures be prosperous.”
The Order stood, blowing out their respective candle.
They began to file out as they came in leaving the head of the Order alone at the table with his candle still lit. He took
the candle out of its holster and placed it on the table. He then tipped the flame over igniting the wood. He turned away
from the flames and opened the ancient doors. Looking back into the room he watched as it burned. He smiled under his hood
knowing he had succeeded. Before closing the doors for the final time he spoke the words ‘May god rest his soul…’