The Parousia Effect

New York, at midnight

As usual, Thomas Robertson stayed awake beyond midnight, after heading the customary weekly sacrifice. Sitting in front of the window behind his desk, he looked thoughtful, and his face as always was grim. He had been leading to the satanic “Brothers of the Averno” sect for about ten years now, and the number of followers he had "harvested" through all those years already exceeded a thousand, only in New York City. In all those years of activity he had never felt greater concern than to please his “Lord of Darkness” as he said to Satan, seeking with his sacrifices, initiation activities and devotion, to win his favors and complacency. But now a shadow of concern was stopping him from sleep: a scientist had managed to clone Jesus of Nazareth on behalf of "The Second Coming", which meant a direct threat to his group and the loss of his effort throughout the years. Despite being a creation of man, he couldn’t risk that person emulates what his predecessor did more than two thousand years ago, much less to strengthen Christianity in the world, so he had decided to do everything possible to eliminate it. He was engrossed in these thoughts when his cell phone rang. As he answered, he heard from the other side the voice of a young man, perhaps twenty or twenty-five years old.

“I made the call as you requested me, sir,” the voice told him. “As expected, he got scared and left England with the boy bound for the United States”.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, sir. Our contact at London airport confirmed their passage through customs. They are coming here to New York.”

“Perfect.”

“Sir, can I ask you a question?”

“Ahead.”

“Why didn’t we go to look for them to London, if we already knew their new identities and their location?”

“Because our Lord asked us to do so. He wants his sacrifice to be made here in our home. We just have to wait for them to arrive.”

“It’s okay, sir. I’ll keep you informed.”

Thomas cut the communication. Of course he already knew that they had left London, her Lord had told him a few hours before and so he asked his man to make that call. He still couldn’t shake the impatience and concern he felt.

Some hours earlier in some other place in New York, in the makeshift hall where they worshiped their Lord, and in the midst of the praise of the day, the leader of The Blessed Ones, Charles Green, learned something truly disturbing, and he communicated it to his followers:

“Brothers!” He shouted, getting their attention. “Tonight I received the terrible news by a member of another brotherhood. The arrogance of man has once again consummated the greatest disrespect for our Lord, our God. The unclean sinner has dared to challenge our Creator! He has violated the rules of Christianity and created an abomination!”

He paused to see the expectation he had created.

“Brothers!” He continued, raising his voice higher. “A man practicing science and everything contrary to God has created a being who wants to pass off as our Lord Jesus Christ! Have you seen such a sin?”

Among those present there were murmurs of disapproval and regrets.

“And the saddest thing of all is that he did it with the help of The Second Coming brotherhood! They have profaned the holy sudarium and offended our Lord by using his holy blood to commit this aberration! But we must not stand idly by! We must end it! That monstrosity is not our God, is not our Lord Jesus Christ, it’s the product of the Devil who manifests himself through science and that worldly and sinful man called scientist!”

“Let’s kill him!” Shouted one of those present, and almost everyone in the room immediately seconded, shouting in one voice that phrase. The Blessed Ones were characterized by their radical stance towards anything that threatens their beliefs and way of life. They were able to use violence to impose their vision on Christianity, torturing in most of the times anyone who was against their “truth” about the understanding of the Bible, and even the occasional human sacrifice to alert the infidels.

Charles Green raised his arms asking for silence, and once achieved, he sentenced:

“We must kill that abomination! Whoever manages to kill him will have a safe place in paradise with our Lord, for having defended his word!”

Everyone present began to shout death slogans, visibly excited.

“I have news that the scientist and his abomination will soon arrive in our city. It looks like a child, but it isn’t! It’s the Antichrist manifested through that child!” He raised his arms again to finish. “Go and find it! Destroy it! Death to the abomination!”

“Death to the abomination!” They all yelled, getting ready to leave.

Charles Green had learned all about it through an emissary sent by Thomas Robertson, posing as a member of another Christian brotherhood.