The God Conscience (Bartholomew Silva)

[BackworldTraveller]

OK - Then I think my next actions must be to see who I can find who has lost people to the Kults...Thank you for your help, And my blessing on you and your office.

So - Perhaps one for Cyxeria. I contact her.

Are there peer-to-peer media groups along the line of "I've lost by friend/family to the Kults". Lets see if those are more prevalent these days than they have been. And lets see what court actions have been submitted (even if subsequently withdrawn) by the Kults against individuals - they no doubt wish to protect their privacy.

[Grognardsw]

"You're welcome sir, and may the Peace of All in One dwell in you," said the Regulator. He gave Bartholomew the address of the mother who claimed her son was being held against his will by a kult.

The Shepherd queried Cyxeria. The synthezoid reported:

"An analysis of Know social groups for those parameters shows that there are twelve religious groups that discuss a range of spiritual topics. Five of these groups were established in the last year, two in the previous year, and the remaining five are long-time established groups. The five newer religious interest groups each have discussion topics on the influence of kults on friends and/or family."

"There have been no court cases on Pzion by Kults against individuals. This could reflect the comparative early stage of development, lack of organized legal action, or perceived difficulty of an individual against a large organization."

[BackworldTraveller]

Two avenues then...

Cyxeria: Lets meet up and go visit this person with a missing son. In the mean time, Bartholomew makes a quick sweep through the sites with friends & family pages... lets gauge the discussion content...and see who runs the sites.

[Grognardsw]

"You have much energy for a human," commented Cyxeria as she answered Bartholomew's Know call. "I will disengage from the data searches and meet you at the mother's address."

Meanwhile, the Shepherd studied the five religious Know boards. They were each run by reputable, established religious organizations. The discussion groups were moderated by affiliated volunteers, including the sub-group on kults. The content of each was similar, namely talk about the increase in kults, their attraction for the lost and lonely, perceived recruiting techniques (Bartholomew was familiar from his research and interviews about such techniques), and how true church parishioners should try to welcome and help those who lack firm spiritual footing in an effort to combat the false attractiveness of kults. There were some accounts of people who knew people whose relatives or friends got caught up in a kult. And the efforts to dissuade them, some of which worked and some that didn't.

There were only a few mentions of religious Shifts. Bartholomew thought the audience of these Know boards may skew toward the older crowd, who were not as into Shifts as the more contemporary generation.

[BackworldTraveller]

"You have much energy for a human," commented Cyxeria as she answered Bartholomew's Know call. "I will disengage from the data searches and meet you at the mother's address."

Meanwhile, the Shepherd studied the five religious Know boards. They were each run by reputable, established religious organizations. The discussion groups were moderated by affiliated volunteers, including the sub-group on kults. The content of each was similar, namely talk about the increase in kults, their attraction for the lost and lonely, perceived recruiting techniques (Bartholomew was familiar from his research and interviews about such techniques), and how true church parishioners should try to welcome and help those who lack firm spiritual footing in an effort to combat the false attractiveness of kults. There were some accounts of people who knew people whose relatives or friends got caught up in a kult. And the efforts to dissuade them, some of which worked and some that didn't.

There were only a few mentions of religious Shifts. Bartholomew thought the audience of these Know boards may skew toward the older crowd, who were not as into Shifts as the more contemporary generation.

So where are the younger groups and where are the self-helpers? (There should be the classic "There are a bunch of Kultists at the door...how do I get rid of them?...Try insecticide, it always works for me" type of stuff somewhere) I'll mention the odd patterns to Cyxeria when I see her.

[Grognardsw]

While on his way to the home of Jenrette Colobret, the mother of the son who joined a kult, Bartholomew scanned the Know boards looking for younger peoples' discussions of kults. They seem not to be very active on the religious boards. The Shepherd does find activity on the technology boards focused on virtual reality, augmented reality and Shifts. The topics are technical related to programming. Shift discussions include programming theories (hackers seeking to reverse engineer or replicate Shifts), content procurement, authenticity factors, degrees of verisimilitude, and popularity levels of different type of content.

Bartholomew realized these technical discussions may dovetail with Cyxeria's research on programmers and related matters. Speaking of the synthezoid, Cyxeria arrived.

[BackworldTraveller]

Bartholomew will offer his most sympathetic ear and see if the story reflects that of Kirylla earlier.

He'll also see if he can get Cyxeria to look at her son's comms trail on the household account. Who was he talking too?

[Grognardsw]

Continuing from post #73...

[Grognardsw]

Jenrette Colobret told a familiar story. Her son Stefan, a young man who was not the most focused in life, drifted away from their family's beliefs in the Syncretic Order. After becoming addicted to Shifts, he went to the Zion temple of the Xathos Epiphany. His mother learned this after-the-fact. She had a Know conversation with him and asked why he did so. Stefan said he found meaning and a spiritual family that he understood and who understood him. His mother went to the Regulators out of frustration. They contacted him and confirmed he made the decision of his own free will.

Bartholomew knew that the Xathos Epiphany was the same kult that Kirylla's brother Kristof joined. It was based on planet Pzataria in the Plurality but had churches on Pzion including here in the mega-city of Zion.

The Shepherd recalled his conversations with Kirylla...

“Where do I stand in all this? I am agnostic, so I don’t believe there are any religious sides to be on. But I’ve seen the good and bad of belief and Faith. You know, my brother joined one of the kults. He’s gone off the deep edge.It’s why I agreed to meet with you. If there is a god, and it moves in a mysterious way, then I thought maybe there was a reason you showed up asking questions...”



"...No, memories of dead people would be impossible. Though my brother, he said their priests had 'ancestral memories' of the past, which he experienced. That was alarming, whether its true or its faked. I've tried to get more information about that church, but they have little real information and now I hardly get to talk to Kriztof..."

“..Kriztof went off-planet to the kult’s church on Pzataria and I haven’t seen him for a month. It was at the Dream Palace that he first heard of the group...”

“...It’s called the Xathos Epiphany, and is based on Pzataria with churches on many planets of the Plurality," said Kirylla. "I don't know the names of their leaders. They do have a church here in Zibylon."

Bartholomew recalled that cult name among those in the list provided by the First Mind of the Syncretics.

"I feel guiltly about the whole thing. Kriztof first learned about them at the Dream Palace. And it spun out of control from there..."

“...Kriztof first learned about the kult from a Shift at the Dream Palace. Xathos has a series of them, and some Scenes, available.”

Scenes were a variant of Shifts that were fictions or nonfictions, instead of true memory. Jacked straight into one’s mind in the same manner as a Shift, a Scene was produced by the Creators and marketed as entertainment or education (or both as edutainment). They felt like the real thing and used the five senses; one remembered it as a memory. Ostensibly the only difference between a Shift and Scene was that the former was a true recorded memory and the latter a fiction.

“I was curious what my brother found so interesting, so I experienced some of the Shifts. They didn’t connect with me; I guess I don’t have the religious mindset, that need for something beyond...”

..."I shall endeavour to help - although whether that shall bear fruit is another matter. I think that I shall need to gain copies of those shifts and scenes... If I give you three store addresses, you can drop data and messages onto each. Don't write them down or save them in your know..."

Bartholomew realized he hadn't checked the stores for Kirylla's drop-offs.

While Jenrette told her story, Cyxeria accessed the house Know and tried to hack into Stefan's communications. Cyxeria hacking for Stefan's communications 75 [1d100]=33 She was successful and learned that Stefan has been in communication with a Mr. Zelron Hyudard of the Xathos Epiphany Zion Temple. Correspondence about temple meetings, socials, suggested Shifts to experience, invitation to a temple retreat, and contact information for a Faith Guide (a Ms. Deliah Temptron) to help Stefan along the Path of Discovery. The communication stopped after a certain date, likely when Stefan formally joined the Xathos Ephiphany. It's probable they gave him a private Know address, said Cyxeria, as she has seen in other cases from Syncretic Order research.

[BackworldTraveller]

Well, Thank you Jenrette.

Can I ask if the cult are interested in just Stephan or if there is a financial motive underlying their activities? He wouldn't be the owner of this house, for instance?


And Bartholomew listens carefully to the reply before trying - And was Stephan alone, or did he have other friends that he drew into this mystery with him?

[Grognardsw]

"No, Stefan wasn't in the best of financial positions," answered Jeanette. "I own the house."

"I don't know about his friends. He didn't have many who I was aware of."

Cyxeria, having access to Stefan's Know-mails, said: "He was a bit of loner judging from his Know-mail activity. That fits the profile of many you join kults. He did have one friend who he communicated with about the Xathos Epiphany. A Gerald Butreau. I have his contact information."

[BackworldTraveller]

OK - A trail of breadcrumbs...On to Gerald Butreau!

Bartholomew winds up the interview, mentioning that he's looking and can't offer any specific hope of even finding Stefan. But he offers a blessing and the assurance that she's not the only person in this position.

Have you tried seeking others in the same situation and helping each other?

[Grognardsw]

“Why no, I haven’t thought about seeking the support of orhers,” said Janelle. “I’ll have to look into that.”

Bartholomew and Cyxeria thanked the old woman and left.

“I have Gerald Butreau’s contact information,” said the synthezoid. “Shell we call him by Know or visit him?”

“This Mr. Zelron Hyudard of the Xathos Epiphany Zion Temple… I wonder if he may be a weak point into the kult. The mention of an invitation to a temple retreat could be a useful infiltration point. The “faith guides” as Stefan’s Ms. Deliah Temptron was called could hold more sophisticated information.”

[BackworldTraveller]

OK - It does look like we are getting some chinks in the armour. Let's try Mt Butreau first. and then we can look over everything we have gathered and make a plan for tackling this Xathos Epiphany Zion Temple.

[Grognardsw]

Cyxeria nodded in agreement. The synthezoid and Shepherd boarded a monorail. Gerald Butreau’s apartment was in the same sector as Jenrette Colobret.



Bartholomew found himself in the lobby of Gerald's apartment building. He pressed the vid-buzzer. The screen crackled and Gerald's face came up.

"What do you want?" he said irritably.

[BackworldTraveller]

Good afternoon

We were recommended to talk with you as a person who can help us find the next step to our Epiphany. Have we the got wrong person?

[Grognardsw]

On the apartment lobby viewscreen Gerald Butreau's face scowled as he said, "Frak the Ephiphany."

His eyes narrowed. "Who sent you?"

Cyxeria remained silent as she listened to Bartholomew's counter-intuitive ruse.

The prior scant conversation (below) about Gerald didn't explore anything beyond he was a friend that Stefan talked to about Xathos. I see it could be assumed that he was friendly about, or part of, Xathos. As Cyxeria would share, Gerald actually didn't go through with joining, changing his mind before the formal step of initiation. He tried to talk Stefan out of it to no avail. In light of that, if you want to edit your your post that's fine.

Cyxeria, having access to Stefan's Know-mails, said: "He was a bit of loner judging from his Know-mail activity. That fits the profile of many you join kults. He did have one friend who he communicated with about the Xathos Epiphany. A Gerald Butreau. I have his contact information."

[BackworldTraveller]

I'm looking into the activity of various Kults and was seeking any insight I could get from the friends of those who have been swallowed by their promises.

I understand that you have been a contact of one such and wondered if you could give us some help in working out what they have done to him.

[Grognardsw]

"Who sent you?" repeated Gerald suspiciously.

"How do I know you aren't part of them?"

[BackworldTraveller]

Hmmm...I guess that depends what you mean by "Them"...if you mean the Kults - no, if you just mean religions generally then I am, and proud of it. You can look me up on your know if you wish - I'll wait.