Paranid Sedevacantism

[thedavid]

This is a short story I was thinking about. Let me know if anyone likes it.

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Amankalat found a nice spot on the common of the dock. He’d been moving aimlessly for so long, unable to reconcile what he believed and what he knew to be true. His aimless flying had brought him to Heretics End almost as if he’d been repulsed by his fellow Paranid. This sector, once part of the Paranid Empire was now not administered by anyone. Something about that fact called to Amankalat, almost like the status of the sector reflected the emptiness he felt in his being.

But of course the sector wasn’t empty. When Amankalat needed sustenance he went to the Hatikvah freeport to dock. There he’d found a mix of Argons, Teladis, and even some of his own fellow Paranid. Yet, even with some of his own kind there, Amankalat knew that none of them would be able to understand his struggle. He was alone in having to deal with an impossible proposition of reconciling two contradictory axioms.

He spent two days on the station passing the time in thought. On the third day, after raising from sleep he left his ship and brought with him a rolled up mat as he walked the dock in the same circle around the three M size docking bays over and over. And then he stopped and his feet seemed to reject moving forward any further. Next to some junk that had bee pushed out of the way and several large pipes that had been stacked in a pyramid Amankalat unrolled his mat so he could position himself there at the perfect geometric angle to pray.

Time passed. He prayed. Nothing changed. Workers and pilots walked past him. Some took momentary notice of him but then moved on with whatever other business they had. A Teladi who walked by snickered and as a jest offered Amankalat some credits as if the proud Paranid had been there begging.

A Split woman hid behind the large pipes to weep and beat her chest over some matter Amankalat was ignorant of. When she was finished she wiped her eyes and put on a strong face to emerge looking confident as if whatever had just crushed her soul had not happened. Amankalat wondered at her plight. Had she been weeping over a personal matter of over the fact that her home world was lost and the few Split that were now mixed with the populations of the currently connected sectors were not numerous enough to form their own government? Perhaps she should seek a Teladi for advice since they were a people who knew what it was to be separated from their home planet.

Amankalat looked up at the planet of Heretics End and wondered what things were like on Paranid Prime, now itself also lost on the other side of the jump gates. A dark thought came to him. What if all this struggle he’d been feeling was moot because on Paranid Prime there was a true Pontifex who was ruling with grace and justice? It was a faint hope and one that Amankalat had no proof was true. It had been the case that every Paranid community that had been reunited by the gates had all selected their own Pontifex to rule them during the separation but even with that having happened in every case it did not guarantee that such had happened on Paranid Prime. Yet it was the clergy on Paranid Prime who were the only ones with the right to elect a Pontiff. With no connection and no communication, how could the clergy on the Paranid home world know if the current Pontifex of the Paranid Empire was even still alive?

Amankalat remained troubled and so he prayed. Answers did not come but what did come was a man. Instead of answers the man came with questions.

“Show me your skills, please.” the man said.

“I am not for hire, Argon.”

“Is that right. Everyone here seems to think you’re here waiting for a job.”

“What I do is my own business.”

The man smiled. “I can’t argue with that.” He reached over towards the junk and grabbed a discarded and emptied container. He sat on it and looked over towards the view. “Oh, now I get it.”

“Are you still bothering me?” Amankalat questioned.

“It’s the view, right? I get it now. It’s nice.”

“I am trying to pray. Be gone.”

“Just give me a second, I want to take it in.”

“Am I so retched that you come to torment me?” Amankalat lamented.

“Torment. Take that back.” the man objected. “I’ve been nothing but nice and polite to you.”

Amankalat considered this for a moment and then got to his feet. His stance might have seemed threatening to a Teladi but the man looked up at the tall Paranid towering over him and smiled. “Forgive me.” Amankalat began, “For my lack of courteousness.”

“Nothing to forgive.” the man said as he stood up. He offered Amankalat his hand but instead the Paranid bowed. “So, you have something on your mind. I can’t say I would understand it, being that I only have two eyes and all, but maybe if you say it out loud as if to try to make me understand, it might help you feel better.”

“I do not seek this feeling better as you call it. I seek understanding.”

“Of what?”

“Two contradictory things can not both be true.”

The man sat down again on the box and gestured for Amankalat to also sit on his mat but instead the Paranid began to gesture. “The pontifex is the pontifex.”

“Obviously.” the man agreed.

“No, it is far from obvious.”

“How so? Is not the thing being the thing that it is, obvious. I am Veneficus. Obviously so.”

“How can the pontifex of the Paranid Empire be the pontifex and yet not be the pontifex?”

“How is he not the pontifex?”

“You wouldn’t understand.”

“I agree, but say it to yourself. You’re struggling with this so …”

“Pardon me. I just realized you offered my your name and I did not return the compliment. I am Amankalat.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“I mean no offense but you have one of the worst Argon names I have ever heard.”

“It means miracle worker. … In case you’re wondering. And yes, I know it sounds like it means something else. I know. You don’t have to say it.”

“Too ominous a name for such a good natured Argon.”

The man shrugged. “I have yet to live up to it. Sometimes I wonder if I should change it to something even more ridiculous. But enough about me. The pontifex. What’s the deal? I heard there were two now.”

“There can not be two.”

“Why not?”

“It is a geometric impossibility.”

“Ok. Why?”

“It is obvious. It can not be. There is only one reality and so there can be only one pontifex uniting the three dimensionality.”

“So which one is the real pontifex then?”

“I do not know. I thought I knew. But now … I do not know.”

“Ok. Who was pontifex first? Your leaders serve for life so whoever was pontifex first is the real one, right?”

“It is not that simple.”

“Why not?”

In a hushed voice Amankalat whispered as he leaned down to the man. “The council.”

“Ok. What council?”

Amankalat looked around as if he would get in trouble for mentioning such things. He saw an Argon loitering by the dip to the elevator regarding them. Amankalat took his place again on the mat and did sit down crossing his legs.

“When the gates shut down the pontifex was trapped in Trinity Sanctum. He was separated from Paranid Prime and he had with him only a few Cardinals in his onteraj. During the years of the separation the Pontifex held a council.”

“What’s wrong with that?”

“You do not understand because your two eyes do not see the contradiction.”

The face of the man was unmoved for a moment. After a short consideration he began to move like he might stand up, perhaps to leave and finally give Amankalat the isolation he desired. And Argon hurried past the man just then, clearly short on time for something. Veneficus had half his face turned away for a moment but then he looked again at Amankalat. He halted his motion to leave and settled where he was. The man seeing the anguish on Amankalat’s face took pity on the Paranid and engaged again.

“I have only two eyes, it is true. So I could never see things the same as you. But I can see your three eyes, can I not? I can see my trifold reflection in your eyes. So, even as limited as that is, help me to see a reflection of what you see.”

Amankalat was moved by the compassionate words. He lowered his head and began. “The pontifex called a council. But it was an error. There was no heresy to denounce. Also, at that time the gates had shut down so not all of the cardinals could attend the council. Not even the cardinals from Paranid Prime, which unlike your home world, is still lost to us. They changed the doctrines. They called it a clarification but what is now is a contradiction from what was before. I was told that I just did not yet fully understand the changes. I was told that I would be a heretic if I insisted on reverting to the past instead of assenting to the new axioms. I have tried to be humble and to expand my understanding to see how the new doctrines could be reconciled with the before but I can not.”

“What specifically did they change?”

“It is not for you to …” Amankalat started but then stopped himself. He took in a deep breath. “The initiation is sacred. Those not initiated in the sacred doctrines are not filled with holy light. This has always been so. But now we are told that even an unholy creature such as an Argon can be filled with holy light. Even a Paranid, they say, who is not initiated into the doctrines and is outside of our community can be filled with holy light so long as that Paranid is true to their own conscience. I can not see how these can be compatible. It can not be so.”

“If your leaders are really making such … inconsistent changes, I would think that more Paranid would be upset. Are you so sure of what they are teaching now? Are you so sure of what was taught before?”

“Of course I am sure. I have scoured the holy texts over many weeks again and again and discovered the same doctrines. Only those who have had the initiation ritual into our community can ever be filled with holy light. It is a certainty. All others are in darkness and will forever be so. It is not an insult to you for me to announce the truth to you. I do you a disservice by lying and saying you are filled with holy light when in fact you are not.”

“Actually, I agree with you. Better I know where I really stand. But maybe I believe something different.”

“You have only two eyes. Of course you do. You can not grasp the fullness of the truth of the holy three dimensionality.”

“But with enough time all things are possible. Isn’t that right? I see it pains you to talk about these things. But you know, nobody asked me if I even wanted to be filled with your holy light. Maybe the answer is not to worry about what is going on within others and only take care that you yourself have done the right thing. After all, is there any way to test this holy light filling … ness?”

“I feel you mocking me and yet I also feel some wisdom in your words.”

“Sometime you have to cut deep to see if the blood is warm.”

“I could accept what you say. Now that you say it, I have seen the fuller reality beyond even what you can see with your own words.” Amankalat said nodding. “However, there is not just the matter of that one doctrine. There are all of the other changes.”

“Like what? New color patterns for vestments?”

“Hardly anything so simple. They created a new translation of the ancient sacred texts. Now some of the passages appear to have changed meaning. They have encouraged us to deal with schismatics and apostates with dialogue instead of wrath so long as they accept the rule of the Pontifex. The Paranid empire now wishes to open its arms to all and welcome them back into the fold without rooting out their heresies before allowing them back into our community. They seem obsessed with simple numerical superiority instead of being true to the sacred axioms.”

“Well, they’re in a war. They need pilots. They need engineers. They need marines.”

Amankalat nodded. “But what benefit do we get to keep the pontifex in political power if we deny the sacred axioms? They have even changed the words. Not just the words. The entire format of the sacred ritual of remembrance. They threw out the old ritual and banned anyone from saying it and forced all priests and cardinals to say the new ritual or be banished.”

“Doesn’t the pontifex have the authority to do that?”

Amankalat didn’t nod nor did he shake his head in the negative.

At the moment an Argon woman came up upon them and addressed the man. The Argon woman cast a worried look over at Amankalat and then addressed the man. “Sir, the materials are finished loading. We’re ready to depart.”

“I’ll be there in a moment. Do we still have those two empty seats?”

“Juro mentioned meeting up with us later but he’s coming in his own ship.”

“Meeting where?”

“He didn’t say.”

“Well, go find out.” the man said in a friendly tone but none the less it was still an order. The Argon left and the man turned his attention again to Amankalat. “So, you were saying. About your rituals.”

“Small changes have happened before, to keep the liturgy up to date … but … this new order of things … it’s just too far. They didn’t update the old. They discarded the old and replaced it with something different. They included rituals and prayers from heretics and schismatics in the new order ritual. They have said that the old ritual was now invalid, as if to deny all of Paranid history before the gate shutdown. Our faith did not begin at that council. What was sacred before remains so. It must. It was not right for them to ban the old ritual. Some are even saying that the new ritual is in fact deficient and does not fully reveal the holy three dimensionality in its fullness. That it lets in the smoke of entropy into our sanctuaries.”

“Or, and hear me out. Ok. Or, it is just a matter of taste. You like the old ritual so go where they use the old ritual.”

“The only place they still use the old ritual is … the Holy Order.”

“Well there you go. Those guys aren’t my best friends but maybe …”

“It can not be.” Amankalat interrupted.

“What can not be?”

“The Holy Order’s pontifex can not be the true pontifex.”

“Why not?”

“He lacks succession. The pontifex of the Paranid empire has an unbroken line ordinational succession going all the way back. The Holy Order have a pontifex who simply proclaimed himself pontifex without any cardinals electing him. He wasn’t even ordained for that office. No Paranid can become a Cardinal without a mandate from the true pontifex and only a true cardinal can become a true pontifex.”

“But do they hold what you hold about holy light?”

“They do.”

“And do they use the old ritual that you believe is superior to the new ritual?”

“They do.”

“So, it seems simple to me.”

“It is not simple. It is a crisis. The Pontifex of the Paranid empire has abandoned the sacred axioms. He seems to not care how closely anyone adheres to doctrine so long as they support him politically. The Holy Order have kept true to the sacred axioms as they were before but they lack any line of succession.”

“You know, a long time ago on my home world we used to have a system of merit.”

“This crisis will not be solved including unholy …”

The man put up a hand to stop the Paranid. “Just listen. You might learn something from our failure.”

“I see.”

“We had a system of merit. Not all men were equal. Some men were criminals. Some men were just family men. But some men were exceptional. Exceptional in strength. Exceptional in virtue. Exceptional intellect. In a time a crisis these men stepped forward to defend others. In time a sort of ritual was established where the exceptional men formed a bond with each other as a community. They established a ritual to induct young men into their ranks. It was called being knighted. And at that time any knight could make a knight. It was best if at least three would come together to induct a new knight but these men died in battle and there might not always be three. So the rule was that if there was at least one knight, he could reestablish the order by inducting new members.”

“I have never heard of any knights as you speak of among the Argon.”

“And there’s a reason for that. The day came when a king decided that he wanted control of the knights. He made a law that said that only the king could decide who could be a knight. The king reserved to himself the power to induct a young man to the knighthood. And you know what happened. Of course. The knights stopped being a thing. Young men no longer joined and the order lost its meaning. The king just wanted the knights to support his political power and then he neglected them.”

“I was unaware that the Argon ever had a king. But you have had a long history on many words.”

The man shrugged. “You know, the knights also had a rule. If one of their number broke an oath he would be stripped of his rank and would no longer be a knight. At first, not even the king was above the law. But then something changed. The king made a rule that the king could break the law and not lose his office. They said that the king could not be judged by anyone since he was himself the only judge. An abuse obviously. And so today, there are no more kings.”

“And what have you learned from the history of your people?” Amankalat asked.

“You’re the one with the three eyes. You can see the full picture that I can not. What have you learned from my story?”

“The pontifex of the Holy Order is a usurper. But, it is not wrong from them to cling to the old ways. And the Holy Order does need a leader, he just isn’t the pontifex … yet.”

“Yet?”

“If all of the Cardinals declared him pontifex, he could become the true pontifex. As for the Paranid Empire, they have fallen into heresy. In the old rules if a Cardinal were to fall into heresy he would immediately lose his office. But now, a cardinal stays in office only upon the judgment of the pontifex and it is now said that the pontifex can not be judged by anyone.”

“Rules for thee but not for me. Sounds familiar.”

Amankalat grew temporarily angry but then simmered down. “It is not the same as what you described but I can see a similarity.”

“Let me guess, it was the pontifex who decided that it was he alone who could not be judged.”

“It was. He has put aside the sacred axioms and converted his office into simply one of ruling a government. It has never been known that a pontifex could lose his office. It seems impossible. But a heretical pontifex could lead many astray away from the sacred axioms.”

“Do you need a pontifex?”

“There must be one.”

“Was it always the case that only cardinals could elect a pontifex?”

Amankalat thought for a moment. “It was not always so. But it has been so for many centuries. It seems impossible to have a different system now. If we do not act quickly the line of true cardinals will die out and then it will be impossible to elect a true pontifex. The Holy Order can not just create a new pontifex from nothing without any line of succession.”

“So, I’m confused. Paranid Empire or Holy Order.”

“It is an impossible choice.”

“Which is more important? The line of succession or staying true to doctrine?”

“They are both required.”

“So let me ask, where is the actual throne of the pontifex?”

“On Paranid Prime.”

“I close my two eyes.” the man said as he followed the in action what he had said. “And then I see with my third.”

“Third eye?”

“We humans can only use it when the other two are closed.”

“And” the Paranid said with great interest, “What do you see?”

“I see the pontifex of the Holy order and the pontifex of the Paranid Empire struggling with each other in hand to hand combat in a grand throne room with many spectators watching. Everyone is looking at them. Everyone is murmuring among themselves with the story they will tell to justify how they will change their allegiance if this one or that one wins. But so far, neither has won. If I don’t focus on the two in combat and see past them I see the throne. The chair. The seat of the true pontifex. It is empty.”

“The one who will take the throne is the one with greater force.”

“It could mean that.” the man said as he opened his eyes. “With a clear winner there would be no choice and so everyone would have to rationalize how that was the obvious choice from the beginning. But without a clear winner, no one knows what will happen. The rules from before aren’t going to help you if you choose a side and that side loses the war. So until the war is over, the seat is empty no matter who claims to sit there. There’s another saying among my people, possession is nine tenths of the law. And also, might makes right.”

“For a Paranid, might does not make right. A wrong action that is forced onto others will always be tainted. We can not accept that council and we can not accept someone declaring themselves as a pontifex with no line of succession. I can find no communion no matter how much I long to just be true to the sacred axioms. Let me ask you, Argon; if you had to choose.”

“Me?”

“If there was a war between your Antigone Republic and your Argon Federation which would you choose. The new or the old?”

“Neither.”

“You would willing be cast out?”

“I have always been an outcast. My loyalty is not to the Argon. It never has been. I am loyal to the world of my mother and my father. A world I have never seen with my own eyes because I was born out here among the stars. But no matter. The only world that legitimately deserves my loyalty is one that I may never see. But even if we are never reconnected to it and I have never been there, it will always be my real home. There is no choice for me to make. I am clear and I am certain.”

“You are from that Earth that I have heard of.”

“I am a Terran, like my father before me. You are a Paranid. You know where your true loyalty lies. Not Trinity Sanctum or Holy Vision. One day the gates may reconnect me to Earth and they may reconnect you to Paranid Prime. Until then, let us now follow usurpers. Come with me and find community and purpose again. Us outcasts need to stick together.”

[Nanook]

We actually have a forum for such fan fiction, so I'll move it over there.