THE COLOURS OF FEAR

Since their last discussion, Tempéra has been spending most of his free time with Karl. As for Gaëlle, the little girl doesn't leave her father for a single moment. Thanks to Karl, Tempéra better understands the new environment he has found himself in: its history, its rules, and its principles. Beneath their apparent uniformity and simplicity, each member of the Assembly is more complex than the other. The fear of tomorrow of all these people is the strength of the Assembly of the Almighty.

He would have never thought that one day the concept of God would walk hand in hand with that of science. Karl told him that some members like him for example, are instructed to carry weapons under their tunics to protect and discreetly patrol the place. They receive training in weapons and combat sports in addition to their spiritual education. The other members don't know, but Karl suspects that the assembly groups the members into different professional sections, and not just scientists, artists, or farmers as they claim. They are busy creating a macro community: the society of tomorrow, the kingdom of the pure ones.

The life expectancy of members of the assembly is shorter than the population outside the compound for two reasons. First, since the vast majority of the members are ancestor people, they are more vulnerable to the harshness of the new conditions on the planet. Second, the indulgence of certain food such as sugar doesn't violate purity, so many members abuse it. Karl explained to Tempéra that the religious cult cared much more about artificial birth than about the Babel gene, the latter being especially intended for adult members who don't possess the gene and who are most vulnerable to the new diseases and climatic conditions.

In fact, artificial birth is the key element that the Assembly has been waiting for years to defend their ideology of purity. The latter is at the very core of their worship. All their rites and all their doctrines revolve around the concept of purity, and the interpretation of the word is taken in the very literal sense. Members must cease all activity to remain in contemplation for ten minutes eight times a day. The goal is to purify their thoughts. They only eat meals cooked according to a very specific ritual by their own members. After defecating, they must wash their whole body; although male and female members live among each other, they have all taken a vow of chastity. To this day, no child has been born in the place. The very few young members came with their parents when the latter joined or converted. According to Karl, there were several pregnancies that were concealed under the large tunic all members are wearing. According to him, many infants were murdered either by their own mother or by the members. As far as they are concerned, the one and only crime of man is impurity. The gates of the divine kingdom consist of purity, and the way to get through those gates doesn't really matter.

The Light: a large white tunic adorned with red and gold patterns that every member must wear. The colour red represents the sun whereas life is represented by the colour gold which consists of the divine realm they all yearn for. The oldest of the Assembly of the Almighty are called with respect, the Elders. They lead the ceremonies and rites and they often give workshops on how to maintain purity, how to talk to God, and especially how to secure a very special seat in the divine kingdom. Their tunic has an additional colour, green which symbolises fertility. The Elders have great authority and they don't hesitate to use it in public as well as privately. They are asked for advice and approval for everything. They are the ones who judge and inflict punishments when the rules aren't respected. The Supreme Goddess is the first Elder despite her relatively young age. She was just a baby when her parents joined the cult. Today, at age 48, she is the oldest Elder of all.

Finally, Athena is the only computer system used in all Assembly of the Almighty centres. It was designed and programmed by their in-house technical engineers. For many, Athena is just an artificial, intelligent, super-maid with a holographic image, but what few know even among members is that Athena is the eyes, ears and hands of the Elders. In addition to having total control over the surveillance cameras, the energy and all the computers of the Assembly, Athena is a true goddess of war. It has a hitherto impenetrable defence system as well as automatic and chemical weapons.