Playing God

Three hours later and the room was silent with shock. The suited men had left and taken their hideous technology with them, leaving the members to discuss the events privately.

Suddenly, the silence gave way to a cacophony of chaos as members, hit by the reality of the discovery, broke into fits of panic.

“Silence. Silence!” Pope James stood up and shouted above the discordance of voices. Everybody succumbed to his command.

“What we have witnessed today is indeed alarming and unexpected. But God would not want us to behave like primitive monkeys in light of what we have seen. I am suggesting that this is a sinister ploy by the Devil and we should discuss how to approach it.”

He only partially believed what he had said.

Someone shouted from the other end of the room. “God doesn’t exist and neither does the Devil! You all just saw it for yourselves!”

“Our lives and work have been a joke!” Another yelled and an angry murmur of agreement echoed throughout the room.

For the first time, Pope James was scared. He improvised.

“If your faith in our Holy Father dithers so easily in the face of a devilish charade, then you no longer deserve to be a part of the Vatican and I ask you to leave immediately.”

He’d intended it to come out as more of a threat than an instruction and was startled when lifelong friends and colleagues filed out of the meeting room. Only five remained, including himself. Father John, a Bishop, another priest he did not know well and Sister Celia.

"You need to make a public speech denouncing the research,” the Bishop urged. “By saying nothing, you're making a statement. You're admitting that they're right." "People will think you agree with them," Father John chimed in and the others nodded in agreement. Sister Celia grabbed his hand.

"What is He telling you, Pope James?" she asked.

Everybody fell silent, choosing to ignore the inappropriate physical contact. Pope James became aware of a quiet pecking at the window. His gaze followed the sound and he spotted a pigeon sitting on the stone ledge just outside the window, its head turning directions quickly and sporadically as if it were stuck in a glitch. The others looked at the pigeon too.

"Pope James?" Sister Celia spurred him out of his trance.

"I will hold a public speech to reassure the believers. He is telling me that there is nothing to fear as long as our faith remains strong. And mine is immovable."

He felt his stomach sink as the words left his mouth.

Pope James did not sleep for the next four nights.