The Book Of Joseph (Far Cry 5)

Part Ten.

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"We have left behind only illusions, families that were not our families in a world that was not our world. May that theatre of shadows burn."

Sermon from the Project at Eden's Gate.

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If he hadn't uttered those words, I would have passed right by Jacob without recognising him. there was nothing left of the child I had known, nor of the soldier I had seen in the photo. In fact, there was nothing left of him at all.

I had found one brother full of rage, but I found the other completely hollow. The Jacob I stumbled upon that day had become little more than a shadow.

John and I were able to take our brother with us without incident. No one even asked for documents proving we were related. The lives of the shelter's residents were worth less than a stamp, less than a simple photocopy. It helped that everyone wanted to believe in the miracle of a family reunited and for many at the shelter, it was the first time they had ever seen a happy ending.

Finding the Jacob we once knew took longer.

He had seen too much, done too much. Though still young, he had experienced more suffering and guilt than a man twice his age. He was weary. He needed to be reborn.

Day after day. I explained to him - as I had to John - the purpose of all his suffering. He was a natural soldier, but meaningless combat had crushed his spirit.

My spirit was the only one of any value.

I recounted to him what had been revealed to me. I told him about our crucial mission, the noblest mission of all.

Slowly, Jacob came back to life.

He recognized his strength and courage and, like his brother, swore to stand with me to the end. He was afraid of neither death nor the end of the world. He had already experienced both on a smaller scale.

The Seed blood flowed through his veins.

Today, Jacob acts as our protector. He selects the most determined of the chosen ones and train them to become soldiers of our community. He teachers them weapons-handling and combat techniques. He teaches them to become merciless. Most are former military men. They understand the realities of combat. But this fight is different and they all know it.

Thus, the three brothers were reunited. And thus were united the first members of the last family of the world.

The time had come to recruit the righteous who would save humanity from annihilation. Thanks to John, we found a place where I could preach. A manufacturer loaned us a former slaughterhouse as a token of gratitude toward my brother. John had kept quiet about a murky case involving spoiled meat that had had sickened an entire elementary school. John's assistance was well worth the red brick building, which the company didn't know what to do with anyhow. The place still reeked of death and suffering of tens of thousands of animals slaughtered there.

But this didn't bother me much. I was preaching about a massacre in any case. In the early days, not many people came to our temple. Perhaps it was the lingering stench of blood. Most of the time I preached to my brothers, and occasionally to a curious passer-by or tramp who came in for the warmth.

I wasn't the only preacher in town - far from it.

The streets were full of people wearing signs and wielding megaphones, employees of multinationals of the apocalypse, faithlessly spouting sermons tested and approved in tall towers by the same men who decided what we should eat, how we should dress, and how we should think.

The world is full of crooked preachers, rip-off miracle-workers who live off the credulity of followers taken in by phony mystical trances, pseudo-miraculous healings and ketchup covered stigmata.

We were surrounded by wealthy reverends boasting of their virtue only to be discovered later in the arms of prostitutes and corrupt pastors who hide in the shadows of their gods to commit their sins.

I don't ask my follows for money. I don't care if they are rich or poor. I am asking them for far more than their fortunes.

I am asking for their spirits and their lives.

I require them to sacrifice their own desires and give themselves over entirely to our grand plan.

If you want to live, this is the price you must pay.

I know that many will doubt me and that many will refuse to listen. We live in a cynical world surrounded by liars ready to slander that which they cannot understand. My message frightens them, and because they are not worthy, they prefer to mock me and treat me like a madman or a crook. I know that they will die soon, but I am afraid that their lies will scare away men and women who might otherwise join us and be saved. Listen only to your heart and you will know where the truth lies.

Little by little, the pews of our temple began to fill up.

As I had always predicted, those who accepted my message were simple people who understood the abysmal darkness of the world and experienced it day after day. The chosen ones are recruited from among those that society calls losers. They will live, and the society of non-believers that condemned them will disappear, having denied its own collapse up until the last second.

Some came and went, others stayed.

Some were sincere, others less so.

Despite our grand plans, our community also attracted the envious, people who dreamed of power and wanted to exert their dominance. We sent them packing as soon as they were discovered. But one day, one of the schemers who dreamed of usurping me disappeared after we kicked him out. What because of him? We didn't know. But his disappearance was a pretext for the authorities to come knocking.

They smelled blood.

The police found us and interrogated us. With no proof, they tried to accuse us surreptitiously of murdering the missing man. I explained that everyone in the world would die soon, so we had no interest in such despicable revenge. Everyone would die except those who joined me.

But rumours spread.

Rumours are a powerful weapon. They can condemn the innocent, destroy reputations and vilify the virtuous. Even today, our enemies spread this poison among the feeble-minded. I don't care about such slander or those believe in it. Those people can't be saved. They are the kind who obey the voice of their masters, who believe everything the newspapers and televisions say. They bow to authority. They will die without understanding: they will be told there is nothing to fear right until the bitter end.

Today we have learned from our mistakes, and John ensures that those who join us have pure intentions.

But at that time, in order to save our community, we had no choice but to leave Rome.