- We assumed that the Horizon Initiative did not have many agents or resources here in South America, and this seems to confirm it.
- They are dedicated to the collection of information more than anything else.
- That's right.
- The exchange was made in a church?
- Yes, in the Parroquia Virgen de las Peñas, the same one where that anomalous plant appeared a few months ago. They were still rebuilding it, because when the GOC appeared they, as usual, burned the plant and with it half the church.
- Any problems?
- No, but almost. I was accompanied by Agent Peralta—did you know that he's an evangelical? He was talking to me for several minutes about "the great harlot of Babylon," "the Antichrist who is the Pope of Rome," "the beast with the seven horns that correspond to the seven hills on which the Vatican sits," etc., etc. I gave him orders to be quiet and not to make any comments.
- … I don't understand.
- Evangelicals, in general do not have much appreciation for the Catholic Church—they don't consider true Christians, and sometimes call them openly satanic.
- Oh, I get it, one of those dumb little things. To me, all Christians look the same. He give you any problems?
- No, he didn't say a word when the representatives of the Initiative arrived, but he devoted himself to staring down Father Lobos—had his eyes fixed on him, trying to make him uncomfortable, but the father didn't notice, or at least pretended not to.
- Was he a priest?
- There were two of them: Father Lobos, a Catholic priest, and another, probably a civilian, who introduced himself as Agent Orange—no, really. Both were very friendly. We met in an office—I think it was the priest's—and talked for a minute; more discussion wasn't necessary because the protocol for the exchange of information was agreed upon days ago.
They passed us their USB sticks and we gave them ours, and we exchanged the security codes. Simple, at least for us. After passing the keys and deactivating a couple of booby-traps and viruses, their information was there, in perfect Spanish and English. Our data, on the other hand, were under a double encryption, first Vigènere and then SHA-1—the IT department can be very paranoid.
- And then?
- We shook hands and left, with many wishes from Father Lobos that this collaboration between the Foundation and the Initiative be fruitful, "if God wants it so"
Verifying Horizon Initiative credentials…
Accessing protected information…
Order of the Black Moon: Group of practitioners of Satanism in the city of Iquique, northern Chile, with no more than 50 members. Their practices include the performance of nocturnal "black masses" and the occasional sacrifice of domestic animals (dogs and cats). They do not possess any anomalous artifacts. It is suspected that their rituals are an excuse—at least on the part of their leader, a man called "The Black Monk"—to perform orgiastic sexual acts, with the possible participation of minors (adolescents). Current status: active. Threat level: low
Church of Santa María, Giver of Fruits: Cult that practices a syncretism between the Catholic beliefs and the worship of Pachamama (Incan goddess of the Earth), turning the Virgin Mary into a protector of agriculture and of the way of life of the common peasant. Their practices include the burial of images of the Virgin in areas where crops will later be sown. Very popular in rural areas of Bolivia; the number of practitioners is unknown, but there are probably at least several thousand. They do not possess any anomalous artifacts. Current status: active. Threat level: minimum.
- Wow, that sounds very similar to the cult of the Green God, doesn't it?
- Cults of nature have been present in many different cultures throughout history, and this one mixes Catholicism with indigenous beliefs, little to do with ancient Egypt.
- We should at least take a look…
Gardelianans/Gardelianist: Members of a "platitude sect"1 who claimed that Carlos Gardel—a well-known Argentine actor and tango singer who died in 1935—did not really die in a plane crash but was actually an "embodied soul" from the star Tau Ceti who came to bring his wisdom to humanity. They claim that only his physical body was destroyed and that he will re-incarnate and bring with him an era of peace and prosperity for all. Current status: deceased. Last activity: 1987.
“Jacob”: Better known as "the Prophet of Peñalolén" (Chile). Real name: Hugo Muñoz. Leader of a small sect (approximately 30 members) who experienced a mystical revelation in the early 1990s. He claims that God ordered him to purify the sin from women that God sent to him as wives, having sexual relations with them within a sacred marriage. He was arrested, but later freed when it was proven that all the women remained by his side voluntarily. He currently has seven "wives" and 31 children. Current status: active. Threat level: minimum.
Nedara: Name supposedly derived from the Hebrew meaning "liberation". A sect that originated in northern Chile which combined elements of the Jewish Kabbalah with Hinduism. Never more than a dozen members. In 1983, three of them committed ritual suicide, burning themselves to the bone; this was the sect's last known activity. Current status: deceased.
Children of Love and Joy: Sect founded in 1983 in Colombia by a former member of the FARC, who after facing the horrors of war experienced a divine revelation. His cult was based on the preaching of love and the expression of that same love in all its forms, living in community and practicing vegetarianism and pacifism. It came to have 300 members living in an agricultural commune; they were raided by the Colombian police in 1996 after it was discovered that they encouraged the practice of incest and sex with minors (from 12 years of age) as "a way of expressing the filial love". Their leader disappeared and 16 adults received different sentences for sexual abuse. Current state: apparently deceased. Last activity: 2007.
- The majority are groups of eccentrics or perverts, or eccentric perverts, without links to anomalous artifacts or real entities. This isn't helpdul
- I imagine that these kind of things fall within the scope of the Initiative's activities, whether they are anomalous or not.
Temple of the Sacred Tardígrade: Group of no more than 50 individuals in Montevideo, Uruguay, who worship tardigrades2; they consider the tardigrade a symbol of the resurrection due to its ability to enter cryptobiosis3. Their rituals include a strange form of "mummification" in life through the use of honey and coconut milk, trying to imitate the phenomenon of cryptobiosis. In possession of the "corpse" of a tardigrade of macroscopic size - approximately three meters high - which they consider their "Messiah" and from which they await an early resurrection. Current status: active. Threat level: indeterminate.
The Black Arc: For more information consult the file American/Haeresim3627-D
In possession of several anomalous artifacts.
Current status: active.
Threat level: very high.
Church of the Eternal Harmony: A group created by a former evangelical pastor who after a divine revelation concluded that true holiness could only be achieved through the absolute suppression of all sexual desire, inside and outside of marriage. In 1965, three hundred members of this Church created a self-sufficient agricultural community in the province of Misiones, Argentina, where they lived according to their values, including abstaining from all forms of sexual activity. Due to their birth rate of zero and the fact that new members did not join, their number decreased over time; currently the Church only has four members, all of whom are elderly. In possession of an anomalous artifact known as The Gospel of Tamar the Prostitute, which nullifies all forms of sexual desire when read. Current status: active, but only temporarily. Threat level: minimum.
- "True holiness could only be achieved…" Isn't that the same thing that the Catholic Church has said for two thousand years?
- More or less—they authorize sexual activity only between married couples.
- Or with altar boys.
- …
- Ok, I won't make that kind of joke any more.
Sons of the Vine: Sect of nature-worshippers, of recent origin—the first reports date back to the 1970s—that have experienced tremendous growth in South America since 2000. They worship an entity called the Great Green God, linked to plants and nature; they perform their rituals in forests, usually around an anomalous plant organism called a "tree of life", with rituals led by a "green man" or priest. There is a larger group in the province of Jujuy, Argentina, with around 50 members, and there are several more in countries like Chile, Colombia and Brazil, all of smaller size (40 members or less). Apparently it is a very fragmented cult without strong links between each group, although all are characterized as "protective of Mother Earth" to the extreme, committing acts of eco-terrorism and, allegedly, the murder of entrepreneurs linked to the logging or mining industries, activities that the Sons of the Vine consider a threat to nature. Current status: active. Threat level: very high.
- Son of a…
- What?
- Seriously, how did we not know about this and they did?