Church of Antikythera

The Church Of Antikythera

Overview

following the realignment of the Antikythera mechanism after NASA’s discovery of the 13th star sign ‘Ophiucus’. Astrology picked up followers all over the globe and the new truth it spoke was undeniable even by the most vehement of sceptics. Since its founding it has grown exponentially and is currently the prominent worldwide belief, overshadowing all other religions and belief structures one-hundred fold.
The Church Of Antikythera holds purchase over every aspect of its believers lives through the predictions that they offer to them. These predictions are vague but will always be accurate, and the more devout of a believer, and the more donations given to the church, the less vague and more impactful the given predictions will become. Everything from choosing an outfit to proposing to a partner is somewhat swayed by the Church Of Antikythera.
Due to its inception being in the modern age, The Church Of Antikythera utilises modern technology to its fullest potential having majority of the official predictions and services available through the Antikythera mobile app. This app uses the information of the user to deliver the predictions created by the Antikythera mechanism.
The predictions from the Antikythera Mechanism are created by plotting the positions of the planets and moons in the solar system in a similar fashion to astrology but it incorporates the thirteenth constellation Ophiucus. Since its recalibration has miraculously been able to predict the future with unerring accuracy, despite this it still takes experts to decipher the meaning behind the readings. The experts are trained for years in the art of finding the meaning behind the mechanisms readings but even with this training it is possible for the more vague reading to be inaccurate, despite this it has been proved that this is solely down to human-error and has not impacted the scientific accuracy of the Antikythera Mechanism. The vast majority of the predictions are relatively minor and will affect people of each sign differently. Occasionally the Antikythera Mechanism will produce a reading that results in a prediction that will be impactful to a large number of people, these are named ‘Ascendant Predictions’. Ascendant predictions are often disasters that would usually cause a massive loss of life. These miraculous predictions were hugely important to saving thousands of lives around the globe and were paramount to the inception of The Church Of Antikythera as it exists now.

The Council Of Antikythera

The church is led by a council of thirteen members, one for each star sign. They work together to manage the antikythera mechanism and ensure that the world stays balanced for everyone, regardless of their birth sign. Every year the leader of the council is decided by the ‘Ascendant sign’ of the year.
The uniform of the council is an all grey suit but with a tie and pocket square in the colour that correlates to their birth sign. Colour is important to the council as it is important to all members of society, as a signs colour is known to hold a small amount of power that favors people born in that sign. For example a person born in Aries flipping a red coin will be able to guess heads or tails correctly more often than people born outside of Aries. It is this intrinsic advantage that forced the council to limit the amount of a colour someone is allowed to wear to keep discussions as fair as possible. Despite this it is often that members will try and bend the rules to gain as much of an advantage in the council as they can. Since moving their HQ to the moon, the Cancer leader Duke Nelson has been showing a distinct increase in power over the rest of the council due to him being closer to its ruling celestial body, the moon itself. The ‘power’ that these celestial bodies, colours, and many other objects give people goes relatively unnoticed but makes people slightly luckier and more likely for things to go well, in the context of the council, it may make leaders more open to change that negatively impacts them, so limiting these sources of ‘power is paramount to keeping the council fair and as unbiased as possible.
The council is by no means a calm and reserved place and it is not uncommon for sabotage and foul play to be utilised to improve life for their sign. Occasionally they may go as far as to falsify the mechanisms’ predictions and use fear to control sections of the population. The Aries leader Emmett Clarke got his role as leader by having the previous leader assassinated after he was given a prediction that promised him greatness in his life. Duke Nelson also abuses his natural imbalance of power to gain the upper hand in negotiations and other important matters.

Antikythera App

  The Antikythera app is the most common way that the public have access to the Antikythera Mechanism’s predictions. Using the information of your date and location of birth anyone has access to minor predictions of the future for a small fee. The app charges differing amounts for each type of predictions, Including but not limited to: general, health, financial, and relationship. Predictions for the public are kept purposefully vague to keep them coming back for more or ‘donating’ more to the church for more direct and easy to interpret predictions.

  It is difficult to not get addicted to using the app to direct your entire life, being curious about what the stars have said you should wear that day. Whether you will start a new relationship, or how to better invest your savings for the future. The only true benefits that the app give a person is the knowledge of the near future, because due to the realignment everything comes true and as such would happen anyway but the genius marketing from the Church Of Antikythera has netted the religious company trillions of dollars by monetising the curiosity of the public.

The Kontos Colony

Originally founded in Greece, Antikythera HQ currently resides on the moon following its colonisation which the Church of Antikythera had a large role to play. It stands proudly at the centre of one of the large lunar Colony of Kontos, named after the man who discovered the Antikythera mechanism in 1900AD.
Kontos is a hub of activity for the Church Of Antikythera and it’s followers due to it being one of the largest residential lunar colonies. It’s growth was down to it not being owned by a sovereign state and as such there are very few restrictions on who is allowed to live there. Kontos is a utopian city with a surprisingly low crime and poverty rate, this is partly due to the costs required to move from earth to a lunar colony but also down to how Kontos is governed. The council of The Church of Antikythera is directly responsible for the day-to-day running and managing of kontos but the majority of important decisions are aided by the Antikythera mechanism’s predictions. The residents of Kontos live a wholly peaceful life with the only downside being the lack of privacy of information as life of its citizens is dictated by the Mechanism and its predictions. Every citizen must be an active member of the church and follow the teachings of the mechanism. People found to be disrespecting the church are ‘removed’ from Kontos unless they pledge their allegiance and support the church wholeheartedly.

Type

Religious, Pantheon