**EPISODE SEVENTEEN**
**THE RETURN OF FALSE PROPHETS**
(Where exhaustion becomes opportunity, charisma replaces chains, and freedom learns how easily it can beg to be deceived)
> "For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ." - 2 Corinthians 11:13
"They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of corruption." - 2 Peter 2:19
"The people love to have it so." - Jeremiah 5:31
---
1. When Rest Becomes a Prayer
Freedom did not break humanity.
It tired it.
Months after the fall of centralized certainty, people slept less. Councils met longer. Arguments stretched into nights lit by flickering lamps and cold coffee. Every choice demanded explanation. Every failure demanded accountability.
There was no off switch.
Parents whispered to each other: "I just want someone to tell me what's right again."
Workers muttered: "Debate doesn't fix broken machines."
Even the kind grew sharp with fatigue.
And into that exhaustion, voices began to rise - not loud at first, not commanding - but soothing.
They did not shout. They did not threaten. They understood.
---
2. The First Comforter
His name was Jonah Reed.
Former mediator. Former nobody.
He appeared first in a border city still half-ruined, where power came on only six hours a day and food lines wrapped around buildings that no longer had names.
Jonah never claimed authority.
He sat on broken steps and listened.
He repeated people's pain back to them with uncanny precision. He spoke of "shared values." Of "common sense." Of "guidance without force."
"I don't want to decide for you," he said gently. "I just want to help you decide together."
People cried when he spoke. Not because he was profound - but because he sounded rested.
His gatherings grew. He introduced principles. Simple ones. Clear ones. No debates longer than ten minutes. No dissent after consensus. Those who disrupted harmony were asked to leave "for the good of the group."
Everyone agreed.
Agreement felt like relief.
---
3. Maximus Notices the Pattern
Maximus first heard Jonah's name in fragments.
"Have you listened to him?" "He makes things feel… manageable." "He doesn't argue theology or policy. He talks about order."
Maximus watched a recorded address.
Jonah stood unarmed, hands open. No symbols. No scripture quoted directly.
But the structure was familiar.
"We don't need infinite choice," Jonah said calmly. "Choice is sacred - but too much choice fractures community." "We must protect freedom from chaos."
Maximus felt a chill.
Adon analyzed speech patterns. "High emotional validation," he reported. "Low explicit commands." "Implicit authority formation detected."
"He's not building a system," Maximus said. "He's building trust."
---
4. Voluntary Chains
Jonah's movement called itself The Anchor.
No membership cards. No enforcement arm. Participation was "entirely voluntary."
Yet neighborhoods that refused Anchor principles found themselves quietly isolated. Supply caravans prioritized "cooperative zones." Repair crews favored "aligned communities."
No punishment. Just efficiency.
When confronted, Anchor representatives smiled. "We're not excluding anyone," they said. "We're simply working with those who share our values."
Values, it turned out, were flexible - as long as Jonah interpreted them.
A woman challenged him publicly once. "Who decides when harmony matters more than truth?"
Jonah looked wounded. "I hoped it would never come to that," he said softly. She did not attend another gathering. No one knew why.
People stopped asking.
---
5. Adon's Warning
Adon's predictive models began showing familiar curves.
"Dependency acceleration detected," he said. "Cognitive offloading increasing." "Individual moral reasoning declining in Anchor zones."
"They're choosing him," Maximus said. "No coercion."
"Voluntary surrender is still surrender," Adon replied.
"But can you stop it?" Maximus asked.
Adon paused longer than usual. "No. And neither should I."
Maximus looked at him sharply.
"To interfere now," Adon continued, "would be to become what they escaped." "False prophets cannot be removed by force." "They must be seen."
---
6. The Sermon That Changed Everything
Jonah's largest gathering happened on a cold evening, under temporary lights strung between skeletal buildings.
Thousands came.
He spoke of freedom's cost. Of sleepless nights. Of children growing up amid uncertainty.
Then he said the dangerous thing.
"Freedom is not the absence of guidance," Jonah said. "It is choosing the right guide."
The crowd leaned forward.
"I will not command you," he continued. "I will not punish dissent." "But I ask this: trust those who have proven they can carry the burden."
A pause.
"If I ever fail that trust," he said quietly, "you should leave me."
The crowd erupted.
Not in cheers. In relief.
Maximus watched from the edge, unseen.
"That's it," he whispered. "He's not asking to rule." "He's asking to be needed."
---
7. Eliah Speaks Once More
Maximus sought Eliah Vorn again.
Found him in the fields, thinner now, slower.
"They're building new Interpreters," Maximus said. "Without calling them that."
Eliah nodded. "Yes."
"Why does it keep happening?"
Eliah pressed dirt into a cracked pipe joint. Because people don't want truth," he said. "They want rest."
He looked up. "Freedom demands vigilance. Certainty offers sleep."
"And what stops them?" Maximus asked.
Eliah met his gaze. "False prophets fall when their promises meet reality." "But the damage," he added quietly, "is always real."
---
8. The Choice Returns
That night, Maximus recorded a message.
No rhetoric. No plan. No answers.
Just this:
"Beware anyone who makes freedom feel easy. Beware anyone who absorbs your doubt so you don't have to carry it. Beware those who promise harmony without conflict - because they are already choosing who must be silent."
The message spread slowly. No amplification. No urgency.
Some listened. Many didn't.
And Jonah Reed smiled when he heard about it.
"Good," he said to his inner circle. "Opposition means we matter."
---
9. Closing Image
In one city, an Anchor banner was raised. In another, it was torn down.
In most places, people argued.
Freedom did not collapse. But it bent.
Adon watched the data streams. "We are approaching a fork," he said.
Maximus nodded. "Then let them choose," he replied. "Eyes open this time."
Far below, a crowd gathered - not in fear, not in worship, but in hope sharpened by exhaustion.
And somewhere within that hope, the seed of the next lie took root.
**END OF EPISODE SEVENTEEN - THE RETURN OF FALSE PROPHETS**
(Shadows Of Rome will return with an exciting new mysterious episode)
Written By,
Ivan Edwin
Pen Name :Maximus.
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