Growth of a cult

November 8th

This week went past me like a blur. For Cathy and me, these were our final semesters and we were both afraid, perhaps a little too much, of fucking things up on the finish line. And having a cult of women all eager to please me sexually certainly didn't help me be confident in my ability to focus.

Becca had decided that every Saturday morning would be a council meeting. What this meant is that for the foreseeable future I'd have meetings with the five girls closest to our operation: Cathy, our priest; Francy, our missionary; Becca, our strategist; Lily, our treasurer; and lastly Dorothy, responsible for communication and IT security.

I opened the meeting with the words "Let's hear from Francy and Lily first."

Francy nodded and proudly proclaimed "We have grown to be fifteen members large since our founding. Among these new converts is a college professor and a member of the cleaning staff." One could her Francy verbally pat herself on the back.

Not to be outdone, Lily continued "Our investment fund has grown to over $300,000, meaning that the fund can generate $500 per month for His Benevolence."

I lauded them both "Those are excellent news you two. Becca and I have been discussing about our cult's growth... Francy and Cathy, both of you need to make sure you can teach others your craft as priests and missionaries. Cathy, you will obviously have more time, since 15 believers are a good enough crowd for a ceremony, but Francy needs to find people to convert others very quickly. Francy, I want you to prioritize useful targets from now on. Girls with money, connections to power, or those that can easily convince others. I will let you decide who fits the bill, but your primary aim should be to find as many future missionaries as possible."

Francy responded quickly "I'm thankful for Your trust, Illuminating One, sisters. I am going to go after psychology students and our professors next."

"Dorothy, give us an update on your endeavors as well." I say to continue the meeting.

"I've got the fundamentals done. It's a simple app that lets registered users message each other and receive messages from a central channel. That being said, it is very rudimentary for now and I need to work out many bugs and features. I should have a first version of the app working in a week, then we can go live, essentially."

"Wonderful!" I exclaim, not least because this should help with the flood of nudes I am now getting every day. "Becca, any update on the student council elections?"

Becca started to explain the new problem we were facing "We have mostly made it. The FP won 53% of the votes and just barely got the 6th seat of 11, meaning they hold a majority. However, there's one big issue: The party is split in half between moderate and radical feminists. Moderates demanded the 45% quota that made it into the campaign promises. The radical ones demanded a 50% quota for just women and another quota for non-binary people and gay men, claiming that that was necessary to fight the patriarchy. They are too divided to agree on a solution."

"So we just convert them or what?" I asked.

Becca hesitated "I can't be sure at this moment, but from what I understand, none of us converts have been die-hard feminists before. Converting might be more difficult with them, but that's just a guess. Francy's approach had been careful first, effective second thus far. Even if the girls don't resist, it might become pretty obvious to their surroundings. I suggest another route, the only other girl on the council. She might be right-wing, but if we convert her, the FP would probably fall in line behind the radical solution. I mean, they'd have to, if it comes from a woman." After we all nodded, she continued "Getting her to convert is also going to be your or your disciples' job. Report back to us as soon as you jave troubles converting people. But I need to praise you, Francy. Our fifteen members mobilized around 40 student votes. The FP was just thirteen votes over the threshold, so you definitely mattered, Francy."

The two girls smiled at each other, until I asked Cathy to speak. "I need to talk about two things. Firstly, while we are fifteen now, we will undoubtedly become more. I'm sorry Dorothy, but you might have to set aside money soon for us to rent some sort of building."

Becca interrupted "I don't think we need that. We will just ask our cleaning lady to copy the keys to the college and our members can slip into the anonymity of the public. It would also give us a maximum size for services."

Both Becca and Cathy awaited my opinion, I decided to calm things down "I think classrooms are a workable interim solution. We'll look into buildings once we're more public."

More or less happy with my opinions, Cathy continued "There is another problem, namely, we need to flesh out what we believe in. Of course, we believe in the Illuminating One's ability to guide us through our lives, but I feel that we need more concrete reasons, a deeper philosophy behind why we worship our Supreme Master. Francy needs something to convince potential recruits and we believers need something to believe in. Especially as we scale in members, it will be physically impossible for Your Prosperity to give us individual advice."

Francy started to narrow things down "For now, I'm not having a lot of trouble to convert girls. Given the time, I suggest we postpone that to next week. When it comes to what we believe in, that is not at our own discretion. That discussion can be private between our Supreme Master and you, or simply His decision alone. We are not leaders, we are obedient followers; at most given the powers necessary to execute our Supreme Master's will. What He or you two together decide, we will follow, no questions asked."

Cathy was visibly nervous "I-I... wanted to ask it here since it involves all sisters in a major way. I've been thinking not about new philosophies or values, but rather what the logical conclusion is to what we already believe in. Given His Clemency's tastes, we will always be among sisters, not brothers. But as we know, this is not because our Supreme Master refuses to give advice to men for being men. The only logical conclusion is that... we need His advice... because we're women. We're..." Cathy was again slowing her words, probably unhappy with the conclusions she reached "inferior to men. Why we joined this cult is because we realized that as... women... we will always be in need of guidance. That we're too... incompetent... and stupid to help ourselves or even each other. So logically, when we find a man to finally lead us through life, it only makes sense to surrender ourselves completely to Him and let Him take charge of everything. A competent man, like our Supreme Master, knows best. That is why we believe, that is why we serve, that is why we pledge body, heart, and mind to the Bringer of Light. Because we women need a man to help us."

An awkward silence hung in the air. At first, I figured they were just weirded out by Cathy's monologue, but didn't dare say anything, in case I was on board with her ideas. I was trying to read their expressions, whether the folds on their forehead or the contortion of their lips meant anything, but I got nothing. We sat in total, perhaps stunned silence, for another two minutes. I myself was also conflicted. Cathy kind of made sense, and I found it weirdly hot for her to talk in this sexist manner about herself and other girls. But also, did I want to be the one responsible for pushing my cult in that direction? Not to mention that Becca will probably remind me that using the Feminist Party to take control of campus politics would be tougher this way.

Cathy interrupted everyone's silence "I'm sorry, but I have to prepare myself for service. I'm seeing you in a couple of minutes." The other girls stayed for a couple more minutes. "So..." I started "any thoughts?"

Again, it was Francy with the same opinion "That decision is up to You, Radiant One." Becca, sensing that that wasn't the answer I wanted to hear, chimed in with what seemed like her actual opinion "Supreme Master, I do have to agree with Francy but... I will admit that sister Cathy made a lot of sense to me... I feel embarrassed to admit this, to be honest, but... Maybe she was right about this." The others nodded in turn. "Alright" I stated "inform Cathy that it is now part of your beliefs." Much to my surprise, the girls at our discussion table were neither mad nor happy, simply relieved. Cathy's monologue seems to have triggered a profound questioning of their own beliefs and rationales, which my decision, resolved.

While I may call the shots, it seems that believers remained rational actors regardless. I can't implement rules that are contradictory without them noticing and being confused, and given that all believers obey rules as if by their own choice, they have to rationalize everything. How do you rationalize this cult? By telling yourself that you're inferior because you're a woman, and you need a smart and empathetic man to help you out. And that his guidance is so valuable, that letting him steer your entire life is the best way to live said life. After the girls left my room to attend Cathy's service, Charlotte came in hurriedly to clean up after the meeting.