La Double Inconstance (2030–31) — Episode 8
16: The Priest
The Église catholique Saint-Martin de Lognes is a grey stone structure, standing to one side of a cobble-stoned plaza in Marne-la-Vallée old town. The church has seen many violent changes through the centuries, monarchy to republicanism to dictatorship and back again. The parishioners used to be peasants and farmers; these days the district is a high-tech suburb of Paris, with Disneyland Europe to the north. The young professionals are not so keen on church - though Fr Trivelin still sees his quota. He has an outreach programme for the young - the Catholic schools are still the best.
Fr Trivelin was trained by the Society of Jesus which marks him out, he supposes, as an intellectual. Now in his fifties he needs all of his Jesuitical dexterity to make sense of modern times. Some priests adopt a biblical literalism, tone deaf to complexity and the challenges of the age; Trivelin has dispensed with illusions, holds his Catholicism mostly as a metaphor to live by, a refuge against those self-serving ideologies which clutch fanatically upon contemporary culture.
But finding the true way is as hard as ever.
The private meeting with Mme Sylvia Antoine was held in the parish room at his church. Sylvia had declined the offer to talk at home. She seemed to crave the extra authority, the reassurance and privacy of this holy place.
Her story was incredible.
“You say that your husband is on a long-duration mission with the European Space Agency and his emotional and intimate needs are being serviced by a simulacrum of yourself, by a machine?”
“That’s what they told me, Father.”
“And that’s the reason you’ve come? You wish to seek guidance?”
“No. I mean yes, Father. I had a call from one of the other wives, Nathalie. She said it was the same for her husband. And then she said that one of her friends had been offered, and had accepted, to have a model of her own husband in the house.”
“I see. Was it suggested that this would be a secret arrangement?”
“Yes, of course. They didn’t want any of it to get out. Nathalie shouldn’t have told me, we shouldn’t even have been discussing it. You won’t…?”
“Don’t worry, Sylvia, everything you say here is confidential. Just like in Confession. So what do you think the point was, of having a version of her far-away husband around the house?”
“Nathalie said that the ESA people told her friend that it was to deal with the communication delays. Proper conversation is impossible because they are so far away. They said that they had communication links with her husband and that the model would be updated with what her husband has been doing and thinking. What she said to the model would be uploaded and her husband would hear it later. It would be just like having him around at one remove.”
“Did she say anything else that seemed relevant?”
“She said that her friend had taken the model to bed, more than once. She said it was… similar - even better.”
Sylvia finished with a little sigh of embarrassment, but also relief. It has all been stored up, churning away inside her. Finally trouble has been shared.
Father François Trivelin groaned inside. It would be so easy to issue a blanket condemnation, to say no as the Vatican had done so many times before. Plainly, judging by body language and tone of voice, that was what Mme Antoine was looking for - or perhaps only half-hoping for.
But the easy option was rarely the best in his experience.
“They haven’t offered this… facility to you?”
“No! It’s disgusting. In any case Nathalie said it was a trial, to see how it went. The idea seems horrible. I’m confused - I don’t know what to think. It’s evil and sinful but it’s too complicated. I keep being told things by nice well-intentioned people at the ESA that I know in my heart are plain wrong.”
Ah yes, our moral instincts, thought Father Trivelin, the engine of so much intolerance over the years. Yet they are a part of our core being and should be overridden only with care. He would have to think deeply on this.
“Sylvia, the Church is not familiar with these new devices. I can’t give you a fast or easy answer. But I can say that we have to be true to our relationships. The Church opposes prostitution and adultery because these things abuse the bonds between people. If someone really believes they are having a relationship with a being which is plainly not their husband or wife, then this is surely a form of adultery, a form of unfaithfulness.
“But I am not sure that that is what is happening here. A case could be made that long absences are themselves corrosive - the Church does not disapprove of phone calls! And perhaps the sin here is not so great. I will have to reflect and discuss, in confidence, with my bishop. However, if you are uncomfortable with any plans or proposals put to you then I strongly enjoin you to follow your instincts, to follow your heart. Only in this way will your relationship with your husband be sustained.”
With a few final formalities, Mme Sylvia Antoine was ready to leave, ready to drive back to her apartment, considerably happier than when she had arrived. Perhaps intellectually little had been resolved, but emotionally she felt vindicated in her course of action.
Fr Trivelin waved to her as she drove away, thinking: Well if that wasn’t a cop-out on my part, I don’t know what is.
The full story text can be found in my SF novel: here:
- "Donatien's Children" (2022) — as a PDF, and
- "Donatien's Children" (2022) — on Amazon for easier reading.
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