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Artificial incubators have become the most common way of producing children, to the point where old methods are shunned as backwards. Over 90% of the world's population are born this way, a it has become the norm across all nations. A couple simply donates sex cell samples to a corporation, who grow the child in a vat for 9 months until it is fully developed. Sex cells can even be mixed and matched from various people, allowing for a child to have multiple parents. Insurance covers the proceedure, and it has become a natural part of healthcare rights for individuals, as it saves time and cuts down on costs overall. However, there is a dark side to the rise of this technology.

An ancient and powerful organization has been working behind the scenes and guiding world events.. Although based in Dunwich, Massachusetts, they have reached the heights of power across all nations, operating as a shadow government. The cult has corporations that are fronts for their machinations, pushing this technology to the mainstream. The purpose of this is to produce a being known as the Anti-Christ. However, it is not simply a matter of genes, as the cult has access to billions of genetic samples and could simply mix and match to get the results that they want. Nor is it a matter of souls, as virtually all humans today are born through incubators. Instead, the Anti-Christ must be born through natural methods. Part of the push for artificial vats is to eventually create the perfect mother, in order to give birth to the perfect host. The passage of many generations of this technology have resulted in an albino woman named Lavina Whately, who has been found to be compatible to bear an eldritch host. This Anti-Christ, named Wilbur Whateley, will begin an age of death and destruction and usher in the end times.

As simply genetics were not the issue, what requirements would a living womb meet that could allow the Anti-Christ to walk the earth?

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    $\begingroup$ Uh, by definition a god sets all of the rules for creation, so they can pretty much do whatever they want. for example, in Lovecraft's "Dunwich Horror" Yog-Sothoth bred offspring out of species -- which is impossible according to science. So if a god wants to incarnate her/himself, she/he just does it. (Incantations & materials are the author's choice.) $\endgroup$
    – llywrch
    Commented Dec 18, 2020 at 18:40
  • $\begingroup$ The god would need the right sort of handwaving, and the correct words of mumbo-jumbo spoken? The matter is utterly subjective to the religious doctrine that it operates under, and religions tend not to have the clearest of technical manuals to work from. $\endgroup$
    – PcMan
    Commented Dec 18, 2020 at 18:49
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    $\begingroup$ Twins. You can't have twins in the incubator. Wilbur's just the one that looked a bit more human. $\endgroup$
    – John O
    Commented Dec 18, 2020 at 18:52
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    $\begingroup$ @JohnO So if one twin is the Anti-Christ, is the "good twin" Christ? $\endgroup$
    – Punintended
    Commented Dec 18, 2020 at 23:22
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    $\begingroup$ @Punintended Read more Lovecraft. I think they were "Worst" and "Even more worst". It's pretty damned creepy. $\endgroup$
    – John O
    Commented Dec 20, 2020 at 2:10

3 Answers 3

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Prenatal Stress

Incubators are too perfect: by design, they provide nine months of ideal growth conditions. That doesn't leave a lot for an eldritch host to latch onto and manipulate.

The last nine months aren't the best example, but I can't think of a nine-month period in my privileged life that I wasn't worrying, anxious, or generally wigged out about something. Major stress is contraindicated in pregnancy, but even minor, intermittent stress induces cortisol and adrenaline responses that the fetus will get a dose of.

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I think it's a question of compatability; for the eldritch being to be born, it needs a bridge between the spiritual and physical realms. A human mother, which has a dual form (physical form on the outside, with a spiritual form on the inside) is the perfect bridge.

Since the mother is the thing that makes it possible for the being to manifest, she must emulate certain characteristics of the being itself. Apparently, albinism is one of those characteristics. I understand this is a story question; but what if albinism is a sign of something more?

Perhaps two sides think this child will be an Anti-Christ and have different designs; the first to prevent an Anti-Christ from being born, the second to create an Anti-Christ. However, as an interesting plot twist, you could have the child's future depends on their choices. In other words, this kid could grow up to be the prophesied harbringer of doom or lead humanity into a golden age, and since you as the author decide which one he becomes, you can set up an engrossing, complex journey as the child grows up, realizes his true nature, and decides who he will become.

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Since the incubator would simulate the conditions inside the uterus, maybe there is something in the conception that requires a real mother, such as the woman needing to accept the darkness that the god will cast upon her.

Or if you are trying to justify why wouldn't they move the child after the conception maybe the fetus not feeding on nutrients, like normal fetus do, but on the despair of the mother, who will have visions of the destruction her child will bring.

This is a god you are talking about! Once you start applying to much logic to a god, it begins to feel less believable. Making them depend on ritual and symbology make than more "realistic" in the sense that we can not comprehend the divine/eldritch horror using conventional methods.

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