*
The think-tank of Pierze, Duarte, Butragueno and Manuel didn’t take long to conclude that Prometheus should be warned and Konrad’s character should be allowed to die. It needed one last visit to Futureworld for Manuel. They believed that they had got about all the information from Prometheus that was possible. Pierze needed to go to the Moon at long last, and he thought there might be a secondary benefit; one of diversion. “The people controlling this campaign will not only be looking for the source of the leak, they will want to know precisely to whom it is being leaked. I don’t mean Manuel, it doesn’t stop there. They will be more interested in those who hired him, and not too worried about investigations into the many specific deaths so far. They will be disturbed by how these acts are now being interpreted. The major change from their point of view is the capture of Tirishev. Provided we can convince them of him being back in the fold, we may buy a little more time. We must make them think that the latest examples - Vaglio and Kruise also fall into that category. We should not waste time by interrogating them, but make the adjustment to the transceiver and release them, as if we aren’t able to get any data from them. I will make this clear to Gretz, Verdasco and Boniek when I address them about my lunar excursion. I’ll let it drop casually that we have received anonymous tip-offs with names, but it is not helping, as the individuals involved don’t seem capable of assisting us in building a picture. Manuel, it would be prudent for you to do the same with Bernardo. Now, I am going to suggest something which you may not like. If they are to buy into this ruse we may have to stand back from the remaining names on the list for now, as the controllers will surely test us out. It has to be weighed up against the greater good - we are in a war. You may rest assured that this is my responsibility and mine alone. You may also say to me that these controllers could be of a completely different origin, for example – Orient. I would ask you to consider the following:-
“Any organisation with the technical ability to transmit these neurogenic instructions must also have the ability to infiltrate or influence the SACRED Corporation. They initiate the process via Futureworld and execute in reality. The other most obvious entity with the contacts and tentacles to achieve this is Central Security – my department. I have to collate more evidence in that respect. However, since I asked Duarte to analyse the civil servants who had been known to be affected, he has not come up with one single name in any position of authority in the department. Other surveys I have had carried out show no direct evidence of people in positions of authority, in industry or government structure, have been affected either. I have to admit it is a feeling rather than facts from which my theory is derived, but time is our nemesis. The entire scheme is orchestrated around protest and anarchy. If they are fuelling some kind of meltdown leading to revolution, this would be quite an effective way. An analogy which comes to mind is that the day to day running of a factory is impacted much more by the Janitor being absent than the Chief Executive. The C.E. has his or her hand on the long term efficiency rudder, and this plague, initially only needs to be comprised of janitors. So, my experience and my gut tell me that we should try to capitalise on blindsiding these janitors – the names we have, and let them illustrate our apparent incompetence, while we tackle the one thing which can stop the process in its tracks. The capture of Viktor Lopez will effectively neutralise the machinery designed to let loose the plague. As he is in Balkan Iberia, I have trouble in visualising Orient being the fountainhead of this operation. I will take your silence as affirmation that you agree.” He got it. This decision disrupted a few other plans. Manuel had to go back in rather than contact Bernardo.
Konrad
Prometheus was disappointed but admitted that he had always known success would carry the potential price of being discovered. “I will withdraw my character with immediate effect and accelerate the death of your own. With respect to you leaving, you probably felt your previous exit a little more unpleasant because you had been dead in reality for a while, and I discovered some troublesome messages of ‘incompatibility’ on the system. I had to deal with them immediately. Amongst a few corrective responses, I sent a subscription renewal query to your character, having altered your health levels to critical. I think we have got away with it, as the messages have stopped. Sorry about all this detail, but I hope you are feeling better, and you will not have this disorientation when you exit this time. You are still my best chance of escape and yet in a way I am relieved we have to terminate the relationship in Futureworld. I sincerely hope I can survive long enough to meet you in reality.”
Konrad felt waves of sadness and frustration in tandem. He looked back to the time he and his brother argued over the plausibility of this virtual world and now he could fully understand the frustration which led to suicide. He lingered a while after Prometheus left. It was also a final farewell to Konrad.
Manuel
The belated conversation with Bernardo was illuminating.
“Manuel, I wanted to make you aware of the concern I have for your mother. That has been a brief which your father gave me a long time ago in the event of anything happening to him. Now that this has occurred I wonder if we can also help one another.”
“I don’t see why not, was there anything specific?” He watched the little weasel’s furtive eyes.
“I am worried about this Benitez woman. I always knew about her and tried to tell Antonio he was risking everything with such a woman. I had done thorough background checks on her, but he was completely obsessed with her, and dismissed the information. If she gets back to the media it could be really bad for Senora Salina.”
“But surely you can prevent that.”
Bernardo shrugged off this remark. “I wish we could, but nobody knows what has caused her disappearance. She is connected to some pretty ruthless people.”
Manuel hurried things along. “Nobody that is, apart from you and me, and your henchmen. You don’t have to worry about me Bernardo; I have nothing to gain by this woman re-surfacing. However, as long as she lives, she will be a concern for both of us.” He laughed off the insinuation, but the contrived mirth sublimed when Manuel continued, “Look, I think we both agree with your opening remark – we can help each other, but please spare me the violins. Your concern for my mother may be genuine but is eclipsed by your own survival instinct. I have damaging information, now deposited with lawyers, and you have Benitez. Just get to the point.”
Without denying that Sandrine Benitez’ fate was within his gift, Bernardo squirmed. “We don’t know exactly what was in the papers your mother discovered with her lawyer. It would certainly assist with this process if we did.”
“I see it very much simpler than that. By the way, it was not only my mother’s lawyer who brought this latest sheaf of documents to her attention. A letter from my own legal advisor at the Independiente in Uruguay was sent, at my request, to her lawyers, and they kept this separate from the appended signed document by my father, which also had a counter-signature, yours I believe. We could determine that later. I was a troublesome boy, but my father had made me so by his flagrant disrespect for my mother. It’s a pity I can’t hurt him anymore, but you could take the pain for him. I’m bored with this charade. The only assurance I need from you is that you will keep this woman under threat, if and when you free her. She should only be freed on the condition that she retracts the newspaper allegation that my mother had anything to do with the whole sordid affair other than picking up the pieces of an arrangement Benitez herself had negotiated out of Antonio Salina. My mother gave Konrad a wonderful home. As far as you needing proof of what I have with my lawyer now, that’s easy, just screw up on your handling of Sandrine Benitez and you’ll have it free of charge as an exclusive on page one of the Independiente. Seems fair; well thanks Bernardo, it’s good to have friends of influence.”
Manuel had garnered quite a lot of practice in Uruguay, in manipulating the flow or blocking of information in this way. It was the rever
se process of a con, where the mark is relieved of something of value; this was the conference to the target of something they did not want to believe. Bernardo had, over the years, cooked up so many highly sensitive programmes with Antonio, that he had an abundant choice with which to fuel the uncertainty.
*
Tirishev had reached his appointed destination and waited as prescribed. He was eventually approached after they presumably felt all was clear. This must have triggered a pulse as Tirishev stumbled and then seemed to nod to his contact again and again. The vigilant Pierze technical team was on to it, and they delayed adjustment until the two parted. Some two hours later Pierze’s shadows reported that he was not going back to his abode. Tirishev informed them of the second phase; he was to kill someone whose name was actually fifth on the list of thirteen. It was to take place in Salzburg. Pierze was certain this would be carefully watched by his controllers. He had an idea but wasn’t sure if it was technically feasible. If Vaglio and Kruise, who were first and second on the same list could have their implant altered to have a particular fault engineered into it, they could turn up at the same location in Salzburg and not that of the originally intended third in line. If the controllers fell for the possibility that they had some of their charges running amok, they might withdraw planned activities and transport Tirishev, Vaglio and Kruise to the Balkan Iberian implant base for investigation and remedial work. He wanted to check with the boffins if this could be done to Vaglio and Kruise, while taking out the adjustment facility, which would certainly be exposed by Lopez. This would leave Tirishev as the only one at risk, as he still had the original adjustment and was in a remote location. He would have to be lifted out once the three had met up in Salzburg. He would be instructed by Pierze’s team to head back to the third person on the list, mimicking further misalignment in the instruction subroutines. When Pierze was assured this was not a complicated procedure, but would take up to forty-eight hours, he authorised it and made sure that, if at any time the shadow squads felt they had to take action to prevent individuals determined to restrain Tirishev, they should be eliminated. They should also leave evidence that it was the work of protestors who were part of the resistance.
*
Butragueno was telling Manuel and Duarte that the time had come to return to Londonis. “I feel as if there isn’t much left for me to do here. Pierze is right, all effort must be on getting to the scientist Viktor Lopez, and that is not something for which my new bosses will authorise my participation, and I’d have to agree with them. In any case I need to begin motivating my team, as we have an increasing workload.” Duarte was philosophical and made his exit as he was still sensitive to the regard in which she held Manuel Salina. When they were alone she turned and her smile was a cocktail of regret, sympathy, admiration and not least of all, intense attraction. “I really hope you can protect your mother the way you want to. I’m still coming to terms with what you confided in me about your childhood, and I would just like to say you’ve come through it remarkably well. You have managed to retain a real sense of proportion which comes with the rigours of life. If you have time before you return to Uruguay, I’d love to catch up. You know where to find me.”
“I don’t know exactly what to say. It’s not like me to be lost for some smart remark, but this is not the occasion for that. I don’t know where the rest of this investigation will take me, but one thing I have recently admitted to myself is that I ran away to the other side of the world to avoid feelings which I struggled to control. That part of my life is at an end, as Konrad and father are now both gone. It will sound stupid I suppose but I said farewell to Konrad in Futureworld. The final separation from the man, who is really only Antonio Salina to me, will be achieved when I know my mother is settled. As far as Uruguay is concerned, I won’t be going back.”
This generated a deliciously uncomfortable speculative experience. One of having countless waves of butterflies roller-coasting through her inner presence, and it was savoured. She managed to hold the potential implications in abeyance with some difficulty. “You’re special Manuel. Call me when you know your mother is free of her own emotional turmoil.” Those first few steps after they embraced and parted were made more difficult by his gentle but sensuous kiss on the mouth. It was so unexpected and at the same time so desired, that it lingered, and they both reacted with awkward smiles.
*
There was so much going on that Pierze summoned all three SACRED owners to Madrid. It outwardly appeared more than a little heavy-handed, but he had in fact counted on that. He knew they would not take kindly to the brusque demand, and he wanted them to be sufficiently off-guard to let something slip, plus he gambled that they would argue about it amongst themselves. He needed to create some division between them. If the disrespect for their own busy agenda didn’t achieve this, his probing questions would. They were, as he had hoped, quite frosty when they arrived. The first question was from Verdasco. “Exactly how long do you expect this to take? We have no agenda from you and quite frankly, we do not know what it’s all about.”
Pierze placed his elbows on the desk and his fingers intertwined as he faked wanting to put them at ease. “Gentlemen, thank you for being here at such short notice. I won’t use the word agenda, because I would like this session to be productive. I have information to disseminate and I was hoping that would guide us in sculpturing what happens next. I believe we really do need help from one another.” He was not going to divulge more than was absolutely necessary. Part of his objective was to give extra credence to the misfiring of the ‘affected’ individuals who were out on the controllers’ missions. If all, or any of these three powerful men were involved it would be worth the effort. “At the risk of repeating my firm conclusions, there is now no doubt that SACRED is not the only target involved here. It may not even be the main target. We concede that there are definite links between the deaths and your production Futureworld, but we are perplexed as to why the subjects are chosen, and even more confused by the sequences – which sometimes deliver a headless corpse. Despite having arrested an individual at Rossi’s suicide scene, he can tell us nothing and we have had to release him. I can tell you that after my visit to the Borderlands, I have to revise my declaration that Rojo-Negro Mano could not be mixed up in this. The situation there is extremely volatile and there are glaring examples of it not being a simple humanitarian organisation. I know why you have recruited mercenaries from this region, but could you tell me of any of them you may have on the Moon?”
Gretz looked at Boniek, as the one who had set up the lunar base after the internet collapse. Boniek shook his head. “I cannot be precise because some have not had contracts extended, but the figure will be around thirty to thirty-five.” Pierze knew from Prometheus that most of the two hundred were from the Borderlands.
“Not so many then, good.”
“Why do you say ‘good’?” asked Boniek.
“Well I have decided I must go to the Moon, following this antagonistic move by Orient, and my bodyguards need to plan their presence. Was the initial number so low because of its inaccessibility?”
Boniek grabbed at this. “Of course, we didn’t see this colonisation arising for at least another decade.” Pierze had established the snare.
“So, in view of this will you be taking more Borderland recruits there or bringing those already there back to Earth?”
Verdasco cut in. “Are you suggesting that somehow these people are allies of Orient?”
The reply had been prepared earlier. “Sorry, I thought you may have known already, not all Rojo-Negro Mano employees are Iberian. Many are trainees from the efflux through the Borderlands – from Orient to Iberia. The charitable work often seems to extend beyond physical and mental wellbeing. Chosen individuals are all young, super-fit men, and they are supposed to help stem the tide of immigration, yet it is increasing. The indigenous Borderland population does not like this apparently, but one of the difficulties of verifying
this is that ethnically it is virtually impossible to visually differentiate many of the groups. It is a tinderbox, poised for a spark. I have already expressed my concern when I visited Snr. Gretz that if what I suspect is correct, you may have erred in recruiting your defensive battalion for the elevator. It is therefore logical that I visit that location after the Moon.” Gretz was about to respond when the other two asked for a break. Pierze complied and then introduced the next trump in his game.
He buzzed for someone. It was Duarte who entered the room. Pierze introduced him and they left the trio to decide where to take their break. They were quite animated when they got out to the third floor landing, because Gretz had pointed out that Duarte knew he was Manuel’s sponsor, but he didn’t know if Pierze knew that. The implanted uncertainty was what was required. Of the three, Gretz was alone in expressing concern over the dependency on the Borderland recruits which Pierze had highlighted. Verdasco said they didn’t really want him on the Moon right now; it could inflame an already sensitive Orient government attitude. Boniek agreed and also questioned what a starchy blowhard politician thought he would find at the elevator. Gretz put his head back into Pierze’s office and asked if he could have a quick word with Duarte in private. Pierze joined the other two on the landing. Gretz asked it straight out. “Does he know we are sponsoring Manuel Salina’s investigation?”
The riposte was convincing and of course a lie. “Just what do you take me for Gretz, I’m retired and I am only working here because of my son playing football in Madrid. I only consult for Pierze, it pays well and the work is solely checking up on certain trends in analysis of the past deaths. He is big on trends.”
Gretz visibly relaxed. He passed on this assurance to both of his co-owners; they were not so easily convinced. They didn’t want Pierze involved and said they should legally challenge his right to enforcement of this intent. Gretz however, advised such resistance would foster suspicion that they had something to hide. Verdasco was the more vociferous of the two. “No Sorin, you have dispelled that by hiring Manuel Salina. His report, when finished will crush any such suspicion. Pierze is trouble – he may well be trying to help, but could also slow our preparations and we can’t afford that. You know what is at stake, and although bureaucrats like him may accept responsibility, we will lose our investment.”