Anna was thoroughly entertained. Vitori’s story of the city of Atlantis was one she had never heard before. It was certainly fantastical and would probably make for a good movie. She should be writing all of this down, selling the rights for the next big summer blockbuster. However, she also thought it could be the start of a good theory in that it wrapped up many of the world’s mysteries and essentially, solved them. “So what happened when Kukulkan returned to Egypt,” she asked.
Vitori looked more relaxed. Anna guessed it was the way she was engaging with him by asking questions, being involved rather than tuning him out and calling him crazy. It was something she had learned to do while dealing with self-involved clients. If she kept them talking on subjects they liked, the more she could extract from them later.
The old man kept a small smile on his face, even when he spoke. “Kukulcan told them of the people and culture he discovered and what he had done and how he planned to return to them. The others condemned his actions and as there were still many emissaries yet to leave, they punished him and made an example out of him, though it wasn’t their way. Kukulcan was killed and mummified so as no other would pursue to follow in his ways. They believed his full account to the Mayans could have dire repercussions for the entire world.”
“But in your view, it could be the only savior,” Anna blurted in.
“That’s the irony,” Vitori said. “They gave their emissaries and themselves too much credit. Nobody discovered their warnings and now only a very few can be saved. Kukulcan’s full account could be the only way our civilization moves forward. If we don’t get and use its information correctly, the cycle may continue down the old path, and humans will lose thousands of years of development. Once again, we’ll return to eeking out an existence.”
“So what do you propose to do should you get your hands on the find?”
“We’ll decipher it. Learn it. Eventually present it to all the governments of the world, as the Atlantians had wanted. To each country we’ll only give them the safe areas on their own land and they can decide from there. We wish to keep the cultural and racial diversity that makes us who we are. We don’t want the world to lose any of its diversity.”
“And what would the other organization do with it? The keepers of the rose, for instance.”
“They want to move all their people and supplies to those areas. They wish to rule what is left in the aftermath and create one unified country over the whole world. They believe one government in the world would solve most of our current problems and usher in an age where the human race can move forward more quickly and efficiently. They already have the locations of three safe zones deciphered from ancient relics and artifacts. The only way we can curb their effects in the future is to make sure they don’t control all the technology that is spared. We need the rose to save more people and move the whole world’s precious information to those safe areas.”
“You’re saying they want power,” Anna said.
“Yes, they want complete control. And we wish to give it to the people.”
“No, you want to give it to the governments of the people. There is a difference. What about the US? Do you really think they’ll allow you to do that? You don’t think they won’t be able to break into your organization and take all relevant data. If so, then there would be war as they tried to secure more land for their own purposes.”
“The US government is just as corrupt as the keepers of the rose. They would prefer to hold all the safe areas and move forward in their democratic state. We think that would be a mistake, you would lose purpose, lose diversity, you would lose ideas. But we think we can prevent that from happening. Our data would be given out through a phantom organization. And the data itself would be located somewhere safe and unknown. It would then be up to the specific countries to keep their safe zones a secret.”
“Why didn’t you tell us all of this from the beginning?”
“You would have thought we were crazy, and don’t tell me otherwise. You still are deciding what you think of me even as I tell you all this.”
Anna nodded, she agreed with him. She would have laughed at him and the entire organization. She was still chuckling a little bit at the story but not as much as before. Vitori was an intelligent man with a rich amount of connections to other wealthy and intelligent individuals. And maybe he was telling her what he actually believed. Some of it did make sense.
The earth was always changing and countries and cultures rose and fell with its movements. Fifty two hundred years ago, civilizations all started growing up and abrupt climate change was occurring at a rapid rate. Some areas of the world shifted quickly from warm to cold and many species had died out as a result. Perhaps this was part of his galaxial restraint. She’d like to talk to Rock about it and Wallace.
“So you told me Wallace was in danger, as well as the book and plate and everyone around it.”
Vitori nodded.
“Why? How can I trust you?”
“Use your head, your heart. Make your decision. There is nothing else I can ask. But make it soon because if you will not help us, we need to quickly start making other arrangements.”
“You said you knew about Wallace, but not about how close he was to us, particularly to Rock. Do you think someone else knows about him, think they can find him? I personally think he’s well hidden right now.”
“I would never underestimate that organization. If they aren’t there already, then they are on their way.”
Anna turned towards the window. There was too much false information to make an informed decision. Was the man in front of her telling the truth, or was it just a lie to get the items. She liked Vitori, she however, didn’t have any affinity for his son or the Delega organization in general. Then again, the man before her could just be a more sinister and clever version of Seth.
She turned back and faced him. His gaze had fallen to the table. “Look me in the eye,” she said. “And tell me nobody else is going to get hurt. Not me, not Rock or anybody involved. Make me believe it.”
He raised his gaze. “If we get there in time, you have my word that not one person you know will be harmed in any way and you will be free to go as you please. You may even go now if you wish, it was not my intention to hold you captive.”
Anna stared back into his eyes. She found no help in making her decision. But one had to be made. “Ok then,” she said. “I’ll take you there.”