Yesterday (Part Four - Chapters 68 & 69) (Patreon)

CHAPTER 68

Victor Sertres’ office desk was located at the back of the large room, right next to one of the tall windows that looked out from the second floor of his mansion. He was pleased that whoever entered it would have to walk a long way to get to it. He had been sitting at his computer since early in the morning, making sure that the plan was going according to plan. Everything was going well, although it was already mid-afternoon and he still had no news from Hebert.

He sighed and repeated to himself that it was not crucial for the professor to be there with him, but his absence annoyed him, for he felt it as a disregard for his moment, an act of irresponsibility. Everything had to be executed in an absolutely precise sequence, or it would go down the drain, and he just couldn't imagine anything more important than witnessing the plan they had fought so hard for finally unravel.

He went back to analyzing the figures on his screen. Soon the stock market would close and it would be time to prepare for the final phase. The next morning, once the first markets in Europe opened, fate would be sealed and the wheel of his fortune would be in motion.

The bait was set and, after the coup de grâce provided by the rating agencies under his command, the stock markets were falling one after the other just as they needed to. Whole countries were going to be at his disposal in just 24 hours, their banks shut down within days. He rubbed his hands together grinning. Economic control was no longer a concern for him, he needed to consolidate everything related to mind control. Because if he did not manage to control the Harperin Corporation's technology in time, they were doomed. The transition should be imperceptible. Until, once again, he pressed the button.

His team of scientists was ready and waiting, and he had just received timely confirmation that the countdown was continuing without incident. Even so, and even knowing as Hebert had long ago predicted that the last moments would be stressful, he did not anticipate how agonizing they would end up being.

He freed himself from all those thoughts and opened again the other application he treasured on his electronic tablet. This one tracked the activity of the beacons they had scattered in almost every major city on the planet. With them they would sweep any trace of the Corporation's psychics out of civilization in one fell swoop. A single pulse, imperceptible to the rest of the humans, would fry their brains.

The tiny metallic beacons were already nailed to the ground at the center of those cities, in their busiest streets and on the facades of many of their emblematic buildings. A large orange cloud of tiny dots testified to this. Prepared and ready to broadcast as soon as they had obtained everything they needed.

A quote from Hegel came to his mind again, “nothing great has been done in the world without great passion”, a quote full of meaning for him during those last weeks.

Sertres considered himself passionate, adventurous, a visionary. He liked to feel the world vibrating between his fingers and, intimately, he was fully convinced that his mission in life was being fulfilled at that very moment, and that history would remember him as the great man he was, the savior of humanity.

“Can’t you tell?” he imagined himself haranguing the masses.

“The time has come to wake up. You have been controlled, directed, manipulated, did you think they were going to stop there?

No! And by the time you would have realized it, you would have been locked in perfectly replicated compartments, designed to produce, consume and procreate, but little else.”

“But not anymore”, he said to himself, "from now on I will control all that power."

“For when you hear that we have got rid of them you will think yourselves more civilized, more human, and you will not care, for I in return will give you salvation, eternal life. New life.”

Sertres let himself be imaginary embraced by the rapturous ovation of his audience, and felt the love and passion of all of them piercing his soul.

He was doing it for their sake.

Someone had to do it, and who better than him?

CHAPTER 69

Spencer Kelt let a furtive grin tug at the corners of his mouth. They were close, very close to reaching the new phase of the Harperin plan and he could finally rest.

He had almost completely solved the final crisis and was ready to put his mission to rest. He had only one more visit to make.

But first he checked his tablet again.

He needed to recheck the coordinates so he wouldn't lose a second when the time came.

* * *

Jonah's expression shifted as Oscar left the suite. All trace of theatricality disappeared from him.

Laura didn’t open her mouth, but Aminarti knew from her look that she knew perfectly well what Jonah was up to, and the thought of it frightened him.

—Well, —Jonah began, —alone at last.

No one answered and Jonah continued.

—Professor, the time has come for you to plead your case. I thought it was good to humor you in front of Oscar, but he is no longer here. I’m going to let you try to convince us one last time why we should be coming with you, and then we’ll decide what to do.

—But he… —Hebert began to say, pointing to Aminarti.

—I want him to listen to you, it’s important to me.

Hebert cleared his throat. —As you wish, but there is no time, if I don’t take you with me you will perish, and I need you alive and by my side.

—Why? —asked Jonah.

—Because from the moment we control the Corporation's technology we will only operate under my partner’s criteria, and I don’t trust him. He trusts this technology completely, but because of my knowledge and my many years of experience, I know that the day will come when something will happen. There will come a time when chance, nature, evolution or whatever you want to call it, will raise a barrier against it, and then all our work will be for nothing. I want us to prepare for that moment, and for that I need you two.

—Why them in particular? —Aminarti asked.

—Because they are unique, the heads and tails of the same coin. A new opportunity for balance. They were evolution’s gift to Harperin, the beginning, the key to deciphering the source of all their knowledge. Besides, we have not found more. They believe there are, but I’m not so sure. I have had a hard time convincing them of the importance of keeping them safe.

—You speak in plural all the time, —he asked, —who else do you mean?

—I’m just a part of this project, of course. We are a large group of people, otherwise it would not have been possible to carry it out. But I am the one who has made you important to them. They had almost forgotten you, but I convinced them?

—So they didn’t agree with your plan to include us? —Laura asked.

—No, no, but that’s all right, I’ve sorted it out, of course, —said Hebert, brightening his expression. —You are indispensable, isn’t it obvious? —he turned to Aminarti. —In fact, you yourself have been preparing Jonah for this all his life, can’t you see that?

—Me? —said Aminarti shocked, —don’t involve me in your intrigues, I only want what’s good for them.

—And who’s to say that I don’t? —Hebert replied, exalted. I remind you that the two of us are united in faith by the Congregation, doesn’t that count?

—I am sure that if the Prelature knew anything about this they would be totally scandalized.

—No, Pater, you don’t understand, —said Hebert with a satisfied smile, —the Prelature knows about it. Those who need to know, of course, and they are on our side. We have carte blanche. In fact I myself have been selecting leaders of all walks of life and institutions to whom we have given hope…

Aminarti leaned back on the couch in shock. Many loose pieces began to fit together in his head.

—…And you were there from the beginning. You listened to them talk, you knew of their existence, you wrote reports. You knew what they wanted.

—But I was doing the same with a lot of other organizations.

—What you were doing was protecting their investment, Lorenzo, don’t you see?

—Investment? —Laura interjected.

—The Catholic Church has been a partner of the Harperin Corporation almost since its inception. There were a few years when that contact was lost due to the many changes in leadership that the Vatican underwent since the time of John XXIII, but since our Congregation took over the papal prelature, one of its most important missions was to secretly monitor and compel the Corporation to return to fulfilling its obligations to us. And we discovered that they had almost accomplished what they had promised us, and we decided to go ahead.

—And now? —Laura said.

—A few years ago, someone very perceptive within the Congregation became aware of the Corporation’s real plans, and upon discovering that they were opposed to our interests, decided to overthrow them and channel their objectives towards ours.

—That is why you both have the same technology, —Aminarti deduced, —the Harperin Corporation is contractually obligated to provide it to its partners.

—Indeed, —Hebert admitted, —technology, social, educational, and control methodologies. But they became increasingly elusive and secretive. It has taken us ten years to prepare the coup, but I can assure you it will be successful. They don’t expect it.

—Don’t you think you are being overconfident? —Jonah interjected.

—Son, you don’t know what we are capable of, —Hebert replied confidently.

—I don’t think you know what I am capable of either. In fact, both my sister and I have known for some time that you are hiding something very important from us.

Hebert looked at him in anguish.

* * *

At that very moment, far away from there, Victor Sertres got up from the conference table, walked a few meters and sat down in one of the two armchairs that, facing each other, framed the enormous wrought-iron fireplace that crowned the east wall of his office. He lit a Havana cigar and took pleasure in observing the frescoes that decorated the ceiling of the room.

Victor was passionate about the 19th century, among other historical moments, and had kept the decoration of that wing of his mansion intact since he acquired it. It made him feel part of another era, one in which reading Sun Tzu was a delicacy reserved for the elite and it was still possible to trust the honor of a gentleman. It would be so easy to trust one's fellow man should he abide by that code, he told himself. But no, he knew well that the world belonged to those who rode on it.

He had his mind thoroughly prepared for the meeting. Awake. He was enjoying it, and he also knew he would finish savoring it oh so slowly minutes later, when he got rid of his guest.

He even felt his libido soar. He had never confessed it to anyone, but he was turned on by the power. It was a sensation he enjoyed with delight, for he had discovered years ago that lengthening that desire gave him more self-confidence and conferred on him a subtle edge in handling situations.