The man will stop in front of the board, outlining the word “how.”
“And we know another fundamental thing,” he will continue, turning to his two interlocutors. “That we have time, from a minimum of a fortnight to a month, from when our guy will receive the software. We also know exactly when the delivery will take place, within a few days.”
The man will mark a chalk circle around the word “when.”
“And we still know three things; that the killer and the buyer are the same person, that this person will need at least two weeks, but probably four, to test the weapon, and finally, that this person must have ballistic knowledge and operational capability as an uncommon sniper,” the little man will say, returning to sit at the table. “Which leaves us time to act.”
Cervetti will take a sip of his soda.
“Yes, Doctor, but to do what?”
“To begin with, to arrest this Janus, of course. And to make him tell us who the buyer is and where he is. And while he will be intent on trying his last purchase, we will find him.”
Santilli will swallow a mouthful of his sandwich, cleaning his face with the napkin before intervening.
“The first thing, though, is not to let Janus escape us. If he does, our whole good theory collapses.”
Santilli will throw the napkin at the cleaning robot.
“Which means, first, they must consider that the goods are compliant and appropriate and communicate this to its seller. And second, they don’t suspect that anything happened to them. Only under these two conditions will Janus transmit the finished software product to his customer, and we will be there to grab it.”
The man will join the tips of his fingers and will continue with emphasis.
“Think about this: the methane produced by these plants is still used in all pumping stations on the ground road networks, those that still use old non-electric cars.”
“But it’s obsolete technology.”
“For whom? In poor countries, these cars are still the majority of the fleet.” The man will stand up, raising his voice. “I just wondered what reality would be created if these technologies had spread.”
“An autonomous energy reality?”
“Exactly. Autonomous and independent.”
“By whom?”
“From the control of the big multinationals for methane production! Think of the huge orders, the great works, the connections, the millions of vehicles that run in poor countries.”
Whiley insists on pointing out two words and tying them to the phrases his friend had brought back, at the zoo.
“So,” the woman will ask, reading the suggestions, “we would probably not have had strong distinctions between poor and rich countries?”
“Not in this disproportion.”
Whiley will rise to underline one more keyword, written on the sheet that the two will have named first with the name of battle plan.
“Look, Dr. Golubev, one more question, please,” Madison will say, clasping her hands. “You said earlier that in the model used in these decades, if I have understood correctly, a competitive mechanism has been created, between food and energy production. If I may trivialize, the energy hunger of rich countries would have reduced food production for the poorest. Have I simplified too much?”
The man will walk slowly around his small office with his hands behind his back. “Basically, I would say no. In fact, it’s an effective summary.”
“Thank you. But let me understand one thing: if the world’s population grows, and it grows a lot, what happens?”
The man will be turning around, going back to look at the holographic program.
Cervetti will nod, looking at the Magistrate. “I need two things. The first one from you.”
“Go on,” the magistrate will say, taking a tramezzino sandwich.
“A search and arrest warrant to take Janus to Istanbul and the full cooperation of the Turkish police.”
“Consider it already done,” the other will answer, delving into the tramezzino.
“Well. And the second thing from you, Santilli,” Cervetti will say. “Let’s show the Commissioner the part of the interrogation regarding Black Rabbit’s late arrival to the appointment.”
“Now, Commissioner,” the man will say to his right, turning on the holographic program again.
“Shall we make it darker?” the Magistrate will ask.
“I’ll do it. Just stay comfortable, Doctor,” Cervetti will say, going to the window.
In the white room, artificial light will project onto the metal table. The faces will look tired, and the most tired will certainly be that of the young man with the long hair and wild beard.
“Tonight, we waited a long time for you,” Cervetti will say, moving around the meeting table. “You arrived very late. Why is that?”
“Janus had asked me for two changes. At the last minute, yesterday, in the late afternoon. I had to work all night. That’s why I was late.”
Cervetti will scratch his beard, walking around the room, then he will turn.
“We controlled the holographic nodes. You didn’t meet on Tortuga, as you call it. Where did you do it?”
The young man will seem uncomfortable again and even more exhausted.
“So?” Jankowski will intervene. “The sooner you tell us everything, boy, the sooner we all go for a nap.”
The young man will move in the chair as if to find a more comfortable position.
“We never met on the net for these communications, for simple messages.”
“Why?” Cervetti will ask.
The Russian will smile bitterly.
“It happens that the game doesn’t hold up,” he will answer. “In the model that has been chosen, and it’s not up to me to say why, not everyone wins. In fact, it’s a model in which the usual, the strongest, to the detriment of the weakest, always win.”
The woman will look at Whiley on the couch, sitting with her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands.
“Yes, I understand, but going back to the question” the woman will insist. “If the game doesn’t hold, what does it mean, in practice?”
The Russian will open his arms. “It means that someone has got the accounts wrong,” he will simply reply. “The relationship between the energy obtained and the stolen food was wrong. It means that hunger in one part of the world is growing to a point beyond which it cannot go. And then the global system bursts.”
The Russian will look around in his room. “A bit like this room, you see?” he will continue. “What’s missing? You see, what’s missing?”
The woman will look at the hologram in the small room with a questioning air.
“Space, ma’am, living space. There’s light, there’s energy, but there’s a lack of living space, and people can’t live anymore. What happens at that point, though, I don’t know. I’m just a biologist, ma’am, and I’m involved in renewable energy in agriculture. Maybe you should ask someone else.”
The thin woman will look at Whiley, on the other side of the couch.
In the white building’s meeting room, the discussion will be quite heated. The armed guard standing outside the double glass doors will notice people gesticulating animatedly, although the voices will not reach past the barrier.
“There is no way that he’s disappeared into nowhere!” the Director will exclaim at the head of the table, fingertips at his temple.
“We searched the gas stations on the air highway, nothing, same at the airports. We checked the ferry routes on the river, trains,” the dark-haired man will reply. “He didn’t leave the city. Absurd, but that’s how it is.”
The young man will shake his head.
“Too risky. On the web, if you’re meeting about something that’s not fully legal, the less you see each other, the shorter the time you stay, the better. We know that you are watching everywhere, always looking for a few suspicious phrases. So, we had our own method. We talked to each other through the holographic war battl
es, simulations, and wargames. We put a message in a token, which is usually the name of a character in the game, giving the opponent’s battle order.”
“What is the battle order?” Cervetti will ask.
“Basically, how the opposing army is composed in that particular historical battle, such as divisions, brigades, regiments, battalions, things like that. At that point, knowing the name of the character who commands the token, the player opens the list of all the enemy’s pieces, until he finds the command group, the headquarters of that company, or that battalion. Then he finds the right pawn, launches a protection program, and enters to read the message in the orders of the piece. This is all with a normal exchange of moves on the public network among millions of anonymous players. And no one thinks of looking in there. Plus, if you don’t know what to look for...”
“That’s crazy,” Jankowski will comment.
“All right, and then?” Cervetti will insist.
“Then nothing. You keep texting as long as you need to talk to each other and keep playing the next move in the virtual battle.”
Cervetti will stop to think, then turn around. “So, right now, if you wanted to collect the agreed balance, could you contact Janus?”
“Yes. I would ask for confirmation that the goods were in accordance with his expectations and ask for the balance,” the boy will confirm, looking at the clock. “Janus will be waiting already, at this time.”
Captain Jankowski will stand up. “And why the hell didn’t you tell us before?” he will growl.
“You didn’t ask me.”
Jankowski will start toward the young man with his finger pointed. “Look, boy, another joke like that and I swear you’re going to regret being a jerk.”
The Director will raise his arms. “Have you searched hotels, hostels, student accommodation homes, whatever… everywhere?”
The blond man will begin speaking, in an almost resigned tone. “Director, we checked not only the names in the records, but also all the holographic stock images of the last two nights,” he will say, opening a holographic sheet. “He doesn’t appear to have slept in a public facility, at least not in Chicago.”
“But he must have slept somewhere!” the Director will exclaim. “Is anyone helping him? Does he have an accomplice? It’s cold in this season. If necessary, look among the bums by the trains, everywhere.”
“The point is not,” the elegant man will intervene, squinting his gray eyes, “where he slept, but why he stayed in the city. Who is helping him, and what are the intentions in doing so? That’s what we need to find out.”
“For once,” the thin woman will say, “I agree with Goedhart, Director. The point here, which Daft seems to be forgetting, is not just to find this man, but to understand why we’re looking for him.”
“Come on, Meredith, we have a reason.” Goedhart will exclaim. “At this point it’s clear; he’s been missing for almost forty-eight hours. We’re looking for him because he knows something, and if he spills that something, it could hurt this agency.”
“Yes, but what?” the thin woman will say. “And how do we know his purpose is to harm us? Since this story started, all we’ve done is hunt him down, scare him. Jesus Christ, you practically went in that place with sirens blaring and riot shields up! And no one is bothering to investigate what really happened two days ago in that building.”
“What happened was that someone came in and massacred our colleagues, the contract researchers,” Daft will snap. “That’s what happened, Meredith.”
“Nice discovery, but why?” the woman will say. “That’s the point. And then, how come we didn’t do a thorough investigation of the building, why they were there? In one recording, Whiley says they were supposed to meet with Richard Proctor that day.”
“All right, all right.” Cervetti will intervene, putting a hand on his colleague’s shoulder. “And so, what do you expect to receive from Janus?”
“My move, a ticket with the confirmation that the shipment has been successful, which means that he has downloaded it, that the data is legible and correct, and that he will then pay me the balance.”
Cervetti will lean towards the boy. “Now I’ll call my colleagues in Italy, and you show us exactly how you exchange messages by playing a game.”
“Open the curtains,” the Magistrate will tell the brightness adjustment system on the wall. When the afternoon sunlight floods the room, the man will look at his two colleagues sitting at the table with the remnants of lunch still scattered in disarray on the wooden top.
“Really ingenious,” the Magistrate will say, pointing to the holograms stuck in the still image in the middle of the room. “That’s why they couldn’t find them because they were looking in the wrong place. And then, what did you do?”
Cervetti will look at Santilli. “You explain it.”
The white-haired man will get up, crossing the holograms and going to the board. “May I?” he will ask.
“Certainly.”
Santilli will take a piece of chalk, draw three squares, then connect them with straight lines. “This is Janus, this is us, and this is Black Rabbit, aka Piotr Kaczmarek. After he explained the operation of the game and the communication mechanism inserted in the instruction blocks of the tokens, we created a virtual duplicate of his Wroclaw connection here in Rome. So, while the boy is in prison, our operators here have taken his place, simulating his presence.”
The magistrate will raise his hand, like a schoolboy.
“Yes?” Santilli will say.
The thin woman will slam the palm of her hand on the table. “Whiley claims that Proctor wanted a book. What book? For Christ’s sake! Have we at least detected that information?”
The woman will look at the muscular man, who will put his hand in the holographic panel, moving a couple of files to her screen, to her personal location. No one at the table will speak.
“Well, do we at least know what the hell they were supposed to talk about?” the woman will insist, raising her voice. “Do we have at least one guess, a vague idea of the motive for the attack? I don’t think so. And if we don’t find out why Whiley decided to stay in town, we won’t find out where he is.”
The men at the table will wait for the woman to finish. Then Daft will speak into the silence.
“No, we don’t know,” he will say in a low voice. “We don’t know if they were meeting to discuss lunch or what. And frankly, Meredith, that doesn’t seem to me to be the reason for this meeting.”
“Ah, yes? And what is the reason for this meeting?”
“To find out where Whiley is hiding, since he has been missing for two days under suspicious circumstances,” the man will respond, bending over the table, punctuating the last words with gestures.
The thin woman will lean in turn towards him. “I believed it was” she will hiss through gritted teeth, “to discover the truth.”
“What if Janus asks to meet on the holographic network, maybe in Tortuga?”
“But it’s no longer necessary. And anyway, it was a risk we had to take. At worst, we would have asked the young man to play the part of himself. But it wasn’t necessary, I repeat.”
“Oh no?”
“No.” Santilli will confirm. “We took Kaczmarek’s place in the game, the simulation of a famous battle of the Second World War. We did exactly as he explained to us and we sent a message to Janus. We studied how they communicated in previous messages and used the same kind of language.”
“Saying what?”
“I’ll let you read it,” he will answer, opening a holographic sheet.
Successful delivery? If the goods are not broken, give me confirmation and proceed with the payment. If you need me in the future, give me a whistle.
The magistrate will nod, scratching his chin thoughtfully.
“And he answered?”
“Yes, Doctor, now I’ll show you,” Santilli will answer, opening another sheet.
Goods received and in good order. You will
receive the deposit within twenty-four hours. If I need you in the future, I’ll contact you.
The Magistrate will stand up, look at the blackboard, then the two messages projected again in mid-air, above the meeting table. Finally, he will turn to Cervetti. “Did he bite?”
The Commissioner will smile. “He bit.”
Futura: Parallel Universes. Book 2 Page 22