Chapter 13
Nigel Eisenstein was sitting in his unique work chair, stretching out his legs on the mahogany table where lay only tablet. He was smiling. If course, if the smug grimace that twisted deep wrinkles around his mouth, could be called a smile. He was waiting for the nominated candidates for the new position of the role-play psychologist to interview them.
In his memory there came the day of his first job interview. He had just completed a master's degree in "Social and legal psychology" dealing with public life. They had prepared them for researchers of mass behavior, public opinion, ethnic relations, psychology and psychology of everyday life. Special attention was paid to the preparation of researchers and experts in institutions and NGOs dealing with the diagnosis, prevention and control of crime in society. The agency announced vacancy then, was handling exactly the crime in an office environment. It had a long and uncertain name and even more incomprehensible abbreviation. The interview was conducted by the head of the research team and the questions and issues claimed to be extraordinary, at times - even shocking. Finally he asked, "What do you think you are able to make for the intended career?" Nigel said: "I am able to sell my mother into slavery." The big boss showed no surprise, but cheekbone under his right eye, which was the open winced slightly. "Your answer seems shocking, but it's easy because you do not remember your mother died in a car crash, when you were three years old. Would you sold your father who raised up? „I would not!" - His response was immediate. Nigel lied because he considered the man opposite him. In fact, he hated his father and would have sold him into slavery without benefit, but realized who was the man sitting in front of him - a perfectionist who studied the CVs in detail, yet conservative - moralist. And it was considered only by a barely perceptible shake. They appointed him. Since then, he had no false judgments. Even personally, he appreciated it as an advantage the presence of an evil man - a selfish father, as a great advantage in his ugly struggle for a better place on the social ladder. As a boy, he suffered for his mother and was convinced that his father had something to do with her death. At a later stage, he made sure that he was much more like it, in almost nothing to him and that was enough. Currently he did not even know exactly where the location of his parent was, he was constantly changing his wives or the women he was living with.
Nigel pursed his lips. Only personally, he was wrong about Sarah. At this point there was a knock on the door and the first candidate entered. He took his feet off the table and enjoyed a surprise emblazoned on the face of the newcomer. Nobody expected that the office of the famous in their areas Nigel Eisenstein will only have one big heavy table and two chairs. One, similar to a dentist’s chair with a huge back covered with thick gray fur, and the other placed opposite – plain, wooden chair.
- Hello, I come for the interview, I was told that you had been informed - the man was of medium height, Caucasian, brown and was wearing glasses.
- Come in, you are welcome.
- I understand that you are interviewing in your office - said the newcomer, while sitting on the wooden chair against it.
- Right, you’ve been told right. This is my office - said Nigel.
- I understand. I'm waiting for your questions.
- What would you do to get the place?
- I'm ready to work, neither more nor less.
- Does it mean that you imagine an eight-hour working day according to the law and no sacrifices on your behalf?
- Sacrifices are personal choice and are related to the circumstances. Rarely do I make sacrifices, or shall I say never- the nondescript bespectacled man shared in a mocking tone.
- What kind of job do you prefer - individual or team?
- I have no preference. I work well in all configurations and cases
- What do you mean "good work"?
- Effective, that is with a certain result gained.
- What are your criteria for evaluating work as effective?
- According to the overall knowledge of research, theory, concepts, ideology and opinions related to the theme and specific research methods used do self-assessment and then comparing them to the effects of the study.
- Don’t you think that you can overestimate yourself?
- The question is quite general. In the field of music, medicine, mathematics and so on my options are mediocre. But the place is for a psychologist. In the field of psychology and sociology my knowledge and skills are well above average.
- And how about your legal knowledge?
- I have sufficient knowledge only of international law. For a specific country I would take consultants.
- Nigel stared at the man against himself.
- What are your abilities in accordance with women?
- Expected evasive answer and a remark that the question is unclear, but he immediately heard:
- Good.
- On a scale of one to ten, or in a scale of one to five.
- On a scale of one to six.
- You are an immigrant from a six-level scale of assessment, right?
- Yes, an immigrant from Eastern Europe.
- Here on the isles, "Eastern Europe" has become a dirty word. How would you comment?
- Poor immigrants are a scourge and danger for each country. I understand the fears of the population.
- Well, that was it. We'll call you within three days.
The Bespectacled smiled widely, genuinely, and sincerely:
- I have two other job offers. If you do not call me until the end of the day, I will accept any of them.
- It's your choice - Nigel answered with cold official tone, the confidence of the candidate seemed annoying.
He looked in the tablet the list of the candidates, because he would not bother to open it for this one. He saw at number one Alexander Batashki. He thought that he hadn’t asked for the name. Before he let in the next, he opened the CV – the one of the just-left Alexander. He was no in the habit to read CVs. This was done by his employees when screening the candidates. For an interview in his office there were only five selected people. But now he wanted to see what nationality he was because as the name might suggest, he could be a Serb, Croatian, Bulgarian, and Balkan Slav as a whole. It turned out that he was a Macedonian with a Bulgarian citizenship.
The other candidates tried to look impenetrable, they gave answers, which stand out with originality and unconventional views and demonstrated readiness for any sacrifice for the sake of his career. But the subservience and lust for money and fame were easily seen- as patch on the sun.
On the third day, Nigel Eisenstein ordered to call Alexander Batashki and tell him that he was approved for the position. The technical secretary with a very troubled voice called him that the candidate had already begun work, he called to inform, but he hadn’t specified where.
- Call him again and ask him under what conditions he would deny the job and would come to us.
- Alright, Mr. Eisenstein.
- Soon she rang again and quite timidly she told him:
- The answer to Mr. Batashki was, I quote: "Under no conditions." – The Employee almost stuttered.
- Well, call him back and ask him if he would meet again with me?
The secretary hung the phone with relief. Probably Batashki had told her that he was waiting for an answer by the end of the day, but she haughtily had not informed anyone about his message.
***
- Mr. Director, I called again to question Mr. Batashki - she stammered.
- What was the answer?
He gave a mobile number and told to call him to arrange to see each other for coffee ... - because he said nothing, she continued to dictate the number.
- OK- Nigel hung up.
- Nigel Eisenstein did not record the number, he would have done it later. He had an exceptional memory for numbers. He continued watching the video, which he had just received by Fritz Muller in his email. Fritz was sent personally to conduct "the Sahara show „as in briefly he used to call it. T
he corporation wanted guarantees for the success of the division "Waste". Their four years of work depended on the report under this section. The team of psychologists, psychiatrists and psychoanalysts have been ready with the theoretical formulation, but the Corporation wanted to be equipped with a real experiment, documented with video as reality, as they submitted observations to all sections on the project "Anthill".
He did not like what he saw. The accident with an angry herd of wild elephants on a caged unfortunate girl looked artificial even for him, who was convinced that it was not on purpose, but because of the incompetent conduct of the team of Fritz. If this had happened in a real environment of a man who could run and be get saved, then everyone would assume it was just natural coincidence. The good thing was the black ranger very quickly rescued her by his helicopter, taking a great risk to crash it and destroy such an expensive aircraft. The syndrome of fear had not spread to any participant and the goal was to bring all to the syndrome of dysphoria. One of his theories was that man will increasingly become an appendage to technology and will suffer from fears, neuroses and phobias, and consequently, the survival in a hostile natural environment would be impossible for the future Homo sapiens. The time that was necessary to prove the generally accepted theses in the report was insufficient, but the circumstances required it.
Nigel suspected that the Corporation had given to another team of experts to assess the situation and that despite the money that was paid for spying on participants from the director board, they had not got any information, which was extremely disturbing.
He called Fritz Müller:
- Fritz, what is this gentle lion under a tree, you wrote nothing to me, just this blunder with the elephants!
- We do not switch on the ultrasound irritant to the lions because our "mole" felt down. We could not risk his life. You yourself told me to recruit only one member as a snitch.
- So you’re trying to make me angry by calling the "mole" a snitch!
- I know Nigel, but it is not bad to get angry and come to the field, because I'm going to go the "Anthill" for a while, because we were informed that somebody imported marijuana.
- Let them do it, we shall take it easy from now on. The Sponsors are informed that from next month they stop the remittances. You cannot go for a while, because it’ll take you three days at least. I told you to conduct the experiments in the Amazon, but you resisted. Now focus on "Show Sahara", because the deadlines are pressing us!
- Ok, but the black assholes who you have sent me are not any "Rangers", they are ladies. They could not find that anorexic girl all night. The rain has prevented them!
- Do not share your valuation and opinion. Among a group of angry elephants to draw from a narrow meadow a girl in a cage with a tourist helicopter is a real mastery. Would they find the contestant during the night or as they did in the morning, there was no difference, you again dip into petty details! You’d better use that "slob." More reasonably.
- "Slouch" or “slob” he also “melted” in the heat. Didn’t you hear how these pieces of garbage who you’ve picked up call him „the chicken"
- Do not look for excuses in the others, act only according to the instruction. No more failures! Why didn’t I see during the first mission no safety ropes when transporting the group on the helicopter rope ladders? – Nigel’s questions were quite tense.
- The ropes that they are tied are thin and cannot be seen - something in the tone of Fritz sounded fake.
Fritz was mad about this project. Four years managed "The Anthill" on the ground in Bolivia and it had influenced on him quite a lot. He did not realize how important the reality "Show Sahara" was - to be held as scheduled.
Nigel was pulling the strings from their headquarters in London. Never did he travel on the spot to see "The Anthill“, and now in the camps in Africa he did not intend to set his foot at all. He did not like to travel. Here on the isles, on the old continent, he was feeling better. He was in his late forties, a maniac of a healthy lifestyle and has taken all his time. He was convinced that his life's work will change the world and it filled him with pride and kept his creative madness. Only Sarah could bring him joy, but she had left him ...
He called his secretary to bring him the folder with the report of the Special Department for logistics of the project "Sahara." But he didn’t even open it. He was thinking about Alexander Batashki, who had already begun work in a certain sociological polling agency. This competitive structure worked mainly on government and party orders. He had no information what kind of position he had taken. He turned out an ordinary immigrant, mired in penury, who played it safe to have his daily bread. But rather than losing interest immediately to him and his insolence to give his mobile number and give personal orders, so that Nigel Eisenstein himself could call him, his interest for the bespectacled guy grew increasingly.
He opened the folder with the report, considered how carelessly it had been made and contemptuously threw in the trash bin and then called the "specialist":
- Did you make it?
- Yes – the guy on the phone was waiting.
- OK, I will wait for you at the club at the appointed time.
His mood improved. On the following day he would have the long-awaited record of the meeting of the Board of Directors of the Corporation.
Chapter 14
Dr. Ziyad was restless. The fifteen days that Anna should have been through the reality format "Sahara" were over. He had no doubt she'd call on the phone as soon as possible. Fear oppressed him- he thought she was the victim of an experiment and she would disappear. At the hospital where he worked, they believed that she had died and had long forgotten about her existence. They spoke three days about the missing Jane Doe and that was it ... How easily one can be forgotten. We all pretend to be compassionate and responsible, and indeed we are focused only on our own lifestyle and social commitments.
The administration of the hospital wanted him to take his leave now, in the spring. The secretary of the chief doctor hinted him that he had been working for two years with them and he was not married, so that he should rest in the “lowest season” of the hospital. The hotels in the Alps were full of vacationers and tourists both in winter and summer, and even in the autumn, but spring was not the preferred season. Then they had fewer patients. Dr. Musa Ziyad decided to take his leave and seek Ana.
He was gay, but he was successfully hiding his sexual orientation. At the weekend he attended a gay club in Paris. The promiscuous relations did not frighten him. He had no intention get into a serious relation. Mostly because of his crowded family where he had not met any understanding. Even his mother, who was in very close relationship with him, would not understand.
He called her. After the usual greetings, he said:
- Mom, if they conducted a reality show called "Sahara“, in which country would they go?
- In Algeria or Niger.
His mother was a great woman. She was from the Tuareg tribe, she had raised them together with his three brothers and two sisters, had given them education and had brought them up. He barely remembered his father who had died in an accident at work. His mother, naturally intelligent and loving was spiritually close to him. He had no such connection with his brothers and sisters.
The strangest thing was that he felt the Bulgarian Anna as his spiritual sister. He, being a barbarian by blood, a Muslim by religion and a Frenchman by education, but he felt obliged to help her.
***
Dr. Musa Ziyad took his leave. There was more than a month to be away, because since he was received at the elite hospital, the largest private clinic on the territory of the French Alps, had not benefited from his leave, to which he had the right.
He has long wanted to make a trip to the city where he was born - Algeria. He arrived at the airport "Houari Boumediene" right on schedule. Immediately he went to the old neighborhood of Kasba. There he had friends and relatives from his childhood. The taxi drove him down to the beginning of
the street. This street, like most streets, was a dead-end one, narrow, with houses in old Arabic style. Musa walked with her head high to examine again these buildings standing one by one, two or three floors with the typical windows and typical arches, a large covering brackets actually arches over small terraces with fantastic forged bars and corrugated iron on the railings. And all the windows on the upper floors - square with shutters. And the ground floors with canvas awnings over the stalls of family shops, as though the street is a flea market, but the impression was deceptive. He knew exactly where to buy colored cloth to wind it as a turban on his head and a long tunic of very thin fabric that put over his shirt and broad summer trousers. He could not appear in other clothing before AlBukri, the chief cleric who has been preaching Salafism for decades.
Humility Page 12