The Clout of Gen

by Ahmad Ardalan

  “I eventually made practical use of the information. After a few months, I started trading at the stock markets. I had to be careful in order to avoid arousing suspicion, so I was careful not to go on too long of a winning streak. I knew when to lose and when to make profit. I also chose different markets and mixed things up a bit. My profits were so high that the losses were nothing by comparison. All the money I made from the stocks I donated to the charities. I never used it in any of my businesses or for personal gain. I also enjoyed betting, mainly on horses, since that was one of my reasons for meeting with Alexi the first time. I only gambled for entertainment value. It was never about the money—though I realize that may be hard to believe—and it simply was exuberating to always be right.

  “Things were all on track. My business was growing, my father’s electronics business had never done better, though I had to expand it, and my steel factory was supplying worldwide. At that point, I decided to go into logistics so I could control it all. Alexi had instructed me to invest in the medical sector, so I did. I admired the work of those in the field, helping and healing the ill and diseased, and it was also very profitable. No wonder Alexi advised me to go through with that! I continued my normal life on one hand but was living a very different one on the other. I felt like some kind of fortune teller, like a prophet or Nostradamus, only I never made a mistake or a false prediction. Alexi’s forecasts were infallible.

  “When the time came for my first meeting, I had already studied the person I was going to meet. My first contact was in Hong Kong. I was disguised very well, just as Alexi advised. I changed my hair and wore big black glasses that covered my eyes completely. I gave him the bait and he fell for it. Honestly, I was sure no human could resist such valuable knowledge. After that first contact, twenty-nine others were met over the course of twenty-six years. It required me to travel to find them. I flew to the United States, the Soviet Union (as it was called back then), London, Paris, South America, one of the Arabian Gulf states, and Africa. The contacts were everywhere, smartly chosen by Alexi. For each of the thirty meetings, I wore a different clever disguise, spoke with a different accent. I very much enjoyed playing all those roles, and I never gave away a clue of who I was or where I had gotten the information from. I was running the show.

  “After I passed the information to the contacts, I kept an eye on their progress. Eventually, I even set up a department to analyze their businesses and follow up on their work. I studied all the reports on a regular bases, and the more I studied them, the more convinced I was that Alexi was totally accurate in his selections. It was as if each of their personalities and actions were an open book to him. I had to believe that was only possible for a person who really did come from the future, as Alexi claimed to be.

  “At that point, I began believing in what I was doing. We did have a hand in stopping the Cold War. We did prevent many disasters. We prevented further casualties from occurring in the Persian Gulf War. We helped many people in need. My medical factories provided supplies for those injured in the wars, and we provided safety products to many. All the contacts did what was needed according to the plans that were set. Everything and everyone fell perfectly into Alexi’s strategies. To put it in a simpler way, all the right people were in all the right places doing all the right things at all the right times. Some provided the necessary media, others the logistics. Some controlled the pharmaceutical industry, while others operated chemical or oil factories. Some provided food. Whatever was needed was taken care of, and we were everywhere. We had the right products at the right time and location. Following Alexi’s instructions by the letter, all contacts did exactly what was needed from them, and they were happy to do so, as we controlled many sectors of life.

  “I had everything under control, and I started to become very arrogant because of that. I traveled the world to meet whoever I knew was destined for fame. Also, through a third party, I arranged several events to gather all of the contacts in the same place. None of them knew about the others, and they only assumed they shared some business interests. I took pleasure in seeing the fruit of my accomplishments, and it also proved very helpful later.

  “Suddenly, though, it all changed. At the time of the Gulf War, I got my first eye-opener. We weren’t always the good guys. We were just willing pawns. One of the chosen contacts had been involved in supplying false information, and that led to casualties. I began to doubt everything we were doing. By the end of the Bosnian War and the massacre in Rwanda it was all clear.”

  “What was clear?” John asked, scribbling more notes.

  Yaturo sighed heavily again. “It was clear that I wasn’t making the world a better place. In reality, all I was doing was moving along a plan, according to what was given to me. I felt Alexi had lied to me and had just used me to fulfill his dreams or his own agenda. I wasn’t sure of his intentions, but I suddenly became very bitter. I lost my sense of purpose, and I was devastated, feeling as if I’d been used and had convinced others to be used as well. That was when I decided to take some action. Creating that tape was one way. I hoped someone would find it, that something might happen.” Hitari then paused and went inside.

  John was frustrated. He was filled with anger at what he’d heard. The whole world—all of recent history—has been some hoax perpetuated by a plan laid out by some madman claiming to be from the future? We’ve been manipulated! All these decisions in various sectors of humanity were not made based on studies or research or trial and error, with the common good in mind, not based on cooperation or science. It has all come from so-called knowledge allegedly passed down from the future from some unknown person? How could this be? John fumed. He felt disgusted, betrayed. He suddenly felt as if the human race had been treated like mindless drones, like machines, blindly following a preset course. The more he thought about it, the more he began to despise the harsh reality. Wars and casualties have occurred based on the decisions of thirty people, decisions they made because of some madman’s files? He began to consider all the misery in the world that could have been prevented. He pondered all the hardworking people, being led like sheep. He thought of his marriage falling apart, his brother and the agony he’d gone through in losing his home. John thought of his friends’ misery, of worldwide poverty. Children are starving while those big shots get richer and more powerful! This has to change, John resolved, and he felt he was the one who would change it.

  By the time Yaturo returned to the terrace, John was furious. He lashed out at his host, blaming him for it all. “You knew all of this and did nothing about it! How can you even live with all the guilt of that? All the pain and death and misery you’ve allowed to happen to so many innocent people?” He began cursing and shouting. “Why in the world did all the contacts follow your lead, follow this Alexi’s commands without even questioning it?” John screamed in an even louder tone.

  Hitari replied calmly, “Well, for two reasons. First, Alexi knew them in advance. He knew they were the type who wouldn’t resist temptation. Would you, John? If you could make millions of dollars a day and gain ultimate political and social and financial power, would you throw that opportunity away? And before blaming me, you should consider the fact that Alexi told me that I would be helping to make the world a better place. As soon as I had doubts about that, I acted. I did what I could, as I had prior information about many disastrous historical events to come. I tried to prevent them, but I failed so many times. Many times I sent anonymous notes and tips about certain disasters, but no one ever took them seriously. If they’d have listened to me, it might have saved thousands of lives, but no one paid any attention. In the end, I gave up. I decided to dedicate my energy and focus on something else. I knew I had to go back to the start of it all, and it was quite obvious I had to get him. I was keen on finding who Alexi was, because I wanted to pay him back for what he’d done—for what he’d used me and the others to accomplish,” added Yaturo.

  “I remembered how arrogant he was, and beli
eved he was who he said he was, a man from the future. I decided if he really wasn’t born yet, I had to find out who his parents would be or who he would be connected to. It wasn’t easy, but it had to be done. I followed every lead and suspicion I came across. Any company I didn’t trust, I followed. Any person I felt that might have access to information, I followed them too. I knew I had to find him, to make it right somehow.

  “I hired the best professionals and started another company called Eye of Analysis. I registered it under an anonymous owner’s name in Switzerland. None of the employees knew who they were really working for. The company’s main function was to carefully study political impact on the economy and follow up on emerging markets and new potential businesses and profitable investments. Its real agenda, however, was to find Alexi. We used the best technology to follow global news and changing trends by the second. We studied all the influential people, every decision-maker new or old, and any new company that looked the slightest bit suspicious. I already had some resources, as I’d met the man and felt I knew what part of the world he came from. I knew what he looked like—or what he would eventually look like. I knew his name was Alexi, and I believed and still believe he was Russian or was at least from the eastern bloc. I don’t believe he was lying when he told me his name. I had contacts all over the world. I had something to work on, and I relentlessly followed all the newcomers, every emerging influential company. I knew there had to be something somewhere. Whenever someone was suspicious, we kept an eye on them. If they had kids, we followed them too. We didn’t leave room for any mistake, for anything to be swept under the carpet. We had eyes everywhere,” added Yaturo.

  “And did you find anything? Anything of value?” John asked, still angry.

  Again, Yaturo sighed. “For the past twelve years, John, I have been doing nothing but searching and searching,” he added, breathing heavily. He then moved closer to John and grabbed him by his collar. “I have gone through all this, yet you accuse me of doing nothing? I unknowingly wasted my whole life, all of my youthful years for a wrong cause. You ask me how I can live with the guilt. Please know, John, that it eats at me every single waking moment. When my wife died giving birth to our child, do you know where I was, John?”

  “No,” John said.

  “I was out there following the plan, obeying Alexi’s every whim! I missed out on the first moments of my child’s life and the last moments of my wife’s because of that madman and his plan, so don’t you dare come here and lecture me!”

  “Why didn’t you tell someone? Go for help? Tell the authorities?” John asked.

  “Authorities?” Yaturo laughed. “They would have locked me away in a rubber room and thrown away the key! Even after all I gave up, all I missed out on, and all I’d learned, it was too risky to share the load with anyone. I couldn’t go to the police or anyone else. No one would have believed such a strange story, and I couldn’t trust them. Furthermore, if they did believe what I was saying, they would have considered me a threat. They would have taken every effort to silence me for good, and they would have gone on their own search for Alexi. God only knows what their plans would have been. If Alexi and/or his knowledge fell into the wrong hands, they could have used him for even more foul a purpose, John. I could not let that happen—not after I’d already inadvertently caused so much damage. This was a burden I had to carry for myself. But you know what’s really funny about all this, John?”

  “Funny?” John replied, not seeing any humor in any of it.

  “Well, perhaps ironic is a better word. Anyway, the information Alexi gave me only went through 2011. There is nothing extending beyond 2012. I am not sure why, but perhaps Alexi knows I will no longer be around after that. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year. I have been under treatment, and I am still fighting. I am still alive, John, and when Yuuka passed your message to me, I knew this was all meant to be. John, you are the one.”

  “The one? I-I’m not sure I understand,” John said, looking up from his notes. “The one for what? I’m just a reporter, just an average American who found a box.”

  “No, John, it will be you. If I do not make it, you must be the one to find Alexi. I always had the best intentions when I believed in Alexi. I felt the world was messed up and I was chosen to be the savior. It was an honest mistake, John. That’s why I worked hard to prove my real agenda, why I made that video, and I believe my hard work has come through at last. I believe we are making progress. My health isn’t getting any better, and perhaps I am unknowingly on my deathbed. In fact, I believe my will, my sense of duty to resolve this, to right my wrongs, is what’s keeping me alive,” Yaturo concluded. “I am ready to pass this great responsibility off to someone, John…and I believe that someone is you.”

  John felt the honesty and sincerity in Yaturo’s words. The man truly wanted to change the world, and he had tried. John was suddenly overcome with a sense of duty. We can change all this, he thought. We can work together, and maybe there’s a chance. With the progress Yaturo has already made and some effort on my part, maybe we can out smart this Alexi and his plans. John wasn’t sure how possible or practical it was, but he had to try. He was sure there was a reason he hadn’t jumped off those cliffs and plummeted to his death, a reason he found that odd octagonal box. Perhaps this is why I’m here, he thought.

  -

  The next day, they started talking about how things should be handled and what to do next. John was quick to agree to Yaturo’s wise suggestions. John would supervise Yaturo’s company, Eye of Analysis, and notify Yaturo of any leads he was able to identify regarding Alexi. They agreed that John would use a different name, as they didn’t want to leave any kind of paper trail to the origins of the company.

  It was a lot for John to take in, and he had to quickly familiarize himself with all the work they had done over the years and to see where they stood at the moment.

  There was one thing that Yaturo made clear: “John, you must assure me that under no circumstances will you ever involve my daughter in any of this,” he demanded in no uncertain terms. “She is living a peaceful, safe life, and I wish that to continue for her. She has had nothing to do with any of this. Leaving her out of it all was the best decision I’ve ever made, and I don’t want that to change. There will be no compromises to her safety,” he said.

  Yaturo granted John access to all the data gathered by all of his companies. When John asked how that would be possible, Yaturo told him it would be arranged with Mitsua Oel. John was reluctant to meet with Mitsua Oel, as he felt the man was a weasel and was very dangerous, but Yaturo explained to him who Mitsua Oel really was.

  Mitsua had been working with Yaturo for thirty-eight years. They had grown the company together, and Yaturo assured John that if there was anyone in the world that he trusted, it was him. The two had traveled the world together, and they had faced many challenges and always ended on top. Yaturo explained, “Many times, I wanted to tell Mitsua about all of this. If he would have asked me, I would have told him in a heartbeat, but he is not one to interfere or ask too many questions. He has always trusted me, and he has always believed that I would involve him only if and when I needed him. We share an unbreakable bond.

  “One day I was feeling stressed out, and Mitsua sensed it. He could tell something was on my mind. I could see his concern in his eyes. I just blew him off and told him it was an old personal matter that I needed to handle alone. I explained that all I needed was his cooperation and loyalty. He understood, just as I expected, and he gave me more than that. That, my friend, is Mitsua Oel. I assure you that you do not have to worry at all about him, John, in spite of your first impressions of the man.”

  “He wasn’t kind to me when I met him,” John explained. “In fact, he didn’t even give me a chance to speak. He also gave me some strange and intimidating looks when he saw me talking to Yuuka the other day. He—” John would have continued to bash and complain about Mitsua if Yaturo had not interrupted him.


  “Listen, John, I respect you and your opinions, but I am afraid I cannot allow anyone to talk badly of Mitsua in my presence. I assure you that if he was suspicious of you, it was only because he is trying to protect me and my business and personal interests. He knows how sick I am. Perhaps he thought you might be trying to exploit me for money or that you—an American journalist—was just in search of a story. He does not want anyone to bother me while I am ill, and we have both agreed to keep my medical condition quiet. I wanted to finalize all the loose ends before I expose my illness to the public. I will introduce you to Mitsua, and I promise that he will assist you with anything you need outside of Eye of Analysis. You can trust him 100 percent, John, just as I do.”

  Yaturo reminded John again of the intensity of the whole matter. “It is very serious indeed, John, and it will require much patience. You should consider this your new job, and I can offer you generous compensation should you accept this position.”

  John refused the payment; the last thing on his mind was money.

  Yaturo, though, stubborn as he was, wouldn’t take no for an answer, and the reality was that John would need money to finalize his divorce and provide for his son. He would have to leave his position with the paper.

  John thought about it for a moment. He’d been with the paper for ten years, and in that decade, he’d gotten virtually nowhere. He knew he would have to obligate all of his time and energy to Yaturo’s cause if he accepted. He had never imagined that he would be offered so much pay to do anything, but Yaturo was a wealthy and generous man. It was a deal of a lifetime.