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“I know not with what weapons world war III will be fought, but world war IV will be fought with sticks and stones.”
Albert Einstein
Prologue
12th September, 2001
Fourteen of them sat around a round table. The room was mostly dark save for the light that hung directly above them. Only two women sat in their midst as they argued.
The man at the head of the table got tired of thebantering and shouted in Russian:
“Would you all shut up!”
Everyone obeyed. No one wanted to make him angry.
“We have been planning this for over five years. The ones who went before us have laid down the foundation. Now, all we have to do is to finish it. We have limited time. We were close but this occurrence- it has ruined everything. If we don’t recuperate quickly, it wouldn’t matter how far we’ve come. The whole plan would be ruined. All I asked was if anyone had a plan of action. Nobody has anything good to say. Of what use are any of you here then?”
There was silence for a while then a man raised his hand. The man at the head of the table nodded for the other to speak.
“As I said before, we should just strike immediately anyway. We are in position“
POW!
The sound of the gun shot reverberated over the walls of the room and everyone watched in shock as the man fell dead to the floor.
“Since he refuses to see the folly and short-sightedness of his plan, I think I should just help him out. Now, anyone else with something more brilliant?” the leader said.
Silence reigned for what seemed like hours, then a lady; the blonde, dark-skinned one, raised a hand. The man at the head smiled. Whenever she had an idea it was good. He nodded for her to speak.
“Well, if we want full damage, we must learn to bid our time. I have an idea but it’ll require us to get them to trust us long enough and let us in. What better way to do that than to…”
She spoke for a long time but when she was done withspeaking, the man smiled. It was brilliant.
Chapter One
“It wouldn’t be the first time that the government withheld the truth.”
14th November, 2021
10:25pm
West Loop, Chicago, Illinois.
USA.
Alexander Michael cracked his fingers and sighed. Getting up from where he sat before his computer, he stretched his arms out and yawned. He had hit a milestone in the proposal he was preparing for his stepfather’s Civil Engineering Company. He was a programmer, skilled in Python and SQL despite being in his third year of college. He studied Computer Science but he was far ahead of his curriculum. Gertrude, his step-father, had asked him to build a database for his engineering company and Xander had decided to commit himself to the project. That was most likely the last project he was going to handle for Gertrude before leaving Chicago.
He had never really connected with Gertrude on a personal level. His father, Thomas Michael, had died of cancer five years ago. His mother, Alicia, had decided to get married again a year ago. Alexander hadn’t appreciated the decision. He had been happy with things the way they were. He had been working as a freelance programmer for various companies. He earned enough to buy his own Nissan Altima car. His mother had worked as an accountant for Gertrude Engineering. She had been earning enough to feed her family. Needless to say, that was where she had met Gertrude and had fallen in love. After the wedding, Alicia had been promoted to become an executive at the company and the whole family had relocated to Gertrude’s mansion in West Loop. The job got more hectic and she was bent on pleasing her new husband so Xander and Grayson saw her less often.
Mentally, Alexander barfed. He hated love stories. Gertrude tried to make them look like a normal family. Whenever he came back from work with Alicia, he’d get a pack of chocolate for Alexander and his little sister, Grayson. Alexander found himself rolling his eyes. Apparently, Gertrude hadn’t noticed that he was twenty years old. He didn’t want the relationship with Gertrude. He loved his family without the presence of an outsider. He knew the feeling was probably childish. Even Grayson had opened up completely to Gertrude. However, Xander didn’t appreciate the change.
He knew that the contract Gertrude had given him was more of an act of goodwill. Obviously, Gertrude could have gotten someone more professional for the project. What bewildered Xander the most was the pay. He hadn’t seen such an amount on a database management system development project before. Alexander had wanted to refuse it but his mother had convinced him to take it and, deciding to only be professional about it, he had taken up the project, working his butt off to ensure Gertrude got maximum satisfaction. Not wanting to stand in the way of his mother’s happiness, he had also decided to move away from Chicago. He didn’t know where he’d go yet but he had made up his mind to leave by next year. He couldn’t keep living under Gertrude’s roof.
He moved to the mini-fridge in his room and pulled out a bottle of Coke. Gulping a bit, he set it aside and returned to his table. He had a strict policy of not keeping liquids near his computer. Just as he was about to return to work, there was a knock at his door. He already guessed who it was.
“Come on in,” he called out as he swung in his chair to look at the door. Just as he had guessed, his eleven-year old sister, Grayson, came in. He smiled at her.
