Authors: Massimo Russo
He strode off towards the restroom, leaving Will sitting there alone. As he went, he thought over the incredible ideas his grandson had shared. He hoped the future would be better. He knew that the world can sometimes be seen through the innocent eyes of a child who knows the truth. For the first time in all his years, he felt hope for a life that had only ever brought him pain. What he didn’t know was that fate, yet again, was going to deliver an infinitely greater pain than any he had ever suffered before.
Chapter 34
The guard thumped repeatedly on the iron door for permission to enter the room. Tommy granted it and gave new instructions to be carried out without question in the shortest time possible.
“Get rid of those bodies right now.”
“Yes, sir. Professor Claus is here, sir.”
“Bring him in.”
“Yes, sir.”
Without turning a hair and with the impeccable demeanor of one used to receiving orders and obeying without hesitation, the soldier left and returned immediately with a fellow guard. Behind them was Professor Albert Claus who turned weak at the knees when he saw the bodies.
“Don’t mind the mess, Professor. There was a problem to solve with all haste and I didn’t have time to use a cleaner method. Sometimes you have to get your hands dirty, isn’t that right?”
The Professor made no reply, because he was intent on stopping his stomach from heaving up its contents. He had seen many a body since he had started working for Queen, but he had never been able to get used to aspects that went beyond his role of humble scientist; the only thing he inevitably and regularly felt was utter disgust for such brutality.
The soldiers cleaned everything up in no time at all, removing some of the unease in his glance.
“Come in. I’ve got some very interesting news, though I find it somewhat conflicting and far from clear. Maybe you can enlighten me.”
He approached and Tommy handed him the sheet of paper.
“O’Neal?”
“I know you know who he is, and he’s got nothing to do with the research you’re conducting on prime numbers. But what if I told you that this name was written by a boy who hasn’t the faintest idea who O’Neal is?”
“I don’t follow.”
“We showed the problem of the numbers to a fifteen-year-old boy, a mathematical genius. With all due respect, he’s probably a damn sight smarter than you. No offence.”
“I access all the internet sites and publishers throughout the world that deal with mathematics and science. If he’s as good as you say, why have I never heard of a fifteen-year-old prodigy anywhere?”
“Because he’s autistic. His family protected him for as long as they could. They were very possessive.”
“And where does O’Neal come in?”
“When the boy saw the problem you’ve been trying to solve for years he fell into a coma for a month. When he woke up, he wrote that name.”
“How can this help us? Maybe he woke up and wrote the first thing he heard on the radio.”
“It happened again. A few minutes ago.”
“Where is he now? Can I see him? My colleagues and I could find out how he knows O’Neal.”
“No can do. His brain “fused” the second time he read the sequence of prime numbers. He’s dead.”
“I see. But you’ll agree that as a solution it makes no sense. It’s as if you asked me what the weather’s like and I answered blue.”
“We’re talking about an autistic boy. You know better than I do that the downside of their remarkable powers is their inability to comprehend and communicate like normal people.”
“I agree, but his mathematical aptitude should have made him write a mathematical solution, not... wait a minute!”
“What is it?”
“What’s the boy’s name?”
“Will. His name was Will.”
“No! That’s impossible! It can’t be!”
“What can’t be? What’s going on?”
“Several years ago, when I was working at the university on a problem that was causing me untold difficulties, I came in contact with a man, a rather strange individual. I’d come to a dead end in my research and he offered me his help to solve the problem. He had me meet him in a restaurant. His eyes had a depth that made me feel he could read my soul. He succeeded in opening my mind so that I could see the problem from a completely different perspective. The following morning, I found the solution without even realizing I was doing it. I have to admit that the man gave me the creeps, but his ability to probe into my head fascinated me greatly. He seemed to have known me all my life. He said that one day a boy called Will would help me in the same way. He didn’t know when it would happen, because other forces would try to prevent it. To this day, I have no idea what he meant. He said that our nature inclines us think rationally about what we know and that it’s difficult for us to think of abstract things. Only a few succeed.”
“What do you think this means?”
“That in that limited circle there may be room for an autistic boy, one who’s completely free from the influence of human logic. Their ability to push beyond the bounds of imagination is staggering. No one, not even the most intelligent human being alive, could come close to their way of comprehending things.”
“I’m sorry, but I’m the one who doesn’t follow now.”
“I’ll explain more clearly. We’ve always looked for a solution to a problem that not even the greatest scholars in history managed to solve, and we lost sight of the goal a discovery of that magnitude would allow us to achieve.”
“You’re talking about evolution, right?”
“Perhaps that kind of achievement might allow us to make astonishing progress in future scientific discoveries, but that’s not what we’re really after. Every single one of us would do one thing, and one thing only, if we had information like that at our fingertips.”
“What?”
“I’m talking about absolute power. Total control over the whole of mankind. I’ll summarize for you. Do you believe in God?”
“God is merely an illusion.”
“Perfect. Your theory about the existence of God is the same as anyone else’s. But you’re an exception, as is a very small percentage of the world population, because you possess power and it can replace any form of religion. Those in power don’t need to believe; their only ambition is to take complete control. Now think of those who have no power. The only thing they can cling to is hope. If you take this illusion away from a billion people, you kill them. Now, let’s consider Mr O’Neal.”
“He’s the most powerful man in the world and he can control people’s minds like no one else can.”
“Why?”
“Because he’s written a book about emotions.”
“So thanks to his message, he’s managed to worm his way into the hearts and minds of a lot of people, probably many more than we’ll ever realize. The power is now in his hands and anyone who is attracted by what he says or writes and believes in him will from now on take it as the truth. Or rather the law! Whoever controls that doesn’t need mathematical formulae. He’s got what he wanted.”
“But O’Neal doesn’t know that and he’s looking for a mathematical formula to make up for something he lacks.”
“Like most men of power, he’s got a blinkered and subjective vision of the concept, which arises from his nature; he’s probably never looked at what he has from another point of view. If he knew, he’d doubtless stop looking for anything else, including the perfect formula. When it comes down to it, what’s the point of solving the equation? Granted, all the principles based on those numbers would collapse. All the security codes that are embedded with enormous prime numbers and impossible for ordinary mortals to find would be wiped out in banks, internet sites and the whole world of modern technology. Whoever possessed that knowledge would restrict his power to absolute control in accordance with a concept based solely on the material aspect of mankind. History, however, teaches us that man’s lifestyle changes. Who’s to say that the current organization of the world won’t change in the future? So, what we know and control today will be useless tomorrow. Maybe there’ll be a new form of society that won’t bother with numbers and they’ll become obsolete. On the other hand, controlling the minds of people today will bring unlimited advantages in the future. If you think about it, even Hilter tried to take the place of God. He didn’t succeed, whether luckily or unluckily depends on your point of view. Let’s say, for argument’s sake, that he had succeeded, the true God would now be him; his word would be law.”
“Are you telling me that Will knew perfectly well what he’d written? The solution lies in control?”
“His mathematical brain elaborated the problem from all angles, like a computer, and came to the only possible conclusion as to a plausible answer, based on his concept of perfection. As soon as he saw the prime numbers, he understood what no one else had, and that is, the true nature of the question. He didn’t look for an equation that could establish control over one branch of life. He found the equation that could control life itself.”
“It’s funny, you know. His mother often told me her son spoke to God.”
“I don’t think there’s a better explanation for what happened.”
“The mystery remains of how he came up with the name of a perfect stranger.”
“Perhaps he heard it on television. We can’t know what a person in that condition can or cannot comprehend.”
“Well, your scientific training should incline you to have serious doubts about his learning capacities. Even if he had heard or read one of O’Neal’s poems, I hardly think he’d have understood the message.”
“Right. But still, that’s exactly what’s written here. And it’s written very clearly. Ryan A. Mr. O’Neal holds absolute power over mankind.”
Those words echoed off the walls of Tommy’s mind. He still couldn’t believe such an absurd statement, but its line of reasoning was so logical that he understood the gist. Man’s real challenge had always been co-existence with his fellows, but his instinct compelled him to impose his will on others, whether they liked it or not. The Professor was right. What they were really looking for wasn’t an equation made up of numbers, but a much more powerful solution that would ensure supremacy and personal influence over present and future generations. Gooseflesh spread over his body and he was seized by a surge of excitement such as he hadn’t felt since he bullied his companions into total submission at school. He remembered the man he had met in the restaurant; the Professor’s story was curiously similar to his own. The stranger had opened both their minds. His instinct led him to investigate that odd coincidence more thoroughly.
“Can you remember the name of the man who helped you by any chance?”
The answer confirmed his suspicion. Now he was certain it was the same person.
A man called Luc was helping him along the road to absolute power, something he had always desired. Now there was nothing else for it but to contact the last hurdle he needed to overcome in order to succeed. He would call O’Neal and he would rob him of his place on top of the world.
“One last question before you go.”
“What’s that, Mr. Queen?”
“Have you ever seen Mr. O’Neal?”
“I think that only the chosen few have had this privilege. His face doesn’t appear anywhere. He’s never been on television and no one has ever managed to interview him. I think he’s a ghost.”
Tommy felt as if a door were opening onto the home stretch towards his goal. He would steal the position that was his birth-right without making any waves.
“And what if I told you I was Mr. O’Neal?”
“I think you’d have to kill me, given the things we’ve just discussed.”
The merriment in the Professor’s voice clearly showed how thrilled he was at the discovery he had just made, but the bullet to his heart put a stop to further impetuous remarks and sent him back to the darkness he had inhabited before coming into contact with a man his instinct had urged him to fear. Now he understood why.
“You’re right, Professor. Yet again.”
Tommy watched as he died, ignoring his desperate pleas for help. He lingered over the thought of how low a man can stoop by asking for help from someone who has just shot him with intent to kill. The thought corroborated his action and made him proud of himself: stupid people have no right to carry on living, their every breath is an insult to superior beings. He picked up the telephone and dialed the number of the person who would change his life. No one, not even the devil himself, could stop him now. There would probably be a high price to pay and one day he might even have to sell his soul. But after all, he thought, it would be worth it. The immortality waiting in his future would be a fair exchange.
Chapter 35
He was bursting with excitement. Alex felt the effects and was overcome by an uncontrollable urge to free his repressed instincts. There couldn’t have been a better time. The old man had wandered off and the child was sitting all alone at the table. He had heard their conversation and was as moved as he had been in the park, as if that boy had some occult power to touch his thoughts and feelings. He wanted to talk to him, to understand his character and how he managed to reason with such depth. He didn’t know why, but his mind told him the boy was the only person in the world who could make him feel happy. He would have to make his move immediately.
The grandfather’s absence was no mere coincidence; it had been planned by external events that could almost certainly be ascribed to fate, just as he had been told by the woman who had sat opposite him and who had vanished into thin air, leaving him with words he hadn’t immediately understood. Everything was different now though. As had happened in the past, history was putting him in a position to make a choice, probably the most important one of his life, the one that would lead to the path he had been searching for since the father he loathed had ravaged his soul and violated his thoughts.
He stood up, enveloped by a strange, unfamiliar perfume that propelled him forward towards a destination where he would at long last find peace. The people in the bar were too busy talking to realize what he intended to do. The world was no longer interested in observing; it preferred to shut itself up in small spaces to ward off the fears that today’s society had spawned. No one thought that anything untoward could happen in such a cozy place. No one would do anything crazy. No one would bring their desperation there.