The Inverse | Y R A Kannan | Short Story

A common man, possessed with miracle Godly powers, is saving the universe from the natural disasters occurring throughout the year 2012.

Will he replace God?

Everyone was waiting eagerly in front of the US President’s office for the arrival of President James Victor. James was in discussions with other world leaders—a debate on the factors influencing the global economy. The President headed out of the office after completing his meeting, and briefed the reporters on progress and developments made with the world leaders.
Unexpectedly, one of the reporters threw an unexpected question: ‘Mr President, will you win this election?’
‘Never. Mark Black will definitely occupy my position. So,’ James continued, disgust evident in his voice, ‘let us all vote for Mark in the upcoming election for the President’s post.’
Jesus Christ, where am I? Where are the reporters? Am I in a dream?
James suddenly fell from bed, got up quickly, and grabbed his clock from the bedside cabinet. It was 5am. He turned on the TV, and stopped channel surfing as he reached the 24*7 news channel.
A lady read the news in a soft tone. ‘Good morning, people. The 2012 Presidential elections in the USA is the most talked about event taking place in November. James Victor, the current ruling President, and Mark Black, the leader of the opposition party, are considered amongst all eligible candidates the strongest contenders for the post.
‘Both Mark and James have a large support base, and have gained immense popularity over recent years. James Victor has already claimed a piece of the public’s heart, and is confident he will be re-elected for a second term. Mark, too, is not of a different opinion: he and his party have been doing a lot of good deeds in society, pulling everyone’s attention.
‘People have already started voting for their favourite candidates, using a number of online mediums, such as social networking websites. When considering the data available, Mark Black is claiming 53% votes whilst James Victor stands behind with the remaining 47% votes. This, however, is not the final result: the clock always keeps ticking, as does the human mind.
‘So, the biggest question running through everyone’s mind is: which of these two horses will cross the finish line first and win the race?’
James turned off the TV and went to the bathroom, unsteady on his feet. He rinsed his face, rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, and looked in the mirror. The optic nerves in his eyes looked like Blood Rivers, all swirling and swarming around his iris.
James, are you afraid about Mark? People always judge the future based on the present statistics. Don’t lose your hope. Victory is always with you. No one knows what is going to happen in the near future.

~*~*~*

St. Thomas’ church was one of the most famous churches in San Francisco. The present Bishop was Leon Williams. Leon was a great Theist and Preacher, and the people of California had a great deal of respect for him, and willingly poured warmth and love his way.
Many ancient sculptures adorned the walls of the church, portraying its magnificence through the sculptures.
On April 1, 2012, Leon attended the church, and cried before the Lord of all Lords. ‘My father: I am filled with guilt after coming to learn your secret. I could not live hereafter with such a secret locked in my mind. I’m sincerely sorry for revealing your secret today.’ Leon sobbed for several minutes; cries of desperation, emanating from his soul.
At that moment, the people of the church enquired of the cause for his worries. Leon thought for a while, and left the church after arriving at a firm conclusion.
On the same day, he had arranged a secret meeting with all the fathers of churches in and around California, and revealed that, for the past month, he had been disturbed by a strange dream. The dream was related to His plan to create a huge devastation to be inflicted upon all fellow beings. It was believed that this was going to take place as per the prophecies of the 2012 apocalypse. With the secret held close to his chest, Leon consulted other fathers, and the decision was made to address the people—and to perform a worldwide broadcast.

~*~*~*

On April 2, 2012, Leon addressed the people. ‘Dear People: I am here today to let you all know of an important secret—one I have come to know only recently, and one I cannot bear to harbour alone.
‘As you all know, I have great faith in His Holiness, and as the myth goes, the beginning of the world’s end is predicated to start this year, as foretold by ancient people, such as Nostradamus.
‘For the last month, I have been receiving strange dreams in which God tells me repeatedly that He has planned to inflict devastation upon human beings with the secondary plan of recreating the world without human beings, the reason being that humans are killing other species through various means, such as the over-exploitation of resources, increased pollution, and global warming, to name a few. I pleaded with God and requested He does not to execute this plan, citing that many innocent and good people exist in this world, but alas God is all mighty, and His decision cannot be swayed.
‘I am under no doubt that God will definitely punish me for revealing His plans, but I could not bear to see the loss of the people caused through a combination of natural disasters planned by Him. In order to save the maximum possible number of people from this devastation, I have decided to let all of you the detailed plans hereafter.’
The planets stopped revolving around the sun, and all turned, almost to listen to Leon’s speech.
Leon hesitated, for a moment doubting whether he should, in fact, reveal God’s plan. His body shuddered in fear, but as he thought of the people waiting curiously for his next words, and the pain and turmoil set to unravel amongst so many unsuspecting, he took a deep breath and continued.
‘His first plan is to create an earthquake in Florida. This will occur on April 10, 2012. I request the people in and around Florida leave before that day, and stay somewhere safe.’ With his heart beating wildly in his chest, Leon closed his speech.
The planets—frozen in their orbit—resumed their movements. The people were shocked, especially those in Florida, whilst some were terrified at the thought of the 2012 apocalypse beginning from their city. Some prayed, their hands together at the palms, their fingers at their chins. The atheists and scientists, however, mocked Leon, and advised people not to panic, to stay put, and not to leave their homes.
Against the advice of the atheists and scientists, however, some chose to believe the words of Leon, and left Florida on April 9, 2012.
Exactly as Leon had foretold, an earthquake of 7.1 on the Richter scale was recorded in Florida, with slight tremors felt in and around Florida. Vehicles were jolted and buried under pits as the entire road structure ruptured. The railway lines in the flyover were distorted, forcing multiple tracks to overlap, causing moving trains to collide with each other. Derailed trains were tossed from the flyover like powerful asteroid fireballs, spinning over and crunching nearby buildings and vehicles. Cracks snaked through the concrete buildings, and wooden houses were smashed, the light shaking in the buildings making people faint as they experienced the loss of gravity. Some died through instant heart attack. Those who hadn’t believed Leon’s words and had stayed back panicked, and died as a result of the stampede caused whilst evacuating the buildings.
The catastrophe began and ended within only a few short minutes.

~*~*~*

On July 1, 2012, Leon visited Florida to attend a conference. During the course of the conference, Leon foretold that God’s next plan was to create a volcanic eruption to occur in Mount Cotopaxi in South America on July 10, 2012. After his speech, Leon met a royal businessman named Jacob.
‘I would like to thank you for saving people from disasters,’ Jacob smiled warmly, shaking Leon’s hand. ‘However, albeit a solemn thought, I am very much concerned about how people’s lives will be affected after your own death: there will be nobody to warn about such disasters.’
‘Yes, Jacob, you are absolutely right,’ Leon nodded. ‘Although I can predict the disasters, I am not an immortal.’
The men laughed light heartedly.
Leon left the meeting and headed towards his car. At that time, many people thronged around him, crying that they had lost family members and friends as a result of not believing his words. Leon convinced them that he would surely save the rest of the people from the disasters that were to happen hereafter.
On the next occasion, when people had finally started to believe the words of Leon, huge populations left the mountains and surrounding areas, and went to stay in safe locations. And, as expected, the disaster occurred on the day it was predicted: the volcano exploded, lava erupted, rebellious, its hot ash kissing the clouds with furious force. The lava flowed from the mountain like a bloody, life-destroying waterfall, causing a molten lake to surround the mountain’s base. From a bird’s-eye perspective, the area seemed to have filled with red sea, illuminating the surroundings. Some of the cities in Ecuador vanished in the plume of volcanic ash.
Everyone in America began to consider Leon as God, and even started to worship him by building statues in his honour. Some people become more obsessive, wearing masks depicting Leon’s face.
Everyone praised Leon for his good deed of saving people through warning of future disasters; they adored him as their idol. As a result, many people around the world gave their funds to St. Thomas’ church, and prayed to God not to create disasters in the future, and also prayed for Leon, thanking him saving their families and friends. Meanwhile, meteorologists and geographical scientists were totally puzzled, and were unable to understand how a priest of a church was able to come up with such predictions—and without any scientific basis.
In the month of September, Leon attended a famous celebrity television programme, aired on the US Times TV channel.
‘Good evening, people,’ the presented began. ‘We welcome you all to the Celebrities show. I am very delighted that I am able to interview for this programme, particularly today. We are going to interview the man today who is not only a celebrity but who is also being worshipped far and wide by everyone. He has brought together cultures, races, genders, and all generations. He is none other than the Earth’s Leon.’
Applause broke out amongst the audience, with cheers and enthusiasm echoing around the studio.

‘Too much praise,’ Leon smiled in shyness.
‘I am speaking about the truth tonight. Leon, how are you predicting the future natural disasters? How could you dream those future incidents?’
‘I accepted your invitation here with gratitude, but not to answer your questions,’ Leon began with an apologetic smile, and nodded towards the presenter.
‘Oh?’ she said nervously in response. ‘Then why, Leon?’
‘I hope that everyone is watching this programme right now. In answer to your question, I came here to let you all know about the next secret, and also to broadcast my prediction through this programme.’ Leon remained stone-faced, his back straight, and looked into one of the surrounding’s cameras without any indication of nerves.
The interviewer’s face looked tense. ‘When and where is the next incident going to occur?’
‘Are any of your friends or relatives staying near the eastern coast of southern India?’ Leon asked.
‘Yes, my husband went one week ago. He does construction site work.’
‘Then I advise that you ask your husband to leave India: a tsunami will hit the eastern coast this month. To be more precise, on September ninth.’
Without warning, the interviewer left the stage, running her fingers through her hair, worry etched across her forehead.
‘I thank you all for sparing your time to watch this programme tonight,’ Leon declared. ‘Now please, don’t go anywhere. Stay tuned. Our host will be back shortly, I am sure.’
The TV stations broadcasted the flash news across their channels, detailing Leon’s prediction of the Tsunami, replaying the interview conducted just moments before. After the announcements, people in southern India panicked as their country was also a part of the region that would be affected.
On September 9, those who didn’t believe Leon’s warning died as a tsunami occurred exactly as Leon had predicted. The tsunami destroyed everything in its path, vigorously and shuffling shops and houses near the beaches. Boats and ships rolled along the path of the waves, landing in the upper terraces of buildings. Vehicles were thrown with hard, striking blows, causing them to hangover electric wires. Wires were torn off as they could not bear the weight of the automobiles, and were immersed in the water. The sea water consumed the electricity, and an abundance of sea life died, floating on the surface of the electrical sea. Within just a handful of few minutes, the Indian cities on the eastern coast lost electrical power as it was absorbed completely by the salt water, and the cities perished in the darkness.
Leon became even more popular worldwide, and people in other countries began to believe that he had the power, somehow, to foretell any disaster that was going to take place in any part of the world. Many more people in other countries began to worship Leon. The President, James, and other political leaders in other nations showed their confusion and awe at how Leon could make such accurate predictions of disasters, whilst the US government decided to send Robert Hunter to California to trace Leon’s activities, suspecting him of being at the root of such incidents—and subsequent loss of life.
Robert Hunter was an intelligent expert working for the FBI. The FBI had extraordinary trust in him, and they expected the case to be resolved within mere weeks if the task was assigned to him. On September 12, 2012, Hunter had a discussion with his wife, Jennifer, and his children on how the year’s Christmas would be spent, and the places they could visit during the Christmas holidays. It was at this time that he received a call from his team: they informed him that he was assigned a highly critical case, and that the President himself would call him within a few minutes to discuss the situation. Later, as promised, Robert received a call from President James.
‘Hello, Robert. This is James Victor. How are you?’ the President asked.
‘I’m very well, thank you, President. It surprises me to receive a call from you,’ Robert said.
‘I called you to discuss a new case that I would like to assign to you.’
‘Please go ahead, Mr President.’
‘I’m very much amazed and confused as to how Leon Williams, the Bishop of St. Thomas’ Church, predicts future events. As I’m suspicious, to say the least, I would like to ask that you track his activities. If you need to contact me at any time, call back to this private phone number, as this is a high-priority case. I trust you the most, and hope you can make some progress before the next disaster. All the best! ’
In addition, the FBI also made the decision to send Tracy Smith as an assistant to Robert for the highly critical case. Tracy had joined the FBI team few months prior, and she had a great passion for her work. She was always in discussions with her friends about the cases handled by Robert, speaking with admiration for his meticulousness and dedication. The FBI soon recognised her commitment towards work, and so made the decision to send her with Robert for experience. When Tracy was informed that she would be going to work on the case with Robert, she was ecstatic, thanking her high-level officers for giving her such an amazing opportunity.
Meanwhile, Robert apologised to his family, explaining that he would not be able to discuss further their plans for the Christmas holiday period. He left to California on September 12 with his assistant. Robert and Tracy temporarily stayed near Leon’s house with the aim of monitoring his activities.

~*~*~*

On September 14, Leon left his house and headed to the church in his Mercedes-Benz R350. Whilst driving along the highways, Leon suddenly felt something was wrong: he did not have complete control over his car. Upon inspection, he found the tyres on the rear wheels of his car were punctured, and so he was forced to seek out a garage for repairs. Leon was waiting for someone from the shop to help him to replace the tyres. A mechanic from the garage approached Leon’s car, and was much surprised to see Leon.
‘Hey! You’re Leon?’ the mechanic asked, shocked.
‘Yes, I’m,’ Leon replied, shaking the mechanic’s hand.
‘Thank God, I’ve finally been given the opportunity to see the human God. What’s happened with your car? You should know: I am always at your service, and shall do anything for the saviour of the world.’
‘Thank you for your generosity,’ Leon smiled. ‘Well, when I was driving my car, I lost control suddenly, and found that the tyres on the rear wheels were punctured.’
‘No problem at all. I’ll see what I can do.’
‘Thank you,’ Leon smiled graciously.
‘Nice car, man,’ the mechanic said appreciatively, eyeing the vehicle. ‘I’m crazy about R-class cars from Benz. Mind if I take a look at the interior?’
‘Of course! Why not?’ Leon replied.
The mechanic had a good look at the interior of the car, whilst Leon—always looking to help—rushed to take out the spare tyres from the boot. Meanwhile, the mechanic sneakily placed a small GPS device, embedded with a tiny camera, near the quarter window at the rear of R350.
After a little while, the mechanic and Leon had replaced the spare tyres, and Leon left the garage after paying his bill.
Only a few minutes later, the mechanic received a call from Robert. ‘Thanks, my friend. You did a great job,’ Robert said.
‘It was your idea?’ the mechanic replied. ‘Piercing the tyres and bugging it with the device, it’s your doing, man,’ the mechanic said.
‘Of course,’ Robert replied. ‘But thank you. Now I can see the entire interior view of Leon’s car and the current location of his car. I wish the video was a bit clearer, but that doesn’t matter too much.’
‘Payment?’ the mechanic queried.
‘Check your account. It’s in credit.’
‘Thanks, Robert.’
The mechanic completed the call and smiled. It had been a good morning: two fees from just one job. Excellent.

~*~*~*

On September 16, Robert went to the local police station in California to meet his friend Steve to find out if there were any additional clues relating to the case.
‘Hi, Robert. How are you?’ Steve queried.
‘I’m fine. How about you?’ Robert asked politely.

‘Life is going fine. What brings you here?’
‘I’ve been assigned a new case. Do you have any information on Leon that might be helpful to me?’
Steve thought for a moment, tapping his chin. ‘My friend in Florida was saved from the disaster Leon had predicted. He’s a good person and a great predictor. He’s saving lives and serving mankind. Shame he couldn’t predict his brother’s suicide attempt.’
‘What?’
‘Leon gave us a complaint a year ago. He asked us to trace the body of his brother, Alexander Williams, as he suspected he had committed suicide. Leon handed over a letter and informed us that he’d received it through post and, after reading the letter, thought his brother had posted it before attempting suicide. Alexander marked his finger print with his blood and signed the letter. The postal office confirmed the signature, blood group, and the finger print on the letter to be Alexander’s. We closed the case after two months. No body.’
‘Where did Alexander pursue his studies?’ Robert asked. ‘And do you have any information about his workplace?’
‘He did his Masters in Chemical Engineering and Meteorology at California University, and worked as a professor in the same, although he had offers from other universities. He spent most of time in his research work.’
‘Married?’
‘Yeah, his wife name is Anna. He has two children.’
‘Where are they staying now?’
‘Twelfth Ring Road, San Francisco.’ Steve handed the letter to Robert.
Robert looked at the blood stains marked on the corners of the letter. After leaving the police station, he read the letter before ringing Tracy’s phone number. Upon answering, Robert explained everything to her. He asked Tracy to meet Alexander’s family to find out as much information as possible surrounding relationship between Leon and Alexander’s family.

~*~*~*

Later that day, Robert and Tracy met to discuss movements with the case. ‘I didn’t show you this earlier as I had to get an early night,’ Robert said, handing Tracy a folded piece of paper, ‘but this is the letter I got from Steve.’
‘Okay, thank you.’ Tracy looked at the letter.

‘“My dear family and Brother,”’ Tracy began, reading from the letter. ‘“As you all know, I have been doing research the past two years, focusing on weather patterns and meteorology, attempting to find a way to create artificial rain. I haven’t talked to you all the past six months as I have been completely obsessed with my experiments. I believed that I might come up with a solution in order to help the future generation from drought. But till the end, I could not find the exact solution. It’s a shame—two years wasted—and now I have no choice but to give up and instead believe that weather can only be controlled by God. To spend the rest of my life searching is nothing but a waste—my research has been nothing but waste—and so I’ve made the decision to end everything: I don’t know anything other than research. Leon, please save my family, and don’t waste your precious time on searching for my useless body. Yours lovingly, Alexander.”’ Tracy shrugged her shoulders, somewhat bewildered.
‘Did you meet Anna?’ Robert asked.
‘Yes,’ Tracy nodded. ‘I went to Alexander’s house, told his wife I was a professor. ‘I said I was Megan and that I had worked at the Meteorological department of California University two years but that I’ve since relocated with my family to Eastern Europe. I said I’d had the opportunity to come back to the California University today and attend a lecture, and conveyed that I was shocked after hearing the news of Alexander.’

‘Did she say anything useful?’ Robert enquired.

‘Well, she said Alexander spent most of his time doing experiments and with his students, clarifying any queries they might have. He used to spend time with his family, but only occasionally. I sensed some resentment there, but who wouldn’t?’ Tracy raised her eyebrows and continued. ‘But Alexander was, she said, a very kind person, and a good husband. She said they believed he would succeed in his experiments, and suicide seemed like the last thing he would ever do—even if he failed in his research.’
‘I suspected as much,’ Robert said thoughtfully.
‘Well, there’s more if you’re interested?’ Tracy probed.
‘Go on.’
‘Leon is apparently saving their family by giving them money. Anna seems to have a lot of admiration for Leon, not only for what he’s doing for her family—taking over her husband’s role, in some way?—but also saving mankind, as she put it. Leon turned up at that point. I introduced myself as Megan, gave him an overview of my background at the California University,’ she said wryly, ‘made my excuses and left.’
‘Fine,’ Robert responded. ‘As long as he doesn’t know he’s being investigated or his actions might change…’
‘I agree,’ Tracy mused. ‘Oh and, by the way, there’s one more thing…’ Tracy added.
‘Yes?’ asked Robert, unsure.
‘Did you know Leon and his brother are identical twins?’

~*~*~*

The next day, unusually, Leon sat in his R350 at 2am. Security followed him in their black Lancer cars, with Robert following the signals triggered from the GPS. The movements of Leon at such an odd hour in the night caused Robert to feel more suspicious than usual, and so he followed Leon.
Leon’s car stopped near Mark’s house with a screech, and Mark quickly hopped in. The two travelled for approximately 20 kilometres before coming to a halt at the opening to a forest. The darkness seemed to go on forever.
Leon opened his door and stepped out, and strolled towards a house. He didn’t carry a torch with him for he had grown familiar with the path. Within few seconds, he had been devoured by the darkness and had disappeared into the house, entering the secret code in the security system. The gigantic trees shook their branches in the gale, whispering to each other.
Robert and Tracy could no longer see Leon, the blackness seemingly growing in depth.
Tracy pulled out a night-vision binocular and looked at the house. ‘What’s he doing inside there?’ Tracy wondered.
‘Why don’t we try this one and check it out…’ Robert suggested, showing Tracy a device, which looked almost like a helicopter insect. He activated the invisible mode and night vision camera in the insect. Robert operated the device through his laptop, and the device took flight, circling the house.
The house looked haunted, and had dead, open holes where windows should have been. As the door was locked, the insect hovered near the top-right corner of the door. Robert planned to get it inside the house, and when Leon opened the door, the device became alert and the opportunity arose. However, before Robert could manoeuvre the insect into the house, Leon smashed the door hard, and the device became lodged. An alarm reading ‘Damage threshold reached. Self-destruction in 10 sec” was indicated on Robert’s laptop.
Leon forced all of his weight against the door to close it, whilst Robert put his entire effort into moving the insect inside the house. The countdown beeped, flashing ‘4 secs’ on the screen. Tracy began to get nervous, and anxiety was written across Robert’s face. And it was then that Leon turned around and looked upwards before hearing something crash. The red alarm now warned ‘2 secs remaining’. As Leon could not see anything, he reopened and re-closed the door completely, and at that moment, the insect floated inside the house and exploded into pieces after reverting back to its visible mode.
For a moment, Leon considered repairing the house’s door, thinking a warped frame or dodgy seal had caused the door to fail to close properly, but this was a task he decided to put off until a better occasion.
Leon reached the car, holding two small globes, each with a red pin affixed: one near Western Africa, and one near Italy. Leon started his car and journeyed towards a bridge, where he again got out of his car and went to meet an Indian man who stood waiting.
‘Congratulations for accomplishing my mission of fixing the globes in the trenches of the Indian Ocean,’ Leon thanked the Indian man.
‘Give me the remaining amount, and please release me and my family!’ the man begged.
‘I’m sorry, that won’t be possible, although I will release your family, and I’ll be sure to give them the remaining amount.’
Leon took a silver bottle from his pocket, filled to the brim with poison. He opened the lid of the bottle. A needle was attached to the bottom of the lid, and had been immersed completely in the poison. Leon held the topside of the lid, took the needle, and killed the man instantly by pressing the needle into his hands, affecting his nervous system and arresting the blood circulation to his brain. The poor man yelped momentarily—like a newborn baby—and shouted out in the pain. Moments later, when the man lay dead on the bridge, Leon lifted the man’s head upwards and roared, ‘May your soul rest in peace.’
Leon’s securities picked up the man’s body and threw it off the bridge.
Once again, Leon returned to his vehicle and continued his journey, reaching a hotel where two men—one Italian and one African—and got into Leon’s car, one by one. Leon gave one globe to each of the man, and explained the process. ‘The globe is a simple machine to show you and explain to you how everything works. Everything has been set in the machine, including the date and time at which the machine has to start. You will have to bore the ground exactly at the locations I tell you, and place these globes there. Press the red button here,’ Leon pointed, ‘on September nineteenth after placing them in the correct location. My men will bring the actual globes in my plane, and accompany you in your task.’
Leon continued by telling each of the men the Latitude and longitude of the places at which the machines were to be affixed.
‘I’ll give you both half the amount now. You’ll get the remaining amount after completing the mission.’ He took a deep breath and gazed at the men in turn. ‘Let me give you some friendly advice: I know people everywhere, and there is nowhere you can hide. Don’t think—or even dream—about cheating me. If you ever reveal my name, you will never see your family. My men will be watching you always. Now go!’
The two men left.
Leon turned to Mark.
‘Where are we going to hit on December twenty-first twenty-twelve?’ Mark asked.
‘Mount Cameroon at Africa and Mount Etna at Italy. We have to thank those ancient guys, Nostradamus and Mayan People, since they have predicted only the result of our plans. We are using their predictions for our profit,’ Leon answered with a smile.
‘You or I might have been the Nostradamus and Mayan People in our previous lives, and created myths throughout ancient history so that now we can implement these disasters to prove those predictions.’
‘Those idiots will fix the machines at the exact place on September nineteenth. On December eighteenth, I am attending an important conference in Phoenix on how to build peace throughout the world. There, I will foretell the great destruction that has been planned by God on December twenty-first twenty-twelve.’

Listening to the conversation between Leon and his friend, and watching as events unfolded, Robert and Tracy sat quietly stunned.
‘Leon really is brilliant. Exhorting a person to cause the disaster in his own country won’t cause Leon to attract any suspects,’ Robert said, shaking his head.
‘And Leon would ask only those that completed his missions to come here, and he will kill them. Loose ends gone,’ Tracy replied.
The two continued to listen.
‘How long we are going to keep Alexander under house arrest?’ Mark asked.
‘We still need to keep the doll playing by our rules in the world. After December twenty-first, we will have to focus and start with philanthropic activities, such as implementing artificial rain in across all areas of drought around the globe, and changing the course of rivers as per people’s wishes. Then, I will easily and forever stay in the hearts of the people. Before we know it, there will be a new religion—LEONISM.’ Excitement and perceived power were evident in his tone.
‘And so your objectives would be accomplished.’ Mark considered for a moment. ‘And what about me? The elections are fast-approaching. But still, I am satisfying your monetary needs from my political party association for Alexander’s research.’
‘Don’t worry Mark. People are going to dance to my tunes. My support will champion you to win the election. I wanted to be worshipped as God, and you wanted to be the Leader of this entire world. We have joined together to achieve this, and we will. We shall kill Alexander once both our motives are achieved. One religion, one God.’
Tracy’s mouth dropped open. ‘So Alexander is still alive.’
Robert nodded. ‘Evidently so. Obviously Alexander was forced to mark his finger print on the letter, and create the machine to initiate the disaster. ‘
‘The strange thing is that Alexander’s family seemingly have no doubts about Leon. How strange,’ Tracy pondered. ‘This could be down to two reasons. First, they still believe Alexander wrote the letter, or second, Leon lived up to the words in the letter by saving Alexander’s family. Either way, they don’t seem to suspect Leon.’
‘We need to stop these guys before they cannibalise the whole world,’ Robert said, drumming on the steering wheel absent minded. ‘We have to publish this recorded video and arrest them.’
‘Sshhh,’ Tracy said, pointing to their headsets as the conversation between Leon and Mark continued.
‘And One Leader,’ Mark reminded Leon. ‘And remember, I still have loyalty from most of the police force in California. They informed me yesterday that Robert had been there yesterday morning, investigating the case. They handed out the letter written. I think James Victor is seriously concerned about your ability to predict the disasters. And what’s more, I’ve come to realise that Robert is somewhat of a superior within the FBI team, and he’ll certainly find us.’ Tension emanated from his tone.
Leon considered this. ‘I do think they’re sniffing around us, yes. There was a woman named Megan talking to Anna when I went there yesterday afternoon. She said she worked as a professor at California University, but I searched the database and it came up with nobody fitting her name or description. I think we can assume she’s working alongside Robert.’
‘Jesus Christ! Are we tracking them or are they tracking us?’ Robert blasted from his car.
‘Well, let’s just hope they don’t know we’re on to them right now,’ Tracy said.
At this point, Leon took his mobile phone from his coat pocket and typed out a long message. Clicking a few more buttons, he turned and smiled at Mark. ‘Problem solved,’ he said.
‘What have you done?’ Mark asked.
‘I sent a mail to The Daily Voice, telling them the government is sending an FBI agent to arrest me with unreliable evidence.’ Leon read the email from his phone. ‘“Dear people, everyone in this world knows that I’m blessed with the power to predict the future calamities. Predicting the government’s plan is very easy to me—you all know I could even predict God’s future course of actions. The government apparently does not like my good activities, and they are envious of the support I have received from the public, and from my Godly amongst you. As such, fraudulent evidence has been created in an attempt to show that I’m a criminal. I will soon be arrested. Please save me from the government; allow me to save you all from future disasters. Will you?”’ Leon smiled. ‘That ought to do the trick.’
Robert banged the steering wheel. ‘We need to get hold of The Daily Voice and make sure that letter isn’t published or there’s going to be a lot of drama. Then we need to get Alexander released.’
Tracy nodded. ‘I agree. The sooner the better.’

~*~*~*

Robert quickly drove back to the police station, where he posted his recorded video in the internet and made contact with the office of The Daily Voice. Robert explained the situation to the Editor in Chief.
‘Hello, This is Robert Victor of the FBI, and I am here with my junior assistant, Tracy. Today we have received intelligence in the form of a video. This video has been posted on the internet only a few hours ago. After seeing this video, we have confirmed that Leon and his friend, Mark, as shown in the video, are culprits. From this video, we have come to know that Leon sent an email to your office to publish the message in your daily, which seeks to save them from arrest and public rejection. Since the government is investigating Leon, as well as seeking out various bodies of people killed by Leon, we need you to direct your attention to the video.’
The Editor in Chief and the management office watched the video, and accordingly decided against publishing the message sent from Leon. Instead, they agreed to publish the news about the recorded video.
The next day, news had travelled about the conversation between Leon and Mark. It had been published in the Daily, and broadcasted across all channels. Mark cried and James laughed after seeing the video on the news channel: the video was going to create an everlasting black mark against the name of Mark Black and victory for James Victor.
Leon woke up at 8am, appearing very happy, believing his supporters would ruin Robert’s life after reading the message he had sent. He searched for his message in The Daily Voice, but was shocked to not only find it had not been published, but that there was a news report circulating, detailing the conversation between he and Mark about their plans.
Leon turned on the TV and changed to the news channel.
‘We don’t know who sent this video to us and who published it in the internet,’ Robert said into a reporter’s out-held microphone, ‘but we would like to thank him for publishing it on the internet. Leon and Mark had created the disasters and planned to map these disasters to prophecies of 2012 as a way of achieving a large public following. Leon decided to support Mark at his election, and so Mark would be elected as the everlasting leader in all nations and Leon would be supported.
‘In addition, we are conducting a murder investigation after we found various bodies thrown off a bridge by Leon and Mark. After seeing this video, the devotees of Leon should realise how they were fooled. We have arrested Mark this morning, at his home, and he pleads guilty.’
‘When are you going to arrest Leon?’ reporters asked.
‘We are pursuing Leon’s arrest,’ Robert confirmed.

~*~*~*

Later that day, through using the GPS device installed in Leon’s car, Robert identified his culprit as being at home. But after seeing the news on the television, Leon rushed out of his house and took one of his security team’s cars. Leon inserted the key into the ignition, giving life to the car, and drove quickly at the speed of the light.
A few short minutes later, Robert and his teammates had arrived at Leon’s house and arrested his security men. They searched for Leon but failed to find him. After an hour, the FBI got the information that Leon was heading towards St. Thomas’ Church. Tracy and her teammates blocked his car upon his arrival, and arrested him after acquiring the shiny silver bottle.
Meanwhile, Robert and his team went to the house in the forest, and proved their suspicions correct: Alexander was being held hostage. After hacking the security system, they had opened the door, finding themselves in complete darkness. Robert entered the house slowly, and turned on the light. The house was filled with many lab equipment, documents, and globe machines. Alexander was sleeping in a room, and woke to find Robert there.
Alexander looked exhausted, and a number of wounds could be seen across his face and fingers.
‘Alexander,’ Robert began, ‘we are not going to arrest you, but we need you to answer some of our questions.’

Sometime later, at the police station, Robert sat opposite Alexander. ‘Firstly,’ Robert enquired, ‘May I know why and how you created these machines?’
Alexander took a deep breath. ‘When I told Leon about the success of my research, he asked me whether it was possible to create artificial earthquakes. I told him that we could do this by exploding atomic bombs underground—I was unaware of the cunning nature of my brother. After he’d gotten this information, Leon held me under house arrest, and tortured me into creating these machines. He threatened me to kill my family and children if I didn’t, so I finally accepted designing only the blueprint and specifications of the machine, which would detail every component in the machine and outline its working process. Then Leon’s men threatened many other people into creating the machines with the given blueprint. I thought Leon would release me after creating the machines, but I didn’t expect that my brother has planned to kill me.
‘I have no idea what’s even been happening in the world the past year that he’s kept me captive.
I decided to create the machine based on the compression of deuterium by using high energy fused into helium; fusion is environmentally friendly when compared to fission. But the fission-triggered fusion would also result in the emission of radioactive particles. Instead of using fission, I used my student’s concept that the mixture of combustible gas propane and oxidizer gas oxygen would result in high energy after detonating the mixture.
‘In the machine, we can set the Richter, date, and time at which the explosion should take place. Based on the Richter set for this machine, the measurement of atomic chemicals would be completed automatically in order to generate the energy required to produce an earthquake of specified a Richter. Upon explosion in the underground, the release of the high energy would create the seismic waves and could cause an earthquake which, in turn, would trigger other disasters, such as tsunami, volcano etc.,’ Alexander said.
‘So, you made the atomic bomb without the emission of radioactive particles. But Leon took advantage of this machine because, if you had actually created the machine based on nuclear fission, the government could easily have established that the disaster was based on nuclear bombs by analysing the emission of radioactive particles at those places of the disaster.’
‘I feel so responsible,’ Alexander said, placing his head in his hands.
‘Alexander, you are a great scientist,’ Robert reassured, ‘and you have actually created a solution that will save people from drought. It’s a shame Leon used your research mind to accomplish his tasks, and as you are twins, he also took one more benefit from you.’
‘What benefit?’ Alexander asked, bemused.
‘Your identity. Leon was the one who actually came and posted the letter, and everyone believed you, Alexander, had posted it. Explain everything to your family—they’ll be very happy to see you, I’m sure. You may go now.’
‘Thank you, Robert. For everything.’ Alexander smiled and shook the FBI agent’s hand.

A short time later, Alexander went back to his family home and explained everything to his family. He was overwhelmed, and many tears of joy were shed. He rejoiced with his family members.
The FBI informed the local police station in Western Africa and Italy to arrest those who had agreed to take on Leon’s tasks. Based on their identities, and the latitude and longitude of the place of meet, they were apprehended by the local police on September 19, 2012. They had been caught red-handed with the machines, as instructed by Leon.
The machines were later destructed by the police.
The FBI also arrested the entire network behind Leon and Mark. The devotees of Leon became frustrated, and destroyed all the statues dedicated to Leon throughout the world.
Robert closed the case after 15 days. James was much more delightful, as there were no powerful opponents to him in the election, with Mark locked up in prison. The much-awaited election occurred in November. And, as expected, James Victor was re-elected as the president. After swearing-in, James hosted a tea party for Robert and Alexander at his residence on December 19. On that day, the weather was cold and wet, and a heavy downpour covered the region. Powerful hailstones fell from the sky in a number of countries.
Robert reached James’ house at the precise time mentioned in the invitation, and they gave each other a big smile.
‘Robert, I invited you to this party for the vital role you played in arresting Mark and Leon, which led to my re-election as the President. Thank you very much, Robert! You have done brilliant work!’ James said appreciatively, patting Robert on the back.
‘You are most welcome, Mr President,’ Robert said.
‘Keep the phone number that I gave you. You can call me any time. I’m always ready to do anything or give any help you may need.’
‘Thank you, Mr President!’ Robert beamed with pride.
After enjoying afternoon tea with the president, Robert headed back to his work, tending to a number of unfinished tasks that needed to be concluded before Christmas. Immediately after his departure, James was immersed in his thoughts, but these were soon shattered when James heard the fierce sound of thunder.
Soon, Alexander arrived at James’ house.
‘Oh, Alexander, I thought you had forgotten my invitation,’ James smiled.
‘How could I forget an invitation from the president?’ Alexander said warmly. ‘Unfortunately, the extreme weather caused me to be late. Where is Robert?
‘Robert had to get back to his office,’ the president explained.
Alexander looked uncomfortable for a moment and two. ‘Mr President, I just want to ask that you please forgive me for whatever I did.’
‘Robert explained everything. I understand your problem. You were being blackmailed and held hostage, with your family possibly at risk. Now, onto brighter things: at last you have found a way of creating rain artificially. I’ve invited you here as I was curious to hear all about your solution. May I know your secret?’
‘Well,’ began Alexander, ‘there are a great deal of vapour rivers in the lower atmosphere, and condensing these vapours would result in artificial rain. I’ve applied for a patent,’ Alexander explained.
‘Interesting! Your invention will surely be helpful to those living in areas of drought. Now, please let me know whatever help you need for your research. We are here to help you, Alexander,’ James said.
‘Thank you,’ Alexander nodded. ‘I appreciate that, Mr President.’
‘Call me James,’ the president responded.

Whilst on his way back to his office, Robert was experiencing trouble in seeing other vehicles as he drove, the heavy downpour blurring his vision through the windscreen. He turned on the radio and tuned to the news channel.
‘@!#$#$% Hello #$$^%$&^$$%^ heavy rain &^**&^$$% continue #%#@#$ next week.’
Robert turned off the radio, frustrated by the poor signal.
Robert somehow managed to drive the car. When he was a few kilometres from the president’s house, he received a call from Alexander.
‘Hi, Robert,’ Alexander greeted.
‘Hi, Alexander. I’m sorry I couldn’t wait for you at the party. I hope you had a good time.’
‘Yes, I did, thank you. ‘The president was curious about my solution to rain creation. I explained it to him in a simple way. And whilst I remember, Robert, you left your badge in James’ house.’
‘Oh, thank you, Alexander,’ Robert replied, shaking his head in frustration. ‘I’ll head back and be there in few minutes. Could you please wait there?’
‘Okay, Robert, but could you take me to my friend’s house when you leave? It’s pouring down outside, as I expect you know. It’s only a short distance away from here.’
‘Definitely. No problem,’ Robert said.

When Robert reached James’ house, James passed a towel to Robert to dry himself with.
‘Where is Alexander?’ Robert asked.
‘Upstairs,’ James said, pointing towards the stairs.
Robert entered a very bright room, decorated with a crystal chandelier. Alexander sat on the couch, reading articles about James. When Robert grew closer to Alexander, he saw something shining inside Alexander’s pocket, and curiosity and suspicion grew inside him in equal measures. Robert deliberately dropped his mobile phone in front of Alexander. When Alexander bent down to take out the phone, a silver bottle slid out of his pocket.
‘Let me get that for you,’ Robert said, reaching out for the bottle and casually rolling it up his sleeve before Alexander could see. ‘Hmm, I’m not sure where it’s gone,’ Robert said, pretending to look mystified.
‘You didn’t find it?’ Alexander asked, disappointed but also concerned.
‘No, Alexander. I don’t know where it went,’ Robert said.  ‘Was it important?’
‘Oh no, it’s just a bottle of medicine prescribed by my doctor. I would drink it whenever I felt pain in my heart,’ Alexander said.
‘I’ll replace it for you,’ Robert offered.
‘That’s quite alright, Robert,’ Alexander said. ‘I’m sure I can replace it without a problem.’
‘As long as you’re sure,’ Robert replied. ‘Now if you won’t mind excusing me a moment, I must call my wife.’
Alexander nodded and smiled.
Robert left the room out the bottle from his pocket. When he opened its lid, he saw a needle attached to the bottom side of the lid, immersed in poison. Robert immediately closed the lid and called Tracy’s phone.
‘Tracy, we made a big mistake. Leon’s acting like Alexander. I think we have arrested Alexander instead of Leon. Please complete a check on his finger prints, blood group, everything to confirm who he is, and send the message to my phone,’ Robert ordered.
A few moment later, Tracy called Robert back. ‘We’ve arrested Leon. No doubt.’
‘Thank you.’ Robert ended the call. Quickly putting a smile on his face, he headed back into the room and suggested he and Alexander leave now.
When in the car, Robert would regularly glance at Alexander, trying to understand why Alexander had kept the bottle of poison and lied. But then he wondered: was this heavy rain natural or artificially induced? Was the downpour anything to do with the machine invented by Alexander?
Had Alexander been acting like Leon from the beginning?
‘What are you thinking, Robert?’ Alexander doubted.
‘I’m pondering the answer to a question,’ Robert replied flatly.
‘And what is your question?’ Alexander wondered.
Robert stopped the car, and quickly pulled out a gun. Robert yelled towards Alexander. ‘Why did you act like Leon from the beginning? Get out of the car now! Turn around!’ Robert handcuffed Alexander’s hands behind his back and pushed him over the car’s bonnet. ‘Spill the truth now or I’ll blow a bullet through your head!’
As there was no answer from Alexander, Robert fixed his gun at the back of Alexander’s head, and took out another gun, shooting it towards the sky. The fired bullet tore into the rain drops, and the shrapnel from the bullets combined with the torn drops and illuminated into golden ashes.
‘Don’t shoot me! Let me tell the truth!’ Alexander pleaded.
Robert took out his mobile phone and started recording Alexander’s voice.
‘Everyone believes that God can only control weather, but I knew the technology to create disasters and modify weather. If I told everyone about my inventions, then they would just praise me as a scientist. Even if I informed people in the name of Alexander that God has planned to bring down disasters upon us, no one would believe it—and everyone would think I was mentally unstable. If any disaster did occur, they would easily find out that I had created those disasters since everyone knew that I am doing research on weather patterns.’ He took a deep breath.
‘Leon was a very good man,’ he continued, ‘and all the people had faith in him. I could achieve everything if I was Leon. We are identical twins; the only difference between us is our names. So I took it as an advantage and planned two lives. I was going to start living a new life with the name of Leon, and so I kidnapped Leon one year ago and kept him confined at that house. Even if I knew the technology, it would take me very long time to achieve my desires of creating the globe machine, and further, I could not create it alone.
‘In order to expedite the process of creating machines before the year twenty-twelve, I designed the blueprint of the machine, and I approached Mark. He acknowledged he would take care of building machines since he wanted to be the leader for the whole world. His men tortured and threatened many people and physicists to construct the machines. We then experimented with its functionality in various islands, and aggregated the globes in the house. Mark spent a huge amount of money from his party association, and I used the money from the church funds to do my further researches.
‘Everything happened exactly as I thought. People started to worship me, and I decided to create a new religion called LEONISM. I planned to stop the weather modification and kill Leon only after stabilising my religion. When people in a country started to worship me and Mark became the political leader, we decided to collect all the resources in one country and give them, for free, to the people in other countries, and vice-a-versa, and so people in both countries would worship me like God.
With the exception of Leon, nobody knew I was acting like Leon. Only I could enter the house where Leon was locked in since the house was secured with all possible security measures. I used to go to my house occasionally in my usual life to visit my family—just to give them money.
When I was acting like Leon, if something went wrong or when the government suspected that how Leon was predicting the future events, then they would arrest only Leon. So I decided to keep Leon alive and planned to kill him only after stopping my research on weather modification. But I didn’t expect that you would find out my secrets—even before starting my religion. When the video about the conversation between me and Mark was published, I realised that someone had bugged my car, and so I took out my security’s car and rushed to the house where Leon was locked up, and put the silver bottle in his pocket whilst he was sleeping. I woke him up and told Leon that I had committed the biggest sin in my life by keeping him in the house and creating the machines. I changed my mind, and did not want to continue the same mistake. I told him I had decided to release him and wouldn’t disturb him from then onwards. I asked for forgiveness. I set him free. I said I would stay back at the house and destroy the machines and then meet him later. Then I gave the car keys to Leon, and I locked the door when he left the place. I wounded both my face and fingers myself, before you reached the house. And then you arrested Leon and came to the house to release me.
After when you arrested Leon, I planned to live just as a scientist with the name of Alexander, in my second life, if you will. If I were to live the first life I’d built, I would get more benefits and control the whole world. But in the second life, I would be praised as a good scientist. In both lives, I would be saved. I kept the silver bottle with me to kill anyone if they came to know about my secret. I made the biggest mistake by keeping it with me,’ Alexander explained.
Robert was amazed at the intelligence of Alexander, and his plans with two lives. ‘Is this heavy rain due to your invention?’ Robert asked.
‘Yes, I invented the machine after Leon was arrested. Now I am controlling and testing the performance of the machine from a remote location using the device that is in the left pocket of my coat,’ Alexander replied.
Robert took out the device and stopped the operation of the machine using the device. The machine—which was a sort of telescope shape—had stopped emitting radiation into the sky.
‘Where is the machine?’ Robert asked.
‘I did the surveillance on the same house where Leon was locked up. As no one visited the house for the week, I kept the machine there itself,’ Alexander said.
Robert nodded. ‘Now, Alexander, I need you to think for a minute. Now that your secrets have been revealed, are you going to spend the rest of your life in the prison?’
Robert stopped the recording on his mobile phone.

~*~*~*

On December 21, 2012, the weather normalised, and the bright sun shined across the clouds, spreading its golden rays everywhere. Robert woke up early in the morning. He turned on the television set, and the flash news reported on all channels about the video posted by Alexander on the internet.
‘Hello everyone. This is Alexander Williams. Please release Leon from prison, as Leon is innocent. He does not even know why he is arrested. Everyone believed that God is the only one who could modify the weather, but I developed the technology to modify it. I acted like Leon for the past year to make all of you worship me as your God. Initially, I kidnapped Leon and confined him at my house. With the help of Mark Black, I did my research and created disasters, and linked them with the prophecies of the 2012 apocalypse. I kept Leon alive because, when the government suspected me because of how I was predicting the disasters, they would then arrest Leon instead. And that’s what happened.
‘After arresting Leon, I went back to my initial life and again used the name Alexander. I invented a machine that would create artificial rain. The heavy rain for the past four days has been due to my machine. Although I have bad thoughts, my invention could be used for many good purposes. I have kept it in the same house in which Leon was held.
‘Since the FBI doubted me, I knew they would definitely find my secrets. I do not want to spend the rest of my life in prison, and so I have decided to commit suicide. Do not waste your time on searching for my useless body. After my death, all the countries should make strong laws in allowing nuclear tests and weather modifications—only if it is useful for the whole of mankind. I would ask that all people—especially my brother Leon—forgive myself and Mark since we were the rats who spoiled the world. Don’t ever lose your faith in God. I bid you farewell.’
Robert smiled and turned off the TV. He reopened the case, and decided to close it after releasing Leon and handing over the machine to the government.

Early the previous day, Robert had gone to the prison’s cell, sneaking like a thief at midnight, and stood where Leon was locked up. ‘Why did you go to the church when Alexander released you?’ Robert asked doubtfully.
‘I wanted to thank God for saving me and changing Alexander’s heart. But I don’t know why I was arrested when I reached the church,’ Leon said.
‘Do you know what was happened in this world for the past one year?’ Robert probed.
‘I don’t know anything.’
Robert played the audio that he recorded when Alexander was speaking the truth. ‘When I came to know this truth, Alexander committed suicide: he did not want to spend the rest of his life in prison. I would like to ask you one thing. Why did you keep silent when you were held captive by Alexander? You knew that Alexander was doing illegal things by acting like you. He ruined your name. You could have killed yourself instead of staying silent,’ Robert said.
‘I knew that Alexander was doing bad things using my name. Why do I want to waste this precious life gifted by God by committing suicide? I pray to God daily. He has given us this beautiful life to be cherished and loved. All he asks for in return is our prayers. I knew—and always believed—that God would save me from the misery,’ Leon said firmly.
‘Okay, Leon. You have to help me to set everything right.’ Robert told Leon what he wanted him to do. Robert asked Leon to give a short speech, acting as Alexander.
‘Will anyone doubt me after seeing this video?’ Leon asked in fear.
‘Everyone will believe that only Alexander gave this speech, and no one will doubt you because you are in prison, right?’ Robert convinced him.
‘Yes!’
Robert smiled to himself.
‘Why are you smiling?’ Leon was confused.
‘Alexander acted like you from the beginning and decided to kill you. But at the end, you acted like him to say his last words before death. So, it does not matter how intelligent or powerful you are. The exact reverse will always happen to the bad people at the end.’
‘Yes, God is always with the good people and will save them. Praise the Lord!’
‘I will reopen this case once this short video is published everywhere. Within two days, the FBI will release you.’
Robert went back to his house and posted the video on the internet.

‘Now, Alexander, I need you to think for a minute. Now that your secrets have been revealed, are you going to spend the rest of your life in the prison?’
‘I don’t know,’ Alexander cried pitifully.
‘I think the only option for you is to choose a third life,’ Robert said certainly.
‘And what is that?’ Alexander asked with interest.
‘Life after death.’
The colour drained from Alexander’s face.
Robert pressed the sharp needle into Alexander’s heart. Blood sprang out from the hole in his chest.
‘Are you feeling the real pain in your heart?’ Robert asked pityingly.
As Alexander nodded, Robert opened the silver bottle and poured all the liquid inside the bottle into Alexander’s mouth. Then Robert reached a bridge, inserted the silver bottle into the folded hands of the body, and threw it over the bridge.
‘The inverse has happened. May your soul rest in peace.’

After a while, bubbles appeared on the surface of the silent river.

CASE CLOSED

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