The heat was immense. Eanlu was sweating; he hated waiting. He knew that this mission was important to the plan, but ever since the air conditioning systems had stopped working sitting in one place for too much time was stifling. Lunie was crouched beside him. Waiting at the exit in downtown Houston was never fun, but she didn't much mind the heat. What bothered her was the wasted time. They should just go and get this guy, not sit around and wait for him to come. Unfortunately the Council disagreed. Someday she'd be on the council, and then... But for now she had to wait.
Warry had no idea what was about to happen. He was just on his way to meet up with his best friend. He didn't know that where they were going to meet was just before the mouth of one of the only entrances to the secret underground civilisation called For Better or Worse. He hadn't the foggiest clue that his movements had been observed for the past month by spies and cameras. He was oblivious to the fact that Eanlu and Lunie were waiting for him, and even if he had known he wouldn't have cared. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
His friend arrived before he did. He was angry with Warry. Not only for having received a better grade on that paper, but now for being late. He was certain that Warry was making him wait on purpose, as some sort of superiority thing. When Warry finally arrived, his friend started yelling at him.
"Why are you late, man? You were supposed to be here half an hour ago! You think you're so smart."
"What?" Warry was surprised, "I'm not late. I'm early, I didn't expect you to be here already."
"It's 11:30!"
"You said 12:00."
"Did I?" his friend sneered, "Did I really?" He pushed Warry, "Maybe you were mistaken... know what I mean?" he threatened.
"Uh, yeah, sure. I was mistaken."
Eanlu was aghast at Warry's friend's behaviour; "People really treat each other like that?"
Lunie was amused; Eanlu was newer to the United States. He was from the FBW branch under Africa. He had also spent most of his life in the installations. "You get used to it, people don't really care much for one another's feelings anymore."
"Incredible." Eanlu went silent. Down under (which is what FBWers called the installations) people were decent. Their love for God flowed through to others. This was one of his first experiences with the outside world.
Meanwhile Warry's friend was just getting warmed up, "You sure were, just like you were mistaken to get a better grade than I on that paper! Didn't I tell you that I am number-one in that class? Do you have no respect?"
Warry was very confused now; he hated being confused. When he got confused he didn't know how to respond. It was like that now; he froze, unable to think.
"Well," his friend continued, oblivious, "I just thought I'd inform you that your paper sucked. The teacher only gave you a better grade because he likes you, got nothing to do with the quality of your paper. I've decided that I will no longer consort with lowlifes like you." He walked off, expecting Warry to come trailing after.
Warry was very confused now, but he just watched his friend walk off. Had his paper really been that bad? Had the teacher really been influenced in the grading? Although Eanlu was just as confused as Warry, Lunie saw this as their cue. She stepped out.
"Hello, Warry."
He jumped, having been unaware of their presence he was now jolted out of his confusion and into a state of shocked surprise. "Who're you?"
"I am Lunie, and that," she nonchalantly gestured to an emerging form, "is Eanlu. However, perhaps a more relevant question would be what are we doing here."
"Uh, yeah."
"I'll get to the point, we are from a rather old, although almost completely unknown underground civilisation called For Better or Worse. We have been monitoring you for some time now and have come to the conclusion that you are of the highest expertise in the field of nuclear fusion."
"Uh, yeah, that's what my paper was on. But I'm only twenty, shouldn't you get one of the guys that's been working on it for years?"
Lunie was impressed, this guy was smart enough to figure out that they wanted him, and what for, he would be able to think creatively enough to fashion links. A genuine sparkplug. "No, we want you. For one thing, you are capable of thinking in ways that may help us far more..."
"And for another, people wouldn't ask so many questions if I "�disappeared'."
"Exactly."
Warry didn't like this, they had obviously been collecting a whole lot of information on him for some time, and they must have even known he would be here today. Suddenly he burst out, "What is this 1984? You have microphones and wiretaps everywhere?"
"We have some, but mostly we use operatives."
"And you remain secret?"
"Yes," Eanlu cut in, "Because every slip-up that is made is covered up as a top-secret government project. Some higher-ups in governments also know of our existence. Most of the reports of UFOs and aliens are actually tests of some new equipment that we developed. Any individuals that discover us are "incorporated' into our society. They simply "disappear'."
"Like Elvis?"
Eanlu laughed, this guy was so naïve, "Yes, like Elvis. But not Elvis, he's dead."
"I just don't like it." Warry was mad now, they had intruded on his privacy, violated his rights. "You have no right! I have the right to privacy. How can the government know about you?"
Lunie cleared her throat, "Not all of it, just the power centres."
"I can't believe the President knows of this."
Lunie smiled, "You have good instincts. He doesn't."
"What?" Warry was confused again, hadn't she said "power centres' wouldn't the President classify in there?
"I said "Power Centres'. Your President doesn't know, your Congress doesn't know, and no-one in the Supreme Court knows."
"Then who..." Warry thought hard, who did they consider big in the government if not anyone with official power. Then it struck him: "NORAD."
"Lucky guess." Eanlu smiled.
"No," Lunie was impressed, "He is a real sparkplug."
"What's a sparkplug?" Warry was intrigued now.
"A sparkplug," Lunie explained, "is a connection man. Someone who can see possible connections between things that no one else can. Most young children have this capability..."
Warry cut her off, "But they don't have enough knowledge to connect. Most adults have lost this capability."
"Correct."
Warry no longer cared that they had intruded on his privacy. What did his personal rights matter? They were an illusion anyway, just like the American government. This must be why most other countries don't shout about it so loudly, he thought. "Can you take me in, I want to see what this is all about."
"Follow us," Eanlu was excited now. Action! No more waiting, they could do something. He ran ahead through the tunnels that he could navigate through after having been through them only once. Living Down Under his whole life definitely had advantages in this respect. Meanwhile, Warry was having trouble keeping up. He knew that he needed to travel at least at Lunie's speed or he'd get left behind. It sure was hot down here, but he supposed that their air conditioning systems were broken...
They eventually arrived in a large chamber that was completely white. Lunie knew where they were, but had never been before. She marvelled at the high-tech systems that were everywhere, Fusion Centre! Eanlu had heard of this place, but like Lunie had only been to normal science centres. He thought it was amazing how much richer the atmosphere was in here. Warry was unimpressed. He had expected to find advanced facilities. It was just like a Sci/Fi film! He smiled.
A man in a business suit ran up to them, just as he arrived; the air conditioning came back on.
"Ah," he said, "They finally got that fixed."
"Liar," said Warry, "the air conditioning was never broken."
"What?" the newcomer was taken aback.
"The air conditioning going off was all a ruse. Soon they will announce that it was broken due to a power overload failure. That will cause a call for increased funding and personnel for the Fusion project, which will also be more likely to cause me to join, and will also result in the approval of more rigorous recruiting."
Lunie was amazed, how could he know that. It couldn't be true! "Warry, this is Mr. Dolarr, he's..."
Warry cut her off, "Head of Fusion Centre."
Dolarr wanted to cover up, but he didn't know how, "Do you realise what you are accusing? What would cause you to think that..."
"I just learned that my renowned government is a hoax. It followed that yours would be too. That makes it believable. I saw some " repair' technicians on the way here... They were doing a very good job at looking like they were trying to fix the problem. But they kept reconnecting things to the same spots. They were doing nothing. Then the air conditioning came back on almost exactly as I arrived. I do not believe in coincidence. Some of it was guesswork but if I'm right it should be about time..."
Then a voice came over the loudspeakers above them, "The air conditioning systems, we're sure you've noticed, have been fixed. The problem was caused by a power overload failure..." The loudspeaker kept talking, but they stopped listening.
Warry looked at Dolarr, "Well?"
"Okay, so it was a ruse... There is a clique of us within FBW that doesn't like the way the Council is handling things..."
Eanlu cut him off, "Then you can tell them yourself."
He grabbed Dolarr and began dragging him off. Lunie and Warry followed.
When Eanlu presented the case to the Council they were amazed; "Is this true?" asked one.
"Yes," Dolarr said grudgingly. They had been so close, "We want to break out. Plan Omega."
The Council gasped. "What's plan Omega?" Warry asked Lunie uncertainly.
"Plan Omega is the end. If we are ever revealed to the public, plan Omega calls for an end of that country's sovereignty. The whole population of the branch would rush out and occupy the country, overthrowing the government. So that the news of our existence wouldn't spread."
"That's why the governments keep you hidden."
One of the Council members started talking again, "How can this be? Lying and deceit? Desire for power, gain through violence? In our Christian colony!"
"But doesn't it make sense?" Eanlu was taken aback, but not any more than he had been at seeing the outside world. He flipped on an American news channel to the nearby monitor. Reports of murders and suicides, ads for filthy movies and reports of fraud ensued. "This is what many people take as the best country!"
"What do you mean many..."
Eanlu cut off Warry's naïve statement, "Shouldn't we expect this?"
"But," replied the leader of the Council, "they are overworlders. Down under people are decent."
"It's the doctrine of human nature," Eanlu replied, "The heart is evil and desperately wicked. Why should we escape it here?"
The Council dismissed them while it decided they decided what would be done about this new problem.
"Well, Warry, sorry about that." Lunie apologised.
"No problem. What's next."
"You'll join up?"
"Tell me exactlu want me to do first."
"Well you'll immediately begin work on the project, however we want you in school too."
"Sure, I'll have time to get my college stuff done."
"Well, you can keep doing that, it's good, but we want you taking some highschool courses in Canada, Britain, and Germany."
"Highschool!" Warry was offended, "I am a college freshman."
Lunie smiled, he was smart, but still naïve. "After all you've seen you still think that America has the highest level in education?"
"But..." Warry thought, it made sense. So many other things weren't true, why not this too? "Okay, what else?"
This was going to be a real adjustment...