Flashes Of Light

Present Day

"We will tell you everything," Jay promises.

And they do.

It's hard to decide which matter is the most mind-blowing, so they start with the air conditioning. 

"You need to be able to back it up," the presenter says.

And Percie says something Jay and Logar had barely guessed at, so far. "If we make it out of this, the three of us innocent," he explains. "Then we will go on with our mission from when we left off. We can surely ask for help to print the e-mails, and look for the air conditioning systems across the city. It might take us years to convince people to let us dismantle them, but I believe it's finally a cause worth fighting for."

"Besides," Logar drawls. "We have so many other things to say! Let's start off with Michaim Toutatis, alias Michail Trudnev, born and raised in early 2000s Russia. The only Greek thing he had was his mother and his fake surname."

"Everyone knows Toutatis is not the real family name," the presenter laughs. "When the US-UK Alliance decided most family names had to come from satellites, then his Eastern family chose an Eastern sounding name."

"With all due respect, we know how those things work," Jay says. "But it's different. We need to tell it in full to show you how it was different."

"Then please, do! I feel like you've wasted the first few hours of my transmission."

"We didn't," Logar is offended. "We already said it --- telling it like it was, in chronological order, helped us understand. There was so much we start recalling just now..."

"It makes one think your memories have been tampered with," the presenter says. "Or perhaps it's just the lastest of your lies. I will ask the audience back home if they feel manipulated by your nonsensical words."

"Ask us if we feel manipulated by The Anti," Logar blinks.

"I already know that."

"Then ask us why," Jay offers.

The presenter feels a little sorry. The truth is, everyone liked The Anti up to a certain point. There had been people, of course, who declared they'd had dinner with him and that he had a total lack of manners. And all of his eight wives had went on to the press to declare their relationship had been abusive for some reason or other.

Back when The Anti was alive and he lived with Marian Hidalgo, the two of them lived with their son and other three kids. All of the three children had went on to say they were the favourite sons from other marriages of The Anti, and their wives had been coerced and blackmailed to let Michaim keep the kids.

But The Anti was fun. He was showy, he was just enough of a loser, even with his billion dollars, to appeal to the audience. He never hid that he was from a poor family and from a country that had been, at some point, in decline.

Though there was a time, not so long ago, where all the countries in the world were in decline. But some polished up better than others.

That is why, Jay understands, people want so badly to lock up someone forever for having killed The Anti. He gave the humanity wings.

And that is also why people still don't believe them, to this day, when they described the things The Anti had done to their bodies and to their minds.

"It is time for the final story," Jay says. "The day I witnessed The Anti dying."