It was the next day when Europe found out that the extremists weren’t the only threat.
It started by being a normal day with people going to work and buses full of children going to school. It was a bit cloudy but the weather report was positive for later that day.
In Italy was especially warm for May and with the Easter gone, people were returning to their day to day busy lives.
Naples is a beautiful city and even more beautiful is the subway. With an incredible sense of modern art and technology, the subway of Naples is in itself a sight to see.
That morning, a group of students walked down the stairs into the Vanvitelli station, speaking to each other about subjects of interest such as hanging out later or classes.
They weren’t being very loud but they were being animated enough to make noise and turn one or two heads.
It was morning and many people were waiting for the subway to go to their respective destinations. The group barely got on the platform when the lights flickered. Everyone was focused on the sudden light defection but they weren’t too bothered by it.
An older woman stepped forward when she heard the loud noise made by the upcoming train. She took one step closer to the edge, expecting the train to stop in the station. It didn’t. The train zoomed right past her, the current pushing her back making her fall on her back.
It passed the station by a few meters before it suddenly stopped and exploded.
The booming sound echoed in the tunnel all the way to Quatro Giornate and Salvador Rosa.
“How many people were inside?” A man dressed in a suit wondered out loud.
The smoke was spreading through the tunnel quickly and it reached Vanvitelli even faster. They had to be evacuated and the warm day suddenly darkened.
This morning at the Vanvitelli station in Naples, a sudden explosion occurred. It looks like the circuits of the train have been tempered with but the police has yet to make a statement. We will keep you~
The advertisements in Rome broke down and turned black. A loud high pitched noise interrupted the daily routine of millions of Italians before the familiar beginning of Ave Maria was heard.
The problem did not occur in the whole city but only around the Vatican. The same bird masked man appeared before the audience and begun his speech in that same clear voice as before.
“From now on humans do not interest no more. They sell each other on almost nothing, yet their value becomes less and less. They don’t have no core, no soul, and no grace: maybe they won’t have even enough red blood to write on the statutory contract.”*
People around the piazza stopped and looked at the sky. It was weird how the voice was echoing through the streets yet they couldn’t all see his face. The music changed to a different song and got louder. A black zeppelin flied closer to the Vatican with a face that grabbed the attention of the priests and even the Pope.
“O Emperor,” He exclaimed, “What could possibly give you the right to travel the whole world, taking by force things that do not belong to you? What gave you the right to occupy the land of Egypt? Who made you king of Persia? By what authority did you invade the land of India?” The man asked only to give the answer himself, “Because I use only my own boat,” He said, “I am called a pirate. You, however, use your army and your navy, and so you are proclaimed an emperor. If you ask me who the greater criminal is, I cannot say. I do know, however, that if I had such weapons at my disposal, I would be an emperor too.”** He finished, his words leaving quite a big impression on the priests of the Vatican.
“What hypocrisy!” The priests yelled at the sky.
“The clock is ticking, my dear friends. Naples is one city but there are so many more to sail to. Listen. Listen!”
The masked man encouraged people to listen to what was a classical piece from Faust. It started slowly, like it was coming from far away and it needed to be introduced before it became clearer: it was the beginning of Gounod’s Faust.
“The shadows*** have already come. They are among us, hiding under human flesh.” The man continued. “They cannot be destroyed with weapons created by humans. They must be defeated with the one most powerful weapon of all: the word. Remember that. Remember Anonymous.” The man finished before he bowed in front of his audience and the curtains have fallen.
The zeppelin suddenly caught on fire and started to lose altitude until it crashed on the outskirts of the Vatican.
In the last five days, sudden explosions occurred in cities all over Europe. It began in Naples, Italy and continued in Belarus, Denmark, Czech Republic and Portugal. We do not know what caused these extremists to act in such manner or what they want to accomplish. We only know they call themselves Anonymous and they are dangerous.
The news reports were going crazy about the group that threatened Europe without really using any threatening words. Or so it seemed since not even one channel gave away the so called statement in which Anonymous say they will wreak havoc.
“This is getting out of hand!” The chief inspector of the Interpol was growing impatient. “It’s been five days and we haven’t concluded anything! People will begin to think that we are incapable to keep our citizens safe!” He screamed at his subordinates angrily.
One tiny man had the courage to raise his hand and draw attention, “Maybe we need reinforcements?” He wanted to sound brave but it ended up weak in the form of an unsure question.
The chief of the special team of Interpol groaned and rubbed his forehead. He was tired and annoyed that he couldn’t take care of yet another problem.
“What do we know about this group?” He asked his techs.
The two women glanced at each other before they gave him the report,” Not much. We don’t know when they formed or the reasons they started these attacks. We also don’t know exactly how they got their hands on the explosives but they must have someone working inside.”
The report was equal to nothing and the whole division knew that.
“Maybe we do need reinforcements,” He muttered.
The next morning Ava barely placed her foot inside the lobby when Charlie ran down the stairs to her.
“Two police officers are here.” She whispered as to not make it an announcement for the whole building.
Ava blinked twice before continuing her way to the elevator; she couldn’t be bothered to walk so many stairs like her young secretary.
“What do they want?” She asked in such a soothing tone that Charlie was taken aback.
The bubbly secretary started to fidget, “Um-they didn’t really say. They are waiting for you in your office.”
Ava nodded and entered the elevator followed closely by her youngster. For the whole 10 seconds to their floor Charlie shifted in her spot, thinking of causes why her boss was visited by the police. The idea of Ava being a serious psychologist by day and a vigilante by night crossed Charlie’s mind a few times but shrugged it off when she remembered just who she was talking about.
When the elevator doors opened and they arrived in front of her office, Ava threw Charlie a glance that put the secretary in her place. She knew she shouldn’t invade Ava’s privacy, especially after she heard rumors that Ava was a vengeful person.
Just like Charlie stated, Ava found two officers dressed as civilians inside her office. They were speaking to each other when she interrupted.
“Doctor Atkins?” The taller officer asked just so he could assure himself he got the right person.
Ava nodded and originally wanted to get her coat off but the shorter officer stopped her.
“We would like if you could come without any commotion.” He started.
“What for? I haven’t done anything illegal.”
The officers glanced at each other before the taller took one step towards her.
“Your presence is needed at the Scotland Yard. Please come willingly.” The shorter one explained.
“It’s not about you, doctor. It’s about a certain issue we are facing at the moment.” The tall officer added seeing how she wasn’t a person who could be taken with polite answers.
She complied silently but that didn’t mean it made the appearances any less incriminatory for her colleagues.
Walking inside the Scotland Yard made her feel like she was walking towards her demise. That might have been true in a way since she didn’t know why she was there in the first place.
The officers led her to the third floor before letting her inside a messy room and left. When she turned around she was not expecting to see the man she had seen before with a certain piece of paper.
“I’m glad you are here, Doc. Please, take a seat,” Detective Lanchester offered her a seat and even a mug with coffee but she denied.
“Why am I here?” She asked coldly.
The ginger chuckled and got on his feet, walking around the desk towards her. His eyes were sparkling with what she recognized to be mischievousness and maybe a little insanity.
“You.” She concluded after seeing the way he was walking towards her. “You asked for me. Can I know the reason? Or does your boss want to know if I did a good job by signing that paper of yours?”
“He does doubt me, you are right with that. But as long as you are here, I can work on a case that quirked my interest. You can do whatever you want for the next hour or so. Your presence is enough.” He was being excessively sincere.
Ava scoffed and narrowed her eyes at the childish detective, “Do you hear yourself? You’re being selfish and childish. I have other patients while you only came once, long time ago.”
“But you found me interesting back then or else you wouldn’t have remembered me, right?”
He knew he was right by the way her facial expression relaxed suddenly. Her whole body was tense and he swore he saw her hands shaking in anger.
“What did my boss say about this arrangement?” She changed the subject hoping it was in her favor.
“It’s the Scotland Yard, Dr. Atkins. What do you think he said?”
That cocky attitude wasn’t one that she liked to have around for long periods of time. He looked completely at ease now that he was on his domain and she was the foreign individual.
“Now that we clarified everything, please make yourself comfortable.” He smiled politely and went around the desk, sitting with a loud sigh before going back to work.
Marvin Lanchester was a bad omen for Ava. She could already sense it by being in his working place; he was going to cause a lot of trouble.
* Giovanni Papini in Strange Stories' The Demon Said to Me
**The tale of the pirate and Alexander the Great
***Reference to Dan Brown's Inferno
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