Marcel Woods sits in his black leather swivel chair behind the oak desk, his hands clasped together. Cornelius Langdon sits across from him, his right leg over the left. Marcel's office is spartan in detail, with cream-colored wallpaper bearing no frames but a mandala illustrating ten perfectly-proportioned spheres overlapping one another. He has a habit of staring at it for precisely thirty minutes to meditate, to calm the turmoil in his mind caused by company troubles. But tonight is not a night for meditation. He needs action. He needs result. He needs salvation.
But hearing Gray Langdon's account of Lucy's mischief has given him another reason to doubt. The two men contemplate the recent behavior of their son and daughter, judging whether what they're about to do is still as effective as they expect.
"I am aware I may have been a bully myself when I was Lucy's age but how she orchestrates her pranks is well beyond me." Marcel sighs deeply as he studies his partner's expression. "Cornelius, what is your say about the matter at hand?"
Unlike Marcel, Cornelius seems to be at ease. His well-manicured fingers drum on the table, his deep-set brown eyes glittering in amusement. "Both of them are gifted, Marcel. They can manipulate whichever, whoever they want to. I believe the plan will work."
"We cannot control them, Cornelius."
"We need not to. All we have to do is unleash them and they will function exactly how we want them to. You said to trust the stars, didn't you?"
"I did, but you saw how incompatible they are!"
"My dear Marcel, they are compatible in every way. We'll just have to proceed with the plan. We are out of time."
Marcel leans back in his chair and sighs again. He opens a drawer, pulls out a green rubber ball, grips it tight with his left hand, and releases it back into the drawer. "We'll just have to tell them on the island. I'll have everything set by then."
"All right. Let us trust destiny plays its role once more, yes?" Cornelius rises from his seat and smiles at his business partner, who seems to be more worried than he normally would under the circumstances. "Let us see how they react."
"Violently, they will." Marcel Woods watches his partner for a moment, seemingly wanting to say something, but Cornelius bows slightly once and heads for the door.