Blackness and nothingness surrounded me. I felt nothing, and I was nothing. Just a peaceful slumber. How long had I been in this state, and why wasn't I reflecting over it until now?
Fragmented memories appeared in front of my eyes. I relived my death in Israel.
"You betrayed us."
"I saw the combination to the room from the hidden cameras that Ben placed there."
"Who are those two young women that helped you?
Szymon had kept interrogation me for days on end. He was furious, and I understood him. His brother was dead, and with Ben died Szymon dream of committing genocide to reclaim the Holy Land.
I had revealed Sabina's or Simona's identities. I worried most about Sabina. Simona was a professional hacker, and she had access to millions of dollars after my generous donation. She would create herself a new identity and be outside of Mossad reach. But how would Sabina hold up?
I had realised that there was nothing I could to help Sabina. It had come as a relief when Szymon had pulled up his pistol and splattered my brain over the interrogation room.
But why was I back? Why wasn't I allowed to enjoy the endless bliss that was the afterlife?
I pushed myself, and I opened my eyes. I heard voices and my eyes the dazzling light in the room blinded my eyes. Weariness took hold of me, the voices faded into the background, and I fell back into unconsciousness.
***
The next time I woke up, I felt a bit better. It didn't feel surreal anymore, but like waking up from a long relaxing sleep. I opened my eyes and while the light still hurt my eyes, I could see the contours of the room now.
"The subject is awake, let the boss know." I heard a scientist say to another.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine." I heard a female voice say.
She held my hand while injecting me with a needle. The warmth of her hand filled me with blissfulness, and I receded into unconsciousness.
***
"Martin. Wake up! And welcome back." Pierre said.
Of course, it was Pierre that brought me back from the dead. Who else would want to bring me back? But why had Pierre brought me back? That was the real question.
I opened my eyes, and I noticed that Pierre, James, and Vladimir were the only members of the Monocle Conspiracy in the room.
"Why did you bring me back?" I wheezed.
"Tsk, Tsk. Thank you, Pierre, for saving my life is the correct sentence." Pierre taunted.
"Okay. Thank you, Pierre." I replied in resignation.
"That's better, Martin. Much Better!" Pierre replied and smiled.
I sighed without saying anything.
"We got a job for you. A crucial task that requires your co-operation." Pierre stated.
"What if I don't want to cooperate. What if I am pissed off because you disturbed my peaceful death with this bullshit?" I argued.
"Don't you dare you son of a bitch. I went through a lot of trouble finding those stupid crystals to revive you." Vladimir hissed.
"Are you issuing a death threat to a man who wants nothing more than to return to the afterlife?" I taunted.
Vladimir didn't reply. Instead, he grabbed a small electronic device and showed it to me.
"This, Mr Orchard, is a nerve pain amplifier. It sends out a fake signal convincing your nerve cells that you are in insufferable pain. It's the ultimate torture tool of the 21st century. The best part about it is that it doesn't actually harm you, so we can go on torturing you forever. Would you care for a demonstration?" Vladimir taunted.
Vladimir was not interested in my answer. Instead, he started using the device on me. It was the worst pain I have ever experienced. My entire body felt like it was on fire, and the madness didn't seem to stop. I screamed my lungs out and passed out for a second.
When I woke up, the pain was gone, and Vladimir smiled at me. "How did you enjoy the feeling of being burnt alive? The device has 50 more settings available. You can be my new test subject." Vladimir taunted.
"You guys put in a lot of effort to bring me back and torture me. Not particularly good for the finances, Pierre." I mocked.
Pierre sighed, took off his monocle, showing his purple eye, and spoke. "I didn't bring you back to torture you. I do not operate on such base desires. I brought you back because Elaine requested me to."
"Elaine? I haven't spoken to her for ages. Why did she want to resurrect me?" I asked.
"Martin, you haven't spoken to anyone for ages. You have been dead for two years." Pierre stated.
"Two years?" I asked
"Yes, two years. As Vladimir mentioned reviving you was troublesome. We had to coax Szymon Yehuda to hand over your body, and then we struggled to find a strong enough Crystal to revive you." Pierre replied.
"But you found a way to convince Szymon?" I queried.
"Yes, reviving you is the only way we can revive his brother. The replicated Zeto Crystals only work on you. To revive Ben, we need the primordial Zeto Crystal. But you must be starving. Let's have dinner upstairs and I fill you in on your mission!" Pierre said and gave me a helping hand to get up from the hospital bed.
***
Sometime later, I had a showered and dressed up for the luxurious dining venue upstairs. We were sitting in an exclusive member's only club overlooking the beautiful Geneva Lake. It felt surreal to have this exclusive dining room on top of a secret research lab, but here I was.
"Wow, this place is splendid," I said in amazement.
"Yes, it cost us a fortune to run, but it pays itself back a hundredfold. Here we invite world leaders to socialise and indulge in all the vices you can think of. This creates priceless bonds between the bank and the politicians that we control." Pierre revealed.
"I guess one can have a pretty good time here?" I replied.
"Indeed. I will let you use our services for free as a signup bonus." Pierre tempted.
"Sure, but let's talk about what exactly you want me to do?" I replied.
Pierre took a deep sniff of the red wine he was drinking, tasted a sip and smiled.
"Ah, Penfolds Grange Hermitage. They got some good wines in your former home country." Pierre said.
"I wouldn't know, I tended to drink the ones from the cask!" I replied.
"Not a man of great taste, I see," Pierre remarked.
"Just tell me the mission, and I will be on my way," I replied.
While I wasn't keen on carrying out the mission, I was even less keen on socialising with Pierre, Vladimir, and James. They had brought me back to life and tortured me, to make me work for them.
"Your mission is to find the primordial Zeto Crystal, charge it, and bring it to Pierre." James stated.
"Ah, so not to the CIA?" I taunted.
"The CIA is less secure. The government can shut us down. No-one shuts the World Bank down, as Mexico will soon find out." James replied.
"Whatever. There is a problem with your plan. I don't know where the Zeto Crystal is, and I don't know how to recharge it."
Pierre sighed, walked away for a moment, and then came back with a folder. "You should read this," Pierre stated.
I checked the document. It was from the paternity test I had planned to do with Sabina's blood but never got around to do as a few bullets stopped me dead in my tracks. It was a positive, the test confirmed that Sabina was my biological daughter.
"Your daughter, Sabina Hines, is a 21-year-old woman who has made a fortune from online trading. She spends her days making money for her charity, 'Building a Better World Pty Ltd'." Pierre stated.
"Why are you telling me this?" I asked.
"Because Martin, I am giving you a choice. If you convince Sabina to surrender the Zeto Crystal, then I will allow her to live a happy life focusing on her charity work." Pierre stated."
"And if I fail?" I asked.
"Then you'll both die! After your deaths, I will resurrect the two of you, so that Vladimir have test subjects for his torture methods. How is that for spending quality time with your daughter? Experiencing endless torment together." Pierre taunted
"You're very convincing, Pierre. I'll do you bidding. Now please let me distract my mind through enjoying this steak. After that, I'd love to enjoy some of the sign-up bonus upstairs." I replied.
Hearing this, Vladimir cut a portion of his rare steak and showed it to me. "Enjoy your food and sex, Mr Orchard. Because if you fail on your mission, you'll be spending a lot of time with me, and you won't enjoy that."
"One of my life goals is to spend as little time with you as possible Vladimir!" I said and took the lift to the courtesans upstairs.
***
A few days later, I was in my Swedish hometown, Helsingborg. I wasn't there to visit relatives. My parents were long gone, and I doubted that being dead for two years had brought me closer to my siblings.
I studied the address that Simona had given me via an encrypted email. I had assumed that $ 5 million would get her a better house than this, but perhaps she preferred to keep a low profile?
A beautiful blonde girl met me at the door. "Hi, Martin. It's so nice to see you again."
This confused me. While I am always happy when smiling, beautiful women greets me, I had no idea who she was.
"I am looking for Simona Fischbein," I said.
"Ja, men det är ju jag. Fast jag kallar mig Sara Nilsson nuförtiden." Simona replied.
"Simona? You speak Swedish these days." I asked in amazement.
"Yes, it's been over two years. I speak better Swedish than you speak English." Simona smirked.
"Not a particularly great achievement!" I winked.
"Come on in. I'll show you my place." Simona said.
I followed her in. Simona's place contained a vast array of electronic gadgets lying around. We got inside, and she served me filter coffee and the Swedish pastry, punsch-roll.
"So, how did you do it? Learning Swedish? Getting a new identity?" I asked.
"You forget my background. I hacked the Swedish registry and I took the identity of a woman reported as missing. I made a fake passport, and I bought this house in her name. I learnt Swedish watching videos and using computer-assisted vocal training for my pronunciation." Simona revealed.
I nodded in acknowledgement. Simona was an extraordinary character.
"What about you, Martin? I thought you were dead." Simona replied.
"So did I, yet here I am. With another mission on my hand." I sighed.
"Don't be like that old man. Being on a mission is good for the spirit. It beats sitting here suffering from unrequited love." Simona sighed.
Hearing this surprised me, and I also felt a bit guilty. If I had told Simona what Sabina was back then, she would have an easier time getting over her infatuation. I decided that I was time for Simona to know the truth.
"There is something you should know about Sabina." I started.
"I found out two things about her in the last few years." I hinted.
"Share with me, old man!" Simona teased.
"Sabina is my biological daughter. And she is a touch empath." I revealed.
Simona looked at me for a while. Eventually, she spoke with an afterthought. "I am not too surprised that she is your daughter, considering how you acted in Jerusalem. But what the heck is a touch empath?" Simona asked.
"A touch empath is someone who can access and alter someone's mind through establishing physical contact with that person. It's an obscure theological subject discussed in the Torah of Malka. No scientific evidence exists." I replied.
Simona stared at me in disbelief. After a long silence, she spoke. "So, you believe that Sabina is some kind of sorceress who cast a love spell on me?"
"It sounds dumb, but something like that," I replied.
"That's ridiculous. Sabina revealed that she is straight, and she married a man, Alex, last year." Simona replied.
"So, have you been talking to her?" I asked.
"No, I haven't. I have just been sitting her, studying her from the other side of the world. How said is that?
I didn't answer Simona statement and instead I changed the topic. "Hmm, perhaps she was trying to influence you into helping her, and her magic had unexpected consequences?" I speculated.
"Yes, that might be. In either case, I want to meet Sabina and confront her for what she did to me." Simona
"Don't get carried away. I don't think Sabina intentionally did something to hurt you." I replied.
Simona slammed her coffee cup against the wall, with coffee dripping along the wall. Then she took off and locked herself into her bedroom. I could hear her crying from the inside. I was hesitant about what to do. I worried about Simona, but I didn't have the right to force myself into her bedroom.
"I'll wait in the lounge room if you want to talk," I shouted through the door.
"Go away! I hate you!" Simona shouted back.
Realising that I hadn't made a new friend today, I decided to sit in the loungeroom, hoping for Simona to calm down.
***
I had fallen asleep on the couch when Sabina woke me up. I could tell from her eyes that she had cried a lot.
"Don't you have any other place to go?" Simona asked.
"Not really," I replied.
Simona smiled a sad smile and replied. "I guess that makes it two of us."
I nodded without saying anything.
"Why did you come here, Martin?" Simona said.
"I need help. Pierre brought me back from the dead to work for him. He wants me to convince Sabina to give up the Zeto Crystal to him. Otherwise, he'll catch us both, and expose us to endless torture." I revealed.
"Wow, is all your friends complete assholes?" Simona exclaimed.
"I guess my charming personality attracts certain characters!" I joked.
"No doubt!" Simona exclaimed.
I hesitated for a while before replying. "So, are you willing to help me?"
"Depends. What do you need?" Simona replied.
"I need your talents to determine Sabina's true motives. I am considering joining up with Sabina against the others." I replied.
"I am not a psychic." Simona objected.
"Correct. But you're a damn good computer hacker. Come with me to Sydney. Let's find out what Sabina is up to before I make my move." I urged.
Simona left the room for a moment, and then she came back with her passport. "Alright old man, it's time for Sara Nilsson to visit Sydney," Simona exclaimed and gave me a friendly push
I nodded. It was time to learn about Sabina's real motives. If Sabina's motives were benign to the world, I could help her. That way, I would redeem myself for a lifetime of villainy, and stop Pierre once and for all.