Alex Vastner sat by his computer, typing away aimlessly at his work. Currently, he was archiving the funds of the four countries during the war. As an archivist, he had seen dullness before, but this was on a whole new scale. He had to wade through tons of files that showed that little mom and pop businesses had given as much as they could, and that charities had also donated money, and so had rich taxpayers. Not much awe-inspiring material there.
Yawning, he stretched out his arms behind him and looked at his watch. It was 6:30. Then sun was already setting outside. He had promised his girlfriend that'd he would take her out to her favorite restaurant. What she didn't know is that he had recently gotten a raise and had bought her a silver necklace. They were finally going to be able to save up enough to buy a house.
Alex cradled his chin in his hands and stared out at the sunset, and then back to the computer screen, and then back to the sun. He wished Chrissie were with him at the moment. No matter the scenario, she had that type of personality that would make anything better.
Alex finished his typing and looked at his finished result. He knew that everything was fine, and he could go home now, but out of habit, he checked again. Just as he had suspected, everything was in order. All the businesses and private funding were in order. Just as he was about to quit out the program and call it a day, a thought hit him.
He never checked the math. Doing so would just prove him right again but he had to make sure. Pulling up the computer's calculator, he added in all the numbers and analyzed the result. It was off.
Alex blinked in surprise. The numbers were off. That was impossible. He typed in the numbers again. Again, they showed him the same result. Alex sat back in his chair. Something impossible had just occurred in front of him. He quickly reached over to his phone and dialed his boss's number.
"Mr. Ivanovic, I think you should come see this sir. The numbers…they just don't add up. What do I mean? I mean we have more money then we should, but the money is recorded. That means, sir, that somehow, each country had a large sum of money given to them from some other place then their natural resources. Look, sir, just come down here. You'll need to see this in person!"
Alex hung up and stared at the computer screen again. This was impossible. How the hell did the countries get all this money out of nowhere? The only explanation was that some unknown organization, or some unknown people, gave the countries this money. That meant that …
Alex gasped. His father had told him about something like this. There was always someone who made a profit from war. With the four great countries weakened like they were, war was impossible. So that meant this organization gave the leaders this money. That meant the corruption was up to the highest point in the four governments!
Mr. Ivanovic walked into Alex's office. "So? What seems to be the problem?" he asked gruffly, raising a bushy eyebrow at Alex.
"Well, sir, look at this!" Alex said, showing him the screen. Mr.Ivanovic bent over Alex and looked at the screen, his moustache twitching as he moved his mouth from side to side in thought. "Hmm…you're right m'lad! There is something odd with these numbers!" Mr.Ivanovic stood back up and scratched idly at his beard. "Does anyone else know about this?" He asked.
Alex was about to answer, when a thought hit him. He was a fanatic movie watch, especially spy movies. He'd seen scenes like this play out before. The ignorant, innocent worker finds something weird, and his boss is connected somehow, and the boss kills him. At the thought of this, Alex could help but start shaking and sweating.
"Are you okay m'lad?" Mr. Ivanovic gently put a hand on his shoulder. Alex started crying a little at the touch of Ivanovic's hand. "P-p-p-please don't kill me s-s-sir. I didn't want any of this. I was just doing my job. I won't tell anyone! I swear! I just wanna go home to my girlfriend and take her out to a nice dinner and give her a silver necklace I bought her!" By this time, Alex's voice had gone from a whimper to a loud bawl.
"M'lad! Why would I kill you? We've made a major discovery here! We need to get this info to the press!" Ivanovic said, shock in his voice. Alex stopped bawling. "You mean…you're not connected to this?"
"No! Oh heavenly gods no!" Ivanovic assured him. "Now hurry! Get to the main computer lab on the fourth floor and upload your findings on all of the computers! We probably haven't much time!"
Alex stood up from his chair, a determined look on his face. "Yes sir! I'll get right on it! I'll make sure that-" Alex didn't get to finish his sentence as he suddenly crumpled to the floor, a giant hole in the middle of his forehead. Ivanovic looked with a grimace at the two men in suits standing at the doorway, one of them unscrewing the silencer from his gun muzzle. "Was that all necessary? The lad was just a pup!" Ivanovic complained.
"Yes, he was a pup. Now, he's just another corpse for the morgue." Replied the shooter as he put away his gun.
Ivanovic looked down at Alex's body. "What a waste…what a true god-damned waste." He muttered.
"Yes, it truly was." Said the other man wearing the suit. "He was a bright boy, and had a huge future ahead of him. To bad he was a little to smart."
"Well, things like this happen when you're in this business." The shooter said matter-of-factly.
Ivanovic just continued shaking his head softly as he picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Sir, the records are safe, and the problem has been taken care of. Things are back on schedule." Ivanovic hung up and looked over at the two men in suits. "Are the bombs set?"
"Yes. In two hours, this building will explode due to a secret attack by a rebel group with ties to black hole. Soon, all the militaries of the world will be up in arms, and money will be streaming in again."
Ivanovic stood up and went face to face with the men in suits. "Well, I've kept up my part. Make the call." He said softly as he left them to get his coat and hat, go to his home, and watch the news about the latest rebel attack. The world was in for it now.
