In The Air Tonight, Part 18
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Michael Vaughn's mind found it hard to function. The woman he loved was firmly entrenched in Milo Rambaldi's most dire prediction. "Why?" he asked finally. "Why try to help her if her fate was sealed?"
"Because nothing is absolute, Mr. Vaughn," Irina answered. "Visionaries can only tell you what has the greatest possibility of happening. Free will can always intervene. So while her most probable path was foretold by Rambaldi, Sydney had the ability to change this."
"So why not simply tell Sydney where she was headed instead of trying to manipulate her?" Vaughn demanded.
"Because," she replied calmly, "if Sydney had known of her future, then any change she made would not have been 'free will'. That would have been her only chance."
"But…" Vaughn persisted.
"Listen!" Irina cut Vaughn off impatiently. "There is no time for debate! Sloane could be days, or even hours from programming Il Dire to activate. You need to understand more about what Il Dire is and how it works if you're going to try to help Sydney."
Michael Vaughn had never seen such a display of emotion from the ice-cool Irina Derevko. It almost made him believe Irina truly had Sydney's best interests at heart…almost…
Vaughn nodded.
"Il Dire is a machine comprised of 47 unique Rambaldi artifacts. Each artifact is a whole unto itself. The parts all function as separate entities with their own unique purpose, but when assembled as a part of Il Dire, each part takes on a role in sustaining the whole. Il Dire is a body of harmonious microcosms…"
"…A mimicry of the human body…" Vaughn followed in awe.
"Yes," Irina confirmed. "Rambaldi's tribute to God's ability to create life. However, the complete Rambaldi manuscript explains that even with all 47 pieces, one key ingredient is missing."
"What's that?" Vaughn inquired.
"The breath of life—the impetus to begin existing…in this case, the power of thought. Just as the human body is powered by thought, so too is Il Dire. It needs the power of a human mind to activate it…one specific mind…" Irina trailed off to allow Vaughn to make the connection.
"Sydney's," Vaughn concluded.
"Yes."
"But why would it have to be Sydney's mind? Why not Sloane's? Why not any person's?"
"None of the Rambaldi documents I've read has ever explained why Sydney was chosen," Irina answered, "but I do know why it will only work with her thoughts: Il Dire was designed to activate only when energy from that specific DNA strand is received."
"I still don't understand how Sydney's thoughts could activate Il Dire. Arvin Sloane would be the last person on earth she would help. She loathes him," Vaughn said.
"That is precisely why she will help him," Irina countered, a tinge of sadness lacing her voice.
"I…don't understand…" Vaughn couldn't seem to grasp Irina's meaning.
Sounding more like a college professor than an enemy spy, Irina lectured, "Because thoughts are literally power. While the more in-depth studies in this field are still considered controversial, scientists all agree that the thought processes of the brain have a magnetic field and an electrical impulse. These impulses can be measured to some degree with the use of an electroencephalogram. So, thoughts generate a magnetic field and an electrical charge, therefore thoughts can be considered a form of energy—energy in its most pure state. When you think of thoughts as an energy source, the process makes more sense."
"So you're telling me that a lone, errant thought from Sydney Bristow is enough to activate Il Dire?" Vaughn asked incredulously.
"No, it's not. Thought energy gets transmuted as it travels through time and space. What would be required is a more direct connection between Il Dire and its energy source. Rambaldi believed that when you think about a person, the corresponding energy created is directed to that person…and an energy link is created between them. According to the manuscript, once Il Dire is programmed with the correct DNA sequence, it searches for thought power from the One and follows it back to its source, thus creating the link necessary for activation."
Vaughn reasoned, "So then Sloane would have to abduct Sydney to…"
"Not necessarily," Irina cut in. "Think of Il Dire as a powerful radio receiver that is tuned to Sydney's personal frequency. In order to receive the channel, one of two things would need to be true. First, the origin of the signal would need to be close to the receiver. I believe this to be the reason why Sloane bothered keeping Jack alive; he knew from experience that Sydney would come to rescue him…"
"And then her 'signal' would be close enough to activate Il Dire," Vaughn finished.
"Yes. Luckily, the device was not yet ready when Sloane was ambushed by the CIA in Mexico City. However, Sydney doesn't have to be anywhere near Sloane in order to activate the device. All that would be required is a stronger 'signal'—a more powerful stream of thought."
"Still, in order for machine to detect something as elusive as one person's thoughts, the thought sent would have to be an incredibly strong one," Vaughn hypothesized.
"One of the strongest," Irina concurred bleakly. "This is where the Prophecy comes in."
Vaughn's mind raced with possibilities as he envisioned the words of the Prophecy. Where was the clue? What am I missing? 'This woman here depicted will possess unseen marks, signs that she will be the one to bring forth my work; bind them with fury, a burning anger…'a burning anger!
Vaughn's face blanched and he suddenly found it hard to breathe. It all made sense. The truth lay itself bare before him like a child's game. He could see it all; how all the pieces fit together more tightly than any jigsaw puzzle.
"Yes, you see it now," Irina said, noting the how shaken Vaughn suddenly appeared. "You see the true meaning behind Rambaldi's words. When one first reads the Prophecy, it appears to infer that the prophetic woman is actively seeking to bring forth Rambaldi's work because of her anger. But in reality it is the opposite. It is Il Dire seeking its activation—its 'breath of life'—from the woman. The only way for Il Dire to be activated is through the power of thought, and the most powerful thoughts are based in emotion."
"The most powerful emotion is love. Therefore, when I saw that you and Sydney shared a bond of love, I…"
Vaughn continued Irina's thought, awestruck, "…You tried to get the two of us to admit those feelings and act upon them, because…"
Irina responded, "…Because love is the strongest of all the emotions. If Sydney were in love with you, and knew you returned her ardor, I believed that maybe she would see she had a choice. Maybe she would see that she could leave the world of espionage behind and share a more normal life with you. If she could put her past behind her, and with your help and the help of other loved ones around her, put the evils of Arvin Sloane behind her…"
"…Then none of her thoughts would be directed toward him," Vaughn finished.
"Exactly," Irina confirmed. "And the Prophecy would never be fulfilled. Her negative feelings would be tempered by love. The atrocities he committed against her would no longer seem as important and therefore…"
"…What thoughts remained would not be powerful enough to activate the machine." Vaughn concluded, feeling suddenly nauseous. If only… If only I'd known… he thought in despair.
"Yes," said Irina, equally grim. "But my plan backfired. I hadn't counted on Sydney's need for revenge, her need to bring Arvin Sloane to justice. Despite the love she feels for you, her hatred of him has continued to multiply exponentially. In fact, Sydney's anger toward Arvin Sloane has grown so strong…"
"…That the stream of emotion directed toward him will activate Il Dire as soon as he sets the code," finished Vaughn, pent-up emotion choking him.
Irina sighed, shaking her head sadly. "Yes. And once it's activated…God help us all."