Chapter 6: Paradigm Shift

"An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure."

Zack shook his head. "You cannot prove a hypothetical. By its very nature, prevention means that an event does not happen. But a correlation between an action and an outcome does not imply a cause and effect relationship. In the absence of experimental evidence, the effectiveness of such actions can definitely be called into question."

"There is historical evidence that secret societies disrupt the lives of normal people, creating a reign of terror and destruction and death. These groups form at the intersection of political and religious power. Do you really find that not to be enough evidence?"

Zack's brow creased. "It lacks experimental rigor. You are supposing continuity between different members of the same organization, positing that membership in that organization will result in similar outcomes. But identity among the individuals is flawed, because countless variables are introduced."

Nothos nodded. "These organizations groom people, make them into who they want them to be. If someone does not cooperate, they are removed from the ranks. Just look at all the people who left the Jesuits in the 70s."

They stood in Zack's apartment, over Hodgins' garage. Nothos had come by without warning, which surprised Zack. He said he was just picking up the DVD. Zack had not offered him a seat, nor made any move to sit down himself. But Zack was not used to visitors. Hodgins picked him up and dropped him off after work, but did not come inside. He had not brought a girl back to his apartment since he returned from Iraq. He had asked Naomi to the Halloween party at the Jeffersonian, but she had not spoken to him since he failed to show up. Apparently, preventing child murder was not a suitable excuse for standing up a date. It seemed incongruous to see someone else standing in his space. He had dutifully fetched the DVD case and handed it over, but his guest had started a conversation about the movie. So, they stood just inside the doorway and talked.

"But not every Freemason is Jack the Ripper. Otherwise, we would have even more cases than we already do." Zack had watched From Hell as recommended, but was still not convinced. "The forensic evidence on that case was very subpar. It was 1888. There is no proof that that man was really…"

"The killings stopped abruptly, didn't they?"

"Yes, but – "

"Someone caught the killer and silenced him. Someone who knew of his connections with the Freemasons and the danger he posed to society. Someone stopped him."

"But that is what I do. My work involves studying the evidence, which leads to a killer, so that we can stop him. Or her," he added as an afterthought.

"After the fact," Nothos dismissed him. "You are merely cleaning up messes."

Zack looked crestfallen. "But there is no preventative. Punitive measures are all that are available to us."

"Not to me."

"What do you mean?" Somehow, the conversation had ceased being theoretical; they were no longer discussing the movie.

"I told you, I study people. You study bones because they are the tangible, fixed part of a person and they reveal secrets that the living would not share. Am I right?"

Zack nodded. "But how did you know that? I haven't told anyone why I went into this field since my brothers asked."

"I know, because I study the living. I serve a higher purpose. So…"

Zack put his hand up to signal him to stop talking. "That is meaningless to me. I've been considering Erdos' probabilistic method to approach this problem, but I can't see how the Chernoff bound can be used to introduce sufficient certainty. How certain do you have to be before you take a man's life? 95%? 99? 99.999? No matter how many iterations are used, you never reach a probability of one. There is always a non-zero probability that no murder would occur, no matter how many members I posit in the group in question nor how many years I allow the scenario to run. And even if the existence of a murderer were certain, his identity is out of reach by nonconstructive methods. It is mathematically impossible to prove guilt in an individual prior to the commission of a crime."

Nothos smiled through his frustration. "I can see you've thought about this a great deal, but you are looking at it from the wrong angle. Jack the Ripper was real. The crimes do occur, and I know who is guilty. You are demanding certainty, when justification is sufficient. The good of the many outweighs the good of the few. You've said in the past that there is no harm in harming a bad guy. How is this any different?"

"I'm not comfortable with your assertion of knowing. How you know is not clear to me. Please, explicate your process."

"No, I shouldn't say any more about this now."

"Why not?" Zack looked at him in dismay. He was intently interested in this conversation.

"What I was going to say…it's not safe."

"That's why you were so insistent that our communication be anonymous and untraceable? That is why you are private?" Zack felt that was not entirely fair. After all, Nothos had his e-mail, his phone number. He knew where he worked and where he lived. Zack hadn't even told him his address; he found that out on his own. Though he supposed looking up Hodgins wasn't that difficult.

"Yes. I share this information with the wrong person, and it can be…dangerous."

"I am very trustworthy." Zach knew he was quoting Dr. Brennan. He wasn't really all that trustworthy; at least no one else thought of him that way. He was honest, and he was reliable – he considered those traits to be trustworthy. "What is the indication of criminal activity, murderers, within a secret society?" The good of the many outweighs the good of the few...or of the one...but....

"What does a boy grow up to become?" Nothos countered.

"A man." Zack was fairly confident he got that question right! But he did not see how it was relevant, either.

"And how does a boy learn to be a man?"

"From…other men?" Zack wasn't entirely sure he had learned this lesson yet.

"Yes, particularly his father. Now, what happens when a boy does not have a father?"

"That is biologically impossible. Every child must have a father, and in particular, a boy would not be male without a contribution from a Y chromosome. It would literally be inconceivable to have a boy without a father. In fact, the word inconceivable refers to a situation that cannot happen, such as the conception of a child without…"

Nothos waved him off. "Yes, of course, they must start with one. But not every boy has a father."

"Oh. True. He could be absent due to death or divorce or delinquency."

Nothos gave him a strange look but still nodded. "Yes. So, what does a boy without a father grow up to become?"

"A…man?" Zack didn't understand how this was any different from the first question.

The other man shook his head. "No, he has no father to teach him to be a man."

"Couldn't he learn from…other men? I don't ask my father every question about advice on being a man. Sometimes I ask Agent Booth or Hodgins or my older brothers." He paused. "Even my younger brother-in-law, though I probably won't do that again. Or you," he added, almost as an afterthought.

"But who raises this boy?"

"His mother, obviously, unless he is an orphan. In that case, he would have to rely on the generosity of other relatives or the foster care system. I am assured that the foster care system is a poor substitute for real parents."

"Leave aside orphans for a moment. I want to focus on a boy raised by his mother, and only his mother. What will he grow into?"

"Not a man?" Zack somehow knew that wasn't the answer.

A slow nod. "A monster."

"I know who you are." Freemasons. Widow's sons. Murder. His growing suspicions clicked into place. "You are Gormogon."

The man pinned him to the wall. Zack let out a yelp. Perhaps it was unwise to have said that? It had happened very quickly; what did he do now? He realized his heart was pounding rapidly against the man's arm. He was taller than Gormogon, but that thought did not reduce his heartrate.

"Where did you learn that name?"

"The vault. We have the artifacts. We identified the symbols…."

"You will never speak that name again. You are not worthy, nor do you understand what it means."

"It is a riddle…," he began, and then stopped. "But I will not speak about it."

Nothos removed his arm. Zack was shaking. His thoughts were jumbled. It was not like him not to assess the situation quickly and arrive at an answer. He had played the murder victim many times before, and it had never had this strong of a physiological effect on him. He looked over the man's shoulder. "Are you going to kill me?" he asked.

"Why would I? You are not a threat to society. You are not one of the ones out there harming people. I only target those who need to be destroyed."

"Gormogon. They started out as one of the good guys." Hodgins had told him that, the day they had learned about the Gormogon iconography.

"How are you any different from the secret societies you target?" he asked.

"We have strict standards in place. We never allow our society to grow. Each man may train one successor…and only one. It keeps us pure in our intentions – always, we work to build a better society. These societies, and the people in them, are a disease. I identify the worst offenders, and remove them."

Zack nodded, but he was still puzzled. "I don't understand how you can be…sure."

"I've seen the way you stare at the silver skeleton."

Zack's mouth hung open. "But…you've never been in the Jeffersonian. It's impossible for you to have seen me in the vault."

"But you cannot deny it. I can read people. I know. The question is, are you willing to help me?"

"Help you in what way?" Zack asked, curious in spite of himself. He was oddly relieved that his flesh was not going to be boiled and then gnawed off his bones. "I…I am very talented with bones."

"There is a skeleton we're both interested in. I think you can help me with that."

Author's Note: Zack is a math genius. I may be good at math, but I'm not on his level; my engineering degree is a bachelor's. I did my best to make the techno-babble accurate, but...it may not be. There aren't really any spoilers for "From Hell" in this; the movie does offer one of the more entertaining conspiracy theories on the identity of Jack the Ripper, though! Zack is familiar with the logic of "the good of the many outweighs the good of the few or of the one" from watching Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.