These Final Hours
Part 1


"Thank you for coming, ESP."

"Yes," I respond. What else need be said? It's not a pleasure to be here.

I shake Liz Weinberg's hand and I find myself already second guessing my decision of meeting with her today. 'ESP?' Is that how she chose to greet me the first time we officially meet face to face? Or... or is it possible we have already met and it's one of the memories I can't recall at will? There's something about Liz; she has this air of familiarity that I can't put my finger on. "We only have a few moments of airtime available so I wanted to cut right to the chase and ask you about one person in particular..."

I can guess who that name will be.

"I'd like to ask you about NAZI," Liz finishes. She was talking about him? That's odd, I would have thought she was going to ask me about someone who matters a little more to me. Someone like Dr. Zero. You know; someone I didn't already specify I was done talking about before today. I hope I'm not about to be baited into a conversation I don't need to have...

I blink slowly and continue staring out into the distance in what some would say resembles a light trance. I'm not much for typical or "normal" eye contact during one on one encounters and I feel no need to care if people say I look like a robot during my interviews. With what most people think of when they use the term robot, it's actually not that far off to refer to me as such. Now let's listen to what Liz has to ask me about Nathaniel...

"Everyone heard what you had to say last night regarding NAZI, but I wanted to touch on a subject that hasn't been addressed yet. John Madison and NAZI — more specifically the Black Circle and the influence XWF owner Shane has over the big matches and their outcomes..." Liz surprises me with this; it seems she's taken this in a direction I didn't expect... and here I thought she was just going to have me repeat my generous invitation to Nathaniel.

Liz continues, "So what we have is the current King of the XWF as well as the owner who both have a vested interest in seeing NAZI win the tournament and claim the 24/7 Briefcase. It isn't hard to see why this is a major part of their agenda; it's the same agenda at play when a match like John Madison versus Theo Pryce gets booked for the XWF Crown. Shane would like to build a multi-layered insurance policy that will guarantee the crown never leaving Black Circle hands. If Theo Pryce wins tonight, the new King of XWF is simply another leg of the Black Circle."

"Finally, if they can get NAZI winning a briefcase tonight, he'll be waiting in the wings to cash in the moment any non-Black Circle member finally claims that crown. It would be difficult enough for a non-Circle member to even be booked into a match for the crown... but if that happens, and if by some chance the other Black Circle members fail to help sway the match in their favor... then NAZI will just walk out and cash in after the match ends. We'd have a legitimate XWF King, finally, for a grand total of around one or two minutes before it fell back into Black Circle hands. What are your thoughts on all of this and have you considered all of those possibilities? Are you prepared for outside forces to get involved in your match tonight on behalf of NAZI?"

Liz makes incredibly valid points that I hadn't particularly focused on much in the last couple of weeks, but what she's saying does become obvious when you think about the Scam Machine that Shane and King John have constructed right before our very eyes. I've actually eluded to this in the past and it left John Madison and Shane scrambling to divert everyone's attention away from their scam. I would venture to say there are additional strings and insurance policies in place that Liz hasn't even considered, but I don't have the time to address all of that now. "What you're describing to me, Liz, are the workings of the world I will soon be in control of. I'm well aware of the XWF's 'climate' and I can see exactly how to manipulate it over time; similarly to what I've manipulated Tony Santos into over time... a foreign, corrupted and possibly threatening agent of change that has been converted into a tool of flight. My flight. That is the parallel between the Black Circle and Tony Santos; it's just that Santos is getting there faster. Enough about him though... I've already spoke his name as many times as I'd like to this year."

"But since you brought him up, can I just focus on a couple of quick points?"

I hesitate, keeping my gaze fixated ahead but then lowering my brow and shifting my eyes to hers. She is very much pushing her luck, but... a part of me is feeling generous this week, as I've demonstrated in various ways.

Turning my eyes away from her once more and looking ahead, I calmly state... "I'll allow it."

What am I thinking???