Collective Mind (5 page)

Isaac
clicked on a different link and found another of Bikie’s blogs, which consisted
of very short messages. None of the words in them could be used in polite
society except “down with”, “communists”, “Veggies”, “comatose” and
prepositions, like “up” and ”off”” .

A
plan was finally coming together in Isaac’s mind: summon a team of people like
this Bikie and find Jeremy Link. And then see what happens. Money was needed.
“Damnit, money. Forgive me Vicky, I really will earn the money for your
surgery, just hang on a little bit longer. Right now I have to ask the database
a question. “My dear gentlemen, potential accomplices, which of you has money?”
Isaac thought as he searched through the lists and through the social networks
before he finally found two candidates

The
first was Peter Wolanski, a Pole who had lived in Monaco since he was a child.
A member of a prestigious scientific society, the same one that Isaac had once
belonged to. There weren’t any photos of Peter in the internet and Isaac
decided to look for them later. Peter’s blog consisted of beautifully layed out
articles with a scientific slant. A couple of them were devoted to discussing
why no one should download their OE.

In
one of the latest articles Peter told his father’s story: his life and his
achievements as a successful entrepreneur. And finally Peter Wolanski talked
about his own grief and boundless sense of loss since he was alone now. “This
guy is already rich,” thought Isaac and wrote Peter’s details into his notepad.

The
second candidate was a girl. What a beauty! And with a name right out of a
song: Michelle Blanche. Long, shapely legs, a beautiful face, a great figure,
and a mischievous twinkle in her eyes too. “A beautiful girl, and to judge from
her rating, very intelligent too. I’ll never cope with a girl like that:
beautiful, and rich into the bargain. How do you come on to someone like that?”
Isaac started dreaming, but he was forced to admit that it was a non-starter.
He wouldn’t have the nerve for it. “She’d tell me where to get off before I
could even start telling her anything. Or she would think that I was a psycho.
I’d love to screw a girl like that. Only high flyers like that don’t come into
our bar” Isaac chuckled despondently. But he wrote down the address anyway,
just in case. The idea of giving up without even trying made him want to
despise himself. Isaac fantasized for a little while longer and closed
beautiful Michelle’s blog.

 “If
I think like a character from a movie,” Isaac thought, still fantasizing. “A
strong team means people who think alike who are also friends. It’s a thousand
times harder for a loner. I’ll try to do things that way too. For now I have
enough candidates with the techie and the guy who has money. Maybe they have
friends who can fill out the team, that’s less risky than chasing after
strangers and inciting them to commit a crime. And it would be best to keep my
mouth shut about the database.”

The
computer, the searches, the files, the sites and all the rest of this
flickering information had worn Isaac out. The final thing that completed his
exhaustion was the file “creativity statistics on children born to Happies”.
Notional zero, notional zero, zero again, zero for almost all of them…not even
UNICOMA could bring itself to call these figures a rating. “I need to get my
mind off this, I’ve taken a goddamn overdose of information about these folks,”
Isaac told himself and started getting ready. He had to go and visit Vicky in
the hospital.

Isaac
found himself unable to resist the urge to get to know Michelle Blanche. He got
the idea that he ought to start with her. That night he dreamt about the leggy
brunette. Isaac almost completely forgot the dream, but he thought he
remembered them getting together, and Michelle smiling at him and caressing
him. Then they were in this beautiful room, and she was wearing a bathrobe, and
Isaac spotted black, lacy underwear lying over at the side. He tried to kiss
her, but she beckoned him towards the bed. After that, unfortunately, there was
a gap, but Isaac woke up feeling aroused. He was in a really great mood, and he
tried to recall if they’d had sex or not. No matter how hard he tried, though,
he couldn’t reconstruct the dream in his memory, but he decided it was a good
sign. Intellectually Isaac realized that signs were beside the point here, that
with his creativity level he could find a good sign in any corner. Living was
easier with good signs, they were an additional reason for optimism.

Pinning
down Michelle proved not to be easy. She had moved to Monaco a year and a half
ago, and before that, from the look of things, she had lived in London. The
address given in the database turned out to be valid only for correspondence,
and her English mobile number had been disconnected. Michelle didn’t use
geolocation in social media networks, and she didn’t reveal where she really
lived. She often published her photographs, where she’d been, the get-togethers
and the parties, but generally only on the following day. In the photos she was
either posing, or always with the same young man, also not a local. Isaac kept
looking at her Instagram, hoping his eyes would spot some familiar place. In
some of the photographs Michelle was flaunting herself in a swimsuit on a yacht
that had her name on it. After his erotic dream, Isaac feasted his eyes on her
as if she were his girlfriend while imagining her naked. “If only the dream
would happen again, then I’d definitely see things through.” Having gone to bed
he reviewed her most explicit photos. That made him feel horny, but he couldn’t
summon up any more erotic dreams.

 Good
thing Michelle didn’t just sit at home every night, but Isaac couldn’t afford
to do the rounds of the most expensive spots in Monaco hoping she would show
up, and anyway, the effectiveness of that approach was quite doubtful, she
could be anywhere at all. It might seem like he could just show up and drink
coffee every evening in the Sass Café or the Cipriani Restaurant, but if
you didn’t order anything on the third day, they would politely ask you not to
come back there again. Isaac couldn’t have afforded more than two dinners in a
fancy place like that. He finally managed to find out what appeared to be her
real whereabouts and decided to give it a try.

In
anticipation of meeting Michelle, Isaac shaved, abandoning his beautiful stubble,
and put on a t-shirt with a deep neck and short sleeves. His wrist was adorned
with a vintage diver’s watch – not expensive, but very stylish. He even changed
the ringtone on his mobile to a melody by INXS. Isaac liked himself like this.
Damned if he knew whether Michelle would like him, but after his dream he
believed in some kind of sexual connection. If creative energy existed, then
why shouldn’t there be some other kind, responsible for dreams and attraction?
Isaac dismissed all his thoughts about Michelle never having seen him before.
Maybe she had seen him some time, and even taken notice, but he simply hadn’t
spotted it.

 Having
arrived at the upscale condominium where he thought Michelle lived, Isaac first
tried to strike up a conversation with the concierge. The man examined him
suspiciously and asked if Isaac mind not pestering him with questions about the
residents. If he wanted, he would be glad to pass on a note. Taking pity on
Isaac after all, he did hint that Michelle rarely spent the night there.
Privacy had always been highly valued in Monaco, but the concierge saw Isaac as
just a young man desperately in love and thawed out a bit. Only what could
Isaac write in the note? “Please contact me in connection with…” or “I’m not an
admirer, that is, you are beautiful, but I know what a high level of creativity
you have”?

No,
the concierge was not an option, Isaac had to come up with something else. He
went back to the Sass Café and had a word with the manager there. Monaco
wasn’t New York, thank God, and all the locals more or less knew each other.
The manager promised to text Isaac if he saw her. Isaac visited a few more
restaurants and snazzy bars and left his request at five of them.

In
the evening he ran through the rich list one more time and picked another pair
of candidates just in case. Since they might not live at the address given, it
would be best to find out where they were really located. Whoever turned up
first would be the first, then he copied out the details of another four people
with various skills from among the ones who weren’t rich. Among them an artist
and a photographer. Artists were often extremely independent and free-minded,
regardless of how much money they had. Good allies. “If I were an artist, I’d
ask Michelle to pose for me,” Isaac fantasized. Yes, artists were often
outsiders, only Isaac couldn’t imagine what use their knowledge could be for
his plans. “But it won’t hurt,” he decided writing out a couple of addresses.

On
the third day he got lucky. A huge firework display was taking place in Monaco,
and Michelle posted two beautiful photos. Isaac didn’t spot them immediately,
but figured out roughly where they had been taken – the girl had been
photographed on the roof of the Hotel Fairmont. It was only a ten minute walk
from here to there he ought to arrive in time. And he did. Michelle and a
girlfriend of hers were sitting there, surrounded by a group of respectably
dressed men. “My God, how sexy she is,” Isaac thought. Pascal would have come
on to someone like that no problem, never mind about the competition. Isaac
couldn’t do that. In his mind he replayed his friend’s way of acting and tried
to tune in to it.

There
wasn’t a single free table anywhere nearby – of course not, with a firework
display like this, everything had been booked in advance. Isaac hesitated for a
moment and stopped not far away from the restroom. It was a hot evening and
there were several bottles of water and champagne standing on her table. Sooner
or later she’d decide to visit the facility and the way out of the restaurant
was right here too, so she couldn’t just disappear.

She
wore an elegant beige cocktail dress, not too revealing, but short enough.
Isaac’s fantasy immediately shortened it even further and he imagined what was
hiding a little bit higher. No watch or bracelets adorned those lovely arms
that were already beautiful and the legs… better not to describe them at all.
Skyscraper legs, with little, sexy knees. This girl was the real deal, for
sure. How lucky she was to be born like this, and not to a poor family too.
Isaac noticed that she drank water, while the men kept competing with each
other to top up her half-empty glass of champagne.

Eventually,
after slightly adjusting her dress, Michelle set off arm-in-arm with her girlfriend,
in the required direction. Sipping on his cocktail, Isaac tried to stand more
naturally but felt too nervous and fidgety. His embarrassment made everything
horribly difficult, he awkwardly tried find a better pose and in the end
disaster struck. In his last and most desperate effort to make himself look as
interesting as possible, he leaned against a door on his elbow, but the door
turned out to be slightly open and swung away from him. Isaac managed to trip
over his own foot, his glass treacherously slipped out of his hands and
shattered with a loud crash. The contents of the glass flew out onto the feet
of Michelle and her girlfriend covering their light-colored shoes with numerous
drops of dark, wet liquid. Isaac felt like finding a hole and crawling into it
and must have looked really frightened, because Michelle gave an enchanting
smile, put her hand on Isaac’s shoulder and said in a gentle voice: “Don’t
worry about it, we’re fine. Just get yourself another cocktail and they’ll
clear this up.”

Thunderstruck,
Isaac broke out in a cold sweat, but Michelle walked away imperturbably to
where she was going. The admirers who had immediately darted across to the
scene of the incident cast glances of contempt at Isaac.

“I’ve
offended their queen!” Isaac thought spitefully. He responded to the final
member of her royal retinue with an expression so bellicose that the groups’
contempt evaporated instantly and he quickly made himself scarce. There you go,
you’re not lounging about on your yachts now. Unlike them, Isaac had experience
of being in real fights, and the final admirer had realized that if he was
pushed just a tiny bit further, he was ready to attack, and to hell with the
consequences.

Michelle’s
party left to go somewhere else, but ten minutes later Isaac got a text from
the Sass: “Michelle’s here!” Fortunately, it wasn’t the entire posse at the
Sass, only Michelle and her girlfriend with a young guy. Isaac perched where
the girl would see him and she looked in his direction several times, but seemed
to look straight through Isaac, without noticing him at all. He obviously
didn’t fall within the range of her interest. If she did recognize him as the
young man who dropped his cocktail and broke the glass, she didn’t give any
sign of it. No matter how hard Isaac glared at her, nothing happened.

“Wrong
choice,” Isaac thought sadly. “But okay, there are still the other candidates.”
Even though he had failed to attract any interest at all, Isaac decided to try
to get acquainted anyway. “After all, this is business,” he thought, psyching
himself up. Concentrating as hard as he could, he convinced himself that not to
approach her would be cowardice and he had nothing to lose. “I’ll finish my
cocktail and walk up to her,” he thought coming up with a way to put things off
for five minutes. Eventually, after gathering all his courage, he put his glass
on the table and set off towards the spot where Michelle was sitting.

 “Excuse
me Michelle, but could I have a couple of words with you?” Isaac said with his
absolutely cutest smile. “I hope you’re not upset, are you, that it was only my
cocktail that fell at your feet, and not me.” The girl failed to appreciate his
humor and looked at him without any particular curiosity. It was obvious that
she had absolutely no interest in getting to know strangers in public places.

“What
do you want? Do you two know each other?” the girl’s male friend asked, coming
to her aid.

“No,
we don’t know each other. My name’s Isaac, and there’s something very important
that I need to say.”

Michelle
shook her head very slightly and her young man continued.

“Isaac,
please have the courtesy to leave us alone. We want to relax; we don’t want to
make any new acquaintances. No one’s angry with you because of the broken
glass.”

“But
it’s very important,” said Isaac, trying to insist.

“If
it’s so important, tell us. I have no secrets from my friends,” Michelle
intervened.

“Well
you see, Michelle, you have a very high creativity, and so do I. And there are
other people like us. People who don’t like COMA,” Isaac rattled off. “And we
can’t just sit back and do nothing. We can do a lot. And you can help to do
it.”

Unfortunately,
Michelle and her companions saw Isaac as nothing more than an overexcited
weirdo who should be given as wide a berth as possible. Michelle’s reflex
response was to lean back on her chair with her arms crossed.

 “Please,”
Isaac entreated her, “let me finish. You’re intelligent, rich and very
beautiful. I can’t manage it on my own, I need your help. I’m not a psycho, I’m
an absolutely normal young guy…an inventor, and I have a high creativity
quotient.”

“And
you broke that cocktail glass very inventively, didn’t you?” Michelle’s male
friend persisted. This was his great chance to protect the beautiful model from
an obnoxious gadfly, and he wanted to milk the opportunity dry.

He
got up off his chair and stood between Isaac and Michelle.

“Please
leave the easy way.”

“And
what if I don’t?” asked Isaac, starting to get angry and immediately regretted
it. His aggression only made Michelle more frightened. A good half of the
restaurant was already watching their table, including the irate manager, the
acquaintance who had sent Isaac the text.

“All
right, I’m sorry. I’m leaving.” Isaac looked at Michelle one last time, she was
so beautiful and so indifferent. She realized she would never make any kind of
ally and was reveling in her own life of admirers and luxury. People like that
would never risk disrupting their own comfortable stability. Michelle didn’t
even seem so very beautiful now. Her alarm had turned her face pale and
slightly drawn. Her charm had evaporated instantly and her eyes peered out
spitefully from under brows. Isaac suddenly smiled. He realized that he was
stronger than many brilliant or rich people. Even in his present condition he
was capable of far more than many of the people around him.

“See
you later, Michelle,” Isaac said with a wave of his hand and walked away with a
confident stride. Maybe his mission had failed, but he felt an incredible rush
of energy at having moved from theory to action.