The bank manager arrived at 9:35 am. Far sooner than the woman had implied. He was an older gentleman in his upper 50’s with immaculate white hair and an expensive suit. He sported an unusually thin black tie with a complicated knot that seemed contrary for his age bracket. He was thin and fit. He wore black shoes that were well worn and taken care of. Any blemish that they had was disguised with shoe polish and care. He rounded the corner from behind the gate and made his way to the two young men. His alert eyes took in the scene at once as he made his way over to Mike to shake his hand by way of introductions.
“My name is mister Stanley.” he said as he offered his hand first to Mike, and then to Lane.
The men introduced themselves with the common pleasantries as mister Stanley was surveying the area as if he was looking for something, or someone who was missing.
Lane followed his gaze as he looked around the room. It made mister Stanley nervous, and he focused his attention on the tiny metal book in Mikes other hand.
“What are you looking for mister Stanley?” Lane asked incredulously. “Never seen the waiting area before?”
The older gentleman put a keen focus on Lane’s eyes and gave him an assessing look. It was Lane’s turn to feel uncomfortable.
“I was expecting...” he started but then cut himself off. “This box is in the oldest part of the vault. I expected that you would be much older. May I see your key?”
Mike began digging in his pocket, retrieved the key and displayed it to mister Stanley. When mister Stanley reached for the key Lane moved to stall his movements and Mike pulled it away.
“Let’s get you to this box then. I’m sure you are anxious to be on your way.”
“Anxious, but wary.” Lane added as they walked through the cage-type door into the back and the vault door into the basement of the building.
There was another vault door that mister Stanley approached and started spinning the dial to enter the combination. It had 7 numbers in this combo, and it didn’t open the first time mister Stanley tried it.
“We don’t often get into this part of the vault.” mister Stanley offered by way of an excuse.
When the combo was entered correctly the large latch handle clicked, and it took all of the old gentleman's weight to get it to move. All three of the men were needed to get the door to swing on the gigantic hinges. Lane was certain that it would take more than the people present to shut the door with them in the room, but there was an oak door prop that was placed in the threshold that eased his mind.
They stepped inside and found the right box. Mister Stanley put his old key in his side of the lock as Mike put his key in the other. They spun their keys simultaneously, and mister Stanley turned his key the rest of the way around another full turn and removed his key and replaced it in his pocket.
“Should you require some assistance, it will be provided for you. Don’t hesitate to ask.” mister Stanley said as he spun on his heel and left the room.
Mike slapped his hands together and rubbed them like a little kid, or a guy in a movie that was expecting a big prize. Then he opened the door, slid out the heavy box, and opened it.
The box was twelve inches tall, twelve inches wide, and 24 inches deep. When the hinged top was lifted it exposed fat stacks of cash beneath a very large leather-bound book with a brass clasp on it. The leather was grey, thick, and embossed with glyphs similar to the ones on the columns in the waiting area.
Mike smoothed the leather with his hand. It was rigid as if it was reinforced with plywood. The leatherwork seemed to be pressed in place, and not cut. Mike pulled it out of the box with reverence as if it was some sort of holy artifact. His attention was fixed to the ancient book as he turned and sat on one of the low benches in the vault. Lane’s attention was on the money. It looked fake. It was neatly stacked in the box in wraps that told the amount in each stack. There were 2 stacks that read fifty thousand dollars on them. The rest of the stacks each said ten thousand dollars. The funny-looking money was old. Lane was surprised to find that the money was entirely made up of silver certificates. He wondered if it was possible to exchange the money for money they could use.
“These are silver certificates.” Lane informed Mike. He wondered how Mike could be more interested in the book than the cash, but he could hardly tear his eyes away.
“Is it money?” Mike asked as he absently took fifty K from the box and flipped through it. It was made up from a stack of one hundred $500 bills which they don’t make anymore, or at least most people have never seen one.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
“It was money, a long time ago. I don’t know if you can use it these days. We might have to get a collector to buy it off us or something.” Lane explained.
“Well go get mister Stanley. He’s a money man. He will know what our options are.” Mike instructed.
“I don’t trust him.” Lane explained.
Mike gave him a calming look. “Well start trusting him. Did you think we were just going to walk in here brandishing that key and walk out with a million dollars?”
Lane pondered his words for a minute before heading out and up the stairs. Mister Stanley was waiting at the threshold of the stairs.
“Can I help you?” mister Stanley asked.
“Yeah. What options might we have if the money in the box is silver certificates?” Lane asked.
The old gentleman started stewing on the question as he tried to think of a solution. Lane offered to have him come with him to assess the situation and recommend a solution to the problem.
Mister Stanley looked embarrassed by the invitation, but he went into the vault to see what was up. He looked at the big book and his eyes went wide.
“You are him.” Stanly said. “You are the one we have been waiting for. How did you get that key?”
“I won it in a contest.” Mike said.
“How?”
“I found the hidden text and deciphered the code.” Mike continued.
“So, you have the vision.” Stanly continued. He went to shake Mike’s hand again, but this time he pulled back just a little and gripped the first knuckle of his forefinger between his thumb and the tip of his own forefinger. Once he did, he looked into Mike’s eyes and narrowed his eyes in concentration. Mental images began to flood Mikes mind causing him to get dizzy. He pulled his hand from the older man's grasp and shook his head to clear it. It was like a Vulcan mind meld.
Stanly apologized for the intrusion before Mike gained his thoughts.
“What the... What was that?” Mike asked as Lane moved between the two men.
There was a long pause as the men stared each other down. Mike pulled out the little metal book and showed it to Stanley, but mister Stanley was slow to take his eyes off Lane.
“You would make an excellent protector.” mister Stanley said before turning his gaze toward the book. He guessed Mikes unasked question.
“No, I can’t see the text in that book, and only part of the big leather one. You are the first person in many decades to be able to see the entire text.”
Stanley didn’t even look at the money. He moved around and sat on the low bench next to Mike.
“How did the seeker find you?” he asked.
Lane and Mike exchanged looks before Lane sat on the other side of Stanley. Mike opened the big leather book up and set it on mister Stanley’s lap. There were impressions from writing on the vellum pages, but they were faint. The book was very old. The old gentleman pointed out some writings and drawings on the page, but only Mike and he could see them. Lane was left out of the club. The genetic lottery had taken his money and he had lost.
“How old are you?” Lane asked as the other two men exchanged their secret codes in a secret text.
“Old.” mister Stanley admitted. “I have been the keeper of this knowledge for nearly one hundred thirty years. I share the obligation with another. We trade off occasionally as time passes and we remain unchanged.”
“Excuse me?” Lane wondered. “That isn’t possible.”
“All things are possible Lane. Your world is expanding faster than you can grasp. The wheels have been set into motion now. There will be no stopping the progression of events.” mister Stanley whispered as if there were people trying to listen in on his conversation. “You need to figure out your place in the annuls of time. Although you don’t have the vision, you are a key to the progression of events that will fundamentally change our world, and many of the worlds around us.”
His smooth tones and soft speech exuded confidence that helped Lane to keep his mind together.
“So how do I turn that cash into money?” Mike asked at last causing the others to laugh.
“I can work that out for you.” mister Stanley admitted. “We have good financial backing. But we are going to need outside help.”
Mike put some of the money, and the big leather book into his bag. When he was nearing the bottom of the box, he found a page at the bottom with a message written on it. Unlike the other texts, this one was written with normal ink. It was written in calligraphy.
Congratulations for having full vision. You were selected to be the representative of this system. An effort has been made to deliver four packages of great worth for you to use to bring about the biggest change in history. In five days hence there will be a delivery sent for you to bring these changes about. They will be delivered to the western foothills of Mount Olympus at precisely 12:05 am MST five days from today. It is imperative that you are the representative that receives this delivery. Our intentions are good. You must proclaim this message to the masses that they may see that this is a legitimate claim and aid you in your future endeavors. Please do not shirk these responsibilities. This is the key to the future of our system.
“W T F?” Lane said as Mike finished reading the message aloud.
Mister Stanly stood and walked to the vault door before doing a slow face palm. He turned around to face the other men. “I need to arrange for you to get some funds. And you need to contact the media with this message. A prophecy is only effective if it is given before it is fulfilled.”
“A prophecy?” Lane asked. “When was that note put in that box? There is no way that can come true. How can we go off these instructions? We will look like idiots.”
“The note was put in there before WWI. It is true. Higher powers are at stake than you can possibly imagine. And yes, we will look like idiots. At least until the prophecy comes true.” mister Stanley replied.
Lane watched mister Stanley give his answers to his list of responses. It was all just so incredible that he couldn’t take it seriously.
“How?” Lane started again and then a long pause as he screwed up his face trying to grasp how any of this could be possible. “How could it have been put in there more than a hundred years ago? And if it was, how could it be true? Is somebody watching this place? Somebody who knows that we had the key?”
Mikes head was swiveling back and forth like someone watching a tennis match. He was the one in the middle of it, but he seemed disconnected somehow.
“I’ll do it.” Mike exclaimed suddenly. “I’ll tell the world about it and look like a fool. But before I do that, I want some of my million dollars.”