The Winner Stands Alone

"On the other hand, if a frog is thrown into a container full of already boiling water, it will jump straight out again, scalded, but alive!"

Olivia doesn't quite see what this has to do with the destruction of the world. Igor goes on:

"I was like that boiled frog. I didn't notice the changes. I thought everything was fine, that the bad things would just go away, that it was just a matter of time. I was ready to die because I lost the most important thing in my life, but, instead of reacting, I sat there bobbing apathetically about in water that was getting hotter by the minute."

Olivia plucks up the courage to ask:

"What did you lose?"

"The truth is I didn't lose anything. Life sometimes separates people so that they can realize how much they mean to each other. For example, last night, I saw my wife with another man. I know she wants to come back to me, that she still loves me, but she's not brave enough to take the first step. Some boiled frogs still think it's obedience that counts, not ability: those who can, lead, and those with any sense, obey. So where's the truth in all this? It's better to emerge from a situation slightly scalded, but alive and ready to act. And I think you can help me in that task."

Olivia tries to imagine what is going through the mind of the man beside her. How could anyone leave such an interesting person, someone who can talk about things she has never even thought about? Then again, there's no logic to love. Despite her youth, she knows that. Her boyfriend, for example, can be quite brutal and sometimes hits her for no reason, and yet she can't bear to be apart from him even for a day.

WHAT EXACTLY WERE THEY TALKING about? About frogs and about how she could help him. She can't help him, of course, so she'd better change the subject.

"And how do you intend to set about destroying the world?"

Igor points to the one free lane on the Boulevard de la Croisette.

"Let's say that I don't want you to go to a party, but I daren't say so openly. If I wait for the rush hour to begin and stop my car in the middle of the road, within ten minutes, the whole of the Boulevard opposite the beach will have come to a standstill. Drivers will think: 'There must have been an accident' and will wait patiently. In fifteen minutes, the police will arrive with a truck to tow the car away."

"That kind of thing is always happening."

"Ah, yes, but I--very carefully and without anyone noticing--will have got out of my car and scattered nails and other sharp objects on the road in front of it. And I will have carefully painted all of these objects black, so that they blend in with the asphalt. As the tow truck approaches, its tires will be punctured. Now we have two problems, and the tailback of traffic will have reached the suburbs of this small city, the very suburbs where you perhaps live."

"You clearly have a very vivid imagination, but you would still only have managed to delay me by about an hour."

It was Igor's turn to smile.

"Oh, I could come up with all kinds of ways of making the situation worse. When people started gathering round to help, for example, I would throw something like a small smoke bomb under the truck. This would frighten everyone. I would get into my car, feigning despair, and start the engine. At the same time, though, I would empty a bit of lighter fluid on the floor of the car and it would ignite. I would then jump out of the car in time to observe the scene: the car gradually going up in flames, the flames reaching the fuel tank, the explosion that would affect the car behind as well, and so on in a chain reaction. And I could achieve all that with a car, a few nails, a smoke bomb that you can buy in a shop, and a small amount of lighter fluid..."

Igor takes from his pocket a small flask containing so

me kind of liquid.

"...about this much. I should have done that when I realized Ewa was about to leave me, to make her postpone her decision and reflect a little and consider the consequences. When people start to reflect on decisions they're trying to make, they usually change their mind--it requires a lot of courage to take certain steps.

"But I was too proud. I thought it was just a temporary move and that she would soon realize her mistake. I'm sure she regrets leaving me and, as I said, wants to come back. But for that to happen I need to destroy a few worlds."

The expression on his face has changed, and Olivia is no longer amused by the story. She gets up.

"Well, I need to do some work."

"But I paid you to listen to me. I paid enough to cover your whole working day."

She puts her hand in her pocket to give him back the money, but at that moment, she sees the pistol pointing at her face.

"Sit down."

Her first impulse is to run. The elderly couple are still slowly approaching.

"Don't run away," he says, as if he could read her thoughts. "I haven't the slightest intention of firing the gun if you'll just sit down again and hear me out. If you don't try anything and do as I say, then I swear I won't shoot."

A series of options pass rapidly through Olivia's head, the first being to run, zigzagging her way across the street, but she realizes that her legs have gone weak.

"Sit down," the man says again. "I won't shoot if you do as you're told. I promise."

Yes, it would be madness on his part to fire that gun on a sunny morning, with cars driving past outside, people going to the beach, the traffic getting heavier by the minute, and more pedestrians walking along the pavement. Best to do as the man says, even if only because she's in no state to do anything else; she's almost fainting.