CHAPTER 2

When Javier arrived at the townhouse of Klaus Panzer he was surprised at the unassuming appearance of the building. It was nice and the neighborhood was appropriate, but the dwelling struck him as just so ordinary when in fact it was the London home of the most powerful man in the world.

After ringing the bell the door opened to reveal a strong looking young man who ushered Javier into the foyer. The man stepped over to a screen to peruse the data which Javier now realized was acquired as he passed through a scanner built into the casing of the front door.  The man nodded and gestured for Javier to move through the door on the opposite side of the room which opened with a soft buzz when he pressed a button.

A sturdy middle aged, Hispanic woman greeted him with a kind smile and a quiet demeanor.

“Please follow me,” she said.

Walking through the townhouse Javier realized that understatement remained outside.  The interior was magnificent. Wide hallways, large rooms, high ceilings and rich furnishings were evident throughout his tour. This was a home that spared no expense to make the place not only comfortable but luxurious and impressive. When they reached Panzer’s office, Javier’s guide stepped to the side of the door and directed him inside.  The office was furnished in oak paneling with a hunter green carpet that softly silenced every footstep. A massive Cherry desk sat three quarters back in the center of the room.  Seated in a large black leather chair was Klaus Panzer with his elbows resting on the arms of the chair and his gaze locked on Javier.

Panzer began, “Your irresponsible handling of the detonation device is reprehensible and absolutely unforgivable,” he shouted. 

Javier, still wincing from the beating he took from Diegert, looked at Panzer with a raised eyebrow over his blackened eye and replied, “I don’t need your forgiveness.”

The boldness of such a statement struck Panzer as hard as the punches that Diegert had landed on Javier.  

Incensed Panzer began, “How dare you…” Javier interrupted, “Your plan is foolish, outdated and unnecessarily destructive.  We can achieve your aims without destroying the country and economy you seek to overtake.  Economic warfare need not be fought with bombs.”

Panzer’s anger simmered, he did not expect Javier to stand up to him.  He countered, “You’re responsible for the biggest failure Crepusculous has ever suffered, what is your plan to rectify this?”

Javier felt the heat. He knew the power of Panzer and the damage he could do, but he had studied enough economics to realize the power of money depended on faith. A collective belief in the perceived value of an otherwise worthless commodity.  Sea shells, gold coins, wooden nickels, paper bills, all of them only worth the value humans agree they represent.  Lose that faith and they suddenly all become the worthless junk that they really are. Facing Panzer he said, “We destroy the belief in the dollar by eliminating it as the world’s reserve currency.”

Panzer looked at the young man with an incredulous glare, “What?”

“I said, destroying faith in the dollar as the world’s reserve currency will allow us to eliminate it.”

Panzer contorted his face in confusion. He needed more information. Speaking slowly, his anger defused as his curiosity rose.  “How do you propose we do that?”

“We do not attack the dollar from within the US but rather from the outside.  The whole world has faith in the US dollar, if we undermine that faith from outside the US, the dollar’s status as reliable money is threatened throughout the world.”

With his gaze now turning thoughtful Panzer said, “Yes, but how do you propose to make this happen?”

“World commodities are traded in dollars, oil, food, raw materials necessary for manufacturing the products people use every day. The price for all these things is determined worldwide by the US dollar. This forces purchasers to buy essentials with dollars or use their own currencies at the dollar exchange rate.”

Panzer nodded as he waited for more.

Javier continued, “This type of power has nothing to do with the US Government.  It is not a US policy that dictates faith. It’s market driven. It could just as well be Zimbabwe dollars.”

Panzer frowned.

“Ok, not Zimbabwe, but it could be Digival.  The fact that Omnisphere has already introduced Digival as a cryptocurrency gives us an opportunity to use it on a global scale for international trade.”

“You’re suggesting expanding Digival,” Panzer observed.

“Yes, let’s start with oil. If oil was traded worldwide in Digival rather than dollars, all the business of buying and selling oil would convert to Digival.  Companies purchasing oil would have to convert their currencies to Digival. The discussion in the media would mention Digival everyday as the price of a barrel of oil was reported as having gone up or down.”

Panzer folded his arms and leaned back in his chair.

Javier worked to be as convincing as possible, “Being a global corporate currency, its value is not tied to the political winds of a government. This will make its value much more stable and the purchasing power of the currency will be universal. Oh sure, a bar of soap in Tangiers, Zurich and Chicago would be a different price in each city, but you could make purchases wherever you are with Digival.” 

Getting excited Javier went on, “Right on the heels of oil we go after the trade of agricultural products. Food would be traded in Digival. Every banana, side of beef and bushel of wheat would be priced in Digival.  We can do this because we’re so big.  Omnisphere companies purchase so much while at the same time we are also the ones from whom these purchases are made.  It was you who quietly orchestrated the ownership of both ends of the market. Owning the entire supply chain from the sprout out of the ground, to the bread on the table, to the garbage disposal in the sink and the waste water treatment plant.” 

Panzer looked at Javier with surprise.  A realization that the answer to his problem was right there in front of him all the time and he just didn’t see it.  Panzer leaned forward, his contemplative gaze was accompanied by thoughtful silence.

After a moment Javier leaned in saying, “We have to get people to have more faith in Digival than the dollar.”

A devious smile spread across Panzer’s lips. On his right hand he extended two fingers. “We must approach this from both a practical and an emotional side. We must convince financial people and everybody else. We must sell Digival as an independent valuable currency, fully supported by a known and trusted corporate entity.  Then we must scare the hell out of people, so they think they are going to lose everything they have invested in the dollar. Digival will be the salvation for their emotional need to have faith in the value of a currency. The designated worthless stuff won’t even be stuff anymore, it’ll be numbers on a screen.”

Javier’s smile matched that of Panzer and they shared a moment of mutual clarity about their goal; owning the world’s currency.

“The first may be more difficult than the second,” said the younger man.

Nodding, Panzer offered, “Yes, but the fact that Digival is already launched is in our favor.  We’ve had articles in the Financial Times, Barron’s and the Kiplinger Report all supporting Digival.  Our CEO, Abaya Patel, met with her counterpart in Goldman-Sachs and got them to invest. Their actions will prompt the other big investment banks.  Owning and operating so many of the smaller banks already gives us the capacity to get them to recognize Digival. Abaya has an upcoming meeting with Head of the Federal Reserve.”

“Excellent,” said Javier, “that begins to address the practical side.”

 “Yes,” said Panzer, “but do you really think people will have faith in what will essentially be a worldwide company store?”

“If we show them that we are serious about sharing the wealth, I think they will.  Right now people think we are selfish, untrustworthy and greedy.  And in many cases they’re right. But if we show generosity and appreciation by making their financial lives better they will believe what they experience.” 

The words Javier spoke clearly made Panzer uncomfortable. “Just what are you proposing?”

“I’m not exactly sure of the means, but we should give people Digival for free so that they can spend it in our stores and on our products so that their lives are better because of Digival.”

 Panzer’s eyes narrowed.  Javier went on. “We must make using Digival a positive experience that will surprise and delight them. Digival will be a reward, easily earned for doing things everyone has to do anyway.  If it has a real positive impact on people’s lives they will gladly embrace it.  You can’t force faith, you have to build it.”

Panzer sat in silence, but the look on his face drew Javier closer.

With a sweep of his hand across the room Javier said, “Living here as you do, with the luxury of all your power I think you may not realize how difficult it is for most people to get enough money to live on. They experience the economic anxiety of insufficient funds each and every day. They look at us and they get angry at our ostentation lives.  If we spun that on them and gave them Digival with which they could buy whatever they need or want, and made it clear to them that we are sharing the wealth we possess, we can shape that narrative to our advantage.”

Panzer’s face showed the strain of letting this concept into his thoughts, “Are you suggesting that we give away, not just a little Digival to wet their appetites, but enough to feed a whole family?”

“Not only feed them, clothe them, educate and entertain them. If our goal is get them to use our currency for all purchases then we must provide for them everything they need.”

“Well then where is the profit?”

Javier paused, titled his head and focused his eyes on Panzer. “If you own all the currency, there is no profit. You must have recognized that.”

Panzer’s brow furrowed and he rubbed his forehead with his fingers.

Javier spoke softly, “The goal of owning the world’s currency is to already have all the money. There is no more money for you to earn and own. The real prize is the power that comes from owning all the money.” 

Javier paused and looked at Panzer who now held his bowed head in his hands. “Did you lose sight of that?” Javier asked as gently as he could.

“I suppose I did,” said Panzer in a moment of uncommon self-disclosure. “I find it hard to separate power and money.”

“Yes, but that is exactly what you will do when the dollar is replaced with Digival.  The dollar is what gives the US its economic dominance in the world. They are not going to give that up easily. We have to steal it from them by giving people an alternative that provides greater benefits.”

“It’s going to be expensive.”

“Yes it is, but in the end we will own it all.  We have the resources to span the time it will take for this transition, but once it happens we will own everything.”

Panzer’s worry dissipated and his look of confidence returned as he said, “This is truly extraordinary, I’ve got some additional ideas about tanking the dollar.”

“Hopefully ones that do not involve blowing up the US,” replied Javier.

“No they are financial bombs which will force the government to abandon the dollar. Like you said, once the US is no longer using their own currency the dollar will be doomed.”

Checking the time on his mobile Panzer continued, “I’m glad this meeting turned out as it did. It’s late and I’ve got more meetings tomorrow, but I suggest you see Dr. Zeidler in the LPU Medical Center. She’s got some stuff that will help you heal from your beating.”

Javier bristled as the mention of his injuries, reading his face Panzer went on, “Just to have survived a fight with David Diegert is an accomplishment. Now don’t be belligerent, I want you healed up quickly. Go see Dr. Zeidler.” 

Before retiring for the night, Abaya Patel checked her e-mail one last time.  As CEO of Omnisphere there were always issues for her to address. To manage the volume of communications she had an e-mail filter that tiered the messages into three levels of importance.  Before heading to bed she would check only the ones grouped into the critical category.

As an Indian woman in charge of the world’s largest corporation she knew she was a target of not only the ‘Ole Boys’ network of white executives, but also those with extremist views who felt she was violating tradition by holding such a lofty position and not putting her family first in her life.  She had to be very careful how she conducted herself and her security was a daily ordeal. 

The e-mail she opened was from the Omnisphere Office of Technical Security. Tech Sec, as it was known, was vigilant and determined to protect the electronic assets and communication networks of Omnisphere.  The constant threats were addressed around the clock and cyber security was a primary budget item that was never denied. 

Jeff Kindler was a hands on kind of manager. Being in charge of everything, he always had his butt in a chair and his fingers on a keyboard.   Jeff had written to Abaya to alert her to an intrusion into the data storage servers. He was concerned because his initial assessments revealed that the intruder was using an internal computer.  The hacker though was clever enough to see that he was discovered and quickly hid his traces.  Jeff didn’t feel that any harm had been done, but he wanted Abaya to know because this type of intrusion was very rare and the hacker’s ability to escape detection was very sophisticated.

Abaya wrote back:  Thank you for keeping me informed. Please keep me apprised of your progress. I want you to identify this hacker and get him to reveal himself before we shut him down.  Set a trap and catch this clever devil.  Thank you.

Good night,

Abaya