The Choice (Ukázka, strana 99)

was just a dream, thank God! he sighed inwardly in relief. But not for long.

What had appeared in previous dreams to be a horror film set sometime in the distant future was not so remote now. It was actually carrying on quite seamlessly from what was going on in the world today. For some time he felt himself drowning in the whirlpool of these darkest thoughts. Then he raised his energy level as Kohl had taught him and fell back to sleep.

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2/14 The team

E

liška noticed that Tomáš had recently been feeling down. He wasn’t eating much, and what was more, his face had lost the expression of happiness and a life lived to the full, which had been so typical of him.

‘What’s the matter, dear?’ she asked him over supper.

‘The dreams have come back. Now they’re even worse than they were,’ and he carried on eating. She moved over to him, stroked his back and fell silent.

As Thursday drew closer he felt increasingly insecure about the meeting agreed online. He was not the type to believe in such things. If he had not formed the habit of not changing his mind when he lacked energy he would not have gone. On the Wednesday evening he repleted his energy with a brief meditation. For a while he lost his sense of insecurity and even felt a gentle urge to take part in the meeting. He wanted to get to know these people. Something drew him to them, which also struck him as ridiculous, considering he did not actually know them.

After school he set off for the city centre, where the meeting was to take place. He was walking down a busy street, when he was again beset by doubts: I’ve been taken in by some adolescent online. What a fool I am. I’ve been as naive as a little kid. She is definitely not all there. Or she’s having a good laugh about how gullible I am!

He arrived a little later than he’d expected to, but fortunately it was still a few minutes before three. Following his instructions he took the lift up to the seventh floor and rang at No. 53. A young lady whom he immediately recognized answered the door. It was Naďa, just as she looked in her online photo. Her low neckline struck him immediately. She looked much better

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in the flesh. She smiled at him, showing her marvellous white teeth, turned round and called, ‘We’re all here now!’

The apartment looked pleasant and had a nice fragrance.

There were some ten pairs of shoes in the hallway. Tomáš took his off, noticed a large black-framed mirror and proceeded into the spacious living room, centring round a dark wooden table, on which there was a jug of water and a sign: Help yourself! Several people were sitting around the table in chairs and armchairs. Tomáš did not feel all that good among so many strangers.

Before he managed to say anything, Naďa took the floor.

‘For a long time I have been working towards this meeting today. You have an important task in front of you. You are the strongest group that I have ever put together. The world is collapsing. I feel it in my bones. When you set aside all your prejudices, you will feel it too. Your paths needed to be brought together a little earlier, so you could intercede... Dimitri is at the head of the table as the father of the group. Next to him is Kristýna, who is to be its mother. She has great powers of empathy.

Dimitri knows everything that can be known about this world – nothing has remained concealed from him. Jirka is the one in the blue armchair. He is the manager of a marketing company.

He knows people’s minds and has great powers of persuasion.

Marek is the computer expert. He has the capacity to obtain important information, while also being able to put it together perfectly. He knows how the world today is interconnected, so he understands the ultimate effects if any of his key nodes fail.

Tomáš, who has just arrived, is a teacher. He has overcome several limitations that he has confronted. He can also do that with other people – he is your catalyst.’ At this he felt a pleasant warmth in his back.

Naďa looked each one of them in the eye in turn: ‘Our last team member is Karla, but she could not be with us today, as she is in prison. Her position in the team has not yet

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