The Road to Armageddon

By Clabe Polk

"THE BISHOP FAMILY: WANTED DEAD OR ALIVE FOR INSURRECTION AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT" reads the poster spread far and wide by International Financial Services.

Mark Bishop is a family man with a wife, a teen-aged son and too much month left when the money runs out. He needs financial resources. International Financial Services (IFS) can offer him those resources, but there's a catch.

Ken Clifford, IFS manager for the Americas, has a psychological obsession. It doesn’t matter what he has to do or who he has to hurt, he will control his domain. Clifford loathes people like Mark Bishop who defy his authority.

Ken Clifford's boss, Gerhardt Schmidt (the Antichrist), known in financial circles as “The Cardinal”, is CEO of IFS. Schmidt is commanded by Satan, "The Serpent", whose mission is control of every human being on Earth. The supply of every conceivable essential resource is rationed by IFS.

Impossible? Mark Bishop thought so.

Now, Mark and his family are prey. Homeless and hungry, they are caught in the world-wide struggle of good versus evil leading to the Battle of Armageddon. Can they, or any human, survive treachery, hostility, slavery, natural disasters, disease, and starvation?

Will Clifford successfully take the Bishop family 'dead or alive' to satisfy his ego and ensure obedience at any cost?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clabe Polk
• Release date: May 1, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370169771

Clabe Polk

CLABE POLK is into a second career as a writer of fiction. So far, he has written four novels, three novellas, several short stories, and has a couple of other novels in process. He is a lifelong reader with a great variety of life experience.With a background in biology and natural sciences, Mr. Polk has more than thirty-seven years in professional environmental protection program management and law enforcement.He lives in Powder Springs, Georgia with his wife, two daughters, and the family’s Cockapoo named Annie.

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Road to Armageddon

By

Clabe Polk

Published by Clabe R. Polk

Powder Springs, GA

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Road to Armageddon is entirely a work of fiction. All events, characters, actions and events are products of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual events, activities, locations, organizations, or persons either living or dead are purely coincidental. Locations and organizations are sometimes used in a fictitious manner to establish conditions, setting, and orientation for the story, however, these locations and organizations have no actual association with events in the story.

Copyright © 2017 by Clabe R. Polk. All rights reserved.

Except as permitted by the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976 (Title 17, United States Code, as amended), no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or information retrieval system without the written permission of the author.

Dedication

This book is dedicated to those who have not been saved by God’s Grace.

Romans 3:23, King James Version:

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

Romans 6:23, King James Version:

"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through

Jesus Christ our Lord."

John 3:16, King James Version:

"For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son,

that whosoever should believeth on him should not perish but have everlasting life."

John 14: 6, King James Version:

Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

John 11:25, King James Version:

"Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he

that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:"

The world, as we know it, shall pass away. The opportunity awaits; the door is open.

Revelations 3:20, King James Version:

"Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.

Will you walk through the door?

Acknowledgements

Special Thanks are due Felicia Tiller-Sullivan whose hard work and superb editing contributions are gratefully acknowledged. http://indie-editor.webs.com/

Table of Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgements

Forward

Part 1 - The Marking of Mark

Part 2 - And Now…We Run!

Part 3 - Dawning Nightmare

Part 4 - Signs of the Times

Part 5 - Long Train to Nowhere

Part 6 - Twelve Hundred Days

Part 7 - The End of the Beginning

Part 8 - The Beginning of the End

Part 9 - Times are Changin’

Closing Thoughts

About the Author

Other Books by the Same Author

Forward

Road to Armageddon is a novel; a work of fiction. It is not a work of detailed ecclesiastical research based on deep and obscure biblical texts. It is not an original interpretation of newly discovered ancient scrolls or in any other manner a work of academic or ecclesiastical importance.

It is, rather, a story of apocalypse. It is a fictional look at the Great Tribulation as revealed by John in the Book of Revelation, partially from the perspective of an initially non-Christian family and partially from the perspective of all too human bad guys overcome by Satan’s influence. It is written by a Christian author with the purpose of invoking thought about the future of mankind and God’s Plan of Salvation.

The book does not include the rapture of the Church, the timing of which is controversial among biblical scholars. However, the main reason is this story deals with non-Christians who experience the Tribulation and those who are called to minister to them.

Although supernatural forces manifest in this story, Road to Armageddon is less concerned with supernatural forces than with the idea that mankind is inherently evil and easily influenced by external evil. One main theme is that mankind possesses the technological seeds of his own destruction and that the ethical and moral climate restraining the use of technology is the only leash preventing tribulation. The story borrows heavily from Jeremiah 17: 9-10, The heart (of man) is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked, who can know it?

The second main theme is that of natural disasters. Jesus describes the signs of the end times in Matthew 24. Beginning with Verse 6, …wars and rumors of wars… and Verse 7, …nation shall rise against nation… There have been more than four hundred named wars and hundreds more border skirmishes and police actions since the time of the apostles, but wars have become more frequent and vastly more destructive of human life than they have been throughout previous history. The increasing incidence and severity of warfare led to ever increasing numbers of refugees starved for food and medical care. Conditions in refugee camps are conducive to contagious diseases, but are not the only source of such illnesses. Worldwide fears of pandemics, of new influenza strains, SARS and other illnesses threaten to repeat the destruction of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic that killed up to a hundred million worldwide are common. The speed disease carriers can travel by jet aircraft, the ability of viruses to mutate and become new disease organisms, the lack of direct treatment methods for virus diseases, and the increasing resistance of microorganisms to antibiotics help fuel the fear of worldwide pandemics.

Likewise, volcano and earthquake seismic activities have increased since 2000. Although here has only been a slight (not statistically significant) increase in strong earthquakes in this century, seismic events in general have become more frequent

According to NASA, the strength of the South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly, the weakest point in the Earth’s magnetosphere, is at its lowest recorded strength. Protecting us from damaging cosmic rays, the weakening of this field potentially subjects us to their damaging effects. Geologic evidence suggests that a weakened magnetic field may indicate a potential magnetic pole reversal. Such reversals have previously occurred in Earth’s geologic record, however, the physical and ecological effects of such a reversal are largely unknown.

Solar flares (sun spots) occur in cycles of relative strength, flooding the Earth with electromagnetic radiation. Twenty-four solar flare cycles have been recorded since 1755. During maximum solar flare activity the Earth’s magnetosphere protects us from cosmic radiation and magnetic storm events such as electromagnetic pulses (EMPs), which destroy the integrity of radio signals and electrical and electronic equipment. Modern dependency on GPS navigation, radar, electronic communication, and equipment and processes controlled by computers and solid-state electronic circuit boards are at risk, including our electrical grid itself.

We are in a relatively calm period now, however, the world was not yet dependent on electronics in 1859 when a strong solar flare knocked out telegraphs and caused atmospheric auroras worldwide. A solar flare that occurred in 2012 was reportedly of similar magnitude, but missed the Earth. No one knows the impact on electronic communications and navigation a direct hit would have caused.

More than five thousand known comets circle the sun and more are discovered daily. Composed of ice, most of these are on long elliptical orbits that bring them near Earth at regular intervals ranging from thousands of years to every three years or so. Most are small and the debris from some account for meteorites or shooting stars seen from the ground.

A comet’s orbit around the sun must either lie in the Earth’s plain of rotation (rare), or cross it twice each time it circles the sun. Each crossing of Earth’s orbit produces a statistical probability that Earth and the comet will collide, or be in close enough proximity for the Earth’s gravity to modify the comet’s orbit. The probability of an individual comet striking the Earth (or the Earth striking it) on any particular pass of the Earth’s orbit is low, but multiplied by two chances per orbit, multiplied again by the number of known comets and considering some comets have short rotational periods of only a few years, the probability of a collision increases significantly.

Many asteroids and meteors are also locked into orbits around the sun and they also cross the Earth’s plane of rotation periodically, further increasing the chances of a collision, this time with a body that can be of any size from dust to planet sized, composed of nickel and iron, rock, or even ice.

Finally, comets and asteroids cross each other’s orbital paths, providing an opportunity for collisions between them that could result in debris in differing orbits, some of which may have a chance of being captured by the Earth’s gravitational field, entering a decaying orbit and eventually the Earth’s atmosphere.

Most scientists agree Earth will receive large meteorite, asteroid, or comet strikes as time goes on, some of which could easily be human extinction level events. In Tunguska, Siberia, in 1908, an apparent air-burst of an enormous meteorite or comet laid waste to hundreds of square miles of Siberian wilderness. A similar air-burst occurred in the late 1940s in the Sikhote-Alin Mountains of Russia. This meteorite, estimated at fifty-one thousand pounds, blew up approximately three and a half miles above the Earth. In 2013 in Chelyabinsk, Siberia, an air-burst estimated to be twenty-nine times stronger than Hiroshima occurred when a rocky asteroid exploded an estimated fifty miles high in the atmosphere.

We think in terms of asteroids, meteors, and comets hitting the Earth as though the Earth stands still in the street like a pedestrian waiting for a car to hit him. That could happen if the object’s velocity is enough higher than the Earth’s or if the Earth’s gravity captures it. However, the Earth can also collide with such objects much as a runner in the street could run into a car in his path. An example of this are the Perseid Meteors seen every year in August. The Perseids are remnants of the tail of the Swift-Tuttle comet aligned closely enough with the Earth’s orbit to be encountered the same time each year. The Swift-Tuttle Comet itself has an average rotational period of approximately one hundred thirty years and last returned in 1992. Its nucleus is about six miles in diameter, large enough that a direct impact on Earth would be expected to cause a worldwide extinction level event. In contrast, Schwassmann-Wachmann 1, the comet chosen for this story, has a nucleus of approximately twenty miles; about three and half times the size of Swift-Tuttle. A collision with Schwassmann-Wachmann 1 would be a potential Earth extinction event, not just a human extinction event.

Persecution of Christians (Verse 9) is widespread in the world. It has been reported that as many as one hundred thousand Christians are killed each year because of their faith, predominantly in Islamic countries.

Never before in history have more people been ‘offended’ (Verse 10) by more ‘issues’. Particularly disturbing is the growing attitude of offense toward Christian beliefs in America. Founded largely by Christians escaping religious persecution in Europe, America’s dedication to religious freedom where all can chose their spiritual path and to the separation of church and state prevented the abuse of religious freedom by government. Now, Christians are losing the ability to freely pursue their beliefs in a country where they originally championed religious freedom in the face of political pressure by the ‘offended’. But it’s not just the United States; the persecution of those adhering to Christian values is worldwide. As Sir John Dalberg-Acton observed in 1887, Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

False prophets (Verse 11) and iniquity (Verse 12) abound. False prophets are everywhere; cults, street corners, even in mainstream religions. 1 John 4:1 tells us Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. Few call the prevailing social, advertising, and business climates in the western world ‘iniquity’, but by biblical standards they could define the term. Matthew 24:12 says this about iniquity: And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. That paints an accurate portrait of our world in its current state.

How conceivable is it that governments would surrender control of their economy to a corporation like International Financial Services (IFS)? Economic power is the hallmark of every government, and privatization of government services is a politically popular concept, so it’s definitely within possibility. Giant western industrial corporations are believed by many to have maintained business relations with the Nazis during World War II through subsidiaries and other means. Such acts are considered by them to be ‘business’ rising above national interests rather than ‘treason’. To them, their business interests were more important that the interests of the population at large. Apparently the U.S. government agrees. However, such complicity argues strongly that economic forces are potent drivers of both governments and businesses to take extraordinary, and even unethical or immoral steps to protect their power and economic interests, up to and including the possibility of privatizing their functions through a multi-national corporation such as IFS.

In Road to Armageddon, implanted Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) chips are used as a means of social control. Through them an individual can be traced and located, even punished. This technology exists now, and has potential for abuse. The use of RFID chips and other technologies is dependent upon the ethical and moral standards of commercial markets and the governments that promote them.

In the story, the military is turned against the American people to enforce a political and economic agenda of control through systematic starvation. Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) monitor domestic populations, especially non-compliers who can be identified by their lack of RFID chips. Individuals with chips can be tracked and identified from the air for whatever purpose the government wishes.

Conventional Hellfire missiles are laser guided by soldiers on the ground and used as armaments for Reaper and Predator UAVs. A self-guided variant of Hellfire is used with AH-64 Apache Longbow helicopters and it is not difficult to imagine its inclusion in the suite of UAV armaments. Reaper and Predator UAVs could become important surveillance and interdiction weapons of a police state such as that envisioned in Road to Armageddon.

Department of Defense Directive 3025.18 allows the military to take armed actions against U.S. citizens when requested by local law enforcement agencies when confrontation is reasonably expected. DODD 3025.18 prohibits the use of UAVs in these situations unless specifically authorized by the Secretary of Defense. Knowing that the use of UAVs against American citizens upon request of local authorities rests on a decision by a single politically appointed cabinet member is disconcerting. The die has been cast for military intervention against U.S. citizens, and Road to Armageddon is a story built on subverting this type of authority.

Road to Armageddon is told in nine parts. Nine is the number of divine completion; finality and, according to some, it is the number of the Holy Spirit. It is the number of choruses of angels, the number of the gifts of the spirit, the numerological symbol of a completed cycle, and has many other correspondences in many different belief systems, all seemingly symbolizing completion or a finished product. It seemed fitting to tell Road to Armageddon in nine parts as well.

Clabe Polk

March 20, 2017

Part 1

The Marking of Mark

Mark Bishop cursed as he fought his way through the snow. A man of average height and weight, he moved with a decisiveness that he didn’t feel, his face a mask of confusion and trepidation as though he’d hit a tennis ball into the world and wasn’t sure he could deal with the return.

He was pissed. His day couldn’t have gone worse at work. Making a serious mistake with a customer had gotten him an equally serious ass-chewing from his boss, and for the umpteenth time, his bank account was overdrawn. Never mind that he had put money in it earlier, also for the umpteenth time. And never mind the snow that fell this afternoon and the warming temperatures that were turning it to slush soaking his shoes. Mark chewed on his foul mood as he sloshed his way home through wet streets, where even his footprints, like his cash, lasted less than two seconds. His dark mood was illuminated by the stark flashing lights of billboards atop the buildings lining the streets with every type of advertising he could imagine. The glare reflected from the wet sidewalk, aggravating the headache beginning to pound in his temples.

More ways, he imagined them to say, to separate Mark from his hard earned money. Promising fun, sexy adventures, expensive clothes, financial services, and cigarettes, to Mark, the billboards were just a depressing part of the landscape, like the bricks, the curbs, the gutters, and occasional passing cars.

As he turned a corner, he spied a new billboard advertising International Financial Services; IFS for short. He didn’t know them but he’d seen a lot of their advertising recently.

He shrugged mentally. He didn’t have enough money to worry about banks. Instead, he worried whether or not he would have enough money to pay his credit card bills each month. He didn’t need help managing his money, he just needed more money to manage.

I don’t think International Financial Services will help me fix that!

Hence, giving the International Financial Services billboard only passing interest, he continued his long, wet walk home. Shoes soaked, he turned into his street and hurried up the steps of his apartment building and checked the mailbox, almost slipping on some still unmelted ice as he pushed open the door.

I’m home! he called to his wife Carla, slamming the door in the face of the weather and tossing the mail on the hall table.

Hey, Mark. I’m glad you’re home, Carla called. Spaghetti will be ready in a few minutes. Call Brian and get him washed up for dinner.

Hey Brian, come on down for dinner! Mark called up the stairs.

Carla, a tall, slender woman with dark hair, sparkling eyes, and an ebullient manner, came into the hall and kissed him. Hi, honey. How was your day?

Nothing much…yours?

Same ol’ same ol’. Four potential weddings come in for proposals today.

Wow, Elise’s business is doing well. I wish you were a partner instead of an employee.

You and me both.

Brian, six feet of seventeen year-old high school running back, bounded downstairs in three jumps.

Mark was thumbing through the mail, wondering what International Financial Services had sent him in a large envelope. He walked to the dining room and tossed the envelope on his desk, making a mental note to open it after dinner.

Hey Dad, Brian greeted him from the dining room. Man, we got into it in economics class today. All about the totally awesome business strategies being used to manipulate financial markets. It’s like a single company is beginning to dominate everything. I don’t know if they’re strong, smart, or what, but nobody can compete with them anymore. I wish we could come up with a strategy like that!

Oh, I hadn’t heard that. Who is it?

International Financial Services.

Mark looked up at Brian. Oh, I had never heard of them until recently, but at the rate they’re advertising they must be trying to wiggle into everything. What did your teacher say about them?

Not much, but they’re getting stronger every day.

***

After dinner, when Brian got up from the table to go do his homework, Carla said, On the news today, they said that the International Financial CEO was the former head of the World Bank and that he has tied IFS and the World Bank so closely together that they are beginning to look like one organization. I think his name was Schmidt or something like that. I think they said he was German.

Yeah, I remember reading something about that in some economist’s blog we read for class a few weeks ago, Brian said. Gerhardt Schmidt? Yeah, I think that was it.

Well that’s all very interesting, Mark said, but you have homework and I have some things to do before bedtime.

***

Later that evening, Mark sat at his desk; his mind whirling. He could no longer deny having financial problems. He opened some of the endless bills from the stack of mail on his desk, but they only made him feel worse.

My life! A living example of too much month at the end of the money, he thought grimly.

He sat and stared at the envelope from IFS until curiosity won the seesaw of questions racing through his mind, most of which didn’t have answers. Maybe the envelope held a few. He opened it.

At first glance it was normal bank advertising, full-color brochures advertising every financial service under the sun. However, there were two representative credit cards enclosed. Concerned that these were just two more credit cards for which he had been pre-approved, he decided to shred them. Banks and credit card companies did that all the time. Was it good business to extend credit to those who couldn’t afford the credit they already had? He tossed them into the shredder.

Reading the brochure, he found that IFS offered a financial management system. Maybe that would make my life easier he thought. Starting with a bank account to which a credit card was attached, then a line of credit. The interest rates looked reasonable to Mark, but he was looking for better circumstances so a lot of things looked good to him. He decided that he would go tomorrow to IFS and open an account.

His mind made up, he went to bed. Unfortunately, sleep eluded him. Three hours later, when he finally fell asleep, the hope that IFS could help him somehow was still playing in his mind.

***

Carla’s elbow in his ribs woke him. Wake up, sleepyhead. You slept through the alarm and you’re going to be late for work!

Like a zombie, Mark crawled to the sink, shaved, and then stumbled through his shower, grabbing a cup of coffee on his way out the door. The weather had cleared. It was warmer and only partly cloudy. The snow was gone, along with the treacherous lingering ice in the shadows. There was something dishonest about ice lingering in the shadows; invisible traps for broken legs and ankles. Mark jogged through it, not looking, seeing, or caring, thankful that he made it to work on time without broken bones. Praying there would be no repeat of yesterday’s fiasco with his boss he poured a cup of coffee, booted his computer, and got to work.

Mid-morning, he called Carla and told her about the IFS package he had received in the mail. He told her that he wanted to open an IFS bank account, obtain the credit cards, and get access to the credit line.

Are you nuts, Mark? Carla responded. Changing accounts is confusing and the credit cards and credit line puts us deeper into debt. What’re you thinking? Please don’t do that!

After listening to Carla, he was more confused than ever and agreed that additional credit was not the answer. He knew very well the real problem was that they didn’t have enough income. However, another part of him was drawn to IFS’s apparent strength and power. He was curious about IFS, though, and wanted to know more about it. Using the Internet, he located the address of the local branch office and found it was only four blocks from his office. At lunchtime he walked the four blocks.

***

Good afternoon, sir. May I help you? With a brilliant million kilowatt smile, hair perfectly dyed and styled, and a designer suit carefully lined with Victoria’s secrets, the receptionist could have been a finalist in a model search contest. Mark shuddered inwardly. The image was all power, glitz, and glitter; a carefully cultivated perception of wealth and magnificence. Mark understood that carefully cultivated images were essential to seducing clients, but he still resented the intimidating atmosphere.

Yes, thank you, he replied. I received some information in the mail yesterday and wanted to speak with someone about opening an account.

Why, yes sir, I think that Mrs. Forsyth is available to help you, replied Miss All-American Smile. Please have a seat for a moment while I call her.

Two minutes later, Mrs. Forsyth appeared. She was every man’s image of a senior accountant and an older first-grade teacher rolled into one: gray hair, serious manner, black suit, and white pleated blouse buttoned to the neck. The apparition introduced herself and asked Mark to follow her. He shook off a clinging feeling of nervousness, a sort of fear that had enveloped him when Mrs. Forsyth appeared.

She’s just another old lady, nothing to be afraid of, Mark thought to himself.

After he explained what he wanted, Mrs. Forsyth took charge.

Well, Mr. Bishop, she began, we’ll set up your account first, and then we’ll move on to the credit issues. First of all, everyone who will be on your account will need to come in and sign the account forms and signature cards. So if your family members’ names are on the account, you must bring them in to sign the forms. No exceptions. Do you understand?

Okay, Mark answered nervously. He was not sure how Carla was going to feel about coming in to sign papers on an account she didn't want to begin with. He guessed he could cross that bridge when he got to it. Still, she was going to be furious.

In minutes, the account was set up.

Mr. Bishop, said Mrs. Forsyth, the credit accounts are managed in two ways. First, we give you a smart credit card linked to your account. This credit card can do many things, including providing complete financial transactions through the card at any of our banking centers, ATMs, or online. The card also has a built-in identification feature providing positive identification for you at all times. It contains enough information about you to positively identify you anywhere. It just has to be scanned and queried by a computer. With it you can make purchases, pay bills, open credit lines, and provide credit history and references for financing. It’s your entire financial history on a two by three-inch plastic card.

Mark thought for a moment, wondering what other information the smart card could hold about him. To cover his discomfort he said, I doubt I would ever need all of those services.

Ah, few people need all of them but they’re very handy to have and you never know when the need will arise. We also give you one of these tiny silicone implants containing all the same information that the smart credit cards contain, but are painlessly injected under the skin of your right hand. The implants use RFID chip technology and work the same way as an identification implant for a pet. When needed, they are queried by a scanner and operate in exactly the same manner using the same information as the smart credit cards, providing the same information to a computerized scanner. The advantage of this is that you can make purchases and do all of the same things you can do with the credit card without having the card in your hand. Your hand is simply read by a computerized scanner and the transaction occurs.

Shock ran through every inch of Mark’s body. A bank that used implanted computer chips as credit cards? His mind screamed at him. What kind of controls were on that? Who controlled it? More to the point, who would allow such an implant?

It’s okay, Mrs. Forsyth explained soothingly. The procedure is quick, sterile, and conducted by a physician's assistant. It’s bloodless. You leave with a bandaid on the back of your hand.

Feeling overwhelmingly uneasy, Mark shook his head and stood to leave when two men stepped up, taking his arms on each side.

Our procedure room is right this way. Please allow us to escort you, one of them said.

Mark knew there were armed guards in the lobby. Now, thoroughly panicked and breathing heavily, he saw no way out unless he started a fight that he would quickly lose. Realizing he had no choice, he went with them.

As promised, the procedure was quick, painless, and almost bloodless. Even so, Mark literally ran out the bank’s door and sprinted back to his office, his new bandage reminding him of his experience at IFS for the remainder of the afternoon.

***

Deeply disturbed by Mark’s call, Carla used the afternoon to do a little research about IFS. She soon discovered the CEO was Gerhardt Schmidt, a former chief executive of the World Bank, and the board of directors included three former key representatives to the United Nations from Italy, Germany, and Austria. Gerhardt Schmidt had formerly been the Chief Financial Officer for the Vatican. She also found out that over the last five years IFS had developed an ever-increasing amount of trading activity in most of the world's stock exchanges. The volume that IFS traded each day was among the top drivers of those markets, so as IFS bought and sold the market rose and fell. She also found that IFS had cornered the world's precious metals commodity market. From her research, it looked like IFS had a dominant and growing position in the economies of many of the world’s countries. Carla didn’t know what all of this information meant, but she knew that financial diversity was good and that IFS’s activities were not promoting financial diversity. The more she learned, the more concerned she became with Mark's interest. She heard the apartment door slam.

Hey, honey, I'm home, Mark called.

Hey, yourself. How was your day? Carla came to greet him with a hug.

Good, I guess. I opened an account with IFS today.

Mark, don’t you think we should have talked about that more first? Carla asked, concerned. I looked deeper into IFS and I'm not sure I liked what I found. It looks to me their goal is world financial domination.

"Well, they were a little weird, but I’m sure it'll be all right. What they do in the world financial markets is no concern of ours, as long as we get what we need. I like their financial strength. I wasn't ready for their level of technology though."

What do you mean?

He held up his right hand to Carla. Like this little silicone rubber encased computer chip they embedded in the back of my hand. It does everything their smart credit cards do without carrying the card. You can buy things, open credit accounts, check your credit score, or use it as an identification card.

"That’s really strange. I wouldn’t want that in me. You’ve done it now, though, so I guess we'll see how it goes."

"There is one other thing. You need to sign the papers and get your implant too."

"No. Mark, I don’t want their damned implant. You’re welcome to play their game if you want to, but they are certainly not implanting any hardware in me."

Oh come on, Carla. This doesn’t work without both of us.

"No, Mark. You’re on your own in this. If it works out, maybe I'll change my mind, but until then, no thank you."

***

Over the next month, Mark’s life returned