The night from atop the tower was great. There were two distinct divisions - the pitch darkness of the woods, and the flashy streaks of traffic and street lights. Night had settled in very fast. Standing at the wide glass window, he was feeling the burden of the announcement he was going to make. He could hear the din of many voices from the room beyond the glass doors. He had not got enough sleep for past few weeks. He knew that next hour will be the landmark moment in the history of mankind, though he doubted anyone will remain to remember it ever!

He turned and walked to the opposite wall. He opened the locker and from the bottommost vault, removed an old file. He knew all the contents by heart but he wanted to look at them for one last time before they would be known to the entire world. On the top, there was old photo cut from newspaper. He looked at it, blood rising in his eyes, remembering those 4 days, that terrible event. He walked to the window and looked at the sky. ‘Give me strength, God, give me courage! Don’t let me falter on this last step!’

There was a knock on his door. His secretary, Kate, entered briskly. “Five minutes! You ready, sir?” He turned, closing the file.

“Yes. Have you are informed all our people? I want everybody to listen to this. Everything can wait for this.”

“Yes, I have sir.” said Kate. She was surprised when she first got the order. ‘Strange’, she thought, ‘to hear this from a man who measured time in seconds.’ But she had informed all the offices spread in all continents about the urgent press conference scheduled to begin in next 4 minutes. She extended to take the file and was again surprised at polite refusal. She followed him out of his office.

The press conference was arranged a week before. Global media was invited. ‘It’s going to be a big announcement tonight’, she thought. There were rumors flying about in the office and even in the media about it. From launch of new pollution controlling device to takeover bid, tongues were waving about; trying to guess what was coming from the big man, the man who was celebrated as savior of mankind and earth. The company that was started in a little garage was now a major pollution control organization in the world. ‘The man’ had done the miracle. 30 years ago, the scientists were giving warnings about global warming, pollution and other adverse effects of evolution of monkey into someone who called himself Homo sapiens sapiens. The wise wise man! The wise species which had brought extinction of numerous species and polluted the Earth so much that every living being was being affected by it. Then ‘he’ had come with his brilliant ideas. He had single handedly boosted the war against pollution by providing actual answers to the problem. From curbing the pollutants at the source itself to removing pollutants from biosphere, he had done it all. He had set up the company in his garage where he sold small machine that used to clean the wastewater at home to such an extent that it could be drunk directly. Then he had expanded and the world for once responded to a positive change quickly. He had built a corporate giant unlike any other. The company was in all the continents and had offices in nearly all the countries. He had won numerous awards and accolades, including Nobel Prize for Peace. But for last 15 years he had minimized his direct involvement in the functioning of company. He had been out of direct public contact except for few occasions per year. And Last week he had surprised the whole world, including his own staff and friends, by announcing a global media conference. And now, He was walking towards it confidently. But Ming, who was waiting for him at the door of the media room, noticed a slight trembling of hands, sweat on his brow and nervousness in his eyes. He felt his misgivings may well turn out to be true. Ming opened the door and entered a step behind his friend into the media lights. ‘May the God be with us’, thought Ming.

He entered the media room and was immediately engulfed by light and sound. He saw many faces instantly turned towards him, mouths opening to speak, eyes following him. He was familiar with this but today he felt something in the air, something bad, apprehension may be. He noticed security personnel in the crowd. They were more than he had expected. Then he saw Aparna talking to George, the chief of security, and got his answer immediately. ‘Of course’, he thought,’ who else would take so much of precautions?’

Aparna was once his wife. They had met in their college days, fallen in love and later on married. She acted as his assistant during early days of his company. Later on she became MD. Fifteen years ago, they had split. He had convinced her that he had lost all interest in her and they should separate. Aparna had cried a lot for a week and on the following Monday had resumed work. He did not mind at all. He had then removed his attention from company. He was happy that she was happy and normal. Then during last few stressful weeks he had called her several times. She was the only one who could have comforted him. He was grateful about it. It was this time that he had felt there was something wrong in his plan. He was very disturbed that it would reach his enemies. ‘It turned out fine in the end’, he thought, ‘but Aparna was a real help.’ He had reached her side. She looked up in his eyes, deep into them, as if looking for something she hoped to find there. He felt nervous as always when she did that. He smiled awkwardly.

‘There is no need for so much of security, Aparna. I have no enemies who want to kill me.’ He smiled at his own joke but her face remained cold. ‘One never knows! I think we will require the security today’, Aparna said. He saw a glimmer in her eyes. He felt uneasy, open. But the next moment the glimmer was gone and she had turned back to chief of security. He took his seat behind table, looking at the gathering in front of him. He thought of the time when they had first sold their latest product, a biological water purifier. It was entirely his experiment that had led to it. It was sold at the highest ever rate throughout the world. It had beaten all the previous records. But then, all his products were being sold like that for last two decades. There really was no competition, which was one of the few criticisms he faced. He was mainly lauded as the savior of mankind all over the world. He was oblivious to all the praise, going about his business with mechanical agility.

‘Ready?’ A voice spoke over his shoulder.

He turned and saw Ming had followed him in. ‘Ready for the big announcement? Ming repeated his question. There was something in his eyes too that made him nervous.

‘It is nothing. This is the last step. You have made all the preparations already. Why are you feeling apprehensive now? Just stay calm!’ He said to himself.

‘Are you alright?’ Ming was looking at him concernedly as the answer had taken a long time come.

‘Yes, yes, yes. I am ready. I was just thinking of something you said yesterday. You had wished me luck for today. You have never done that before. I was just wondering…’

‘Whether I know what you are going to say today? Ha Ha. No, sadly, I don’t know. I just felt that you were not normal. You seem to be in good form today though.’

Ming’s eyes had not changed still. He looked back into them and said, ‘Yes. I think God listened to your prayer and bestowed upon me with good luck.’

‘Well then, let’s get started.’

Ming sat down on chair besides him, behind a long table decorated with fresh flowers. Cameras had already started clicking and rolling. Flashes were going at such a rate that gave feeling of disco club. Reporters jostled with each other to get a good position.

Aparna caught his eyes, nodded and walked to the microphone.

‘Welcome everyone. Thank you for coming here. Today Our Company is going to make an announcement that will change lives of all mankind on earth. So without wasting anymore of time, I ask our beloved founding chairman to end our wait. For he alone knows the details. So put your hands together for our beloved Mr. Fabulous, as he has been christened by you all!’

He stood up and walked to the mike. At the back of his mind In front him, was the sea of people, reporters, cameramen, security personnel and company employees. He looked straight at camera and felt the whole population of world looking back at him. This was no new experience for him but somehow he felt uneasy. He closed his eyes. He saw the blood, the corpses and heard the sound of gunfire. He heard the words that had went deep inside him, just like the image of his mother lying dead over him, even in death protecting him from searching eyes. As he opened his eyes, he felt a new confidence running through him, like the phoenix song from Harry Potter books he used to love so much then. He was ready for the last step of his grand plan: ‘The Confession’.

“Brothers and sisters all around the world, I start here with the very words of a great man from India, Swami Vivekananda. He also had called the gathered people in front of him at the religion council and then had gone on to change many lives. I intend to do the same with all the mankind. And the wheels are already set in motion, and right now I will only make you aware of their hum that is already been heard at some places around the Earth.

I must make you aware of my distant past first. I was born in India and had lived there for my early years. I was very happy then. I was lucky to have the best parents in the world. But my happiness was not to last very long. On my 10^th birthday, my parents took me to the grandest hotel in the city of Mumbai. And there something happened that changed my life. I am talking about the events of 26^th November, 2008. The worst terrorist attack on India then. I was caught in the war that raged for 3 days, without any food or water. My parents were killed in the first firing. My mother lied over me to protect me. I was knocked out initially. When I woke up I smelt of blood. There were corpses lying around me. Gunshots and blasts ringed regularly. I was frightened to my very core. I was too frightened to move very much. At last when I was nearly dying of hunger and thrust, a man pulled me out from below my mother’s body. I cried out but he was one of the commandoes. He took me out of the hotel and handed me over to nurses there. I passed out. When I woke up I saw my uncle. I knew what had happened to my parents. That day changed my life. There was some kind of fire lit inside me. I made it a point to read and see everything I could find about terrorists. But I did not want revenge from them. I did not feel anger anymore. I felt pity and I despised them, and the reason behind their acts.

It is not their fault. We all are at fault. The whole human race is at flaw. We evolved because of our superior brains. We changed the world. We acquired knowledge, science, mathematics, engineering, medicine. We found and deciphered the nature’s laws. And not just that but we used them for our own good. But somewhere the animal instinct was kept alive. Man became selfish. He treated the earth as the gift from god to be used as per his wish and not having to keep any responsibility towards it. Fighting over petty issues, killing the wonders of nature, killing each other, changing the whole climate of the world in just half a century, we humans, self-proclaimed wise animals, were ruining the earth, the home of not just ours but billions and trillions of species. That is where I decided my goal.”

He looked at the people in front of him. He saw fear, he saw anger, he saw pity and he saw incredulity. He turned and looked at Aparna. He saw surprised to see her calm. There was something red in her eyes but apart from that he could not fathom any known feeling there. He felt as though he saw looking at a completely new woman, not one he knew for years. He turned back to face the camera and towards the sources of numerous questions that were coming thick and fast. He raised his hand, and instead of calming down the blubber increased to a further level. He spoke in raised voice, “The solution for the environmental problem we were facing was not to stop or decrease the rate of pollution but to wipe out the source. I decided to do that.” The flurry of question suddenly stopped and everybody listened intently.

“My uncle had taken me to a hill station for 3 months to recover from the shock. I used to wander about with him, sometimes alone, thinking about those days. But in the care of nature I recovered. And there one day while sitting on a cliff, I had a revelation. I saw the litter thrown about by people. I saw the flames from a pile of wood burning, emitting smoke. A man was coughing but he did not try to put out that fire. Instead he turned his back and moved away. That was when I heard the nature’s call. I decided to save my Mother Earth from the thing that was hurting her most: Humans. Rest of my life is mostly known to you from countless interviews, reports, articles and books. But there is very important information missing in all that.

But first I must tell you something else. There is a species of rodents. They have a very unique characteristic. Whenever the population of the rodents in one area becomes more than that can be supported by the resources available, the rodent commit mass suicides. They come out of their holes and run blindly. Many are killed by predators, many just go over the cliff, many drown themselves in water, but they die, someway or other. They die for their future generations. I intend to do the same.”

He paused and then said, “This brings me to the main announcement. This is what I want to confess: from any time now on, there will start a series of suicides across the globe.” He raised his voice as the noise level suddenly reached a record height. “Listen to me because this may be the last thing you will ever hear and I will ever say. The biological water purifier has another function unknown to all but me. The bacteria used in it are recombinant bacteria designed to wipe out all the pollutants from the water and insert in it one of their own. The enzyme that they secrete affects the brain. The effect grows cumulatively with amount and with time. There have already been several reports of inexplicable suicides at many locations. It has begun already and it will end only when the last of human race is dead. I do not want to wait till that time when I remain the only living man, which I doubt seriously given the looks that have already on your faces. Thus I bid you farewell and wish that I have achieved my goal.” With these words, pulled out small gun from his pocket and among the shouts and cries, and Ming jumping on him from behind the table, he shot himself in temple. As he closed his eyes for the last time, he saw Aparna and the look of utter shock on her face. His eyes closed and then… blank.

One week later:

Aparna was sitting alone at her desk in her bedroom. She was reading her diary in the soft glow of table lamp. She had just returned from the condolence meet at the town hall, where nearly the whole town had gathered to show its love and gratitude. The whole word had mourned at the news of death, though hardly anyone knew the actual circumstances, but for the employees of their headquarters and the security personnel. She still felt a pang at lying to him for so long but she knew it was all necessary. She had not taken into account only one thing and that was causing her the most pain. As she read, her eyes became moist. She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and continued to read the account of a day about four years ago.

That day he had sanctioned the production of their latest product, biological water purifier. After the meeting she had gone to his office where he was lying asleep over the files. She was not surprised. He had been working 30 hours non-stop. It was no new thing for both of them. She put down the files she was carrying, woke him up. She then took him to the couch where he had lied down and slept. There was no word spoken. But when she returned to his table, she saw the file he was sleeping on. It contained newspaper cuttings, photos, notes related to the 26/11 Mumbai attack. She knew his past but she did not know that he had preserved the memories for so long. She saw his childhood photo with his parents. He was laughing happily. She looked at his sleeping face. She saw nothing of that boy in the photo. Then she saw the file that was lying below. It was related to the biological water purifier. She had never seen that file before. As she started reading it, she felt the world was crumbling below her feet. Her legs were numb. She dropped in the chair; the file fell down on the floor. She held her head, not able to understand, able to accept what she had read. She looked at his face again. This time she saw devil’s face. She ran out of the room with her files. In her office she sat and thought. She still loved him. She was determined to put a stop on this filthy scheme. But then cancelling the entire thing would have led to very awkward questions. She went back to his room and read the file again, taking notes of main points this time. Then she returned to her office and thought about it. She had come up with a plan. It involved risk but she would not let his image get tarnished. He had inspired many to fight against the pollution and environmental degradation. He was a world icon. This kind of thing would have destroyed him and all those who looked up at him to the core.

In the week that followed, she worked hard in the labs. And finally she came up with the procedure change, very small but none the less effective, that changed the microbes’ gene code. They were now safe to use. She did not disclose this fact to anyone, but made sure to change the procedure manuals sent to the plant. The production had begun. The tests on polluted water were positive. She made sure that all the memos and letters were passed through her. She made sure that he does not suspect of the lack of suicides by adding some false reports.

When the press conference was decided, she decided to take Ming into her confidence. He was incredulous at first, even thought that she had gone mad. But she managed to convince him in the end. On the day of press conference, she managed to camouflage the reporters with the security guards who were told that their boss was in a very funny mood and wanted to play a prank. In fact, it was his birthday (actual date was not known to anyone) and he just wanted to have some fun. The job given to guards was simple: Humor the boss. They did it to the last moment when the thing she had not thought of had happened.

Now as she wrote the final words in her diary accounting that fateful day, tears were running down from her eyes. Finally she completed the diary with difficulty and locked it up in her drawer. She then washed her face, wiped it dry and returned to her table. She opened another drawer and pulled out her laptop. When the laptop started, she logged in and opened a folder named TOP SECRET. She opened on the file named, ‘Biological Water Purifier’ and started reading about the latest findings about their prospective birth control abilities.