Surprisingly, Crow dropped his head. “Questioning the prisoner, sir.”
“Get out,” the stranger ordered. He stepped out of the way and pointed his cane at the door. Crow strode from the room without another word. When he was gone, the stranger returned his attention to Francis. “My apologies, Mr. Stuyvesant. You see, Mr. Crow has been under a great deal of stress lately. I’m afraid it has been getting to him.”
“He’s insane.”
The man shook his head. “Only sometimes, and that is entirely dependent on the nature of the body that his mind is currently inhabiting. I’m afraid some can be worse than others.”
“He’s insane and he’s dangerous. You’re playing with fire.”
“Yes. Fire is dangerous, yet if man had never harnessed its power we would still be living in caves. Electricity is dangerous.” He reached up with his cane and tapped the light, making it swing and cast wild shadows. “Yet, we harness it for all of our modern technological marvels. Why, Mr. Stuyvesant, should magic be any different?”
The odd fellow seemed vaguely familiar. “Do I know you?”
“We’ve met briefly, but it was a very long time ago.” He rested his weight on the cane, and took a white handkerchief out of his suit to wipe the sweat from his face. “Excuse me. Far too many stairs for a man in my condition. I should have an elevator installed. Yes, we have met. You were but a child. I knew your father, was friends with one of your uncles, and an acquaintance of your grandfather.” He started to put the handkerchief away, then took note of the cut on Francis’ face. Clucking disapprovingly, he came over and gently pressed the cloth against the cut. “Oh, Mr. Crow… He’s something of a project of mine. Here, keep pressure on that.”
There was just enough slack in the chain for Francis to tilt his head and keep the handkerchief in place to stop the bleeding. He winced as the cut burned. “Who are you?”
“Bradford Carr. Do you remember now?”
Francis was drawing a blank. “ What are you?”
He chuckled. “I’ve held a few titles in my day. In my military days it was only captain. For the longest time it was doctor, or professor of magical studies at the University of Chicago, briefly ambassador. Most recently, it has been senator, and since last summer when Herbert Hoover saw fit to the appointment, I have been the Coordinator of Information. I was, after all, the most qualified applicant for the position, since I have made the study of magic my life’s work. However, since my current assignment is one of utmost secrecy, let’s just keep that between ourselves.” Carr smiled. “Does that answer your question, Mr. Stuyvesant?”
Now he remembered. Carr hadn’t been as grey or as fat back when Francis’ father had replaced him as ambassador to Japan. He too, had known about the Chairman’s schools. “You dirty bastard. You were on the Imperium payroll, too.”
Carr clucked disapprovingly. “You’re smarter than that, Mr. Stuyvesant. Do not make the mistake of thinking that just because I studied the Imperium ways, meant that I was in their service. I had a friendly relationship with the Chairman, and of course many of the things I observed went unreported, but that was necessary to further my own research into the nature of magic. The Nipponese were merely unafraid to delve into mysteries that my own countrymen would not. As a scientist and a philosopher, I would have been foolish to ignore all of the valuable knowledge they’d gained.”
“The Imperium schools are evil!” Francis shouted. He’d seen the horrors with his own eyes. There had been torturous ordeals to bind nonmagical people to the Power, and even worse experiments to create stronger Actives. His family hadn’t cared, as long as the gold kept flowing, and that’s what had driven Francis away from them and toward the Grimnoir, who were brave enough to do something about it. “Anyone who can’t see that is a fool.”
“The Imperium schools are a necessary evil. The Power must be studied, harnessed, and controlled for the good of all mankind. It is selfish to think otherwise. Power is a resource that must be properly managed, just like any other. If a nation cannot control its own resources, then it will fall into the dustbin of history.”
“Those are people you’re talking about, not some nebulous things.”
“Exactly, my boy!” Carr wagged his cane at Francis. “And that’s why the United States has lagged so far behind others in this regard. We, as a government, have lacked the will to take control for the greater good because of a naive faith in the individual. As it stands now, all of our useful magic is being squandered on foolish pursuits. Wasted by individuals who think only of themselves and not of the rest of society. Just imagine what could be accomplished if these resources were managed in a scientific way!”
“You mean slavery.”
“An emotionally loaded choice of words.”
“You take someone’s freedom and tell them what to do. Sounds like slavery to me.”
“I’m talking about the greater good, for both normal mortals.” Carr touched one big hand to his chest, “and you! This is for your own protection. An individual with magic is capable of causing much harm. They are dangerous at worst and wasted at best. I have a vision for a greater tomorrow, where the miraculous Power is used for the betterment of all. My vision-”
“Like the Imperium? Like the Soviets? Are you going to cull the herd like them? Experiment on the weak? Breed the strong?” Francis was furious. “The unworthy go to the schools or the gulag? Fuck your vision.”
Heinrich’s voice came through the wall. “We had a politician who preached eugenic nonsense like this in Germany; Hitler was the name, if I recall it right. We put him against a wall and gave him the firing squad. I’d suggest we take up that tradition here, Francis.”
Francis looked Carr squarely in the eye. “That sounds like a fine idea, Heinrich.”
Carr’s face turned red. “I was hoping for the sake of your family name that you would listen to reason. Your father was a fine man. I felt I owed him enough to at least try.”
Francis was no politician or philosopher, but he had a finely tuned sense when it came to detecting bullshit. “Your reason, science, whatever you want to call it, is a sham, a two-bit hustler’s scheme. This is America. The government doesn’t own the people. The people own the government.”
“You would be surprised to learn how many very important men disagree with you on that point, Mr. Stuyvesant. Once my operations are complete, the rest will have no choice but to come around. They will come to understand that Actives must be controlled. It only takes one great visionary to change the course of a nation.”
It all became clear. The assassin’s ring, the mystery spell, the newspapers, the manhunt, everything. “You’re the one who set us up.. You’re the one who tried to kill the president.”
“If only that had been enough.” Carr just smiled. “Recent events have forced me to expand my ambitions. It seems that this deadly Grimnoir terrorist group is not happy that they failed in their last attack. I have warned the cabinet that we believe they are plotting another attack sometime very soon. I’m sure it will end tragically.”
“You bastard!”
“Would you like a preview of the newspapers a few days from now? I find I’m rather good at predicting these sorts of things.” Carr cleared his throat. “Many innocents were murdered by mad Actives last night. Luckily, during the aftermath of the attack, two leaders of the foul Grimnoir organization were intercepted and killed by brave OCI operatives. One of them had a manifesto on his person detailing how they would continue to kill Normals until the Active race rises up, throws off the shackles of oppression, and takes their rightful place as world leaders, since they are the superior evolution of man. Everyone will be shocked and saddened to discover that this cabal is being led by a well known industrialist, Francis Cornelius Stuyvesant.”