‘No, I won’t work for the government,’ I said firmly. ‘Let’s end this conversation. I am ill, tired and I want to sleep.’
‘You’re as healthy as a bull!’ the Baseball player roared, then retreated straight away. ‘OK, Josh, I won’t pressure you. At the end of the day, it’s your life – so it’s your choice. Just listen to me, alright? I’ll say a few things which are very important for me – and I think for you as well.’
I continued to be obstinate. I even said:
‘You just think so.’
But in the end I agreed to give him a last chance – it was painful to see how upset he was getting. Later I often reproached myself for not finding the strength to avoid that conversation but now, rethinking my life, I may even be grateful to Mr. Jenkins. He gave me the opportunity to get everything I have today. He could even be called my Godfather, although in the documents he is named by a much more boring word: ‘curator’.
Back then in the hospital, after my nod, he paused for a few seconds, then sat on the chair more comfortably, drew himself up, and began to talk. At first he was looking me in the eye but then he got carried away like a schoolboy reciting a poem learned by heart, and began to look over me, somewhere into the distance, even though behind me there was just a white hospital wall.
‘When computers first appeared, Josh, I considered them to be useless toys unworthy of attention of a real man,’ Mr. Jenkins was saying, moving his right hand monotonously as if he was winding an invisible rope on his palm. ‘In those distant years I was a strong, athletic boy. I played my beloved baseball. I was known in my class as the main instigator when it came to fights. And every morning I chopped wood in the back yard. We lived in small town Chester, not far Saint Louis on the Mississippi. It’s very beautiful there, exactly the way Mark Twain described it in his books about Huckleberry Finn, only a bridge has been built over the river. People say that in the past the steamships going down the Mississippi used to always stop at our town – and those who had died during the voyage were buried, and they would also restock on food, water and castor oil – which in that time it was used for the lubrication of mechanisms.
And the artist Elzie Crisler Segar, who created Popeye, was born and lived there. Don’t smile, Josh, it’s true – we have a bronze monument to Popeye and the Segar Memorial Center. The residents of Chester are very proud of it and every year they organise a big Popeye festival and the woods by the bridge have now been turned into a Popeye theme park.
But I wanted to tell you about something else – about my childhood. We would spend whole days on the river or race on bicycles or play in the forest – building wigwams, making bows and tomahawks and would fry bacon stolen from home on the fire. In summer, just like all my friends, I’d go home only to eat and sleep. And none of us ever thought that instead of swimming, racing on bicycles or fighting with the boys from Kaskaskia Street one could spend hours sitting in front of a computer screen, staring at moving pictures or clicking a mouse.
Do you know, Josh, when I realised that computers are the future for the first time? In 1970 an oxygen cylinder exploded on board Apollo 13 on the way to the Moon and the lives of the astronauts were in danger. Back then, briefings from NASA were shown on TV every hour and we, with the whole class, watched how out there in space they were trying to correct the trajectory of the ship without a computer, because it had been switched off to save energy. We had a computer in school, it was a huge electronic computer which occupied the whole hall. So, while the lads inside the metal box of Apollo 13 were struggling with calculations, our math teacher Mr. Fincher went and calculated everything in half an hour. Then he rang NASA and passed his calculations on to them. They thanked him and said that they, of course, had also carried out the calculations, but Mr. Fincher’s calculations were more precise because he took into consideration key parameters and used algorithms. So when the crew of Apollo 13 safely returned to Earth, Mr. Fincher was invited to work in the Center for Space Research. For me, it was like thunder in the clear sky. I always thought that there are only two worthy occupations a man could pursue to make himself rich and successful – sports and military service. But it turned out that science, this computer stuff, could also be a spring board, capable of throwing even such a jerk as Mr. Fincher – and he was a true jerk, a useless weakling, even though he was a teacher – into NASA!
Of course, I didn’t make it as a computer technician – I still chose the military and then when the United States needed my services as an agent, I moved to the service in Fort Meade. But I ended up being right when after the rescue of Apollo 13 I said to my friends: ‘Hey, lads, the time will come when people like Mr. Fincher will rule the destinies of the world and we big boobies will be bringing them coffee and guarding their peace, while they are fighting the enemies of the USA.’
I understand, you probably find it unpleasant me talking about jerks and so on, but God created us all different – some with strong muscles, and some with strong minds. And, to be honest, I was deeply touched and astonished by your desire to serve the United Stated in the marines. It’s hard, dirty and sometimes nasty, and most importantly very dangerous work, but you chose it like a real man. Of course, it’s not your fault that the log on the obstacle course turned out to be harder than your bones, but I see the hand of providence in it. Joshua, your strength is in something else! There are always plenty of those who want to run with an assault rifle, parachute from a helicopter and stuff canned food, especially because you get money and status for doing it. Give the opportunity to the lads with a green card to earn an American future for themselves. The country is expecting something else from you, my boy. Don’t frown – there are things which cannot be said without using words so pompous, as you consider them.
The modern world – is the world of computers and information systems, the world of the internet, hacker attacks and invisible fights which take place in virtual reality. That’s where the front line is. Tense work is going down there. People are working through the night there, hammering their hatred for the enemy into the keyboard. We don’t have enough fighters because, as it turns out, you can’t just train good specialists from anybody, it’s not like the marines or G.Is. A true IT specialist is God’s gift. It’s a talent like the talent of a musician, artist or writer. You – you’re a creative person, that’s why in your time you were attracted to the Garage, and we didn’t impede you, understanding that you needed to discover the world of bohemia, that you have to taste of this fruit and get poisoned in order to recover afterwards. You are a chosen one, Joshua; there are very a few people like you. That’s why you have to think properly before wasting yourself for nothing.
But most importantly, Joshua, I envy you! I envy you and I’m not ashamed of it even if God told us that envy is a sin. In essence, who am I? I am an ordinary clerk with a narrow range of skills and professional abilities. I’ll never be able to fight on the virtual front. I won’t be able to stop the main threat heading this way. I won’t be able to serve my country behind the computer monitor. But you – you will easily replace me. All you need to do is attend a half-year course. America needs you, son. Islamists, China, Russia, Koreans, drug mafia, leftists, anarchists and anti-globalists – all our enemies mastered cyberspace long ago. They are mobilising all their human resources. It’s not a secret that the best hackers nowadays are not Americans, that the best warriors in data fights aren’t from our country. It’s not a secret that we are losing our position in the virtual world precisely because we don’t have enough people. A version of the most far-reaching and super-modern program which will allow us to change the balance of power is being prepared for launch now. Joshua Kold, sir, America needs your talent, your knowledge and your hot heart of a patriot!’