The Wallet ( Can you solve the mystery?)

      -The Wallet-

           John is a man who has evening fun, stealing. To thieve is an unpredict game. He works with machine learning, what is a frustrating job, machines telling him what is going to happen, he just pushes buttons and input data. The omniscient computer can answer any human, perhaps non-human questions as well. John lives in a big city where the possibility to never be caught increases. John is an average man, shameful jeans, rusty tennis shoes, unkempt brown hair and eyes, half-smile, for some reason a half-smile makes a person further anonymous than other guys of the same age. He is not fat nor thin, he is not handsome nor ugly. He works eight, nine hours on a computer predicting the future through past effects a challenge for many but John. His mother said, -"John is an intelligent man. Give any computer problem to him, he solves."

           Since childhood, John had been like that, trying to understand how computers work. The horrified father, a practical man, whom folks call “a man with his feet on the ground,” wanted to forbid it, but his mother said, -"Albert, leave the boy alone, he's smart and doesn't need us to ban him of anything. Let him learn for himself."   

           The boy was conscious and did not want parents being concerned about his abilities to learn faster than any other child.  He thinks life is boring, there are too many average children happy to play on the streets. Frankly, what is interesting in these games?

             When he was a child, other toddlers playing Pokémon walking around the neighborhood, telling extraordinary stories about the cartoon.  John sitting in front of his computer and engaged in the highest levels of Warcraft games; he was only twelve or thirteen years old. His parents once suspected that John living in a parallel world plenty of bluish-green monsters, and rough guys.

           Everything repetitive, polite people, teachers knew almost nothing, he could mentally count the mistakes a teacher would do in one class.  The tests were kind of interesting, he could solve in ten minutes. But he liked to do tricks, solving half the test, waiting until ten minutes to be over and completed it, just leaving one question the easiest one blank. It was a pleasure when the confused teacher giving him the test back, imagining why on Earth John missed the most straightforward problem. His father was a kind man, attending a nearby chapel.   John never went to a church, he never understood places of worship since he loved computers. He must choose, loving God or machines, and he trusts computers more.

           Once he became a man, he discovered another way to entertain himself, robbing couples distracted with each other.  It was thrilling stealing their wallets.    Since he started pickpocketing purses, he stopped worrying when people giving him monotone tasks as differential equations, analytic calculations, double and triple integrals to solve. 

           When he finished University, he could go out at night and steal distracted people, as drunkards, half-drunkards, dreamers, distressed people, or just sleepers on the pew.

           They didn't deserve feelings of pity; in a strange brain mechanism, John believes that it is not “so wrong” to steal from people.

           He was distracting folks from their problems, calling them to solve more instantaneous issues, as to search their money, cards, documents, it was a therapy, coarse but not wrong.

            Many years of living in this murky and double life, John decided it was right after a strenuous day, leisure activity in the evenings.  Before he steals from somebody, he sits in a bar, in a discrete place with a half beer, and observing the guys around, the ones who looked annoyed, distressed, unloved, buying many drinks they were an excellent candidate to be robbed.

           One day he met a beautiful waitress in a small bar near downtown. Lucy was a music student who hoping to teach small children how to sing and play musical instruments.  It was during the Summer, and she is doing extra hours in the bar, and for some reason, John, instead of sitting in a penumbra, is seated near other folks jeopardizing his mission ultimately. He likes to chat with Lucy. That day she was concerned about her mother in another city got terrible flu. She is sending multiple messages to her mom, asking if she went to the doctor, was resting, this kind of stuff.

           When John heard the word “concerned,” he immediately knew what to do. Stealing from Lucy.   In a few minutes, he got her lovely gold crucifix transferred to his pocket. When Lucy discovered her open closet and the jewelry disappeared, she asked John to help to search. He wickedly pretended to be looking and, finally, not found. Then, the poor girl started to cry, evil John, who has an aversion to tears, told that probably she forgot at her place.  He left the bar and walked home through the cemetery, there were comfortable seats under whipping willow trees. To his surprise, in one place was a figure protected with a long dark coat, a hat partially covering the sleeping face.  It was no risk to rob a red wallet beside the mysterious person. The color caught John’s eyes, who grabbed the object and transferred to his sack.

           If John was attentive was the middle of October and ‘too easy’ is suspect. Perhaps he is still thinking about the weeping Lucy and forgot to be cautious. 

          Back home, robberies were always the exciting part of the story. Inside there are people treasures, lives to be discovered.  That night was disappointing, inside a folded paper, written in a decent well-drawn letter, “Meet me at the clock tower, at midnight, tomorrow. I have a job you may be interested in. Bring my wallet with you.” Together was a greenish coin copper a hole in the middle. For some unexpected reason, John felts his hands shaky, a chill ran down his spine.         He can’t remind the creature, was late, spooky, smog October, only the scarlet object called his attention.

           John had no reliable workmates, most because of his double dark life, but also the robots and machines working exclusively with input data with have no emotions, basically feeding John with incomplete answers making him disturbed. From somewhere in his brain, he hears his mother’s voice: - “John is clever, he can solve it.” With these comfort words in his mind, he rested some hours, took a warm shower, changes his t-shirt, goes downstairs, and meet his mom at breakfast table. She is cautious and does not make questions directly; he does not answer; nevertheless, she says.: - “Morning, John, wants coffee? Do you have much work today?” – “As usual, mom, please, give me black with a pinch of cream. Where is the daddy?”- “He went to work earlier today, will be back late afternoon. There is a dinner for both of you in the refrigerator. I am going to visit a friend and be back late.”- “Thanks, mom, I am not sure to be back on time to dinner.” His mother smiling and reflects, ‘always the same John, working extra hours with computers.’ John pondering things are dull and routine; his mother is there, with her broad smile, the long hair carefully tied in a bun, working on the iPhone talking with five thousand friends on Facebook. He does not need to go meet with a stranger; working with the robots; is the best predictable work. He does not need to go for sure. What about the coin? There are many things about old coins, most attractive you can sell them. It was a turning point in his life now, goes to meet the person and have a new adventure, or just do not go and know nothing about the person, and greenish creepy coins.  Nevertheless, John came to the tower, a tall man with a hat partially hiding his face approached quickly. His body is protected by a cloak, he smiles, but John feels chilly. – “I’m glad you came, John; I have a work for you before we proceeding to Hades. You must steal from five more people, but only those are wholly distressed, then we get more souls altogether.  We must be back on 31^st at midnight to the underworld, the coin to cross the Stix river, you got it. If you do not find us, we meet you.” Timidly John asks, - “Are you Satan”? The entity laughing soundly, the tower trembled, and tell: - “No! Satan is busy all year around the world, creating wars, helping the pollution in the Oceans, sponsoring different labels in classifying people.”

-“Nevertheless, October is a month supposed to spend in Washington, D.C. He has great friends there, constants hangouts, most of them among the ones with ‘good intentions.’ I am a low-level devil waiting for a promotion after you.” His hat falls, and John sees a man with long hair and amazing eyes, glowing as fireballs, his laugher is louder now, John is hilarious, why the Devil in person would come to talk with a little computer man in Indiana?  Demon Z (demon changes the letter’s name when they are upgraded), continues:

- “We, lowest level demons generally, encouraged hunting to kill animals around the world.  We do workshops with bad guys, advising them, give ideas when they feel wrong or insecure. But Satan can’t do everything alone. Probably you after some refinement in your wickedness, you get a position.” John now is offended; his mom said he was intelligent. Why the low-level demon laughing?

           Whatever John choices made, this story is supposed to stop here, we are never going to know which road John took.