The chairman of the ULTIMATI Council laid down on the marble table and looked up at the ceiling.
"The ball is in my court," the man said in a quiet voice. Then his eyes closed and he fell asleep.
The deputy chairman, who had arrived only minutes before, opened his eyes. His face was devoid of emotion. "We did it," he said quietly "We were able to bring the idea of removing all barriers to success and letting anyone be whoever they wanted. We were able to give everyone unconditional freedom, but with restrictions."
The chairman laid quietly.
"It is our job to ensure that those restrictions are not abused," continued the deputy. "It is our job to exact a price for someone who fails to make the most of the opportunity that is provided for them."
The chairman's eyes opened. "That is why we made a rule of The Game." He sighed. "I just wonder if that rule was at all necessary."
"It is your rule, sir. It is your rule that no one but you can change."
"It is a terrible rule."
The deputy chairman frowned. "As always, sir, the game is meant to help us understand the folly of greed and the dangers of avarice. It is intended to teach us that all things are temporary, and where you end up depends entirely on where you start. The game is meant to serve as a warning, and also as a corrective. It should also not be forgotten that this rule also makes us richer than we would have ever been without it."
The chairman did not reply. He continued to stare at the ceiling.
The deputy chairman walked to a window and looked outside at the city.
The room was silent.
"Could you please bring me a glass of water?" asked the chairman.
The deputy walked back to the other side of the room and poured a glass of water, then handed it to the chairman.
The chairman took the glass, then said, "You can go now. Thank you for your service as my deputy. I am sad that you will be leaving soon; however, I cannot say I am not happy for you. You deserve good things, and I want to wish you success. I hope that you win The Game someday."
The deputy silently bowed and walked to the door.
"Oh," said the chairman, "could you please ask Daniel to come in?"
The deputy opened the door and motioned to someone. A young man walked into the room, bowed, and then looked at the floor.
"Dan, please come here," said the chairman. "I want to talk to you."
The young man walked over, and then stood silently next to the chairman.
"Daniel," said the chairman, "your mother left me this."
The young man looked up and saw a book sitting on the table next to the chairman. The chairman's fingers caressed it.
"She said you would understand what the story is about. She said you would understand why I made this rule, and we would have mutual respect for each other because of it. She said that I was doing for you what you should already have done for ourselves."
The chairman took a sip of water, then put the glass down.
"She left me this to tell you," the chairman said, "and asked me to give it to you when you were ready. This book contains a list of names. Our names are normally not known. We are called The Masters because it is our job to maintain the world as it is."
The young man nodded. "I understand, sir," he said without looking up.
"I am not finished," the chairman said. "I want you to understand this story, for the sake of your future."
The young man looked up.
"There were two people running a business, some time ago. They were good people and were very successful. They provided their customers with great products, they made excellent wages, and they provided their employees with fabulous benefits. It is true that the business had a monopoly in its market, but both people knew that as long as they did right by the people who trusted them, they would keep the market and it would become even more valuable.
"The two people were married. They had one daughter. They were most devout believers in the word 'greed is good,' and they had worked hard to be on top. They put everyone around them on top too. It was because of their hard work that their employees were able to have such great lives.
"This was a time in history, however, when people were growing unhappy with the status quo and wanted to change things for the better."
The chairman took another sip of water.
"The two people did not bother to listen to the concerns of their employees or to their customers. They were too busy working and making wise decisions. Their response to the people who wanted to help was that the two were needed for what they were doing, and that if the people wanted to help, they should go out and do it on their own.
"The people who were unhappy were disappointed by this, but not deterred. They also believed that greed was good, so they went out and started their own businesses. The two people ignored them, and they quickly outdid the competition.
"The new business people had a good time. They put together a bunch of people with ideas and they created a whole new world that they were eager to explore. It was a time of great dreams, and everyone wanted to have what was in their neighbor's garage.
"All the new businesses worked together and made the market even larger, so when some of the businesses started competing for a share of the business, no one was happy. There was too much competition and the businesses couldn't survive.
The people who were hurt by this immediately blamed the two people. They said that greed had ruined the world, but the two people said that the people couldn't run their own businesses. They said that if the people had been smart, they could have kept their businesses going and no one would have had to get hurt.
They said that they knew nothing but greed, they had done nothing but do people a favor, and that was all they knew how to do. They said that the people should have known this, and that it was their fault for wanting 'their' companies to fail. They said that these customers should have known better than to complain about them. They even had the gall to say that if these customers didn't like it, they should have gone out and started a new business.