28.3

Three folders of phone messages were waiting for him when the P.M. finally got back to his office in Delhi. In the hours since the funeral he’d been contacted by just about everyone in India, or at least, everyone who mattered… or thought they mattered.

As he sat down at his desk, the P.M. recalled Shard’s advice back in the days when the implant was nothing more than an idea –

“Don’t worry, in the end it will come naturally to you. It will appear simply as the right thing to do.”

He flicked on the television – there he was!

He changed channels – there he was again.

He turned up the volume. Yes, it was loud and clear. The idea behind the Regeneration – that humanity could generate enough human energy to attract God to Earth was suddenly on everyone’s lips.

Enthusiastically, he began on the phone, fielding questions from the various power brokers. Long conversations followed short ones as the evening slipped into night. The rich and powerful wanted to know exactly what was going on. And they all seemed to think the P.M. had the answer.

Initially he kept repeating the same line –

“Just watch the films, “ he told them. “Don’t spend the whole time on Max – in the end he’s really not that important. Just listen to Shard and you’ll understand what it’s all about.”

But once they saw him in the audience listening to Shard at Haji Malang, this was no longer good enough. As the night wore on they turned on him, the tone increasingly accusatory – he was the one who had “planned the whole thing”, he was the “prime conspirator”… and they had so much to lose.

“You were in it from the beginning!”

“Anybody can watch those films – I want the plan.”

“You owe me!”