It was the second person he had walked past that night who tried to sell him the strange 
headgear. Something weird was happening in the city. It wasn’t just that it was New 
York. It was New York on New Years Eve. This time it was an African American who 
had grabbed his coat sleeve as he had tried to pass through the crowd. 
 
“Listen Mister take this and place it on your head. You’ll see what I mean.  They can’t 
control you if you wear it – it stops the psychic waves.”  The hawker was wearing the cap 
on his head – it was emanating a strange green luminescence.  “Here Mister quickly take 
this.”

Michael Howe didn’t have time to stop and listen to the ravings of the hawker. However 
he did take the cap the hawker had placed in his hands. Feeling sorry for the guy Michael 
reached into his coat pocket and tried to give the guy a small amount of change. The 
hawker had refused to take his money. “No I don’t want your money Mister. I just want 
to save your soul.” 

Michael slipped the strange soft metallic cap into his overcoat pocket. He was in a hurry. 
He needed to get to Times Square. He had received a call from the New York Police 
Department. They needed a Crisis Negotiator to talk to someone who was trying to grab 
media attention. He had been at a dinner with friends when he had got the call. Traffic 
had ground to a stand still so he had taken the subway as far as West 42nd Street and now 
at last after pushing past a sea of people was within sight of One Times Square.  Michael 
had never seen so many uniforms. They were everywhere. He proceeded as instructed 
directly to the lift foyer placing his police badge on the lapel of his coat for easy 
recognition. The Tactical Response Group Captain was waiting flanked by two of his 
men. They were dressed in full ‘battle gear’. “Are you Michael Howe?” Michael nodded 
taking his gloves off and shoving them into his coat pocket before taking out his badge 
and showing them. “Yes that’s right. You must be Captain De Angelo? So what’s the 
situation? DeAngelo gestured towards the open door of a waiting lift. Michael followed 
him inside. It was very warm compared to outside. Michael removed his coat while 
listening to DeAngelo’s brief. 
DeAngelo spoke with trained efficiency. 

“The subject is an unidentified white Caucasian male, estimated age thirty years. We 
have been unable to confirm if he is armed. The hotel security video shows him entering 
the building at 9.00 pm carrying a large black bag. He has disabled the roof security 
cameras. Observers have noted that he has barricaded himself on the roof and has 
attached one end of a rope in a noose around his neck. It appears the other end of the rope 
has been thrown over a strut and is attached to the crystal ball. If the ball drops it will pull 
the rope tight and snap his neck. The building owners have been told not to drop the ball 
at midnight. They are not very happy about that. That ball has dropped every New Year since 
1906 with the exception of the blackout during the war The subject is currently 
attempting to call the media on his cell phone. We have caught his conversation on a 
scanner. The guy’s a real weirdo. He’s trying to warn us all about government mind 
control. He has a luminescent green cap on his head. He’s saying that it stops the mind 
control from working. Captain DeAngelo pulled out a map and unfolded it pressing it 
against the wall of the lift. Michael noticed it was a map of Times Square. DeAngelo 
continued pointing to the map as he spoke. “I have twelve officers containing him. 
Snipers are targeting him from here, here and here.  A Police copter has him under 
surveillance.”  The lift stopped and the doors opened. Another TRG officer had been 
waiting for them.  De Angelo pointed to the officer. “This is Sergeant Robbins he will 
take you upstairs. We have his cell phone number. You can talk him down with that. 
There’s a web cam pointing at the ball. We have been able to use it to get close ups of the 
subject.” Michael could hear the noise of a copter even one floor below the roof. He 
knew from previous experience that having a phone conversation with the subject was 
impossible in those conditions. “Captain DeAngelo thank you very much for the brief. 
However, I have one request.”



DeAngelo gave a puzzled look. “Yes what would that be?”  Michael knew swearing was 
a way of making cops feel like you were one of the team. “The subject isn’t going 
anywhere. Can you tell that damned coptor pilot to go get refueled or something. I’ll call 
him back in if I feel I need him.” 

DeAngelo nodded. “Yes right away.” 
Michael smiled “Thank you Captain. He turned towards Sergeant Robbins who handed 
him a police issue scanner. “Thank you Sergeant. Please lead the way.”   
 
  Chapter two
  
Gerard Seng screamed into his cell phone. He was trying to get through to the New York 
Times reporter at the other end. However the roar of the helicopter hovering above had 
prevented him from understanding what the person at the other end of the line was 
saying. He felt frustrated. So he had decided to try to get his message across anyway and 
had started screaming into the phone about the mind control. The reporter had simply 
hung up on him. As he redialed the number his phone rang. He lifted it to his ear 
assuming it was the reporter again. “Hello this is Gerard. Is that you Robert?” 

The response he got took him by surprise. “No Gerard this is Michael Howe, I’m a Police 
Crisis Negotiator. Please don’t hang up. Gerard, as a sign of good faith I have asked the 
Police copter to leave. I would like to hear what you have to say.”   

Gerard looked up noticing that the chopper was indeed flying downtown. The sudden 
silence made him aware of how fast his heart was pounding. He knew he didn’t have 
much time. He wasn’t armed and so if the police came for him he would have no way of 
stopping them. He could at least try to convince one person he wasn’t insane. 
“OK Michael. I’ll tell you what I’m doing up here. I’m trying to get people to understand 
what a sham their life is. That’s what I’m doing.”  Gerard knew enough about Police 
Negotiators to know that he had a sympathetic ear, at least for a little while. 
“How’s that Gerard? How is life a sham?”  

Gerard felt himself relax. “You have a calm voice Michael I guess that’s why you have 
been chosen to do the job you do.” 

Michael was now standing by the rooftop door. He looked at the time showing on his 
notepad. It was twenty nine to midnight. He was running out of time. If they could 
confirm that Gerard was unarmed they may be able to break through the door and grab 
him before he had a chance to harm himself. The rooftop webcam was not very clear. 
Gerard seemed to be holding a black object in his right hand. He was wearing a grey long 
windcoat with a hood so it was impossible to see his face.     

“I guess so Gerard. Tell me Gerard, do you think I can come up there so I can speak to 
you face to face? Can you remove the barricade from the door? 

Gerard suddenly remembered who he was dealing with. “Sorry Michael. If I let you up 
here your police friends will be able to shoot me and I don’t want that.”

Michael decided to try a new tactic.

“Gerard I promise. You can trust me. I will make sure no harm comes to you. Just let me 
come through and I can help you barricade the door again. How does that sound?”

Gerard thought briefly about Michael’s proposal. He couldn’t reach the door without 
removing the rope from his neck. He feared being overwhelmed by superior force if he 
approached the door. He stood his ground.” No sorry Michael. I do trust you but I don’t 
trust the others. They would rather see me dead than let me give away their secrets.” 

Michael sensed that he was dealing with a paranoid schizophrenic. He probed a bit 
deeper to confirm his suspicion. “Gerard what secrets?”

Gerard wanted to tell him. He knew however from previous experience that as soon as he 
started to speak about his work at Langley people would treat him as if he was crazy. 
He decided to test Michael out a bit at a time. “Michael I know you will find this hard to 
believe but I was once a research assistant at Langley Virginia. I worked on a secret 
project to investigate the relationship between individual and mass events.” 

“Gerard I’d like to believe you but I need for you to tell me your real name so I can check 
your story.”

Gerard didn’t hesitate. “It’s Gerard Seng. The project I worked for was called Siren.”

“Thank you Gerard. Can you wait just one moment while I get someone to confirm that”

Sure Michael it’s the truth. I have nothing to hide.” 

Michael looked at Sergeant Robbins who had been listening to the conversation through 
his own scanner. “Sergeant Robbins, get someone back at base to check the phone book 
for Langley Virginia. Create a short list for first name Gerard Seng. Also make enquiries 
about a Sirens project.”

Sergeant Robbins gave Michael the thumbs up sign.  Michael looked at the time. It was 
11.38 pm. He needed to act fast. 
“Gerard I have someone checking your story. Tell me you seem like a reasonable man. 
What do you hope to achieve pulling off a stunt like this?”          
 
Gerard was disappointed. He wanted to tell Michael about the project. “Michael, 
wouldn’t you rather know what I did in the project? That will explain what I’m trying to 
achieve.”

“OK Gerard, tell me about the project. What were you up to in Langley then?”

“I was invited to join a team of psychics. It was 1990. Government people scoured the 
countryside looking for psychics. They chose only those that could prove themselves. 
The tests were rigorous. They wanted people who could change things – people who had 
the ability to move objects with their minds.”

Michael felt the conversation was a waste of time. However he could not see any other 
way to win Gerard’s trust. “Yes Gerard I’m listening. Please go on.” 

“Gerard was remembering more now. So much had been suppressed. He concluded the 
fact that he was wearing the faraday cap was preventing them from keeping the memories 
suppressed. “Well they didn’t need them to move objects. They wanted them to move 
much more subtle things. They wanted them to move minds. Michael have you ever 
wondered why they call large numbers of people the masses? I suppose you haven’t. 
Have you ever thought about mob psychology and mass hysteria? And why a priest 
preaches to a mass? What do you suppose goes on in these cases? Anyway they 
employed a bunch of us to psychically influence others. We used to do it in groups all 
concentrating our powers together. We were known as spammers. The orders would 
come through to concentrate on getting people to accept things - getting them to be 
happy.  I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that. It seemed a good thing to do at 
the time. Then I heard that some of the spammers were being asked to do special ops – 
influence a small election here, change people opinion there. It seemed a natural 
progression. You know the saying power corrupts?” 

Michael looked at the time again. There were twenty minutes to go before midnight. 
He noticed that Sergeant Robbins was trying to grab his attention. “Gerard please can you 
hold on a moment” 

Sergeant Robbins came over and whispered something in Michael’s ear. It was 
confirmation that indeed Gerard Seng had lived in Langley and had worked for the NSA. 
“OK Gerard I have just received confirmation that you are indeed who you say you are. I 
believe you Gerard. Please open the door and we can take this conversation elsewhere. 
We are currently contacting your sister. I understand both your parents are dead.”

Gerard considered Michaels request. “He would have liked to take the noose from around 
his neck and walked to the door and resumed a normal life. However, it was too late for 
that. He knew too much and the authorities would move in to silence him. He had spent 
every last cent he had on this mass event. He hoped that he had created enough 
momentum to change things.”

“No sorry Michael. It’s too late for that. You would only truly understand if you placed 
the faraday cap on your head. That’s the only way to stop the vibes getting through.”

Michael remembered he had a faraday cap in his coat pocket. It was the one he had had 
pressed into his hand by the hawker in Times Square. He still had his coat folded near 
where he was now crouching by the door. 

“I have a faraday cap Michael. I was given one by a hawker on the way here.”

Gerard was both surprised by Michael’s announcement. “He still needed to test Michael 
before he would totally trust him. ”OK Michael if you have it with could you please 
describe it to me.”       
  
Michael felt around for the pocket of his coat and pulled out the cap. It was a strange 
looking thing. “ It’s a bit like a shower cap with a thin wire mesh stitched into the inside 
surface and it has those luminescent green rubber filaments that people wear around their 
necks on new years eve radiating from the center on the outside surface.”
 
“Gerard felt pleased. He really wanted to trust Michael. “Yeah the green luminescence 
was my idea. I figured people would be tricked into thinking they were New Year’s party 
hats. I had fifty thousand produced and have paid fifty people to distribute them. I’ve 
spent my life savings on this thing. That’s how important it is for me to get people to 
realize what’s been happening. Michael, can you put the cap on?  It’s really the only way 
you will truly understand what I am telling you.”

Michael looked at the time. It was ten minutes to midnight.  He had nothing to lose and 
everything to gain. He took the cap and opened it out stretching it over his head. “Ok 
Gerard I have put the cap on. Will you open the door now?” 

Michael looked over to where Sergeant Robbins was crouching next to him. He thought 
he looked as if he was trying not to laugh. 

“OK Michael. Tell me do you feel any differently?
Michael checked. There were no easily recognizable changes. “No sorry Gerard. I feel 
exactly the same.”

Gerard didn’t know what he had expected Michael to experience. He only remembered 
what he had experienced - a complete change of heart about just about everything. He 
had not been able just to accept the status quo anymore. Injustices had no longer been 
easy to ignore.   He took off the noose from around his neck, then knelt down and 
reached for his black carry bag.  “Oh well Michael I’ve done as much as I can to spread 
the word. I’m coming to the d”

Michael heard the shot followed by a thud. He couldn’t believe that Gerard would have 
killed himself. It just didn’t add up. He motioned to Sergeant Robbins to bash the door in 
with the ramming bolt. As soon as the door fell off its hinges Michael ran to Gerard’s 
body.  There was no sign of a firearm. “Quickly someone call an ambulance” Michael 
shouted out when he saw that Gerard was still breathing, laying on his back looking 
straight up at him. Blood was still streaming from the wound to the back of his head. 
Gerard tried to say something. Only a gurgling sound came out. Michael knelt down 
ready to give CPR but stopped after a few breaths. There was no sign of a pulse. Gerard 
was dead. The anger Michael felt in that moment was overwhelming. He had lost other 
subjects before but that was part of the job. They had never meant anything to him. 
Captain De Angelo had rushed up the steps and was now standing behind him. “Michael 
you did your best.”  Michael turned and headed for the door grabbing his coat he ran 
down the stairs past the TRG officers coming the other way. He wanted to get as far away 
from that place as he could.  In the lift on the way down to street level his thoughts were 
racing. ‘How could he let it happen?’ How did it happen? Who had authorized the shot?’ 

As he headed for the outer doors of One Times Square a uniform stopped him at the door.          
Sorry Captain I have to warn you there are riots right across the city. They seem to have 
gone crazy smashing windows and overturning cars. The Bronx is on fire. I advise you to 
wait.” Michael put his coat on. “Thank you Sergeant I’ll keep that in mind.” He pushed 
through the revolving door. The chill hit him in the face. He pulled his collar up.   “Hey 
Captain are you sure you want to go out there with that shower cap on?”  Michael turned 
around abruptly. “Shut the hell up will you?” He turned around and marched off in the 
direction of the Subway. The world seemed different now somehow. Michael heard the 
cheers and horns all around him announce the arrival of the New Year. However, he 
could not get his thoughts past what Gerard had told him. As Michael walked through 
Times Square he noticed the electronic news board flashing the headlines. ‘New York 
Burns.’ Below that there was another headline “Eighty Million Africans to die of AIDS 
by 2025.” 

Somehow he used to be able to walk past signs like that without feeling anything at all. 
Now he felt his eyes well up with tears. He hadn’t felt so strongly about things before.
He felt different.  He felt angry enough to clench his fists. He wanted to lash out and 
scream at people. Scream at them to wake up and see what was really going on in the 
world. He felt overwhelmed with anger and grief. It was as if someone had open the 
floodgates and let all the world’s suffering in. He felt his gut tighten and all he wanted to 
do is run through the streets kicking and screaming. Michael started to run and cry at the 
same time. As he ran he was sobbing uncontrollably. He felt disoriented.  Finally, he 
recognized the subway entrance. He felt some snow flakes settle against his face. They 
melted in his tears.   

When he entered the subway he quickly took the cap off and placed it in his coat pocket. 
He had kept it on for two reasons only. He wanted to respect Gerard’s request that he 
investigate the truth of his claims. He also had kept it on to keep his head warm while he 
had walked across the open Square. He took his cell phone from his pocket and called his 
wife wiping his eyes with his coat sleeve. Everything was going to be OK after all. He 
felt safe and happy again.