Free Time Eternal by Lily Worthington

time, bank runs and investors’ flight to safety will not be contained in the United States but will spread worldwide.”
    He let the next logical conclusion sink in a bit before continuing. “When that happens, the global geopolitical power will be changed drastically. The U.S. and its western allies will be too busy trying to dig themselves out of the financial shit hole, and you all will be too vulnerable to fend off any attack, physical or economical, by your enemies.”
    Three of them were now looking at him as if he had lost his mind. He knew he had them hooked, so he deepened his smile. “You can go check with your folks in the Treasury Department or Federal Reserve. They and your allies have already been looking at a set of complicated probabilistic simulations, gauging the potential damages and impacts of a total global financial meltdown. None of the possible outcomes is short of catastrophic.”
    It was a pleasure to see the otherwise in-control director’s expression turn from troubled to shocked on hearing him narrate the secret probabilistic study her government had done. If word of the study got out to the general public, panic would erupt.
    He held up his hand before she could demand to know where he got his information. “I have my sources.” And he continued:
    “After the collapses of Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, and Washington Mutual in 2008, and the subsequent government bailouts of AIG, Merrill Lynch, and Citigroup, the only reason that people remained calm was because of the FDIC guarantee of bank deposits. So, if the FDIC had never been created, the bank run scenario would spill from the U.S. to Europe and to the rest of the world. The only countries that might escape the ripple effects will be China and some of the oil-rich Middle Eastern countries. China is already the largest bondholder of the U.S. Treasury debts. With the world economy plunged into chaos, China will wage a war with your government, using the global bank runs as the excuse to sell off its U.S. debt holdings. That alone will bankrupt your government overnight and set off an irreversible worldwide panic. World War III would not be a farfetched possibility, with Russia, China, and a few other dictator-led countries aligning with each other against the democratic western world. Payback would be easy and drastic.”
    “What proof do you have?” The director’s voice was strained by his revelation.
    “None that you could quantify with all your scientific gadgets.”
    After a long heartbeat of silence, the director signaled her agents to lower their weapons and motioned him to the small conference table in the middle of her office. As if on cue, the same pale, well-dressed man came through the door with a tray of cups and a teapot. He was right. That was Curtis James, the director’s personal assistant who had the same security clearance as the director. He was eyeing Rei with a glint of unease and wariness.
    “Sugar, milk?” Mr. James looked in his direction.
    “No, thank you.”
    While the director’s personal assistant was preparing the coffee, the room was stone silent. The predator was watching his prey, but who was the predator and who was the prey? Rei smiled inwardly and took a big swallow of the coffee. What the f— He barely managed to politely spit it back into the cup. The extremely sweetened coffee was undrinkable and would likely give him a lethal dose of insulin.
    Mr. James jumped into action quickly, almost too quickly. “Oh, dear, I must’ve given you the director’s cup. She is addicted to sugar.” He immediately took away Rei’s cup and went back to the side table for a fresh one.
    “My apologies. Here you go again. One hundred percent black coffee.”
    While Mr. James was leaving him a new cup of coffee, he simultaneously handed Director Jensen the sugar jar. “Thank you, Curtis. That’ll be all.” She calmly added an impressive amount of sugar to her cup.
    Rei shot out his arm and stopped Mr.