The Great Game

[Lois]

The Great Game.

In my youth, I had an idea that there was something special in the world, something known only to the initiated. I couldn't pinpoint the exact area it related to, and reading various books, I hoped to grasp this idea. Once, I was reading a story in some magazine, and it talked about a candidate of science who was trying to get into a certain circle of professors, and there was a mention that the professors were involved in a Great Game. The essence of this game was not described, but reading that part made me very alert. The idea I had in mind fit the term "Great Game" very well. For many years, I racked my brain over what this serious Great Game could be. I was absolutely sure it existed, that if you put in the effort, you could get into it. But I understood that to do so, I needed to find someone who was connected to it and who could introduce me to it. I realized that the game was dangerous, that it was a very tough thing, but also that only in the Great Game could one realize their potential. But for many years, I received no hint that the Great Game actually existed.

One day, I was walking along Nevsky Prospect and suddenly saw a very serious man coming towards me from a completely different world than the one I belonged to. My intuition told me that he was connected to the Great Game. But the man passed by, and all I could do was hope that I would get a chance to talk to him.

A few days later, I met him at Saigon and, gathering my courage, approached him and said that it was a good place. He seemed to be on guard and quickly said, "I know Gennady from Sadovaya, Phil from Marata." I realized that he didn't want to engage in a conversation. In the end, he added, "People are robots." I confirmed, "Yes, yes." And with that, we parted ways.

Some time later, I met him in the passage at Gostiny Dvor. He was talking with some people; I approached and very humbly greeted him. He reacted completely unexpectedly: "This guy is exactly who I need." From this phrase, I immediately understood that the subsequent events would not be long in coming. He finished talking with the people, and we went on together. I needed to pick up my wife from work. She was a violinist, studying at the Conservatory, and in the evenings, she worked at a restaurant for tourists, entertaining the public with music. We approached the restaurant with the man, whose name, as it turned out, was Van, and sat down at a table outside. Van pointed at the restaurant and said, "This is a bad place." After a while, my wife came out, I introduced her to Van, and she suggested we go to my place, buying a good bottle of wine on the way. Which we did.

 

My wife drank a little with us, and then went to bed. Van asked me for some painting supplies, mixed various paints on a palette, added some oil, then placed a sheet of paper down and started simply rubbing the sheet into the paint, pressing particularly hard on some spots. Then he took a second sheet and did the same. In this manner, he used about 20 sheets. I watched his actions very closely. Finally, Van showed me the last sheet and said, "Look, this is Paris." Indeed, the sheet depicted a view of Paris. This amazed me, as I had seen him not drawing anything, but just blotting the sheets.

After that, I met him more than once in the city center. During that period, I had a very interesting life with my wife. We got acquainted with a very prominent clairvoyant who revealed very curious things to us. One day, I met Van, and he suggested I listen to a cassette with music. We went to my friend's place and started listening to the cassette. I generally loved good rock music, but this music was absolutely stunning.

About a week later, I went to the synagogue in the evening for Shabbat. After the prayer, we sat down for a festive meal. There was a very serious man from the States present, who invited everyone to a concert that was to take place a little later. I decided to go to the concert but picked up Van on the way, as I had a meeting planned with him. Van was with two girls, and the four of us went to the concert. We were a bit late; the concert had already started. Suddenly, I heard that it was the same music we had listened to on the cassette with Van. Although Van hadn't told me anything, I understood that this was the GREAT GAME.

A month later, I met him again. We struck up a conversation with a woman from the Baltics and decided to go to my place. On the way, Van started talking about a dream he had of a dagger with a handle made in the shape of a horse's head. The Baltic woman said she had such a dagger and pulled it out of her bag. Van took it in his hands and said that yes, this was indeed the dagger. Van never returned the dagger to the Baltic woman, even though she told him it was the only thing she had left from her grandmother. He justified this by saying that she would definitely kill someone with it.

This was also the GREAT GAME.

Some time later, I was walking near the Public Library when suddenly, out of nowhere, a thought came to me: "Whoever does not believe in God, on September 13th will start...," at that moment I heard and even saw a voice that seemed to unfold a meter away from me: "... SYNCHRONIZATION." I didn't know this word, but I decided it was some medical term. I went into the Public Library, took a medical dictionary, and found out that the word means "paralysis."

And now, having been introduced to the GREAT GAME, listen to the true King of the Universe:

"I AM THE KING OF THE WORLD. Do not serve other gods, do not engage in foolishness. Whoever wants to understand the truth will enter the GREAT GAME."