Chapter 1

Although everyone was tired, there was a good atmosphere in the bar. The story about how dangerous it is and how to be careful in this place was immediately denied. It is clear to the locals that they live off of tourism, that is, from visitors to the Lost City of the Inca tribe. Although they are used to tourists from all over the world, this team from Croatia seemed exotic to them, but also endearing because, unlike Westerners, they did not seem reserved and unapproachable, especially the fact that they ordered rounds of drinks without asking how much it cost and before they had finished the previous one.

The locals were a mixture of natives and Spanish colonizers, and by their appearance, you could recognize whose genes prevailed. The small town of Cusco where they were located is almost 3,500 meters above sea level, which is more than double the altitude any of them have ever been to. A team of fifteen occupied three tables and recounted their admiration for the landmark they visited that day. Machu Picchu enchanted them all, and the rare air at that height combined with alcohol made them dizzy and relaxed more than ever before. Ivan, nicknamed Locksmith, was especially noticeable. He was normally withdrawn and self-effacing, and now, after a few drinks, he forced the locals to name the players of the national football team and soon taught them to sing their anthem.

Ivan is a locksmith according to his profession, and he got his nickname when he started working in a furniture factory after finishing school. On the first day when several recruits were hired, during the assignment, the foreman Marko, who is otherwise a big joker, said to him: -.” ... you, Ivan, since you are a locksmith, go to the department of packing doorknobs and keyholes”, and everyone burst out laughing. From that day on, everyone called him Ivan the Locksmith.

He was quite withdrawn. While boys of his age spent their free time in pubs, Ivan pursued his hobby - computers. Over time, he became a self-taught computer scientist and programmer, and the entire neighbourhood brought computers to Ivan for repair. Soon the whole city knew about Ivan the Locksmith, and he constantly spread his knowledge and became a top coding expert. After all those years, he didn’t want to leave his job at the furniture factory, even though it would have paid him much more if he had opened a business and worked in IT and computer service, but Ivan was stubborn and didn’t listen to anyone, not even his wife.

Seeing him so relaxed, Ernest, co-owner of the company and the organizer of this trip and team building, had to tell everyone about his meetings with Ivan, and about how he persuaded him to accept the job. Like everyone else, Ernest knew that Ivan the Locksmith existed, but he never met him. Only when he had already founded the company and was looking for a genius like Ivan, did he decide to visit him. Then he offered him a job with more than double the salary he had in the factory, and more flexible working hours, but Ivan flatly refused him.

Likewise, he refused the second time he called him on the phone a few months later. In the meantime, the company ERDAM, whose name is composed of the initial letters of the names of the two co-owners, Ernest and Damir, had made incredible progress and had become one of the leaders in the country when it comes to digital protection of property, alarms, video surveillance and data protection. The business was expanding and a person like Ivan with his knowledge would be the perfect choice for a new employee, so Ernest tried again.

He came to Ivan on purpose while Ivan was still at work, just to try to convince his wife Jasenka first. From the first offer, Jasenka was aware of what an opportunity it was, but she only told Ivan her opinion without any attempt to influence. However, she could not remain indifferent to the offer of double the salary the one originally offered, and then Ernest also listed various benefits such as a company car, flexible working hours, long vacations, paid wellness centres and spas ... Jasenka promised to talk with Ivan and explained to him that he shouldn’t tell him anything because he is such that no words will be able to change what is already in his head. It took three full weeks for Jasenka to persuade Ivan to call Ernest.

They negotiated for a long time, for days. Every day Ivan had a new question for Ernest and finally they sat down at the table and signed the contract. Although he hid it, Ivan was afraid of the new job. He had a lack of self-confidence, but the friendly environment in a company where human relations are in the first place, greatly helped Ivan acclimatize as soon as possible. The owners insisted that the employees socialize outside of working hours, so that they often went out for drinks after work, and weekend trips or team building were held every month. It’s not that the company was very rich, but Ernest thought that such an approach was effective and that the workers were much more productive. And he was right. Although it would be difficult to explain the profitability of a trip to South America for 15 people, the cost of plane tickets alone would give you a headache.

Ivan wasn’t the only one who got freaked out in the bar. The Maligans worked with the others as well, but Jelena was the only one holding the strings in her hands. Not only in the bar but in general in the company, Jelena was the one who took care of everything and organized everything. Although she was a secretary, she was much more than that. Many would get the wrong impression about her because of her appearance and looks, but also style of dressing. Many will say that she looked more like secretaries from porn movies than an exemplary and intelligent worker. However, only those who did not know her can have such an opinion. Jelena knew everything about work, and her dedication to work and tremendous organizational skills made her irreplaceable. It should be noted that as soon as she found out about this trip to Peru, she immediately enrolled in a quick Spanish course so that all communication took place through her.

She managed to arrange for her home country music to be played because almost half of the guests were employees of the Erdam company. Although none of them normally listened to local pop music, the fact that they were on the other side of the world and hearing local songs made them even more excited. Everyone started dancing and the locals joined them. A real party and general banter ensued. The local “distributors” got to work so that the smell of marijuana was in the air, and of course, there was also cocaine in all aggregate states, like some things that no one had ever heard of. It was as if the locals and the Balkans were trying to prove who was the stronger partiers. However, the home court eventually won because the guests slowly weakened and several of them headed for the hotel. Only Ivan was still at his feet, who was tirelessly drinking and dancing and was the last of the team.

The hotel where they were staying looked more like a mountain lodge even though it was in the city. Late in the afternoon, Ivan slept in his room. For the second time, they came to check if everything was alright with him. Ernest wet a towel and put it on his forehead. Soon Ivan started to wake up.

“Buddy, are you okay?” - Ernest asked and Ivan looked at him blankly.

“Crazy night, huh?” - He didn’t even answer Ernest’s question.

He got up and sat down on the bed in slow motion. He seemed completely disoriented. He reached for the bottle of water that was on the table. Ernest passed it to him and Ivan drank it all the way.

“Uh, you’re dehydrated,” said Ernest.

Ivan: - “Fuck, I don’t remember anything.”

He stood up and stretched out his arms with a soft sigh of pleasure. “But I feel good,” he added.