Chapter 25

Vyagar's hammer finally fell, though at first the disappearances had gone almost unnoticed by the outside world. In one night the Columbian drug lords and their entire army of workers suddenly disappeared as did their Asian counterparts halting almost all cocaine and heroin production. Like a stone dropped into the water of an otherwise smooth lake, the ripples spread out until the effect was felt around the globe.

The coca fields were destroyed by what appeared to be some heretofore unknown pest that had a taste for Erythroxylon Coca and nothing else. Scientists trying to determine how such a pest could have developed such a precise need for one particular plant in such an apparently short period of time were completely baffled. The other confusing issue was how the pest had spread so thoroughly throughout the globe into every region the plant was grown in almost simultaneously. Confused or not, the dilemma couldn't be ignored and in fact appeared to be growing in proportions as another new pest seemed to suddenly develop a powerful taste for Papaver somniferum L. This devastation of the poppies from which opium, heroin, and other powerful narcotics are derived was frighteningly similar to the way in which the coca had been destroyed.

During this same period of time, the traffickers of illegal drugs also disappeared without a trace. The smugglers who shipped the drugs through Central America and Canada as well as those who used high speed boats launched from Haiti, the Dominican Republic and other island nations. Most of the drug processing labs seemed to be suddenly vacant as well. Even the majority of pushers on the street had disappeared.

The final volley against the drug trade came with the disappearance of corrupt government officials around the globe who had in some way or another willingly aided in the trafficking of the harmful substances for their own profit. Even the lawyers who had profited by protecting those involved in the drug trade had disappeared.

The Golden Triangle of Asia, the Columbian highlands and jungles, and many other parts of the world were severely affected by the sudden shift in economics and power. Though only a few had reaped the bulk of the monetary rewards of the drug trade, it still played an important economic role in many of the countries around the globe. What would happen to these countries now? Would they be able to find more suitable ways to bolster their economies?

The discovery of the thorough destruction of drug crops was followed by the frantic reports of the disappearances of entire drug cartels and criminal organizations. The world was jolted into a new level of awareness regarding just how much of an impact the illicit trade had caused. Now in the aftermath, the U.S. DEA and many other law enforcement agencies were beginning to shift their focus; instead of attempting to shut down the huge drug trafficking machine it was time to develop methods to prevent new ones from growing to fill the void left by the old ones.

Around the globe black market and terrorist organizations saw their ability to quickly raise money severely hampered.

The news and talk show programs were filled with so called experts who tried to sound intelligent as they were paid to explain the unexplainable and of course the "religious" leaders had to have their say as well predicting that "God's wrath" would soon fall on other "purveyors of immorality".

Dale was pleased that Vyagar had done such a thorough and complete job in his global war against the drug trade; but he was quite surprised, and pleasantly so, when he discovered that once again Vyagar had added to his wealth. Thoroughly and meticulously his AI friend had untraceably redirected the lion's share of wealth to Dale's control. The amount of wealth he now possessed was simply staggering to him as were the great number of machinations that Vyagar had gone through to transfer it to him.

The evening news had once again become quite fascinating to everyone around the globe as it usually does when events of great magnitude take place; but the other members of House Manix were particularly enthralled as they gradually realized that much of this might be the wizard's doing.

Using the guidelines Dale had provided him with, Vyagar and his huge team of AIs processed the prisoners who had been abducted. Basically, after thoroughly scanning a prisoners mind and physical attributes, they were assigned to one of three categories: 1) Those who were forced to participate in criminal activities and had other viable skills or attributes, 2) Those whose crimes and personalities were so vile or malicious they weren't worth further effort, and 3) Those who didn't fit into the first or second category but whose bodily appearance and attributes were desirable. The AIs carefully sifted the thoughts and cataloged the attributes of their prisoners as Dale had requested.

When they were finished with their work Dale was somewhat shocked by the number of prisoners they had dealt with. He had left everything in Vyagar's capable hands; but now that it was largely over with Dale was curious about how it had been accomplished. As he reviewed the details Dale discovered over three million prisoners had been processed! The magnitude of the operation Vyagar had conducted finally began to sink in.

"Where did you put them all?" Dale asked.

"You instructed me to make a facility suitable for holding the necessary number of prisoners. Pre-scanning a large sample of the facilities future population prior to their abduction allowed a population forecast to be developed taking into account the three categories the prisoners would be sorted into and the disposal of those in category two. The facilities human population is currently just over one million," Vyagar informed him.

"Wow! That's a lot of people to deal with," Dale responded. "It's kind of sobering to think about the large numbers who were destroyed; but I'm sure it was probably the best thing to do. What have you done with the rest?"

"Those who fit into category one, the individuals who were forced to participate and have some viable skills or attributes, have each received an AI crystal that will act as a guide and monitor. Those who fit into category three, the individuals who didn't fit into either the first or second category but whose bodily appearance and attributes are desirable, have each had their minds wiped and are completely under the control of an embedded AI. In essence they have become another subclass of OAIs," Vyagar said in answer.

"So Vyagar, how many in each group?"

"There are over eight hundred and seventy thousand in category one and over one hundred and sixty thousand in category three."

"Of category three, how many are men and how many are women?" Dale inquired.

"There are one hundred thirty seven thousand four hundred and sixty two females and twenty two thousand five hundred and eight seven males in category three."

"Have you thought of a good use for all of these people yet?" Dale asked as he looked at the holographic avatar that Vyagar used to represent himself.

"There are numerous possibilities Dale; but most all of them require a great deal of thinking and decision making on your part. You seem to care about what happens to the people on this planet and having kept that in mind I have thought a great deal about what it would take to correct many of the problems faced by Earth's population. There are several major problems that manifest themselves in literally thousands of varying ways and unless they are dealt with I'm afraid earth will just struggle along much as it has until eventually the massive population booms will eventually result in some sort of major catastrophe such as mass starvation or disease, or even global annihilation by chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.