First contact

Jim sat impatiently, waiting for the plane to land. As he stared out at the French countryside below him, he thought about what he was doing. He really knew next to nothing about what was about to happen to him. All he knew was that he was to pick up his luggage, find the train station and board the train for a small Swiss town he had never heard of before. The mystery of his situation both scared and intrigued him...

Jim thought he was a pretty average fourteen year old. He was just about to finished ninth grade and was a little apprehensive about starting high school in the fall even though he had grades far above average.

He was fairly tall but slim. He had muscles, in fact he was very strong, but was not what most people considered to be an "athletic build". He couldn't bench press a car, but he had great endurance and could throw things a long way. He also liked the loneliness of the track, so he ran a lot — in decent speed too.

He loved his parents and they provided well for him. They were upper middle class, so they were very comfortable and as an only child, he really lacked for nothing.

All in all, he was going along just fine and then "it" came.

It happened last week, as he received a mysterious letter. It told him that he had qualified for an audition for a secret, but benevolent, society based upon personal recommendation of one or more existing members.

The letter said that there was absolutely no cost associated with the membership - even though his life would be vastly different if he accepted. However, it did not reveal anything about the society or its purpose.

The letter told him not to discuss the content of the letter with anyone except his parents.

He had long talks with his parents about the letter. In the end his parents believed that he should go through with the "audition", if for no other reason than to get more information so he could make a good decision.

Jim went to the website listed in the letter. "Website" was being generous. The entire "site" consisted of a single bare page with an input box and an "ok" button. He entered his twenty-digit code and hit "ok".

Another letter was waiting for him two days later. The new letter contained a very short, formal but friendly, "thank you" note for participating - and a single round-trip business class ticket from his American hometown to Geneva, Switzerland.

The ticket was for a day about two weeks from then, conveniently just two days after his holidays would start.

So he found himself alone in a plane staring at the French countryside below him. In a few minutes they would cross the Swiss border and land at Geneva.

After that, an adventure would hopefully await him...