Page 69 - The Myth and the Moment

Evening

and all media. You need financial advice? I know who’s good in this
town: tax accountants, estate planners, financial advisors, you name
it. It can all be done if you know the right people. My own will is a
beautiful document, eighteen pages double-spaced; I can’t understand
half of it, but I trust my attorney, and he wrote it.”
Honor among thieves. Time for Phil’s shock therapy.
“Your will is no good, Phil. I can tell you that without seeing it.”
“Eh?”
That got his attention.
“Yes, null and void. And the same goes for every human being on
this planet. After a few thousand nuclear bombs have exploded, there
will be no heirs and no property to distribute.”
“What? Are you serious?”
“Melodramatic, perhaps, but yes: dead serious. Forget your will.
Unless you die in the very near future, it’s pointless.”
“So that’s it. You’ve got nothing to live for, so you take some
perverted pleasure in thinking the world is about to blow up. Sour
grapes, that’s your problem. And why the hell are you so concerned
about your last will and testament, if it’s going to be vaporized along
with everything else?”
“It’s not.”
“Oh, come on! You tell me I’m not rational, and then you give me
all this crap. Maybe Aestheria’s right. What a story: you really had me
going there for a minute, Evangelino.”
“Don’t stop now, Phil. I haven’t finished. And I’m still serious.
And I’m still rational. The property I have to dispose of is not cash
or bonds or real estate; it’s an attempt to describe what went wrong
with our civilization, why it came to such a sticky end. My heirs
haven’t been born yet, may never exist; my testament may not survive
the holocaust, or it may never be found. That is out of my control,
limited by human mortality in a very extreme manifestation.”
“Wait a minute. You’re still not making sense. You didn’t answer
my question: why do you suppose your precious papers are going to
be saved from the aftermath of World War III?”
“Because they won’t be on paper. I am going to transfer my
message to a metal plate which will be sealed inside a container made
of weather-proof material. I will bury it in a locale likely to be
searched by archaeologists of the future.”

68