It was no lie. I became rich beyond imagining. My business nearly reached escape velocity in its rise through the Fortune 500 list. I bought cars and mansions, then boats and planes.

It was around then, sitting in my office one afternoon, that he came to me. He wore no insignia, had no security detail, and simply appeared in front of my desk.

Authority radiated off him like a mist. It pooled at his feet and swirled dreamily from his limbs when he moved. When he held out a champagne flute, there was nothing I could do but reach out and take it.

“This is power. You have tried a little, already – it comes with my sister’s gift. But this is what you really desire – and what you know the world needs. You alone can steer this world away from the disaster.

“I might even say it was your responsibility to take it.”

I eyed the slowly rising bubbles, and we toasted the future.