The Mandela Effect

Chapter 53

Jon was sitting in the backseat of a non-descript Silver Toyota Prius. When C had led them into the garage, Jon was honestly surprised to see the Prius given everything he'd seen and heard about C. The man must have noticed his reaction.

"I don't drive this on the daily," C chuckles, "but if you want to blend in..."

"You go with a Prius?" Jon asks.

"It's the fastest growing car type in the DMV," C says, "everyone getting 'environmental'."

"DMV?" Jon now asks.

"Sorry," C sighed, "DC, Maryland, & Virginia."

"Ahhh," Jon realized, "got it."

"So, if you want to blend in," C continues, "you ignore your own tastes and just get whats popular."

"Makes sense," Jon agreed.

They climbed in and shortly they were off.

It didn't take long for them to get to the area around the hotel. Jon sat up in the back seat and started paying more attention to the surroundings.

"You recognize this place?" C asks him, looking in the rearview mirror.

"I showed him on our way in," T explained.

"Ahhh," C acknowledged, "I see."

The car didn't pass directly next to the hotel initially. Jon only realized later that they had circled the place from a few blocks away, checking all angles, and then closing a block to repeat it, closing another block, and so on.

"Doesn't seem like super high security," T says.

"It's not necessarily what's obviously security," C clarified.

"I just was at the Republican Convention last go around," T started to explain.

Both Jon and C snapped their heads towards him, but T seemed not to notice.

"and you couldn't get within," T continues, "half a mile without seeing security and hitting checkpoints."

"The Convention? Really?" Jon asks.

"Yea?" T confirmed.

"I'm not going to ask," C replied, "but everyone knew it was the Convention there. Here: no one knows anything is going on, and even if they did, they don't know what."

Jon realized that was completely true. If these guys were right, the most powerful organization in the world was meeting a few blocks away and no one outside the cars windows had any idea what was happening.

"And don't get me wrong," C continues, "inside security will seem airtight."

"Seem?" T asks.

"Yea, all appearances," C clarified, "but the reality is, every participant and planner thinks they are pulling the wool over everyones' eyes. There hasn't beena problem... ever. As far as I know. So, it'll be a lot like the airport."

"The airport?" Jon asks, "I just flew and it was a nightmare."

"It probably was," C agreed, "but thats more bureaucracy and red tape then effective security."

"Really?" Jon asks.

"Do you know how many terrorist attacks TSA has stopped?" C asks.

Jon shook his head.

"Exactly zero," C laughs, "I mean maybe prevented, like someone thinks twice. But they haven't actually stopped any."

T shook his head at the news.

"Why 3 oz bottles and not 4oz? Why a medium clear bag and not a large? Why no aerosols?" C asks, "Just because. That's why. The aerosols are absolute, sure. But 3oz bottles? The skin of an airplane is 2.5mm thick. The windows are 10mm. If you can't take out that window or puncture the skin with 3oz, or 3oz times 4 or 5, then you're doing it wrong."

"But, it wouldn't blow up the plane," Jon says.

"No," C agreed, "but it would cause massive depressurization and likely tear away chunks of the fuselage. Do it up front and that debris will go into the engine. Now you're down an engine in a 'wounded duck' of a plane. If it crashes, it serves the same purpose."

Jon hadn't considered any of that.

"And none of that is to mention the most ridiculous stuff," C continues, "you can still take box cutters on a plane or cartridges and razors, but not both. If only terrorists work in teams... And I mean, the war that started all of this has been over for years, but TSA is still around."

"That's crazy," Jon says, "I hadn't even thought about it."

"No one does," C says, "that's why it continues."

There is a few moments of silence in car before C breaks it.

"But aside from scouting security," C continues, "it's also about seeing the neighborhood. What bar is having a special for this convention? What restaurant is closed tomorrow night? It's things people may mention and you'll be out of place if you don't know."

Jon nodded and looked out the window at the streets.

"But I think I've seen enough," C says, "Parking is the same as always. No big changes around. Let's get back."

C turned the car back towards his place.

"Should we stay in the hotel tonight?" Jon asks, "wouldn't that get us right inside?"

"It would," C says, "but it could also get background checks run and then the jig is up."

"Right," Jon sighed. He still didn't think the way these guys did.

"You can bivouac with me tonight," C says, "that way we'll all arrive together."

"Makes sense," T agreed.