Save the Last Bullet for God (12 page)

The next morning, I woke up before Elif left
for work and signed the other two copies—one for each of my
brothers. The signatures “Your Oktay” were only two of the
thousands to come.

TV Talk Show

After Elif
left home with the two books in her hands, I was alone. The book
was published, and I indulged fame-related dreams of newspaper
interviews and conferences at universities. I imagined giving
directives to my secretary to finalize my lecture schedule. These
incredible thoughts filled my head with noise.

I believed, as everyone read my book, they
would perceive the world and its events from a different viewpoint
and feel an urge to evaluate their surroundings from this new
perspective. They would discuss whether there might be other
secrets and ask whether I had other advice. World leaders and
public officials would discuss my findings and request statements
from me. Headlines like, “The Magnificent Discovery of the Doctor
Is a Gift to all Mankind” would hit the newsstands. Declarations of
support for Muslims from Christians and all other religions would
resound with messages such as, “We always felt it: all the
religions are equal and unique.” There would even be declarations
from governments that borders were unnecessary, that all human
beings were brothers and sisters, and that it was now mandatory to
distribute all resources equally. When people realized that wars
were unnecessary, armed conflict of any kind would come to an end.
Resourced spent on weapons would be reallocated for the welfare and
happiness of mankind. I would be all over the internet, on the
covers of magazines, on TV, and on everyone’s lips.

With all of these seductive thoughts
storming in my head, I continued to fulfill my responsibilities. To
avoid wasting all my effort and knowledge, I told myself it was
mandatory that I tell people about my discoveries. The prospect of
returning to my old job weighed heavily on my shoulders. I returned
to browsing the internet.

As I searched for information on others who
had dealt with the Qur’an’s disjointed letters, I became consumed
with the desire to provide a long explanation of my work and looked
for TV discussion programs where I could explain the details of my
work step-by-step. I searched for an interesting long-term program
with charismatic guests and broad participation—a program that
everyone would watch. On such a program, I could promote my book
and explain it in detail.

I typed “TV Discussion: The Codes and the
Holy Book” into my search engine. I did not expect to find much on
the first try.

The first article listed in the search
results seemed to have been written for me. It was a link to the
main page of Channel 19 where it said the following:

A great discussion program
at 8:00 Tonight. Don’t miss it! During this apocryphal time of
rumors and signs of
the
end
, a magnificent discussion will answer
many of your questions. Is the end of the world near? What do the
holy books say about it? Is there an encrypted message in the
Qur’an?

Experienced writer and journalist Hasan
Tahsin will host the following guests:

•
Feryal Özel: A
thirty-year-old astrophysicist, professor, and lecturer at the
University of Arizona, Dr. Ozel successfully represents Turkey
abroad as one of the world’s top twenty thinkers and a scientist
whose intelligence rivals Einstein’s. She will be answering our
questions live.

•
Hıdır Zaman: The
internationally respected cleric will be with us to talk about his
books and the theological implications of our
discussion.

•
Astrologer Gizem: An
authority in the field of esoteric sciences and communication with
the world beyond, as well as in the field of divination and
fortune-telling. Gizem believes our destiny is written in the
stars.

•
The Spiritualist Fatin:
Fatin has proven to the world many times that he can deliver news
from the spiritual world. Everything he has said about the future
has come true. We eagerly await his predictions tonight.

•
Child Prodigy, Ender:
Also known as “The indigo boy,” Ender is a media phenomenon who,
since the day he was born, has been surprising us all by answering
all your questions with the sheer power of his
intelligence.

It was exactly what I wanted! I called the
contact number immediately. After a few attempts, I was able to
reach the station manager. I told him I was a doctor and that I had
published a book. The show’s producers were in a rush due to the
excitement of the night’s program, so I summarized the situation
over the phone and told them about the discoveries in my book.
Realizing the value of such a sensational discovery being declared
for the first time on their show, the director told me they would
be happy to invite me to the program that night. He told me to
bring the book along with me.

…

I immediately dressed, gathered my notes,
and of course, grabbed my book. On the way to the show, I struggled
with my anxiety about what to say.

Sweaty and in wrinkled clothes, I arrived
late at the TV station and was rushed to the studio. Only then did
I realize that numerous calls had been made to my phone. With a
touch of anger and reproach, the program assistant led me to the
sound stage, all the while bombarding me with information about the
guests, the program format, and more. As they applied makeup, I
decided what I would say and how I would answer the questions. The
program had started and was playing on the monitor in the room, but
I wasn’t following it. Finally, I took my place in the studio
amidst curious looks from the audience and an angry glare from the
moderator.

It was a heated discussion with Mr. Tahsin
leading the flow like a virtuoso, intervening only when
necessary.

Feryal Özel, the young and beautiful
scientist—more attractive than her picture on the
internet—responded to his questions with clear, authoritative
answers.

“Dr. Özel, how can the indigo boy, Ender,
interpret events so clearly, and always give such perfect,
articulate answers?” Mr. Tahsin asked, staring at Feryal while also
paying attention to the camera angle.

“As you know,” she replied, “the human brain
uses only five percent of the information it receives. It can be
argued that what the brain does is a requirement of the
evolutionary process. This is because the body, by collecting
information from our external environment at the lowest level, is
needed to provide energy and time consumption in order to achieve
the most effective results. For example, if we are looking at a
rough sea over a cliff, it is our brain that tells us that it is
deep and cold. There is no need to dive in to test its depth.”

The answer was becoming a lecture, so Mr.
Tahsin interrupted to arouse the curiosity of the audience with
more attractive topics. “Of course, but our viewers will wonder how
you will connect all this with the indigo boy.”

“Simply put,” she continued, “our extracts
information from fragments. So, when our brain sees a small part of
a picture, it fills in the rest with its sense of right or wrong.
This is required for life in general, but it stymies us during
problem solving—or, rather, it prevents us from making right
decisions by misleading our perceptions.”

“However,” she continued “in the case of
Ender, he represents the next stage of evolution for the human
brain. His brain processes eighty percent or more of the things he
perceives. Today, the rest of us have seen a lot of cars, plates,
buildings, and red lights, but we haven’t paid attention. This boy,
on the other hand, has seen and imprinted his brain with them all.
Hence, next week, he may predict the duration of the red light,
what cars will be on the road, and the chance of an accident, even
in another city. This is something akin to forecasting the
weather…or seeing the future.”

“Wow—even though I was prepared and did my
research, I haven’t looked at the matter from that perspective,”
Mr. Tahsin said before turning to Ender. “So, young man, you have
some prophecies—”

“Foresights!” Dr. Özel immediately corrected
him with the protective instinct of a mother.

“Yes, yes, not prophecies, but foresights
that have generally come true. So to start our topic today, I’d
like to ask you, Ender, do you think the end of the world will come
on December 21, 2012?” Tahsin asked.

Ender stared at the moderator with blue eyes
that held a rare depth and maturity one wouldn’t expect from
someone his age. “You should explain the phrase ‘the end’ because
it is used in a very broad sense,” he stated.

“The end of mankind, the existing world…the
end of time,” Tahsin added.

The boy laughed before saying with apparent
sincerity, “To know that is like trying to decide whether the road
ends on a cliff five kilometers ahead by looking in the rearview
mirror of a car. Until now, it has been impossible for me to
accurately interpret an event that hasn’t yet happened by comparing
it with events that happened in the past. I can only make
predictions and say that the history of mankind is about to evolve.
We are so close to this change and nothing will be the same, but I
can’t say just how close we are or how soon this change will
occur.”

At this, the astrologer, Gizem, jumped in.
“With the support of all the esoteric data and the astrology chart,
all I can say is that in the middle of the Milky Way, there is a
condition of regional, intensive energy that does not affect us now
and is not seen from our current perspective. As the Mayans
declared with the support of all astrological data, the
twenty-first of December will be the longest night in the history
of mankind, and the day after will be the beginning of a new
era.”

The astrologer was speaking now with a
thrill in her voice. “The ones who are mentally ready will ride on
the wings of this energy to the next level, while the others will
desend into the bottomless well. It is the same as heaven and
hell—”

“
The end of days is a secret,” Hıdır,
the cleric, loudly interrupted, “only signs have been given. Don’t
occupy people’s minds and hearts with such nonsense.”

The journalist tried to regain control of
the deteriorating debate. “Okay, let’s discuss the subject like
civilized people.”

The cleric didn’t have any intentions of
keeping quiet. “If it was the end of the world tomorrow, and they
put a countdown clock in Taksim Square,” he went on, “how could one
identify good and evil, faith and faithlessness—what would happen
to this earthly life?”

While everyone else was engaged in the
discussion, I was so far merely a spectator. The hot spotlights of
the studio dazzled me and sweat dripped down my neck. When the
camera showed me, I could hear members of the audience mumbling,
“Who is this miserable person, unable to talk?”

The spiritualist, Fatin, had now found a way
to be involved in the discussion. “In regards to the information
that I received from the spiritual world, I can tell you that the
end of our world is near and that mankind must pull itself
together.”

I didn’t know if the camera had caught it,
but while Fatih was talking, I could see small ticks on his face
and involuntary twitching in his arms. I wondered if it might
increase as he got nervous.

Before Fatin could continue and test my
conjecture, the cleric, Hıdır, jumped in. “The Lord of all the
worlds is also the Lord of demons, and his rules are also valid for
them. They do not know when the end of the world will be, so they
cannot tell you.”

Hıdır went on to scold Mr. Tahsin. “I
regretfully condemn you for leading such a circus-like,
anxiety-provoking program by inviting such people!”

Tahsin responded to this new criticism by
announcing an ad break. Several of the guests stood up and the
assistant reminded everyone that they would resume broadcasting in
eight minutes.

When I returned after having some coffee,
the cleric Hıdır and the spiritualist Fatin were still having a
row.

“I’m a well-known dignitary,” Fatin grumbled
loudly, “and you’d be surprised by the number of scientists,
politicians, and businessmen who ask my advice”

“A person doesn’t talk about the talents he
has; he talks about the ones he would like to have,” Dr. Özel
interrupted on behalf of Hıdır.

Fatin, took exception to this, “And you,
too, now,” he said to her. “As if it wasn’t enough coming from Mr.
Zaman.”

“Don’t take it personally,” she said, “but
your attitude is not nice at all. You have been abusing people’s
feelings, juggling six topics at the same time with a lot of
quackery, and, as if that wasn’t enough, you seek to exclude us
from the conversation.”

Turning back to Mr. Tahsin, the scientist
continued, “Mr. Zaman is right. You invite such people to the
program because of ratings anxiety, but in doing so, you not only
lower the tone of the program, you also fail to fulfill what you
promised us. You told me this would be a program in which the rules
of academic debate were applied. If you don’t pull the program
together, I might have to leave. I have to protect the prestige of
the institutes I represent.” The professor delivered this ultimatum
as if she were speaking to her students in her lecture hall.

“Okay, okay,” Tahsin said. “I hear and agree
with your concerns, top to bottom. I promise that, from now on, we
will not allow such shenanigans on the program. However, please be
calm and considerate. As you may know, viewers also have some
questions and expectations. Let’s direct the program toward
answering them.”

Tahsin turned to Fatin. “And you, Mr. Fatin,
please don’t sabotage this multidisciplinary program, which is
already very tense. I want to give you the opportunity to speak and
communicate with the public.”