Finally getting through the phone, Yulia Antonenko waited for over half an hour, almost jumping with impatience. A maid finally arrived and informed her that her sister was waiting at the front gate. Yulia quickly rushed out.
At the gate of the villa in the southern part of the city, a tall woman dressed in a long white down jacket stood nervously outside, occasionally sneaking glances inward. Only when Yulia appeared did the woman take a small step forward and softly ask, "Yulia, why did you call me here?"
Without saying much, Yulia was about to pull her sister inside but then remembered something. She spoke in English to a guard who had just stepped out, "This is my sister. Simon said last night that he wanted to see her."
The guard was part of Simon's personal security team, not the family's female guards. Although he recognized Yulia, he still raised his hand slightly to stop her. "Sorry, Miss. Your sister's name is not on the guest list. If she needs to enter, I will need explicit permission."
Ivana Antonenko, understanding a little English, heard the conversation between her sister and the guard, her eyes flickering slightly. She opened her mouth but eventually said nothing, just feeling uneasy.
Why would Simon Westeros want to see her?
Her face flushed slightly, and she lowered her head, gripping her handbag a little tighter.
Yulia knew this villa wasn't a place just anyone could enter, not even the relatives of the girls. With Simon there, security was even stricter. Understanding that pleading with the guard wouldn't work, she asked her sister to wait and then ran toward the villa.
Reaching the door of the study on the first floor, Yulia saw that Simon was still discussing business with Alexander Lyudayev. Having lived there for a long time, certain rules were deeply ingrained in Yulia's mind. Even though there were no guards at the door, barging in would be disastrous. She noticed three girls—Ekaterina and her companions—peeking around the corner, clearly hoping she'd make a scene. Yulia immediately abandoned the idea.
After thinking for a moment, she realized it would be useless to talk to Eve. Instead, she thought of Simon's assistant, "A-Girl," who might be able to get her sister in.
Yulia turned away from the study, glaring at the girls who were watching for fun, then went to the main hall. She found a maid, inquired, and then ran upstairs. Knocking politely on the door of another study, she carefully peeked inside after receiving a response. In addition to A-Girl, Charlotte Brenita was also there. The two had been chatting, and A-Girl was organizing some documents next to a printer.
Seeing Yulia, A-Girl gave her a questioning look. Unlike the hostility from Ekaterina and her friends, A-Girl's cold indifference made Yulia a bit nervous.
Still, she explained her sister's situation, especially mentioning that it was agreed upon with Simon the night before.
Because Yulia spoke in English, Charlotte Brenita understood what was being said, her expression turning a bit peculiar.
A-Girl, after listening, didn't question Yulia. She picked up a communicator, pressed a few buttons, and gave some instructions. Then she turned to Yulia and said, "It's done. But don't disturb Simon until he's finished with his guest."
Yulia obediently agreed and left.
After Yulia departed, Charlotte leaned back on the couch and glanced at A-Girl, who had returned to her tasks. "Don't you think Simon has too many women around him?"
A-Girl nodded slightly. "Indeed."
Charlotte, not satisfied with the indifferent response, asked, "Doesn't it bother you?"
A-Girl, binding the freshly printed documents, shot her a glance. "Do you need me to book you a flight back to Switzerland?"
Charlotte, adopting A-Girl's nonchalant attitude, said, "No rush. Simon's leaving tomorrow anyway. I doubt he'd mind if I hitched a ride."
"Then shut up."
"..."
Though briefly shut down, Charlotte didn't get angry. She casually sipped her coffee while A-Girl took several phone calls and continued printing. Noticing a curious term used during one of the calls, Charlotte asked, "What's this 'One-Fifth Summit' you mentioned? It sounds strange."
A-Girl replied, "A global elite gathering recently held in San Francisco."
Charlotte perked up a bit, but A-Girl remained aloof, offering little more. Realizing she wouldn't get much, Charlotte made a mental note to investigate later. Jokingly, she asked, "If it's a gathering of the global elite, why didn't your boss attend?"
This time, A-Girl didn't respond.
But in her mind, she recalled something Simon had once said in private: "A chess player doesn't need to make himself a pawn on the board."
Given Simon's current power and influence, even among the world's top elites, he held the position of a player, not a piece.
As these thoughts crossed her mind, A-Girl continued organizing the freshly printed documents. She made a note in one section about a private speech by renowned geopolitical strategist Zbigniew Brzezinski. Suddenly, everything clicked.
In that speech, Brzezinski proposed the famous "Pacifier Theory," a strategy to overwhelm the public with entertainment, dulling their ability to think critically and ensuring they remained content with their lot in life.
A-Girl, deeply impressed by her boss, felt that this was the instinctive behavior of those at the top of the pyramid.
The "Pacifier Theory" seemed to be an evolved version of the post-WWII "3S Plan" that the USA had implemented in Japan: Screen (entertainment), Sport, and Sex. The goal was to saturate the public's senses with distractions, diminishing their ambition and faith, and diverting attention from politics, allowing for easier control.
And it had proven highly effective.
In the 1980s, South Korea adopted the same 3S strategy during the reign of President Chun Doo-hwan. It was during this period that South Korea hosted the Seoul Olympics, legalized prostitution, and aggressively promoted the development of its domestic entertainment industry.
After organizing the materials on the "One-Fifth Summit," A-Girl continued working until her wrist communicator beeped. Picking up a stack of documents, she noticed Charlotte still lounging on the couch. They both stood and left the study.
Downstairs, Simon had just finished his meeting with Alexander Lyudayev and was seeing him off.
A-Girl naturally followed Simon to bid their guest farewell. Once Lyudayev left, before she could speak, Yulia had already rushed over with her nervous-looking sister. "Simon, this is my sister, Ivana."
Simon glanced at the blushing woman, who lowered her head in shyness, and smiled. "Come with me."
He led them back to the study, sat down in the guest area, and took the documents A-Girl handed him. As she whispered a brief introduction in his ear, Simon noticed Yulia nudging her sister to sit down. Once A-Girl finished her report, Simon instructed, "Bring some coffee, and make sure Komorov joins us for lunch. Remind the kitchen to prepare carefully."
A-Girl nodded and left.
Simon searched through the documents in front of him, pulled out one folder, and set the rest aside. He then turned to Yulia. "You should leave too."
Yulia obediently got up but not before giving her sister a pointed look, silently reminding her not to mess this up. After all, she had warned her—failure could mean their family being sent to the slums in the east of the city.
With the room quiet again, Simon didn't rush to speak. Instead, he focused on the documents about the "One-Fifth Summit."
Last week, on October 27th, the famous "social activist" Mikhail Gorbachev had organized a summit in San Francisco with 500 political, economic, and cultural elites from around the world. The official topic was noble: under the backdrop of globalization, as productivity drastically improved and mechanization, automation, and information technology replaced human labor on a large scale, the world would enter an era where 20% of the population could perform all work, leaving 80% unemployed.
The question posed was: How should the world respond when this happens?
Elites from around the globe offered various solutions.
In truth, many people understood that the real issue wasn't about productivity improvements leading to massive unemployment. Simon, in particular, knew what was really going to happen. In the coming decades, as populations aged and birth rates declined, labor shortages, rather than surpluses, would become the issue.
So, what is the real "One-Fifth Society"?
It's simple: 20% of the population controls 80% of the wealth, leading to extreme inequality in resource distribution.
This was the true focus of the "One-Fifth Summit."
Even the name of the summit hinted at this. Whether intentional or not, it revealed certain truths: the elites at the top of the pyramid were more concerned with the 20% than with the remaining 80%.
At the summit, Zbigniew Brzezinski's private speech to a select few proposed the "Pacifier Theory": by filling people's lives with endless entertainment, you dull their critical thinking, ensuring they submit to their place in society.
Many dismissed the "Pacifier Theory" and the "3S Plan" as conspiracy theories because of the lack of concrete evidence. However, anyone paying attention to the world around them could see that society had, indeed, become saturated with pacifying distractions.
For instance, take
the celebrity scandals that always seem to erupt at just the right moment during major societal events. Are they really coincidences?
While some celebrity scandals could be contained to minor gossip forums, certain stories, despite little concrete evidence, manage to dominate public discourse. Could someone be pushing these behind the scenes?
With public attention diverted, the authorities face much less scrutiny during critical moments.
Simon remembered that after reading about the "Pacifier Theory," he noticed something interesting: many reports mentioned that Bill Gates had attended the 1995 summit. Shortly after, Microsoft launched the Xbox project, pouring in years of investment despite consistent losses.
The Xbox, a gaming platform, didn't seem to align with Microsoft's powerful software empire. Yet Gates spared no expense in providing the public with this new distraction.
Why?
Could it be that Gates had been influenced by a certain geopolitical strategist's theory?
After all, in a world where 20% of the population held the majority of wealth, someone like Bill Gates would be among the most vulnerable to backlash from the remaining 80%.
Of course, there's no proof of this.
Just another conspiracy theory.
Like the infamous "Report from Iron Mountain," which speculated that if the world ever achieved permanent peace, the government's control over its people would weaken as the tensions brought about by conflict faded. So, how could governments maintain their grip on power?
Though permanent peace never arrived, the report still offered highly effective solutions.
One of the main ones began gaining popularity after the Cold War ended.
Environmentalism.
By heavily promoting the dangers of environmental degradation, governments could incite public fear and create a sense of crisis.
People tend to be easily swayed. If environmental destruction threatened their survival, they would naturally call for change. But unable to enact change on their own, they would demand that their governments take action. Thus, this artificially created crisis would strengthen the government's control over its people—ironically handed to them by the very protesters demanding action.
Meanwhile, the strict environmental policies didn't affect the rich and powerful jetting around the world in their private planes. The ones paying the price for rising energy and commodity prices were the ordinary people calling for more environmental protection. Moreover, these policies often pushed smaller businesses unable to meet stringent environmental standards out of the market, further empowering the corporate oligarchs with deep pockets and government connections.
On the other hand, environmental policy also served as a powerful tool for governance. By imposing strict environmental regulations, governments could instill fear and submission among the populace. Otherwise, you were branded "anti-environment."
But again, this is just a conspiracy theory.
With no evidence to support it.
Close your eyes, and the world is still a beautiful place.
_________________________
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