The first impulse of the regents and delegates was to try to escape from the place, in the middle of a stampede of epic proportions the crowd accumulated and attacked the main entrance. They were only a few seconds short of reaching the door when the distorted voice uttered a second sentence.
-If you try to enter or leave the Basilica you will cause a chain explosion of dozens of explosives attached to the building! The moment a door or window is opened, only ashes and debris will remain!
The hostages stopped abruptly when they heard the word explosives. Panic spread unceremoniously among the people, who were crying out to get out of there. Some men and women were crying their eyes out, more than one of those present collapsed and lost consciousness at how close they had come to blowing the building to pieces. The [Royal Lockdown Crisis] was beginning to turn by leaps and bounds into the most monstrous accumulation of misfortunes and incidents in the history of mankind. In the midst of crying, the frustrated blows to the ground and an audience in discord, a voice resounded among the echo of the Basilica.
-Everyone listen to me! Keep calm and focus on paying attention to me, if you panic, the only thing you will achieve is to cause an irreversible accident!
The voice of The Man of Blue covered every corner of the sacred precinct. The people who heard his voice instantly recognized the subject who minutes before had prevented a catastrophe in the Golden Room and part of them reacted to the message that the man repeated over and over again with a slow voice and an unnatural calm.
-How do you expect us to be calm if this day is going from bad to worse?! A few words are not going to save us this time!
A woman in a red dress shouted from the other side of the place where that individual had just made his appearance. Her teary eyes, accompanied by uncontrollable tremors exposed the unstable state of mind she was in. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she screamed in fear that they would soon die and be torn to pieces. The Man of Blue, who had recently climbed onto the red-curtained balcony, addressed the woman in an attempt to calm her fragile psyche. It was clear to him that unless he managed to pacify everyone in the Royal Hall, his survival would be compromised. And it was necessary for them to overcome this crisis, or else an unprecedented catastrophe would be unleashed abroad. The order of the world depended on emerging victorious from this new pandemonium that was expanding inside the Basilica. If none of those present were in his right mind to notice that, then it was his responsibility to ensure the best result. In his hands was the fate of many lives.
-Unless we calm down we won't be able to find a solution to this. If you want to get out of this place alive, you have to follow my instructions. Among all we can face this crisis without losing anyone. The important thing is to communicate and find meaning in all this.
The more words The Man of Blue uttered, the more his aura of calm spread in the Royal Hall. Restless bodies and desperate minds yielded one by one to the skill of a born leader determined to maintain order above all things. By the time he managed to establish a perceptible but fragile stillness, the next part of his plan was already formed and in motion.
-The first thing we have to do is establish what we know. Does anyone have any idea what's going on out there?
Several heads shook in response, however The Man of Green took the word and began to discuss the matter with The Man of Blue as an assembly.
-An explosion of considerable proportions occurred somewhere within the vicinity of the Basilica. The tremor strongly shook the enclosure and shortly after a distorted voice announced the taking of the place. Then there is the matter of the explosives surrounding the building. No one gets in or out, otherwise the whole site blows up.
-Does anyone have any idea who might be doing the takeover? What is the purpose of such a calamity?
The Woman of Red raised her hand and spoke quickly in a dull, hesitant voice.
-I believe that it is possible that we are the reason for the event. I cannot be the only one who believes that it is no coincidence that all the leaders of the world were in one place.
-Not all of them, there are some delegates present, which means that it could have been an attack by another government.
The Man of Green pronounced that sentence with the certainty of someone who seems to know the truth. It was The Man of Blue who ended up answering the hypothesis to continue advancing with the elucidation.
-It is a possibility, however I find it hard to believe that such a large-scale attack can be carried out in the heart of this highly guarded and protected region. Whoever did this had the means to access the site without arousing suspicion and the ability to take control of a sizeable area in a matter of minutes.
-In other words, someone with military experience.
The Man of Green left the sentence in the air while the others hurried to keep up the thread of the conversation. The Woman of Red agreed with The Man of Green and they both looked at The Man of Blue waiting for his approval.
-Not necessarily, the one who organized all this only needed to have someone with military training at his disposal. It may have been skillfully executed but this does not mean that the mastermind behind it all is that individual with the distorted voice. For all we know, it could be anyone anywhere in the world. Though...
-It doesn't make sense, does it?
The Man of Green interrupted the other man and he could only nod his head. Both subjects became aware of an essential piece of the event, which changed the meaning of the entire situation.
-If this is a hostage taking, controlled by someone in any part of the world, can you explain to me why there is not a single kidnapper in here?
-The logical thing would be to take control of the hostages immediately. This is due to the risk they represent and because they increase the chances of unforeseen results within an operation. If that is not the case right now, I can think of only one justification for such abnormality.
-They already have control inside.
-But how is that possible? We are here and no one is pointing a gun at our heads.
The Man of Blue turned to look at The Woman of Red, who had just asked the question, and answered with a serious tone that he had not shown before.
-The leader has to be in here, so he can monitor the situation and do whatever is necessary to maintain control of the site.
-Which means that the leader must be one of those present here. The mastermind of the taking is one of the attendees at the meeting.
-That way they knew when it was going to happen, who would be there, how they would be located and when to start the kidnapping. The resources, the means and the opportunity coincide in each one of us. The reason, on the other hand, is something that remains to be clarified.
In the Royal Hall the silence was unanimous. The looks of distrust unceremoniously crossed all the faces of those present in the place. One of them was the kidnapper, one of them was the mastermind of the [Royal Lockdown Crisis]. One of them handled the strings as an expert puppeteer, and it was crucial to find him as soon as possible. The time they had was rapidly reducing, they did not know the true intentions of the takeover and the identity of the person responsible was far from being exposed.
The Basilica Conclave had just been launched, and the race against time was against them.