The Evil Streby
Average. That's how most people saw him. His height was average, not too tall, not too short. His hair was brown, not mahogany, not auburn, just plain brown. His build was non-descript. He was neither skinny, nor fat. He wasn't formed with rippling biceps, nor were his bones painfully evident through the layer of outer skin. He could walk down the street and not be remarked upon. He could stand in a crowd and not be noticed. He was average, and he liked it that way.
By day, he worked in a University library. He sat at the reference desk and answered mundane questions about the library's simplistic database systems and shelving operations. He smiled at everyone, and perpetuated the image that he was nothing more than what he seemed: an average guy working his way through life at an average paying job in an average town.
Beneath his everyday exterior lay something far from average. The wire rimmed glasses shielded eyes that stared out at the world not as something to be lived in, but something to be conquered. The mind that worked under that common place exterior constantly formed plans of domination, plans that he intended to carry out.
He had seen countless others fail similar attempts, and had learned from their downfalls. His would not be a sudden, graceless war where millions were killed and his precious land destroyed. He knew better. He chose to start small, insiduously slipping into the vital parts of everyday life until the world could not operate without him.
His first victory would be the library. Starting small as a simple associate reference librarian, he would work his way into their trust and affections until he was free to do as he wished. Then, slowly, he would begin to take control, in small ways at first, then moving to the larger operations, until he was firmly in control of the entire library.
From there, it would be easy to take over the university. Once he had control of its knowledge hub, he could work his way into higher offices, again gaining trust and respect as he secretly plotted his rise to domination. Before long, the university would not be able to run without him. He would institute procedures that only he could execute. He would make himself indispensable.
Soon, other universities would see the institutions he had implimented in his university. Others would want what he had. Others would turn to him for guidance. He would gain their respect. He would allow them to hand over all operations to him as he built bigger and better places to learn, directed by his hand, teaching his philosophies and training students to respect his wisdom above all others.
Once he controlled the educated elite, it would be simple to move into other areas. Corporate CEO's trained in his universities would seek his advice in business. Politicians would hold to his philosophy, bend to his precepts. His hand would be in every major market across the nation.
It would only be a matter of time before he reached overseas. His proteges would cross continental barriers in their various business dealings. Other countries would be exposed to his philosophy. Rulers, advisors, instructors - all would soon conform to his plans, bending their wills to his far superior knowledge.
No one could stop such a plan. Who would know to stop it? It all seemed so simple on the surface. None would see the detail, his plans for the smallest, most minute part of his every move. He was just an average guy, and no one would suspect someone so ordinary could pull off such a masterful plot to dominate the world. Sure, it would take years of careful choreography, but he had time. He would reign supreme. He was sure of it.
Until she walked in...
She was not beautiful. She was not the kind to attract a room full of men upon entering. But neither did she have a face that only a mother could love. She was just pretty, in an unconventional way. Her hair was not golden or platinum, just a plain dark blonde that fell in soft curls down her back. Her skin was pale, her nose and lips thin. She was young, even for a student at the university. At only 17 she knew that the powers that be at the library were taking a chance on her. The work was not difficult, but still precise and usually offered to students who had spent more time at the university. She was happy for the opportunity to work there, and intended to do the best job she could.
That’s why she worked very hard to befriend every other person employed there. And when she was introduced to the man who sat behind the reference desk that spring morning, she was determined to win yet another friend.
He was introduced to her as Pablo Strebovich, but was eager to inform her that everyone knew him as simply “Streby.” He had a friendly aura about him, and even though there wasn’t anything exceptional about his appearance, she was instantly drawn to his friendly nature. Over the course of the next few months, she began building a sense of camaraderie with him, sharing jokes and funny anecdotes about every day life. She thought of him as nothing more than the funny guy who was quickly becoming her friend.
She never expected what would happen next…
He was sitting at the reference desk computer. The library was empty of all patrons and the only other people there were the two students working behind the circulation desk. Among them was the young woman he had so recently developed an interesting relationship with. While he was incapable of building true friendships, she was the closest he had to a friend, with the exception of his wife, of course. He knew that emotional attachments to people like friends would hinder his plans for domination, but still he enjoyed a good conversation and witty joke as much as the next guy.
So, when he saw her approaching him with a smile, he thought nothing of it. He simply hid the plans he’d been working on under a manila folder and smiled in response to her. “Hello, Anne.”
“Hey, Streby,” she said. “How’s it going?”
“Not bad. Hey, did you see last night’s Simpsons?”
“No. What did I miss?” What followed was a long description of not only the previous night’s episode of The Simpsons, but also a long discussion on Bart’s various catch phrases, ending with both suggesting that the other “Eat my shorts.”
Laughing, they parted ways. Streby returned to his plans, and after a slight pause and concerned gaze in his direction, the young circulation student returned to her desk.
She’d only caught a glimpse, and yet… It had to be another one of his jokes. During their talk, Streby had moved around papers on the desk, and among them was an odd list. She’d only glanced at it at first, but then, the words on it caught more and more of her attention. As Streby spoke of Bart and Homer, Anne tried to inconspicuously study as much of the paper as possible.
It was untitled. There was nothing to suggest exactly what he was using it for. However, it had a list of locations inside the university, as well as a very detailed map of the library, including rooms and hallways she had never before seen. They all seemed to branch off his office on the second floor, and were coded in a dark purple. They seemed to lead to different offices and storage areas throughout the library, and some led right off the map, to what places she could only guess.
It was odd indeed, but surely it was just another of his creative endeavors. He was an amazing writer of fiction, and he was always leaving funny sayings and pictures around the reference and circulation desks. The map was probably just another one of his elaborate jokes. It had to be…
Over the next few months, Streby saw more and more of his plans come to fruition. The director of the library was moved to another position. This gave Streby a chance to grasp more responsibility as the head reference librarian took over the director’s role. He slipped himself in as an integral part of every day life, taking over various small projects that would later be the backbone of the library’s operations.
Things were moving along wonderfully, and no one suspected a thing…
Something was terribly, terribly wrong. She knew now that it wasn’t just some elaborate joke he was planning. At first she’d been willing to write it all off, but slowly, more and more evidence piled up against him. Things started going wrong in the library, things that only he could fix. People started leaving and he had taken over their responsibilities.
And he started getting careless with all of those plans around her. More often than not, she’d walk up to the reference desk and see small lists, names of people in the library and university, and she’d see dates and times by their names. Already some names were crossed off - the names of those who were no longer employed there.
She was mulling all of this over as she walked through the stacks on the first floor near the end of her shift on a quiet Thursday evening. She was just turning the corner when she bumped into a solid, black clad chest. She looked up with a gasp.
“I… I’m sorry, sir.”
A hand reached out to steady her, and the man looked down at her through the dark lenses of his black sunglasses. He didn’t smile. He didn’t say a word.
“Um… can I help you find anything?”
“No, miss, but you can come with me.” His hand shifted to her elbow as he tried to propel her forward. She dug in her heels and stared up at him incredulously.
“I really don’t think that’s a good idea. I should get back to work.”
“Miss, I must insist that you come with me.”
“Okay, you’re a big burly guy in black who just appeared and told me I have to go with you, even though I have no idea who you are. You tell me what seems wrong with this picture.”
The man shook his head and flashed a badge, holding it just inches from her face. “I’m with Secret Government Services, ma’am. I’m going to have to ask you to come with me, again.” He snapped the badge shut and applied more pressure to her elbow.
“Oh this is good,” she muttered as he propelled her forward. The look on his expressionless face still managed to communicate that he would not take no for an answer, so she allowed him to lead her through the stacks and into the library’s dismal and seldom used microform room.
He led her past the dark green cabinets that ran from ceiling to floor along two walls, and past the rickety old machines used to view the dusty rolls of microfilm. The set of double doors at the very back of the room were hidden by an oddly shaped turn of the wall, and as they made the turn, she saw that they stood wide open. Three other men, dressed to match the first, were waiting just inside the doors. Upon seeing them, Anne again dug in her heels and came to a halt.
“Okay, hold on. Would someone mind telling me what’s going on here? I’m not moving until you do, and trust me, I can scream. They will hear me upstairs.” She crossed her arms over her chest and looked at all four men in turn, waiting for one or all of them to speak.
The three in the doorway each arched an eyebrow above their matching black sunglasses. The one at her side shook his head. “He said she might be difficult.” The other three nodded as the one beside her removed his glasses and stared down at her with piercing brown eyes. “I’ve already told you that we’re with SGS, Secret Governmental Services. We were sent to gain your cooperation in an ongoing investigation. We have suspicions that an employee in this establishment has plans to overthrow the government.”
“Someone here?” She paused as realization slowly dawned. “Streby.”
“Yes. We’ve been investigating Mr. Strebovich for quite some time. Now, I will ask again, will you please come with me?”
She nodded silently and followed them out the doors, surprised contemplation robbing her of speech.
Overwhelmed was an understatement. She was more than overwhelmed, and even more than shocked, if there was such a thing. They had brought her to a small room under the first floor of the University Pavilion. There they met with another man, one who was not as large or intimidating as the other four, but dressed exactly the same, minus the sunglasses.
Then they proceeded to tell her about what they had learned of Streby’s plans. It was a long, detailed description of small, seemingly unimportant manipulations that had taken place without any of the leaders in the university even noticing. They called him a genius of strategic planning. They suggested that if he was not stopped soon, his plans could actually work. He could actually begin to take over not only the processes of this university, but of other universities as well. According to them, he was a criminal mastermind.
She had a hard time believing it. “Streby is capable of all that? I can’t believe it. Come on, the man quotes Simpsons and spends his time looking up urban legends on the Internet. I know he’s into some strange stuff, but taking over the world?”
“Believe it, miss.” The man who had obviously asserted himself as their leader never took his eyes off her as the others described Streby’s attempts to conquer the intellectual world.
“Okay, so, even if I believe it, what does it matter to me? Why do you care if I know or not? It’s not like I can just run in there and say, ‘Streby, stop trying to take over the world!’”
“He trusts you. He’s already been careless with his plans around you, you’ve admitted that yourself. We need someone on the inside who can get the final piece of evidence for us.”
“You mean… you want me to spy for you?”
“Exactly.”
She laughed. “What do I look like, a member of the CIA?”
“No. You look like a nice young woman who wants nothing more than to do her job and pick up her paycheck. That’s exactly why we need you. He would never suspect a thing if you were to occasionally show up in his office, but if one of us appeared out of the blue, he might get scared and stop all activities for an indefinite amount of time. We can’t allow that to happen. We’ve worked too hard to come this far, and we need to stop him now.”
“And how exactly do you plan on doing that?”
“Your part is quite simple…”
He shook his head as he watched the young woman leave the room, three of his guards acting as her escort. The forth stood silently beside him, watching the others leave.
“Well, what do you think?”
“You said it yourself, sir. She’s our only choice. No one has gotten nearly as close the entire time we’ve been watching him, and he’s already gotten careless around her, as she admitted. She may be headstrong, but that could prove to be an advantage.”
“I agree. I just hate involving a civilian. Especially one so young.”
“But you’ll be there to watch her, sir. I’m sure nothing will go wrong.”
“I hope you’re right.”
Streby was not pleased at all. They had hired a new reference librarian, yet another person who took responsibility and control away from him. It was only a minor setback, certainly, but a setback all the same. It was not until he actually met the man that his fears abated.
The new reference librarian, Vincenzo Green, was a full-blooded hippy, though he tried to hide it for the sake of looking business like. Beneath his celery green button down shirt, the man wore a tie-dyed T-shirt. His wavy brown hair was combed back on the top and sides so that in back it just barely brushed his collar. He held a Green Bay Packers cap in one hand, and as Vincenzo’s other hand stretched out to shake Streby’s, he noticed a University of Michigan National Champions watch adorning the man’s wrist.
Streby smiled, barely containing his true pleasure. Surely this man was no threat to his plans.
They wanted her to walk for miles through a dark tunnel that could lead to anywhere. It was insane. They insisted it was her civic duty. She asked how many average people were drafted to work as government spies. They said they couldn’t answer that.
So she found herself hesitantly approaching Streby’s office. All was dark inside, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t there. He liked to work in his office with the lights off. No one could explain why. Luckily, Vincenzo Green had been true to his word and Streby was not inside.
“At least you’re doing something in this crazy scheme, Mr. Green,” she muttered as she slid her borrowed key into the lock and quietly opened the door. She laughed as she slipped inside. “My goodness, Streby. This place is a mess. How are you supposed to manage the world if you can’t even keep your office clean?” She picked her way over to his desk and stared down at the papers scattered there. She laughed again, then shook her head. “Okay, okay, they didn’t send me here to play cleaning lady. The sooner I get this done, the sooner they’ll leave me alone and I can get back to my quiet and entirely uncomplicated life.”
She felt around under the desk for the trigger that they promised would be there. When her fingers brushed over a small button on the lower left corner of the desk, the bookcase on the wall moved to the side, revealing a gaping black hole.
She stared at it incredulously for a moment, then took a deep breath and stepped over the threshold. The opening slid shut the immediately after her, blocking out all light. There was no turning back now.
Vincenzo Green checked his watch again. She should have called by now. He had spent the last two hours racking his brain for anything to ask the man before him to keep him from returning to his office.
“It’s been great helping you and all, Green, but we really should get back to work.”
Vincenzo looked quickly around the busy pavilion dining area, catching the eye of one of his men posted inconspicuously nearby. His questioning gaze was met with a shake of the head and a shrug of the shoulders.
There were men outside, waiting for her report, waiting for her return with the pictures they needed to arrest this man who planned to destroy all civil order and replace it with a twisted world dictatorship. And she was nowhere to be found.
It was absolutely amazing. After wandering for over an hour through the dark tunnel with only a small flashlight to guide her, she’d reached her destination. It was absolutely amazing.
When she’d finally reached a dead end in the tunnel, she’d felt along the wall for the button that would trigger the opening. She was not prepared for what she’d find on the other side.
The room was huge – easily the same size as the entire first floor of the library. The walls were covered with maps and pictures of world leaders. There were names and dates everywhere, some reaching as far into the future as 2025. He obviously wasn’t planning on taking over any time soon.
But still, it was all there, laid out in elaborate maps and outlines, lists and even a computer monitoring the “Amateur Anarchists” web site. Dozens of tables lay cloaked in intricately laid blueprints. Stacks of library books about government, war, and hostile takeovers littered the floor. There were lists of what countries would face starvation if they did not concede to his wishes, and detailed outlines of the world’s nuclear resources. Almost everything pointed to his desire for a slow, peaceful conquest, but these, these proved that he was not above resorting to violence should all else fail.
She began taking the pictures they’d told her to take. It was hard at first, hard to truly believe that all they’d said was true. It was even harder to think that she would be turning in a man who had shown her nothing but friendship.
It stopped being hard when she saw her own name and picture on the top of a page tacked to the wall. “Anne Westley. Suspicious. Getting too close. Terminate: 10, December, 2000.”
They returned to work. The girl had taken too long and Strebovich would have grown suspicious had he delayed any longer. But now the mission was in peril. If he found her, it would all be over. Years of work, wasted…
“Mr. Green?”
“Anne!” He jumped up from behind his desk. “There you are! Where have you been? You were supposed to be back hours ago! Did you get the pictures?”
She placed the small digital camera in his outstretched hand, then sat down. Only then did he notice how pale she looked. “I took pictures of everything. I heard him in his office when I got back, so I had to use one of the other exits. I’m sorry it took so long, but it’s all there. Everything you need is there.”
He scanned the images in the camera. She was right. It was all there. And with her ability to lead someone back down the tunnel to the room should further proof be necessary, they finally had him. They finally had everything they needed to bring down Pablo Strebovich. “Thank you, Anne. We can never thank you enough for this. Your country can never thank you enough for this. But if there’s anything I can do…”
“Just arrest him and put him away for as long as you can.”
“I’ll do that. I promise.”
Things were quiet in the library once more. He sat behind the reference desk, waiting for the next mundane question, waiting for his shift to finally end so he could begin implementing the bugs into the computerized periodical databases. Only ten more minutes to go and he would be free to take the next step in furthering his plans.
He noticed the two men the instant they walked in the door. It was impossible not to. They wore all black, from head to toe, including the black sunglasses hiding their eyes. As they strode purposefully toward the reference desk, he sensed something familiar about them, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.
It was not until they stopped in front of him and one removed his glasses that he came to the realization. “Vincenzo Green?” Gone were the tie-dye, and the old cap, and even the U of M watch. The hair was smoothed out and held back with a small black rubber band. The man before him was no longer a hippy. He was a man with a purpose.
“Pablo Strebovich, you’re under arrest for treason, anarchy, and conspiracy to commit murder.”
Average. That’s how most people saw him, and he liked it that way. Being average had its uses. An average man can hide in an average crowd and never be noticed. An average man can slip away from guards when their backs are turned and blend into his surroundings. An average man can hide in an average world without anyone noticing him. The average man is safe from Secret Governmental Services.
He was average, and he liked it that way. It gave him a chance to escape, a chance to plot again. It gave him a chance to destroy Vincenzo Green, and the little blonde girl who aided him…
