Enigma: The Hunter Becomes The Haunted by Selim Yeniceri

SaySaga Renaissance - 1
Book number:
Copyright © 2017 by SaySaga Inspirational Publishing,
Music & Art Production, Advertising Ltd. Co.
All rights reserved.
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Book and Interior design Copyright © 2018 SaySaga Inspirational Publishing, Music & Art
Production, Advertising Ltd. Co.
All rights reserved.
General Publishing Director: Selim Yeniceri
Cover design by Ali Kamil Temizel
Edited by Dr. Margaret Aranda
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Published in Turkey
First Edition: June 2018
ISBN: 978-605-82850-4-0
Spiritual / Fantasy
Fiction / Novel
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LEGAL DISCLAIMER:

No parts of this book may be used or reproduced, stored for retrieval, or transmitted in any form by
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of the publisher, except for brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and articles. Neither the
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in this book is meant to be used as a substitute for medical advice, treatment of any disease or
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on any medical problem. Neither the author nor the publisher assumes any responsibility for any
action taken using information in this book. The names and the opinions expressed by the author
are not necessarily those of SaySaga Inspirational Publishing, Music & Art Production, Advertising
Ltd. Co.

This is a fictional story. If there might be some likeness between the names and places to the
real life, hey are completely coincidental. The ideas, opinions, and philosophies belong to the
characters in the story - the author cannot be held accountable for such views.
 DEDICATION

To my son Rohan, my greatest dream and future...

This world is just an illusion, boy, rule yours!

“While asleep, our reality is what we experience in our dreams; we usually realize that it was all a dream
only after we wake up. And we all... we all believe in what we want to believe.”
– Selim Yeniceri
 Introduction

“There’s a lady who’s sure that all the glitters are gold
and she’s buying a stairway to heaven...”

How long had it been since she heard this song?

When did she listen to this song until she got sick and tired of it?
She loved Hard Rock but she was tired of this song by Led Zeppelin since Doru used to play this song on
his guitar or the silk-black Steinway grand piano that he never left (not even for a minute).
Dear Doru…
Her ex-husband…
During her whole life, he was probably the only person who loved her for who she was…
Doru…
Long dead now…
But it was strange. Once again, Esra was listening to his voice in the song when shocked, she suddenly
looked around the sandy ground. Ancient Greek columns made of white marble surrounded her in a manner
reminiscent of an arena.
Strange, because she couldn’t remember how she got here.
Each towered like an angel of death, these gigantic columns consumed Esra’s heart with loneliness and
helplessness. Forcing her eyes laterally, she blinked in the gloom. Nearly seventy feet away, a great boulder
jutted from the bedrock. Coming from behind it was that lovely familiar voice singing along with a graceful
guitar arpeggio.
Although she walked toward the voice, Esra was actually reluctant to see the person behind the boulder. It
was as if seeing him would force her to face the past…
But moving around the boulder and recognizing the familiar brown long hair inch-by-inch, she felt warmth
tingled through her chest. Here he was… Doru… Still fine, still graceful, still sensitive…
Esra couldn’t help but longingly look at him. Ecstatic singing emanated from his airways as his fingers
travelled along the guitar string, now caressing Esra’s delicate skin with the back of his long fingers…
Suddenly, a deafening thunder burst and she turned around instantaneously. But yet again at the same
moment, a huge shadow cast over the boulder, missing her head just by an inch. She turned to Doru sitting
next to the boulder, freezing at the sordid scene: his head and face hid behind a horrible, masked Japanese
battle helmet as her eyes went to the long black hair flowing down well-muscled and huge shoulders.
Incredulously, a full-sized Samurai stood behind the boulder, bouldered legs, tight waist and burly chest
emitting thickly muscled and steel-plated arms! His cold-hearted hands held Doru’s broken and lifeless body!
The ancient Far Eastern warrior raised his head. Glowing coal eyes penetrated Esra.
“No… ” she whispered, swallowing hard. Throwing Doru’s corpse aside, the Samurai slowly crushed the
ground as he headed toward her with slow but steady steps.
“No…” she repeated, shaking her head, trying to move back. But it was as if her feet were glued on the
ground (which she realized was rocky now); it was the same glue one gets during a nightmare as one tries to
run away but never moves fast enough…
 1: The Price of Luxury

A black colored Cadillac limousine past through the cast iron gates, sauntering unhurriedly. The gravel
road surrounded the enormous mansion towering on the Asian bank of Bosphorus. As if it knew who was its
owner, the long car kept on moving arrogant, calm and confident, crunching the pebbles under its black tires,
burning black under the moonlight, until it came to a halt in front of the glorious building.
As soon as it stopped, the driver popped out and ran around the long body of the car to the passenger door
just in time to see that the tall, tanned, jet-black haired man in his high quality suit was already out.
“You’re very slow again,” the man said, harshly speaking, despite his calm attitude.
“I’m sorry, sir,” replied the embarrassed driver.
“I cannot tolerate to wait this long; time is important in our way of life, you know.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Alright. Don’t repeat this for the third time. Now put the car into the garage. You’re off for tonight. I
won’t leave the house.”
“Yes, sir.”
As the young driver ran around to the driver door again, sweating cold, the man climbed the stairs to the
entrance of the building. A sullen faced steward welcomed him at the main door.
“The Vice Chairman Mr. Adnan Keskin is here, sir,” he said, nodding respectfully. “He’s in the back yard,
waiting for you by the pool.”
“Okay,” the man said. “Tell him to wait longer; I will have a shower first.”
“Yes, sir.”
“By the way, inform the cook that I will have a guest tonight; Mrs. Yurtkan will drop by for dinner.”
“Yes, sir.”
He was well aware of the importance of the news that Adnan brought to deliver; and that’s why he wanted
to feel better before meeting him. He climbed the steps slowly, entered his own chamber, and disappeared
behind the private bathroom door.

* * *

In a few hours, he was in the back yard, standing expectantly by the apple, mulberry and pine trees; four
o’clocks, woodbines, snapdragons and wild roses hugged the great pool lovingly, creating a picturesque view
along the beautiful sight of Bosphorus, right next to the back patio. The antique dinner table standing next
to the pool was elegantly prepared for two; though, since he was expecting a special guest, the white golden
plated dinner set – which he purchased from Singapore last year – was used instead of the usual silvers.
Charm and great imposing shows were important to him. Such shows always would prove the power of
money, reminding him – first – that he held this power, boasting his ego.
He was a tall, athletic and handsome man; since he saw sports as one of the main topics in his life, he had
no extra fat at all. He owed it all to the twice-weekly solarium sessions for his tanned skin. His ice-blue eyes
shone like first quality diamonds, each symbolizing the pride and confidence upon which he established his
life. A lilac silk shirt under his jet-black suit framed a silver necktie. The triangular white napkin, which he
put into the left chest pocket of his jacket, depicted him as a mobster from twenties.
When he heard the light footsteps from the back yard gate of the mansion, he turned to see the young and
sexy blonde coming along the path.
“I was about to starve to death,” he said, smiling with his greatest charm. “But you are here, finally.”
“You’re always the way you are, huh, Sedat?” Esra asked, mocking him. “A software king who can’t be
polite even with the ladies!”
“It’s how life is,” he said, smiling confidently. “People get what they deserve. You can’t blame me for I
deserve what most people can only dream.”
“Right,” she said, shaking her head with a hopeless expression. “And absolutely… modest.”
“Well, I think, we can call it … serious mindedness?”
“I’m hungry,” said Esra tersely, deciding that she didn’t want to bother herself with this sort of pointless
talk. “I want to eat as soon as possible and… to find out what that very-important-problem you want to
discuss is.”
“You know,” he said, examining her usual champion style and her athletic body with a little bit more than
casual interest, “Whenever I see you, your beauty leaves me breathless.”
“Ah, really now?” Esra asked, with an ice-cold voice. She threw her car keys onto the table and sat on the
nearest chair.
As Sedat looked at him silently, Esra got the service spoon along the tray and put some food in her
plate, not bothering herself to wait for the steward. Finally, Sedat sat on the other chair across the table and
expected the steward to serve his food.
“I’ve heard that you crushed down your rivals at tennis once more,” he said, after the steward left them
alone. “How many cups is it now with this?”
“Ah, yeah, I had the last game yesterday,” she responded. “It’s seven now. Since I’ve started with
tournaments, other than first two, I won three silvers and two golds. I will begin to prepare for the world
tournament soon.”
“Sometimes I think that when it comes to greed, you surplus even me.”
“You can bet on it.” Esra smiled for the first time. But her smile was more like a sneer.
Since Esra’s husband and Sedat’s cousin died eight years ago along with his father, there was no sign of
sincerity between the two despite they shared the same bed a couple of times. Esra was thirty now and her life
was deprived of fine feelings and emotions. Perhaps she had everything, but there was nobody who loved her
as Doru did when he was alive. And only now, eight years after she lost her husband to an unexpected plane
crash, she could barely recognize this fact; especially after that weird nightmare she had.
At the beginning of their dinner now, Esra gestured to three Great Danes sleeping lazily at a short distance
from the apple trees in the rear yard.
“You think you are great, awesome, and successful. But actually you’re like those dogs, you know?” she
said. “At first sight, strong, arrogant, huge and scary. But in reality, this is just superficial. You are as hollow
as they are.”
Sedat sprayed his bite out, coughing hard. Trying to gather himself, he got the cotton napkin from the table
to clean his lips and chin, leaving his fork into the plate before him. “I. Am. Not. A. Dog,” he said, angrily.
“You have no right to insult me this way.”
“Yo, you!” she called to the dogs, not bothering herself to respond to Sedat. The dogs raised their heads
and looked at her with the same lazy manner. “C’mon! Here boys! Come!”
But dogs didn’t even stir. Cunningly, she looked at his curious eyes. Taking a slice of beef, she showed it
to the dogs; just in a second, all three dogs were already on the way to the table. Esra threw the beef up to
the air, but since their bodies were quite clumsy, they found it only after a brief sniffing and scuffling around,
pushing each other in the meantime.
“See?” she asked. “They are huge and strong; but also stupid and slow as well. They are condemned to
be slaves for just a piece of meat.” She narrowed her eyes with a half hidden hatred. “Just like you,” she
whispered. “You can never claim that you’re any different than these dogs in personality; not even a bit.”
Then she grinned victoriously. “But if we talk about your brain,” she said, changing her manner into a
false sympathy, “we can’t deny that you’re a compu-whiz genie genie and that it works well for me. Right,
poochy?”
“ENOUGH!” he yelled, fixing his furious eyes onto hers. “Enough with your insults! I did my best to get
your attention since we first met. But you were always interested in my stupid cousin, who could never have
gone beyond being a nature lover!”
“And a real lover in his nature,” Esra added, in a cold manner.
A long and uneasy silence hung in the air between them. After they looked at each other in the eye for a
while, Esra turned back to her dinner again.
“When we went to bed two years after his death, I had thought that I had won your heart finally,” Sedat
confessed. “But even now, in spite of our relationship out of our partnership in business, you don’t even seem
as if you like me!”
 “No, no, you’re wrong, buddy!” she responded. “We are no partners; none at all; no means. You’re just
working for me and own a slice from the cake, that’s all. But you’re right about one thing; I don’t like you at
all.”
“Then why did you fuck me? And why do you keep on doing that sometimes?”
“Because… at first, you were another adventure and a new taste for me. But now, I’m doing it only with
you, because I’m punishing myself for the death of my husband, who I couldn’t have managed to hold dear
until it was too late.”
“Punishing yourself?”
“Yeah.”
“Why me then? Am I a punishment for you?”
“Yeah, because you are the most disgusting man around.”
Sedat went silent. With an expression of huge disbelief, he looked at her. She had never treated him this
way before, and he had no idea why she started now.
“What’s wrong with you tonight?” he asked, trying to calm down.
“What’s wrong? What’s wrong with me?” she came with another question to his. She was still eating, as
if nothing happened between them, as if they were just having a social chitchat. Then suddenly she stopped
eating, and looked at Sedat in the eye.
Sedat could swear he saw murder in those silent eyes.
“Do you know what it is today?” she asked after a long silence.
“If you don’t tell me, how the hell can I know what it is today?” he said, with a sarcastic smile.
“Today,” she said, softly, putting her fork and knife on the table. A drop of tear fell from her green eyes
onto the tablecloth, melting into it in a dark stain. Could tears feel like acid? “Today is his anniversary.”
Sedat couldn’t come up with an answer to this. Doru was his cousin and after his own father died, Doru’s
father, Sedat’s uncle raised them as real brothers without any favoritism to either of them. Since Doru’s death,
he and Esra, both of them made big mistakes. Eight years ago, Doru had gone to Far East with his father
for business and their private jet had crashed on the way back home. They had found his burnt body pieces
among – and around – the private jet’s wreck.
“What happened to us, Sedat?” asked Esra, whimpering. “Forgetting all the feelings and virtues that make
us human, we fought for money and success. Yes, we won the battle, but looking at our lives, it seems that we
lost the war. Where were we wrong? Where did we lose sight?”
Sedat stood up and came closer to her. “We made no mistakes, Esra,” he said, putting his hands on her
shoulders in a soothing manner. “Look around. Look what we have. We just paid the price and got these all
in return. I’m sorry for the pain we had to endure, but we paid the price for the success and market leadership
with our blood, sweat, tears and lives.” Especially me, he thought. After a long pause, he continued: “I’m also
sorry for your loss, but we have no time to linger on it at the moment, because we are facing a threat of losing
everything that we paid the price to acquire and what we have.”
“What?” Esra startled, as if she woke up from a sound sleep. “What are you talking about?”
Sedat stood straight as if trying to show himself bigger than real. “I’m talking about something you already
know.”
Esra swallowed hard, looking up at his eyes. “Enigma,” she whispered.
“Full score for the girl,” replied Sedat. “Yes, Enigma!”
“God damn it,” she said. “Them again? They brought a new trouble every year. What is it this time?”
“Our industrial spies reported they have prepared a special product to honor their fifth anniversary.”
“So what? What does it mean?”
“This was what we have been trying to find out, anyway. And finally, we managed.” Sedat smoothed the
sleeves of his jacket. “A new virtual reality technology.”
Esra shook her head in a mocking disbelief. “Huh, I thought it was something serious,” she said.
“When it comes to Enigma, Esra,” said Sedat, very darkly, “it’s always serious.”
“What can they do with any virtual reality software?” she said, shrugging it off. “This technology was
never successful enough to be presented to the public. The ones on the market are just joke compared to
what’s been promised. How could such a thing affect our market position badly?”
Sedat was watching her silently, and she noticed that there was no change in his serious demeanor.
“C’mon, Sedat,” she continued. “To have a profound virtual reality experience, you have to get something
really expensive, and not everybody can get a hand on such expensive devices, so I don’t think Enigma can
never create a great demand even if they came up with something really good.”
“You’re deadly wrong this time,” he said, walking towards the mini-bar next to the pool. “This product has
passed the test phase already. It’s ready for mass production.”
“Yeah, I’ve heard of some of these. They could have never gone beyond creating some simple and
primitive experiments.”
“Trust me,” he said, putting eyes cubes into the whiskey glasses, “this piece is not as primitive as you
think. Our spies informed me that this one is a successful and first quality version.”
“I can’t get it. Even if it’s successful and top quality version, it must be very expensive for common users.
Then how can you come up with the idea that Enigma could create a great demand and volume?”
“Here’s the most dangerous point,” Sedat confessed, offering one of the glasses to Esra.
“You know that I’m not good with alcohol,” she rejected.
“You will need it when you hear what I have to say.”
Leaving one of the glasses before Esra, he walked a few steps towards one of the columns as if trying to
hide in the dark. Now Esra couldn’t see any part of him but his silhouette. Even if she insulted him at length,
Esra thought that he was really scary and this position was absolutely fit for his personality; dark, sly and
dangerous.
For a short while, only the sounds of a calm night silently echoed.
“They produced a new device,” Sedat said, breaking the silence finally. “Some sort of interface. If you
have a high-configured computer, you can use this device even with a common PC. Therefore, you need no
other devices but a set of virtual reality goggles. And furthermore, they actually provide this configuration to
the customers, just to prevent pirated sales. The price is extremely low so even the pirates won’t be able to
compete against them.”
“How much?” she asked.
“Only 2,000 to 2,500 US Dollars per unit. Their claim is that this is a new life experience in a new world
and they are preparing their advertisement campaign accordingly. Perhaps a secondary universe for the
users?”
“And they think it will attract millions of people who are not happy with their real lives!” Esra said,
mockingly.
Sedat’s silhouette nodded, still in a dark mood.
Esra wasn’t convinced about it all. She knew Sedat was fond of high technology products, and that he had
a tendency to dramatize when he really liked them; that was the key word: only when he liked them. And it
was rare.
“I think you bother yourself for nothing,” she said after a long pause. “We have more important matters to
attend.”
Sedat was still silent. Esra didn’t like it. Sedat might be a fool when it came to boasting his ego, but he
wasn’t stupid when it came to business, and he wouldn’t be impressed by something new that easily. From
her experience with him, she knew he got a scent of something really big. There was something he didn’t
explain yet.
“It’s not everything, right?” she asked.
“Actually, no, it’s not,” he said. Now Sedat was beginning to see the first glimpse of panic. “They’re also
offering another package, under medical control.”
“Medical control? What’s that got to do with a computer software?”
Before answering, Sedat sipped his drink. “This device they created can send some neural signals to the
brain and other parts of the body, through electromagnetic waves.”
“So?”
“So… when you prefer this package, they put some simple nanotechnology devices in your body. They
will offer this package for the customers who have enough money; they developed a solution that can support
the body up to four or five days, and as far we could find out, they already have the medical approval from
the government; so it’s completely… legal. With this elixir in your veins, when you eat something or sleep
during the game, these nano babies come to life and begin to create the effects that should be in real. For
example; if you sleep for four hours during the game, your body will gain energy accordingly. If you eat
something, you will feel the taste and smell, also feel full in stomach. This is an extremely realistic RPG
(what’s that stand for? . And the price for this secondary package is only around fifteen thousand US Dollars,
so they will be able to create a serious demand for this one, too. If you think it as a vacation in a dreamland,
it’s not expensive at all.”
“How can it be possible?”
 “I don’t know, either… yet.”
“My, my,” she said. “What kind of a mind can create such a thing? These people really deserve all the
applause. I wish they were working for us. What is the title of this software?”
“As I said, they are celebrating their fifth anniversary, so they gave the name of the company: Enigma.”
“That’s right. This firm is a real mystery. Nobody knows even who the owner is.”
After sitting still and silent for a while, with an expression of terror on her face, Esra grabbed the glass
filled with whiskey and emptied it at once. “Oh, oh, God!” she muttered, feeling the heat along her throat.
“This company can reposition itself to challenge even Microsoft with such a product!” She looked around as
if she could see a solution somewhere in the backyard. “Well, what do we do now?” she asked. “As the CEO
of the company, you should have a plan for this.”
“Yeah, of course,” Sedat said, confidently. “Thanks to our industrial spies, we have managed to acquire a
copy of the software along with a prototype of the interface; no need to mention about the solution as well.
However, neither our programmers could hack into the program nor our chemists could understand the nature
of this solution. It’s impossible to hack through the password of the program, because it regenerates a random
password each time. As long as we work through it via our hacking devices and utilities, it comes up with a
new code; whoever prepared this software should be a genius. Apparently, he or she locked the code in a way
that is impossible to reach even for the original programmer.”
“But this doesn’t make any sense,” she responded. “I mean, if this product sells good, and it seems to be
so, wouldn’t they need the original code or engines to make a sequel?”
“I thought the same thing, too,” said Sedat. “Perhaps the important part of it is the essence of the idea and
it’s already well recorded in the programmer’s mind. As a programmer, I also believe that the safest place
for keeping an idea far from unnecessary eyes is my own mind. On the other hand, our chemists got utterly
ridiculous results while trying to analyze the solution. At every attempt, they found that the solution is some
sort of a tranquilizer, which makes no sense, because taking the nature of this program, it’s obviously has
nothing to do with tranquilizers. Our technicians are still trying to solve the origin of this interface.”
“Tranquilizers? What’s that got to do with some virtual reality experience? To make it deeper or
something?”
“Have no idea. But…” Sedat finished his drink and raised his gaze to Esra’s eyes. “There is still something
else I can do in the meantime.”
“Which is?”
“Playing this game,” he replied. “At least, we can learn what the story is and if we consider it to be good
enough, we can sell it as a normal RPG and destroy the original in their hand.”
“I can’t say I understand anything about this. Anyway, I don’t think your plan would work,” Esra said,
walking towards the bar to get another shot of whiskey. “The programmer can make whatever he did before;
so, you can do nothing other than slowing him down a little.”
“Then we will find some other way when the time comes. At worst, we can make him work for us this way,
without his own knowledge. What we must do is to stop this product from being sold in the market; and if it’s
to be so, it must be by us.”
Esra sipped her whiskey, squirmed and looked at him. “How can you drink this shit?” She put the glass on
the bar and walked towards the pool rim. “Well,” she said. “What are you going to do? Where will you play
this game?”
“I will have a vacation for a week. My bags are already packed; I’m leaving in the morning. When I get
back, I’m sure that we will be able to hit Enigma with their own weapon!”
Weighing the news in her mind, Esra paced back and forth along the pool rim. After a short while, she
came back to the dinner table and got her car keys. Under his gaze, she walked towards the back door of the
building and she turned back to him.
“I’m expecting to see your report in two weeks, Sedat,” she said, with an authoritarian tone of voice.
“Don’t worry,” he responded, with a grin on his face. “I always conquered our enemies before, didn’t I?”
“You’re really greedy, aren’t you?”
“I owe to greed for everything I have.”
“Very well,” Esra replied. “Then use your brain this time instead, and bring me some good news.” Then
she disappeared through the door. In a couple of minutes, her Shelby GT500 ’68 roared from the gravel front
yard.
 2: Welcome to ENIGMA!

White Wolf was the ranch of his childhood dreams. He bought this place in a remote part of Anatolia, and
nobody knew of its existence or location. Whenever he felt tired of the pressure in always competitive world
of business, whenever he wished to get rid of the crowd and the demands of people around him, he travelled
here as a sanctuary.
His real home was this ranch; not the mansion on the side of Bosphorus. Whenever he stayed in
White Wolf, he used to spend his time playing computer games, which were his number one hobby since
adolescence. As a matter of fact, the reason why he became very good at software production was his
obsession of computer games. Whenever he liked a game – he used to play RPG mostly – he used to hack
into the program to make changes or put some additions on it. Doing this all the time, inevitably, he had
become a compu-whiz.
Now he was here for one more time to play a very interesting game; a game that would make him a
software emperor, and perhaps enable him to challenge even Microsoft! This was an unmissable opportunity
for Sedat. Someone else had prepared this program and all he had to do was to play and enjoy it. He couldn’t
call it work, anyway!
He parked the brand-new Roadster in front of the building, which was a miniature replica of the one in
Istanbul. But differently than it was in the mansion, there were no servants here; he didn’t like being bothered
when he was focused intently on a game.
A manservant, who lived a nearby village, used to come here to make some cleaning, whether Sedat was
present or not, and in return, Sedat used to send him some money every month. Since the man knew nothing
about computer technology, and since he grew up through Anatolian manner, he would never think of robbing
the house or betraying his master.
Frankly, this sort of good natured and honest people were very convenient to use. At the other hand, Sedat
used to believe that this sort of moral values were created just to keep these people in line and to enable ones
who are more clever than others to do as they wish. To him, the meaning of life was to do whatever it takes to
win. Even if he had to lie, step on others, steal – just as it was for this software – or kill someone, he wouldn’t
hesitate but do whatever should be done, seeing it as an integral part of the war.
He opened the door and windows to ventilate the house; then he carried his luggage without haste. Other
than the surrounding porch, the rest of the building didn’t look like a village house. There was a large
entrance, three bedrooms, a large kitchen and a living room on the first floor; the second floor was a study
room that was full of computer equipment as a whole.
Putting his briefcase and large shoulder bag on the desk, he began to empty them. The cardboard of the
game he brought shone under sunlight, flowing through the window-glass. He really couldn’t wait to play
the game, but this was his favorite part before the playing session. Therefore, he never hasted, but enjoyed
the suspense instead. In the room, there were six computer sets, which were particularly configured for
various game styles. He turned on the computer that he used for RPGs and kept on setting other materials.
As the computer came to life, Windows 7 logo appeared on the screen and within a few seconds, the digital
desktop was already there. Inserting the installation CD, he began to install necessary software and drivers.
Everything would be complete to begin in half an hour; he gobbled something and got himself ready for an
amazing feast of gaming.
Finally, he clicked on the program icon on the desktop and put 3D goggles on. During the introduction, he
let himself flow with joy. But the picture wasn’t clear, and the movie consisted of successive image bursts,
one after another. Sometimes a human face, sometimes a Japanese katana, ancient buildings or corridors
popped out and off quickly. These images went on for a few minutes; then suddenly, and finally, the opening
screen appeared. As usual, the company logo was screened with a subtext: “Software Proudly Presents Our
5th Anniversary!”
Since English was used, it was obvious that this product was prepared for international market. On the left
hand, there was a an icon to open the information screen, which held data about the firm and program; on
the right hand, “options” and “quit” icons were visible. There were some other icons for mode and character
selections.
In spite of its impressive and 3D graphics, it seemed to be an ordinary RPG at first sight. Though, even if
it wasn’t so clear, the gradually heightened visual and sound quality was first class. Symphonic Hard Rock
music pieces were threatening, scary and incredibly powerful. From the very beginning, he could see that this
game deserved the title “Enigma.”
First he clicked on the information icon. There was some data about the history of company; but probably,
they had put such a screen, because it was a special program. For ordinary software, it wasn’t something
common. Apparently, the company was also as impressive as well. It was found five years ago, and rose
through an extraordinary stability. According to the data, their development rate had also risen steadily.
Programmers were many. Some were foreign names that were from Japan, Hong Kong and other Far
Eastern countries. There was detailed information about graphics designers, programmers, artists, writers and
other assisting designers. But to his surprise, there was no data about the main creator of the game. This game
seemed to be a product of real teamwork.
For a while, he tried to make his mind up to choose the mode. If he chose nano mode, he knew that it
would be necessary to use the solution. But he had no idea about the ingredient of the chemical and his
chemists were still working on it. It might be a risk to use the solution, but if he wanted to market it himself,
he had to know everything about it; and as to money he could make out of it, the risk was worth it.
He took off the goggles and prepared the injector, which was produced as a bracelet. It seemed to work
automatically, because it had a cable connection with the interface. In a minute, he was ready to begin to play
again. He wrapped the bracelet around his right wrist, put the goggles on and looked at the main screen once
more.
Sedat chose the nano mode. Then he clicked on the character selection icon, and jumped to the next screen.
On this new one, there was a message communicating that he should put one of his photographs into the slot
made within interface.
Names designated for the characters were funny and extremely ordinary: For male gamers, “Tiger, Iceberg,
Hammer, Conqueror, Apprentice,” and for female gamers, “Lady Tiger, Lady Nocturne, Scanner, Queentice,
Giant Killer”. He thought that this was the first defect that needed a correction; there should be an option that
player could decide on his or her name.
He put off the goggles once again and stood up from the professional gaming seat to grab a photograph
from his wallet. But when he turned, he was surprised to see that the monitor was completely black and
empty.
Curious if the machine was still on, he checked the led lights, but he saw that everything was working
smoothly. Then he checked the goggles again and smiled.
“You bastard,” he said to himself, as if talking to the programmer, “you transferred all the visual data to the
goggles, huh? Smart! Thus, you saved on the memory that was shared by monitor. So, you could have used
this extra memory to improve 3D graphics. Smart… really smart!”
He inserted picture into the slot, put on the goggles and returned to the images. After marking his gender,
he chose his name as “Conqueror.” Then he clicked on the start icon. Thinking then on how he would be able
to use the save option, a new screen appeared and he heard a voice. There were no written letters or numbers
anymore; just music and sound instead. A soft woman voice said in English:
“Character is being created, please standby.”
In a few seconds, he heard the same voice again:
“You chose the nano mode; please confirm. Just nod to do so. If you don’t want to confirm the nano
mode, please shake your head to either side.”
Sedat nodded slowly. He felt a sudden pain on his right wrist and the solution flowing into his veins. He
was half laid on his ultra-ergonomic gaming seat and it was more comfortable than many beds. He heard the
same voice:
“From this point on, you are not going to need mouse or keyboard, but you will feel completely illusio-
physiological movements. Now, please relax.”
Then the same voice asked: “Do you have any questions before beginning? You can state your question
into the microphone attached to right side of the goggles.”
Impressive for sure, he thought. Welcome to the science-fiction technology. Sedat pulled the tiny cord,
which was attached to right side of the goggles, towards his mouth and left it there. “Yes, I have a question,”
he said. “I want to learn the options in the game.”
“Please name the option you want to learn about.”
“Save?”
 “There is not a save option in nano mode; you have to finish the game once you begin,” digital woman
voice replied. “If your character dies during the game, you can quit; otherwise, to quit is dangerous for your
health, because your neural system can’t adapt to the real life due to the nano solution injected into your
veins. If the character dies, nano solution destroys itself automatically. In this case, you can come back to
the game with another character, but you have to re-inject the solution. Solution can be used for thrice in a
game program. Any other questions?”
Since there was no save, there would be no load option, either. “Well, quit?”
“There is no quit option in nano mode; quitting during the game is similar to suicide in real life. In this
case, you cannot go back to the point you left and you can’t create a new character. Any other questions?”
God damn it, he cursed. What kind of people are these programmers? They really should be psychopaths!
If I market such a program, which endangers the time and health of customers, they sue me for an indemnity
that I can never pay. This program seems to be a piece of shit; I’d better not to waste my time with it.
But he paused with an instinct, just before he put the goggles off. “Wait a minute,” he said. “What happens
if I put off the goggles now?”
“There are two possible outcomes of such an action:” computer replied. “Insanity, for you will be in two
different universes at the same time; and temporary or permanent blindness, deafness or partial or complete
paralysis. As soon as you confirmed the nano mode, this process has begun.”
“Can I quit the game if I kill my character deliberately?” he asked, looking at the big letter “E” that seemed
to be hung in the midair.
“Positive,” the computer replied. “But I must remind you that this will be extremely painful. This program
is created with the ability of delivering the shocks that will trigger five senses.”
Damn, he cursed again. At least, I’d better to set it to the easiest level. “Can I set the difficulty level?” he
asked.
“Negative,” the computer replied. “There is only one difficulty level in the game.”
It was obvious that he was entrapped. If he didn’t want to taste the extreme pain the computer mentioned
about, he had to play this game well enough to finish victoriously.
“Any other questions?”
“Can I communicate with the computer through the game?”
“Negative,” it responded again. “During the game, player should integrate him or herself with the events.
This concentration is especially important for sense leveling.”
“What the hell is sense leveling?” he asked.
“The sensational impact level that will be created within your body in accordance with the events in
the game,” the machine explained. “There are four different levels for senses: light, medium, heavy, and
extreme. You could find the detailed information in the manual that was given to you along the product.”
That’s great, he thought. That’s really fuckin’ great! These fuckin’ people created this program in a way
that perfectly affects five senses and neural systems. And what manual are you talking about, you mentally
retarded god damn fuckin’ pile of chips?! How the hell could I have read that fuckin’ manual? I have stolen
this goddamn product!
“Any other questions?” it repeated.
Sedat sighed heavily and commanded: “Start this fuckin’ game!”
“Negative, invalid command, please repeat.”
“START!” he yelled. Then he felt a relaxation in a few seconds and lost himself into a bright rainbow. He
knew that the feelings he had were the effect of the solution he injected into himself.
 3: A Great Twist of Conscience I

In her boss’ office inside the Yurtkan Yazılım Inc. building, turning her cream-colored leather chair towards
smoked glassed window, Esra was looking at amazing sight of Bosphorus. Leaving the emptied wine goblet
onto her desk, she sat back in a half-laid position.
As she looked around expensive antique paintings hung on the wooden walls, surrounding the large office,
she was thoughtful. The wall at left of the door, which was opposite to the window, was designed as an
aquarium; and, each of the twenty tropical fish in it had cost more than two thousand US Dollars.
The wall behind her chair was decorated with a windowed cabinet that contained original Chinese
porcelains, crystal glasses and goblets, silver office tools and the cups Esra had won in tennis tournaments.
On the right side of the door, the small Rembrandt on the wall behind the leather sofa, which was the same
color and material with her office chair, was camouflaging a wall-safe that contained more than half a million
dollars cash.
After the last economical crisis in Turkey, her bank balance and stocks had multiplied who-knows-how-
many times; and they totaled more than thirty million, now. She didn’t know the total value of her real estate.
She bought the villa, which she lived now, for three million and she had three sports cars that cost than two
hundred thousand each.
Nevertheless, Sedat claimed that he was the one who worked to created this fortune for the two of them,
Esra was the only legal owner of this market leader company, and it was the inheritance from her late
husband.
For many, Esra was very lucky and she owned everything more than enough. Extraordinarily rich,
extremely beautiful and attractive, successful in her career, Esra was also a 30-year-old widow. She had
everything – those people meant it – to be happy.
Then why am I so depressed? she asked herself. Those people are right. There are many among them who
would die to be in my place.
She yanked her desk drawer, and took out a picture frame, and put it squarely onto the desktop. When she
saw Doru’s face grinning happily at her, she suddenly felt sick. She was the one who had taken this picture,
and Doru had always smiled to her this way. He was always like that; as pure and naïve as a young boy. He
had always seen the colorful and beautiful things in life, and was never interested in the feelings and greed
that polluted mankind. Opposite to his father, he had never cared about money, power, or business.
Only now, Esra could understand that he had the power of heart and that nothing could challenge this sort
of power. Doru was always eager to hug people with tolerance and love. Since he hadn’t known the meaning
of the notion “selfishness”, he also hadn’t known that people could give themselves to this notion. Moreover,
he had never thought that his wife would have been selfish and an opportunist. (or “and opportunistic”)
Esra grew up in an orphanage and she was still very young when she recognized the power rich people
acquired. Since the early years of adolescence, it was her one and only goal: to become rich. She was ready
and eager to do whatever it took to achieve her goal. When she met Doru in the fast-food restaurant she
worked, she knew that her cards had changed.
He had come there with his mean, arrogant, rich friends, and when Esra, accidentally, of course, poured
a glass of fruit juice onto Doru’s silk shirt, everybody had laughed, mocked and reproved. But Doru was
different than others from the very first moment; in spite of the fact that he didn’t know Esra at all, he
defended her against his own friends. It was so obvious that he felt something warm for her at first sight;
perhaps he had even made his decision to marry her, already. Doru was always quick to make decisions and
decisive to follow them.
But Esra never saw him as a man; during their marriage, she didn’t even fall in love with him. She had
accepted his proposal just for sake of his wealth. As a matter of fact, everybody around Doru respected him
for his father’s money. He wasn’t someone to shake or impress others. But on the other hand, Doru never
cared about it, either; he always used to say that they were just mindless puppets, unaware of the facts and
without intellectuality.
However, there was something else about Doru; something more special. He knew the meaning of
unconditional love, and had a solid, strong and never-questionable trust in God. Unfortunately, Esra could
recognize and value these aspects of her late husband only now; after many years she lost him to a fucking
plane crash. Initially, she saw that accident as an unexpected and amazing opportunity. Now remembering
those feelings and thoughts she had then, she felt pity and shame for herself.
Doru had flown to Japan for a business trip on a private jet of the company, and on the way back, the plane
had crashed. There were no survivors and all the bodies were burnt. The only thing found was mostly burnt
personal items, IDs, and credit cards.
Ironically, Doru was never interested in company business actually; he was an artist-born man. All
he wanted to do was to paint and play piano. Frankly, he really made that black Steinway sing and the
unforgettable pieces by Mozart, Beethoven, Wagner, Chopin and many other musical geniuses rang around
the palace-like house. Other than these, Symphonic Rock was also one of Doru’s interests. With his collection
of guitars –electric and acoustic guitars totaled fourteen – he used to compose songs that could be made by
only a few geniuses.
Esra wasn’t fond of classical music, but Heavy Metal and Hard Rock, and she used to feel uncomfortable
with Doru’s piano recitals; however, she missed those days now. Still, she didn’t like classical music, but
when Doru played, it felt as if those pieces resonated with his touch.
It was just for Esra’s sake that he had even agreed to have that trip with his father. She knew that Doru had
to take over the company’s administration, because otherwise, the other alternative after Doru’s father was
Sedat. As Doru was reluctant to leave her behind, Esra had forced him determinedly. While he was gone, she
had tried to learn about company’s administration as much as possible. When Doru was back, thanks to his
love for her, she would make a puppet out of him, and run the business herself. Thus, she would be the only
owner of this amazing company. She had an incredible opportunity that could come to her once a lifetime, her
plan was flawless, and her advantage was doubtless.
And I sent him to his death, she thought, fighting against her tears. I sent the only person who really
loved me in life to his death; by my own hand. Esra, yield to the truth, girl, you’re the murderer of your own
husband along your own happiness. Yes, you have everything to be happy, but just look at the price you had
to pay and the way you paid it; and you didn’t have to pay any price, but just to enjoy it with him; you could
even have been much happier than you imagined.
With a twist of fate, both Doru and his father had died in that crash, giving all the fortune and company
directly to Esra. After a short while, Sedat’s attitude towards her had changed and he had made it obvious
that he was after her. Sex, greed, interests, emotions… everything was mixed within each other, and now, it
wasn’t clear who was in whose grasp. But off all sort of doubt, everything legally belonged to Esra. The only
problem was she didn’t care about any of it anymore.
Feeling too weak to look at Doru’s picture any longer, she put it back into the drawer. Wiping her tears
with the back of her hand, she clicked on the diaphone key to talk to her personal secretary.
“Fatma, tell Mr. Adnan Keskin to meet me in my office, ASAP,” she ordered. “And connect me to my
lawyer, Miss Nilgün Toroslu.”
“Right away, Mrs. Yurtkan,” the secretary’s voice replied.
Once more, she turned her gaze to the sea outside of her office window. It was a beautiful sunset streaming
towards the end of summer, now sinking behind the horizon and creating a breathtaking scenery.
Esra knew that she had to recognize that a day in her life was also about to end. She would sell all of her
share and give up the company, turning everything over Sedat, other than her own assets. She would keep her
holdings in stock exchange; she would get some cash and her credit cards, got into her classical sports car
and disappear to a far and unknown place. If she wouldn’t like the place, she would go somewhere else; right
until Doru’s painful memory and everything that reminded him got lost in dark of the past.

If not, she would push her car further…

As long as her guilt followed, she would run faster…
 4: Sun Tzu and His Daughter

It was a painful labor for Sedat to open his eyelids, and it took for a couple of minutes to see clearly.
Feeling the dull ache throughout his body, he felt as if laid on a floor mat all naked. Forcing himself to sit, he
looked around to see the walls, which were made of paper, surrounded the wooden floored small room he was
in.
Huh, this is really great, he thought. A Feudal Age Japanese house, huh? It’s really an interesting
beginning for such a game.
Finally, he could manage to stand up and approached the wall to touch it; he was surprised to see that he
could feel the texture of paper and wood under his fingertips.
“Incredible, really incredible,” he told to himself, speaking loudly. His voice rang within his skull. “Visual
quality isn’t that perfect; my sight is still blur a little, but texture and sense quality is certainly… amazing.
But what is the source of this headache?”
He searched through the white paper wall to find a doorknob or something, but it was useless; there was no
such a thing apparently.
“How am I supposed to open this?” he asked to himself, giggling.
Then he heard a noise from his back, and turned to see the gliding door was open on the other wall. A
young Far Eastern girl stood by the door with a tray in her graceful hands. He saw the porcelain bowl on the
tray. Its texture was amazingly clear and realistic; once again!
The girl looked at Sedat shyly, and soon she disappeared behind the paper wall. Afraid for the door to close
and if so, not to be able to open it, Sedat ran toward it. But instead, the door glided more and a sagacious-
looking old man came forward onto the scene.
He was short and bald like a Buddhist monk, with a threadlike mustache and beard flowing down from the
either side and below his thin, pursed lips. The girl came back with a set of white cloth; it was similar to the
black kimono the man wore.
The old man brought his both hands together in front of his chest, like praying, and bent slightly, as if he
was greeting a master.
“To see that you’re already awake, my young friend, I’m happy,” he said, speaking English with a thick Far
Eastern accent. “Asleep you are, since my daughter found you at the mountains. Wear this kimono, please.”
Mountains? Sedat thought to himself, startled. This story really seems enigmatic. And the girl is very
beautiful.
“When did you find me up the mountains, my old friend?” he asked. “And who are you?”
“Four days ago, it was,” the old man replied. “Sun Tzu, my name is, and honored to have you as a guest, in
my humble house.” He bent respectfully again.
Sun Tzu, huh? Sedat thought, while putting on the kimono. It seems that the creator of this story is really
interested in mythology and history. Sun Tzu is the greatest text and philosophy of Far Eastern Martial Arts.
“Where are we?” he asked to old man. “What is this place?” Examining the fabric of the white kimono he
wore, he wondered if this character has the answers for all of his questions. It looked like a woolen fabric and
it was quite soft.
The girl came back and put the tray she carried on a low wooden table that Sedat didn’t notice before. It
was low enough to eat sitting on the floor, and instead of chairs, there were square mats around it.
“Let us drink our healer tea, noble stranger,” Sun Tzu said. “With our conversation, we will continue later.”
They sat cross-legged on the floor and Sun Tzu served the tea. Sedat looked carefully at the cup in front of
him. He could feel the warmth of liquid; he could see the steam hovering above the cup and his reflection on
the white porcelain. When he sipped it, he also got the bitter taste and refreshing smell of the Chinese tea. But
this blurry vision was beginning to hurt his eyes. Though, he finally got rid of that headache, at least. When
they manage to copy this game, they would have to make some corrections.
“I want to ask…” Sedat began, but raising his hand slowly, Sun Tzu gestured him to be quiet. Sedat didn’t
know that it was rudeness to talk during the tea ceremony, yet. This game appeared to be extremely realistic,
even with the details of tradition.
“What is your name?” the old man asked, when they finished their tea finally.
“Conqueror,” Sedat replied, remembering the nickname he chose before beginning the game. If this was a
game and all the characters were created accordingly, of course he couldn’t say, Sedat.
“What were you doing up on the mountains, my noble friend?”
“If you allow me,” Sedat said, completely against Sun Tzu’s notion of respect, “I want to ask you some
questions.”
“Surely, my noble friend,” the old man replied, modestly again. “Ask, please.”
“First of all, are you aware that you are an NPC in this game?” Sedat asked. “I mean, a None Player
Character, which is played by the computer?”
“Accept my apology, please, my noble friend,” Sun Tzu responded, “but what is a computer?”
Perfect, Sedat thought to himself, mockingly. “Well, all right, where are we? What country and what
year?”
“My home this is and, well, at the skirts of Himalayas we are,” Sun Tzu explained. “In the third month, the
dragon year.”
This is really crazy and so much fun, Sedat thought. “Is this a Japanese village?”
“No, my young friend. First, not in a village we are, and no, very far from here the Japanese lands are. In
China we are and a Chinese village nearby; if you’d wish to visit. In there, my people live.”
“Wait,” Sedat said, suddenly. “How can you speak English then?”
“English is... what?”
“What is English?! What do you call the language you speak?”
“Chinese, of course, my noble friend,” Sun Tzu said, smiling. “No other languages I can speak.”
“Okay, okay,” Sedat said, convinced that he didn’t know Chinese and that they spoke English. “You can
ask me whatever you want now,” Sedat said. He decided that he could begin to play this game. “I’m ready to
answer all your questions.”
“Well,” Sun Tzu said, “up the mountains, before we found you unconscious, what were you doing?”
Sedat considered the question for a while. This was really impressive. Probably, a player should have
amnesia according to the scenario, and now, as he didn’t remember anything about previous events, he should
be in the same position.
“I don’t know,” he said, finally. “I remember nothing.”
“Bad, that is,” Sun Tzu said. “Then in trouble you are. But also strange it is; pretty comfortable and
confident you look, for a person in trouble.”
Well, well, this program forces me to act in accordance with the situation, he thought. Real good. It’s
created with the ability to force people to feel the emotions. So we have to pretend. I’m beginning to
appreciate this achievement. I will almost change my mind about stealing it. These people deserve to be
congratulated. But there’s no problem with taking it from them.
“What sort of trouble are you talking about?” Sedat asked.
“As if you have amnesia you look,” replied Sun Tzu. “So, to the description in the ancient texts, this
appears to fit.”
“And it says?”
“Through these texts, about a legendary king that will come to our aid when it needs, ancient masters and
lords mentioned us. They said;
‘He will fall from the cloudy skies
‘When the time of need comes
‘He who is the defender of man
‘As you yield to him for your lives!’”
“So why do you think that it’s me?” Sedat asked.
“Almost as high as the clouds these mountains are, noble stranger; so that you fell from the skies it proves.
And that your name is Conqueror you told me; a conqueror, only he who comes from the real king line can
be.”
Sedat smiled; it felt good to be a king. Under the effect of the games he played, he had daydreamt himself
as a king. Moreover, he was sure now that this program would make him not a king, but an emperor.
“So, what do I have to do?” he asked. “What is the problem for these people?”
“To be the legendary king, you must prove yourself Conqueror.”
“How am I supposed to do it?” Sedat asked, eagerly.
“In Shaolin Temple, against our champion, you must fight, and come victorious over him. Then it will be
proved that you’re the man in the prophecy, and as our king, lead us to prosperity you will.”
If everything and anything in this game can trigger the five senses, Sedat thought to himself, trying to
evaluate his situation for a short while, how about the fights? To fight against a Shaolin champion? But I don’t
think it will be that dangerous; ultimately, this is just a game for fun. But I’m sure that it will hurt. Then he
added smiling, either me or him.
“Alright,” he said finally. “When will I do this?”
“In two months,” Sun Tzu replied, smiling respectfully. “No need to worry. Train you until then I will;
improve your fighting skills together we will. But now, some rest you must. If anything you need, just call me
or my daughter; Lynn is her name.”

* * *

After Sun Tzu left, Sedat was on his own. He had to accept the success of this program. He didn’t know
how many games he had played throughout his life, but none of them was as realistic as this one. Even the
timing was almost same as real life.
He was in a room of this Chinese house; there were two Chinese other than him inside; probably they were
all somewhere in ancient world and everything seemed to be designed with a great care. He felt as if he was
inside a fairy tale book. Other than this problem with visual quality, the program was perfect. He wondered
how much time it took to create this amazing computer miracle.
With a very high probability, they had used professional actors and actresses to keep movement and visual
quality as high as possible; therefore, people seemed realistic. According to his responsess or reactions,
just like how it was in normal RPGs, program pieces and words were united in a way that it would create
the results he observed in the beginning. As a matter of fact, the idea was not that sophisticated, but it was
obvious that they had spent an amazing amount of time.
This is incredible, he thought to himself. I’m doing all these things, talking to these people, walking
around, perceive everything through my five senses, and in fact, I’m just sitting in my ultra-ergonomic game
chair at home! In real, not even a part of my body moves. This is an incredible product! These people must
have sold out how brain works and understood the nature of dreams. Thanks to this software, my name and
my company will be recorded in science and technology encyclopedias. All the experts in my team should
play this game and see for themselves.
Then he remembered Sun Tzu’s words; if Sedat needed anything, he should call him or his daughter. He
wondered how sex could be in such a game. Was there such a possibility? Lynn was a pretty girl and there
might be no harm of trying. If he made a mistake, as the worst possibility, the game would end, perhaps he
would hurt a little, but he could always come back with another character.
“Hey! Lynn! Girl!” he called and waited for a respond.
But in spite he waited for a long time, he couldn’t get a response. He stood up and walked towards the
door, extending his hand. Now he knew how to open it. But just before he could touch the paper wall, the
door slid open itself and girl reappeared.
“Did you call me, noble stranger?” she asked.
“If possible, I’d like to have a bath,” Sedat said, with a false courtesy.
“Sure, noble stranger,” she said and disappeared to get water. After a short while, she was back with a huge
wooden washtub, a large water jug and a big wooden brush. As she carried these all with a clear ease, it was
surprising to see that she was so strong despite her small and fragile body. He thought that this was a flaw in
the program, because in such a “very-realistic” program, she should show some signs of struggle; on the other
hand, a weak appearance could show her more attractive and sexy. Women should be weak and needy.
Lynn put everything in her hands onto the floor and walked back to the door, with the same shy manner.
“At where I came,” he said, “as a tradition, women give men bath. Do you have the same tradition here as
well?”
“Only if the men are special visitors, noble stranger,” she responded.
 “And am I?”
“Father said so.”
“Then you may help me,” Sedat suggested, beginning to undress.
“Of course, noble stranger,” Lynn replied, obediently. She began to prepare the bath respectfully, as if she
had no chance to reject this duty.
Sedat undressed completely and got in the bath. Letting his body go into the water, he asked, “Wouldn’t
you like to join me?”
“No, my lord,” she replied. “Thank you very much for this honor. But I don’t think it would be appropriate,
because you’re the most special visitor we’ve ever had.”
“C’mon,” he insisted, grabbing her apparently weak wrist and pulling her closer. “We can share some joy
together.”
“Please, don’t insist,” she reacted, pulling her wrist back slightly.
Sedat stood up again and extended his arm to grab her through her waist. But, at a lightning speed, Lynn
turned his wrist backwards at midair and as the result of a successful technique, Sedat found himself on his
ass.
“I’m sorry, noble stranger,” she said, with a tone of voice as if nothing happened. “But I begged you not to
insist. Now, please let me give you bath.”
Sedat was confused. Not only for the sudden and quick attack, but also for the ache he felt. It wasn’t as
strong as how it would be in real life, but his wrist and hips were hurting. As he jumped back on his feet
again, Lynn was on an apparently professional guard.
“What is this?” Sedat asked. “Karate?”
“Budo!” Lynn replied. “In another word, Aikido!”
“As you’re so violent, I wonder how good a champion would be.”
“Father will give you the necessary information,” Lynn said, peacefully. Her voice was calm and friendly,
but her appearance and stand were scary enough. “Please try to rest a little.”
Sedat nodded slightly and Lynn left room with the items she had brought. Then Sedat laid back on the mat.
For a long time that he didn’t know it was long, he fell asleep.
 5: Do of The Tiger

Shining sunlight, coming through the bamboo reeds, forced him to wake up to a beautiful Chinese
morning. His vision was still blurry, but he really felt like slept for hours.
He got up from bed and wore the clothes Lynn brought the previous day; however, this world seemed
strange: because he spent the previous day in a game! He walked towards the door and this time, finding the
tiny gap between two bamboo doorframes, he managed to slide the door aside.
When out, he found himself in a narrow, short and empty corridor. At the end of both sides, there were
doorframes that led to green lawns. On the left, he noticed a small body, sitting cross-legged on the grass at
a point close to the house. Next to him, there was someone else, too; this second person was moving very
slowly and harmoniously, in ballet-like gracefulness.
Sedat left the small house and approached them. Only then he could have noticed that the sky looked
artificial; this was also another flaw that should be corrected.
He saw that the figure that was moving like dancing was Lynn; the other one, who was sitting on the grass,
was her father, Sun Tzu. Neither of them were aware that he was there. But when he stood next to the old
man, Sun Tzu nodded slowly, without needing to open his eyes.
“Good morning, my noble and young friend.”
Lynn kept on her dancing. Even if Sedat couldn’t make anything out of her actions, he found the girl’s
movements fairly elegant and aesthetic.
“What’s she doing?” he asked, placing himself in the cross-legged position next to Sun Tzu.
“Tai Chi,” old man replied. “The dance of universal harmony. A perfect method it is, to say hello to the
new day and adjust yourself to the river of life’s flow.”
“So, what about you? What is it you’re doing?”
“Meditation,” Sun Tzu replied. Since the beginning of the conversation, he had not opened his eyes. “As
another form of Tai Chi, we can explain, practiced through aura and spiritual frequency, without need of any
movements.”
“You mean that you can put yourself in harmony with everything and anything here?” Sedat asked,
mockingly.
“Not only here, but with everything and anything all around the universe,” Sun Tzu nodded.
“And what happens when you achieve this?”
“If you can achieve this, to the ultimate source of the power of creation, you can reach,” old man replied.
“Then over all of your enemies you can win.”
“Are you always like this?” Sedat asked. “I mean, so soft, warm and friendly?”
“Understand what you mean I could not, The Conqueror,” Sun Tzu said.
“Never mind. When will we begin with my training, Master?”
“First, practice with someone else you will; important for your physical training this is, my noble friend,”
Sun Tzu said. “Later, the principles of the warriorhood and philosophy theories I will teach you.”
“So, who’s my first master?” Sedat asked.
“Me!” a voice said, soft but determined.
Sedat turned back to see the source of that voice, and his eyes wide opened. “Oh, shit!” he said, rolling his
eyes.
“It’s forbidden to curse here, apprentice!” Lynn commanded.
“I’m sorry, Master,” Sedat responded, smiling naughtily.
 “Throughout our classes, you will call me Sansei,” Lynn said, with a warning tone of voice.
“No, no, no,” Sedat objected. “Perhaps I don’t know Far Eastern life style well, but at least, I know that I
can’t call a woman as Sansei.”
“One more rule for our classes,” Lynn continued, “you’re going to forget that I’m a woman, during our
classes. Got it?”
“Okay, well, yeah,” Sedat said, arrogantly. “Whatever. When do we start?”
“Right now,” Lynn replied to his question, dragging him to the fighting mat at the center of the open lawn.
When they arrived there, Lynn gave her first command: “Jump!”
“Excuse me?” Sedat asked, confused.
But just as he said this, he bent over because of a punch that hit him on the stomach.
“When I give you a command, just do what I say,” Lynn said. “Now, begin to jump and do it as high as
possible.”
Almost during entire day, Lynn made him run, exercise sit-ups and push-ups. He carried some loads;
bending his legs at the knee, he waited for long periods; laid on the grass, let Lynn kick his stomach. In short,
Lynn made him do everything and anything to help him improve his condition. Though the training was
extremely exhausting and painful, Sedat was amazed by the realistic game-play.
On the other hand, everything got more and more interesting. Even if he felt exhausted because of the
techniques and exercises – he was grateful for he was used to sports – he was wondering if these virtual
reality exercises could help physical improvement. If it was possible, then he could also develop the very
game as a sports support tool.
But it was strange; he didn’t know how, but he was sure that this software could measure the real condition
of the body. (It seemed to be really difficult for the experts in his team to understand and analyze the way of
function of this game.) not sure what this means
They stopped working out toward the end of the day, and around an hour later they had their dinner
through a high dignity atmosphere. From the aspect of this notion, he liked the respect especially directed to
himself. But, even if he could taste the food, which consisted of vegetables, spices, and rice, it seemed rather
inadequate compared to his royal kitchen in real life.
After they had their dinner, Lynn went to her bedroom, leaving the two men alone. Sedat was still curious
if it was possible for him to make love with her or, like how it was in some RPGs, a love to begin between
two of them. Perhaps this part was also included in the scenario, but, with a very high probability, first he had
to succeed at their classes of martial arts and then save the village.
“How do you feel, Conqueror?” Sun Tzu asked. “Too tired to have a night walk are you, under the stars
outside?”
If he were asked such a question in an ordinary RPG, of course he would say he wasn’t tired at all; but to
feel tired himself, just like how he was now, was quite strange for a game. On the other hand, he was aware
that Sun Tzu was after something, so he didn’t want to miss it, since the information is important in such
games.
“No,” he replied, finally, trying to look more vigorous than he actually was. “It would be an honor for me
to have such a walk with you, my old friend.”
Actually, it wasn’t in his style to respect people so much, and in real life, he shook everybody around
him with fear, other than Esra; but if he wished to play the game at earnest and reach to the end of it, he was
aware that he should do this. When they were out of the paper walls together, Sedat breathed in the fresh
Himalayan air. Even if it was just virtual reality, mountain air was really refreshing. He could even get the
smell of the flowers around.
“Here, let’s sit,” Sun Tzu said, when they were a little far from the house.
First Sun Tzu, then Sedat sat cross-legged on the floor. With an approach so much in detail, even the grass
under his tights were wet from the dew of night cast. (Sedat’s meticulousness about the programs in the
shade) not sure what this means He was beginning to wonder if it was possible for his technicians to achieve
such detail and realism without hacking into the program.
“What you have learned today, tell me,” Sun Tzu said, eyes half closed, with a calm tone of voice.
Sedat looked at him for a while, trying to find a logical answer. In normal RPGs, there were alternative
responses that the player could choose among. However, this game was closer to be an FRP more than an
RPG. He didn’t know how the programmers could achieve it, but it seemed that the characters could respond
to all sorts of communications. This was some sort of an artificial intelligence; perhaps it was programmed
to catch some important points in the sentences of the player and to create highly complicated combinations.
From this aspect, it was certain that the programmers worked with expert linguists.
“I don’t know how to define or name what Lynn has taught me,” Sedat said. “She makes me bounce up and
down, run from one corner to another, crawl on the ground and, frankly and shortly, ruins me down.”
“Called as Aikido, what Lynn teaches you is,” Sun Tzu replied, without making any comment on what
Sedat said; he sounded as if he was saying something prepared beforehand. This fact confirmed Sedat’s ideas
about two sided conversations. “Soon, teach you Kendo, she will begin.”
“What is Kendo?” Sedat asked.
“A Japanese martial art,” Sun Tzu continued, as if he didn’t hear Sedat, “Aikido is. Morihei Ueshiba, its
father is. Shortly, an art of harmonizing with Ki, we Chinese call it as Chi, and making it a lifestyle. Kendo is
the life and sword discipline of Samurai, the noble Japanese warrior. Neither of them is to be mere physical;
more mental and philosophical, they are both, but to grasp the secret within them, first you have to discipline
your physical body. Training both your mind and physical body, learning how to harmonize them with the
universal energy as a whole, you become victorious through all the battles.”
“Why is it important to harmonize yourself, Master?” Sedat asked, trying to understand the real meaning of
this word.
“Throughout a fight, as you react to the moves or blows of your opponent, you have to use so much more
energy and strength than needed,” Sun Tzu kept on explaining. “Whereas to be able to control your energy in
order to save your condition for a long time, important it is.
“At the other hand, instead of reacting, if you harmonize yourself into moves of your opponent and flow
along him, to manipulate his energy and use his own power against himself, the advantage is that you will
have. Therefore, the stronger your opponent is, that advantageous you are; because you can make him give
so much harm. Further, as you only dance around, he gets more and more tired, so ultimately yields to you,
winning over himself. In essence, a cosmic dance, Aikido is. As you dance, harmonize yourself with the other
person, you must.”
Whoa! This is too much! Sedat thought to himself. What sort of a game is this? As if I’m learning through
real Karate classes.
“‘Reason’ is what’s the most important for a warrior,” Sun Tzu carried on. “To know you do what for why,
and most importantly why you fight and remember it throughout the fight, necessary it is. If you noticed,
about one thing, extremely fastidious Lynn was: To put one foot on the ground stationary and to complete
your kata pivoting around it. Because… only then keep your balance, you can.
“Similarly, you can think of this foot as a ‘reason,’ because always pivot your fight around this ‘reason’ you
must; otherwise, give yourself into the heat of fight, so lose yourself, you might. If lose himself into the rage
during a fight, put his sword into its sheath immediately, a Samurai does. At the cost of losing his own life, he
does. When lose himself into rage, he does, the reason of fight loses its nobility, and personal, his reason of
killing becomes. Whereas everything is to win a fight, it is not. To win a fight ‘in spite of ownself,’ everything
it is.”
“What does that mean, Master?” Sedat asked, trying to understand what Sun Tzu said. “To win ‘in spite of
ownself?’”
“For a warrior, to fight against his own ego, the biggest battle is,” explained Sun Tzu. “If lose into your ego
during a fight, you do, then very difficult to win it is. Even if win, lose you do. Fight without losing into your
ego and keeping your mind calm, if you do, then even if die, win you do. Therefore, to win over yourself
before the fight, what matters is.
“Most of the time, win without even unsheathing his sword, a real masterful warrior does. Keeping his
calmness in spite of all, never lose the sight of his reason, and just like his foot is fixed on the ground, move
around that reason, he does. Conqueror, understand these all can you?”
As a matter of fact, Sedat wasn’t sure if he could understand at all. What Sun Tzu told seemed extremely
complicated and it was a little too much boring for a computer game.
“Now, before answering to this question of mine, check yourself well,” Sun Tzu said. “In this battle we’re
preparing you, your reason is what?”
Sedat thought for a while, and without any other alternative responses, he clarified himself quickly: “To
win the battle.”
“Why? Forces you to win this battle is what?”
“Because you told me that I need to win over your champion at Shaolin Temple,” Sedat said, and just
before he could complete his sentence, he got a slap on his forehead. It really hurt.
“Talking without thinking you are and listening well you are not,” Sun Tzu said, dressing Sedat down from
head to toe, without any sign of anger in his tone of voice. “To explain the reason of your fight, I didn’t yet,
so to tell that you didn’t know, enough it was. As remember you do, I had told you that I would tell you what
the problem you had to solve when ready you are. You have to win the fight ‘in spite of yourself’, only what
you have to know for now is. Understand?”
“Yes, Master,” Sedat said, half angry, half confused.
 “Wish to win the fight in spite of yourself, if you do, first know yourself well you must,” Sun Tzu
continued. “Know yourself well, do you?”
“Sure,” Sedat replied. “Everybody knows him or herself well.”
“Whereas… remember anything regarding yourself before coming here you do not,” Sun Tzu emphasized.
“How say you know yourself well can you?”
“I-ı…” Sedat stammered.
“Answer this question immediately: The weakest and the strongest parts of yours are what?”
“The strongest part of mine is my greed,” Sedat said, “and the weakest part…”
“A strength, the greed is not,” Sun Tzu said tersely. “Persistence and determination, strength might be; but
greed is not. Because mean selfishness, the greed does. That ego comes superior over yourself, it is. So, mean
weakness it does and the weakest part of yours it is. To you, probably being above everything and everyone,
controlling everything around you, being a king means. However, to be a leader, to put yourself into danger
before your people, to provide a sample for them, being a king means. To understand the character of a
nation, look at its leaders; enough clue it is.”
Pausing for a silent moment, Sun Tzu carried on: “No, Conqueror, unfortunately, know yourself, you
do not; but you will. By the way, grasp the meaning of the power you must. Find the answers of these two
questions yourself, you must. You are who and for you, the power is what? Then know your reason, you
will.”
Frankly, such philosophy was too much for a game. Other than that the visual muddiness hurt his eyes,
as the game became such difficult, it was enough for Sedat to wish to quit. Even if the game was extremely
dazzling from the technological view, he didn’t expect such a boring game would sell good, anyway. But
computer had told him that he couldn’t quit and the risk was too high to take. Whatever the cost, he had to
play and finish the game.
“In Far Eastern philosophy, very important two animals are,” Sun Tzu said. “Symbolize the power,
strength, glory and nobility, both of them do; the tiger and the dragon. To me, abstract the dragon is, because
live only in the legends it does. But real the tiger is; watching and observing the tiger, learn the nature of
both war and power you can. Really like water, the greatest of all cats is; elastic, agile, soft, but also strong,
powerful and violent.”
“Soft?” Sedat asked, incredulously. “A tiger is soft? It’s one of the wildest beasts I’ve ever known.”
“Ever seen a female tiger with her cubs have you?” asked Sun Tzu, smiling compassionately. “Trust me,
teach you a lot about compassion and loyalty they can. Live alone and come together only during the mating
season they do. But the most importantly, only with the same female he mates, and until the cubs grow up,
stay together they do. When a tiger dies, also die after a while, his mate does. If you can bite the top of the
head of a tiger, tame him you can, because during a fight of dominance, what they try to do is this. To be able
to do this signifies that stronger you are, and respect the strength and power, a tiger does. A real warrior he is.
To win over a fight, if you want, find and wake up the tiger within yourself you must. The do of tiger, Budo
is; way and road, do means: Road of The Kings!”
“Do you believe that I can be ready on time, Master?” Sedat asked, thinking that what Sun Tzu told was
too much for him to grasp.
“Answer the questions, Conqueror,” Sun Tzu scolded. “Find the answer, solve and understand the power,
wake up the tiger within you. Do these if you can; just remembering, the physical training is; learning not.
Now go and have some sleep, get up early in the morning and work again, you will.”
Sedat nodded. Whoever the programmers and designers of this game and the characters were completely
out of their mind. He didn’t care of learning so much at all; only what he wanted was to finish this game.
Then he would have a meeting with Esra, his counselors and technicians, so they would make a decision if
they would copy this game or not.
He stood up silently and, leaving Sun Tzu sitting cross-legged on his own, he walked towards the Chinese
house made of paper.
 6: Runaway

Esra always had liked driving. Especially when she was upset about something, she would drive into the
highway and floor the gas pedal. When the speedometer leaned over 150 Mph (since we’re in Europe, I think
you should use km here and previously), with so much adrenalin pumped throughout her veins, at least she
would get away from her problems for a while. Sometimes she got caught by a cop, but she would give a gift
and make him blind to her little mistake. This was also a freedom that money could provide. When she was
out of Transit European Motorway (TEM) at the border of Greece, she would feel relaxed.
But this time her reason was different than the usual. What she was trying to run away from wasn’t her
problems, but her past; and as following TEM, she had already passed the border. It wasn’t her plan to pause
along the way other than need of fuel for both her car and herself. She wasn’t even thinking about to slow
down a little before she got into Rome. Instead of wasting her time at the airport, she preferred freedom; so,
she had prepared her suitcase and woken up her Mustang for a long trip. To feel the wind on her face, she
opened the convertible tent and put a high tension Deep Purple album into her CD player. As Blackmore’s
guitar solos boiled the blood in her veins, the growl of the eight-cylinder engine brought her the familiar
sense of power. She enjoyed the speed along the four-lane highway, only occasionally passing a car.
As she heard the first verses of the unforgettable classic Soldier of Fortune by Deep Purple, she began to
think of her regrets about her marriage and her life. Could she claim that she also drifted with the life, like Ian
Gillan told in this song? Frankly, she couldn’t do that, because she was only face to face with the outcomes of
her own past mistake; the “if only”s of the past.
She made her own choices and played the game by herself; now she was paying for her earning with her
loss. Just like Gillan, she also felt that she got old, and heard the songs she sang in the past; just like the
sound of the windmill in the song as it kept going round and round…
“God’s windmill grinds slowly, but perfectly,” Doru used to say. “When the people make a mistake against
you, you must leave it to time and wait for the right time when God makes everything alright.”
How on the earth could she ever do it? She was the one who made the mistake, anyway. So, she should be
the one who would make everything alright. That’s why she had given up the business. Adnan had suggested
her to rethink about her decision, that she was in some sort of depression due to the pressure of the business,
and to have a vacation before she followed her decision. But Esra hadn’t changed her mind and turned all
of her stock options over Sedat; and without demanding a single penny. Now, Sedat was the only owner of
Yurtkan Software, and Esra was sure that he would be extremely glad.
Approaching Athens, she saw a Harley Davidson join the road through a side way; she looked at it through
her rear view mirror to understand if the rider was a cop, but he wasn’t. He wore a half-helmet with black
shades. He was tall, big-framed, well-built, long gray haired, quite handsome, and probably around his fifties.
With his slanting eyes and Roman nose, he had an exotic air. He donned a tobacco brown and tasseled leather
Indian shirt, a faded pair of jeans, and high leather riding boots.
The Harley approached from the left lane and, when they were side by side, the man smiled at her. First,
Esra thought to keep on moving without giving any attention, but then she decided that some fun would
make no harm. Curving her sexy lips and showing her white teeth, she responded with a grin to his smile,
and turned the volume of the music to top. The Harley suddenly shot forward and moved to front of the car,
showing its Turkish plate number.
Sharply, Esra turned the steering wheel left and, gearing down, she floored the gas. Then she moved into
the right lane, in front of the bike, again. As she looked at the man through the rear view mirror, he made
some gestures with his left hand and, using body language, explained to Esra what he wanted to do. Then,
lowering his three fingers one by one, signaled to begin dancing together.
Their dance – they were changing places in turn through a smooth flow of circle at a speed of 150 Mph km
– went on for a few km.
Finally, the biker slowed down into a parallel speed on the left side of the car, and pointed at the gas station
ahead on the right. As Esra nodded, the Harley sped up again and guided her Mustang into the gas station.
 When they were in the station, the bike headed for the restaurant, stopping in the front parking lot. Esra
slowed down and parked her car right next to the bike. Since she had never traveled to Europe through the
highways, she didn’t expect the resting places along the road would be so empty.
It looked quite strange for summer, because it was a period when people travel most, but it seemed since
not everybody was as adventurer as her or run from some psychological problems, probably most of them
preferred airways.
But there were many more bikes in the parking lot, so much so that it seemed most of the road travelers
were bikers. Only a few people were around here, probably because everyone was at the restaurant for lunch
or motel room for rest.
“You’re a skilled driver, Madam,” a voice said from the back, waking Esra up from her momentary
daydream. “Anyway, you also know a good car.”
He looked at the black Shelby (Mustang?), whose metallic body shone like a dark flame under the sunlight.
“1968 GT500 KR Convertible,” he said. “V8 engine, iron block, iron cast cover. Reported horsepower is
335, but in 1969, it was seen that it could produce nearly 400 horsepower on the racing tracks. With an
acceleration to 60 Mph in 6.9 seconds, it was among the fastest cars in its time and after all these years, it’s
still a legend.”
“It seems you know my car better than I do,” Esra said, giggling. “But you ride a bike instead of such a
car.”
“Please,” he said. “It’s not a bike, but a work of art. An HD; a 1975 Lowrider. I wouldn’t like to bore you
with its technical features.” He smiled warmly. “Could I offer you a lunch?”
He took off his shades and carried his helmet in his hand, now; his hazel eyes shone under the sunlight and
scattered fiery sparks. His tanned skin and long white hair, swaying with the soft wind, in spite of his age, he
was still very impressive and attractive.
“My name is Rick.”
“Glad to meet you,” Esra said, shaking his hand politely. “I’m Esra.”
“Well, this means you accept my invitation for lunch, huh?” Rick said. “Frankly, I’m starving. After you,
please.”
Esra let herself to be dragged into the restaurant; she hadn’t eaten anything since the morning and, at least,
she thought it would be a nice change. The restaurant wasn’t so luxurious, but clean; and looking at the crowd
inside, she realized that it wasn’t so empty of people. Filling their trays at the self-service row, they settled
into one of the tables near the window.
“It takes lots of courage to travel in a private car as a lonely woman,” Rick said, preparing for the feast. He
got the pipette out of the large cup, which was filled with orange juice, and put it aside; it seemed to Esra that
he was a guy who preferred casualty to modern fiddle-faddle. “Where are you heading, now?”
“Switzerland,” Esra said, preferring to lie. “I’ve bought a house in there. I will stay there for a while. But,
you aren’t Turkish; though, you speak our language perfectly and drive a Turkish-plated vehicle. I wondered
why and how?”
“I’ve been living in Turkey for a long time,” he said. “I work with Turkish companies. As I’m a Turkish
citizen legally, my origin is Native American.”
“How old are you, Rick?” Esra asked, giving into curiosity, trying to slice her beefsteak. “You don’t have
to answer such an intimate question.”
“No problem,” Rick said, smiling. “I’m sixty-six.”
“Sixty-six?” Esra gulped. “And you ride a bike at this age? And you don’t show your age at all. Bravo!”
“My ancestors used to ride horses,” Rick said. “Like yours. And now, we ride metal horses instead.”
“But as far I know, Harley Davidson is actually some sort of American propaganda.”
“Let’s put it this way; it’s the propaganda of real Americans, and with this, I mean Indian spirited ones.
Let’s have our meal before it gets cold, then we will talk.”
Esra smiled to him. He looked completely friendly and fatherly. He seemed to be a knows-what-to-do and
radiated an aura of confidence.
With the wrinkles on his tanned face, arched nose like an eagle’s beak, wise looking slanting eyes and
dyed feather ear ring hung from his left ear, other than being interesting, he also looked as a person of vast
experience. During their silent lunch, Esra observed this man, trying not to show it, but she was sure that Rick
was aware of it.
“How can you look so young?” Esra asked, sipping her coffee after the meal.
“First of all, I’m careful with what I eat and my mental health,” Rick replied. “For instance, I stay off
coffee and cigarettes.”
 “I think I can’t do without coffee,” Esra said, smiling shy. “For the cigarette, I don’t smoke anyway.”
“What do you do for life?” Rick asked. “Looking at your car and clothes, you look rich.”
“I had a computer software company; Yurtkan Software,” Esra explained. “But I turned my stock options
over my partner and quit.”
“Yurtkan Software?” Rick asked, surprised. “Then you must be the bride of Yurtkans. I had read what had
happened to your husband; I’m sorry for your loss.”
Esra’s smile faded quickly. She suddenly fell into silence and putting her cup into its saucer, lowered her
head.
“I’m sorry,” Rick said. “I only wished you to know that I respect your sorrow. I didn’t intent to hurt you.”
“No problem,” Esra said. “Thank you.”
Of course, Rick didn’t know the truth; how dirty Esra felt or her guilt about her husband’s death. If he had
known these all, she wondered, would he treat me the same way?
“I think I wanted to get rid of some things,” Esra explained, seriously. “These are intimate topics, let’s
change the subject, please.”
“Sure, sorry. I went too far.”
They kept talking, watching the cars come and go along the highway. Rick told nice stories about the
beauty of nature, his own culture, his people and God. The depth in his eyes, the tone of voice and calmness
in his talking…
His values, beliefs and personality reminded her of Doru. Esra felt as if her late husband called for her
once more or reincarnated into the body of this Indian. If he were still alive, perhaps at this age, he would be
someone like Rick.
“Why is it you’re trying to runaway?” Rick said, smiling as if he knew something. “I’m quite experienced
about people, and looking at you, I can say that you’re running from something. If you wish to unburden
yourself, you can talk to me. I’m very tight mouthed and no reporter or something; don’t worry.”
Esra looked at him with sad eyes. Whenever she felt bad, Doru would be her supporter and listen to her.
Whereas her past complaints looked spoiled caprices compared to her current situation.
“From the memory of my husband,” Esra replied, finally. “Company reminds me of him all the time.”
“Why?” Rick asked. “Don’t you want to remember him?”
“Actually, I don’t want to forget him,” Esra said. “As a matter of fact, only now, many years after his
death, I can realize how I love him and I need him.”
“People are like this,” Rick said. “We realize the value of something only after we lose it. However, as still
we have it, sometimes we even treat it like garbage.”
“I’m sure you’ve never been like this,” Esra said. “You don’t look like someone to make mistakes similar
to mine.”
“Of course, I have,” Rick said. “We all make mistakes, and be ungrateful more often than not. Why do you
think I walk around in almost traditional Native American clothes? When I was a kid, I was aware of the fact
that White Man was superior to us. I have been insulted by them and hated my nation. I did my best to live
like a white among white people and blinded my eyes to the beauty of my culture’s traditions.” He sighed.
“But now, I realize how beautiful values and virtues there are in our culture and therefore, I apologize to my
ancestors. The most important reason why I never drive a car, ride a plane, but always ride a bike; of course, I
can’t travel on horseback in this century, but at least, I can ride a metal horse. My father did his best to show
me how wrong I was; but when I was able to see what I had to see, he was already with my ancestors. Only
then, I could see the truth with what he left for me.”
“And it was already too late, right?” Esra said, smiling ruefully.
“No,” Rick said. “Not so. Because his spirit is still with me and it will always be. I’m sure that your
husband’s spirit is with you, too.” He reached slowly and, with a fatherly manner, got Esra’s graceful hands
in his own thick, strong and kind fingers. “Therefore, wherever you go, he will come with you, Esra. And the
most importantly, he knows how you love him. That’s why, I’m sure that his spirit is peaceful now.”
Looking at Rick’s lovely shining eyes, Esra didn’t care about the tears bounding down her cheeks.
“You don’t know,” she said, eventually. “I killed him.”
“How so?” Rick asked, raising an eyebrow. But he didn’t let Esra’s hand go. “As far I know, your husband
has died in a plane crush. What’s that got to do with you? Did you fly the plane?”
“No, not like that,” Esra said. “I forced him to have that trip. Normally, he didn’t have business trips, but
he went to satisfy my caprice and… and…” Unable to hold herself for more, she burst into sobs. “I didn’t
know it would be this way,” she sobbed, covering her face with her both hands. “God, I’ve sent him to his
death.”
 Rick pulled her closer and leaning her face on his barrel chest, put his strong arms around her thin but
athletic body. Esra’s feelings were so intense that she didn’t even think to resist. On the other hand, the sweet
and clean smell of the Indian, which came from the bath of pure emotions, and his tone of voice, made Esra
feel safe.
“Listen to me, young one,” Rick said, caressing Esra’s blond hair. “You can send nobody to his or her
death; nobody can do that. Only God, who my ancestors called as Manitu, decides who dies when and you
can neither do something about it nor blame yourself. You didn’t kill him and you didn’t plan that accident.
This was just an unfortunate accident.
“Sometimes life goes into a way that reality becomes completely different than what we see. What you
need is to meditate to keep your mind and heart away from such negative and destructive feelings, emotions,
thoughts and doubts. When you do this regularly, eventually you will understand that the situation is far
different than what you think.”
“So you suggest me to go back?” Esra asked, sitting back and wiping her face with a handkerchief on the
table.
“Actually, no,” Rick said. “You’ve already begun, so complete this trip and see it as a vacation, not a
runaway. At the other hand, I’m also on the way to Switzerland for business; perhaps we may go together.
Anyway, it might be a little dangerous for a lady to travel such a long way alone. We can keep an eye on each
other.” He blinked, smiling. “Then we can go back to Turkey together. What do you say?”
“Not a bad idea,” Esra said, smiling again. “But I think, first I have to tidy myself up a little. I beg your
pardon…”
Rick nodded. Esra left him alone at the table and went to the CR to wash her face and pull herself together.
When he was alone, Rick sat for a while, lost in thoughts and then pulled out is cell-phone to punch a
number in Turkey.

* * *

“Do you feel better now?” Rick asked, when Esra was back.
“Yeah, thanks,” Esra replied and sipped her coffee. “How about you?” she asked then. “Probably you have
a family, huh?”
“Sure I have,” Rick said. “All the beautiful creatures all around the universe are my family. I share
everything I have with God and with them.”
A little confused, Esra looked at him hurt, feeling that he didn’t take her seriously. But Indian laughed
happily.
“These are confusing topics for you,” he said, “I understand what you mean, I’m sorry.” He paused a little,
before he began to talk. “As a matter of fact, my wife went away to be with God more than ten years ago;
cancer.”
“I’m sorry,” Esra said. “Was she a Native American, too?”
“No,” Rick replied. “Turkish. We met when she was a university student in USA. I was her mentor.”
“So, a romantic teacher-student relationship, huh?” Esra commented, smiling sympathetically.
“Some sort. But when our relationship began, she was already graduate and back to her country.”
“So, how it happened?”
“She studied international relations at the university,” Rick explained. “When she was back to Turkey, we
didn’t lose contact and after a while, we began to meet often for business. Eventually our relationship was
formed and we married.”
“What about kids?” Esra asked. “You didn’t have any?”
“Unfortunately, no,” Rick replied. “That’s why, seven years later, we adopted an orphan. Of course, he is
also an adult already, and lives in USA with his own family; thanks to him, I’m a grandfather of three.”
“You must be proud of them,” Esra said, smiling.
“Certainly. Don’t you any?”
“No. Doru wanted to have a child so much, but I didn’t accept.”
“Why?”
“Frankly,” Esra stammered. “I think I didn’t take my marriage seriously then.”
“I see.”
“I wonder,” Esra said, after a short pause. “You told me that you’re going to Switzerland for business.
What business are you in?”
“I’m in computer industry, too,” Rick said. “But in graphics design. I work as an illustrator in game
programs.”
“Really?” Esra asked. “What company do you work with?”
“Enigma,” Rick replied. “Actually, I was thinking if I was one of those to blame about you to quit business.
As a matter of fact, if I put such a nice lady in a difficult position, I would feel sorry. Because everybody
knows how Enigma rose in the market and put Yurtkan in trouble.”
Esra lowered her head to hide the terror in her eyes and swallowed hard. What a coincidence it was?! Was
God questioning her for her past sins?
“Are you the owner of the company?” Esra asked, trying to hide the tremble in her voice.
“No,” Rick said, “My business is contracted.”
At least, it was comforting to hear that; when Sedat steal the program, it wouldn’t harm Rick directly. But
had he worked on that special software? Would his labor get wasted? But, she couldn’t ask to him; in theory,
Esra was supposed not to know about that virtual reality program.
“Who is the owner, Rick?” she asked, with a sudden idea.
“I don’t know his real name,” Rick said. “Everybody knows him as The Champion. I’ve never seen him
before.”
“So, he’s really such an Enigma, huh?” Esra said. “Is he Turkish?”
“I don’t know his nationality,” Rick replied. “But I don’t think so. As far I know, he doesn’t live in Turkey,
anyway; I mean, mostly. As far I could learn from some friends in the company, he travels around the world
all the time and he communicates with the executives through e-mail or telephone.”
God, Esra thought to herself. He said the owner travels all the time. Probably, he’s the one. Anyway, if he
weren’t rich, he wouldn’t be able to ride a bike like this and be so free. God, please forgive me; I feel as I’m
betraying such a sweet person once more.
“Well, we’d better set for the road,” Rick said, standing up cheerfully. “This place is open for twenty-four
hours, but just in case, we wouldn’t like them to close the shutters down on us, right?” Then getting serious
suddenly, he added: “Joke aside, we have a long way to go. C’mon.”
 7: Seven Principles of The Tiger III

“Concentrate on your practice,” Lynn thundered. “I want you to climb up to the top branch of that tree!”
“Oh, damn it!” Sedat complained, finding himself hung in midair as his feet went loose from the branch.
“It seems you wish me dead in this game!”
“This is not a game!” Lynn greatly rebuked him. “If you concentrate on what you do, you can do nothing
effectively. And curse once more, I will snap your neck!”
Almost thirthy feet from the ground, Sedat tried to twist his neck to see Lynn below as she stood next
to the tree. It was easy for her to talk; anyway, he was the one who hung himself on the edge of thin tree
branches.
As a matter of fact, it wasn’t a bad idea to nose-dive into the ground through a short flight; at least, he
could finish this boring game. But thinking the pain he would have to endure – probably the number of the
bones in his body would multiply several times – it didn’t seem to be such an attractive idea.
“Alright,” Lynn said, “come down. It’s enough for today.”
Sedat smiled to himself and as if he wasn’t the one who complained up there, he climbed down quickly as
a monkey. When he stood on the earth again, he felt more comfortable and secure. Even if it was boring, at
least it was easier and without any pain to practice philosophy with Sun Tzu; of course other than the slaps he
gave Sedat whenever the young man made a mistake.
Throughout his entire life, Sedat had played so many RPGs and all of them were quite enjoyable games.
Whenever there would be some boring interludes and conversations, he would skip those parts and head for
the action instead. As it was obvious from his success also in business life, he was a man of action; he never
liked thinking at great length.
“Are we done with practice for today?” he asked, looking at the young girl with a hopeful expression.
Lynn smiled sly. “We’re done with climbing. Now you will run three miles.”
“WHAT? 3 MILES?”
Without any warning, the Chinese girl pivoted on her left foot and with the other, she gave him a forceful
blow on his chest, sending him to the ground on his ass.
“You do whatever I tell you to do,” she said then, more quietly. “Now start.”
Sedat couldn’t believe he did something like this. He thought of someone to use this virtual reality program
just to have some fun; what would that person do if he knew that he would have to run three miles? He was
beginning doubtful about how effective this virtual reality could be; the RPGs that he played on the computer
monitor, using a standard keyboard, were much more enjoyable than this.
“How will I know what track I need to follow?” he asked.
“Oh, that’s the simplest part,” Lynn replied. “Do you see that lake below? It’s around half a mile away
from here; and its circumference is around two kilometers?. If you run there and around the lake, then come
here running again, it makes three kilometers? total. Well, it may be a little more than that. Perhaps. But if
you object, it will be two laps around the lake.”
“How on earth could I even imagine about objecting, Sansei?” Sedat said, sarcastically. But he already
gave in.
“Then start,” Lynn ordered. “Don’t even try and stop, because I will be watching you here.”
Sedat shot forward and began to run, thinking at least he was practicing some sports.

* * *
 When he arrived back breathless, he found Sun Tzu in front of the house, sitting cross-legged on the
ground and meditating as always. The old man sat with an absolutely motionless state and closed his eyes as
if he was listening to the sound of nature surrounding him.
Sedat wondered if it was possible for him to meditate so deeply. But to do that, first he had to have a
reason; so, he had to know what good meditation would do for him. But still, he didn’t think it would do any
good to sit so straight as a rod and motionless as a piece of wood.
As he approached, Sun Tzu opened his eyes and looked at him.
“Welcome, The Conqueror,” the old man said, respectfully. “Sit with me.”
Realizing that one of those philosophy classes was about to begin, Sedat tried to avoid.
“Well, I’m a little tired, my old friend,” he muttered. “I think I’d better have a rest first.”
“What I’m talking about, that is,” Sun Tzu said, smiling cunningly. “Come and sit with me. Help you to
have rest, I will.”
I’d prefer a good massage from Lynn’s beautiful hands, Sedat thought to himself. It’s so bad that such an
option is absent in the game. That’s another point we will have to correct. It’s important for us to provide a
more enjoyable gaming experience.
But still, he did what the old master said and sat cross-legged on the ground.
“Now close your eyes, straighten your back, thrust your tongue to your upper palate and concentrate on
your breathing,” Sun Tzu said, with a soothing tone of voice. “How the air goes in through your nostrils, fills
into your lungs, mixes with the blood and then comes back out through your lips, you imagine.”
Sedat opened his eyes suddenly. “Well, but until I can do this, I inhale and exhale at least five times,” he
said, confused.
“The purpose, that is,” the old master said, smiling. “Breath so slow enough to follow this imagination, you
must. And count your breathing. Clear your mind from all sort of thoughts and concentrate on your breathing
only. Now, try again.”
Sedat obeyed and did what he was told to do. He closed his eyes, put his tongue to his upper palate, inhaled
slowly and deeply, imagined that air went in through his nostrils, filled into his lungs, mixed with his blood
and came back out through his lips. When he completed this circle, he counted to himself: One!
“Good,” Sun Tzu said, “now again.”
Sedat repeated the process and counted: Two!
This time, Sun Tzu was silent. He just watched Sedat.
Three!
Inhale… very slowly… feel your lungs… imagine how the air flows out through your lips…
Four!
Suddenly, Sun Tzu gave Sedat’s forehead one of his so famous slaps. Sedat, bewildered, opened his eyes
and looked at him.
“Stop thinking of my daughter,” Sun Tzu said. “For you, only yourself and the nature surrounding us, there
are.”
“B-but…” Sedat stammered, “how the hell on earth you could know what I thought?”
Sun Tzu, raising an eyebrow, gestured towards Sedat’s front. When the young man lowered his head to
look, he saw the bulge on the loosely tailored Chinese pants. He didn’t realize that until then, but as trying to
concentrate on his breathing, he was aware that he was pursuing the thoughts about Lynn.
“When you begin to pursue another thought,” Sun Tzu said, “stop counting and start from one again. Stop
your thoughts, no, you cannot; at least, difficult for a newly beginning person to do so, it is. Thoughts invade
your mind, seduce you and push hard. Not to pursue them, to accept them as forms of thoughts drifting freely
and let them flow as how it should be, what you must do is. Instead of pursuing them, when you set them
free, the ability of looking your deepest and the most secret thoughts from a distance, you develop, and then
know your own personality better, you can.”
But as listening to these all, all Sedat could do was to look at the master’s face with a dumb expression on
his own.
“Try again,” Sun Tzu said. “When you complete the circle ten times without any interruption, a great
achievement you will have.”
Far from being a game, this program was being trained on Far Eastern martial arts and some techniques in
the universe of virtual reality.
Trying to meditate for the first time in his life, using some methods he just learned, Sedat felt as if drifting
into some different and new worlds; or dimension, to be more precise. His thoughts felt like the words that
were heard from the mouths of other people, who were far away from him. He didn’t know how long he sat
there, concentrating on his own breathing.
He was aware that he was in some state of trance. He didn’t know how a right word it was for a virtual
reality world, because to be in this dimension of virtual reality was like being in trance, anyway.
Frankly, it wasn’t something usual for him. Sedat wouldn’t have dreams so often; of course, the nightmares
he had sometimes were an exception. But even then, they were mostly the reflections of the scenarios of the
games he played during the day.
But restarting whenever he found himself pursuing a thought, not aware how many times he repeated this
process, he had to confess that he felt more relaxed, calmer and different than usual.
Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and opened his eyes to see Sun Tzu’s face, smiling fatherly.
“Enough for now, this is,” Sun Tzu said, softly. “Bad for the first time, you were not.”
“But I couldn’t complete the ten circles, yet,” Sedat resisted.
“No problem, my noble friend,” the old man replied. “To achieve this, to a definite level on meditation, you
need to reach. Succeed at the first time, nobody can.”
Sedat raised his eyebrows.
“Still,” Sun Tzu continued, “when reach to such a level, begin to develop some amount of control on your
thoughts, you do. Then avoid the negative and destructive thoughts completely, you can.”
“What’s the essence of meditation, Master?” Sedat asked, blinking; he was still trying to gather himself.
What he really wanted to know was if it would be effective when he meditated in the universe of virtual
reality.
“To acquire the spirit of respect and unity,” Sun Tzu replied.
“How so?”
“Why all the creatures in nature are in harmony with each other, but mankind, ever thought have you?” the
old master asked.
Set aside thinking about this, Sedat had never realized that such a harmony existed within the nature. He
would always leave the topics about nature to his cousin, and think of technology for himself, instead.
“Since they are all animals, probably they speak a common language or they made some sort of treaties,”
Sedat replied, half sarcastically.
“Listen, Conqueror,” Sun Tzu said. “First of all, not the nature is consist of only animals, and not all the
animals you see are animals. But about they speak a common language and they made some sort of treaties
with each other, wrong you’re not.”
Sedat looked at Sun Tzu more eagerly and narrowed his eyes. He still had some cloudiness with his vision
and more often than not, it gave him a headache. On the other hand, to him, it was still interesting that these
things all happened in a virtual reality world.
“Everything, what consists of nature is,” Sun Tzu explained. “Vegetation, animals, insects, air, earth,
water, fire – which are four elements – the creatures of underwater, the life forms under the ground… And
everything all around the universe… Consist of the creatures only in this planet, the nature does not. In
addition to these all, metaphysical universe and… love!”
“Love?” Sedat said, confused. “What’s that got to do with nature?”
“It’s but all got to do with nature,” Sun Tzu said. Then giggled softly. “The creative energy that exists
within the essence of everything, love is. It’s God. It’s Buddha. It’s Chi!”
“Well, well, wait a minute,” Sedat said, interrupting his master. “Let’s say what you tell me now are
completely true, Master; what about the animals that you claim they are not?”
“Completely true, what I tell you are,” Sun Tzu replied. “Don’t ever interrupt me again. Talking about the
oceanic mammals, I am, when to mention about the animals, which are actually not animals; especially the
dolphins and the whales. Much more exalted than a common man spirit, their spirits are; at least, the man that
we know. Than yours. Than mine.”
Sedat blinked, trying to make some sense out of these words. Since he sat cross-legged for a long time, his
legs felt numb and he was becoming more upset by every single hour, seeing that this program was detailed
even up to the point of such a feeling of numbness; for it both made it more difficult to play the game and it
was such a miracle of computer programming.
“To solve their puzzle, not something that a common man can do, who is surrounded by materialistic
worldly values,” Sun Tzu continued. “But for us, to solve the puzzle of nature, the real goal is. When you can
do this, beyond of your own humanity, you go and reach; throughout the centuries, what philosophers and
martial art masters tried to do, this is. To understand the essence of love, the secret of nature is. And to do so,
first understand the respect, you must; because without respect, exist no love can.”
 Sedat had to give the programmers their right; the scenario was perfect. Instead of searching through
countless books to reach such a philosophy and knowledge, it could be enough to play this game.
“Master,” said Sedat, with a sudden idea in his mind. “I couldn’t understand so much about these all.” In
any case, if player couldn’t understand what was told, he wondered how the program would respond.
“Let me explain,” Sun Tzu said. “Now, being trained on martial arts, you are. Of course, learn these all to
face your enemies effectively, you do. But, as uniting the spirit, mind and body as a whole, to sharpen the
smart, the real purpose is. One, who doesn’t think, win over his enemies, cannot. One, who doesn’t sharpen
his smart, think effectively and creatively, cannot. One, who doesn’t unite his spirit, his mind and his body as
a whole, reach to the real intelligence, cannot.”
Sedat raised an eyebrow.
“I’ve told you; to win over a fight, be in harmony with your enemy, you must,” Sun Tzu said. “To do so,
first of all, know yourself and your enemy, you must. To know yourself and your enemy, with only respect
and love, possible can be.”
“What? I have to love someone who wants to see me dead?”
“Sure. Not so difficult, it is.” Sun Tzu looked around the trees surrounding them, listened to the songs of
the birds on the branches, and then turned to Sedat again. “The Conqueror, look at this nature. Everything is
one here. Come from the same essence, same source, everything does.”
Yeah, Sedat thought to himself, the essence of everything here is a bunch of chips. He found this thought
amusing, so smiled to himself.
“So, actually, a reflection of yours, your enemy is,” Sun Tzu continued. “Therefore, as fighting against
him, him you must be. Unite yourself with him, pursue and realize his thoughts and initiative before him, you
must. Then go before him, cut his attacks, move before he does and become victorious, you can. Battles with
a great army against another one or a fight one on one, the same this principle is. To do so, first love, respect
and know him, you must.”
“So, you mean, you must kneel before one that you can’t win over,” Sedat said.
“Understand what you mean, I couldn’t,” Sun Tzu responded. “So far to kneel before an enemy, not I
remember.” Then he continued. “Respect!” he emphasized. “The starting point of everything, it is. Come in
three phases, it does.”
“And they are?…”
“First, respect yourself,” the old man explained. “One, who doesn’t respect ownself, respect anything and
anyone, cannot. Then respect God and the creation as a whole. Follow this principle, so respect everything,
you can. Third, respect others; among these, count your enemies, you must. Be respectful to your enemy,
regardless to show it openly or not, respectful to you, your enemy would be; at least, forced to act so, he
would be.”
“Forced? How so?”
“When you’re respectful, when your enemy is dishonest or disrespectful to you, work in a way
the equilibrium of the universe does that his own plan turns against him.” Sun Tzu giggled. “Seems
incomprehensible, still work so the equilibrium does. When you set a trap for someone, examine your own
feelings and emotions, you must. If you feel you do something dishonest, do not; because find yourself
caught by that very trap, you may. Since you cannot always be aware of your own feelings and emotions
clearly, think about the alternatives, weigh the possibilities carefully, never forget that you might be caught by
that trap, you must.”
Sedat studied Sun Tzu’s face doubtfully. The old man looked pleased with himself, as giving these lectures.
“But, wouldn’t such an attitude bring fear along?” Sedat asked. “If you always think that you may be
caught by the traps that are set by both you and your enemy?”
“Good, the fear is,” Sun Tzu said. “Keep you awake all the time, it does. But never let fear become
paranoia and hinder your actions; for bring inactivity and paralysis, the paranoia does. Moreover, living in a
constant paranoia, lead you to anger, to hatred, then suffering, it does. Instead of being a slave of fear, use the
fear to keep yourself awake and aware all the time, you must. And again, sometimes, good to spread terror
into your enemy’s heart, it is; especially, when stronger he is. Because then ensure to have him paralyzed
and to disturb his system of thought, you do. And a great advantage, such a situation is, for lose his sight, he
does.”
“Why sometimes, Master?” Sedat asked. “Why not all the time?”
“If weaker and aware of it, your enemy is, then probably, fear in his heart, he would have. Strengthen this
fear, then force him to attack you uncontrollably, you do. To force your enemy to lose control, without losing
your own, the key purpose is.”
“Forcing him to lose his control without losing your own? I don’t think I understood this term, Master.”
 “As forcing your enemy to lose control, keep this process under control, you must,” Sun Tzu explained.
“When you can’t guess what he would do, certainly let him gather his control temporarily, you must. If so
scared to know what to do, he is, then apply to unimaginable ways, he might and so, lose your own balance
and control, you do.”
Sedat smiled slightly. Even if he wouldn’t be able to crack and copy the game, if he could master himself
on such techniques, he could become undefeatable in world of business.
“Well, what should I do when I face an enemy weaker than I am?”
“Encourage him get rid of his fear, you must,” Sun Tzu said. “To do so, look weaker than him. Once ridden
of his fear, become arrogant, feel confident and disdain you, such an enemy does. Thus, defeat easier an
enemy whom you would defeat anyway.”
“So, you’re talking about using the energy conservatively, huh?”
“Never! Use your energy conservatively during a fight, you never do that!” old master said, shaking his
head. “Make you waste much more energy throughout a fight, it does. On the contrary, use your energy fully
and effectively, but direct it to right spots and right targets, you must. Use your energy half, not do that at all;
observe instead. When use fully and effectively, direct it to right spots at the right time.”
“Master, could you give me some examples about all this?” Sedat was really curious and he wasn’t sure if
the program could give any example about the topic.
“A story, let me tell you,” Sun Tzu said. “Once upon a time, trying to get rid of a mouse in his house, a
samurai was. Whatever he tried, spite of his speed and strength, prove to be unsuccessful to catch the mouse,
he did. So, went to an old monk who lived in a nearby temple and told him of his trouble. Three cats, the
monk had. Extremely fast, agile and strong, the first one was. Run away from this cat, no mouse could ever
do. Black, glorious and wild, the cat was.
“Sure that he could solve the problem finally, bring the cat home, samurai did. As soon as saw the mouse,
jump and run after it, the cat did. But too smart, the mouse was. When the cat was awake, never come into
sight, but when the cat was asleep, steal more cheese, the mouse would. At the end of one week, take the cat
back and tell the monk that this idea was useless, the samurai did.
“Thus, give him another cat, the monk did. A little slower, a little calmer, this cat was. Gold yellow fur,
amazingly sharp smart, this cat had. Set many traps and do his best to catch the mouse, this cat did. But too
fast, this mouse was, and never got caught. Disappointed again, take back this cat to the monk, samurai did.
“Thus, give him the third cat, the monk did. Much older than others, fat and sluggish, this white cat was.
Seeing this cat did but nothing other than sleeping the whole day and night, realize that his problem wouldn’t
be solved, samurai did. Moreover, seem to be happy with his life, the mouse would be; for asleep at a corner
of the room, the cat was, keep on stealing cheese this mouse did, running back and forth around this cat,
sometimes mocking him and losing focus.
“Almost for a whole week, go this way, it did. Completely loose and relaxed, confident enough to get
too close to the cat, the mouse was. But keeping on this game again, cleaning himself in front of the cat
arrogantly, suddenly opening his eyes and taking action, much faster and wilder than the first cat, jump over
and kill the mouse there and then, this cat did.”
Sedat looked abashed by this, just like the samurai was then.
Sun Tzu giggled. “Actually, as fast and agile as the first one, as smart and sly as the second one, this third
cat was,” he continued. “But another attribute, he had; experienced enough to wait for the right time to attack
the right spot, he was. First, let his enemy get rid of his fear, let him feel confident of himself, and never let
him sense the trap, he did. Ultimately, when the right time had come, acting fast enough, defeat him, he did.”
“Well, so what’s that got to do with respect?” Sedat asked.
“It’s got to do everything with respect,” Sun Tzu said, shrugging. “Aware of the speed and smartness of his
enemy, the white cat was; so, respectful to him, he was. And aware that when the mouse got rid of his fear, he
would become courageous enough to get close to the cat and use this idea against his enemy, he did. Succeed
something like this only through respect to his enemy, he could.”
Sedat turned his gaze towards the trees, thoughtfully. Virtual sun was about to disappear behind the western
hills. Only what he wanted to do now was to go back to his room, drink his tea and fall asleep, thinking of
these all. He was aware that he learned amazing techniques that he could use in world of business, and he was
wondering if he should be scared and doubtful of people who used such knowledge in a game.
 8: Where Would You Hide Your Memories?

Broke out in a sweat, Esra woke up in bed and sitting up straight; she began to look around the darkness
and tried to realize where she was. Recognizing that she was in a motel room, she remembered how she got
there and about her interesting traveling companion, a Native American biker, Rick. To accommodate for the
night, they had chosen this motel, getting a room for each.
Sighing deeply, she wiped the sweat on her neck with a hand. However, she was surprised to notice a metal
on her neck. She didn’t use to wear a necklace, whereas she had one now. She didn’t remember when she
took it on, but turned on the night-light next to her bed to see what it was.
“Oh, my God!” she gasped.
It was a small agate stone placed within a silver frame, which was formed as two dolphins, looking at each
other. It was the first gift Doru had ever given to her. When she saw it first, Esra hadn’t liked it and had asked
why it wasn’t a diamond or ruby, but a simple silver and agate. Doru hadn’t care about her reaction, but he
had explained that the dolphin is a spiritually special animal, moreover, that when silver was used with agate,
it would create some sort of a soothing spell.
As such thingies were absolutely nonsense to her, she had thought of her future-husband’s words as
imaginative excuses, so when she was back home, she had thrown it away. She didn’t even know that it was
still among her jewels. Probably because she felt psychologically sick, she didn’t realize that she had it with
her, and since she had drunk lots of wine last night, she didn’t notice that she put it on, either.
When she touched the little silver piece, she somehow felt Doru with her. She was longing for his touch,
too.
But it was too late for all. Doru was somewhere that she could never reach, unless she died. She sighed
hopelessly and pushed the silver on her chest. A little drop of tear came down through her closed eyelids.
Rick told that Doru saw her and as long as she kept her love for him, he would always be there. How
beautifully spoken words they were from an all-but-wise Native American! Along his vast experience of life
that he enriched with the amazing knowledge and philosophy that were a legacy from his ancestors, God
knows, how an invaluable treasure was hidden within him. They have been traveling together for two days,
and Esra was sure that she could have only a glimpse of that treasure.
With the first light of dawn, she decided to go out of the room. Since they were in a country like Germany
and probably there would be noone in sight at that time of the morning, only with a t-shirt, which was hardly
long enough to hide her panties, she walked towards the door. As it was still quiet, she wanted to inhale some
fresh morning air.
But when she opened the door, she could hardly keep her balance and saved herself from falling into a
bottomless pit. From the top of a skyscraper, she was looking at the building of Yurtkan Software and people,
vehicles and everything else on the streets below looked like ants. Trying to understand what it was all about,
she noticed a silhouette on the roof of company building.
Focusing her sight, to her amaze, she realized that it was Doru, walking towards the edge of the roof,
facing where Esra stood speechless. Doru seemed to be hesitating for a moment and when he turned back to
see another silhouette, Esra realized that there was another woman there with him. She gestured him to move
on. Desperately, Doru obeyed and kept on walking.
“Doru! No!” Esra screamed. But it was a useless attempt at her side, because he didn’t hear her. “Don’t do
that! Don’t die!”
But Doru walked towards the deadly height in front of her eyes and, with no hesitation, he let himself fall
into the space.
“DOORRUUU!!!” Esra yelled, covering her face with two hands.
Then she opened her eyes again and watched how Doru flew directly down, as if it would never end. Esra
felt as if she was watching his moment of death in slow motion. But as it was a matter of moment for Doru
to nose-dive into the pavement, suddenly, a rope connected to his back jolted straight and the young man
jumped up once more.
Esra was surprised and shocked to see that he was connected to a rope, like the ones death-dancer maniacs
used in Bangie Jumping. Doru ascended fast, turned an imbalanced somersault and flew down again, but
quite balanced now.
As she watched him with an absolute terror and shock, Doru was falling no more. Contrarily, he looked
extremely peaceful and cheerful as he was dancing through a bizarre sky ballet, rolling over and over again at
the end of a rope.
Doru kept on moving up and downs, completing acrobatic figures on after another. Sometimes falling
upside down, sometimes spinning up in the air, he rolled over and over again. He didn’t seem to be sad or the
victim of a tragedy, but was beaming with joy and an otherworldly peace.
Then Doru’s figure, with everything surrounding him, became cloudy, leaving behind an empty and lifeless
motel room. Even if it hurt to realize that it was just a beautiful dream, still, seeing him for once, it was
enough to remind her about the grandeur of her love for him.
She turned to see the alarm clock on the night table; electronic digits indicated 7:14 AM. Probably Rick
was already awake; from the very first morning, she figured it out that he was a get-up-early-in-the-morning
type. Before beginning to prepare to join him for breakfast, she didn’t part her head from the synthetic
softness of the nylon-covered pillow and closing her eyes, she visualized Doru’s face one more time. Those
pleasantly warm eyes looked at Esra with the same lovely glint.

* * *

“As for me,” Rick began to comment on her dream, pausing for a moment to wipe a drop of orange-juice
at the edge of his lips with a napkin, “the plane crash reflected itself as the height of that building in your
dream.” While talking, he sliced the omelets on the plate, elegantly using his fork as a knife. “Because there
is the same element of falling.”
Other travelers who had accommodated in the same motel already had their breakfasts and now, they
were preparing to set for the road again. Since Esra and Rick weren’t in a hurry, they were enjoying the
conversation. Moreover, before hearing the comment that Rick would deliver about her dream, Esra intended
to go nowhere at all. Choosing a table next to the window again, during their conversation, they looked
outside occasionally.
“But what the stop of falling reflects may be commented in two ways,” Rick continued, after swallowing a
big bite of his omelet. “First, it may be that you wish it were true, that you feel some guilt about it or that you
avoid to accept the fact. Second, I think this possibility supports what I told you before, his spirit is still with
you and, realizing how regretful you are now, he’s trying to comfort you that he’s alright. I mean, perhaps
he’s trying to show you that you continue to exist after life. After they die and pass to the other side, the
spirits of our beloved ones still can visit us in the realm of dreams.”
While listening to him, still affected from the dream, Esra ever so blankly looked at the plate in front of
her. Other than her coffee, she hadn’t yet touched her breakfast. Raising her face, she looked at Rick’s wise
and bright eyes.
“Well, what about that woman I saw with him on the roof?” she asked, afraid of the answer. “That
disgusting silhouette who pushed him to jump into his death? I can’t say that it was me, because she didn’t
look alike. Her hair was short and dark, and her body was amorphous.”
“I think, you should be congratulated about this,” Rick replied, smiling, and nodding as if to certify his
judgment. “It was absolutely you, Es ra. But seeing her as a different person, a stranger, an alien, it means
that you’ve already learned some lessons about your karma and you no longer have the same personality. It
was you, but it isn’t you.”
Smiling ruefully, she looked outside the window at people that were preparing to leave, getting in their
various vehicles; cars, buses, minibuses, bikes… They were all to start a new day in their unique and
mysterious roads of life that was determined by God.
Some drove luxury cars and some were with ordinary ones. Some were waiting for their girlfriends to
climb over the seat of their bikes. There were some Turkish people who drove minibuses – mostly Fords
– and were called “Alamanci,” that meant something like “Geremanianist.” These people used to live in
European countries – mostly Germany – and they used to visit their homeland once a year, when they got
their annual vacation. Now it seemed that the visit was over and they were going back to where they lived
and worked for their families’ future.
It was a strange place, where this planet Earth; especially European and Asian countries. You could
suppose that people could knew where they came and were going where; moreover, that they could tell you
that, too. As if mankind could say where they came from and was going?!
 “You know, I’m becoming familiar with you every minute,” Esra said. “It’s so strange, because I know you
for only a couple of days but it feels as if for a lifetime.”
“That’s normal,” Rick responded and grinned, showing his completely white and healthy teeth in spite of
his age. “When having a conversation with someone who is the same both inside and outside, you perceive
and feel that person closer and more natural to yourself; therefore, it’s completely normal to have a climate
where friendship and trust could develop faster and stronger.”
“Sometimes I think that you have characteristics that remind me of Doru,” she said. “Perhaps he would
be someone like you, if he was still…” She suddenly paused and lowering her gaze at the table again, she
whispered: “…alive.” She sighed deeply and rolled her arms around her shoulders, as if trying to warm up
herself. “I miss him a lot,” she murmured. Then, suddenly, she raised her head and looked at Rick’s face with
a childish gesture. “Don’t misunderstand me,” she said. “I don’t see you the way I see him; what I feel for
you is more like a sisterly love. But your personalities and views of life are incredibly alike.”
“Don’t worry,” Rick said, smiling warm. “Anyway, I’m aware that I’m old for you and believe in me, I
miss my wife, too.” He sipped his orange-juice for once more. “Why don’t you tell me about your past? How
did you meet Doru? What were you two doing then? How your relationship developed? Things like that.”
Esra smiled, shyly. “Our story was like a real melodrama. He was the only son of an extremely wealthy
family, and I was from a poor one; just like old Turkish movies…”
Rick knew those movies. When he was in Turkey, he would watch those movies more often than not.
Accompanying one other with laughter, Esra continued to explain:
“I was a teenager, who was working as a cashier in a fast-food restaurant back then; barely eighteen.
Sometimes when needed, I used to serve at tables. One of my mopper friends rolled over the tray of a
customer, I prepared another one and took it to the table. But this time, I was the one who emptied the
milkshake over that person’s expensive looking silk shirt.”
“Let me guess,” Rick said. “It was Doru?”
“Absolutely,” Esra replied. For a short time, she looked at the distant past with dreamy eyes, at her lovely
memories. Then returning to Rick, she continued: “Doru’s friends there were very capricious and arrogant
rich bastards. Some were to dress me down from up to toe, and some were to make fun of me. I don’t even
want to remember what they said then.”
“I’m sorry,” Rick said. “Some lost youngsters who live on daddy-money may be this way.”
“But Doru was different than them, even then,” she said. “Despite he didn’t know me at all, he defended
me against his own friends as a real knight. It was when I could sense his authority among them. I must
confess that I didn’t find him attractive at all; frankly, I thought he was ugly and idiot-looking.” Pausing for a
moment, she sipped her coffee. “The very next day, he stood in front of me with a beautiful bunch of flowers
and invited me to dinner outside; as to his excuse, he wanted to apologize for what his friends had done. But
again, I didn’t find him suitable for myself; I had known much more handsome and attractive guys than he
was. But he had something different.”
“Charm?” Rick asked, with a half smile.
“No,” Esra replied, seriously. “He was really persistent; I have to give him the credit for that. He convinced
me at his eighth try, using different and creative methods each time.”
“Wooow!”
“But I found him boring at first; he was talking about some abstract notions that I had no idea what he was
talking about. He was telling me about the beauty of life, friendship and love. He was trying to explain why
we should embrace life and understand why we were blessed with it.”
Pushing his newly emptied plate aside, Rick put his elbows on the table and leaned slightly forward,
showing through body language that his full attention was focused on her.
“I was eighteen… just eighteen. I had lived my entire life through poverty until then. I had lost my
alcoholic, abusive, wife-beater father a long time ago and had to live in an orphanage, because my mother
wasn’t able to support me financially. When I grew enough to find a so-called job to make a life on my own,
I think it was something like being a prostitute, because with what I had in hand, a person couldn’t have
so many choices, they released me. When I met Doru, I was newly out of that fucking prison and trying
to make a life with my mom. I had seen all sorts of abuse while I was there. I was thinking that all the bad
things had happened to me in this life. I wasn’t at a state to understand anything of what he said or to find life
beautiful or whatever. I used to look at rich kids, wondering what they had in their lives and how they lived.”
Pausing for a sudden, she smiled. “Strange,” she said, shrugging, “now you tell me such things and it sounds
extremely deep and sentimental.”
“We all grow up,” Rick said. “I think you’re ready for such topics, now. So, you appreciate and enjoy
them. So, what happened then?”
“One month later, he proposed marriage,” Esra said. “He didn’t care about my social status. But for I found
out who he was, I didn’t think twice. Now I could have a life that I always had dreamt. But Doru was for
simplicity and plainness, so even our wedding ceremony was exceedingly plain and ordinary.” She sighed.
“It was some sort of a disappointment for me, I tell you. I should find a way to convince him to use and enjoy
his father’s wealth; because I was completely aware that Sedat, who Doru grew up together like a brother,
was far different than Doru and if my husband wouldn’t take over the corporation after his father, it would be
Sedat.” Esra shook her head. “Whereas Doru didn’t give it a damn shit. When our marriage was six months
old, the corporation began to work with another one in Japan, so my father-in-law and Sedat began to have
trips to Far East so often. Then I could manage to convince Doru to go with his father, instead of Sedat, at
least for a single trip. I told him that he was a married man now, so he had to take his responsibilities and
learn about the business, being his father as much as possible.”
Suddenly silencing herself, Esra lowered her head shamefully.
“However, my real intention was to stay behind and, while Doru was away, to grasp Sedat in my hand,”
she confessed, tears rolling down her cheeks. “I was aware she had an eye on me and it wasn’t so difficult to
carry on a secret relationship with him, without Doru’s notice. Moreover, he was more handsome and more
masculine than Doru was. I could learn about the business through him.” She paused again. “But I didn’t…”
she murmured, “I didn’t know that I sent my husband to his death.”
Trying to soothe herself, she sighed very deeply.
“Sshhh, calm down,” Rick said, touching her arm to soothe the young woman. “It’s all in the past, now.
You can’t change what had happened, but you can learn from your mistakes.”
“But it’s not the whole story,” Esra said. “Please, let me tell you. This is the first time I can feel safe
enough to confess to someone.”
“Alright,” he said. “I’m all ears.”
“When we had the news that the plane crashed and they both were dead, even if we didn’t show to each
other, Sedat and I were happy,” Esra confessed, shaking of shame. “It was an opportunity that we could have
never imagined. Legally, the corporation and the whole fortune was mine; so, now I was the prey for Sedat,
instead of he was for me.” She was talking through sobs now. “But I was also condemned if I wanted to learn
about business. Eventually, it became a relationship of mutual interests. We both used each other in every
possible way, and while we occasionally shared the same bed, nobody could talk about love between us. It
went on this way for four years. But when I’ve also lost my mother two years ago, I began to realize of some
valuable things in life. I learned the hard way that money, fortune or success could never take the place of a
person who really loves and cares of you, Rick. Do you know that you’re my first real friend for years?”
Rick smiled ruefully.
“Thank you, Rick,” Esra said, and she held his hand. “You’re very nice and kind to me.”
“You’re a nice girl,” Rick said, responding fatherly to her touch. “Life is only a series of lessons, Esra.
Throughout our lives, we learn new things; through our mistakes, we become more and more experienced
mature. Usually, we call it ‘growing up.’ That’s why, you shouldn’t blame yourself for your past or what
happened to Doru; always remember that everything turns out to be the way it’s supposed to be.”
Esra felt more comfortable now. She wiped her wet face with the napkin. “Alright,” she said, naughtily,
“we’d better set for the road. We can’t spend the whole day here, right?”
 9: Seven Principles of The Tiger IV

After an early breakfast in the morning, chopping wood until noon, Sedat laid down on the artificial but
soft grass to rest his aching back, and looked at the virtual white clouds up in the sky. He couldn’t help but
admire the creators of such software that induced fatigue and pain to the related muscle groups after a hard
work, that completed the details of everything with so realistic scents, sounds, and appearances – even if the
visual quality was blurry – and he had to admit that he also envied those people.
He longed to manage such a feat with a masterpiece of programming so strong and daring. Still,
considering that he would put his own name on the cover of this product after stealing it gave him more
consolation than he needed.
He was beginning to understand that it was a mistake to think this could be perceived as a vacation. It was
no vacation at all; still, it was certainly very educating. He didn’t feel offended with Lynn’s orders anymore,
do what he was asked instead, and he was doing his best with no reservations to get the most he could until
the game is over.
Especially after what Sun Tzu told him the other day, he was completely sure that whatever he learned
through this game would come in handy in real life, and that he could carry Yurtkan Software to new heights
when he is back to business. Anyway, it appeared to be inevitable if he put the principles he learned here into
good use.
Sun Tzu had talked about goals, and reasons to reach those goals. Sedat couldn’t understand the depth of
it then, and worried that he would have to endure such lessons throughout the entire game storyline, but after
what Sun Tzu said about the notion of respect the other day, he could see that these lessons were absolutely
priceless.
Before playing this game, such notions, philosophy, or arts of thought were completely alien to Sedat. Such
notions were perfect for his cousin Doru, and he would focus on things that involved more action. While
Doru was lost into his books, piano, or guitar, Sedat would enjoy all the benefits of a huge financial wealth,
which Doru didn’t even care, and he would work on his computer equipments provided to him by his uncle’s
boundless generosity.
Now he could see who was right; Doru had spent his years to learn this kind of topics – and Sedat was sure
that Far Eastern Martial Arts were completely out of Doru’s radar – he learned a lot about it in less than one
week, all thanks to the technology. Technology could speed up everything.
Still, some things troubled him. He couldn’t manage to measure the time flow in the game compared to the
real life, because he didn’t know where he was as to the progress of the storyline, or when he would meet this
notorious, all fearful Champion.
He heard the rustle of grass and looked up to see Sun Tzu walking towards him. He could ask him about
this matter, but I didn’t know how to do it without mentioning the “real world.” He sat up to meet the sensei.
“Hello, Conqueror,” said Sun Tzu, respectfully and polite as always. “Some rest after Lynne’s lessons
could you have?” Sun Tzu sat cross-legged next to Sedat.
“We didn’t work out today,” replied Sedat. “She had me chop woods for the winter.”
Sun Tzu giggled softly. “A part of the lessons,” he said. “Chopping wood, excellent way to exercise
muscles.”
“I never thought it that way,” responded Sedat. “Since it’s just a boring chore to chop woods for my
fireplace, only my servants wo…” He stopped right away, realizing his blunder. He knew that it was feudal in
the game, and even if he said anything about his experiences or lifestyle in real life, he didn’t expect Sun Tzu
to come up with a sensible response.
“Servants?” Sun Tzu looked at him thoughtfully. “You remember some things from the past? You talk
about servants, so you are a noble person where you live I’m sure; perhaps a king even. Just like prophecies
say.”
 Sedat relaxed hearing these words, and smiled cunningly. He wondered what might happen if he talked
about real life; would the computer overheat?
“Yes, memories began to come back,” said Sedat. “As a matter of fact, I remember most of it.”
“Tell me,” suggested Sun Tzu. “To know things from your world I want to.”
World? Was that word chosen deliberately? Or was Sun Tzu talking about just the country where he
thought Sedat is from in the game world?
“Up in the sky it is, eh?” asked the old sensei. “Had no doubt you came from somewhere different, and
from the skies.”
“Well, sort of,” said Sedat. Even if it was virtual, he could say he was a time-traveler after all. “I am from
the future.”
“Interesting. Very,” replied Sun Tzu. “Possible to travel time only with astral body, isn’t it?”
“What body?”
“Hmm, from the future you say, but you don’t know beyond physics. The astral body is beyond this one.”
Sun Tzu touched Sedat’s chest playfully.
Sedat raised one brow, deciding he didn’t want to talk about it anymore.
“So, how live there?” asked Sun Tzu, changing the topic as if he felt Sedat’s uneasiness.
“Very different than how it is here,” began Sedat, with a longing as if he was away from where he belonged
for a very long time. “We live in high buildings made of concrete.”
“Con… tret?”
“Some sort of artificial stone,” Sedat explained.
“Make houses… out of stone?” Sun Tzu appeared confused. “Only with palaces and temples… we do
that.”
“Well, sure, I am sure it must be very expensive and demanding for your people.”
“No, not that. Needless, and unhealthy. Inside the Emperor’s palace… a private paper house for him.
Monks… have paper houses around the temples. Like this.” Sun Tzu pointed his own house. “Wood good.”
Sedat was surprised to hear that. “Why?”
“Stone… unhealthy… lifeless… for people,” explained Sun Tzu. “Unless… stones with high energy, like
agate, onyx, hematite, quartz, you know? Against human nature. Palaces and temples are stone… we make…
for they must stay for ages.”
Sedat had never thought if this way before. It never occurred to him that buildings made of stone –
especially artificial stone – could be hazardous to human psyche.
“What more?” asked Sun Tzu.
“I think that’s all I remember for now,” replied Sedat, deciding not to talk about his own world.
Sun Tzu was tolerating. “Later may be,” he said. “Natural… resources? Remember?”
“I don’t think they are so different than yours,” explained Sedat. “Mines, springs, forests…”
“True I think,” said Sun Tzu. “Very important, mines and springs are. Water… cleansing. One of the four
elements. Mines important for to get stones.”
“What stones?”
“I told you. Onyx, hematite, quartz… Especially quartz. Essential for meditations… for prophecies.”
Sedat laughed at that. “We use them as decorations. And they are not so expensive all the time.”
“Decorations?” asked Sun Tzu, looking sincerely surprised. “How decorations can they be? Healing things
they are. Used to load… and direct… energy. Quartz strongest. Crystal.” He pointed to big piece of hematite
pendant hanging from his neck. “Very helpful to concentrate… and manifest.”
Sedat never heard this before, and he was completely sure that whatever Sun Tzu said about such stones
and gems were only meant to deepen and embellish the storyline.
“Resources… must use right, Conqueror,” said Sun Tzu. “Or they waste and stop new resources. One of
Seven Principles of The Tiger.”
“I couldn’t understand how resources can create or stop new resources,” said Sedat.
“Look,” the old man began, “say you want to besiege a castle. What is needed?”
Sedat thought about it for a while; it would be easier to look at it from the business perspective. Still, he
had to use some metaphors. When he wanted to corner a rival in the market – or besiege them – he would
need information first of all. He had to know the weaknesses, cash flow, financial resources, human resources,
projects, and real market position that rival might have. To cooperate with allied corporations and gain more
supporters, he would need efficient public relations, customer representatives, and sales teams, too.
To describe this picture in Sun Tzu’s terms; he would need manpower, including some spies; skilled
diplomats to gain more supporters if possible; military intelligence; strong armament, including catapults to
destroy the enemy defenses; siege towers; snipers against the messengers that could be sent out of the castle;
high ladders; three rams, at least, to be able to attack the castle from three sides at once; and many horsemen
in case the enemy commander decides to ride out. Sedat explained these all to Sun Tzu.
“Right,” said Sun Tzu, and began to pile up little pebbles he found. “More may be, if the castle is big
and strong. Now… say each of these pebbles ten units. See what you have. Say you have three hundred
swordsmen… thirty pebbles… hundred spearmen… ten pebbles… two hundred fifty archers… twenty five
pebbles… twenty catapults… two pebbles… ten siege towers… one pebble… ten ladders… one pebble…
one ram… say this big one it is… two hundred horsemen… twenty pebbles… four diplomats… these four
little pebbles…” – he giggled – “…ten spies… one pebble. But for this battle, you need four hundred fifty
swordsmen, two hundred archers, twenty catapults, twenty siege towers, fifteen ladders… four rams for
the castle has four gates and you want attack all four… twelve diplomats to gain support, and one spy for
intelligence.”
“Numbers became weird,” said Sedat.
“Look at them,” continued Sun Tzu. “Compare what you got and what you need. Only the catapults
you have enough. So… look your resources and it is okay with catapults. But!” Sun Tzu raised one of his
forefingers. “Three hundred swordsmen you have… four hundred fifty of them you need. Where find the rest?
Two hundred fifty archers you have… two hundred you need. Again… Catapults are okay. More siege towers
you need. More ladders you need. Four rams you need, but only one you have. Twelve diplomats you need,
but you are with only four.
“See the excess you have. Spearmen… no need. Enemy doesn’t ride out, then your horsemen no need. Ten
spies you have, only one you need. And archers… you have fifty more. With all less, also more you have.
Usually true this is. Always less in this and more in that.
“To aware these… why important?” continued Sun Tzu. “Then compensate you can with mores. For
example, command your horsemen unmount and you find more one hundred fifty swordsmen now.
“Spies good talkers. Make them diplomats. Pick good sword wielders among spearmen, more fifty you
find. Excess archers you have; two hundred to fire at walls, use fifty to shoot messengers.”
Sun Tzu drew a rudimentary castle on a piece of earth among the grass, and lined up big stones behind it to
point out that the castle was backed by mountains.
“Spy tells you north – main gate – is the strongest; south is to the mountains; west and east not that weak,”
he continued. “And… enemy stronger than you. Diplomats gained support but no reinforcements coming.
In numbers, no possible to attack south, too narrow it is. East and west… one hundred fifty swordsmen,
five catapults, five ladders, five siege towers you need each. North, one hundred swordsmen, ten catapults,
ten siege towers, ten ladders you need. And, three rams you need… one for each gate. Now… remember
everything you learned so far…” Sun Tzu looked at Sedat with eyes sparkling like crazy, and whispered:
“And… strategize!”
Sedat looked very thoughtfully at the plan and the pebbles in front of Sun Tzu for a long while.
Around four sides of the castle, Sun Tzu had written some words in Chinese, probably the bearings. Sedat
remembered the strategy games he played on his computer when he was a kid.
“What is there around the castle?” he asked.
“Question good,” said Sun Tzu. “Around the castle, a moat with alligators. Farther than that, a forest
surrounds the castle at a distance.”
Sedat reached and he inserted seventy five swordsmen with five catapults on each side of the castle; then
he grabbed sixteen horsemen and inserted them at a distance with intervals basically surrounding the castle
from five directions other than the backside, which was protected by the mountains. Since each pebble
represented ten units, he reminded that each pebble should be seen as two horsemen. He grabbed the fifty
swordsmen taken from the spearmen and thirty four swordsmen taken from the horsemen and put them all on
the top of the mountains behind the castle. He hid fifty of his archers inside the forest, surrounding the castle
in a circle from a distance. After he inserted all the rest of his forces towards the north gate, he turned to look
at Sun Tzu, who was watching him curiously.
“First of all,” he said, thoughtfully, “I position most of my forces in front of the castle, and I create the
impression that I would attack the north gate, because the enemy would be prepared against the possibility
that I might come down from the mountains behind.”
“Then why eighty four men on the mountains?” asked Sun Tzu.
“Because it’s a diversion.”
Sun Tzu laughed at that. “Diversion… this is… Conqueror?”
 “I’m not done yet,” said Sedat. “With weaker forces at two sides of the castle will make the enemy think
I’m ready to grab an opportunity to attack from these sides. And since the biggest part of my forces approach
from the north, the commander might think I’m trying to create a diversion, realizing what I might be after,
but he wouldn’t risk it, so wouldn’t empty the walls on north side. Moreover, considering he has the upper
hand, he would have enough men to cover two sides.”
“True… so far. Then what?”
“When the battle begins, catapults will fire at the guard towers and destroy them,” continued Sedat. “As
soon as enemy focuses on the north side, twenty of my swordsmen will climb down the mountains.”
“Enemy see that not?”
“Of course they will see it; moreover, I will make sure they see it.”
“Interesting,” said Sun Tzu. “Then?”
“As soon as enemy begins firing arrows at them, those twenty men will pretend as dead, throwing
themselves on the ground,” continued Sedat, putting two pebbles right next to the bigger stones that
represented mountains. “Of course, some of them will really die. After that, siege towers will begin to
approach the walls, ram will be prepared, and at the same time, as another diversion, two hundred horses
without their riders will be mobilized towards the castle from five directions led by one rider in each.” Sedat
knew they wouldn’t know binoculars in that age. “With all that dust they create, enemy will think another
big army is coming to our aid, so enemy commander will be forced to focus his attention completely to the
north, east, and west. At this point, the forces positioned at two sides of the castle will make their move, and
catapults will start raining fire from two sides.
“Again, ladders on north will get on the move at the same time, and begin to approach walls. In short, a
real attack will begin on the north side, and attract the full attention. Appearing to attack with full force from
north the entire day, we will go harder towards the dusk, as if we have to take the castle by the end of the day,
and right at that moment, the rest of the men on the mountains climb down and move over the walls. Since it
is narrow there, we can’t use siege machinery, but it would be very easy for soldiers to infiltrate without being
seen. These warrior will keep moving inside the castle, opening the gates on west and east sides first, and
then on the north last. The rest is to rush into the castle and put everyone to the sword.”
“Very interesting… it is,” commented Sun Tzu. “No try to catch the commander. Destroy everything and
everyone instead.”
“If I have to take that castle,” said Sedat, his eyes sparkling wildly, “I do it to the end.” He grinned
arrogantly.
“Just one thing,” said Sun Tzu. “Climb over the walls with men… how about the alligators?”
“Easy,” replied Sedat, shrugging. “There can’t be enough alligators to kill all those men in such a narrow
space, so some of those men can be sacrificed, and I don’t think it is a big price to pay for such a castle.”
“Good,” replied Sun Tzu, squinting. “Instead of a battle, see it as a fight between you and the enemy. Then
you ready risk getting hurt.”
Sedat couldn’t come up with a reply this time, and couldn’t do anything but look at Sun Tzu with a blank
face. Of course, it was much easier to sacrifice others for personal gain compared to get hurt yourself.
“Drink your tea tonight, and think this, Conqueror,” said Sun Tzu. “A real king and commander… cares for
his men as for himself.”
 10: Native American Courtesy

When they arrived at The Tulip Inn Lausanne-Beaulieu Hotel in Lausanne, Switzerland, she looked at the
gigantic Native American mix with his long hair, sitting on his Harley Davidson. Then she turned her amazed
gaze toward the lilac-black small building rising on the corner of the street. For Esra, who was accustomed to
staying in luxurious palaces wherever she went for years now, this building appeared to be only a joke.
She pushed open her door and as she stepped out, she looked at Rick incredulously. Rick pushed down the
sidestand, and threw his leg over the seat to stand up.
“Rick,” she said, raising an eyebrow. “Is this the place we will lodge?”
“Sure,” he said, shrugging. “Whenever I’m in Lausanne, I always stay here. Employees are very friendly
and sincere. Since you didn’t buy any house in this country and all…?”
“Weelll,” she said, making a face. She had confessed the previous day that she lied about the house
purchase. “I never stayed in such a hotel. Before my marriage, I never knew what a hotel was, and afterwards,
all the places I stayed were highly luxurious establishments full of pleasure.”
“There is a first to everything,” he said. “And don’t underestimate it – this is one of the finest hotels in
Switzerland. Moreover, it’s not as small as it seems from outside. If you look at the colors of the adjacent
building, you can realize it doesn’t consist of only a one-block establishment.”
A uniform guy politely approached. “Shall I have your vehicles parked in the lot, sir?” he asked, smiling.
“Yes, please,” said Rick. “The bike is mine – and that monument of monstrous engine power belongs to the
lady.” Rick extended his hand to grab Esra’s car keys. “Have both parked, please.”
“Of course,” the guy said, taking the keys and a 10 Euro bill from Rick’s hand.
“But I have to get my saddlebags.”
Rick untied the straps holding the leather saddlebags, and hung them over his incredibly large shoulder.
Then he turned to his blonde friend, and extended his free arm to show the way.
After a fourteen-hour drive, Esra was too tired to argue. It was ten at night, and she didn’t think she would
risk looking for another hotel.
Esra found the lobby decorum to be completely different than what she was accustomed – apparently it
was a warm and friendly place, but lacked that exaggerated glossiness. The place was absolutely plain. If
Sedat set his foot here, he would go back out right away; even this reason was enough to give it a try.
“A place to make people feel at home, instead of robbing them of their money with meaningless wiles,”
said Rick, leaning over Esra. “Don’t get fooled by the small size of the lobby – the rooms are incredibly
comfortable.”
“Willkommen,” said the receptionist. He was tall, lean, dark blond, and he had green eyes. “Wie kann ich
Ihnen helfen?”
“First of all, you can start speaking English, my friend,” said Rick, with a friendly smile on his face, “and,
please, don’t call me ‘Sir!’ I’m Rick. We need two single rooms for me and this elegant lady here. What is
your name?”
“Frank, Si…” Young man paused for a moment, and corrected himself looking at Rick’s encouraging eyes.
“Well, Rick.”
“This is much better, isn’t it?” said Rick. “Nice to meet you, Frank.” He extended his arm to shake the
receptionist’s hand.
Esra watched them incredulously. They looked more like two people who met in a social gathering than a
hotel guest talking to the receptionist. Moreover, it was apparent that Rick saw the other person as a complete
equal.
“I’ve never seen you here before,” said Rick. “Tell me, buddy, how is life around here nowadays?”
 “Well, yes, I started last month,” said Frank, smiling. “Not terribly boring, either. However, it would be
much better if we had guests just like you. Can I get your full names, please?”
“Of course. My name is Rick Triumph, and this lady is Esra Yurtkan.”
“Will you be billed separately?”
“No,” said Rick, and added looking at Esra, “since this lady is my guest here, I will pay for the bill.”
“No way,” Esra protested, and turned to the young receptionist. “Separately, please.”
“I said together.” Rick looked at Esra’s eyes quite friendly, but his voice made it final. “You wouldn’t stay
here normally, and I invited you. Therefore, I want to pay for it.”
Tongue in cheek, Esra thought to herself for a short while, and then nodded finally. “All right,” she said,
surrendering. “In that case, I appreciate the present.”
“A smoking room?” asked Frank.
“For me, yes,” said Esra.
“Sure… One on the ground floor, or upper floors?”
“As always,” said Rick. “Second floor over the street. Make the rooms adjacent if possible.”
“How long will you stay?”
“Two nights,” said Rick. “We have some business to take care of.”
“Are you hungry?” asked Frank. “Shall I have meals sent to your rooms?”
“No,” Esra replied. “I’d like to have my dinner at the restaurant if it’s…”
“Sorry, Ma’am,” said Frank, interrupting her. “We don’t have a restaurant in our hotel, we only have this
large café behind that door. If you like to have something to drink, you can find them in the minibars in our
rooms. If you prefer something warm, like coffee or tea, we can have them sent to your rooms.”
What kind of a place is this? she thought. They don’t even have a restaurant?
“If you have laundry, we can send them to laundry room without any charge, Ma’am.”
“Yes,” Esra said. “I have a few things. I’ll be happy if you can send someone to pick them up in ten
minutes.”
“Of course. You, Rick?”
“I need clean clothes, too,” said Rick. “Send someone for me, too, pal.”
“Sure.” Frank turned to take some notes on the papers sitting on the counter. “Anything else?”
“That’s all for now,” said Rick. “Where do we sign?”
Frank pointed the signature squares on the registry. Rick and Esra signed it in turn.
“Shall we wake you up in the morning?”
“No, I wake up before the sunrise, anyway,” said Rick. “I’ll wake you up a little bit later, don’t worry,” he
added, looking at Esra.
While on the way up to their rooms, Esra leaned towards her companion. “How can you stay in such a
place?” she asked. “It’s not luxurious at all.”
“What may you need in a place you stay, Esra?” he responded with another question. “In highly luxurious
hotels, you pay for the places you almost never use like bar, swimming pool, casino, etc. Why would I pay for
something I wouldn’t use? Moreover, you are valued based on your appearance and clothing in those places.”
He gestured to his ragged jeans, his old leather shirt with tassels all around, and his dirty biking boots. “You
can imagine how they would treat me. No, thank you.”
“Just a lonely wolf, huh?” Esra joked.
“You may say that,” responded Rick. “As a matter of fact, instead of such luxuries you can buy, I’d prefer
sincerely smiling people and real friendships. Your financial level doesn’t show how a real human being you
are. And that kindly, friendly smile on the face of that receptionist… well, it’s something you can’t buy with
money.”
“But I thought you were rich,” said Esra.
“Financially, yes, I’m far above the average,” responded Rick, nodding. “But I care more about other kind
of riches.”
“Other kind of riches?”
“I’m talking about human values, riches in heart, and deep wisdom. These are what I would call real
riches.”
Esra looked thoughtfully at the Native American. “You may be right,” she said, with clear sadness in her
voice. “Despite all the riches I have, I know I can never bring Doru back.”
Rick reached to hold the young woman’s arm, and gave it a friendly squeeze. He had a mysterious
expression on his face… and a deep understanding.

* * *

Despite it being two in the morning, sleep didn’t come to Esra, and she paced back and forth in her room.
After they settled in their rooms, she had coffee with Rick at the café, and they came up to their rooms around
one hour ago.
Rick was right. This place didn’t feel like a hotel room, but more like a real, personal bedroom just like
you can have at your own home. Over the wooden framed bed, there were lilac-red colored blankets, clean
linen sheets underneath, and two night lamps were set on the bedside tables hugging each side of the bed.
There was a mini bar under the TV set at the foot of the bed, and next to it, a built-in closet rose to the ceiling.
Esra looked at her second gin and tonic glass she emptied just a moment ago. Realizing she couldn’t have a
third on her own, she reached for the phone to dial Rick’s room number.
“Yes?” answered the confident voice of the Native American.
“Forgive me,” she said, “I know it’s very late, but I couldn’t sleep, and thought maybe you are up, too?”
“I was up, no worries,” said Rick. “I was watching TV.”
“TV? I never thought you are one to watch TV; I thought you were one of those who called it ‘stupid-
box.’”
“No,” said Rick, laughing heartedly. “Why would I call it that? If you watch documentaries, educating
shows or a high quality movie, TV is not a ‘stupid-box’ at all.”
“All right,” she said, joining his laughter. “How about having a drink with me?”
“Firewater kind of drink?”
“You mean whiskey I guess,” she said, giggling again. “Whatever you choose. Shall I come over to your
room, or will you come here?”

* * *

Rick knocked the door a few minutes later, and upon Esra’s invitation, he entered the room with a bottle in
his hand.
“I thought you would want something real,” he said, smiling and leaving the bottle on the table next to the
TV set.
Esra looked at the bottle in the dim light thatt reflected from one of the night lamps.
“Champaign?” she asked. “So your notion of a ‘real drink’ is among the wine group.”
Viewing the table, Rick saw Esra’s cell phone was switched off.
“Are you out of juice, or did you turn it off deliberately?” he asked, gesturing at the phone with his head.
“I did it,” she said. “I don’t want to be reached for a while.”
Rick tilted his head sideways, and looked at Esra with an understanding smile. Then he shrugged his
massive shoulder. He began to shake the bottle before opening it.
“What do we celebrate?” asked Esra with big eyes.
“Our friendship,” said Rick, and opening one of the windows, he blew the cork outside. Foamy liquid
sprayed incredibly far and wide. “We don’t want them to cuss behind us because of a stained room, right?”
Esra laughed hard while extending her glass. After Rick poured the high quality liquid in both glasses, they
looked at each other calmly, and gave a toast.
“You know what?” said Esra, smiling ruefully. “Maybe God put you in my path. While I was eating my
brains out since I couldn’t appreciate Doru, I met someone who resembles him so strongly. Rick, can you be
such a reliable friend for me just like he was?”
Rick smiled thoughtfully, and examined the young woman’s face with narrowed eyes. With emerald green
eyes surrounded with a darker tone, gently arched eyelashes, an upward, elegant nose, and those golden curls
rolling down over her feminine shoulders, she was extremely fascinating even for a guy at his age with lots of
experience.
“I couldn’t get to know Doru, unfortunately,” he said, finally. “However, from everything you told me
about him, I believe he was a jewel. I don’t know if I can be like him or not.” He shrugged. “Frankly, I don’t
want to be someone but myself, either. Still, you can believe in my friendship, Esra. You can trust me.”
Esra couldn’t help being impressed by his words. How could a person be so natural and unfeigned? Then
she remembered how Doru was. He was unique in his personality just like Rick, and there was no trace of
selfishness in his soul.
“I think I didn’t get to know Doru, either,” she said. “I mean, not enough. I couldn’t honor his love, I
couldn’t have enough of him, and I couldn’t appreciate him.” It was surprising to use the word “honoring.”
She realized she was learning a notion that was alien to her: respect!
“Why don’t you talk about him more?” suggested Rick. “I want to know what he was like.”
“Actually…” she began, biting her lip, “I think it’s not easy to describe him with words. Doru was more a
person to be felt, lived, experienced, and shared. I can understand all this only when it’s too late. He would
avoid even killing an ant, with all the respect he had for life, avoid hurting the feelings of others to a point
where he would sacrifice his own rights.”
Esra continued, ignoring the tears forming in her eyes. “When somebody hurt him somehow, he would
tolerate it, and he wouldn’t even care, giving it to the ignorance or momentary insensitivity of the person. I
was the purpose of his life. He always wanted to spend all of his time with me, trying very hard to make me
feel better, share his inner beauty with me. At first, I thought it was just the foolishness of a rich, love-struck
snob who didn’t know anything about real life, and took the opportunity to change my life. I felt that way
until he was dead, and I never respected him. But now, only now, I can understand how much he loved and
cared for me. Not only me, but the humanity, nature, life, and everything in it…”
After she was done with her words about Doru, she closed her eyes, and she hugged herself as if she
wanted to feel him inside… just one last time.
“I think you are wrong about this, Rick,” she said after a moment. “Sometimes it’s really too late for some
things. Just like my situation.”
Rick lowered his head knowingly. “Still,” he mumbled, “I’m sure his spirit still watches you, Esra. I think
he knows how much you love him back.”
“Or how much I don’t.”
“Esra, listen to me,” said Rick. He left his glass aside, and approached the young woman. “I understand
you married Doru for his wealth, okay. But you should stop blaming yourself for it. What happened has
happened. You can’t bring the past back to correct your mistakes. You can only learn from them, move
forward, and avoid repeating them.”
“To do this, I have to find someone who would love and deserve me the same way he did, so I can respond
to that kind of love,” she said. “I don’t believe such a person exists.”
“No, I don’t think it does,” said Rick. “However, first you should understand why you acted that way then.
It’s not so surprising for a person who was in your position to get married for money.”
“Sure, if you consider what kind of a person I was…” she said, suddenly bursting into sobs. “I’m a person
who cares nothing but money, right? Is that what you think of me, too, Rick?”
“No, not at all,” he objected. “I didn’t mean your personality, sweetie. I meant your position. Listen, Esra,
I don’t know how educated you are about the history of mankind and the world, but to understand your
motives, you should look at the history of capitalism. When you do that, you can easily understand that you
were nothing but a victim.”
Esra’s eyes widened and looked at Rick’s face. “You mean… you don’t think I’m a bad person?”
“I don’t think so at all,” said Rick. “In the opposite, I think you were a person who didn’t accept her
circumstances, trying to change things for herself, but doing the wrong things in the end. And those
mistakes…” – Rick paused a moment – “…all of us make mistakes every now and then. This is what makes
us humans.”
Esra forced herself to smile.
“I think you need to read some books,” he said. “Especially books on philosophy and history.”
“Eewww,” said Esra, making a face.
“Don’t do that,” objected the Native American. “The more knowledge you have, the more you can better
analyze a situation. For instance, your fondness of luxury and money, your regrets, actually they are a sin
for at least half of human population, and you are not the only one who pays for that sin. Those who can’t
understand the notion of money still have this problem, including the rich ones.”
“What do you mean?” asked Esra.
While standing up, Rick’s well-muscled body rose like a monument. He grabbed his glass again, and began
to pace the room, trying to gather his thoughts.
“For the primitive societies, life consisted of birth, growing, hunting, mating, reproducing, and dying,” he
began. “They lived in groups, and individuals did their parts in a group. Then they discovered how to barter
among them. With this, the notion of price was born. Later on, they invented something called money to act
like this ‘price.’ In the meantime, groups became tribes, tribes became societies, and then nations. In return
for doing their part in their group, people began to earn this ‘money’ and spend it to meet their own needs.
Everything was fine and just until Modumba arrived.”
“Who the hell is that?” asked Esra, smiling like an excited child who listens to a fairytale.
“A name I just came up with – just an ordinary fellow. He was smarter and more cunning than the rest. He
developed the notion of negotiation to collect more of this ‘money’ and began to ‘convince’ others to meet
his own needs for cheaper. It didn’t seem as unjust at first, because nobody was harmed after all. However,
another smart and cunning fellow from the same tribe raised the price of his own goods to cancel the negative
effect of ‘negotiation.’”
“Hmm,” said Esra, “things are getting interesting now.”
“Absolutely,” said Rick, nodding and pacing. “It wasn’t only for Modumbo, however, because others had
to begin buying these products at more expensive prices. Therefore, they had to raise their own prices, so they
created the first ‘inflation’ in the history of mankind.”
Esra laughed. “Such economical notions can be explained only such a simplistic way.”
Rick giggled to her comment and kept talking. “As everything they were, Sudarka came front.” I don’t
know what you mean. In everything this society was, Sudarka outranked everyone.
“This is another imaginary name, right?”
Rck nodded smiling. “Sudarka was smarter than Modumbo. He said to the others, ‘Instead of producing
for yourself, help me produce goods, and instead of earning your life selling goods, earn for your efforts, and
I will take the risk for sales.’ At this point, the difference between the workers and the bosses was created,
bringing the birth of casts. Some followed Sudarka’s footprints, and new employers rose. The problem with
this idea was that the person who wanted to be an employee needed a large amount of money that’s called
‘capital’ first, because these workers had to be paid until the products are ready to be sold. Thus, some of
these workers proved to be smarter than the others, and while working for their employees, they piled up
money to create their own capitals. However, they proved to be more merciless than the first generation,
because they remembered how hard they worked for their capital, but forgot how it was for them when they
were workers.
“Eventually, this process developed to a point where the gap between the employees and the workers was
really huge. Another problem proved to be competition, because there was more than one employer who
produced the same goods. Trying to leave his opponents behind in the market, every employer looked for the
ways to create more compelling goods with lower costs. In the meantime, every product was more expensive
than the previous one. So workers had to work more for less money, and they had to to buy less to meet their
own needs.
“Along the way, these employers who exploited others to gain riches began to lose their human values
because of the greed and passion of competition. Now they came up with another idea: they needed highly
educated, and thus, more qualified workers to serve them.
“Therefore, they established education systems, schools, and universities that were supposed to give
these people a ‘profession.’ Later on, paying these educated and qualified employees better salaries, they
encouraged others to do their best to send their kids to these ‘educational institutions.’ However, in these
institutions, individuals were never taught how to create their own wealth, because the real purpose of this
system wasn’t to create new employers, but more ‘slaves’ who were highly effective, who were able to make
it much easier for their ‘masters.’ Moreover, though, they also knew there would be other Sudarkas among
those endless slaves.”
Esra laughed again. “You’re doing great, keep going.”
“Thank you,” said Rick. “I have more to say about this. As this system went on as it was, now it was time
for Jobombu. This guy saw himself even much smarter than the ones before him. He realized what really
mattered wasn’t production, but creating money, so he began to steal, lie, con, and with the name we know
now, to loan-sharking. In other words, he would give money to those who were in need, and make money out
of the loans he gave away. Of course, there were other Jobombus who noticed this. Seemingly less harmful,
making money over money from those who needed money, this system continued for ages, and finally, our
so-called ‘modern’ world happened to be the way it is now.
“Of course, not everything was so simple, but much more complicated. Nations, colonialism, slavery,
political interests, individual needs, ego and many other notions were used in the process, and finally, now
we have a world where everything seems to be in mess. All this encouraged the selfishness, alienation and
forgetting real human values. Most interesting to me though is that it was the white man who did this the
most.”
Esra smiled slowly. “Well, what do all these have to do with me?” she asked.
 “Actually it has everything to do with you and all other women,” Rick explained. “From the beginning of
time, woman was always protected, childbearing, loving, so the one who was in need of protection by a man’s
physical strength. To this end, she had to use her femininity, beauty, and man’s relative sexual weakness.
There was one missing point here, though. Because of her nature, woman was more powerful, more selfish,
and more cunning than man. Look at the Original Sin. Adam ate the apple to please his wife! However, don’t
be mistaken. Her selfishness was just because she had to take care of her offspring and to make sure of their
– and her own – survival. Therefore, and naturally, she was attracted to the stronger male all the time. This is
nothing strange; it’s like that in other areas of nature, too.
“However, power kept changing form with time. In ancient times, it was physical strength. Then in Feudal
Age and during the Renaissance, it was influence, nobility, and position. And in our age, it’s money.”
Esra frowned thoughtfully. “You mean,” she said, “I don’t have to feel ashamed because I married Doru for
his wealth?”
“Yes, that’s what I say exactly,” said Rick.
Esra raised an eyebrow.
“In your subconscious mind, this was a sociological instinct,” Rick explained. “Perhaps what you did
was wrong and perhaps manipulating his feelings for you to your own gain was really disrespectful, and
an instance of hypocrisy. Still, you were right sociologically. The circumstances surrounding your position
forced you to take the opportunity. The only mistake was moving from the assumption that everybody else
was like you, there were no exceptions to the situation, and those who thought differently were fools.”
Esra looked at him blankly. Everything he said made a lot of sense, and in the meantime, showed that she
was a fool to believe people like Doru were fools. With what she could get from everything Rick laid in front
of her, Doru, Rick and people like them were the ones who didn’t buy the lies global society told them for
millennia. They weren’t fools! They were geniuses!
“If people could see the money as a form of life energy, some sort of power, some sort of existential
necessity, they would realize they didn’t have to have more than they needed,” said Rick. “Then all the greed
would go away, and people would know when to say ‘enough.’ In that case, money would be a tool, but now
it’s seen as the whole and only purpose. They spent their entire lifetimes to make money, they destroy their
health for it, and they think it makes them better, more superior individuals when they have more money and
more luxury. The worst are the ones who are enslaved by their own fear of loss and their own wealth.
They don’t use their money to live, but they live for their money instead.”
Esra was beginning to see why Doru was so free to love her so much. All of his survival needs were met,
and he longed for something much deeper, much more real, and much more spiritual. He didn’t have to
work for money; it was already there. Perhaps just out of luck, or just a twist of fate, but it was there. And he
wasn’t spoiled or selfish; he simply wanted to share all he had with her! Now she could understand what he
once said:
What is the difference between a slice of chocolate cake and a piece of bread as long as you have a full
stomach? Can you eat a whole chocolate cake at once, Esra? This house I live in, this car I drive, this money
I have in my pocket… they were all meaningless until you came to my life. And the biggest and only wealth in
life is the meaning. Nothing else.
Esra had thought this was all just blabbering by a spoiled rich boy whose needs were always met without
any effort. He didn’t know about the real life. He didn’t know how it felt when you didn’t have a piece of
bread to eat. But what Doru always talked about was beyond the necessities of survival. As he put it… as
long as you have a full stomach.
She turned to Rick again. “So, do you think this situation is unchangeable?” she asked.
“Of course it can change,” said Rick, “and it will… However for now, this change can be experienced
in a more individual level. Still, as the number of such individuals grow, it will inevitably affect society
in general. Just like the Modumbos, Sudarkas and Jobombus grew in number and changed the society, the
Dorus’, Rick’s and Esra’s will grow in number, causing a collapse in the system, and beginning a change.
When that day comes, when people realize what really matters is completely spiritual, world will be a very
different place and trust me, that day is not that far.”
Esra smiled hopefully.
“Now you should get some sleep,” said Rick. “While I take care of my business here tomorrow, you have
some sightseeing to do. Tomorrow night, I will have an offer to you for the next day.”
“All right,” said Esra. She stood up and wrapped her arms around Rick’s neck. “Rick, thank you very
much for your understanding and friendship. You are such a deep and intense personality!”
Rick put a fatherly kiss on her forehead, and turned to leave.
Esra felt that after a very long time now, she was beginning to get rid of the guilty feelings, because what
Rick said didn’t sound like gibberish at all. Moreover, she was determined to read more, and do things to
educate herself for better, because now she could see the thing that made Rick – and Doru – strong and
powerful: knowledge.
 11: Seven Principles of the Tiger V

The day was quite dull for Sedat. Whatever the reason was, Lynn didn’t give him anything to do. Sun Tzu
wasn’t around, either. According to Lynn, he was out in the jungle for a walk.
“He does that sometimes,” she had said. “Sometimes he goes out there to watch and feel nature, or just to
learn something new. He walks on the hills and in the jungle. And I have other chores to take care today, so I
suggest you to have a walk around.” Then she had disappeared in the paper walled hut.
Sedat had sat on the grass without knowing what to do, tried to have some meditation, then got bored
sitting on the same place for too long, and begun to walk in the jungle just like he thought Sun Tzu would.
He wondered where the old man went, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to find him no matter how hard
he tried. These people used strange terms, and talked about notions that were hard to understand. What did it
mean to ‘feel nature’ for instance? How could he learn new things from nature? Especially after spending a
lifetime in nature? Nature was nature. It was always there. What new thing can happen to it?
And Sedat didn’t spend his life in nature. He couldn’t even claim he was close to nature, after all. He
spent almost all his time examining the latest technology, learning about the computers, reaching inside other
people’s computers, trying to be the king of the virtual realms, just like he was doing now. Nature was virtual
for him just like this jungle with its uneven and hard packed soil under his sandaled feet.
I think this is the closest I can get to nature, he thought.
They lived in the twenty-first century, and mankind didn’t need nature anymore. Humanity, with the ability
of creating everything artificially, would destroy the Rain Forests soon enough.
Of course there were some clever dicks who would claim, “ we protect the green and wildlife,” begging
for money – probably to use for their own pitiful needs – so that they could save the world! From what? They
were just a bunch of volunteered idiots!
While hydroplant technology was underway, vegetables and fruit could be produced artificially, scientists
worked on machines that could control the weather conditions, who would need nature?
But to use technology to fight against nature? Well, this could be a good hobby for Sedat. Riding his brand-
new Jeep over the hills, through forests and creeks, downing a deer from a mile away with his scoped rifle,
sailing away on his luxurious yacht to hunt some swordfish or dolphin… These were among the things Sedat
could see as a hobby.
It could come in handy to add a hunting session to this game. Of course, he would have to add some
animals around, because as far he could see while walking in this jungle, there were none around. He could
hear the birds singing, but he couldn’t see them.
The programmers didn’t work so much in detail, he thought. How can you forget adding some animals in
the design of such a jungle?
He raised his head to look up the tree branches. Aside them, he really couldn’t see any signs to natural life.
When he dropped his gaze, he saw a beautiful, big, shady tree nearby. He could lie down next to it to have a
nice nap.
What tree is this? he wondered, looking at the huge trunk of a tree century old sycamore. Its trunk is so
thick and roots expanded in a way that can be used as a bed. Yes, I can have some rest here.
Even if completely virtual, it was really a pleasure to lie down next to a tree and have a nap. Sedat sat
down and rested his back to the thick and comfortable trunk of the ancient tree. Clamping his hands together
behind his head, he began to watch around.
His vision was blurry since the beginning of the game, but aside the fact they forgot the livestock and this
visual problem, the details appeared to be realistic enough. What he didn’t understand was that how these
programmers could skip important details, but remember the slightest breeze and scents of the trees?
It was a very strange feeling knowing he was lying down on his ultra-ergonomic gaming seat in his ranch.
His real body wasn’t moving at all, his hands weren’t behind his head, and actually none of these sounds or
scents existed.
The neurological system was really a weird thing. Some deliberate stimulation to the nerve endings fooled
the brain and senses, so that people experienced things that really did not exist. The eyes could see this
imaginary beam of sunlight, the ears heard sounds that really didn’t exist, and the brain could perceive it all
as reality.
Sedat smiled to himself. With his own team, they could make this game much more fun and equip it with
much more detail. While visualizing becoming richer than Bill Gates, he decided it was even weirder to have
dreams in a dream.
There was one more thing he was curious about: if he exercises in this virtual reality, would it affect his
real physical muscles? He had no doubt his reflexes would get sharper, because it was all about the mind,
and he knew there were people who excelled in games like golf, baseball, basketball, etc, just through
visualization. However, building muscles was completely physical and biological – it wasn’t all about the
nerve endings.
No, he thought to himself, a virtual exercise can’t help you build your muscles or improve your stamina.
Physical strain is a must for that.
On the other hand, the mind was everything. Medical technology was yet inadequate to solve the mystery
of organ the called brain – maybe it would never be adequate – but he knew what really mattered for
physical, emotional and psychological conditions was mental conditioning. When he sent his employees to
motivational seminars to improve their efficiency, he noticed the speakers focused on brain functions and
mental skills.
Belief was essential. His career journey was the greatest proof for this – he had started just believing he
could crack the software of his favorite game. There was no single software he couldn’t crack his way in so
far, because every code has a weak point, just like every fortress has one.
Thinking about this, he remembered what Sun Tzu said about his strategy for conquest. According to the
old man, a leader should care for his men as he cares for himself. Sedat didn’t agree with him at all. If he
deserved the leadership, the right to use the men as he sees fit would come with it. He didn’t care about losing
a hundred man to conquer an important fortress worthier than their lives. When he conquers that fortress and
loots the booty, he could hire ten times more men than he lost.
The business world was the same. You shouldn’t do something that you could have someone else do. To
lower the production costs, you should use as many machines as possible, focus on a targeted audience and
mass production. When you steal a code or something, you should find someone to blame… after all, there
were many newbies who would die to take place in special projects.
If everything and anything goes in love, it was exactly the same in business, too. The business world was a
battleground, and Sedat was victorious all the time. He believed in only one thing: being ruthless!
When it came to business, career, and money, he wouldn’t shy away from walking on the edge of a blade;
or from taking over the competition, either. A blade was sharp, hard, and cold; just like he was. Just like the
metal touching his throat at the moment.
WHAT?!...
“You should know it’s not so safe around here, my young friend,” said Sun Tzu’s voice.
The blade was pulled away from his throat, and Sedat took a breath of relief. But when he turned toward
the old man, he saw three more people behind him, all in their battle garbs.
He jumped on his feet and bent over to salute Sun Tzu.
“These gentlemen came to teach you something,” said Sun Tzu. “Since we don’t have classes today, I think
you won’t mind it, Conqueror.”
“Of course not, my old friend,” Sedat responded, quite eagerly. “I was feeling bored anyway.”
“Good,” said Sun Tzu, smiling. “They will give you some practice for fighting.”
Sedat froze in his place, looking at these three men, all looking harsher than the other. All of them were
shorter than him, but they appeared to be highly skillful and strong. He had no doubt they were masters in
martial arts. They had the look of men who lived for fighting and killing.
Yes, he was taught by Lynn lately, but since he found himself floored all the time, he couldn’t decide if
he was ready to face such men. Lynn was a tiny girl, but she kicked his ass all the same. These men were
monsters in comparison, and they looked at him with flames in their eyes.
“Master, are you serious?”
“Of course I am,” said Sun Tzu, smiling confidently. “Let’s see what you learned so far.”
“But they are three, Master!”
 “Then see them as one.”
Three men began to spread around him, and take position to charge ahead. One was a middle-sized man
with long black ponytail that reached his waist, with eyes so slanted they hid his irises, covered with a black
hakama. The second one was a little bit taller, short haired, round faced dragon in a red hakama. The third
one’s hair was like a black river flowing behind his sky-blue hakama, with thick buff wristbands around his
forearms. They had one thing in common other than hakamas: all of them looked like the Reaper, and they
appeared to be determined to take Sedat’s life here and now.
“How can I see them as one?” asked Sedat, fearfully.
“Think them as three parts of the same body.”
Sedat tried to do as he was told, and to think these three men as one whole body.
“Master, I feel I’m against a giant when I think of them as one body.”
“Every giant has a weakness,” said Sun Tzu. “Don’t you?”
“I’m not a giant!”
“You see yourself as one.”
Sedat looked at Sun Tzu with confusion, but he didn’t have enough time to think of what he said, because
his opponents were already looking for an opening to charge. Just like Lynn taught him, he poised in guard,
watching his opponents very carefully, trying to figure out their weaknesses. For a lengthy time, the sides
checked each other for an opening. Sedat tried to stay in defensive mode, keeping himself in check. He
waited for the attack without knowing where it would come from; this was more unnerving.
One of the ponytailed guys gave a battle-cry, and Sedat quickly turned to him, but at the same time, the
short one took action and kicked Sedat in his ribs, sending him a few yards back. Sedat rolled over the
ground, and found himself all sprawled, hitting his head on a tree trunk along the way.
The three men waited for him to recover. Sedat couldn’t believe the burning pain in his ribs. It hurt as if he
was fighting in real life. He suddenly worried, wondering if his body would end up in all bruises because the
nerve endings were triggered.
He stood back up, thinking the programmers of this software were whackos, and tried to find their
weaknesses again, but it felt like something far beyond him.
“Master, I can’t, let’s stop this madness.”
“It’s up to you,” said Sun Tzu. “But once these men are in the action, they can’t be stopped. If you don’t
protect yourself, they will beat you to death.”
“God damn it!” growled Sedat.
“All right,” said Sun Tzu, “I give you that. You can cuss now, because you are in a fight close to real.”
Sedat looked at the old man incredulously. At that moment, other long haired man came close throwing
air spin kicks one after another like a propeller going sideways, skipping on his same foot each time, and
gave the last one to Sedat’s face. All thanks to Lynn’s training, with sharpened reflexes, Sedat caught his foot
in midair, and gave his pivoting foot a strong kick that sprawled him on the ground. Without losing even
a moment, he charged ahead and extended his punch towards the man’s face, but his opponent opened his
palms in surrender. This one was out.
Since he didn’t expect such an easy victory, Sedat was wary turning towards other two. Still, the first man
stood up slowly, and left the fight to stand next to Sun Tzu.
“Think of them as one whole body, Conqueror,” repeated Sun Tzu. “Attack its weakest point.”
Easy to say, Sedat thought to himself. It doesn’t appear to have one.
As soon as other two men charged ahead, again thanks to his reflexes, Sedat jumped ahead and rolled over
the ground, ending it on his feet like a ballerina. He had hoped the men would hit each other, but they didn’t
appear to make such foolish mistakes. When they were all up again, the one with ponytail sneered like a wolf.
If it didn’t hurt, I would say it was just a game and dive into it, Sedat thought, but it still hurts where the
guy hit me just now.
Sedat decided to follow a different tactic this time, and he began to circle around the men, keeping them
both in the same direction. Whenever they thought they took him between, he would change his place,
staying out of the circle all the time.
He pretended as if he stumbled suddenly, and the one in red hakama charged ahead to seize the
opportunity. Sedat rolled over his back quickly, and kicked inside the man’s knee, sending him to roll on the
dirt. This guy was fast, and they both jumped up at the same time.
Sedat knew his other opponent was behind him now, and he had to get out of this position right away.
Think, he ordered to himself. You can’t beat these guys unless you outsmart them.
 He couldn’t pretend as if he again stumbled. He knew they wouldn’t buy into the same trick twice. Still, he
had another trick up his sleeve.
Backing towards the man behind him as if he was unaware, Sedat watched his shadow on the ground. He
was thankful to the programmers for being careful about this particular detail. Moreover, for the first time, he
lost himself to the game, and he really enjoyed it.
As the one in black hakama charged from behind, Sedat threw himself backwards again, and rolling
backward this time, threw his legs over his head, giving his opponent a strong double kick in the groins.
While his opponent was thrown back, Sedat completed his backward roll on his feet, all the while knowing
that the other one was coming for him. He grabbed the punch coming towards his face in his left hand, fastly
turned inside his second opponent, and gave him a solid elbow to the throat.
As the man held his throat with his two hands, he moved back, groaning all the way. Sedat liked the way
these NPCs reacted to the points they were hit. The fight felt more realistic, and the player could observe his
opponent more easily, figuring out where to hit next.
“You should have completed your kata,” said Sun Tzu.
The one in black hakama didn’t wait long to get back in action. Sedat had warmed up now. He could
respond to his opponent’s moves skillfully, misdirecting him with surprises or feigns.
However, the one in red hakama was faster and harder in his return to the fight. Still, Sedat was surprised
to see his own speed and the rawness of their moves, realizing how well he was trained by Lynn.
Sedat began to feel tired after a while, but his opponents weren’t even out of breath, and they rarely backed
against his blows that were getting weaker and weaker now.
When they positioned themselves one after another, Sedat didn’t miss the opportunity. He began to run
towards the front one, he jumped in front of him, put one foot on his opponent’s chest to rise higher, and
jumping over him, he came down moving his fists sideways from inside, giving his second opponent a double
punch from both sides at the same time.
While the guy backed stumbling with the impact, Sedat landed on his feet, and he gave the other opponent
a kick in the head. His foot found the man’s nose, and the guy went down with a scream stifling the bone
cracks, with blood spurting from his nostrils.
“Yeah, this is so much fun now!” Sedat yelled.
The one in thee red hakama was out, too. But the one in black, despite his reddened eyes and bruised
cheeks, still stood up.
After wheeling around each other, looking for an opening, Sedat was misled by a gesture from his
opponent and charged ahead. Then everything was a confused mess. Even Sun Tzu had a hard time following
their moves, couldn’t figure out who hit the other.
Backing up holding his jaw in his hands, Sedat felt his vision darkened. As thinking it was too much for a
virtual game, he realized his opponent’s kick landed on the side of his jaw, the point where could easily break
the sense of balance of a person.
Before he could recover, the guy turned in midair, giving him a spinning kick below his nose, sending
Sedat rolling back in the air to find himself sprawled face down on the dirt.
Now he was beginning to get pissed. Sedat jumped up quickly and charged ahead. He didn’t care if the
guy’s body was even too hot to touch. He would beat this one like the others.
The guy appeared quite determined, though. He parried Sedat’s moves easily, without letting him score a
hit. Fortunately, Sedat could keep his balance against all that parrying.
Following the Rooster Stance he learned from Lynn, he moved his right leg ahead in a derivative way to
surprise his opponent, but before the completion of the kata, he stepped on his right leg, and taking a step
back on his left, he gave the guy a reverse punch in left side of the groin.
While the guy backed groaning, Sedat moved his right leg in a sweeping motion, and found his opponents
ankles, sweeping his feet off the ground while his upper body was on a backward move. Before the guy hit
the ground, Sedat charged once again, and he gave a double open palm on the guy’s face. With this double or
quadruple impact, the guy rolled backwards a few times, and stayed where he landed.
Sedat stood up slowly. Despite all the hurt, it was an awesome training session for him.
“Now you see the effects of objections and obstacles,” said Sun Tzu.
Sedat turned to him. “Effects of what?”
“Let’s have a walk,” suggested Sun Tzu. “We can continue our conversation on our way back home.”
Sedat looked at the men. They didn’t look as if they felt bad for the defeat.
“What was it you said in the beginning of the fight?” asked the old man. “I can’t?”
Sedat smiled slowly. Yes, that was what he said, and then he kicked their asses. Yes, he had some blows
along the way, but in the end, he was the one to win.
“When one intends to do something, he sees lots of obstacles,” began Sun Tzu, while the two walked
together among the trees. “‘Can’ts,’ ‘impossibles,’ and ‘problems’ follow one another, and for the person,
there is always a logical explanation for all of it. If you don’t want to do something, you can always find
something to prove yourself right. The mind is really creative about this.”
Sun Tzu paused for a moment, and he looked up towards the singing birds up on the tree branches above
their heads. “But in nature, there is no ‘can’t.’ There is no ‘impossible’ in the nature. A tiny bird can walk into
the mouth of a scary crocodile to clean its teeth. An ant never hesitates to carry a load that is many times as
big to its nest; it always finds a way to carry it. A deer wouldn’t think ‘it can’t run’ from a lion trying to save
its life, but just does its best. If it stopped to think ‘Oh, I can’t do it, lion would catch me anyway,’ do you
think it would have any chance?” He began to walk again.
“But all these creatures… none of them have minds,” objected Sedat, walking next to his master.
“Again, objections, Conqueror,” said Sun Tzu, smiling. “It’s really very surprising to see such a great
warrior like yourself is so full of objections.”
Actually Sedat was just being himself, and he wasn’t sure if he was a great warrior in life. Well, whenever
they had a fight in their childhood, he would mostly kick Doru’s ass, especially when he found Doru making
music on his game computer. Sedat smiled ruefully. None of them had to do with warriorhood or victories;
they were all about being childish.
However, if he could count an athlete as a warrior – he knew many authorities shared that sentiment –
Sedat wasn’t that bad since his school years. He didn’t know how many silver or gold medals he had in
athletics and marksmanship.
“Being a warrior is in the spirit,” said Sun Tzu, as if he read his mind.
Could the software have such a feature? Since it was connected to the mind, maybe it could read the
thoughts. No, he didn’t think so. The nervous system was something, and the mind was entirely something
else.
“What makes a great warrior is not his physical strength only,” said Sun Tzu. “But… strength of heart…
here, that is where a real great warrior is born. The heart achieves things the mind considers impossible. The
heart makes the mind believe. And that belief comes from the spirit. No matter how strong a body is, it’s still
weak against difficulties or pain without the help of heart and spirit.”
“You mean, I won just now all thanks to the strength of my heart and spirit?” asked Sedat.
“Won?” said Sun Tzu, all seriously. “You won what? If this was a fight to death, you would only have
survived, Conqueror. This has nothing to do with winning or losing, it’s about survival.”
Sedat didn’t say anything. He would fight only to win. No, he didn’t agree with Sun Tzu about this at all.
“But what I really want to emphasize is that when faced a challenging task, one sees the obstacles first,”
Sun Tzu explained. “When you looked at those men, first thing you said was ‘I can’t.’ But then you managed
to survive. Because when it’s a matter of life or death, your heart and your mind empower you to do your
best.”
“But I wasn’t in a life-threatening situation there!” said Sedat.
“No, you weren’t,” admitted Sun Tzu, nodding. “However, you knew it would hurt. When you could kick
one of the opponents out of the fight, you realized you could do it. Listen to me, Conqueror. I’ll tell you
something very important. This is something hard to understand for Westerners. We use the term ‘Do’ in
martial arts. This word means ‘road.’ Still, it’s different than what Westerners use. For a Westerner, ‘road’
means something linear, and it’s about space. Another word used for that is ‘way.’ For us, Far Easterners, Do
is one, and Do is both. You have only one way of life, and you follow that road. Thus, it’s both linear and
infinite.”
“What’s that got to do with our topic here?”
“Everything,” Sun Tzu emphasized. “Since a Westerner doesn’t know the ‘way,’ he often finds himself
stuck on the ‘road.’ On the other hand, as we progress and improve our ‘way,’ we progress on the ‘road’
naturally. Since these two are the same and one, we never get confused and never get lost.”
“What does that mean?” asked Sedat.
“We just do what we are meant to do, and that’s nothing but trying for excellence,” said Sun Tzu,
shrugging. “On the other hand, when a Westerner doesn’t want to do something he’s meant to do, instead
of saying it openly and honestly, tries to come up with various excuses, trying to hide the truth even from
himself, claiming these are the obstacles on their ‘road.’ These obstacles they claim to exist have another
name, actually: objections.”
While walking, Sedat looked at the old man’s hard profile. He couldn’t understand how a person could be
so gentle while looking so harsh. Was it another fault in the programming?
 “Objections do nothing but waste your time,” said Sun Tzu. “You should do what you’re meant to do, and
you have no time to waste postponing it. In a sword fight, the difference between life and death is a moment,
not even a second. You can’t stop to think or come up with excuses. Either you defend yourself and get rid of
your opponent, or you get yourself killed.”
The old man stopped and looked up at the sky. “It’s getting dark,” he said, calmly. “Let’s have our dinner,
then our tea, and go to our beds.”
Sedat nodded silently. One of his favorite things in this realm was the tea they had every night.
 12: A Great Twist of Conscience II

Even if she stayed in a small hotel, her two days in Switzerland wasn’t so bad actually. She bought a few
gold and diamond accessories from Bucherer, a few Swatch wristwatch, lots of chocolate – with liqueur,
hazelnut, and bitter – and a few sets of clothes. Life was strange. Once, she would never dream of having
such a lifestyle, travelling to other countries just out of a whim, buying everything she wanted. It was nice to
be rich, regardless of whatever Rick said.
Moreover, while the hotel was small, actually it was really comfortable. Especially with their room service
and bathroom, it wasn’t so different than luxurious palaces.
Entering the small lobby with packages and shopping bags, the receptionist – what was his name? Oh,
yeah, Frank! – approached her.
“Ma’am,” he said, smiling sincerely. “Mr. Triumph said he’s waiting for you in the café.” He gestured to
one of the employees. “Carry the bags and packages of Miss Yurdgan up to her room, please.”
“Yurtkan,” she corrected, rolling her eyes. “And not Miss, but Mrs. Whatever, never mind, I had a hard
time remembering your name, too.”
Frank blinked several times. He didn’t think he had a hard-to-remember-name. Still, he was accustomed
to the rude attitude of the guests. He wished all of them were like Rick Triumph. He treated him very
friendly since the first moment, and he never forgot his name. Moreover, he memorized the names of all the
employees quickly. It was a very interesting skill. When people forgot each other’s names, such awkward
moments were inevitable.
“Anything else I can help with?” asked Frank.
“No, thank you,” replied Esra, giving all the packages and bags to the young guy who came upon the call.
Entering the café, she wasn’t surprised to see what was happening inside – everybody was accustomed to
the Native American’s magnetic charm by now. He sat at a table next to the columns of almost deserted café,
gathered all the employees around him, telling them funny stories and laughing along with them.
It was warm inside.
The walls were painted white, pot flowers scattered the corners of the room, and golden gilded picture
frames were hung on the walls. Cream-colored, handsome looking armchairs surrounded glass surfaced
tables, and again, glass surfaced lower coffee tables were set in front of L-shaped corner couches.
Esra approached the group with a curious smile on her face, and sat across from Rick. He was deep in a
conversation with the Swiss people surrounding him, telling jokes to make them laugh. He winked at Esra
with a smile on his face, and kept talking with his fluent English full of thick Arizona accent.
“The guy asks me, ‘But, sir, as far I could understand, you could take out five thousand dollars cash from
your credit card. Why did you follow such a grueling way instead?’
“And I say, ‘Well, I could take out a five thousand dollar loan from my credit card. However, can you show
me any other car lot as safe and cheap as a bank’s vault for my two hundred thousand dollar car in a city like
New York?’” Employees burst into laughter, tears streaming down their eyes. Rick continued in the same
easy manner: “‘After all, remember, I paid only fifteen dollars interest for a five thousand dollar loan in one
week. Of course, I put it in investments for a week, so it will be free for me.’”
As if it was possible, they all laughed even harder.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’d like to be good host for this elegant young lady,” said Rick, smiling to his
new friends.
Doesn’t he ever have difficulty gaining new friends wherever he goes? Esra thought to herself,
remembering all the friends he found along the way up here.
As the employees went out for their own chores, Esra ordered a cup of coffee for herself.
 When they were alone, Rick smiled with his eyes shining. “So, what did you do?” he asked.
“How can you be so good with people?” she asked.
“Very simple, actually,” replied Rick, shrugging. “I just keep in mind that they are human beings, too. They
have their fears, worries, joys, and hopes for life. They had their disappointments, they felt happy or sad, and
they cried or laughed. Moreover, they need to share, too.”
“And you always have a ready answer even for the most difficult question, right?” Esra smiled, shaking her
head at the same time. “Aren’t you afraid of getting hurt? Or getting manipulated? Used?”
“Actually, no,” he said. “You get hurt only when you have expectations, because you get disappointed
when your expectations are not met. What kind of expectations may I have with these people after all? And
when it comes to being used… It happens only if I allow it. And if I do that, I don’t have the right to whine.”
“Doru would think the same way as you do,” said Esra. “But wherever we go, we would see people who
would take advantage of his generosity. And then he would get offended.”
“As I said,” responded the gigantic Native American, “if you expect some things from people, you should
accept the risk of getting hurt. If you can be self-sufficient, and have no expectations from people, who can
hurt you and how?”
“Is it possible to be self-sufficient all the time?” she asked, looking at the waiter who brought her coffee.
The guy left the coffee on the table, had Rick sign the bill, and left them.
“Of course not,” said Rick, shaking his head. “There are times when I get hurt, too, sure. Still, I choose my
friends carefully, and it’s difficult for someone to gain my trust enough to disappoint me.”
Esra added sugar and cream into her coffee, and mixed it slowly. Then she brought the cup to her beautiful
red painted lips, and politely sipped her coffee. “So, you wouldn’t get offended if anyone here tries to take
advantage of your friendliness and generosity?” she asked, leaving her cup to the saucer on the table between
them. “You don’t care at all?”
Rick gave the question some thought. It was obvious he wanted to give a careful answer. “No,” he said,
finally. “If that person can’t understand sharing a friendly conversation with me is much more important than
grabbing a few dollars from my pocket, I wouldn’t mind him or her to be satisfied with such a worthless thing
like money. Still, I would be sorry for that person.”
“How about the women?” Esra asked. “Do you think the same way in your romantic life? Is it that hard for
a women to hurt you, too?”
Rick suddenly became serious, and Esra saw sadness in his eyes. Rick lowered his gaze to the almost
emptied coffee cup in front of him. As far she knew about him, he liked drinking his coffee this way, letting it
cool down.
“Forgive me,” she said, “I think it was a wrong question to ask.” She worried if she offended him.
But her own thoughts were a bigger surprise for her. She never realized she cared about other people’s
thoughts or emotions. Perhaps this strange man’s values and attitude began to affect her more than she
thought.
“That’s okay,” said Rick. “It’s not your fault.”
“Would you like to tell me?” asked Esra.
“There was only one woman who hurt me in my entire life, Esra,” he said. “But it wasn’t her fault, either.”
Esra looked at him, raising an eyebrow.
“It was a long time ago,” he began. “I used to live in the Sioux Reservation in South Dakota, but I wasn’t
like this… like so bound to my roots. I didn’t care about humanistic values as I do now. I didn’t like my own
race, and dreamed of living among the whites.”
Rick paused for a moment, and turned to the waiter to order another cup of coffee. Then he turned back to
the young woman to continue with his story.
“There was this young girl, who was a few years younger than me. I knew she was desperately in love with
me, but I had no intention to have a permanent relationship with anyone. I just wanted to leave, go far, get to
see the world, and build a place for myself in white man’s world.” He shook his head. “I did that. Ignoring
her begging, I left her behind all in tears. A few years later, when it hit me finally, I decided to go back home,
I found she was the wife of another man, one of my closest friends.”
Esra looked at him with sadness in her eyes. Just then, Rick’s coffee arrived. He thanked with his usual
politeness, added some sugar in it, mixed, and he began to sip the coffee from white China.
“What was her name?” asked Esra.
“Samantha,” said Rick, with a rueful smile. “In our language, her name was Deer with Beautiful Eyes.”
“Did she really have beautiful eyes?”
 “Not only her eyes… everything about her was so beautiful. When she came, I felt she brought the entire
Sun.”
“Didn’t you have any other women afterwards?”
“Of course I did,” said Rick. Then he sighed. “None of them was as special as she was.”
Esra felt he would burst into tears if she didn’t change the topic. “You mean you are immune to any other
women but Deer with Beautiful Eyes?”
Rick couldn’t help but laugh. “You talk about women as if they are disease,” he said.
“Don’t let feminists hear me,” said Esra, giggling. “Of course it was a joke. But I’m surprised. I would
think a man like you would express his feelings more freely.”
“I do,” he said. “When I’m interested in a woman, I show it quite openly.”
“Then you aren’t interested in me,” said Esra, jokingly.
“I can’t say you’re my type,” said Rick, laughing. “I like brunettes with more round lines, you know?”
“Wooow,” she said, laughing hard. “What if that woman isn’t interested in you?”
“It’s her problem,” said Rick. “It doesn’t mean I have to stop myself.”
“What do you mean?”
“I do all the nice gestures I’d like to do regardless,” he explained, sipping his coffee again. “For instance,
if I want to give flowers, I’d do it. It’s up to her what meaning to give it. If she appreciates what I do, rest
comes naturally. If not, I continue until I’m done with the emotions I have. When I’m satisfied myself, I close
that page, and never go back there again. If I express my feelings for someone, I do it for myself, not for the
other person. Only when the other person comes with a response, it becomes a mutual emotional connection
in both ways.”
Esra smiled to herself when she remembered something. One day at work, she heard a humming sound out
of nowhere. When she looked at the sound, she saw a remote control monster truck was coming to her with
a package of chocolate and a beautiful red rose on it. When it arrived and stopped at her feet, Doru came out
from where he was hiding with the remote control in his hands.
Doru used to make such silly but sincere gestures a lot. It was only that Esra couldn’t appreciate them then.
Even if she was burnt in regrets now, it was too late to bring him back.
“I’ll tell you what,” said Rick, leaving his empty cup into its saucer. “I’m done here in this city, and as far I
understand, you don’t have to go back right away, either. Would you like to visit my home in Dakota?”
Esra’s eyes shone. She never saw real Native American people before, other than Rick. This was really an
amazing idea!
“Let’s go,” she said, smiling. “But… what will we do with my car and your bike?”
“We can send them both back to Turkey in shipping,” he said. “The guys at the company can pick up my
bike. Do you have anyone to take care of your car?”
The guys at the company… Esra’s joyful expression was suddenly gone. How could she forget Rick
worked with Enigma?! She wondered what Sedat did with the software? Did he manage to steal it? Moreover,
knowing it all, what was she doing here with this guy? If everybody at Enigma was like Rick, did they
deserve such a foul play?
“I don’t have anyone to pick up my car,” she mumbled. It wasn’t a lie, actually. Esra didn’t have anybody
left. Despite Doru’s insistence, she hadn’t seen her family since she married him. Now she couldn’t call them
out of a sudden, and say, “I’m sending my car, could you please pick it up?”
“That’s okay,” said Rick. “Then we can continue our journey this way. We can skip to the UK, and then
sail for the Americas on a ferry.”
“Wouldn’t it be expensive?” asked Esra.
“It’s you who asks this?” said Rick, his eyes widening. “What was your net worth?”
Esra laughed. “And you say money doesn’t matter.”
“I didn’t say money doesn’t matter,” Rick objected, getting serious. “I just said it’s not more important than
one’s self.” Then he smiled again. “Whatever, let’s pay the bill tomorrow, and leave right away.”
“But I pay for the trip costs,” said Esra.
Rick gave it some thought, and looked up at the ceiling as if making some calculations. Then he lowered
his gaze to Esra’s eyes. “I think I’d say yes to that.”
In all that laughter, they left the café.
 13: Seven Principles of the Tiger VI

Lynn’s graceful catlike body was bending back and forth or sideways in harmony with the moves of katana
that circled in the air, her legs went back and forth in liquid movements. Her thin and tiny fingers were
something that Sedat could never understand how they possibly harbored such an energy and strength. They
threw the sword, splitting the air with powerful swooshes at every turn.
Watching such an aesthetic and exciting dance, Sedat couldn’t decide which one looked more impressive:
was it the sword, or Lynn that fascinated him most?
When the Chinese girl completed twelve katas one after another, Sedat finally realized: the two completed
one other!
Getting out of her trance, Lynn turned to Sedat, who watched her with a gaping mouth.
“These swords are legendary,” she said. “After you beat the Champion and before you start with your
mission, you will start practicing Kendo.”
“What-do?” asked Sedat, trying to get out of his daze.
“Ken-do!” repeated Lynn. “Ancient Far Eastern sword tradition. My father venerable Sun Tzu won’t be
here for a while today, and I’d like to share some knowledge about Kendo and Samurai swords.”
Sedat squinted. This game appeared to have an educational purpose more than everything else.
“What do Japanese swords and Kendo have to do with Tibet?” he asked, arrogantly.
“You should keep in mind that traditions are entwined in Far Eastern countries,” replied Lynn. “Now, let’s
sit here and have some conversation, noble warrior.”
Such a way of addressing fed Sedat’s ego. He smiled slightly, and nodded.
“What do you think of a sword?” she asked, as an opening to the conversation.
Sedat gave it some thought. He felt he had to come up with a smart answer, because he would get kicked
or punched by Lynn every time he acted foolishly. “I think it’s one of the most effective weapons used by
humanity throughout the ages,” he said, finally.
“You may say that,” she responded. “But this description is not enough for a katana. Kendo is the life
way of a Samurai, and katana is his best friend. Today, sword is a very important tool to protect social and
political order in Far East. When you look at Japanese history, you see that the earliest periods were full of
struggles for superiority among various territories. Even today, feudal lords hire Samurai warriors to defend
their own lands, take over their enemies’ lands, and protect the order. Mastery of sword holds an important
part in military training, and a very strict discipline is followed to teach the right lessons systematically.”
“So that’s why you and your father treat me so hard while I’m here,” said Sedat, letting her know he felt
offended.
“This is important to keep your mind awake and help you keep your attention, noble Conqueror,” said
Lynn, smiling softly. “Strong and effective sword-masters are very worthy for their lords, and my father
venerable Sun Tzu was one of them. It was around ten years ago, and I was a little kid then, but even now,
lords don’t avoid spending lots of gold to keep the best sword-masters in their service.
“Around fifty years ago, thanks to Tokugawa’s shogun discipline, sword techniques progressed a lot. The
sword training for Samurais – named Bu – is seen as a perfect foundation for academic and social education.
Therefore, the name for Samurai life and education style is Budo. Or, some say Bushido.
“Budo is entwined with Zen Buddhism. Since Zen training and philosophy go in parallel with Samurai
training principles and ideals, Japanese warriors embraced Zen, developing all their moral and social values
based on this philosophy. This helped their way of sword to reach us, along with Zen.”
Sedat wasn’t sure if he wanted to know all this, but he didn’t have any choice but to listen for the moment.
“One of the most important assets of Zen is that it erases or expels all the mental factors that block one’s
perception of reality,” she continued.
Well, this really interests me now, Sedat thought to himself. Especially regarding this game I’m playing at
the moment.
“If projected directly to the senses of the one unaffected by prejudice or analyze,” continued Lynn, “even
the most ordinary experience is glorified. For a Samurai, whose life depends on the decisions that are made in
just a moment, Zen’s plain clarity is extremely attractive. If you think first and act later, even one second may
mean the difference between life and death, so thought and action should flow together. Both for a Samurai
and a Zen monk, the ultimate goal is to harmonize self with the universe. Only then can one’s actions be in
harmony with the divine powers.
“A Zen monk’s life is very similar to a Samurai’s,” she explained. “This is why my venerable father Sun
Tzu quit training Samurais and decided to become a Zen monk. Still, sometimes he goes to the Shaolin
Temple to train some highly talented Samurais.” She bit her lip before she continued. “As a matter of fact, he
was the one who trained the Champion before you.”
Sedat looked at her. She lowered her gaze in shame. Then she continued with a stronger voice as if she said
nothing. “Therefore, sometimes Zen monks prefer to train as Samurais to excel in their practices.”
“So, you mean I’m being trained as a Samurai?” asked Sedat.
“Yes,” she replied.
“Can I apply what I learn here to real life?”
Lynn looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “Isn’t this real life?” she asked.
Yeah, you say so, Sedat thought. This is your real life, after all.
“And with the swords,” said Lynn, getting back to the topic, “as far we know, the first Japanese sword was
made in the eighth century by a blacksmith named Amakuni Yasutsuna Amakuni, his son Amakura, and a few
other blacksmiths who were commissioned by the Emperor to make swords for royal warriors.
“One day, when the Emperor and his warriors were back from a battle, they walked by Amakuni’s forge
and kept walking. They deliberately ignored him, instead of greeting him as was the custom. Then, Amakuni
noticed many of them had broken swords. The swords he made were smashed during the battle. He examined
the weapons closely and he took an oath to make a sword that would never be broken, so that he could gain
the Emperor’s trust again.”
“A man of honor,” said Sedat, with a mocking smile.
“Honor is a virtue that makes you a human,” emphasized Lynn, frowning.
Yes, but I’m more human than you are, how about that? Sedat thought, pleased by himself.
“Amakuni and his son locked themselves in the forge, and prayed to Shinto gods for seven days and seven
nights,” Lynn continued to her story. “And before you ask, Shinto is the religion of the Samurai. Then they
began working together, and processing the metal, using everything they knew, spent a whole month to make
a perfect sword. At the end of that one month, they made a slightly curved sword with only one sharp edge.
Next year when the warriors were back, none of their swords were broken. Afterwards, the methods used
were even more improved. However, the processing method for metal has never changed.”
“Do you know the method of sword making?” asked Sedat.
“Unfortunately not,” said Lynn. “It’s entirely a different form of art. However, my father venerable Sun
Tzu can inform you about this in detail.”
Sedat nodded.
Lynn stood up, and plucked a leaf from the nearest tree branch. Then she threw it into the air. As the leaf
went down slowly moving from one side to the other, it broke into two lean pieces with the sword’s blade
underneath.
If Japanese swords were like this in real life, Sedat decided he didn’t want to see any of them right in front
of his eyes.

* * *

At a remote place in Anatolia, where many civilizations rose up and turned to ashes since ancient times
countless people gave their lives to its defense. They lived under the noble red and white flag for almost
a century now. A plain peasant named Hasan walked with a whistle in his lips, hands in his pockets, not
knowing any of it. He was going to the ranch of that weird “city guy.”
Sedat Yurtkan…
Man, he has a flashy name, huh, he thought to himself. He’s generous, too. God bless my master.
The money Sedat sent him was probably nothing for himself, but it was a fortune for Hasan, and he lived
very comfortably on that income. He might lower it to half if he knew it, but Hasan didn’t know that part.
Since Sedat made his calculations based on the prices of a big city, he thought he paid Hasan quite low; in
return, Hasan thought Sedat made a sacrifice to pay him this amount.
He could pay his rent; meet the needs of six kids, his wife and old mother. Sometimes he could even help
some relatives or friends. If everything goes as it does now, he would purchase a piece of land, add it to the
family land next year, and he would buy a swanky tractor the year after that. He would make money as a
farmer, send his sons to schools, and make them great men. One would be a veterinarian, another agricultural
engineer, another doctor, and the last one would be a teacher.
It was good to have goals in life. For Hasan, it was especially important, because at least he would have a
more respected position among the other peasants.
When he reached the top of the hill, he stopped to look at the ranch house two hundred yards away. There
was a dark blue sports car in front of the house. Sedat Bey appeared to be at home.
He shrugged still looking at the house. Sedat had told him not to disturb him when he was at home. Hasan
was happy for he wouldn’t have to work today. He turned back to the direction he came, and began to walk
towards the village still whistling that cheerful tune. Since it was his “day off” as city people like to put it, he
could go to the village teahouse to play cards with his friends.

* * *

“Amakuni’s methods have been improved in time, but the way to beat and process the steel has never
changed,” said Sun Tzu. He sat cross-legged on the floor of the porch. Sedat attentively listened to him.
In this clearance deep into the jungle, birds’ singing reached them from the trees surrounding the house,
and Sedat felt the soft breeze caressing his face. It was a peaceful, calming place, perfect to lie down for a
nap.
“Let me explain how it’s done,” continued Sun Tzu. “Small pieces of steel shaped in the forge are lined up
along an iron plaque. After heating the metal this way, it’s beaten on the anvil with heavy hammers. Then it’s
folded and until thousands of new leaves are produced, and the carbons are mostly erased from the first metal
pieces. It’s beaten over and over again. Afterwards, the prepared block is wrapped around the sharp edge of
the end product. In the last phase, the blade is covered with a paste made of clay, charcoal, grindstone dust,
and some other materials. When this paste was cleaned afterwards, the blacksmith engraved his motives and
figures over the same part.
“The sword is heated until it gets the moon’s color in June or July. Then it’s pushed headfirst into a
washtub of water that is kept at a specific level of warmth. While the uncovered side quickly cools down, the
edge covered with the paste cools down slowly so that it doesn’t lose its elasticity.
“Then the blacksmith carves his name on the blade, and gives the sword to the experts to be polished and
to be completed with the handle, tsuba – its hand shield – and other ornaments. To be tested for its sharpness
and balance, the end product is given to a Kendo master to be used on some death sentences or dead bodies.”
Sedat shivered remembering how the sword cut a leaf neatly into two pieces.
“Starting from the wrists, towards thicker and harder body parts, twenty different cuts are applied,”
continued Sun Tzu, nonchalantly. “The most one is called ryo-kuruma. With this cut, the sword is tested for
its effect on a human spine, cutting the body through the waist. Results of the tests are usually recorded on
the blade, and you can see some records like ‘cut two men’ or ‘cut eight arms.’”
Sedat didn’t know if it was possible to throw up in a virtual reality game, but felt nauseated.
“Some swords are so masterfully made that even if they face a huge resistance, a Kendo master can cut
a piece of steel with them,” said Sun Tzu. “Some new swords have written ‘mitsudo setsudan’ on them. It
means ‘it cut three bodies at once.’ Some Kendo masters developed a technique that enable them cut their
opponents open just while unsheathing their swords. With this technique, coming out of the sheath upwards,
the sword can cut a body from right hip to left shoulder.
“Don’t misunderstand it. The real secret is not in the way of amazing Japanese swords, but in the way they
are used,” emphasized the old master. “A Kendo master should know how to use his sword, and how to cut an
opponent. However, in Kendo, in Aiki-Do, or in another discipline, the real time you win an encounter is the
beginning of the fight. Even if you don’t have a sword, sometimes you can beat an enemy with a sword.”
“How can it be possible?” asked Sedat, incredulously.
“Beating his spirit and mind,” said Sun Tzu. “If you can beat the spirit and mind of your enemy, his
physical body follows them inevitably. For instance, you never fought against me before, so you don’t
know how I fight. You never fought to those guys you met in the jungle, and you didn’t know them, either.
When you look at me, you don’t feel scared or threatened, because I look like an old and weak man to you.
However, when you saw those guys, you were scared from the beginning, because they appeared to be
masterful warriors. So you were hesitant. Then you overcame your fear, and won.”
 As Sun Tzu smiled, Sedat felt proud of himself.
“But you can never dare to fight Lynn,” said the old man, narrowing his eyes. “Because she is your master,
and you already know she can best you easily. Since you believe you can’t beat her, you wouldn’t even start
fighting. As soon as you come face to face, she wins, because she has beaten your spirit and mind.”
“It can be changed,” said Sedat. “I progress in my practice regularly, after all.”
“So she does,” responded Sun Tzu, laughing cheerfully. “As she teaches you, she also learns from me.”
Sedat’s eyes widened and he couldn’t part his gaze from the old man’s joyful expression.
“I’m sure you will think twice before trying to take on me,” said the old sage. “This is called the principle
of winning attitude!” Then he burst into laughter.
 14: A Minor Accident on the Ship

After shipping Rick’s bike to Turkey, they went to the UK in Esra’s car, and boarded the gigantic Queen
Elizabeth II to set sail to North America. Just from the first day, it was apparent that the sea voyage would
be great. They spent their time in bars, entertainment areas or restaurants inside the ship until they were free
from the cold climate of North Europe.
The Native American would check his e-mails every now and then, and Esra would stay away from all sort
of communication, including her cell phone.
Five days out now since they left the harbor, now they were getting close to the center of the Atlantic
Ocean. Leaning on the railings on the upper deck, they watched the dolphins racing against the ship.
“You know, I never had such an experience before,” said Esra. “My only goal was to have money, and I
never thought I could use this money for such wonderful things. I mean, travelling the world, seeing new
things, meeting new people… These all are very new and different experiences for me.”
“This is the biggest problem of the white man,” said Rick. “He tries to gain the power, and then he doesn’t
know what to do with it.”
Esra laughed.
“Don’t laugh,” said Rick. “This is actually because of universal ignorance, and very often it can lead to
tragic outcomes. If you look at it closely, actually it’s no different than giving a gun to a child long below the
consciousness of an adult.”
Esra nodded thoughtfully. “How could you become so wise, Rick? Do you read a lot?”
“Not only that,” replied Rick. He took out a black hair band, and pulled his long hair behind his back,
making them into a ponytail. “I examined the history and wisdom of my own race for a long time. Moreover,
other wiser races, too. I noticed a very important detail: those who still live with earth can understand the
ways of the universe more easily.”
“What do you mean?” asked the young woman.
“Just look at the white man,” he said. “With all this vanity, he denied the law of the universe, and created
his own law. Now he tries to raise it above the one of universe. It’s simply impossible. On the other hand,
the societies that live with nature always could grasp the spirit of the universe, because they never kept
themselves apart from nature, but saw themselves as a part of it. Therefore, they always lived in relative
peace and harmony. And the white man builds concrete jungles named cities that are against human nature,
imprisons himself into those places, and then tries to find the causes of his psychological depressions.”
“Look, no offense, but…” said Esra, “if you talk about Native Americans, they – and other similar societies
– had to kneel before the white man, because their technology was so primitive, and they lived in primitive
conditions. How can you say living in the nature is wisdom? If you don’t use what you know, don’t create
new things, how else are you supposed to use your intelligence?”
Rick frowned. “To look for yourself,” he said, with authority. “The highest civilization level of a human
can’t be gauged by technology, but awareness of self. Making a nuclear bomb, claiming the right to throw it
on other people just because their skin has a different color, is more primitive than riding your horse at full
gallop and feeling the freedom in it. Moreover, a sage who questions the creation or existence of what he
knows, even if living in a shack or a tent made of deer skin, is more humane than the white man who claims
to be civilized.”
“But,” she objected, “applying what you say to the modern life is neither logical nor easy.”
“You, little girl, just like many other ‘civilized whites,’ you don’t know shit about the real world or real
life. You’re beginning to realize you lost the only person who really loved you because you weren’t aware of
any of these things, but I’m afraid you will lose much more before you begin learning from your mistakes.”
Rick turned and walked away confidently towards his own chambers. Esra looked after him for a while,
feeling offended, insulted, and fooled. She was pissed. A Native American didn’t have the right to judge her
this way, despite all his magnificent tassels! And Esra didn’t say anything to offend him!
At least be honest to yourself, you fool, she thought to herself. Of course you said things to offend him.
However, to apologize, to try and correct her mistake was more difficult. Moreover, thinking of Rick’s cold
fiery eyes, Esra realized she didn’t have the courage to do it.

* * *

They didn’t talk until that night; they didn’t even see one other. Sitting at the bar after having a few glasses
of drink, Esra examined her life. She grew up in a weird family environment. In her country, such families
were actually quite common, but even the statistics didn’t change the fact that they were weird and unstable.
Her father was a useless alcoholic. Apparently, his good looks, tall and lean body, impressive mustache,
tanned skin and green eyes were enough to sweep her mother’s feet of the ground easily and quickly. Just out
of boredom, or whenever he was out of money for a drink, he would find a job to work a couple of weeks,
then he would quit or get fired. In her entire life, she never saw her father working at the same job for longer
than one month.
According to him, he inherited a big inheritance from his father, but he ended up losing sixteen flats and
one villa because of alcohol, gambling and women. Still, Esra didn’t know if any of this was true because
most of the fortune was gone before he married her mother. All what she knew was her father didn’t care
about anything but alcohol and that they were always penniless.
Her mother was the only one who tried to keep the family together. She was a brown haired, hazel eyed,
graceful beauty. Esra took her physical beauty from her mother, but fortunately, she was more successful and
luckier to keep it. Her mother would work at everything she could find, do her best to make a little money,
but her father would take everything away from her with threats or beatings, just to spend it all on alcohol
again.
Esra woke up countless nights to her mother’s screams. She would bury her head under the pillow, trying
to suppress and choke those noises into the fabric of the sheets. Perhaps because of her father, she liked
playing with men, since he made her hate them. Later on, she realized she could have the men do anything
she wanted, just by using her beauty. She learned to use this asset to the highest. Until she met Doru, she just
played with men, because none of them was as rich and docile as she wanted.
When she met Doru, she thought “bullseye!” She knew she had the greatest opportunity in life. He was
both richer than she ever imagined, and easy to manipulate. However, since he was obsessed with art and
philosophy, he liked idleness more than business – at least it was what Esra then thought. But she could see
that reality was very far from it… She was beginning to see… Slowly…
Looking back now, Esra had only one regret. She didn’t care about all those young men she played and
threw away, all those who tore themselves apart to be with her… In their eyes, love was a matter of “kill or
be killed.” If she didn’t do it, they would do the same thing to her. But Doru was different than all of them.
Doru never thought of using her, but wrapped her in a priceless, peerless love that came from that amazingly
deep heart of his.
And you sent him to his death, thought Esra, gulping down the red wine. You can never learn to appreciate
your real friends or the people who really love and care for you. Just now, you hurt Rick. How many glasses
did she have? It should be more than one bottle, and she could feel the effects of the alcohol with each
passing minute.
Yes, the wine had such weird effects. Old people said, “the truth is hidden in the wine.” When the effect
of the wine came out, you couldn’t hide the most painful truth from yourself. Pain, sorrow, happiness, joy,
peace, all of it… they all mixed into each other, making her pity herself.
No, she said to herself, nobody can leave me torn apart. Miserable. Nobody can kick Esra Yurtkan in the
ass!
Esra Yurtkan…
For years now, this is what she called herself using this name. The Esra from youth didn’t exist anymore.
She was Esra Yurtkan. Doru’s widow.
She laughed to herself. Doru’s killer, she thought. Yes, I’m Doru’s killer! I killed the only person who ever
loved me!
She didn’t know what she did. Her vision went blurry, and the world moved off from under her feet. She
went out to the bar without signing the bill, without realizing she was wobbling. She didn’t notice the people
who looked at her along the deck, either.
After this point of her life, there was only one thing she thought she could: to accompany her lover, her
husband, her one and only love in death!
“Excuse me, ma’am,” she heard somebody said. “May I help you? Are you okay?”
 This guy who appeared like an angel in white spoke English. Esra didn’t even remember when she learned
the language. His shoulder straps looked like blinking black-yellow traffic lights. They appeared to be
warning her about the approaching crossroad.
Esra tried to figure out how to respond. Was she okay? That was what he asked, wasn’t it? Was she fine?
She stood where she was for a while, moving back and forth without realizing, and then made up her mind:
“Fuck you!”
Then she began to walk fast, more like rolling. She longed for the railings, longed to end this mess by
climbing and jumping over them. As soon as she grabbed the steel bars with all of her strength, she bent over
with a pain in her stomach and threw up all the wine she had. If she wasn’t wrong, she threw it up into the
ocean waters over the railing. In just a moment, she would jump into it, join the fish, and die all wrapped in
shit and sin, just as she lived.
She shrugged the hand holding her arm, pulled herself up with the last of her strength, and flew over the
railing to the other side. She didn’t know how high she flew, but she realized what was told was true about
water – it made an effect like concrete when you jump from a huge height. She felt the pain in her shoulder.
She should have hit it really hard, because she felt she skipped back from the surface of the water. Now all
she could see was the blue sky… it was rolling… rolling… rolling… and darkening…

* * *

Rick looked at the coffee mug with steam coming from it. He paced back and forth in the luxurious suite,
trying to keep himself in control, not giving in to anger.
He knew this woman was inexperienced and – therefore – generally foolish, but the last thing she did was
far beyond Rick’s understanding. No matter what, one couldn’t put self in such a situation. Under the sky
created by the Almighty Creator, nobody had the right to play with their lives, to insult what He created and
only He could take.
But Esra did it!
Yes, he understood she was in depression, but Rick always believed she also had the strength to overcome
it. Esra had a personality to overcome the difficulties she had to face. However, it wasn’t the case this time.
Now he blamed himself, too. Perhaps he overreacted to what they said. After all, Esra was learning some
things just yet, and to have an understanding over deep topics required both time and experience. Moreover,
she apparently progressed more rapidly than Rick thought in the first place. Esra wanted to learn, move
beyond herself, and understand some important values.
How long would Enigma continue with this game? Didn’t Esra pay enough for her mistakes?
Rick couldn’t help it, but threw the coffee mug to the wooden paneled wall of the suite. The China mug
smashed into pieces and the warm, dark liquid spilled around. He knew one should be hard sometimes in life,
and the business world was very suitable for that, but apparently, this hardness went too far for Esra.
“Owww, my head,” he heard her moaning.
When he looked at the white leather couch in the sitting area, Rick saw Esra opened her green eyes slowly
on her pale face, and it touched his heart. The young woman’s face was strained with pain, and her expression
was innocent enough to melt the hardest heart.
Yes, he thought, nodding to himself. Esra is still a kid. Such hard games are not for her at all; even if she
tries to look hard, even if she claims otherwise.
“Where am I?” she asked, trying to sit up. Feeling her vision going dark, she immediately plopped her head
back onto the luxurious pillow.
“Calm down,” said Rick, sitting next to his young friend, holding her elegant hand into his strong one. “It
was just a minor accident. I think you had too much alcohol.”
Esra looked around the room from where she laid. “Am I in your suite?” she asked.
“Yes,” said Rick, looking at her with affection.
“What happened?”
“First recover yourself a bit, then I’ll tell you what happened.”
Esra forced her eyes to open, and looked sadly at Rick’s fatherly face. “Did you forgive me?” she asked.
Rick smiled. “Sleep now,” he whispered. “If you need anything, I’ll be right here.”
Esra went back to sleep for a while longer.

* * *
 “Omigod!” screamed Esra. “I didn’t do any of it!”
After leaving the bar, Esra cussed at one of the cabin boys, and again approached the railing, wobbling
on her small feet. Thinking she was standing next to the one of the outward railings, actually it was one of
those facing the lower deck, and while thinking she threw up into the ocean, actually she sent it all over the
sunbathing passengers down there.
Then she climbed over the railing and jumped. What she thought to be the ocean was the floor of the lower
deck. Fortunately, her body skipped over one of the wide umbrellas, slowing her down, and causing her to
fall on her shoulder. She didn’t have any broken bones or dislocations, but her shoulder would bruise a little.
Other than that, she appeared to have no other problems; of course, the headache that came from one and a
half bottles of wine could be considered as a natural price for drinking too much.
Rick hadn’t seen what happened. One of the cabin boys on the lower deck had taken Esra to the infirmary,
she was checked there, and then delivered to Rick’s suite.
Now after finding out all this, she sat across Rick with a reddened face. The Native American sat on the
armchair next to the white couch with an amused expression; he thought his young friend learned a good
lesson, and that this would be enough for a long while, because he knew Esra hated getting embarrassed in
front of others.
“Whatever, don’t make it bigger than it is,” he said, laughing. “You will see these people only for another
week, let’s say. Then everybody will go their own ways, and nobody will even remember your name. I think
you should be happy for not being famous.”
Esra was sulking. As if it wasn’t enough for her to be embarrassed, Rick was mocking her now.
“I think you’re still mad at me,” said Esra.
“Maybe a little,” said Rick, laughing again. “But not for long. Don’t think you can get rid of me that
easily.”

The rest of the voyage went in the blink of an eye for Rick, while the hours were endless for Esra, because
she locked herself in her suite. She had her meals there, at least two dozen movies – Rick had chosen most of
them especially for her – and some documentaries about Native American reservations.
Finally, when she looked out the window of her bedroom, she saw the edge of the torch above the giant
queen.
 15: Seven Principles of the Tiger VII

Move forward with the speed of wind

Step back after the powerful blow
Continue moving your body sliding sideways
Don’t avoid pushing it.
Extend your palm exhaling
A battle-cry is required to complete it
Just like a dragon jumping back and forth
Victory or defeat is hidden in just a moment!

“This is the song of Moving Back and Forth,” added Sun Tzu, when he was done reciting his beautiful
poem. “For us, Far Easterners, martial art is, well, it’s a form of art, Conqueror. And art means emotions,
feelings. And the essence of emotions is love. Love for the Creation. Love is the essence to everything. “
Sedat was listening to him with a blank face. He felt for a moment as if this old guy was his late cousin –
art, love, emotions, beauty, aesthetic, Creation… Fucking bullshit.
After he was done training with Lynn in the morning, they came here to sit and converse on the grass in
front of the hut. Practicing with the female warrior was exhausting, so Sedat felt a little bit uneasy. He also
thought these nano machines rolling around in his blood stream were doing a great job, considering how
realistic this fatigue felt.
“Do you know the story of Creation, Conqueror?” asked Sun Tzu.
Sedat was having enough with some aspects of this game already. Usually you would find a lot of action
– even if seemingly repetitive – but action in this game meant hurting. Now he knew he had to listen to this
nonsense and boring story, too.
“I know,” he said, trying to stop the old man from telling the story.
“I’m sure you do,” said Sun Tzu, but apparently he didn’t buy into Sedat’s answer. “Still, you might like
the Chinese version of it.” And he began to tell the story with a complete joy in his face. “At the beginning,
earth and the skies were entwined. The Universe was like a big and black egg that held Pan Gu’s himself
in it. After eighteen thousand years, Pan Gu woke up from his long slumber. He felt suffocated. Therefore,
he grabbed his big battle-axe, and he raised it with his strong hands to break the egg. Upper part of the egg
jumped up and became the skies. Its lower, colder part remained down there, becoming the earth.
“Pan Gu stood with his head touching the skies, his feet set on the earth. Skies and the earth began to
grow three meters a day. Pan Gu grew along with them. After another eighteen thousand years, skies became
higher, earth became thicker, and Pan Gu reached an infinite height.”
Sedat looked at him with a bored expression. Why should he listen to any of this gibberish? Would it help
him with his fight against the Champion? Was it impossible to skip these parts simply pressing the “Escape”
key?
“When Pan Gu died,” continued Sun Tzu, ignoring his companion’s bored looks, “his breath created the
winds and the clouds, and his voice the thunders. One of his eyes became the Sun, and the other Moon. His
upper body, arms and legs became five great mountains, and his blood turned into roaring rivers. His veins
were the roads reaching far, and his muscles were fertile lands now. His hair and beard became countless
stars up in the skies, his skin flowers and trees. His marrows turned into jades and pearls. His sweat became
the rain and sweet dew that create life. His tears flowed into rivers, and the sparkles in his eyes turned into
lightning. When he was happy, Sun would shine, and when he was angry, dark clouds would cover the skies.
This is how the Universe and the earth were created.”
“Exalted Sun Tzu,” said Sedat, choosing his words carefully. He couldn’t believe he was trying to be
so sensitive for a fictional game character. “What use will this all do for me with my fight against the
Champion?”
“This is the last one of the Seven Principles of the Tiger, Conqueror,” said the old man, explaining
patiently. “Love!”
“I thought we were more interested in war,” said Sedat. “What’s that got to do with love?”
“Everything,” Sun Tzu scolded him. “You can’t find the harmony without love. You can’t win a fight
without the harmony, because you can’t predict what your opponent will do. All the emotions and thoughts
come from love. You have to love… everything. God, the Creation, people, plants, animals… everything!
Even your opponent.”
“I should love someone who tries to kill me, is that what you’re saying?” asked Sedat, incredulously.
Sun Tzu stood up and did some soft, flowing Tai Chi forms. His arms moved in the air so lightly like
autumn leaves, his feet moved back and forth in a graceful but absolute balance. In real life, Sedat would
never expect such an old man to move so gracefully and flexibly. Some of the forms he did were incredibly
difficult even for the youth. However, this was just a game, and Sun Tzu character was just a virtual thing.
Still, Sedat envied him, thinking he’d like to be that agile, flexible, and balanced… even just half of how Sun
Tzu appeared to be.
“I know this form,” said Sedat. “White Crane Opens Its Wings.”
“Yes,” Sun Tzu responded, without pausing at all. “But I have something else to emphasize. Can you see
how liquid and transparent my moves are?”
“Of course,” said Sedat, nodding. The old man’s mastery over Tai Chi was quite obvious.
After the completion of the forms, Sun Tzu turned at Sedat. “Now stand up, please, Conqueror.”
Sedat obeyed, wondering what he needed to do.
Sun Tzu smiled. “Now I want you to charge on me full force.”
“Excuse me?”
“I said charge full force.”
Since he began playing this game, Sedat was kicked in the ass all the time. Lynn made him crawl on the
ground, gave him a lot of beating, and exhausted him to death. Then he had to face those three warriors in the
jungle. Yes, he had won the fight, but he was hurt all the same. It might feel good to kick this smug old guy’s
ass after all.
He charged ahead with no warning, but Sun Tzu parried his attack with such ease as if he was opening just
a simple door.
“Again,” said Sun Tzu.
Sedat charged again. Sun Tzu was highly effective again, parrying his second attack nonchalantly.
Charge again… another successful defense…
Again… again… again…
Sedat couldn’t score one single hit, and Sun Tzu let their bodies touch each other only when he wanted
to. The old man looked as if he was just swaying away some flies. Sun Tzu smiled slowly first, and then his
goatie moved up and down with his soft giggles.
“Did you notice something, Conqueror?” asked Sun Tzu.
“What?” said Sedat, without trying to conceal his frustration.
“I just repeat the Tai Chi forms I did before we start, and you can’t even touch me,” said the old man.
“With one difference, though. This time I move much faster.”
“So?” said Sedat, shrugging. He was pissed at himself for not being able to kick this tiny and old guy’s ass.
“The reason is love, Conqueror,” emphasized Sun Tzu.
“What do you mean, master?” asked Sedat. “Your love for me?
“For you, for nature, for the Creator, for the birds, for the grass, everything that surrounds us… The whole
Universe.”
“What’s the connection between all this love and fighting to me?”
Sun Tzu stepped closer and gave Sedat one of his all familiar slaps on his forehead. Still, being familiar
didn’t mean being less hurtful. Sedat moved his hand to his forehead, and squinted at Sun Tzu.
“I told you before,” Sun Tzu reprimanded him. “If you want to fight well, you have to flow with the Chi,
with the Universe. You have to feel the love to feel the Chi. You. Are. Not. Listening. Where do your ears
look at when I talk to you?”
This old man always used such weird terms. Ears looking at somewhere? Sedat was sure he would never
like the Chinese culture in real life, because he was never good with riddles.
 16: The Spirit in the Earth

Esra didn’t remember any other time she enjoyed her Shelby GT500 so much before. Speeding along the
desert road rolling between the steppes and legendary canyons, she thought America was really the land of
freedom – at least for those who can really enjoy the wild nature of it. And this metallic monster she drove
seemed happy to be back to its home, just like a real, live Mustang horse. In open areas the sun was dazzling,
and whenever they move through a canyon, high rocky walls rising on both sides, it felt like a time tunnel.
Rck was very busy telling her about the history of his own people.
“Once my folks lived here free and noble,” he continued. “The seven tribes of Great Nation of Sioux had
made a pact named ‘Fire of the Seven Councils.’ Among these tribes, three main languages were spoken.
Santees spoke Dakota, Yanktons spoke Nakota, and Tetons spoke Lakota. But in mid 1800’s, Dakota became
the common language.”
“So the name Dakota comes from there?” asked Esra, without parting her gaze from the road rolling before
her for endless miles. With the scenery, movements of the car, and Rick’s voice, she felt hypnotized.
“Yes,” he nodded. “Actually name Sioux is short for the word ‘nadouessioux’ and in our language, it
means ‘little snakes.’ We were given this name by our sworn enemies the Chippewa. Eventually, it became
a norm. However, people of the Great Nation of Sioux prefer to be called as Dakota, Lakota, or Nakota, all
based on their relative language group.”
“I didn’t know any of it,” said Esra. “Did you learn it all from the books, or just living among them?”
“As a matter of fact, our traditions, values, culture, and spirituality are transferred in spoken words from
one generation to the next,” said Rick. “The stars, sun, and earthly figures, which we call the breath of
Great Spirit as a whole, have a very important place in our culture. We believe they would be devaluated if
transferred in writing. Just like in old times, Sioux people still try to live a life in harmony with the Universe.
“In early nineteenth century, as the Great Nation of Sioux, we were ruling the northern plains that cover
most part of Dakota, north Nebraska, east Wyoming, and southeast Montana. Around these areas, if you go
those places or see them on a map, location names were mostly given by Sioux tribes.
“Again, around those days, the United States purchased Louisiana area from the French. We still have
a hard time to grasp the idea of paying for a piece of land. I mean, how can you buy or sell something that
doesn’t belong to you in the first place?”
“Why? Louisiana didn’t belong to the French then?”
“Just like it doesn’t belong to the United States now, it didn’t belong to France then.”
“Who is the real owner then?” asked Esra, surprised. She turned to have a look at Rick’s face. She could
see he was lost into thoughts of things happened centuries ago.
“The Great Spirit, of course,” said Rick, shrugging. “God. The Almighty Creator. The entire Universe
belongs to Him!”
“Oh, yeah, that,” said Esra. “And we claim to believe in God as white people, but we try to buy or sell the
earth, air, water and all. Did I get it right?”
“Exactly,” nodded Rick.
“What was the reaction from the Sioux about this purchase?”
“Who cares?” said Rick, sulking. “Just like now, nobody cared of our opinion then. However, that
purchase meant the end of meat resources for Lakotas after a while, because the white man soon killed all the
ţaţaåkas.”
Esra looked at him. “Ti-tan-ka? What the hell is that?
“Not titanka, ţaţaåka. It means buffalo in Dakota. Well, eventually, Sioux tribes couldn’t stand it any
longer, and took action. In 1866, Red Cloud, along with his warriors, managed closing the passage to the gold
mines in Montana. That passage was within the traditional hunting grounds of the Teton.
 “However, the consequences for that move was worse for us. With Fort Laramie Treaty, signed in 1868,
the white man locked us all into the Great Sioux Reservation that consists west of Missouri River, big part of
South Dakota, and Black Hills. The United States government promised to keep the white people from these
lands, but is the white man ever true to his word?”
Esra was impressed and got curious by everything Rick said. Surely enough, she wanted to hear more.
“What happened then?” she asked.
“As I said, promises mean nothing for the white men,” said Rick. “A group under the command of Colonel
George A. Custer discovered the gold mines in Black Hills, and a rush began soon enough. As more white
people arrived the area, Native Americans had to resort to violence quite often to protect their lifestyle and
homes. Actually, it wasn’t something uncommon. If you have a closer look into the history, you can see the
white men always brought wars, death, destruction, and misery to everywhere they reached. Of course, we
didn’t know about it then.”
Esra had a look at him again. She could see the sorrow of his profile that looked like a wild eagle.
“White man always thought only he had the right to defend himself but nobody else,” Rick continued. “It’s
still the same. As a consequence of the reaction from the Native Americans, Custer attacked a big village on
June 25, 1876. The response from the Cheyenne leaders, including Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse, was very
harsh again. Custer and his 7th Cavalry faced a heavy defeat at Battle of Little Big Horn. They lost over two
hundred men.
“In March 1889, based on a treaty signed by the United States Congress, Great Sioux Reservation was
divided into six small ones. Upon this, some of the tribes began to do Ghost Dance. It was a religious ritual
that was believed to destroy all the white men, bring the ţaţaåka back, and enable us to go back with our old
ways. In November of the same year, South Dakota joined the league.
“But white man never left us alone. It was never enough for him, and he was always greedy for more. They
called us monsters while all we tried to do was defending ourselves, families and lifestyle. On the other hand,
they killed our children, the old, the women, warriors, and the ţaţaåka just for fun, and they called each other
fucking ‘heroes.’”
Rick appeared to be a man who would never cry, but the shake in his voice betrayed his feelings over the
matter. Even if she came to know him as an easy going person all the time, this deeply emotional side of him
didn’t come as a surprise for her.
“In 1890, claiming he encouraged us for anarchy and rebellion, they killed Sitting Bull. After that,
Minnecoujou tribe led by Chief Big Foot escaped for Pine Ridge to take refuge under the protection of Red
Cloud. 7th Cavalry were waiting for them, they were caught, and supposedly for peace meeting, they were
brought to Wounded Knee. In the morning of December 29th, they had a weapon search in the tribe. When
a rifle was off accidentally, all the hell broke loose, and two-hundred-and-fifty Natives were killed, mostly
unarmed. Many of them were buried in a mass grave. A huge monument rock stands there today.”
Rick sighed deeply. “Even that wasn’t enough for the white,” he said. He appeared to be in some sort of
trance behind his closed eyelids, as if reliving all the pains his people suffered. “They had to assimilate us.
When they made us so-called American citizens based on the Citizenship Act signed in 1924, their real aim
was to force us to embrace their lifestyle. They built churches in the reservations, forced their own spirituality
upon us, and didn’t care our own beliefs.”
One single drop of tear travelled along his cheek. Esra was feeling for him, but she held her back from
pulling the car aside and wrap her arms around his massive neck for the fear of breaking the spell of the
moment. Up to that point, Rick had never shared himself so deeply. In all those Hollywood movies, in
various magazines and books, she came to know Native Americans as primitive, wild, animalistic people.
Only now she was beginning to understand all the injustice, torture, and violence they had to endure. Looking
at the history of Turks, they didn’t appear so different actually. They were as proud, free, and great warriors
as her ancestors were.
She was sure there were missing parts in the history he gave her, but his emotional situation told her
enough.
“Still, there were some times when the white man confessed his sins,” continued Rick. “In 1934,
our tribal autonomy was given back. However, my people were hurt enough. In 1973, American Indian
Movement members took the village in Wounded Knee, and stayed there for seventy-one days. After many
years, South Dakota Governor George S. Mickelson and representatives from nine tribe administration
in the state declared the year 1990 as the Year of Reconciliation. One year later, it became the Century of
Reconciliation.”
“But your people were never compensated for all the pain they suffered, right?” said Esra, shaking her
head. “Do you hate the white man, Rick?”
Rick chortled and said, “No. I live among them, right?” He paused for a moment, and opened his eyes
to look out the passenger window of the muscle car. “But I’m sorry for their civilization, because they are
always led without wisdom. He will never be done with tormenting other folks for more and more and more.
He never learns. Still, there are consequences for every wrong action, and he will have to learn soon enough.
He still didn’t pay for what he did.”
“You mean, there will be a serious attack against the white man?”
Rick scoffed at that, and he turned at Esra with the look of a wild wolf whose cubs were ruthlessly slain.
“No,” he said, shrugging. “Nobody can make another pay for their mistakes. Only God can cash you
out for your mistakes, and nobody can ask Him why. Perhaps my people had some sins that caused us to
experience what we did. Just like every society, not every person among my people was noble, either.”
Esra was amazed to hear it. After all the violence and suffering they had to endure, Rick was still able to
question his own people objectively. Such objectivity could come from a deep wisdom and courage only.

* * *

When it was time for lunch, they pulled aside to enter a diner they found. It didn’t look so different than
the ones Esra saw in the movies. A dirty looking wooden hut, a couple of old gas pumps – Esra wasn’t sure if
they were still functional – two gigantic American eighteen-wheelers, and four bikes lined up next to another.
When they were out of the car, Rick nodded towards the bikes. “Harder you worked to steal it, more
valuable a Harley is,” he said, smiling.
Esra raised an eyebrow. “Stealing?” she asked.
“We are rustlers, remember?”
Young woman looked at him without knowing what to say to that.
“Just kidding,” he said. “Let’s go in.”
Interior wasn’t so different than the exterior. The vinyl of the seats were threadbare, and plaid table clothes
lost their colors. They chose a table next to one of the front windows, and a large, middle-aged waitress
arrived their table a few minutes later. Her potato-like nose appeared red as if she was drinking since the early
hours of the morning. She had a cigarette stab between her lips, and she poised her pen on a small notebook
in her hand. “Yaa’dıss pliiz?”
Esra turned to Rick. “Ne dedi bu?” she asked in Turkish. What did she say?
“Ne istediğini soruyor,” Rick replied, grinning. “We’ll give our orders.” Then he turned to the woman.
“Well, first I want a cup of coffee.” Waited for the woman to jot it down. Then he added: “And I also want to
see you naked.”
As Esra’s eyes widened as a response to these words, the woman parted her gaze from her notebook to
look at the huge man in front of her. Just a moment later, she had a gape. “OMIGOD!” she screamed, with
realization dawned on her expression. She threw herself on Rick. “You dirty, wild dog! You damn bastard!
Where the hell have you been?”
Rick returned her hug. “Here and there,” he said. “How are the things around here?”
Woman pulled back, looked at Rick fondly, and she smiled. Then she checked Esra from head to toe,
turning back to Rick once again. “You are with a beautiful lady again, huh?” she asked.
“Let me introduce you,” said Rick. “This is Esra, a friend from Turkey. And this is Sammy.”
Two women exchanged pleasantries. Then Sammy thought to herself, or at least Esra thought so.
“Where is Turkey?” asked Sammy.
“Well…” Esra mumbled.
“A country between Asia and Europe,” said Rick, smiling. Sammy was looking at him as if he spoke in a
language she didn’t understand. “Two other continents in our beautiful planet,” he explained. “Whatever, now
bring one of your amazing hamburgers for our foreign guest here. And a glass of cold beer. I want the same.”
As Sammy walked away in giggles, Esra looked around. Everybody represented their individual way of
life with their clothing here. Sitting at a table nearby was a man with blue plaid shirt, jeans, high cowboy
boots, for instance, apparently the driver of one of those trucks outside. Another similar one was behind
another table; he looked quite alike to the first one, but he had sneakers and a baseball cap.
Looking at those four guys surrounding a table behind the diner were obviously the riders of those bikes,
looking at their leather garments, metal accessories, and large tattoos adorning their bodies. Three of them
had hairs reaching almost their waists. The fourth one had a red Mohawk hair from his forehead to back of
his neck. Everybody minded their own business, and nobody cared for another.
Sammy was back with the orders in ten minutes. When her plate was set on the table, Esra looked at the
biggest hamburger she had ever seen. The meat inside wasn’t grounded, but a huge slice of steak fillet. All
that greenery, tomatoes, catch-up and mayonnaise overflowed from a couple of hamburger bread that could
feed a family.
 “Here is a real hamburger!” said Rick, looking at his own plate.
“Will you eat it all?” asked Esra, doubtfully.
Sammy had a huge grin on her face while listening to them.
“Of course,” replied Rick. “Actually, I’m planning to have another one. You start preparing it, Sammy.”
Truthfully, that huge hamburger was already gone when the second arrived. And Esra could finish only the
half of hers, despite the steak was incredible. Surrendering in the end, she asked Sammy for mineral water to
relieve her stomach.
When they were done with the lunch finally, Rick left a fifty dollar bill on the table while standing up. At
that moment, one of the bikers approached them. It was the guy with red Mohawk hair.
Looking at it closer, Esra noticed the feather earring hanging from one ear, and a thin braid starting from
his neck, rolling down towards his chest. His skin color, facial features, and attitudes showed he was an
Indian, but Esra couldn’t be sure.
“Hey, babe, do you have time for me?” he asked, getting closer to Esra.
Esra moved instinctively to find protection behind Rick’s large body that stood like an ancient Roman
column.
“Hey, pal, I think you drank a little bit too much,” said Rick. “I’m sure you have no ill intention.”
“F’ck’oooff, bastard,” said the guy, but before Rick came with a response to that, a loud gunshot exploded
in the diner.
“I don’t want trouble in my diner,” roared a strong woman voice. Esra recognized the voice without
looking.
When they turned towards the sound, they saw Sammy standing behind the counter with a huge shotgun in
her two hands. She turned the barrel towards the Mohawk.
“You know how to have a Mohawk hair on your head, but you no shit about dignity of being an Indian
warrior, asshole!” she hissed. “Now get your friends, and get the hell out of here. If I ever see you around
here again, you lose your heels before you leave your bikes. Get. Lost!”
Mohawk appeared to come up with a rowdy comment, but his three friends reached him all with sullen
faces, and picked him up to leave. One of them turned to Rick and Esra. “Sorry for the trouble, friends. He’s
having some hard time nowadays.”
“Make sure he won’t make it harder for himself,” responded Rick.
Four guys walked through the door silently, but they appeared to be angry.
Rick hadn’t even move his finger, but even his presence was enough to scare them away. Or was it because
of the gun Sammy was wielding?
As the roar of bikes faded in the distance, Sammy looked at the couple. “You better hurry to your
grandfather’s farm,” she said to Rick. “I don’t they are done with you.”
“Never mind, Sammy,” said Rick. “Kids are just having identity crisis. We were like them. Remember
that fiery blood when you were a teen. They won’t even remember it when they ooze out next to some rocks.
Nothing to exaggerate.”
Sammy smiled ruefully, and then turned to Esra. “Sometimes shit happens around here,” she said. “Don’t
worry. Just enjoy the nature and the scenery, beautiful.” Then she leaned in closer. “But trust me, this old wolf
you travel with is more dangerous than four bikers for a young woman like yourself.”
Esra laughed at it. She was aware that Rick was extremely charismatic and attractive. Worst of all, he
reminded her of Doru a lot.
 17: A Serious Game

Sedat – or with his name in the game, Conqueror – woke up with a question in his mind for the first time
since he started this game. He went to sleep thinking the same thing last night, and he still tried to figure out
some points. As far he could count, he had spent around two months in the game, and until that morning, all
he did was training in martial arts and Tai Chi with Lynn, and going out for walks with Sun Tzu to talk about
philosophical and theoretical aspects of martial arts and life after dinners.
But he didn’t think he had two months in real life, because he knew that the player couldn’t spend more
than six real days at once – even with the support of that weird solution – or he would have serious medical
problems. That was what his experts at Yurtkan Software told him. This meant there was a proportional
correspondence between the game time and the real time, and he felt the urge to figure that out. In another
word, he should understand how long a game day equaled in real time.
On the other hand, this game had followed a slow and boring flow so far. If this was an RPG as the
company claimed it to be, then it should have more action, so there should be some things other than
following the same training routine, because in a normal RPG, a player had to gain experience points to
develop the character, and Sedat could see no experience in his training so far.
When he was out just like he did every morning, a different sight met him. The entire piece of land and
forest surrounding the house was covered in white snow. And there was nobody in sight. He walked around
the hut for a short while, and tried to find Lynn or Sun Tzu but couldn’t see anyone. Moreover, there were no
other sets of footprints in the snow, either. All this seemed so weird, and the puzzles began to confuse him
already.
Walking among the trees with branches covered in snow, he thought all the games he played since his
childhood. Of course, in those days it was difficult to talk about virtual reality technology. Esra was right
about it. There were some samples, but most of them proved to be unsuccessful when it came to make you
feel like real. They weren’t so different than normal video games after all. Still, he enjoyed them a lot.
Sometimes he would be a contract killer. He would carry his missions silently and effectively, kill
imaginary people, make lots of money.
Sometimes he would be a hoodlum in the search of his own rise in a gang. He would steal money, hijack
cars, then he would kill them to gain even more.
Some other times, he would be a king, build castles, destroys or conquers them, have his armies fight the
enemy, and build his country to be a supreme power.
Of course he had his share of problems, too. First of all, he didn’t have a loving family. He grew up as a
fosterling under the legal protection of his uncle. Even if Hikmet said he was no different than Doru for him,
Sedat always thought of him as a stingy asshole, believing he wasn’t provided with the things he deserved.
It didn’t matter in the end. He almost acquired the entire fortune of that family on his own. Esra might
have the control over the money, but since he was the head programmer and CEO of the corporation, he had
the control over her. If Esra wished the continuum for her wealth, she couldn’t do without him. Sedat was
determined to do his best to keep it that way.
Looking back, he enjoyed remembering all those past years. All those problems he had to overcome, all
that pain he had to endure, he remembered it all – a lot of things he deserved but Hikmet couldn’t appreciate
had almost gone to Doru. Still, all the gains he will have were nothing small, and soon, very soon, he would
be even much more powerful.
This game would prove to be an important contribution. However, he was aware he had to make great
changes in the storyline. It was quite educational, all right - it was adequate enough for those who wanted to
learn about the Chinese culture. But he had to make some additions, and create more action in the game. For
instance, a player should have more opportunity for fighting. Perhaps they could even add a part where the
player could conquer a castle, just like he discussed strategically with Sun Tzu. With a sword in hand, a horse
between his legs, under your own banner, just imagine how fiery it would be to order charge on a castle! Then
he might have to defend that castle afterwards. Since they were supposed to be in China, attackers could be
the Mongolians.
That’s it! he thought. A player should relive the history in the game!
There was one more thing to remember adding. He wanted this especially for himself. When the game
starts, Lynn would come to the player’s bed the first night, and present her body to him. Of course, Sedat
would be the first one to try it, too.
That beautiful, graceful, catlike body would wriggle under him in a fiery passion, with the skill of a top
rated whore, and moan through those sensual lips. Sedat would exploit that body inch by inch. Even the
thought of it made him feel hot. He desired her from the very beginning, and he didn’t even bother to hide it.
When the time comes, when he was good enough to best her, he would see if that virtual body could give him
any pleasures, no matter what. He would take her with force if necessary.
Sedat suddenly stopped and turned to look behind. He couldn’t see that paper-wood hut. He wasn’t aware
how far he walked, all lost in thoughts. He must be deep in the jungle. That wasn’t really a problem, because
it was snowy everywhere and he could follow his own footprints to go back.
However, it was getting dark now as the snow clouds came together again, and he felt he could find
himself in a blizzard anytime. Even if it was just a game, he wouldn’t risk getting lost in a dark jungle that he
didn’t know what he could find or what could find him. He was in China after all, and even without so much
knowledge about the area, he knew there should be dangerous wild animals around.
He shivered when he remembered what Sun Tzu said. The old man talked about two creatures. One was
dragon, and it was a mythical creature. But the other one was real: tigers.
Sun Tzu taught him the principles of tiger. What were they? he asked to himself. Oh, yes, I remember –
goal, reason, respect, resources, obstacles and objections, winning attitude, and love…
He still didn’t get it all, but there was one thing he did as a summary: a wild and powerful animal, a tiger in
this case, with a purpose, with a reason, would bring Sedat’s or anyone’s doom as soon as they meet.
No, of course he couldn’t die in a game, but everything was so real in this game that he was sure he didn’t
want to feel the hot breath of a tiger on his neck. Therefore, of course he didn’t like when he heard the
growling behind him.
Sedat froze on his tracks, and couldn’t know what to do. He didn’t have a weapon, and that growl coming
from behind absolutely belonged to a wild animal, even if not a tiger.
Then he felt the soft but strong paws walking over the dry twigs and leaves. From the sound, it was
apparently an animal walking on four legs. Without moving his body, careful not to make any sudden moves,
he tried to turn his head and look over his shoulder. When he had the glimpse of an orange-black fur, he
realized he was holding his breath.
Yes, this game was too real for comfort. He could feel the sweat coming down on his forehead, just like
this monster that leaned its huge nose to his hip.
Sedat lowered his gaze to look at the animal all in fear of seeing it for real. He wasn’t wrong. This was a
Bengal tiger, and he was smelling Sedat quite calmly. Perhaps he wouldn’t do any harm?
Don’t call wishful thinking, he thought to himself. This is a tiger. How would you know what it would do?
But he couldn’t run, or he couldn’t fight. Its smallest tooth was the half size of a finger of his, and his fangs
were probably bigger than Sedat’s hand. He had heard from a documentary Doru watched when they were
kids that its body should weight around four hundred pounds, and he had seen a guy putting his head into a
tiger’s mouth at a circus.
He liked these animals, he thought to himself. Would he still like them if he were in my place now?
He remembered what Sun Tzu told him about love. In such a situation, especially if it weren’t a game, was
it possible to love this creature?
The beast pushed his hip with its nose, and purred with pleasure.
Of course it will be pleased, it found an easy prey like me. I’m sure I’d be enough to satisfy its hunger.
He jerked suddenly. He realized he felt and thought as if it’s real. Neural system was really an interesting
phenomenon. This was just a game in the end, and this tiger couldn’t eat him. The worst could be dying and
getting out of the game. That wasn’t a problem, because he could start all over again.
Tiger was walking around him, smelling his entire body. He stood still, afraid to move a finger. He could
feel the beast’s breath on his hands and around his waist, its long white whiskers touched his skin, and he
could feel the warm moisture on its nose, which was typical to all cats.
No, he didn’t care if it was a game or not. It scared the shit out of him.
The tiger moved back a little, looked at him with its honey colored eyes, and yawned widely. Sedat was
right. Its teeth were far beyond scary – they were a nightmare!
 Then, as if it wasn’t aware of its huge size, it sat on its ass just like a kitten, wrapped its tail around its legs,
and began grooming itself quite innocently. Trembling where he stood, he felt insulted by an animal. Perhaps
that was what the beast was trying to tell him: I am the master here! You’re completely at my mercy!
He would give everything to have a shotgun in his hands now and empty all the shells into its brain! Not
because he was shitting himself, or because he hated the animal, but just to make it pay for this insult!
Sedat looked at the creature, and squeezed his fists until his fingernails hurt his palms.

* * *

He didn’t know how long it was. Perhaps just a few minutes that felt extended because of fear, or perhaps
half an hour. The tiger was still there. It groomed itself for a very long time, and then lied down resting its
jaw on its front paws. It still appeared to be uninterested in him.
Sedat didn’t know how come a game could create such a real feeling, but he felt his kimono was glued to
his back of sweat.
The wild creature suddenly raised its head and smelled the air. Then it stood up, and looked at Sedat. Even
if it looked and acted docile, its gaze still projected a hidden threat. Then, as if on a cue, it turned suddenly
and walked away slowly, shaking its tail like a pendulum.
Long after tiger disappeared among the trees, Sedat couldn’t stand for longer, but collapsed as a heap
passing out.
 18: What Makes Us Human

Esra thought she was having some of the best time in her life. Feeling Rick’s friendship and warm heart
next to hers, getting to know a world she had never known, talking to people who she saw only in movies,
watching the Native children’s games, made her feel like she was in a fairytale.
Some still lived in teepees in the Sioux Reservation in South Dakota. Old people sitting wrapped in their
handmade blankets with fascinating patterns on them, and smoking pipe in front of bonfires in a way that
reminded authentic Native villages from the 19th century.
She never met such a sincere, mysterious, impressive, and poetic group of people. She couldn’t speak their
language, so she could communicate with the old only with Rick’s help. It was easier to communicate with
the young ones, because all of them could speak English, and she could speak the language quite fluently.
Though she’s been here in this place for only two days, they mingled quickly. Esra was aware Rick had a big
influence in this, but they were generally very friendly and hospitable people.
While witnessing the lifestyle of these people, she began to understand Doru’s worldview. She felt as
if he used to long for living in the nature, racing with the buffalos, playing with the wolves, catching wild
Mustangs to tame them, and ride them at full gallop. Perhaps if she had surrendered her heart, self, and love
to his hands when he was still alive, he might have introduced her to such a world much sooner, and thus, she
could have begun to understand what really mattered in life.
Natives seemed as if they were in love with everything that was natural. The sunrise and sunset, blooming
flowers, flying birds, Moon playing hide-and-seek with the clouds… Everything seemed like a miracle for
these people. They accepted so. Everything in nature was a gift from the Great Spirit. They believed in one
single Almighty Creator – not in some wooden idols as it was shown in old Western movies – they valued
symbolism, kept their rituals, and tried to keep their traditions alive in this strange open air prison.
Some still preferred to use their ancestral names. Esra still remembered those old Western movies, and the
terms used in their scripts, and realized how the white people showed this amazing culture in a very warped
way.
In those movies she remembered from her childhood, usually some Native war chief took a white prisoner,
and said, “when the sun rises to the spear’s head, this white man will die.” They were shown as savages
who scalped the white men to use them as accessories for their belts. However, as a white person, now Esra
witnessed a very important truth herself: while some of their traditions might appear weird and savage, there
was a meaning in everything they did, and they worldview was based on this deep, esoteric, and meaningful
foundations. Rick said this was the wisdom that was unique to people who lived harmoniously with nature:
they understood the ways of the universe.
Their legends filled with symbols and metaphors, their stories, each more impressive than the other, deeply
touching songs and elegies, they proved over and over again how deep their spiritual understanding was.
Esra regretted for the first time in her life for not being able to understand Doru better when she still had
the chance. She had no doubt that he would understand these people very well, and he would be very close
friends with Rick.
When it was getting dark at the end of their second day in the reservation, they went to visit a very old
relative of Rick’s. Robert Gentlewolf – Natives were usually given an English name, because it was easier
for the American government for registry purposes – lived in a teepee made of deer skin, and decorated with
impressive Native patterns, according to his ancestral traditions. According to what Rick told him, this man
who was older than a century, deserved his name with his personality, because while he was known for his
calm demeanor, Gentlewolf was still as strong and shrewd as a wolf.
When Esra heard his name, she asked Rick if he had a Native name, too. Rick shrugged. “Of course,” he
said. “Each of us has a traditional name among our tribe.” Then he pointed the river crossing Rosebud where
the reservation was, and said, “This is my name. Whiteriver.”
He deserved his name with his gray hair flowing smoothly over his shoulders. Esra was confused, because
if this was true, it meant Rick didn’t have a traditional name until he was old enough to have such hair.
 “No,” said Rick, “of course I had a name. I just didn’t have a Native name, because as I told you before, I
denied my past. When I finally came to learn some very important lessons, my hair was gray already.”
Esra was also curious to find out what Rick thought about some Hollywood movies that glorified Native
culture.
Rick shrugged again. “For decades, Hollywood showed us as monsters,” he said. “Then when white people
began to have a better understanding of our way of life, Hollywood wanted to exploit that, too, and followed
the financially smart way, so while making so-called apologetic movies about us, they made money again out
of their own sins.”
Esra thought Rick wasn’t completely wrong about this.
Now they were sitting all three of them in front of Gentlewolf’s teepee, watching the breathtaking
panorama of “Native sunset.”
Gentlewolf leaned over Rick, and said something in their language. Rick nodded to him before he turned to
Esra. “Gentlewolf asks if you have a heart problem,” he said.
Esra was surprised. “What made him think that?” she asked.
“He is a holy man,” Rick explained. “He is highly intuitive.”
Esra looked at the old man, and gave him a shy smile. She felt weird for this, because she never felt
embarrassed since she married to Doru. In opposite, she got accustomed with ordering people around. Still,
these people had such an aura that one couldn’t help but feel humble around them. Moreover, while she was
in the traditional Native clothing Rick bought for her as a gift, it was impossible not to surrender to such a
world.
Gentlewolf talked to Rick again, and he translated for Esra: “He says, love requires courage, but this white
woman thinks it’s too late for some things. Though it’s never too late.”
Esra smiled faintly again, but this time she felt her cheeks burning. Then she looked away, and turned her
gaze towards the sun setting in the west.
To be, or not to be, she thought. No, Shakespeare was wrong. It should have been West or East. This the
most important notion for all the mankind.
Still, just like east met west from the other way around, someday East and West would meet, too, and
mankind would become one. As Rick put it, “the men of soil” understood this a very long time ago, but the
White Man was still learning.
“He has a message for you,” said Rick, interrupting her thoughts. “He says it’s from the Great Spirit.”
Esra turned to look at the old man. Gentlewolf said some more words, and Rick turned to her to translate:
“He says, what makes a house a home is love, not luxury.”
Gentlewolf then looked at her burning eyes, and talked more in his own language. She turned to look at
Rick.
“The Great Spirit measures someone not based on their appearance, but their heart,” Rick translated. “A
person is only as human as they can love, and sacrifice for that love. Beyond that, haves or have nots don’t
matter at all.”
Esra felt the tears coming down her cheeks, while Gentlewolf’s big and wrinkly hand reached to caress her
hair gently. Then the old Sioux nodded, and smiled affectionately. Esra couldn’t help herself, but wrapped her
arms around Gentlewolf’s neck, bursting into sobs.
Sun was set a while ago, burying everything into darkness, and the stars looked like diamonds in silky and
peaceful skies.

* * *

She was drenched in sweat, and her forehead was on fire when she opened her eyes. She fearfully looked
around to remember where she was, and as her eyes adjusted to darkness, she could see the shadows inside
the teepee.
She breathed deeply several times to get rid of that bad dream she had. The peaceful moonlight was
blinking through the open top of the teepee, and the place was filled with the musky scent of the incense Rick
left before he went to bed. It was quiet outside, and she could hear only the sound cicadas.
She shivered when she remembered the voice talking to her at the end of her dream, asking, “Why did you
kill me?”
She felt the tightening in her chest, and couldn’t breathe for a short while. She held the blanket tightly in
her fists, pressing it to her chest.
“I didn’t mean to,” she whispered with some difficulty, feeling the tears coming down her cheeks once
again. “My love, I didn’t want this to happen… I never meant any harm for you… Believe me, I never
wanted that…” And she couldn’t help herself any longer, surrendering to the sobs coming from the depth of
her soul. She was able finally to express the regrets of the years and what was unchangeable. “Doru!... I love
you so much…” she whispered between her sobs.
 19: The Champion

Sedat had begun to think there was a problem with the main story. After finally waking up that night, he
was able to find his way back home, fortunately. However, Sun Tzu came in the morning to wake him up, and
tell him that he was finally ready to meet the Champion today.
Whereas, he had no idea how, when, and with what training he was ready. While the story unfolded so
realistically so far, it became strange out of a sudden. It felt as if some of the rings of the chain were missing.
Still, he would do as Sun Tzu told him, because he needed some action. Lynn came in with a kimono for
“the Conqueror” as the girl servant as she was at the beginning of the game, as if she forgot she was Sedat’s
master.
This set was made of shiny gold satin. A black stripe reached diagonally from his left shoulder to his right
thigh. After he threw them on, he tied the black belt around his waist.
So I earned the black belt now? he thought, mocking himself and the game.
He thought everything was becoming boring already. Still, he had come so far, and he will either win or
lose when he met the Champion, thus ending this stupid game.
Yes, the technology was seriously impressive, and the game lacked nothing but a powerful storyline. This
way, it was really boring, and now there was this strange, inexplicable gap in the plot.
What if he won, and he wanted to continue? Would he risk all the pain and death to get out of the game?
Could he do that? He didn’t know how much it would hurt if he lost an arm or something, and he had no taste
in testing it. However, it was time to go back to the real world, and start working on stealing the game.
A bad storyline wasn’t a real problem; he could come up with a much better one with his own team. And
if they were in luck, maybe they could improve the nano-technology solution, lengthening the time it could
support the needs of one’s physical body. If they could do it, they would have gained the time to fill this weird
gap in the storyline.
He was lost in such thoughts while dressing up for the boss fight. Then he walked slowly out of the
house. Lynn and Sun Tzu were waiting for him; they both sat cross-legged on the grass, looking extremely
comfortable. Sedat walk towards them.
Sun Tzu slowly stood up, and eyed him from head to toe. Apparently deciding he was dressed up properly,
the old man slowly smiled.
Then Lynn stood up, and greeted Sedat – well, the Conqueror actually – with great respect. “Could you
please extend your right wrist, the Conqueror?” she asked.
While doing as he was told, Sedat couldn’t keep his eyes away from her gracious body covered in a
kimono. For the last a few days, having sex with her became an obsession. Lynn took a black leather
wristband out of somewhere under her own belt, and wrapped it around Sedat’s right wrist, tying up the thin
cords.
“This is a family heirloom,” she said. “Absolutely precious to us. Please accept it for good luck in your
fight.”
Sedat nodded respectfully, whereas he didn’t give a damn about the ancestors of an NPC. What could they
be, after all? A mass of code? Some virtual reality accessories? He did his best to suppress his laughter. On
the other hand, while she was just a virtual NPC, he still remembered the beating she gave him.
“The fight is to be held without weapons, and not to death,” said Sun Tzu. “Still, the Champion will push
your limits, the Conqueror. We need to see your skill level before you start with your real mission.”
Real mission, thought Sedat. He didn’t know the time ratio between the game and the real life, but he felt
like it was almost a week now. And now he would start the real mission after this? It couldn’t be so long,
because he knew the nano solution was designed to support the body up to five days only.
He felt the urge to laugh rising in him, and could hardly keep himself. So, this was the software their rival
came up with to celebrate their fifth anniversary? Apparently, he didn’t need to worry much about the market
share, after all, because while the technology seemed formidable, the game was a total failure.
“Now it’s time,” said Sun Tzu, beginning to walk towards the edge of the woods.
Lynn walked after him, Sedat coming last. He didn’t know how far they walked, but when they reached
some clearing in the woods, Sun Tzu suddenly stopped. Lynn walked pass by him, moving towards the trees,
and turned to look at Sedat. Sedat thought he saw some weird twinkles in her eyes, but he didn’t give it so
much thought.
He was curious why there was nobody else there. He turned his gaze at Sun Tzu’s face. The old man was
silent, and stood with a straight back.
Suddenly, he heard a rustle among the trees. Sedat thought it might be a tiger again, but both Sun Tzu and
Lynn looked nonchalant. They just stood silently.
Right behind the tree next to Lynn, a man came out. He was a little bit shorter than Sedat, with a strong
body, and a horrible Kendo mask covering his face. His sleek black hair poured down behind his mask to his
waist, hiding the back of his black kimono. A silver satin belt was tied around his waist.
He walked to the center of circular clearing in the middle of the trees, and turned towards Sun Tzu. Sedat
felt his blood froze in his veins when he saw the Chinese style tiger design on the back of his kimono. At
that moment, some other men came out among the trees, surrounding the clearing. Sedat realized he had no
escape from there.
The guy was talking to Sun Tzu, but Sedat wasn’t close enough to hear what they said. Obviously, this
should be the Champion.
When they were done talking, Sun Tzu turned towards Sedat, and gestured him to stand inside the circle.
Sedat did as he was told. His opponent slowly took his place at the other side of the circle, still his back to
Sedat.
He slightly lowered his head, and adjusted the cords of his black leather wristbands showing under his
sleeves. He had thick leather gloves without fingers, but he had no brass knuckles or anything on them.
Perhaps he wore them just to protect his own bones.
Sun Tzu looked at them for a last time, and he declared, “The Champion versus the Conqueror! Begin!”
Then he walked to stand next to his daughter.
Sedat raised his guard, and he slowly approached his opponent. Now the game was becoming exciting, and
he was ready to kick the shit out of this so-called champion. However, the guy still appeared as if he didn’t
care of him; he was done with his wristbands, and now he was shaking off the dust from his pants using his
right hand.
Sedat couldn’t know if he should be weary or not. Still, he thought some caution would be good here. He
kept approaching, and stood at a distance a little bit longer than an arm-length.
The Champion was still unmoving. He was done with his pants, too, and just stood like a block of rock in
his place. Sedat got confused. He loosened his fists, dropping his guard just a little bit. He risked a confused
look at Sun Tzu.
Right at that moment, the Champion made his move unexpectedly, and jumping to the air, he turned with a
wheel-kick. Sedat could only see the foot for a moment right before it hit squarely on his face. With impact of
the blow, he stumbled several steps back, but managed to stay on his feet.
The Champion completed his turn in mid-air, and landed on his feet gracefully. With no hesitation, he
rolled over the ground, and pushing himself on his hands, he double kicked Sedat on his chin. This time
Sedat couldn’t keep his balance; kicks disturbed the fluid in his inner ears, and stumbled where he stood for a
moment before he collapsed.
His opponent was taking it slow. After his double kick, he rose from the ground gracefully like a cat, and
now he was circling around Sedat like a threatening predator. Still, his guard wasn’t up at all, and he seemed
quite at ease.
Sedat forced himself to sit up, and rubbed his aching chin with one hand. Then he frowned at the
Champion. “So, you want to play rough, huh?” he mocked his opponent.
But the Champion was completely silent. Sedat couldn’t even hear his breathing.
When he was up, this time the Champion extended one arm forward, and moved his other next to his chin.
Now he was standing on his bended knees without moving at all. Sedat moved right a little, trying to find an
opening. Finally, when he thought he found one, he made his move, but it was too late to realize that opening
was a ruse. He didn’t have much time to think about his mistake while somersaulting in the air before
sprawling on his chest.
He shook his head to gather his senses, while the Champion was standing completely still, looking at him
with unmoving eyes. He was still deadly silent.
 Sedat was beginning to get mad now. He was so determined to kick the life out of this guy. Remembering
everything Lynn taught him, and depending on reflexes that were sharpened through a long training period,
he charged on the Champion. As he threw his punch, the Champion moved slightly sideways, letting Sedat’s
fist miss his nose.
Everything felt like in slow-motion. During his move, Sedat had inevitably blown the air out of his lungs.
On his way back while breathing in, the Champion’s gloved fist landed on the pit of Sedat’s stomach with full
force. Sedat felt the air got stuck in his lungs. He couldn’t breathe in or out. It felt as if the Champion’s blow
had nailed the air somewhere inside Sedat’s body.
Feeling he was about black out, and the burn on his face, his opponent stood straight where he was, and
looked coldly at Sedat in the eye through the holes of his mask. Right then, he began. He was completing
his series of moves in such a fluid way, completing one set after another, creating so powerful and
effective combinations that while stumbling backwards on his feet, Sedat wasn’t even aware what hit him
relentlessly… was it a fist, or a kick? He had no idea.
It was impossible to count the blows through such a showering, but his opponent didn’t even let Sedat
drop. When he felt he was about to lose his consciousness, he felt as if the time slowed down once again.
With a powerful kick landing on his nose, he heard the cracks echoing in his mind; with an open hand blow
on his neck, his eyes blacked out; with all those punches landing right below his chest, he felt as if his soul
was torn apart from his body. Then the blurry black kimono of the Champion wheeled in the air for a last
time, and with a kick landing on his chest, Sedat was thrown back to a tree behind him.
When he hit his head on the trunk of that tree, he felt the lightning inside his brain. He slid down from the
trunk like a rag doll. The woods, the men witnessing the fight, and the masked face of his opponent, it felt as
if the entire world was turning around him.
If this weren’t a game, but real, probably he would be handed with quite a bulgy hospital bill. When he
saw the fist coming fast towards his face, he realized the game was over, too, and closed his eyes in a total
surrender.
But he never felt the blow. The fist froze in mid-air an inch from his face, and the Champion looked
carefully at Sedat’s face from behind his mask. Sedat remembered what Sun Tzu had said. Since this wasn’t a
fight to death, apparently the Champion gave up of his last killing blow.
While his vision began to clear a little bit, the Champion moved his other hand to his mask, and pulled it
away without hesitation. Sedat thought this was the killing blow instead. The face he saw was more terrifying
than anything he could see in his worst nightmares. Before he could do, or say anything, the Champion’s
waiting fist completed its journey.
The last thing Sedat could see was another lightning before his eyes.

* * *

Sunlight coming through the windows made it painful to open his eyes. He was accustomed to wake up
with such a bright light whenever he was at the White Wolf, and his eyes would hurt each time, because he
would have played computer games until dawn.
However, this time the game took several days. For almost a week, he had played the weird game created
by Enigma, far away from the real world.
He suddenly startled. There was something that made this game different. It was a virtual reality game, and
he should have had the goggles still on. So, it couldn’t be sunlight. He opened his eyes, and looked around.
He was still in the ergonomic gaming seat, the computer was on, he saw “Game Over” on screen of the
monitor, and the injector was still on his forearm, but the goggles had fallen on his lap.
None of it made any sense.
 20: S. O. S.

Finally it was time to go back home. She felt it was time to push the play button of life once again. So she
left her car to Rick’s care, who preferred to stay a while longer in South Dakota, and flew back home instead.
Her car would arrive in another month, sent by Rick after her.
When she finally switched on her cell-phone after three months of time, Esra got a message she didn’t
expect. Apparently, some serious shit was brewing at Yurtkan Software.
Since she sold her own shares, the problems Yurtkan Software faced weren’t hers anymore, but Adnan had
told her that the situation held vital importance, and that there was no way they could reach Sedat, so she
couldn’t help but wonder. Even if she didn’t have any financial or commercial relations with the corporation
anymore, she had inherited it from her beloved Doru, and if there was anything she could do for the company,
she would do it.
She walked into the lobby through the double doors with filmed glasses. The place was decorated with
steel work with silver lining, and furnished lavishly with mostly mahogany wood. Something she couldn’t
pinpoint exactly made her stop. Then she realized. The place was uncharacteristically silent… and empty.
Something was seriously amiss.
She headed for the lifts right away, and as soon as the doors slid open on the eighth floor, she met Adnan
with a worried expression on his face.
He was a middle sized, thickset guy. Over his fifty, he had gray hair, but his thick beard and moustache
were only grizzled, and handsomely. He knew how the organization worked much better even than Esra and
Sedat, because he was with Doru’s father when Yurtkan Software had started in a small office.
Esra knew that Adnan didn’t approve Doru’s marriage with her. It wasn’t because she came from poverty,
though. Adnan was a good judge of character, and as soon as he met her, he knew why she was with Doru.
Throughout the years, he had given Esra a hard time every now and then, but after she inherited the company,
he had to be more careful with his attitude towards her.
Once Esra even thought that he would quit because of the negative air between them, but as much as she
could gather afterwards, Adnan’s loyalty to the company wasn’t based only in financial reasons. More than a
very good business executive, he was like a loyal servant to a royal house.
Adnan hadn’t go in too much details during their conversation over the phone, and now Esra was
beginning to realize that the situation was even more severe than she expected. Adnan seemed as if he
couldn’t know what to do.
“Esra Hanim, everybody is waiting for you in the conference room,” he said.
Without making any comments, she headed for where she was expected. She walked briskly through the
long corridor, and pushed open the double doors into the large conference room. The place was as big as
a large apartment. Paneled in rose wood, and it was lit by hidden lamps that reflected the light from white
ceiling to create an indirect lighting. At the far side of the room, there was a high technology projector for
presentations, and other materials that were necessary for seminars – or meetings – were set on the shelves
next to it.
Beyond the long oval table, one wall was completely made of convex glass that looked over the street
below, and at one head of the table was the slate chair that belonged to Doru’s father, then to Esra, and
probably to Sedat now.
While the table was surrounded with a dozen chairs, only Adnan – as vice president – and Rezzan, who
was the representative of the legal office Yurtkan Software worked with. Esra took the slate chair, and looked
around others with questioning eyes.
“I’m all ears,” she said, without even a proper greeting. “What’s going on? Where is Sedat Bey?”
Adnan cleared his throat. “It’s really very bad, Esra Hanim,” he said.
“I figured as much,” she responded. “You brought me here at the speed of light. Let’s get down to business,
Adnan Bey.”
“Well, Sedat Bey was nowhere to be found for three months,” explained Adnan, looking nervously at
others, as if he wasn’t sure if he should say whatever he had to say.
“Listen, Adnan Bey,” she said. “I might have sold my shares, but our relations will continue with you all,
even this company belongs to others. Therefore, please tell me what happened.”
Adnan seemed like trying to buy some time to think more clearly. He adjusted his burgundy tie over his
sky blue shirt, and surrendering finally, he nodded. “Alright,” he said. “Well, honestly, as you probably
already figured out for yourself, we are in deep trouble, and we had to call you when we couldn’t reach Sedat
Bey. Please, accept my apologies for disturbing you.”
Esra looked at him in the eye, making him feel she was at the end of her patience.
“Since you left, I mean for almost three months now, Sedat Bey hasn’t been around,” said Adnan. “And for
all we know, he was away to his ranch. However, normally he would be back in a week or two.”
Listening to what Adnan was telling her, Esra darted a look at Rezzan, and she gestured her to prepare a
drink for her from the bar at the corner of the room.
Rezzan was one of those from the new generation of businesswomen. She would always wear suits, and
never let her personal feeling in the way of business dealings. She was well over her thirty, and while she was
attractive enough to make heads turn in the streets, she had never married. She was married to her career.
She rolled her auburn hair into a neat bun behind her head, wore a white shirt inside a tan skirt suit, and
with her sly expression on her face combined with a frowning half-smile, she was breathtaking as always.
Esra was sure the woman had no idea of cooking or household chores, but it was clear she knew how to
prepare drinks in the corporate world.
“Why did he disappear, and how?” she asked, accepting the whiskey glass Rezzan offered her. “Why
didn’t you notify the cops?”
Adnan looked at the glass Esra held among her slender fingers. He knew she didn’t like alcohol much, but
after these last three months, she seemed like to have gained a different taste.
“Of course, we did,” said Adnan. “However, they couldn’t find him, either. It’s like the earth swallowed
him as a whole.”
I wish, thought Esra.
Rezzan went back to her seat, and kept listening to the conversation.
“Well, still, what’s that got to do with me?” asked Esra. “You don’t expect me to find him for you, right?”
“No, no,” replied Adnan. “However, one of you two should have been here, because the corporation faces
some very serious troubles. Moreover…” – he paused – “…two hours ago, we could finally have managed to
reach him on his cell-phone. He’s on his way here now.”
“So where the hell has that bastardo been?” she asked, nonchalantly. She dove into her black leather purse,
and fished out a cigarette. She lit it quite calmly, sat back on her chair, and gently blew the smoke.
Rezzan was looking at her own lap.
“He said he was at his ranch,” replied Adnan. “And the weirdest of all, he said he wasn’t around not for
three months, but just one week!”
Esra raised an eyebrow. She thought to herself. “Alright,” she said, finally, “if you’ve already found her, it
means you don’t need me anymore. He can fix all of your problems for all I care.”
“Errr… well,” mumbled Adnan, completely serious. His hazel eyes lit as if they were burning inside. “You
both have to be here today.”
Esra left her glass on the table, took another puff of her cigarette, blew the smoke through her nostrils, and
looked back at Adnan again. “And why is that exactly?”
“Because, the administration group of Enigma required it,” he explained.
Esra frowned at him. “Administration group of… what? What’s that got to do with them?”
Adnan finally blurted it out. “They want to buy Yurtkan Software, Esra Hanim.”
She was frozen in her place, gaping at him silently. Hearing this had made an effect as if somebody tipped
a pail of cold water over her head after a long marathon. She couldn’t believe an adolescent of a company
like Enigma could dare to make such an offer for an industry giant like Yurtkan Software.
She leaned forward, put her elbows on the desk, linked her hands together, and looked at Adnan with a
deep frown. “Come again?”
“I said…” mumbled Adnan, once again, “Enigma wants to buy our company, Esra Hanim.”
Esra looked at him unflinching, and then she turned to look out the sky through the huge window. She was
silent for a few moments, and then she turned back at Adnan. “And do they have enough cash to buy this
company?” she asked.
“They appear so,” he replied.
Esra looked at him as if she was waiting to hear the offered price.
“They offer half a million American Dollars,” he explained, darting a look at Rezzan.
There was a funny expression on Esra’s face, as if she just heard a joke. Her eyebrows raised almost to the
top of her head, and looked at Adnan as if he lost his mind. “Half a million, huh? Wow!” And she burst into a
fit of laughter. “And how are they suggesting to pay for that? Cash, or check? Or with stock options?”
“Cash,” said Adnan, quite seriously.
Esra was still laughing. “I didn’t know it was Fool’s Day today,” she said. “Half a million, huh? That’s a
good one, really.”
But then she saw Adnan’s face, and she stopped laughing, turning to look at Rezzan instead. They both
seemed serious.
“Are they crazy?” she asked. “Even the annual turnover of this company is many times over. How can they
fathom to buy it for such a ridiculous price?”
Adnan lowered his gaze to the table for a moment. Then he had a look at Rezzan, and hesitantly, turned
back at Esra again. “They…” he said, forcing himself to talk, “they can do this, I’m afraid, Esra Hanim.”
Esra looked at the vice president dumbfounded. Realizing he was deadly serious about this, he tried to pick
herself up, but couldn’t manage. She gulped the rest of her whiskey… just like she did when she was told by
Sedat about the game project for the first time.
She left the empty glass on the table. She was really serious now. She felt as if she was crushed under the
entire world. “Tell me how,” she said, looking at the surface of the table in front of her.
“Sedat Bey was accused for industrial thievery,” said Adnan. “Police, treasury, and the DA came for us.
Our books were examined, and they just used all sorts of excuses to corner us. I’m sorry, but apparently our
chief of accounting was working with Sedat Bey, and when what he did was discovered, he was fired right
away. Our credibility was shaken, and we lost many contracts. Long story in short, our shares went down
eighty five percent only in three months, Esra Hanim. People also quit in groups, lured by rival companies.”
So, this explained the unusual silence in the building.
“Some suppliers, and many project partners we worked with left us, believing we were playing some dirty
tricks,” he continued. “I don’t think Yurtkan Software has so much time to survive, and Enigma is in a very
powerful position for an acquisition.”
“I can’t believe in this,” she said. “All these should be just speculations. I’m sure there is someone behind
all this, or a group, or Enig…” She stopped short. Now she was beginning to understand. She sat back, and
crossed her arms, still looking at the surface of the table.
How could she be so blind, or stupid? Rick was one of them! He said it! He kept Esra away from Turkey
deliberately. He must have known Sedat was after the game, and thus, keeping her out of the country, they
could create the financial climate they needed. She was right all along. Rick must be the owner of Enigma.
And how could she believe he was a nice person?! Just like they were called as horse thieves, one of them
now had stolen their company. Oh, shit, I entrusted him with my Mustang!
She felt the rage rising fast, and she smashed her fist on the table. Then she sat unmoving for a long
moment.
“Esra Hanim, are you alright?” asked Adnan, when she was lost in her thoughts.
Esra looked up at him. “Does Sedat know any of this shit?” she asked.
“Well, I do now,” said Sedat’s voice, from somewhere in the room.
Everybody turned towards the sound. He was standing in the doorway. He looked terrible – with a stub
around his jaw as if he didn’t shave for at least a week, with longer and scruffy hair, and he obviously lost
weight. His skin was paler – well, he didn’t go to the sun parlor for three months now, right? – and his
gray eyes that always shone his pride lost their usual glitter. This couldn’t be the guy Esra dined with in the
backyard of his villa three months ago.
“I do, but I can’t make any sense of it,” added Sedat. “How could they do this to us?”
“Yeah, when something goes out of your expectations, you can never make any sense,” Esra mocked him.
She tried to collect herself up, and looked back at Adnan. Perhaps it was for the best to sell the company.
After all, she, or the employees would lose nothing. But Sedat stood to lose everything!
“When will they come?” she asked Adnan.
“Actually…” he said, hesitantly. He looked at Rezzan. Rezzan nodded confidently. Then Adnan turned
back at Esra, and made his declaration: “Actually… they are already here. They are waiting in the guest room
downstairs.”
“Then send them in,” said Esra, with a steeled determination. She knew who she would meet. A man who
she spent so many days with lately, who earned her trust. Rick of the Sioux!
Then she looked at Sedat. “C’mon, have a seat, and enjoy the mess you caused, asshole!” she ordered.
Sedat approached the table timidly, as a kicked dog, and took the chair nearest to Rezzan.

* * *

When the door was knocked approximately in ten minutes, Sedat was nibbling his fingernails to their flesh,
Rezzan was checking her notes for the negotiations, Adnan was sipping his whiskey, and Esra was pacing
around the room like an angry cat.
“Come in!” called Sedat, in a defeated and worn out manner.
“Shut the fuck up!” said Esra, with a warning tone in her voice. “You will just listen to this meeting in
pain, and say nothing, not even a single word! You hear me? I want you to watch minute by minute how you
lose everything!”
Then the door was pushed open, and an enormous Native American walked in with his grey long hair
flowing down his shoulders, clothing in style, and with a black leather briefcase in hand.
Esra stopped and turned to look at him. “Welcome, Rick.”
Rezzan and Sedat, quite in shock, first looked at Esra, and then at this stranger. Did they know each other?
“Damn it!” yelled Sedat, jumping up. “This is your game! You tricked us all into this!” he shouted,
pointing a finger at Esra.
Rezzan was confused, too. She looked around the people in the room.
“I said… SHUT! THE! FUCK! UP!” yelled Esra, raining fire over him with just her looks.
Sedat sat back silently. He looked like a kicked puppy.
“Hi, Esra,” said Rick. He walked forward without closing the door, and left his briefcase on the table.
“Don’t you have a lawyer?” asked Esra.
“Actually, of course, I do,” Rick replied. “But he’s not needed here now. And I know, you are mad at me,
thinking I fooled you. You may be right about I tricked you, but I want you to know that we’re about to give
you the greatest gift of your life.”
Esra gave him a despising look. “We? Plural?” She leaned her head sideways, and asked with mocking
smile on her face, “I thought you were Enigma. Who are the others with you?”
Instead of answering the question, Rick looked back at the door. The first one who walked through the door
was an old Chinese guy. He was bald, with mustache flowing down from two sides of his mouth, and a beard
from the bottom of his thin lips, and he had a likable face. Despite his old age, he looked quite strong and
had a great form in a burgundy colored kimono. He wore wooden soled Chinese clogs. Upon his entering, he
bent slightly to greet everyone in the room, and just as walking past behind Sedat, he gave him one of his so
familiar slaps on the top of his head.
“Sun Tzu…” mumbled Sedat, trying to remember to close his mouth, being unable to move at all.
Then a young Chinese woman walked in. She had black long hair flowing down her shoulders. She wore a
dark blue satin kimono, and plain, but elegant looking silver bracelets around her wrists. She walked forward
in her pure white sneakers. She greeted others, and gave Sedat a hard gaze while passing behind him.
“Lynn…” he whispered, aghast.
Esra saw these people for the first time in her life, and she had no idea what Sedat was all about. Rezzan
respectfully stood up, and smiled gently at the arriving people.
However, the one to walk through the door with his long black hair, bright looking green eyes, in his black
satin kimono with a tiger design on its back, was someone all of them knew just so well.
Everybody knew just then that he was the Enigma. He was the one who set all these traps, mercilessly,
and skillfully cornering Yurtkan Software, Esra, and Sedat to make them stand to lose everything they had,
proving he was much smarter than everyone else there. Despite all this, Adnan left his seat with a clear
respect, turning to look at the guy. And despite he was known for his sense of loyalty and honor, he had no
qualms about what was about to take place.
Esra was transfixed where she stood, looking at the guy as if she was in a dream. Her mind couldn’t grasp
what she saw, and it didn’t hold much longer. Rick was there to grab her gently before she hit the floor when
she passed out.
Adnan gave the guy a fatherly smile, and spoke quite warmly: “Welcome home, Doru!”
 21: Six Months Ago

It wasn’t an easy task to travel from Turkey to the foot of Himalayans on a bike. Trying to survive, losing
and removing the hitmen behind him – to navigate in the minefields to dodge the border cops in several
countries – to find fuel for free, breaking in to the tanks of cars parked in the streets – to stay away from
the cities as much as possible, and to protect himself without a proper weapon against wild animals in the
wilderness – to hunt animals or steal food to keep himself going… It took almost a month to reach this point
where he could see the supreme heights of Himalayans.
He had tossed the bike somewhere out of sight, and prepared for an impossible climb with no proper tools,
he had met Rick, who was a climber himself, too. Rick couldn’t understand first why this guy was determined
for such a climb without any proper preparations, and the guy had looked at him suspiciously in return, which
was a natural result of all the betrayals he had to face and overcome. He saw everybody as another potential
hitman sent by his so-called brother.
This Native American guy had chosen not to question him, and shared his tools and materials instead. They
had climbed together as partners, and found the old Cheng Lao’s cottage in the woods.
He owed Cheng Lao and Cheng Lynn for his life. On their way back from the Far East on their private
plane, one of the engines suddenly bursting into flames, they had began to lose altitude over Tibet. Hoping to
slow it down, pilot tried to slide the plane over the trees, but there was no survivor from the crash, but Doru.
Cheng Lynn had found him in the woods, almost dead just a little bit away from the crash site, and the pair
had moved him to the house. Cheng Lao, as an expert in alternative healing, and mountain life, had managed
to save Doru’s life with the medicine he made of the plants and herbs he collected from the woods.
Doru had lived with them for around a year, and took a serious step into the Far Eastern Martial Arts he
had always been interested. Cheng Lao was actually a Shaolin monk, and he was a master of martial arts.
Including Shaolin, he had taught Aikido and Kendo in several dojos, training countless students. Lynn was
one of her students, and one of the best.
Cheng Lao didn’t want to leave his so familiar lifestyle behind, but he was old and tired now. So, they built
a house in the Himalayan woods, where Lao loved since he was a little child, and began to live there.
When Doru began to feel better, they started having walks in the woods with Lynn and Lao. During one of
these trips, they had visited the crash site. That was when Doru realized there was an extra passenger on the
plane, whom nobody was aware of. There should have been five people on the plane – him, his father, pilots,
and the flight attendant – but now he could see five burnt bodies scattered around the wreckage, and he knew
for sure that he wasn’t among them. Before he left, he found the fireproof safe in the passenger cabin, and he
opened it to take out all the cash that was still intact.
Doru had the greatest times with them, but when he was well enough, he had decided that it was time to
go back home to his wife. So they climbed down the Himalayans. When Doru reached the Turkish Embassy
in New Delhi, he found out that he was declared dead, and it would take so much time to correct the records,
and of course, only if he could prove he was really the person he claimed to be. Since he didn’t want to waste
that much time, he acquired a fake passport with the help of a friend of Lao’s, he jumped on the first flight he
found.
He couldn’t wait to be back to his beloved wife when he took a cab at the Ataturk Airport in Istanbul.
However, when he reached home finally, it wasn’t Esra who found him, but Sedat.
First, Sedat had pretended to be happy to see him back. But he wasn’t that good as an actor, and it hadn’t
taken long for Doru to sense that something wasn’t right. When he questioned his cousin, Doru had faced
incredible threats. Since he was legally dead, Sedat had felt he could get away with killing him, and taken
action right away.
Doru was able to fend off the attackers at first, all thanks to his preliminary fighting skills he learned with
the help of Cheng Lao, but Sedat had sent for professional hitmen after him. Doru had killed three of the
guys, and got one of them talk, even if barely. When he found out Sedat never saw the guy, but talked to him
on the phone just once, Doru had finished him off, too, and called his cousin to inform him that the mission
was accomplished. Thus, there was no single soul who knew Doru was still alive.
Taking the guy’s bike, Doru had decided to head back for Cheng Lao’s home, the only safe place he
had left with. He couldn’t go back to his wife, because he was sure Sedat would find out he was still alive,
because his cousin had powerful connections with the people in high places.
On the other hand, from what he could gather of Sedat’s words and actions, Doru was aware he had lost his
wife to him along with his company, possessions, and life.
When they completed the climb with Rick, Cheng Lao and Lynn had welcomed them to their house as
before. During the dinner they had together, upon listening to Doru’s story, Lao told him to stay with them,
and they would deal with this problem later on.
Before Rick’s departure one month later, their plan was already made and set in motion.

* * *

As always, it was a high paced day on the administration floor of Yurtkan Software. After his meeting with
the CEO Sedat Yurtkan, Adnan was finally back to his own office, and could find the first opportunity of the
day to grab something to eat.
Since he knew he wouldn’t find anything in the cafeteria at this time of the day, he asked his assistant to
order kebab. Walking towards the door of his office, he hoped the meal had arrived, because his stomach
wasn’t whining, but rumbling like an old boat engine.
As a sign of prestige, power, and luxury, Adnan’s office was furnished quite lavishly, too. Taking his seat
behind the enormous mahogany desk, he heard one of the cream colored phones rang. He took the call,
knowing just so well he would have to say goodbye to another meal.
“Yes?”
“Adnan Bey, forgive me for interrupting, I know you expected to have your meal,” mumbled the girl, who
was his assistant.
“Gone is gone, cut it short, what is it?”
“The owner of the company Enigma is on the phone for you.”
Adnan blinked. “Enigma?”
This software company had started a bit over four years ago, and nobody knew much about them. For all
they cared, the company rose with a peerless drive, and caused another trouble for Yurtkan Software each
year. Who was the owner? What did they do? What were they after? Nobody knew nothing about them. The
owner of the company was an enigma just like the name of the company.
If he – or she? – was on the phone for Adnan now, there should have been something fishy about it,
because, first of all, such a call should have been made to Sedat or Esra, not to him. Processing all these
thoughts quite fast – and efficiently – Adnan replied to his assistant: “Alright, hook it up.”
After the beeping signal – repeated twice – he heard the connection was established.
“Hello?” said a male voice.
“Yes?”
“Adnan Bey?”
“Yes?”
“Hi,” said the stranger. “I’m the owner and head of software engineering of the company Enigma. I’d like
to talk to you about a private matter face to face, if it’s possible, please.”
“What is your name?” asked Adnan.
“I will tell you my name when we meet,” said the guy. “But it’s absolutely upmost importance for us to
meet. Please accept my apologies for I can’t tell you more for the moment. Not on the phone.”
Something crossed to Adnan’s mind. What if the guy wanted to transfer him to Enigma? Considering his
experience, position, and success in Yurtkan Software, it wouldn’t be that surprising, especially if he was
right about the signs that showed this company had a grudge against Yurtkan Software. Of course, Adnan
would never even consider such a candidate. Even he disliked Sedat or Esra, he had worked for this company
for too long, and sacrificed too much for it, so he was loyal to the company to the end.
“I know your loyalty to your company and to Yurtkan family, Adnan Bey,” said the guy, as if he sensed
Adnan’s thoughts. “I guarantee you that I won’t make you any inappropriate offers. It’s not something you
can guess, but I can’t tell you enough how important this is… for me, for you, and for us. I insist to share a
friendly conversation over coffee.”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t do this,” protested Adnan. “My position, and my work ethic… render it impossible.”
 “Adnan Bey,” insisted the guy. There was understanding, patience, and respect in his manners, but it was
clear he wouldn’t be shaken off easily. “I’m asking you for this not only for your sense of honor and loyalty,
but also for the loving memory of your beloved son, Doru Yurtkan.”
Adnan swallowed, sensing the dread rising in him. “Doru Yurtkan?” he asked. “What’s this got to do with
him?”
“It has everything to do with him, sir,” the guy responded. “You should hear what I have to say. Please,
meet me at the food court of Akmerkez Mall at nine tonight. I will explain everything.”
When he cut the connection without waiting for an answer, Adnan looked at the phone for a longest
moment.
 22: An Unexpected Visitor

When he couldn’t help himself but went to the appointed place at night, Adnan had no idea how to
recognize this man who called him hours ago. Because of his professional position as a high level executive
for a big corporation, his photographs were everywhere, especially on the web, and this guy might know him
from his pictures. However, he didn’t like the idea of being “the chosen one,” no, not even a bit. Still, to hear
the name Doru Yurtkan with the phrase of “loving memory” was enough to convince Adnan, because the
pain he felt after that wonderful kid was still there, inside of him, just like a real son. After all, he was Uncle
Adnan.
After grabbing some coffee in a paper cup from one of the food counters, he took a seat at one of the
tables. Watching the people milling around, and sipping his coffee, he was wondering what kind of a person
he would meet.
Akmerkez was quieter at the moment; normally, during the daytime and especially during the rush hour,
it would be extremely crowded, people running over each other, making it very difficult to walk the long
corridors. As one of the largest malls in Istanbul, Akmerkez was a shopping center for elite members of the
society, but the employees who worked in the huge office building attached to the main mall liked it here, too.
The sudden ring of his phone made him jump. He left the paper cup on the table, and fishing it out of the
inside pocket of his jacket, he checked the caller’s ID. It appeared to be a number within the area, probably
one of the payphones inside the mall. He answered the call.
“Hi, Adnan Bey,” the guy said, with his now familiar voice. “I’m somewhere close to you, but I don’t want
to attract unwanted attention. So please, when I meet you, try to suppress your reaction. It might sound weird,
I know, but I’m telling you this now, because I know that it will be a big shock for you. Please, take heed to
my words.”
Click.
What the hell was this about now? Sheepishly, Adnan looked at the phone, and then around the people. He
didn’t like this at all. He was a high level executive, for Christ’s sake! This sounded like a childish game of
spies. Then he saw someone slowly walking towards him among the tables. He was at middle height, long
haired, and he had a beautiful face, partly masked with black shades. He wore a cream colored topcoat, and
pushed his hands into its pockets.
When he stopped right next to his chair, Adnan felt as if there was something vaguely familiar to that face,
but he couldn’t make it.
“Don’t be surprised,” said the guy, smiling slightly. “It’s me, Uncle Adnan. Doru.”
As soon as the guy took the shades off, Adnan was frozen in his place. He couldn’t talk, he couldn’t react,
he couldn’t even breathe. Yes, it was him. He had changed a lot, but it was him. But… how?
Doru quietly took the chair at the other side of the table.
“Yo-you…” stammered Adnan. “Do-Doru… b-b-but… you were…”
“Dead?”
Adnan remembered to close his gaping mouth.
“I was supposed to be dead, right?” asked Doru.
When he put the shades back on, Doru’s face appeared like a lifeless mask devoid of all sorts of emotions,
but one: Determination!
“Yes,” he said, calmly. “I was dead.” He smiled slightly again. “Don’t be afraid, Uncle Adnan, I’m not a
ghost or anything. I’m perfectly alive and well, sitting right next to you now.”
“Are you… really… him?” asked Adnan, speaking with some difficulty.
“Yes… and no,” replied Doru. “My name is Doru Yurtkan, yes. And I’m the only sone of Hikmet’s, your
dear friend who you loved as a brother.” Doru sighed deeply, and leaned back. “However, I’m not the same
guy anymore. After all these years since I supposedly died, a lot has changed.”
“But… you died in the crash,” said Adnan, still trying to shake off his shock. “I don’t understand.”
“No,” said Doru, with a perfect calmness. “I discovered there was an uninvited guest on the plane. Perhaps
it was some sort of a sabotage, who knows? And apparently, rescue team thought the body they found was
me.”
Adnan brought the paper cup to his lips, and he burnt his tongue when he sipped a little bit too fast. But at
least, the pain helped him to shake off the shock a bit.
“But… but…” he mumbled, “where have you been for all these years, Doru?”
“Here and there…” Doru giggled at his own joke. Still, it wasn’t completely wrong.
He told Adnan of his story as shortly as possible. He told him about Cheng Lao, Cheng Lynn, the years in
Himalayans, and the trainings he went through there.
“Doru, I’m just curious about one thing,” said Adnan, squinting at him. “You said you were back here one
year later. Why did you go back to Far East without letting anybody know?”
As an answer to this question, Doru told him everything that happened with Sedat and his goons.
“How did you shake them off?” asked Adnan. “They were professional killers, after all. Not easy to deal
with.”
Doru smiled, as if more like to himself. “You know all these ninjas and samurais in the movies?” he said.
Adnan got confused, but nodded.
“I’m something like that now,” said Doru. “I mean, not at the level of mumbo-jumbo, not in exaggerated
Hollywood style, but…” He paused, and tried to find words to make it look lighter. “Let’s say it’s better not
to underestimate such trainings and disciplines,” he completed.
Adnan looked at him suspiciously. “You mean, you did…” He paused, but then decided to go on. “You…
did… them?”
Instead of saying anything, Doru just kept looking at Adnan in the eye.
“Well,” said Adnan, and he sighed, “it was either you, or them, I suppose.”
Adnan looked at the people milling around, in manners as if theirs were the most interesting lives of all.
They knew nothing!
“That bastard,” said Adnan, tightening his fists. He felt the anger rising him suddenly, and after looking
sideways as if he didn’t know how to calm down, he looked back at Doru. “Sedat must pay for what he did,
Doru,” said, with conviction. “We must give him to the cops!”
“There are some points you overlook, Uncle Adnan,” said Doru. “Officially, I’m dead. It’s not easy for me
to prove who I am, and I don’t want to waste time with that. Moreover… there’s one more thing. I want him
to pay for his crime to me, not to the law. He has to make it up to me.”
When Adnan just blinked several times, instead of saying something, Doru tried to explain.
“I know people like you, who live their lives in modern Western world, could have a hard time to
understand this, but I live my life with the Samurai honor code now. It’s been like this for the last eight years
of my life. He challenged me, threatened me, and turned my entire life into hell, claiming he was the warrior,
and I was just a weakling. So, I want to teach him a lesson about what a real warrior is.”
Adnan really didn’t understand anything. Such matters were in the area of the cops and the DA. Katanas,
samurais, or with the name Doru mentioned, Budo teachings had no place in his world.
“If I go to the cops, and start the process to prove my real identity, it will take time,” said Doru, “and Sedat
will use that time to his own advantage, running away from me at best chance. However, I don’t want to deal
with this matter in the courtrooms, creating such an environment where he will find all the time he needs to
prepare, but I want to catch him off guard. I already have a plan and a team to carry on that plan, but I need
your help, too. That’s why I called you. I don’t think I can trust anyone else in the company, including my
wife.”
Adnan thought of this. Then he sighed, realizing Doru was probably right, leaned forward, and looked at
Doru in the eye. “When this business was just a single small office, I was there with your father, Doru,” he
said, with a deep emotion in his voice. “Hikmet used to say we grew the business together. Of course, I used
to work on old coding languages, but it was your father and I, who created the first software products to make
this possible. After a while, we had a team of programmers, and then, the rest is history. I never betrayed him
or his memory, I want you to know that.”
Doru felt embarrassed. “I didn’t mean to sadden you.”
“You didn’t, son,” said Adnan. “Let me finish. Lately, Esra has focused on her personal life more than
business, and spends most of her time in sports. And Sedat… he runs the company exactly the way he sees
fit, decides what projects to support, and he throws away all the software brands we created, claiming they
were old, instead of updating them, because he wants his own name in all the products. In another word, he is
trying to erase the history, send it to the sewers, and create some new Yurtkan Software that basically carries
his mark.”
Adnan stopped, and for a moment, he looked at the paper cup in front of him. Then he sighed, shaking his
head, and looked up at Doru again.
“This guy has no sense of good morals, believe me,” he said. “Even if I don’t approve, he chooses all the
high level executives himself. They are people like him, too. They go and screw their assistants. Once I even
witnessed a group orgy at night in the halls of the headquarters. I have no idea that he’s planning to send me
away soon, but probably trying to figure out the way to do it without paying me a hefty compensation after all
these years I spent with the company. I’m just biding my time, crying inside for the old days, and waiting to
see if I can find an opportunity to correct this.”
Doru had expected to hear as much. In the past, before he was burnt and roasted in the flames of warrior
training, before his heart was smashed by the betrayal of a brother, when he still believed in all the good in
this world, he would never expect something like this of Sedat. However, now… everything had changed.
Doru wasn’t that foolish rich boy anymore. He knew that back then, he had no idea about the real life. But
now… Doru didn’t have a guitar in hand, but a razor sharp katana.
“Tell me what you want of me, Doru,” said Adnan, with full sincerity. “Just like I did with your father in
the past, now I will serve you with loyalty.”
Doru felt embarrassed by these words. Still, in return, Adnan was proud of him, realizing he didn’t only
toughen up, but also did it in a very elegant way. In ancient times, this could be exemplified by the loyalty of
a commander of guards to his orphaned prince.
“Then I can tell you about the details of my plan that requires your help,” said Doru, leaning over and
putting his elbows on the table. “In the time I spent in the Far East, I gained some very valuable friends.
These people are the monks and leaders of the legendary Shaolin Temple. They showed me the poverty
of the Chinese villagers, and they said they need a way to help more people. Since I’m a Turkish guy, and
since Turkey represents a very powerful bridge between Europe and Asia, we are all aware that this could
give us a very important leverage. Apparently, they trust me enough to entrust me with some of the temple’s
ancient treasury, enough to start the company that you know as Enigma. So that’s what I did with my Native
American friend I mentioned you about. For the last six years, I’ve been spending half of my time here, and
half up in the Himalayans. With all the strategic knowledge and expertise in the arts of war, and applying
those principles to the world of business, it wasn’t that difficult to carry Enigma to a rise.”
Adnan was even more shocked now. He never occurred to him that Doru could be such a keen
businessman. Still, after everything he’s been through, and all the betrayals he faced, he could imagine how
angry he might be. He absolutely deserved a chance for revenge, moreover, to get back what was his in the
first place.
“Enigma will celebrate its fifth anniversary this year,” Doru continued, “and we are preparing to launch a
special virtual reality product we developed. I have no doubt that this software will attract Sedat’s attention,
but we have to make sure he will fall for that. I know Yurtkan Software has skillful industry spies, which
wasn’t a norm during my father’s time. You will make sure that the product sample I will have delivered to
you will be passed to Sedat. It’s vital for him to play this game, because it will gain us the time we need to
shut the trap.”
“I see,” Adnan nodded. “What else?”
“When the right time comes, I will let you know,” said Doru. “Then, you will make sure that all the
suppliers, distributors, buyers, friendly companies, and everyone you can think of will stop the cash flow to
Yurtkan Software, causing an artificial financial crisis for the corporation. It will be up to such a point that the
company won’t be able to pay even the salaries to the employees. Moreover, there will be speculations about
the company, driving new buyers away.”
“But this means the prestige and the shares of the company will get a huge blow,” protested Adnan, “it can
drive us to bankrupt.”
“Absolutely,” said Doru, with a strong determination. “That’s what I exactly want. While all this happens,
Sedat will be away from the company, and when he realizes what the hell happened, it will be too late. When
the shares go down enough, I will come out with an acquisition offer. Of course, when I show myself, the
only shock that Sedat and Esra will have won’t be about the acquisition.”
Adnan looked at him in total disbelief. This young man, who he came to know as the most sensitive boy he
had ever seen, now was talking like a merciless capitalist business mogul.
“Uncle Adnan, please don’t worry,” said Doru, confidently. “This will be an artificial crisis. When I take
over the company, we will have enough time to express ourselves, and explain all that happened in media and
the courts. Our prestige will be even better than ever.”
Adnan looked at him thoughtfully for a long moment, and then he sighed deeply. “I think there’s something
much more important than our prestige,” he said. “What Sedat did to you was also an insult to your father’s
legacy.” He looked at Doru with happiness and also some regret. “Boy, I really didn’t know, believe me. If I
had any idea about what had happened, I would find you much sooner.”
“Don’t worry about it,” said Doru, sincerely. “Everything has a reason. We are just the interactive actors of
the movie that was written by God. If it all went down this way, then it was meant to go down this way.”
 23: The Claw of a Tiger

That’s great, he thought. That’s really fuckin’ great! These fuckin’ people created this program in a way
that affects five senses and neural system perfectly. And what manual are you talking about, you mentally
retarded god damn fuckin’ pile of chips?! How the hell could I have read that fuckin’ manual? I have stolen
this goddamn product!
“Any other questions?” it repeated.
Sedat sighed heavily and commanded: “Start this fuckin’ game!”
“Negative, invalid command, please repeat.”
“START!” he yelled. Then he felt a relaxation in a few seconds and lost himself into a bright rainbow. He
knew that the feelings he had were the effect of the solution he injected into himself.

But he was wrong… deadly wrong…

What he injected into his own veins, thinking it was a nano technology solution, was actually a high
dosage – but not enough to kill – of sedative. While he thought he was starting the game, he fell into a coma-
like sleep. Just a few minutes after he passed out in his ultra ergonomic gaming seat, the door of the house
was pushed open, and a guy with long hair, black shades covering his eyes, entered the place with three
Chinese warriors who was trained as samurais like him.
One was a middle-sized man with long black ponytail that reached his waist, with eyes so slanted they
hid his irises, covered with a black hakama. The second one was a little bit taller, short haired, round faced
dragon in a red hakama. The third one’s hair was like a black river flowing behind his sky-blue hakama, with
thick buff wristbands around his forearms. They had one thing in common other than hakamas: all of them
looked like the Reaper, and they appeared to be determined to take not Sedat’s life, but his fortune which he
loved more than life, and which he gained through trickery.
The guy with black shades and long hair came close to Sedat’s chair, and gave him a despising look.
“Hi, cousin,” he whispered. “You’re about to pay for the pain you had me suffered.”
Sedat thought he was playing a game, but Doru had other plans for him. He would take him to Cheng
Lao’s house up in the Himalayan woods. During the time he would spend there, Sedat would think he was
playing an amazing RPG game equipped with incredible visual and sensual qualities, along with highly
sophisticated computer characters. Every night, the same sedative he injected to his own veins would be
added to his tea, and he would sleep for around two days. Another that would come in as an eye-drop would
make his vision blurry, so it would make it more difficult for him to understand it wasn’t a game at all.
Doru still thought he was being merciful. What he had experienced up in the Himalayans was much more
difficult, much heavier, and much more dangerous than what Sedat would. He had been trained almost as a
real samurai, facing the death, pain, and fear at every turn. He didn’t think Sedat would make it alive with the
real deal. Still, he knew it would hurt enough… especially in the end.
And while he dreams of getting even richer through a priceless product that he basically didn’t pay
anything for its development, Doru would set the stage for the fake fall of the company that rightfully
belonged to him in the first place.
The tiger was showing his fangs now, with his claws extended forward. It was almost time for those
powerful jaws clench around Sedat.

* * *

In the conference room of the Yurtkan Software, Sedat and Esra were still gaping, with disbelief in their
eyes… and in their ears.
 Of course, the cause of the main shock was Doru’s return while what Sedat – disappearing for three
months! – experienced as a game was completely real, but the fact that Doru… his cousin, who for years he
thought as a useless romantic fool… was back as such a relentless and merciless strategy genius was beyond
all comprehension.
“You mean, none of it was a game?” he still asked, his voice cracking. His face was like ash, and he
couldn’t keep his voice steady.
Before answering his question, Doru had a look at his wife sitting where Rick gently settled her after she
passed out.
“Let her smell hydrochloric acid,” Cheng Lao had said, giving him a tiny silver box he produced from a
pocket of his kimono.
Rick had taken the box, opened the lid, and pushed it towards Esra’s nostrils. She had woken up right
away, flinching deeply. After waiting for her to gather her wits, Doru had told them what happened through
all these last eight years, how he got in touch with Adnan six months ago, and how they followed the plan.
Now his beautiful wife was looking at him with joy and disbelief.
“No,” said Doru, turning back to Sedat. “None of it was a game. Still, I can’t say our plan worked
perfectly.”
Sedat felt the tiniest of hope for a moment, but his face dropped again when he realized what Doru was
talking about.
“We didn’t expect Esra to throw everything aside and get out of the country,” Doru continued.
“Fortunately, Rick and I were quick enough to come up with an alternative.”
“So, you tricked me together,” said Esra, giving Rick a deliberate look.
“Not really,” said the huge guy, smiling calmly. “You were in depression, and it was a perfect time to help
you for a spiritual leap. You just needed some guidance, and some lessons to be taught. I just did my best to
help you with that.”
“Don’t be mad at Rick, Esra,” said Doru. “He really helped you a lot. More than you can realize just now.”
He was trying to cover his excitement to see her again, but he was aware his voice betrayed him. Still, Esra
couldn’t know what he was thinking, so even if excited on her own part, feeling as if a dream came true, she
was still on guard for what might come.
“Since you were out of the country already, we decided to keep you away for the entire time, at least,
as much as we could,” explained Rick. “Thus, we would be able to protect you from a deeper emotional
trauma.”
“Riiiigght,” said Esra, mockingly. “After all these eight years, seeing Doru in front of me… and changed
so drastically… believe me, it wasn’t a trauma at all.”
Pretending not to hear all this innuendo, Doru turned to his cousin again, and looked at his eyes.
“B-b-but…” stammered Sedat, “how did you know I would fall into this trap?”
“Very simple, my dear cousin,” said Doru, with a cunning smile. “Perhaps you don’t remember, but we
grew up together, and I know you much better than you think. You have three vital obsessions which I took
and turned into weaknesses: Power, computer games, and women. When you hear about a company that
would threaten your position in the market, I knew you would do everything in your power to stop it from
happening, especially if the tool is a computer game. And to create an anchor to keep you there, our dear
Lynn was there with you.” After giving a smile to Cheng Lynn, Doru turned back at Sedat. “However, after
you tried to rape her just the very first day, we had a hard time calming Lynn down. If I were you, I would
avoid her, because she is really a master in Aikido and Kendo.”
Esra looked at the Chinese woman with jealousy in her eyes. “I thought the Far Eastern women are not
allowed to train with weapons,” she emphasized.
“And I thought the Western women would be smarter,” Lynn slapped her reply to Esra’s face.
Doru gave each of them a warning look, making them realize they should be silent. As Lynn obeyed
respectfully, Esra couldn’t believe her late husband was alive to radiate such superiority so naturally. Doru
acted like a real king, and got desired responses. He was nothing like his old self. Was it really possible for a
person to change so drastically?
“So, I really fought those warriors in the woods?” asked Sedat.
“If what you mean is kicking them with all your strength, yes,” replied Cheng Lao.
Doru was watching his cousin with no emotion on his face, but his eyes missed not even a single detail.
“So I really defeated them?” asked Sedat, his eyes shining with pride.
“Well, no,” said Cheng Lao. “You faced them physically, yes. And I’m sure you gave your best shot. But
no, you really didn’t fight or defeat them. Each of them is a real samurai, and they just played with you,
pretending they lost the fight. There was no way you could even hurt them.” Cheng Lao giggled to himself.
“They were quite convincing though, weren’t they?”
Sedat’s expression changed from smug to anger of being insulted. True to his character, he had to come
up with a stinging answer to this. “And how come you and your bitch daughter can speak our language, Sun
Tzu?” he asked, looking at the old man as if he was about to spit on his face.
Doru didn’t waste a moment. He was right next to Sedat as if teleported, and the very next moment, a
powerful slap connected to Sedat’s face, with a sound that reverberated from the walls of the conference
room. Releasing a scream of pain, Sedat moved his hands over his broken nose, and Doru grabbed him on his
shoulders to make him regain his balance in his chair. Doru gave him a burning look.
“Don’t ever talk that way about this girl, you forsaken bastard!” said Doru, making Sedat’s blood turned
into ice blocks in his veins. “She is one of the two people who saved my life when you were trying to kill
me!”
Sedat swallowed hard.
Cheng Lao took the word warmly. “During the time we were together up in the Himalayans, Doru didn’t
only learn our culture and philosophy, The Conqueror,” he said. When he saw Sedat’s face upon hearing his
name in the game, the old guy couldn’t help but giggle again. “He taught us your culture and language, too,”
he completed.
“Apparently, we have similar sense of honor with the Turks,” said Rick. “Like many warrior nations. But
how come some shithead like you can come from among such nice people?”
“And you…? Who are you, you red faced dickhead savage?” growled Sedat. He seemed as if he was trying
to save his face from more insults. “Who allowed you to talk in this room?”
Rick looked at Doru as if asking for his permission. Doru had fixed his eyes at his cousin’s face, and he
nodded with a very slight smile on his face.
Rick walked slowly towards Sedat. When Sedat looked up to this man he called savage, he thought his
height had no limits. Rick grabbed his throat with one hand, and pulled him out of his chair as if a ragged
doll, smashing his back on the nearest wall.
“You know what, you pale face dickhead monster?” he said, quite calmly, but radiating flames from his
dark eyes. “Among my nation, wolf is a very sacred and special animal. How dare you to name your ranch as
White Wolf? You’re nothing more than a mutt, nobody told you that?!”
Esra couldn’t suppress her grin, remembering the night they had at the backyard of Sedat’s villa.
When Rick released him, Sedat slid down the wall. Then he pushed himself up quickly, and smoothed his
clothes.
“There’s something I’m curious about,” said Adnan, interrupting. Sedat was already forgotten. “How did
you manage to keep Sedat up in the Himalayans for all these three months?”
Doru just shrugged. “He wasn’t there all this time,” he said. “The time up to his fight against the Champion
wasn’t longer than twenty days. Afterwards, he stayed in a hospital in Delhi for a little bit over two months.
Actually, that’s why he lost so much weight.” Then he turned to Sedat, and smiled for the first time. “With
your entire body covered in all those bandages, you really looked funny, just like mummified.”
Once again, everybody laughed at Sedat, including Esra and Rezzan. He was a complete source of
embarrassment. Doru just hoped he wouldn’t try to kill himself after today, because his suffering wasn’t
supposed to end yet.
“So, you were the Champion, huh?” said Sedat, giving a despising look at Doru. “So, you really gave me
good beating, huh?”
Doru shrugged again. “It was such a pleasure that I couldn’t miss. But the peak was when you saw my
face.”
“You mean, everything that happened in the game…”
“Fool!” said Doru, laughing this time. “There’s no such a game. There’s no such a product. Everything you
went through was real!”
Whatever they said, Sedat was still having a hard time grasping it. He kept looking at Doru, completely
dumbfounded. Doru noticed a muscle at his jaw was twitching as if he was about to burst into sobs. But then,
all the blood drained away from Sedat’s face.
“You… you mean,” he stammered, “that tiger… That was real, too? You sent it? To eat me alive? What if I
got killed?”
Doru’s face suddenly turned into a marble. “What if I got killed?” he repeated with a voice sounded like
ice.
Sedat couldn’t say anything. He couldn’t even move a muscle. His mind had just registered what he said.
He swallowed hard.
“First of all,” said Doru, with the same cold voice, “Juma is much nobler than you are, asshole. He
doesn’t eat humans… or bugs like you. Moreover, I won’t get you killed, you son of a bitch. You still didn’t
understand that this is not a deadly revenge? I don’t want you to die, I want you to suffer. And I want what is
mine. You will be paid half a million American Dollars, and you will get the hell out of here. You will never
be back, because the next time, you won’t be as lucky.” Then Doru gave a sly smile. “Still, I would watch my
back.” His face turned into stone again. “Because you can never know what or who is coming for you.”
Then Doru turned to Rick. “Take this idiot, pay him his money, and deliver him to the Ataturk Airport.”
Then he added, speaking in Chinese so that nobody else would understand: “Leave him before he buys his
ticket, but find out what plane he takes. Probably he will buy tickets for two different flights. Don’t follow
him; ask the registry.”
Then he turned to look at Esra. This time, his voice wasn’t cracking. “Take a break today, and gather
yourself up. Tomorrow you will meet me in your old office.”
“Wait a second!” Sedat interrupted. “These things… Principles of Tiger! What was the point with all that
stuff?”
Without turning his face from his wife’s direction, leaning his head sideways a little bit, Doru looked at
his cousin with a pitying smile. “If you listened a little bit, you would understand it was that philosophy what
enabled me to gain such a victory against you, idiot.”
 24: Games within the Games

Approaching the doors of her office, which she moved back and forth until three months ago, she was
aware there was a huge change all over the company headquarters. All those who were hired by Sedat were
fired – some were picked by Adnan to be paid for their compensations, but not the ones who shared Sedat’s
immoral values, for sure – and now half of the staff was Far Eastern, running back and forth, and doing
creative work in front of their computer monitors. She had a feeling that the change was just beginning. It
wouldn’t stop with a staff change, or with the company name to be Enigma. The katana symbol he saw over
the door of her old office proved that.
The assistant was new, too. Her assistant Fatma was nowhere to be seen; instead, there was this middle
aged attractive woman with a smart suit on her, her brown hair tied behind her head, acting with an air of a
person who knows her business.
“Hello,” said Esra. She didn’t feel comfortable here, and she had no doubt it could be read from her
posture. Well, it didn’t matter anymore. “My name is Esra Yurtkan. I…”
“Welcome, Esra Hanim,” the woman said, interrupting her. “We were expecting you. Doru Bey is inside.
You can just right go in.”
Esra blinked at her several times. She didn’t know how she should have felt. Was this a good sign, or not?
She looked at Doru’s office door with worried eyes. Maybe, the only thing she lost wouldn’t be her husband.
Doru might try to take her fortune away, too. What could Esra say? After all, it didn’t belong to her or Sedat
in the first place. Everything – and with that, seriously everything – was Doru’s rightful inheritance from his
father.
As pushing the door slowly, she was really afraid of what she would find in there. Was she ready to go back
to that poverty after all these years spent in luxury and wealth? After driving such expensive cars for so long,
could she go back traveling by bus, train, or any other forms of mass transit? It was easy to get used with
abundance. How would it feel when she had to calculate every single penny if she wanted to buy anything?
Moreover, what career references did she have when she was ready to apply for job positions? And she was
well known as the widowed bride of Yurtkans, so what would people think about her when she had to admit
she needed a job?
Yes, Doru had taught them a perfect lesson, proving his mental, psychological, and emotional prowess.
Esra had no doubt that both of them – she and Sedat – deserved it many times over, and regrets couldn’t
correct your past mistakes.
Doru was sitting behind his enormous office desk made of Chinese woodwork like a king, waiting for Esra
with a face devoid of emotions. She timidly looked around, and saw all those oil paintings and the burgundy
carpet were gone. Instead, there were Chinese art works hung over the walls, and a black carpet was laid on
the floor. Behind the office desk, a full set of samurai battle armor was set, looking at Doru’s left shoulder.
With that scary war mask, it felt as if there were mysterious spirits, ghosts, or Chinese dragons were looking
behind those eye holes.
The wall with the giant fish tank was still in place, but the desk was turned towards it, so the source of light
was behind it now. Just across the fish tank, on the left side of the desk was Esra’s showcase, but the content
– excluding the China white – was changed, and decorated with various art works that felt from all over the
world.
Instead of a business office, Doru’s room reminded more of a place that was the love child of a museum
gallery and a throne room, with all its dominant black, white, red, and woody brown shades. Walking towards
the guest chairs in front of the desk, she stopped suddenly, and looked at a tiger photograph hung on the back
wall in a silver frame. The animal’s face was calm, and he appeared like smelling the air at the moment the
photograph was taken. But in those eyes, hidden under that calmness, there was the threat of a huge and wild
strength.
“Juma,” said Doru, from where he sat. “I found him when he was a cub, and raised him. He was an orphan
just like me.”
 This statement of being an orphan touched Esra very deeply, and forced her to look at him. With all that
glory, wealth, and luxury he had, it never occurred to her that he might have been feeling as an orphan. He
had lost his mother when he was still young, and now his father was gone, too. Moreover, he was betrayed by
the only family he had: his cousin, who was a real brother once. Looking at him now, Esra didn’t see a fool
at all. She saw an impressive man who had a very strong and big heart, with tears that were allowed to flow
only inwards, with secrets he didn’t share with anyone.
Just for a moment, she didn’t think how he took his revenge, but how he endured all those hardships when
he was all alone, running towards the other end of the world to find shelter, friendship, and protection with
the people he didn’t even know until that fateful plane crash, hunted by Sedat’s hired guns. Was he scared?
Was he confused by that betrayal? Was he hurt?
“He is five years old now,” said Doru, looking at the picture with a faint smile. “My friends in Tibet are
taking care of him. He is not so different than a pet cat, actually.”
Which one was worse? The physical hurt of a bullet wound, or the emotional hurt of the heart because of
the loneliness and betrayal from the people you loved most in this world?
Without realizing her eyes were moist, she looked at him even harder. His affection for this animal was
so palpable. What he couldn’t find with humans, he found in a wild forest up in the Himalayans, in the
friendship of the nature. That fool, naïve boy in the past had become a man with the sense of a mature art,
found in pain, found in self, found in sincere emotions that were colder and harder than the most unbreakable
steel.
Doru stood up, but didn’t walk around the desk to meet her. He wore a colored patchwork vest over a white
dress shirt, a pair of black jeans, and instead of a tie, he had a silver pendant in the shape of a katana with one
single swarovski crystal on it. He still looked simple, but much more elegant and sophisticated.
Was he still that lovable person, though? Or did he become a warrior who was devoid of all sorts of
emotions and mercy? If that was the case, then Doru she came to know and love was dead in a different
sense. Esra closed her eyes, and tried to suppress her tears of regret and shame.
“Have a seat, Esra, please,” he said. “There are important matters I think we really need to talk.” When he
noticed her nervousness, Doru smiled slightly. “There’s no reason for you to be afraid, believe me.” His voice
was clearly warmer now. “I had a score to settle with Sedat only, and that’s handled well enough. I have no
quarrel with you. Please,” he gestured to the chair closest to his desk, sitting back in his office chair.
Esra took the seat she was offered, but it was still difficult to relax. What was is she dreaded most? Was
it Doru, her own regrets, own conscience, or shame for the inability of appreciating what she had with him
years ago? She had dreamed of him for a long time, praying for just one chance to make it right, and now he
was just across her, but she didn’t know what to do.
“D-Do-Doru… I… I…” she stammered. But what could she possibly say?
“You don’t need to say anything, Esra,” said Doru. “Don’t force yourself. Please, just listen to what I have
to say first. Would you like to have anything to drink?”
Esra slowly shook her head.
“Alright then,” said Doru. He leaned back in his chair, and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t know
how to start, or how to put it correctly. But…” He sighed, and looked at the surface of his desk. “All this
time, all these years we spent far from each other, I gave it a lot of thought, Esra. I know why married to me
then. And why Uncle Adnan was so against this union.”
“Doru… I…”
Doru raised a hand to stop Esra from talking, and then leaned over, putting his elbows on the desk. “You
don’t need to explain yourself to me,” he said. “I’m not blaming you. If I were you, maybe I would do the
same when I found such an opportunity.”
When he looked at the desk again, there were far looks in his eyes, as if he was looking at those days in
time. He stayed silent for a few moments, and then he pushed his chair back, standing up, and moving around
the table to sit in the chair across Esra. He leaned forward in his place, putting his elbows on his knees, and
clenching his hands in front of him. As he fixed his gaze at the coffee table between them, he seemed as
if he was still having a hard time to look at her in the eye. Well, could she blame him for that after all that
happened?
“Yes,” he said then, “I was so naïve then, and knew nothing about life at all. I had no idea how merciless or
selfish people could be. If you ask me, I was an inexperienced, stupid, spoiled rich kid who found everything
easily brought to him.” He smiled ruefully. “I didn’t know how it was for others who didn’t have what I
had. When you grow up in such a luxury, you don’t have to learn such things, and you don’t have many
opportunities to learn, either.” He looked at the fish tank. “Just like them, you live in a protective tank without
knowing what’s out there.”
He raised his gaze to Esra’s face just for a moment, and when he was about to lower them again, he
appeared as if he noticed something at Esra’s hands. Then he lowered his gaze again, and kept talking.
 “What I experienced after the crash taught me some very important lessons,” he said. “The lessons maybe
I would never have the opportunity to learn otherwise. I admit that I blamed you, and I was angry to you back
then, but not anymore. On the contrary, I exactly understand why and what you did.”
He stood up, and started walking inside the room, looking at the walls, at the display, at the tank, or outside
the window while talking, but he never looked at her, not even once.
“For the millennia, mankind tried to create a system that is alternative to what God created,” he was
saying. “He tried to prove he was better than the nature. He developed various teachings and understandings
in the process. However, among all of it, the one that suited to selfish and opportunistic nature of human was
the capitalism. While this model led the mankind to modernism, supposedly, because of lack of awareness,
lack of mindfulness, and because of ignorance, it led to alienation, loneliness, and self-seeking, because while
capitalism promised for better outcome for higher efforts, actually it was rewarding the cheaters, not the hard-
workers.”
Esra had no idea why Doru was talking about this now. When she came here, she thought he would just
dress her up, insult her for what she did, the way she treated him in the past, and send her away penniless. At
least, she had thought he would want to talk about them, not the humanity in general.
Still, she was listening to him very attentively, because at least this time she wanted to understand
something, take a lesson from what he had to say.
“Because, the capitalism has a very flawed approach that basically says, ‘everybody has to watch their own
backs,’” said Doru. Then he giggled ruefully, shaking his head. “The truth is that nobody can survive for long
in such a system. You either compromise with your moral values, your humanity, your integrity and rise, or
you lose yourself in poverty. In the foundation of a consumer culture, the entire system is based on this. Some
western nations tried to get out of this rat-race, all but exploiting and sucking the eastern nations mostly, but
in the long run, it caused their cultural decay.”
Doru suddenly stopped in the middle of the room, turned to Esra tossing his long ponytail around, and
looked at Esra in the eye. She was listening to him with full concentration.
“Because, the laws of God are the laws of the Universe, and they are over everything else,” he said, with
conviction. “God doesn’t care of the rules mankind tries to set instead. Either you live in harmony with the
universal laws, or you get destroyed and lost in disharmony. Eastern civilization knew this for millennia,
Esra. In the time I spent at Himalayans, I had the opportunity to learn most of them. On the other hand,
western civilization always scorned at the mysticism in the east. And while doing that, they didn’t even really
understand what their own prophets were trying to tell them.”
Esra couldn’t help, but she leaned her head sideways, and asked, “What’s that all got to do with our
personal lives?”
“Everything,” said Doru. “We are the pieces that really get destroyed or broken in this systemic conflict.
When the system doesn’t work as it is supposed to work, we are the wheels that break away. We say we live
in Atomic or Space Era, but actually we can’t get out of the Feudal Age. Those who have money, position,
and power, always try to gain more in the expense of others, because if they don’t do it, they lose what they
have, too. The only difference today is – at least in appearance – everybody has the opportunity to rise, but
people override the moral values and principles to do this quickly, without knowing they commit some sort of
spiritual suicide, killing their own humanity. So, in the light of all this…”
Doru turned to look at her, and kept talking in a matter-of-fact manner: “Just like I asked myself for years,
now I’m asking you: looking at all that financial deprivation, serving at tables for rich snobs, watching in
envy the things others had but she didn’t, when an opportunity came in the form of a rich and spoiled kid who
was deeply in love with her, this little Esra, what else would she do?”
She was frozen where she sat, looking at him, and seeing the depth of his personality, of his heart for the
first time ever. Really seeing it. It was even more embarrassing to realize that she had mocked such a spiritual
depth. The shame she felt ran so deep that it touched her core.
“I... I didn’t,” she whispered, without realizing the tears were coming down her cheeks now, still looking at
him as if hypnotized. “I didn’t know.”
Doru was just looking at her, but didn’t move at all, didn’t say anything. She sniffed, and tried again. She
couldn’t. All those emotions held inside for so long now wanted to come out in the open all at once, and it
was as if neither her eyes nor her throat were wide enough.
Doru was still watching her with eyes that didn’t give anything away. Esra felt she was trembling
uncontrollably, but tried once more, forcing whatever she had for him to come out.
“I didn’t know you were alive,” she sobbed finally. “If I did, I would come to the end of this world to be
with you. Nothing could stop me! I swear! Doru! I love you!”
She was begging now, without even realizing what she was saying.
“I-I-I…” she kept repeating. “Please… please forgive me, that’s all I want. I’m so sorry. So sorry…”
Finally she collapsed where she was, losing herself into sobs, and repeating over and over again, “Please, just
forgive me. That’s all I want. All I need.”
She was so lost in her shame and regret that she didn’t notice Doru’s reaction. For a few moments more,
she felt as if Doru was just watching her, without making any move, without saying anything.
But then, after a time she didn’t know how long, she felt his hand grazing her cheek, and gently pushing
her face up, forcing her to look at him in the eye. When she allowed him, she saw something that completely
unexpected.
Doru had kneeled in front of her chair, and he was looking at her with his own moist eyes.
“You know what?” he whispered. “One of the greatest lessons I’ve learned was about love. I discovered
that love is all about understanding the needs of other person better than they do, and putting them in front
of your own. Therefore, I have forgiven you a long time ago actually. I didn’t come back here to take my
revenge only, but also my wife back, baby. I love you, too. I always have.”
Esra sniffed hard while looking at him.
Doru reached and held her left hand softly, bringing it to his lips, and leaving a soft kiss on her ring finger.
“You wear your wedding ring all the time, and you take it off when you are supposed to meet your
husband?” he asked, looking pointedly at the paler area around her finger that showed the truth.
Esra looked at him with a shock on her face. She was confused. She was afraid to ask. But then finally she
could gather her courage.
“Take me back?” she asked. “But how?”
Doru gave her a puzzled look. “What do you mean? You don’t want it?”
She was silent for a few moments while looking at his wonderfully green eyes.
“Lynn?” she whispered, fearing the answer she would hear. “That Chinese woman?”
Doru frowned. “What about her?” he asked.
Esra raised her head, frowning herself, too.
“Isn’t she your girlfriend or something? You were so protective against Sedat about her?”
“My girlfriend?” asked Doru, slightly smiling. “Lynn?”
Then he burst into a short laughter.
“What?” she asked. “What are you laughing at?”
He finally settled, and explained. “She’s Cheng Lao’s wife.” And he set his laughter free for a short time,
while Esra watched him with loving eyes. She sniffed for a few times while everything was sinking in. She
had dreamed of this moment for very long, waking up with empty hands each time, over and over again. For
years. For an eternity. Knowing it would never come, that the dead never came back.
But now here he was, and laughing, alive, well, as a second chance from God, and considering the fact that
God was so generous and forgiving to her, maybe she wasn’t that evil after all. It was absolutely unbelievable
to see him, to touch him, to breath in his scent, feeling the warmth of his body. She wasn’t aware she was
laughing with him now. Could this be real?

His lips said so when she touched hers to them – they had the roughness of a hardened warrior, and they
were so sure of themselves, so warm. And yes, they were perfectly real.

* * *

When he took his seat on the flight TK419 of Turkish Airlines for Moscow, he was sure that he lost those
four idiots. Honestly, Sedat planned it really carefully, and did a good job getting rid of them. Since he was
sure Doru would want to know his whereabouts, and that those four guard dogs wouldn’t lose his trace, he
had bought tickets for two different flights, and after waiting in line at the gates for the first flight, showing
himself clearly to them, he had jumped on this one for Russia.
He had to admit that he was a little bit nervous before the take-off. He was aware they wouldn’t let him go,
but take him to a secluded location and kill him. Doru had talked to his dogs in Chinese before they left the
conference room, and Sedat could imagine what he said.
He wasn’t fool enough to think Doru would let him go after everything he did. Only a fool would do that,
and Doru could be anything, but not a fool; at least, even if he was one years ago, now he had proved he was
as cunning as Sedat was.
Still, he made another mistake: he had given Sedat some amount of money which Sedat could easily
multiply. When ready, he would be back to take his revenge on that smug fuck. Nobody could take anything
from Sedat Yurtkan… unless he allows it. Nobody!
 Upon his arrival in Moscow, he would go to a classy hotel right away, have a wonderful bath, and then
have sex with an attractive Russian blonde. After all that, recovering from the shock of everything that caught
him off guard, he was sure to be in a place where he could come up with new plans.
Huh, he thought he could fool me with some virtual reality software, he thought to himself, smiling
inwards.
Right, Doru knew his cousin well enough, and was aware what keys to hit. Therefore, his plan progressed
smoothly when Sedat thought he was dead. However, there was something Sedat couldn’t wrap his mind
around: nobody knew the location of White Wolf. How come Doru could have found the place, and
kidnapped Sedat away from there for over three months?
First of all, the deed of White Wolf wasn’t on Sedat’s name; he had used a fake name to keep it secret. So,
it was impossible to find it in deed office records.
What else? Maybe they followed his car? No, not probable. He had had his mechanics take out the locators
from the car. And he had driven a long time in open areas until he reached the ranch, so he would notice if
someone was after him.
Suddenly, he realized what it was. There should have been a transmitter inside the virtual reality goggle.
Thus, they could have tracked him easily. After everything he saw, Sedat even could believe that Doru might
have some connections with NASA, CIA, or even NSA.
Sedat nervously grinned to himself. When he looked through the small window at the darkness outside, he
felt as if he saw Rick’s smug grin. He looked back at the seats across, but no, it was just his own imagination.
He grinned once again; he opened his briefcase on his lap, and looked at the check which was worth
half a million dollar. It could be a simple piece of paper in Doru’s eyes, but he always saw money as some
worthless shit. But to Sedat, money meant power; it meant control, and respect! Holding the paper in his
fingers, and examining it hungrily, he had no idea that Cheng Lao – or with his name in the game, Sun Tzu –
had prepared a mix with some herbs from Himalayans, and the check was covered by its dust. He had no idea
that the mix could create some temporary madness or imbalance in mind.
So, you want games, huh, Mr. Doru Yurtkan? he thought. However, I won’t allow you to play with me
anymore. No, you won’t be able to play with me anymore! I won’t let the ghost of some son of a bitch I killed
years ago destroy me.
At that moment, a female flight attendant slightly touched his shoulder. “Would you like a drink, sir?”
When he turned to look at her, he found a Chinese woman smiling at him.
Fear was paralyzing, with the realization of a horrible possibility.
God! What if I’m still in the game?
Confusion, fear, regret, betrayal, imprisonment, and fear passed through his face. Then, suddenly, he lost
himself to crazy laughter that caused all other passengers and Chinese flight attendant to look at him as if he
lost his mind.

WHAT IF I’M STILL IN A FUCKING GAME?

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Selim Yeniceri is a celebrated book translator, author, musician and internationally-accredited Quantum
Coach. With a philosophy inspired by revolutionary self-help concepts, Eastern philosophy and the magic
of the Arts, he teaches others how to explore their true inner power, find their passion and embark on their
own journeys of self-discovery. Through his mighty guitar-driven rock music, vivid visual art and thought-
provoking writing and seminars about his most inspiring experiences and on-going evolution as an artist
and human being, he fulfills his mission: to be a creative messenger who helps others learn to live the
imaginative lives of their dreams.
As an internationally-accredited Quantum Coach, Yeniceri continues to give seminars and training
programs to help people live satisfying lives. He is an expert on future planning for youth and kids, bullying
problems among kids and teens, career planning for high school and university students, goal setting for
companies, high performance and motivation. After hundreds of radio shows, dozens of concerts, two rock
albums, numerous illustrations, hundreds of translated books and ten original books, he has become a role
model who proves that leading a joyful, full life comes from perseverance and a lifelong dedication to
learning. Yeniceri passes on his own principles, fiercely grounded in honor, strength, spirituality and respect
and love for all living things to others. He offers real-life strategies for those looking to infinitely expand their
world.
Also by SaySaga Inspirational Publishing
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