The Praesidium / Panarc International Ltd (ePub)

Adam returns from Geneva to England where Slievens Consultancy provides him with a luxury apartment in the Praesidium's PCC (parallel coincident construct), set over Westminster.

For thousands of years, the Praesidium has secretly controlled the affairs of men. The Praesidium's mission statement is benign enough - to enable man to be what he truly is; the subtext is that they oppose any effort by man to evolve or improve. John Noble, the Praesidium chairman, explains that the Praesidium directs mankind through the agency of the Monitaurs. The Monitaurs, evil entities capable of adopting human form, promote depravity, extremism, corruption, obfuscation and negativity. Adam is sent on excursions with each of the monitaurs to visit recent events that illustrate man's true nature.

David Minofel, Adam's mentor, is working for the Praesidium. Minofel's brief is to ensure the questors can never again attempt to activate a beginning. To achieve this end, David Minofel sets about systematically deconstructing Adam's moral sense. While fulfilling his brief, Minofel becomes aware that Kit, the blind man, could be an emergent, one of those rare individuals who can move man forward in the evolutionary process. The Praesidium fears emergents more than anything else so Minofel is commissioned to eradicate the blind man. Kit is lured to the Westminster PCC.

Eve and the other questors gather at the Smith's home in Harrow. With the help of the Smith's mentally-enhanced dog Luke, they seek the help of their old friend Prometheus. He sends them his daughter, Aletheia, the goddess of truth.

Aletheia accompanies Eve and the other questors to the Westminster PCC. When they arrive, they find themselves in the middle of an unsuccessful boardroom coup and the subsequent chaos caused by the murder of the chairman, John Noble, both of which are the work of the sadistic deputy chairman of the Praesidium, Simon Goodfellow.

On three occasions Eve warns Adam that the Praesidium is destroying his ability to empathise with others, that they are stripping him of his humanity. Adam can't see it.

Kit is falsely blamed for John Noble's murder. Adam, now promised a place on the Praesidium board, is tasked with prosecuting the defendant for capital murder in the Praesidium court. Minofel is confident that, if he can persuade Adam to prosecute his friend successfully, while knowing he is innocent, Adam's corruption will be complete.

Minofel and Simon Goodfellow have reckoned without Aletheia. Aletheia defends Kit in the court and then demonstrates the power of the truth when represented by a goddess, skilled in swordsmanship. Eventually, Adam sides with Kit; Kit escapes execution. Aletheia uses the evil in Simon Goodfellow himself to punish him in a fittingly agonising manner. She then takes control of the Praesidium's power source and destroys the Westminster PCC.

But for Eve, soon to give birth to her second daughter, and for Adam, the quest for the truth continues.