Illuminating...

Craig joined Grace at the breakroom table. "How's your day been?"

"So far so good. I'm halfway through my shift and nobody has yelled at me about things I can't fix. So I'm taking that as a win."

Craig laughed. Grace was always positive. Even when people were yelling at her about things she couldn't fix.

Grace's phone vibrated.

"Are you going to check that?"

"No. It's probably just the Illuminati again."

Craig choked on his drink, "What?"

"The Illuminati. They've been sending me emails and texts about joining."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I mean, I'm serious that I've been getting messages from someone using the Illuminati as their hook, but no I'm not serious as in I believe the Illuminati is trying to get me to join."

Grace picked up her phone and opened the text message. "See?" She handed it over to Craig.

He read it and laughed, "Join the Illuminati. Text 556723 today."

"So you can see why I'm pretty sure that's not some sort of world controlling, all knowing organization. The emails are even worse. They want me to click on a link to join. So you are in control of everything by operating a giant phishing operation? It's ridiculous. I just wish I could figure out who sold my information. I've blocked each number and email address as they come in but they change them and send them again."

"What do you think they want?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "Probably all of my information. You know like if I click through it will be a page for gathering information for my background security check. Then I hand over everything they need to steal my identity and sell it."

"Do you think anyone falls for it?"

"They must. I read somewhere that a scam like this only needs to trick like 1% of the people they try it on to make it profitable. And there have to be a lot of people who want to think they are special enough or cool enough to be part of the Illuminati right? So I bet it works on some of them."

"Just not you."

"Nope, just not me. I have a really hard time thinking that the Illuminati is looking to recruit a retail worker from Podunk, Podunkia."

"Hey! We aren't in Podunkia. More like BFEia."

She laughed, "Okay, but still, not really Illuminati material."

"Who do you think would be? I mean you see stories out there about who is Illuminati and sometimes you're like, really? Jim Carrey?"

Grace laughed. "Right? I think there would be some celebrities but not any of them that would talk about it. Like Scientology uses their celebrities for recruitment. I would think the Illuminati would use theirs kind of covertly."

"Covertly?"

"Yeah, like entry into places they might not get to go otherwise. Or influencing people who weren't even aware they were being influenced. Say you get Clint Eastwood and then his movies that he writes and directs could be influential in ways they wanted. Oprah would be a great Illuminati member, Illuminatist? Illumina? Whatever you would call them. She would be ideal. She has a whole brand around her that she promotes and influences people with."

"I'm pretty sure people think she is already."

"Probably, but that's because it would make sense."

"Like politicians."

"Oh no. Not politicians."

"What? Everyone thinks if there is Illuminati then they control the politicians."

"Well, sure, they would control it, but you would never get someone in politics to be actual Illuminati. They are the ones you TELL they are in the Illuminati to appeal to their egos but they are actually just pawns. Nobody trusts a politician."

"So if not politicians, and only a few celebrities as needed, and not retail clerks in BFE, who do you think?"

"Umm...teachers? Yeah, teachers for sure. And not like college professors because by then you've already decided what you really think, but like kindergarten through 4th grade. You could really lay in the ground work there for lifelong beliefs. Librarians would have been good before but people don't really use the library as much anymore. But still librarians for when they are needed and now..." Grace trailed off for a moment, thinking. "Google programmers. What you see when you search. That's like the modern equivalent of the librarian."

Craig leaned forward, "Oh yeah, that would make sense, like the whole Silicon Valley."

"No, no, not all of them. Not even the heads of the companies. You are back in to the politician ego thing. Like Zuckerberg and Musk? They are ego driven. No way would they make good Illuminati. But maybe Bill Gates. His product isn't flashy. It's kind of got that unhip image and yet, we all use it."

Craig nodded, "You've spent some time thinking about this."

Grace shook her head, "No. Not really. I mean this is the first time I've actually talked about it at all. It just seems like this makes sense right? Oh shoot," she looked at her watch, "I need to get back to work. How much longer do you have?"

Craig looked down, "I have a few more minutes, you go ahead and I'll clean this up and see you out on the floor."

Grace took the last sip of her coffee and left the cup for Craig to clean, "Thanks! I'll play maid next time."

Craig waited a few minutes and then took his phone out of his pocket checking to make sure the call was still connected, "I told you she was brilliant. She came up with all of that on the fly. Stop with the emails and texts now, send her a telegram, see how she responds to that." He listened for a moment, "Got it. We'll talk again later."

He hung up the phone and pulled a bag from his jacket pocket. The coffee cup was lifted with a Sharpie stuck in the handle and dropped into the bag. He sealed it and wrote, "DNA screen. Grace Comstock. Rush." He would drop that in his locker before heading back out to "work" and someone would pick it up while he was gone. He didn't know who he just knew it would get done.

They were everywhere.

Even retail jobs in BFE.