داستان انگلیسی بازی با ذهن

ACTIVE LISTENING MAIN STORY

MIND GAMES

The alarms at the Somerset County Bank went off at 8:40 pm. False alarms were sometimes triggered by balloons, extreme weather or animals. On this night, none of those reasons fit the bill. The bank was closed, and the blinds were shut. As multiple SWAT teams approached the bank, they saw the shadow of a man standing behind the blinds. It was a tense standoff. For three hours, the police used bullhorns to persuade the man to surrender. After getting nowhere trying to talk to the man, the police had no other choice but to go in after him. When they entered the bank, they discovered that the man behind the blinds was a cardboard cutout.

One piece of cardboard held 30 trained police officers at bay for 3 hours.

In the heat of the moment, the mind can play tricks on us. And sometimes what sounds clearly ludicrous can seem all too real.

Perhaps that’s how Herson Torres felt when he went on a bankrobbing spree in 2012.

Twenty-one year old Herson wasn’t made of cardboard, but he wasn’t your typical bank robber either. He was a regular young man living with his parents in a Washington D.C suburb. Herson liked Batman comic books and hanging out with his friends. He’d had a minor brush with the law as a kid, but he had never gotten into trouble as an adult. He worked a low paying job unloading trucks and dreamed of saving enough money to go to university.

Herson didn’t think he was turning to a life of crime. He thought he was on a secret mission from his government.

Herson’s life as a secret agent bank robber began with a message from an old friend from high school. Herson and Carolina Villegas had lost touch after graduating but had recently reconnected on Facebook.

Carolina text messaged Herson saying, “I have a job for you. We’re going to get paid $25,000.” “Doing what?” he asked. “Robbing banks,” she said. Herson thought it was a joke, but Carolina said it was legit and they would get paid by the federal government to do it.

A few hours later Herson met Carolina in a parking lot to find out the details. As he got into her SUV, Carolina was talking to her government agent contact. His name was Theo, and he spoke with a calm authority of an intelligence agent. He said he worked for the Defense Intelligence Agency, the intelligence department of the US military. He was in charge of Operation Downstrike. The goal of Operation Downstrike was to test the integrity of US banks.

The plan was simple. Civilians like Herson and Carolina were to attempt to rob local banks. No weapons. If the police or armed security approached, they were supposed to run. Any money they stole would be handed over to the federal government. And if they got into any trouble, they should keep their mouths shut, and he would get them out within 24 hours.

Theo told Carolina and Herson that they would be paid $25,000 if they were successful in getting money from the banks and $2,500 if they got nothing. Herson was skeptical at first, but Theo was convincing. He said he had vetted Herson and even knew about his past brushes with the law when he was a kid. Since criminal records of children are not public, Herson thought Theo must be the real deal.

To sweeten the deal, Theo told them that if all went well, he might be able to get them government jobs. There was one condition, though. They had to start work immediately.

Carolina drove Herson to a bank chosen by Theo. Herson entered the bank and handed the teller a note. It said, “I need your help. I need money. My family is being held hostage. And a bomb will go off at 4:30 if you don’t help. Don’t call the police or the FBI.” The teller told Herson the only way he could help him was by calling the police. Herson ran. He jumped into the SUV and said, “I think he’s called the feds. We’ve got to bounce.” Again Theo’s calming voice on Carolina’s speakerphone told him not to worry and to go to the next bank.

Herson followed orders. He entered the next bank, handed over the bank robbery note, and took off running without receiving any money. Back in Carolina’s SUV, Theo again told them not to worry.

They heard a helicopter in the background. Theo said, “Go hide out.

I’ll get the helicopter off your back.” While still on speakerphone with Herson and Carolina, Theo called the police. He told them he saw the bank robber getting into a different car and heading the other direction.

Over the next two days, Herson would attempt to rob more banks following the same bumbling pattern. Enter the banks, hand over the note, panic and then run out with nothing. Theo even convinced Herson to recruit his friends and family. For the fifth and final bank robbery attempt, Herson decided to wait in the car while his cousin, his brother-in-law, and a friend went in. They handed off the note and predictably panicked. Herson’s friend and brother-in-law ran back to the car, but his cousin froze.

Herson again turned to his secret agent boss Theo for help. Theo told him to hold on while he researched safe houses. Herson heard the police coming and bailed leaving his cousin behind.

Herson’s cousin was soon arrested and quickly gave up Herson’s name and address. By that evening he would be arrested and crying while being questioned by the police.

At first, Herson refused to talk. Theo told him to keep his mouth shut, and Herson was trying to stick to the plan. Then the police showed him pictures of his family and said that he wouldn’t see them for a long time. Herson cracked. In tears, he said, “You’re not going to believe what I’m going to tell you.” And he was right. Officer Vickery and the other police thought his story was ludicrous. They got angry with Herson, but he stuck to his story. He said he was an undercover government agent testing the security of local banks.

He told them to check his cell phone messages. He gave them his email and Facebook passwords and told them the truth was all there. He even had a letter from Theo written on Defense Intelligence Agency letterhead. It said that any police officer who was given this letter should help Herson in his work.

Just three hours later Officer Vickery received a phone call on his personal cell phone. It was Theo. He backed up Herson’s story completely. He spoke with a calm authority and demanded respect.

He wanted to know where Herson was. He said, “You can’t make people disappear—only we can.”

Officer Vickery was confused. The story sounded absurd, but they were very close to CIA headquarters, and he did have to deal with the intelligence community from time to time.

Theo demanded to meet with Vickery’s boss, and several meetings were set up, but Theo was a no show. Theo was also making phone calls to local lawyers to help Herson out. He offered two lawyers $45,000 to take the case, but he never showed up to meet them either.

It all came to a head when the police broke the encryption Theo was using to hide his phone number. His number belonged to a man named Josh Brady living in a small town a couple of hours south of Washington D.C.

Writer Jon Ronson describes this turning point:

“The police drove down there, and in an instant, three things became clear. The first was that Theo and Josh were the same person. The second was that Josh was not working for the CIA. He was 26 and living with his mother and grandmother. And the third was that Josh was totally convinced that he was working for them.” Josh suffered from delusional disorder. The main difference between delusional disorder and schizophrenia is that people with delusional disorder have fantasies that are plausible. Josh didn’t believe he was Jesus Christ or an alien from another planet. He believed he was an undercover government agent. And sometimes regular people have unusual jobs. His delusion was within the realm of possibility. And for this reason, Ronson believes that Herson should feel no shame in being duped. Robbing banks for the government sounds ludicrous, but the CIA has been known to do even crazier things. Everything he said to Herson was plausible.

The government dropped all charges against Herson. Carolina and Herson’s friend and family were never charged and Josh was given probation after agreeing to get psychiatric treatment. Within a year, Josh was again arrested for impersonating a government agent.