Fiction: George and the Philanthropath – Part VI. THE DARK NIGHT & THE CHOICE (The Soul's Fate is Decided)

This continues from Part V

ACT 11: The Dark Night of the Soul

“In which our hero, stripped bare by the world, must confront the man who remains.”

With an indignant rage in my heart and nothing left to lose, I consult another lawyer. I have to have this injustice righted and expose the wrong against me. The barrister I see is recommended by a good friend and so we embark on an urgent appeal, claiming I had been set up by my own lawyer. Heard by another judge, the appeal is dismissed in a summary hearing; without concrete proof of collusion, it’s my word against an officer of the courts.

With that finding I am now officially liable for all of the costs and subject to bankruptcy proceedings. The bankruptcy proceedings are too painful to recount, suffice to say I lose my share of all proceeds from the house, my 49% share of the company and anything of value above personal effects and the car. The bankruptcy also means I lose ownership and control over the entire catalogue of weblog materials I had transferred to the company from before and also all of the videos and work we did while running the studio. To add to my distress, I receive a call from the local police advising that Claire has obtained—of all things—a domestic violence order against me, apparently on account of the shouting match we had that night before she left—it doesn’t matter that we both shouted. This means I can’t phone, text or email her or our kids or come withing a kilometre of her mother’s house where they are staying.

I realise there’s nothing I can do about Jarvis or Sterling; they are merely creatures of a corrupt system. I hear that Sterling has recently been elevated to the bench and is now the Honourable Judge Sterling. Jarvis made it to partner in his firm about the same time. I wonder who Corvina really is and after a bit of research it seems there is no dead husband. People in the alternative movement I ask all know her, but none seem to agree on her background, each tells a different story. Some say she is a well-off human rights lawyer from London, others a rich heiress, and then there’s the story about her being a former officer in the UK military—or was it MI6? Nobody is quite clear.

Naturally, nobody in my friend circle or my own brothers will listen to me. Not just a bankrupt failure, I’m now also a conspiracy theorist nut job trying to pin the responsibility for my own downfall on shadowy forces that for some obscure reason have picked me to target. Must think an awful lot of yourself to suppose you’re worth the effort. Well, that’s not been said out loud, but that’s their underlying sentiment.

It starts to gel when one day Corvina calls me herself, with an offer, “Look, George, don’t hang up, your future depends on it. I’d like to make you an offer that will make all of this nightmare go away.” It seems she wants to put me back in the company as CEO, but she will supply the scripts, and funding will come from a very well to-do sponsor company with a household brand name selling remedies and health solutions to the alternative community. The talents I’ve honed and audience I’ve gathered are too valuable to be lost, “Come work with me and we’ll take on the world. You’ll be well off and all your troubles will go away. Think about it, the offer is on the table for 24 hours. Call me.” She hangs up. I’m stunned.

The basket rocks.

ACT 12: The Harvest of Choice

“In which our hero reaps the harvest of his choice, be it bitter, quiet, or defiant.”

And so, I sit on the floor in the room that used to be my study in the house my children grew up, had birthday parties, played footy in the backyard, and in which Claire and I forged a family and life together. All of that is gone now, and it will never be the same again, no matter how rich or successful I become—or not.

Scammed by the people I trusted, naively I believed them simply because they told me that they were anti-totalitarian too.

But a transformation comes over me. I realise that in having been reduced to nothing, I have at last the freedom to be anything. To walk out the door into a new life or sink into non-existence and embrace the eternal.

As I see it, my immediate future comes down to three key options:

1. Despair (The Slave): Accept Corvina’s deal and sell my soul to the forces she obviously represents—the very forces I have dedicated my life to fighting. The question is whether I can face the feeling of self-hatred and hollow resignation this brings to me when I contemplate it. Do I become a ghost, creating content for the brand I built, but no longer own—while betraying everything I thought I stood for? Effectively, maybe I’ll be recognising that the law has legitimised my slavery. To take the path of total surrender, saving myself from the final, public humiliation of bankruptcy at the cost of my soul, maybe the only realistic solution. Or…
2. Atonement (The Penitent): Accept my bankruptcy and drive onwards, recognising that I cannot create under my old name anymore, due to the IP ruling and bankruptcy conditions. Going this way, at least I would be free from the financial and legal burden, but my public voice, my IP, and my platform have been legally taken from me. Should I take the path of accepting a crushing defeat to find a quiet, anonymous freedom, and vow to rebuild a simpler, more honest life away from the public eye? Or, should I choose:
3. Truth (The Guerrilla): Use the short window before I am silenced to publicly expose the scheme. I wouldn’t be trying to stop the bankruptcy; but I could use it as a stage. Release all the evidence, naming Corvina and the corrupt lawyers, knowing it will provoke a defamation lawsuit I can’t win. If I take the path of sacrificing my last chance for a clean slate, I choose to become a cautionary tale and a weapon against my oppressors, even if it means being destroyed in the process.

What should George choose? Path 1: Despair, Path 2: Atonement, or Path 3: Truth? Defend your choice in the comments below.

“In a system designed to crush you, the final victory is choosing how you defy it.”

Footnote

This narrative is the product of a close human-AI collaboration. The human authors (Ursula and Steven) are responsible for the entire core narrative, character development, emotional depth, and specific descriptive details that form the soul of the work. Artist Kathryn Pick worked with an Ai assistant to produce the graphic images. Under Steven’s direction, the DeepSeek AI model provided editorial and structural assistance, contributing to the story’s framework through archetype analysis, dramatic structuring, legal procedural refinement, and editorial suggestions to sharpen thematic resonance. The final work represents a synergistic partnership, blending human creativity with analytical augmentation.