It was the first Tuesday in December 2025: He’d noticed the letter when he emptied the mailbox. The address was handwritten. What the hell was that?
The 63-year-old activist Peter Staub, known as Pitch, never received personal mail. At least, not for a very long time. Still, he wasn’t particularly curious, suspecting it was just another fundraising ploy.
He had no idea that this cold, rainy day would take on special significance for the rest of the unemployed journalist’s life. After lunch with his wife, who, as always on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, was working from home, he took a closer look at the letter.
On the back of the envelope, the sender was handwritten as «VIC H. MONIA», along with the c/o address of a lawyer in the Swiss canton of Jura. Now curious after all, Pitch opened the letter. On a card, written in large letters in blue ink, it read:
«DEAR PETER
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
+
GOOD LUCK
VIC»
Inside the envelope was a memory stick shaped like a flat key. Pitch wasn’t sure what to make of it. He’d never heard of anyone named Vic H. Monia. He didn’t know the lawyer either. An online search revealed only that she worked as a lawyer in Jura and in Biel-Bienne.
Pitch put the card and the key back in the envelope. He planned to look at the flash drive on Thursday, after he’d written his two job applications for the week during his office day.
On Thursday morning he finally opened the USB drive. He found three Word files: «Dear Peter», «Dear (…)», and «Essay». Pitch had no qualms about opening the files. No one would try to infect his computer with a virus that way. He opened the file addressed to him first:
«Dear Peter
I hope I’m not catching you off guard. We don’t know each other, but your ideas and your dedication have inspired me. I’m sending you the attached data key, trusting that you’ll use it as I intend.
I’m using a pseudonym to protect my family and friends. The essay on the data key will challenge people who have no scruples. I don’t want to subject my loved ones to their reaction.
Given your background, you’ll be able to withstand the pressure of their reaction. You’ll probably even laugh it off.
Nothing can happen to me, because I ended my life a few days ago with the help of a suicide assistance organization.
No one has read my essay before you. I ask you to proofread the article critically and edit it as you would as a journalist. After that, I ask you to translate the essay into American English or have it translated.
The third file on the USB drive is my letter to (…). Please send her my letter and the edited and translated essay. (…)
I bequeath to you the right to personally manage the copyright and oversee my essay after my death: You will decide where and how the essay is published. The proceeds will go to you. May they bring you happiness.
Good luck and have fun,
Vic»
Pitch leaned back in his chair. He needed a moment to process this. A message from the afterlife. «Dear Peter». Vic really didn’t know him; otherwise, she would have addressed him as «Pitch». Yet she had entrusted her text to him and even assigned him the copyright.
The lethargy that had crept into his life over the past few months vanished in an instant. A pseudonym? An essay that challenges people with no scruples? The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Eagerly, he opened the «Essay» file.
In retrospect, Pitch could no longer say exactly how reading the essay «It’s Time for Humanity to Grow Up» had affected him. He vaguely remembered groaning. But he knew immediately that Victoria Har Monia had left him a political bombshell.
And he knew he had to act quickly now. So he sprang into action.
He opened the third file:
«Dear (…)
I read your book (…) with great interest. (…) Thanks to your work, I trust you.
I’m having Peter Staub send you my essay: «It’s Time for Humanity to Grow Up.» I hope you can have the essay (…) published. If (…) declines to publish it, please try to get the essay published elsewhere. (…)
I think it would be interesting if, in parallel with the publication of the essay, the editorial team gave the women mentioned in it the opportunity to respond.
I wrote the essay in German. Peter Staub edited and translated it on my behalf. I ask you to edit his translation.
I’ve made Peter Staub my go-between and editor because I don’t know him personally, so there’s no way to trace the essay back to me. In recognition of his work, I’m happy to entrust him with the management and protection of my copyright.
I wrote the essay under a pseudonym to protect my friends and family from reprisals. I’m not worried about Peter Staub.
He has long been committed to a just world and has taken greater risks than simply forwarding my essay to you. You can find more information about him at (…).
My essay is intended to show people a way in which they can work together to overcome war, misery, and violence, so that everyone can lead a life as beautiful as the one I was fortunate enough to have.
In the essay, I’ve embellished my biographical details a bit to prevent people from drawing speculative conclusions about my real identity. What is certain is that I am no longer alive. My lawyer handed my letter to Peter Staub (…) over to the post office after my death.
My essay will meet with resistance, some of it fierce. But I hope that it will unleash the energy needed for humanity to overcome violence, exploitation, and destruction, so that even the grandchildren of our grandchildren can enjoy a dignified life in an intact environment.
Good luck and all the best
Victoria Har Monia
P.S. For details, please contact Peter Staub.»
Pitch was frustrated that he’d left the flash drive lying around unattended for two days. Although he’d long been isolated as a revolutionary, he assumed his communications were still being monitored. So he probably wasn’t the first person to have read Victoria Har Monia’s essay.
He had to act fast if he wanted to have a chance before the security services shut everything down.
However, he still had work to do. Pitch estimated that he would need at least two days to edit the text. He didn’t want to send an email to the journalist on Friday. «News gets lost on Friday afternoons». That was something he’d learned as a journalist.
Looking back, Pitch could only vaguely recall the next few days. He worked feverishly, editing the essay and researching ways to send it to the journalist Har Monia had chosen.
After his wife left for work on Monday, Pitch put the finishing touches on Victoria Har Monia’s essay. He used Deepl to have the letter to the journalist and the essay translated into American English.
That afternoon, he sent his message. Then what Pitch had feared happened: nothing. Even when he followed up weeks later, the same thing happened: no response.
At least Pitch had months to take in what Victoria Har Monia had left him.
Pitch was able to grasp the explosive power of her essay. Har Monia had alluded to his political past when she remarked that she had been inspired by him.
But Pitch was virtually unknown. He had no connections to influential people, nor did he have a publisher he could count on. He wasn’t active on social media, and Wikipedia didn’t even list him.
How did Har Monia end up choosing him of all people?
Of all people, he—who in March 2023 had to publish his «Declaration of Biel-Bienne» along with the «Manifesto of Social Reason» as a paid advertisement in the left-wing Swiss «Wochenzeitung» just to get his ideas heard for at least a few days.
Of all people, he was the one who managed to get Victoria Har Monia’s essay «It’s Time for Humanity to Grow Up» published. Why hadn’t she asked one of the well-known women she’d mentioned in her essay? Should he try to contact one of them? For a long time, Pitch couldn’t find any answers.
So he practiced the most difficult task and the most important skill of a revolutionary: he practiced patience and he reflected.
Spring came and went until Pitch finally reflected on what he had learned as an activist and as a journalist. He moved from thinking to action.
He began building a website and drafting a press release.
In accordance with the new calendar, he chose the 1st of Victoria, -006 (formerly known as 1st of July 2026) as the publication date.