PART 3
The van stopped in an alleyway, Ekko managed to squeeze it under an awning to keep it out of view from the eyes in the sky.
“Pyppi, who are these people?” Rachel asked. “What’s happening? Sebastian? What’s going on? Why are the police looking for me and what happened to Prism?” Emotions suddenly welled and she had to clench her teeth to not cry out. She felt too hot and her stomach was churning with worry.
Ekko came and sat in the back with everyone else. “Is everyone alright? Everyone okay?” The others hummed and nodded, sitting on the floor and leaning back against the walls of the van.
“And who are you?” Rachel asked.
“I’m Ekko.”
“Yes, but who are you?”
Ekko crossed his legs and cleared his throat. “I'm a hacker; and I just rescued you with my gang. This is Phantom, Viper and Hornet. You already know Sebastian.”
“But what’s happening? I got a call from Prism; he said the Black-Coats were after him.”
“He’s dead,” Pyppi said. “The Black-Coats shot him in the street.”
“What? No… are you serious? Why? Why would they do that?”
“We were hoping you could tell us,” Ekko said. “Your name is top priority all across the police intranet. They want you, that’s their top priority, then Prism and Pyppi as your friends. But Prism is already dead, and they probably want all of your friends, but it’s you they’re really looking for.”
“Does that include me?” Sebastian asked. “Do they want me too?”
Ekko shrugged. “Probably. We can check when I get back online.”
Rachel felt in her pocket for her phone. “I got a message from Prism about my wallet; he said my wallet was a master key that can open any door in the government.”
“Whoa!” Phantom said. “You’ve got to get rid of that phone, you can be tracked.”
“Phantom’s right,” Ekko added. “Play the message back first, then we’ll throw the phone.”
Rachel played the message on loud speaker. They listened to Prism panicking, rushing through the street and the sound of gunshots. Pyppi put her face in her hands and rested them against her knees, hiding from the world. When the message finished, Ekko took the phone from her hand, removed the battery to shut it down and threw it out of the window. “What is the deal with your wallet?” he asked.
Rachel shrugged. “It burned up.”
“I cut it from her neck at the Gunman,” Sebastian added. “It was hot as hell and sparking.”
“But you still have it?” Ekko asked. “I want to look at it, see what got Prism killed.”
“I’d rather just hand it in,” Rachel said.
“No way. Like Prism said, it could be a key to the whole government.”
“Then I’m giving it back,” Rachel said more aggressively than intended. “I don’t want to get killed. I want my life. I want my little room and my crap job and my paycheque and most of all I want a life where I’m not involved in a police chase associating with guys holding guns.”
Hornet put the gun in his pocket. “I dropped the bullets,” he said. “It’s not loaded.”
“What? That’s not the point… Pyppi, I’m out of here. Thanks for picking me up, but I want no part in this.”
“Wait, Rachel! You don’t see what I’m trying to say. Can I at least have the wallet, because we’ve been trying to crack the government systems for a while now, and we’ve had no luck.”
Rachel ignored Ekko and slid the van door open. Pyppi and Sebastian followed her out. Phantom looked out of the window. “Um, Ekko? Black-Coats.”
Ekko looked. “Shit.” He got out of the van with Phantom, Viper and Hornet. “Rachel, wait! Follow me, there are Black-Coats coming this way!”
“As if.”
“Seriously! Just follow us,” Ekko shouted. Sebastian spotted them up ahead and grabbed Rachel and Pyppi and followed Ekko. They all hid around the corner of a smaller alleyway. The Black-Coats swarmed into the space with guns raised and gathered around the van, took aim and opened fire. The windows shattered, the tires blew out and sparks flew off of the metal as the vehicle was machine gunned.
“The van!” Ekko cried.
The shooting stopped. The sound of gunfire was replaced by the sound of one of the doors breaking from its hinges and crashing to the floor. One of the Black-Coats walked towards the van with his gun poised to shoot again. He looked inside. “Clear.” he said.
“Ekko, let’s go now.” whispered Phantom.
Ekko nodded and the group went off. He turned behind him. “Still want to go to the police, Rachel?”
She said nothing in reply.
“Where are we going, Ekko?” asked Pyppi.
“Back to my apartment.”
“But, won’t they still be able to track you. They can use the registration on the van and find out where you live.”
“It’s not really my van. I nicked it.”
----- X -----
Ekko unlocked a glass door and led them into the apartment building. Everything was filthy inside with rotting wood, wallpapers and the occasional plumbing leak.
They arrived at a high security, burglar proof door. Ekko punched in the six digit code on the number panel and turned a key in a separate manual lock.
The interior of Ekko's apartment was reminiscent to Prism's, with technology covering every surface. Against a long wall was a cluster of monitors displaying thousands of lines of code, data streams, and scanning software.
“Please, everyone take a seat.” Ekko pointed to some worn leather couches. Rachel sat with Pyppi and Sebastian by the window, and watched Phantom, Viper and Hornet sit opposite them on the second couch. Ekko took his seat by his desk.
“Now, please,” Rachel said. “Tell me what’s happening and why is my wallet important?”
“We know some of the story,” replied Ekko. “Have you heard of The Republic? The hacker group?”
Rachel shrugged. “I’ve heard the name. They’re all criminals is what I heard.”
Viper and Hornet sniggered.
“Not in the way the government says… It’s a hacker collective, all anonymous. It started as criminals trying to crack the wallet system for financial gain but then turned into something else. The wallets, Rachel. Your wallet. Everybody’s wallet. They control people.”
Rachel shrugged again. “Yes, so?”
Ekko beckoned her towards the screen. “No, you don’t understand. Take a look at this.” He opened some software that showed an image of a human body with animated lines to show a stylised blood flow. “This is what the wallet really does. On the surface it’s an electronic money system. It allows you to buy goods with a scan of your thumb. But it can also control your hormones, your endocrine system, your stress response. It can control your mood and emotions by changing your body chemistry. This was uncovered by The Republic almost two years ago and since then they’ve been sharing technical data and exploits.”
“So the government can control how we all feel?”
Ekko nodded. “Exactly that. Did it not seem strange that everybody loved Goldberg until he died? That all of a sudden people hated him and loved Grimmleif instead? It was like flicking a switch. The government updated the wallet software and people changed their beliefs.”
Behind them Viper said, “And they have the audacity to call us criminals.” He got out of his seat and moved to the window peeking around the curtains. “There are a lot of Black-Coats out there. I’m going up to the roof to see what they’re up to.” Hornet stood up too and followed.
“It’s actually worse than I’ve described.” Ekko said. “What we’ve begun to discover is most people have their status in life pre-determined by the wallet software. For example, why aren’t you a millionaire?”
“Because I work as a waitress?”
“But how would you feel if you were offered the chance to make millions?”
Rachel shrugged. “I’m not sure. I don’t know.”
“Wel
l, what we discovered is for a lot of people they start to feel very uncomfortable the more money they have. In fact, they feel best when they’re broke and poor. The wallet system even goes so far as to keep some people down and obedient. Working hard to pay the bills and never worrying about the big picture. Like I say, for two years The Republic has been trying to crack the government open, to free people from their wallets and install a new order. So far, we've struggled. But with your unencrypted chip, we might be able to do it, or at least make some good progress.”
Rachel shook her head. “I don’t really want any part of this. I don’t know why I’m involved. My wallet malfunctioned. Sebastian cut it out because it was burning.”
“That’s probably what it is. Your wallet didn’t update, it broke. Prism said your chip was the key to the kingdom. He said your wallet can open any door in government. That would explain why you’re the top priority on the police most wanted list. That’s why Prism was shot and killed. That’s why you’re being chased and that’s why the Black-Coats just shot up my van.”
----- X -----
Viper and Hornet were on the roof of the building. “They’ve blocked off Acacia Avenue ten blocks out,” Hornet pointed. “And Serpent Street.”
Viper nodded. “They’re cordoning the place off. Sealing us in.”
“I think they’re going to search. They’ll go house to house… I think we’ve got problems. We better tell the guys.”
Downstairs Rachel was biting her nails wondering what the best thing to do was. Her instinct told her to go to the police station and hand the wallet chip over, but she’d just seen the
Noir Control Page 6
