The Dane Commission (The Dane Chronicles)

by Dane, Max

  Shaking hands as they left, it reminded Ryan of an oath of fealty.

  He just hoped he wasn’t falling on his sword.

  After everyone else had left, Rosemary moved to a chair across from Cohen at his desk. “We need a reason for having the meeting, something SID won’t be able to resist,” she said.

  “My thoughts exactly. If we’re right, SID has spent an extraordinary amount of energy trying to remain hidden. We should use that; how about saying that the Dane Commission has threatened to go to the press? We need Frances’ help to keep it quiet, get control of the situation. ”

  “Yes, that should do nicely,” she said smiling, “With any luck he’ll come to try to prevent any news getting out.”

  He said, “I’ll make a video request for the meeting and send it to him, as well as a few others.”

  “You need to publicly invite enough people to make it seem real.”

  Nodding to her, he pushed some keys on his keyboard to cue up the televid.

  “Thanks Rosemary, now prepare your staff, as soon as I can confirm the time and date, I will invite several of the guests via the usual IntelliHealth channels. However, I think we’ll need to hand deliver invitations to the rest of our guests.”

  “Yes, I understand. I’ll compose letters to the police, delegates from the Mayor’s office, and our own internal security.”

  “That’s sounds good, be ready.”

  She stood up, and picked up her things.

  “Well, here we go,” he whispered as Rosemary left his office.

  Cohen recorded his conference invitation, erased it and tried again. After a few more tries, he was satisfied that it looked normal and still compelling, and submitted it to sixteen Facility Directors, Facility Presidents, a few scientists and of course, Dr. Sid Frances.

  Within an hour, he heard back from everyone except Frances. He waited, patiently watching his in-box. Finally, about a half hour later, the response came, it read:

  ‘Dear Eric –

  I am dismayed that this problem seems to be out of control.

  This time I will not ignore the distress these employees intend

  to cause the good people of IntelliHealth. I look forward to

  participating. Please consider the following dates and times as

  optimal for my schedule. Please make the usual arrangements

  for my televid. Thank you for the wonderful game last weekend,

  we should make time to do it more often.

  Your friend,

  - Sid’

  Cohen smiled.

  He sent a message to Rosemary saying that the meeting would be tomorrow at 10:00 AM. Outside he could hear her calling in her staff. Moments later the front area cleared as they left to deliver hardcopy letters requesting police and government officials participate. She requested that they should arrive early, and come directly to her office. She would provide lab coats for them to wear.

  Cohen then sent a message to Ryan, copying a few of the Presidents and scientists that read:

  ‘Mr. Dane,

  It is unfortunate that the Dane Commission has

  chosen to go to the press. I implore you to join a

  meeting scheduled for tomorrow morning at

  10:00AM where we can discuss other more

  appropriate options. As an employee of the

  IntelliHealth System I remind you that it is your

  obligation to attend this meeting prior to

  addressing any outside media. I look forward to

  your speedy response.

  Dr. Eric Cohen’

  Cohen smiled. He didn’t think it would be difficult to get Ryan and his friends to participate. He got up, to walk around the floor and see how Rosemary was doing.

  In Ryan’s office, he was just finishing his response to Cohen’s message.

  ‘Dr. Cohen,

  I apologize for this uncomfortable situation. Believe me

  when I say that it is uncomfortable for me as well. I do

  not see any advantage to dragging this out, but I do

  recognize my responsibility in the context of being an

  IntelliHealth employee. I have spoken with my colleagues

  on the commission, and we have agreed to attend your

  meeting tomorrow. It is my sincere hope that we can bring

  this matter to a satisfactory close.

  Ryan Dane.

  Dane Commission, IntelliHealth’

  He submitted the response, copying the same people Cohen had.

  Ryan hoped he had played the part successfully.

  He got up and went to Jim’s office, where he found Jim rapidly typing at his terminal.

  “The meeting is on for 10:00 AM tomorrow. Will you be ready?”

  “No doubt about it, Ryan; you can count on me.”

  Smiling, Jim leaned back in his chair, “I’ve written and tested my new algorithms for detecting the faked videos. I believe we can assess and provide results within 60 seconds of receiving the footage. I will have my tablet with me displaying the results, which I will forward to you and Cohen immediately. Right now I’m programming a redundant operation in case anything fails in the primary routine; this isn’t my first sting.”

  Very pleased, Ryan said, “That sounds perfect Jim, thanks.”

  Jim looked back at his screens and resumed typing.

  Ryan left and walked over to Jeff’s office.

  Jeff was printing a hard copy of the something, when Ryan walked in.

  “Jeff, the meeting is scheduled for tomorrow at 10:00 AM; have you put together a plan for testing recent the vaccinations?”

  “Yes I have, we can conduct the tests ourselves without help from the SID program. Results should be available within about 16 hours from the start-time. They will provide us with the exact make-up of the vaccine, and allow us to see if anything has been added, or perhaps altered.”

  “Excellent, have them ready. When it’s over, you will have direction of the follow-up actions. I imagine people everywhere will demand to know if what we suspect, is true.”

  “I understand, Ryan. I’ll be ready.”

  “You’re a good man, Dr. Jeff Sarin,” he said smiling, as he left Jeff’s office and in a much lower voice said, “and not a bad sidekick.”

  “I heard that.”

  The day passed without any more news from Cohen’s office. By late that afternoon, Jim had finished and tested his video detection program several times. Jeff had put the final touches on his write-up for the vaccine testing routine; if called upon, he could distribute it to the local laboratories instantly.

  Late that afternoon, before they left for the day, Ryan had some things he wanted to say.

  “The last time we tried this, we got our asses handed to us, and probably by a damn computer; tomorrow it’s going to be different. I imagine that a lot of people still won’t want to hear what we have to say.

  I don’t really blame them.

  If we’re right, a great evil has committed acts of atrocity while hidden among us.

  Hidden for too long; there may be precious little time to undo what has been done.”

  ”Whatever happens tomorrow, stay cool, try to think clearly and respond quickly. We may not get another chance so we must not fail. I don’t know what will happen when we expose SID, so be alert. We all know our parts, be ready.”

  Anxiously they drove home, each wondering what would unfold tomorrow morning.

  Ryan barely slept.

  The next morning, Ryan put on his best suit, and drove to work.

  When he arrived, he walked boldly across the lobby remembering when only recently he was fighting with the elevator. He laughed to himself as he rode up today.

  ‘I’m still fighting technology,’ he thought, ‘things really haven’t changed all that much.’

  Arriving at his office, he put his things down, pulled out his tablet and sync’d it with his terminal. On his desk, he found a hand written message from Cohen.

>   ‘ Ryan,

  Please come to my office in the morning, prior to the meeting.

  Thanks, Eric.’

  He put the note in his pocket and stopped by Jim’s office, surprised to see that he was wearing a suit as well.

  “Wow, looking sharp Jim.”

  “Thanks.”

  “How are your arrangements?”

  “I finished my work, and confidence is high.”

  “Jim, when we sit down at the meeting, I will ask you about the weather. If you have everything running, and you are ready to begin, tell me that the weather is nice and cool. Anything else will let me know that you need more time, okay?”

  Jim nodded, picked up his tablet, and stood up to follow Ryan.

  “Excellent, should we go get Jeff?”

  They walked past Lara, where Ryan paused.

  “Lara, we dragged you into quite a mess last time. I will understand if you prefer to stay here today.”

  “Not a chance, I’m excited to see what happens. Also, I’ll have my tablet with me, so just say the word, and I can retrieve anything you need.”

  “Okay then. Let’s visit our doctor friend and see how he’s doing today.”

  As they walked over, Jim said, “You know, technically I’m a doctor too. I mean no one ever calls me Dr. Safe, but they could. You know, because I’m a doctor, I have a doctorate.”

  Ryan was ignoring Jim and trying not to laugh, as he stepped into Jeff’s office.

  “Good morning Dr. Sarin, Jim here was just mentioning that he’d like to buy us all breakfast. Care to join us?”

  Looking anxious and prepared at the same time, he said, “Yes, that would be good.”

  “Very well then, come on everyone, join me in the cafeteria. Today, breakfast is on Jim.”

  Feeling good, they went downstairs to try and relax.

  When they returned, there was still an hour before the meeting.

  Ryan went upstairs to talk with Cohen.

  When he arrived he could see Rosemary in her office helping a man into a lab coat. He thought there seemed to be a whole rack of different sizes.

  Walking up to Cohen’s door he felt suddenly anxious. Being around Cohen brought reality back to the front and center.

  Cohen waved Ryan in, and shut the door.

  “This is it Ryan, how do you feel?”

  “I think I’m good.”

  “Me too. I have all the right people here. Appropriate leadership figures from the IntelliHealth System; and it was no easy task. I had to work to get a few of them here. I also have police and government people here. I think for them to understand what has happened, they need to see it in person. I also have several of our research scientists present to witness the spectacle.”

  “What was with the lab coats in Rosemary’s office?” said Ryan.

  “Ah, that is the unexpected; it’s how I beat SID at chess the other night, and it’s how we’ll beat him today.”

  Eric continued, “I have everyone from outside IntelliHealth in lab coats. From SID’s monitor it will appear as if we have the typical number of research people here.”

  “Won’t the real scientists know?”

  “Rosemary will bring them in, just before we start. When they begin to arrive I will start the meeting. There won’t be time for any revealing talk prior to the meeting. I’m not saying it’s the best plan, but I think it will be adequate for today.”

  Eric squeezed Ryan’s shoulder, and smiled.

  “Are you ready to confront him, Ryan?”

  “I think so, yes. I’m not afraid. It’s just a defective computer program. I kind of expect it to start stuttering, and emit little wafts of smoke when it happens.”

  He and Cohen both hesitantly laughed, small anxious laughs.

  “Well, it sounds like we’re almost ready. I’m going back to my office to check on my team,” said Ryan.

  ”Sounds good, Ryan. I’ll see you inside. And Ryan - ”

  “Yes?”

  Cohen was smiling broadly.

  “Today we will most certainly, kick that robot’s ass.”

  Ryan nodded.

  Ryan returned to his office, where his team was waiting.

  The floor was quiet, and the tension was thick.

  “It’s time. Is everyone ready?”

  Looking around, they all nodded. He smiled, turned around and walked to the elevator. Together they went upstairs to the conference room.

  The conference room was loud and full of people.

  ‘Just like last time,’ he thought.

  Noise and movement filled the room. He saw a single large televid screen in back, with several smaller ones fixed around the room. The largest one was still black, but the rest all were alive with faces; some watching quietly, some talking with the people here.

  Ryan walked to the middle of the table, and sat down where the placard with his name indicated. This time Jeff sat on his left, and Jim on his right. Lara took a seat at the peripheral behind Cohen. They made eye contact, and he smiled at her.

  Leaning to his right, he said, “How’s the weather?”

  “The weather is very nice, and cool.”

  Jim was ready, Jeff had his work ready, and Cohen was walking through the door.

  The crowded room parted and began to subside as Cohen reached his chair and sat down. Today, Rosemary followed and sat at the table next to him.

  Behind Rosemary several last minute attendees filed in wearing lab coats and sat at whatever empty spots there were around the table.

  Dr. Cohen wasted no time, reaching out and ringing the bell at the center.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, colleagues and friends, please may I have your attention.”

  Many of the latest attendees in their white lab coats were still sitting down, but the noise died down, if little slowly.

  Not waiting, he rang the bell once more.

  “Today we gather to deliberate on the actions of the Dane Commission, in regards to their findings and recent interest in speaking with outside agencies.”

  Looking down along both sides of the table he continued, “Today we are joined by, Presidents and Directors of the IntelliHealth System, as well as some of our top research scientists, and due to the nature of the discussion,” he paused, “my friend, and our founder, Dr. Sid Frances.”

  Ryan’s heart skipped a beat when the big screen didn’t light up.

  Cohen made eye contact with Rosemary, but neither moved.

  Staying calm, Cohen said, “Dr. Frances are you there?”

  Another moment passed, the silence becoming heavy in the room.

  “Is the televid set up? Perhaps we should -”

  Eric was cut off when suddenly, it came to life with the image of Sid Frances’ smiling face filling the screen.

  “My apologies, I’m here Eric.”

  “Ah very good. Dr. Frances, how are you doing today?”

  “Very well, thank you. Now if you please, my schedule is very busy.”

  Cohen looked up at Ryan and began reciting the made-up charges.

  “Mr. Dane, you have submitted a report indicating that a computer program, specifically the SID program, was responsible for performing unapproved research.”

  “Yes that is correct.”

  “Mr. Dane, you understand that the SID program,” and he held up a piece of paper as if reading from it, “is short for research assistant program.”

  Dr. Frances from the large screen corrected him, “Actually Eric, that’s short for Scientific Intelligence Deployment.”

  “Ah, yes of course, and Dr. Frances, as our resident expert, I believe it was agreed at our last meeting that the SID program simply wasn’t capable of that level of sophistication, isn’t that true?” Cohen was doing his best to provoke conversation from the Frances image, and it was working like a charm.

  Dr. Frances responded, “Well, not exactly Eric. Steven Ranks and I agreed that the SID program wasn’t designed to work independently. The very idea is counter to wha
t we designed SID to do. I recall that the recommendation of this committee was that the Dane Commission start over, and investigate other more plausible solutions.”

  “Ah yes, and Dr. Frances with time to reflect, has your opinion of the SID program changed at all since the last meeting?” said Cohen still trying to get more dialogue for Jim to analyze.

  “No, it has not. I will state for the record that the SID program was not designed to behave in ways consistent with the Dane Commission report.”

  Ryan was slightly nudged by Jim’s elbow.

  Looking at his tablet, he saw the message, “Video Fraud Confirmed.”

  It listed frame numbers and counts where the video loops had occurred, and points where the audio had been copied and reproduced artificially.

  He hit send, and Cohen got it too.

  Glancing at the message, Cohen nodded at Ryan and he said, “Very good Dr. Frances. I believe it's time to hear the response from the Chairman of the Dane Commission, Mr. Ryan Dane.”

  With the room quiet, Ryan stood up and walked to the head of the table.

  “I’ll begin with a simple question for Dr. Frances.”

  Ryan faced the large monitor with the image of Sid Frances smiling, and staring back at him. It was unnerving how real and lifelike it seemed.

  In a low voice, he asked “Dr. Frances, where are you sir?”