City 55

by William Pinecroft

  The biggest breakthrough happened when Dr. Buscher subconsciously fed information and images to subjects throughout their normal day. The subtle picture on a wall, a number hanging from a chandelier, or the pattern on the carpet of a conference room was all used to formulate pictures within a subject’s brain. These people were then observed while awake, mirroring the dream tests conducted earlier in the study. They found that the subjects, who had not been fed images, did in fact show sign association when interacting with the test subjects. Specific questions were posed, allowing each subject to fill in the blanks. From the findings, scientists concluded that people were able to communicate telepathically, at a rudimentary level, via the subconscious as they had while asleep.

  The ultimate test of efficiency began. The possibilities appeared endless. The opportunity to exploit an unused resource lay at the fingertips of these enterprising scientists. Corporations frothed at the mouth for the chance to be part of this development. Who wouldn’t want this? An unknown, untapped resource was begging to be exploited. Who cares that technology was now implanted within human minds, giving third parties the ability to map the brain’s internal electric signals? Surveillance had become the norm. This was yet another form used for the good of all and the security of the world. Due to this, governments argued the implementation to be perfectly legal. In fact, national security would be compromised if such technology were not exploited.

  Based on the extensive support from governments and corporations, The United States DOD implemented the research of Dr. Buscher and expanded R&D within The Biometric Conglomerate, retrofitting soldiers with these synthesized chips. Soldiers initially resisted the idea but all career fields within the military that used the chips, ended up with the fastest promotion rates, coupled with the most lucrative bonuses.

  The DOD terminated opponents of the idea, resulting in an all-volunteer force that subsequently shot through the ranks at record rates. World governments began to pool resources and synthetics were implemented amongst the world’s militaries. Militaries consolidated one after another until one main force existed for the world. This led to a single World Government, developed to build an efficient world, without variation, without unique practices, and without originality.

  The World Government highlighted the waste of former global administrations. Fallible judgment was criticized as specifically that, fallible. This became the buzz word of the times. How could this brave new world be governed by an infallible entity, with unquestioning authority and flawless execution? Dr. Frank Buscher’s daughter, championing the expansion of her father’s passion, stepped in to provide the answer.

  Dr. Helena Buscher, PhD, brought up in the world of science and technology, a child of the innovative world order, was the perfect person in the perfect place at the perfect time. Not only was she intelligent, she was beautiful, likable, and strong willed. The word stubborn may come to mind. Nobody, no man, no woman, could impose their will on her. She had absolute confidence in herself and her father, believing synthetic technology fused with human capabilities the wave of the future and the solution to the world’s problems.

  She stood 5’10” barefoot and with her conventional three-inch heels, towered above her associates and opponents alike. If you weren’t intimidated by that, she unveiled a dry, sarcastic humor to belittle those who doubted her. When these both failed, which rarely happened, a little flirtation went a long way, especially when dealing with the scientific types and dubious politicians she was accustomed to.

  Dr. Helena Buscher emerged at the front of the auditorium, a large room housed within one of the buildings connected to where The Proxy operated. She was dressed in her customary attire, a tight business blouse and skirt, crowned with her three-inch heels. Her hair was pulled back in a tight black pony tail. Her reading glasses remained propped up on her forehead as she addressed the world’s leaders. This was 2025 and the start of what was to become The Proxy.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, five hundred meters to your left, houses the new way in which our world will operate. You are all familiar with the synthetic chips developed by my father and The Biometric Conglomeration. These have been further modified and tuned to produce a one stop shop.” She paused and smiled. “For making infallible decisions within our society.”

  “What do you mean infallible?” asked an older gentleman in the front row.

  “I mean perfect, without question, never wrong. Did I say perfect?” responded Dr. Helena Buscher. She smiled again, knowing that this was the time to bring people to her side, not antagonize them. “I will explain in detail the meaning. Across the way,” She gestured again toward The Proxy, “sits the conglomeration of registered minds. Version twelve of the synthetic chip is implanted in these minds, and each subconscious is routed via their chip to a single entity. This entity uses those subconscious minds to formulate its thinking,” continued Dr. Buscher.

  Ten years later, Dr. Helena Buscher now sat in that adjoining office, operating the same system that now governed and administered all decisions within the world. Her once fledgling idea ruled the world. The single entity had become The Proxy, and it had governed the world for the past six years. The Proxy’s ability to learn was astonishing, creating an exponential pattern of understanding. The presentation of data in the building was no longer necessary, but Dr. Helena Buscher kept everything as agreed upon ten years ago to avoid the unavoidable concern that would surely follow her adjusting the perception of The Proxy. The collective subconscious drove The Proxy, as she had predicted. That was what was important.

  The Proxy is the ultimate form of self-governance, developed through the complete cooperation of the DOD and The Corporation in order to make the lives of every citizen in this world more profitable and more efficient. The Proxy combines the executive, judicial, and legislative branches of government, producing one supreme system that will revolutionize and expedite all oversight.

  Since her inaugural speech, The Proxy had become the central governing hub of the world. Following further tests after the year 2025, researchers and scientists discovered that more and more minds could associate to produce a global consciousness. Variations of The Proxy decisions decreased as more minds were combined, eventually providing a uniform conclusion from the collective consciousness. The study evolved, based on these beneficial findings, to form the current state of governance. Instead of relying on a certain number of individuals to rule the human race, the idea evolved to a combination of all voters’ minds, thus making their consciousness the governing body for the world. In doing this, the members of the committee argued the world would gain a uniform decision making entity, void of variations, working to provide what each person actually desired. It was the individual making the decisions. No need for representatives. The people rule themselves. A Utopia!

  All remaining registered voters were now authorized chip implantation. The procedure was simple and painless. Once retrofitted with the device, that individual would rule. No more voter registrations. No more ballots. No more tallying of votes.

  Rule yourselves; welcome to pure democracy!

  Voters resisted these advancements, equating the situation to killer robots taking over the world. In fact, initial surveys found that seventy percent of the world’s citizens argued against advancements made in artificial intelligence and the fusion of robotic and human organs. The savvy campaign managers, using targeted PR algorithms, argued that this was not artificial intelligence. In fact, they asserted, this was the exact opposite, as the program was striving to harness the intelligence of human beings, promoting that intelligence to previously unknown capabilities. Human brains would be in control of the world. Society, as a whole, would be protecting one another from corporate attempts at AI proliferation. Most succumbed to the campaign, even when these PR managers were forced out of the industry by robots that did their jobs better than any of them.

  Despite its continued success, Dr. Buscher found herself catering at times to leaders across
the world. She gave speeches every now and then in order to keep doubt at bay. She stood before the audience, as she had done ten years ago and many times since. She was dressed as she always did. She was a decade older and a decade wiser.

  “The Proxy is flawless in execution, acting as the ultimate decision maker for the world. Take for example the discovery of a dead body. After detection, The Proxy accesses all surveillance feeds within the one by one meter MGRS Grid Square where the potential crime happened. The initial ‘crime time’ is set to a one-minute window based on preliminary evidence. Feeds include pictures, video, and cell phone conversations to name a few. From here, the grid square expands to two by two meters and then four by four meters and so on. Additionally, after each geographic expansion, the time window referenced by The Proxy doubles. Once the murder is detected on the surveillance media, data processing units of The Proxy interpret the event.”

  “Upon completion, the collective subconscious analyzes the evidence. This collective, our Proxy, continues analyzing available evidence until it reaches a 99.5% certainty for the cause of the dead body,” Dr. Buscher said before pausing, as a hand was raised in the front row.

  “How do you know it is 99.5%?” a well-dressed man asked.

  Dr. Buscher paused for a second, avoiding the temptation to quip at the interruption. Instead, she walked out from behind the podium and bent down slightly in front of the man. “Sir, mathematical models far beyond my understanding are used to analyze such conclusions. If you’d like, I can take you over to observe them in action.”

  The man just smiled and shook his head.

  “Where was I? Yes. The local Community Guardian Element responsible for that MGRS area receives the decision from The Proxy. The Community Guardian Element deploys in whatever manner commanded by The Proxy. The Proxy now acts as the jury, judge, and executioner, a true testament to the ingenuity of our society. The analytical process takes seconds to accomplish. The principal delay is the physical deployment of the Community Guardian Element. Currently, testing is being conducted, aimed at eliminating such delays.”

  “If someone is responsible and foul play has occurred, we will find them. The criminal is immediately apprehended, bagged, zip tied, and taken to the Outreach Facilities.”

  Another man raised his hand.

  Dr. Buscher paused. “Yes?”

  “Are we tracking these people automatically? With the chip and all?”

  “No sir.” She had pitched that idea long ago, but it never gained traction with the conservatives. “While The Proxy is magnificent in its role, we still respect humanity. The Proxy only processes the subconscious. We do not have a global tracking system, nor are we able to dissect a person’s intentions.” She paused for a second. “Maybe in a few years, huh?”

  “Sure. I think.”

  “Now, these confines, the Outreach Facilities, will process incoming criminals, and then move them to the Inner Cordon Facilities where criminals serve out the sentence prescribed by The Proxy. There are no trials. There are no questions. There are no appeals. And there is no parole. All offenders are apprehended and punished for the crime. No crime is devoid of retribution. Someone will pay for the pain caused. Since The Proxy is infallible, then the correct criminal is the one that pays. The world community uses the same decision making process for public works projects, business decisions, territorial claims, and anything else imaginable. It is all centered on the ability of the world’s collective consciousness to receive and process surveillance from around the world.”

  The Proxy is infallible. You are now infallible. The Proxy is indispensable. You are now indispensable. As a population, we are perfect. We are perfectly efficient.

  The Proxy continued processing, blinking its dead, white eyes within the four digital walls. It was making decisions and putting into action countless responses throughout the globe, without hesitation and without doubt. The world was running like clockwork.

  ****

  Charlie sat on his couch. He chewed his dinner half-heartedly, despite the time he’d devoted to its preparation. He mindlessly watched the nightly news program. He couldn’t concentrate. He hadn’t seen his San Francisco Giants girl in forever.

  “City 55 has demonstrated how a city can rebound from the throws of disarray and lawlessness,” City 55’s mayor announced. “City 55 has become a beacon of productivity and efficiency. Every corner is monitored to ensure the utmost compliance, producing a well-governed contributor to the world economy. Crime is at an all-time low, with convictions hitting record highs. The streets of City 55 remain safe, allowing our citizens the ability to produce and prosper. Data links have a ninety-six percent uplink capability, feeding The World Government’s servers 24 hours a day. It is truly a privilege to call City 55 my home.”

  City 55, like so many others, was actually two cities, fighting within itself for what was important. Dedication to the new world order, while upholding The World Government in a position of power, remained widespread across the globe and parts of City 55. Promises of efficiency and prosperity convinced citizens that the future argued for by The Corporation was the future. A future that would save the world and ensure everyone had a promising place. Minimal crime, coupled with skyrocketing profits is a strong incentive for rich and poor alike. It all seemed to sell itself.

  On the one hand, City 55 incorporated every facet of modern society’s emphasis on security and transparency, feeding the central data hubs to allow The Proxy to govern. The Corporation had business hubs located at strategic locations within City 55 to take advantage of the proximity to the Pacific Ocean. Likewise, City 55 provided a good central location that facilitated data flow between itself and the central processors. This city, along with Cities 2, 8, and 21, all worked together to divide the world into manageable regions for The Proxy. The Community Guardian Element maintained ninety-six percent efficiency, as depicted by the 2036 Stats and Signs Analysis Report ordered by The World Government, to assess current productivity across the globe.

  City 55’s Guardian Element had decreased their response time, year after year, now sitting within the top ten percent of the world’s Guardian Element teams. A few years back, leadership incorporated a form of alert posture reminiscent of military and firefighting teams, to ensure the first response is out the door within five minutes of notification by The Proxy. Follow on forces have an additional ten minutes. Criminals are apprehended at an alarming rate, frequently unrealized by nearby citizens until the following day.

  On the other hand, in quiet denial and in a form of resistance, San Francisco still existed. It existed in Charlie’s mind. It existed in many people’s minds. He couldn’t give in to City 55, often clinging to the old associations, as a way to declare where his loyalties remained. Others in San Francisco shared Charlie’s misgivings and did what they could to protest the uniformity the government imposed. The Best Business Bureau required all businesses to submit requests for operation. Silence was not considered consent and any business that elected to continue with their venture, risked being shut down immediately, along with the added benefit of the confiscation of all materials on the property. Likewise, the Bureau must approve all produced and distributed products. Unique food and beverages must have specific recipe approval to ensure no unneeded production. Despite these restrictions, every now and then, a new bar, restaurant, or shop would open with unique wares, food, or drink. This was often perceived as a jab to the mouth of The World Government and a desire to produce something original in this unvarying world.

  The patrons of such dives were made up of the same crew over and over again. Within this mini culture, a culture that cherished more than final results, were the same faces frequenting those new stores and restaurants that dotted the hills of San Francisco. The businesses were shut down as suddenly as they were opened, so the crowd moved along to the next that formed in its place. Despite the fact the same faces frequented such places, these businesses broadcasted to all, as if to prove to the g
overnment they were unshaken, ready for whatever was to come.

  It wasn’t hard to pick out the patrons either. Those people tended to saunter, carrying a carefree attitude to protest the homogeneity. Every once in a while, a resident with a skateboard might cruise the San Francisco hills, traveling from one counter spot to another, feeling the air and breathing in the salt soaked San Francisco. Such inefficient forms of travel were a bizarre spectacle to most, as urban transportation had become so efficient and direct, one could wonder why a person would ever wish to walk around the block.

  The trains, trams, and pathways led everywhere, whipping you to any destination desired in a fraction of the time. But then, of course, they also didn’t understand why the wind blowing off the Pacific Ocean at twenty miles per hour, smacking your face and watering your eyes as you cruise the roads, was a liberating experience that many cherished in itself. The ride was important, the path was important. This was where some people found enjoyment. Not only in the destination.

  These San Franciscan establishments that subscribed to such thinking didn’t stay around for long, but there was always a mystical free aura about them. At any time of day, life oozed through the cracks. People talked and joked, beers poured, conversations were had over a few cups of coffee. The act of being there was celebrated. This life ended as you stepped from the doorway onto the street. Once there, a calm regimented mindset took over as people marched their way back to wherever they needed to go. The change was as obvious as when superman materialized from a phone booth. If you were to slice the wall and place a camera that could film the transition from inside to outside, the loose ambling laughter would then transform to a somber rigid exit as the door opened and closed behind each person. It was societal convention at its best, completely morphing the behavior of everyone who exited their safe haven.