“It’s still old,” Charlie said at last.
“True. But you were able to explain what we saw with a bit of evidence,” Dan said. “Here,” he said as he pointed to part of the summary. Charlie had paraphrased how individual subconscious judgments were brought forth from around the world, using the biometric chips, and then combined to form coherent decisions by The Proxy. “This basically explains what we saw.”
Jerry smiled and got up from his lawn chair. “Oh shit.” Jerry stood looking over the nearest hill that ran along the coast.
“What?” Charlie and Dan said at the same time.
Jerry gestured in the direction he was looking.
Both Charlie and Dan turned. Fifty meters from where they sat, a drone was flying along the length of the coast.
“Where did that come from?” Dan asked.
“I just saw it,” responded Jerry.
“You think it flew over us? We’ve had the papers out for a while now,” Dan said.
“Yeah, who knows what it was able to pick up?” Charlie said.
The three watched as the drone continued its survey. There wasn’t much they could do except watch and wait. The drone continued its course down south with the guys observing, expecting the worst. No one said a word until it was out of sight. They kept expecting the thing to turn back around and fly back over to where they were sitting.
Charlie looked up over the hilltop to the north of them. He half expected a Guardian Element team to crest the sand dunes with all sorts of men and equipment in tow. He kept staring, willing the peace and quiet they enjoyed now to remain.
“What do you think?” Dan asked.
“I guess if it picked something up, we’re kinda screwed. If it didn’t, well, we got lucky,” Charlie said. “If it did, the relay would have happened instantaneously. The news always goes on and on about the five minute response times of those squads. Well, it’s been eight.”
The guys sat and waited. They sipped on the drinks that were opened before them. Each looked around, not really knowing where the teams would move from. They probably wouldn’t come from the west. South was unlikely. So they sat back and stared to the north and east. Ten minutes later, they all looked at each other.
“We got lucky. Let’s clean this shit up,” Charlie said.
“Yeah we did, Charlie. So let's use it,” said Jerry. He stood up and peered over to the east before continuing. “Fellas, there comes a time in every man’s life when he starts to question whether his life has meaning. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t? If there is no meaning, a man should never stick with the status quo just because it’s easy. A nice paycheck is only that. Nothing more. I have a nice paycheck. My life is easy. My life is also fucking boring as hell,” said Jerry, arms stretched wide.
“You got a wife and kids,” said Charlie. “That paycheck is important.”
“You’re right, but I’m still me. The only way we’re going to get the information we need is by seeing what is happening now, how everything is operating,” went on Jerry.
“You got a plan for this?” asked Dan.
“Why yes I do,” answered Jerry. “All data is funneled up from the major hub cities to The Proxy’s central location. This is sent in the form of raw footage and unprocessed information. Managed decisions are pushed back from The Proxy. These are then acted upon. We need to intercept the flow back and forth in order to assess how information becomes decisions,” said Jerry as he took a sip. “And I know how we can do it.”
“How?” asked Charlie.
“We hack the streams going up and coming down,” answered Jerry.
“Impossible,” said Charlie. “The systems in place that protect the networks must be staggering.”
“True. But what if you don’t have to infiltrate from the outside? What if you can observe everything from inside the system?” Jerry said.
“Jerry, they’re going to know if you’re accessing information, right?” Dan said.
“Maybe.” Jerry paused. “But that’s the way to get it.”
“What about passive collection?” Charlie asked.
“Passive?” Jerry asked.
“Yeah. Everything is transmitted in some form or another. What about passively detecting information going out and then coming back? The Proxy needs data: video feeds, phone information etc… The Proxy also exists through everyone’s subconscious. So it seems to me, we have information everywhere. We just need to be able to collect it and figure out where to exploit it,” Charlie continued.
“Shrooms worked, sort of,” Dan chimed in.
“Yeah, true,” Charlie agreed. “Seriously though, Dan may or may not know of some folks that are in the information collection business.”
"Dude?" Dan said.
“Well, you do right?” Charlie said.
“Why would you know these types of people?” Jerry asked.
“Why would people need bike messengers?” Dan said after a moment of hesitation. “Think about that. People who want bike messengers probably have information they are very careful about protecting. No one in their right mind would pick a bike messenger over drone drop-offs that can reach anybody anywhere. The drones can find you at any time of day and deliver anything to anyone. But these forms of delivery and communication are tracked and logged. The bike messenger lives on the edge, in another world, a world in the shadows of the real world,” said Dan as he stood up and looked at the sky.
“We get it,” interrupted Charlie. “You’re a natural born criminal, living on the edge. Now, what can you do? Who do you know?”
Dan explained the network he thought existed. “What if we check out both angles?” asked Charlie.
“Hack them and collect on them?” Jerry asked.
Charlie nodded.
“Well, I guess we know our assignments. What about you Charlie?” asked Dan.
“You think we’re the only ones who saw that shit while high?” asked Charlie.
“Probably not,” said Dan. Dan looked at Charlie and raised his eyebrows. “So you’re going to get high and interrogate druggies?”
“In a manner of speaking, I have the most dangerous job,” Charlie answered.
“I like it!” said Jerry. “Let’s get out of here.” They jumped in the bus and drove back to San Francisco.
“To the Rest Stop?” Dan suggested.
Both Charlie and Jerry nodded with enthusiasm. Word on the street was that the bar had recently released a new Russian Imperial Stout, a beer blacker than ink and stronger than whiskey. Jerry pulled the bus around to the back of the bar, where there were a few spots available. It was the type of place where no one would complain if you parked wherever made sense. As long as the Guardian Element wasn’t roaming this section of the city, none of the guys worried about getting towed. They jumped out and filed through the thin hallway leading up to the back entrance of the bar. It was darker than usual, devoid of the sounds, which habitually resonated from within. The hallway was normally lit with the dim glow emanating from the bar. Faint sounds of music regularly greeted customers as they searched their way toward the happy establishment. Today it was dead.
Charlie reached the entrance first and prodded the door open. It creaked as it swung on the rusty hinges. Charlie peered into the room, realizing the bar was completely empty. There was nothing at all between the four walls. The entire place had been cleaned out. All that remained, were a few broken glasses lying on the bar and strewn about the floor. The lights that had once been strung lengthwise across the room, hung from their sockets. The light from the street shone through the front bay windows, illuminating the tragic state that had befallen the once loved watering hole. All three ambled through the bar to the front door. Through the small window in the middle of the door, a sign hung over the entrance. Charlie could barely make out the word closed in bright red paint.
“Mother fuckers,” whispered Jerry.
They had done it. They had finally closed down their bar.
“Every ti
me we find a place, it gets closed. Without fail!” exclaimed Dan. “I’m sick of this man.”
“Charlie, it’s time to stop fucking around. This has got to stop. There’s nothing left for us here in City 55. San Francisco is being bled dry. Everything unique is gone. If some essence of originality makes it through the red tape, it’s not long before that’s strangled, leaving a corpse in its midst,” Jerry ranted as he made a sweeping motion with his arm across the desolate room. “We’re all too scared to live nowadays. There are rules and regulations for everything. We can’t have an adventure or create something new. We can’t create something for the world that shows the human spirit is alive and well. I’m done with it.”
Jerry looked at both Dan and Charlie with determination. “Listen. Before I was along for the ride, because I get a kick out of Charlie and his crazy mind. But this shit has got to end! Dan, you know people. We need information. I’ll do my job. It might take a bit, but we need to see how things are operating now. Charlie, even if Dan comes back with the secrets of the world and I unlock the ways to the golden pathway up The Proxy’s ass, all will be for naught if we can’t do anything about it.”
Charlie looked at Jerry with a huge grin on his face. Jerry was here. He was back, the Jerry from their college days.
“Charlie, we need to know how to put it all together and frankly, I don’t have any idea how to do that without an army. That’s on you,” continued Jerry.
Dan looked over at Charlie. “You asked for it.” And gave him a little shrug. “We’re in.”
Charlie nodded, already lost in thought. This was getting real.
“There’s someone looking at us,” interrupted Dan.
Charlie stared at Dan in a moment of terror, loathing the prospect of looking in the direction Dan alluded to.
Dan’s eyes were wide with amazement, and then started to soften. “It’s Pam.”
Charlie’s heart jumped again. “Pam?” Charlie asked. He turned and eyed Pam peering in at them through the windows. She was shrugging her shoulders questioning and miming her surprise. The front door was barricaded shut, so they motioned her to the alleyway beside the bar, pointing back toward the bus. Pam followed their directions, and they all joined up at the Volkswagen.
Pam paused while looking from one to the other. “Nice bus,” she finally said, nodding her head. “What happened?”
They all started speaking at once, describing the inside of the bar and every scenario they could conjure to describe what had taken place. After some banter back and forth, whispering behind what had been their favorite bar, the guys invited Pam to Charlie’s place. Into the bus they piled, despite being unable to scrounge up liquid blacker than ink, Charlie’s apartment sounded like an acceptable impromptu alternative.
“Sorry everyone,” Charlie apologized back at his apartment as he pointed to the bare refrigerator.
Pam told them she’d be back in twenty minutes, took Jerry’s keys from his pocket, and drove off in the bus. The guys stared at each other.
“Well, we’re either in for a treat or I’m screwed,” said Jerry.
Twenty minutes later, Pam arrived lugging a crate into the kitchen. She put all but four bottles in the refrigerator and asked Charlie if he had any goblet style mugs.
“Of course,” Charlie answered as he pulled them from the cabinet. Pam popped the tops of the unmarked bottles and poured the orange hewed liquid into each of the goblets. In frenzied anticipation, each grabbed their glasses, gave a cursory cheer, and downed what Pam had brought.
“Damn, that’s good,” said Dan.
Everyone nodded.
“Thanks, it’s one of my latest recipes,” responded Pam with pride. The guys looked at each other in surprise. “I work at 55 Brews. I’m an assistant brew master at the brewing company.”
“I read the company titled the brewery in honor of the city,” Charlie said.
“Yup. It seems to have kept the blood sucking officials off our backs about all the damn regulations we can’t keep up with,” Pam said.
“Nice,” Jerry said.
“Free beer too,” Dan responded.
The night continued, everyone relishing Pam’s donation while watching the Photon Screen, a new type of television that redirected light in the room to display a 3D scene. They were watching the news, renamed The Facts, a World Government sanctioned news outlet of sorts. Needless to say, there was quite a bit of bias associated with the “facts” presented. During the televised stories, the taglines were often met with a barrage of yelling and cursing from the four. That was until one scene unfolded before their eyes.
Three armored cars hauling The Guardian Element, pulled up to the Inadequate Rest Stop. The men immediately set up an outer cordon blocking off street traffic in front of the bar. Charlie rotated the scene about the Y-axis, providing everyone a view of a similar truck pulling up to the rear entrance, establishing a rear cordon in the process. In unison, the lead and rear teams breached the unlocked doors and entered the bar. Charlie zoomed in and then expanded the scene to put all four friends inside the holographic 3D scene of the bar. The customers were placed face down on the floor with their hands over their heads and feet spread. Four of the owners were then apprehended by the Element. The Guardian Element processed DNA from the four with a hand held device. Once confirmed, all had black bags pulled over their heads and drawstrings pulled tight around their necks. Each had their hands zip tied.
The Element moved the four prisoners to one of the armored cars. Within minutes, the bar was completely sanitized. All relevant equipment, digital media, and paperwork removed as evidence against the four. Then they were gone. The customers were still lying motionless on the floor, petrified that they would be joining the owners. More than likely, secondary units would arrive later in the night to dismantle and lock the bar up. Charlie turned off the 3D scene as the reporter switched stories, bringing up an image of The Corporation and a congratulation announcement to the officials on current efficiency statistic records for the month.
“I wonder if I’ll ever see them again,” Pam whispered. “Tony was my friend. He was a true artist. He never had anything bad to say about anyone. He loved to see new faces and talk about new interesting things. Half the time, I think he would pour beers for people free of charge so he could hear them talk about something different. And their lives are now taken because they didn’t do this or do that, or put in that piece of paperwork, or succumb to the whims and wishes of those above us. Those above us? How absurd.”
“Fuck them. That’s why we’re taking them down,” said Dan.
“When?” asked Pam.
“Uh,” responded Dan.
“Nothing,” said Jerry. Recent events had put everyone a bit on edge.
“Don’t lie to me, especially while drinking my handiwork.”
The two remained silent.
Pam got up and sat down by Charlie, laying her hand on his arm. “What’s going on? I was hoping that was just idiot drunk talk. You can’t be serious,” she said without breaking eye contact with Charlie.
Charlie considered making something up, but his face had the truth written all over it. He could barely lie. He definitely couldn’t lie to Pam. “We’re going forward with what we talked about the other night. We’re going to dismantle The World Government and The Proxy,” Charlie finally explained.
“Fuck, Charlie,” responded Jerry.
“Only thing is, we don’t know how yet,” continued Charlie, ignoring Jerry.
Pam took a sip, tossed her long blonde hair back, and nodded. “What’s the plan Charlie?” she asked.
“What?” asked Jerry.
Pam waved off Jerry.
Charlie laid it out for Pam. Jerry and Dan chugged the rest of Pam’s homemade beer. They both refilled twice during Charlie’s explanation.
“Charlie, our friends were just bagged and zip tied. Are you sure you want to air this?” Dan asked.
“You don’t trust me with your treasonous pla
ns to overthrow the government?” Pam replied with a wink.
Jerry and Dan helped themselves to more of her beer.
“I’m in,” Pam said. She got up and walked to the fridge. “Guys, I’m with Charlie. It seems to me the subconscious is the key to using whatever information you two find,” she continued while pointing at Dan and Jerry. “If we can control that, which I don’t think we can, we’ll be in charge.”
“Uh huh?” Dan said. “How is this group going to figure out how to control the subconscious?”
“Yeah, yeah,” she continued. “Impossible right? Maybe, maybe not? But if there’s a way, I know a guy who can show us.”
“Who?” asked Jerry.
“An old friend,” said Pam. “An old friend I knew years ago.”
CHAPTER 6
ATTENTIONAL BLINK
“Mr. Parlor, here’s your daily schedule,” said Steve, Jerry’s automated legal assistant.
Jerry sat at his computer looking over the schedule projected onto his desk. Each event floated above the desk set to the designated time. He could rearrange as needed, sending those affected automated notifications. Right now, Jerry needed an excuse to access City 21’s data stream transmitted to and from City 55 in order to start building the intelligence requested by Charlie.
Charlie had been adamant that the data analysis contained somewhere on the company’s servers, would be invaluable to them. He wanted to see the communications that were happening between San Francisco and Istanbul in order to narrow down where their flaws in security were. Jerry wasn’t so sure, but Charlie had a way of instilling confidence.
Jerry used different tools to analyze and catalog the data he collected. Steve would often translate and summarize conclusions from data for Jerry if it pertained to corporate cases or ongoing litigation. Each time a data block or stream was accessed though, the main server back at the World Government in City 21 logged the event. Trying to block or delete that log would be next to impossible. Likewise, Jerry did not know how to mask the fact that he accessed the data. Instead, Jerry needed to produce a plausible explanation for why he was observing the data stream in the first place.
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