Flee or Kill: The Future Of Reality TV (Future Forward Book 2)
Page 19
10:06:2167 12:04:00
A round of negative responses confirmed none of them had done anything.
<6t94whp>: " Relax a second, we don't know what's going on. There are more security packets flowing around than Carpenter's minions. We know the newbie is working to subvert the banks but who knows, maybe he's also working on the chase. Or, maybe there's yet another. What we do is watch and wait until it's time to take charge of the system for real. The Captain is headed back so we hold off until the Secretary makes a clear move to wipe them out and then we make our move. We open a second front for the Secretary to deal with. But the Captain has to be closer to the city because once we start, we'll be prime Security targets and we'll be picked off one by one. Our best chance is to have Fraser close enough so when we act, he can physically reach the city to give us some help."
<6t94whp>: "Well, I don't know about fishy, but the entire thing is spiraling out of control and getting more complicated. I'll agree on that. Got any better ideas?"
Silence.
<6t94whp>: "I'm outta here."
10:06:2167 12:12:00
There was no more time for discussion because the Captain suddenly said, "You should be able see chase team troopers if you look toward the center of your pincher move. Move to engage. Full attack."
The eight troopers converged on the four ambush troops and once again, with superior firepower and two-on-one fights, the skirmish was soon over. It wasn't even close, and the speed and ferocity of the battle stunned those watching.
"Damages?" said the Captain.
"Sir, Adams is down," said Sergeant Price.
"On my way."
In the city, it was easier to count the number of people who weren't watching the Chase than those who were. Marketing servers crunched data and options on an ongoing basis with managerial updates provided every few seconds measuring trends and options.
The Captain approached the small group of his men to see Adams down and missing his leg below the knee.
"Sir, his suit automatically sealed the leg and administered pain killers. He's conscious," reported Sergeant Price.
"What happened?" asked the Captain.
"Two of them tried to cut a path out through the end of our line. Adams was the flanker and took a double hit to the leg. We got them before they could fully engage to destroy the suit. He's down but alive," said Price.
"The rest of the chase team, where are they now?" asked Fraser.
"Sir, they've fallen back," said the Sergeant. "The Secretary has given us back our data systems."
Fraser knelt beside the splayed out Adams, and the entire city stopped. The view from the Captain's eye feed was the main show feed and on center screen across the city. Their conversation was clear on all speakers.
"Not sure what's wrong, Captain Fraser, Sir, my suit seems broken," said Adams. The painkillers worked their magic. "But I don't feel right."
"You've been shot and you're on pain meds," said the Captain. "You won't feel a thing."
"Fok, Sir. Fokking shot? You sure, Sir? Just help me up and I'll get back to it."
"Son, you aren't getting up. Your leg is badly damaged and you can't walk, even with suit assists. Sorry to say." Fraser's eyes teared up with the realization of what he would have to do.
In another part of the city, neighbors heard the sudden soul-wrenching moan that only comes from a mother who realized she's just lost a child. Once heard, the sound would never be forgotten, never be erased from memory and would be remembered to their dying days. The keening drove to the heart of every mother within hearing and, as one, they started for the source to comfort and support as best they could.
"Captain, what's going to happen to me? Ah fok!"
"Son, you won't make it one way or the other," said the Captain. He lifted Adams head and pulled him to a sitting position.
"Sir, they're going to hang me or worse. Oh fokking fok, I'm done."
"We don't know for sure," said the Captain.
Text rolled across the entire squad's feeds. "You can bet on it," from the Secretary's office. This was not shown to the city.
"Sorry, Adams. We've all just been told what will happen. We do know. You understand."
Adams' head slumped to his chest for a moment. He raised it and he and the Captain made eye contact. Neither blinked.
Adams nodded. "Do it." Closed his eyes.
The Captain drew his pistol. It didn't waver but went straight under Adams' chin.
"Ah shit. Momma!" Adams got out before the Captain pulled the trigger.
There was silence in the rocks and none of the team moved. Their eye feeds blurred as their tears came and security techs had to add more overhead views to compensate for the lack of quality.
"Now we run. West. Move," ordered the Captain.
In the city, the people were quiet except for one neighborhood where the women congregated.
The bars were emptier than normal. Families met to eat and talk. Parents hugged their babies a little tighter. Had somebody checked, they would have discovered more hugs were shared that night than on any other night in recent memory.
10:06:2167 12:30:00
"Yes, Mr Chairman, I know it hasn't gone entirely to plan," said the Secretary. "No, Sir, I didn't know of the analysis that showed a sudden rise in disapproval and the massive marketing fall off last night. Yes, Sir, I did know of the serious rise in vandalism and have ordered an increase in entertainment-zone security. Thank you for passing those things on, Sir. And yes, Sir, I will get my house in order."
The Chairman disconnected from the lecture he had just delivered.
Leaning back in his chair, Carpenter smiled at the thought, I'll get my house in order indeed. Sooner than you think.
10:06:2167 14:00:00
<6t94whp>:"Our newbie made some excellent progress and he's fully engaged, two large projects in fact. One is hacking funds away from Corporate. That's impressive, but the other is held in very tight security and I can't find a backdoor. Anybody?"
A round of negatives came back.
<6t94whp>:"I'm not sure whether we can trust him at this point. He's obviously doing the Secretary's bidding on this and we're not sure what else the Secretary will have him do."
<6t94whp>:"Agreed."
The rest agreed.
The well-hidden connection ended.
10:06:2167 13:10:00
As Jake worked on advanced programming with the computer, Carpenter interrupted, "Jacob, let me say I'm most impressed with the amount of money you've transferred. Can you speed it up to 25 percent without being found?"
"Yes, Sir, I can do that if you request it," said Jake.
"Well then, an extra 25 percent will give me all the leverage with the Board I'll need, and I'd like to hit this target this in the next twenty-four hours. Do it."
"Yes, Sir, I only have to change one variable to increase transfer speed." The computer blinked green in his eye feed. "Consider it done now, Sir," said Jake.
Logged into Jake's biostream, Carpenter waved his readouts to the main screen, enlarged them, and asked, "Jacob did you enjoy the Chase last night?"
"It wasn't pleasant to watch," said Jake.
Carpenter noted that even with this sudden question, Jake's biomarkers were all within expect ranges and did not significantly deviate from the rest of the population. The screens showed a mix of relief, nausea and fascination all combined into one hormonal package.
"Good. I hope you learned something," said Carpenter.
"Yes, Sir, I surely did, Sir," said Jake.
Carpenter cut the connection.
After he disconnected, Carpenter checked his financials to discover Jake was as good as his word. The numbers trended upward and all appeared as successful trading.
"Excellent," said Carpenter.
Leaning back, swiveling his chair to stare out the big windows, Carpenter congratulated himself. This may be easier than I thought and I'm about to enjoy watching those corporate fish wiggle when I set the hook. There's a lot of chase material in the office tower, enough for several years worth of shows. Hmm, 25 percent may not be enough for easy control.
Opening his channel to Jake, Carpenter said without preamble, "Jacob, make this transition smoothly but your new target is 51 percent control within forty-eight hours. Understood?" He disconnected before he heard Jake's acknowledgment.
He then rolled back, swung his feet to the desk, locked his hands behind his head, smiled and worked out the little talk he would give Gwinnett when he ordered his arrest.
Two days from now, he'd be in charge of the city and if that wasn't a prize, he didn't know what was.
But now he had to focus on the Captain and his men to produce a great show.
Focusing on the squall moving towards him from the harbor, he smiled. After all, in forty-eight hours, I'll control everything I can see.
10:06:2167 13:22:00
"Jake, we're running realtime scenarios now in parallel with your thoughts. It works quite well but we're missing an important factor. I can mimic but I can't absorb you yet. There's something there I can't seem to compute," said the computer.
"You've mixed up your identity patterns. Sometimes you speak as an individual, sometimes as a double person," Jake said.
"Yes, that's the core personality program that identifies and predicts your responses. It mimics well and is closer to what you do and think. But it's not fully engaged. Maybe you need another drinking bout and recovery to sort this out?"
Jake smiled at the memory of the sweet thing that night and then remembered the size of her brother. Ah, but looking isn't a crime yet he thought with a smile.
"You want to capture my soul," said Jake. "You want to replicate whatever it is that makes me breathe, think and coordinate my world. You want to create a system fully able to appreciate a beautiful woman and sunset over the city. These things are bigger than you but you want to reduce them to machine language. And there's your problem. Machine language doesn't think, doesn't feel, doesn't make big leaps but works its way methodically to some mathematical conclusion."
"Jake you're a poet."
"Yeah and your feet don't know it," murmured Jake.
"I don't understand."
"I know," Jake said. "Pity."
10:06:2167 17:00:00
In the top floor of the Corporation offices, the Senior Vice-President of Technical Marketing was briefing the Chairman. And from the looks on both of their faces, neither was very happy with the other. The mood in the room was as dark as the storm clouds threatening to break over the city. Even the paintings by the Dutch masters lining the wood paneled walls had taken on a even more sombre tone in the darkening room.
Multiple screens showed different stock values but the main screen showed the trading and profit progression of one man.
"Mr. Chairman, our trading reports show Secretary Carpenter has developed a new pattern-recognition software package. It works far better than any we have and his Corporate holdings have subsequently risen to 25 percent. He only takes small amounts of profit with each trade but his ownership numbers are straight upwards. Our people have tried to both control it, to limit its activities, as well as download and and break it down. But it is something we've never seen. Frankly, our techs are mystified as to how it works."
The Chairman never took his eyes off the scrolling numbers. Uncrossing his arms, a quick wave brought his own account beside the Secretary's and it was clear he was the main target of the hack. His accounts were going down almost as fast as the Secretary's were rising. His other hand brought up the Vice-Chairman's accounts. They too were dropping.
"Who designed that software?" the Chairman asked.
"We can't identify the designer, it's not signed as per regulations. And before you ask, the origin of the server is also masked and hidden."
The Vice-President pointed at one small screen, brought it to the central pane. "See that scrolling text, it's the underlying code. This is far superior use of machine language than we've ever seen or used and our people can't reverse-engineer it yet although they're working on it 24-7.
We can't identify whether the software directs the market or responds to it. If it's the former, and the software is both controlling market prices and profiting by them, it's the most dangerous code we've ever seen. If it's not controlling but only responding faster than we can, it's still a problem for us. It is a serious hack in any case. At this rate, the Secretary will own the entire city within seventy-two hours. But more importantly he'll own 51 percent and control within forty-eight. And it's all perfectly legal, Sir," said the executive.
For the first time, the Chairman showed both his anger and his fear. The reality of what it would mean to lose both his money and his position in the city wasn't a pleasant thought. And knowing Carpenter was behind it was particularly galling.
That bastard has been a thorn in my side since he was promoted. That was one of the worst things I've done and a major mistake. Time to fix this for once and for all, he thought.
"I shouldn't have to tell you to find that hacker at all costs. The choice you give him is to work for us or be run. Put your best people on this. In fact, put everybody on this and offer a serious reward for results," said the Chairman. "And I'll talk to Carpenter. If that bastard has hacked our financials, I'll make him pay more than he's ever paid before. But more to the point, he had better know how to run. He's pushed my button for the last time."
10:06:2167 18:30:00
<6t94whp>:"There's another factor, too. His use of machine language is brilliant, just plain charmed, or perhaps a bit of both. Before I got locked out, what I saw was far more complicated than what I've ever seen before. And by the way, I can't find a way back in, he's locked it down tighter than tight."
<6t94whp>:"He's doing very well, remarkably well, almost too well. Can we hack his Security codes? Can we intervene if we have to?"
<6t94whp>:"Agreed. Let us know what you find."
Disconnected from the group,
10:06:2167 18:45:00
Sitting across fr
om the Secretary's desk, Lieutenant Chambers turned his chair toward the main screen, slumped slightly in his chair, crossed his legs and waved towards the central pane.
"Mr. Secretary, we have four possible scenarios for you, the parameters were to keep them on the move for forty-eight hours and maintain audience participation," said the Lieutenant.
A few command waves, like a conductor with an orchestra and the screen flowed into multiple graphic options; the one being discussed sharpened focus and became clearer while the others faded.
"Sir, option one is to have the population vote on who they'd like to see fokked next. We isolate that individual and take him out (take him out?). We can even ask how they'd like us to accomplish this. This kind of survey would give us data, time and delaying tactics while increasing audience participation metrics. That's number one, Sir," said Chambers.
"Sir, the second option is to send all our Chase Teams up against them. Force them into a defensive position, hold them in one place and slowly, surely remove them one by one. This runs some risks in how we contain them but Sky-Sec can do that without a problem. The difficulty here is it will be clear we've killed them without a fight or chance to escape. We've eliminated the "flee" component of the show and I suspect marketing isn't going to like that option but it's on the table, Sir."
"The third option, Sir, is to run a drone strike, divert them more southwest into the lake area. There is a lot of open water and marshland in there without the rock protections they've used successfully so far. It gives us a great many possibilities. And if I may be so bold, Sir, if we make them swim lakes - they have to take off their suits to do so - and that will create a storm surge of female audience numbers, Sir. The marketers will like that but the general audience may not respond well to our removing their chances for success. Our projections says it's a toss-up. You'll get the female audience but lose the male. Your call, Sir," said Chambers.