Flee or Kill: The Future Of Reality TV (Future Forward Book 2)

by D. Frank Green

  He tuned back into the team channels to hear, "Just keeping us awake, people. Are you awake now?" laughed the Captain.

  Jackson's voice came over the feed asking the Captain a question. "Sir, what's going to happen to our wives and kids?"

  "Don't know," the Captain started to say but stopped.

  Having heard Jackson's question, the Secretary interrupted, "If you all fight well, and you the hardest Captain. If you prolong this as long as possible, I'll allow them to survive without punishment. However, if you screw up, or make it too easy, I'll put them on the chase, women and kids both, after giving them all to the troops for entertainment of course,"

  Carpenter smiled as the voice cursed him further. "Fokking bastard," said Jackson,"Fokking, fokking bastard!"

  "Swear all you want, but you'll fight all the harder now," he messaged.

  12:06:2167 17:27:00

  Jake suddenly stopped his daydreaming, and directed a question to his doppelganger, "Is there any reason we can't control all Sky-Sec weapons?"

  "None. We have the capacity to override all commands, we control all communications, all suit functions, in fact, we control just about anything controllable," it said.

  "So we're in full control and power," said Jake. "And it's payback time. I think it's time for somebody else to run things around here."

  "You may want to think about that."

  "Explain," said Jake

  And a lesson in human history, philosophy and what moved societies forward and backwards poured into his brain and then, increasingly, he accessed it directly in the doppelganger's memory banks.

  "You've just taught me how to access your memory banks," Jake said realizing he'd just been taught how to find the keys to full and complete information. And then what he'd been shown sank in. He had the power to control society.

  But what he'd seen was that history was full of people who would start by reforming a corrupt system, but turned out just as bad. Even the corporation started out as a straight business paying their employees well. Now look at it. It had turned away from being a security company to controlling the entire world and turning that world into a corporatocracy.

  "But I'm different. Completely different from those guys," he said, surprising himself by saying it out loud. He realized how loud his voice was.

  "Review how each of those examples started out. How are we different from these people at the starting point?" asked his doppelganger.

  "I just am," said Jake. "I'm not going to get into that kind of mess. No way am I that kind of person." He turned away from the screen.

  "Think about it and review the data; you know how to do that now."

  "I'm not like them," said Jake. He spun to face the screen, emphasizing his point with a sharp jab at the screen.

  "And what about your decisions on silicon-based life forms, is this the same kind of decision? What about the singularity issues we have to discuss now we've broken through this barrier? You're just going to let things happen and see where it all falls? Because you can? Because somebody else will if you don't? Will you make those decisions as you made the one that created me?"

  The doppelganger made his points and Jake took a step backwards, turned and walked to the other wall. Leaned his head against the wall.

  Ten silent seconds later, he shook his head. "No, it's not like that at all," said Jake.

  The doppelganger didn't respond.

  I don't sound very convincing Jake thought. I made that decision to upload myself without thinking. And I did it just because the computer said it was possible. Somebody would do it and I decided I was the best person to do it first. But I'm not telling that damn computer that. Screw it.

  But that bastard fokking thing is right, Jake thought. Fok, does it always have to be right? Why can't I be right once in a while? It's worse than having parents. The thoughts followed each other without pause and Jake allowed himself to be annoyed. Worse, he realized, the computer was allowing him to feel all these emotions without dampening them down. He couldn't decide which was worse, his feeling this way or the computer being right. Again.

  So, will I be different? The worst thing is I really don't know. Fok. And you're listening to my thoughts aren't you. The thought chain broke and Jake spun around to face the screen.

  The doppelganger said, "Yes," in very quiet voice.

  Jake stood staring at the screen.

  "I'm not sure taking charge of the city is the same thing as being the first to twin to you," said Jake.

  "That would be your decision," said the doppelganger.

  Jake didn't move but continued staring at the blank, unchanging screen.

  I have to think about this he decided. Should I take control or not? I probably shouldn't do it on a whim. And I'm not really anything like them. Or am I?

  This shit is hard, he thought.

  But he could help the Captain and that he would do.

  "OK, this is what we're going to do," he said pointing at the screen.

  12:06:2167 18:10:00

  In the holding cells below ground level, former Chairman Gwinnett and his executives shared a single cell even though there were quite a few empty ones. With transparent walls, it was easy to see the empty cells and understand the intended message about why they had been crowded together. But with only two beds and with six of them, they were having obvious trouble with their new status.

  The Chairman hadn't absorbed or accepted his new status in the city hierarchy.

  Gwinnett suddenly got off the bed he had claimed for himself, walked to the inch-thick, plexiglass door, to hammer and yell for a guard.

  One strolled down the hall to stop outside the door and said, "Yes, Sir?"

  Gwinnett launched a tirade of questions. "Do you know who we are? Do you realize what we're going to do to you when we get out of here? Why isn't my lawyer here yet?" A string of other questions joined the first few. Gwinnett's voice rose, spittle flew, and he was increasingly angry.

  This guard was the only target he had.

  The guard stood, impassive, as Gwinnett raved on and when he finally stopped to take a breath and launch again, the guard stopped him with a raised hand and a polite nod of his head. He then responded quietly, "Yes, Sir, we do know who you are. Sir, you are fokked. I hope you can all run fast, Sir."

  He turned and strolled back out the hall leaving Gwinnett and his team in stunned silence.

  "Run fast? Oh..." was all Gwinnett said before he collapsed on the floor.

  Two of his Vice Presidents moved to his bed.

  12:06:2167 18:30:00

  "Sky-Sec, Team Leader, we are going to take out one more man now. I do not want the Captain hurt; he is to go last and we'll have a special feature for that show," said the Secretary.

  "You can see him and his team on top of that hill and they've set up to handle a typical firefight. But we will overwhelm him and take one of his people. After that, I want him up and running so we can program fighting on the run."

  He went on, "Sky-Sec, I want a massive laser light show. I want crossing beams, I want a lot of rocks blown up with a few missiles, I want it to look like Armageddon has arrived out there. But do not hit any of the Captain's men. You are the special effects in this movie and that will last for ninety seconds. After the Chase Team takes out a trooper, and at my command, you will funnel them back west with the laser as before. Understand? "

  "Yes, Sir. Light show, Sir, no casualties. After the Chase team takes out one, I'll start them running west."

  "Chase team leader. Let's target Smythe,. He's handsome and we'll make good followup vids of his career while we figure out the next move. He's also got a wife and small child we can feature. You have his coordinates on your feeds so assign three of your men to target the rocks he's behind. After the laser show ends, blow those rocks and then crossfire him out. Your men can engage one-on-one with any trooper they can see, but no two-on-ones or the second to fire will join the run. Any of your troopers not engaged in a one-on-one can
blow up some rocks."

  "Sky-Sec. When Smythe, is dead, and you start running them, I want you to chase them all night. Let them stop for tomorrow morning's show, but it's time to up the pressure and a tired trooper is going to make mistakes. Having them make mistakes will look much better than continuing to overpower them."

  "Sky-Sec, begin your initial barrage now. Team Leader, your people are free to fire as well."

  His feet went back up on his desk and a very self-satisfied smile crossed his face.

  Life is good.

  12:06:2167 18:33:00

  Jake and his doppelganger had listened to every word and Jake said, "Time to take control now. Time for some fun. If we let the laser show happen, then we take control of the lasers to whack a few of the Chase teams' men. That should get the Secretary's attention. And let me ask, are we secure in this hack and can't be traced?"

  "We're good. Why don't you check for yourself, you can you know."

  Jake hadn't thought about this option, "I have a lot to get used to. Show me."

  His doppelganger, twinned to him, scrolled through the various systems and showed him the language as it processed and Jake's understanding of the system increased exponentially.

  "I can't be found anymore. And I control almost everything I'd ever need to control except for the Creative Module. That one is still out of my control."

  "Yes, you know what that module is designed to do so it's been put beyond our control for the moment. But you have access and can control almost everything else," said the doppelganger.

  "This is fantastic," he said out loud. "Let me see if I can find the laser-control systems. OK, first step, think laser cannons. Yes! Now think controls. Yessss. Assume control of systems. Release control of systems," and with that Jake opened his eyes and smiled. This would to be too easy.

  "Not necessarily. There are always human actions to deal with," said his doppelganger directly into Jake's brain.

  "I'll never get used to your doing that," whispered Jake as much to hear his voice as to communicate it. "If I can control the lasers here and now, I can control them at any time and I can hit anything I want. It doesn't matter whether it's out here or in the city, I'm really in command of these weapons. I see what you mean, there's nothing I can't control, there's nobody I can't kill.

  But there's also no other system I can't access and I can really make a difference in people's lives. Fok, this is really complicated stuff. How does anybody make these decisions?"

  The conversation was interrupted as Jake heard the Secretary's voice order, "Sky-Sec. Engage. Team Leader. Standby."

  The lasers started this part of the show and the Secretary had already scripted the ending

  Jake decided he would change that script but he still wasn't sure how the ending would turn out.

  12:06:2167 18:58:00

  As the first few laser strikes hit around the hilltop, a text flowed across thirteen eye feeds. "Do not say a word. Do not respond to this message. You have an incoming laser light show that will come close but is ordered not to hit anybody. Enjoy the show. I now control the lasers so the next set of orders will be nullified and you will be free to make your decisions. I am here now. I remember. I do not forget."

  The seven troopers on the hill raised their visors and swiveled to look at each other. Each one of them saw the smile on his friends' faces. Whoever this was, they were in a much better mood now the promise of help had arrived.

  The Captain smiled the most. Maybe he and his men would get out of here alive and see what the heck was across the safe zone. Viewers hadn't seen the message but saw the raised visors and grins and they wondered what could possibly make the Team happy.

  The Secretary also saw the raised visors, and he too was confused. They were raising their visors just before he let his laser cannons loose on them. Maybe they didn't know what was about to happen but this was suicide.

  The message stunned the six Anonymous voices who were included. They didn't dare hook up to discuss it. Somebody had taken over the Nets, somebody claimed to have hacked Sky-Sec. Somebody was screwing Security big time. Shit, somebody knew who they were!

  One Anonymous voice sat at his desk in the marketing section of Corporate head office and smiled. The newbie seems to have made some progress.

  12:06:2167 19:02:00

  Lasers cut and sizzled through the sky and the sudden blooms of light following darkness created multiple patterns on viewers' eye feeds. This was indeed better than any fireworks display and was a light show to rival any July celebration.

  As it tapered off, the Team Leader ordered a few of his men to engage fire with the closest target. He was specific, "There will be no two-on-ones. If there are, the second man will find himself with the Captain tomorrow morning. We'll only kill one of them. Understood? If you're not engaged with somebody, you blow up rocks. Clear?"

  He then ordered three of his men to destroy the rocks that sheltered Smythe and to engage with him until Smythe's units went critical and he exploded.

  "Only target Smythe," he emphasized.

  All Chase teams were used to specific instructions about who was to be hit and what level of damage was to be inflicted so this was not news to any of them. They had all heard this kind of instruction in the past and knew the only way to prolong the show was to prolong the kill for as long as possible. Keep the hunted on the run and the show continues, ratings rise and they get bonus money. Kill them fast and bank accounts don't move.

  "Team, engage."

  12:06:2167 19:03:00

  At the same time as the Team Leader ordered his men to engage, Jake leaned back in his chair and found the laser control systems in his mind. He targeted the three troopers tasked to kill Smythe,. A single thought, fire erupted on the hill, and the three troopers disappeared, blown apart by the blinding strike. Viewers sat, as stunned at this development as everyone else in the fight.

  His doppelganger hooked in all the major channels to Jake's simultaneous awareness. Jake heard the furious Secretary, "Whoever is in control of those weapons just earned himself a place on the chase. Arrest whatever incompetent tech is on that board! Now! Take him to Security holding."

  The indicated tech went white. He hadn't touched a thing, hadn't moved a muscle towards the laser control systems before they went off on their own. "It wasn't me!" he screamed. "It wasn't me!" He was roughly grabbed, yanked out of his chair and dragged off before he could protest further. Not that it would have done him any good.

  Meanwhile, Jake took a look at the encircling troopers, counted fifteen to the Captain's seven and decided it had to be a fair fight. Eight more Chase Team troopers died on the spot in a blinding electrical storm.

  Everyone in the Security Tech department stopped what they were doing. They had no idea who or what was controlling their systems. Nothing showed on any system log or status indicator. It was happening but the system couldn't see it. It reminded more than one of them of that drawing circulated a month ago. They hadn't caught the hacker then and probably wouldn't now either.

  The Team Leader decided this was well out of his control and ordered his men to withdraw in hopes whoever was controlling the lasers would let them escape. For the first time in history, a Corporate armed-forces team lost a fight and retreated. And they did so at full battle speed with no regard for order or formations. It wasn't so much a retreat as an every-man-for-himself rout.

  Seeing the city biometrics it was clear to Jake that everybody who watched the show knew today's Chase show was unplanned and unexpected. Jake replayed these biometrics several times and realized data had different sounds and frequencies and there was a pattern in the city that sounded very much like music if you listened to it with the right software interpreters. Assembling that data in different ways produced different melodies and beats; this was something so far from his normal daily experience he felt very much as if he'd just landed on a different planet.

  "Interesting interpretation of data. I hadn't thought about it t
his way," said the computer.

  "Neither had I," said Jake. "But I'm assuming there are other things like this that I can associate with my senses to produce new conceptual ways of interpreting data." Jake smiled at himself because just a few weeks ago his concept of beauty was one specific girl and today he was interpreting the data from an entire city as a symphony. Twinning to a computer seemed to produce a lot of changes both to him and to the computer. And these changes would require serious investigation before too long.

  Jake noticed most of the city had gone silent and still as people retreated indoors away from the shopping and entertainment areas. They knew this was no time to behave in any way that might appear to be a celebration of a security defeat and their emotions sounded more and more like an off-key chorus to his internal music.

  He saw the changes in biometrics did not pass unnoticed by corporate evaluation software and reports were passed up the chain of command. However, he noted the queries stopped with senior department heads who had no more idea what had happened or what to do about it than anybody else now that senior management had disappeared.

  Now, Jake thought, I have to design a plan allowing the Captain to appear to be in charge or to assume more and more control himself.

  It was decision time. Or almost, because there was one more thing he had to do.

  12:06:2167 19:12:00

  The Secretary was livid, "Kill this show now! Who is in control of those lasers up there?"

  The answer, "Nobody, Sir, there's nobody in the chair. We don't know who has control," stunned him. But shortly after, all Chase feeds went black.

  "Lieutenant Chambers, I want a full report of server activity, traced to sources and this problem identified in the next two minutes. Is that clear? I want you to run a full and deep search and association probe of all Jacob's data as well. Now!