by Rayya Deeb
The coding here on the source location of this bug looked awfully familiar to the gaming defenses, just a bit more advanced. So I tapped into my Veil and copied some of the formulas from the gaming algorithms, brought them over, tweaked them and ran my coding again.
Wait. I eyed the messages that flew back at me.
This was different. Someone was on the other end, waiting for me.
I was suddenly inundated with communication from dozens of sources, each one completely different than the other. The messages made no sense though and I couldn’t locate the original signal. Someone was clearly firing them off with the intention of distracting me and keeping me from the actual source. I could play that game, too, but I knew I had to come correct with an even heavier handed game than they had. I had to shift into offense now and put them on their toes.
My move was to create a mirror on my end and lure in the barrage of communication again, to which I would attach a virus and they would all bounce back and forth from my mirror to theirs, multiplying exponentially so that the coder on that end could never kill my virus. For every virus they quarantined, three more would be created.
Theirs would be no easy feat, because I wrote my virus to morph attributes on each bounce, and I wrote the coding so that every time it bounced back to me, my immunity blocked it out. The coder on the other end was consumed with defending its systems against my virus attack, and this rendered them incapable of sending new messages from any new alias locations.
While I had them in a coding freeze they would not be able to get out of, I jumped each mirror and followed the digital line of communication to the end of its road. Twenty messages fired off in all sorts of crazy directions, only to end up in one place: somewhere in southeast Asia where anonymous data hubs are set up in entire data cities. But there was no way this sophisticated hacking was just someone across the world having fun with me. Behind one of these mirrors was the true location that had created all the alias locations to try and disorient me.
Here they came exactly how I wanted them, trying to play my game, sending a virus at me, but little did they know, I had set up a virus receptor to quarantine, descramble and reveal its origination. I did just that and on my thirty third mirror jump I found the one unique location.
I traced the source of the virus to map coordinates, and the map coordinates were identical to that of the bug.
“Got it.”
Ellen breathed a huge sigh of relief. “You're incredible,” she said, and patted me on the shoulder.
I'm not going to lie. It felt great to make Ellen proud.
“So where is it coming from?” she asked.
“Well, these are the coordinates,” I said, and opened up the projection of my FlexOculi for Ellen to see the image that was in front of me:
39°00'12.8"N 77°26'29.4”W
She then opened up the projection from her FlexOculi so that I could see as she input the coordinates. The FlexMap graphic popped up and zoomed to the point where the signal being sent to and from my implant was originating— a location in the Aboves: Ashburn, Virginia.
“No kidding,” Ellen muttered under her breath.
“What, Ellen, what is it?”
“Flex Technology Corporation,” she said.
I didn’t get it. “Why would Flex Technology Corporation want to interfere with me going to find my dad?”
Ellen’s eyes shifted from left to right, back and forth, but she wasn't actually looking at anything. She was inside her head trying to figure this out, her mouth slightly open in amazement. It was cool to watch her process her thoughts. Normally she had already completed her thought processes by the time she spoke to me.
The pieces of the puzzle were coming together.
“Listen,” Ellen said as she stood. “We need to get you back into residence and you are going to continue with session as usual, as if absolutely nothing has changed.”
“Ellen, you know I respect you, but I’m not continuing with any ‘plan’ until you make sense of this for me.”
I wasn’t taking any half truths right now. I saw her thinking and I wanted in on that. I deserved in on that.
“I know you want answers. I do, too,” she said. “But we can’t call attention to this, any of this. There is a war going on that is bigger than us, and we need to quietly uncover all the information and the players.”
“Why is Flex Technology Corporation in my head, Ellen?”
Ellen sat back. She looked me in my eye. She put her hands on her knees.
“Doro, Flex Technology is the main financier behind The Seneca Society. They were the only ones with the money and technology to build this underground society, but here is the thing. Flex Tech is new money and they have a whole lot of it. Practically too much to count and they want to keep it right here on Earth, so they built Seneca to test this model society and perfect the use of Doromium. The only way it could have been approved to do all of this was by the old money, the powerful families that have been around for hundreds of years. As you know, many of those are Departers like the Wallingsfords. The Departers have a different endgame in mind. Both sides realize that knowledge is power, and Doromium is the very piece that it all hinges on. I honestly believed we would have traced the bug back to a specific Departer source, but the fact that this is a Repairer offense changes everything. I believe Flex Corp. was preemptively blocking you from contact with your dad because the Departers were close to using that relationship to their advantage.”
“My relationship with my dad? How could they possibly do that?”
“You are the next generation to take your dad’s legacy. You can influence him like nobody else can, so your identifying with Departers or Repairers is crucial to their agendas.”
I understood what was happening. There was a battle for mind control. It wasn’t between me and another party. It was between two dueling factions, over my mind as a means to control over everyone. Unless I had all my memories intact and my mind in its optimal state, I would just continue to be a pawn in someone else’s game.
“I need to go get my memories back.”
“I know you do. Problem is, Dr. Cairncross can't put you back in the NeuroQuE until the erratic activity ceases.”
“What?! How do we know when that will be?”
“We don’t.”
“Ellen, come on, that’s crazy. I can’t just go back to business as usual with this outdated frame of mind.”
“It's way too dangerous. The risks are heightened in your current state.”
“I don’t care! I can’t stay like this with a bug on my implant and no memories of the past month! No way. I can’t just accept going on with this level of vulnerability.”
“I know and I agree. But it is all a matter of timing. We need to play the game right. I was sent to Hub 48 to reprimand you and bring you back, and I did that. They think we’re their pawns and that they've got us exactly where they want us. Now you just need to carry on as if you're angry you didn't find your dad and accepting that you were wrong. Dr. Cairncross is monitoring your neurological processes and as soon as things even out, we will return to Claytor Lake.”
I didn’t like it one bit, but I got it. I would bite my tongue and slide back to session in the morning like I was just another ordinary scholar harvesting my potential in the futuristic land of opportunity.
34
THERE WAS AN incredibly strange tingling in my veins as I headed into S.E.R.C., knowing I would come face-to-face with Dom and Reba. I was so let down and upset with them both since they had basically ditched me to let me set out for South America on my own. My heart hurt, my stomach turned, and I had a bit of a migraine coming on. It was the perfect brew of sadness, lack of sleep and erratic brain activity.
After two sleepless nights plagued by increasing confusion, I made a decision early this morning that, when I got home from sessions later in the day, I would begin the manual process to restore my memories. It would require countless hours of sifting through
the back-up in my Veil to scrub and reinstall memories from my time in South America.
In the meantime, I would avoid the guys. I couldn’t keep track of what was past and what was present and conversing with them would only add fuel to the fire of confusion.
“Campbella, I didn’t think I’d see you back here so soon.”
“Huh?”
I spun around to see Reba, with a gentle smile on his face, but definitely not rocking his normal level of spunk. I had to think quick. Avoidance was off the table now, for Reba at least. “Yeah, um, it didn’t work out… the trip.”
“I see.”
I wanted so badly to remain in sweet Reba’s company, but at the same time I had to get away from him before this conversation got sticky. It would be any moment that he would start tapping into how I was really feeling, and I just couldn’t go down that path and subsequently have to lie to him. He’d know I was lying. Oh, man, what a slippery slope. The pit of my stomach squeezed and gurgled.
Just as I was fumbling through a concoction of an excuse for bailing on this conversation, I spotted Dom about fifty yards down. At the same time that I saw him, he saw me. We had two completely different reactions. He lit up. I froze. But why was he so happy to see me when all I could replay in my mind was him being so angry at Ty’s Sushi before I left for Peru? I didn’t know how to respond.
“I gotta go,” I said to Reba. “I’m sorry.”
“Wait, we still have time before session. Oh, look, there's Dom!”
I couldn’t formulate a complete thought on what I should do. I just felt slammed against the wall and I needed to get out of there.
“Dom!” Reba called out, “Look who’s back!”
Dom came running towards me, and instead of being excited and happy, I was anxious and confused. I literally froze against the wall and plastered my hands against it as it was the only thing solid in my space.
“Doro!”
Dom lifted me into a huge hug and spun me around.
“When did you get back?! Why didn’t you flex me?”
Dom’s eyes studied my face as we were still in an embrace. He looked as though he was about to kiss me, but then he stopped and noticed my confused expression that I just couldn’t hide no matter how hard I tried. I couldn’t bear the way this all felt inside, everything so out of sync and inconsistent with the reality that I understood. Dom’s presence wasn’t comforting me and I didn’t know what to do with my unease other than jet.
“Guys, I’m sorry. I have to go talk to Professor Shields about some past due report. Catch up later?”
Dom took a step back and peered at me with a furrowed brow. Reba’s eyes darted from Dom to me. Reba was piecing it together. I wanted him to stop.
“I’m sorry,” I said before spinning around and bolting down the golden hall. I felt both sets of the guys’ eyes glued to me, but I didn’t look back. It felt wrong, but I’d just have to right this later. My head hung low and I held my hand over my stomach that growled in turmoil as if it had a mind of its own, one that was at odds with the one in my head.
I peeled around the corner into my Seneca civics and ethics session as if it was a safe hiding place. Professor Shields was surprised and delighted to see me, and I, too, was relieved to be back in that room. This session space felt totally normal, like a memory that had not changed and, therefore, it was very comforting and safe. I needed that.
“Campbell! I’m so glad to see you’re okay!”
“I am,” I stated somewhat inquisitively. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
“I just thought you went through a lot last month, but it’s excellent that you’re back. We have a huge FigureFlex trip to the Aboves today. I'm glad you won't miss it.”
My armor peeled back for a moment and my naked self peered out from behind it. What did he know and why did he know it? I had to know.
“Why would I have missed it?” I asked.
“Oh, I just wasn't sure how long it would take to recover from your aneurysm. I understand it was pretty serious. But I know you're a tough kid with a mind of steel, so I’m not surprised you’ve bounced back.”
“Thanks.” I quipped. An aneurysm— quite the cover. I smirked inside, imagining Ellen sending out this fake information.
“They said you might have a tough time and I should take it easy on you in session, so you just let me know if any of it feels too heavy and, if it does, we can FigureFlex you back to the classroom to review some past material.”
“Okay. I should be fine, but I’ll let you know if I don’t feel good.”
“Wonderful.”
I spotted Jennifer Wallingsford at a desk taking notes on her FlexPad. She looked up at me as I took a seat at the desk next to her. “Welcome back,” she said with her trademark posture and confident, welcoming gaze.
“Hi, thanks, Jennifer.”
Jennifer and I were stopped short of conversing as the bell rang and Professor Shields gave us the introduction for our FigureFlex trip into the Aboves. Along with my eighteen civics & ethics sessionmates, we headed up for a tour of three locations in North America that had been severely stricken by environmental devastation as a result of a deteriorating atmosphere and pervasive pollution.
First we glided through the swampland that had once been Louisiana. It was less than a decade ago that people actually lived in this state, but now the only sign of life was toxic algae that grew in the water and spread like disease. If we were actually, physically there, we would be exposed to all sorts of potential sickness and disease. Second, we went to Alaska where the last of the mighty glaciers had thawed. We learned that this had created a heck of another gold rush as all the miners have been fighting over land that was covered in ice for thousands of years. We saw with our own eyes make-shift tent communities of men that had posted up there to battle it out for the riches. It had even become a draw for people from other professions that had derailed in the past decade, like retailers and farmers. It was really something that gold, the oldest standard in monetary value, had retained its value amidst all the digital currencies across the globe.
Our last stop was in the Midwest, a place I had never been. But it was close to where my dad was from in Wisconsin. We climbed the steps to the top of a mill that looked out to hundreds of miles of deserted farmland.
“As you can see,” Professor Shields pointed out, “a lot has changed since we have been underground. These were once working farms, full of Holsteins that provided a huge portion of the country with dairy products, corn, soy, you name it. Don’t be blinded by the fact that in Seneca we have the best of the best of everything. We should all practice gratitude daily for that. Here in the Aboves the broken food supply had so many repercussions. Too many to list off, but as you can imagine, farmers have lost their livelihoods, and entire ecosystems have failed, globally. Water is tainted with acid, the plants can’t grow, and consequently there is no pollen for the bees whose colonies are in a state of collapse. Ladies and Gentlemen, you are all smart enough to understand the domino effect here… and just how widespread this deterioration of life on our planet has spread and will spread, like wild fire.”
Professor Shields wanted us to have our own time to absorb the details of this landscape, and that we did. We looked out over the tortured land. It was such a contrast to the sparkling golden halls I had become accustomed to. I found it heartbreaking how life could change in a flash. I wished I could experience a normal life in the Aboves with Dom, that we could go to a normal school, run along the beach in Santa Monica and grab an ice cream out in the sunshine. I knew that would never happen and it was a crushing realization.
Jennifer and I caught up as we walked down the steps from the mill.
“What’s wrong?” Jennifer inquired.
I rubbed the stone on the necklace I had on as we pensively walked along through the deserted Holstein farm. I didn’t remember where it came from, but it felt good. “I was just thinking of Dom… my ex. Feels so wrong to say.”
&
nbsp; “Aw, well, you have remnants of feelings for him, that’s understandable. But don’t worry, you will be over him soon. Just remember, you have to stay focused on yourself. You have too much to accomplish to let boys like that mess you up.”
In a way she was right. But was Dom actually trying to mess me up, or did we have a miscommunication? This FigureFlex tour was eye-opening, but what I really needed was some mind-opening and that wouldn’t happen until I was back in my residence, alone with my Veil, refilling my shallow database of lost memories.
35
IT WAS A long first day back in S.E.R.C. By the time I got home I could barely keep my eyes open, but there was no way I would let myself get any shuteye when there was outstanding information just waiting to be mined from the archives of my Veil. I downed a quad shot mocha that I picked up on the way home because I knew it would take double my normal dose of espresso to get the job done.
I carefully pulled a Beatles record from its near mint-condition jacket that was almost a century old. It was one of my favorites to listen to with my dad when he was doing his work, and now it was time to get on with mine.
Just as my Veil erected in the space in front of my face by way of my FlexOculi, these lyrics hit:
Your outside is in and your inside is out.
No matter what lyrics came next, I just keep repeating those ones over and over in my head.
Your outside is in and your inside is out.
The back-up took up an insane amount of space and it was daunting to imagine the amount of time that it would take to get through the whole thing, so I began by telling myself that I would take it in chunks: one step at a time.
