“Look kid, you’ve shown some promise I’ll give you that-”
“Then tell me that! Give me something to go on!”
Houston sighed. “I have been a mentor and a teacher to you. A harsh one perhaps, but you came here looking for a father, and that’s not what I am.”
“I didn’t expect you to-”
“That is exactly what you want me to be!” Houston snapped.
Hacker was taken aback, but words failed him. He didn’t know what to say to Houston, and deep down a part of him was wounded.
“Focus on the mission Hacker, and I’ll teach you whatever you want,” Houston said and then walked away.
Hacker stepped into the Chamber and secured the plans as well as the title for ownership to the moon-sized droid foundry that the Coalition was constructing. Each line of script he typed twisted his stomach into a knot. He felt like he was betraying the fighters who had given so much in their cause against the Core. Hacker instructed the Wrecking Crew to go back and destroy all original files that mentioned the droid foundry.
“Sir, we’ve managed to track them to this location. You were right, the AI was more than helpful.”
The Colonel looked up from the tablet and his sinister eyes made the soldier uncomfortable. A sadistic grin spread across his lips.
“Of course I was,” He said. “Now let’s pay those war criminals a visit.”
As Hacker exited the Chamber, Red was searching the complex, calling out for Houston. His voice was raised in alarm.
“Red, what is it?” Hacker asked.
“Hostile ship approaching. I must inform the master.”
On a countertop screen Hacker switched to the outside cameras. A gunmetal ship descended towards the complex which bore the new insignia of the Core. It showed Earth encircled by two rings of stars, showing which planet was truly triumphant in the Unification Wars. The turrets rotated towards the complex and opened fire.
Explosions rocked the facility. Hacker and Red searched for Houston, who came out carrying an assault rifle.
“Master, there is-”
“I know,” Houston replied.
“Who is it?” Hacker asked.
“Remember when I told you about how during the skirmishes I gouged a man’s eyes out?”
“Yeah.”
“Looks like he’s coming to dole out some payback.”
“Who is it?”
“His name is Colonel Hawkes, and he is one of the Core’s best men at hunting runaway criminals like me,” Houston said as he grabbed an assault rifle and threw them to the droids. Hacker stood with his hands open, but Houston fixed his usual scowl.
“What? Give me one!”
“No kid, you’re getting out of here. Go ready the escape ship.”
“I’m not leaving you!” Hacker snapped.
Houston looked at Hacker and took off his sunglasses. Concealed beneath were a pair of dark mahogany eyes. He stared in silence for one last time, his mind searching for the right words.
“Sol, carry him out,” He finally said.
Before Hacker could react Sol scooped him up and threw him inside of his metal belly. He charged for the exit as Red and Houston prepared to make their final stand.
Core soldiers stormed the complex, creeping along with fixed rifles. A man with demonic black and red eyes marched in victoriously. His armor rustled against his uniform, and the same sadistic grin was still spread across his face.
“It seems that I’ve found you,” Hawkes said. “Still dragging along that rust bucket?”
“You’d be surprised how tough Red is,” Houston said.
“Thank you Master Houston,” Red replied.
“Houston now is it?” Hawkes asked.
“I gotta say, those implants sure look sinister.”
Hawkes chuckled. “A gentle reminder of the new vision you’ve given me,” He said. “A vision where outlaws like you have been hunted down and order is restored to my galaxy.”
“See that’s the thing,” Houston said. “Remember the tiger back on Earth? They said you shouldn’t ever back it into a corner. Well that’s especially true for a droid mechanic whose workshop you’ve just swarmed. Lotta unstable reactors in here.”
Sol entered into the escape shuttle and emptied Hacker onto the floor. He programmed a destination for the shuttle and then turned to Hacker, who was trying to crawl out.
“A journey of a thousand miles may begin with a single step, but right now I need your butt in the seat,” Sol said as he dragged Hacker to a chair and strapped him in.
“I’m going back,” Hacker snapped as he unbuckled his restraints.
“Impossible,” Sol replied as he refastened them. “Patience is a virtue.”
“Houston is in danger!”
“To err is human, but to forgive is divine.”
“What does that have to do with-” As Hacker finished his question, Sol struck him in the head, knocking him out.
Sol finished putting in the coordinates and as he exited the ship, there was a rattling in his belly. He opened up and reached inside, pulling out a memory stick that must’ve fallen out of Hacker’s pocket.
He turned around, but the shuttle had already blasted off. He looked at the memory stick and plugged it in.
“The droid foundry schematics. I must get these back to Master Houston!” He said. Sol turned to the workshop where a massive explosion tore the building open, with dark plumes of smoke rising into the sky.
“The strong don’t put others down…they lift them up,” Sol said, and charged off towards the explosion.
Hacker awoke in a daze, almost a mile in the sky. He looked around in panic and checked the cameras, where he saw his home smoldering below. He broke down in a sob as his shuttle reached for the sky, determined to take him into the unknown.
“Happy Twelve-Year Anniversary Hacker!” Rick screamed as he burst into the office. Hacker leaned back with a hot mug in his hands and savored the scent of fresh, warm coffee.
“Y’know, there are caffeine pills which can take care of that for you. Much more efficient,” Rick said.
“But then I would not have the pleasure of smelling this delightful aroma and savoring the rich bold flavor provided to us by humble Ethiopian coffee farmers. Are you saying we shouldn’t support them?” Hacker replied.
“I still can’t believe you accepted all of those stupid beans as payment.”
“Hey, that tip they provided us was more than worth it. Blocking that merger between the coffee producers by leaking the slash and burn photos raked in millions for us.”
“And made it easier than ever for the Diallo regime in Africa to nationalize that coffee plantation!”
“Like it’ll do them much good with this raging three-way continental civil war,” Hacker said as he took a sip of the rich, velvety drink. “That’s a nasty fight. Core won’t get involved because they don’t want to be on the wrong side of an ethnic cleansing accusation.”
“Right?”
“So, what do we got today?” Hacker asked as the two men walked towards the Command Center.
“Rumor is circulating of a mega-merger between the seven biggest scientific research and development companies. The proposed name for the new company will be ‘Ionics’ short for…”
“Rick, I’m not really concerned about the new corporate name. Do we own shares in any of them?”
“Any of what?”
“The seven companies in this mega merger. Do we own shares?”
“I’ll ask Akio. You’re letting the merger go through?”
“Why not? It’s for the betterment of science. May as well make a few credits off the deal. What’s really amazing was Chemron’s recovery after that mysterious explosion which wiped out the entire board over ten years ago.”
The ground floor was a hive of activity as people coded inside their Chambers. They switched between monitors, live feeds, made calls and shouted orders at one another. The massive projectors aligned on the ceiling pro
vided newscast feed from every corner of the Core. The Chambers below were armed with search bots that dived into the deep sea of the intergalactic web and fed Hacker all of the data that wasn’t being reported by the news. Every shred of information within the Core made its way through the servers inside the Grid.
“Sir,” A young woman said as she came by and handed Rick a comm piece. Rick took it and accepted the call.
“Who is it Gabby?” Hacker asked.
In a low whisper Gabby replied: “A Senator from China who is worried about the Ophridia situation.”
“Senator Mao wants us to dig up a bunch of incriminating information on a rebel causing trouble for Yiu Mei,” Rick interjected. “What should I tell him?”
“Tell him that if he ever calls here again I’ll see to it that his human trafficking secret gets leaked,” Hacker said.
“He’s not involved in human trafficking,” Rick replied.
“We can manufacture some evidence that says otherwise,” Hacker said. “I will not support that bloodthirsty tyrant. In fact, let’s help the rebel guy. Kevin, Gary and Arjun you three are my Ophridia task force! Let’s take Yiu Mei down,” Hacker said.
“Yes sir,” the team replied. Rick finished speaking with the Senator’s office and Gabby took the comm piece from him.
Rick shook his head. “The Senator must've been desperate, calling here. His voice was a whisper: ‘Yes, the Grid? I need your help.’ Can’t believe him,” Rick mocked.
“Well, contact with us is punishable by treason, insubordination, conspiracy. There’s an entire legal manual to deal with us,” Hacker replied.
“Yeah, but Senator Mao will never see prison time.”
“No, he won’t,”
“Still can’t believe it. ‘The Grid.’ What kind of name is that anyway?” Rick asked.
“What’s wrong with ‘The Grid?’”
“It’s only the most unoriginal name ever,” Rick berated. “Seriously, ‘Hacker?’ ‘The Grid?’ Where did you get your naming skills?”
“Well, when you create your own network of information dealers, you can name it whatever you want,” Hacker said.
“Fair enough,” Rick replied. “Oh! We’re wanted on the floor, Donald is waving us down.”
“Alright,” Hacker replied as he sipped on his coffee. “Anything else of interest going on?”
“The Angkor colony has been given the go-ahead by the Minister of Exploration.” Rick said as the pair got into the elevator.
“That was fast. Oh well, have someone keep an ear to the ground. Colonization stories are always interesting, but Angkor is pretty run-of-the-mill right now,” Hacker replied.
“Should we be concerned that the safe zone declaration was a rush job?”
“Nah, it get’s everyone’s minds off the war. If we’re expanding, we’re united. Maybe something will come out of it, like one of those viral mutations that occur on colonies.” Hacker replied as the two stepped out of the elevator.
“Is that something we should wish for?”
“All I’m saying is someone’s bound to screw it up. When someone screws up we can run ‘em through the wringer,” Hacker said as one of the technicians held out a tablet for him.
“You really don’t trust the Core do you?” Rick asked.
“Call it more of a grudge. The Core may have won the war, but I wage my own war every day.”
“Nothing like stolen secrets sold on the black markets to old revolutionaries,” Rick said. “What would you do if the Core finally found all of this?”
“I’d just rebuild the place from the ground up. Speaking of that we should schedule an uproot.”
“Already have some guys scouting out a new locale. Should we acquire permits or make some?”
“No, get legitimate permits. Details matter and it’s trivial things like what which get people caught,” Hacker said.
“Will do sir. That’s all I got for ya.”
“Great. Thanks Rick, I’ll be in my office,” Hacker said as he wandered through the maze of Chambers on the central floor. All of his technicians greeted him, honored to be in the presence of the freedom fighter still waging a cyber war against the Core. Hacker saw these technicians as allies in his ever-expanding network of information dealers.
Hacker walked into his office, closed the door, and turned on his Chamber. He pulled up the newscast feed which had two major stories going on. One was about the assassination of Ophridia’s Minister of Mining. The newscast alluded to the possibility of an insurgent, but they wouldn’t mention them by name. The other major story was of an erupting three-way civil war for control of the continent of Africa.
Hacker felt his blood rise. Tyrants, this was their pastime. Relentless suppression even when the media echoes the cry for help. With information came power, and Hacker was going to wield it against the Goliaths of the galaxy.
“Where is my Ophridia task force?” He asked. A couple of windows popped up on his screen.
“Find out who this rebel leader is. Learn his name because I want that name on the lips of every news anchor within one hour. Second, probe Ophridia’s media networks for weaknesses. If these guys have a message, I want everyone to hear it!” He barked.
“They have a poster sir!” Kevin cried out.
“Bring it up.” The newscast was replaced by the stern gaze of a Chinese man with two characters written in mandarin next to his face. The computer translated out one word: ‘Resist.’
“Does our friend have a name?” Hacker asked.
“Says here his name is Xing Ming Lee sir,” Gary replied. “He’s even issued a statement!”
“I want this poster and his face pasted on every drive of every computer on every news network! Get this poster viral and make it spread to every corner of the Core! By the end of this week, everyone will know the name ‘Xing Ming Lee,’” Hacker said.
“Yes sir!” Gary replied.
“Finance team: short every business that has a direct line of transport to Ophridia. The Emperor is paranoid, and he’ll start shutting people out. Let’s give our friend here every advantage we can! This is the kind of chaos we live for!” The technicians cheered as they launched their crusade against the Emperor Yiu Mei. Hacker patched Rick through.
“Yes sir?” Rick asked.
“Make Ophridia our top priority for today. Put together a team to keep an eye on Africa. The newscasters may ignore a bunch of Africans killing each other, but we won’t.”
“Yes sir,” Rick replied.
“This is what I live for. The ability to wield all of this power through information! My vision, my dream, come to life! I can create new identities, disrupt stock markets, and topple entire governments! Anything is possible, for I have every shred of information that passes through the Core at my fingertips!”
“It really is something sir,” Rick said.
Over the course of several weeks, the Grid remained a hotbed of activity. Hacker’s will was executed on every front of every news story. The Grid dealt out information hand over fist in exchange for more information, credits, or insider deals. They were the black market for every source of ill-obtained digital media, but Hacker couldn’t resist making policy alongside selling bootlegged content.
“What’s on tap for today?” Hacker asked Rick as he clutched his coffee.
“I found this interesting,” Rick replied as he turned on the newscast. “Remember that Angkor colony you had someone keep an eye on few weeks ago?”
“The rushed colony job?”
“Yes sir,” Rick said. “We received emergency transmissions from the colony’s-”
A news reporter interrupted Rick. “Analysts are unclear as to why the Angkor colony has gone dark, but one thing is certain: the military has issued a statement that they will get the colony back up and running as soon as possible,” the reporter said.
“So the rushed colony has gone dark,” Hacker said as he took a sip of coffee.
“Worse than that. We have emerge
ncy broadcasts from the colony’s Chief Biologist has said that they’re suffering from alien attacks every night, and routinely finding people who’ve been dismembered,” Rick said.
“Ugh, disgusting. Who’s the Chief Biologist?”
“Dr. Adam Sulture,” Rick replied as he played the video feed. They watch a man with slick black hair begging the viewer for help. He was grimy and covered in sweat, each plea more desperate than the last.
“Why didn’t anybody come to me with this sooner?” Hacker snapped.
“We just received a backlog of transmissions today. We tried sending several messages, but they got bounced.”
“Fair enough. Get a team on it, the military is covering something up. Keep an ear on all emergency channels in case they get through. Backchannels, uplinks, comm delivery packages, hell use goddamn email if we have to. Something is going on at Angkor and I intend to find out what.”
“Will do sir. Here’s another interesting story: In Africa, Diallo has taken a decisive lead in the three-way civil war. We have video of his right hand man nabbing a highly skilled weapons specialist who is designing all kinds of deadly devices.”
“Of course they did. What’s the weapon designer’s name?”
Rick pulled up the video. “His name is Jackson Warrens, but that little woman right there that the other guy is dragging along? That’s his grandmother. Judging by the way this guy is holding a gun to her head…”
“Diallo takes the man’s grandmother hostage and forces him to work on designing weapons,” Hacker said, as he finished Rick’s train of thought.
“Exactly.”
Hacker sighed and stared at the video. “Keep an eye on this man. Follow him, but don’t do anything. No contact, no assistance, nothing. If we try to help now, Diallo will kill both of them. He’s a bloodthirsty ego maniac. Keep me posted on the situation. I’ll say when and how we can help.”
“Got it. Next up, the Yiu Mei regime has unleashed a slew of new propaganda on our man. They’re referring to Xing Ming Lee as the ‘Anarchist of Ophridia.'"
“That’s got a good ring to it. It’ll spread like crazy, even faster than the propaganda we’re manufacturing. Play on that. Turn Yiu Mei’s message against him. I mean, how’s it going to look when he’s struggling to defeat an Anarchist?”
Horsemen United: Horsemen Origins Books 1-5 Page 29
