Videodrome: Days of O'Blivion

by Lee McGeorge

for cleanliness and red for stimulation. The same layout is replicated in other Consec buildings. Come, sit with me. We need to talk about the future. We need to talk about changing the world.”

  The sat on opposite red sofas.

  “Brian Spectrometer has a brain tumour,” Leader began.

  “Yes. I know.”

  “From exposure to Veraceo-Two. I trust you haven’t been exposed?”

  Barry shook his head. “No. Only the prototype, Veraceo-One, not the updated version. They took me to the clinic last night for tests, but I haven’t seen the results yet. They’re going to monitor.”

  Leader hummed an acknowledgement. “Well, let’s hope there is nothing to worry about. Understand that if you do need anything, Consec are with you.” He looked back at Barry with intensity, the blue eyed gaze as hard as steel.

  “Thank you.”

  “We’re now afforded a special opportunity. Veraceo has, in light of this side-effect, opened up new opportunities. In particular, we realise there is potential for weaponisation… Let that thought sink in for a moment. Take your time. Then give me your thoughts.”

  Barry stood and walked around the sofa. Pacing whilst thinking, holding his chin in his fist like a theatrical philosopher. He remained behind the sofa but turned to face Leader. “Weaponised Veraceo could be possible. I assume you’re talking about a television programme that would be designed to deliberately give people brain tumours?” Leader nodded. “Are you talking about this for use against the Russians?”

  “Against any enemy; or protection against it being used against us. We have to assume that, if it is possible to create a television signal that kills people, an enemy might use it against friendly nations.”

  Barry returned to the chair. “Jesus, that is a nightmare scenario… It could kill millions of people. They wouldn’t know anything. They’d sit and watch their television programmes. Families, sitting with their children, all the while being slowly poisoned.”

  "Could you do it, Barry? Could ‘you’ weaponise it?”

  He shrugged. “That’s a big ask. It requires some thought. It’s kind of like inventing the atomic bomb… But this is worse. Who would want to invent something worse than the bomb?”

  “It is already invented.”

  “Yes, it is.” Barry stood again and walked the room. He fixed his eyes on the bank of TV screens and the camera filming the desk. He remembered when he first saw Leader, on the TV screen in Oleksander Bartok’s Limo. He had appeared at a desk with a pure white background; filmed in this room or one just like it. That same man, the one he’d applauded at the black-tie dinner, who’d invited him into partnership and showered him with wealth; that man had summoned him here to steal his soul.

  “What are you thinking, Barry?”

  “I’m thinking of the implications. I’m thinking that when Brian Spectrometer and I first brought this to you, we had a way to invisibly coerce a population. With Veraceo-One you can swing an election, but Veraceo-Two as a first-strike weapon? When I awakened this morning I never imagined I would be considering something of this magnitude.”

  “Barry, why don’t you take a seat and let me talk for a while. Let me try and sell you a concept.” Barry returned to the sofa. “Have you heard of Isaiah Berlin?” Barry shook his head. “Berlin is a political thinker who coined two important terms. Negative Freedom and Positive Freedom. On the one hand, negative freedom means we should all be free to do whatever the hell we want without any form of government intervention. Positive freedom, is when a society gets together to organise and shape the future towards a common vision. Consec, is outside of these ideals. Consec grants itself negative freedom whilst forcing positive freedom onto the people of North America. Effectively, we decide how to shape the world. We force it onto the masses and tell them they’re free because they’re allowed to vote for their own leaders but the truth is they’re voting between two candidates we chose. It’s not democracy, it’s the illusion of freedom.”

  “I think most people know that,” Barry said. “But people, I guess, they don’t think about it too deeply.”

  “No, they don’t. Most people are insulated from the truth and thankfully so. I’m sure the truth would terrify many people. We live in a world where a communist ideology is trying to conquer every corner of the globe. Make no mistake, there are Soviets who would love to see North America fall to their control and they are tireless in devising plans to make it happen. Consec isn’t an ideal organisation. Consec isn’t perfect. But what we do, we do well. We are a defence against ideologues who believe in Positive Freedom to such an extent, they would have everybody working towards some god awful communist dystopia. These people will stop at nothing to conquer us and we need good people to help defend against them. You know what I always find interesting? The way the Soviet’s always try to ram their communism down people’s throats like it's a goddamned religion. They force people into communism; they indoctrinate them. Did you ever see capitalism and democracy work like that? Did you ever see people being forced into democracy? No. Never. So how do we protect ourselves from this kind of threat? How do we protect a way of life from people who are hell bent on destroying it?”

  “I don’t know,” said Barry. “I’ve never given it so much thought.”

  “To begin with, we build our defences high and solid. Communism is doomed to failure and time will bring it to an end. People in Moscow live like rodents compared to how people live in New York. If they come to truly understand that, then eventually the envy of the Muscovites will end this Cold War without a single bullet fired, but in the meantime we have to keep ourselves strong and protected.”

  “I understand,” Barry said.

  “But that isn’t enough to sway you. So let me return to Isaiah Berlin and tell you of another of his ideas. Hedgehogs and Foxes. A hedgehog is someone who views the world through a single lens, that is they understand things through a single unifying idea. Whereas a fox uses a multitude of viewpoints. Shakespeare was a fox, as was Aristotle. Plato was a hedgehog; he wrote The Republic with a single and grand unifying idea of creating the perfect utopian society. Consec is a hedgehog. Our singular lens, our all-encompassing idea is that communism must be defeated. We understand that we must live outside of men’s laws with Negative Freedom whilst forcing Positive Freedom onto a goal oriented society. We fully understand our abuse of Positive Freedom and are cognizant of doing it; we even embrace it, because we know this is how we shall defeat communism… And nothing else matters… Look at what the Russians have done just this year. They invaded Afghanistan and installed a communist puppet. It’s terrible. It’s a crime. Now, let me present a real dichotomy. When I joined Consec as a partner the first crisis I saw was the Iranians nationalising their oil wells; those oil wells were bought and paid for by the British. The Brits were ready to go to war to retain them and the Iranian president, Mosaddegh, was looking to Russia for help. Within days Iran could have gone behind the Iron Curtain but we got there first, we overthrew Mosaddegh and installed our own puppet. Now, on the one hand, we could be considered villainous considering we overthrew a democratically elected government, but the moment you compare how people lived in the Iran we created compared to how they would live under communism you can see we are a force for good.”

  “You’re talking about events steeped in violence,” Barry said. “These are events where a lot of people died. Many thousands.”

  Leader stared coldly. “It’s always better to think of human deaths as statistics and nothing more. They’re numbers... Don’t think of them as people.”

  Barry held Leader in an unmoving stare. Dead people are statistics? Had he really just said that the dead were nothing more than numbers? “I’ve often thought that you can’t think like the proletariat if you wish to join the elite. I just didn’t realise the true cost of entry.”

  Consec Leader breathed out, relaxing in his chair, perhaps signalling his ease as a cue to Barry. “To be amongst the elite you must be a monst
er, Barry. Not because of who you are, but because of the environment you are forced to work in. Nobody chooses to be monstrous.”

  “I understand,” Barry replied.

  “You are privy to a very special world, Barry. Before you even entered this building for the first time we made background checks on yourself and Brian Spectrometer. We built up a psychological profile of you both. I already know that Spectrometer could never weaponise Veraceo because he doesn’t have the temperament for it… Not like you… You’re a man of ambition, Barry; and vision. A future is coming upon us and whether or not you’re involved the world will be changed. This is your opportunity to influence that change.”

  Barry turned his face away. “Brian was always a liberal.” He gave a sad chuckle. “It would destroy him if he knew we were talking about weaponising his baby.”

  “I don’t think we need to tell him,” Leader said. “He has a cancer battle to fight and we want him to win that battle. We’re going to give him every tool and every resource he needs in that fight. But as for this. As for weaponising Veraceo, I don’t think he needs to know anything about it.”

  ----- X -----

  The hospital lounge had a view onto a small plot of forest land through a floor to ceiling window. Brian was staring