Chapter One
Phone Call
Occasionally, agents find the opportunity to hunt a rebel without first having to load up into a nearby human. If so, this means the agents can load themselves through a weapon selection area, much like the kind with which Mr. Anderson equipped himself for the infamous hallway shooting a few years back. Through this simulation, the agents often choose to provide themselves with an upgraded model of the old automobile simulation. Appearing as a black sedan, this vehicle can accelerate to speeds far past what would be physically possible in the real world, and repair itself. In a vehicle such as this one, in a parking garage near a mall, agents Daniels, Henderson, and Johnson waited.
"You are sure they will attempt to free Mr. Weiss now?" Daniels asked.
"Yes," Henderson replied. "They are not taking any chances."
"Not with this one," Johnson echoed. "He is-"
"-Important to them," Henderson finished. "As expected."
"Then we must give chase," Daniels replied. "Make it look as if we don't want him to be freed."
--
As the agents waited, Andy Weiss, age 15 stood in a Barnes and Nobel within the mall, skimming through a book on C Programming. Every few pages, he would glance up nervously, before returning to the book.
Andy had never liked the mall. It seemed too much like some kind of despotic system, a prison that the prisoners could not even see. The idea disturbed and fascinated him at the same time. The pure constructed artificiality of it, the constant unconscious signals it sent, urging visitors to buy, it all added up to a disturbing kind of viral meme that spread to everybody within the mall.
And here Andy was, reading a book on programming.
Maybe, Andy mused, when I learn how to program, I'll be able to create my own system like this one. Or break a system like this.
His thoughts were disturbed by a ringing telephone at the front desk. He saw the clerk, a large man with glasses and a black beard, pick it up.
"Hello?" The clerk paused, listening to the response, and then called out to the rest of the store, "Hey, is there an Andrew Weiss here?"
Andy felt himself shudder, and shrugged it off. That was not a logical reaction. He would simply pick up the phone, and assess the situation based on whatever the clerk said.
"That would be me," he said, replacing his book and stepping up to the counter.
"It's for you." The clerk handed Andy the phone, and Andy slowly accepted it.
"Hello?"
"They're coming for you. Get out of the bookstore immediately."
"Who's coming for me? Who is this?"
"There isn't much time. Look towards the parking garage."
Andy peered out the door of the bookstore, and saw three men resembling secret service agents step out of the parking garage, and into the mall.
"Do you see those three men who just walked into the mall?"
"Yes."
"They're coming to take you into custody. Once they have you in custody, they will kill you."
Andy's mind poured over the data, and carefully selected a response. "What do I do?"
"Run to the elevator in the center of the mall. Get inside, and to the second floor. There will be a woman in black waiting at the top. She will identify herself as Trinity. Follow her out of the building. Now go."
Andy heard a click on the other line, and handed the phone back to the clerk, forming a logical risk assessment in his mind. He had very little data at the moment, so it was difficult to formulate a course of action that made sense. Instead, he did what was expected of him. He left the bookstore, and ran for his life.
Occasionally, agents find the opportunity to hunt a rebel without first having to load up into a nearby human. If so, this means the agents can load themselves through a weapon selection area, much like the kind with which Mr. Anderson equipped himself for the infamous hallway shooting a few years back. Through this simulation, the agents often choose to provide themselves with an upgraded model of the old automobile simulation. Appearing as a black sedan, this vehicle can accelerate to speeds far past what would be physically possible in the real world, and repair itself. In a vehicle such as this one, in a parking garage near a mall, agents Daniels, Henderson, and Johnson waited.
"You are sure they will attempt to free Mr. Weiss now?" Daniels asked.
"Yes," Henderson replied. "They are not taking any chances."
"Not with this one," Johnson echoed. "He is-"
"-Important to them," Henderson finished. "As expected."
"Then we must give chase," Daniels replied. "Make it look as if we don't want him to be freed."
--
As the agents waited, Andy Weiss, age 15 stood in a Barnes and Nobel within the mall, skimming through a book on C Programming. Every few pages, he would glance up nervously, before returning to the book.
Andy had never liked the mall. It seemed too much like some kind of despotic system, a prison that the prisoners could not even see. The idea disturbed and fascinated him at the same time. The pure constructed artificiality of it, the constant unconscious signals it sent, urging visitors to buy, it all added up to a disturbing kind of viral meme that spread to everybody within the mall.
And here Andy was, reading a book on programming.
Maybe, Andy mused, when I learn how to program, I'll be able to create my own system like this one. Or break a system like this.
His thoughts were disturbed by a ringing telephone at the front desk. He saw the clerk, a large man with glasses and a black beard, pick it up.
"Hello?" The clerk paused, listening to the response, and then called out to the rest of the store, "Hey, is there an Andrew Weiss here?"
Andy felt himself shudder, and shrugged it off. That was not a logical reaction. He would simply pick up the phone, and assess the situation based on whatever the clerk said.
"That would be me," he said, replacing his book and stepping up to the counter.
"It's for you." The clerk handed Andy the phone, and Andy slowly accepted it.
"Hello?"
"They're coming for you. Get out of the bookstore immediately."
"Who's coming for me? Who is this?"
"There isn't much time. Look towards the parking garage."
Andy peered out the door of the bookstore, and saw three men resembling secret service agents step out of the parking garage, and into the mall.
"Do you see those three men who just walked into the mall?"
"Yes."
"They're coming to take you into custody. Once they have you in custody, they will kill you."
Andy's mind poured over the data, and carefully selected a response. "What do I do?"
"Run to the elevator in the center of the mall. Get inside, and to the second floor. There will be a woman in black waiting at the top. She will identify herself as Trinity. Follow her out of the building. Now go."
Andy heard a click on the other line, and handed the phone back to the clerk, forming a logical risk assessment in his mind. He had very little data at the moment, so it was difficult to formulate a course of action that made sense. Instead, he did what was expected of him. He left the bookstore, and ran for his life.
