The Good: A page turning thriller where politics meets future technology in a bid to control human behaviour

by Carl Andrew

  “Hi Leon, how can I help you?” Vanessa replied. She was sensing a little animosity in his voice.

  “Listen I’ll get straight to the point. I’ve been given some information about the Prime Minister planning to release liquid chips into the water source for the public to consume. This is all part of the work the Institute of Behavioural Science is doing right?”

  Vanessa was shocked. She was completely taken aback.

  “Where the hell did you hear that from?” That was all she could muster. She was trying to buy time while her brain tried to process the information as quickly as possible, searching for the ideal response.

  “I got an anonymous tip off via an email. It has an attachment. It’s authentic Vanessa and I’m going to write about it. I wanted to give you a heads up out of courtesy, that’s all.”

  “Ok, ok. I’m not corroborating anything but all I ask is that you give me 30 minutes to brief the PM,” she requested.

  “I’ll give you 15 minutes and then I click to post.”

  “15 minutes doesn’t give me enough time,” she pleaded.

  “It gives you enough time to pick up the phone. I’m sure you can get through to him if you need to,” Leon said with authority.

  “Ok fine but I think you’re making a mistake Leon. This is dangerous,” she said.

  “Is that a threat Vanessa?”

  “No, not at all, it’s just advice,” she countered.

  “Well I’ll take that on board. Besides, I’ve made many mistakes before and I’m sure I’ll make them again but some stories can’t remain untold.”

  He put the phone down and took a deep breath. That was perhaps the single most terrifying call he’d ever had to make.

  Essentially, he’d just threatened the Government and he was risking putting them offside in a significant and potentially unalterable way.

  He waited the promised time and hovered over the publish button. For some reason, he decided to close his eyes before clicking go.

  When he opened them, he realised in one single act he had just changed his whole world.

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  10 Downing Street

  “How the hell did they get hold of that information?” David was furious as Vanessa suspected he would be.

  She had phoned him directly after finishing the call with Leon. It was one of those calls she didn’t want to make but knew she had to.

  “David, I think there’s a mole within your team. We need to look at this rationally. There’s only one way he could have got hold of the report. It had to be someone who worked on it with you,” she responded.

  “Well that’s impossible. Each of the people in my team went through a rigorous vetting process,” David stated.

  “They probably said the same thing at Enron before it collapsed David. We’ve got to face facts, there’s no other explanation. I’d recommend a full investigation,” Vanessa said trying to remain composed.

  “Well both you and Russell also knew about the water source concept, am I to investigate you two as well.”

  “David, what are you trying to say? Are you accusing me of passing this information on to Leon Bryant?” For the first time, Vanessa felt that David was losing his trust in her. He had never accused her of anything like this before.

  At that moment, she felt their relationship was starting to change.

  “What I mean is Vanessa, who did you tell on your team? I’m just trying to ascertain whether this leak could have come from outside of my team,” David was still gung-ho in his language but it started to soften towards the end of his comment.

  “I didn’t tell anybody on my team David. I was as shocked as Russell was that such a proposal could even have been investigated. Perhaps you need to speak with Russell.”

  “I will, don’t worry about that,” David exclaimed jumping in.

  “However, if you would like me to conduct an investigation into your team then you know where I am,” she hung up the phone in disgust as soon as she finished her sentence.

  David pressed a button on his phone:

  “Janet, find Russell Brooks ASAP. Tell him I need to speak to him in my office right away,” he said.

  “Ok David. I’m on it,” Janet replied.

  Within ten minutes, Russell appeared in David’s office.

  “Have you spoken with Vanessa?” David asked.

  “No not since yesterday. What’s going on?” Russell enquired.

  “When we talked about the Anti-Social Behaviour Policy, did you tell anyone about the conversation?” David said.

  “Just your team David, when I was working with them on the details of the policy,” Russell replied.

  “How about the water source proposal, did you mention that to anyone else?” This latest question from David was expressed with a purposeful tone.

  “David, of course not, what’s going on?” Russell said with concern. He’d never heard David speak to him like this.

  “We’ve had a leak Russell. That bloody blogger Leon Bryant has been tipped off and was sent the water source plan. He’s posting it to his blog as we speak.”

  “Oh my god, that’s… that’s really bad. How on earth did he manage to get hold of that information?” Russell bumbled through the comment, unsure what to say.

  “That’s what I intend to find out. There’s obviously a leak somewhere. The other thing that annoys me is that Vanessa is supposed to be managing our relationship with this damn blogger. It’s obviously not working,” David said.

  Russell was quite astounded. He’d never heard David utter a negative word against Vanessa. This was quite a pivotal moment.

  “We’re going to have to front the media again and announce the full policy. That’s the only way to deal with this David?” Russell said more in search of corroboration than as a recommendation.

  “I agree. Can you work up the statements and set it up.”

  “Leave it to me,” Russell said before leaving the room.

  He pulled his phone out and dialled Vanessa’s number as he walked away from the office.

  They discussed the meeting with David and Russell felt it was only appropriate to mention that David had questioned her ability to handle Leon Bryant.

  “Is there anything I can do to help things Vanessa? You and David are better as a team than against each other and perhaps a little pressure might get that blogger in line,” he said.

  “I agree, I need to ride out this storm. There’s nothing else to do. I appreciate your help, perhaps we can figure something out with the whole Leon Bryant situation. He’s obviously a lot more difficult to manage than I’d expected.”

  “I’ll get on to the statements for the press conference and send them through to you within the hour,” she replied.

  ------------------------------------------------------------

  Finsbury Park, London

  The blog had gone insane since Leon had posted his article. He was fielding emails and responding to comments from across the country.

  He had also received a number of phone calls from media colleagues, some condemning what he had done and questioning his sources, most warning him to be careful.

  It was obvious that the majority of opinion was that he was playing with fire.

  He did get one or two death threats from the far right lobby claiming he was in favour of the opposition. It was the first time he had received responses with such aggression but his was a particularly volatile story.

  It was generally considered par for the course for a media commentator to receive such vile responses to stories so he shrugged off the threats, simply seeing them as part of the job.

  He received an invitation to the press conference being organised at 10 Downing Street that afternoon.

  Why shouldn’t he be invited? He was on the media invite list after all. He felt, however, that it would be best to avoid based on the fact the press conference was based on an issue he had caused.

  He
politely declined stating that he already had his story.

  ------------------------------------------------------------

  Silicon Fen, Cambridge, Cambridgeshire

  The man in the corner office heard the familiar tone of a phone ringing, a very specific ring tone coming from a very specific phone.

  He went to a cupboard at the far side of his office, opened a cabinet, revealing a safe. He punched in the combination and opened the door.

  He pulled out a mobile phone and pressed to answer.

  “Hello,” he said.

  “It’s me. We’ve got some trouble. The blogger, Leon Bryant, he’s causing trouble. I need him to stop. Permanently,” the response came.

  “Understood,” he said.

  The conversation ended as promptly as it had begun.

  ------------------------------------------------------------

  A short while later - 10 Downing Street, London

  Russell and David found themselves in a familiar position. A rushed press conference crowd gathered in front of them.

  The attending media had obviously all read the article on The Day Today and were baying for some political blood.

  It was agreed that David should lead proceedings so he stepped up to the podium when the audience had settled down a little.

  “Good afternoon and thank you for joining us. I appreciate you’re all well aware of why you’re here so I’ll get straight to the point,” he said with authority.

  “Yes, information was leaked from within my office to The Day Today blog this morning. The information was in the form of a risk assessment for one of many strategies to implement our long term policy into curbing anti-social behaviour that has gripped our streets for long enough.”

  “While the contents of the information were obviously unfortunate in their nature, it’s important to understand the context of how this information came into being.”

  “The reality is that when we consider policy, as a team we explore many opportunities. These opportunities range from the understandable to the extreme.”

  He was being affirmative, professional and precise, just as they had agreed. It was the only way to deal with this type of situation.

  “We have to look at opportunities from many different perspectives to ensure that we’re considering everything. The concept that was reported on was one of the perspectives that was instantly dismissed.”

  “As for the assertion that, as a Government, we would consider instigating such a concept without the full awareness and cooperation of the public, I’m afraid that’s bordering on the realms of fantasy.”

  “One of the reasons for undertaking a risk assessment is to identify and understand the risks of each and every eventuality. The concept flagged in today’s blog post was one of many reviewed.”

  “I realise how this information could be misconstrued, but as a Government, we made a promise of openness and transparency. We intend to keep that promise.”

  One or two of the journalists were gesturing to ask a question. David acknowledged them and said:

  “There will be time for questions later but I wanted to move on to the second part of the reason for this press conference.”

  There were groans of disappointment.

  “In the spirit of openness and transparency, my Government and I would like to take this opportunity to demystify any confusion the public may have by announcing the agreed long term policy to deal with the issue of anti-social behaviour. For that, I would like to invite the Minister for Social Behaviour, Russell Brooks to discuss this in detail.”

  David turned to where Russell was standing and opened his arm out as if to call him up to the microphone.

  Russell shook hands with David as they crossed, contorted his right hand into a fist and coughed twice to clear his throat.

  He placed his papers on the podium and adjusted the microphone.

  “Thank you Prime Minister.”

  “Ladies and Gentlemen of the press, I know this has been a while coming but I am delighted to be able to announce to you today a new, long term strategy to deal with violence on our streets and, more generally, with bad behaviour as a whole.”

  “As you are no doubt aware, my Department has been working closely with the Institute of Behavioural Science to identify a scientific solution to the challenge of human behaviour.”

  “Obviously there have been lots of rumour and myth spread about mind control and brainwashing which couldn’t be further from the truth,” Russell continued.

  It was agreed that he would confront the terms ‘mind control’ and ‘brainwashing’ head on. Even though it was a commonly accepted practice in PR circles not to mention negative elements of a situation, Vanessa and Russell felt that would lead to accusations of avoidance.

  This way, there could be no doubt that they were both aware of and dealing with the rumours circulating. Nothing was hidden, everything was clear.

  “Alongside an assessment of the solution undertaken by the Institute for Behavioural Science, we polled members of the public to identify their thoughts and acceptance levels for different solutions including the one we’re announcing today.”

  “We compared the results against those from a series of focus groups we conducted on the same topic to ensure we had a good range of qualitative and quantitative data to work from.”

  “What we’re talking about in this new strategy is awareness and avoidance.”

  “So, without further ado, I would like to announce the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill. It will be put to Parliament in the coming days and will be voted on as per any other Bill.”

  “However, we expect a large majority of support from both houses following initial consultations.”

  The strategy had been wielded around political circles and, due to David’s overwhelming majority as well as some hard-lining from the whips, was expected to pass with relative ease.

  “The Bill will bring into law a new charge for goods and services based on behaviour. Behaviour will be measured and monitored on a real time basis with the data being provided to the sales clerk at point of sale.”

  “The way it is measured and monitored is through a new ‘liquid chip’ developed by the Institute of Behavioural Science. The chips will be ingested by members of the public over the age of 16, much like diabetics do now with digital pills to monitor their medication intake.”

  There were gasps from the media. This was an unheralded strategy, something that had never been attempted or even communicated before.

  “The chip has no side effects and will be the same shape as a horse pill like everyday vitamins. The expectation is that they will exist within a normal body for up to 40 years and so most people will only take 1 to 2 in their lifetime.”

  “The pill splits inside the body sending chips to measure and monitor vital signs such as neural activity, brain patterns, heart rate and breathing levels.”

  “From there, they will present information through to an app on a smart or digital point of sale device. This information is only shared with the sales person they are dealing with for their next purchase.”

  “It will only present information from the point after their previous purchase to their current purchase.”

  “If someone is found to have been thinking or acting in an anti-social way, they will receive an additional charge on the product or service they are purchasing of 20%. We refer to this as the ‘Behaviour Charge’. So, if an apple costs 30p, to someone who has considered or acted in an anti-social way, it will cost them 36p.”

  “The information will also be stored on a permanent file in a system at the Department of Social Behaviour so that those who refuse to pay the additional charge at the point of sale will be dealt with after the fact by the authorities.”

  “This system will be independently monitored and reviewed to ensure that data is being used only for the purposes intended.”

  “The definition of what constitutes ‘anti-social behaviour’ will be agreed u
pon by an independent panel of experts including those from academia, industry and members of the public. It will be reviewed and updated on a quarterly basis.”

  “It’s important to point out that the taking of these liquid chips is not mandatory. However, we are also introducing a new Compliance Tax that will be charged against the salary of or removed from the benefits of those who decide against voluntarily taking the pill.”

  “The income from this tax along with the additional Behaviour Charge on purchasing products is intended to cover the cost of anti-social behaviour and the accompanying issues and mental trauma it causes to communities and public services up and down the country.”

  “This will ensure the treasury budget the Government gathers from income tax and other taxable interests are used for positive change as opposed to covering the cost of negative acts.”

  “We will be operating six test areas to roll the initiative out to for a six month trial. These areas and further detail on the trial will be announced once approval of the Anti-Social Behaviour Bill has been confirmed over the next couple of days.”

  “All the information presented to you today along with further details will be available from the Department of Social Behaviour website.”

  “Thank you for listening. I appreciate there is a lot to take in but now I’d like to open proceedings up to questions from the floor.”

  The press were stunned and, aside from a few scornful questions from expected members of the press, there was simply too much information to take on board to formulate specific questions.

  In his apartment in Finsbury Park, Leon watched the press conference open mouthed. He couldn’t believe what he’d just heard.

  Judging by the reaction on social media channels, the public were actually in favour of the new policy. Most had been affected first hand by the issues of anti-social behaviour at one point or another over the last five years or so.

  From the comments it would appear they were sick of the issue and were happy that the Government was brave enough to tackle it head on.