“What do you mean right with the world?” asked Dan.
“I don’t know. Things ain’t so bad. I mean, everything is happening for a reason, right? We can’t live in anarchy. There have to be rules. Governments exist for a reason.”
“Dude, listen to yourself. What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Well, I don’t know. Everything I guess.”
“So you’re okay with the same government that has Fred and took the only livelihood from the woman you have the hots for?” asked Dan.
“Well no… I don’t know,” said Charlie.
“Dude, what is wrong with you?” asked Dan.
“I don’t know. I was out all night with the other medics. It was pretty crazy. Had a busy night. But then, I got back and was able to watch it all again on TV. It was kinda cool going through it all, and then seeing it again from a different perspective,” said Charlie.
“A different perspective? You mean their perspective,” said Dan. “Something is up with those newscasts, man. I’ve felt the same way after watching them until I come see you and snap out of it. They’re masters of manipulation. Don’t you think it’s weird that you relaxed after watching their newscasts? Why should that make a difference in how you feel? You were actually at those scenes and know more about what really went on than most.” Dan watched as Charlie ruminated over the changes Dan described. “Let’s go see Timber. They’ve been analyzing this stuff forever.”
Dan and Charlie had the pleasure once again to encounter the bouncer at Timber’s front door. Charlie admired how large this gorilla of a man was. The guy could pick Dan and Charlie up, bang their heads together, and toss them onto the street like rag dolls. Charlie realized during his head-bashing daydream that Dan was looking at him with wide eyes, while the bouncer glared at him with increasing intensity.
“Right. Thank you, sir,” Charlie said as he patted the bouncer’s enormous forearm. Charlie rushed in, realizing that touching the man in any capacity was a bad idea.
“Dan, Charlie, my two most interesting associates,” said Timber as they walked into her room. She had moved twice since Charlie had seen her last.
“Hi, Timber,” Dan replied.
Charlie just waved in greeting.
“Now, to what insane pleasure do I owe that you two trouble magnets are gracing my door yet again?” asked Timber. She gestured for them to come and sit with her on the balcony. As they made themselves comfortable, she had drinks brought over. She of course, didn’t dive into what they wanted. After a few more pleasantries, Dan apparently decided it was as good a time as any.
“Charlie here watched the newscasts last night and appears to have become a recent convert to the ways of our government,” said Dan.
“Well, come on man. That seems a bit strong don’t you think?” retorted Charlie.
“You said everything was right with the world. You didn’t so much as flinch when I brought up Fred or Pam,” said Dan.
Charlie nodded and took a sip of the drink Timber had brought him.
“Is this from Russian River?” asked Charlie.
Dan waved him off dismissively. “Timber, what’s up? I know you guys are intercepting everything,” said Dan.
“Sounds like you already know. What do you want to know?”
“The newscasts. Are they on the up and up?”
Timber smiled. “No. They push what they want and associate their messages with images, tag lines, or other bits of information so when the subjects are again introduced to the subconscious, the minds have already associated underlying feelings in line with what the government wants them to feel. It’s all subliminal and because we are working with the subconscious, this type of manipulation can be accentuated. Ever since you cowboys got us all going against The Proxy, the government has been ramping up this program. They have been increasing the amount of information included with each broadcast. I’m assuming they are trying to gage what the public becomes aware of and what goes unnoticed. Consciously that is.”
“Those motherfuckers!” said Charlie. He sat there with his drink scarcely touching his lips.
Dan was nodding with a show of satisfaction. “That’s right, Charlie. Motherfuckers, man. Not only are they manipulating the entire process and oppressing the minorities, but they’re also feeding their own decisions to the public so there aren’t any decisions being made at all.”
“Kind of like what we were doing, huh?” said Charlie with a laugh.
Timber smiled.
“Well, yeah I guess. But we were doing what was right. We were taking care of humanity and promoting human rights,” argued Dan.
“According to whom?” asked Charlie.
“Well, according to basic decency,” said Dan.
Charlie nodded as he sipped. “We’re all here trying to promote an agenda,” said Charlie. “No one is innocent. There hasn’t been a manipulative free decision making process yet. It’s either their will, our will, or someone else’s will. Who says that they’re right or they’re wrong? Who says we’re right? Maybe we’re the crazy cracked out idiots who don’t know what’s what or who should be in charge? Maybe we’re living in lala land with the crazy notion that we actually have a right to say anything about our future,” said Charlie in his state of introspection.
“You really believe that?” asked Dan.
“Fuck no. The system is fucked and we need to take control of it. Let’s stop screwing around. Timber, it’s time to get serious and we’re going to need your help again.”
“I see?” said Timber.
“Yeah, yeah I know. We’ll make it worth your while,” said Charlie. With that he got up, downed his beer, and motioned to Dan it was time for them to leave.
The three would have met at Pam’s microbrewery, but it was now an empty warehouse waiting for an influx of office equipment and computers. Instead, it was back to Charlie’s apartment. He had called a meeting with Pam and Dan; enough was enough. Not only had life turned back into the monotonous drone of survival rather than living, but now he had learned the true evil The World Government employed to ensure everyone kept in line with whatever their notion of a perfect world was. Charlie was going to end this once and for all.
Pam arrived first and helped herself to a drink from the fridge. She sat there at the counter, lost in the affairs that had recently turned her comfortable existence upside down. Charlie emerged from a backroom, delighted to see Pam. It was obvious she had thrown something on without a thought as she walked out of the house to meet Charlie and Dan. Charlie couldn’t have been happier.
No matter how many times he saw her, he always enjoyed the welcome surprise. She was sitting there with jeans and a stonewashed, Stone Brewery t-shirt on. The shirt was a little bit too small, so it clung to the curves of her body. The jeans were skintight and barely rose to the top of her hips. She was wearing simple flip-flops and a scarf tied about her neck. Man, she looked good.
“Hey Pam,” said Charlie.
“Hey Charlie,” murmured Pam.
Charlie noticed her apathy, of course, but wasn’t sure if this was the time to delve into her issues. He instead grabbed a drink from the refrigerator.
As he was opening the door, Dan came in preceded by a gentle knock. “Hello everyone, I’m not the army,” said Dan in the gentlest voice he could muster.
Charlie threw him a drink as well, and they all congregated around the kitchen counter. “We’ve come a long way in this last year. We’ve been going through the motions; pretending life was good, pretending we didn’t have a care in the world, despite everything around us.”
Dan nodded.
Pam sat there sulking.
“Now, we’re slipping back into that rhythm. Everything we’ve accomplished, and all that has been sacrificed along the way, will be for naught unless we finish this.” Charlie paused a moment to allow the words to sink in. “I don’t know how everything is going to turn out. I don’t know if we’re going to make it through this, but I do know
I can’t go back to the way life was. I can’t go on night after night, waking up to the same story skipping on repeat.”
“I know it’s a lot to ask. I want you both to put your lives in my hands. I know this. But I have a plan. We can do this. I know we can because I know we’re right. Life can’t be what they want it to be.”
“What’s the plan?” asked Dan.
“I gotta know you both are in, because I can’t do this without each of you. You two are the strongest—” Charlie started.
“Fuck it, I’m in,” Pam interrupted. As she did so, she looked at Dan and Charlie. “Don’t worry, I’m not homicidal, but I am out for revenge.” She smiled at them both. “Charlie, this better be a good fucking plan.”
Charlie wasn’t sure if he should be happy with her enthusiasm or a little worried that she was completely trusting in his ability to not only accomplish what he set out to do but also make sure they weren’t killed in the process.
Charlie laid out his strategy for Pam and Dan. It was a detailed plan of action that relied on multiple moving parts.
“You got a lot going on here,” Dan said.
“Well, yeah. It ain’t gonna be easy.”
“Alright,” Dan said as he looked at Charlie and Pam. “Let’s do this bro.”
“Like I said before, I’m in,” said Pam.
Dan and Pam got up to leave. As Charlie walked them to the door, Pam clutched Charlie and kissed him on the lips. As she let her lips break from his, she smiled and wiped the lipstick from his mouth. Then she was off. Charlie stood there shocked, for everything he had dreamed about over the course of the last half-year had culminated in a blink of an eye. He could still feel her soft lips and see her bright eyes long after she had run off.
As Charlie remained lost in his trance, Dan broke the silence. “Duuuuudddeeee! She digs you man. Now all you gotta do is save the world and the dream is yours.” Dan gave Charlie a punch on the arm and rode off into the night as well. His best friend gone too, Charlie felt the world on top of his shoulders. For the first time, he welcomed the weight.
****
Charlie had given Dan his instructions the night prior, laying out the day’s tasks. Charlie was not going to rely on any form of communication that might compromise his plan. Pam and Dan weren’t even privy to everything he was devising. All they knew was that Charlie had an epiphany of sorts, awakening in him the dormant leader they’d been longing for. Dan’s first stop was Sam. He pulled up to the corporate building. So far, he had avoided law enforcement and any affiliation with the gang’s previous activities. He wanted it to stay that way. He had no intention of walking into that building and having his face forever burned across the mountains of digital media they kept on everybody and everything. Charlie told Dan he would call Sam’s office at exactly nine a.m., instructing Sam to meet with Dan across the street at the open park. As Dan paused on his bike, he found himself staring at two parks, caddy corner from one another. He made a calculated decision that Sam would avoid the park with a jungle gym in the center, so Dan rode over to the park west of the building.
He waited, praying Charlie came through. Hopefully, Charlie wasn’t calling from his own apartment. Oh well, too late now. A couple of weeks ago, everyone in their little band of miscreants had decided to discard any items that could be used to track their movements. This included communication devices, along with anything that produced an external signal. For all they knew; The Corporation had files on each of them and was biding their time. At the very least, Timber was likely tracking them as The Corporation would be, if only to safeguard her interests. Charlie did not want Timber to know where they were. He still didn’t trust she was in this venture as a selfless third party. Her interests were her priority and he knew it.
Dan was cruising a bike loop that snaked throughout the park, giving him a view of the entrance every now and then to ensure that Sam, did in fact, show up. Dan was hoping to exude the impression he was out for a morning bike ride, deciding to stop here for a change of pace. Sam came strolling up to the park twenty minutes later. Dan had fixed an envelope to the underside of the bench as Charlie had instructed. He felt like he was in an old school spy movie passing notes and coded messages to give the slip to other super spy agencies.
As Sam sat down at the appointed spot, he pulled out a muffin and a cup of coffee while resting back on the bench, basking in the morning sun. Thank god, it wasn’t raining this morning. Anyone watching would have found it particularly interesting for a man to sit in the rain while eating a chocolate muffin. Eventually, Sam reached underneath the bench and retrieved the envelope, placing it inside a stack of papers he had sitting on his lap. Dan continued his final lap of the bike circuit, and then left the park, aimed for his next appointment.
Dan arrived at Timber’s an hour later. He had decided on a circuitous route through the city’s side streets. Along the way, he stopped at a few stores in case anyone was tracking his movements. He was building plausible explanations for his specific route of travel. Dan had picked up these intricacies over the course of a career transporting sensitive information for the less than legitimate.
Raoul welcomed Dan without a fuss. Dan wondered if he really trusted him. Probably not. Timber invited Dan into her office after fifteen minutes of lounging in an adjoining room. She was conducting some new scheme, funneling information from one part of her network to her affiliates. Dan sat down with Timber and got right to the point, explaining Charlie’s request for her and the team. He struggled to provide the reasoning as best he could. When she pressed for an explanation, Dan couldn’t give the details.
“Timber, I realize I don’t have all the parts here, but Charlie is finishing this. We need you to do this or we’re nowhere. Charlie told me every part has a purpose and none can stand without the others.”
“Dan, are you familiar with our network locations and how to access them from unsecure locations?”
Dan nodded.
Timber waved over one of the tech guys and whispered something in his ear. He wrote down what she needed on a sheet of paper, which she then handed to Dan. “You’ll have what you need. In two days, go to this site,” she said as she pointed at the top line. “Enter this,” she continued referencing the second line.
“Okay.” Dan nodded.
Dan was off again, racing through the streets. Man, he felt good. Charlie was on it and Dan had checked off the two things Charlie said were vital. Dan hoped Sam and Sheila came through on their end. Charlie had written the note to Sam with Dan present so he knew what Charlie was asking of them. It was a tall order and he was sure it weighed on Charlie to ask that much of those two. Dan wasn’t even sure if Sam and Sheila would be willing to do it, let alone be able to pull it off. Then of course, there was Timber. She had readily agreed, which always made Dan nervous. The one thing he could count on was the fact that Timber saw the benefits to her own interests in helping Charlie with his.
Dan spent the rest of the day making his normal rounds, dropping off packages and letters for people across the city. Charlie had been adamant. No matter what else happened; Dan must keep his normal routine. This was not the time to draw undue attention.
****
Pam sat in her apartment. She had been trying to keep herself busy for the past… She looked at her watch… Twenty minutes. That’s it. God, time is crawling. Charlie asked her to remain ready to meet Sam and Sheila. He didn’t know when, and Pam was only privy to the fact that she was picking up something Dan had asked for. Charlie made it clear to both that they must concentrate on what he asked of them and nothing more in order to lessen potential suspicion. Charlie wasn’t even sure if Sam and Sheila were going to deliver within the next twenty-four hours. Pam could end up going out of her mind, pacing for the entire day. She couldn’t see Charlie or Dan because that was forbidden too. Charlie was being a real hard ass about these protocols he was enacting. It was kind of sexy, she had to admit. He was taking charge. She’d never admit that to him
though.
****
Sam entered his office and proceeded over to the shredder in the corner. He disposed of the envelope and its contents, and then walked back to his desk. “Steve, have Sheila meet me in the study room in twenty minutes.”
“Yes sir. Of course, sir. Would you like me to include any instructions, sir?” responded Steve.
“No, thank you.”
Sheila arrived twenty minutes later. Sam motioned for her to sit as he strolled around the room switching off the devices that were recording what was happening in the room. Sam had been messing with the surveillance in this room for years, lulling anyone observing into complacent apathy. After he finished, he came over and sat next to Sheila.
“Ready for this?” began Sam.
Sheila eyed him. “Yes, I think so?” she responded.
“Charlie needs access to the main building in Istanbul.”
Sheila let out a long sigh and shook her head.
“I figure the only way in is by using a combination of the biometric protocols we’ve established and the passkey issued to those with access,” continued Sam.
Sheila still shook her head.
“The only people who have access to that building are those who work there and most of them are restricted to specific areas,” continued Sam.
Sheila looked at him, finishing his next sentence. “And the top level executives at every main office throughout the world, Mr. Nelson being the only one with access here in City 55.”
“Exactly. We can’t steal his passkey, because he’ll report it missing long before Charlie will be able to use it,” said Sam.
“Easy enough. We need to steal his eyes. And then Charlie still doesn’t have a passkey,” replied Sheila.
“We copy the passkey… And his eyes.” As Sam finished, he placed extra emphasis on the fact that these fakes needed to be pristine.
Sheila looked at Sam. “I have no idea what the hell you’re on about. Unless you plan on cutting his eyes out of his head? Which I guess would work, but then we might raise a few suspicions around this place,” Sheila said.
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