Escape The Grid: Volume 1

by Patrick F. Kelly

  “Canada may be easier than Mexico, Tito. I don’t want to tell you your business, but you know the border between the US and Mexico is incredibly secure. The Mexican government is very committed to keep illegals from the US off of Mexican soil. And the department of defense and the NSA in the US have surveillance from high-flying aircraft 24-hours a day, using satellites and image processing software. It is really hard to get through the border and into Mexico these days.”

  “We have heard much of the same, and I appreciate this information. You have a lot more ground-level experience than I do,” Tito said.

  Debbie laughed. “Me? I’m just an old episcopal minister from Jasper. But I talk to people who have dealt with these things. Friends of mine who have gone to jail trying to get American-born men safely out of the US and into Mexico. It is incredibly difficult.”

  He smiled back at her. This woman was just what Tito’s rag-tag group needed. With her help, this first mission, as crazy as it was, might just have a chance.

  “Tell me about this man that we need to get out of the camp?” Debbie asked.

  Tito told her everything they knew. It took a few hours, but he felt much better about Thomas’ chances of getting out without violence. He also told Debbie about Julia, and they discussed a variety of ways to get her safely to Jasper and then get her and Thomas out to Miami.

  Tito breathed a sigh of relief.

  This can work.

  Next call: Joey Bag-a-donuts in DC.

  28

  JOEY WAS ON a three-day caffeine high. He had slept a cumulated total of three hours in the last 72, since getting the go signal from Linda. Despite the lack of sleep, he was feeling fantastic.

  This was the most exciting thing he had done in years. Maxime’s training would raise the bar for his little operation. He could envision a future where he spoke weekly with the top brass in Washington. Once that happened, it wouldn’t be long for him to get some kind of exception in the FPA.

  Who needs a full repeal of the Act? As long as Joey could get some kind of exemption allowing him to be a free man, that would be A-OK in his book. He had enough money, contacts and know-how to live the life of his dreams - in both the real and the virtual world. He just wanted to sleep at night without worrying about being discovered, arrested and executed as an enemy of the state.

  But these days he had no worries at all. He could see the end goal so clearly, the metaphorical light at the end of the tunnel.

  And then he saw the video conference request from Iceland. Years ago, he had used this old server in Iceland for selling black-market weapons.

  Who the fuck is calling me on this server?

  Joey’s paranoia kicked in. There was this lingering question in his mind about whether the Margaret Lane deal was real or a setup. He would know for sure soon enough, but the fear was always just under the surface.

  The call from Iceland triggered him. The three-day thrill ride ended in a millisecond and his body was hit with the full force of the fear and the lack of sleep.

  He felt himself shaking, almost twitching. He was tired, he was wired on too much coffee, and he was really nervous about this call.

  Do I answer?

  If he didn’t, he would second-guess himself non-stop on who it had been. Trying to trace back the call would likely be impossible. Whoever knew how to access this server also knew how to make an untraceable call.

  If he answered, at least he would know the threat. He breathed deeply. Time was running out. The caller may drop out. He had to decide.

  Screw it. What’s the worst that can happen?

  “Hello,” Joey answered, keeping his video turned off but waiting for the other party’s video to patch in.

  After a few long seconds, he saw a familiar face.

  Isn’t that the Cuban dude from a long time back?

  The guy that talked about buying weapons but never bought nothin’. Lots of dead-end conversations.

  Money talks, bullshit walks, pal.

  Joey realized that he had instantly relaxed. This guy wasn’t NSA or DOD. If he worked for the US government, the NSA would have knocked down Joey’s doors years ago, when they last spoke about weapons. This guy would waste Joey’s time, sure, but he wouldn’t destroy his life.

  “I don’t know if you remember me,” the Cuban guy said, “but my name is Tito. We spoke a few years ago.”

  Joey turned on his own end of the video conference. He was feeling good again, smiling. The fear subsided and the excitement of the Maxime project coursed through his veins.

  “Of course I remember you. Tito, how are you?”

  “I’m very good, Joey. When we last spoke, our organization did not yet have the financial resources or the contacts to engage with a professional like yourself. However, things have changed, and I think that we have business opportunities to discuss. That is, if you are still in the business?”

  Joey smiled again.

  Now we’re talking my language, buddy. Maybe we can do some business and you can send me a box of those cigars you guys make.

  “We are most definitely still in business, my friend.”

  “Excellent,” Tito said. “We have an agent coming to the US soon, and she will need a clean car, a secure communication device, and maybe some other items. No weapons though. Just equipment to help her stay under the radar.”

  “I can certainly help you with that. When and where does she land?”

  “We are still working on that. What is best for you?”

  “Well, my home base is DC, so the closer to DC, the more equipment I have readily available. But I have associates all over. With enough time, I can get equipment to you anywhere.”

  “I’ll keep that in mind and get back to you with more details.”

  “Perfect. Let’s talk about payment. This kind of equipment won’t be cheap.”

  “Agreed. Before we get to that, can I ask you a few more questions?”

  “Sure.”

  “In our research, we found what may be an amazing coincidence. A person of interest for our team may be in the same grid camp as a person of interest for you.”

  Joey tilted his head, almost frowning. What is this guy talking about? Joey’s paranoid tendencies kicked into gear.

  “Are you currently working with a young man named Maxime?” Tito asked.

  Joey’s stomach turned and his face gave away the truth. How in the world did this group of Cubans figure out about Maxime? If they can figure it out with their resources, then the NSA must surely know. What had Joey done wrong?

  “I can see by your body language that you do indeed know Maxime,” Tito said. “Please, don’t be concerned about this. It is only because of an amazing coincidence that we discovered this.”

  Joey was concerned and he didn’t believe in amazing coincidences, certainly not those claimed by Cuban rebel hackers.

  “I don’t know who you’re talking about, but I’m not appreciating your tone, Tito. Let’s not ruin what could be a good business relationship.”

  “Again, I sincerely apologize, Mr. Joey,” Tito said.

  Mr. Joey liked being called Mr. Joey.

  Tito continued, “As I stated, one of our agents is working with a man in the same camp as Maxime. By some amazing coincidence, there was a thunder storm where our guy and your guy spoke with each other about breaking out. Long story short, we would like to coordinate the break out with you, so that both guys can get out and go their separate ways. Nobody gets hurt. And we will compensate you for the coordination.”

  Mr. Joey also liked the word “compensate”.

  “Let’s assume for a second that I know this Maxime character,” Joey said. “And let’s assume that I had a plan to break him out of the grid camp. Tell me about the compensation.”

  Tito coughed. He looked relieved. Joey realized that Tito hadn’t been sure about his intelligence. Joey’s body language had betrayed him. He had been out of the game too long and had let his guard down too much. If he wanted to hang
out again in powerful circles, he needed to up his game.

  Working in VR for the last ten years, where body language can be controlled with software, had weakened his lying skills. Since Linda was the front-man of the operation, err, correction, front-woman of the operation, her skills were undoubtedly still intact. Joey made a mental note to work on his poker face.

  Luckily, Joey’s mistake wouldn’t hurt him. This Tito guy was telling him the truth it seemed, and Joey was about to double his luck.

  “I have some excellent connections in Italy,” Tito was saying, “with powerful people. My understanding is that the US believes you are in Italy. I can help perpetuate the myth.”

  Joey frowned. “I have lots of contacts in Italy too. The mafia may not be run by men anymore, but the black market has been thriving in the current global environment. I don’t need any of what you’re selling. What else you got?”

  Tito replied, “I don’t doubt your mafia contacts are great. My contacts are legitimate and highly placed. Maybe you are too quick to turn down the offer. I have money I can offer, and all the cigars you can ever smoke, but I think that my contacts in Italy may be the most valuable thing on the table.”

  Joey reconsidered. He was lying about his mafia contacts. They were pretty weak. The guys over there were mainly living on the grid without complaints. The women that had originally taken over the business were different than the men. Not as hard-driving. Mafia guys didn’t want to marry women or raise daughters with the personality of mafia guys. So, once the world turned on its head, and up was down and black was white and mafia women were running the mafia and mafia men were playing at Resort World online… Well, the whole operation went a little haywire. Things that had been illegal and profitable, like drugs, had been legalized years before. When sales taxes were lowered in Europe, the black market for selling legitimate goods also went away. There was more money for the women to make being clean, especially those that weren’t cut out for the business. The ones that stayed in the business had made a killing, shifting from drugs and cigarettes to new black market products. But Europe wasn’t like the US, and men didn’t have to be underground in Italy or in most of Europe. Joey’s contacts spent most of their time skydiving in Resort World and talking to young women in bikinis.

  “Tell me what you had in mind. Maybe there is something that would be useful.”

  Tito spent the next hour opening Joey’s eyes to a whole new set of possibilities. By the end of the call, Joey had agreed to coordinate the breakout and furnish Julia with everything she needed, all in exchange for the Italian connection.

  When Tito hung up, he looked like the happiest little Cuban dude Joey had ever seen.

  29

  SOFIA WAS SITTING in social studies class. She glanced longingly at the empty seat where her friend Song should be. The teacher, Miss Woods, was discussing US history, but Sofia was barely paying attention.

  Why is Daisy raising her hand?

  “Yes, Daisy,” the teacher said.

  “Are we going to talk about the presidents from a long time ago? The men presidents?”

  “Well, Daisy,” the teacher said. “We all know that those first forty or so presidents came into power a long time ago, when life was quite different. I don’t usually spend class time on that period of US history, because there isn’t much to learn. I can sum up those two hundred years with very few words. Men did a lot of bad things. They oppressed women and minorities and kept all of the power and money for themselves. They paid women less for doing the same jobs. They prevented women from rising to power in companies and in government. They lived a life that was truly bor-r-ring. Class, do we want to learn about boring history or fun history?”

  The whole class yelled in unison, “Fun history!”

  History is never fun, Sofia thought.

  “Me too,” Miss Woods agreed. “Everybody, put on your goggles and we’ll learn about Economics in the 21st century. Who here knows what ‘Economics’ means?”

  Sofia put on her goggles and ear buds. She grabbed her hand trackers for each hand and rose her right hand. “I do,” she said.

  Suddenly, the whole class was inside a car factory from the past. Maybe it was 2040 or even earlier. Sofia looked up and saw the context. Text in the sky read, “2030: Car factory in northern California”.

  “Yes, Sofia,” the teacher said. Miss Woods stood in front of a new car being assembled by a robot. The other students gathered around her. “Please tell the class what you know about Economics.”

  “Umm, it’s like money and jobs people do and the economy and how to make money. Something like that.”

  “That is exactly correct. Economics is a social science regarding how the economy works. Researchers used to study human interactions and markets to understand how they affect the economy.”

  “But don’t people know how the economy works? Why would anyone have to study it,” one of the students asked.

  “Yes, we know much more today, but at the beginning of the millennium, scientists had only studied economics for 100 years. There was a lot that they didn’t understand,” Miss Woods then waved her hands at the cars being manufactured. “The factory we are standing in was built in 2030, at a time when people were really concerned about the economy. Mainly, they were concerned about their own jobs. Just like Sofia said, for most people, Economics is very personal. It is their job and their money and how they will make money. Sofia really said it perfectly.”

  Sofia blushed. She even cracked a smile, happy with the teacher’s compliment. Since there were no sensors to recognize her facial gestures, Sofia’s avatar didn’t smile or blush.

  The VR systems in school didn’t have as many features as her gear at home. The expensive systems could synchronize your avatar’s body gestures and other things, like blushing or winking or goose bumps or nervous ticks. Most people changed what they wanted to synchronize. Winking might be desired but a nervous tick wasn’t something you wanted to share with the world.

  “Class, can you believe that a long time ago, a car factory would employ thousands of people? Isn’t that crazy to think about?”

  “What did all the people do?” one girl asked.

  “Who wants to guess what the people did,” Miss Woods said. She picked Daisy.

  “Didn’t they have to repair the robots and design the cars and show people what the cars look like?” Daisy said.

  “Well, back then, there weren’t robots,” the teacher said.

  Some students put down their hands. The teacher called on another girl.

  “Didn’t they do the work the robots do? Like putting in the seats or the navigation system?”

  The teacher laughed. “Girls, believe it or not, but there was a time when the cars didn’t drive themselves or have computers or navigation systems, and there weren’t robots putting them together. People had to do the assembly themselves. They had tools to bend the metal and tools to bond the metal together like glue. The cars ran on petroleum, like an airplane does, and they had big loud engines that drank the petroleum and spit out dirty clouds of smoke.”

  Some girls said “Eww, yuck.”

  One girl raised her hand, “Why did they run on petroleum? Could they fly?”

  The teacher responded, “No, they were a lot like cars today. They didn’t fly. They took people from place to place. But those cars were heavier. They used a material called steel that wasn’t as strong as what our cars are made of, but it was much heavier. So it needed a lot more power and they used petroleum instead of electricity. And the cars didn’t have the sensors we have, so people had to drive them.”

  The class was surprised. One girl asked, “Wasn’t that dangerous, for people to drive cars?”

  “Yes, it was very dangerous,” Miss Woods replied. “Thousands of people died every year in the US because of car accidents. But today’s lesson isn’t about that. It’s about jobs and the economy. Back before the year 2000, many people in the US were involved in jobs using cars. The
y assembled cars in factories, they worked as salespeople to sell cars, they worked as mechanics fixing cars, and they worked as taxi drivers and bus drivers and truck drivers and delivery people. Who here has heard of a taxi?”

  Nobody raised their hand. Then one girl did.

  “Yes, what is a taxi?” Miss Woods asked.

  “Umm, is it where you give money to the government when you do your job and you have to pay the government money that you make?”

  “No, dear, that is ‘taxes’. We will talk about ‘taxes’ another day. A ‘taxi’ was a car, often the color yellow, that had a human driver and took people places.”

  The girls looked confused.

  “I know you are wondering why anyone would get in a car with a stranger, but please remember that we are talking about a long time ago. The cars back then couldn’t drive themselves.”

  A student raised her hand. The teacher called on her.

  “What happened to all the jobs?”

  “Now that is an excellent question, my dear. That is the point of today’s class. Economics and jobs and money and taxes. All of those particular jobs dealing with cars and factories and car salespeople and taxis and delivery people - all those jobs became things that computers and robots and software could do. People had to find other jobs. There was still lots of work to do to design the cars and design the sensors and software that drove the cars. People still worked as mechanics to fix the cars. But the world bought fewer cars. Lots of people didn’t own a car because they could always use their phone to get a car. How many of you have a car at your house? I mean, a car owned by your mom and always at your house?”

  About half the class raised their hands.

  “Exactly, well, back before 2030, where we are right now in this factory, most American families actually had two cars. Can you believe that? Not one but two. Most of your families don’t even need one. We are here today in this factory because 2030 was the year that fully automated cars really took off, and the behavior patterns of Americans forever changed. Instead of each family having two cars, many families had no cars. And it changed the job situation forever too. For years, there had been fewer and fewer jobs in the car industry, but 2030 was the year when computers and software really took over. The government did a study and found that 90% of the car-related work, historically done by humans, was being done by computers. It is the reason the Congress passed the Automated Society Act and created the Minimum Guaranteed Income for all American citizens. Who knows about the MGI?”