BrainWeb

by Douglas E. Richards

  There were nods around the room, but no one was yet able to see where this was leading.

  “So say you’re an implant recipient and you upload what you see and hear to the cloud,” continued Girdler. “Say a video of your last sexual encounter with your girlfriend, for example. And you have no intention of violating her privacy. You just upload it for your own use.” Girdler paused. “And then someone hacks into your cloud account and steals it.”

  Campbell looked unimpressed. “I’ll admit this hadn’t occurred to me,” he said. He glanced around the room and could tell no one else had considered it either. “But I don’t see this as being that big of a deal. It could happen. But most people aren’t going to be uploading all that much to the cloud, despite the much-touted privacy concerns. Before BrainWeb, some people chose to upload naked photos to their computers. Most didn’t. And granted, some who did, especially celebrities, got hacked, and their photos got out. But this wasn’t the end of the world.”

  Girdler shook his head. “True,” he said. “But now imagine the government is doing the hacking. The NSA. Rooting around in people’s online storage lockers, looking for whatever they want. This is a little more troubling now, isn’t it?”

  Altschuler rubbed his chin in thought, and it was obvious this had suddenly become a more intriguing discussion to him. “No doubt,” he replied. “But this still isn’t so bad. In practice, like the colonel said, most people will stream very little of their daily lives to the Web. And terrorists and other bad actors will adjust. They’ll learn not to use the cloud to store incriminating information, or plans for future attacks. Similar to how it is now. If you’re a terrorist, you keep your nefarious plans on a laptop, you don’t send them through cyberspace in an e-mail that could be intercepted by the NSA.” He raised his eyebrows. “I do have to admit that the thought of the NSA having a new data trove to spy on hadn’t occurred to me. But I agree with Colonel Campbell. It’s a worry, but not an enormous one.”

  “Right,” said Girdler. “Because, like you said, most people won’t stream much to the cloud anyway.”

  “Exactly,” said Altschuler.

  Girdler’s expression took on a new intensity. “Now let’s take this to the next level. What if you didn’t have a choice?” he said meaningfully. “What if everything you saw and heard, every second of the day, was transmitted to the cloud—without your knowledge? Wouldn’t that give the NSA a bit more data to sift through?”

  Altschuler’s mouth dropped open. “Holy shit!” he said. “That would change things. And you could modify the software in the implants prior to manufacture to do just that.”

  All eyes were on Altschuler as his agile mind raced. “And it wouldn’t be very difficult, either,” he continued. “You could store the data stream of all sights and sounds in a large buffer. Whenever a user accessed the Internet, which would be almost non-stop for most users, you could squirt the data in the opposite direction, to the cloud. You could mask it completely, so no one could possibly know or detect that your life’s experiences were being uploaded without your knowledge.” He rubbed his chin. “But we could make sure this was never done.”

  “Really?” said Girdler. “Are you positive? This has never come up before in any meeting I’ve had with the government. I purposely haven’t brought it up. I don’t want to give anyone any ideas. But you’d better believe I’m not the only one who will come to these conclusions. I’m just the one who has been most immersed in the BrainWeb technology. But I’d bet my last dollar the NSA is well aware of this possibility already. And they have a way of pressuring companies to cooperate with them. And even if you don’t implement the software at the factory, Alex, if they find a hack—and what group has better resources to find any chink in your security armor than the NSA—they can download the software to do this remotely.”

  Megan turned to Altschuler. “Is that true, Alex?” she asked anxiously.

  He nodded, his face looking numb. “Yes. It’s absolutely true. The NSA could, theoretically—and without that much difficulty—funnel everything each of us sees and hears into their computers. Everything.”

  “And everything we think also, correct?” said Girdler.

  Altschuler looked sick. “Yes,” he said, barely able to get this syllable out of his mouth. “And everything a user thinks.”

  “Wait a minute,” protested Heather. “Slow down. Why would that be?”

  “The BrainWeb implants respond to thoughts, right?” said Altschuler. “You think, tell me the weather in New York and the weather is retrieved from the Web. After a few days you’re so in tune with the implants you aren’t even aware of the need to think at them. But you are. The system’s software is extraordinarily complex, and while it is trained to ignore all thoughts that aren’t directed at the implants, it is constantly monitoring all thoughts, waiting for a command.”

  Campbell’s eyes widened. “So BrainWeb itself is a mind reader?” he said, now so fascinated and alarmed that he forget to be angry at Girdler. “So each of us can be turned into a Nick Hall.”

  “No,” said Girdler. “The implants can only read the thoughts of the brain they’re in, not those of other people. And they only read a user’s surface thoughts, those you think in the form of words. The implants can’t dig through a user’s mind like Nick can. Can’t fish out your social security number unless you’re mentally reciting it. Can’t tell you the name of the girl you took to the prom.”

  “But still,” said Megan. “The NSA could have a record of everything you see, hear, and actively think. This does bring invasion of privacy to a new level.”

  “But this would require the NSA to break the law,” said Heather. “To be despicably intrusive. The country wouldn’t stand for it.”

  “This is true,” said Girdler. “But power expands to fill a vacuum. And knowledge is the ultimate power. I’d love to think this would never happen. But you don’t have to be a conspiracy theorist to acknowledge that it isn’t impossible. It’s easy to imagine someone at the NSA getting overzealous, hacking the implants, modifying their software, and stealing all of our lives. With no one the wiser.”

  “He’s right,” said Campbell. “The government and NSA have a history of overreach. Girdler and I know of programs we can’t disclose, but two of these are well-known, even to the public. One, called PRISM, gave the NSA unlimited access to the servers of major technology companies, including Facebook, Apple, Google, YouTube, and many others, and the tremendous wealth of data stored within these servers. Another that began in 2007 wasn’t exposed until 2014. It was a program that used spy planes to carry devices called dirtboxes over populations of interest. The devices mimicked cell phone towers, in effect fooling all phones in the area into broadcasting to them. In this way, they could suck up data from thousands and thousands of phones without the owners knowing.”

  There was a long, stunned silence in the room as everyone sorted through the implications of what was being said.

  “And like the colonel mentioned, there are other examples that have never come to light,” said Girdler. “But even so, I’m not saying it’s inevitable that the NSA will subvert the BrainWeb implants in this way. But I am saying it could happen. Does anyone disagree with that?”

  Campbell looked around the dingy room and could tell that no one did. And suddenly everything clicked into place, and he understood exactly what the general had done.

  And he didn’t know whether to congratulate the man, or vomit. Or both.

  “So this gave me even more reason to want to delay the launch of the implants,” continued the general. “Because I don’t really trust my own government. And for good reason. I’m part of it. As head of Black Ops, I know of programs that most people would be appalled by, would consider horrific abuses of power. No one is in a better position than I am to understand the shortcuts the government is willing to take, or has more reason not to be trusting.”

  Altschuler nodded. “So added to concerns you already had, this was
the straw that broke the camel’s back.”

  “Absolutely. And I didn’t have this epiphany until fairly recently. But after I did, I decided BrainWeb couldn’t be allowed to go forward until quantum encryption was perfected. Until we could be certain these devices could not be turned into the ultimate spies—inside each of our heads.”

  “You argued before Congress to delay the launch for security reasons,” said Megan. “But if you raised this issue, I’m sure everyone would get it. I know everyone in this room is horrified by the possibilities.”

  “This might have worked,” said Girdler. “This might have been enough to get buy-in to delay the launch for years.” He frowned. “But it might not have. It might have just given certain people ideas they didn’t have before.”

  “And then you remembered the fictional Trojan Horse,” whispered Campbell knowingly. “Which you love to point out as being one of the greatest examples of a PsyOps success story in history.”

  The corners of Girdler’s mouth turned up into a humorless smile. “That’s right. I needed to be certain the implants were stopped. At least for a few years. And I wondered if I could kill two birds with one stone. Sabotage the launch to give Alex more time to solve security. And at the same time, deliver a devastating blow to our enemies.”

  Altschuler gasped, finally reaching the conclusion that Campbell had arrived at minutes earlier. “You modified the implants at the pilot factory,” he said. “Didn’t you? Exactly the way we’ve been discussing. You turned BrainWeb into the ultimate bug, the perfect spy device. And then you partnered with Victor to ensure these electronic spies would be installed in the brains of ten thousand of our worst enemies.”

  “Exactly,” said Girdler. “The fact that I was being court-martialed made it all believable to Victor. And I sold it in other ways also. And when I went to ground, he knew the almost unprecedented dragnet our government had out for me could not have been faked. So my being a fugitive actually played into my hands. Because of this, I knew he wouldn’t suspect I had never changed allegiances, and was just using him to deliver my ten thousand Trojan Horses. Never suspect that he was doing the absolute opposite of hurting the US.”

  Hall blew out a breath and entered the conversation for the first time. Facing Campbell he said, “That’s why I decided I couldn’t let you stop Victor, Colonel. We needed him to sabotage our enemies.”

  “Mike, I am so sorry I had to threaten you,” said Girdler. “And so sorry for what I said. But I had to play my role in front of Victor all the way until the end.”

  Campbell wasn’t sure what to think. He needed more time to think things through. “I was sure I was dead,” he replied. “So I can’t complain too much about how this ended.”

  “The general got within mind-reading range just toward the end of our op,” said Hall. “I read about his Trojan Horse plan, and the reason for it. I read the agony he was going though as well. He threw his career away and willingly made himself a fugitive. Knowing that the people he cared about the most—in your case, Colonel, someone he loved like a son—would think he had orchestrated the ultimate betrayal, although he hoped to set the record straight once Victor had sold the implants.”

  Campbell blinked rapidly as he considered the enormity of what Girdler had done. The audacity. This was exceptionally devious, even for Girdler.

  “How did you manage the software change?” said Altschuler. “Without my help?”

  “As head of security I had total access to the factory. You gave me the software coding for BrainWeb as a fail-safe. And there is a man named Drew Russell who is almost as good as you are in the programming realm. I explained everything to him, and he was able to complete the required modification, and de-bug it, before the implants rolled off the line.”

  “So he de-bugged the bugs?” said Megan in amusement. “Sounds counterproductive.”

  Girdler allowed the briefest of smiles to cross his face. “So when these modified implants are installed,” he continued, “they will beam all sights, sounds, and thoughts of their users to a storage center Drew Russell set up for the purpose. Data storage capacity has soared over the past few years, and prices have plummeted, but even so, the amount of storage required is daunting. But Drew assured me he has set aside enough for the task.”

  Altschuler stared off into space, zombie-like, as he pondered all the implications of what Girdler had done. “I’ll need some time to wrap my brain around this, General,” he said. “But I doubt I’ll end up approving of what you’ve done.” His face turned bitter. “But forgetting this for a moment, why did you let Victor capture me? This wasn’t necessary. The implant positioning data was in the information you already had. So you risked the life of someone who considered you a friend, just for theatrics?”

  “I’m sorry, Alex,” said Girdler softly. “But remember, I wasn’t just implanting spy devices in the heads of enemies, I also needed to take BrainWeb offline for a few years. Your disappearance does that. With you out of the picture, and the data you gave to the board crap, the implants are dead on arrival. Until we say otherwise.”

  “You could have come to me. Told me.”

  “I could have. But I felt the stakes were too high, and I didn’t want to take any chances. I’m sorry. But rest assured that you were never in any physical danger. Victor values his reputation above all else, and he agreed to hand you over to me unharmed. I knew he would honor this.”

  “I was inside Victor’s head,” said Hall. “And the general is understating the case. General Girdler insisted that no one get hurt during your capture and the theft of the implants. And he insisted that you be delivered to him in pristine condition. Or the deal was off.”

  “Speaking of delivering Alex to the general,” said Campbell, “what really happened during the hand off at the ranch?”

  “Some goon brought Alex to me, right on schedule,” replied Girdler. “And then my phone rang. It was Nick. I had an unlisted number and a new, untraceable phone, so I knew he had to be in mind-reading range. Sure enough, he said he had read my plan. He told me you were here with an assault team while he played possum, but that he had called off the team after he came to understand what I was attempting to achieve. He also told me that he couldn’t reach you, and that you were intent on stopping Victor no matter what the risk. Something I could not admire more, by the way,” he added earnestly. “But anyway, Nick said he needed me to hurry to the lodge to stop you.”

  Campbell nodded in fascination. Everything that had been so blurry had now been brought into perfect focus.

  “I didn’t have much time to act,” continued Girdler. “So I shot Alex’s escort and took the tranq gun Nick told me he was carrying.” He winced and gave Altschuler an apologetic look. “I didn’t have time to explain everything to Alex, so I decided to, ah . . . give him some much-needed sleep. As a friend.”

  Altschuler ignored this attempt at humor—or reconciliation, whichever it had been. “Let’s get back to the ethics of what you’ve done,” he said. “I know these are our enemies. But we still don’t have the right to invade their privacy so absolutely. You’re spying on these people without any warrants.”

  Girdler sighed. “I’m well aware of that. But consider that this is spying technology that can’t be used on innocent civilians. Only those who break the law will ever receive these implants. They have to engage in an illegal transaction with Victor, for stolen technology. So this is a bit karmic. They get what they deserve. And I admire your standards, Alex, I really do. But we’re already spying on these people. On their computers and communications. But on the whole, we’re doing it poorly. But even so, these efforts have prevented the deaths of millions. This just isn’t advertised.”

  Altschuler wore a thoughtful expression, but still wasn’t entirely convinced.

  “This is our last, best chance,” continued Girdler. “You saw what happened at the Oscars. What they tried to do. Terrorism is growing, not shrinking. And as weapons of mass destruction become more co
mmonplace, as technology improves, they will have more ways to commit atrocities, to tear down civilization. I’ve seen the computer simulations.” He gestured to Campbell. “Mike, tell him.”

  Campbell drew in a sharp breath. “He’s right, Alex. The war on terror isn’t going well. Saying that Islamic terrorism is the ultimate cancer doesn’t even begin to describe it. We’re going to be swallowed by the barbarian hordes, so to speak. It’s only a matter of time.”

  “I’m sure you aren’t a big fan of the ends justify the means arguments, Alex,” said Girdler. “But this is our one chance to turn the tide. Not all of the implants will go to terrorist leaders, but many will. And we’ll hear their conversations with other leaders. For the first time, be able to match names and faces. We’ll know their every plan. We can unravel every network of sleepers. In six months we’ll have more than enough intel to cripple most terrorist networks, although we’ll have to plan this carefully, so they never suspect what is happening before it’s too late. But the intel will be amazing! We may be able to set them back beyond any real possibility of recovery.”

  Altschuler tilted his head in thought, and Campbell guessed that he was coming around. And why not? Girdler’s arguments were frighteningly compelling.

  “It’s good to have you back, Justin,” said the colonel. “Well done.” He shook his head. “Although I have to admit, I didn’t think I’d be saying this when you were shoving a gun into me and telling me to go fuck myself.”

  Girdler winced. “Good acting, though, right?”

  Campbell extended an arm and shook his mentor’s hand warmly. “I know I’ve said this before, but remind me never to play chess with you.”

  The expressions on Heather’s and Megan’s faces made it clear they were ready to welcome Girdler back also. Finally, even Altschuler capitulated. “I still don’t love this plan,” he said, facing the general. “But I appreciate that you don’t either. That this really is a necessity, for all the reasons you’ve given. And that it’s easy to stand here moralizing while the terrorists burn the world down around us.” He followed Campbell’s lead and shook Girdler’s hand, and Megan and Heather soon followed suit.