Chapter 11 - Fast-forward

Discarded metal

Chapter 11 - Fast-forward

"It's like watching a VCR in the 90's."

Fast forward… Pause…

A shot is fired, Mark can see the bullet stopped in mid air.

Slow motion…

The bullet is slowly running through the air and hits a wooden target. Splinters of wood are ejected as the bullet penetrates the target.

Exit…

Mark is standing in the shooting range with a handgun still pointing at the wooden target.

Shards of wood are on the ground, under the wooden target.

Mark secures the handgun and puts it down on the small surface in front of him.

"That's neat, I should contact Anton." He thinks to himself.

His neural implant lights up indicating a call.

"Hey, Mark, I didn't expect your call so soon, is everything OK?" Anton asks, a bit worried.

"Yes, I guess, I'm not sure, with that prototype you guys have put in my head, I feel like discovering new stuff everyday." Mark answers with a playful tone.

Anton can be heard scoffing.

"So what did you discover this time?" He asks.

"Well, it seems I'm able to access the memory storage of the artificial brain and I have full control on how to replay any files stored there." Mark explains.

Anton pauses for a bit before talking again.

"OK, I guessed something like that might happen after I saw the results of your tests." He says.

"So it's normal?" Mark asks.

"It wasn't designed that way, what you are accessing was supposed to be accessible only through devices that you can connect on your neural ports. But your brain and the prototype are now connected beyond what we thought was possible. It seems that you can access these functions by yourself now. Does it cause any discomfort?" Anton asks.

"It did at the beginning but after a while it felt very natural and now I can access it and snap out of it with extreme ease." Mark explains.

"Well, it's a good thing for you, that means less tech involved to access the functionalities of the prototype." Anton says.

"Functionalities? Are there more?" Mark asks.

"I'm afraid I can't answer you, I have access to limited information, this prototype has been worked on by different sections of Meditech and some are considered top secret. I only have limited clearance." Anton answers.

"OK, well, thanks for your answers, Anton, at least now I know it's kind of normal." Mark says.

"Anytime, if anything else shows up, feel free to call." Anton says as the call ends.

Mark leans against the wall that separates the shooting lanes and starts processing all the information Anton gave him.

"Parts of the prototype are secrets… And my brain is pairing with it in a way they didn't expect… What else can it do…" Mark keeps pondering these questions.

In a ridiculous attempt to uncover some superpowers, he raises his hand in front of him and imagines making a fireball.

Nothing happens and he starts to feel stupid for even trying.

"What am I doing? Am I getting crazy… I need to keep my feet on the ground…" He thinks to himself.

A call suddenly breaks his train of thoughts.

"Captain? What's going on?" Mark answers the call.

"You need to come to the briefing room, I have some information to share with the netrunning team." Captain Haaris says.

"On my way." Mark says as he closes the call.

He walks away from the shooting range and goes to the briefing room.

As he enters, he notices that most of the netrunners of CTIG are there, he waves at them as he gets seated.

Captain Haaris stands next to the big holoscreen, waiting for everybody to arrive.

When everybody is seated and quiet, he starts talking.

"OK, everybody, we have got some Intel coming for Psysoft about a robbery. One of their employees disappeared and they suspect that he helped a group of terrorists to infiltrate Psysoft's vault. Normally, we shouldn't care much about corpos' businesses but you probably heard that the government is cutting budgets again. Last year the cuts touched NPPD, this year it's on us." He pauses for a moment.

Everybody is listening attentively, nobody is surprised about the budget cuts, it has been years already that all governments around the world seem to slowly losing ground.

Corporations seem untouched by the various crises happening and often inject money into public services previously fully owned by governments.

NPPD has already accepted funding from various corporations, allowing them to create special units devoted to service their new masters.

Mark slowly realizes that the world he knows seems to slowly shift.

"We will investigate for Psysoft Corporation, in order to identify the group responsible for the robbery. We will be gathering information and profiles, we will not intervene, it's a surveillance job. Spike will be the leader of the operation, you aren't allowed to spread information outside your group, understood?" The captain asks.

The whole team nods and Spike stands up to join captain Haaris near the screen. They exchange a few words and Haaris leaves the room.

"OK, you heard the boss, we will sniff around the net to find anything we can about this group, report to me when you find anything. Dismiss." Spike says.

As everybody stands up and leaves the room, Spike calls out to Mark.

"Mark. You will come with me, we need to meet with someone at Psysoft." He says.

Mark nods and follows Spike outside of the briefing room. They keep walking through the corridors until they reach the garage area.

There's a black SUV waiting for them, they get in and the big garage doors open.

The SUV drives out of the garage and follows the traffic. The sun is high in the sky, it's the middle of the afternoon.

They go through the clean streets of the corporate districts until they reach the Psysoft tower.

The SUV stops and lets them get out.

They walk toward the big front doors with a big sign on top of them showing the Psysoft logo.

The ground floor serves as an exhibition center for Psysoft's new products and there's a circular reception desk in the middle.

They walk straight to one of the elevators in the corners of the ground floor. Doors open and they get in.

One of the cameras scans them and a voice comes out.

"Exec Nova is waiting for you in her office, please proceed."

The elevator starts moving upward.

"An exec? Must be pretty serious…" Mark says out loud.

Spike nods.

The elevator stops, the doors open on a corridor with a big door at the end and a reception desk with a receptionist behind it.

They walk toward the desk.

"CTIG? Exec Nova is expecting you. Please proceed." Says the receptionist, she is wearing the typical corpo outfit with the colors of Psysoft.

Mark and Spike nod as the big door opens to a big room with a huge desk in the center, the back wall is fully transparent and the city skyscrapers can be seen in the background.

The office is very spacious, an entire area is made for private meetings with sofas and a small bar.

A tall woman with long blond hair is facing the glass wall looking outside at the city line.

When they walk in, she turns around to face them. She is wearing a very expensive corpo suit with a pencil skirt and high heels. She looks like she is in her mid thirties.

She walks toward them with her hand extended for a handshake. They both take turns shaking her hand.

"Please sit down." She says as she points at the sofas.

Mark and Spike go sit on the sofa and exec Nova follows.

"I'm exec Nova, how should I address you two?" She asks.

"I'm Spike and this is Mark." Spike answers.

"Very well, so let's cut to the essential now that we are done with introductions." She pauses for a moment to make sure she has their attention.

"One of our most secret projects has been stolen, the only thing we know is that the thieves used the pass key of one of our employees. The tracking on his implants went dark a day before, we suspect that this was part of their plan." She explains.

They listen attentively without interrupting her.

"Now, if I can't even trust my own employees, I need somebody from the outside. This is why one of you has to pose as a Psysoft employee and investigate from the inside." She says as she gauges both of them.

Spike looks at Mark before talking.

"Are you up to it?" He asks him.

Mark ponders the question for a moment, he never thought about doing some undercover investigations when he joined CTIG.

"I'm not sure I'm qualified…" He mutters.

Exec Nova looks amused.

"You will be fine and I'm sure you look good in a suit." She says as she winks at him.

Spike scoffs, trying to stop himself from bursting into laughter as he sees Mark getting nervous.

Before anybody can add anything, Exec Nova continues.

"It's settled then, we will provide you a shard with the necessary accesses and you will have a fake employee ID. You will assume the position of network analyst, that will give you enough access to sniff around." She says.

Mark nods, not sure if he should say anything at this point.

"You guys are doing good to work with us, the world is changing and governments aren't reliable anymore. You have seen how much the budget cuts affect all services, NPPD is already working with Tanaka Corporation. It's only a question of time now." She says as she stands up and invites them to do the same.

Spike and Mark follow her as she walks to her desk, she opens a drawer and takes out a shard that she puts on the desk.

"Your new ID and access." She says while looking straight at Mark.

Mark nods nervously and grabs the shard.

"We will report to you any information we find." Spike says as he extends his hand to her.

She shakes his hand and goes to shake Mark's hand. He extends his hand and handshakes hers.

She gives them both an extended smile as they walk toward the door and exit the office. The receptionist smiles at them too while they walk all the way to the elevator.

They get in and the doors close, Mark wants to say something but he controls himself, waiting for them to be outside of the building.

As soon as they step out of Psysoft Tower, Mark releases a big sigh.

"What the fuck was that? Am I working for corpos now?" He asks Spike.

"Dude, calm down, Haaris told you about the budget cuts." Spike answers.

"I know… But does it mean we work against the government?" Mark asks.

"What are you talking about? The government is allowing all this… They let CTIG accept contracts from corporations in order to compensate for the budget cuts." Spike explains.

Mark nods but he isn't happy about it, things were more clear when he thought he was only working for the government.

They walk away from the Psysoft tower and get back inside the SUV.

"It doesn't feel like treason to you?" Mark asks Spike.

"Treason? To whom? The government? If they are indeed falling, what will happen to us? The way I see it… They are betraying us." Spike answers.

Mark tries to think about what he will be doing if the government drops CTIG but he can't get around the idea.

"Damn… It feels like we are all going to end up being mercenaries…" He says.

The SUV starts driving back to the HQ, the ride is silent, both Spike and Mark are lost in their own thoughts.

The streets suddenly look different for Mark, with the prototype he has in his head, what will happen when the government collapses?

Will he be free or will he owe his life to Meditech?

All these questions keep turning in his head and he needs to get answers.

When the SUV finally parks inside the HQ's garage, Mark storms out and goes straight to captain Haaris' quarters.

He stands in front of the door for a moment before knocking.

"Come in!" Haaris shouts from the other side.

Mark enters.

Captain Haaris' quarters are bigger than the regular rooms, it looks like a small apartment.

Haaris is seated on the sofa of the small living room.

"Come in, son. Have a seat." He waves at Mark.

Mark nods and goes to sit on an armchair near the sofa.

"Captain, I must ask you some questions… Concerning my accident…" He says with a serious tone in his voice.

"Sure, what is it?" Haaris asks.

"What will happen to me if the government collapses? Will I be free or will I be Meditech's property?" Mark asks, sounding very worried.

"Government collapses? Boy, there are budget cuts but we aren't going into a collapse, did Spike put these ideas in your head?" Haaris asks Mark.

Mark shakes his head.

"No… I think that having to work for a corpo is making me go crazy…" Mark says while looking down at his feet.

"Just calm down, to answer your question, I don't know what kind of deal the government made with Meditech. But… If the corpo was owning you, you wouldn't be working here anymore, that's for sure." Haaris says.

Mark ponders the captain's answer and it kind of makes sense, Meditech has been pretty relaxed to let such a prototype roaming freely.

Apart from regular check-ups, he is pretty free to do whatever he pleases.

"Do you feel better, son?" Haaris breaks the silence.

"Yeah, thank you captain, I will be OK." Mark says as he gets up.

"Good night." Haaris says without moving from the sofa.

"Good night." Mark replies while he walks out of captain Haaris' quarters.

The words of the captain had given him comfort for the night but it didn't stop him to think about what he would be doing if CTIG wasn't here anymore.

Working for corpos? Becoming a mercenary?

That night he had a hard time falling asleep and relied on Anton's pills again.

A chemical induced sleep…