Mind_Hack.exe Ch. 05

Kirkwood spoke and his voice remained calm and steady. "I did order the hit on these people. I knew that they had compromised our security and needed to be dealt with. I hardly think they could have done what you're suggesting however."

"Well that's the thing. We can't know for sure, but it's the only solution that makes sense. Our suspects' videos during the times they hijacked a victim's mind are blank during every instance, as are the victims'. Without knowing for certain the capabilities of the program being used to circumvent our security, we have to assume someone helped them from the inside. As you have said though, we can't be certain because the suspects completely destroyed their computers that might have given us some clues. But even if we didn't have that, we would have been able to interrogate them, but you made sure that wasn't a possibility when you ordered their execution!"

Chance's eyes were narrowed and there was now an edge to his voice. "I authorized the threat to be handled same as we've been doing for years towards any illegal activity. And your allegations towards some mole in our organization, while troubling, are nothing but conspiratorial lunacy."

Victor's eyes narrowed in return. "I guess we'll have to see on the second point. But as far as the first, this is a different kind of threat. We're not talking about stopping theft or murder. We're talking about a program that makes something potentially monstrous of your father's work. It also makes me wonder if your father had laid the building blocks for this possibility when he invented it in the first place."

Kirkwood's response was ice cold. "If that'll be all, I think we're done here."

"Oh we're not done Mr. Kirkwood, but you are. Prior to this chat the board called for a temporary suspension of your role as CEO until this matter is laid to rest. I will be stepping in during the interim. If your negligence and your father's technology are found to be in any way culpable in what is happening here, well I'm afraid my role might become more permanent."

The smile and serenity returned to Chance's face. "That's quite alright Victor. I've accomplished what I needed to at Peace of Mind, and am perfectly willing to go on to other things. I do ask that you leave up the board's standard privacy protocols for my residence for the time being."

Victor was taken aback. He had been ready for a fight. He certainly did not expect for this man to go quietly and willingly. "...that's, fine, I suppose. We'll let you know if we have any questions to..." but the monitor had gone black before Victor could say anything else.

Dan awoke late morning to loud noises, and stretched Kate's fit body. She got up to investigate the source of what sounded like moaning or...light screaming. When she came up to the closed bedroom door, she had a pretty good guess what she'd find on the other side. She peered into the room and found she was right. Adam and Steph, in the bodies of the young married couple, were going at it like rabbits. Kate smiled at them, then said loud enough to temporarily throw off their groove, "It's amazing what a good night's sleep does." Then she took off the business clothes she had slept in and joined them in the threesome that Dan had dreamed about last night.

The coitus was brief and they all knew it served as merely a distraction from the horrors of the night before. When they had helped get each other off, they showered, dressed, and convened in the small dining room. Adam, in Denise's body, laid out a breakfast casserole that she served on fancy dishes that had been part of an expensive wedding present.

"Whoa!" Kate said with her mouth full. "This girl can cook dude!" She winked at Peter. "You better hold on to this one." Peter laughed and proceeded to give Kate a high five.

Denise blushed. "Can you guys not act like I'm really this dutiful housewife?"

"Dear," Peter interjected, "You're superior cooking skills are just a bonus. You know I married you for 24 hour access to that butt."

The laughter that followed was brief. Their plight weighed heavily on them. Finally, Adam gave voice to what they were all thinking. "Where the hell do we go from here?"

Dan felt the body he was in respond with habitual professionalism at such a question. Here was a call to leadership and Kate's body wanted to rise to meet the challenge. "I've been thinking about that. Our goal is still the same, to infiltrate and permanently cripple POM's ability to track and monitor its citizens. We need to do that in as few moves as possible, because I'd imagine it's just a matter of time until they figure out we're alive, and find a way to track us, even if we are in different bodies."

Adam wanted to take action and pounded Denise's fist on the kitchen table. "Alright then, we go straight to the nearest POM facility, hop into some people inside and take it down."

Kate responded dryly. "That wouldn't work. You think the guys they got in there right now know beans about the program that runs this whole thing. They don't. POM likes to keep as many people in the dark as possible these days and only a few people have the keys to the kingdom. If we're going to take down POM, the most efficient way to do that is to take over a mind that has the knowledge of how to do so."

"You mean like one of the original programmers?" Peter asked.

"There was only one, and he's dead?" Denise answered doubtfully.

"What?" Peter said incredulously. "The only person that made this is dead? Don't computer programs need like, fixes or whatever from time to time? It seems like every time I turn around something is updating in our house." Peter's face went white as Steph again reminded herself of the truth. "Our old house I mean, Dan. The one we can probably never go back to."

Choosing to ignore this sad fact, Kate pressed forward, all business. "That's correct Steph...I mean, Peter. Let's try to make sure we call each other by our host names so we don't give ourselves away later. Becoming the people we're in is key to our survival. Anyway, after the uprisings, the government was looking for a way to establish order and also try to ensure something like that never happened again. The answer fell into their lap, Peace of Mind."

"I know all that," Peter shot back. "Everyone knows that."

Kate smiled patiently. "Yes, but what you might not know was that it was all created by one guy. The government's indoctrination campaign told us that it was created by a team of scientists and computer engineers, but I researched this heavily and found that the 'team' was comprised of a lot of names that didn't know their ass from their elbows. None of them had the intelligence or skills needed to pull it off, except for one guy, Michael Kirkwood.

"The first CEO of POM?" Peter was shaking his head vigorously. "No, that's too much for one guy, right? He'd have to be a freaking super genius to know all the science and computer stuff by himself. I mean, that had to take time."

"It did. It seems like it was his life's work. He spent his last years making sure everyone knew that it was safe and would bring about lasting peace. Once he had the corporations and politicians on board, he focused on paving the way for his successor."

"But," Denise piped in, "we've talked about some of this before and I still don't understand. Why isn't this Kirkwood guy as famous as Edison or the Wright brothers? If he did it all, why didn't he take sole credit?"

"That I don't know," Kate mused. "And we won't be able to take his mind over and find out. But as I said, he has a successor, and someone he said was very familiar with the biology and computer science that makes POM work. He even inferred this person had a hand in the final development of it all."

"Okay, I'm in suspense, who the hell is it?" Peter asked, then the obvious donned on Steph. "It's his son isn't, Chance Kirkwood?"

Kate nodded. "One and the same."

Peter frowned. "But...I get the father/son connection and all but, he's a young guy, what, in his thirties? I remember it being a big deal when he was announced because everyone said he was too young and inexperienced and was only getting the position because of his father. If he helped his dad in the end with POM, is he also some super genius?"

"Only one way to find out," Kate grinned. "We ask him. And if that doesn't work..." Kate pointed to her head with her index finger. "We'll just go inside and take a look."

Denise sounded hopeful regarding this news. "So, all we have to do is find Chance's dot in Mind Hack. We get the info we need and then POM comes crashing down and then...what happens to us?"

Peter looked at Denise, then at Kate, both who seemed more worried than ever before. "What do you mean what happens to us? We, well I guess we live these lives, don't we?"

Kate spoke somberly. "When we switch POM off, it's very possible our consciousness will...disappear."

Peter's mouth dropped open. "So...we'll be dead for real this time?"

"Most likely unless we can figure something out using the information we hope is locked up in Kirkwood's brain. But here's the other thing you don't know. It's not as easy as pulling up his dot in Mind Hack, Denise. If you've researched POM like I have, you know that their board of directors aren't directly connected to POM. They were at one point, because they were given the cyber brains and upgrades like everyone else, it's still the law. But as long as they're on POM's board, they're not in the system, probably due to security and their public safety. It's really just another way for them to be above the law and do whatever they want to do. I checked already when I was...still me. I couldn't find any of the major players anywhere."

Peter's emotions were torn between angry and crippling depression. "Okay, so, you're telling us that we can't do what we need to in order to win against these guys, but even if we could figure out a way, we're probably dead no matter what unless Kirkwood has some magical way out? This sucks! Everything sucks!"

"I'm sorry sis, we're probably dead either way. Might as well put the nail into POM's coffin before we go."

Denise was nodding fervently. "I agree. If we're going to go out let's go out swinging. So how do we find these guys and get them back into the system where Mind Hack can access them?"

Kate steeled her expression. "Well, you said it earlier, we go into a POM facility. From there we will hopefully be able to gain access to all the board members' signals and then go from there."

Peter's mouth dropped again. "You're serious. Just, go in to the lion's den and poke around? They're looking for us?"

"Not us," Kate corrected. "At least not yet. That's why we have to move fast."

Denise bit her lip, thinking hard. "Okay, if that's what we have to do. Let's go to the farthest one we can away from here where they won't suspect and..."

"No," Kate said firmly. "Where they won't suspect is right under their nose. If we go to where the investigation is at its zenith, we'll be able to pick up some additional information that could save our lives. We can see how much they know and use it to stay one step ahead. If we go in and it's too hot, we hop out right away."

Peter looked doubtful. "This is fucking crazy. What did you have in mind?"

Kate spent the next several minutes laying out a plan that was equal parts crazy and brilliant. In the end, it seemed their best option though. An hour later, they were all in Kate's car, driving back to Sector 11.

After ten minutes on the road, Denise whined in the backseat of the car like the teenager she really was. "I get you want to be cautious Dan, I mean, Kate, but why can't we just jump into someone who works there right now? We can see their dots from here."

Kate smiled patiently. "We're playing this as safe as we can. We can only hope they don't know about us yet, but that might not be the case. They might have us all figured out, they might be able to track us already, and now they're just waiting for us to hop into another cyber brain to find us. I want line of sight to this facility. I want Steph in this car able to pull us out at a moment's notice in case we're made and then we haul ass and start hopping body to body. In the meantime, we hope me leaking Mind Hack onto the web provides us with some sort of smokescreen." Kate spent the rest of their car ride going over the finer points of their very risky plan, making sure they each knew their role, as their lives would probably depend on it.

Like most new media released without pomp or circumstance, Mind Hack was slow to catch on. There were hundreds, sometimes thousands that flocked to anti establishment websites every day, but usually just to read or submit critiques to the regime that had them in a stranglehold. They were mostly in code so as not to arouse suspicion if any of their eyes were being looked through by government agents. But something new had appeared on many of these sites. Something called Mind Hack. It looked like a joke program, something that would supposedly grant access to Peace of Mind, something that was already known to be impossible. But for those first few that did, it always came with a document that entailed so many more possibilities.

When opened, it took them farther than they had ever been into POM's program. A vast array of red dots we're before them. Each dot represented a person and if what the document said was true...but it couldn't be. This was a joke, a prank left by some bored programmer. Still, by the time everyone had reached this conclusion, most had quickly closed the program, scared at the prospect of having something so potentially illegal in their possession. Everyone but Ben Sturgis.

Ben had been one of the first to download the program. He had read the document contained within, then reread it, then reread it again. It defied all logic, but, he was going to try it out. He considered himself a person who liked to be the first to review things and post them online, so he decided to thoroughly document the process so he could post it on the web. He knew there were risks involved, but he was 21 and still at that age where the idea of invincibility has not yet worn off, but he sincerely believed it was a gag. He would review it like it was real, maybe get some laughs, and move on. He knew he would need help, so he arranged for his girlfriend Samantha to come over around noon the next day. She often held the camera for his video reviews, but he had her more in mind as a test subject. He then asked her a weird question over the phone. "Is there anyone in your life that is a girl that might have a crush on you?"

Sam rolled her eyes even though her boyfriend couldn't see it. "Why do you want to know? I told you I'm never having a threesome. If that's something you're in to you should find another girlfriend."

Ben took a deep breath and then proceeded cautiously. "You have made yourself perfectly clear in that regards. I need someone purely for science and for this review I'm doing tomorrow."

The response was sharp but expected. "I don't fucking believe you. What the hell kind of review would you be doing that you need that?"

"You'll see. It's this, well, it's hard to explain but if it is what it says it is, it's a game changer. I promise, no one will do anything they don't want to do. If I'm lying you can dump me."

This elicited a laugh. Ben loved her laugh, which sounded high but sweet. "You'd never find another girl as good as me. Just remember, if this goes south you have only yourself to blame."

The day after Ben had downloaded Mind Hack, and while Adam, Dan and Stephanie were on the road but still hours from POM's facility in Sector 11, Ben set the stage for his guests. His camera was on a tripod, pointed directly at him and his computer tablet that he had carefully positioned to give his audience a good view of what was on the screen.

"Hey everyone, thanks for joining me today. You all have watched me give countless reviews for anything and everything. Movies, games, computer programs, and it's the last one that I'd like to talk about today, but it's different than all the rest. If it does what it says it will, I will have my cyber brain linked to another person and be in complete control of their every movement while they remember nothing. Now I know what you're thinking, this is probably bullshit. Yeah, it probably is. But that's why you have me to tell you if it definitively is or not. Here's the set up. My girlfriend Sam, who has helped me many times in these reviews, either behind the camera or by adding her valuable insights while being some much needed eye candy, will be joining us today. As many of you may or may not know, I have joked about wanting a threesome with her for, let's see, we've been together for three years so...yeah, three years. She's shot me down every time. If this works, I will maybe get my threesome. If it doesn't, which is much more likely, then this will still have been thoroughly entertaining for everyone. Either way, to ensure as much credibility as I can, this is all streaming live, and anyone who looks can see all my filters are off, so everything you're seeing is actually what is happening."

A doorbell chimed off screen. "That should be her now and hopefully a guest."

Ben disappeared and a few seconds later returned with a thin woman with long blonde hair. Samantha had a face made for television and loved the comments that she received on her boyfriend's web show that spoke loudly, and often lewdly, of her beauty. Her looks usually got her whatever she wanted and she put them to good use as a local model in commercials and sales events. Her fame seemed to have reached a plateau but it was enough for her. She was happy with her life and with her boyfriend, as long as he wasn't being too much of a perv.

Ben's jaw dropped as he saw who his girlfriend had brought with her. Britney Callow, another girl who had had a brief stint as a local model, had been friends with Samantha for some time. She had shoulder length brown hair, the cutest nose imaginable, and a mouth that seemed to draw you in the more you looked at it. All of those features were a delight to take in, if you could tear your eyes away from her large breasts. Ben was suddenly hoping beyond hope that this crazy program actually worked.

"Okay ladies, thanks for joining us today. Have a seat right next to me Sam, and Britney, right over here. We are live and going to test this new computer program. First I have to..."

"We're live?" Sam asked curiously. They never did reviews live. They were always carefully edited to ensure a brisk pace and maximum entertainment.

"Uh, yes, it was necessary for this program," Ben said quickly. He did not want to give too much away just yet. "Okay, first, and I'm sorry to put you ladies on the spot, but it is for science, I have to ask you a couple of personal questions."

Sam narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend, having some idea about the questions he'd be asking given who she'd been asked to bring along. "As long as it's not anything too perverted," she said with a shark's grin.

Ben opened his mouth to speak, then cocked his head in a playful gesture, "Well, it's nothing I haven't talked about before in these reviews. First off, Sam, are you straight?"

Sam was already rolling her eyes, "Yes, Ben. You know this."

"I know, I know. I'm sorry, asking so the audience has all the facts. You are completely straight, never have experimented with women? Is that correct?"

Sam shook her head, "No, not once."

"You have been pretty vocal when I have jokingly asked you about the possibility of a threesome with another girl before."

"I have, yes."

"What did you say when I 'joked' about a threesome?"

Sam laughed. "I believe I said no way in hell the first few times, then I started threatening you with bodily harm if you kept bringing it up."