Future's Gambit
Sep. 9th, 2024 08:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
muchtooarrogantLJI Week 9: It Ain't Bragging If It's True
388873: Future alerts are now available. Subscribe? Y/N
Jesse Baker: Y
388873: Subscribed.
JB: What are future alerts?
388873: An electrical transformer will overload and cause a power outage in your neighborhood tomorrow at 3:43 PM, lasting until 5:26 PM.
JB: This is the weirdest smishing campaign I've ever seen.
388873: Block this number until tomorrow then.
JB: OK, you got my attention. I can see maybe how you could sabotage a specific transformer at a given time to affect power in a certain neighborhood, but how could you know when the repair crews would fix it?
388873: News reports and social media posts. There's a lady named Karla who lives three blocks to the east of you, and she posted complaints and observations to your neighborhood's Facebook page throughout the event.
JB: Uh yeah, she's the same in person.
JB: So, even if I buy this, and I'm not saying I do, what's the point of contacting me? I'm not like the conservative influencers the Russians go after, I'm not important enough to affect anything.
388873: Crowdsourcing. Similar to your Russians, we aren't reaching out to just one individual, but several. Dissimilar from them, we're not short-sighted and incompetent.
JB: Nice! Still, bragging aside, you're asking me to accept a lot on faith.
388873: The next event is of a personal nature. Your friend, Leanne, will have a fight with her roommate tonight, and will call you asking if she can sleep over at your place until they work things out. If you say yes, they won't work things out, and she'll end up rooming with you for months. If you say no, she'll eventually have a long talk with her roommate tomorrow morning and they'll remain friends.
JB: Now wait a minute, I'm not going to turn away my friend just on your say so.
388873: An additional complication with saying yes is that, after a couple of weeks living in such close proximity, you'll both begin thinking about renewing the romantic relationship you tried out in college.
JB: That's ridiculous!
388873: There were valid and well-considered reasons why you ended the relationship back then, but an abundance of opportunity often leads to bad ideas. For all parties concerned, it would be best if your couch wasn't available tonight.
JB: You're starting to piss me off.
JB: OK, I wasn't being honest before, I always regretted breaking things off with her. If there's a chance of starting over, maybe we could make it work this time?
JB: Nothing? Who are you to decide that we shouldn't try for a relationship again?
JB: Look, you told me she feels the same. Even if it's only for a few weeks. I really …
JB: She just called, and I let it go to voicemail. I don't know … Fuck it!
JB: I texted her and said I was on a date.
Jesse could see the reservation desk from where he was sitting in the hotel lobby. When the tall blonde in business attire appeared, he started folding his newspaper. He would have to time his next actions perfectly, but from what he'd been told, she wouldn't be paying any attention to her surroundings. Chances were, she wouldn't even notice him.
When she finished checking in and turned away from the reservation desk, Jesse stood up, and tapping the newspaper against his leg, began ambling towards the staircase to the lobby's lower level. He heard her approaching rapidly behind him, but didn't increase his pace. In just a second …
There was the familiar ding of an iPhone receiving a text message. Her pace slowed, and Jesse continued in front of her until he reached the top of the staircase. He paused for just a second, and then dropped his newspaper.
Even though he was braced for it, with his left hand gripping the railing, he still couldn't believe it when she ran into him from behind. As she stood with her nose planted in his back, she made a surprised yipping noise, as though he had goosed her from behind, instead of standing resolutely in front of her like a brick wall.
"Oh," he exclaimed, turning and placing a steadying hand on her shoulder, "I'm terribly sorry, I dropped my newspaper."
Stepping back, she scanned him from head to toe, looking as though he were a piece of diseased carrion which had unexpectedly materialized in her path. "Yes, I can see that."
With her cell phone grasped in her left hand, she side stepped Jesse, and descended the staircase on the right. As he bent to retrieve his paper, an elderly gentlemen began climbing the stairs from below, and offered the blonde a polite nod. She had resumed texting by then, and steadfastly ignored him.
At the top of the stairs, he grinned at Jesse. "I don't believe that lady likes you very much."
Jesse grinned back. "I'm fine with that, as long as she's okay."
"Yes, from what I saw, that was smoothly done." He gestured passed Jesse towards the elevator alcove. "My room's on the tenth floor"
As they walked to the alcove, Jesse studied his companion. He was average height, perhaps 5'10", and wore a standard navy business suit. He had brown eyes, and although his hair had probably been brown once as well, it was now a solid gray. Pretty unremarkable, but was that the idea?
"You look as though you have a hundred questions," he said, tapping the up button, and then extending his right hand. "John Amos."
Jesse shook and said, "Jesse Baker, although I suspect you knew that."
The elevator car arrived, released three people to the lobby, and the two of them entered. John tapped the button for the tenth floor, and then leaned against the side wall.
"Fair warning, Jesse, I'm happy to give you the broad strokes of what we're doing, but it's unlikely that I'm going to be able to answer most of your questions."
Jesse considered. "Unable or unwilling?" he asked.
John chuckled. "I know, you want to meet the person behind the mask, the man sitting in the big chair directing all the minions." The elevator arrived at ten, they stepped out, and John turned left out of the alcove. "That's just human nature. The thing is though, I've been doing this for a long time. Before there was really an internet, and before everyone owned a cell phone. "
They arrived at his room, John fished out his key card, and waved it at the lock. "In all that time, more than thirty years now, I've never encountered any sort of human leader." He opened the door. "This thing was doing crowdsourcing before anyone knew what that meant."
"Thing," Jesse mused as they walked inside, "you think it's a machine?"
John walked to the chair by the window, sat, and flipped a hand for Jesse to take the desk chair. He shrugged. "I mean, it's all guess work, but if it's not a machine, the people running the operation are incredibly disciplined. You've been doing this for what, about a year?"
Jesse nodded. "Yeah, but …"
John waved him down. "I know because that's about how long it takes before new recruits start getting stir crazy, and it arranges a brief meeting with one of us old-timers." He looked down for a moment, and then raised his head to once again meet Jesse's gaze. "It's disciplined because it'll explain what it wants done, and will sketch out a very brief outline of the negative consequences if you don't follow its recommended course of action. Argue with it, raise too many objections, and it'll just stop answering."
Jesse nodded again. "That's what happened the first time it wanted me to do something. Still though," he drummed his fingers on the desk, trying to work through his thought, "after thirty years, why haven't any of you formed a group, pooled your resources, started working together to figure out what's going on?"
"You know why," John said calmly.
Jesse glared at him, and then thought about it. "It stops talking to anyone trying to form the group?"
John gave him a thumbs up. "Got it in one. It never threatens, never coaxes, it just lays out the outline it wants you to follow. Deviate from its plan too much, fail too spectacularly, or get too friendly with other operatives and you're out."
"And, the overarching plan?"
John spread his hands. "In general, the results for most of our actions seem positive. Like you preventing that idiot down stairs from taking a header down the staircase. She didn't somersault down the stairs and break her neck at the bottom, and presumably that's a good thing. Although," he smirked, "I gotta wonder how many agents it'll end up dispatching to save her oblivious ass before she finally offs herself. As to why it wanted her saved," he leaned forward, "or why it chose to have you save her and not the next fifty people who fall down that thing to their deaths, if it didn't tell you, you'll never know. In the end, that has to be good enough. If it isn't, if you start following her, or find out her name and start digging into her life online, it'll cut you off forever."
Jesse stood, and wandered over to the room's window. He looked down at the cityscape outside, thousands of people walking, and cycling, and driving from one place to another. In all that expanse of busy humanity, how many agents were working towards some future goal which no one currently alive could comprehend?
"You're good at this," John continued quietly. "If you weren't, you wouldn't have made it this far. And, so long as you keep successfully completing missions it assigns you, you'll be very well compensated."
"I gave up someone," Jesse whispered, "it told me to, I did, and the more money it gives me, the more it feels like I've sold out."
There was a rustle of movement, and then John's hand was resting on his shoulder. "We can't discuss specifics," he said quietly, "but I'll offer you a piece of advice if you want to hear it?"
Jesse drew in a long breath, and then jerked his head spasmodically up and down.
"Don't live in the past. Every person alive has regrets, and we've all experienced the loss of someone we love. The only thing that matters is living the life that's right for you. If that means blocking the number you've been getting texts from, do that."
There was a chirping sound from John's jacket, and he dug a cell phone out from one of the pockets.
"I'm working to build a better future. That's the life I've chosen"
388873: Future alerts are now available. Subscribe? Y/N
Jesse Baker: Y
388873: Subscribed.
JB: What are future alerts?
388873: An electrical transformer will overload and cause a power outage in your neighborhood tomorrow at 3:43 PM, lasting until 5:26 PM.
JB: This is the weirdest smishing campaign I've ever seen.
388873: Block this number until tomorrow then.
JB: OK, you got my attention. I can see maybe how you could sabotage a specific transformer at a given time to affect power in a certain neighborhood, but how could you know when the repair crews would fix it?
388873: News reports and social media posts. There's a lady named Karla who lives three blocks to the east of you, and she posted complaints and observations to your neighborhood's Facebook page throughout the event.
JB: Uh yeah, she's the same in person.
JB: So, even if I buy this, and I'm not saying I do, what's the point of contacting me? I'm not like the conservative influencers the Russians go after, I'm not important enough to affect anything.
388873: Crowdsourcing. Similar to your Russians, we aren't reaching out to just one individual, but several. Dissimilar from them, we're not short-sighted and incompetent.
JB: Nice! Still, bragging aside, you're asking me to accept a lot on faith.
388873: The next event is of a personal nature. Your friend, Leanne, will have a fight with her roommate tonight, and will call you asking if she can sleep over at your place until they work things out. If you say yes, they won't work things out, and she'll end up rooming with you for months. If you say no, she'll eventually have a long talk with her roommate tomorrow morning and they'll remain friends.
JB: Now wait a minute, I'm not going to turn away my friend just on your say so.
388873: An additional complication with saying yes is that, after a couple of weeks living in such close proximity, you'll both begin thinking about renewing the romantic relationship you tried out in college.
JB: That's ridiculous!
388873: There were valid and well-considered reasons why you ended the relationship back then, but an abundance of opportunity often leads to bad ideas. For all parties concerned, it would be best if your couch wasn't available tonight.
JB: You're starting to piss me off.
JB: OK, I wasn't being honest before, I always regretted breaking things off with her. If there's a chance of starting over, maybe we could make it work this time?
JB: Nothing? Who are you to decide that we shouldn't try for a relationship again?
JB: Look, you told me she feels the same. Even if it's only for a few weeks. I really …
JB: She just called, and I let it go to voicemail. I don't know … Fuck it!
JB: I texted her and said I was on a date.
Jesse could see the reservation desk from where he was sitting in the hotel lobby. When the tall blonde in business attire appeared, he started folding his newspaper. He would have to time his next actions perfectly, but from what he'd been told, she wouldn't be paying any attention to her surroundings. Chances were, she wouldn't even notice him.
When she finished checking in and turned away from the reservation desk, Jesse stood up, and tapping the newspaper against his leg, began ambling towards the staircase to the lobby's lower level. He heard her approaching rapidly behind him, but didn't increase his pace. In just a second …
There was the familiar ding of an iPhone receiving a text message. Her pace slowed, and Jesse continued in front of her until he reached the top of the staircase. He paused for just a second, and then dropped his newspaper.
Even though he was braced for it, with his left hand gripping the railing, he still couldn't believe it when she ran into him from behind. As she stood with her nose planted in his back, she made a surprised yipping noise, as though he had goosed her from behind, instead of standing resolutely in front of her like a brick wall.
"Oh," he exclaimed, turning and placing a steadying hand on her shoulder, "I'm terribly sorry, I dropped my newspaper."
Stepping back, she scanned him from head to toe, looking as though he were a piece of diseased carrion which had unexpectedly materialized in her path. "Yes, I can see that."
With her cell phone grasped in her left hand, she side stepped Jesse, and descended the staircase on the right. As he bent to retrieve his paper, an elderly gentlemen began climbing the stairs from below, and offered the blonde a polite nod. She had resumed texting by then, and steadfastly ignored him.
At the top of the stairs, he grinned at Jesse. "I don't believe that lady likes you very much."
Jesse grinned back. "I'm fine with that, as long as she's okay."
"Yes, from what I saw, that was smoothly done." He gestured passed Jesse towards the elevator alcove. "My room's on the tenth floor"
As they walked to the alcove, Jesse studied his companion. He was average height, perhaps 5'10", and wore a standard navy business suit. He had brown eyes, and although his hair had probably been brown once as well, it was now a solid gray. Pretty unremarkable, but was that the idea?
"You look as though you have a hundred questions," he said, tapping the up button, and then extending his right hand. "John Amos."
Jesse shook and said, "Jesse Baker, although I suspect you knew that."
The elevator car arrived, released three people to the lobby, and the two of them entered. John tapped the button for the tenth floor, and then leaned against the side wall.
"Fair warning, Jesse, I'm happy to give you the broad strokes of what we're doing, but it's unlikely that I'm going to be able to answer most of your questions."
Jesse considered. "Unable or unwilling?" he asked.
John chuckled. "I know, you want to meet the person behind the mask, the man sitting in the big chair directing all the minions." The elevator arrived at ten, they stepped out, and John turned left out of the alcove. "That's just human nature. The thing is though, I've been doing this for a long time. Before there was really an internet, and before everyone owned a cell phone. "
They arrived at his room, John fished out his key card, and waved it at the lock. "In all that time, more than thirty years now, I've never encountered any sort of human leader." He opened the door. "This thing was doing crowdsourcing before anyone knew what that meant."
"Thing," Jesse mused as they walked inside, "you think it's a machine?"
John walked to the chair by the window, sat, and flipped a hand for Jesse to take the desk chair. He shrugged. "I mean, it's all guess work, but if it's not a machine, the people running the operation are incredibly disciplined. You've been doing this for what, about a year?"
Jesse nodded. "Yeah, but …"
John waved him down. "I know because that's about how long it takes before new recruits start getting stir crazy, and it arranges a brief meeting with one of us old-timers." He looked down for a moment, and then raised his head to once again meet Jesse's gaze. "It's disciplined because it'll explain what it wants done, and will sketch out a very brief outline of the negative consequences if you don't follow its recommended course of action. Argue with it, raise too many objections, and it'll just stop answering."
Jesse nodded again. "That's what happened the first time it wanted me to do something. Still though," he drummed his fingers on the desk, trying to work through his thought, "after thirty years, why haven't any of you formed a group, pooled your resources, started working together to figure out what's going on?"
"You know why," John said calmly.
Jesse glared at him, and then thought about it. "It stops talking to anyone trying to form the group?"
John gave him a thumbs up. "Got it in one. It never threatens, never coaxes, it just lays out the outline it wants you to follow. Deviate from its plan too much, fail too spectacularly, or get too friendly with other operatives and you're out."
"And, the overarching plan?"
John spread his hands. "In general, the results for most of our actions seem positive. Like you preventing that idiot down stairs from taking a header down the staircase. She didn't somersault down the stairs and break her neck at the bottom, and presumably that's a good thing. Although," he smirked, "I gotta wonder how many agents it'll end up dispatching to save her oblivious ass before she finally offs herself. As to why it wanted her saved," he leaned forward, "or why it chose to have you save her and not the next fifty people who fall down that thing to their deaths, if it didn't tell you, you'll never know. In the end, that has to be good enough. If it isn't, if you start following her, or find out her name and start digging into her life online, it'll cut you off forever."
Jesse stood, and wandered over to the room's window. He looked down at the cityscape outside, thousands of people walking, and cycling, and driving from one place to another. In all that expanse of busy humanity, how many agents were working towards some future goal which no one currently alive could comprehend?
"You're good at this," John continued quietly. "If you weren't, you wouldn't have made it this far. And, so long as you keep successfully completing missions it assigns you, you'll be very well compensated."
"I gave up someone," Jesse whispered, "it told me to, I did, and the more money it gives me, the more it feels like I've sold out."
There was a rustle of movement, and then John's hand was resting on his shoulder. "We can't discuss specifics," he said quietly, "but I'll offer you a piece of advice if you want to hear it?"
Jesse drew in a long breath, and then jerked his head spasmodically up and down.
"Don't live in the past. Every person alive has regrets, and we've all experienced the loss of someone we love. The only thing that matters is living the life that's right for you. If that means blocking the number you've been getting texts from, do that."
There was a chirping sound from John's jacket, and he dug a cell phone out from one of the pockets.
"I'm working to build a better future. That's the life I've chosen"
no subject
Date: 2024-09-09 07:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-09 08:27 pm (UTC)Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-10 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-10 02:32 am (UTC)"Your dialogue is second to none!"
Thank you so much, I appreciate that! I always try to make my dialogue as realistic as possible.
Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-10 01:37 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-12 01:39 am (UTC)Cool, I'm glad my character voices sound authentic to you. My kids always make fun of me as being the only person they know who writes text messages as complete sentences, but I really dislike the abbreviated speak, and so didn't use it here either.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-11 11:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-12 01:40 am (UTC)Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-11 08:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-12 01:43 am (UTC)Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-12 01:21 pm (UTC)- Erulisse (one L)
no subject
Date: 2024-09-14 02:57 am (UTC)Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-13 06:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-14 02:58 am (UTC)Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-13 09:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-14 02:59 am (UTC)Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-14 09:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-16 07:48 pm (UTC)Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-15 11:14 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-16 07:47 pm (UTC)Yup, this was lots of fun to write, partially because the whole first part was a text conversation. I really hesitated before doing that, but it seemed to fit, so I left it.
Thank you very much for reading and commenting.
Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-16 04:07 am (UTC)What a fun idea. Bravo, Dan. Bravo! 👏👏👏
no subject
Date: 2024-09-16 07:39 pm (UTC)Thank you so much for reading and leaving such a nice comment!
Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-16 07:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-16 07:36 pm (UTC)Thank you for reading and leaving such kind words!
Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-16 07:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-16 07:56 pm (UTC)Thank you very much for reading and commenting!
Dan
no subject
Date: 2024-09-16 08:04 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2024-09-16 08:39 pm (UTC)Thank you very much for reading and commenting!
Dan