The rogue code, p.2
The Rogue Code, page 2
Celeste shook her head, a quizzical look on her face.
“No, I haven’t. Please, do tell.”
Christopher grabbed the imaginary lapels of a lab coat and cleared his throat.
“We are basically a conglomeration of squishy things, or for short, CSTs. Each thing came to be to perform some sort of function in the provision of input, nutrition, or locomotion to the great big squishy thing which resides comfortably in its bone armor,” at this, Christopher pointed both index fingers at his skull, “without which, we wouldn’t be who we are, and without all the other squishy things, our one big squishy thing would be sedentary and become quite bored.”
Christopher nodded his head in a perfect imitation of his uncle as he finished. Celeste laughed again.
“Tremain can be so weird sometimes.”
“Yes, he can be. But he’s pretty cool too. I wonder if he dusted off that suit?”
They’d reached the front doors of the auditorium by now and pushed their way through the crowd to the speaking hall. Christopher saw a portly boy wearing a plaid shirt with glasses perched low on his nose waving at them.
“There’s Squeaks. He was going to save seats for us.” Christopher said as he waved back.
“Why do you call him Squeaks?” Celeste asked.
“Because when he gets laughing, he starts to squeak. We’ve called him that since grade school.”
Celeste shook her head, all but exasperated at boys and their nicknames.
Christopher found their seats and made introductions.
“Guys, this is Celeste.”
A young, thin man with a thick head of black hair sitting just in front of Squeaks pushed an ever-present lock of hair out of his eyes and gave a low whistle.
“Knock it off, Tenny.” Christopher glared at his friend.
“I came for the wrong attraction,” Tenny whispered, and offered his hand, “Name’s Tennyson. Everyone just calls me Tenny.”
“Tennyson like the poet?” Celeste asked as she shook hands.
“You know it!” Tenny grinned and gave a mock salute.
Christopher rolled his eyes and indicated the portly boy again.
“This is Squeaks, and next to him is Zach.” The small, quiet boy with his blond hair brushed back, looked up from his tablet and gave a double take. He visibly swallowed before waving hello, then went back to his tablet.
Squeaks had his own tablet in hand, waving it toward Christopher.
“Did you see the new app?” he asked.
Christopher nodded his head.
“Yes, but I haven’t had time to get really into it yet.”
“It’s pretty cool. Supposed to increase critical thinking and fine tune reflexes. I don’t know about that, but it’s fun to play with.”
“Found it!” Zach exclaimed, clapping his hands and showing his tablet screen to his friends.
“Found what?” Celeste asked Christopher.
Zach pointed out a symbol on the screen.
“The guy who writes most of the code for these apps usually puts his signature in each one, and there’s a contest to see who can find it first. See it?”
Celeste leaned over Christopher to check it out. Zach’s finger indicated a strange symbol; typed characters in varying shapes and sizes twisted and intertwined to create a familiar shape.
“It looks like a dinosaur?” She asked.
Zach nodded, smiling.
“Zach usually finds it before anyone else,” Christopher said, “They’ve asked him to wait at least a week before calling it in, just to give others a chance.”
They all laughed as Zach shrugged and they all sat back in their seats.
“I can’t help it that I’m just that good!” Zach said.
Christopher turned to Celeste.
“We’re all in computer class together. We’ll get extra credit for this talk in there too.”
Celeste nodded, then gave Christopher a side-eye look.
“And what do I get?” she asked, a half-smile on her face.
“Hopefully a fun time, and my gratitude.”
“I was hoping for a kiss.”
Squeaks let out a low moan.
“Could you two be any more nauseating?” he pointed toward the stage, “Look, it’s about to start now.”
The house lights dimmed and a spotlight illuminated a man walking onto the stage.
“Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Maddix Kirk, president of events here at the university. I can’t tell you how excited I am to kick off our Colony Days celebration with this talk tonight on Technology and Society. We have for you, direct from her campus, Lyda Stryker!”
Hands clapped and the audience stood as a woman walked on stage from the opposite side. She waved toward the crowd and shook hands with Kirk. She stood about the same height as the events president. Her slacks and black turtleneck complemented her dark skin and short cropped black hair. The only extra adornment she wore was a small golden locket around her neck. Christopher could see a headpiece microphone wrapped around her ear, the mike hitting just at the corner of her mouth.
Kirk made his exit, the spotlight now illuminating Stryker.
“Welcome!” she said through the applause, her voice betraying just a hint of an accent, “As you may know, I am the owner and president of Stryker Technologies.” More applause. She waved her hands to quiet the crowd, “Our latest app, released just a few short days ago, has been downloaded by over 75 percent of the active devices in the colonies. In short, you’ve made us the most popular app developer in colony history.”
The crowd erupted in applause once again. Stryker stood and let it wash over her.
“Now, you may think that’s a wonderful achievement, and it is, but what does that say about us as a society?” she let the question hang in the air for a moment, “Just before I came on stage, I watched you in the audience. Many of you had your heads bowed, looking at your devices instead of conversing with the people next to you.”
Christopher looked around, noticing that most of the people in his line of sight were students like him and his friends, with a few Professors and other adults mixed in. He recognized a few students from his social studies class, they were probably starting their reports. His brow furrowed as he wondered what point she was trying to make.
“Look around on a daily basis and what do you see? People with their heads down, looking at their devices instead of the world around them. Students, like many of you, who prefer to talk via a device rather than face-to-face,” Her gaze roamed over the crowd, “We, as a society, are becoming more and more disconnected, even as we become more connected through our devices. Which is why I can stand here this evening and say, with full conviction, that our rampant use of technology is a problem. It’s become an evil and must be stopped.”
Christopher heard gasps around him, the loudest coming from his right. He turned to see his uncle Tremain, sitting across the aisle and a row back, arms folded in indignation as he shook his head. Tremain had indeed dug out his old suit, Christopher saw he hadn’t quite brushed out the dust that had settled on the shoulders. He turned his attention back to the stage.
Stryker held her hands up, calming the crowd.
“I know what you’re thinking. I’ve been called the technology queen, the wizard of the app world. How can I proclaim such a radical thing? It’s because I care more about the society I live in, than what game is the most popular,” She reached into her back pocket and pulled out an index card, waving it towards the audience, “Let me share some stats with you:
“As our technology has improved, we’ve seen fewer families who actually eat a meal together. We’ve seen more instances of depression, especially among our youngest citizens. Our social media profiles are more important to us than the number of actual physical friends we interact with. We live our lives through our networks, not by actively living them. Not only that, but with all our smart devices, all the information at our fingertips as well as any surface that has a smart film applied, we’ve become more isolated. We don’t need to see a doctor as our devices monitor our health for us. They learn our habits, so in effect, they know what we want before we know it ourselves. We’re becoming more obese as we become more sedentary. Our children pay attention to their social media more than to their parents. Teenagers have a technology mania, or fever, or dare I say it, lust.”
There were more gasps from the audience.
“Incendiary allegations, I’m well aware,” Lyda continued, “but I fear we’re seeing the crumbling of our society due to these things.” She waved a tablet in the air, the thin film reflecting the spotlight. She crumbled it in her hands, destroying it. “I believe our technology isn’t the boon to our society as we thought it would be. It’s become the harbinger of our end.”
Christopher flinched when he heard his uncle shout.
“Ridiculous!”
Stryker’s head swiveled around at the exclamation. She gave a double take as she did so.
“Oh no.” Christopher moaned as he shrunk back into his seat. Celeste gave him a quizzical look. On stage, Stryker waved her hand towards the spot where Tremain sat.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have a celebrity in the audience. Professor Tremain!” she gestured towards the stage, “Please, Professor, join me onstage. I’d love to hear your opinions on this. We can have a debate.”
Squeaks turned to Christopher, a glint in his eye.
“Five bucks says your uncle wipes the stage with her.”
Christopher stared in amazement at Squeaks as Tenny giggled from the seat in front.
“Oh this is gonna be good!” Tenny squealed and rubbed his hands together.
Tremain stood as applause filled the auditorium. His rumpled sport jacket covered a shirt and tie instead of the normal lab coat and he looked quite dapper, apart from the dust on the shoulders and the indignant glare on his face. He marched over to the stage stairs as a tech brought out a pair of chairs and another headset for the scientist.
Tremain sat, adjusted the microphone and cleared his throat.
“Now just what are you getting on about? Technology lust? Really!” he sputtered as the mic activated.
Stryker smiled at the scientist, exuding confidence.
“I describe what I witness.”
“You really need to study history too. Every generation has its own thing, would you believe the exact same terms were used in the 18th century on Earth in regards to another great technological feat?” Tremain glanced around the audience, “Can you guess what it was?”
“Enlighten me, Professor.” Stryker said as she folded her arms.
“The printing press. Books. They were widely available for the first time. Now knowledge was able to be widely disseminated. There were arguments about people getting ideas. That they’d fill their heads with so much garbage. That people would choose to read instead of working the land and society would break down. Sound familiar?”
There came sporadic applause from the crowd as Stryker glanced at them.
“Insidious things, books,” Tremain continued, “They did get some people thinking, though. Because of books, because of those ideas, our ancestors created things like calculus, automobiles, space flight, Formica … well, maybe that last one wasn’t quite up to par, but my point is you never know where inspiration will come from. Maybe one of these students in the audience will create the next greatest thing that will forever change how we live our lives?”
More applause from the crowd. Stryker’s brows furrowed as she waved her hands in front of her, conceding a point to Tremain.
“How many deaths were there from those inventions?” she asked. The crowd died down. “How many automobile accidents, how many people lost their lives in space flight? With every technological marvel, there is an increase in injuries and deaths. Look at today’s fiasco with the autonomous vehicle system. You say this is all a good thing, but lives were at stake today. Is it really worth it?”
It was Tremain’s turn to frown.
“Progress isn’t always as neat and clean as we’d like. You are only focusing on the negative aspects of progress. Today’s malfunction, and I was caught up in it myself, is being investigated as we speak. I have no doubt we’ll get to the bottom of it and prevent further issues to boot. But aside from that, let’s talk about all the lives saved by technology. Medical technology has improved by leaps and bounds. How many illnesses are found early due to medical smart screening technology? How many lives have been saved due to vaccines that were discovered? Look back through the records of the past and you’ll see how the death rates plummeted after certain vaccines were invented. Would you have us go back that far? Education has improved since we’ve installed smart films to almost every surface. Surely, you don’t believe those are evil? You say you want to abolish technology. Where do you draw that line? Eating utensils and fire were once considered high technology. Shall we go back to the stone age?”
In the audience, Zach handed a five-dollar bill to Squeaks. Tenny turned around.
“It’s not over yet,” he whispered, and turned back to face the stage.
Christopher watched as Stryker stood and paced the stage in obvious agitation.
“Surely, we can agree that our society is more isolated than ever before due to technology?” she asked.
Tremain sighed.
“Technology is only a tool. Like any tool, it has a designed use. Consider a hammer, another tool that was once also considered a time-saving bit of technology. Do you blame the hammer if it’s used to hurt another person or do you blame the user? Our technology is the same. It’s not the fault of technology if issues arise, rather, it’s the fault of the user,” he held his hands up in the air, “besides, the cat is out of the bag, the genie has left its bottle, Pandora’s box is opened. You can’t stop progress.” He shrugged.
“And what if we had an opportunity to close Pandora’s Box?” Stryker asked, her eyes alight, “What then?”
Tremain sat for a few seconds in total silence. The crowd became uneasy. Christopher shifted in his seat. Celeste’s attention never wavered from the drama unfolding onstage.
“You know, this makes me think of a sobering fact: scientists have realized, through science, and yes, technology, that there are around 12 million stars born every day in our galaxy alone.” Tremain finally said.
“I don’t see the point.”
Tremain held up a finger and bowed his head.
“Considering all things, if only ten percent of those stars developed planets, if only ten percent of those planets were far enough away from their star to have liquid water, if only ten percent of those planets developed some sort of life, we’d have at least 120,000 worlds teeming with life. If of those life-generating planets, only 10 percent of 10 percent of 10 percent of those planets developed a higher from of life, sentient, intelligent, capable of looking up in wonder, just think of the possibilities.”
“And?” Stryker asked, arms crossed, tapping her foot.
“Don’t you see how rare intelligent life is in the universe? Do we even know how we would identify an intelligent life form? We scientists think we do, and then I have a conversation like this one today and I wonder if we’ve not set that bar far too low.”
The audience erupted in cheers and applause. Tenny turned to Squeaks and slapped a 5 dollar bill into his hands, shaking his head, a wry smile on his face.
On stage, Lyda Stryker’s face darkened, her rage barely contained just below the surface. She glared at Tremain for a second or two before visibly releasing tension. A smile spread across her face as she turned back to the audience.
“That was quite an opinion! I think that’s all the time I have today, thank you for coming!”
She ripped the headset off her brow, dropped it to the floor, and stalked off the stage, leaving Tremain standing alone, hand outstretched. Maddix Kirk rushed out to shake Tremain’s hand and thank him, as the crowd began to filter out of the auditorium.
Outside, in an alleyway behind the building, a black car waited, its electric engine humming. Inside, Lyda Stryker fumed. The nerve of that man embarrassing her like that. Couldn't he see she had the higher moral argument? Her hand instinctively went to the locket around her neck. She caressed it between her thumb and forefinger as she fumed. Finally controlling her anger, she thumbed a button on her smart film wrist wrap.
“Yes, ma’am?” came the man’s voice on the other end of the connection.
“Our timetable has changed. We’re moving up phase two.”
“Very well, ma’am. I’ll inform the staff.”
Stryker sat back and took a deep breath. She motioned her driver to get going, crossed her arms as the car began moving, entering the all but deserted streets. A dark smile spread across her features.
Soon . . .
3
New Earth Today interview
Hawking labs
* * *
“This is Ellie Travers coming to you live today from Hawking labs. I have the honor to have as my guest Professor Tremain.” The blond, bright-eyed reporter turned her wide smile to Tremain, who shifted uncomfortably in his chair. They’d set up the video on the top floor of the cafeteria, clearing out the floor for privacy. Not that there were many people to usher out as it was early in the morning. Still, the air was full of the sweet smells of the flowering plants in the center part of the atrium. The botanists had done a great job.
Tremain cleared his throat, his nerves were getting the better of him. He agreed to do the interview at the request of Senator Markus, his friend. After the incidents with the rifts, caused by Marjorie messing with unprotected, unshielded lodestones, which the public could not help but notice, Hawking labs had been hit with some bad press. Getting out in front of it was important, Markus had explained. Tremain agreed, even if he didn’t like it. He cleared his throat once more, the microphone clipped to his lab coat lapel, picking up everything clearly.
“My pleasure, Ellie.”
“For a lab that has made such contributions to the colonies, I was very surprised I didn’t know much about what you do here. I had to do some research.”
