NAKED [Section 0.9]

A Science Fiction Novel about crypto-anarchy

[Section 0.1]
[Section 0.2]
[Section 0.3]
[Section 0.4]
[Section 0.5]
[Section 0.6]
[Section 0.7]
[Section 0.8]

[Section 0.9 -Begin]
The the front and back door slide apart and away from each other like a pair of bat wings, exposing a velvet red interior. No modern screen UI, instead gold inlaid buttons and switches for amenities of the interior. Through the window facing the front seats, a polished gold automaton, styled in the dress of a butler turns its head to greet me.
‘Hello, sir, welcome.’
“You’re gonna need to turn that thing's settings down… I am not in the mood.” I say to Nick.
“Oh yeah, I forgot your aversion to AI… Geeves, courtesy zero percent please.”
‘Indeed sir’ It says turning its head back toward the windshield.
“Geeves?... really? That’s the best name you could come up with?” I quip.
“I am not the most creative individual, what can I say…”

We settle in, the doors come down and the vehicle pulls up and around in a great spiraling arc. Complete silence of the engine, and I don’t feel any jerk of force from the instant acceleration. Must have some kind of internal centrifugal control system, it must be very expensive.

“This thing is quiet, who built it for you?”
“Heh, you think you can afford a ride like this?” He says with a slight giggle.
“I mean… maybe not yet but… I got some things lined up.”
“Yeah, about that. Fed city’s Municipal Ledger… and… Capital Ledger have a new entries as of last night.”
Nick touches the neuro-patch on his temple, and staticy particles descend from the ceiling holo-projectors forming a pyramid of nine stacked semi-transparent cubes. Pulsing in red the uppermost cube contains video of Federal Droid recorded feed and bold text:

FEDERAL CITY MURDER OFFENSE CHAIN
Subject: Axiom Troy || Age: 28 yrs || Status: Exempt
Offense: Murder-000 || Capacity: Ineligible || Probability: 2%

Descending colored from red, to orange in the middle, and yellow at the bottom, cubes with data attached to alternate chains display offenses: Corruption of Android Intelligence, Biological Theft, Biological Trafficking, Resisting Arrest, Unauthorized Encryption, Carrying deadly weapons, Possession of prohibited technology, Possession of weaponry, and Damage to property.
The charges remind me I have that Thug's brain in a box sitting on my passenger seat. Or at least I hope it’s still there. I’ve been out of it for hours. I touch my temple, to see if I still have my neuro-patch.
“Looking for this?” He pulls my neuro-patch out of his jacket pocket, and hands it to me.
“Thanks” I grab it quickly, and place it on my right temple.
‘Axiom, Shiva online Access Memory Cipher please’
I search the back of my mind. I’m sitting in the backseat of my father’s car. It’s a rainy day, I look at my father in the driver’s seat, he smiles at me.
“Ready to go?”
Suddenly, the car window breaks.
“Don't you fuckin' move!”
The acceptance chime rings out. I say in my minds’ voice to Shiva.
“Shiva, I left a box on the passenger seat, is it still there? Anyone access my vehicle?”
‘No, the box is still there, any special precautions you’d like to take with your vehicle?’
“Yes, drive my car to excursion point green, high security.” I respond. This will send my car to a place in a forest about a hundred miles away.
“You still here?”Nick says looking at me with a questioning expression. I start thinking of how to explain things. After a brief awkward silence he speaks again.
“Well at least the worst charge is murder triple zero… You killed some expendables. The Gens Statutory Intelligence Program has enacted protocols to nullify these offenses. Still, there are those in our midst who already preparing to see you attorned. Namely, Grayton… be aware that he has created an encrypted block in the Gens Attornment chain. If he hands the private key to the Fed City Authorities, your status will be revoked.”
“Fuck, I guess there are cops here in the Gens too?...” I say mixture of worry and anger.
“We got a good thing here Axiom, people here don’t want to fuck it up. There are ways to do things, through proper channels.”
“I don’t have the money to go through the proper channels, I’ll be fifty before I can get where I need to be. What does the probability in the Offense block represent?”
“You’ll notice your probability is at two percent instead of zero. Our status and ability to operate in the confines of Federal City is, in some part do to commerce. Namely, we made payment to certain officials in either currency or blackmail in order to get you released from the system. Which you are familiar with… What you may not know is that there is a market of sorts that exists.”
“You motherfuckers, keep my slave status on the market for the masters to buy back!?”
“Well, in sense-”
“I can’t believe this shit… You motherfuckers run around acting so righteous. You’re still part of the slave trade. Un-fucking believable.”
“Don’t get it twisted man. In many cases a man chooses his slavery… For the majority of the citizens of Federal City, they make their choice through their inaction. You aren’t part of that group, but your own desires can also be a worse slave master than any in Fed City. We don't allow any slaves here.”

[Section 0.9 -End]
[Section 1.0]