39 Just another paranoid fantasy
Probably
because of things like World War II, the Cold War, the Watergate
breakin, and J. Edgar Hoover, I woke up dreaming about how hard it is
to escape government surveillance, in a less than perfect world.
I don't need to escape government surveillance (for the most
part) but what if... What if, after another series of terrorist
attacks, everyone was required to carry identity chips that get scanned
at regular places around the town? What if cell phones or credit
cards already have those kind of chips? What if the cameras
monitoring red lights are also scanning license plates or chips and
feeding them into real time data bases? We probably don't have
that now, but how far away might that be? What way can you travel
without the government knowing where you started and stopped?
--Not planes, trains, or buses, which all require identification.
That leaves walking and bicycles, since the license plates on
motor vehicles at least identify the owners. As traffic and other
surveillance cameras become more pervasive, even walking and bicycling
are traceable activities.
In the last two days I
rewatched Star Wars III, where Plan 66 involved killing all
the Jedi. I also saw Tea with Mussolini, where the Jews get
gathered up in Italy. So in my dream, I saw the ACLU lawyers
getting arrested first, and the rest of us too busy watching
entertainment to notice. After all it's only bad people who get
arrested... Like the McCarthy hearings, you could get off if you
named names. Mothballed Army and Air Force bases became the new
internment camps, with residents' laptops and cell phones only allowing
incoming communications, which were all monitored.
My dream didn't bother to explain what it was the people purportedly
did to deserve this... Clearly we don't deserve this in a free
nation, but the bureaucratic response to pain is to spread it around...
When our post office got vandalized, they cut back hours
severely, affecting all the patrons... Random acts of violence
are easy to respond to (inappropriately), and impossible to prevent.
40
Report from Adjuster MN4237:
Klein bottle explosion at Gateway to Anyspace, M54
Insured by Kroft
When
arriving in System M54, I hopped short so as to perceive the visual
scene as it happened in real time. As is typical of Chumerch
invasions, the local inhabitants (humans) were fleeing the world as
quickly as possible.
This particular human settlement used Klein
bottles to transport the humans and their possessions to Anyspace
gateways, which were located in every city on the planet. These
Klein bottles are 4 dimensional constructs of a 3 dimensional closed
form which is simultaneously inside and outside (sorry, the concept is
beyond my computing ability). Due to the leakiness of its design
in 3 dimensions, a graphene bag is added to secure the contents against
anything
short of an O-bomb explosion. This Klein bottle design has been insured
by our company without incident for the last 1400 sklargs.
I perceived the normal panicked conversion of buildings, humans, and
other property into the black spheroid shapes of the Klein bottles,
which then lifted and filed towards the nearest gateway. But at
Gateway E-17 (also insured by Kroft) there was a flash of light and the
terminal was destroyed. Following the explosion 1.2 million Klein
bottles, waiting to exit that gate, were forced to attempt exit at more
distant gateways, and most failed to
exit before arrival of
the Chumerch. (Although these bottles were also insured by Kroft,
our liability is limited, due to being an Act of Glomsh)
As is standard in the case of those who are present at the arrival of
the Chumerch, all remnant Klein bottles were taken aboard as reactor
fodder.
I am also aboard the Chumerch ship, and
they agree to release me after the customary bribe is paid. The
captain assures me a credit towards their own Kroft insurance policy
will be acceptable. When I perceived the explosion
in real time, I captured the Tau signature of the Klein bottle that
exploded,
and will append that insurance ID so that next of kin can be
compensated. I will also include the spectral reading so that our
research department can determine the exact cause of the blast. I
recommend waiting until the lab results before making payout.
Here is the Chumerch opinion of the incident as an addendum:
“The power bottles are stored in our reaction hold, Captain.”
“Pick up the moon of this planet for propellant mass, and we will be on our way to the next human outpost…”
“Your desire is our goal in life, oh Captain.”
“Any word on the cause of that explosion, Lieutenant?”
“It could only have been something with the force of an O--bomb, which is slightly troubling, but it would take a
million O…”
Transmission ended.
Home office:
Memo: do not pay on the M54 gateway explosion--act of war. Also send an adjuster to the Chumerch Accumulator
in the same sector.
