Read Online Sockpuppet: Book One in the Martingale Cycle by Matthew Blakstad - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Matthew Blakstad
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the enemy. I don’t think we are the enemy.’
‘Aye, well, better inside the tent pissing out,’ he said. ‘So tomorrow. Have you given it more thought? You can’t walk in without a script. I have it first-hand from Karen: the Cabinet Secretary is livid just now.’
‘Neil wakes up livid.’
‘You should go in hard,’ Krish pressed on. ‘Tell Karen you’re cutting the link with Mondan. They had the data; they let it bleed – or worse, they did the pig-spam themselves on behalf of some marketing company and they kept it from you.’
She hadn’t heard that theory. Would they do that? Marketing data was valuable. Surely not with Sean’s consent.
‘You came within millimetres of misleading the House,’ Krish went on. ‘They did the pilot, they fucked up – bye bye. We’ll use Terasoft for the national roll-out. We can recover this but we need to cut the rot.’
‘And I’ve told you. I’m thinking about it.’
The sound of sea-swell on the wires.
‘I am right,’ said Krish, ‘that Mondan didn’t inform you before Questions, aren’t I? You’ve been careful to say your officials hadn’t briefed you but you’ve never said what they told you. What exactly is our deal with these people?’
‘Krish. Not at this hour. We’ve talked about this.’
‘I’ve asked. You’ve prevaricated. I’ve stayed out of DigiCitz because you said you had it in hand. Was that a mistake?’
‘Trust me,’ she said. ‘Please trust me. We’re too far into Digital Citizen for them to drop it; not with so many government IT projects down the can. The national roll-out is top of the Number Ten comms grid for Friday – and if they keep the project, they have to keep me. With Juliet crossing the floor, fewer than twenty per cent of ministers are women. Who do they shuffle in now? Annabel ? Christ, you know all this.’
‘I know, Beth. I know.’ She could see him pushing two fingers up the bridge of his nose, popping his glasses up onto his forehead, massaging his nose’s slender spine. ‘Look, you’re right. It’s late. But can we please get twenty minutes at the office in the morning, before we go to Downing Street? Twenty minutes?’
‘Yes, fine. I’ll be there. We’ll talk.’
They broke the call. Bethany looked across the untouched spread of papers on the tabletop, then back at the old clock. Half past one.
Did anyone sleep any more?
¶maglad
Whaat? Are you trying to tell me I’m going to have to register on DigiCitz to access over 18 content? How’m I supposed to do that? I’m only an algorithm.
(Plus I’m only 2 years old.)
¶identikid
The deal here is simple. Give up your right to privacy, and if you’re lucky we’ll let you access benefits, services, your rights as a citizen. Digital Citizen? Digital Slave.
Nine
They rise to the brow and gaze across the devastation of the land. Far ahead a once-proud city blazes, lighting the cloudy darkness of the plain. Littering the lowland earth, the wracks of titanic machines give out juts of smoke. It seems that nothing moves below; then the travellers make out, among the smouldering hulks, a dozen smaller warcraft crawling from the rout to the safe harbour of the Azkhanii highlands. They haven’t a prayer of making it. They’re sitting ducks out on the killing fields, pounded in their slow retreat by the noiseless blasts of the Highlords’ jolting laser cannons, hidden in the crust of fortifications opposite.
The travellers raise their eyes beyond the battle. Ahead, deep in the Namani caves, on the final level, lies the endgame boss, concealed in the smoke of a subterranean lair. That is the direction they must take.
The view pulls back to reveal the weary pair standing on the crest. Landar turns towards her avatar, his feline face contorted in an expression of what’s meant to be sorrow but whose simplified vectors just look constipated. Before he can speak, Dani presses the space bar to pause the game and sits back in her chair.
She
‘Aye, well, better inside the tent pissing out,’ he said. ‘So tomorrow. Have you given it more thought? You can’t walk in without a script. I have it first-hand from Karen: the Cabinet Secretary is livid just now.’
‘Neil wakes up livid.’
‘You should go in hard,’ Krish pressed on. ‘Tell Karen you’re cutting the link with Mondan. They had the data; they let it bleed – or worse, they did the pig-spam themselves on behalf of some marketing company and they kept it from you.’
She hadn’t heard that theory. Would they do that? Marketing data was valuable. Surely not with Sean’s consent.
‘You came within millimetres of misleading the House,’ Krish went on. ‘They did the pilot, they fucked up – bye bye. We’ll use Terasoft for the national roll-out. We can recover this but we need to cut the rot.’
‘And I’ve told you. I’m thinking about it.’
The sound of sea-swell on the wires.
‘I am right,’ said Krish, ‘that Mondan didn’t inform you before Questions, aren’t I? You’ve been careful to say your officials hadn’t briefed you but you’ve never said what they told you. What exactly is our deal with these people?’
‘Krish. Not at this hour. We’ve talked about this.’
‘I’ve asked. You’ve prevaricated. I’ve stayed out of DigiCitz because you said you had it in hand. Was that a mistake?’
‘Trust me,’ she said. ‘Please trust me. We’re too far into Digital Citizen for them to drop it; not with so many government IT projects down the can. The national roll-out is top of the Number Ten comms grid for Friday – and if they keep the project, they have to keep me. With Juliet crossing the floor, fewer than twenty per cent of ministers are women. Who do they shuffle in now? Annabel ? Christ, you know all this.’
‘I know, Beth. I know.’ She could see him pushing two fingers up the bridge of his nose, popping his glasses up onto his forehead, massaging his nose’s slender spine. ‘Look, you’re right. It’s late. But can we please get twenty minutes at the office in the morning, before we go to Downing Street? Twenty minutes?’
‘Yes, fine. I’ll be there. We’ll talk.’
They broke the call. Bethany looked across the untouched spread of papers on the tabletop, then back at the old clock. Half past one.
Did anyone sleep any more?
¶maglad
Whaat? Are you trying to tell me I’m going to have to register on DigiCitz to access over 18 content? How’m I supposed to do that? I’m only an algorithm.
(Plus I’m only 2 years old.)
¶identikid
The deal here is simple. Give up your right to privacy, and if you’re lucky we’ll let you access benefits, services, your rights as a citizen. Digital Citizen? Digital Slave.
Nine
They rise to the brow and gaze across the devastation of the land. Far ahead a once-proud city blazes, lighting the cloudy darkness of the plain. Littering the lowland earth, the wracks of titanic machines give out juts of smoke. It seems that nothing moves below; then the travellers make out, among the smouldering hulks, a dozen smaller warcraft crawling from the rout to the safe harbour of the Azkhanii highlands. They haven’t a prayer of making it. They’re sitting ducks out on the killing fields, pounded in their slow retreat by the noiseless blasts of the Highlords’ jolting laser cannons, hidden in the crust of fortifications opposite.
The travellers raise their eyes beyond the battle. Ahead, deep in the Namani caves, on the final level, lies the endgame boss, concealed in the smoke of a subterranean lair. That is the direction they must take.
The view pulls back to reveal the weary pair standing on the crest. Landar turns towards her avatar, his feline face contorted in an expression of what’s meant to be sorrow but whose simplified vectors just look constipated. Before he can speak, Dani presses the space bar to pause the game and sits back in her chair.
She
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