Read Online WetWeb by Robert Haney - Free Book Online

the seat at the vid-station number six and initiated the interface.  The interface sparkled and then glowed with blue letters.  There was a single file displayed.  The file was labeled 6025541.  Franklin used Reginald’s hand to click on the access pad and open the file.  The display changed and now Franklin could see a long list of documents and sub-folders.  Nothing made sense as a place to start; many of the folders used cryptic titles that Franklin did not recognize, so he selected a document at random.  The interface displayed a white document , with crisp printing , and formal legal letterhead.  It was a lengthy and boring document that continually referred to a case called , Blair v s. City of San Francisco.
    Franklin could not see any relationship to Anand , and began to wonder if the Librarian had made a mistake.  He used the access pad to close the document and returned to the main folder view.  He re-sorted the documents and files by date , and then opened the most recent document which was now at the top of the list.  This document was an appeal and a request for a stay of execution.  The document referred to Anand by name and case number , so Franklin was now confident that at least he had the proper file.  Reading through the appeal letter he learned that Anand was convicted of the murder of Christopher Mark and was sentenced to be executed by lethal injection.  There was nothing new here.
    Growing frustrated, Franklin closed the appeal letter and re-sorted the documents by size.  The documents and file s quickly re-shuffled with the largest size files rising to the top.  A folder marked P01A sorted to the top signifying it was the largest.  Franklin opened this and discovered it contained a media file.  Here was something interesting.  Franklin hoped the media file might include a recording of the trial itself or something else that would provide insight into the trial.
    Before he could view the media file, Franklin needed to connect the headphones and vid-visor to Reginald’s head.  Working remotely , and without a mirror, this action was a challenge especially due to Reginald’s thick hair that kept getting tangled in the device.  Franklin remembered that on the list of available Synapse hosts, many wore closely cropped hair cuts.  Franklin decided he had selected the worst possible Synapse host for this task.  Eventually , Franklin managed to position the headphones and vid-visor , and h e activated the media file.
    The vid-visor flickered and then displayed a brief introductory screen that simply said:
    Case number 6025541.
    The State of California vs. Anand Ramasubramania n .
    Prosecution Exhibit 1A
    The feature started running.  It was a first person view of a laboratory.  Franklin realized this was not a recording from the trial, this was much better; this was evidence used by the prosecution.  It looked like a recording of a Synaptic Interface session.  Franklin was dumfounded .  Had Anand been serving as a Synapse Host?  Had they recorded the murder?
    Franklin became incredulous as he watched.
    Through the eyes of Reginald White , Franklin watched the recording .  The recording was made from the point of view of Anand Ramasubramanian , who was being remotely controlled by an unknown third party.  The connection from real to recording , and from Anand to Reginald , was confusing to Franklin .  He decided not to think about it.  Instead he watched as the brown hands that he recognized from his recent interview with Anand opened a drug locker and removed a bottle of liquefied Somnambutol.  Franklin could see Anand walk purposefully across the lab to a medical workstation where a small metallic device rested.  It looked like a small coffee maker.
    As Franklin watched, Anand opened the Coffee Maker and emptied the bottle of Somnambutol into the reservoir. He activated the device and a red light illuminated.  Anand held the now empty bottle about the vent on the top.