Infoquake by David Louis Edelman Read Free Book Online Page B

consequences?"
Jara's sweeping gesture encompassed the London commuters visible
from the window. The multied businesspeople hustling to meetings,
the families scampering across the square looking for safety, the street
performers in the midst of some apocalyptic pantomime at the foot of
Big Ben. "What if the medical networks break down? What if the
multi network collapses? What if this black code attack sparks a total
panic? What if people die, for process' preservation?"
    The engineer cocooned himself in a ball on Jara's couch, as if his
voluminous stomach might provide some insulation against the
calamities of the world. "But ... but ... I'm sure that Natch
wouldn't-that he didn't ..."
    Jara refused to give any ground. "I don't know how he's involved in
this. Maybe he heard a rumor on the Data Sea weeks ago. Maybe he had
a hand in putting this black code together. But he knows something. We
can't just ignore that, Horvil! We can't just let people die! The Council
might need Natch's information to help stop the attack." I know Natch
has been your best friend practically since birth, Horv, but sometimes you've got
to look out for your own ass. Do you think Natch cares one way or the other
what happens to you? "Horvil, there comes a point where we have to put
this Primo's nonsense behind us and think of the people out there."
    The engineer was starting to crack. "All I ever wanted was to be a
bio/logic engineer," he whimpered, as if this were the most relevant statement in the world. "All I ever wanted to do was help people." He
peered up at this pint-sized woman with the mass of curly hair
standing over him, but there was no mercy forthcoming.

    Can't you see that I'm trying to help you, Horv?
    Don't you realize this could be just what we need to do to get out of these
miserable apprenticeship contracts?
    And then Horvil narrowed his eyes, puzzled. The color gushed back
to his face all at once. He looked as if his tongue was struggling to catch
up with the information in his head. Finally, the engineer shook his head
violently, banished the display on the viewscreen with an outstretched
hand, and summoned forth the craggy visage of Sen Sivv Sor.
BLACK CODE ATTACKS OVER
    Defense and Wellness Council to Make Statement

    Jara could afford only one outgoing multi stream at her apartment, and
it would have taken too long for Horvil to physically traipse back to
his place on the other side of London. So the engineer had to rush down
the street to the nearest public multi facility, something he hated to
do. He didn't care how many times the Council guaranteed the safety
of these public connections and how many guards they posted; you
could never really feel comfortable letting your body stand slack in a
room full of strangers while your mind was off elsewhere. Life in the
world of meat and bone could be so inconvenient.
    Apparently, word of the Council's impending statement had hit
the streets. People started vanishing throughout the block as they slid
into multivoid and prepared to open new connections. Horvil arrived
at the public multi facility just in time to claim the last open red tile.
He breathed a sigh of relief, and stepped into the space between a fat
Japanese businesswoman and a wiry Indian man who seemed to be a technician of some kind.

    "We didn't have to multi over here," said an amused Jara when
Horvil finally caught up to her in the crowd. "We could have stayed at
my place and watched the press conference on the viewscreen."
    Horvil sniffed. "How much fun would that be?"
    They were standing in the Defense and Wellness Council's main
auditorium, its public face. Everyone knew the Council had moved its
real base of operations to a new compound of unknown location. The
auditorium was a fat wedge that might have represented 20 percent on
some vast pie chart-a number that roughly approximated the
Council's public approval ratings.
    Horvil had actually been here in person