Cheat, p.21
Cheat, page 21
He nodded, which got a frown in return.
“Shallow and greedy, too. Let’s not forget that part. Plus, I don’t drink anything strong enough to really work that way. The whole thing wouldn’t have worked for you, at every step. It was a horrible plan. Kind of sad, to be honest.” He probably sounded a little mean about it, but rather than throw a fit, the woman just stood there. Ready to take what he had to dish out. “Luckily for you I’m a forgiving person? Anyway, I need to get back downstairs. Ben wants help with the chocolate.”
The fire wouldn’t take too long to get started, he didn’t think, so he got his float out, and headed down the stairs as soon as he was dressed. Hopefully Carry was right, since otherwise he was going to be too warm all night. It wasn’t cool inside, at any rate. In fact, he was just a tiny bit sticky already. Uncomfortable in a way that he wouldn’t have been if he’d thought to get a thermal control imbed going.
The idea was stupid. He already had more imbeds at that moment than was probably healthy. The nano sets were a part of his very skin, and powered by the sugar in his blood as it passed by. Any more of the things and he’d end up starving all the time.
What Ben wanted chocolate for so bad he didn’t share, not until everyone was sitting around the very large fire. The pit for that was down the beach a good way, nearly even with the spot where the attack had come. This time there was no one chanting about how wealthy they all were however. That wasn’t even really true.
Carry clearly wasn’t rich. She’d gotten there by bus, and had worried about the cost of dinner. It wasn’t a problem for him, but he was willing to bet that someone like Deidre wouldn’t have easily paid for everyone. Okay, so some of the others probably did make a lot of money from their work, but it still wasn’t about how wealthy they were.
No, it was about how desperately poor everyone else was. It was hard to see, day to day, since everyone had about the same level of stuff. Everyone had clothing, even if it wasn’t all very nice. The people chanting at them had at least. They also had enough food to get by. It was just that a big portion of it was kind of poor quality. Everything was like that. They didn’t have a big homeless problem, since the government didn’t allow that anymore.
You either found a place to live, or went to prison. They called it a tough love program. Just like you had to keep health insurance, or else you went to prison… Where you paid for your upkeep by working every day. Most couldn’t do enough that way, so left with an even bigger bill than they started with.
There were no real jobs though, for the average person. Sure, he did all right, but looking around he realized what a big deal that really was. Mason Sims was, like it or not, one of the top designers in the world at that moment. Even at that his main source of income had been in looking at other people’s copyrights and flipping them. Making just enough changes to allow someone else to produce the same basic thing. That wasn’t because doing his own work was too hard, either.
Everything had already been done, in the main. It was why it took a genius to come up with minor changes to needed goods. Rarely, someone would hit on something that was actually new. He’d done it, a few times, but even at that, most of his work was just an improvement on what someone else had already done.
The entire world was like that.
Singers sang new works, but they were practically the same as what had come before. Artists made virt programs, but other than putting in fresh faces, it was impossible to come up with something that was actually novel. Worse, almost everything was already owned by such a tiny group of people that no one else could really ever hope to improve their life substantially.
It left the very wealthy, the rather desperately poor, and the lucky few that had something to sell. The pretty ones that would always have value, until everyone stopped caring about sex. Those with rare talent, like Adam, and the ones like Mason. Those intelligent enough to force their way in, using what was pretty much brute force techniques.
Watching Ben carefully, he followed along with what they were told. He’d never roasted a marshmallow before. Most of them hadn’t.
“Keep turning the stick. The goal is for it to become a golden brown all over and get warm and gooey inside. A bit higher, Tara, or it will catch on fire.” That happened instantly, but Ben laughed and got her a new one after she flung the flaming orb of sugar into the darkness. “Stay above the flames and go slow.”
Then he grabbed a cookie that he’d printed out, a graham cracker, and a bit of the chocolate, and helped people build a little sandwich out of that and the mallows. When he got around to Mason, the man was so happy it was nearly contagious.
“Give it a bite?”
The others all seemed enthused with theirs, but it was all he could do not to spit the thing out when it hit his tongue. Mason forced himself to chew and swallow it. The texture was good, and so was the flavor, but it was so rich his eyes watered.
“Gah, Ben! That’s… Too much. Way too sweet.” Mason held the rest of his gooey sandwich thing, as everyone laughed at him about it.
Tara snagged his and took a bite, her new toasted sugar bit not ready yet.
“Oh, mygod! This is sodelish. Ben, you’ve invented the perfect food! I never have to eat anything else again.” That got laughter, too. Mason looked around at everyone and smiled.
They seemed nearly happy.
The ocean made its sounds in the background, and the smoke blew into everyone’s eyes, no matter where they moved or how the wind blew. Things smelled like sugar now, and warm chocolate, which went over really well. After a bit, Sam moved to sit next to him. She was dressed in funny pants, that were white, and had on a rather standard blue jacket. The kind that kept the wind off of you, rather than something meant to be more stylish.
He was just sitting on a bit of blanket, near Adam, so his friend moved in between them. Close enough that a few people looked at them funny. One of those was Adam, who sighed.
“Hey, back off, she beast. I saw him first.” It wasn’t really true, but no one could correct that without giving everything away.
Sam looked at the other man, and leaned his way for a second, touching his leg.
“No need to get upset yet. I was just coming to talk to you both. We need to meet, and chat about the new business plan. When we get back? In the basement.”
She didn’t hop up instantly though, leaning back into Mason. It was a warm point of contact, which he allowed, since it was Sam. It lingered, but finally she got up, leaving behind a scent that was fresh, and different than what he’d noticed before. Then, she normally didn’t sit half on top of him on the beach.
Carry, having heard what Ben and he had talked about earlier, was clearly trying to get in on the new printable food show idea. The thing there was that even she couldn’t find a good reason for it. She simply wasn’t a chef, didn’t know the tech very well, and wasn’t so famous that her just standing there would mean much. After a bit though, he nodded along, listening to what she was saying.
“I can learn to say the right words. Even some basic chemistry? Then, I don’t know. I guess not.”
Ben seemed to be about fine with that, but if Carry had really just been worried earlier and not being her natural bitchy self, then helping her out wouldn’t be that big of a problem.
After all, he’d already gotten his dig in at her, in their room.
“That…Might actually work. We can get her up to speed that way pretty easily. I can send over some info on it for you to read, if you want? Vocabulary and that kind of thing.” Apparently, he didn’t know enough about that kind of thing in real life, shows and all that, because his saying that suddenly had Ben all over the idea.
“Co-host, or…” He looked at Mason, like he was the one that was needed to make that kind of decision.
“Up to you. You’re in charge of it all. I was just saying that we could do that. I don’t know, you two could date or something, and do it as a couple? Set Carry up on the tech side explanations, and you can do the actual food part?”
It didn’t have to be real or anything, and while it might seem a bit contrived after a while, like Sam had mentioned earlier, it wasn’t like Mason had a stake in that part of things.
Ben stared at him.
“Built in assured coverage? Brilliant. I’m not currently with anyone. What do you think, Carry?”
“Ah…” There was, Mason supposed, the idea that she might not be all that into the chef. He was a bit thin, and not nearly as good looking as some of the people she probably worked with most days. A little older, too. People stayed young into their sixties though, thanks to the drugs for that kind of thing. So it wasn’t like a fifteen year age gap meant as much anymore. Then the woman smiled, and moved over by Ben. Standing side by side. “I love it! Especially if it means I get better billing.”
They moved a bit, to chat about what that would entail, as a drop of water hit his arm. It was just the one at first, and he wasn’t really certain that he’d felt it, but after a moment there was a steady hiss from the bonfire.
Mason looked up.
“On that note, I think that I’ll go in. We can pick things back up, in the morning?” There was a little matter of a meeting to come still, for some of them, but the people in on that project were different than the ones in on the rest of it.
They started to get wet, picking up the blankets, the composite roasting and toasting sticks and the bowls and covered platters the crackers and other things had come out on. Half the people fled into the house, taking off down the beach, but he stayed. So did half the assistants, and Ben.
As they jogged back, carrying things, the other man made a sound that was a little labored. It wasn’t just from the effort of the moment either.
“So… Did I piss you off or something?”
“Um?” He didn’t have the air to articulate a lot more without gasping.
“Dumping Carry Samson on me like that. It’s almost like I wronged you in a deep and unwholesome manner. It was my constant requests for help with your printer, isn’t it?”
He shrugged, then shook his head and tried to control what he was saying, so it wouldn’t have a big gap in the middle.
“Just an idea. We can also tell her it won’t work, if you want.”
The other man smiled, but wasn’t actually looking at him, his arms full. They were both getting wet, and Adam was right behind them, listening.
“Nah. She’s a good kid, that stuff from earlier aside. My guess is that she really just didn’t get the lay of things down quickly enough. Still, she should have toughed it out, once things lined up like they did. Even if it made her look bad at the time. Lexi Horn isn’t the kind of person to go after her for bending a few social rules about guests. She might do it for going after the guy that kept her from being bent over in front of a room full of people. So might the rest of us. Still, as long as you can get her up to speed on what’s needed, we can probably make it work.” He spoke easily, if softly.
Meaning that he was in better shape than Mason was. He exercised, but not enough to chat while jogging like they were. That probably meant he needed to do more. Especially if he was going to be part of some kind of rebel underground thing. Even if his portion of the greater plan was mainly finished, running away might be needed. Having better endurance might also not help at all. Still, he couldn’t know what would be useful in the end, so getting in better shape wouldn’t hurt.
The rain got harder, and was coming down as if poured from a bucket when he stepped inside, right after Ben. He noticed that Melinda was right behind him, watching the whole world carefully. Her hands were empty, but she made up for that by not breathing hard. Not even a little bit. It was another clue indicating that the assistants were all genetically modified. It had to be an incredible aerobic pressure, carrying all that bulk around, but they acted like it was nothing.
Once in, he dropped his load of things off with a thud that seemed to resonate through the room. That had to be his own relief at being out of the rain, he figured, since he was carrying only a few pounds, most of them soft. Then Mason headed for his bedroom. He had things in there, and while he didn’t really know what was going to take place at the meeting, he wanted his float screen, just in case.
His part in this thing, this rebellion of sorts, was to make sure the technical components happened, or at least were available for use. That meant being ready to think, even if no one else would expect him to do anything past what he’d already come up with.
It was just as simple to get all of his things at once and move it to the basement, so he did it without thinking too much. In a way, it was the better plan. If he stayed in the bedroom, then Carry might try to have sex with him, thinking she should make things up to him for having been bitchy and awful before.
She should, having been pretty awful, but he wasn’t so desperate that a blowjob would fix everything between them. Saying she was sorry a few times, and not acting like she had before would be a good start, however. Mason had a sneaking suspicion that the girl got cranky when things got even a little hard. She might not be the most famous person around, but complaining still seemed to come pretty naturally to her.
Now he was out of that trap. Instead of feeling massive rejection, Mason viewed it as the actress just not being a very nice person. No one said anything to him as he lugged all his stuff downstairs, though once he was in the basement, the place filled up with bodies pretty quickly. They flowed in behind him, as if his going down had signaled the others to follow along.
He tucked his cases behind the disassembly unit, and sat in one of the chairs that someone had printed out. Probably using the new machine. They were fairly standard things, the kind easily found on the networks, and since the machine didn’t report what was made, they were pirated. They had to be, unless someone had gotten them somewhere else.
That was the way things were going to be eventually, if the plan worked. There was no way to enforce copyright in a world where everyone could just do whatever they wanted. Indeed, he was kind of insisting on it, giving no way in the new system to pay anyone for the efforts. It was certainly going to be different that way.
The seating was set up in a circle, like a real meeting was about to take place. A club, or group thing where hard discussions and personal growth might take place. Anyone seeing it would instantly understand the idea. Everyone was given an equal place, no one being higher than the others. Except that whoever was in charge would clearly become the top of the round shape. It was the flaw with that kind of thing and always had been. People were designed to think of one way as being up. It was hardwired into their systems, and so automatic that they would assign a random direction if they had to, based on some other factor than gravity.
When people went into space, and were all floating around, they all eventually held their heads in the same direction. Even if they didn’t start that way. This would be like that. Probably based on whoever spoke first.
Some twenty people were there, most of them being ones that he didn’t know. Assistants, or that kind of person, if Mason were going to make a guess at the idea based on appearances. They had that lean and powerful look to them, for the most part. That wasn’t a big deal, John having told them already, that all of the people were coming. More of them that he would have figured existed in the whole world, being that he’d thought the rebellion was about ten people. Clearly they were some kind of ex- military. That, or they belonged to a powerful corporation. No other groups could afford the genetic manipulation needed to create them.
There was also a black composite box on a low table, which had a printed smiley face on it in bright yellow. It was a slightly shiny thing, and took up the side of the thing. That was probably new, having been made there. It was hard to tell, but the quality was very good, for a simple geometric design, regardless. There was an importance to it that didn’t make a lot of sense yet. Where the mouth was he could see a small mesh that probably covered a speaker.
The others that came were Adam, who’d been invited before just like he had, Sam, and to his shock, George. That one actually took him by surprise, since the man hadn’t seemed to be involved with anything in particular the whole time Mason had known him. There was no sign of Ben, Carry, or Tara, however.
As it was, Mason wondered a bit about Adam being allowed in on it. If you didn’t want things to be known, it made sense to him to prevent certain types of people from finding out about it. Then, from what he’d seen the kid could keep a secret pretty well. He hadn’t divulged anything about Hunter to anyone, even if it wouldn’t have been that big of a deal, given who he’d been telling the story to. Perhaps he was a better risk that it would have seemed at first.
Shrugging he went to his luggage and got his float screen out, then found his old files. In there, near the front, since it had been created while he was in school, was the nano set he’d mentioned before. It needed some basic programming instructions to go with it. Just a simple timer, and an interface language setup. Because it didn’t take long he put in a way to turn up the power on the nano drug, so that it wouldn’t have to be used full blast all the time. That level would turn most people into zombies, so a lesser version might be preferable.
That was printing as John moved to the center, waving for everyone to sit.
“We all know each other?” He smiled and waved that away. Then he smiled as he glanced from one face to another, as most of them shook their heads. “We aren’t supposed to. If it weren’t for the current changes in action available to us right now, we’d never meet like this. We won’t again.”
There was a look at the other people in the place, with most of the people looking like they knew who some of the others were on sight. That was the problem of including famous people into the mix, especially if you were going to call attention to the idea. Mason still understood the concept. They weren’t going to get a lot of introductions.
