C-1
"Gaia is partnering with medium sized media companies. Closest to us is Dark House. A weekly magazine."
"Good," Min said.
"You want the complete list of the partner media companies?" Came the question in the cold voice.
"No," he answered. "Let's not battle the inevitable."
"Yes."
He heard a smile, and he smiled too.
"Who is the liaison at Dark Horse?"
"Ashish Dhar. He's a senior correspondent with tech news. We have the clone of his Black Gate and all of his data."
"Wonderful. Draw up his life."
He wasn't sure Men understood. But Men did. And he was happily surprised.
Men had compiled Ashish's profile in the format of the academy's student profiles.
**
Name: Ashish Dhar
Title: Senior correspondent - tech news
Responsibilities: Direct liaison with tech companies in the state
Oversee team of junior reporters
Current position: Liaison - Gaia
Personal details: Wife - Sirah
Children - Ronnie (son, 7), Welma (daughter, 3)
Friends - Vidal (Dark Horse, senior correspondent - global political)
Brim (Dark Horse, Asst Editor - open terminal)
Farah (Reporter - city news, on-field)
Family: Gaurav - First cousin - Asst City Manager
Mayank - Second cousin - Analyst - economic discrepancies, National Bank
Priya, Devi, Naina - cousins - Directors, Foura
Economic status: Upper middle class - Hozer's Socio-Economic scale
**
"Draw up life of Brim and Farah."
**
Name: Brim Micht
Title: Asst Editor - open terminal
Responsibilities: Oversee magazine - open terminal edition
Personal Details: Girlfriend - Sheena
Friends - Ashish (Dark Horse, senior correspondent - tech news)
Farah (Reporter - city news, on-field)
Neo (Reporter - open terminal)
Prez (Admin - IT)
Economic Status: High - Hozer's Socio-Economic scale
**
Name: Farah Amee
Title: Reporter - city news, on-field
Responsibilities: Cover city news
Personal details: Girlfriend - Moe
Friends - Ashish (Dark Horse, senior correspondent - tech news)
Brim (Dark Horse, Asst Editor - open terminal)
Kia (Dark Horse, Editor - magazine)
Economic Status: Mid middle class - Hozer's Socio-Economic scale
**
"Do we have access to all of Dark Horse?"
He thought it was a fair question. But the disdain in the silent reply was deafening.
"Fine," he said, as an apology, and continued. "Open the current edition of the open terminal magazine."
There was silence again, but he heard the difference. Almost a full minute later, a second screen floated beside the first, showing the open terminal magazine that was currently being prepared. Neo was proofreading an article on certain wide-web niche groups that were turning to the dark side by transforming into cults. The article was the first of a series investigating whether this was a trend and if so, whether there was a phenomenon acting as trigger.
"Open his sources."
He didn't have to wait long for a reply, that wasn't the answer he was expecting.
"I'll need a minute," came the answer in the cold voice.
"Why?"
"Neo's not on his terminal, which is where his files are. I'm navigating slow, because I don't want to trigger an alarm. Prez is good."
"Is that high praise?"
"It is."
True to word, at the end of the minute, a third screen opened with the Black Gate of Neo's terminal. It listed the sources for the article.
"Do you have a writer?" He asked.
"What do you need?" Came the reply.
"One of the sources should lead to a page of a certain group that Neo had missed. Should be discreet. The group should be an ardent follower of dear old Porto Magus. Posts must be at least four years old. A post from a year ago must question the possibilities Gaia realises from Magus manifesto. It must link other such posts on other pages. Must be ready by morning."
"High demand," came the reply. "Will be done."
"Place an untraceable call to Farah. Tell her of the existence of a bug in Gaia. Nothing more."
"When?"
"At the earliest. Sound like a young man."
"Sound like you?"
"Yeah. Sounds good. Sound like me."
There was no reply. But a minute later, there was the sound of a phone ringing. The call wasn't answered. Men called again. This time, the call was answered after the fourth ring. The voice of a woman was on the other end.
"Hello."
"Ms Farah?"
The question was in Min's voice, to his delight.
"Yes. Who is this?"
There was wariness in her voice. She had realised the call was untraceable. And in her line of work, she knew what that represented.
"Doesn't matter. I have something to tell you. Big."
Farah was quiet a few long seconds.
"Continue," she said carefully.
"There is a bug in Gaia."
And the call ended.
"Wonderful," he praised.
"Thank you."
"So you do like praise," he teased.
"Who doesn't," came the unaffected reply.
"Alright. Now we wait. We'll call Farah in the morning. In the meantime, let's take a look at things here."