Monday, 4/15/2216, Part 3

He had a car. Of course he had a car. An up to date 2217 Edison Model NCL ground car with limited air function. Very nice.

“Are you even allowed to be driving this right now?” I asked, saltily, as I hopped into the passenger seat.

“What you mean?” He asked back, acting confused but clearly relishing the flex.

“Don’t be s-stupid. You know, government employee, driving a martian car. They let you do that?”

He smiled, showing off the intentionally uncorrected gap in his front teeth.

“If they wanted me driving garbage they would put me in a Plex made by Caliber. I guess they value us a little more than that.”

“We don’t do personal vehicles anymore jackass. Only security and military vehicles with the occasional specialty order.”

“My car is special. Aren’t you special Nicole?”

“I am special.” The car responded.

He leaned over from the drivers seat to give me a smug sideways look. “Her name is Nicole. Isn’t that right?”

“My name is Nicole. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” The car said.

“Yeah, whatever. It’s got a nice look to it, but a sleek design doesn’t make a good car.”

“Not it. Her name is Nicole.” Seitaro said again. “Nicole, show this lame why you’re special.”

“Certainly.”

It rocketed off. It weaved through the light ‘rush hour’ traffic and raced through alleys and side streets faster than my conscious mind could register. If my NAC wasn’t still updating me on my current position I would have no idea where we were going. Turns out we were going nowhere really really fast, just looping around the neighborhood, but that was something I wouldn’t have known.

Internal Notice: Heart rate unusually elevated. Do you require assistance?

Select no.

“What you think?” Seitaro asked as our frail mortal bodies adjusted to this monstrous speed.

“It’s ok.” I said. Playing it cool.

“Hmmmmm…” he hummed as Nicole took off, jumping over a ground car at a traffic light and effortlessly merging into West Side Highway traffic from above. I gasped at the acceleration of the jump, then laughed out loud. I couldn’t help it.

“Ok, ok, you win, it’s awesome. It’s the coolest car I’ve ever been in you f-fucker.”

He smiled victoriously. “Nicole, head back.”

“Right away.”

“Naming and gendering your car is still cringe though.” I said, crossing my arms.

“It’s cool bro, let that pettiness out of your system, you’ll feel so much lighter without that hate in your heart.”

My NAC suddenly alerted.

Traffic Advisory: Hostile corporate action zone detected ahead. Civilians are advised to avoid the area for their own safety.

“Did you get that?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“Well d-don’t jump it.”

“Yeah.”

“I’m serious, they’ll shoot us down.”

“I know. Nicole, slow down and take the long way around.” He said, looking visibly upset as the car slowed to a reasonable speed and changed direction.

“Thank you,” I said, exasperated.

Seitaro said nothing for a while, just stared out the window at the corporate action zone as we drove by.

“To be so honest, that shit pissed me clean off.” He said, finally.

“So it goes.” I shrugged. “Plex and Orange have been fighting over that office building for a few weeks now. I heard its caused millions in damages and injured some guards. Also 16 civilians died in the crossfire I think.”

“Deadass?” Seitaro asked, absentmindedly, still staring out the window.

“Deadass.” I confirmed. “Worst part is that its r-right in front of the C train, so I’ve been having to get out at Canal and walk.”

“Yooooo!” He exclaimed, his attention shifting back to me. “You remember when we were selling mixtapes on Canal?”

I smiled at that. “Of course I do.”

“That was a great hustle. Broadcast the ‘would you like to listen to a free album created by New York City youths with nothing but a dollar and a dream?’ message to the whole block!”

“Haha, yeah, and when the tourists clicked it they got pinged and we would run up to ask for a ‘donation’.”

“We were some bad kids.” Seitaro said, smiling and shaking his head. “Still money is money, even back then.”

“I’ve been telling you, we definitely didn’t even break even on that. We could’ve put out whatever, but you wanted to buy studio time with Multiples.”

“Oh shit! I forgot about Multiples! What a legend! I wonder what happened to him.”

Select main menu, select neural network, select web, select Plex, search Multiples the Producer. Top result: Brooklyn Man Charged with Operating a Criminal Ring from Inside His Greenpoint Apartment.

“Oh shit. Do you—”

“Yeah, I see it.”

GREENPOINT, Brooklyn (TNN) — A 36-year-old man has had his NAC account suspended and is facing possible account termination for several alleged Terms of Service violations. Peace officers said the man, Ferdinand Moore (FM:2171:U:7521112041), better known by his pseudonym “Multiples the Producer”, was suspended and taken into custody after they discovered he had been operating a continuing criminal enterprise from his apartment for years. His charges include three counts of operating an unregistered business, one count of conspiracy to transmit unlicensed currency, two counts of conspiracy to defraud the IRS, and one count of illegal building conversion or occupancy. Any one of these crimes is a clear violation of EarthGov’s Terms of Service for NAC usage and, should Moore be found guilty, could result in immediate account termination.

“Ugh.”

“Yeah.”

We sat in stunned silence for a long time. The car had parked just outside the Orange controlled edge of the corporate action zone. We idled and watched their drones and security bots scramble around from location to location, posturing, threatening, and fortifying different positions. We saw a few human guards too, sitting in bunkers, holding guns, probably watching something to pass the time. They had no part to play in this AI vs AI chess match that was taking place around them. Looking intimidating was all they could do to belong.

After an eternity had passed, Seitaro broke the silence.

“Tell you a secret, Orange man to Plex man?”

“We only subcontract.”

“Yeah whatever, me too, so does everyone. Your firm is Caliber auto whatever and mine is EarthGov, either way we know who writes the checks.”

“Uh huh. Sure.”

“Anyway, what I’m trying to tell you is even before the war they weren’t here to fight.”

Rows of security drones arrayed in neat formations only to scatter immediately after. Gunfire rang out from somewhere in the zone.

“They certainly look like they are.”

“They weren’t here to fight each other I mean. They just needed a pretext for the buildup.” I couldn’t tell if this was insider knowledge or classic Seitaro paranoia. I didn’t really care either.

“Why are they p-pretending?” I humor him.

“Because the HU is out here.”

“What?”

“The Human’s Union.”

“Oh, right.” I said nervously thinking about Ontivia and her friends. I had a feeling that not telling Seitaro about them was the right call.

“How do you feel about the HU?” I asked, to verify.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, they seem to want a better life for people.”

“Never mistake an organization’s stated goals for their true agenda. That’s just politics 101.”

“B-but, like, don’t they seem harmless?” I squeak, remembering what Ontivia said at the bar.

He paused, thinking about his words.

“I’ll just say this, they may seem non threatening, but they’re actually far more dangerous than Edison ever will be. To some people at least.”

“W-well, I, uhhh…” I trailed off. I didn’t know what to say. Seitaro picked up on my reluctance.

“My bad, my bad, I just got extra serious for a minute.” He said, smiling again and mercifully changing the subject with, “Anyway, how’s moms doing?”

“She’s good.” I answered automatically.

“That’s good to hear.” He said while I secretly messaged Ami.

‘Ami! Please remind me to call mom this weekend, thanks!’