Freedom Club (36 page)

“Another philosopher who’s a prominent Freedom Club member,” Shinzou explained. “He wrote a book called, The Technological Society. There he made the point that technology always moves forward, no matter how hard you try to suppress it, ignore it, destroy it. It’s always going to win out in the end.”

“But then what’s the point fighting it?” Sumeet objected sardonically. “And I’m not sure this Freedom Club of yours, or whatever you call it, would really include Thoreau, or a terrorist like Kaczynski. Weren’t they too far apart ideologically?”

“Members don’t sign any charter,” Shinzou explained. “And the ideology is only about man’s enslavement to progress. How you deal with it is something else entirely. Violence becomes an issue based on local moralities and ethics. Which, as Sartre pointed out, are quite fluid, by the way.”

Sumeet snorted. “How convenient. And maybe you can tell me where you stand? You admitted that you work with the ASPAU. They must use violence, don’t they.”

Shinzou shook his head. “I’m an analytical consultant with SWCISA. It’s part of law enforcement, but I don’t do official field work for them. Anyway you’re missing the point. All that’s not related to the Freedom Club.”

Sumeet looked on, unconvinced.

Shinzou said, “My Freedom Club work takes the form of clandestine nonviolent Lebensstörung. Not intended to harm anyone, but focused on technological system disruption. The commerce system, for example.”

“Lebensstörung?” Sumeet croaked. “You mean, like all these recent LS attacks?”

“Yes. All my handiwork, I’m afraid.”

“What? All of them?”

“Well, most of them, I think.”

Sumeet froze in his chair. The implications were simple to understand. Any association with LS made him a terrorist by association. What had he gotten himself into? Unsure how to proceed, he considered what could happen. What if he was caught? His whole life would be ruined. Forget worrying about the job at Chindo. That was trivial in comparison.

“You’re upset, aren’t you?” Shinzou said.

“Oh, no,” Sumeet stammered slowly. “But...I didn’t expect.....”

Shinzou pleaded. “You need to understand. We’re trying to save society.”

Sumeet looked away. “And what about the airport? Did you cause all that?”

Shinzou looked embarrassed. “Well, yes, that too. Believe it or not, it was my attempt to get you to fly over and visit.”

He had taken down Narita too? Things got worse by the minute! Sumeet glared back in shock, unable to believe what he was hearing. Maybe it was all an elaborate hoax. Yes, that would explain it. But then Sumeet remembered Kamiyoshi, and the horrible death scene. No, it was no hoax. Sumeet took a few deep breaths and let it all sink in.

Shinzou said, “I’m not violent, if that’s worrying you.”

“Not every court would agree,” Sumeet cynically replied.

Shinzou took the punch with a wry smile. “Civil disobedience often pits itself against the government. Many great men have spent time in jail. It’s a form of vigilantism, called for because there’s no other means to deal with the problem.”

“For God’s sakes! Why not just have a demonstration? Wouldn’t that be easier?”

“Not effective,” Shinzou snapped dryly. “Though I like to sit around and philosophize like Thoreau and Marx, I’m also a practitioner. You could say I’m more in the middle, employing actions that hurt the system and hopefully start a revolution. It can happen if you keep the pressure up.”

“Pressure?”

“That’s our goal, really. Create disruptions in the system, keep people uncomfortable and allow them to see the true nature of their endemic problems. Like the payment-processing systems. The chaos that ensues teaches people how materialistic they’ve become. Weans them off of shopping.”

Sumeet threw his arms up in frustration. “But you work with law enforcement? How can you do that and still commit LS?”

“Be sensible,” Shinzou pleaded. “The world is different than it was one hundred years ago. How do you think it’s possible otherwise? Modern-day integrated systems make everything fully transparent. Eating, sleeping, shopping, even taking a crap in the public toilet is monitored. The only way to effect change within the system is to become part of it.”

Sumeet screwed up his eyes. “But I’m no insider. Why are you telling me all this?”

Shinzou scratched his head. “Well, to recruit you, actually.”

“Recruit me?”

“Our backgrounds are similar, believe it or not. I would enjoy your help, and I think it’s a great opportunity for you. Think about it! You’d finally have a choice in your life. You don’t have to enslave yourself.”

“I’m not enslaving myself!” Sumeet protested angrily.

Shinzou laughed. “No? Consider the work you do in Bengaluru. Didn’t you tell me how small and insignificant you are at Chindo Securities?”

“That isn’t true always,” Sumeet said harshly. “I had some ability to make decisions.”

“Really?” Shinzou said suspiciously. “And after all that empowerment and hard work, how did it all work out? Didn’t you just get fired? Look, I’m not trying to hurt your feelings. I’m just trying to make you realize the true nature of our civilized world. Give you options to choose a life that offers more fulfillment than many people will ever know.”

Sumeet looked back silently. The offer seemed sincere, but it was also totally unexpected. Become part of the Freedom Club? Preposterous really, and it included risks. Sumeet never had to consider such a request. And though his mind told him to say no, there was a nagging feeling within him, something that restrained him from answering.

“I don’t want to put pressure on you, so there’s no need to decide now,” Shinzou said, standing up and going over to a workstation. “We need to switch gears to more important things!”

“Like what?”

Shinzou hacked at the terminal, looking every few moments at the flexi wall. “We need to locate Shiro. It’s imperative that we contact him and offer our help.”

“How are we going to do that? We barely know anything about his whereabouts.”

“True enough,” Shinzou said, looking blankly at the flexi screen. “But we have some clues that Kamiyoshi left before his suicide. Maybe we can track him down. But we can’t do it without Henry’s help.”

Sumeet paused and stood back. “Your son?”

Shinzou grinned as the flexi wall began to brighten. He then swiveled in his chair and playfully slapped his kneecaps. “My son and companion. We’ve been together for so many years now. When this flexi wall’s back on line, we can conference him into this safe house location via Quantum. Give me a minute...”

The far wall’s flexi booted up and soon displayed standard communication menus. It wasn’t long before a call was made and Henry David came into view. His bushy neck-beard and large nose constructed an interesting visage, one uncommon in the glitzy world of avatars. Sumeet approached the wall with Shinzou so that introductions could be made.

“Henry? This is Sumeet,” Shinzou said, gesturing with one hand. “Sumeet? Let me introduce Henry David.”

Henry’s voice filled the room, dignified and full of vigor. “Hello, we have been talking about you for quite some time. It’s very nice to finally make your acquaintance.”

Sumeet remained silent. Sentient meetings were part of his corporate experience, but this was a little different. It seemed more personal, quite absurd in some respects.

Sumeet gulped. “Yes, it’s...nice to make your acquaintance. Uhm...Henry David, is it?”

“Just call me Henry. My Freedom Club avatar’s namesake, you understand.” Henry eyed Shinzou with one raised eyebrow. “He does understand, I presume?”

Shinzou said, “We were just having a long chat about the Freedom Club, if that’s what you mean.”

“Excellent,” Henry boomed. “So, young man, have you decided to join our illustrious club?”

Sumeet looked at Shinzou, unsure how to proceed. All the Sentients he had ever encountered were only interested in narrow business topics. Only Ivan ever strayed into other areas, and that was only because doing so was considered part of the team-building process.

“Well, I haven’t quite made up my mind yet,” Sumeet admitted humbly. “With all the excitement today, I’ve had little time to think about it.”

“Excitement?” Henry asked.

Shinzou stepped forward. “Sumeet’s being polite. It’s really a euphemism for a dangerous situation. Sorry, there wasn’t time to make you a report.”

“What are you talking about?” Henry demanded.

“We had a pretty rough day,” Shinzou said, shaking his head. “Let me tell you everything. Actually, you’re going to find this hard to believe.”

Shinzou then recounted to Henry what happened during their tragic visit with Dr. Kamiyoshi. How Gupta had provided Shinzou with the name of Po’pay, the only survivor of three Sentients who were reared religiously, and their tragic end when the project was halted sixteen years ago.

The whole while Henry looked on contently. Every now and then his eyebrows popped up, divulging utter surprise. And he guffawed in total dismay as Shinzou somberly explained how Kamiyoshi committed suicide using the same weapon that he used to threaten them.

Once Shinzou had finished, Henry immediately looked at Sumeet. “This is outrageous. You must have been scared senseless. Are you all right?”

Sumeet found Henry’s concern startling. “Well, thank you for asking, Henry, but I’m fine. I mean, considering what could have happened.”

“I should say,” Henry said, nodding. “During all my years with Shinzou, I’ve never encountered anything like this. And I do hope you don’t look upon us negatively. The Freedom Club, at the least the chapter we run, is based on the principles of nonviolence.”

Sumeet said, “Yes, Shinzou had explained that earlier.”

“It’s an outrage!” Henry moved on the wall over to Shinzou. “And how could you let something like this happen?”

Shinzou threw up a hand dismissively. “I was as surprised as you are, Henry.”

Henry puffed his cheeks. “You could have gotten yourself killed, along with poor Sumeet before he even joined!”

“I didn’t think the situation was going become violent. For God’s sakes Henry, the guy was a priest.”

“He was armed!”

“That thing was pointed straight at me, too!” Shinzou protested. “Thanks so much for caring about my feelings, by the way.”

“But you’ve had training! Poor Sumeet here was unprepared in the worst possible way.”

“What can I say? It was a beyond-three-standard-deviation moment!”

Henry harrumphed with disgust. “Nonetheless, I believe you owe Sumeet here a formal apology.”

Shinzou looked up at Henry’s glaring eye until he realized there was no escaping it. He approached Sumeet, who seemed surprised by the effort on his behalf.

Holding both hands in the air apologetically, Shinzou said, “I am sorry, Sumeet. Even though I had no way of knowing what would happen...well, it’s no excuse. It’s my responsibility to make sure we don’t get hurt out in the field and I failed you. Please forgive me.”

Sumeet sat down. Something quite new and unexpected was taking place. In all the years he had worked with Sentients, having one actually care about his feelings was fascinating. And forcing an apology? Though unnecessary, it demonstrated that Henry was unlike any Sentient he had met before.

Looking for a few moments at both Henry and Shinzou, Sumeet broke his silence. “A formal apology was unnecessary. But I appreciate your sincerity. Thank you for that.”

Henry smiled from the side. “It may take some time, but I do hope we can put this unfortunate event behind us.”

“Only from an emotional point of view,” Shinzou said.

“Pardon?” Henry said.

Shinzou walked in front of Henry’s avatar. “The information divulged by Kamiyoshi before he died raises a lot of questions. Like, who gave the order for that illegal study? I can’t just go back to Gupta and tell him about everything that happened. It might endanger all of us.”

“That’s true,” Henry said, nodding. “And historically speaking, black operations have occurred so often. Deplorable on so many levels, yet so typical. We need to be very careful. Ensure we don’t step into something beyond what we can handle.”

Shinzou nodded his head and began pacing in front of the flexi wall. “What about Po’pay, or Shiro as Kamiyoshi called him.”

“It’s quite something,” Henry said. “I never imagined there were other rogue Sentients like myself somewhere out there. For me especially it’s exciting to hear about all this.”

“What can we do, Henry?” Shinzou asked. “I mean, we can’t just ignore him. He’s been mistreated, and has been hiding all these years. Somehow, I’d like to find him, open a dialog.”

Henry shook his head pessimistically. “No telling what state he’s in. But yes, making contact seems like one course of action. Probably worth the risks. But it won’t be easy, Kamiyoshi’s death makes this a real challenge.” Henry furrowed his eyebrows and thought to himself. “Ah, we have some clues. You said earlier that he mentioned the first location that hosted Shiro. A church?”

Shinzou thought for a moment. “Yes, it was. The Church of Freedom as I recall.” He looked over toward Sumeet. “Was that it?”