Crowd: A Dystopian Social Network Thriller (Final Draft)

I think I'm in trouble

"True that," her father said. "Complainers never win."

At least something they could agree on.

Sanchez and Lizzie arrived with their birthday present wrapped in recycling paper. The perfect timing to break up the stuffy atmosphere with some positive vibes. Rain stood up and hugged the visitors.

Sanchez looked surprised. "Oh my, Rain? It's been ages."

Another pleasant surprise—both Sanchez and Lizzie were logged into Crowd and carried an above average ranking. The late afternoon could only improve from now on.

"Hey, you old fart," Sanchez said to her father and gave him the present.

The mood upped when the dirty jokes launched.

Mom shared a new round of enchiladas and filled everyone's glasses with fresh lime-lemonade and a couple of cold Coronas. Lizzie grabbed a bottle and eyed its contents. "Pricy."

"How'd you know?" dad asked.

"AR lenses. They tell me everything I need to know."

"Are you using that crap?"

Rain twitched whenever her father substituted Crowd and its related gear for crap.

"I just signed up for it two and a half months ago."

Both Lincoln and dad grimaced like brothers in arms.

"I was suspicious at first," Sanchez said, "but some of our friends told us about the many advantages we'd receive if our score ranked above average."

Lizzie chimed in. "We got a twenty percent discount on our apartment, plus a fifteen decrease on our public transit. We even sold our car and focus on sharing services."

Lizzie grabbed his hand and nodded.

Father shook his head and finished his new Corona. Lincoln looked like he had been teleported to a dimension where gravity didn't apply.

"Maybe you should try it, too, Dad," Rain said.

He coughed up a chuckle. "Not gonna have some virgin tech boys surveil me."

Typical misrepresentation.

"Crowd is an international organization with thousands of employees, almost half of which are women."

"Don't care if they employ gender-fluid penguins. I ain't letting some soy-boy software invade my privacy. Probably getting a down-rank just because I'm a man."

Rain sighed. "I'm sure you have a massive pile of evidence for that claim."

"Your entire city is evidence. On the brink of civil war, and those hippies talk about ranks and kale updates."

"Both of you, stop already," Mom said.

Rain flicked a glance at Sanchez who smiled back. At least one person at the table understood her. Maybe she would find some time to speak to him and Lizzie later on. Sanchez seemed to look at her direction, and she wondered why. He acted like someone who wanted to talk only to her.

Rain focused on her enchilada when Lincoln flanked her with another question. That guy wouldn't stop. "So, what exactly do you do at your tech company?"

Rain took a deep breath. "I'm helping people whose ranking has dropped significantly over a relatively short amount of time."

"What if it drops to zero? Do you shoot them?"

Lincoln started to feel like a devil's advocate, seated to press her emotions.

Rain found it rather amusing. "We use rocket launchers with head-homing upgrades. As soon as someone's score falls below two, I'll hunt down the perp with my RPG and blow his head off. Boom goes the ranking issue."

Lincoln almost dropped his spoon.

Father grinned and leaned back.

"You're kidding, right?"

"If I'd work for Metro Police, I'd probably do something along these lines."

"Yeah right."

Sanchez chimed in. "So if my rank drops rapidly, will I be able to consult you?"

His voice sounded much more kind and curious.

"Unfortunately, only if you live in Santa Kahlo. San Diego has their own office, I think."

"Scary," father said, gulping down the rest of his greasy burrito.

"Maybe you shouldn't eat so much unsaturated fat."

"Why not? Better live to the fullest before the geek Gestapo comes knocking down on my door, bustin' me for meat abuse."

Lincoln and Sanchez grinned, probably for different reasons.

"Don't worry, Dad, we only work with Crowd members."

"For now," he said, wiping the grease from his thick lips.

Rain took a sip from her refreshing lime-lemonade and leaned back.

Better keep quiet now.

Talk about something nice, like sports and movies.

Rain opened her mouth when Lizzie placed her chair in-between Lincoln and Dad and started to chat about the Golden State Warriors. The perfect moment for Rain to help her mother clearing the table and finding an excuse to walk inside without coming across as rude. Before Mom could fire her complain in the kitchen, Rain launched her preemptive strike. "This Lincoln guy started it. I was willing to talk about the weather."

"I know, I know."

Sanchez joined the two with a staple of dirty dishes.

"Aren't you sweet?" Mom said.

"The food was amazing, by the way. You're still the queen of enchiladas."

"Now let me do the dishes. Go outside and have some fun. Rainy, If Lincoln wants to talk about Crowd, tell him to set up a meeting with you."

Mom was the best. Rain couldn't help but smile at her. "I will."

She and Sanchez returned to the living room when he stiffened and looked around in a suspicious way. "I need to talk to you."

She didn't bother to hide the smile. "Don't tell me you two are getting—"

His face darkened.

"It's about Crowd. I think I'm in trouble."