Paranoia ✓

IV: Daniel - Checking-In

Daniel was growing anxious beneath his headset. As he tapped and clicked away on his computer, he felt like he himself was a supercomputer—listening, reading, and watching dozens of phone calls, messages, and surveillance videos.

His job was clear. He was to check in on a group of Americans assigned to him from a specific section of a section in a city. Mainly he listened into civilians that resided in a city—which were considered high-risk targets to acts of terrorism. Citizens from Small Town, South Dakota or Nowhere, Nebraska were not high on the checking-in list. Each day he was checking into a new city. Today it happened to be Phoenix, Arizona.

"You've reached 911, what's your emergency?"

"You have to help—its trapped in the chimney!"

"Miss, I need you to calm down and tell me who's stuck in the chimney."

"It's my daughter's..." The woman voice trailed off, clearly sidetracked by the situation. "Come down from there now!" she ordered.

"Miss, I need to know what the situation is in order to send the proper emergency service."

"It's my daughter's cat. It got stuck in the chimney. I don't know how..." She trailed off again, cat-calling off in the distance.

"Miss, I'm sending the fire department to your location."

The woman came back to the phone, "But I haven't even given you my address yet."

"Not to worry, we can trace your phone call—for safety purposes of course."

Daniel couldn't help chuckling a bit at that one. This was surely new. He's heard of cats being stuck in a tree, but in a chimney? And then the woman wondering how the operator knew where she lived. She's onto to us, he thought sarcastically.

He turned back to his computer screen and closed out the telephone call and opened up a series of text messages that was exchanged between two late-age teenagers, ages 17 and 18.

Person number one, age 17, was a female named Malissa Cassidy; born on December 27, 2006. Person number two, age 18, was a male named Albert Walker; born on February 26, 2005. Conversation began at approx. 8:07 P.M. Ended at 10:47 P.M. with large time gaps between messages. Flagged for notice. Mentioning of trigger words, "kill" and "school" and "blow-up."

Daniel moved on from the summary and dove into the conversation.

Malissa: I swear I hate Mr. Harrison. All this fuking calc hw is making me wanna kill him.

Albert: Nah it makes me wanna kill the guy who invented calc. Then all our problems would be solved.

Malissa: I think Mr. Harrison invented it. That asshole is old enough to b at the crucifixion of Jesus.

Albert: Lol. I think the guy was named Newton or sumthing.

Malissa: Then we needa buy a time machine on Amazon or sumthing and go back in time and kill that motherfuker.

Albert: Strong ambitions for a pretty bae.

Malissa: Stfu, you're helping me do it.

Albert: Do what?

Malissa: Kill whoever invented calc and made our lives miserable. I never gonna need this shit in life.

Albert: Well some people do.

Malissa: Wow like four people. Why am I forced to learn this shit when my life is hard enough as it is?

Albert: Yes cause acting is VERY HARD, just like my dic—tionary.