The Rise of the Cyborgs

Interlude Craig

As always interludes are optional. Hopefully, they enhance the experience but you can skip over them if they detract and confuse. 

Craig lent back in bed. The woman he was sleeping with rolled over. Her bare silicon enhanced breast rolled on to her side. She was going on his bill as 'artisan bread'. She had made a joke about this but it sounded flat like an airline hostess telling you about the life jacket under your seat. For a moment Craig wondered about his day.

He looked over to his laptop. He wondered if he should text to let the blackmailer know the good news. The monthly meeting between the party leaders in government and the party hierarchy in the army was probably known to the blackmailer. If he opened his laptop His email would be full of Freedom part info about the rally they were planning outside the Permanence party offices. He wouldn't go but the blackmailer would be happy with what he had done. There were some in the right of the permanence party who supported the ideas of the Freedom party. IT was to them that project liberation was focused. Craig lit another cigarette.

The meeting was over. It had gone smoother than expected. The defence budget would be expanded and the 'new-visions' extension was a primary part of it. This included money for what the permanence party and Saden himself had sectioned as project liberation. This would in one move people back from the supporting the freedom party. Once that was done they could concentrate on restoring the economy. Getting everything back to were it was before the war.

Craig wondered about it again. He was in such deep water. The photos of his last encounter - well they were enough to ruin his reputation. This had to be someone in the military doing this, he reasoned. Who else would want that much more money spent on autonomous tech? Was this GovSys ? They would know how to by pass all the security. They had back doors in everything. This money for the new-visions program would take tech designed by GovSys and into the hands of the manufacturers would want the lucrative contract. Craig looked at the glossy hand outs. A second generation of drone tank.

He wasn't against this, just irritated with the strong arm way they were going about this. Who ever the general behind this little blackmail was he was getting a huge flood of new cash for some exotic weapon tech. He had been really careful about this.

Craig leant back and tried to take the positive from what had happened. He had done a wonderful job protecting the country. Because of Craig, the country would be stronger. More able to protect itself from enemies foreign and domestic. He should take pride in that. That's why he joined the party.

In many ways the blackmailer had got him to do what he would have done anyway. Maybe not quite this amount of money. It seemed obvious that some weapons company had hired this bastard to get their way.

This is strange, with the kind of help he was been given. With a background he had on the others, he would've done this anyway. Still the promise of secrets kept and cash in the bank it seemed the smart thing to do.

Craig's phone flashed up. It was the blackmailer's number.

Looking around Craig took the recorder. Two could play at the world of spying. The GovSys tech and the General had been very clear about the ability of the new devices to 'suppress populations'. This would be worth something, Craig could get immunity with that kind of talk. The blackmailer thought he had Craig over a barrel - but now Craig was getting his own line.

"I have some more instructions." The message came.

Graig got up. Sometimes the blackmailer had surveillance cameras. He threw his pants on and walked down to the car parked outside. If he was going to have a long typing session it would be good if no one heard him swear.

"LEAVE ME ALONE" Craig typed as he made sure the front door of the suburban home he now rented didn't lock him out. "I HAVE DONE ALL THAT YOU ASKED."