Sandy took a drink, looking at him as she did. “I was wondering,” she said.
“What?”
“Do you want to come back to my place? Maybe watch a couple of movies?”
“Where did this come from?” he asked.
“I don’t know. You’ve been different lately. But does it matter?”
“I guess not.”
She stood and held out her hand.
Jacob looked up and smiled, then took her hand and let her lead him out of the club.
Chapter 37
Clearly feeling the effects of the night before, Two-Step moved around the store like he was walking underwater. He was even five minutes late for his shift, a first for him.
“I told you not to have too much fun,” Jacob said, making sure to project his voice.
Two-Step winced. “Not too loud.”
“You know I can flick you a hangover cure?”
Two-Step shook his head slightly before stopping and rubbing his forehead. “Even that hurts.”
“You sure you don’t want the code?”
Two-Step straightened cassette tapes on the shelf. “You know I’ve never done code. I don’t even know if my chip could take it, it’s so outdated. I’m drinking some hangover cure tea Haley gave me. I don’t think it's helping much, though.”
“I still don’t see how doing code is worse than linking to the net,” Jacob said.
“I don’t know, it just is. It’s like its reprogramming your brain. It just creeps me out, I guess.”
Jacob shook his head. “You’re a strange bird,” he said.
“Well, at least I don’t believe everything my parents do. They think technology will be the end of humans. And don’t get them started on transhumans uploading to the cloud. That’s part of why I ran away.”
Two-Step’s parents were LTLs, Low-Tech Luddites, and he grew up in a community with a 1990s level of technology. It was one reason he knew so much about the old computers and media they sold at the store. It also explained his chip. The LTL movement was an extension of homesteaders and preppers that grew as technology advanced. They resisted taking part in the technological singularity and what they saw as the horrors in a possible post-humanity society. When the singularity did not produce the world the LTL feared, they became more radical, drawing further away from society and insisting the horrors of a post-human world were still coming. Subdermal chips were a step in that direction. When Congress, with the urging of the pharma-tech corporations, passed a law requiring mandatory chip implants at birth, the LTLs fought back. At first with protest, then in court. Government lawyers argued refusing a subdermal chip was akin to refusing HIV or coronavirus vaccines. Finally, the LTL lost in the Supreme Court and government officials went to their communities around the country, implanting chips in members by force. The only recourse the LTL had was to not update their original chip.
Jacob knew this, and he knew it would be helpful.
“I wanted to talk to you about that,” he said.
“What, running away?”
“No, your chip. It’s the same one you had implanted when you were born?”
“Yeah. At least I have one. I had a friend back home who was an undocumented birth. He never had a chip implanted.”
“An undocumented birth?” Jacob asked with surprise in his voice. “That’s like not existing.” He heard there might be undocumented births, but most people thought they were a net myth.
“Well, they exist. And there are more of them than you think.”
“I didn’t think there were any, so if you know of one, that’s more. Anyway, about your chip. I think it could be helpful.”
“How? In what way?”
Jacob hesitated. Despite the conversation the night before, he still had reservations about bringing Two-Step into the plan. “I think it could be helpful in the job we were talking about in the car the other day.”
Two-Step stopped. “The one you wouldn’t tell me about?”
Jacob nodded.
Even the hangover couldn’t dampen Two-Step’s smile. “Awesome. What’s the job? And how can my old chip help?”
Jacob made sure no one was in the store. “Maybe we should go in the back for this.”
When Jacob finished explaining the job, Two-Step sat, holding his tea with his mouth slightly open in disbelief.
“Are you serious? That’s why we did that hack on the Brotherhood?”
“It is. But with Gomez gone, we have to come up with a different plan. Gomez wanted to protect you and keep you out of it, but we need your help.”
“And my old chip can help?”
“I’ve been working on a plan, and your old chip is a pretty important part of it.”
“I’m in.”
“You don’t even know the plan.”
“It doesn’t matter, I want to do it. For Gomez, and his mom. I know he would do it for me. When do we do it?”
“We’ve got to iron out some details and a timetable, but soon. The launch for the chips is getting closer.”
Two-Step nodded and drank some tea. “This tastes terrible,” he said.
Jacob laughed. “I’m sure I can program some code that will work with your chip.”
Two-Step looked into the cup of tea. He walked over to the sink and dumped it. “Anything to help get rid of this headache.”
It didn’t take Jacob long to modify some code to work with Two-Step’s chip. When he flicked the code, a visible relief came over Two-Step and the tension in his shoulders melted away.
“I don’t know why my parents are so afraid of technology,” he said, stretching.
“Change is hard to deal with sometimes.”
“I better get back to work,” Two-Step said.
“Can you handle the place alone for a bit? I’ve got something to do.”
“No problem.”
Chapter 38
Jacob could tell by the look on his face, Johnson would have preferred to meet in his armored sedan, but Jacob wanted home-field advantage for once. He also liked the fact that while they were sitting in Commie Cup, Johnson would not be able to record their conversation. Jacob wouldn’t say Johnson was nervous, just uncomfortable, out of his controlled element. Jacob liked it.
“I am sorry
