“Yes, sir. Mr. Klein, the one they call Two-Step is already in the building, as they have planned. Ms. Leung is as well. She is part of the research team working on the new chip.”
“Excellent. Now, I need your honest assessment of their chances of success.”
“I believe they will be successful.”
“And if they are not?”
“There is no evidence of our connection with Mr. Quince or his friends. Authorities will link them to the SRS. It was costly, but we have made sure of that. But again, I believe they will succeed.”
“And have we discovered what happened with the faulty data upload?”
“No, sir. The research teams are still reviewing the reports. They should have an answer shortly. However, their initial speculations suggest that the chip was not properly implanted.”
Mr. Craig looked frustrated. “This was a chip implanted by SRS people?”
“Yes, sir. They have enlisted a group of so-called Steamers to implant the chips. However, their work can be inconsistent.”
Mr. Craig sighed. “An unfortunate price we must pay. However, the costs that were saved by avoiding putting the chips and decks in customs, as well as the savings in research and development, more than cover the inconvenience.”
“Yes, sir. And thankfully, they only have a small number of chips.”
“Have we recovered the missing chips Mr. Li diverted?”
“No, sir. Mr. Tal has not produced the chips as of yet.”
“Perhaps we need to apply more pressure.”
“Yes, sir. I will take care of that.”
“Thank you, Johnson. Well, I will let you get back to your beach. Tomorrow we take another step into the future.”
“Yes, sir.”
Johnson turned off the monitor and rolled down the windows and listened to the waves against the seawall.
Chapter 47
Two-Step had to admit, he was looking forward to spending the night in the bed provided by Your Better Life. It was the first thing he noticed when the med tech brought him to his room. A few other pieces of furniture occupied the room, a small desk and a chair, a lamp and a monitor attached to the wall, but it was the bed he was interested in. He could see that the mattress was one of the latest smart models he saw in ads on the net. He had never slept on a smart mattress. There were none in the LowTech community he grew up in, and in his apartment, he slept on an old futon Kat gave him. A real mattress, even for a night, would be amazing. After the med tech left, Two-Step lay on the bed, changing positions, giving the bed time to adjust to his body and adjust to each position for the maximum comfort level, then programming the results into the bed’s database. After cycling through every position he thought he might end up in when he slept, he put his hand behind his head and stared at the ceiling, a childish grin plastered on his face.
The entire process made him think his parents and other LTLs were even more wrong about technology than he thought. How could a mattress that would improve your life so much be a bad thing? He was sure that a shipment of these mattresses to every LTL community would go further toward getting them to accept technological advancement than being able to link directly to the net or chips that programmed your brain to release neurochemicals or promises of eternal life through uploading to the cloud.
Of course, he loved to link to the net, but he hated the idea of a chip programming his brain. He knew it was weird. A virtual representation of the net somehow projected on your consciousness and making you feel separated from your body should seem much more transhuman or posthuman or whatever his parents wanted no part of than code sent to your synapses. But not to him. There was a freedom in being linked. Chip code made him feel like something was being done to him, something he didn’t control. He did have to admit, Jacob’s hangover code was great, but he would have taken his chip out if he didn’t need it to link. There was a part of him that had been programmed by his upbringing to have a bit of fear of tech, and he wasn’t sure if he would ever completely get over it. But he didn’t fear the mattress.
He was still enjoying it when there was a knock. He reluctantly got up and answered the door.
“Hello, Mr. Klein, my name is Granger.” The man, wearing a lab coat and a Your Better Life ID badge around his neck, held out his hand.
“Hi,” Two-Step said, shaking Granger’s hand.
“I will be your monitor for the trial. I would like to ask you a few questions. May I come in?”
“I thought…” He stopped himself. Where was Xia, and who was this Granger person? If Xia wasn’t his monitor, the plan wouldn’t work. They would be screwed. Granger looked at him blankly. “I thought the trial didn’t start until tomorrow.”
“That’s correct. However, we do have some questions we like to ask ahead of time, and there is the issue of preparing you for the installation of the new chip. May I come in?”
Installation, Two-Step thought. That made the procedure sound like he was a machine, a computer. Implant sounded much more human. He started to say as much, but said, “Sure,” and took a step back, allowing Granger in.
“I hope you are enjoying the room,” Granger said as he sat at the desk.
Two-Step sat on the edge of the bed. “It’s great. This bed is…”
“An amazing piece of technology,” Granger said, interrupting. “I bought one for myself after I saw what they can do. Now, about the questions. You were raised in a Low Tech community?”
“Yes, I…”
Granger cut him off again. “And you left of your own accord? How old were you?”
“Eighteen. Like I said in the...”
“The application. Yes. I just like to get to know my subjects
