Connected

By O.K. Nelson

The Government thought they had the computer virus all under control. Thought it would be easy to fix. But with so many screens affected - so many people changed into 'techno zombies', they had no choice but to unleash an experimental Artificial Intelligence they had no control over.

It all happened so fast.

It all was so irreversible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: O.K. Nelson
• Release date: May 30, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201084424

Book preview

Chapter 1

Somewhere far away, in an unmapped location, the military intelligence had finally made the unanimous decision to execute a breakthrough program. The senior officials stood side by side with a handful of the most brilliant minds in the world who had spent the last five years on research and experimentation that provided promising results. The men and women were sure that they had made a discovery that was pure fiction to the world's population. It was finally time to test it out on the world.

The large room was filled with a dozen desks facing the three large screens up on the wall. The three screens all displayed the current time in bright green lettering. It was ten minutes to midnight and exactly ten minutes till the program would be initiated. The staff at the desks were alert and prepared to begin the program according to the time that they had been given. The room was completely silent. None of the staff dared breathe as they stared at the time. The seniors stood in a row at the back of the room in the same manner. Silent, staring, but a glimpse of pride etched on all their faces.

*********

The program that the military intelligence had been working on with the world's top scientists was nothing short of controversial. They had finally figured out how to control the mind to some extent. The military had spent millions of dollars investing in some sort of mind control device for the last three decades. It was only some six years ago that they gathered intelligence about a successful experiment that showcased the program's limited but obvious ability. The scientists had gathered enough data through undeniably unethical means but finally had the proof that their system worked. The results proved to be more than sufficient for the military, who immediately green-lit the program.

However, five years had passed, and the scientists had failed to exhibit complete control over the human mind. A combination of psychological practices, electroshock therapy, drugs and neurological surgeries had not provided them with the answers to unrestricted control and manipulation. The scientists arrived at the conclusion that it may simply be impossible. Despite their immoral and deeply disturbing tactics, the scientists understood that the mind could not be easily restrained. They finally understood that there were limits to which their system could be implemented.

The fourth year of their trials showed a clear win. On closer inspection of the data, some subjects showed that it took them less time to respond to the commands. The difference in the response time was small, but evidently present in half of the employees. The scientists assumed that there may be many reasons for this. Still, they reasoned that the reduced times may be directly linked to the individual's compliance. The more submissive the subject was, the easier it would be to control him.

This assumption could not be solidified without further research. So, preparation began immediately to evaluate the personality of each of those being studied. Most of the subjects had signed binding contracts that would help them avoid jail time. Those who signed the contract would be required to participate in the research until they were let go by the research team. Unfortunately, years had passed, and there was still no sign of their release. In fact, they had faced horrors they had never imagined and quickly realized that this was no escape, but hell on earth. Most of them came to accept that they would die in captivity, as a few of them already had. So, they stopped fighting the experiments and instead gave up their control willingly. Eventually it came to light that the longer the control was maintained, the easier it became to control the person.

This was why plans were made to initiate the program sooner than first thought. While the scientists argued that further tests and a larger sample was necessary to justify that result, the military officials argued that the results were more than enough. If it would take years to eventually control the world's population, they had to start soon. And so, the decision was finalized. The program would be initiated, and the people worldwide would gradually start to live their lives under the government's control.

*********

This was the future that the military officials envisioned as they stared at the screen. Their minds were filled with the accolades that they would be given on behalf of the President, who would show them the extent to which their work would be appreciated. The President had not hidden his glee when the results of the experiment were presented to him. In fact, most of them were unaware of how lucky he felt that the experiment succeeded while he was in control of the government. He was also quite sure that he may never have to leave his position of power once the program began.

The researchers had no doubt that this program would remain as secretive as it was in its trial stages and that the world would remain ignorant of its existence. The half a dozen scientists and the fifteen military officials were the only people who had any knowledge of the program's purpose that was codenamed 'GUIDE.' The staff had all signed contracts that clearly outlined the dire consequences of revealing any information regarding this program. And the monthly stipend provided to all of the involved staff further guaranteed their loyalty to the program.

Five minutes to initiation. The staff seated front and center of the room called out the remaining time, pulling everyone out of their trances.

The announcement has alerted everyone in the room. The staff is focused on the control room supervisor, who is waiting for the clock to countdown to midnight. He places his hand on the keyboard and enters a password. The screen is replaced with a welcome message, which then changes to show a control page with various settings and commands. With thirty seconds to go, he places his hand on the mouse. He moves the cursor over a large green button that is supposed to initiate their control over hundreds of thousands of people worldwide.

The clock strikes midnight, and the supervisor presses the button. All eyes in the room are focused on the map showing green dots all over the map. A few seconds pass, and everyone waits with baited threats. The supervisor turns to look at the operator on his right, and his face shows signs of alarm. The operator catches on and immediately realizes that something is wrong. Neither of them says a word and instead, turn back to their computers and start to type furiously.

The military officials have now caught on and understand that something is not right. They have seen the program work in previous test runs and are aware that it only takes seconds to power up the implants in people's brains. The world map should have been covered with a thousand tiny green dots. And their absence was clearly a huge problem for everyone.

The army's Chief of Staff walked up to the supervisor and leaned in to ask, What's the matter?

The supervisor looked up, and his pale visage indicated that the situation was critical. Sir, uh, we need a few minutes... He turned back to the screen and felt his jaw drop.

What is it? The Chief of Staff persists. Dammit, speak up, Jones! But the Chief of staff can finally see what is wrong.

The screen cursor has shut down the program and has now begun downloading a file. The Chief of Staff turns to the staff and realizes in horror that they clearly no longer have control over what's happening on the screens. In fact, they were all staring at the screen with the same expression that was visible on the Chief of Staff.

The supervisor stands up and calls out the procedure that would initiate the program shut down. The Chief of Staff turns in horror, facing the supervisor, who turns to him and says in a clear-headed voice, We need to shut it down or risk losing control to the hacker.

Hack... hacker?

Yes, we are clearly hacked, and we cannot start locating him until we have guaranteed the shutdown.

Still in shock, the Chief of Staff mustered up the strength to say, Go ahead.

All operators turn to their personal screens and begin the shutdown procedure, but before they can even begin, a progress bar pops up. The bar's label simply reads, 'Takeover." The progress bar begins to load and has reached fifty percent before anyone in the room makes another move. As the Chief of Staff looks at the people around him, he eventually realizes that the entire room can do nothing to stop the bar from reaching its completion.

*********

Many miles away, in the suburbs of the city, Drake stared intently at his computer screen. He was in a dimly lit room, which consists of a twin bed, a two-door cupboard, and a small table at which he is seated. The light from the computer screen gives an eerie glow to his face as Drake continues to watch the progress bar. He continued to stare patiently, waiting for the command to finish loading so that he could move on to the next step of his plan.

A few seconds later, the bar shows to be completely filled with green, which brings the briefest of smiles to Drake's face. He sits up straighter, takes a sip of a drink placed beside him, and begins to type in another series of commands. His screen shows up another command screen with an icon that reads Execute. Drake moves the cursor over the icon and clicks it. A box appears on the screen asking for a password, which Drake begins to slowly and carefully type in. He then closes his eyes for an instant as he waits for his system to begin.

*********

2 years ago

Drake puts on his tie and stares at himself in the mirror, trying to get it right. He fumbles a bit but finally ties the knot. It looks a bit wonky, but the knot is in place. He turns around to look at Mel, who is searching through her purse. Drake walks towards her, kisses her on the cheek, and leaves the room to find Jake.

Jake? He calls out loudly, Are you dressed?. He walks to his son's room and sees him struggling with his shoelaces. He smirks to himself and sits down in front of his son, who had clearly been having a hard time tying them up. The Marsden men are just not good with knots. It's in the genes.

Jake laughs; I thought I had learned to tie laces. But, I guess I still have to practice.

Drake stands up and ruffles Jake's hair. That's the right attitude. Now go sort out your hair again, we are getting late He leaves the room, grinning to himself.

Mel was standing at the door, putting on her heels. She looked up at Drake and asked pleadingly, Could you please get Jake till the door? I am pretty sure he is staring at his curls, thinking up ways to flatten them.

Drake turns to go to his son's room again but sees Jake walking towards them. He had no idea how and when his son grew up to be 11 years old. He marveled at how fast time had passed by him and made a note to himself to slow down and just enjoy life a bit more. Mel smiled at Jake, and they both walked out the door towards their car.

Drake picks up the car keys and is about to turn the lock in the door when his phone rings. He immediately knows that it's work.

But it's Sunday! Can't they do without you for just one day? Mel asks in despair.

Drake tries to express how sorry he is through his eyes, and Mel's face softens. She walks towards him, gives him a kiss, and says softly, Try to get the next weekend off, will you? You owe me a vacation. Drake gives her a tight squeeze and answers the phone.

Yeah, Mike. I am just opening my email. Hold on a second. He waves goodbye to the two most important people in his life.

Drake walks to his home office and sits down at his desk. He doesn't feel too bad about missing church and also enjoys his job way too much. But right then, his mind brings up the image of his wife and son, which makes him feel a pang of pain engulf his heart. Taking a deep breath, he tells himself that it's just one day. He will spend time with them tonight at dinner or tomorrow. They have a lot of time left with each other and years to enjoy.

The phone rings and pulls Drake out of his deep concentration. He had been working on developing first-generation screens that would be bought by various companies. He was making money he had never thought possible and what was even more surprising was that he was enjoying it. He couldn't believe his luck.

He answers the phone, sure that it was his colleague calling for an update. Yeah, Mike, I need another hour.

Hi. I'm sorry, but am I speaking to Drake Marsden?

The voice on the other line was low, and Drake was now confused. Sorry? Who is this?

Uhmm... I'm uh... Inspector Connor and I need to speak to Drake Marsden.

Drake found that he was unable to respond. His mind immediately started making up horrible scenarios, which had resulted in the police contacting him. In a gruff voice, he responded, Yeah... I'm Drake... Marsden...why-

I am sorry to inform you that there was an accident. And Mrs. Melanie Marsden and her son Jake did not make it. I am so sorry to inform you over the phone.... We found your contact on her phone... and I believe you need to visit the police station at Elmdale as soon as possible. Inspector Connor said that he needed to in one breath, praying that he would never have to receive a similar call.

Drake didn't know how to respond.  He stuffed his phone in his pocket and got up slightly dazed, unsure of what he had just heard. He convinced himself that if he just went to the station, he could be sure that this was all a mistake, and Mel and Jake would be at lunch at her mother's place. Yeah.... I just need to...

He couldn't cry because it would be wrong to mourn someone who was not dead. Drake got up and walked out the door and did not remember to lock the door or close it completely. He reached the street and saw a taxi driver. He called out for it, still in a daze, and got it. Uhm... Elmdale please... police... station... I need to get to the station... Now please.

The station was five minutes away, and when he arrived, he gave the taxi some cash, but he was still out of it. He could not register his surroundings. All he knew was he had to see the bodies and make sure it wasn't Mel and Jake. So, he walked in, gave his name, and was led to a room. Two bodies, covered in white sheets, lay on two beds. He couldn't go in. The faint possibility that it was his family, who were no longer alive, was not something he could bear.

The police removed the cloth to show Mel and Jake, seemingly asleep, covered with bruises. He was sure he had stopped breathing because he was getting light-headed. He was moved to another room and seated on an uncomfortable chair. He could hear the police faintly explaining how the end had been quick, and they had not suffered. He mustered up the strength and asked how it happened. Sadly, the police explained that the driver who collided with his car was texting on his phone and was not paying attention to the oncoming traffic.

He looked at the inspector, unable to believe how such a small mistake had torn such an enormous hole in his life. He felt his phone vibrate and pulled it out of his pocket. He could see not begin to make out the name on the phone before he realized that he had snapped it in half. Inspector Connor's exclaim of surprise brought him back to the present, and he saw blood dripping from his palms. The screen had broken, and the shards had cut his skin deeply. He let the phone shards fall to the floor and cannot register the police surrounding him, asking if he is okay...

*********

Drake looks up at the screen and sees that it was now showing him the military's software commands. He had successfully hacked in and known it would be too late for them. Even if they did find his location and track him down, which was quite impossible, it would be too late. He would be the one controlling the program, and he would finally have some semblance of control over this messy world.

People had been allowed to do what they wanted for too long. It was no longer permissible to let them have a choice in any matter. His family was dead because some idiot could not think of the possible consequences. He would start the program, and he would save the world. It was a necessity.

He starts the program by pressing the enter key. The sound resounds around him that mimics the gravity of his decision.

Chapter 2

Landon had placed a stool underneath the window sill to get some leverage when he stepped out through it. Looking at his watch, he saw that it was eleven in the morning. The landlord was about to knock on his door any minute and he wanted to be out of the way before that. Before leaving, Landon makes sure he has his wallet and then steps onto the stool.

There are two loud knocks on the front door, followed by a loud voice asking, Landon? Where in the hell are you? I need the rent now! The landlord bangs on the door again screaming louder, I know you’re in there Landon! You are out of here! Rent or your Key, you hear me?

Landon grips the window frame harder and closes his eyes. He can feel his heart beating faster and his palms starting to sweat. He reminds himself to breathe and tries to push aside the loud screams of the landlord. As he stands silently on the stool, waiting for the landlord to leave, and also for his heart to stop pounding, he tries to remind himself to breathe otherwise he gets light-headed.

His social anxiety had started to get worse since he had moved into this apartment. He was glad he was living on the ground floor which provided him with a speedy exit strategy. But he could definitely do without the landlord, whose screaming was a clear trigger.

He stepped off the stool and sat down to try and calm down quicker. He looked at his messy room that was strewn with wires that connected his two laptops and his PC to different devices. He didn’t know how other hackers’ lived, but he felt anyone could figure out his profession if they looked at his place.

Realizing that he was feeling calmer he got up again and easily lifted himself out the window and into the green lawn that covered the space outside his flat. He checked his pocket for his phone and wallet and slowly shut the window. The lawn had a pathway embedded in it that led from the window to the sidewalk. It always made him feel weird as if the world knew about his issues and was helping him with his daily escapes.

Landon tried to feel his blood pressure and placed his middle finger on his left wrist and felt his heart-beat. His quick pulse indicated that he still needed to try and relax. But he knew that was not possible. Walking out into the middle of the city, was not the best recipe for someone with crippling anxiety. The walk to the closest path was surely going to set him off any time now.

Landon keeps his head low and tries to block out the sounds around him. There are people rushing by him without noticing his presence. In fact, they were noticing nothing. Most of them had their noses buried into their phones, their thumbs swiping the screens, or both their thumbs texting furiously. While the remainder had headphones in their ears that, he supposed, was to indicate disinterest in others. Regardless of their intentions, he could only marvel at the control these tiny devices now had on their lives.

He couldn’t help but smirk because they looked like mind-controlled zombies with no will of their own. He was surrounded by hundreds of them, all unaware of their surroundings. He was surrounded by people who had lost control of their lives. He was surrounded by them. He was surrounded. He was...

He realized he had stopped walking and he had stopped breathing. He looked down at his shoes to turn away from the people and shut them tightly. His thoughts were incoherent, and his mind was spinning, and his heart was beating. He was afraid he would fall on the sidewalk and it would only attract more people towards him. He opens his eyes and walks faster trying to get away from them to a quieter place, hoping he finds it sooner rather than later.

Chapter 3

The chirping of the birds fit in perfectly with the surrounding landscape. Tall trees stood in uniform rows, few meters apart, and looking superbly green. The green grass in a similar shade covered the ground as far as the eyes could see. The park was not crowded, as it was common before noon, and the silence complemented the surroundings even better. The scene looked as if it had been pulled right out of a movie.

A tent, pitched under a tree, shook because of some movements inside. The front zipped open, and a woman stepped out. An obvious beauty, she stood up straight to further reveal her stunning physique. The woman had a