I got home and considered what to do. The first thing to do would be to announce what had happened, but do I call my parents first or do I make a post online? I did not know what my parents did for the resistance but they had been doing it for a long while so they should have a better feel for this than I did. I called them right then.
“Honey what's going on?” answered my mom
“Sorry to bother you, I know this is not a normal time for me to call” I replied as an effort to give her words cover. She was clearly worried, her voice carried the worry, and the bots that listened to phone calls could easily catch that and that is why I had to reply the way I did.
“Well...” she started before I talked over her
“Mom, I have news, you may need to sit down. It's not bad, it's actually good news but it has some... things... that need to be discussed... at length.”
“Umm, ok I can do that” and a pause “ok I am sitting now”
“My company is going through an audit and the top executives are all gone,” and I heard her gasp on the other side, “and I got a promotion to the executive board.” You could have heard a pin drop over the next half minute.
“Promoted? What does this mean for you? For us?” By us I knew she meant her and dad.
This was the moment where I needed to fall upon family level code words and set up a safe and secure meeting. I would let her choose the venue. The key word in this case would be fancy, because if fancy was with food, then it meant I felt I was being followed. It was a reasonable assumption under the current circumstances. I also needed to include one of our key words for bugs. I would stress that by using two words with the letter b that we would not normally use. Beer and brandy. Those two words were often Coors, and we never drank brandy unless we needed to say bugs were a possibility and instead would drink whiskey.
"I think we should get some fancy food, not beer this time either but instead something good, like brandy mom” . I paused for a moment to let it sink in then continued “this promotion is big, and I need to talk about things with you and dad because they want you to move and me to move and it's just so much”
“Oh wow, umm, ok I will think of something, are you walking here or are we walking there son?”
By stressing walking, she was trying to indicate to push for time, she needed some time to consider where to go considering our circumstances. She might also need to make a few calls to find a secure place. I needed to give her an out.
“Well, I do need time to update things first here, I cannot be remiss on my social media side with such a promotion, how about I see you” and I looked at the clock, it was only two in the afternoon. “How about we meet at your place at 5? I can take a short rest to think things through and take a shower and clean up a bit”. It was an offer and now it was her turn to take it or change it. The latest I would do would be eight o'clock. Any later and I would need to just do a pro-forma type meal with her and then schedule an effort with her later for a more in-depth talk.
“Oh, that's perfect, do be punctual and wear some proper good clothes, your performance review clothes for example would be ideal.”
That was code. A single but stressful bit of code. She was making sure I got the message and kept the message close. She repeated words with 'P' in them four times and things that she would not normally append to it as well. Fortunately, the bots listening in would not be able to make heads or tales over what she said where I could see that she was telling me to go to passive mode. Passive mode, in family code, was to not do anything for the resistance at all, to shut down, to be a dark spot on a dark wall making no noise and no light. It was the message to take no risks at all and wait for new instructions. Something that I, in my still shaken up feelings, could do.
“I will be there, later mom.”
“Bye honey” she replied
It would seem rude to any human listening in, the bots would not care, but a human would take note I ended the call quickly. I needed a bit of cover again... But the code meant take no risks and terminate even the call because that was a call to resistance even if it was family.
So, I went to the bathroom and sat on the toilet for a long time. I acted as if I felt the need but could not perform the deed. It was not the best cover in the world, but I think any agent would understand and not bother making a note of it if they connected the two. I did have a bit of a stress filled weekend and today would be called an emotional roller coaster if anything.
I then went straight to my computer and started typing ” Dear readers there is amazing news and there is bad news. The amazing news is I have been promoted to be an executive at my company. The bad news is I will not be able to post on the license plate covers. That simply will be too far out of my way to continue doing. I have been sponsored in other ways, but it would be premature for me to talk of those things here as well. The next week or so you might not hear much from me as I will need to move and will be adjusting to my new circumstances.”
I called a ride-share car and arrived a few minutes early, but I felt that under the circumstances it felt like the correct thing to do. I forced a smile on my face, my smile not reflective of my feelings. I was in fact trying to not dwell on the recently killed resistance team, the really close call I had, how I was now at risk of discovery by many different loose threads just dangling for an auditor to find, and finally how my parents would react to all of this.
Mom was actually waiting outside, and she called dad out. When I made to get out, she waved me off and said in a loud voice designed to carry ” keep the ride we will need it for getting to the restaurant.”
Dad came out and they piled into the car. Mom grabbed my phone and updated the address, and we took off.
Mom grabbed my leg in a manner designed to let me know if I should stop and looked me in the eye and said, ” could you repeat the good news again, I might have told your father only part of it” .
“Well, my work as a facilitator was noticed and apparently, I'm now designated an influencer. This was happening without my knowledge when an opening in the executive board opened up and they placed me there. The position is technically the assistant corporate auditor” and then I sat there trying to act calm as my mom's hand changed from potential pincher to a series of pats.
“That's amazing honey, I booked us the best room in a fantastic place to eat so I hope you brought your appetite” and then we all were silent for the rest of the ride.
I remembered the restaurant when we arrived, it was one we had been to a few times when mom or dad had gotten a new job or a promotion. That made things click for me, but I made sure not to show anything.
As soon as we got our dad put his arm over my shoulder and mom took the lead. I got the message quickly that this was her show and that I was to follow her lead. The door man opened the door for us, and we strolled into the reservations desk.
“We are the party of three for the downstairs room” mom said when the man there looked at her inquisitively.
“I'm sorry but we don't commonly rent that room out, the owner reserves that room for special patrons only” the man replied glibly.
“When I called, I was told it was available and I asked the lady to hold the room for us, we are celebrating some good news” .
The man looked us over as of looking at some rodents who asked if they could move in, seeking on me.” I see, I will have to inquire of the owner if he wishes to honor the error or not, but I shall not keep you standing, come we will go down there now.”
We went down a flight of stairs in the back, it was a cramped stairwell where the only way down was one person at a time. When we got down there, however, the table was exquisite and the chairs looked like works of art.
The maître d', at least I think they are called that, sat us all down and then proceeded to look meaningfully at my mom before leaving the room. A few minutes later a man in a three-piece suit came down the stairs.
“You are all clear, the sensors did not detect any bugs, now why did you come here and how fast can you leave?” he said.
“Bruce this is big and bigger, we need the chief and we need about five hours to discuss this, and we need the cover for that five hours as well” replied my mom from her seat.
“Hmmph, I will get him, but this is on your head, this is not the time for theatrics” and with that he went up the stairs.
I just sat there, this was completely out of my control, I did not even know this place was part of the resistance and it sounded like one of our station chiefs might even be here. Just how deep in the resistance was mom? It took twelve or so minutes, but the maître d' came down with a tray of drinks. How he managed that in the stairway was beyond me.
“This had better be good since we have a major loss and are still assessing how much risk of discovery we have.” he said even as he started setting drinks down. A few more people entered with bread sticks and trays of appetizers. Just how much was this cover story going to cost us I wondered.
My mom actually stood up from her seat to address the man.” Dwayne my son has come forward with critical news. He was promoted to executive at the company and more he was pushed up as an influencer and his position is that of an assistant corporate auditor there.
The man looked at me and he gaped openly, the whole room was silent and even the servers were looking at me without even hiding it. Dad just grabbed a bread stick and took a bite.
“Shit”
” Yeah, no shit” said my mom in return.
“Ok this does change things; this makes us have to run with this for sure as we won't get a better chance... But if I remember correctly he is a messenger and not an infiltrator, am I correct?”
” More that he was our messenger between all regional cells but yes that is correct” replied mom.
I was what?!? All the regional cells? I had thought I was just for a few sources and not so tied in deep.
“Well, he cannot do that anymore and we need to burn those bridges thoroughly now,” and then he looked at me, ” you are now the single greatest asset in the region, of many regions and I suspect you do not even know why.”
Ok that does not make me feel comfortable, if I could sink deep into the seat and disappear I think I would choose to do that without hesitation.
“You see the Elites often start to create new elites, they are slow and careful in their decisions but they feel a need to make new Elites to keep their ranks full. After all they occasionally trim on of their own and at times we successfully eliminate one as well. We usually do not do such in our efforts because we know they will just raise up another and thus society will suffer as they perform a massive audit of an area but sometimes one of them has become a monster and we simply must do what we can.”
That did not make sense, surely, we had plans to beat them, he had paused, and it seemed he wanted a reaction from me.” I thought we sought to remove them from power and to bring society freedom from their tyranny.” I stated simply.
“It's more complicated than that, long ago we determined that it would not be immediately, that we needed to take over a series of the Elite's positions before we could move on to actually disrupting them enough that we might succeed. The problem is that with the world of Influencers, Made Men, Executives, Auditors and how they set up the military...” he paused for a second..” we cannot possibly win against them, too many have benefits they would never ever give up and too much power is spread between them all.”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
I felt anger at those words ” Then why are we taking these risks, why are we dying? If there is no chance at all then we should not even try!” I almost screamed at him. Almost, I did not because I did not know how far it would carry, but I did use a very angry voice.
“We failed to get anyone to be an Elite is why we have not moved. We have influencers, we have Executives, we have some Generals and some Admirals, we even have some auditors at various ranks though I am not privy as to most of the identities of all those people we have in various positions. What we do not have, did not have until today, was someone who has three critical positions. To become an Elite they mark you as three of the seven different types of power they respect. An executive, an influencer, an Auditor, a General, an Admiral, a high-level agent in the spy ranks, or a bureaucrat of high standing. The rank of these things does not matter so much, nor the position. You can be a General over a training school and qualify, you can be a corporate auditor and qualify... which I note that your handler has said you are. You can be an influencer of the lowest sort and an executive of cleaning outhouses... It does not matter how glorious your position it matters that you have the minimum qualifications for grooming to the higher levels.”
Shit, shit, shit... This is not good I thought. How can I be an Elite? Surely they have tests that will find my true intent and desires out. The fact that my mom was my handler, a thing I did not know, was a mere footnote in all of this.
“It cannot work, I cannot be an Elite, they would find me out with ease!” I said.
“Actually, it can work because they already did the vetting to get you there, now you only need to prove value for them to elevate you to higher levels. If you have a problem we can assassinate the problem, if you have reached the highest levels and there is no promotion, we can kill a few select Elite's off and see how quickly they promote you then, if there are potential competitors for the Elite positions, we can fake evidence of foul play and more. In short, the entire resistance is ultimately going to assist you even if they do not know they will assist you.”
I shuddered uncontrollably for a few seconds. This was not my job; I was not trained for this.
“And before you think we did not train you for this, we did. We made you an influencer, we worked hard to put you in a specific company hoping we could use our executives there to get you promoted upwards in a few years. We were grooming you for this like we were many others.”
Shit, it was a trap, and one planned for a long time. I looked at mom meaningfully and she looked back at me without even blinking.
“I did what I could for you son, and you need to believe that. The future of our nation now possibly lies in your hands so... Don't mess it up.”
“Right, and with that we need to move your cell out of the ordinary channels, you cannot meet here anymore and likely we cannot meet regularly at all. This means covert messages. It's time for me to introduce you to a new system, one I devised but have not implemented.”
And with that the next few hours were food, drinks (non-alcoholic so we could stay focused), and training on the new method. It was designed for giving two hundred or so 'trits' of data. It would be in a Combary Data Storage method devised long ago by Michael Harrington and Patented back in the early years of the United States. It was simple really, we had three signals at a given moment that could be shown. The first stood for a 0, the second stood for a 1, the third stood for a 2. There was a sub-length assigned to a section of trits and this sub-length would be based upon the date, the hour, the quarter hour, and the week of the year it was. This meant every time I used the code, I would need to use it exactly on time or I would need to flag that it was without the quarter hour and hour and those would be emergency messages only. Or they would be emergency messages to me or to my parents who were both to be part of my now three-person cell. My grandparents actually would be moved out of the region to help make it look like they were unimportant to my life and that I was looking forward to getting a wife and starting my own family. My future would have to include going dating now it seemed.
Anyways the sub-length would help determine the value of the combination portion, which would be the twos, the ones and zeroes would remain standard binary. This system was the system that destroyed AES in the early part of the 21st century as it was far more difficult to crack. Our goal was to make it impossible to detect. Combary had an advantage that it could store 1. 67 bits per a trit, this made it optimal for storing tons of data. This meant that with 200 trits I was actually giving 320 bits of data. This means that with the alphabet, numbers, the space between words, and a few symbols I was using 48 total characters. Then I was told to make a list of some letters to have several possible characters for the same letter and even some letters with three characters. All told I then had 64 possible characters which would represent all the letters on the keyboard, some numbers, some repeated letter values and some symbols. This meant that the, estimated 200 trits I could send in a sitting would give around 53 characters. I would need to use acronyms, reduce words by cutting letters off, and the likes to make a message fit but in theory I could actually give a decent message this way. For example, the words ” Mary had a little lamb” were 22 characters under this and I had chosen the letter 'a' to have three options on characters. This would help with the encryption even more than usual. So at 22 characters for that small sentence, I could definitely give a name, a small summary of a problem, or the likes. It was doable and since I was already a blogger and already trained in Combary and writing tricks I could memorize the whole method with ease.
The how was also simple but would keep messages down for a while. It would be how I held utensils in my hand while eating. Interestingly enough Dwayne showed that while eating people would hold their fork in many different ways, often for many different efforts at obtaining food. He showed me six different angles I could hold the fork in and then showed me three different grips. This meant I had eighteen ways to show the three possible trits. Further he set it up so if I had a knife in my left hand, it over-ruled the fork and the angle, of three possible, would give another set of options. For the spoon it was even simpler, if I took and swung it from the back and scooped it to me it was a 1, if I centered it and scooped into it then brought it out it was a 0, if I started nearest to me and scooped into the plate it was a 2. It was an easy method, and I could also deviate from the norm to signal an end to the message or just as a break point before continuing. Two deviations in a row were the end and one was a break until I deviated again.
The problem was you never really take two hundred bites of food. You won't get that in a standard sitting. But that was easy to resolve as well. Except for the knife and spoon part I could toy with the utensil on the way there a little. Each bit of toying added up easily. And since it was not cool for people to watch you eat and stare only at you and not touch their food, we had a way to drag this out as well. I would be sitting with my mom and dad, and we would talk. The conversation would not matter, the dragging of the meal out to a message length would be the big deal. I could go over 200 trits if I needed to, it was not a hard rule, it was just a guide for a reasonable length of a message. I would talk to them, and they would take turns observing me for the message, each working to get a certain amount of trits.
Dwayne assured me that it would not work so well at first but as we all got practice at it, we would dramatically improve. He further stated that he was going to find an operative I could socially date who could also take and give messages.
That part made me nervous; I had avoided dating just because I felt insecure about the idea of dating someone who might not be open to the resistance. While this agent would be resistance it also came with a duty and not pleasure type of feeling to me... How can one have a supposed girlfriend who happened to also be a messenger between you and the resistance?
A few dead drop locations were discussed, and they picked a house for me I would stay at. Conversely, they chose a house that was not very close for my parents to live at, the premise there was that as a soon to be very enriched man I could afford to have them come over via rideshare or I could get there in my future vehicle of my own. Eventually they said I would have a driver and even guards as I climbed the ranks but right now as the lowest of each tier for Influencer, Executive, and Auditor I would only be able to expect a decent amount of cash to come my way. In fact, they advised me to ask about it tomorrow when I met back up with Eric the auditor.
Eric had seen me in the morning, confirmed where I wanted to live and where I wanted my parents to live. He also handed me the first of many paychecks - he said that this was my monthly amount and that this was a starter bonus. My eyes almost popped out as it was almost eleven times my old salary.
He sent me to my old home to direct the movers and to settle in to the new one. He said that I would have some documents at the new place to start reviewing, they were copies of the originals.
My problem was I had limited control over the movers, I could not select who they were, and there was the hidden file with the video from the night I was almost caught. I could direct them to pack a certain room first, so I had them start on my bedroom. A few other things were there that I did not exactly want to give away for notice as well so I called mom and asked for her help ” Mom I am moving today, I would wonder if you could help and then afterwards, I can help repay you for that incredible meal last night” . She quickly agreed and I ordered a ride-share for her.
The movers were still busy with getting the final part of the bed frame and some boxes of clothes out when mom and dad arrived. I asked dad to pack my computer and electronics and mom to help me in the kitchen. That left the bathroom, closets, and the living room for the movers. I did not have enough stuff to keep them busy forever, but dad was quick about boxing the computer and the few other electronics I had and then went to the closet near the front door on his own. Maybe he would be able to quickly grab the file, but it would be a risk. I was worried about what he might do while they were here.
Mom was done with the critical part; the rice paper and a few other obscure methods we could use to write edible foods and she went boss mode on one of the workers to 'very carefully pack up the fridge items' she selected and to toss the rest. She then directed one of them to get cleaning supplies and to work on my bedroom. The harried worker looked at her and then at me and then with drooped shoulders he went to the bedroom and started cleaning the window in there.
That left one last worker who was not distracted, and I guess that my parents were making a move to get that video because there was no longer anything to worry about here in open view or being able to be grabbed by a worker inadvertently or via theft. The last worker I tackled myself with a line of questions ” Do you have the address to my new house?” and then I made him confirm it, he had it on his phone, and then ” Are you specific for this move or can I hire you to help with other furniture, I will need to buy some new things at the store soon” and he dug into his wallet for a business card and then ” Oh and how much do you charge” . I had to ask two more questions, ” Do you have insurance for covering things if they get broken” and ” Will you be placing the furniture in the new home or just putting it inside” before dad wondered out of the closet with a box in his hands. I however knew the USB J was not in there so dad was unsuccessful but had probably checked anyways. I meaningfully grabbed the jar of grease and handed it directly to my mom and said, ” You should take this with you, I know you use grease for a few things” . I hoped she got the message.
The rest of the packing went quickly with six of us, I really did not have much at all in keeping with my usually frugal methods. When we got to the other house, I had mom and dad secure the boxes they knew were the most important and I kept the workers distracted with where to put the things they had until they were done. I knew I had made their work a little more painful and annoying, but it was better than being discovered I figured, even if the odds of such a discovery were low at this point. I did, however, tap into my savings to give them a higher-than-normal tip which should keep them from being annoyed for too long.
Then I took mom and dad to my bank where I deposited my check. It seemed that the bank had gotten word of my upgrade because one of the managers themselves came quickly to complete the transaction and to help provide me with a new bank card. I also had them open up a bank account in my parent's name and deposited half the funds from this first check into their account. Mom even went wide eyed over the amount I just transferred to her, so I guess there is that.
Then we still had half the day left so I asked, ” Should I get furniture, a new computer, or do some other things?”
This was a simple question designed to allow mom to direct me where she might need to get me to go in order to get new covert gear from the resistance, or even to just buy things from a resistance outlet to help them with some extra income on their end. We tended to do that a lot, buying from resistance members that were there just for that purpose though we never let them know were another cell.
“You need a better phone, we cannot have an executive with such a piece of junk, and you should have a better laptop as well. I think also clothes because you need to dress for the job you want and not the job you have, and you already have a job well above the value of your current clothes. First let's get that phone and laptop and then we can get you fitted and order the clothes.”
Oh, what did I just unleash? She went full female shopping mode on me for sure because this was surely just her opening moves...
The stores were closing when we finally finished. We had to rent a ride-share van for the day to just keep up with the shopping. A new smart phone, presumably from the resistance, a new watch, a high performance gaming laptop mom insisted I get 'just in case you need some fun, I have not seen you dating after all and being an executive can be stressful work' (which I knew was her way to start covering for me to start dating, she would keep that up for a long time to be sure to set up the cover), a new set of blankets and sheets because and I quote those are threadbare and not worthy of an up and coming man like yourself, a new desk, and worst of all she had me measured in every way possible while she watched and I was in my boxers for clothes. Clothes that would not even be available for a few days to a few weeks for some because they had to be made.
It was so late at night when we arrived, I almost forgot a move dad made before getting into our ride-share for the last time. I saw him make a grab for a bug flying near him. He actually grabbed it out of the air and then made as if he threw the dead bug away, but I could see it from my angle in his hand between his fingers. He grabbed a tissue mom presented and acted as if he cleaned his hand, but I knew he was transferring the bug to the tissue for mom to have.
When we arrived at the house we unloaded the ride-share into my garage for the things we had gotten today and then when in the kitchen mom made a move as if swatting a bug and sure enough there was a bug splat there.” We need to see if those movers let in a lot of bugs while they were hear, perhaps even replace the carpet just in case,” she said, ” but that will have to wait a few weeks.”
I said goodnight to them, and they went off in the ride-share to their home. With them went a certain jar of grease so at least that mission was likely concluded soon. During that whole time, we never tried to pass any messages or such to each other and if mom had made contact with any resistance I did not even notice. Perhaps we did not at all because now I was such an asset supposedly. The less risk the better in my mind, I just wished I could crawl into a hole like I was climbing under my blankets and hide from it all. Sleep came far too easily after such a busy day.