During Reverend Al’s program, Ethan looked over at the patch of lawn that was part of the theater area. A few people were milling around doing whatever, while others were standing in place like they were in a trance, or something. At first Ethan thought they must be on the Tranq Reverend Al had been selling, but when he looked closer, he saw there were no signs of intoxication. It was more like they were watching something. Ethan guessed these people had implants, and their visual lobe and auditory cortex had been hijacked. They’d be watching Reverend Al like he was standing right in front of them. In the New World, Ethan accessed AI in this way all the time. In fact, he was doing it now.

Ethan also noticed men dressed in uniforms came through the area during Reverend Al’s program. Each one was identical. Robots. Like a sweep, they came in from every direction and started apprehending the few people who were moving about freely. As soon as these people saw the robots, they tried to flee, but some were caught. Once caught, the robots would scan their eyes, swing them around and place their lips to the back of the captive’s head. The robot would hold the person’s head firmly and a sharp percussive sound like an impact was heard. The robot then released the person who slid to the ground unconscious. This action was repeated with every person captured. From a distance, the cops looked like a bunch of vampires at feeding time. After ten or fifteen minutes, the unconscious people woke with a stunned expression on their face, and found themselves watching Reverend Al directly through their new microchip.

After Peter’s execution and just as Reverend Al was fixing to talk to the inventor of the new chip, Ethan walked over to one of the people who had been captured by the police. She was still dazed and sitting on the ground looking confused. He looked at the back of her head. Blood was beginning to dry and mat in the hair. “Crude,” he thought. He knelt down to examine the woman more closely when Elsie started tugging at him.

“We have to get out of here,” she said worriedly. “I’m almost thirteen. They’ll come for me”.

There was fear in the girl's eyes. Ethan gently patted the young woman with the new implant and got up to follow Elsie. She grabbed him by the hand and started pulling him away from the theater area. Elsie was really afraid. Her eyes were darting from side to side, looking out for Sheriff Bob. It was like a panic button had been triggered in her.

“Slow downElsie, and take a breath,” Ethan said. “Everything’s fine. There’s not a cop in sight”.

“They’re everywhere,” Elsie replied, ignoring Ethan’s request and tugging on him harder.

Maybe to prove Elsie knew what she was talking about, Ethan felt a firm grip on his shoulder and turned to see Sheriff Bob.

“Your microchip is not registered,” Sheriff Bob said to Ethan. “Prepare for upgrade”.

At the same time, another Sheriff Bob appeared and apprehended Elsie. “You have reached the age parameter for microchip implantation. Prepare for implantation”.

“Oooh,” Elsie cried worriedly. “Let go!’ she said, stamping on Sheriff Bob’s foot, but causing no response whatsoever.

Ethan looked at the robots. The robot holding him was running an internal process of some kind. Probably printing a microchip.

“Why are these things so primitive?” he wondered. “I don’t remember ever seeing anything this simple”.

He looked back at the robot holding him. He absolutely had an iron grip, but was only holding one of his wrists. Ethan’s other arm was free. The robot wasn’t even aware of its external surroundings while it performed internal functions. “This is really amateur craftsmanship,” Ethan thought, as he hit the robot under his chin with the heel of his hand.

The other robot moved to grab Ethan. “Sleep,” he said, catching the robot’s eye. Sheriff Bob released its grip on Elsie and went into hibernation mode.

“What the?” was all Elsie could say.

Ethan’s jab did not knock the head off his robot, but did cause it to fold back on itself and rest between its shoulder blades like it was on a hinge. Ethan knew it to be an access point on older robot models. He noticed a number of ports along the side of the neck. There were slots for external connection, memory and even a SIM card. “Why would it need this stuff?” he wondered. There was a SIM card in a slot. He took it.

“Don’t do that,” Elsie admonished. “They’ll come and get us.

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Ethan looked at Elsie. She didn’t have a microchip yet and his was unrecognized. Maybe their faces had been recorded, but they couldn’t be tracked without microchips.

“We should be okay for the time being,” he replied. “Take me to meet your friend Bill”.

Elsie hurriedly led Ethan further into the park. They soon arrived at North Meadow. The huge field was packed with people, and resembled a small town without buildings. There was a tent city of sorts on the west side, and open air booths where vendors bartered for various things on the east side. In between were people buying, or who acquired things of value, and were trading them with vendors and who issued tokens in exchange for the goods. These tokens were the currency of the barter town and could be used at any booth in exchange for food, clothing, or other necessities. The booths stood side by side in orderly rows. Little makeshift streets divided them from others lined up across the way. As they moved deeper into the trade center, Elsie started running into her friends, all of whom were curious to know who Ethan was.

“Found him,” was all Elsie would say.

“Where you taking him?” they asked.

“Taking him to see Bill”.

This reply received the oohs, awes and reverence Elsie was expecting and contributed to her idea of her own self-importance, which some might say, was healthy. It wasn’t self-importance as much as Elsie liked to play loose with reality, and place herself prominently in her undertakings. She was never hunting rats when she hunted rats. She was hunting dangerous animals, or even humans and was world renown for her abilities. It was pretty hard not to think highly of yourself in these situations.

Ethan was not just a man Elsie ran into in the alley. Not after he dismantled those two robots. Very quickly, Ethan became a knight in shining armor and Elsie, the heroine of the story, drew him in with her womanly charms. Not that she knew exactly what that meant.

By the time they reached their destination, Elsie saw herself as a princess, delivering a mysterious savior to her liege Bill, owner of the ‘Rat Shack’. She wished she had a hat or something she could remove as she bowed in deference to her King. That would be a nice touch. As it was, she did manage to get in a curtsy. “Bill,” she said, as formally as she could manage, “I present to you, Ethan. I found him”. Then not having a hat to flourish, she majestically raised her right arm into the air and held her pose.

Bill looked at Elsie who remained in a wobbly curtsy, with her arm outstretched. He never quite understood the child.

“Thank you, Elsie,” Bill said. “I hear Kyle found a box of chocolate bars, but they’re going fast. You better get one before they’re gone”.

Elsie became a different person as soon as she heard about the chocolate bars. She couldn’t remember the last time she had chocolate.“See you later, Ethan,” she said as she ran off.

Bill looked Ethan over. “What can I do for you?” he asked.

Ethan was looking just as closely at Bill. The man was First Nation. “I met Elsie wandering alone in the backstreets,” he replied. “I’m new around here and asked her to show me around”.

“Okay,” Bill replied, “Not much to see, is there? Do you want a rat or what”?

“Don’t you recognize me Bill,” Ethan said smiling.

Bill took a closer look at Ethan, but no recognition registered on his face. “I’ve never seen you before,” he replied.

“From the commune on Vancouver Island,” Ethan pressed.

Mention of the commune did spark memory, but not recognition on Bill’s face. He shook his head no.

“I’m Ethan. I fought alongside your brothers Jim and Dan”.

This, at least got Bill’s attention. “I don’t know who you are, but there’s certain things you don’t talk about in public”.

Ethan looked around him, but saw no-one. He shrugged and turned back, trying to think of something that would spark Bill’s memory of him.

“You play the fiddle and wanted to join our band,” he said.

Bill cocked his head back, like Ethan was full of it. “I never...”

Just then, a young man who was with Elsie and a few other kids behind the ‘Rat Shack’, came up to them.

“Bill,” he interrupted. “Elsie says this guy stopped a couple of Sheriff Bob’s”.

“How?” Bill asked Ethan.

“Well, I hypnotized one of them, and physically accessed the ports of the other”, Ethan replied. “You can disable them either way”.

Bill looked more closely at Ethan. Ethan recognized the look. It was when Bill’s mind was working through all the variables and coming to a decision. Ethan almost laughed. How many times did he provoke that look in Bill back at the commune?

Bill sighed. “Take him to Field 8. It’ll be safe there. I’ll be along in a little while”.

Bill looked at Ethan. “The Consortium will be looking for you. We’re taking you to a safe place where your microchip will be shielded”.

“They scanned me. My microchip wasn’t recognized,” Ethan said.

“That’s good,” Bill replied. “But they’ll still be looking for you. Best you disappear for a while”.