Amygdala Hijack - A Genetic Engineering Sci-Fi Story of Impending Dystopia

EP. 15 - AUGGIRL

PETER AND EARS STAYED at the condo during the playout of BioEthel that afternoon. Molli needed to run out on errands with her two protector companions and returned as dusk approached.

"Guys!" Molli shouted, walking through the front door. "Guys!"

"I'm right here," Peter yelled from the kitchen. "We're getting so much heat, it's beyond measure."

"Wait, wait, don't tell me about the show yet. My news is critical. Where's Ears?"

Peter lifted his hands from the keyboard and patted his neck and shoulders.

It was the sign that Ears was plugged-in to his multiple feeds. A pair of earbuds were inserted into each set of ears, allowing him to consume multiple audio feeds at once. Enhancing this capability, the large vidscreen in his bedroom displayed many screens at once.

Molli ran upstairs to knock on his door, then came running down with him. She signaled for both to sit.

"News from the PD. A break in the kidnap story. Their detectives found my captor was working with radical mechs to a greater degree than they originally thought. My friend could only tell me so much, but the FBI is involved. The hints at this are more sinister than you might imagine."

"I can imagine major sinister," Ears contended.

"Crime ring. Organized. Mech thing, right?" Peter wondered.

"Peter!" Molli pleaded. "Let me finish. The mechs are radicalizing in a big way, partially due to the new wave of integrated machine tech, including direct AI to brain integration. They're quickly perfecting it. Recall this 'generations' mantra – the faster they advance, the faster they advance. Moore's Law maxed and folded upon itself. Big money's involved as well. Most of these people, mechs I mean, are on the flip side of stupid. They're altering how global fund flows are transacted and making big bucks on the margins like no non-varint could. Then they're using those funds to advance their tech and agendas."

"But why you?" Peter asked.

"It wasn't just me they were after, not by a long margin. They're going after the media in general, anyone or any company suggesting solutions to the problem. That's confirmed. The FBI found patterns elsewhere in the world. Anywhere or any time they can silence competing or conflicting voices, they will."

"Come on. Seriously? Seems a futile plan. The media are so diverse with so many voices. If you silence one, a million others will pop up."

Ears was troubled. "An effective strategy would be to take out the culprits with the loudest voices first and work down the list."

They paused for a moment, knowing what this meant. "The more audience we get, the bigger the target is on our back, as Bev might say. It's just a different hunter going after us, that's all," Molli observed.

Peter closed his eyes and scratched his forehead. "Are you saying we should back off what we're doing for our own safety? Return to the old, general science format and deemphasize the more edgy alien threat proposals?"

"Peter, for better or for worse, one thing my years of martial arts taught me is to never fear. Evaluate, be sensitive to trouble, but never fear. We should stay on our path since going back is not an option. What we can do, though, is mix things up and keep them off balance. Let's intersperse shows that are not directly associated with the obelisk, though I understand it's hard for anyone at this stage to not mention it in every sentence."

She knelt to look at Ears. "We just ran BioEthel, right? She mentioned the mechs and letting nature run its course, which is compatible with the radicalized mech philosophy."