Democracy vs Corporatocracy

Chapter Ten: Operation Gunboat Part One

March 10th 2041

The Vanmobile was driving through an abandoned road that led from Boston to Providence. Marcus was in the passenger seat and Eivor was driving. Marcus saw the word Vanmobile spray painted on the left side of the van through the side view mirror and said "We seriously need a better name". Eivor changed gear and said "We needed something that sounded like Batmobile". Marcus raised his left eyebrow. Eivor admitted "Ok fine, I guess we need a better name". Marcus looked in the back and said "Codes, what name do you think the van should have?" Codes Parkington was one of the first kids who arrived at the Freedom Nest. Codes had always had an interest in computers and ran away because his parents were corrupt executives in Gapple. He had brown hair and glasses due to his stigmatism. Gapple was created when Google and Apple merged in 2018 and specialised in phones, electronic devices and smart cars. Codes had a knack for hacking and decided to hack into Gapple's mainframe to find out more about why they bombarded those who used their products with so many ads. Codes was horrified to learn that Gapple's products allowed them access to people's accounts and were putting those who didn't click on more than half of their ads in prison! Gapple would create false evidence that would implement these people in cyber crimes they didn't even commit and they would be in prison for years on end. On top of that, they stole all of those people's money and framed them to tie up any loose ends. Sadly Codes couldn't get the evidence thanks to advanced firewalls and couldn't live with his parents after the things they had done. Codes thought for a second and said "The Equality Engine". Marcus and Eivor nodded their heads in agreement. Marcus said with impressment "Not bad, kind of catchy to". Eivor suddenly said "We're coming up on Providence". The three looked ahead and saw the city of Providence. As they entered the city, they saw that it was very much like New York. There were many houses in bad condition and a few houses in very good condition. There was Corporate propaganda everywhere and hungry, tired and oppressed people. Finally the van arrived at an abandoned garage that Eivor had spray painted "Lauf weg, lauf Weg nach Boston". Eivor handed Marcus a key and told him "I slept here the night after I ran away". Marcus got out and walked over to the garage door. Marcus placed the key in and turned it. The padlock on the door opened and it was easy for Marcus to then pull the door up. The Van then drove into the garage and Marcus closed the door behind them. The garage was old and dusty, with equipment dating back years. Marcus then saw that there was dried blood on the floor and asked "What happened here?"

A sad look on Eivor's face appeared as she said while closing the van door "The family that worked here fell on hard times, so they sold to MegaCorp. MegaCorp then fired them and beat them up when they refused to leave". Marcus clenched his fists and said "MegaCorp are gonna pay for this". Codes looked at Eivor and asked "How did you find out?" Eivor answered with "Security footage". Codes then asked "Where is the computer?" Eivor was a bit puzzled and said "Right there". Codes then walked over to the old and dusty computer. He brushed the dust of it and turned it on. "Good thing the power still works" Codes said with delight. Codes then clicked on the video files and found the security camera footage of the family being evicted. The footage was dated back ten years, but enough evidence to make MegaCorp pay. When the footage began, Marcus couldn't believe his eyes, but it was him! It was Jim! The guard he gave the money to for his son's kidney transplant. Eivor asked Marcus "What's wrong?" Marcus pointed at the screen and said "That's Jim! The night guard who I gave the money to when I ran of!" Eivor looked at the screen and saw the MegaCorp soldier badly beating Jim. Jim's wife was begging the Grunt to stop and started pulling at his arm. The Grunt then bought out a knife and stabbed her in the stomach! "NORA!" Jim yelled. The Grunts grabbed Jim and his sons and dragged them out of the garage. That was when Marcus saw a corporate executive in a suit and tie, who heartlessly said "Dump her body into the sea, make it look like the hag drowned and silence Jim if he speaks about this to anyone". Marcus angrily said "When I find that guy, I'm gonna kill him". Eivor gasped and asked with shock in her voice "Are you serious?!" Marcus confirmed it and said "Yes and he's gonna pay for this". Marcus then thought to himself "Now I wish that I did bring Her with me". Codes then said with disappointment "MegaCorp might trace this and get us all killed. We'll have to upload this after the revolution". Marcus smirked and said "We'll publicly humiliate them in Times Square once we do and then MegaCorp will be sorry".

Eivor climbed up a ladder on the wall and opened a hatch. She said "Come on, we've got some scouting to do". Codes downloaded the evidence onto a flash drive and said "Once we overthrow the Corpos, this'll be their ticket to the slammer". Marcus patted him on the shoulder and said "Good job Codes, now lets get to work". Marcus and Codes then climbed up the ladder with Eivor and they were all now on the roof. Eivor grabbed a wooden ladder and placed it at a two level building next to the garage. When Eivor placed the ladder she said "This building is a law firm, so be quiet". Marcus guessed that MegaCorp probably teared down Jim's family's house and built this law firm so that they could manipulate the legal system and get away with anything. When they were on top, Marcus bought out three pair of binoculars and said "Look for any weak points". The docks were not too large, but not too small either. There was a steel fence with a sign that said "No trespassing". There were shipping containers and security cameras on the fence. Codes took a look at the checkpoint and saw 2 guards by the window. The guards were checking the security cameras and had a calendar next to them. Codes zoomed into the calendar and saw that March 20th was titled "Pizza day". Codes patted Marcus on the shoulder and said "We can knock the guards out with frying pans while they're eating and tie them up". "Good idea Codes" said Marcus. Marcus then saw a few guards on patrol throughout the docks and said "Only about 5 other guards. Codes, once we're inside, you move the cameras left and right once to signify that its safe and twice when it isn't". Codes nodded and suggested "When they're eating the pizza, someone can signal you from here with a flashlight and then we head in through that broken part of the fence". Marcus looked and saw a small hole in the fence, just big enough to fit through. Marcus then looked at the warehouse and said "The bullets will likely be stored there, so will the guns if there are any". Eivor was a bit concerned and said "Let's just hope there are enough for us to use".