Democracy vs Corporatocracy

Chapter Twenty Three: The Message

April 9th 2042

It was another busy day at Jim and Son's Delivery Company. The company had expanded a lot in the past year, there were over 500 employees and business was booming. The company was not like the other corporations, rather than the workers working FOR the the boss, they worked WITH the boss. Jim treated his workers fairly and gladly paid them enough money for them to live on. The main office was a three floor building with a huge garage that the trucks and vespas went out of each day to deliver packages and mail. Jim and Son's Delivery Company was now the biggest delivery company in New York City. People preferred it more because they saw it good to see a friendly mailman(or woman) delivering either letters or packages to them, rather than a cold heartless robot that would annoyingly say "This is your mail" until they were handed the mail. The company had become a reliable name in New York, one that people could trust way more than corrupt conglomerates like MegaCorp, ArmTech and Gapple. Little did anyone know that the company was started up thanks to a three hundred dollar bribe by a runaway teenager to the security guard who would later found the company. Jim was a very friendly man with two sons. Their names were Jim Jr and James. Their mother had been murdered years ago and they had no idea who did it. Jim did. But if he told anyone then he would lose his life and so would his sons. Jim was in his office, wearing the delivery uniform he usually wore and was interviewing a twenty five year old man about a job opening. Jim asked the man "So why do you wanna work with us?" The guy was silent for a moment, but then said "I work at the local mail service, but they fired me and replaced me with a robot. I need the money to pay my rent, so could I have the job?" Jim thought for a moment and said "Alright then, since you have great people skills, your hired". They shook hands and Jim said "Come back here tomorrow and my son Jim Jr will show you around". The man then left and Jim then got a phone call on his landline. Jim picked it up and said "Jim and Son's Delivery Company, how can we help with your package?" The voice on the other end was distorted and it sounded like the person had a cold. The person said "Sorry, I was trying to call my aunt". Jim's smile disappeared as he reached his hand under the table and pressed a red button that was directly under the landline. The button activated a device that made it look like nobody was calling. The device made it look like they had hung up. This was so that both the Corpos or the Government wouldn't know about the Freedom Democracy League, the kid run commune in the abandoned city of Boston that was planning a Second American Revolution.

Meanwhile at a dark room in an Federal Bureau of Investigation office building, an FBI agent was listening in on whatever calls in the city he could listen in to. MegaCorp practically ran the FBI and they did this to identify if there was any dissent against them. The agent heard what the voice said and simply assumed it was a wrong number and switched to other calls to listen into. Unaware of what the call was REALLY about. Jim got up and quietly closed the blinds on his office windows so that no one could see this. He got back to his chair and picked up his phone. Jim quietly asked "What crazy plot do you and your friends have this time Marcus?" Marcus answered with "One that's gonna save a lot of lives". Marcus then asked "Is the encryption device Codes gave you secure?" Jim answered with "It is, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, this call isn't even happening". Marcus then said inside of the phone box in a busy street in Providence "Good, good. Now we need a message delivered to Internal tomorrow". Jim was a bit startled and asked "Why tomorrow?" Marcus sternly said "We have uncovered a plot by one of the Corporations, one that will leave millions dead. We have what we need to stop it, but we need information from our pal on the inside". Jim thought for a moment and said "Alright then, I have a new worker starting tomorrow. I'll have him deliver the package from the pick up point to the drop off point". Marcus timidly said "Alright then, the pick up point will be at the red street lamp on Elizabeth Street by the University of Connecticut School of Law in Hartford tomorrow at 3 pm". Jim replied with "The usual place then, okay. I've got a new worker starting tomorrow, I'll tell him that it's a test." Marcus finished with "The usual excuse then? Alright, I'll call back in three days to ask if Internal has sent the intel. Goodbye". With that Marcus hung up the phone and walked outside to his electric motorcycle that had been powered by solar panels. He put on his helmet that went well with his black leather jacket, revved up the engine and rolled out back to Boston.

April 10th 2041

Raymond, the man Jim had hired the day earlier was driving down a road in Hartford Connecticut. Jim had told him that he was to pick up a package in Hartford and deliver it to a street in Harlem New York. Raymond saw this as a test and was glad to do it. Hartford was a bit more well of than New York, but the majority of the population were on the brink of financial ruin and it was thanks to(you guessed it) the Corpos. Raymond arrived at Elizabeth Street and saw the red street lamp with a letter taped to it. Raymond parked the car and exited it. Raymond walked over and saw the words "For Raymond" on it. Raymond curiously said "How did they set it up this fast?" Raymond picked it up and looked at the address on the back. The address was St Aloysius Catholic Church in Harlem New York. Below the address were the words "Give this to the person in the trench coat and fedora". Raymond jokingly said "Oh so it's a super spy style delivery. Very funny". Raymond chuckled a bit as he got back in the car, unaware that he was now carrying evidence of an evil scheme by the Corpos.

Three hours later Raymond was just outside of St Aloysius Catholic Church. The church was a bit archaic in design, but was in rather good condition. There was a mural depicting Jesus Christ watching over the Earth from the heavens, painted on the wall of the church. Religious people were leaving candles and praying to God by the mural. Raymond looked and saw a person in a trench coat and a fedora standing by a telephone box. The persons face was concealed by the fedora and they were about five foot eight. The person walked up to Raymond and said "Do you have the letter?" Raymond answered with "Yeah, here it is". Raymond handed the person the letter and the person said "Thank you, the League sends their regards". The person then walked of and Raymond got back in the car and drove back to the office. Raymond couldn't help but wonder what this "League" was. It was probably a joke made by Jim. Little did he know that he was playing an important role for a clandestine rebel group that sought to bring about a Second American Revolution and that the person was Agent Internal, the Freedom Democracy League's double agent inside ArmTech. About half an hour later, Internal was inside their dimly lit room. The curtains were shut, making it difficult to see their face. Internal opened the letter and inside was all the information on the Demon's Death and ArmTech's plan to sell Demon's Death missiles to a Fascist Dictatorship, an Islamic Republic and a south American Drug Cartel. There were also the plans on how the League would stop this from happening, but they needed the schematics of the port, intern uniforms and id cards. Photos of Marcus, Codes, Ryan, Eivor and Jane were also inside. They were small enough for an ID card and Internal knew full well what they had to do with them. Internal placed the letter under his bed as they heard their mother shout out "Dear, dinners ready". Internal walked over to the door and walked out of their room. Internal planned on getting the intel at work after school the next day, then they would send it to Jim and he would send it to the League.