T.O.R.N.: There's Only Right Now

Chapter 28 T.O.R.N.

The Sephiren's territory-wide mandate for ocular implants was the first of many alterations to the fabric of the new deception called transparency that was implemented by Emily Farraday shortly after the borders closed. A new society emerged where human point of view became a commodity.

One's ability to lead the most entertaining and extravagant life, while being broadcast into the homes of the marginally mundane became the pinnacle achievement in this society. Real estate in the areas in which these people led their lives skyrocketed. New luxurious metropolises were established. While the areas where the majority of the population lived became large slum cities that were a breeding ground for a spirit of rebellion.

In a city that used to be New Orleans a hacker soon acquired the ability to interrupt his feed and go offline while streaming recorded feed for periods of time undetected. He eventually set up a system, first with his girlfriend Neda, where they'd exchange information offline. However, to do so, an intricate timing schedule was developed where they were never offline at the same time. Code was created to leave clues in plain sight while their feeds were live but unnoticeable to the average Sephiren Observer who was tasked with weeding out rebellion. The SO were the new law enforcement in the territory and there was a task force within it dedicated to building cases against individuals based on information gathered through their feeds.

This kept the masses in line with The Sephiren's agenda like never before. But this hacker used clues that would create a code that pinpointed rendezvous location and instructions to further their cause. In a few years' time,their numbers grew to a few thousand. In that time the hacker was able to create a mini quantum computer. This facilitated their numbers to exponentially grow to a few million. The only thing this hacker couldn't figure out was how to contact Asante and The Wave and convince her to overthrow Farraday and The Sephiren. He was dreaming of thiswhen his alarm rang and the clock displayed 4:44 am for the third day in a row, though he had set it to 5:00 am.

"Again!" Neda yelled, pushing her pillow into his face.

While his eyes were still closed, in the darkness behind his lids the word Teton appeared in white block letters.

"Teton," he said out loud.

"What'd you call me, Elijah Remy Farraday!" Neda asked.

"Nothing." He said as he made a mental note. He knew Emily Farraday had been watching him since before the reformation of the world. His uncle and guardian Ezra had been preparing him his whole life for this moment, which is why he chose to stay in Sephiren Territory, he knew he'd have to take Emily Farraday down from within.

Over the next twenty-four hours, he would create code for Neda to find in order for her to start research on the word Teton. Within a week they had discovered that an old Wave Headquarters in The New York City Library was still standing at Leigh Lake in Teton, Wyoming. He couldn't risk going there himself, so within a month, a team was formed and a recognizance mission planned amongst the rebellion. He had a feeling that some clue was left there for him in Teton to find. He decoded a message that a download with information from the mission awaited for him off-feed. After disrupting his ocular implant, he set a timer for twenty minutes and streamed his recorded feed. He then pressed a button on his keychain that also doubled as a remote to access a secret room in his and Neda's Parisian loft. He sat at the console for his mini quantum computer and downloaded the file.

After a few moments of analyzing the data streaming across his monitor, he realized what he was looking at, a backdoor. It was a backdoor to access The Sephiren's Quantum computer completely undetectable. Within moments he was in. Inside Farraday's personal files, he found a folder named "2050 D-Day". But he couldn't access it. He didn't have much time. He found one more door entitled, "T.O.R.N.", just as he was about to encrypt the backdoor from which he entered Quantum. Before he exited the secret chamber he left himself some notes and one message for Neda. What is TORN?

* * *

Aissa had been given the responsibility of Deputy Director of the South American Territory of The Wave and subsequent border protection. Although she missed Asante, running her own territory where she was able to oversee the curriculum for the education Asante wanted to be instructed in every land of The Wave territory gave her a sense of purpose and satisfied her need to lead.

Aissa established universities all over the territory where areas of study included courses on integration and entrainment, finding which frequency resonates within, and experiments in mass meditation. There were Art and Science centers in every province of the territory where interactive exhibits took the visitors through experiences that the mediums had never achieved before. Telepathic experiments were done to send messages throughout the territory that became the beginning of new security measures for The Wave. It was a new age in a dawn of redefining humanity.

Every morning Aissa and Obadias would surf the coastline of Mancora, Peru, where they lived. They were close enough to the border that if anything came up, she could be there within hours, but still were able to wake up in a literal paradise as the backdrop of creating this new world. However, Aissa couldn't help but feel dissent when Asante agreed to close the borders. She understood it from a place of self-preservation and limited resources, Asante didn't want to establish trade with The Sephiren, not if it could be avoided. But the compassion for those still enslaved but hoping for freedom out of the terror that had become the reality of living under the transparency laws of The Sephiren's Regime was nonexistent under the new treaty. Aissa heard stories that broke her heart—of torture and executions of those suspected of rebellion, broadcast territory-wide. She had made up her mind that regardless of Asante's directives to keep the treaty, she could not let the innocent continue to die.

"If only we knew how many people wanted out of The Sephiren Territory and could organize them—that might change her mind," Aissa said to Obadias while they walked back from surfing to their beachfront property in Mancora.

"We've been through this, the new grid with Quantum as its mechanism and the ocular implants as its data point for each person in the territory is impossible to permeate. In the treaty, Michael and Obadias are specifically outlined—as well as any other person with the ability to interfere with their system—as deal-breakers if found to be meddling in the affairs of The Sephiren and their territories.

"There's peace on earth, we chose to live in this reality and they chose as well, when the treaty period is up, I'm sure we will have found a solution to the resource problem and Asante will reassess the terms of the treaty." Obadias repeated to her his position as he had done many times before.

"But that's nearly thirty years from now. What if their hope is eradicated by then?" But to this Obadias just shook his head; he had no answer for her.

* * *

After many months of precisely timed espionage, Elijah finally figured out what the other door in The Sephiren's Quantum computer mainframe was designed to do. It was a portal of sorts, but it could only send out one two-hundred-eighty character message. But there was no way of telling who would receive the message. Although he had reservations that this might all be a trap by Emily Farraday to finish what she set out to do many moons prior, he hoped that his message would get to Asante. More importantly, he hoped that he had the words to touch her heart. He spent every moment he was off-feed trying to construct the message, but nothing accurately depicted what he was after. He decided to speak from his own heart. It was all they had left.

I am Elijah Farraday. I am assisting those left behind journey to freedom. I risked everything to send this message, millions seeking hope rest in the fate of my words, so I leave you with what you left me, the fate of your world and mine depend upon it, There's Only Right Now.