Talking Man

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - EARTH

Weston received a call. The cell where he was held was not high-security as he was only awaiting trial for tech crimes. He was allowed open communication with the outside world, though the calls were monitored.

"Are you in a sound-proof room?" asked the female voice on the other end.

He looked around. The cell neighbors were all out on exercise time. "Yes. But there will be somebody listening in to the call."

"We knew that, which is why the guards will be hearing a pre-recorded message we synthesized for them. In it, I play your long-lost cousin who's devastated to hear you've been incarcerated."

Weston knew that voice, but even better he recognized the shrill attempts at sly cleverness.

"Callie, you know I'm the one who's going to get hit with a worse sentence if they find out their line's been hacked. I'm ending this call."

"There's a new Traver video."

Weston couldn't bring himself to push the red button to end the call, even though his finger hung poised in the air above it.

"And you know this how?"

"Oh, great! You're still on the line. Thought I was gonna lose you there."

"How do you know?" Weston had all the time in the world to spare and he knew it, but it was patience he lacked for Callie. He was well aware that she was the most direct reason behind his incarceration, the most recent after a long litany of unfortunate occurrences of which he'd excused himself of any responsibility.

"There's not a lot of time to explain, since your cousin's call only lasts two minutes."

"Then get to your damn point."

"Ooooh, testy! Prison's supposed to be good for some people, but I remember you being jollier before."

Weston cleared his throat in such a way as to try and sound menacing. The result was a sound that resembled the clearing of a throat and not much more.

"Anyway," continued Callie, "Laffy's been picking up a lot of chatter at Aurora. They're sending twice the usual number of messages, making three times as many calls, and your boss' name keeps turning up."

"So?" Weston tried his best to remain unaffected. "What does that have to do with me?" And then he quickly added: "It's probably just another Lucy message anyway. They're just going to keep forcing status updates until they figure out what the hell is going on out there."

"Nope." Her response was immediate and confident. "This is a bonafide Traver Talk broadcast. Nobody's saying what it's about, but it sounds like a doozy."

Weston had to sit down. He tried once to say something, but his words failed him. He began again: "Why are you telling me? What do you want?"

"Me? Why would I want anything?"

Weston's bitter chuckle lasted only a few seconds before it turned into a quiet sob.

"Cheer up old Wes. Listen. Consider this a courtesy call. Me returning the favor you paid us before. I know it won't get you out of the legal troubles, but it might go some of the way to restoring your good graces with your old friends at SASH. That's got to count for something, right?"

"How would it do that?"

"Okay, we've gotta hurry because there's only twenty seconds left to go. You remember that little contract that Traver signed, and SASH signed, and Aurora signed?"

"Yes. Yes."

"Well, anything Traver sent back for the purpose of public distribution – anything – legally belongs to SASH. So yeah, I blatantly stole the content when I aired it, but people loved me for it so nobody really cared. Point is, SASH can claim the new video. Aurora can't keep it a secret without being sued. People are gonna go bonkers over this one. And it's up to you now, to get it out into the world. Oh, look at the time. I love and miss you, cuz, but I need to get going now. I'll give Aunt Alicia a kiss from you. Bye!"