Dream of Change

Chapter 2

"Only able to hold onto the distant hope that their government would be the one to win." In the end the simple reason why there had been so little resistance globally. If a corporation fell the country would be exhausted from the revolution and another country would eat them whole leading to the population being treated even worse than we were currently. Right "Look what we are saving you from!" They said as thousands starved and millions slaved away anyway. Lowing the f***ing bar to the point where the devil had to install a "Mind your head sign" in the 9th circle.

That being said it was practically impossible. The nation corporations were monolith. Someone could steal billions from them and nothing would come of it other than a hit being put on the thief but even being caught with 100 stolen credits would get you shot or worse.       

For those that could lift their heads up above the water the most important thing about life was to grab hold of anything that could give you an advantage and the corporations were quick to provide them to anyone with the money: Genetic enhancements, cybernetic implants, metal limbs, lifespan lengtheners weapons, armor. You name it. They didn't really care unless you tried using it against them in which case the merchandise had a habit to explode violently. If truth be told I had acquired a few improvements myself over the years. An enhancement that allowed me to run and lift at the true human limit indefinitely without my heart giving out or ripping the muscles off my bones. The second was an external implant shaped like a slim tiara that allowed me to move things with my mind even if it gave me a wicked headache after. Even in this world I had always fantasized about having powers so I had bought them after I err... "acquired" a large sum of money.   

I hadn't bought them from UK corp and buying them from a rival would have ended much worse. I had bought them from an outlaw den. One of the few legitimate ones with an underground element that knew what they were doing but also wouldn't sell you out for 5 credits official hit or not. They also worked as a fence which might have been how I got the money needed for my enhancements. The outlaw dens were set up so it was quite possible you could go to one without even knowing what it really was. They could be a cafe, bar, clothes shop or in one case even a library. Anywhere that would give you a believable excuse to go somewhere more private as long as you had the correct password or unique token. There were lookouts so if security came knocking an indicator would be placed on the door letting you know to keep your business to yourself for the evening. If any questions were asked about the select rooms the owner would half truthfully say it was a private members area. 

I headed there myself the den only a few blocks away from my apartment, handed in my token and was led through a set of double doors marked members only. The warning marker wasn't there today luckily. 

"Hi Otrera!" Jet called out to me. Jet was only a few years older than me but was known among the dens for pulling off the most ballsy act of hacking I'd heard of. Hacking into Harold Edgar the CEO's corporate email and sending a job termination letter to half the board. Watching the most powerful people in the country run round panicking for an entire day had been rather amusing. Jet had finally given up control and for the finale used the corporate email to send the same letter to Harold Edgar's own personal email address and Jet was gone without a trace.

I nodded hello and walked over to his table where our other friends Jason and Alicia were waiting. Again these were all chosen names, none of us knew each other's legal names and knew better than to ask. The 4 of us had a habit of meeting up every week and swapping any news or rumors we heard during the week even if we weren't buying or selling "So what have you got for us this time?"