The Monitor

The Monitor, Part 1

A sea of brilliant lights danced before me. It used to make me dizzy, but after a few months on the job, it became like a wall to me.

I worked for BOSAM, the Bureau of Safety and Monitoring. I was part of a team that monitored people, everyone in the city of New Damai for the past five years, in fact. We monitored the little chips all citizens had implanted in their necks that tracked emotional activity in the brain.

I adjusted my chair and shivered. They always kept this place cool and on the verge of icy. It made the temps outside seem even hotter than they already were.

The display in front of me got fuzzy. I checked the small compuport on the desk and made a few adjustments. I scanned through the readouts of all the chips in my queue. Each one showed a color that ranged from dark blue to faded green for the emotion. BOSAM was started after the Rage Events caused enough problems, damage and loss of life for the government that all their other means failed.

Maddix called from behind me, "Anything good, Sia?"

"Oh, the usual, people on their merry ways."

All about us were our fellow crew, checking their individual Monitor stations. The air was filled with the sounds of occasional chatter and contacting field agents over the comm.

I don't know all the science of it, but the way they explained in training, BOSAM researchers isolated the activity that led someone to excessive violence. Since the martial law orders the government did in response helped next to nothing to restore any order, they decided it was best to allow BOSAM to quarter off the borders to New Damai with a Magno-Barrier so the "Experiment" as they called it could be contained.

Through the Monitors, we tracked whenever that was about to happen and sent one of our roving units to the scene before things got out of hand. It wasn't an easy sell with people at first, but when everyone was promised the Experiment would raise general safety, they saw it different.

Most did, anyway.

I looked at Maddix. "I see you're on External Patrol tonight."

He nodded and checked his gear. "I hope there's no Rage Events. Got me a hot date later."

"Ooh, we don't want her to be disappointed." I glanced at my screen. I was never sure what caused the Rage Events in the beginning; they had started before I was born. Riots were an everyday occurrence in those days. Those who were able worked and supported themselves to a degree. Others looted and robbed whoever was in their way. Even kidnappings and abductions weren't uncommon nationwide.

"Guess you'll be at home tonight, ya old married broad." Maddix patted my shoulder.

"Hey, I'm two years older than you. And if you weren't so worried about the flavor of the month you might be hitched already." I chuckled.

Maddix shrugged. "Me and marriage don't fit in a sentence. Maybe someday." He slid his helmet on. "I'm on comm band X23. Hope we don't talk anymore this shift!"

I waved him off with a grin. He had been here a year longer me. He rotated between the External Patrols and Monitor Control, like the rest of us.

The Experiment split the entire city into sectors, each with its own patrol. No citizen was ever more than five minutes from a patrol person. And the chips gave us an average seven minute warning before the Rage Event, which had been pretty effective so far.

Of course, not everyone bought into the system. Upon implementation five years ago, people were given the explanation of the benefits and potential for safety. The Experiment mandated every adult got a chip, and kids after age five too. I never had a problem with it since I had lost Mom and Dad in a Rage Event .