Crowd: A Dystopian Social Network Thriller (Final Draft)

Lord of Crowd

Camryn Sikes sacked into the silk-covered seats of his auto-limo. His assistant Lory sat in front of him, managing the To-Do list on his To-Do list. She wore a crimson Crowd-branded business suit and ogled her boss.

Camryn sighed. "I recognize that glance."

"Permission to speak freely, Sir."

"Do the full damage report."

"You put real effort into your speech. I think everyone in the audience saw your passion."

"Was it that terrible?"

"I mean, there is obvious room for improvement, but you're not a professional speaker...yet. You can't expect to woo your audience with the lack of experience."

"Why do I get the idea you're still too nice to me?"

Camryn played the live footage of his speech. The holographic video appeared in the lower left of his augmented reality lenses, played at half volume and twenty-five percent transparency.

Every second of watching himself speak stabbed his ego like a laser-shaped tactical knife.

Every stutter.

Every 'ah' and 'oh' mumble.

Every pathetic attempt to avoid eye contact with the audience.

Camryn wanted to facepalm himself. With a chair. Made out of metal.

His eyes beamed back at Lory. "You made me speak. The whole world laughed at me."

"With you, Camryn, they laughed with you. Do you know many graduates were down there, wishing to be like you?"

Camryn shrugged. "Does it matter?"

"You're the reason why they were able to graduate today. Without you, they would have never been able to afford a regular college."

"A regular college?"

"A legacy college, you know, the traditional. The ancient type. Crowd Community College is the evolution of higher education."

"I wish more people would share the same opinion."

"They will, sir, in time. One way of speeding up the process is to improve your public persona."

"How?"

She exchanged a couple of holo-videos with his personal area network. They featured legendary entrepreneurs and thinkers from the past centuries. "Look how they conduct speeches. Watch how they vary their speech patterns and address the audience."

She was right. The ancient change-makers sounded like spiritual entertainers. Camryn wished he could copy their skills and upload them to his mind, but that technology would require another decade of innovation. At least.

Lory expressed a shy smile. "If they could do it, you can do it, and you can do it better."

Camryn grinned from inside. Lory wrapped her criticism in the sweetest honey. Probably one of the reasons why she was allowed to be near his presence.

"What about Crowd market penetration?"

"Around twenty-seven percent."

Camryn's head bobbed down.

Lory quickly added, "But it's still a two percent increase over the last one and a half month."

Still, a pathetic result. After all the years of slaving away, the countless pitches and networking sessions, barely a third of the City had used his life-changing service. People were either too ignorant or clueless to understand how much Crowd would positively impact their lives.

Something needed to change.

Camryn leaned his head against the hot side window and watched the orchestrated car traffic buzzing by with perfect rhythm. Citizens of all races and ages, enjoying their rides, without ever touching their steering wheels. He remembered his early visits in LA when traffic was still wrecking people's nerves. How times had changed for the better.

For everyone.

When the lights turned red up ahead, a stylish car in capsule-form halted next to Camryn's ride. The triangle-shaped Fleet logo pixelated on its rear like a holographic ad.

"When's the meeting with the Fleet CEO?"

"The day after tomorrow, nine thirty at his studio space."

Camryn twitched at the thought of visiting other CEOs in their offices, but when you wanted something from others, you needed to visit them. In time, executives would want to visit him. Some would even beg to get five minutes of his time.

Now he focused on Fleet. If Camryn could merge their autonomous service with Crowd, the network would have an even bigger impact on peoples' lives. Effective urban transportation, massive discounts, an ever-growing pool of big data.

Yes.

The board AI updated the route's progress. "We'll arrive shortly."

Camryn leaned into his adaptive seat and prepared his mindset for the upcoming conversation with the incumbent mayor Diego Lunar. Although he preferred competitor Jessie Kwong, there was a good chance Lunar would remain mayor. Crime surged in the metro area, and safety counted as Diego's last stronghold. He had increased the police budget and enforced a deal where the officers would receive the newest non-lethal weapon technology.

"I have to warn you," Lory said. "He's not very fond of you."

"He will be after I talk to him."

She read a couple of comments the mayor made about Camryn and his Crowd platform. "Crowd? It's just another stupid invention by soy boys who smoke too much pot. Those kids need to step out their silicon bubbles and visit the real world for a change."

"He said that?" Camryn said, smiling.

"A couple of days ago. I can give you the video snippet."

"No need to. Diego will change his mind. I can feel it."

"Just don't let him trigger you," Lory said. "Focus on the issues. Tell him how important Crowd would be in fighting crime without using violence. Appeal to his self-interest."

Camryn wiped his hands. The mayor, being on the opposite political spectrum, would provide a formidable challenge.

The auto-limo AI reported. "We're arriving at: City Hall."

It was time to push Crowd forward.