Crowd: A Dystopian Social Network Thriller (Final Draft)

More Pressure

"You look exhausted," Sasha said the next day.

"I assume you didn't find time to relax."

Rain shook her head. What was the point of lying anymore?

At least the department let her work again.

"I did go to my father's B-day in San Diego when I heard about the riots in Esperanza. As you know, Benjamin lives there, so I tried to call him and see if he was alright. He didn't pick up, no matter how many times I called." She paused to catch air. "So I took a Superloop express and found Ben returning from the grocery store. Can you believe it?"

Judging by his confused look, probably not. "Why didn't you just search his geo-tag?"

"He's still not on Crowd."

Sasha's grimace darkened. His face contracted as if she swallowed a vicious jalapeño. Rain lowered her voice, even though no one in the other sections could her them in the dual office. "Ben says the Crowd news is artificially making the riots bigger than they actually are."

"Why would they do that?"

"I don't know. Benjamin, he's, well, sometimes he comes up with those scary stories. He believes Crowd is pushing some kind of agenda to influence the city's geopolitics."

Sasha snorted or swallowed his chuckle, it was hard to tell. "Don't tell me he's one of those nut jobs who believe some higher form of power is out to get him."

"No. Well, a tiny bit."

Sasha's smile vanished as quickly as it came. "Your ranking is swaying."

"I don't know why."

"Crowd is collecting information from you and the people you interact with. If you act with disconnected who are not part of Crowd, it can't extract information. Which means your ranking may sway."

"Are you serious?"

"I don't know. No one knows, except for Camryn and his inner circle."

Rain breathed in. So many issues battered her from all sides.

Benjamin.

The new job.

Her parents.

The city.

Her ranking.

Sasha said, "Why doesn't your boyfriend even try to check Crowd? Does he know he can log out any time he wants?"

"Can we talk about our cases?"

"Whether you like it or not, Rain, but your relationship with your friends and partners impacts your job, and vice versa. Everything's connected, not just in the cloud."

She looked down at the space between her boots. "I've talked to Ben so many times. Tried to convince him how much his life would improve with Crowd. Just the other day, we went to a club where you needed a decent rank to enter. Ben, well, he didn't take it easy, to put it mildly." She paused again. "Every time I bring up the topic, he's edgy."

Sasha's concerned glance told her to continue.

"I just don't want to fight anymore."

"I don't blame you; some folks are just stuck in their ways, but that's because they don't know better. Truth is, I had serious doubts about Crowd. Thought it was some nonsense new gimmick some tech-bros came up with again after their Burning Man trip. But look how wrong I was. Look how many millions of people were wrong."

Her breathing became shallow. "I'll speak with him."

Sasha's voice softened. He almost sounded like her father now. Almost.

"Bring him to the office. Let me talk to him. He will soon see how much he's missed by not being a part of Crowd." Sasha almost touched her shoulder. "Personal issues can be tough, believe me I know, but if there's any way I can help, tell me. I, heck, everyone in this office, is there for you."

"Thank you. It means a lot to me."

"Good."

Rain relaxed. Some of the pressure chipped off. Maybe all Rain needed was to make a better case for Crowd when she remembered the SAGE exclusive challenge from yesterday.

"What?" Sasha asked.

"I don't know if you got it, but I received a group engagement challenge yesterday. I'm supposed to rally a few dozen people."

"Didn't get it," Sasha said. "But then again, those challenges are user-specific."

His eyes widened.

The eureka moment must have struck.

"You know what? Do the event and bring your BF. Show him what you do and how he can prosper from joining Crowd."

Rain sighed. "I don't know—"

"Listen, I'll help you find a venue ASAP. We'll make this work together. Cool?"

Rain didn't want to. She knew Ben's attitude about the platform and a simple public event wouldn't sway him. But she also needed the Creds, and since she was still on her probation period, she needed to up her reputation in the department.

Especially after her hit-and-miss client conversations.

"Let's do this," she said even though she feared the upcoming event.