Ch 6: Viral Avalanche - hackers inspired

Once in the Dean's Tunnel, the hackers attention turned toward his bug-out storage. They selected bug-out-bags that looked like student's book bags, and started filling them with necessities for flight. It was not just one chest, this must have been a hobby for Jack. A huge selection was available, too much to pack comfortably.

They loaded two small hand pushed floaters with food, disguises, several blasters, and a strong box Jan found; filled with Krugerrands. Jon vetoed extra clothes and water. "Once we exit, remember this place." Jon states, "It might serve as a safe house another time."

Several layers of clothes, windbreakers, and various makeup effects changed their appearance focal points. Jan went to redhead with a quick paste. Once away from the school that could change again, quickly, frequently. The jackets could be reversed, then abandoned. Bright colors could be alternated with subdued. Billy added inserts in his mouth and on his cheeks that might confuse facial recognition software, his pointed chin was rounded.

Jan asked questions of both the entire time. Gladis did not rise to her bait, but quietly sobbed, her face ashen.

Billy answered frankly. "Our first goal is a private safe house where I've cache supplies and equipment. Jack's stash here is better than any of mine. We could stay in this tunnel, but others may learn of it."

Jan "How far away is your safe house?"

"Not far, do you know Bridgeview Park?" At her nod he continues, "In a small wood I've burrowed a hiding place. It will be crowded, about a hundred square feet. We will gather information and decide on our next steps there.

"Won't we need water?"

"I've tapped a spring behind the hill. The spring also provides steady hydroelectric power from a tiny run-of-river hack."

"What about Brotherland, when do we counterattack."

"We will start our hacking in the woods. Security is very strong, and we have access to many proxies. There are only two 'puters, primary and backup, so one of us will be researching, thinking, planing, or sleeping."

"How long will we be there?"

"Depending on the news, probably a week or less. The Dean didn't bother asking about our future fabrication and hack space under Brotherland Security's nose. Jack didn't expect us to ever leave Hacker School grounds. He never considered we might get close enough to munge Brotherland's hardware. We can build everything we need when we get there. We will hack in route. It will take anywhere from days to months to arrive, depending on how hotly our capture if pursued."

"But people are dying in mass."

"We can't help them if we die. I think our goal needs to be bigger than Brotherland, bigger than stopping another single instance of leadership's inhumanity."

"You imply beyond a single evil, I'm not sure we can impact even that much."

"It will take time to stop a maniacal government, but I've done it before. You have impacted them already or they wouldn't have attacked. Expanding our mission into a viral, international movement may be much faster."

"Billy, you've been planning this movement before today."

"I have Jan, or at least dreamed of it. We are not alone. Many hackers have taken the initiative to fight tyranny and murder. Some have achieved notable success. The time is ripe to do more."

"We can't stamp out tyranny, not while so many people are willing to embrace lies, hoping to avoid the truth." Jan stops, "Wait. I can say that better. Give me a sec... " Jan is lost in thought, her eyes moving rapidly as she considers thoughts, then "People desiring to believe propaganda, will cling to obvious lies. You can't argue with them." she pauses, "Just don't be them."

"Well said. Somehow we always teach truth, others always teach lies. That is propaganda, and the biggest lie."

Jan quotes; "The only real, knowable truth is what we have challenged ourselves, trying to find errors."

"What error are we fighting? What enables and sustains tyranny? An organization leader's ability to exaggerate evils, creating fear of 'others.' This is usually followed by persecutions and wars as they garner support against carefully defined villains."

"I'll grant you that, so?"

"So in the past hackers, crackers, and privacy techs have slowed and stopped tyrants, but the job seems everlasting. One is stopped, another fills his place. Out with the old boss, in with the new boss, same as the old boss. The defined enemies may change, the disasters for mankind continue."

"And you see a way to stop this?" Finally Gladis head rises, her eyes glare, and she mumbles "Fat chance."

Billy suppresses expressing relief at Gladis' awakening. "What if we can provide an end to certain Machiavellian calculations, change results of certain actions, destroy the value of 'state enemy' creation for leaders?"

Jan responds, "I think there were once secret societies that espoused the assassination of tyrants, making the position unattractive. They failed, wars were still fought, entire peoples were still eliminated. A few despotisms ended, but so did the movements. Elitist overlords were replaced with new oppressors."

"Fringe societies, secret assassin groups, anarchists with no supportive plans for a better social structure -- they never reached critical mass. Evil grows faster and more surely than they could restore their membership rolls. Worse, people view each instance of evil separately, never connecting the whole map of social interactions. People focus on their local tyrant, then quit fighting once he perishes."

Gladis finally speaks out. "So how do you plan to change reality? Start - assisted suicide for politicians - franchises?"

Billy senses Jan's appraising look at him. She knows he is changing Gladis' mood from sorrow to scorn, hoping he knows what he's doing. He hopes so too.

"Reality has already changed, Gladis. Hierarchies have been collapsing ever since empowering technology enabled personal choice."

"And politicians still buy creatures like Dean Jack to do their dirty work, that hasn't changed."

"Nor will it ever. Most people still believe if they are to gain, others must lose. Their belief causes them to hurt others first and worst. We can't stop that, we can just prepare to protect ourselves from them."

"Then your plan would do no good for people like Jon, killed because he wanted to do good."

Billy says quietly, "Not directly. no."

Sobs shake Gladis, anger explodes. "Then what good are you! What good are we?"

Billy waits. It's not easy. But he waits.

Gladis' sobs subside, but she still stares angrily at Billy, while wiping her nose, drying her face.

Billy says; "Jon will help us stop those that funded the Dean, and others like them. We can stop and punish the leadership of Brotherland. We can punish other nations and leaders for supporting them. We can do it in Jon's name. We will make it a movement dedicated to him. Hackers can humiliate Brotherland elites, and simultaneously create massive waves in the abusive cesspools where Brotherland's leaders swim. In Jon's name Brotherland will have no succor from their saturnalia of foul governance. We will make genocide and war mongering have negative political returns."

Jan slowly nods, "If fear doesn't work, most will stop using it."

Gladis looks at Billy steadily, through red, puffy eyes. "You would do this in Jon's name?"

"Yes. And we will make it apparent that the wrath of hackers will fall on any inhuman leaders, and those that grant them sanctuary. We will make such hideous actions untenable."

"How?"

"Hackers are widespread and powerful. There are also many standard techs that understand hacking or cracking. Many occasionally play at hacking. Together we can send a message that genocide, systematic impoverishment to create dependent castes, hatred as a pretext for aggression -- these sorts of things will be punished -- with nowhere for the perpetrators to hide. We can focus technological retribution on the worst, until in their self-interest, the worst cease their most vile actions."

Jan muses, "Hacked despotisms will shrink. Hackers can also share positive news from existing human rights successes like the Federation of Liberated Cantons. Evil punished, liberty rewarded."

Billy smiles, "Hackers will remove the rewards of tyranny. Oppression, regulatory theft, and war will slowly dissipate from preferred governance philosophy. We will never cure all the mentally ill that want to run other's lives, but hackers can stop the institutionalism of herd insanity. We will use Jon's name, and my hacker darknet address cyberhug.me, for broadcasting to ethical hackers."

Gladis leans into her next question. She wants answers now, not philosophy: "How long will this take?"

"I don't know, but we start tonight in our hacker's habitat. Our poetry and Jon's story will go on Hacker's Net, unencrypted. Our own stories will follow. Finally an explanation of intent, with a call to action. Voluntarily: free hackers, crackers, and privacy technicians will decide what they want to contribute. At some point this movement will shift beyond our ability to influence it. Hackers will have started a viral avalanche. That is when villains will discover the power of The Friends Of Hacker Jon."

much later...

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