Episode 6
Part Two
"The man is burning us again." Jellico's eyes burned as she watched dataclouds form and disperse on her touchscreen. Where other datatechs liked to surf the clouds and zoom into the smallest details, she liked the long view, the faraway view, where data moved like weather patterns and one could see the butterfly wing that became the hurricane. "He thinks he leads us."
"There are advantages to that, Jellico." Her Second stood behind her. She turned to look at his solid face, set now into a heavy frown.
"Yes there are," she said, "but we get no respect because of it. And look at this..." She pointed to an encrypted order from Central. "They want us to risk our brains, fry our neurons, to get them this data from the structure. Data we buy with the blood of our minds. They have no respect for us, here."
"We don't need respect," he answered. "We need anonymity, and we have it."
"No!" Her eyes flashed at him. "Not so. Respect is a commodity, and it can be traded on. It can buy entrance into forbidden spaces."
"But they will question us, Jellico," he answered. "When they know us, they will watch us." He watched her carefully. "What are you saying?"
"We should be known," she said. "We are strong enough."
He shook his head. "You are wrong." Her eyes flashed to him, angry, and he backed up a half-step. "You are wrong. Survey the Underground if you don't believe. Let them hear the arguments. But I must argue against you."
"You challenge me, Second?"
He nodded. Jellico considered for a moment. "Very well. But we know the Underground has already heard the arguments. It is a linked system." She stared at him until he looked away. "You are the identity known as Ghost. You are in the Underground, spreading your beliefs."
He shook his head. "Not true, leader. Not true..."
"I have traced you." She stood up "I know you. But you don't know me. I am," she paused and lowered her voice to a whisper. "I am Sinder Roze."
"You! You are the identity preaching for independence?"
"Yes, my Second. And we will vote now." She fliplinked into the Underground, the secret cyberworld existing in the spaces between the new datalinks. And there she posed a question.
Independence?
As she and her Second waited a tally formed with blinding speed. The datacloud, thousands of identities, swirled and collected around one axis, and then the other. Yes, no, opinions formed and reformed, until the cloud coalesced around one answer only.
Independence. Sinder turned to her Second.
"You have sought to undermine me, Ghost, but the Underground has spoken. We will be known. And you will leave us."
He frowned, staring that the datacloud. Then he looked at her. "And you?"
She smiled. "I guess I am Sinder Roze, forever."
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