Bassie was excited. He had just been selected to Tommy’s team as he walked briskly to the pick up area outside the parking lot security booth. It was a good quarter mile walk and at one time, took him through a sea of cars. Now there were only a handful scattered about. These days, most people worked remotely. But there was a peak period, around lunchtime, when the parking lots swelled to about twenty percent of capacity. These were the types that hadn’t the wherewithal to make their own food, or eat out. Yet they had the wherewithal to still get in the car and return to the one place they knew, where the food was plentiful and free. It wasn’t about the money. It was about routine and the need for programmer types to avoid the hassles of daily survival.
Bassie jumped in the Lyft that matched his phone App, and went several miles to Sunnyvale where he was dropped off in front of a small strip mall. From there, walked into the parking lot and got into the back seat of a black Mercedes SUV with dark tinted windows. From there, he was whisked up highway 101 to South San Francisco. The SUV entered a high rise condominium through a secure gate. Whenever he went to, or from the office, the routine was always the same. although the pickup locations and the cars changed constantly.
Bassie entered the penthouse, where suddenly he was berated loudly by a women. She was speaking Russian. The penthouse had a panoramic view of the bay but it’s most striking feature was the expanse of computing and communications equipment that occupied nearly the entire main living space. The tower had been developed by Russian money during the redevelopment of what was formerly the Candlestick Park area. The top floor would normally have provided for two sprawling penthouses, but this single, six thousand foot unit had been specially engineered.
Bassie was in fact a former Russian special forces operative, so if his build and his tattoos looked out of place in software circles, it’s because they were. But Bassie, whose real name was Alex, was a great actor. As an agent, he had acted so many times and in so many ways, that reality was what whatever he deemed necessary. So, he decided to create such a bizarre character as to mystify everyone. It was also helpful to be repulsive, as to avoid anyone seeking to get close. The fact that he couldn’t string two lines of code together, was irrelevant. If Lucky and the others were shocked by his ability to churn out more quality code than anyone else by a factor of five, it was because a team of ten programmers sat behind Bassie, creating his aura of superiority.
Bassie, Alex, was in reality a slave to his formidable laptop. It was a model that he specified to Thimk and it was setup according to company security policies, which were beyond state of the art. But once the Russian team handed it back to Bassie a day later, it was equipped with a second tiny computer with it’s own encrypted cellular transceiver. The computer was based on a US designed, Chinese manufactured ARM processor. The secondary computer now simulated the display, the camera, the audio inputs and outputs, and could therefore overlay its own information.
When Alex had been ‘inserted’ a year earlier, no one could have anticipated the good fortune they now were hoping to realize. The technology seemed too good to be true, and it was an election year. America had become wise to many of their tricks and it was getting harder to influence the outcome. In fact, their assumption had been that they might have only a tenth the impact they had had in the prior presidential race. But now there was this gift. Preparation had paid off and they salivated awaiting their first taste of the new secret sauce. Glory was within their grasp. They would deliver the re-election of the dim-witted puppet to their leader once again.
Good preparation was also being heralded across the pacific in Beijing, where two major developments had miraculously aligned. The minor modifications to the key microchips and circuit boards had gone mostly undetected. The discovery of the unknown component in the Supermicro motherboards had been a setback. It was sloppy and the fools responsible had been punished. But the most important intrusions were perfectly intact and now up and running as the components proliferated globally. The second and even more exciting development involved a young AI genius named Hou Tou.
As his Chinese handlers took their own set of precautions to avoid repeating logistical patterns, Tommy was on his way to one of the weekly encounters which usually involved locations as varied as suburban homes, hotel rooms, and obscure Chinese restaurants. He despised these meetings. Despite the critical nature of his work and its potential value to the Chinese government, Tommy found it concerning that these clandestine meetings were invariably smoke filled and wreaked of Chinese hard liquor. Baiju.
“Hou Tao, the leadership is very happy about your progress based on my last report,” explained Mr. Ma, Tommy’s main contact. “What are the new developments of the past week?”
“I finished the team recruitment. Here is the list.” Tommy handed over a hand written page of names and contact details. “They are very capable and I will be able to make rapid progress. We will start some basic trials using a group of paid volunteers next week. I have a few things to still verify. We should be ready for a larger test within one month.”
“That is good news. We will check these new team members carefully to look for any risk factors.”
“What kind of risk factors?” Inquired Tommy, believing this step as wholly unnecessary and an addition of higher personal risk to himself.
“Things that might make these individuals weak or susceptible to other influences, such as blackmail. Things like drug use, hidden homosexuality, or excessive interest in pornography. That kind of thing. Or maybe there is a spy.”
“No. I doubt it. I am very good at seeing these kinds of details.”
“I’m sure you are. But this is protocol and we must follow through.”
“What is the purpose of all this? Why is our government wanting to use this technology?”
“Funny you should ask. I am now authorized to share some of those details with you. It is necessary for you to understand. Our interest is not to perfect and use the technology in China. Maybe later. But for now, we want to try it out in America. We want to make sure that the Democrat wins the presidential election.”
Tommy’s blood ran cold. Coming face to face with a hungry tiger would have been less startling than what he had just heard. His initial shock had been clearly visible. But he tried to keep his cool. Is this a test? He wondered. “That is … very dangerous. I need to think about how to keep this secret. I am not comfortable. If it were discovered, they would lock me up.”
“Don’t become overly concerned,” replied Tommy’s handler. Tommy felt like laughing out loud. “You will figure it out I’m sure. For now, just think about that.” The door to the restaurant’s private room opened abruptly and servers filed in with hot dishes. The smells and the sudden change made Tommy relax a bit. But his mind raced, processing and calculating solutions to the difficult task ahead. He knew there was no turning back at this point.
Thirty miles away, another meeting was taking place, similar in many ways, different in others. Vodka replaced Baiju. Instead of thick, garbled Beijing mandarin, it was heavy Russian. And most important was a difference in primary objective. “We must insure the certain re-election of the Republican President. And, we must hold the Senate as well. These are non-negotiable. Our leaders are clear,” proclaimed Anna Schlotzsky.
Alex, and a team of more than a dozen programmers and analysts, shifted uncomfortably in their seats, collectively exhaling as if to release pressure that had now reached critical levels. It was a formidable task.
“We are not even in possession of a single relevant algorithm yet,” vented Alex in frustration.
“Well you had better get on that,” retorted a stern and immovable Anna Schlotzsky.
” I am his number one. I couldn’t do any better. But the little China man is very careful. He knows where to separate the work so that he can make progress, but the key ingredients are still with him. Now it’s up to you.” Alex scanned the room, making eye contact with each member of his software braintrust.”
“No, “declared Anna. “There is one more key task that you must do. Remember, you joked that he should try it on you, that you thought it was bullshit. Go back to that. Tell him you need to understand whether it is really effective. Through this exercise, maybe we can unlock the technique.”
Alex nodded in agreement. “Okay, let me figure it out.”
“Someone like Sebastian. If I involve him in a demonstration at this point, and he figures it out, our plan could be disrupted.” Tommy was highly agitated at Mr. Ma’s suggestion. You ignorant old government fool.
“Never mind. He won’t figure it out. Based on your progress, you need more out of him. He is the only real asset. Someone must be brought into it, or you may have no plan at all. We are out of time.” Ma knew only that the mission had to be attempted, no matter the risk. The alternative, missing the election cycle completely was unthinkable.
Tommy fumed. “It’s not just about the election. There are broader risks. Once Buddha jumps over the wall, the world will change forever.”
“So be it. You must realize it will happen anyway. Eventually.”
Tommy realized the truth of Ma’s statement. He felt himself in a precarious position. There was no possibility of a good outcome. Tommy sighed in defeat.
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