shutupandgoaway
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Here's a sort of 1984 wannabe short story, read it,tell me if tis any good. Tisn't finished yet, so it ends rather abpruptly and unfinishinglike, my apologies. Sorry aboot the double post as well; tis too long for one.
George Higgens was the only child of parents who had become incredibly rich after the death of his reclusive grandfather, Arthur Higgens. He had been a great pioneer of the nanotech industry. George had never known this enigmatic grandfather of his, but he must have been a great man; the field he had contributed so much to had saved billions of lives, hadn’t it?
Mr. and Mrs. Higgens hoped for great things in their son. They hoped he would carry on his grandfather’s legacy of greatness. They sent him to the worlds best schools and hired private tutors. George was tolerably intelligent, and did reasonably well, but reasonably well wasn’t good enough. He had to work constantly to do well enough for his parents approval. George sometimes was angered by this, but mostly did not notice. He felt honored to be considered among the societal elite for his potential position in the nanotech industry after his father’s death.
George did not like the new maid. He couldn’t really see why, she did her job well and never did anything that annoyed him, but for some reason he was suspicious of her. He watched her as he studied, trying to catch anything she did that would justify this odd suspicion. When she moved, he looked back to his studies, only to renew his calculating gaze when she turned back to what she was doing.
“Is something wrong, Mr. Higgens?†asked the maid. George was surprised she had noticed him.
“I, umm, no, no problem,†he stammered. The maid went back to her work as did George. He soon finished studying, and began to go up to his room to log on to the holonet. As he was walking up the stairs, he felt a sudden impulse to get out of the house. He retraced his steps, and went outside to the transit pad, and proceeded to wait for a pod to come down the magnetic rail. These magnetic rails had destroyed much of the pollution the nation had had by eliminating the use of fossil fuels, and publicizing transportation, but many old fashioned, unprogressive individuals had opposed this new breakthrough. The car industry and factory unions had protested very strongly against it, but the now revered President Anderson had silenced them through his great talent for speaking, that few other presidents of this century had been blessed with.
The pod had almost reached George now. He could hear the metallic whir of it’s gliding along the titanium track. The pod stopped at the transit pad, and as George moved towards it, four men dressed in black suits stepped out of it.
“Hello, mister Higgens,†one said as he stepped forward. The other three moved closer as well. “ We’d like you to step into the pod with us. It will be best for you to cooperate, and not to bring us to exert unnecessary force.†George was scared now- he had heard about abductions of rich children, but never in a city as safe as Austin. Petrified, he stepped into the pod. “It’ll be a long ride, mister Higgens, so this is a good time for us to give you some information about all this,†said the man who had spoken earlier-clearly the leader of the group. “We are representatives from the IFPFP, and no, we are doing this neither for ransom nor for the shock factor of having the grandson of Arthur Higgens killed.†George knew about the IFPFP, the International Front for Personal Freedom and Privacy. They began as a worker’s union and civil liberties group, and were on the frontline of the massive protests against the creation of pod networks, the invasion and annexation of the Carribean islands and Mexico into what was then the United States under the Donaldson administration, and even against his grandfather’s nanotechnology research and implementation. They were the most virulent and powerful of these groups, and after democratic and peaceful meants failed, they resorted to violent and fearful tactics to attempt to get their way. Other organizations followed their lead, but they were all eventually hunted down and thrown into prison of executed. Only the IFPFP survived the Anderson administration purging of these unions turned terrorists. They had, in the decade after those purges, continued a campaign of sabotage and assassination against the nanotechnology industry and against the NAC government. With Anderson’s repeal of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth amendment, and the extreme changes made to the sixth, the hunt for these terrorists was made easy, however, and most of the IFPFP was caught and executed. The remnant of this organization acted in extreme secrecy. “ I know what you are thinking, mister Higgens,†said the leader, “that we are terrorists, and malcontents, and simply enemies of society, but if you had held our beliefs at the time of our formation, you would act as we do now. Our freedoms were neatly stripped away from us by that tyrant, Anderson, and your grandfather’s nanotechnology. We lost our privacy, and our rights to fair trials, and all we had. As a result, we did what formed our country- not what you see now,†he said as he gestured out of the pod, to the metallic city full of whizzing pods, “but the United States, founded upon the idea that all men are equal, and posses certain rights. You are too young to remember freedom, and too rich to ever have exercised or needed it, but to the rest of us, the loss of our freedoms meant something. Remember that.â€
“Sir, we are about to drop,†said one of the others, from the navigator’s seat.
“ Very well. Our destination is on the surface and too remote and inconsequential to have an up to date transit pad, so brace yourself for an uncomfortable landing, mister Higgens,†said the leader. George braced himself, and a few seconds later, the pod dropped rapidly and hit something hard, skidding along the surface. It finally came to a stop, and one of the men got out, and beckoned for George to follow.
“ Mister Higgens,†he said, “to safely get you to headquarters, we must alter your appearance. If you cooperate, we can do this in an efficient and painless manner.†George decided that it would be best to cooperate, so he stood still as the man drew out a long jagged knife and cropped his hair in a very crude manner. He was then given an old, threadbare coat and a hat of the same style, and smudged with some dirt from the surface.
“There, now we may procede,†said the leader, as he motioned toward a dim, derelict building marked as a subway terminal. They moved toward the terminal, and as they did so George noticed one of the men putting on leather work gloves. When they reached the terminal, the man with the gloves ordered five tickets to Mexico City.
“ Well, sir,†said the attendant, “We are working closely with the Austin Department of Public Safety, and checking all passengers with a quick DNA scan. There has been a kidnapping, and we are trying to comprehend the kidnappers.†Just then, George noticed that the man who had ordered the tickets was drawing a long metallic object from inside his jacket. He tried to point and warn the attendant, but his arm was grabbed and his mouth was covered by one of the men standing beside him. He was led back out of the line, and toward the train’s stop.
“ What about the hundreds of surfacers commandeered every week for genetic experimentation and information and training of secret government commandos? What about kidnappings and ransoms exacted by surface gangs? What is the department doing about those,†screamed the man at the counter. As this was happening, George was led further away. George saw two security guards get up and draw pistols, but as they did so, the man ducked below the lip of the ticket booth’s counter, drew out the object beneath his jacket, and two flashes abruptly burst from it, melting away the guns. He then got up, and broke through the attendants door to the inside of the counter, grabbing the tickets to Mexico City. The security guards closed in on him, but as they did so, he leaped out of the booth with a roar and flattened them both in his descent. He hit the ground, and after a brief recovery, ran to rejoin the group.
“ Step away from the subway stop,†the leader called to the crowd, as he drew a grenade. “ We do not wish to harm you. If you will cooperate, we will not do any damage.†The crowd moved away fearfully, as the next train rolled into the station. The guards aboard the train attempted to resist the entrance of George and his escort, but were quickly subdued by these strange weapons the men held. “Mexico City, quickly,†barked the leader to the driver, “scour the train for other guards,†he then told his subordinates.
After a few hours, they arrived in Mexico City. They exited the car, and moved through the crowd quickly. They made their way to a transit pad, and boarded a pod. The leader, shielding the screen, typed in some coordinates.
George Higgens was the only child of parents who had become incredibly rich after the death of his reclusive grandfather, Arthur Higgens. He had been a great pioneer of the nanotech industry. George had never known this enigmatic grandfather of his, but he must have been a great man; the field he had contributed so much to had saved billions of lives, hadn’t it?
Mr. and Mrs. Higgens hoped for great things in their son. They hoped he would carry on his grandfather’s legacy of greatness. They sent him to the worlds best schools and hired private tutors. George was tolerably intelligent, and did reasonably well, but reasonably well wasn’t good enough. He had to work constantly to do well enough for his parents approval. George sometimes was angered by this, but mostly did not notice. He felt honored to be considered among the societal elite for his potential position in the nanotech industry after his father’s death.
George did not like the new maid. He couldn’t really see why, she did her job well and never did anything that annoyed him, but for some reason he was suspicious of her. He watched her as he studied, trying to catch anything she did that would justify this odd suspicion. When she moved, he looked back to his studies, only to renew his calculating gaze when she turned back to what she was doing.
“Is something wrong, Mr. Higgens?†asked the maid. George was surprised she had noticed him.
“I, umm, no, no problem,†he stammered. The maid went back to her work as did George. He soon finished studying, and began to go up to his room to log on to the holonet. As he was walking up the stairs, he felt a sudden impulse to get out of the house. He retraced his steps, and went outside to the transit pad, and proceeded to wait for a pod to come down the magnetic rail. These magnetic rails had destroyed much of the pollution the nation had had by eliminating the use of fossil fuels, and publicizing transportation, but many old fashioned, unprogressive individuals had opposed this new breakthrough. The car industry and factory unions had protested very strongly against it, but the now revered President Anderson had silenced them through his great talent for speaking, that few other presidents of this century had been blessed with.
The pod had almost reached George now. He could hear the metallic whir of it’s gliding along the titanium track. The pod stopped at the transit pad, and as George moved towards it, four men dressed in black suits stepped out of it.
“Hello, mister Higgens,†one said as he stepped forward. The other three moved closer as well. “ We’d like you to step into the pod with us. It will be best for you to cooperate, and not to bring us to exert unnecessary force.†George was scared now- he had heard about abductions of rich children, but never in a city as safe as Austin. Petrified, he stepped into the pod. “It’ll be a long ride, mister Higgens, so this is a good time for us to give you some information about all this,†said the man who had spoken earlier-clearly the leader of the group. “We are representatives from the IFPFP, and no, we are doing this neither for ransom nor for the shock factor of having the grandson of Arthur Higgens killed.†George knew about the IFPFP, the International Front for Personal Freedom and Privacy. They began as a worker’s union and civil liberties group, and were on the frontline of the massive protests against the creation of pod networks, the invasion and annexation of the Carribean islands and Mexico into what was then the United States under the Donaldson administration, and even against his grandfather’s nanotechnology research and implementation. They were the most virulent and powerful of these groups, and after democratic and peaceful meants failed, they resorted to violent and fearful tactics to attempt to get their way. Other organizations followed their lead, but they were all eventually hunted down and thrown into prison of executed. Only the IFPFP survived the Anderson administration purging of these unions turned terrorists. They had, in the decade after those purges, continued a campaign of sabotage and assassination against the nanotechnology industry and against the NAC government. With Anderson’s repeal of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and eighth amendment, and the extreme changes made to the sixth, the hunt for these terrorists was made easy, however, and most of the IFPFP was caught and executed. The remnant of this organization acted in extreme secrecy. “ I know what you are thinking, mister Higgens,†said the leader, “that we are terrorists, and malcontents, and simply enemies of society, but if you had held our beliefs at the time of our formation, you would act as we do now. Our freedoms were neatly stripped away from us by that tyrant, Anderson, and your grandfather’s nanotechnology. We lost our privacy, and our rights to fair trials, and all we had. As a result, we did what formed our country- not what you see now,†he said as he gestured out of the pod, to the metallic city full of whizzing pods, “but the United States, founded upon the idea that all men are equal, and posses certain rights. You are too young to remember freedom, and too rich to ever have exercised or needed it, but to the rest of us, the loss of our freedoms meant something. Remember that.â€
“Sir, we are about to drop,†said one of the others, from the navigator’s seat.
“ Very well. Our destination is on the surface and too remote and inconsequential to have an up to date transit pad, so brace yourself for an uncomfortable landing, mister Higgens,†said the leader. George braced himself, and a few seconds later, the pod dropped rapidly and hit something hard, skidding along the surface. It finally came to a stop, and one of the men got out, and beckoned for George to follow.
“ Mister Higgens,†he said, “to safely get you to headquarters, we must alter your appearance. If you cooperate, we can do this in an efficient and painless manner.†George decided that it would be best to cooperate, so he stood still as the man drew out a long jagged knife and cropped his hair in a very crude manner. He was then given an old, threadbare coat and a hat of the same style, and smudged with some dirt from the surface.
“There, now we may procede,†said the leader, as he motioned toward a dim, derelict building marked as a subway terminal. They moved toward the terminal, and as they did so George noticed one of the men putting on leather work gloves. When they reached the terminal, the man with the gloves ordered five tickets to Mexico City.
“ Well, sir,†said the attendant, “We are working closely with the Austin Department of Public Safety, and checking all passengers with a quick DNA scan. There has been a kidnapping, and we are trying to comprehend the kidnappers.†Just then, George noticed that the man who had ordered the tickets was drawing a long metallic object from inside his jacket. He tried to point and warn the attendant, but his arm was grabbed and his mouth was covered by one of the men standing beside him. He was led back out of the line, and toward the train’s stop.
“ What about the hundreds of surfacers commandeered every week for genetic experimentation and information and training of secret government commandos? What about kidnappings and ransoms exacted by surface gangs? What is the department doing about those,†screamed the man at the counter. As this was happening, George was led further away. George saw two security guards get up and draw pistols, but as they did so, the man ducked below the lip of the ticket booth’s counter, drew out the object beneath his jacket, and two flashes abruptly burst from it, melting away the guns. He then got up, and broke through the attendants door to the inside of the counter, grabbing the tickets to Mexico City. The security guards closed in on him, but as they did so, he leaped out of the booth with a roar and flattened them both in his descent. He hit the ground, and after a brief recovery, ran to rejoin the group.
“ Step away from the subway stop,†the leader called to the crowd, as he drew a grenade. “ We do not wish to harm you. If you will cooperate, we will not do any damage.†The crowd moved away fearfully, as the next train rolled into the station. The guards aboard the train attempted to resist the entrance of George and his escort, but were quickly subdued by these strange weapons the men held. “Mexico City, quickly,†barked the leader to the driver, “scour the train for other guards,†he then told his subordinates.
After a few hours, they arrived in Mexico City. They exited the car, and moved through the crowd quickly. They made their way to a transit pad, and boarded a pod. The leader, shielding the screen, typed in some coordinates.
