program’s elaborate simulation often factored in people falling in love. But this was not a good time to raise it. There was also another disturbing scenario he had seen. It involved the perfectly handsome clone, Lazer, who was efficient and ruthless. Lilydeen was in deep trouble if Lazer got hold of her. Mario shuddered when he read some of Lazer’s fantasies posted on the Genetica- fantasia page.
Chapter 2: Genetica: Danger Zone
For some time Wolf had sensed that the Mx Corporation was monitoring him. From the 4 th level of his apartment block he could see the mini drone hover silently by his window. He had deliberately acted with undue concern or interest. He had conditioned himself to breath and exhale after counting to 7 so that the drone’s on-board surveillance device would record that he was relaxed and not in an agitated state. Night after night he had the same dream, first of a salamander icon and then a girl his age walking on the sea shore. She looked rather like Chloe in Bioinformatics but had gentler eyes that were purposeful as if she was on a mission. Her actions seemed to imply that Wolf featured prominently in her plans. The dreams started after he had posted anonymously in the Twilight Web. If she was from the Fringes would it be safe for her to come to Genetica? It seemed like a highly suicidal plan. But Wolf also knew that a seemingly weak position was also a position of strength especially if the Corporation was not expecting a seemingly vulnerable intruder. There would be the element of surprise.
E ven if she was caught, she would only have enough information for her segment of the intrusion. He gasped! If someone was really coming, how and why had they chosen him? He was sure that many other disgruntled inhabitants posted in the Twilight Web. It seemed like a lottery but they must have used some very complex algorithms to pick him. He hoped he didn’t disappoint whoever was controlling the matrix. They were closing in on him and it was only a matter of time before they searched the Twilight Web and zeroed in on his identity.
He thought of Chloe. There was a time not so long ago when he was madly in love with her. They had done things together and had developed innovative ideas for making Genetica greater. Then he had made his disturbing discovery of the systematic killings and experiments of people on the Fringes. He had been disillusioned and confided some of his concerns . He had been shocked by her response. She tried to convince him that this was all misinformation. Their love had been built on a lie and he found he could no longer sustain it. Worse, he also discovered that their love had been engineered by the Corporation. When he saw through the facade of false emotions, he felt he had no interest in what she stood for.
Wolf knew however that the Corporation’s complex algorithms meant that he could only fool them temporarily. Sooner or later he would have to escape into the ‘Fringes’, where the super efficient perfect new world of which he was a part of, did not exist. That was assuming that they did not hound him there!
But how was he to escape? Was salamander real?
If all this was a figment of his imagination t hen there was no one who could help him. Nevertheless, he still had the inner urge to fight back and not accept defeat so quickly. Although the general impression put out in Genetica was of the ‘badlands’ where anarchy ruled and murders, rapes and other social ills abounded, he sensed that these were all exaggerated to make them feel privileged. These bleak stories fed to them daily, made them bear with the loss of freedom they gradually had to endure as Genetica progressed even further in its genetic engineering.
+++++
Wolf worked for the Genetica Institute (GI) a research and development subsidiary of Mx Corporation. He had recently done an analysis of its current operations and had provided data that showed variances in various sectors. It was the kind of
Chapter 2: Genetica: Danger Zone
For some time Wolf had sensed that the Mx Corporation was monitoring him. From the 4 th level of his apartment block he could see the mini drone hover silently by his window. He had deliberately acted with undue concern or interest. He had conditioned himself to breath and exhale after counting to 7 so that the drone’s on-board surveillance device would record that he was relaxed and not in an agitated state. Night after night he had the same dream, first of a salamander icon and then a girl his age walking on the sea shore. She looked rather like Chloe in Bioinformatics but had gentler eyes that were purposeful as if she was on a mission. Her actions seemed to imply that Wolf featured prominently in her plans. The dreams started after he had posted anonymously in the Twilight Web. If she was from the Fringes would it be safe for her to come to Genetica? It seemed like a highly suicidal plan. But Wolf also knew that a seemingly weak position was also a position of strength especially if the Corporation was not expecting a seemingly vulnerable intruder. There would be the element of surprise.
E ven if she was caught, she would only have enough information for her segment of the intrusion. He gasped! If someone was really coming, how and why had they chosen him? He was sure that many other disgruntled inhabitants posted in the Twilight Web. It seemed like a lottery but they must have used some very complex algorithms to pick him. He hoped he didn’t disappoint whoever was controlling the matrix. They were closing in on him and it was only a matter of time before they searched the Twilight Web and zeroed in on his identity.
He thought of Chloe. There was a time not so long ago when he was madly in love with her. They had done things together and had developed innovative ideas for making Genetica greater. Then he had made his disturbing discovery of the systematic killings and experiments of people on the Fringes. He had been disillusioned and confided some of his concerns . He had been shocked by her response. She tried to convince him that this was all misinformation. Their love had been built on a lie and he found he could no longer sustain it. Worse, he also discovered that their love had been engineered by the Corporation. When he saw through the facade of false emotions, he felt he had no interest in what she stood for.
Wolf knew however that the Corporation’s complex algorithms meant that he could only fool them temporarily. Sooner or later he would have to escape into the ‘Fringes’, where the super efficient perfect new world of which he was a part of, did not exist. That was assuming that they did not hound him there!
But how was he to escape? Was salamander real?
If all this was a figment of his imagination t hen there was no one who could help him. Nevertheless, he still had the inner urge to fight back and not accept defeat so quickly. Although the general impression put out in Genetica was of the ‘badlands’ where anarchy ruled and murders, rapes and other social ills abounded, he sensed that these were all exaggerated to make them feel privileged. These bleak stories fed to them daily, made them bear with the loss of freedom they gradually had to endure as Genetica progressed even further in its genetic engineering.
+++++
Wolf worked for the Genetica Institute (GI) a research and development subsidiary of Mx Corporation. He had recently done an analysis of its current operations and had provided data that showed variances in various sectors. It was the kind of
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