Silhouette by Dave Swavely

leadership. This cued me to search the Web for some more information, and I thought of using the room system like I usually did, but then realized that my glasses were more likely to be private. Most homes with net rooms had only one or two at the most, because that was all normal people could afford, but in ours almost every room was equipped with the technology, and it occurred to me that Saul might have been using that equipment to keep an eye on me. I imagined there was some risk in going on the net in any way for what I wanted, but I decided to limit it to a few minutes and hope it didn’t come back to bite me.
    So, staying in the glasses, I entered a search for “neural manipulation.” It took a while to get it started because I had to key the words in letter by letter, using the glasses’ mouse, because I didn’t want to say them out loud. Numerous links came up, and the large majority of them confirmed what Paul had claimed—that there was a broad consensus among experts in related fields that it could be done. There seemed to be no documented cases of its actually happening, but that might have been because the Geneva Accords put a serious cramp in research by forbidding any legal development. The political and corporate leaders who met there certainly were worried about the possibility, and there were many other Web sites filled with paranoia about it.
    I modified the search to “Saul Rabin neural manipulation,” and nothing came up that was directly related. There were many entries about Saul Rabin and manipulation, but they were all critiques of his governing decisions and leadership style. Many of these sites referenced his famous last press conference many years ago, after which he had decided to stay away from the media and let Paul and D act as the public spokesmen for BASS. I had seen the video of it many times before but wanted to watch it again with “new eyes,” so I brought up one of the clips listed.
    â€œPlease comment on the repression of minorities in San Francisco,” a female reporter says.
    â€œWho’s being repressed?” Saul answers.
    â€œLGBT and PPB groups, for one.”
    â€œNonsense,” Saul says in an angry tone. “There are no new laws under BASS that didn’t exist before it. We haven’t even made any public statements about any of those lifestyle preferences … no new laws or even statements concerning gays, not for lesbians, not for bisexuals, not for transgenders, not for pedophiles, not for polyamorists, and not for bestialists, or for any other types of people for that matter. And don’t forget that BASS has given staggering amounts of money to AIDS and AIMS research and treatment.”
    â€œThen why have so many people left the city since you’ve come to power?”
    â€œA lot of criminals have left the city,” the Mayor says, turning to his son next to him and flashing that twisted smile obstructed by his scar.
    â€œBut what about many activists who have no criminal records?”
    â€œI don’t know, ask them,” he says, getting irritated again. “Nobody makes anybody stay or go.”
    â€œWe have asked them, and they say that you want to control people too much.”
    â€œNo, they want too much control!” Pointing at the reporter. “I am the duly elected leader of this city. We can’t have too many hands on the wheel; we won’t get anywhere.”
    â€œYou were elected after you were in power and many people had left, fearing what you would do.…”
    â€œI can’t help how people read me, or if they read me wrong. And at the beginning, we really couldn’t have too many hands on the wheel … when you’re crashing, that’s the last thing you need.”
    â€œYou are a tyrant, like every other one in history,” she says with a loud voice, more to the crowd than to Saul. “Who can only rule by control and