Chapter 1
San Antonio, Texas; USA.Present Day…
“There it is,” Jaimie said out loud to himself as he rounded the dense, downtown city block and spotted the entryway of the building he was heading to.Since it was a mundane Wednesday afternoon, there was a fair amount of pedestrians strutting their way to lunch in their business-casual attire.Most either on their phone-devices or in a small group; chatting and laughing.
The medium-sized edifice was festooned with artistic, pendant-type flags that read “The Downtown Atrium.”Jaimie had worked at that very facility many years before when he was a teenager.The city of San Antonio had changed quite a bit since then, and so did the former telecommunications firm’s offices.After its bankruptcy during the Great Recession, The Atrium would replace it several years later.Which was why Jaimie was surprised, earlier yesterday, when he read the address to where he needed to go for his required health-screen. What in the world did a staid real estate facility have to do with his health-screening?He wondered about that even more as he passed a couple of real estate agents as they walked out from the lobby and onto the city block.
He still remembered the layout of the building, so Jaimie knew to take the escalator to the lower level.More empty spaces as he looked around the lower portion of the lobby from atop the escalator.The lower lobby was very square in structure and filled with unused floor-space.There were more potted plants in the lobby than there were people!
That is, until his escalator ride got closer and closer to the bottom of his ride…
There were no banners, signs, nor any other designation for the suite.Nor for what the purpose of the worksite was.The two large, glass doors were propped open and Jaimie could see several utilitarian chairs radiating out from a line of tables that had people stationed there.As Jaimie walked up to the tables, he was surprised to see so many other workers scurrying about as they worked with other ‘civilians.’This was something Jaimie guested, given that the workers all wore some casual tan slacks and matching polo shirts—again, with no emblem nor any other means of identifying who these people were and what, exactly, was the business.
“Hi,” said a latter-middle-aged woman as Jaimie reached the table, “are you here for the screening?”
“Yeah,” he said as he took one more, quick look around the expansive, open-floor space.“Jaimie Manuel…actually, that’s with a ‘J.’ ”
“Oops, I see it now,” the affable worker said as she worked the touch-screen of the small computer.“I’m sure a lot of people spell it with an ‘H’ when you go through secured locations, don’t they?”Next to her, there was someone else arriving and started her process with another worker, just as Jaimie was.
As the worker continued to type a few nuggets of information, Jaimie saw the chance.“Say, ma’am…how long have you guys been here?I used to work here a few years ago, and I don’t remember seeing anything like this down here before.I mean, I know it’s the lower level, but usually you see traffic even from here!”
“Was it before it closed after the Recession?”
“Well, yeah…but I’ve passed this building all the time doing errands downtown for years.”Jaimie took another glance at the digs; which was sparse, like the rest of the facility.Yet, clean; efficient…almost like a –
“There you go, Jaimie,” the worker said; beaming at him as she pointed toward his next destination.“They’ll start the process at One for you!”
“Ok, thanks.”
It took a mere few seconds to reach station One.A woman with gray hair—white, perhaps?—with a child in a baby stroller were already seated before Jaimie had gotten there.There were several other civilians much farther along in the process then even her, so he would have to go after the woman with the child.
Upon a closer look at the woman, Jaimie, furtively, noticed that the woman looked a bit younger in the face than what her hair had advertised.Otherwise, he assumed she was the child’s grandmother…perhaps not?
A couple of minutes later, another middle-ager joined in the seating section of station One.Jaimie looked around again.Between not only the workers, but the civilians as well, Jaimie was, by far, the youngest person in the entire suite!Aside from the toddler, of course.Mid-thirties are considered at the oldest range of being a Millennial, by popular culture standards.Jaimie was used to being one of the elders in his peer group at his job as an IT specialist in San Antonio.He felt a bit discomfort seeing so many older people.Worse yet, he felt guilty about it!
“Hi, I can see you over here, sir,” a friendly, yet professional, middle-aged man said to Jaimie finally.
Jaimie walked over to station One, the name-sake on a simple placard raised above so it was easily seen.The station had a few tables—similar to the ones at the sign-in section.There was a light-weight tarp separating the six different stations.There was a kind of improvised look to it, but maybe that was because the health-screening was for a required procedure for millions throughout the United States for a new system of governing healthcare.The facility, most likely, didn’t receive much money from the government and the workers had to quickly put together the screening…no doubt, Jaimie reasoned, this was going on all over America.
The middle-aged man swabbed one of Jaimie’s fingers with an alcohol wipe and then pricked it with a tiny device.The worker then collected the blood drop onto a plexiglass or glass-slide similar to what one would see in a lab for microscopes.Only, this was a bit more secured and was slid into a high-tech reading machine of some sort.Jaimie, then, noticed the male worker wait for whatever reading that came up, then slid the glass of Jaimie’s blood out of the machine and placed it into a container that was filled with a large load of others’ blood samples.
“Excuse me, sir,” Jaimie said as he half-stood from his chair; taking great notice in what the male worker was doing with his blood sample.“What’s that you’re doing with my sample?”
“Oh, we just do the basics—checking for cholesterol levels, any risks of diabetes, check for pathogens…”
Jaimie froze.“I know you guys have to screen us, but it’s not like we’re donating our blood!What do you guys do with the results and where do you send them?To our state human services lab, or do they go to those insurance companies?”
Of course, Jaimie was being sarcastic.There were many in the United States who were not happy with the high levels of influence that the insurance industry had in government policies.Especially those in Washington, D.C.But it seemed to take the male worker a few seconds longer than it should have to get Jaimie’s quip.
“They’ll take care of you at station Two,” the worker said through a forced-laugh.He had already started working with the next person behind Jaimie by the time Jaimie had walked off toward the second station.
At station Two, they checked citizens’ height and at the same time weighed everyone there.And because of that, the section was a bit secluded, should it get a bit uncomfortable for some citizens to publicly discuss their weight.But before they did, everyone had to take their shoes off.Sweaters or jackets and everything else was a choice for the civilian, on whether or not to remove them.The second station was moving along pretty fast until the other male worker told Jaimie that he could step off the scale and take a look at the height-indicator.
“Ugh, I couldn’t have already shrunk,” Jaimie lamented as he peered at the top of the notch of the scale.“I thought that’s supposed to happen when you get into your forties!”
The tiniest of a look from the other male worker.“What were you expecting your height to be?”
“Five-eleven…I think I used to be right at six-foot, but when I hurt my back years ago at one of my jobs, it caused my lower-spine to curve just slightly.”
Now that same worker had a bit of an alarmed look!Jaimie fought to clarify.“But I think that was just because of that job at the time…I was a janitor trying to move a very heavy table.It’s not like scoliosis or anything…”
The second male worker then took on a relieved face.Noticing this, Jaimie, ever the smart-ass, had to throw something his way.
“Why, is my insurance company worried I’ve been a pre-existing condition all this time and they didn’t know it?”
The worker froze for several seconds this time.Jaimie thought he was going to call security on him, but then this second male worker leaned in toward Jaimie.“Mr. Manuel, I really would watch saying that if I were you, sir…”The worker’s eyes then shifted toward the greater area of the suite, with all the civilians and enigmatic workers with all their khaki pants and polo shirts.
At first, Jaimie thought the worker was trying to play off of Jaimie’s terse remark.But after watching the middle-aged man for several seconds, it was clear to Jaimie that the required health-screen was a lot more to it than a simple actuarial procedure to collect data on their subjects—that is, the insurance industry’s customers.
“Look around you, Mr. Manuel,” this second male worker said to him; stepping closer and lowering his voice, “noticed how everyone in this room is at least fifty-years old?I’ve met a couple of older women—and I’m talking about in their forties or so, Mr. Manuel, that are mothers who have been rejected by every insurance provider in the nation…like with you, Mr. Manuel, because of the weighing area being cornered off for privacy, it’s allowed me to have the time to actually talk with the people.
“Those same women have high degrees from universities, Mr. Manuel.But because of them being women, and especially middle-aged women who’ve already had children a bit late in life due to their careers, they have now been weeded out of the system.”
“What!”
The two men just looked at each other.There were two more people behind Jaimie, but this male worker obviously felt compelled to tell Jaimie what he knew!
“That’s what all this is about, Mr. Manuel…we’re sifting machines!We’re scattered all over America; cloaked as some program that’s facilitated by our state governments, but the levers and pullies are actually controlled by the insurance industry!”
Jaimie looked at this male worker for a while; thinking.“How do I know you’re telling the truth?More to the point, why the hell are you working here if—“
“I don’t, Mr. Manuel…I’m one of the civilians!I grew suspicious after I went through the process; just like you!I figured out how to get into their employment system, and, now, my mission is to spread the word…will you help me, Mr. Manuel?It’s not every day I run into one of the awakened!”
Jaimie, again, looked out at all the Gen-Xers and Baby Boomers troggling along in that system…that Sifting Machine!
“What did you need me to do?”
The male worker jutted his chin toward station Three.“Just finish the whole process…don’t let them catch on to us.Then, if you feel sure you can do this, ask to go online to the jobs-site so you can try for a job with them.That’s what I did.”
“You mean the jobs-site for the state of Texas,” Jaimie asked as he finished tying his shoes and stood up.
“No…the insurance company.”
CHAPTER 2
The Historic Market Square; San Antonio, Texas; USA.Present Day…
The old, brick structure was a hold-over from the early-1800s, as was the entire historic swath of downtown San Antonio.But this particular structure actually had loose bricks and long-time faded, painted ads from the late-1800s and early-1900s that were still barely legible!
In other words, it was the perfect place to hold inconspicuous gatherings for the Awakened movement—those within the, yet, larger Resistance movement in the United States; post-2016 election.However, the Awakened was not a political party, but a movement.So, there were some varying degrees of political identities in the groups, which were found throughout most of America’s largest metro areas.There were even a few cells scattered among America’s Plains states’ countryside!
For almost a hundred years the old building housed a mill factory in San Antonio’s early days.In more current times, it was a clearinghouse for the more urban, politically astute of San Antonio.And, now, information technologist Jaimie Manuel was among them!
David Chance, the undercover worker at one of the nation’s largest private insurance corporations, Eagle’s Shield, held the door opened for Jaimie to walk through.David was the one that invited Jaimie into the movement a couple of weeks prior.They met at a downtown health-screening clinic, and ever since then, Jaimie had, also, applied for a position within Eagle’s Shield and was now waiting for word on whether or not he was hired.This was one of the methods that the Awakened employed.Many within the movement also infiltrated various government offices, both local and federal.Since those with pre-existing conditions in the US were, now, being purged from the insurance industry’s coverage, and the focus of the Awakened movement, it was usually insurance agencies and government offices that were in the business of healthcare where most of the activists had concentrated their efforts.
When David had finally led Jaimie to the main area of the rented-out suite, Jaimie saw the four other activists that David had been talking about so often…
Alice Akermann was a Jewish widow at 60 and had three middle-aged children that would, soon, get purged in several years from the insurance industry’s ledger as well!Given her age, Alice made a smart move by volunteering at the reception desk of Our Lady hospital of San Antonio.She blended right in with the other volunteer-elders.
Shawn White, at 50, was one of the younger ones of the group.She was African-American, married, and had one teenaged daughter that lived with she and her husband.Shawn’s cover was at the regional carrier AmCare.She was one of the insurance agency’s best claims-processors… AmCare, Shawn’s husband, nor her daughter had any idea that Shawn was part of the Awakened movement!
Liddya Garza was the “old man” of the cell, at 70!A Latina, she had several grandkids by three adult children, and she was a divorcee.She was one of those old-school, work-’til-you-drop people.She was already employed at Texas’ health and human services department before even joining the movement.
And, finally, there was Anita Ruiz.Including Jaimie and Liddya, she was one of the three Latinos of the cell.She was single and never had any children—at 55, highly unlikely she ever would.Like Jaimie, she, too, was waiting to hear if she had gotten hired.The cover job she was trying for was also with the department of health and human services of Texas, like Liddya…
Jaimie silently noticed within himself, when you added David—a divorcee with no kids at 51—all five of the activists had three things in common:They were all 50 years old, or older; they were all working-middle class; and they were all among the approximately 130 million Pre-Existent Americans!
It took about another twenty minutes of pleasantries among the activists after they all met Jaimie, and then it was on to business…
“Ok,” David said as he looked around the small circle of friends; all seated around a large coffee table, “any news we need to know about?Local or otherwise?”
Shawn held her hand up and responded after David gave a silent nod.“US Senator Rick Parks of Illinois just introduced a bill to make it mandatory for dependents on any insurance plans to go through community education on debt!”
There were a couple of groans from the group.But not everyone.Again, not everyone within the Awakened movement was on the Left-end of the political spectrum!
“Why, what’s wrong with that,” Alice countered the complaints.She and Anita were the two Republicans in this particular group of the Awakened.Conservatives loved to tout the virtues of a debt-free life!
“Well,” Liddya, a moderate-Independent, disputed, “I’d agree with you Republicans on the issue of fiscal conservativism if it weren’t for the fact that you guys always make the exception when it comes to the military!For them, the Republicans say, The sky’s the limit!”
“Yeah, well, I’d rather have the nation’s debt go toward someone doing some constitutionally-sanctioned things like protect us,” Alice threw back at Liddya.“Not some tree-hugging shit like what those Commies love to do!”
“Hey, now,” Jaimie said; not being able to resist getting into his first factional in-fighting of the group!
Everyone turned to face Jaimie.Anita’s face was scrunched up.“You’re not some Lefty, are you?”
“Socialist…look, I know I’m new here, but I totally agree with Liddya on her point.Reagan and GW Bush both blew a hole right through our nation’s purse with the military!I find it funny that the Conservatives were pretty quiet about that!”
Shawn, gleefully nodding at Jaimie’s point, David, and Jaimie were all, three, the Progressives in the small group.But David, the leader, was not willing to go down this rabbit hole tonight!The two Republicans, Alice and Anita, both started to give Jaimie a baptism into the group with a crashing wave of dissent before David held up both of his hands and got everyone to stop!
“Shawn,” David said after the room fell silent, “so is there any relevance to Senator Parks’ bill to our mission?”
Shawn took on a humbled face with a shake of her head.
“Ok,” David said with some satisfaction.“That’s actually good to know…it shows that the Republicans are willing to use government, after all, when it suits their agenda, right?With all this talk of getting government out of our lives, one would’ve thought having the federal government force kids to take classes on debt would’ve been one of those things they would been against!Plus, that would cost public money to pay for it.Unless they force the kids’ parents to pay for that as well!”
Despite themselves, even Alice and Anita had to consent to David’s point!He went on, to keep the momentum of the meeting going.
“Look, what I’m getting at is it’s just more of the hypocrisy that we see from the alliance of the insurance industry and those in government…and I don’t care if they’re Republicans or Democrats!Can we agree on that point?”
Muffled affirmations around the coffee table.It was good enough for David.
“Good…Ok, what else?And please keep it germane to our Pre-Existent sisters and brothers!”
There was a block of silence until Anita raised her hand and shared with the group, “Well, I found out that my friend, Krista—you guys remember me talking about her a few weeks ago?—was diagnosed with diabetes…Doc said she’ll be fine.But her lifestyle is going to have to change!”
“So, I’m assuming it’s type-2,” Liddya guessed.
“Yep,” Anita said with a nod.
“How old is she,” Jaimie asked.
It was with that question when Anita made a hopeless face.“She just turned 50!”
“Damn it,” Jaimie responded; understanding the implications.
“Was she diagnosed before or after she turned 50,” Shawn asked with some hope.
“Just five days after her birthday,” Anita confirmed; a sympathetic tone and posture on her person.
Indeed, everyone seemed deflated after hearing that.
“That magical number,” Shawn bit out sardonically.
“Quite honestly,” Jaimie interjected, “I don’t think it matters when a civilian turns 50 anymore…all the same to the insurers; either way, your friend still has diabetes and the industry will still have Congress’ and the White House’s blessings to chuck her to the side.I don’t mean to sound harsh, but—“
“No, Jaimie,” Anita assured, “you’re actually right.That’s exactly what she told me, just yesterday!Bastards in Congress won’t even try to grandfather in Pre-Existents for insurance!”
Now there were voices of unity around the coffee table!
“What can we do for her, David,” Jaimie asked.That got everyone’s attention.
David thought for a while.His eyes, then, darted toward Anita; then he looked around the whole group.“Everyone here is old enough to remember how, back in the 90s, it was popular for middle class Americans to cross over into Canada and buy cheaper meds.Or down to South America.What if we took the patient over to Canada or South America instead?”
Now everyone looked up at David with incredulous eyes and grunts of disbelief!
“Now, hear me out…nothing happens in a vacuum.And what I mean by that is, it’s not just the issue of purging the Pre-Existents from coverage.The current Congress and White House are, also, cracking down on immigration into America, right?We also know that the same government will search civilians coming from these other countries for any medicine not covered by their allies in the insurance industry.Very different from the 90s…
“Look, the one thing some of us Pre-Existents have working for us is being middle class.We gather some donations from out network—cash only, so it can’t be tracked by the government!—deposit it into Krista’s account sporadically, so it doesn’t draw attention; shop around the Americas and see who’s got the best deals on treatments for type-2 diabetes and send Krista there!”
Some in the small group around the coffee table were still digesting David’s idea.Jaimie was already taking the plan and trying to extrapolate on it.
“I’m already thinking Mexico or South America, since it’s a cheaper living standard than Canada…have Krista play the tourist—make sure she withdraws the exact amount of cash for the treatment while over there, and keep the rest in her account for regular spending –”
“That way the US government can’t track where and what she’s spending her medical needs on,” Anita, now, interjected.
“And since we’re talking about a very treatable disease,” David came back in, “—some exercising and getting the right food with the cheaper meds down there, you can basically reverse type-2 diabetes in months!Just have your friend take out some kind of loan, and our group can raise some to help out, and Krista can conceivably do this!”
There was an uncomfortable silence as the others gamed out the implications to David’s idea.
“I did tell you all before that Krista made decent money as a manager in retail,” Anita clarified.“But I didn’t say she was rich!As much as I appreciate you trying to help my buddy, David, I just don’t see how that can work… Sure, she could get enough money on her own, to the point, for a flight to South America and even for a few nights at a cheap hotel.But what we’re talking about takes months, David!”
“Yeah, I didn’t want to say anything negative,” Alice came in, “but I read on Web MD that you can do something like reverse type-2, but that can take up to a full year!Who’s going to pay for her mortgage, here, in America while she’s cleansing out, man?”
“It would be cheaper if she just stayed here and work through it, than jumping through all those whoops,” Jaimie said, dejectedly.
Anita scoffed at that!“Jaimie, I heard it costs something like fifteen-thousand dollars a year just for basic diabetic meds, without insurance!That’s half of some people’s entire annual wage!”
“Well, then,” Jaimie said, before anyone else could jump back in, “there’s an uncomfortable truth that your friend may have to face, Anita…she may have to move down to South America!Because given the political climate we’re currently in, I don’t foresee these changes in America’s healthcare purges of Pre-Existents reversing for, maybe, another eight or ten years!”
Jaimie saying that out loud was like a splash of cold water on the group’s collective face!
“If it will ever reverse at all,” David softly said after a long zone of silence.
Jaimie winced; upset with himself.On his first meeting!“Look, guys—”
“You’re just saying what a lot of Americans are beginning to conclude, Jaimie,” Shawn said, almost absent-mindedly.All eyes were on her, now.“And to think, we’re just talking about a manageable disease!And someone who’s middle class…what about all those poor Pre-Existents who don’t have Krista’s money?Or with a more threatening disease—”
“Or both,” Alice poignantly stated.
Again, there was that uncomfortable silence…that silence from the thought that one knew where the logical conclusion was headed, but one did not want to say it out loud.
“Are we really talking about the potential of an exodus of Pre-Existents from America,” Liddya put to the group; tears, now, running down her face.
Jaimie, trying to follow his lead, glanced at David to see if he wanted to address this tectonic-shifting conclusion.David merely shrugged after he looked around the small group, and let Jaimie respond.
“We’ve tried electing the people who share our values on healthcare, and we weren’t successful…some tried coops years ago, but those are only as strong as the investors’ economic standing.Kind of hard to contribute money when your jobs are only paying out a fraction of what they used to be before the Great Recession!Look, I’m new to this cause.I wish I had joined years ago…but I just don’t see any other way for the Pre-Existents to, literally, survive in America if they stay here under these political conditions!”
Silence…
“So, what do we do,” Anita asked.
All eyes went to David.David, in turn, looked at Jaimie.He thought for a little while longer, still.
“The Awakened network leaders use a cryptic means of communications that, so far, the authorities have not been able to hack into…I’m going to send a recommendation that we start drawing up plans to pull our collective resources together and establish a new home for the Pre-Existents.”
CHAPTER 3
San Antonio, Texas; USA.2023…
“They call themselves the Awakened,” the strong female voice said over the internet.“That’s it.Just the Awakened…they’ve convinced themselves that they’re in some kind of résistance against the evils of the private insurance industry; that it’s some kind of dark empire ruling the American proletariat.That our wonderful insurance corporations are out to cherry-pick only the young; only the wealthy; only those who virtually never need any medical care.While the industry scrubs out those poor, lil’ ol’ free-loading pieces of meat we call the Pre-Existents!
“America, don’t be fooled by these unpatriotic traitors!Have you heard what they’ve been planning for the last five years?If they haven’t already started…those ungrateful slimes have been in the works to found their own nation-state…that’s right, Mr. and Mrs. America; those disabled, high blood pressure-having, cancer-toting, pregnant-menstruate, walking-snot-bags-of-diabetic-sugar traitors, actually have the gall to even think about creating anything at all—much less a nation!
“So, who’s going to be their president?Probably some damn Millennial—are those kids still called that these days?It’s been a few years, now.They’re not getting any younger.Hell, in a couple of years, maybe our beautiful insurance chiefs will purge them from the system, too!Ha!
“But seriously, though; how could they even start a nation?If their pre-existing medical or psychological conditions are so bad, who the hell is going to work in this fantasy-state of theirs…?”
And the assault went on…Cassie Pumwell-Harris was one of the most popular right-wing internet personalities by 2023.She was one of those new generation of American nationalists that had taken power in the US in the several years prior.One of Jaimie Manuel’s co-workers at his cubical was watching her on his portable device during his lunchbreak.Unfortunately, Jaimie couldn’t do a thing about it since his lunchbreak was still another twenty-minutes away!
For the past five years Jaimie had been working at the, now, international-powerhouse insurance corporation called Eagle’s Shield.That same insurance company that David Chance, Jaimie’s one-time handler, had suggest that Jaimie try for when they first met.It was during a mandatory health-screening that Jaimie’s former job told him he had to do, in order to maintain his insurance or he would’ve been dropped!That was five years ago.Jaimie was an IT tech for various companies in San Antonio for all his adult life.He was, now, putting that education and experience to use for not only Eagle’s Shield, but, secretly, for the Awakened movement!That very same political movement that political commentator Pumwell-Harris was maligning on the Social Net that day.
Things had changed a lot for the Awakened movement in the past five years.Just the very fact that a nationally-renown personality like Pumwell-Harris even knew about the movement meant that either the Awakened activists were having a big impact behind the scenes in American politics, or the movement needed to do a better job of staying out of the media!
During those five years of working at Eagle’s Shield, Jaimie and David—whom had gotten a promotion at the job!—both had to juggle their official duties as employees there with their subversive tasks for the Awakened movement on behalf of the, now, 250 million Americans with various pre-existing conditions!That underground work consisted of taking down or copying information on civilians whom were at the very threshold—indeed, risk!—of being purged from insurance coverage because of various changes in their personal lives.Jaimie and David would, then, take that information on the citizens and either enter those data into the Awakened’s own meta-network, or they would do it themselves… Basically, from that point within the Awakened’s cyber-system, various activists would do the same type of work that claims processors do in the insurance industry and would actually obtain insurance coverage for said Pre-Existent!
All activists had their respective areas of expertise, such as the ‘claims’ portion.For Jaimie, with his already-long career as an information technologist, his was helping with the Awakened’s meta-network of firewalls, hack-blocks, hacking insurance agencies’ meta-ware, patches, and everything else associated with the internet infrastructure!Jaimie was an expert at all this, and he was pretty good at covering his tracks—until this particular day…
“Uh, oh,” Jaimie said to himself while working on his terminal.As in, doing the real job associated with his IT position at Eagle’s Shield.
“What’s the what, Jay, my man,” that same co-worker that was watching Pumwell-Harris asked; still seated at his terminal while typing.
But there was no way Jaimie was going to tell someone like Cory, one with nationalistic leanings, what he was encountering.This was a problem that implicated Jaimie as an Awakened!
Without responding to Cory, Jaimie’s hands went on automatic drive on his terminal’s keyboard as he quickly went through the process of not only logging out and shutting down, but he commanded his terminal’s system to do a deep scrubbing while it was shutting off…
Someone was on to him!
Panic was now coursing through Jaimie’s entire body!He began to sweat and his hands were shaking…he had to get out of the office—permanently!
“Hey, Cory,” Jaimie put to him; forcing himself to look at the enemy, “I almost lost my lunch just now, so I better talk with HR and see if they’ll let me go home.”
Cory took on a serious face.“Ok…well, hopefully see you tomorrow.”
“See ya,” Jaimie simply said.He, deliberately, left everything on his desk a bit scattered and cluttered.That way it looked as though he was planning on coming back.Plus, of course, just being in a hurry to leave the premises!
A thought occurred to Jaimie as he walked down the rows of cubicals.Several thoughts, actually:What about the cameras perched all over Eagle’s Shield?Was it possible that Cory had something to do with the hacking of his terminal, and was he going through Jaimie’s terminal at that very instance?Was he getting sloppy after five years of working, basically, two jobs?And, should he risk trying to contact David?Because chances are, if Eagle’s Shield and/or the government had just hacked Jaimie’s work-terminal, most likely they’ve already gotten into his personal devices!
Then Jaimie noticed one of the emergency exit doors…
David Chance had just grabbed some coffee from Eagle’s Shield’s cafeteria when the fire alarm started to blare!This was not a tornado drill.Given that the agency was in Texas, all the employees knew that the agency always gave them a heads up on when the drills would take place and tell them how long they would stay outside the building…it was tornado alley, after all!
Nevertheless, David found himself in a fast-moving stream of humanity; coffee mug in hand, while its cream-tinted content sloshed all over the place!But his personal things were still at his office!Like any other good spy, David began to worry about the insurance agency’s IT people snooping around while everyone was outside for the fire drill; trying to flush out any bad actors.Given that David was an Awakened, he would be classified as such by Eagle’s Shield’s owners and their management team!
That human stream David was in finally snaked out of the building’s stairwell and went outside.David was just about to take a gulp of his, now, cold coffee when someone grabbed him from the side and started to usher him toward the Receiving area for truck deliveries.It was Jaimie.
All David had to do was look at his old friend and he knew exactly what the younger man was up to, and why!They had practiced this, for such occasion.The fire alarm was original, but the San Antonio cell of the Awakened were detailed and ran a tight ship.So far, everything was going according to their plans!
What was next in their escape plan was for either of the two men to hotwire one of the company’s several trucks.By the time the duo had reached one, the San Antonio city emergency responders were just arriving at the facility.Again, as part of Jaimie and David’s emergency planning, they already knew that there weren’t very many security cameras in Receiving—just enough to watch over what happened at the delivery doors.The wide space outside of those doors were neglected by the agency’s security team.
After they found some extra work shirts in the back of the truck, Jaimie and David slipped them on and both hopped into the truck; Jaimie being on the driver’s side.In just a few minutes, the two Awakened spies were off the grounds of Eagle’s Shield.
The Historic Market Square; downtown.Headquarters for the Awakened’s San Antonio cell…
In the five years since Jaimie had joined the San Antonio branch of the Awakened movement, the once-tiny cell of six now had over twenty members!As part of the cell’s by-laws, once they were discovered, the very second the members knew about it the San Antonio Awakened cell was officially dissolved!There was simply too much at risk for the whole Pre-Existents cause!It wasn’t just the San Antonio cell, but the entire movement’s network all over the United States!All it took was for one cell to be apprehended by the US government, or one of the states, and all the years of information of the Awakened’s files on most of the 130 million Pre-Existents in America would be discovered!And with that discovery, from a more pragmatic view, so would some of the Awakened members!
David had sent out a cryptic message to all the cell members, via their phone devices.Some innocuous message about him getting out his shopping list and he’d be out all night…this was the official disbanding message from David for the group.
The Awakened San Antonio cell was dissolved!
Jaimie had parked their stolen Eagle’s Shield truck in an area far enough from the former cell’s location—but close enough for them to run to it so they could zip into the suite and start a massive scrub of their cell’s computer system!Jaimie had come up with his own recipe for killing off the cell’s meta-network.It, literally, took Jaimie just a handful of keystrokes and the cell’s entire system was cybernetically dead!
David and the whole team had always kept the suite bare.That way they did not have to worry about an unexpected guest showing up in the former cell’s suite and giving them away.To David’s and Jaimie’s knowledge, none of the cell members had a criminal record, including themselves.So, they weren’t particularly worried about the cell members’ fingerprints left behind.There was no need for Jaimie and David to do anything else…except to quickly say goodbye!
“We did a lot of good here, Jaimie,” David said as he gave his shoulder a good pat.
“If I run into any other Awakened in the future, I’m going to make sure that they know of your leadership, Dave!”
“Thanks, brother!”
They both gave a quick look around the silenced suite.
“So, we can’t tell each other where we’re going, huh,” Jaimie asked.
David was already shaking his head.“Plausible deniability, my friend…I guess we’re both lucky we don’t have kids or a significant other to make this more complicated, huh?”
Jaimie gave a face.“Well, we could now…”
David’s head snapped out of surprise at Jaimie’s point.“I guess I didn’t have time to think about it that way!Which brings me to a good point for us both to think about:Whomever may come into our lives after this, Jaimie—especially you, since you’re still young, we can never let them know about what we did here!”
“Unless they were one of the Awakened?”
David thought on that for a few seconds.“You’d have to verify that somehow.”
Jaimie saluted David; he saluted back.The two men disappeared in their own way.
The National Health Service office; London, England; 2023…
“Dr. Lowell,” the young aide called out to the doctor as she was walking and reading charts at the same time!
“Yes, Anne…?”
Anne struggled to keep up with the lanky doctor as she power-walked her way through the facility; deftly dodging other white coats and green scrubs!“There’s an American here for that interview you told me to schedule for that IT position.”
“Right…where is he now?”
The young aide tried to refrain from laughing.Dr. Beatrix Lowell looked up from her computerized notepad to see what was so funny.The young man was standing right in front of them.Indeed, Dr. Lowell hadn’t realized that she had been in the lobby for the past several feet!
“Thank you, Anne,” she said with a hint of annoyance.
The American, dressed in a contemporary suite and tie, was the first to reach out his hand so they could shake in greeting.“Hi, Dr. Lowell, I’m Jaimie Manuel…I really appreciate you taking the time.”
She had flung one of her hands in a direction that she wanted to take him.Jaimie followed; a professional folder in hand.
“I’ve read your resume that you emailed, Jamie—”
“Uh, actually, ma’am, it’s Jaimie, with an ‘H’-sound—”
“Jaimie…you’ve got an impressive work-history for your age…Anne, whom you’ve just met, did all the calls on your references and everything checks out…”
They were, now, at an elevator and it took just a few seconds before the door opened and a virtual convention of the medical industry spilled out!But in Jaimie and Dr. Lowell’s case, they were the only ones to step into the elevator once it cleared.She pushed for the second floor and turned to face Jaimie.
“…all except for how you left Eagle’s Shield.”
Jaimie’s heart stopped!This was not good!“I worked there for five years and had nothing but good reviews—”
“Indeed; I’ve read them after I had to put in a request over the phone myself.No, your service was impeccable, Jaimie…I mean, what happened to you?”
Jaimie was doing the best he could to stay calm.The elevator door opened and she politely held up a hand to show him where to go for the interview.Jaimie took a glance at the digs; which was sparse, like the rest of the facility.Yet, clean; efficient…almost like a –
“The HR office at your former job mentioned something about a former co-worker saying you had gone home sick one day, but you never showed up again after that!”
Cory Dale, the cubical-mate that was watching that nationalist, online political commentator on the last day of the San Antonio cell!This was, now, beyond sinking hopes of Jaimie getting a great job at the famed-NHS.He was worried that the regressionist US government was the one that had hacked into his terminal at Eagle’s Shield before he fled to the UK.And, now, it looks like they got INTERPOL in on the game!How the hell was Jaimie going to answer this one?
“Dr. Lowell, I don’t know what to tell—”
“Relax, mate; you’ve got the job already…”
Jaimie was stoned-shocked!He, still, had to work at keeping his composure.This would be something he would have to do the rest of his life.The doctor went on.
“I, honestly, was worried that something happened to you—health-wise, you understand?”
A slight, inquisitive frown from Jaimie.“Yes, ma’am.”
She leaned forward; her voice, now, furtive.“We want you healthy here, Jaimie…it’s not every day that I run into an awakened one…”
~Fin~
