The System

"I won't be doing either of those things. In fact, you can leave my room now," he said without revealing his plan.

She grinned mischievously. She waved her phone in front of his face, gloating about her created evidence and left. He watched her walk away and leave the robe on the doorknob. She moved her hips dramatically, even turning her head to catch him gawking at her. He knew what he was thinking was wrong but wanted her one last time.

"Lord, forgive me," he muttered to himself.

He cautiously followed his wife to her room and found her bent over the end of the bed. She watched him walk in and used a hand to spread her cheeks and the fingers on the other hand to rube her hole.

"Come on, Christian, you can fuck Momma," she said.

George ignored her comment and positioned himself behind her. He wasn't expecting her to want to roll right into anal sex. She usually worked herself up to that point.

"You can put it in Mama's ass like I know you want to," she grunted.

George never knew his wife to be into anal. In the years since they went their own ways, she had changed. Her sexual preferences had also changed, and her anal desire was one of them.

"C'mon baby, stretch me out. Show Mama the man you've become."

George could barely keep himself hard with her commentary. His vengeful side took over, however, and he wanted to oblige her request hoping it wouldn't feel as good to her as she thought. When he pulled out, she vocalized her excitement.

"That's it, baby. Go to my forbidden place," she begged.

George positioned his rod at her tight hole and pushed in. He could hear her painful grunts and continued. The sphincter finally gave way and allowed the tip to enter her.

"Oh, baby, stop for a minute," she said.

George kept pushing into her as she begged him to stop. Only when his cock was deep inside her did he pause.

"So full," she moaned.

George took that as his queue and began to fuck his estranged wife. He pounded her ass relentlessly for minutes as she groaned and grunted loudly. One moment she would beg him to stop, another she would plead for more. He could feel the nails on her fingers scrape his balls as she tried to cum before him. Just as she felt her body beginning to respond, he slammed into her ass once more and began to cum inside her.

He grunted with each thrust as she cheered him on. When he was done, she violently pushed him away and cursed him.

"You're disgusting! Get off me!" she screamed.

He did exactly as she requested and walked away without a word spoken. He went to his own bathroom and showered as he decided it was time for him to leave. When he was finished showering, he found a couple suitcases and began packing his room. He packed all his clothes in one bag and his keepsakes in another.

As he walked out of the house, he turned to look at the life he was leaving behind. He knew that the great memories that surrounded the house before had been overshadowed by his wife's negative change in behavior. He knew that, but also knew he was going to bring his family back together. He got in his car and felt for his phone one more time before driving off.

EIGHT

James stayed late at the lab the following day and continued to research the changes to the software and began to parse all the changes against the original code. Once the changes were completed, he removed the changes he personally oversaw and knew to be valid. When he was done, it was time for research. He printed thousands of pages of code and hit the company library.

It was a room in the tall building that held the entire code and the theory behind the code and its intent. Every line of code was supposed to be cataloged and theorized. The library was to be organized in a chronological manner. Its creation was driven by the original creators of the code and championed by the first owner. Generations later, the system had become so popular to law students whose interest generally related to bioscience and ethics. None of them understood the code and mostly took in the documentation that was associated with it.

James knew better. He was able to match the theoretical documentation with the code and was one of very few people in the company who could do it. When it was first created, additions to the library were to have references to its position in the original code. It was later determined that, to save paper, references to the original code were to be left out and the text associated with the code would simply discuss the reference briefly.

He found several books that may have the code he was looking for but remained cautious about their usefulness. He spent weeks pouring through them. While each book offered nothing on its own, he eventually was able to piece together a disturbing scene.

"How does biochemistry equate to thoughts?" he asked himself.

He flipped through more of his notes. He matched two sheets of paper with tables whose patterns were similar.

"Why is... What do these readings have anything to do with...," he said before standing up suddenly.

"They're feeding biochemical data to the government. The data on this table," he said holding a sheet of paper in one hand, "corresponds to some kind of grouping on this one," he added, looking at the sheet in his other hand.

The government was using the system to group people based on their internal chemistry. He couldn't determine the nature of the groups but knew that the System was never designed with such a purpose. He wasn't sure why the couple identified in the folder he received were singled out. Rather, why their unique situation seemed to pose a threat to the company.

"This is explosive enough that the company is selling data to the government but why single out these two," he wondered.

He took the information he needed home and poured through the data again. Late that evening, it finally struck him.

"The data being sold could be unreliable if the system is proven to be faulty," he thought.

As he sat pondering the consequences of what he had learned, he began to recall the Chairman's attitude toward him. He knew the policies of the company were possibly being skirted but with the new corruption having been uncovered, he had a new concern. He already feared for the future of the Company, but the new information presented to him made him fear for his own life. They had gone through intense efforts to do what they had done and attempt to hide it.

"It would only make sense to ensure I could never speak about what they've done or what they could do," he thought.

James called in sick the following morning and sat around his apartment trying to figure out what to do. He paced back and forth for hours as his conscience got the better of him. Finding Donna and Mark was the only way to start moving toward bringing the system back to where it was supposed be.

"They think they're so smart. Why go through the hassle of government implants which would breed hundreds of conspiracy theories when you could simply pay a private company for the data you would have collected and without the hassle?" he said to himself.

He logged into the server from home and retrieved the data associated with Donna and Mark's implants. The phone numbers attached to the accounts were disconnected when he attempted contact. He was put off initially but realized that there were other ways for him to get what he wanted. He spent the day at home reverse engineering the data they had obtained about the two. He eventually came up with a number for George Maloney.

The number he dialed was disconnected and he cursed his luck. As he was about to hang up on the automated message, he listened to it again. He noted the name of the service provider and assumed George would have simply changed numbers and not providers. He called the company.

"Good afternoon, this is James Truright with the Cincinnati Police Department. I'm trying to get ahold of the phone number for one of our bail jumpers."

He spelled out George's name and went on to detail the fictitious charges against him and waited for a response. He thought for a moment that his story could inadvertently cause George problems later if the customer service representative decided he wanted to chat about what James had told him.

"Sir, I cannot provide customer information to you without a warrant. In that case, you would have to present that to corporate and they would handle it from there," the man on the phone said.

"I absolutely understand that, but the problem is that we believe he's currently active and we believe he is in the presence of minors and could be in the middle of committing heinous crimes," James said, playing on a natural sympathy. "Children!" he added for effect.

The man sighed and James heard the sound of fingers tapping on a keyboard.

"Sir, I cannot provide the information you've requested. You'll have to present your warrant to corporate and they will be able to assist you further. Good afternoon, Sir."

The line went dead. Just as James was feeling helpless, his phone rang with a number he didn't recognize. The area code was not local. He checked the number for the service provider he just called and was disappointed when it didn't match that, either. He stared at the number on his screen and reluctantly answered it.

"Yeah?" he said in a defeated tone.

A young man spoke hesitantly and rattled off a series of numbers. James wasn't prepared to write them down.

"Stop," he whispered, "say that again."

The man seemed hesitant but started over. When the young man was done, he hung up the phone without comment. James was proud of himself for compelling the young man to act but also ashamed for convincing him to act on a lie.

"He doesn't know what I know," he justified to himself.

He didn't hesitate before calling the number he was provided. It rang several times before going to a generic voice mailbox. He called it again. A man finally answered.

"Hello?" the man said.

"Sir," James started, "you don't know me and I'm not going to identify myself to you. I know about your son and daughter and I want to help. Your children are in real danger and unless you listen to me, I fear they won't make it out of this."

George hesitated, thinking it was a trick to get him to deliver his children into harm's way. He thought the men in the car may have given up the first attempt they made at contact.

"I have nothing to tell you," he said.

"Sir. I work for the Company, but I've discovered things that you need to know."

James spent a while explaining to George what he had discovered and why it was important for Donna and Mark to get in touch with him.

"I don't have direct contact with them," George said. "They left their devices behind and went into nature."

"I can find them," James said. "Do you know where they may have started out?"

George explained the best he could the place they would have gone despite them not telling him specifically.

"Have you walked this trail before, sir?" James asked.

"I have. If you start where I think they went, they would have taken the North Trail. From there, though, there's a ton of ways they could deviate from that trail. It's also a very long trail that I'm sure they've never completed. They could be anywhere."

James wrote a lot of information on a pad of paper and gave warning to George.

"Sir, as soon as I can find them, my first plan is to get those implants out of them. I don't think they're being tracked right now but it wouldn't be hard for them to start doing that. I'm from the Company as I said, but what they're doing is against the goals the founders believed. I'll spare you the details but understand there's internal conflict and this situation could change the very foundation of what we do. It's my family's legacy and I will do everything I can do stop this from happening."

George asked a lot of questions and James was only able to answer some of them.

"Sir, I'll keep you updated as I get more information but you have to understand that I cannot be who I am within the Company and who I am with you all at the same time. I'll keep in touch with you only when necessary."

"One question, did you send the two men that are waiting in a car across the street from my house?" George asked.

James rolled his eyes. He recalled Scott saying he had men on the case but didn't know he was actively using them.

"No, they don't work for me, but I suspect they work for the Company. I would not interact with them if you don't have to."

George chuckled and told James, "Too late. They've already come to the door and asked me about Mark and Donna. It's fine. They haven't come back since that day."

"I'll handle them as best I can," James stated, "until then, try and keep away from them. I suspect they're there to keep an eye out for them, but I can't be certain. If they do anything else between now and when I call you next, please let me know."

George agreed and hung up the phone. James began to put his plan to work. He began work coding a tracking program that would hook into the System's data streams. He based it solely around locating the two individuals to reduce additional server processing time. The result of the processed data would be sent via text message to him alone.

Soon after arriving at his office, he called his senior programmer to his office.

When he walked in, James was logging into his server maintenance program and held up a thumb drive for the man to take.

"Load this into server three, please," he said without looking up.

"Another update?" the man said with a chuckle.

James watched the login scripts scroll across his screen.

"Yeah, one of the data parsers got optimized," he lied. "No output as usual, but I owe a report to the board this afternoon since this could potentially also require an update to the implants."

The programmer's eyes opened wide in surprise, "Implant upgrade, eh?"

In the history of the company, only two updates had been sent out over the air. They were small updates and done only when there was no other way to make required improvements. The system was designed with the implants to be considered perfect and the rest classified as under "continued development." The over-the-air updates were kept secret at the highest levels and only revealed to the public after the updates were complete. Unlike many data systems in use throughout the world, the implants offered no indication that the software installed on them was being updated.

"Weird, right?" James said, shifting his attention to his employee. "If the parsing program is successful, we can send out an update that will reduce the size of the data stream sent from the device."

"If you can reduce the data stream, the load on the servers would be decreased as well!" the man happily said.

James smiled and gave him a thumbs up, "Always about the almighty dollar."

"I'll say," the man said solemnly, "I'll get this put in right away."

He walked out and James leaned back in his chair waiting for the expected action to alert on his screen. Several minutes later, his screen alerted him to removeable media being plugged into the server. He watched a series of expected messages appear on his screen and smiled as his plan went off without a hitch. The final message on the screen indicated the media had been removed from the server.

James executed the program and watched in heated anticipation as the untested program worked its magic.

"First, we segregate the two from the rest," he said as he narrated his code.

"TWO RECORDS ISOLATED," the screen read.

"Now, begin tracking system."

He watched raw data scroll across the screen for the five seconds he permitted before another message was displayed.

"ENABLED," it read.

James began receiving location data on his two subjects after several hours. His code worked to perfection as it traced their locations for several days prior and new updates began to be sent. That night at home, he was able to plot their movements and located a place they had visited several times.

"What is at this random house in the middle of nowhere?" he wondered to himself.

He decided he needed to intervene himself. He called George.

"Hello?" George said anxiously. He knew who was on the other line.

"Not another word," James said. "This time tomorrow there will be a device you will need. It will be placed in the north east corner of your fenced back yard. You will give it to your children as soon as possible. I'm aware it will take time, but I'll help you find them."

James went on to talk about the house on the trail they often visited. He sent George to see whoever lived there and arrange for the man to give the phone to his children.

"I'll be tracking the phone. When I see that they have it, I'll give them directions. Remember, without me, they would end up wandering the forest forever or they would be killed. Follow these directions and your children will be safe."

"My wife's house?" he asked reluctantly.

James was surprised by the question. Instead of airing his confusion, he clarified his intention with confidence. He plainly stated the address he knew to be the family household until recently. George was unhappy he had to return to his former home but accepted it for the benefit of his children.

The phone went silent.

As soon as the line went dead, James went to a local store. It was a one-of-a-kind shop that didn't specialize in any one thing. What was on the shelf one week would be replaced days or weeks later with entirely different items. The nature of the establishment suggested that if he found what he was looking for, it would not be easily traced, if at all.

As he walked the few isles, he found what he was looking for. A small phone preloaded with sixty minutes of talk time and no data capability.

"Perfect," he said to himself as he stood motionless in the isle.

He flipped the device several times to inspect the capabilities. When he was satisfied, he purchased the item and headed toward George's house.

He parked his car in a discreet location; two blocks behind the house. He unboxed the phone, plugged it in and adjusted the settings. He added George's number as "Contact One." He refrained from adding this own number, favoring George as his only point of contact in the mess that was building.

Once everyone was set up and darkness permeated the setting, he made his way to the back of George's house. Once he confirmed his location, he put the phone in a bag and gently tossed it into the corner of the yard. He made his way back to his car and called George.

"Hello?" George said apprehensively.

"It's where I said it would be. Pick it up and take it to the place I talked about before. Once you drop it off, leave. When they contact you, you will direct them to call you every day for updates. I'll keep in touch with you and we'll get them to safety."

George considered the situation and asked a favor of his children's benefactor.

"I cannot tell you how surprised I am by all this and how helpful you're being to my family. I know for you it's all about your system that you're proud of. I know you don't owe me anything. I have a favor to ask."

James sighed, "I'm listening."

"As you probably put together, I'm not with my wife anymore. She's been a handful all these years and lately she's gone beyond a salvageable point. Now, I won't go..."

"Can we hurry this up?" James asked nervously. He assumed at every turn that someone was or could be listening. "I'm sorry. I just don't have time for a full conversation."

"Right," George conceded, "If I gave you something, could you see that it gets handled?"

James hurriedly ended the conversation.

"Put it in a bag with what you want me to do with it and put it over the fence, opposite where the phone is," he instructed.