this is a secured cloud document
fiction
dystopian novel idea / short story / fiction
centered around The Company
and a man who works for them who begins to feel that he no longer has a choice that he works for them
// maybe he is a high ranking person, or simply a very technically prolific or mission critical component. being used to an extent greater than which he knows
the company had become so entrenched in society
they had vans everywhere. vans that could bring you things. vans that could take you away.
they knew where you lived
when you're not home
where you are
what you like
you've given them a complete profile on everything they need to do to manipulate, control and coerce you.
the concept of not being able to quit work never occurred to you because it had never occurred to you to quit
they had crafted the perfect little programmed worker
not working wasn't in his code
it's astounding to consider how little we think of freely giving all of our data to a private entity
no true warranties can be made about the protection and use of that data
even the data in your "cloud" has security limitations. systems can only become more secure, never "secure". The only secured data is data that does not exist.
this all is provided the entity with whom you trust your data with is actually trustworthy and not malicious. it assumes that they are competently executing their strict privacy policies in practice. if they aren't, what mechanisms of accountability are in place? And do those mechanisms actually work?
If the answer is the government, what happens when The Company is the government?
he noticed the changes slightly at first
then suddenly, the changes grew more constant and severe
when he couldnt cash a check
when the banks all had trouble with their payment systems
when they disconnected his phone service
when they interfered in any way possible in his attempts to exit their grid.
to keep him in such a desperate position
that his only alternative was doing the exact job The Company had prescribed
or be stripped of all possessions
and even then, if he tried to run
he would be captured
and if he refused to work
he would be starved
and if he refused to live
he would be tortured
kept alive artificially
intubated with feeders down his throat. fitted with catheters and waste trays
made so miserable to exist that he only truly had one option
and then
they reward him
not only do they lift the shackles
but they restore his possessions
no longer programmed by ignorance--
programmed by fear