I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here
daily. Can I sustain interest? Will I lose the narrative thread? Find
out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap
suspected would lead me right to Kelly. So he’d made it disappear.
The wheels turned in my head. If Burton altered a photo to throw me off Kelly’s trail... he must have found Kelly already. Or had a very, very good idea of where Kelly was. Son of a bitch. I was getting soft, it had taken me the better part of a day to figure this out. I’d burned a lot of time.
My mission changed. Instead of finding Kelly, first I had to find Burton. Who would have gone to ground if he were anything other than the stupidest person on the planet. One of the best rules in my business, though, was ‘never underestimate the stupidity of your target.’
I shrugged on a long coat and stuffed my pistol into my handbag as I headed out the
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Saturday, June 14, 2014
140Story - Day 17
I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here
daily. Can I sustain interest? Will I lose the narrative thread? Find
out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap
Two of the pictures were places I recognized, indeed South of Downtown. The third place, though, didn’t look right. The framing was different, the focus off, the light inconsistent with the other two. Which wouldn’t usually be suspicious - a different photographer, for instance, or a phone snapshot versus an SLR - but it seemed like the image had been altered.
Why?
I knew all of Telrik’s dirty tricks. Hell, I’d invented a few of them. But why give me an altered photo? Was it supposed to lead me in the wrong direction? Maybe keep me from going the right direction?
Then it hit me. The only explanation that made sense. Telrik hadn’t given me an altered photo. Burton had. That corporate weasel was following orders, but screwing me up at the same time. The original photo must have showed something Burton
Two of the pictures were places I recognized, indeed South of Downtown. The third place, though, didn’t look right. The framing was different, the focus off, the light inconsistent with the other two. Which wouldn’t usually be suspicious - a different photographer, for instance, or a phone snapshot versus an SLR - but it seemed like the image had been altered.
Why?
I knew all of Telrik’s dirty tricks. Hell, I’d invented a few of them. But why give me an altered photo? Was it supposed to lead me in the wrong direction? Maybe keep me from going the right direction?
Then it hit me. The only explanation that made sense. Telrik hadn’t given me an altered photo. Burton had. That corporate weasel was following orders, but screwing me up at the same time. The original photo must have showed something Burton
Friday, June 13, 2014
140Story - Day 16
I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here
daily. Can I sustain interest? Will I lose the narrative thread? Find
out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap
exposed like a raw nerve. Our first meeting had been after midnight, when he thought I was a skulk for the other side. I almost shot him in the face, but he whispered the watch word at the last moment. Our final encounter had been under a hail of bullets as he was making his exit from Telrik by any means possible. I was supposed to shoot him then, too. I made him shoot me, to make his getaway seem plausible.
I ran my hand along the scar on my calf. Through and through, the entry and exit wounds lined up neatly, and they’d healed perfectly. Unlike my heart. He was still lodged in there, shrapnel that I couldn’t remove or I’d die.
I shook my head to clear it, and studied the pictures again. South of Downtown, Burton said.
exposed like a raw nerve. Our first meeting had been after midnight, when he thought I was a skulk for the other side. I almost shot him in the face, but he whispered the watch word at the last moment. Our final encounter had been under a hail of bullets as he was making his exit from Telrik by any means possible. I was supposed to shoot him then, too. I made him shoot me, to make his getaway seem plausible.
I ran my hand along the scar on my calf. Through and through, the entry and exit wounds lined up neatly, and they’d healed perfectly. Unlike my heart. He was still lodged in there, shrapnel that I couldn’t remove or I’d die.
I shook my head to clear it, and studied the pictures again. South of Downtown, Burton said.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
140Story - Day 15
I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here
daily. Can I sustain interest? Will I lose the narrative thread? Find
out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap
locations, without any images of Kelly for validation. He was a sasquatch, without even blurry photos to point to.
On the last page of the barely-there documentation, I found my name. Lily Walker. ‘Associate.’
That stung. ‘Associate.’ Like we shared an office instead of a bed, or went fifty-fifty on an organic restaurant and shared the chores. ‘Associate.’ I tried not to let it get to me, this was Telrik, after all, assholes from top to bottom and every rung in between. For all I knew they put the word in there on purpose just to rile me. If so, it was working.
I put down the pages and squeezed my eyes shut, forcing back the tears. I was a pro, emotions were for after the job was done. Except when Kelly was involved, then my emotions were
locations, without any images of Kelly for validation. He was a sasquatch, without even blurry photos to point to.
On the last page of the barely-there documentation, I found my name. Lily Walker. ‘Associate.’
That stung. ‘Associate.’ Like we shared an office instead of a bed, or went fifty-fifty on an organic restaurant and shared the chores. ‘Associate.’ I tried not to let it get to me, this was Telrik, after all, assholes from top to bottom and every rung in between. For all I knew they put the word in there on purpose just to rile me. If so, it was working.
I put down the pages and squeezed my eyes shut, forcing back the tears. I was a pro, emotions were for after the job was done. Except when Kelly was involved, then my emotions were
Wednesday, June 11, 2014
Uber Sucks
Uber, the 'ridesharing' service, sucks. They portray themselves as a fiesty little start-up shaking the foundations of modern business - always an heroic narrative - but there's really no difference between the creeping corporate evil of, say, Google or Monsanto and that perpetrated by Uber.
So what is Uber? For those not yet in the loop, Uber is a 'ridesharing' service, started in San Francisco and branching out all over the world. The business's central conceit is that, unlike regular taxi drivers, Uber drivers are not pros, they're just schmoes like you and me who happen to be going somewhere and are willing to take others along. For a price.
This is the lie. Uber drivers do not go anywhere, they sit behind the wheel and drive others places they themselves are not visiting. Which, if you look it up, is what taxi drivers do.
A 'rideshare' would be if I were going to an outlet mall and agreed to take others along. I'd get out of the car, do my shopping, gather everyone up at the end of the day and go home. Sharing a ride to a common destination. If I pile people in my car, drop them off at the outlet mall for a fee, then go find others to take somewhere else, I'd be a taxi driver. Which is what Uber drivers are.
Why does that mean Uber sucks?
Because Uber knows it's a taxi service, it's calling itself a 'rideshare' service to skirt the laws and ordinances where it operates. The owners think that as long as they don't call themselves a taxi service they don't have to comply with any taxi service regulations. But the name does not make the business, the practice does.
If I call myself a 'curandero' and start performing surgery, no amount of protesting on my part will keep me from being prosecuted for impersonating a physician. If I were to call myself an 'alchemist' instead of a meth dealer, the title would make me no less a criminal. By the same token, if an Uber driver takes you from one point in the city to another and you have to pay him for the privilege, then that driver is a taxi driver. No matter how loudly Uber insists otherwise.
The worst part of this juvenile misdirection is that Uber contends its drivers do not have to have commercial licenses, or commercial insurance, or criminal background checks, etc. etc. etc. They're putting their drivers and their customers at a very real risk of injury and death. Because it's a 'rideshare' and not a taxi.
Uber sucks.
How is this emblematic of larger corporate evil?
Uber is lying, they know they're lying, and they're challenging local governments to catch them at it and stop them. Which is what giant evil corporations do. In the past corporations have tried to keep their evil secret, like tobacco companies making more addictive cigarettes, or corporate agriculture companies patenting seeds so they can charge farmers in perpetuity, even when farmers only bought seeds once (a lifetime seed subscription fee, as it were).
The big game changer for corporate evil, though, was Google. Those guys were the ones who made brazen audacity a marketing tactic. For instance, Google took it upon themselves to digitize entire libraries to make the contents available online. The problem with that effort was Google did not own the rights to those books, and didn't notify the authors of their intentions. They just did it, legality, ethics, and morality be damned. Same thing with Google street view, Google glass, and on and on. Their business model is to ask forgiveness rather than permission. After the damage is already done, of course.
The case can be made that Google does its thing in legal gray areas (not really), where the technology is new and the rules are not set (still, not really). Just a bunch of nerds trying to change the world and stepping on stodgy old men's toes along the way.
The problem is Google infected others with its 'laws be damned' attitude. People like the owners and backers of Uber, who are not operating in any new tech areas, they're putting butts in seats and taking them from point A to point B. They'll say it's different because they have an app for it, but that's not even a weak argument, it's an excuse for flouting laws.
Uber sucks.
Most of all though, Uber sucks because it's clearly the vanguard for more of its kind. Assholes who think that they can do whatever they want, as long as they get away with it for long enough to make money. Uber will go out of business, that's an inevitability and a very short-term reality, but the damage it's done will inspire others to imitate it, and make their malfeasance everyone else's problem.
Seriously, Uber sucks.
So what is Uber? For those not yet in the loop, Uber is a 'ridesharing' service, started in San Francisco and branching out all over the world. The business's central conceit is that, unlike regular taxi drivers, Uber drivers are not pros, they're just schmoes like you and me who happen to be going somewhere and are willing to take others along. For a price.
This is the lie. Uber drivers do not go anywhere, they sit behind the wheel and drive others places they themselves are not visiting. Which, if you look it up, is what taxi drivers do.
A 'rideshare' would be if I were going to an outlet mall and agreed to take others along. I'd get out of the car, do my shopping, gather everyone up at the end of the day and go home. Sharing a ride to a common destination. If I pile people in my car, drop them off at the outlet mall for a fee, then go find others to take somewhere else, I'd be a taxi driver. Which is what Uber drivers are.
Why does that mean Uber sucks?
Because Uber knows it's a taxi service, it's calling itself a 'rideshare' service to skirt the laws and ordinances where it operates. The owners think that as long as they don't call themselves a taxi service they don't have to comply with any taxi service regulations. But the name does not make the business, the practice does.
If I call myself a 'curandero' and start performing surgery, no amount of protesting on my part will keep me from being prosecuted for impersonating a physician. If I were to call myself an 'alchemist' instead of a meth dealer, the title would make me no less a criminal. By the same token, if an Uber driver takes you from one point in the city to another and you have to pay him for the privilege, then that driver is a taxi driver. No matter how loudly Uber insists otherwise.
The worst part of this juvenile misdirection is that Uber contends its drivers do not have to have commercial licenses, or commercial insurance, or criminal background checks, etc. etc. etc. They're putting their drivers and their customers at a very real risk of injury and death. Because it's a 'rideshare' and not a taxi.
Uber sucks.
How is this emblematic of larger corporate evil?
Uber is lying, they know they're lying, and they're challenging local governments to catch them at it and stop them. Which is what giant evil corporations do. In the past corporations have tried to keep their evil secret, like tobacco companies making more addictive cigarettes, or corporate agriculture companies patenting seeds so they can charge farmers in perpetuity, even when farmers only bought seeds once (a lifetime seed subscription fee, as it were).
The big game changer for corporate evil, though, was Google. Those guys were the ones who made brazen audacity a marketing tactic. For instance, Google took it upon themselves to digitize entire libraries to make the contents available online. The problem with that effort was Google did not own the rights to those books, and didn't notify the authors of their intentions. They just did it, legality, ethics, and morality be damned. Same thing with Google street view, Google glass, and on and on. Their business model is to ask forgiveness rather than permission. After the damage is already done, of course.
The case can be made that Google does its thing in legal gray areas (not really), where the technology is new and the rules are not set (still, not really). Just a bunch of nerds trying to change the world and stepping on stodgy old men's toes along the way.
The problem is Google infected others with its 'laws be damned' attitude. People like the owners and backers of Uber, who are not operating in any new tech areas, they're putting butts in seats and taking them from point A to point B. They'll say it's different because they have an app for it, but that's not even a weak argument, it's an excuse for flouting laws.
Uber sucks.
Most of all though, Uber sucks because it's clearly the vanguard for more of its kind. Assholes who think that they can do whatever they want, as long as they get away with it for long enough to make money. Uber will go out of business, that's an inevitability and a very short-term reality, but the damage it's done will inspire others to imitate it, and make their malfeasance everyone else's problem.
Seriously, Uber sucks.
140Story - Day 14
I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here
daily. Can I sustain interest? Will I lose the narrative thread? Find
out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap
to work on my phone. I had an American phone, not the kind you could easily switch SIM cards on, not like everyone else in the world. Except I could. I cracked the case, switched the SIM card and suddenly I was a grandmother from Memphis.
Then, and only then, did I call Michaels. He didn’t answer, I didn’t expect him to, but I left him a short message. ‘This is Lily. Find me.’ He’d do the rest.
While I waited for Michaels I examined the manilla envelope Burton gave me. Nothing odd that I could see, no suspicious powder or stray wires, no obvious signs of tampering. It was thin, far less substantial than other dossiers I’d handled while with Telrik, and a testament to Kelly’s thorough paranoia. Inside I found eight pages and three photo prints, ‘last known’
to work on my phone. I had an American phone, not the kind you could easily switch SIM cards on, not like everyone else in the world. Except I could. I cracked the case, switched the SIM card and suddenly I was a grandmother from Memphis.
Then, and only then, did I call Michaels. He didn’t answer, I didn’t expect him to, but I left him a short message. ‘This is Lily. Find me.’ He’d do the rest.
While I waited for Michaels I examined the manilla envelope Burton gave me. Nothing odd that I could see, no suspicious powder or stray wires, no obvious signs of tampering. It was thin, far less substantial than other dossiers I’d handled while with Telrik, and a testament to Kelly’s thorough paranoia. Inside I found eight pages and three photo prints, ‘last known’
Tuesday, June 10, 2014
140Story - Day 13
I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here
daily. Can I sustain interest? Will I lose the narrative thread? Find
out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap
it, where Telrik would have put a minuscule pinhole camera. I went about my business in my apartment, carefully cataloging the things that were not quite right.
Ten. I hadn’t been with Burton more than an hour but that was all Telrik needed to put ten different monitoring devices in my place. I took a short rest, made a sandwich and watched a little TV, and then removed nine of them. Telrik would expect me to find some - why else place so many? - but if I got rid of all of them they’d just be back tomorrow with a better crew. It was easier to leave one camera, right by the front door, which they would be watching from outside anyway.
I swept the bathroom twice more before I was sure I hadn’t missed any surveillance hardware. Then I went
it, where Telrik would have put a minuscule pinhole camera. I went about my business in my apartment, carefully cataloging the things that were not quite right.
Ten. I hadn’t been with Burton more than an hour but that was all Telrik needed to put ten different monitoring devices in my place. I took a short rest, made a sandwich and watched a little TV, and then removed nine of them. Telrik would expect me to find some - why else place so many? - but if I got rid of all of them they’d just be back tomorrow with a better crew. It was easier to leave one camera, right by the front door, which they would be watching from outside anyway.
I swept the bathroom twice more before I was sure I hadn’t missed any surveillance hardware. Then I went
Monday, June 9, 2014
140Story - Day 12
I'm writing a story 140 words at a time and posting the results here
daily. Can I sustain interest? Will I lose the narrative thread? Find
out in this next installment of Bullets Ain't Cheap
sense, over two fingers of scotch while a Yankees game blared in the background. Michaels. Tech guy. Sort of. Gray-market tech, not the kind of stuff you could go to the mall and get.
I made it to my apartment without letting the stooges tailing me know I knew exactly where they were. Standard Telrik procedure, eyes on the target at all times. My front door looked exactly like I’d left it, but I knew better. I went in, fingers closed around the Glock in my handbag.
Nothing seemed disturbed. And maybe it hadn’t been. Maybe Telrik didn’t need to get inside any longer, maybe electronic surveillance was enough. But there was something...
There. Right in the front entry. The souvenir, tourist-kitsch bowl from Africa had been moved. Slightly. I didn’t look up at the vent directly above
sense, over two fingers of scotch while a Yankees game blared in the background. Michaels. Tech guy. Sort of. Gray-market tech, not the kind of stuff you could go to the mall and get.
I made it to my apartment without letting the stooges tailing me know I knew exactly where they were. Standard Telrik procedure, eyes on the target at all times. My front door looked exactly like I’d left it, but I knew better. I went in, fingers closed around the Glock in my handbag.
Nothing seemed disturbed. And maybe it hadn’t been. Maybe Telrik didn’t need to get inside any longer, maybe electronic surveillance was enough. But there was something...
There. Right in the front entry. The souvenir, tourist-kitsch bowl from Africa had been moved. Slightly. I didn’t look up at the vent directly above
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
