“Primitive isn’t the same as stupid.”
~ Conner Quick
Note: This is the third excerpt in a series. Part one is here, part two here.
Truth was, Conner’s plans were only vapor. He needed a new rhythm, far from his typical tempo. His intuition was whispering caution, telling him to divide his team, observe their movements, and quietly follow his leads.
The shaft doors slid open onto a diamond on black velvet sky. The horizon was wearing a burnt shade of tangerine when the Skyler descended the Canyon. In the hour since, tomorrow had started to chew on yesterday. The shuttle was outlined against a pregnant moon, and Conner felt an almost swollen nobility as he approached the elegance of his own design.
Tessa and Leah leaned against the side of the Skyler with lazy uncertainty. Even through the heavy folds of an evening blanket, Conner could see their eyes swimming in concern, their expressions a rough mix of weary love and undiluted loyalty. Conner half smiled, nodded, then stepped behind them into the cabin of the Skyler.
“What now?” Leah spoke, but both girls stood with their arms crossed in front of him.
“You name it,” Tessa said. Her concern seemed genuine, but that meant nothing. Tessa could have passed a polygraph with a witness in the room.
“Nothing,” Conner said. He stole a glance at the disappearing canyon and pressed his thumb into his temple. “Right now, I just need time to think.” What he really needed was two hours online and in private.
The girls retreated to their quiet corner of the shuttle and Conner ran his finger across the glass, settling on the most famous icon in the entire world: a cash register peeping from behind a wide smile.
The icon itself was somewhat amusing since cash registers had been an endangered species for over a decade. Conner hadn’t seen one in years, and maybe only a half dozen in his lifetime. The only place one might find such a relic was in a small off the map mercantile with no online presence, but a store like that was about as common as a gas engine.
These days everything was online; part of a large franchise or global chain. Once the majority of the populace had their financial info embedded in their Codec with all the rest of their DNA and random data, there stood little reason for registers. In the new world, there was no change given or charge slips signed. Fingerprints and retinal scans didn’t lie. Even if they did, it wouldn’t be for a pair of khakis.
The one icon that gleamed in ubiquity across every glassy desktop in the nation, rendering any material desire just three clicks away, was developed by Everything NEXus at the apex of their rising authority, back before the web moved from .com to .nexus. Now their little app was a standard install on every operating system on every computer across the globe.
The icon spooled into a menu asking Conner where he’d like to begin. “Good question,” he pressed his thumb deeper into his temple.
Categories started broad, gradually refining themselves; Clothes — Men — Style–Size– Color… If a shopper couldn’t locate their item from the several hundred available selections, the application instantly redirected them to another vendor. Because Everything Dot Nexus generated daily traffic greater than the next four most popular sites combined, everyone was willing to take the link even with a 15% cut.
The model was genius. 15% was easy to justify considering the found traffic, but it piled to a fortune for Everything NEXus when you considered they weren’t selling anything outside the privilege of redirection. Analysts predicted the company would break a hundred million novas per day, come January.
“Finished your shopping?” Tessa’s voice shook Conner to almost standing. She was right behind him, he wondered for how long. He quickly touched the chaos icon and spun his chair around.
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About Sean Platt
Ah, very nice. I like how you touch on gaining money from traffic and such. Affected by blogging much? :)
Matthew Drydens last blog post..Spoken Word: Dancing on Leaves
Ah, very nice. I like how you touch on gaining money from traffic and such. Affected by blogging much? :)
Matthew Drydens last blog post..Spoken Word: Dancing on Leaves
I like it. I can almost see him sitting there with the large glass panel in front of him. Holographic display projected upon the screen. Very 3010 Sean.
Sals last blog post..Enough About You, Let’s Talk About Meme
I like it. I can almost see him sitting there with the large glass panel in front of him. Holographic display projected upon the screen. Very 3010 Sean.
Sals last blog post..Enough About You, Let’s Talk About Meme
So is this the Google of tomorrow? :-)
Sean, you’re writing never ceases to amaze me. Just like Sal said, you really bring the pictures in your mind right down to the surface of your words. I could see Conner quickly tapping on the chaos icon and spinning around in his chair as if to fend off curiosity without drawing attention. Wonderful imagery! Keep ‘em coming…Eric.
Eric Hamms last blog post..The 5 Year Plan
So is this the Google of tomorrow? :-)
Sean, you’re writing never ceases to amaze me. Just like Sal said, you really bring the pictures in your mind right down to the surface of your words. I could see Conner quickly tapping on the chaos icon and spinning around in his chair as if to fend off curiosity without drawing attention. Wonderful imagery! Keep ‘em coming…Eric.
Eric Hamms last blog post..The 5 Year Plan
Everything.nexus… Google meets WalMart meets Microsoft. Scary. I’d hate to think what a monster Myspace would become in this new, nexus-ized reality you’re building.
Thanks for the update; I hope I get to see more!
Aylad MacOdyss last blog post..Crazy birthday to me, crazy birthday to me…
Everything.nexus… Google meets WalMart meets Microsoft. Scary. I’d hate to think what a monster Myspace would become in this new, nexus-ized reality you’re building.
Thanks for the update; I hope I get to see more!
Aylad MacOdyss last blog post..Crazy birthday to me, crazy birthday to me…
“In the hour since, tomorrow had started to chew on yesterday. The shuttle was outlined against a pregnant moon, and Conner felt an almost swollen nobility as he approached the elegance of his own design.”
ooh.. such a a wonderful description… this excerpt was fairly dripping with goodies for me. I am so hooked.
And the line about the khakis… LOL.
Thanks for more of Redbook.
Janice Cartiers last blog post..Raspberry Twists
“In the hour since, tomorrow had started to chew on yesterday. The shuttle was outlined against a pregnant moon, and Conner felt an almost swollen nobility as he approached the elegance of his own design.”
ooh.. such a a wonderful description… this excerpt was fairly dripping with goodies for me. I am so hooked.
And the line about the khakis… LOL.
Thanks for more of Redbook.
Janice Cartiers last blog post..Raspberry Twists
Matthew: Absatively. Since I started blogging, I can’t help but see this as the beginning of a very different world.
Sal: A bit of minority report there. I can’t wait to dig into the story. It’s a bit of a kiddie Philip Dick. I don’t know if I have the chops to pull it off, but I’d love to try.
Eric: It’s the overlords of tomorrow. The chaos button is super cool. It’s talked about in detail during the previous chapter. It basically rearranges RAM so it needs to be unscrambled, which of course Conner can do in a keystroke (not that they have keys anymore).
Aylad: You are welcome. That’s it for now. I’ll hit it again next year when I can let the story breathe from the beginning.
Janice: I promise I won’t let RedBook die, but I have to let it rest until I can give it some attention. Thanks for being a fan. I had no idea what it was when I started it, but I have a fairly clear picture now. I can’t wait to write it.
Matthew: Absatively. Since I started blogging, I can’t help but see this as the beginning of a very different world.
Sal: A bit of minority report there. I can’t wait to dig into the story. It’s a bit of a kiddie Philip Dick. I don’t know if I have the chops to pull it off, but I’d love to try.
Eric: It’s the overlords of tomorrow. The chaos button is super cool. It’s talked about in detail during the previous chapter. It basically rearranges RAM so it needs to be unscrambled, which of course Conner can do in a keystroke (not that they have keys anymore).
Aylad: You are welcome. That’s it for now. I’ll hit it again next year when I can let the story breathe from the beginning.
Janice: I promise I won’t let RedBook die, but I have to let it rest until I can give it some attention. Thanks for being a fan. I had no idea what it was when I started it, but I have a fairly clear picture now. I can’t wait to write it.
Sean,
All things in good time. Thanks for letting this much out so far. Neither Rome nor Hogwarts was built in a day.
Sean,
All things in good time. Thanks for letting this much out so far. Neither Rome nor Hogwarts was built in a day.
@WD: “I don’t know if I have the chops to pull it off…” A-list blogger say what? If anyone has the chops, you my friend are the one to give it a go. I wouldn’t trust RedBook in anyone’s hands but yours. Just remember the little guy (5′ 5″ to be exact) when your book tops the best seller list in 1 day and sticks around for 5 years…then (you thought I was done there didn’t you?) then comes back and tops it again 400 years later. :)
@WD: “I don’t know if I have the chops to pull it off…” A-list blogger say what? If anyone has the chops, you my friend are the one to give it a go. I wouldn’t trust RedBook in anyone’s hands but yours. Just remember the little guy (5′ 5″ to be exact) when your book tops the best seller list in 1 day and sticks around for 5 years…then (you thought I was done there didn’t you?) then comes back and tops it again 400 years later. :)
Do carefully craft your syntax through constant revision or does it just come naturally in the raw?
Do carefully craft your syntax through constant revision or does it just come naturally in the raw?
Do carefully craft your syntax through constant revision or does it just come naturally in the raw?
I’m rebelling against this new way of things. No retina scans and no fingerprints.
Us bloggers are going to come together and unite: making our appeals to the world in the words we write.
I’m rebelling against this new way of things. No retina scans and no fingerprints.
Us bloggers are going to come together and unite: making our appeals to the world in the words we write.
Another engaging dip into the pool – thanks!
Shade and Sweetwater,
K
Kyddryns last blog post..An Interlude…
Another engaging dip into the pool – thanks!
Shade and Sweetwater,
K
Kyddryns last blog post..An Interlude…
“Truth was, Conner’s plans were only vapor. He needed a new rhythm, far from his typical tempo. His intuition was whispering caution …”
You do know how to draw us in, don’t you? I like it!
SpaceAgeSage — Loris last blog post..Relationship (or leadership) is not about control
“Truth was, Conner’s plans were only vapor. He needed a new rhythm, far from his typical tempo. His intuition was whispering caution …”
You do know how to draw us in, don’t you? I like it!
SpaceAgeSage — Loris last blog post..Relationship (or leadership) is not about control
Janice: No they weren’t. I envy J.K. Rowling’s long train rides.
Sal: Dude, I appreciate the compliment, but I’m clawing my way to the D-list as we speak.
Chris: About 50/50. Everything gets at least one edit before it gets published. Sometimes I have to labor a bit, but most of it flows “naturally in the raw.” If I labor too much, I don’t get anything done.
Bamboo: That’s what I’m talking about my man.
Kyddryn: Quite welcome, I hope you enjoyed it.
Lori: I try. That sentence was one of the last one added. This section was an absolute mess when I went back to it last night, but it cleaned up real purty like.
Janice: No they weren’t. I envy J.K. Rowling’s long train rides.
Sal: Dude, I appreciate the compliment, but I’m clawing my way to the D-list as we speak.
Chris: About 50/50. Everything gets at least one edit before it gets published. Sometimes I have to labor a bit, but most of it flows “naturally in the raw.” If I labor too much, I don’t get anything done.
Bamboo: That’s what I’m talking about my man.
Kyddryn: Quite welcome, I hope you enjoyed it.
Lori: I try. That sentence was one of the last one added. This section was an absolute mess when I went back to it last night, but it cleaned up real purty like.
I so like black velvet skies. They’re perfect for glow in the dark stickers.
J.D. Meiers last blog post..Lessons Learned from Peaceful Warrior
I so like black velvet skies. They’re perfect for glow in the dark stickers.
J.D. Meiers last blog post..Lessons Learned from Peaceful Warrior
D-list hmm? I think I was on that list in middle school at least twice, hey, I could give you some pointers…HA!
Sals last blog post..Enough About You, Let’s Talk About Meme
D-list hmm? I think I was on that list in middle school at least twice, hey, I could give you some pointers…HA!
Sals last blog post..Enough About You, Let’s Talk About Meme
Great installment. Seems easily placed in the not-too-distant future.
Great installment. Seems easily placed in the not-too-distant future.