JOCASTA — Chapter 1: Happy b1rthd@y

Note: This is the start of a story I started writing back in 2015 more chapters will be released over time. Contact me if you like it and want to read more.

…

New Seattle, Wednesday Dec 10th, 2072.

The alarm clock rang at 7:30 with a piercing ring that split Jocasta’s head like a block of wood struck with precision and intent.

“Wake up!” STACEY barked, “Apparently it’s your birthday. Welcome to the beginning of your 22nd year. Heh heh.”

There was rustling under the red duvet, and a hand reached for the cellphone on the side table but knocked off the water jug. Then a head appeared, and shouted “Fuck! OFF! OFF! OFF! Goddamit!” Then a slumped silence fell and the blinds opened to show a grey, rainy day outside.

“Urgh, [cough cough] thanks, I guess.” Jocasta finally replied and sat up, scratching her middle finger through asymmetrical black and auburn hair. “I feel like crap, make me a double-espresso pronto.”

Jocasta sat up. She felt uneasy and sick to her stomach. The headache that accompanied this was a foreign experience for her. She’d never felt sick like this in her 21 years. Waves of nausea were followed by aches in her joints, and dizziness sent her off-balance. She had to lie down. The overall feeling didn’t feel terrible, like the end of the world or something epic like that, but there was by an uneasy feeling that rode alongside her.

It perturbed her, and her stomach was starting to churn with the thought of New Ethiopian Roast™ and synth-vegmilk foam hitting her gut.

Jocasta finally sipped her double-espresso as she sat on the edge of the bed. It didn’t hit her as hard as she thought it would and she started to feel a little better. She glanced upwards towards the ceiling. “This is really very average STACEY.”

“Happy Birthday!” STACEY replied with an implied smirk in her tone and played a 1920’s rendition of the Happy Birthday song. “That just cost you 3 dollars, ha ha — hisssss.”

Jocasta stood up, stretched her thin arms up, leant forward onto her feet and took a couple of steps forward, shuffling as she went. She walked through her room doorway and sidled down the thin hallway into the open plan kitchen.

“Jennalise?” she said looking towards her Mother, “I feel quite terrible. Feel my forehead.” Jennalise stayed where she was leaning against the kitchen table with her arms crossed. She was a lithe woman, sinewy with a confidence and determination that is hard to find. But, at this moment she seemed a little less intense than normal, and quite perturbed.

“Someone is coming to meet with us quite soon, go and get dressed” she said sternly but with a sense of concern and protection as well. “Finish your coffee. And, don’t ask questions. We don’t have any time for that. Quickly!”

Jocasta has never heard Jennalise speak to her like that. The tone was curt, rude and a little louder than normal. Like a military Sergeant. She didn’t like it one bit but grabbed her coffee and shuffled back to her room holding her head making a louder than needed groan.

Back in her room Jocasta sat on the edge of her bed and grabbed a pile of clothes on the floor and started sorting through them, “What’s going on STACEY?”.

“No idea. I doubt it’s good judging by her tone. I guess you’d better get dressed.”

3 minutes later Jocasta walked back into the kitchen, now dressed in a black pantsuit (she owned 4 of them and little else), grabbed some rye toast, sat down and spread blueberry and zinc jam onto it. She took a bite and held her head to cradle the continued headache and nausea.

“We need to talk.” said Jennalise. “I need to tell you about the day you were born and some things that happened shortly after.”

“When you were born I had your genome washed, as per usual, but the specialists found a condition that we couldn’t treat and could be fatal.” Her voice was shaking and she looked to the right side beyond Jocasta seemingly into space or at the blank wall, “Type 2 Gaucher disease.” She started to cry. “This meant that you could get really sick, and die so young. You were so precious to me that I’d do anything to keep you. You were so special and I needed you to be in my life.”

Jocasta looked up with a sense of disbelief and wonder. She’d never known this information. It was a context she craved to know and now it felt like a weight on her shoulders.

“Then I was offered a once in a lifetime chance, that I could not accept that I would watch you get sick, deteriorate, and lose you within a few months.”

“The doctors and specialists said it was incurable, but I knew that I had an option.”

There was a knock at the door. “What option Jennalise?” Jocasta questioned.

Jennalise knew who was rapping at the door. She stood up, and rushed to get it rather than answering Jocasta’s question. “Wait one moment.” She was clearly flustered and seemed to know who this was.

The door opened before she got their. “Hello. We’ve been waiting for you.” Jocasta heard along with a rather well pronounced English accent replying “Hello Jennalise, I’m looking forward to meeting Jocasta…we all are.”

A tall, thin man walked in through the front door and placed his bag down and took off his long grey jacket. Standing there in his dark brown suit, black shirt, horn rimmed shaded glasses and bald head made him a striking figure, and a little unnerving. He stood there for a minute at the edge of the kitchen, and then looked directly at her. He surveyed her face for a second, looking for something in her eyes. He then changed his demeanour and smiled broadly.

“Hello Jocasta. We have much to discuss.” He picked up his bag, walked over to the table and sat down. He reached into the bag brought out a small device, turned a small dial, pressed 3 buttons. The device clicked quickly in 3 second bursts for about half a minute.

Jocasta almost started to feel better. She actually and surprisingly felt energized.

She sat there and stared into his eyes trying to work out who the fuck this guy was. Government spook? Activist? Hacker-for-hire? Conman? How could he make me feel better. Maybe he was a Doctor, or maybe one of the Municipal Drug-dealers?

“I don’t know who you are, or what do you want?” She said quietly with a little nervousness sitting back in her chair and intensifying her glare. “And, how the hell did you just make me feel better?”

“My name is C. Your natural father and I were very great friends, as are — sorry were — your Mother and I. In fact, I like to think that Jennalise and I are still good friends regardless of the fact we have not spoken for nearly 21 years.” Jennalise was flustered, grabbing some water for the 2 of them, and spilling water onto the counter and floor before placing it down in front of C and Jocasta.

“Thank you Jennalise.” C acknowledged, “Shortly after you were born we realized that you were special. We knew that you would get sick quickly because we had seen some scans and had run our tests. We knew that might happen with the therapy we had administered. We still knew that you had a potential to help us change the world. That’s why we intervened shortly after you were born.”

C removed his glasses, drew his fingers through his black hair and looked straight at Jocasta. “I.am.CITIZEN.C.”

Jocasta’s jaw fell slack. ‘Fuck’, she thought, ‘This guy is part of CITIZEN? These are the bastard backstreet genetic anarchists that I’ve read about in the dark web. I thought they were a myth.’ This shock was followed by a flush, sweat, and dry mouth. Adrenaline started to career around her body.

“CITIZEN?”, she exclaimed. “THE…CITIZEN?”

“Indeed” C exclaimed. “And we are very happy to see you doing so incredibly well.”

Jocasta shifted in her seat. She felt uncomfortable with this information.

“Um…can I use the washroom? I have to pee really bad.”, Jocasta scooted off without asking for permission and jumped into the ensuite washroom in her bedroom.

On the way she had grabbed a black box from her side table. He thumb flicked a switch on the side, and she whispered into it, “STACEY! I need more information on CITIZEN. That’s C-I-T-I-Z-E-N, and use additional terms like ‘myth’, ‘clandestine, ‘brothers’, and ‘disappeared’. Scan the dark3.0 and darklight2.6 archives first, then social, and then the top 8 private hacker forums.”

She stared at the box for a minute. “Put in your headphones Jocasta. I have found something.” STACEY quietly said. Jocasta placed her earbuds in and listened intently.

“There is no conclusive reference on CITIZEN. From the chatter, hidden mails, and forums I have pulled together some information.”

“Go on.” Jocasta urged shaking the box.

“OK. This is at 63.34% confidence.” STACEY said and then continued, “People say that they are three brothers from the Southern Territories of the United States that were raised by academic, and brilliantly talented, parents. As they grew, they had a natural increase in IQ, brain mass, along with incredible levels of skill and intelligence across multiple fields. Over their formative years they seemed to experiment with neural implants and supplements as well. It is mentioned that they are polymaths, renaissance men, and pioneered some of the more sustainable forms of nanorobotics for medicine, medicine delivery implants, increasing creativity and output using microdosing of LSD, and more controversially, using synth-DMT.”

STACEY paused, “Shall I go on?”

“Yes. Continue.” Jocasta urged.

“They actively developed medical and military technology and hold patents for some of the most important technologies that have been invented in the past 30 years.”

Jocasta interjected, “Sure, I’ve heard some of that. I didn’t know about the patents though. That’s cool. What else did you find?”

“Some 15 or so years ago they disappeared. They became fictional. Shadowy figures that were inflated to near-mythical status. Some more radical and off-the-grid people say that these 3 are the second coming but armed with science.”

STACEY continued, “Listen to this.” Then a short silence, “CITIZEN A is apparently a Doctor, Biologist, and Biohacker. It’s said that CITIZEN B is a Doctor but focused on being a Lawyer. As a side note, some people say, they’ve never been apprehended or charged with any misdemeanor — ever. And, CITIZEN C is a technologist, hacker, self-proclaimed bio-messiah. He’s the public-face of them. He’s not been seen in public for over 15 years.”

“Whoa!” Jocasta exclaimed.

“That is apparently who is sitting in your kitchen. He is supposed to be the true brains of the organization and makes the whole thing tick.”, STACEY added, and powered off the box herself. Jocasta shook the box and tried re-activating but to no avail.

Jennalise knocked on the door. “Jocasta, are you OK in there?”, Jocasta coughed, “Yeah.”,flushed the toilet, ran water over her hands, splashed her face and came out.

“Yeah yeah, I’m feeling better. This shock and headache made me feel really queasy. I’m coming now. Give me a little space will ya?”

Jocasta walked back into the kitchen where C was sitting. Still in the exact same pose. It’s like he wasn’t even breathing. No movement. Just friendly eyes that made her realize he was not an hyperreal android like she had first suspected.

“Jocasta, take a seat. Let me explain the situation”, C offered.

Jennalise placed some water on the table in front of them and walked out of the room. Jocasta felt a little alone.

“Mom?”

No reply.

“STACEY?”

Nothing.

It was just her and CITIZEN C.

“Before you were born we ran some tests on Jennalise that showed us that you would be born and possess incredible abilities. Abilities that would lead to thinking that challenged how the world operates. We knew you were sick and that we had to intervene. We need you. The World needs you, and everyone needs you now more than ever. So, Jennalise agreed for us to give you the ‘therapy’ needed.”

C’s voice became more serious. “This was new ground for us but we had a promising genome architecture calibration system. Think of it as CRISPR with some very special twists and turns.”

C reached over and gently took Jocasta’s hand. “ And, you were the perfect recipient. You deserved it. Your Father deserved it, and we wanted to honor him and his wishes.”

“Go on.”, Jocasta whispered, looking at the floor, then up at C through her hair and trying to work out what history lesson would come next.

“CITIZEN watched you grow. We saw your incredible achievements free of human restrictions. We were heartened to see you programming computers before you could really talk properly and even use a voice synthesis program to chat with Jennalise at that time.”, C smiled a broad closed-mouth smile.

“Bravo! Truly incredible.”

“Your graduation from school at 8 years old, and your subsequent self-taught degrees in Fine Art, and Neural Techno Biology and Industrial Chemistry just astounded us. We knew that the natural ability that came from Jennalise mixed with the genius of the father would pay dividends for us all.”

“Hold on”, Jocasta snapped.

“Who exactly was my father? Jennalise never told me, and I deserve to know. You keep mentioning him over and over again with some kind of a revered tone.”

C sat up a little more tall, adjusted his jacket, and passed over answering her last concern, “Following the intensive supplement therapy during your gestation We gifted you with 400,000 bloodbots, along with a CITIZEN-009-MED3 Delivery system, implanted just under the inner side of your left arm. You probably never felt it because it’s what we call a subtle implant. We have dedicated a great deal of our time monitoring you, and optimizing your life from afar through these past years.”

C smiled, “It’s been quite the project. And, yes, there is an app for that.” He smiled.

Jocasta frowned, “It’s a little screwed up to make a joke like that. Listen, I’m a human. I’m not controlled. Anyways, WHO…IS…MY…FATHER? And, what the fuck have you been doing to me?”

“We’ve gifted you everything you ever deserved to be. Everything that your father wanted you to be.” C proclaimed. “Jocasta, you are the person that will change everything. We hope that you’ll quickly come to understand that.”

C reached into his doctor’s bag and placed a silver key, a blue 9mm Baldwin Repeater 3D-printed handgun (reliable and mostly undetectable by surv-cams and scanners) with a box of ammunition, a carbon-fibre frame for some sleek-looking glasses, and a small black box on the table.

“These are for you.”

Jocasta stared blankly at the table for a minute.

She found the keys a little out of place as they were obsolete due to the advent of free bioinformatic readers being shipped by the government. She’d seen informatics for glasses like the ones laying next to the keys and knew that they were some kind of next level augmented reality, x-lenses that allowed for vision on, above, and through the surrounding environment. The gun. Well, it was just another gun. She had won several marxmans contests. That didn’t bother her.

This was all very strange, yet she felt intellectually turned on and a warm sensation rose from her feet to her stomach. It was excitement and a feeling that she could get out of whatever C was going to ask her to do.

C looked up, placed his hand on her shoulder, and said, “In time I will tell you about your father. But now, we have a very important job for you to do. Listen carefully to me.”, he looked up, “You listen as well STACEY.”

“OK, I’m listening…and recording.” STACEY replied.

“OK, OK. Stop! What job?” Jocasta stated, now getting a little more than agitated. “I have things I have to do. People to see. Sleep to be had.”

“We’re in partnership. There are many others like you, but no-one exactly like you.”, C continued, “We have set you up with a new apartment in Sector 15C-2. It’s simple, has access to all of the information you need, and you need to pack what you need to take with you into the next chapter of your life.”

“After today you must not return to this apartment. The place where you grew up.”, C stared across the table at her, “You’re life changes today. Think of it as the start of a new chapter.”

Jocasta was stunned. “I, I, I don’t want to move.” She looked across at Jennalise who had appeared in the corner of the room listening, “You’re coming too, right?”

Jennalise was clearly uneasy. She had tears welling in her eyes and stared at, or maybe beyond, Jocasta. She was silent, looked to the ceiling then down at Jocasta and quietly said, “I knew this day was coming, I couldn’t tell you. Warn you. Explain anything.” She wiped the beginnings of a tear away from the corner of her eye, “Listen to C, he will explain everything. I love you, remember that. You will always be in my heart and thoughts.”

She stood up and disappeared into her room, shutting the door behind her.

C stood up and moved his chair closer to Jocasta. “Pack lightly. You’ll need to travel quickly and easily from here. Don’t worry, you’ll be safe and STACEY is coming with you.”

Jocasta shuffled quickly to her room and stopped outside of Jennalise’s room cupping her hand to the door to try and hear what was happening inside.

No sound. No nothing. The door was locked. It was clear that Jennalise was avoiding the situation.

This made Jocasta a little mad, and very upset. Tears well up in her eyes just holding back a full tear.

She entered her room and grabbed her black backpack from the corner, threw in her laptop along with a jumble of electronic devices and a power cord. She then reached above her wardrobe and grabbed her small capsule bag. Inside she kept 3 black pant suits, 4 sets of underwear, 8 pairs of socks, a heavier coat for the winter, along with some toiletries like her toothbrush, toothpaste etc.

It was always packed.

Ready to go.

She’d always figured that she would need to jet from this place at some point. Back when she had packed it her thoughts were of a romantic escapade or personal journey. This was neither. Right now it felt decidedly uncomfortable and unnerving.

She sat down and slipped on her black sneakers (note: all of the clothes she owned are black), and walked down the hallway into the kitchen. She placed the 2 bags on the counter. She turned and poured a glass of water, threw some multivits in her mouth, swallowed, took in a deep breath and sat down at the table in the kitchen again.

“OK MR. CITI-ZEN C. I’m ready to know what the hell happens next. And what I need to do to just get back to my life.”

C stopped for a couple of seconds before replying, “Go to Sector 15C-2. Use your bicycle to get there. It’s not too far. Maybe 20 minutes. The lanes will be quiet so go that way. When you get there, just on the left about 25 metres down is a side alley. There is a blue doorway there. Know 2 times and speak to Jonny. He’ll let you in and show you around.”

“I have to leave now.” C stood up and gestured towards the headset on the table, “Put that on. STACEY can talk to you through that. She’ll be with you when you need her most. Good luck, and we’ll speak soon but this will be the last time we speak face-to-face for quite some time.”

C turned and walked through the door. Jocasta followed a few seconds afterwards and peered out of the window. She saw the same view she always saw but C was nowhere to be seen

Jocasta walked back over to the table, reached down, and picked up the headset. It was a sheer black. It looked very cool. It would fit her style, she thought. Then she placed it on her head like glasses and adjusted it slightly. ‘Fits OK’ she thought to herself.

The headset tightened on its own and pinched at either side of her temple for a couple of seconds.

“Hello Jocasta.”

It was STACEY.

“These are cool, huh? Bone conduction audio and check this out.” The glasses vibrated for a microsecond and lenses formed to create instant lenses.

“Infra!” Said STACEY.

The glasses changed and suddenly the spectrum that Jocasta saw included the infrared frequencies.

“Whoa!”, exclaimed Jocasta. “That is very cool. What else can these do.”

“Over time we’ll explain more of what they can do.”

“Ultra!” Shouted Jocasta. And the glasses adjusted to include ultraviolet frequencies. Jocasta smiled.

“Kittens!”

Nothing happened.

“I guess nothing is that perfect, eh?” Jocasta muttered.

“These are a serious tool for us to use Jocasta.” STACEY said sternly. “Kittens are not on the menu.”

Jocasta grabbed her backpack, clipped it to the large bag, and threw it on her back. She walked into the ante room and grabbed her bike, unlocked it using the iris scanner and turned the door handle and opened the door. “Well, they will be. Let’s go.”