Daniel Suarez - Freedom (TM)

“And is that how you wound up at Wuhan Communications Command Academy?”

Shen stopped mid-puff and narrowed his eyes at Ross. He pulled the cigarillo from his lips. “How the hell do you know that?”

“And how you wound up working with the General Equipment Department, modifying Western router chipsets?”

Shen moved to cover Ross’s mouth. “Would you shut up? What are you, crazy? How the hell do you know that?”

“We’re reaching a crossroad, Liang.”

“This isn’t 1999, Jon. The Web isn’t a toy anymore. Network technology is power now—world-domination-type power. This is a deadly serious business. Stop playing around.”

“We had a great time back then. You remember we all thought technology would change the world?”

“Well, it didn’t . Our parents were right, Jon. It’s scary how right they were. Nothing changes. Only the faces change.”

“I’m sorry you feel that way. I seem to remember you having great hopes for democracy in China.”

Shen glared hard at him as the cocktail waitress returned with Ross’s drink. Both men were quiet until she departed.

Shen shook his head and reached for an ashtray. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. And besides, we have democracy in China. People get to vote with their money, just like they do in America.”

“But if only money talks, those without money don’t get a voice.”

“Well, the smarter people tend to make money, so I don’t see what the problem is.”

“What happens if someone takes your money away?”

Shen cast a wary look at Ross.

Ross continued, “Because that’s what we’re talking about here, isn’t it? Someone has threatened to confiscate your company if you don’t perform. Is that how a free person lives, Liang? In fear of the powerful?”

“Freedom is overrated. You can be completely free and starving in an igloo in Antarctica. Business is what makes people’s lives better, not democracy. The world is filled with dysfunctional democracies, paralyzed by idiots with votes.”

“Liang—”

“Jon, do you know that the World Bank said that over half the Chinese people lived in poverty in 1980? You know what it is now? Care to take a guess? It’s four percent, Jon. Four . Economic development did that, not democracy.”

Ross nodded. “But that’s the deal they offer, isn’t it? They’ll bring economic development in exchange for you not participating in politics—but that economic development is hollow and has no longevity. Have you seen the markets? It’s already fraying at the edges. Believe me, by the time it ends, you’ll realize they have all the power and you don’t matter. Prosperity is not prosperity if they can just take it from you.”

“So you prefer America then? Like they’re prosperous? They owe us more money than there is on the planet. America is finished. Why are you helping them?”

Ross frowned. He took a moment to digest the question, taking a sip of his drink first. “Helping them? What are you talking about?”

“Don’t even start with me. You know exactly what I mean.”

Ross nodded. “So, you brought me here because you’ve got a problem. A problem you think the Americans are behind.”

Shen just studied him for several moments. “You haven’t asked how I found you.”

“I don’t have to ask. I already know how you found me.”

“Oh yeah? How do you know that?”

“Because I’m the one who told you I was in China.”

Shen paused, looking darkly at Ross. “You’re fucking with me now. That’s why I hated playing poker with you.”

“I’m not bluffing, Liang.”

“Yeah, where did I get the information then?”

“That e-mail you received from Jun Shan. That was me.”

Shen almost bit his cigarillo in half. He glanced around the restaurant again and just shook his head. “Jon, you have no idea who you’re dealing with.”

“The PLA reactivated you to find out why the back doors in router chipsets are beginning to fail in North America and Europe. They’re in a panic, aren’t they?”

Shen ground out his cigarette and pushed the ashtray away.

“What the fuck is going on? Who are you working for? The Americans?”

“It isn’t what you think, Liang.”

“Why does a Russian want to help Americans? They’ve been shitting on Russia for decades. They’re imperialist scum.”

“So you want to recruit me, comrade? Is that it?”

“Communism. Capitalism. Who gives a shit? Look, Western imperialism has undermined China since the British started dumping opium here to pry open the tea market. Now that China is taking her rightful place in the world again, the U.S. and Britain are doing everything they can to keep us down. Join us, Jon. I can open a lot of doors for you—especially for a man with your talents. There is virtually unlimited money to be made.”

Ross sipped his vodka. “That’s a great offer, Liang. And I do appreciate it, but I’m going to tell you what’s really going on here. And you’re not going to like it.”

Shen pushed his drink away. “Damnit.”

“You remember why Interpol is looking for me—why I’m wanted by the FBI?”

“Yeah, because you masterminded the Daemon hoax.”

“It’s not a hoax, Liang, and I didn’t mastermind it. There is an open-source cybernetic organism called the Daemon that is spreading across the globe. It’s created an encrypted social network called the darknet, based on an online video game. Millions of people are joining that network and using it to reinvent human society.”

Shen sighed and leaned back in his seat. “Jon, goddamnit! I’m trying to help you.”

“I’m not kidding, Liang. I’m a seventh-level Rogue in the network, and I have powers and abilities that allow me to—”

“You’ve really lost your fucking mind. I can’t believe it. It’s like you don’t even care.” He pointed out the windows. “I told them I would handle this. I told them to back off. That I could turn you, but after you leave here, Jon, they are going to take you away, and put you in a place so dark you won’t ever be seen again. And I won’t be able to help you anymore. Do you understand what I’m telling you? They’re going to disappear you, Jon.”

“I understand. It’s okay.”

“How can it be okay? You’ve got to tell me what’s really going on, Jon, or they’re going to beat it out of you.”

“It’s okay because I had to come to China. I couldn’t learn what I needed anywhere but China. Because what happens here, Liang, affects the entire world. And what your people did was defeat a system that might have been used to oppress billions. I needed you to know that. The Chinese people want to be free, Liang. Just like all people. I’ve seen it. Just like you’ll see it.”

“Jon, they won’t let you leave here.”

“It’s okay. I have this.” Ross held up a single titanium ring with a crystal embedded in the surface. “It’s a magic ring, Liang. Very powerful.”

Shen stared at him, speechless, for several moments. “Oh my god. You really have gone insane.”

Ross slipped the ring on his finger. “I have to go now. But just remember, I came to see you because I wanted to tell you in person. The Daemon is real, and it’s bigger than all of us—because it is all of us. So maybe technology can change the world, after all. Take care, my friend.”

With that, Ross got up and walked away from the table, seeing Shen’s stunned face reflected in a nearby mirror as he left.

“ Dr. Philips, you’ve seen the news. The economy is in shambles. Getting a five-year guaranteed contract with built-in cost-of-living adjustments would secure your future. And you could still work within the national intelligence apparatus. A lot of your colleagues have already made the jump.”