Chapter Fifty-Two – Terms and Conditions

Chapter Fifty-Two – Terms and Conditions

“So, the idea is that there’s small-print, but hidden in the meta-data is this set of codes. The first checks how often the contract was opened and checked. If its still within a few months of the contract being issued, then Version One is shown.

Don’t be greedy about it, but… Yeah, free money!”

–Forum Post on the HackAtack forums, 2036

***

“Hey, prof, can I have a word?” I asked.

Class had just finished. I was aware that Lucy was planning her big showing thing in an hour or so, but I was leaving that up to her. She had a couple of cat drones with her to keep her safe, even with a crowd around, and… yeah, I trusted her.

Professor Rogers blinked in that particular way that meant that he’d just closed out of an Aug app. “Yes?” he asked. “Sorry, what did you need me for, Samurai?”

I snorted. Formal old man. “Nothing too serious,” I said. “Look, I’ve got a situation on my hands. Low urgency kind of thing, but it’s outside of my usual, uh, area of expertise. I figured I’d ask your opinion since it’s a little closer to your kind of stuff.”

The man straightened a little, and I sensed that I had his full attention. “Go on,” he said. “If I can help, or provide useful insight, then I’ll do what I can.”

“Thanks,” I said. “So, the situation’s like this… I’m trying to get shit back in line in New Montreal. Not trying to pretty the place up or anything. The utopia shit can fall on someone else’s shoulders. I’m just trying to keep the city in one piece.”

He nodded for me to go on.

“Right, so we’re keeping alien numbers down, I’m checking in on all of my samurai, uh, friends, and I’ve got some eyes on some problems that are being fixed up, even if it’s taking longer than I’d like.”

“I recall hearing that you’re involved in the sewer restoration initiative,” he said.

“Who’s calling it an initiative?” I asked. “It’s more like I’m playing the role of the gun behind a few heads. People need water and the ability to flush their shitters. It’s not glamarous. But yeah, that’s the kind of thing I’m talking about. The Family took over a lot of that one, but I’m around, keeping an eye on things, making sure that obstacles get blown up.”

“Respectable,” he said.

“Thanks,” I replied. “Anyway. New problem. The gangs in New Montreal are getting all riled up. Food’s tough to come by, jobs aren’t as available as usual, lots of folks got squeezed into the city so the population in some spots is way higher, and with stuff like the sewers being fucked, more people are squeezing into less space.”

“Sounds dire. And it also sounds like you’re gearing yourself up to be a modern Robin Hood.”

I snorted. “No. No I’m absolutely not. I might steal from the rich, but the only poor I’ll give to are the people I care about. And I’m not exactly against stealing from other poors too. Anyway, look, the main issue is the gangs. It’s not even a huge issue. If they decided to go all gang-war on each other, then that’ll suck for the city and it’ll hold things back, but it won’t stop everything, it’ll just be very inconvenient.”

Professor Rogers nodded. “I don’t have direct experience with this kind of situation, but I can recall some historical analogies. Military actions taken while a country is in the throes of a civil war or a coup often run into strange and unique logistical issues. You can look at some of the UN’s attempts to bring in relief forces after some of the early 2030s incursions into war-torn areas. It’s not a one-for-one analogy for what you’re working on, but I think you might find some similar elements.”

“Yeah, exactly,” I said. “So… my plan so far, and I haven’t advertised it too well but it sounds like the word is getting out, is to gather all the leaders of the different gangs in one place and lay down the law.”

The professor considered it for a while, then nodded. “That might work. Some of them will be antagonistic to each other, but there will be a lot of elements there that are entirely unrelated to one another. Groups from different locations that aren’t congruent.”

I didn’t know what that word meant, but I nodded all the same. “Yeah. So, I ordered a general cease-fire.”

“The terms?” he asked.

“Uh… vague and threatening?”

Professor Rogers didn’t seem impressed by that. “A good ceasefire outlines proper terms and conditions, as well as clear punishments for transgressing those. Just telling a group to stop without outlining the consequences does little to actually deter them.”

“Ah,” I said. “I hadn’t thought of that, but yeah, that makes a lot of sense.” Like telling the kittens that if they didn’t listen ‘there would be trouble’ versus telling them that if they didn’t do something I’d shove their heads into the nearest toilet bowl. The threat actually made them stop and consider things.

Stolen novel; please report.

Were the gangs like unruly orphans, then?

Wait, yeah, that tracked. “Okay, I can do that,” I said. “Outline the, ah, consequences, and then the rules of the ceasefire. I guess I mostly want violence reduced. I don’t care about drugs and such as much.”

“That’s good. A hard and inflexible set of demands tends to make groups chafe. If they’re allowed to act as they were with just a few limits, then they might not lose respect for you. You might have to enforce some of those consequences, to prove that you have teeth, as it were. We both know that you can, but sometimes people need a reminder.”

“Oh, I’ve got something in mind for that,” I said. “This one corp called… fuck, what was their name?”