Authors: Luca Rossi
The nanochip. Don't give myself away.
Mario sits down, trying to look calm and confident.
“Hi Mario, how do you feel?” Her voice sounds even younger. Fifteen years at most. She has the most beautiful smile Mario has ever seen. No makeup. Emerald green eyes. She's perfect.
Too perfect.
“Good, thanks.”
“I'm a DataCom hologram. You want me to take on another form? Usually humans like this one.”
“No, no. You look fine.”
I have the nanochip. Dammit, no emotion!
“I suppose you know why you're here.”
My cover is more important than anything else.
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you think it was necessary to inform us?”
“Right now developing the code is my priority. The data indicated a loss of efficiency. I need to find a way to reverse the trend,” Mario responds coldly.
The girl smiles.
Amazing! I've never seen such a beautiful creature.
“Mario, it's going to take us a few days before we're able to decipher the communication that broke through our systems. It's the first time that we've ever detected such a high level of protection. But we were able to trace the source and we hope that you can tell us about the content of the communication.”
I have the nanochip. I need to answer.
“It was a woman. She said that she would pray for me. After she killed me.”
“Do you know her? Or do you have an idea of who she might be?”
“No, I don't know her. I think she's affiliated with a group of rebel hackers that wants to kill me.”
Don't give myself away and everything will be alright: they have no reason to doubt my words.
“Do you think it has something to do with your ex-wife Isabella?”
All sorts of assumptions flood through his mind.
My cover is the most important thing. No, I can't betray Isabella. Yet they know about the island. They've probably already sent a team. And in a few days they'll have deciphered the message. If I survive, maybe I can help her. Otherwise it's over for both of us. I'm sorry Isabella. I'm sorry.
He wants to cry, scream, lash out at the hologram. He wants to die. He wishes he never existed.
“It said it didn't know if it could trust Isabella.”
The girl smiles again: “And then?” she asks in the sincere, curious tone of a high school girl talking to her best friend about a date she just went on with her boyfriend.
“The communication was interrupted.”
“Thank you, Mario. You can go.”
2/X – Prelude to the world of DataCom
Mario watches the raindrops slide down the window. The warmth of his breath expands over the cold pane into little clouds that quickly disappear, replaced by the reflection of his face: gaunt cheeks, tousled brown hair. Mario puts his fingertips underneath his armpits: not even his wool gloves seem to provide adequate protection against the bitter cold.
His gaze drifts down to the street. At the tram stop, many people have their eyes glued to their smartphones, others stare into space through augmented reality and the constant flow of information flowing across their smart glasses. A few teenagers, lined up in an orderly fashion, seem to have lost their usual cheerfulness.
Three months. This is the world we created in only three months.
Isabella places her hand on his shoulder: “I'm going down.”
Mario turns around to look at her. She has been shut up for weeks in a house without hot water, heating, furniture, covered in layers of sweaters, shirts, jackets; and yet she's more beautiful than ever. Her pale face shines from underneath her wool hat: the intensity of her green eyes seems to pierce through the air. Mario wants to caress the mane of brown hair spilling over her shoulders, but restrains himself, contenting himself with her touch.
“No, I'll go.”
“Mario, you've already gone down too many times!”
“I know what to do. I've memorized the position of every camera and detector.”
“So have I. You know that! But I've gone down much less than you have.”
“Isabella, you can't take the risk. And in any case we need to wait until evening. It'll be safer.”
“No, Mario. We're starving. We can't stay here another six hours without food. I need to go.”
Any citizen could recognize her face from the images projected on the mega-screens. A hidden camera could detect her presence or a search team could stop her at a checkpoint: Mario thinks about the many dangers Isabella might face on the street.
Without waiting for a response, she heads towards the door. She looks out the peephole to make sure no one's on the stairs; she leaves, stops again on the landing to listen: no one seems to be going up or down. Before going out on to the street, Isabella puts on a pair of fake smart glasses.
Two hundred yards. I'll be there in less than a minute.
No one bothers to look at her on the street. A few months ago, with different clothes, she would have been admired, desired and envied.
Before stepping into the store she makes sure there are no other customers. The air carries the usual, nauseating smell.
She orders two kebabs and a falafel, which takes the boy a few minutes to prepare.
“Six Euro and fifty cents, ma'am.”
She gives him the money.
“Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I can't accept this.”
“Pardon?”
“Only electronic payments: cash is outdated.” Then, cautiously, he asks: “Excuse me, but how could you possibly not know that?”
“Oh, my smartphone is being repaired.” Isabella looks at the street out of the corner of her eye. The boy holds the kebab and falafel.
“But you're wearing a pair of smart glasses! And the news is all over the TV, in the newspapers, everywhere.”
Yes, but we have to stay far away from the networks and any form of communication.
The unsuspecting boy puts the food down and reaches underneath the counter. Isabella springs into action. She crosses the barrier that separates them and lunges at him. She grabs his head and, looking into his frightened and pleading eyes, rotates it sharply, breaking his neck.
Become the star of the story!
Clouded Emotions
is an interactive story that's still being developed. At the end of each episode, the author offers several different ways the story might continue. Readers can vote and participate in the discussion, make comments and suggest possible plot outcomes, give their opinion or have fun creating fascinating new ideas with the author.
If you want to find out how to continue the story, visit
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. The next episode of
Clouded Emotions
could come out of your imagination!
The author
Research, science, science fiction and high technology: this is the world of Luca Rossi, and the main themes that run through his literary work.
He believes the internet provides a tool to bring people together and make the world a more open, fair and democratic place.
In 2013 he published
Galactic Energies,
a collection of short stories set in a universe where not just the laws of physics, but also the laws of eros, passion, desire and the spirit are a little different than our own.
He was born in Turin on April 15
th
, 1977. He likes to ride his bike, take walks through nature and spend most of his free time with his family.
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Table of Contents
Jasmine Fantini – May 12, 2013
The interview – September 11, 2015
1/ VII – Fake places, false identities
1/ VIII – Nanochips in the brain
2/ I – Secondary intelligences
2/ V – I'll pray for your soul