The Message

The rain outside was heavy enough to make even the locals duck indoors, and yet several people allowed themselves to wonder aimlessly through the streets. Only one of these people wasn’t drunk and was without an umbrella. The man strolled lackadaisically along the city street, accepting the odd looks from those running from a building to their car with nothing but a nod. He had business to attend to, and attracting as much attention as possible was the only way to do it.

He sighed, lifting his face to the sky. He didn’t enjoy his job, but it was good pay, and had a great amount of benefits. His lover appreciated his decision, though she was perhaps a bit biased in her opinion. She was, after all, his lover. She also happened to be a coworker of his. That night was her day off. The man smiled to himself, happy to know that she was safe and warm at home.

Not that he was in any less of a safe position at that moment. A few minutes more and his position would be less than enviable. His job was to climb onto one of the screens of Times Square and carefully switch a single light for a false one, then leave. The false bulb would act as a transmitter, and would allow his companies message to be aired across every screen in the square. With any luck, the new design would also hijack a satellite or two and take over half of America’s viewscreens.

He would jump then, only to be grabbed by the ‘porter and shoved into a small room in the basement of his own house. It had worked in China quite well, though the results were less than desirable in Canada. That was only one time out of…was it really two hundred? How time passed.

His communications implant fizzed quietly in his ear, and an equally quiet voice echoed through the thing. He rolled his eyes and thought, very loudly, You’re going to have to speak a little louder, Nikolai. About 10 more decibels.

“Apologies. I wish to let you know that the square is going to be clear for forty-five minutes at the start of the hour. You need to get up to the screen, make the transplant, and get down before that time elapses. Otherwise, you have an eighty-nine percent chance of getting captured.” The time was shorter than he had in Hong Kong, but much longer than in Edmonton. It wouldn’t be a problem for him at all.

Copy that. Forty-five minutes. Should be simple enough. He checked his watch and grinned. He had ten minutes to get his equipment from the agent below the screen, then he could begin. He turned left at the intersection and crossed the street to the large building where the agent was waiting. The large man handed him the bag and kept a lookout for the police that frequented the area.

Nik, where the hell are all of them?

“An emergency call was made shortly after I contacted you. You’re in the clear starting now.”

He shook his head, slightly annoyed that Nikolai hadn’t told him before. He slipped the climbing gear on, and began the ascent slowly. The magnetic gloves and kneepads made the climb easy and efficient, not allowing for any wasted motion. Within twenty minutes, he was at the desired location, and began his delicate work. It would take another fifteen minutes for the bulb to be installed properly, and another five for it to work.

He extracted the bulb with no undue fuss, but was greeted by a new safety measure in the screen. Once the contact between the bulb and the socket was gone, the entire screen went blank, cutting him off from his main light source.

Nikolai?

“The cops are coming back! Five minutes tops!” Nikolai could be heard clacking away on his keyboard. “You are going to have to risk getting caught. It will take eight minutes to properly install the bulb and get it transmitting. Move it!”

The man growled audibly and began inputting the first of thirty-two operational codes. One screw-up, and he would be dead or worse. He glared at a red screen on his wrist several times, berating Nikolai with language a sailor would be shocked by.

Nikolai, I’ve got it! Get the ‘porter to grab me and the big guy, or we’re both goners! NOW!

“Big guy’s out already. Teleportation of you in three…two…one!”

The man felt his insides churn and closed his eyes, not liking seeing himself disappear and reappear. It was unnerving to any of his fellow agents, and it had become instinct to simply not look. By the time he opened his eyes again, he was in his basement, half a world away.

His lover was standing there, holding a phone out to him, which he accepted gratefully after removing one of his gloves. “Nik?”

“It should work. Cops have no idea what happened and have officially reported it as a minor malfunction. We’re transmitting now.”

He pointed to the fifth television screen, and smiled when the message came online. The message was simple, and had already helped the cause. Some people might argue that it was too much of a risk to send the messages for such a small, meaningless cause.

The man knew, though, from the smile on his lover’s face when the first scene came on the screen, that it had been worth it. He grabbed the ring in his left pocket and smothered his joy. Not only had this night been good for the cause, but also for him and his life. He was now officially retired from field work, and was going to ask the gorgeous woman next to him to marry him.

He turned to the screen again and watched as his work tried to make the world a better place. It was all worth it.