THE SYNDICATE

 

IX

The smell of coffee and freshly baked pastries flooded the small cafe, giving potent aromas that made its residents relaxed and eager to taste what delicacies were being prepared. The weather outside was chilly and light precipitation could be seen from above. The sky was gray and dull but the people in the coffee shop were lively and jaunty. Carl sat at the edge of his seat fixated vigorously on his laptop. A slender waitress approached him carrying his vanilla latte. She smiled at him childly.

Carl picked up the drink, devoid of emotion and indifference. He took a sip of the coffee and savoured its taste putting it aside. He incessantly typed code off the top of his head with an execution like flow. His high refresh rate laptop buzzed and hummed like a bee. His next victim the CEO of American Health, Mr. David Washington, an obnoxious excuse of a man, a tyrant of all sorts and corrupt to the bone.

Millions of Americans scammed over their insurance rights and many millions stolen from their pensions. The news captured the scandal and it went viral all over the country. Mr. David Washington had the best lawyers money could buy and his court case was becoming more and more likely a win on his side. Carl had to stop this man from robbing innocent lives of their hard earned money and free will. Death to corporate greed in America he thought.

By any means necessary...

He had become more than a mundane he had become a vigilante an unsung hero of the people lurking in the shadows to weed out corporate greed and debauchery. He took another sip of his coffee, pressing keys on his keyboard with an incessant flow. He heard sirens wailing at a distance riotously, the red and blue colors from the police motorvehicle flooded the coffee shop. 

The people outside were running pell-mell in confusion. Carl looked up from his laptop. A bead of sweat trickled down his head. His heart thumping like an African drum. Two police officers in civilian clothing stormed the cozy cafe, they were no ordinary boys in blue. They were detectives, they both walked synchronously like fraternal twins. 

Carl got out his inhaler and took a puff as air filled his lungs, he chocked. The two detectives approached him, one of them closed the laptop with brute force. The other pulled out an official document from his side jacket. The other people in the coffee shop were stunned and remained fixated on the spot. Carl knew what he was getting into, he knew the risks, but did it go too far?

Green Haven Correctional Facility

Three months later

Carl became self obsessed in bettering himself, his physique was unrecognisable, he put on some muscle and becoming hulkingly strong. He read books on philosophy by the most prominent authors from Aristotle to Fredrich Nietzsche. He also read the Bible and became somewhat closer to God. 

Many times he was interrogated by the two detectives: James and O'Neil but Carl wouldn't give up his mates, the rogue: Watchdogs. His cellmate Carlos Rodriguez was wanted for murder in almost five different states. He was no visitor to the life behind bars, in fact he was a master "escapist". He had tattoos all around his body and face, on his back was Mary Mother of Jesus with the initials MS-13 beneath the beautiful portrait across his back.

He had been imprisoned more than five times and each time he escaped he was always caught. He would always joke around with Carl bragging despicably how he would escape the correctional facility and leave him to rot. But Carl was cool minded and did not have the slightest clue of how or when he would get out of prison. To Carl it semed Carlos was idiotically singing ballads of distance fairy tails.

Time and space seemed not to move in confinement, the routine was mundane and unpleasant. Carl was in charge of the infirmary and his job was to tend to patients with minor injuries like stab wounds or the occasional common flu. He was dedicated to his small 'job'. Everything went normal aside from one particular day...

The normal female nurse was substituted by a male European nurse. His skin was wrinkly and somewhat dead. His stained teeth were dull as the gray sky. He wore a white lab coat and a pair of old foggy glasses. He seemed jittery and itching his skin until it turned red. He went up to Carl and said...

"The Watchdogs have not forgotten you" he whispered into his right ear and gave him a note.

0000hrs be ready

Was this a sick joke his inmates were playing?

Was it divine providence?

Or did the Legion of Watchdogs finally catch his eye?

To rescue him from the abyss?

He rolled the note tightly into a barrel and hid it inside his white socks. He was a man hardened and in those few months it was finally time to leave. He was no longer the scrawny emaciated kid from Massachusetts. He was a felony, a criminal, a black hat and his fellow "amigos" were on the quest for Nirvana. 

Carl did not catch a wink of rest. He was preparing for the unknown with no clue how the execution of his grandeur escape will happen. He waited patiently, his golden watch that he had kept from winning a game of chess with one of the inmates became useful. His cellmate devoid of events that were about to unfold was soundly put to sleep.

As the the strike of midnight, his prison door opened gently creaking softly. The hackers got into the mainframe prisons' computers. He felt a rush of adrenaline that made him revel the idea of being home free. Not now, not yet. He reminisced of the huge yellow glowing sun and the ideas of freedom.

All of the security cameras shown a red "no service" error. Whoever was doing this was smart, almost intellectually compatible with him. He stepped out of his jail cell not believing his senses. He rushed to the main door again and it creaked open. Apparently, the warden off duty and the rest of the staff were doing rounds in a different cell block, due to a riot.

The ghost was clear...

Another police officer appeared out of nowhere in a blind corner. His heart skipped a beat. The lady held a finger over her mouth and whispered I am here to help. She quickly cuffed his hands around his back and took him to the janitors office passing the control room where the other guards would watch the cameras intensely. If only they knew what they were looking for was right under their noses.

Inside the Janitor's room. She uncuffed him and gave him a fresh pair of police uniform. While in disguise he blended in perfectly with the night shift guards with his cool demeanor. Finally, the tall black hellish gates were opened, his accomplice posing as a the night shift attendant together with her fellow guard had succeeded.

Carl let out a sigh of relief...

He was free again. He took a deep breathe and wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. They entered into a black sedan and sped off without hesitation. Carl was more than an ordinary hacker, he was a fugitive now...His penance was his motivation to rid the world of corporate greed by any means necessary...