Paul finished the tea in about 10 minutes. The tea, or possibly the waiting in silence, had taken some of the edge off. He was lucky as in his calm state he saw man ambling down the street carrying some overstuffed bags. He dipped into the threshold of the abandoned building he was loitering about. Not truly hiding but making himself less visible. The man was moving slow and from a distance looked distracted. He was of very average height and build and was wearing a drab green jacket. His head was capped in distinct upturned blonde hair, the only feature he could make out from a distance. He didn’t look homeless but he did have a distinct low budget appearance of unemployment. He looked down frequently and checked the bags a few times almost as if he feared he had forgotten something.
Paul felt this man was no threat and was unlikely to even see him. Feeling safe he stepped forward just a few inches and continued to watch the man. Only seconds passed before the man spotted him. The man made it very obvious as he looked straight at him for a few seconds before he tried to raise as hand to wave. The bags got I the way so he nodded his head and said something Paul couldn’t make out. He kept waking then stopped in front of the old brick building. He looked at the building, then he looked back at Paul. He gestured to the building. Paul stood there in confusion. The man gestured again moving his hand toward the building and then he seemed to point at Paul. Paul looked around as if expecting to see some stranger standing next to him who the man was gesturing to. There was no one on that side of the street but him. The man began to shuffle across the street. As he drew near Paul saw that he was younger than his slow lumbering appearance had suggested from a distance.
“Are you waiting for someone?” the man asked.
Paul was caught off guard and struggled to find an answer. The man waited staring straight at Paul.
“Well I was looking for some… thing.”
The man’s expression changed “Well there is not much around here. What kind of thing are you looking for?”
Paul didn’t know how to answer. Was he supposed to say? ‘I am following up on an anonymous letter I received from a total stranger.’ No, he would sound like a lunatic.
With a voice chocked by surprise he responded, “I’m meeting someone.”
The man contemplated this for a few seconds. “Are you by some chance answering a calling?”
Paul was beginning to grow suspicious of the mans interest in him, “I guess you could say that.”
“Are you the one who sent the letter by chance?”
Paul could see he was in the right place. Despite this he had more apprehension than ever. “Yes, are you the one who invited me here?”
The man smiled. “Not me but one of my friends. My name is Will. You came all the way to see us so don’t just stand around come in and I can show you around.”
Will shuffled across the street and into the front door of the old brick building. Paul followed. The two got on an elevator and rode it to the top. The doors opened with a chime and Will lead Paul on to the open roof top across the tar covered roof to a forgotten roof top structure. A greenhouse decades old but still in use. Will opened the glass door and slipped through, Paul followed. There were plants hanging from baskets and along the outer walls some bearing berries and a pair of small fruit trees. As well as a few rows of plants that seemed to be various forms of lettuce and herbs. The back of the greenhouse hosted a small door one had to crouch down to enter. Within was another room, darker but with a higher ceiling. As he scanned the room he was overwhelmed by the large number of computers and machinery lining the back wall and piled into metal cabinets. In the center of it all was a round table lined by a random assortment of chairs. 8 of them but no two looked the same in the dim light. On the table were several books and a small tray that looked to be filled with dice.
The group was a collection of 8 people who according to a brief explanation by one worked in concert to avoid AI devices and online presence. They had no leader all had some say in what they do and how they operate with the expert of the topic at hand taking a lead on the current issue. They were very guarded against outside infiltrates so most never speak to him and he only caught a few who will make eye contact with him.
To Paul’s eyes they seem to be luddites at first glance. Despite this he learned some were very technically skilled individuals, at least one was very well connected to the tech industry. She had contacts at two major companies that frequently leaked detailed information on campaigns and sales stats.
According to Will, who kept spewing names and factoids, there was not much that surprises any of them. And they had plans, big plans he quickly gathered from the chatter and constant work they are doing. Their language was very vague and filled with in-group references. He couldn’t really follow what they are saying and it was clear they wanted it that way. They had something close to a code that all 8 understand but an interloper would hear as a lunatics babel.
While he did not fully understand the group or their plans, he did like some of the things they talk about. Freedom from the drudgery of daily life. No one to give orders. Even their apparent money free lifestyle. They reveal that the group they associate with is much larger than the 8 in the room. They don’t offer many details but they do speak of shipping out and receiving trade packages. Did that mean there were other communities like this in every city?
Seven of the people among the eight had made a vow to not leave the roof (they did not clarify on how long ago the made this vow how long it lasts for or who the vow was made to but given their close knit nature he suspects it was made more to each other in dedication to their cause than to a god or ancestor spirit) They ask if he will become one of their agents and bring them things they need. ‘Agent’ he ponders the word, thinking of the AI agents he was always pushed to use at work… the programs that never quite did what he ask of them. Only to be lectured on how the agent worked just fine he wasn’t setting the correct parameter for it to operate under.
The man smiled and looked at him with bright eyes “What do you think of our humble home?”
“It’s unique, what my dad would have called cool.”
The man smirked “Nothing is cool anymore. It’s just weird enough no one has tried it yet. Which makes it novel and some people like novelty. The rest is slop for the piggies. And the piggies will always eat what’s lying in front of them. You could say that is why we are all here. To get above it all, literally and figuratively.”
“I don’t think I am an agent… or would ever want to be for that matter.” Fearing they are trying to use him as a drug mule or as an errand boy to buy them food and do God knows what else he is suspicious and quickly responds he will not spend his own money on them. One of them laughs, they are slow to respond but one says “We don’t really use money, we prefer not to buy things but to use what others have cast aside or to trade our unneeded goods or service for goods we need. From computers to appliances to food.”
“Then how do you get what you need to live? Like Food Water and utilities? What do you do for entertainment? It must get boring up here.”
“We have solar panels for power we can grow a portion of our own food in the greenhouse you saw. As for the rest… That’s the thing we don’t need much more. If we need entertainment, we can entertain each other with talk and games. We even run a small pirate radio station to share our favorite music and ideas across the city. A shirt can last us 7 years and we only need a few each, even old ones that have gone out of style can still be worn. A computer can last us for 10 years a crack on the screen or dead lap top batter doesn’t matter if we don’t carry it with us all day and an appliance like an air fryer can last for us for years and be picked up off the side of the street once the novelty wears off for the first owner.”
“An air fryer?” he mused.
“Yes, do you know of any? If you could get one or two, we could make it worth your time.”
His phone started chirping his AI assistant was warning him that his internet bill was nearing its due date and was unpaid. He had opted to pay all his bills manually and not sign up for the automatic deductions from his account. He liked the small sense of control that it granted him.
One of the 8, a short man with very short hair stepped forward. “I see you have one of the new X560 phones with the always on AI assistant.”
“Ahh, yeah. Honestly I hate the AI its useless in daily life but always to interrupt me.”
“I may be able to remedy that.” He reached his hand out “May I?”
He handed over his phone. The man gently took it and silently walked away to one of the computers lining the back wall of the room. Paul noticed the man wore no shoes or socks, perhaps that was how he moved in such silence. The bare foot man sat at a computer and plugged the phone into what looked like a charging cable. A window popped up and he began typing then clicked away a few boxes. He scrolled for a moment and opened a new window taking a few more actions that were hard to decipher. Then he unplugged the phone, stood and silently walked back to Paul.
“I deleted the AI and de activated some tracking and monitoring back doors. That phone will cause you no problems and you have about 28 GB of additional storage. He started to move away then paused. “Just to be safe don’t take it back to the store or send it the manufacturer, they will have questions.”
“What if I have problems like a bad battery how do I fix it?”
“Just bring it back here any of us can replace a battery.” The man gave a sort of half smile, knotted his head and stepped away.
“Thanks…”
Paul was somewhat afraid he had stumbled into a colony of criminals. He looked around. No they were organized, but not like a gang would be. Surely a gang would have a distinct leader and such a group would have searched his person or questioned him thoroughly before allowing him into their secret base. He was impressed by their living standards. He was in no rush to move in with them but he was already beginning to take mental notes and already considering how he could adapt some of their actions and ideas into his own life. As Paul examined his phone the hour caught his eye. Time had flown by so fast three hours had elapsed in one. The sun had set and Paul remembered the bus schedule he proclaimed he needed to catch a bus home before it got too late. He walked around shaking hands and promised to meet again. He then dashed off down the street into the night.
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