An internet cafe that isn't quite what it seems.
Posted: Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:54 am
Lewis Ford was an unremarkable man of retinue. Every day at his lunch break he would spend thirty minutes at his local internet cafe "The Hot Spot" and then after work he would spend another 2 hours surfing the web before going home. Five days a week this was the bigger part of Lewis Fords life. Co-workers that substituted as friends, A social life that was mostly online, and a satisfying retinue. You might think he was a boring man but he would never be bothered by that summation. Uneventful was good to Lewis because it meant you weren't doing anything wrong.
In his day he considered "The Hot Spot" to be his high point of the day. Not only did he get to connect with the world at large but the owner operator Samantha, was easy on the eyes and shared many of his online interests. The small talk they would share was always pleasant but despite his best efforts he could not bring himself to take the conversation to the next level by asking her out on a date. All the same day after he would return hoping that today would be the day even though it never was.
On one such unremarkable day during his usual internet lunch break Lewis noticed a couple of men in suits talking to Samantha. They did not seem interested in buying some computer time. He could see her turning red in the face as she spoke with the gentlemen. Finally she asked them to leave in a voice loud enough for everyone in the Cafe to hear. People looked up from their screens to stare at the commotion. The gentlemen gave her a card and left. The patrons returned to their screens except for Lewis who, In an unusual display of curiosity, got up from his station to investigate.
"Hey Sam, what was that about"?
"Oh nothing, just a couple goons from Hastings trying to get me to sell out."
"Sell out?"
"Yeah, apparently Hastings is going into the internet business and they want to buy out the competition in town before they open up."
"Your not gonna sell to them are you? I'd hate to lose this place."
"You don't have to worry about that Lewis. As long as I live I'm not gonna shut down the Hot Spot"
That last comment sounded kinda odd to Lewis. But he did not question it further.
"Thats good to know. Well, its about that time I gotta get back to work. I'll see you this evening"?
"You bet cha Lou."
And with that Lewis went back to his job loading wood at the lumber yard.
At about two o'clock his boss called him into the office. There he noticed the two gentleman from the cafe earlier.
"Can we have the room for a minute? We need to talk with Mr. Ford in private." They asked his boss.
"No problem, just let me know when your done with him so he can go back to work."
His boss left the office closing the door behind them.
"Mr. Ford , I'm agent Cunningham and this is my partner agent White" producing his badge as he spoke "we need to ask you a few questions about The Hot Spot"
A lump grew in Lewis's stomach. This was not about a corporate buy out.
"Okay what is this about?"
"We'll ask the questions Mr. Ford we just need a few answers. Have you noticed any suspicious activity at The Hot Spot. Anyone of middle eastern decent spending extra time there?"
"No, nothing out of the ordinary."
"Have you noticed any movement of large equipment, military supplies, or weapons?"
"What? No! Nothing like that. I just go their to eat and use the internet. I've never seen anything out of the ordinary there."
The partners looked at each other and then focused their attention back onto Lewis.
"We believe Samantha Kidwell is involved with a domestic terrorist organization and we would like your help proving that."
"MY HELP?! What do you need my help for? You guys are the government, don't you have wire taps and super computers for this kind of thing?"
Agent White spoke up, "Be that as it may, Samantha Kidwell has been very cautious and we are having a very tough time nailing down exactly which organization she is working for and what they are planning on doing."
Lewis protested "But whats does that have to do with me? Don't you have secret agents for this kind of thing? You guys don't need my help."
"We need you because your a regular Lewis. Your there every day like clock work and you don't do anything that sticks out." Agent White put his hand on lous shoulder, "Look, we wouldn't ask anything of you if we had any other way but we don't and we have some very serious national security concerns that we need to take care of. If can not find out what her plans are many innocent people may die in an act of terrorism. We don't need you to do much. Can we count on you?"
What could Lewis say? He didn't want innocent people to die.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Where just want you to wear an discrete wire and ask her a few questions."
The three of them went over the questions and what would be expected of Lewis. They concluded their business and Lewis went back to work with a knot in his stomach for the rest of the day.
That evening he went to the Hot Spot as normal.
"He-hey Sam, how are you?"
"Oh hey ya Lewis, I'm doing great,how are you doing?"
"Not to good actually, they're some people at work harassing me and I don't know what I'm gonna do about it. I tried telling my boss but he told me I'd have to work it out myself"
"Really? That sucks Lewis. What are you gonna do?"
"I'm not sure. I was thinking about getting some pepper spray or something to protect myself just in case"
"That sounds serious Lewis, why don't you goto the police if it's that serious?"
"Oh you know the police they're just like my boss they're not gonna do anything. What do you think I should do?"
Samantha looked around her place a moment and back to Lewis.
"Hold on, David" She called out to one of her employees, "Could you watch the front for a minute I need to speak with Mr. Ford in private."
Lewis groaned mentally. Again private discussions with Mr. Ford.
"Come on Lewis, follow me."
He followed her to a back door he had never questioned. She unlocked the door and they went into a small room with cleaning supplies and another door with a number pad beside it... She locked the door behind her and went to the next door.
"Lewis, do you have a cell phone on you?"
"No"
"Alright follow me."
She entered a number code into the key pad and the door clicked open to a narrow stair way. They went down and as Lewis walked off the last step his belt buckle popped. His blood turned to ice.
"What was that?"
"That was an electronic eavesdropping counter measure. Thats why I asked if you had a cell phone. The bug you were supplied with will no longer work."
"Bug? Wha-what are talking about?"
She turned around and looked him in the eye. "You know what I am talking about Lewis. I'm sorry you got involve in this but before we can continue I want to show you a few things so you can make up your own mind. Follow me."
They entered a room full of strange electronic gadgets he could not identify. Benches of technology that made no sense. Some things hummed and some things glowed and Lewis had no idea what to make of it.
"What is this place?" Lewis asked.
"This is where I tinker. I have a variety of inventions here I work on after I close. I belong to a group that...invents. We invent all sorts of things. Quietly. On occasion we share our work with the world but for the most part we keep what we do to ourselves. Sometimes this or that government agency will get wind of one of us and try to recruit us or steal our work. Those agents wanted to use you to find an excuse to break in here and see what I am up too. Recently all phone surveillance for this county went down because of one of my experiments. When the wiretaps came back online one system was missing, mine. Those guys up stairs want to know why."
"Why don't you just tell them?"
"Because its none of their damn business. The last time one of our worked openly with the government the world got nuclear weapons and the HAARP array."
"What?"
Samantha could see she was losing him.
"Nothing, never mind. I just need you to understand that some of things I work with the world does not need yet."
"Then why do you invent?"
"Because I can. Some of the things we work on the world could change the world for the better. But I don't want anything of mine to be used to hurt people and any government that gets a hold of my work would probably use it in the worst possible ways. Do you understand?"
"I think so."
"Good. Because I need you to go tell those NSA goons that you saw nothing interesting here and that your no longer interested in helping them."
"So your not gonna kill me or erase my mind or anything like that?" Lewis asked.
"Of course not, I don't believe in violence. Why do you think I don't want them to have my work?"
"But how can you trust me?"
Samantha gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Because I trust you. Now lets go back up stairs."
He followed Samantha in a confused heart swollen daze. His mind blown. By the days events, by that room of mystery, by that simple kiss. He could not make sense of it all but knew that a drink was definitely in order after all of this.
Back in the cleaning closet Lewis had a thought.
"I'm not allowed to tell anyone about this am I?"
"No."
"I didn't think so, I just wanted to make sure."
"How am I supposed to explain the belt buckle?"
Samantha opened a bottle a cleaning chemicals and splashed it into his crotch. Lewis jumped back.
"I accidentally spilled some degreaser on you." She smiled.
"You could of warned me!" he snapped.
"If I had I would of missed that look on your face. Ok, act natural."
"Wait, before we go outside, I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time now. Would you like to go out for a drink sometime?"
"I thought you'd never ask. No."
His heart sank as she continued.
"But I'd love it if you came by tomorrow and had lunch with me."
She opened the closet door for him and he stood there dumbstruck. This had to be one of the most fucked up days in his life. It was gonna take more than a few drinks to make sense of it all. As he left he turned back to look at this woman of wonder whom he knew nothing about. What he had thought was a simple internet cafe owner turned out to be so much more. And now he was gonna go lie to the NSA over a kiss on a cheek.
(Fuck it) he thought, (I needed a break in my routine anyways.)
In his day he considered "The Hot Spot" to be his high point of the day. Not only did he get to connect with the world at large but the owner operator Samantha, was easy on the eyes and shared many of his online interests. The small talk they would share was always pleasant but despite his best efforts he could not bring himself to take the conversation to the next level by asking her out on a date. All the same day after he would return hoping that today would be the day even though it never was.
On one such unremarkable day during his usual internet lunch break Lewis noticed a couple of men in suits talking to Samantha. They did not seem interested in buying some computer time. He could see her turning red in the face as she spoke with the gentlemen. Finally she asked them to leave in a voice loud enough for everyone in the Cafe to hear. People looked up from their screens to stare at the commotion. The gentlemen gave her a card and left. The patrons returned to their screens except for Lewis who, In an unusual display of curiosity, got up from his station to investigate.
"Hey Sam, what was that about"?
"Oh nothing, just a couple goons from Hastings trying to get me to sell out."
"Sell out?"
"Yeah, apparently Hastings is going into the internet business and they want to buy out the competition in town before they open up."
"Your not gonna sell to them are you? I'd hate to lose this place."
"You don't have to worry about that Lewis. As long as I live I'm not gonna shut down the Hot Spot"
That last comment sounded kinda odd to Lewis. But he did not question it further.
"Thats good to know. Well, its about that time I gotta get back to work. I'll see you this evening"?
"You bet cha Lou."
And with that Lewis went back to his job loading wood at the lumber yard.
At about two o'clock his boss called him into the office. There he noticed the two gentleman from the cafe earlier.
"Can we have the room for a minute? We need to talk with Mr. Ford in private." They asked his boss.
"No problem, just let me know when your done with him so he can go back to work."
His boss left the office closing the door behind them.
"Mr. Ford , I'm agent Cunningham and this is my partner agent White" producing his badge as he spoke "we need to ask you a few questions about The Hot Spot"
A lump grew in Lewis's stomach. This was not about a corporate buy out.
"Okay what is this about?"
"We'll ask the questions Mr. Ford we just need a few answers. Have you noticed any suspicious activity at The Hot Spot. Anyone of middle eastern decent spending extra time there?"
"No, nothing out of the ordinary."
"Have you noticed any movement of large equipment, military supplies, or weapons?"
"What? No! Nothing like that. I just go their to eat and use the internet. I've never seen anything out of the ordinary there."
The partners looked at each other and then focused their attention back onto Lewis.
"We believe Samantha Kidwell is involved with a domestic terrorist organization and we would like your help proving that."
"MY HELP?! What do you need my help for? You guys are the government, don't you have wire taps and super computers for this kind of thing?"
Agent White spoke up, "Be that as it may, Samantha Kidwell has been very cautious and we are having a very tough time nailing down exactly which organization she is working for and what they are planning on doing."
Lewis protested "But whats does that have to do with me? Don't you have secret agents for this kind of thing? You guys don't need my help."
"We need you because your a regular Lewis. Your there every day like clock work and you don't do anything that sticks out." Agent White put his hand on lous shoulder, "Look, we wouldn't ask anything of you if we had any other way but we don't and we have some very serious national security concerns that we need to take care of. If can not find out what her plans are many innocent people may die in an act of terrorism. We don't need you to do much. Can we count on you?"
What could Lewis say? He didn't want innocent people to die.
"What do you need me to do?"
"Where just want you to wear an discrete wire and ask her a few questions."
The three of them went over the questions and what would be expected of Lewis. They concluded their business and Lewis went back to work with a knot in his stomach for the rest of the day.
That evening he went to the Hot Spot as normal.
"He-hey Sam, how are you?"
"Oh hey ya Lewis, I'm doing great,how are you doing?"
"Not to good actually, they're some people at work harassing me and I don't know what I'm gonna do about it. I tried telling my boss but he told me I'd have to work it out myself"
"Really? That sucks Lewis. What are you gonna do?"
"I'm not sure. I was thinking about getting some pepper spray or something to protect myself just in case"
"That sounds serious Lewis, why don't you goto the police if it's that serious?"
"Oh you know the police they're just like my boss they're not gonna do anything. What do you think I should do?"
Samantha looked around her place a moment and back to Lewis.
"Hold on, David" She called out to one of her employees, "Could you watch the front for a minute I need to speak with Mr. Ford in private."
Lewis groaned mentally. Again private discussions with Mr. Ford.
"Come on Lewis, follow me."
He followed her to a back door he had never questioned. She unlocked the door and they went into a small room with cleaning supplies and another door with a number pad beside it... She locked the door behind her and went to the next door.
"Lewis, do you have a cell phone on you?"
"No"
"Alright follow me."
She entered a number code into the key pad and the door clicked open to a narrow stair way. They went down and as Lewis walked off the last step his belt buckle popped. His blood turned to ice.
"What was that?"
"That was an electronic eavesdropping counter measure. Thats why I asked if you had a cell phone. The bug you were supplied with will no longer work."
"Bug? Wha-what are talking about?"
She turned around and looked him in the eye. "You know what I am talking about Lewis. I'm sorry you got involve in this but before we can continue I want to show you a few things so you can make up your own mind. Follow me."
They entered a room full of strange electronic gadgets he could not identify. Benches of technology that made no sense. Some things hummed and some things glowed and Lewis had no idea what to make of it.
"What is this place?" Lewis asked.
"This is where I tinker. I have a variety of inventions here I work on after I close. I belong to a group that...invents. We invent all sorts of things. Quietly. On occasion we share our work with the world but for the most part we keep what we do to ourselves. Sometimes this or that government agency will get wind of one of us and try to recruit us or steal our work. Those agents wanted to use you to find an excuse to break in here and see what I am up too. Recently all phone surveillance for this county went down because of one of my experiments. When the wiretaps came back online one system was missing, mine. Those guys up stairs want to know why."
"Why don't you just tell them?"
"Because its none of their damn business. The last time one of our worked openly with the government the world got nuclear weapons and the HAARP array."
"What?"
Samantha could see she was losing him.
"Nothing, never mind. I just need you to understand that some of things I work with the world does not need yet."
"Then why do you invent?"
"Because I can. Some of the things we work on the world could change the world for the better. But I don't want anything of mine to be used to hurt people and any government that gets a hold of my work would probably use it in the worst possible ways. Do you understand?"
"I think so."
"Good. Because I need you to go tell those NSA goons that you saw nothing interesting here and that your no longer interested in helping them."
"So your not gonna kill me or erase my mind or anything like that?" Lewis asked.
"Of course not, I don't believe in violence. Why do you think I don't want them to have my work?"
"But how can you trust me?"
Samantha gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"Because I trust you. Now lets go back up stairs."
He followed Samantha in a confused heart swollen daze. His mind blown. By the days events, by that room of mystery, by that simple kiss. He could not make sense of it all but knew that a drink was definitely in order after all of this.
Back in the cleaning closet Lewis had a thought.
"I'm not allowed to tell anyone about this am I?"
"No."
"I didn't think so, I just wanted to make sure."
"How am I supposed to explain the belt buckle?"
Samantha opened a bottle a cleaning chemicals and splashed it into his crotch. Lewis jumped back.
"I accidentally spilled some degreaser on you." She smiled.
"You could of warned me!" he snapped.
"If I had I would of missed that look on your face. Ok, act natural."
"Wait, before we go outside, I've been wanting to ask you something for a long time now. Would you like to go out for a drink sometime?"
"I thought you'd never ask. No."
His heart sank as she continued.
"But I'd love it if you came by tomorrow and had lunch with me."
She opened the closet door for him and he stood there dumbstruck. This had to be one of the most fucked up days in his life. It was gonna take more than a few drinks to make sense of it all. As he left he turned back to look at this woman of wonder whom he knew nothing about. What he had thought was a simple internet cafe owner turned out to be so much more. And now he was gonna go lie to the NSA over a kiss on a cheek.
(Fuck it) he thought, (I needed a break in my routine anyways.)