Videodrome: Days of O'Blivion Read Free Page B

robust
countermeasures against it.”
    Barry didn’t say
anything but his face was screwed like he’d bit into a lemon.
    Brian asked, “What are
you proposing?”
    “We would like to offer
you, Barry, and your company Spectacular Optical, a humanitarian
contract worth twenty two million dollars American. This money is
from a United Nations grant towards developing affordable
eye-glasses for the Third World. From that you can take at least a
sixty percent profit margin.”
    Barry rubbed his eyes
between thumb and finger. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that?”
    Miss Bricks repeated
herself. “We’d like to give you twenty two million dollars this
year, there will be more in the future, but for this financial year
we can give you twenty two and at least half is for you personally.
The other half is for your company to develop cheap glasses.”
    “Uh-huh. Twenty two
million. Do I have to share that with Brian?”
    “Mister Spectrometer,
we would like to offer you and your company a thirty million
dollar, one year contract to upgrade a missile defence system
currently in production with Raytheon.”
    “I don’t know anything
about missiles,” Brian said.
    Steven Watercolour
spoke again. “You don’t have to know anything. It’s just cover.
What we want is that you to continuing developing Veraceo, for
Consec.”
    “Wait,” Barry said.
“Are you being serious now? Are you telling me that you want to
give us over fifty million dollars to make cheap glasses and a
missile defence system?”
    “And Veraceo,” Cue Ball
said. “We want you to develop Veraceo.”
    The room went silent
again. Barry and Brian looked to one another. Barry’s eyes drifted
to the surveillance camera above the door. “I would like to discuss
this alone with my colleague. Away from surveillance, please.”
    Cue Ball opened the
door and gestured the way. “No problem, Barry. Let me take you
outside.”
     
    ----- X -----
     
    They walked the grounds
of the Consec building on the opposite side to the helicopter pad.
There was a gravel pathway leading to what Cue Ball affectionately
called The Rose Garden. Sunken into the grounds, it was more gravel
than roses, with fine stone pathways that led down to the lake.
    “Are we safe to talk?”
Brian mumbled. “Are we under surveillance?”
    “Maybe,” Barry
responded. “Treat this conversation as though we are… But I don’t
think it matters. If they’re serious, if they deliver the money up
front and can prove a future revenue stream then it’s everything we
could want.”
    Brian put his hands on
his hips to look out across the water. The sky was grey and the
water of the lake was the colour of lead. “It’s the lack of choice
that concerns me. I think we’re about to become owned by a faceless
corporation.”
    Barry nodded. “For
fifty million dollars, I think we can stomach that.”
    “I don’t like it. I
don’t like what they’ve said about passing laws to prevent the sale
of Veraceo. They’re looking for a total lockdown of the
technology.”
    Barry strolled to stand
beside his friend and look out over the lifeless lake. “We were
short-sighted in thinking of Veraceo solely for advertising. We
never thought about it being used to sell a political concept. We
never thought about it in the hands of a political party, or an
entity wishing to reshape the population. Politics is power and
Veraceo is the king-maker.”
    “Then it’s worth more
than fifty million in contracts,” Brian said. “We could charge the
moon for this.”
    Barry folded his arms
and stared down at the floor as he considered his next thought.
“The fear is they’ll just take it. If we disagree and turn them
down. If you don’t sell them your expertise, they’ll either steal
it, or just figure it out for themselves. But you’re right, it’s
worth more than fifty million in contracts.”
    “They can’t copy it.
Not yet. This isn’t an easy technology to replicate. Even if they
were to take my