Permadream

By Wesley Maloney

The air is crisp, and the sun graces my forehead as I open the door to begin my walk. I’ve started walking more

recently. I find that after my eyes glaze over from staring at my screen, writing endless lines of code for so long, being in nature is the perfect reboot. I don’t listen to music when I walk either. It almost feels as though music is only something to be associated with work at this point. Not that I don’t love my job. I think I’m quite good at it. Besides, as I stroll through this lush green park by my apartment, I enjoy zoning in on the laughter of children playing and the rustling of the leaves as the wind gently sways them. I remember being here when I was younger. My dad used to take me to the park on hot summer days and throw me in the fountain to cool off. Maybe I should throw a coin in there. I mean, it's good luck, right?

As I near the top of the hill, I can see the arm of the Virgin Mary reaching high into the air. So, I didn’t forget how

to get here, huh? On top of the hill, Mary’s pool of tears reflecting my face as I peer into it, I reach into my pocket to retrieve a penny. The breeze ripples the water as it blew by, distorting my reflection. I hold the penny up, glance at it for a moment, and toss it in. But when it hits the water, the most peculiar thing occurs. The penny lies stagnant on the water, floating with ease. Must have been some counterfeit change from the store earlier, oh well. Throwing in a fake coin can’t be bad luck, can it? 

​

- - -

​

It’s cold. The must, emanating from the damp concrete walls causes me illness as I begin to cough. What is this

place? Where the fuck am I?

“I know this isn’t a great first impression”, says an unfamiliar voice at a distance I can not recognize.

“Who are you?” I reply.

“Name’s Dathen, and you’re going to be seeing a lot more of me around.”

​

- - -

​

4:10 PM. I’m sitting at my kitchen counter, across from my open laptop laid in front of me. I look around in

confusion. Where was I just now? Upon further inspection of my computer, I appear to have started doing maintenance on the firewall of a client’s website. I must have dozed off while I was working and started dreaming. But that doesn’t explain how I got home. I swear to god I need a fucking vacation.

The nightly slowly winds down as I watch some TV and drink a beer before making my way to bed. On one hand,

I’m thankful that the day is over, but on the other, I know that tomorrow will be much different. I curl up in bed and wait for my eyes to feel too heavy to hold themselves up. 

“Was our last conversation not exciting enough for you?” says a voice that once again is undefinably distant.

“What conversation?” I ask the voice.

“Um, hey asshole! It’s me! Dathen, remember?”

I begin to recall meeting Dathen just as quickly as that same musty odor creeps back into my nose.

“I remember now, and you probably know I have a lot of questions. Can you at least tell me why the fuck we have

to meet in this shithole?”

Dathen responds, “Hey listen, I know the ambiance isn’t all that, but this is the safest place I can talk with you.”

“What’s so special about me that you couldn’t just, I don’t know, shoot me an email?”

“You are one of a very rare kind,” Dathen responds.

“That does not answer my fucking question, like, at all, DATHEN.” I’m really starting to get frustrated with this guy.

“Alright fuck you. Maybe you don’t need to learn about the super dope ability you have and how you are destined

to like, save the world and stuff!”

God, this Dathen guy acts like a fucking child for someone who’s 6’3” and wears tactical gear. “Alright fine, I’m listening.” I reluctantly sigh.

“That’s what I thought. Now here’s the de—”

“Wait a minute, before you start telling me about all this crazy sci-fi shit, I have just one very simple question for

you Dathen; what is my name?” I interrupt.

“Um, it, it’s Paul? I think. Um, right?”

“No Dathen, it’s Shwimothy.” I reply.

“Um, well okay… Shwimothy… I’ve brought you here because you are one of the few people in this country with a

defective Neuralink chip.”

“And that is?...”

“Basically, Neuralink is like a computer; only it’s connected to your brain rather than the wall outlet. It was

originally created by Elon Musk to elevate mankind to a higher intellectual plane. The government forced Neuralink to cease operations, deeming the project too unsafe for the public. However, that was all just a big front to get a hold of Neuralink’s data and practices.”

Confused, I ask, “What would the government want to do with all of that information?”

“Well, let’s think about it like this: if you’re the government, your job is to organize the people in your country’s

jurisdiction, right?” 

“...Right…”

“And you now have technology in your hands that automatically communicates whatever you want directly to your

citizen’s brains. Doesn’t that make your job a hell of a lot easier?”

“I mean, yeah.”

“Essentially, the government has implanted Neuralink in every American’s skull, unbeknownst to them. Since its

implementation, the government has used Neuralink to broadcast an almost utopic world, in which people feel entirely fulfilled and rewarded doing their jobs and adhering to the law.”

“But… that doesn’t make sense. I don’t hate my job, but it’s not like doing maintenance on a website is the most

meaningful thing I could be doing with my life.”

“The fact you just said that proves my point. Everyone else? Ha, they have just as much fun sitting at their cubicles

as they would at fuckin’ Disneyland.”

“Okay, I get that now, but why does it matter that my Neuralink doesn’t work?”

“Because Shwimothy, you’re the only one who can see the world for what it really is. You asked me earlier why we

had to meet in this gross warehouse. I’ll explain. You’re actually in the real world, the world hidden by Nueralink.”

“That’s not possible. I got here by falling asleep. I thought I was just dreaming.”

“You were. I kind of kidnapped you. Sorry ‘bout that.”

“Oh, dope. That apology really means a lot considering the circumstance, Dathen.” “Dude. Quit being so snarky!

I’m doing you a favor.”

“Dude, you literally fucking kidnapped me.”

“Whatever, that’s beside the point. The point is, the only people capable of seeing the real world are you, me, and

the government. So, if you have any shred of decency in you, you’ll help me take them down.”

God damnit. “Okay, what do I need to do.”

“You’re a coder, aren’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Then here’s how you can help. I know where the government houses Neuralink’s central database, and if you can

use your cybersecurity knowledge to cause a disturbance at that facility, I can take care of the rest.”

“So you want me to hack into a government system? You know like two fucking people have done that ever,

right?”

“Dude I don’t know. If you get stuck you can just like google shit.”

“You really think you can google ‘how to hack the United States government’ and not end up on a watchlist?”

“People google freaky shit all the time. You’ll be fine.”

“How can you be so certain?”

“Why do you think I’m the only other person with a defective Neuralink chip? I worked for the government. I know

this shit. Where else do you think all this military swag came from?”

“I don’t know, callofdutyfanboy.com?”

“I’m really starting to have second thoughts about asking you to help me, man. You’re kind of a dick.”

“I’m sorry. This whole ordeal is just super disorienting.” 

Dathen sighs out. “Are you gonna help me or not?”

I sigh too. “Fine, let’s do it. But do you really think I’m good enough to pull this off?”

“Only one way to find out.”

​

- - -

​

I wake up again in bed as if nothing happened. I must have been lucid dreaming or something.

“Coffee’s ready!” Fucking Dathen is in my apartment. Great. At least I know I wasn’t just hallucinating.

“Thanks for the coffee.”

“No problem. You’re going to need the extra energy today.”

“Are we doing this shit today, man?”

“Oh, are you busy or something?”

“Um, yeah man.  I, um, have so much work to do today, and um, I have to walk my dog.”

“It’s Saturday, and you don’t have a dog.”

Shit. “Okay fine. What do we do first?”

Dathen pulls a map out from his backpack and unrolls it on my kitchen counter. I notice a spot on the map riddled

with red ink, which Dathen traces his index finger up to. “You see this spot right here? Get the localized IP address of this location.”

I pull out my laptop and start cross-referencing geocoded IP addresses that match the inked-out spot. “Okay, if

that’s about 15 miles from the California border in the Mojave Desert, all IP addresses in that area should begin with 512.”

“Government IP addresses are three digits longer than standard ones. If you can find the odd one out, that’s our

target.”

I continue perusing the geocoded IP database but can’t seem to find anything until… bingo. 512.14.678.8465. “I

think I found it.”

“Perfect. Now, just do your thing.”

The silence that follows Dathen's last response is painfully awkward, especially because it is clear to me that this

guy knows absolutely nothing about hacking. There’s not too much you can do with just an IP address. However, you can use a VPN to exploit another person’s IP. That means if I want to cause a disturbance, maybe I don’t actually have to hack at all. Using this facility's IP, I can just pull a good old-fashioned prank on America’s good buddy Russia. Jackpot.

“Here’s the plan: in twelve hours, I am going to use this address to troll the Kremlin, and once the people in that

facility notice that someone is using their information to do so, they’ll be all kinds of panicked. That’s where you come in. Twelve hours should be plenty of time to get there. Sound good?”

“Roger.”

“We can talk like people, you know.”

“Whatever man. Let’s just take care of business.”

- - -

It is now 10 PM PST, about two hours out from the execution of Dathen and my’s plan. In preparation, I create a

Twitter account using the Neuralink facility’s IP and start drafting some not-so-kind memes of Russian President Vladimir Putin, just to get the ball rolling. I figured if I was potentially going to end the world by causing nuclear warfare, I might as well have some fun in the process. As I am getting everything ready, I decide to call Dathen to check his ETA on our target.

The phone rings for a full minute before abruptly stopping. I lean over to check my screen. Call Failed. I call again.

Same deal. The phone rings until the call fails. Did this guy actually forget to charge his phone? His only form of communication with the sole person on his side? Before embarking on a possible suicide mission? I am not going to just let this slide, so I call again. The phone rings until Dathen’s super dumb voicemail greeting says “Hi! You’ve reached Dathen the badass. I’m currently doing top-secret shit, so leave a message and I’ll get back to you when I can. Toodles!” This man deeply confuses me. But even though I had to listen to that whole mess, at least I know the call went through.

11 PM PST. I am starting to get very nervous about where Dathen is and whether I should even follow through with

this. Did he get intercepted by the feds trying to get to their facility? Do they know what’s going on? Am I next? My mind is racing. I start sweating profusely and pacing around my apartment out of anxiety. Finally, my phone rings. It’s Dathen.

I pressed the green call button and placed the glass against my ear.“Hey, what the fuck man? I called you like five

times!”

“Sorry, I was hungry.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“I stopped at In-N-Out.”

“You couldn’t answer my calls because you were eating  In-N-Out?”

“I mean yeah, but there wasn’t any service either.”

“Well, it’s good to know you’re well-fed now,” I respond sarcastically.

“Hey, stop all that complaining, I got this shit under control. I’m a minute or two out from the target. Stay on the

line, and wait for the signal.”

“Wait what’s the signal? We never came up with one.”

“Ca-caw!”

“Ca-caw?”

“Ca-caw!”

“Why is that signal?”

“Why else would I just randomly screen ‘ca-caw’ on a phone call?”

“I don’t know dude. You’re pretty fucking weird. I honestly would be surprised.”

“Shut up man. I’m here, surveying the perimeter. Seems to be clear.”

“Alright, well it’s about 10 minutes until go time. You ready?

“Ready.”

“The memes are ready to go. Waiting on you.”

“Ca-caw!”

Showtime.

My hands are shaking a little bit as I hover over my mouse to tweet the memes. I can’t let my nerves get the best

of me though. Here goes nothing. I press the button. An image of Putin dressed in a schoolgirl’s outfit playing on a swing set is now posted from what appears to be a government account for anyone to see. I am not ready for the flood of comments and traffic that is flashing on my computer screen. Even though the circumstance is grim, I can’t help but chuckle at some of the comments. User99445 posts, “bro, the draft is coming back tomorrow smh.” I figure if the tweet was getting this kind of attention this quickly, the feds in the facility had to know about it by now. I pick up the phone to check out the situation on Dathen’s end.

“What’s going on over there?”

“The alarm’s going crazy, but I definitely didn’t set it off. Whatever you did must have done the trick.”

“What do you have to do now?”

“Now that they’re distracted, I can get to the central Neuralink computer. From there, I can shut off the power to

the system, shutting it down entirely.”

“Do you know where it is?”

“I’m almost there. This is way easier than I thought it was going to be.”

“Damn, really?’

“Yeah, for a country that spends so much on their military, this place is guarded by fucking mall cops.”

“It’s good to know where my tax dollars are going I guess.”

“I’m in. We’re almost there brotha! You and I are about to save the world!”

That is the last thing Dathen says before it all goes black. I wake up in my bed once again, just the same as

yesterday. Something is different though. There isn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun is brightly shining. I grab my things and go for a walk, back to the fountain where I spent so much of my childhood. I make it to the fountain and grab a penny from my pocket. If throwing a coin in was how Dathen connected me to the real world in the first place, it has to be the only way to check that our plan was a success. 

The coin glistens in the sun as it twirls and dances in the air, descending towards the water. As the penny hit the

water, my reflection ripples, but I am delighted to see that this time, the penny sinks.