Awakening

She sits on the edge of the hotel bed, her eyes glazed over as the data stream fuels her anger. Suspended in the air before her is cacophony of information and statistics, gaudy with colors and motion. Neural implants attenuated to her every thought show market prices, accurate to the second as they flow from every corner of the world. The prices are plunging at a rate that can only be engineered by human or AI interference, alarm algorithms come online. Protector AI at each of the market hubs begins to react, stemming the downward dive with controled buys and disallowing sells. The superNet reacts, closing the data stream to news agency bots, bloggers, spiders of every ilk and traders to reduce the mob mentality that is already forming.

Angered to the boiling point, she begins to piece it all together. She has been used.

Her right hand waves in front of her eyes, wiping the information from the air before her. She closes here eyes, breathes in a single deep breath and forcibly lowers her heart rate. Releasing the breath slowly she looks around the room.

Never touched the credenza, the infotainment system or the bathroom. The tile floor has been swept and sprayed. The bed needs to be sprayed as I leave the room. Might be safer just to burn it…

Completing her mental checklist she stands for the first time tonight. Walking to the door she tosses a metallic orb onto the bed. The ride down the lift is slow and there are too many stops as people get on and off at their floors. Even at 3AM the lobby is washed in daylight from the SecondSun that floats above the marbled floor.

Honestly, who thought those things would take off? she thinks as she walks out of the lobby.

Making her way past the all night Pho restaurants and blaring karaoke bars with the rest of humanity on the sidewalks of Singapore, a shadow explodes past her as the bomblet incinerates the hotel room. For the briefest moment the night sky is ablaze and then just a quickly the glow of neon returns.

As the crowds turn and stare at the falling glass and metal she pushes on, moving deeper into the night.