Imprint Pt. I

It all started as a way to connect - Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest - and then, Imprint. I can’t even remember the year; it just feels like it was always there. That’s how they want you to remember it anyway. The government wasted so much time. Their endless debates, chronic gaslighting and constant bickering never ceased. In the end, it all added up to inaction and fear, when they should have been figuring this out. But now, the aliens had control. No one pays attention to the government, the experts or the actual news anyway. They were all too busy following trash on social media, and making mindless videos.

Imprint played on the desire for oneness with the universe. A kind of pseudo-religion of the future through social media to bring all people together. At first, it was simple enough. They barraged social media with promises of utopia, then the training labs began popping up. First a couple in each city, but then the hype machine started, and trash media picked up on the craze. By then, it was too late. Once your entire family is selling you on the wonders of computerized zen, it becomes pretty hard to walk down a street and not feel compelled to at least check a lab out.

It took a while, but the first thing I noticed was a hat with that harmless symbol, a metallic peace sign. Then everyone proudly displayed their dedication through t-shirts, until the more elegant and expensive gifts began pulling in the rich and influential. That’s when things really took off. There were earrings, necklaces, bracelets, and rings to lock in the women; cufflinks, watches, ties, hats, sneakers or belts controlled the men. For me personally, it was a heart-shaped locket, engraved with the sign and an imprint inside, "with love, from Auntie Mel".

“Something beautiful to connect us from afar,” her note read lovingly.

You’d think you could just take it off, flush it down the drain, bury it in the trash or at the very least, just not put it on. But that was the whole point. The technology was so ahead of our own, once you saw it, you had to put it on. Go ahead, wash it down the sink. Tomorrow when you open your eyes, you’ll see it, just where you left it, on your bedside table. Burn it in a fire. It will pop up somewhere. It was mentally attached, not just physically worn. That was how it worked. The technology had trapped at least 70% of the population under a mindless zen-like control. The rest of us, just played along to keep the peace. We were too scared to do much else.

A few years ago, a rogue group of Anti-Imprinters tried storming a suspected alien control tower, and were never seen again. The government said they had data proving they had been taken up into space, tortured and dismembered. There was even a 20-second video from a ship that one of the undercover moles had covertly filmed. So, most people just played along. But that doesn’t mean we've given up. I’m on my way to a Breakers meeting right now.

“Codename and number?,” a soft-spoken guy unable to make eye contact with me asked sheepishly as I walked through the glowing lights.

“SoloSaver, 47398029317,” I spit out hurriedly.

He nodded his approval. It always amazes me how these guys keep all the names and numbers straight in their heads - no notepad, no computer - they just memorize them. Old school brain power. Then it can’t be traced.

“How’d you come up with that one,” a frail-looking girl with brown hair leaning next to the door asked.

She couldn’t have been more than 18, and was puffing on a vape pipe. No one over 20 smokes those damn things anymore.

I thought my codename was a clever play on words, referencing both the 1977 Star Wars hero, and our universal desire for individuality, but the longer I had it, the more Breakers I met who had never even seen those old movies in 2074. Not even a hundred years, I thought, and the youth has already dismissed the classics. Having to explain the movie reference every time someone asked was getting old fast. Most of the time, I just offered an abridged version. Of course, had they seen the movies about a powerful force and the dark side, we might have avoided this whole mind control thing in the first place...but probably not.

“Just the power of positive thinking,” I replied.

“Cool,” she chirped, “reminds me of that old movie. Star Wars, I think it was. That hero’s name was Solo too.”

She casually put her pipe in a jacket pocket and zipped it up.

“Ever see that one? It’s ancient, but I like movies without all the ridiculous CGI editing. They’ve really gone overboard with that shit.”

Her comments were enough to stop me in my tracks. Finally, someone who was paying attention to the details. An uncomfortably long silence ensued while I took in her unusual knowledge. Then, realizing I was slack-jawed and staring blankly at her, she continued.

“NeoAgentK,” she said, assuming I’d ask her name eventually, “K is fine. We’d better get in there before we’re late.”

Still a bit stunned, I walked slowly behind her. Entering the cold metal room,I finally felt free for a minute.

“Neo, is the hero of The Matrix, but who is Agent K?” I asked myself.

As I whispered under my breath, I stumbled across the threshold while still trying to piece her name together in my head. We found two empty computers next to one another as the Breaker meeting got started.

“Ok, everyone, let’s get things moving. Does anyone have any incidents, successes, concerns?”

A gangly guy around 25 leading the meeting looked around the room searching for a hand.

“Come on, don’t be shy, you’re in a protected room.”

After a brief pause, a younger guy in the front raised his hand and the leader called on him.

“I managed to get two blocks from my house on Wednesday, without my watch, but then I got scared and made a U-turn. They knocked on the door, but when I looked through the peephole, there was no one there. I think they were just trying to intimidate me,” he said.

“Good JT, that’s good,’ the leader said in a reassuring voice. “That’s...progress. Anyone else?”

“Let’s just work,” grumbled a guy from the second row.

“Ok, let’s get to work then,” said the leader.

Everyone logged on, punched up the Imprint site and the backchannel. We were so close, but had one hurdle left - to disengage their platform. Of course, we would still need a response to ensure they wouldn’t stick around, but at least we had found a weakness. Hopefully, we could count on the government to work the rest out when the time came.

When they began brainwashing the world, they had used our own platforms against us. The fact that they connected everything through our platforms also meant that somehow, we should be able to reclaim them, break the connection, and boot them out. Permanently. At least that’s what we were hoping, but we needed to figure out how the two were intertwined clearly enough to keep them from reactivating all the connections some other way.

“Seems like a lost cause, sometimes, doesn’t it” K said wistfully.

“I try not to think about it,” I replied. “There are Breakers working together all over the world to figure this out, and I’m going to stay positive.”

“Aren’t you a zen master,” she joked. “Positive codename, positive outlook, you really are a confident one aren’t you?”

“Wait, wait, what is this” I asked nervously. “This wasn’t in there before, was it?”

“What wasn’t there?” she asked.

“That.” I said impatiently. “If that is hooked in can’t we clip it with a NAP cutter?”

“Non-Aerial Projector?” she wondered out loud.

Not waiting for her reply, I exclaimed loudly, “Hey, everyone, what do you think about this?” and linked my screen to the display at the front of the room.

I gave them a few minutes to assess what they were looking at and said, “NAP cutter?”

It was a question that came out more like a statement of fact. Holding my breath, I waited for someone to debunk my theory.

Silence.

“I’ll contact General Matthews,” the head of the meeting exclaimed, “This could be a way in, but we need to know that their plans will back us up before we can do anything.”

He ran out of the room and an anxious chatter filled the background. It seemed like an eternity before the leader returned, “They’re ready, and they think we’ve found a weakness. They’re sending over some helpers to set up a command center and coordinate the whole thing. Amazing!”, he exclaimed.

“I can’t believe it! You did it! You found a way in!” K yelled gleefully at me.

“Power of positive thinking,” I said matter-of-factly. “What do you think their part of the plan is?” I asked.

“No idea, but as long as it works, who cares," she declared.

Despite the euphoria in the room, I was feeling distracted and a bit scattered. As we waited nervously, it occurred to me that I never did totally figure out her codename.

“Hey K,” I said, “I got your reference to Neo from The Matrix, but who is Agent K?”

A clever smile gradually appeared on her face. “Agent K? Men In Black? It’s from the 1990s I think.”

“I don’t know that I’ve seen that one.” I replied, shocked that she seemed more up to date on the classics than me.

“Oh it's great,” she said, “I’ll show you a clip.”

She pulled out her phone and began searching the web for the old movie clip.

“Here’s one.” She hit play and nothing happened. After about 10 seconds, she sighed annoyingly, “Ugh...this wall lining screws up everything. Come outside with me, and I can grab a quick vape while you watch it.”

Reluctantly, I snuck out a side door with her into the alley around the corner. “Here we go,” she said, handing me the phone.

No sooner had I started the video than I became completely distracted by what appeared to be an endless parade of men in dark coats scrambling towards the entrance of our building.

“What is all that?” I wondered aloud as I pointed towards the end of the alley.

Before she could answer, loud gunfire pierced the air. You could hear the bullets ping off the metal plating that encased the room. We both crowded the door to the alley that we had left slightly ajar moments before, and peered in.

Shocked by screams and mayhem, we both watched dumbfounded as the men quickly disposed of everyone in the room.

Closing the door, I frantically turned grabbed K's arm and frightfully whispered, “Let’s go!”

“Wait, what about everyone inside?” she implored.

“Unless you want to be one of them, move your ass.” I said impatiently.

We ran in the opposite direction of the entrance, crossed the street and slipped into a 24-hour diner.

“Guess they did have a plan.” I said angrily.

Tired, wet and confused, she replied,

“Wait, I don’t understand, didn’t they want us to figure this out for them?”

“I guess they wanted to know if we could figure it out, but clearly they have other plans.”

“But that doesn’t make any….unless,”

“Unless what?”

“Unless, they are working with the aliens who created Imprint."

“Working with, or pretending to be?” I asked.

The waitress sauntered over to the table, “What’ll it be?” she asked.

“Coffee,” K said.

“Yes, lots and lots of coffee,” I added.

Wondering what happens next? Once each short chapter has at least 10 views, I'll write and publish the next so if you enjoyed this story, please keep on reading or check out some of my other stories. Thank you for your support.

Read Imprint: Chapter 2 , now