Chapter Three
The subway ride passed without incident, and Tonya arrived at the venue fifteen minutes early.
As she entered, she eyed her picture next to Henkelman’s, decorated with bedazzled graphics in the shape of twelve-pointed stars.
It was then she realized there would be no turning back.
When she eventually encountered Jim, he was furious, with at least three attendants and his private secretary attempting to console him. She did not let it affect her composure and walked up to his sputtering, beet red form, before calmly offering a word of greeting.
“I'm here, with my portion of the speech. The Ceremony begins in less than fifteen minutes. May I suggest you take a moment to compose yourself, otherwise you will be giving millions of people the impression that DT’s Chief Executive Officer has a temper which gets the better of him.
“You!” Jim yelled in consternation. “I think you have something to tell me, don't you, Doctor Meredith?”
“Save your passion for the speech, Jim. I don't need to excuse myself for arriving on time for my presentation.”
Jim blinked, as Dr. Meredith walked away from him, making her way to her seat reserved at the front of the amphitheater. For a moment he wondered whether or not his judgment had been sound.
His PA had reported a leaked copy of Dr. Meredith’s report, on the main DT webpage. An identical copy to the one which had been sitting on his desk for the last three months.
The one he hadn't gotten around to looking just yet.
The way that she had blown him off, and simply referred to his tardiness had disarmed him. He expected some form of shame, or guilt at least for disobeying the will of Jim Henkelman, but he did not experience any of the usual fear and trembling that so typically accompanied disobedient underlings.
For the first time in recent memory, Jim Henkelman was speechless.
Tonya let out a sigh in an attempt to relieve her anxiety.
She had contemplated the potentiality that Henkelman would have been informed of the leak as early as this morning and it was also clear that he suspected her part in it. Tonya entertained the most morbid of thoughts.
“He could pull me out of the auditorium and into a back alley. He could have me executed mafia style...”
She caught herself, took a deep breath, and affirmed her resolve. “If he wanted to kill me, he would have done it already, and if he hasn't done it yet, it won't happen, Just relax,” she thought.
Tonya straightened her spine as she sat to attention in the front row of the auditorium, her handbag at her side.
She began to take in the details of her surroundings.
The building itself was of the old theater style with red carpets and plush canvas seating. The walls were decorated with ornate wooden moldings, oiled and regularly cleaned.
The stage was a modest three feet high and there was a single podium on the top with a microphone attached to it.
The floor was a warm wood, with a particularly bright sheen to it. Tonya imagined that it had recently been cleaned and waxed as she could see the reflective brown swirls on the wood beneath her sandals.
The remaining seats began filling up with people, and the constant murmuring of the crowd died down as Jim Henkelman took to the stage and commenced his speech.
“…The days of the past, as in the days of the present, have always included an element of society which required segregation for the good of the whole….” Henkelman began.
His bald spot was highlighted more than usual, partially due to the reflective nature of the oil on his forehead. His suit was custom fitted, and his visage was composed and serious.
He began his speech as though he had stayed up all night practicing for this very moment.
“…Some of these incarcerated were political dissidents, threatening the status quo with their ideas of blood and vehement revolution, caring not a whit for the livelihood and continuity of mankind.
Some were bloodless cowards, who hid behind violent acts against innocent men and women while the rest of the world earned their living by the sweat of their brow and the strength of their arms…” (Pause for effect.)
“…Some refused to participate in the mechanisms by which our society moves forward and surrendered themselves to various vices, such as the poppy fiend, and the drunkard!
God as my witness... I would not want to be in their position when the hammer of justice falls straight from the heavens!
Oh, not at all.
For you see my brothers and sisters – the good people of this country depend on us to break the chains that restrict the expansion of these centers for detention and rehabilitation for those of our nation who need it most; the poor; the desperate and the weak of heart….”
The truth of the matter was that one of Jim's extraordinary talents was the art of public speaking. Simply put, he could move a crowd – in that sense, both Hitler and Henkelman rose to power, and maintained it by similar means.
“…We brought you modern detention centers when the prison population exploded beyond control. We formed terrorist internment camps to keep the homeland safe. We brought you technological surveillance and security apparatus, to help lessen the manpower required per prisoner. And lastly, we are at the forefront of pharmaceutical research, in terms of reconstruction and socialization therapy, for the criminal mind.
When we thought the Digital Age of Detention (D.A.D), had reached its climax, and started to use artificial environmental simulation in our maximum security prisons, countless people came up to me and congratulated DT on its achievements.
"You did it," they would say, but as every good innovator knows, the righteous man can never sleep…”
Henkelman inserted all the correct tonal inflections, and carefully measured pauses, in all the right places. The effect of Jim's speech was that even if you didn't know what he was talking about, you were sure, in your heart of hearts, that he knew what he was talking about.
His leadership had resulted in the success of a multinational corporate entity and his sense of accomplishment was reaffirmed each fiscal quarter.
Henkelman Continued.
“…Indeed, in the advent of artificial environmental simulation, we had bodies lined up with wires and electrodes buzzing like you would not believe. It was the peak of hospitalization, and imprisonment where the subjective experience of the prisoners where created by our own programmers.
Rehabilitation increased, but unfortunately, so did the costs of the equipment necessary for maintaining the bodies of those incarcerated. Security staff decreased, but medical staff increased when some prisoners experienced complications from the procedure…”
“… So why, you may ask, and I can tell you plainly. It is because I care…”
(Pause for applause).
“…I care about the rehabilitation of these criminally afflicted persons, and the betterment of our society as a whole.
THIS is why I stay up at night!
THIS is why I push my employees to the limits,
THIS is why I stand here before you today.
If you will, please indulge me for a moment longer with a mental picture.
Imagine a prison without walls, barbed wire, or cells. Imagine a system designed to recalibrate the consciousness of a person, in much the same way that a dream offers us guidance on our future behavior. Imagine the entire United States Prison system, contained within a secure network, of the worlds most advanced computers
Our lead scientist, Dr. Tonya Meredith has stood on the shoulders of the D.A.D project, and gone beyond consciousness digitization, into the realm of full body dematerialization.
The process is complex, and operates based on the dissolution of human matter and its identical reconstitution in another space.
Historically, Quantum Teleportation has been limited to singular atoms, over small distances but we no longer live in such an age.
I wish I was brilliant enough to have created this sort of thing myself… ”
(Pause for self-depreciative laughter)
“…but my talents are much better suited to administration.
So please kindly give her your attention for a while, so she may enlighten us all on the processes behind Detention Technologies newly disclosed project.
Ladies and Gentlemen - I give you Dr. Tonya Meredith…”
As Henkelman’s his lines came to a close, the crowd offered their obligatory applause. Dr. Merrideth rose from her seat, and casually walked toward the stage.
The first thing that would have come to the mind of many in the audience was the cognitive dissonance in perception between Jim Henkelman, and Dr. Tonya Merrideth.
Dr. Merrideth appeared shabby compared to the well dressed Henkelman. She wore no make-up but still radiated a natural beauty more resilient than the image of the illustrious CEO.
Dr. Merrideth did not opt for formal dress, instead wearing a pair of casual pants and an oxford button up shirt.
She gave the audience an even stare through the thin metal frames of her glasses, brushed her hair behind an ear, and began her speech.
Henkleman backed off to a chair which had been set out for him to the rear left of the stage. He extruded confidence, attentiveness and joviality while demonstrably listening to Dr. Merrideth's speech, but as she continued, he began to grow uneasy. And as she began to wax philosophically, his mask began to waver. When she publicly announced the open distribution of the Prison Space report, he was lost in disbelief.
Twice in one day, Dr. Tonya Merrideth had caused Jim Henkleman to lose his command of language, and this time it took a roar of applause and a spotlight to snap him out of his disoriented state.
Jim was practiced enough to paste on a smile for the cameras and the multitude before him that were now offering him a standing ovation for his generosity.
The applause did not slow down as he approached the podium, and flashbulbs popped from the reporters of the major publications, all vying for the best image.
Tonya grabbed Jim's hand, and thrust it into the air, an expression of victory. She bowed then Jim bowed and patted her on the back, still smiling as she left the stage.
The next portion of Jim's speech was no longer useful, so, he ad-libed something about liberty and the wisdom of the people, worked himself up into a few fist pumps, and closed the address as planned.
As Jim left the stage, he was swamped with reporters, all seeking answers to the most pressing questions, and he knew better than to blow them off with no-comment – this was a public relations opportunity, even if it was the biggest non-disclosure violation of the year.
Henkleman passed off the entire idea as his own, and even began to wax philanthropic philosophies about “the responsibilities of successful corporations to spur on technological advancement in the coming age.”
Dr. Meredith exited the building, deflecting any inquires from reporters to “the real man behind the vision, Jim Henkelman,” claiming, “I am, after all, only a scientist.”