A Secret Organisation: Short story on a possible future.
By Jesse S. Somer
Posted Saturday, September 4, 2004
Roger Ricketson’s smile was enigmatic. When anyone looked his way they could not help being infected by his contagious facial expression. Something was definitely going right in this man’s life, but until now no one could quite put his or her finger on it. But now, as I look through my office window at the man packing up his briefcase at the end of the workday, turning off his computer, I can’t help sneaking out my own mini-smile. I know his secret. Funny thing is, it wasn’t that hard to discover-it just took a few simple searches on my super-magic machine. The name computer doesn’t really give the device enough credibility anymore, it has come a long way in the last hundred years, computing is the least of its positive attributes.
I’m not your average woman in the workforce. Vice-President of a huge multinational corporation, millionaire, you’d think I’d be fulfilled with my life’s successes, but no matter how hard I try, something always seems to be missing. I wanted a bit of what Roger’s got and now I know what makes him tick. He wasn’t always like this, hell he used to be quite a grump. Being CEO of a giant pharmaceutical company can be a bit boring, especially when all your competitors are just mindless drones with only one thing on their mind-making more money. However, over the last couple of years Roger’s persona had gradually changed, and I was sure it wasn’t from his business life.
So, being a bit of a sleuth-cross-hacker I recently tapped into Roger’s personal email account, definitely not an easy task, but then again I’ve always been far from average. It still took me 6 months in my spare time. I could be arrested but I just needed to know this man’s secret, and whenever someone would ask him why he was so happy, he would just smile and wink and then walk away. Well, now I know the answer and I can tell you it sure was a shock! Roger belongs to a secret organization. The members of this group aren’t to be scoffed at either; world leaders, billionaires, famous intellectuals and academics fill the boss’s contact list. There are also a lot of names I’ve never heard of; there are over 10 thousand members! As far as I can tell they only communicate on the Internet, but from their dialogue they all seem tightly connected, and they do get a lot done. This is the mind-blowing part, what they do!
They call themselves the ‘Fixers’. People from every nationality, religion and creed are involved, and I can see why Roger smiles so widely. War, starvation, poverty, sickness, and religious and nationalistic separation have plagued our world for generations. The ‘Fixers’ have decided that enough’s enough. These people from so-called ‘different’ backgrounds are diminishing the human-made boundaries of the past. ‘Country’ means little to these new-world souls whose only ‘country’ is the Internet, and all are allowed to belong. Their goal is to fix the Earth: to create a planet where all people have an equal opportunity, where the quality of life is high, the environment is sustainable, and all are informed of the intrinsic ‘togetherness’ of all humans. Spirituality is to be recognized as a common thread instead of focusing on separate cultures’ different practices.
Roger is the secret scribe for the group, journaling all that the organization does on a ‘blog’ or on-line journal, hoping to save their activities for posterity. Websites are being constructed on separate issues, and experts speak daily on email and video conferencing facilities. The Internet is a ‘home’ for these crusaders to share knowledge, the true wealth in life. I snuck a peak at the ‘Reducing Poverty’ website, the ideas expressed there jolted me out of my ‘comatose’ normality. Famous economists and sociologists were discussing new ways to achieve a balance of wealth for all of humanity. Some concepts expressed were: A salary cap on all occupations; so-called ‘second’ and ‘third world’ nations become part of ‘one world’ after ‘first world’ countries share wealth and knowledge to develop less well-off societies; and how to set up basic industry to sustain populations with constant food energy, and economic growth.
Other websites were also equally optimistic and detailed in their practical approaches to solving problems. I especially found the chat room for Environment Sustainability of interest. It looks like most people want to integrate nature back into being a basic part of human existence. I’m not the only one who misses sitting in the forest reading E books on my laptop, while listening to the birds singing. I’ve always dreamt of throwing nuts at the monkeys. Scientists here have heaps of ideas on how to regenerate the Earth and bring back endangered species from the brink of extinction to a state of balance.
Well, the revolution is about to come, the rich are going to share their wealth with the masses, and important figures in government are putting the wheels in motion for a true egalitarian society. Soon they say, the secret will be shared with everyone, and all who wish to partake in bringing change will have the chance to join the cause. I know Dianne Winters will be first in line. I’ve been waiting to smile for a long, long time; I’m ready to put myself ‘out there’. Like Roger, it’s time for me to CONNECT, to become a ‘Fixer’.
About the Author
Jesse S. Somer is a human analyst of the technological world hoping to help people come together through the futuristic medium of the Internet.
