November 6th, 2020
Crown Point, Indiana
“Fraud, theft, traitors on the left! Fraud, theft, traitors on the left!” the crowd chanted, the roar growing more powerful as the impassioned crowd whipped itself further into a fury. They’d been arriving individually or via arranged buses for the last three days; ever since the country had been thrown into a political uproar by the vote deadlock in Indiana and subsequent Republican allegations of massive election fraud. Tea Party, National Conservative Action Committee, Concerned Conservatives For America, and many other groups were represented in the protest in addition to embedded right wing media and an assortment of concerned or angry individuals here on their own initiative.
The mainstream media were putting the crowd at 50,000 but rumors of up to several times that number were circulating elsewhere. The police surrounding the Lake County administration facility were as stoic as usual, ringing the complex and looking relaxed but ominous in their cutting edge tactical riot gear. Overhead; media and police helicopters and drones hovered or circled over the scene, and smaller drones of less clear origin were occasionally visible flitting about the area as well. Homeland Security, blogcasters, curious individuals; everyone wanted a live view of the unfolding events.
So far things had been peaceful, if intense, and even the much smaller counter-protest by Re-Occupy activists and Progressive Party cadre from Gary and elsewhere hadn't resulted in anything beyond a few shouting matches. But there was a spark in the air, a grim determination among the anti-Warren protesters to not let the alleged vote fraud stand. Mixed with the undercurrent of outrage that police from Gary and been called in to supplement local police as the protests grew, the air was electric.
Dan Simmons certainly felt that outrage and determination. He’d watched Obama ruin the country for eight years, watched him steal the election in 2012, watched him flip the Supreme Court with his illegally appointed crony justices even as the economy imploded yet again. He’d stood by while the feds smashed the Republic of Texas patriots and murdered his hero, John Smith.
Now he felt he was watching Obama’s chosen successor-in-chief steal the presidency yet again. It could not stand, he thought, not if America as he knew it was going to survive. And Dan was determined that it would survive, no matter what.
He felt nervously for the 9mm pistol at his waist again, felt his determination stiffen as he ran his fingers over the familiar holster concealed beneath his thick jacket. It wasn't even illegal, strictly speaking. Indiana had been a concealed carry state for many years now. But the knowledge of why he had brought the pistol to the protest made him nervous none-the-less. He was, after all, here to make history.
The media, mainstream and otherwise, had been in a frenzy since election night. And Dan was about to give them something new to feast on. He looked at this watch again. The legal team for the Warren campaign was supposed to arrive any minute now if the latest reports were to be believed. Even thinking of the slick, power-brokering, lawyer they’d brought in to give legal backing to their election theft made the rage boil in his mind, forcing him to close his eyes and take a few deep breaths to regain control.
He’d been slowly making his way towards the front of the crowd for the past hour, and he’d finally gotten right up to the temporary metal barricade in front of the entrance to the county administration building. Now he stood in place calmly, holding up his phone to watch one of the many blogcasts covering the events. This one had a live view of the sedan said to be carrying the legal team. It was just minutes away according to the scrolling text beneath the live video.
Dan fished in his shirt pocket for a moment and retrieved his newly purchased smart glasses. He'd never been a fan of the things but he'd heard good reviews about them on one of the hobby gun forums he followed. He'd practiced with the aim-assist app for several hours the day before. He thought the odds were better than 50/50 that he would hit his target despite what would probably be a bad line of sight. Time seemed to slow and take on a surreal tinge as Dan waited with an icy resolve for his target to arrive...
...Twelve minutes later the internet was on fire with the news of the assassination of President Warren's chief legal consul. It had been captured in clear 4k video by dozens of drones, phones, and smart glasses. Nearly a billion people had heard about it and half of those had seen it from at least four perspectives. Three minutes after that blogs and twit streams blasted the name and address of the assassin, his political views, and dozens of photos and videos of the man culled from across the web. Five minutes after that someone released a VR POV experience constructed by merging dozens of video and photo sources together into a detailed 3D mesh. Mainstream media talking heads droned on in pretend disgust as the FundMe legal defense for the assassin crossed one million U.S. dollars and the price on the assassin's head on crypto-currency markets surpassed five million U.S. dollars.
Within an hour more information had been exchanged in relation to the assassination than all the information ever exchanged in all of human history up through 2013.
Crown Point, Indiana
“Fraud, theft, traitors on the left! Fraud, theft, traitors on the left!” the crowd chanted, the roar growing more powerful as the impassioned crowd whipped itself further into a fury. They’d been arriving individually or via arranged buses for the last three days; ever since the country had been thrown into a political uproar by the vote deadlock in Indiana and subsequent Republican allegations of massive election fraud. Tea Party, National Conservative Action Committee, Concerned Conservatives For America, and many other groups were represented in the protest in addition to embedded right wing media and an assortment of concerned or angry individuals here on their own initiative.
The mainstream media were putting the crowd at 50,000 but rumors of up to several times that number were circulating elsewhere. The police surrounding the Lake County administration facility were as stoic as usual, ringing the complex and looking relaxed but ominous in their cutting edge tactical riot gear. Overhead; media and police helicopters and drones hovered or circled over the scene, and smaller drones of less clear origin were occasionally visible flitting about the area as well. Homeland Security, blogcasters, curious individuals; everyone wanted a live view of the unfolding events.
So far things had been peaceful, if intense, and even the much smaller counter-protest by Re-Occupy activists and Progressive Party cadre from Gary and elsewhere hadn't resulted in anything beyond a few shouting matches. But there was a spark in the air, a grim determination among the anti-Warren protesters to not let the alleged vote fraud stand. Mixed with the undercurrent of outrage that police from Gary and been called in to supplement local police as the protests grew, the air was electric.
Dan Simmons certainly felt that outrage and determination. He’d watched Obama ruin the country for eight years, watched him steal the election in 2012, watched him flip the Supreme Court with his illegally appointed crony justices even as the economy imploded yet again. He’d stood by while the feds smashed the Republic of Texas patriots and murdered his hero, John Smith.
Now he felt he was watching Obama’s chosen successor-in-chief steal the presidency yet again. It could not stand, he thought, not if America as he knew it was going to survive. And Dan was determined that it would survive, no matter what.
He felt nervously for the 9mm pistol at his waist again, felt his determination stiffen as he ran his fingers over the familiar holster concealed beneath his thick jacket. It wasn't even illegal, strictly speaking. Indiana had been a concealed carry state for many years now. But the knowledge of why he had brought the pistol to the protest made him nervous none-the-less. He was, after all, here to make history.
The media, mainstream and otherwise, had been in a frenzy since election night. And Dan was about to give them something new to feast on. He looked at this watch again. The legal team for the Warren campaign was supposed to arrive any minute now if the latest reports were to be believed. Even thinking of the slick, power-brokering, lawyer they’d brought in to give legal backing to their election theft made the rage boil in his mind, forcing him to close his eyes and take a few deep breaths to regain control.
He’d been slowly making his way towards the front of the crowd for the past hour, and he’d finally gotten right up to the temporary metal barricade in front of the entrance to the county administration building. Now he stood in place calmly, holding up his phone to watch one of the many blogcasts covering the events. This one had a live view of the sedan said to be carrying the legal team. It was just minutes away according to the scrolling text beneath the live video.
Dan fished in his shirt pocket for a moment and retrieved his newly purchased smart glasses. He'd never been a fan of the things but he'd heard good reviews about them on one of the hobby gun forums he followed. He'd practiced with the aim-assist app for several hours the day before. He thought the odds were better than 50/50 that he would hit his target despite what would probably be a bad line of sight. Time seemed to slow and take on a surreal tinge as Dan waited with an icy resolve for his target to arrive...
...Twelve minutes later the internet was on fire with the news of the assassination of President Warren's chief legal consul. It had been captured in clear 4k video by dozens of drones, phones, and smart glasses. Nearly a billion people had heard about it and half of those had seen it from at least four perspectives. Three minutes after that blogs and twit streams blasted the name and address of the assassin, his political views, and dozens of photos and videos of the man culled from across the web. Five minutes after that someone released a VR POV experience constructed by merging dozens of video and photo sources together into a detailed 3D mesh. Mainstream media talking heads droned on in pretend disgust as the FundMe legal defense for the assassin crossed one million U.S. dollars and the price on the assassin's head on crypto-currency markets surpassed five million U.S. dollars.
Within an hour more information had been exchanged in relation to the assassination than all the information ever exchanged in all of human history up through 2013.
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