Green Pastures Part 5

We’ve infected the whole Whitewater fleet of choppers said Neo with a grin on his face.

That was unexpected, replied Laura, must be part of the Stuxnet architecture we used to create SondoXL.

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The news did nothing to cheat their boredom. Neo was watching TV sitting on one of the two beds in their Motel room while she was trying to figure out the 100 cell phone hack. The idea was to create a self-assembling virus the core of which had already infected the Stingray from the radio frequencies inside the helicopter. By infecting multiple cell phones, they could send the bits of code that needed to be assembled de facto. As far as she knew, this kind of hack had never been attended and they were pushing the PLC’s computing power to its limits in order to override the firewall. There was no telling when the machine was due for a manual checkup so they had to act fast. She only knew one person who could easily get into the Android operating system remotely.

If only Franco was here she uttered.

Your brother?

Yeah, this is right up his alley, I’m in way over my head with this.

Did you try reaching out to him?

No choice, we’re only a month away from the convention.

She closed her laptop. Laura was suffering from a splitting headache and she was massaging her forehead slowly.

It’s no use.

Why don’t we go out?

What are you talking about? His carefree attitude sent a chill down her spine. They were listening to a Rodrigo Gallardo edit of They Don’t Care About Us on Soundcloud. I have to keep going, it’s all about the timing here. We can’t squander precious time like that!

I’ve always wanted to visit Neverland Ranch.

Oh my god, that is so creepy! I guess I could use a break.

Come on, it will be fun. Beats being stuck here.

True.

After a long commute driving painfully slow because of the afternoon traffic, they arrived at the notorious property.

There it is, I have wanted to see it for so long.

You’re an MJ fan I take it.

Yes of course.

She thought it was bizarre that this is what he wanted to do, the ranch was not open for visitors, all they could do was watch it from a distance. Laura was not a fan of Michael Jackson, she had bonded with Neo since they were both so critical of pop culture so his pilgrimage to the King of Pop’s private amusement park took her by surprise.

We should break in he said, his voice trembling with excitement.

Yeah, while we’re here but there’s a guard over there.

Neo left Laura heading directly for the guard, they exchanged a few words, a bribe and he came back to her. We’re good to go, he told me where to find a key, he doesn’t want us to break any windows.

That was easy, she thought.

She was finally on board with the whole thing, she was in an adventurous mood after all the futile attempts at updating the code.

Ironically, they entered an old security hut. Laura was looking at the banks of CRT glass tube TVs with amazement.

The rooms were large and floored with parkay but the space felt strangely claustrophobic. Maybe it was the ornate and rather dated fixtures looming from every corner of the room that made them feel stuck in the past. Laura found it mind-boggling that someone of his fame and wealth had such poor taste. Neo was running around every nook and cranny making video on his phone. She did not want to think what had gone on in that house. She felt as though they were being watched, picking up bad vibes all around. Although Neo had been slightly agitated all day, it was only when they climbed the stairs that he started acting really strange. His whole composure changed from a relaxed slightly slouched over posture into a wooden soldier.

One moment he almost seemed to be trembling, the other he was aggressively scratching the back of his neck. As they entered a large room with a mezzanine which she assumed to be the master bedroom, he began mumbling, talking to himself.

I remember I used to wish it was him he finally said in an audible voice, turning to Laura. His face was in tears. She didn’t know what to say.
I... I couldn’t accept what was going on with my aunt and uncle so when I heard on the news that he was accused of doing terrible things to children... Sexual things! I used to wish it was him! I thought that he would at least protect me. Reward me! I... I said as much to my counselor but it’s still there, it still hurts, I still feel guilty for wishing it would come from someone else.

Laura was at a loss, for a minute or two, she was numb to Neo’s pain, found him manipulative to bring her there to relive his trauma without telling her about it. When he saw her just standing there, he coiled up on the floor crying quietly. Then, she felt a surge of emotions running through her all at once, about her past, Melanie and this man in front of her who she thought she knew. He was completely vulnerable. She sat down next to him and put her hand on his arm, he was shaking abundantly as he pulled away from her touch. She had to be strong for him, he needed her right now and she needed him in the long run.

You’ll be fine, you didn’t do anything wrong, you just couldn’t accept what they were doing to you. How could you? You were just a child.

Aaron Smith, the president of Bubble. I have proof that he’s a pedophile. He’s using the Brotherhood of Lust to provide him with slaves from all over the world.

And what you’ve been sitting on it? Why are you just telling me now? Isn’t that the whole point of what we’re doing, to expose them?

No! I want the whole cult to be exposed. I want it all burned to the ground. My uncle and aunt abused me but then it got better, they got sentenced, I got help. My parents always loved me but these kids? They’re done! There’s no saving them! It has to stop. They need to be burned to the ground those corporate monsters!

This was it. It was why Neo was after the Brotherhood, why it was so personal.

But maybe this will be enough. They have to find the cult when they investigate Smith. How many children are going to be abused while you sit on this information?!

They’ll just throw a section of it to the wolves, the only way to do this is to prove that it’s not just one millionaire that’s involved. We have to expose several of them! Once they realize they’re in hot water, they’ll be even harder to catch.

I see your point said Laura looking down. She had some thinking to do. Why don’t we head back to the motel? We can decide our best course of action tomorrow.

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Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4