AfterNet 01 - Good Cop Dead Cop

filaments of the world on electric threads.” That’s from the center’s mission statement. A little purple, but I think it gets the point across. Be honest, Alex. What do you foresee happening, to the world?
jollycopper: The second wave. The first wave was the panic after the discovery of the afterlife … the suicides, riots, wars. A whole lot of denial. But we’re in the trough right now. Next come the demands. Demands from the dead to have a voice, to vote, to own property. Demands from the living that those rights will be waiting for them when they die.
ribaldhumor: Go on. A nice metaphor, by the way. You used that on your blog.
jollycopper: You are checking up on me. Well, to continue stealing from my own writing, the living are starting to accept this is real. It’s not a phenomena. It won’t go away. Every time someone famous dies and can prove their identity, it makes it more real. The living get more scared. They plan a little more.
ribaldhumor: And what’s the seismic event that triggers the next killer wave, to continue your metaphor.
jollycopper: China, India and the Muslim world. We’ve actually had breathing space because most of the disembodied are insane and won’t go online. Demand for bandwidth is still low because much of the third world doesn’t have Internet acces, much less AfterNet access. But once India gets over the idea that karma doesn’t mean squat, once the Muslim world ends its denial, once China re-embraces ancestor worship … we’re heading for a world where all you do while you’re alive is prepare for death. The ancient Egyptians had it right.
ribaldhumor: Bravo, Alex. but you forgot to mention the baby boomers in the U.S. Once they start dying in numbers, the Social Security shortfalls will seem insignificant.
jollycopper: So your center will solve all this?
ribaldhumor: I hope it’ll make a dent. We can’t assume the living will care what happens after they die. The idea of an afterlife or heaven and hell, reward and punishment, has been a tenet of most every religion. That still doesn’t mean most people live their lives in such a way that they deserve that now outdated concept. No, we, the disembodied, we’ve got to secure our own future.
jollycopper: And I take it that working as a cop won’t be enough.
ribaldhumor: For some, it might be. There will always be a need for security guards, cops, spies, etc. … but the center will sell the amassed power of our intellect.
jollycopper: Again, I think you overestimate my intellect … and that of most disembodied … despite my ability to walk and chew gum at the same time.
ribaldhumor: Then you would be amazed at what we think we can achieve, Alex. If you’ve got time, I’d like to give you a run down of what we’re planning.
jollycopper: I don’t know. You’ve already taken up a whole forty seconds of my valuable time. But go ahead. Linda can probably amuse herself.
    “Linda, let me introduce you to someone.”
    Humphries had led Yamaguchi back for more food and she was marveling at her little tray that allowed her to attach her wine glass. “I just love these …”
    She looked up and saw that Humphries was standing next to Robert Feore.
    “Bob, this is Denver Police Officer Linda Yamaguchi, and Linda, meet Bob Feore. He’s the CTO at the AfterNet.”
    “What are you doing here?” she asked.
    “Well, what are you doing here?” Feore countered.
    “So you know each other then.”
    She turned to Humphries. “We met last night at the Tattered Cover.”
    “I offered to hack her terminal.”
    “Really?” Humphries said. “I have no idea what that means.” He used a hand to shade his eyes, as if he were shielding himself from the sun. “Oh look, I see someone I need to talk to. I’ll leave you two to talk alone.”
    Feore looked at her. “You seem on pretty good terms with Rybold.”
    “That wasn’t Rybold. I mean he was, but he’s not at the moment.”
    “Oh, is he … damn, what’s his name?
    “Derek.”
    “Right, right. Anyway, why are you here?”
    “I’ve been asking myself that all day. I guess Rybold wants to hire Alex, my partner. And me too, I guess. What about you? And what’s a CTO?”
    “Chief Technical Officer. That’s my title.”
    “That sounds kind of important. Like maybe you know more than just a little bit about field mechanics.”
    “Maybe just a little bit more.”
    “But why are you here?”
    “Like I said last night, I don’t know a whole lot of people in