Daemon

parasites in the network.
    ‘Distributed daemons are a foregone conclusion in the coming world. You should befriend this one. Because the next daemon might not be so friendly. And, unlike your current leaders, my Daemon can protect you from your enemies.’
    The video ended, and the lights came up.
    Everyone looked suddenly haggard.
    CIA: ‘Jumping Jesus …’
    NSA: ‘Gentlemen, you’ve seen the devil himself, and now we need to figure out what to do about him.’
    CIA: ‘Forget him. What can we do to stop his Daemon?’
    DARPA: ‘We need to destroy the Daemon’s darknet, that’s what we need to do. This message is just propaganda. Another misdirection.’
    CSC: ‘Destroying the Daemon will require a coordinated cyber attack on numerous corporate data systems. An attack unprecedented in scale – a digital D-Day.’
    DARPA: ‘Too risky. One misstep, and the Daemon destroys thousands of companies.’
    EndoCorp: ‘We can’t just let this thing take over. Whatever the cost.’
    FBI: ‘What does Sobol mean when he says there’ll be violence? Is he talking revolution?’
    DARPA: ‘He’s a megalomaniac.’
    DIA: ‘If he means revolution, we should have troops in the streets. Sobol could be planning a coup.’
    NSA: ‘The markets are already shaky. Mobilizing troops and declaring martial law will cause a panic.’
    CSC: ‘We have private security forces available.’
    CIA: ‘He said we weren’t the target.’
    FBI: ‘You’re not going to take him at his word, are you?’
    DIA: ‘He did say nation states were doomed.’
    CIA: ‘Yes, but he didn’t say he would be the instrument of their destruction. He could be warning us.’
    FBI: ‘You’re starting to worry me.’
    CIA: ‘I don’t mean that Sobol is on our side. I think he’s an evil bastard – I mean
was
an evil bastard – but he had a demented vision that I think we should try to wrap our heads around. He talked about small groups – ‘The Great Diffusion’ is how he termed it. That small groups would be battling nation states.’
    DARPA: ‘Sobol mentioned lawless regions and failed states. What if he was talking about terrorism?’
    DIA: ‘Terrorists use our own technology against us.’
    CIA: ‘And so do international crime rings. Does Sobol think his Daemon could be used against terrorism and transnational crime?’
    DARPA: ‘It took over the online porn and gambling industries easily enough.’
    NSA: ‘We’ve got to get a handle on this.’
    EndoCorp: ‘Gentlemen, this Daemon is comprised of distributed networked systems with a companion human network. This is no different from many enemies we’ve already defeated.’
    DARPA: ‘I think it’s clearly different.’
    EndoCorp: ‘In specifics, maybe, but not in the abstract. Whether he’s dead or alive, Sobol’s network can be disrupted and his people put to flight. In order to knock out his human network, we need to hit them hard and hit them everywhere – keep them on the run and keep them looking over their shoulder.’
    CSC: ‘And in order to prevent the various Daemon components from interacting, we stage a regional power outage immediately preceding operations. We exert our control over major media outlets to prevent the Daemon from reading the news – or we fabricate the news to suit our purposes.’
    The directors seemed taken aback by the sudden turn in the discussion.
    NSA: ‘What about the Daemon’s human operatives? Wouldn’t they still be able to communicate?’
    EndoCorp: ‘This is classic infowar – which we invented. We have highly skilled cyber and electronic warfare experts. We’ll be monitoring Daemon activities in coming weeks. And as for the Daemon’s human operatives: they won’t stand up long against ex–Special Forces soldiers. We’ve operated successfully in Colombia against left-wing rebels and narco-terrorists, and in sub-Saharan Africa against Islamic rebels. Our men operate in small groups with minimal supervision – no legislative oversight necessary.’
    CIA: ‘That’s fine in Colombia and sub-Saharan Africa, but how the hell are you going to sell that in Columbus, Ohio? And how do you tell friend from foe in a tech park server room?’
    EndoCorp: ‘You don’t. We move in our own people to operatethe data centers and detain the current staff until we can satisfy ourselves that they pose no risk.’
    NSA: ‘This is crazy talk. You can’t round up IT workers in thousands of companies. You don’t have the manpower, for one