The Dance of the Voodoo Handbag

'˜Remarkable,' he continued. '˜You would definitely appear to have the right stuff, as they say.'

The object of this praise sat on the other side of the cedar desk. The object's name was Billy Barnes.

'˜My actions were calculated to impress,' said the object. '˜The young man answered all my questions about your organization before he met his tragic end. 'њNecrosoft writes its own rule book on matters of morality,'ќ was a phrase he used.'

'˜And one I'm particularly proud of,' said Blazer Dyke. '˜Would you care for a cup of tea?'

'˜Absolutely not. And I'll keep my rubber gloves on if you don't mind.'

'˜Priceless. You'll go far in this organization.'

'˜I intend to,' said Billy.

Blazer Dyke leaned back in his chair and gazed at the young man before him. It was remarkable just how unremarkable he was. How perfectly average he was. How absolutely ordinary. But right. He was right. He looked right just sitting there, as if that was where he should be sitting. He fitted.

Blazer Dyke rose from his chair. '˜Indulge me,' he said. '˜Sit here for a moment.'

Billy got up, went around the desk and sat down in Blazer's chair. Blazer looked him up and down and gently shook his head. '˜Quite remarkable. You look as if you belong there. Quite remarkable indeed.'

Billy smiled. '˜I'm so glad you approve,' said he.

'˜Oh, I don't approve. But I understand you, Billy. We understand each other, I believe.'

'˜In that we are different, yes.'

'˜Different.' Blazer Dyke shooed Billy from his chair and plonked himself back into it. '˜Your gift is for fitting in. Mine is for organization. Together we will make a good team. But know this, Billy. Although I do not disapprove of what you did to the young man, neither do I condone it. I am simply aloof to it. You exposed a weakness in the structure of our organization which has now been rectified. But there will be no more 'њtragic accidents'ќ to my personnel. Do you understand me?'

'˜Perfectly, yes.

'˜Also you must view the experience as part of the learning process.'

'˜How so?'

'˜To take greater care.'

'˜In what way?'

'˜The room was under close-circuit video surveillance. Cutting-edge stuff, naturally. All your actions were observed and recorded.'

'˜I see,' said Billy. '˜Then I shall take greater care in the future. Thank you for drawing this to my attention.'

'˜My pleasure, my boy. Now I'm sure you have questions you'd like to ask.'

'˜Many,' said Billy. '˜I know the young man told me what he believed to be the truth. But-'

'˜But,' said Blazer Dyke, '˜you do not believe that he knew the truth.'

'˜Precisely.'

'˜And of course he didn't Although fiction can sometimes be truer than fact. So what should I tell you? Of how this company came to be, perhaps? Of its goals? Of its plans for the future?'

'˜All,' said Billy.

'˜Then all it shall be. Necrosoft is a private company specializing in the development of advanced micro-processing computer technology. EW and AT: Electromagnetic Weaponry and Artificial Telepathy. Lumped under the heading of NLWT: Non-Lethal Weapons Technology.'

'˜Who funds this organization?' asked Billy.

'˜The American government. They fund many such privately owned companies in order to sidestep the Freedom of Information Act. It comes loosely under the heading of covert operations, but you will only find it listed as Research Technology. As there is no longer a cold war between East and West, America has no immediate enemies. Except of course the now legendary 'њenemy within'ќ.'

'˜Its own people,' said Billy.

'˜Exactly. Terrorists, activists, anarchists, cultists. Agitators in general. Dissidents, if you like. Those who won't toe the Party line. Those who act up. And so military weapons technology is no longer aimed at foreign powers, it is now being developed for urban pacification. To keep the unruly in their place. With the grand view of creating a peaceful, stable society.'

'˜Absolutely,' said Billy.

'˜Absolutely. We don't want to shoot our own, we just want to pacify them.'

'˜Keep them under control,' said Billy.

'˜Not an expression we like to use here. But in essence, yes. Now, Electromagnetic Weaponry has been in development since the Second World War. The Nazis were at work on sound weapons that could disable vehicles and as you may know, many of their top scientists escaped the war trials and were quietly spirited over to America to work for the government there. Work progressed and with the development of micro-chip technology, it came on in leaps and bounds.'

'˜Go on,' said Billy.

'˜I will,' said Blazer. '˜Electromagnetic Weaponry, zapping the engines of tanks and such like was all very well, but tanks can be shielded and systems over-ridden. It is far easier to disable a person than a tank. And so EW led eventually to AT: Artificial Telepathy. Which is what we specialize in here.'

'˜Please explain this to me.'

'˜Certainly. With Artificial Telepathy, a computer relays a radio communication directly into a human brain without the need of an electronic receiver. A microwave carrier delivers an analogue of words known as an audiogram. The big bonus, indeed the whole point of this, is that the recipient of the message is unaware that it is being broadcast. He or she thinks that it is their own thoughts.'

'˜You are saying that you can put voices into people's heads?'

'˜Voices. Words. That's crude, but it can be effective sometimes. The old 'њGod told me to shoot the president,'ќ you know the kind of stuff But we're talking concepts here. Implanting a concept to change a subject's mode of thinking. Let us say that you were to implant the concept of 'њguilt at wrong doing'ќ - you wouldn't stop all the wrong doing, but you'd make a lot of people think twice and that would make a difference.'

'˜And you'd have your urban pacification.'

'˜Subtle concepts don't work on mob mentality. You need to be a little more robust. Terror is an effective concept, but the terrified man will act irrationally. The most effective we've found so far, and the most amusing, is to beam the concept of a pressing need to use the toilet.'

'˜Very humorous,' said Billy.

'˜Indeed, but in the future it should not be necessary. We are currently engaged in other forms of experimental research. The pleaser, for instance.'

'˜The pleaser?'

'˜You experienced its efficacy yourself. The bright plastic something you so liked to squeeze.'

'˜Impregnated with the mysterious drug from the Amazon?'

'˜Yes, well, that was not altogether true. It has more to do with resonance and frequency. But, tell me this, why do you think that the young are the way they are today? Obsessed with name brand designer clothes and trainers, McDonald's burgers and manufactured pop music?'

'˜Because they all have the Sky TV satellite in their birth charts?'

'˜That's probably part of it,' said Blazer Dyke.

'˜Really?'

'˜No! Of course not really! EW technology. Just like your pleaser, all geared towards urban pacification. Once you have your young all dressing the same, eating the same, listening to the same music and thinking the same, they are very easy to control.'

'˜This is very sensitive information you are giving me,' said Billy.

Well, you're not going to spread it around, are you?'

'˜Absolutely not.'

'˜Because we'd have to kill you, if you did.'

'˜Quite so.'

'˜And moving right along, we come to the Necronet itself. The latest port of call on our electromagnetic voyage. We have in place the EW technology, the computer is capable of despatching the microwave carrier which creates the audiogram in the recipient's head. What is the next logical development?'