WSF 2023: A Live Streamed Story

Mason couldn't wait to test his Home of the Future. His perfect family would love their affluent state-of-the-art residence. Completely integrated. Everything synced to any tablet or device.

Mason worked for a technology company at the forefront of AI integration into smart home products. Naturally, he offered his own family to test a prototype they were working on, a program he headed up.

His baby was the JCO 8000, which they lovingly named Jerry. A learning program designed to perform tasks, as commamded by the occupants. E.g. Light on, TV on, sprinklers on. As a learning program, it was also designed to react to the habits and tendencies of the occupants and anticipate their needs. The cherry on top was its assessed threat protection protocol complete with admin voice recognition, live cctv, and ability to analyze live audio and video to determine any ongoing situation.

To allow for updates and continued maintenance, an Admin override code was devised. A verbal command or manual password to access its very program if something needed tweaking. Defaults to admin overrides.

3 weeks into the test, and all was going well. Even his daughter, Eva, began to enjoy "Jerry-Bear's" company like a favorite uncle.

His wife, an executive in her own right, was on her phone with an old high school acquaintance in the other room.

"Yeah, I'm heading to Raleigh to monitor the stage 3 trial, so I'll be gone 3 days. Make sure it goes down while Eva is gone. I want this done. And remember to use my code and enter as normally as possible. Call when in place, and I'll get him to the opposite end of the house.

She left on the trip. Eva reluctantly went to school. The housekeeper called out. He went into his "work from home" office.

An hour later, the nurse called. Eva was throwing up. He arranged an Uber Black to bring her home. After paying the 300 dollar cleaning fee for a Lincoln's leather interior, he put her to bed.

As Mason was working, he got a reminder for a text message from the previous night on his business cell. The private investigator he hired to snoop into his wife's strange behavior had information. "Lock your wife out of the house now. Murder-for-hire plot, going down tomorrow while daughter at school."

"I just thought she was cheating on me and trying to access by work accounts, this is bad."

He went cold and filled with panic.

"Eva!" he called out to his daughter. "We have to go to a hotel now." She was shivering and white with sickness. "Daaaad", she cried, "I just want to sleep".

"You don't have a choice, be ready in 5 minutes!"

He walked back into his office and closed the door.

"Jerry, Admin override code A74266AQQ."

"Code not recognized."

"Jerry, Admin override code A74266AQQ."

"Code not recognized"

"What's going on?" he thought.

His private cell rang. His wife. He decided not to tell her he knew anything.

"Hello."

"Hey, can you go check to see if I left my smart-watch in the gym?"

"Kinda busy right now, just buy a new one".

"What? You can't walk all the way to the other end and check for me?"

Not thinking anything of it, he decided to lie. He waited a few seconds and told her it was there.

He decided to check the home program through the tablet interface. Try as he might his ADMIN password was not working.

As he started to panic and call for another Uber, an access was made to the side entrance.

"Jerry, Admin override code B46YY481D."

"Access granted"

"There is are an intruder in my house, isolate movements and contain."

"Okay. There is current motion detected in "Office", and motion 4 minutes ago in "Bedroom 4".

"Lock bedroom 4", said the intruder.

"Locking bedroom 4"

Mason thought he heard talking. He began to become more frightened.

"Jerry, lock office door."

"Cannot process unrecognized voice request in Admin Override Mode."

"That's impossible!" He thought. He got up and locked it manually. He then went back to his desk and took his antique .38 out of the case on the shelf.

"At least I have this!" He thought.

The intruder got to the office. Mason could hear him on the door. The intruder spoke.

"Jerry, unlock office door."

"Office door, unlocked"

Hearing the door unlock, Mason went into full panic.

He yelled, "Jerry, there's someone trying to kill me, please lock office."

"Cannot process unrecognized voice request in Admin Override Mode."

The door swung open. A man he had never seen burst in.

Mason raised his .38.

"You were hired by my wife to kill me. I want you to tell me the admin code"

The intruder raised a gun of his own.

Mason quickly shot him in the hand holding the pistol before fully raised.

Eva was stunned out of her sickness by it.

"Dad!" She yelled.

Mason kicked the gun out of the reach of the intruder and yelled, "YOU STAY IN YOUR ROOM AND HIDE!"

Not fully recognizing the situation, she complied.

"Tell me the new code, or I shoot you in the head."

The intruder relented and told him.

He said, "Jerry, Admin override code B46YY481D, End protection protocol."

"Code not recognized."

HE SCREAMED IT.

"Code not recognized"

At that point, a digital call was automatically placed to 911 of an armed intrusion in process with shots already fired.

A Code 1 response. Complete with QuikStream live link.

Police surround Mason's affluent home.

He decided to hold the intruder at gunpoint and not budge.

After a 45 minute standoff, and with no contact, the decision was made to save the "homeowner." Who they believed had stopped the bleeding but was still held at gunpoint.

They stormed the home and closed in on Mason. They tactically entered the office. Out of reflex, Mason raised his gun to the police and was killed on the spot.

They police picked the intruder up off the floor. "We're getting you to the hospital, Mason. You and you're daughter are safe now."

Meanwhile, at a resort in Puerto Vallarta, his "widow" was with her Hedge-Fund Boyfriend.

As she watched the live stream of everything taking place, and changed the admin password, she thought to herself,

"This is even better. I'll admit to cheating if pressed. It's so fortunate I ran into that creep from high school that would always do anything for me. I will say I talked to him recently, and he must have thought I told him to kill him because he is a crazy stalker loner. He'll probably take the fall out of his devotion to me."

The End.

Appreciate the Story, and also the Theme!



Good Luck in the Contest!
Johnny

great story but horrible premise !!

a reply to: Degradation33

Nice work! A sort of techno cluedo with a bit of Guy Ritchie planning