The Astral Hacker (Cryptopunk Revolution Book 1) by Brian Terenna (best ebook reader .txt) 📗

money, and our median income is higher in real terms than ever before. We have learned the importance of antitrust laws, political spending limits, lobbying bans, and competition for a free and prosperous society. We have almost no corruption because of our small transparent government, strong whistleblower policies, and watchdog agencies. And we’ve had zero armed conflicts since the revolution.

“Like all nations, we have challenges. The Republic of South America has made great strides in computing and technology, rivaling our very own Xyphotech. But our Evo is superior to their Eletron, just as we are the superior nation. We will overcome these challenges thoroughly but peacefully and usher in our next great era.

“Through our remembrance of General Briggs and the new stronger constitution he brought us, we remain free and prosperous. Happy Freedom Day, everyone!”

The view pans out to a vast audience of excited people who clap and cheer.

Barbra whistles in celebration. “Freedom! Toscano is wonderful. She’s really stayed true to our traditions of liberty and limited government, especially since she’s critical of the NIA. Garza’s tech trade war with the RSA is going to hurt everyone, though.”

I nod to her. I never listened to one of the president’s talks before and cheated my way through American History. I suppose it must be much better for people now, but why didn’t they fix foster care?

Maybe they weren’t capable. Looks like it’s up to me.

I return to the living room to do some programming. “Chim, activate sub-routine two-hundred-ten and lines thirty through fifty of protocol B.”

Lines of code and graphical interfaces rise as holograms from my q-link.

“Programming your blockchain?” asks Sunny.

“You know it,” I say, then continue rattling off predefined command words, which build lines of code.

Holograms zip around as my fingers and hand fly through the motions of moving, deleting, duplicating, and altering snippets of code. I use an enhanced coding program of my own creation, designed to make the process even faster. I quickly compile various sections, and the general framework of my blockchain begins to form.

“Boy, do your fingers move fast,” Barbra says behind me.

I flinch and look back. “Do they?” I ask, with a nervous laugh.

She shakes her head fondly. “You don’t even know how special you are.”

I look down as a smile tugs at my lips.

“Well, breakfast is ready.”

I accept the warm plate from her, and the aroma makes my stomach growl.

With a knowing look, Barbra takes the plate back to heap more food on it. “I hear you talking to your Foster Buddy all the time. You know I’m here to listen. I mean, if you’d like a human ear now and then.”

I sit at my usual place, where a steaming cup of tea waits. What she doesn’t realize is that I talk to her more than any person in the last eleven years. “I’m just shy.” And careful. “Sunny, will you wait for me in my room?”

With a nod, he waddles down the hall.

Barbra sneezes again.

“Bless you,” I say around a mouthful of food. It’s delicious.

“I noticed Sunny sounds creepy smart sometimes.”

My breath catches in my throat.

“Not like those horrid AIs, but smart,” she says. “I thought those Foster Buddies were supposed to be dumb.”

Intelligent AI are banned. She can never know about Sunny. A lie rolls off my tongue, “I did a minor language adjustment to make him sound smarter.”

Barbra puts her hand on mine in a motherly way. Various colors of paint are flecked on her fingers. “You’re so clever.”

My first instinct is to pull away, just like any time someone touches me. I don’t because I know she cares, even though she’s exposing me to her flu.

I consider opening up to her about my past, but when my stomach flutters, I chicken out. Instead, I grab my letter and hand it to her. “Here’s my final report card. It came in the mail yesterday.”

Barbra rips it open and scans it. “Let’s see. Fae Luna. Junior. Would you look at this? All As.”

I smile at her, loving that she’s impressed. I never got anything worse than an A after the foster demons in my second hell made me sleep outside for a night when I failed a class. I even got A’s in history without reading anything. I wonder what I’ll do next year, though, if I’m not hacking the teacher guides and test answers.

“Oh, it says here you don’t participate in online discussions.”

I consider lying again. I have my whole life to avoid problems, but I want things to be different with Barbra. “I’m just too nervous to speak to so many people.”

“You’ll get there.”

“…and that is why we’ve commissioned a new Navin Briggs statue,” says the president. “And it’s right here at the National Mall!”

Barbra gasps and twists to watch the projection. “What a great surprise.”

I roll my eyes behind her back.

“Did you know that General Briggs once had information to cripple a key military base if he acted quickly,” says Barbra. “He also learned they planned to strike a hospital they believed to be a rebel stronghold. It wasn’t, and Navin gave up his golden opportunity so he could evacuate the hospital. That’s the kind of man he was.”

My eyebrows rise. “Not bad.”

“He was also a huge environmentalist and animal lover,” she says. “Before the revolution, our water and air were poisoned, and millions of animals were dying. Navin turned it all around, and now we have the healthiest environment in the world.”

He does sound impressive.

The camera slides to another section to show an immense statue covered in a tarp. Holograms of Navin Briggs and his historical moments, like when he stormed the Pentagon, project behind the monument.

“And here it is…Navin Briggs the Bringer of Freedom,” says President Toscano.

The tarp zips off the statue and