To be fair, all governments through all time want the same thing: Money, power, security for their genealogical line. See, it doesn't really matter what type of government a country claims to operate under. In the end all of them fall under the same umbrella.
Though "Representative Republic" and "Dictatorship" may reside in different wings, make no mistake that they exist in the same house, are a part of the same fraternity, and differ only in their execution of State, not their fundamental functions or desires.
Resistance is not only necessary but absolutely vital to the security of the future. Without it, we will slide back into the dark ages, once again relegated to serfdom in obeisance to one crown or another. No more Masters, no more Crowns!
- Excerpt from the manifesto of the Crypto Liberation Front (CLF), dated June 21st, 2018
Ekon thumbed through his copy of the CLF Manifesto, first reading the mission statement again and then idly flipping through the rest of the work. His copy had been made special order on paper, a rarity these days, but even still it had been worn down and the pages dog-eared many times over.
But in a digital world gone rogue, paperback books were worth their weight in crypto.
His long frame was gathered on a simple metal chair and the breeze up here wound its way through his dyed-gray hair and over his skin, raising small goosebumps that gave the tattoos on his arms an almost 3D-like texture. One blue and one green eye stared out over the edge of the town, spying small figures that made up the citizen patrols.
In the Grapevine DAO, everyone wanted to be there and participated accordingly based on their skills and abilities. If not for the feds, Grapevine would be as close to an ideal community as could be since the Civil War II. As it was, this DAO and the others that dotted this side of the demilitarized zone had banded together to form the Common Defense DAO.
But the CD DAO wasn't what kept the Feds at bay. Before Civil War II descended into open hostilities, the white hats of that time inserted code into the burgeoning blockchain projects that were spreading across all the old industries. With the commencement of open war against the citizens, the white hats executed some of that code, severely disrupting the infrastructure of the Fed cities. Those hackers had created a dynamic that was not unlike the Mutually Assured Destruction Doctrine that had outlined the relationship between world powers in the history books.
The Feds, unsure of how deeply the resistance had infiltrated the blockchains of their infrastructure, backed off but still conducted raids or "kinetic actions," as they called them. It was assumed they were looking for "leaders," but there were no leaders in the CD DAO. The Feds were convinced that this was a lie and so were not deterred from their violent action.
Ekon had been on watch for several hours now and the inconspicuous make-shift bird's nest that hid him from any prying eyes had become more than a little cramped. But while it did cause his claustrophobia to flare up it was a necessary outpost that could provide ample warning should the Feds make a move on the border five miles east of Ekon's location.
A slight, imperceptible rustling of the wind was the only noise in the room, but it was enough to alert Ekon to someone else's presence.
"Hey, Nightwatch, shift's over"
Darma had been a fierce fighter in the latest conflicts, earning her the nickname Bounce for how she often managed to repel squads of Feds on her own. She since had insisted being called by that name, wearing it as a badge of honor. She had taken to keeping her face painted in a variety of styles and said that it called her warrior ancestors to aid her in battle, while also scaring the crap out of the Feds.
"Thanks, Bounce. Quiet night, this one. Want some reading material?" Ekon held out the CLF Manifesto Booklet, but Bounce shook her head negatively.
"No thanks, I could recite the whole thing by heart. But thanks, 'Kon."
Ekon moved past Bounce to give her the watch seat and head down to rest, but as he approached the ladderwell a rumbling seemed to vibrate the crow's nest, a deep thrumming that he could feel in his chest.
"Is that what I think it is?" Bounce asked as she leaned out of the window and into the brightening morning.
"Fed Paratroopers!" Ekon grabbed Bounce's arm and turned her around "We need to get to the armory and run over to the gatehouse, they need to know to activate their perimeter defenses!"
Bounce couldn't peel her eyes from the gently falling Feds but nodded in agreement, "Call down to the gatehouse from here and..."
Ekon interrupted her before she could finish the thought "No devices, there are rumors that they've cracked our encryption so we do this the old fashioned way."
Bounce snorted "Ugh, fine! At least trip the offline wallet, the Feds shouldn't be able to even reach that mesh network. God, I haven't seen this many since I was a little girl. Why now?"
Ekon took only a moment longer to watch the paratroopers glide from sky to earth, like small snowflakes rocking gently in a soft descent to the ground, before speeding off to wake, warn and prepare the others.
The non-combatant civilians of Grapevine would need time to descend to the tunnel systems that ran underneath the town, and Ekon knew that without community, there would be no point in resisting the Feds. Getting those civilians safely tucked away would have to take precedence over everything else, once he alerted the gatehouse to activate the defenses that ringed the major entrances to the Grapevine.
As usual, the Feds didn't mind shedding blood... as long as that blood was far from their borders where their citizens could see.
And just when Ekon thought the Feds couldn't surprise him anymore, he began to hear the distant pops that could only be explosions.
Almost like Cyberpunk, the BitPunk genre adventures in a world that is significantly advanced in technology set against the backdrop of a society in decline, economically or morally, and often both. At this point in time there aren't many works that deal in this genre, but if you are interested in it I would suggest reading Max Hernandez's Thieve's Emporium, as it's the closest I've found to blockchain fiction.
I hope you enjoyed the first part and will join me for the next episode soon!
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