Chapter 12: Dreampocalypse

Still arm in arm, Amanda and I walked around the outside of St Stephen’s Green. This was path I knew well, as on many a Sunday I had joined with the dozens of other painters who set up an impromptu gallery and hung paintings on the railings. Never when it was after dark though. The street lighting here at night was dim and that was a comfort, a protective veil.

‘What you need to know about Neo is that he is haunted by the idea that one day governments around the world are going to take all his wealth away.’

I said nothing.

‘He’s right, actually,’ Amanda continued, ‘with just one fifth of his money, the entire population of the world could be given new, clean water systems for life; food for ten years; healthcare for five years, and education for five years. Sooner or later, some country – probably France, you know what they are like – is going to skim a few billion off Neo in a special tax. Then it could unravel pretty fast for him.

‘There’s really nothing stopping governments from introducing a wealth tax for the hundred people at the top of the rich list, only inertia. Neo is not so much afraid of politicians – he funds most of them – he’s terrified of a sudden switch in the minds of the millions that results in governments taxing him due to public pressure. So that’s what the dream technology is really about. Obviously, he is happy to make money from advertisers. His real agenda though, is to influence how we think. He wants the power to make humanity dull-witted so he can enjoy his wealth safely. He wants to promote figures like Trump and Putin in our dreams. People who will never move against him.’

We reached the corner of Leeson Street and the junction with Earlsford Terrace. It was brighter here, though the orange streetlight served mostly to reveal how much rain was in the night air. I paused.

‘Are you with me so far?’ Amanda asked.

‘I am.’

‘Good. And do you understand the danger? We could be facing the end of our humanity.’

‘I know the technology can imprison your libido.’

‘It can do far worse. Did you ever have a computer virus?’

‘Erm, not really. Maybe.’

‘Computer viruses can destroy a computer in different ways: straightforwardly crashing the operating system; slowing the system down; endlessly launching unwanted programs; messing up the memory; all sorts. Ever since we’ve had human mind-to-computer interface, we’ve been vulnerable to having computer-style viruses unleashed in our minds.’

‘God, awful thought.’

‘Isn’t it.’ Amanda gave me a gentle tug and we set off towards Harcourt Street.

‘Got any more good news?’

‘Neo is developing a virus for warfare. You know that Ukrainian drone operators have adapted the Explorer so they can mind-link to their drones?’

‘I think I’d vaguely heard about that.’

‘Putin wants to counter attack and destroy their minds with a virus and Neo has taken his money to research how to do that.’

By the time we reached the next corner, Amanda had sketched a Domesday scenario several times over. Computer viruses in our minds. Replacement of our thought process by AI algorithms. Cyber wars in our heads. Runaway advertising using up all our brain capacity.

‘You agree we have to stop this?’

‘Of course.’ I couldn’t have put any more urgency into those two words.

‘Good. With your help I can kill him.’

I stopped again. We were opposite the Unitarian Church, which was pretty much the last place in the whole country where people would be talking about murder. ‘Kill Neo?’

‘Neo personally visits the dreams of the hood users. The women. Especially the attractive ones. Sometimes, he tells the other staff to leave then lies in the dream station and you can guess what he’s doing.’

‘Having sex with them somehow?’

‘Or worse.’

‘Worse?’

‘Who knows what fetishes he has, that creep. Anyway, he’s there alone in your dreams. That’s our chance.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘I’ve written a virus. You just have to get him to accept it in the dream and it will melt his mind.’

My throat was thick. I had to swallow. ‘I’m not killing anyone. Even Neo.’

Amanda gave me a long look, tiny droplets of misty rain gleaming on her eyelashes. ‘I actually know how you feel and respect you for it. I don’t like the idea of killing someone, to be honest. It’s not me. I can’t help thinking this is like the times before Hitler came to power though. And you’d have killed Hitler if you got the chance, wouldn’t you?’

Would I? I mean, if I could press a button and be in a world where Hitler never existed, sure. But if I was in front of him with a loaded gun and had to shoot him down? ‘I don’t know. I don’t think so. Not even then. There has to be another way.’

‘I wish there was. I’ve thought about this for weeks. And there’s nothing else we can do. We have to kill Neo while we can. Before he finishes the pilot scheme and launches a new product for the Explorer, one that promises lucid dreaming for the user but which makes us in thrall to his messages.’

‘Neo has been in my dreams, asking for sex. But I just brushed him off. What makes you think he’ll try again?’

‘He’ll come after you. You’re beautiful. An artist. For sure Neo will turn up in your dreams again and sooner rather than later. In the meantime – tonight would be best – I’ll give you an item containing the virus. I was thinking of poisoned lipstick for when you kiss him but it could be anything. A simple box addressed to him would do it. So long as he accepts it.’

‘And if he takes it, what happens?’

‘As soon as he thinks of the trigger image – which I’ve set as himself – it will replicate. All the complexity of his brain will collapse as his neurons realign to the same pattern, over and over. His mind will fill with billions of Neos. And that’s all. Flatlined on his self-image. A perfect Narcissus. It’s poetic justice.’

The thought I might be able to kill Neo made me unsteady and I felt the need for physical support from Amanda’s arm.

‘You’re brave,’ I said at last. ‘To take on Neo.’

‘Not really. He wanted me to lead on the Ukrainian virus and I couldn’t, so I quit. First though, I got copies of all the internal documentation I could so as to alert the world. It’s him or me, now, I think. I don’t see him allowing me to exist for much longer. He must be desperate to shut me up.’

We resumed our walk, coming closer to the bright lights of the Stephen’s Green shopping centre and of Grafton Street. There were normal people all around. People who were not planning to save the world. People who were unaware that the world even needed saving. I was envious of them.

‘Remember when Trump nearly got shot during the twenty-twenty-four election?’ I asked.

‘What about it?’

‘I was glad the bullet missed. Even though I despise Trump more than anyone else in the world, I didn’t want him to be violently murdered.’

‘That was different,’ Amanda’s head was tipped forward so her hood protected her from the rain. I could only see her thin mouth. ‘If Trump had died, no matter who shot him, there would have been civil war. The anger of his supporters would have boiled over. This way, no one will know what happened to Neo. It will be an accident of his own technology. Like those billionaires who died in the submarine.’

‘I’m sorry Amanda. I can’t do it.’ How awful that public tragedy must have been for the families of those people in the submarine.

‘All right.’ She didn’t sound bitter, only tired.

‘There has to be another way to stop him though.’

‘There isn’t.’

For a while we walked on without speaking, a silence imposed as much by the impasse we had reached as the presence of increasing numbers of passers-by. Only at the corner of Buswells Hotel did I bring her to a halt.

‘When Neo enters my dreams, is that reversible?’ I asked her.

‘What do you mean?’ Amanda tipped up her head enough that I could see the curiosity in her eyes.

‘Can the same technology that allows Neo into my dream, allow me to enter his?’

‘In theory. You are both wearing the hoods, both connected to the software that’s reconfiguring your mind state. The difference is, the DreamAds operators have a firewall to filter you out.’

‘Could you get me past their firewall?’

Amanda’s eyes were on the ground now, I could see a frown form. ‘I know the team that wrote the firewall, they are good. They won’t have left any obvious gaps. There’s one of them might help me. That would be the easiest way. Just get admin rights, even temporarily, and disable the firewall for long enough for you to cross over. If not, then it’s possible, I could try to subvert the filter rules, or insert some malware. But why? What do you hope to achieve?’

‘I’m not sure. I do know that together with my better half, my id, I was able to remove a block DreamAds put in my mind. Maybe I could send Neo some nightmares. Get him to reconsider what he’s doing. Reverse his plan by using his own weapon.’

‘He’ll never stop.’

‘Let me try?’

‘What’s your hood serial number?’

I opened the DreamAds app on my phone and showed my account details to Amanda.

‘Got it. Do you use Signal?’

‘No.’

‘Install it and add orion seven-two-five-four. I’ll either appear in your dreams or I’ll message you on Signal.’

I didn’t know what I was doing, nor whether it would be safe to enter someone else’s dreams. I supposed so, since Neo himself as well as the DreamAds staff did it. The thought of wearing the hood again was not as alarming as perhaps it should have been. Why not? Because I was daydreaming about saving humanity? Not so much, although that thought was present. It’s you? I reached towards my twin. You want to go outside of my mind?

In reply I had a flashing memory of the art museum in Madrid and standing before Hieronymus Bosch’s The Garden of Earthly Delights. I felt a tremendous desire for revenge upon the man who had tried to imprison me. I wanted to kick his dreams apart and send him nightmares with monsters more awful than those in the painting.

Back at our seats, Martin was relieved to see us. ‘That took a while. I don’t have long now. Can we agree a plan to address the problems with the dream technology? At least in principle; we can flesh out the details via email.’

Looking at the TD, I could now see him through Amanda’s eyes and I understood her earlier scepticism. What good were public meetings and parliamentary questions when we faced someone who just didn’t care? Neo would do exactly as he liked and no political or judicial process would stop him. If – highly unlikely – Ireland tried to close down DreamAds Neo would simply find another place from where he could continue with his plans.

Amanda ran a hand through her damp, black curls. Disconsolate, she just let out a long sigh.

‘What do you think Cyn?’ asked Daniel. ‘Are you willing to go public?’

‘If I had to. But, honestly, I don’t think it will do any good.’

‘Oh it will,’ Martin looked at me with earnest eyes. ‘On the ground there’s a lot of concern about this. No one wants ads in their dreams.’

‘Just wait. When you can have all your fantasies come true every night, there will be a rush for hoods faster than porn taking to the internet.’ Now Amanda was on her feet and buttoning up her stylish coat.

‘What the hell did you two talk about?’ said Martin. ‘Don’t give up. We can push back against the multinationals. We stopped the introduction of water charges and we can stop DreamAds.’

‘Nice to meet you all. I doubt we’ll meet again.’

‘Except in my dreams.’ I nearly got a smile for that. Then she was gone out into the dark and I felt sorry I’d let her down. If she was right that it was her or Neo, then I might have just condemned her to death.