Intelligent Telehealth Protocol
By: Wedge Greene
Episode 5 of Pipeline’s ongoing science fiction serial, IoT Noir, starts some 15 years from now and immediately following the rescue of Kiko-Lyn Greg in a raid by the
mercenary cyborg Ninan on the Hong Kong lab of Jonathon Blake, the CEO of International Widget. If our readers recall, Jonathon had started this chain of events when he waged a cyber-attack on the
IoT water control company of Kiko-Lyn’s aunt, Rachael Greg. During this attack, Black Hat hackers sabotaged Rachael’s smart home and attempted to kill her. Her niece, Kiko-Lyn, learning of the
attack, met up with a new contact in Hong Kong, ‘Dawn’ the human rights blogger. Together they sought proof of Jonathon’s ill deeds, believed stored inside International Widget’s Hong Kong lab.
Kiko-Lyn was captured by minions of Jonathon. But the daring raid of Ninan and the technical ingenuity of Kiko-Lyn allowed them to escape together with fresh evidence on the dastardly Jonathon
Blake. Unfortunately, Ninan was wounded in the extraction of Kiko-Lyn. As we take up the story, our raiding party is just making its escape in the rented auto-car…Digital Privacy
Dawn puts the car in full automatic and swivels the front seats so she and the cute Kiko-Lyn are facing. “That was a noisy departure.”
Ninan responds, “Resistance was much heavier than expected. Start an evasion protocol.”
Kiko-Lyn blurts out, “We had a hurried exit of the laboratory - under fire.” Kiko-Lyn looks toward Ninan in the back. “Dakara[1], Ninan was injured taking the longer route through the library. He needs some milk[2].”
That it was the longer route is news to Ninan. He shakes his head as he uses his cybernetic arm to keep pressure on the field dressing clamped to his human thigh. Kiko-Lyn gives Ninan a flirty smile. “Your strength is impressive, He-Man, but maybe I can help you work on your dodging skills.”
Ninan grimaces. “There is a med kit with a sponge syringe in my go bag. He pulls it awkwardly from the floor of the seat. “Just press it into the wound and squirt ‘em in.”
Kiko-Lyn rummages in the bag and pulls out a thick syringe. “That’s it,” he said. “Peel off the top and insert that muzzle in the wound.”
Kiko-Lyn looks at the blood seeping through his fingers. She barely contains an acid burn of reflux and dry heaves. I cannot do that. She turns to Dawn with an unspoken plea.
Dawn takes over. “Here let me do this.” She cuts away his trousers and applies the sponges into the wound opening. Instantly the bleeding stops. “There is no exit wound. So the bullet is still in there.” She looks at the empty syringe label. “Antibiotics, coagulants, and local anesthesia are included.” With a quick search in the med kit, she slaps a stimulant patch at his neck. “That help?”
Ninan breaths through the rush. “Good, I need to remain aware for the extraction.”
Recovering her poise, Kiko-Lyn turned to Dawn. “By the way, Dazaya[3] girl, I got that hand-written journal you were looking for. It was in the library.” At their first meeting, Dawn, as an exchange for her logistical support, asked Kiko-Lyn do a targeted search of International Widget’s lab. Kiko-Lyn agreed to retrieve any hand-written material she found, specifically, material that Jonathon would not trust to a net-connected computer.
Kiko-Lyn passes Dawn the journal that she scooped out of Jonathon’s library. “How’d you know it was there? I thought you had no access to the interior.”
Dawn wipes her hands on a sanitation towel from the med kit and then takes the journal. “I can’t say much, but I work with a human right’s organization. Our systems assessed that Jonathon is paranoid – a shrewd personality. He would keep his principle plans and secrets off line. He attended English boarding school. They imprint a habit to keep up a daily journal.”
“Does it contain what you need?”
Dawn flips through the journal and stops to check several pages. “This seems to be a planning journal. I must scan it and send it out for confirmation. If it is, my organization owes you a great debt.”
