July 21, 2009.
“Thanks so much for meeting me. It’s been a long time since we’ve met in person,” Sebastin said to Stephen as they sat down at the “Pieces of Pi” restaurant in San Mateo, a half hour from the Ubatoo grounds. He hadn’t seen him since the party, which seemed years ago. The bandage on Sebastin’s forehead covered the stitches. He just hoped it didn’t start leaking again. Even then, he thought to himself, it would be entertaining to see how Stephen handled the blood.
“It’s great to see you again,” Stephen stated automatically. Although he had agreed to the meeting on the phone, he had only given it a 50 percent probability of actually occurring. If he had his druthers, he would prefer all business communication first through e-mail, then maybe via phone, then, only if necessary, in person. But sitting down to talk informally was absolutely last on his list. There was too much social chatter, too many distractions, and not enough substance for his liking, at least nothing that couldn’t be accomplished in just a few lines of e-mail.
As Sebastin bobbed his tea bag in and out of his steaming hot water, he gathered himself to play the role he needed to once again. Mustering all his strength, he opened the conversation cheerfully. Make this work. This has to go well so I can get what Mohammad needs. “Stephen, let me just say again, thanks for all the data you gave me. It was simply incredible and far more than I could have hoped for. I think your findings will help me enormously.” Perfect. That sounded like nothing’s wrong.
“Thanks. I hope you can use all the information. I know it was a lot.”
“Oh, yes, yes. It was wonderful. As a matter of fact, let me ask you a question, and forgive me for my bluntness. I would really like you to work with me full-time.” Listen to my words, Stephen. Work with me. Not Ubatoo. Not ACCL. Come, work with me. Give me some sign, any sign, that you know what I’m saying. I can’t ask you directly. Think carefully, Stephen. Think about what I said.
Stephen was prepared for a lot of different conversations (primarily revolving around the many new and innovative ways people invented to extract more data and work out of him), but this, he hadn’t seen coming. “I’m flattered, Sebastin, but I really don’t know what more I can do to help right now. I’m not even sure I know enough about ACCL, or what ACCL does, to decide.”
Sebastin’s demeanor seemed to perceptibly change, as if he was grudgingly resolved to give a spiel he had hoped he wouldn’t have to give. It had been a long shot. Stephen was too naïve. There was no time to work on Stephen. What had he been thinking? He had known this when he started the conversation. Now, he just needed to keep up appearances enough to get what he needed and be done with it.
Back to the original plan. “That’s why I’m here, Stephen. I’ll tell you all I can, and then I’ll leave it in your hands. Our core team is just four people, who are now trying to do something worthwhile instead of simply making more money. You can check us on our web site. All of our bios are there. We’re not looking to build a huge team, just a few people we can work with. You’d be the second person we’ve hired. But we have an army of volunteers and partners. I think we’re making a real difference.”
“You mean by contacting all the people you were talking about?”
“That’s only part of it. It’s not as trivial as you make it sound. You must keep in mind, Stephen, that our rights, I mean including yours and mine, are being eroded one by one, and no one is even cognizant of it happening. It’s about preserving our privacy, our ability to access information and to have discussions about any topic without fear.” Sebastin’s voice was steadily getting louder with every word. “Just because I read or say something doesn’t mean I should be on a government watch list. Who knows why someone will be taken in for questioning, or God forbid, tortured? A few years ago, it was called patriotism.”
Stephen looked around the restaurant several times, hoping nobody he knew was within earshot of this conversation. He could only imagine what others would think about Sebastin; probably the same thing he was thinking.
That’s right, Stephen, look around. See everybody watching? Getting self-conscious yet? This was too easy. Sebastin took a deep breath before going on. “The only way we stay ahead of this is by contacting people and gathering all the evidence we can through all our sources of data, including, of course, all that you and Atiq have generously provided. Let’s start with some e-mails and see how far that takes us. The point is that people should know why they’ve made it onto some watch list. I guarantee that most people don’t deserve to be on it.”
Stephen spoke quietly, as if somehow trying to mitigate the effect of Sebastin’s loud ranting. “I have to admit it sounds interesting—more interesting than targeting advertisements forever.” He wasn’t sure why the words were coming out of his mouth, or where he was going with his reply.
“Our ‘silver bullet’ is that we have access to the data that companies like Ubatoo and the half-dozen companies that surround you in the Valley have, and that they are willing to share it with us to help further our mission. No government, no organization, has this. The Valley is a do-gooder’s Mecca, Stephen. Everyone here cares about preserving our rights, cares about free speech, and really wants to do the right thing. I believe we’ve assembled the right team to make a difference.” And you’re just the final step, Stephen. What do you think, Stephen? Enamored with us yet?
He said it with a confidence possible only from having done something remarkable in the Valley. Nevertheless, Stephen wished the would keep his voice down.
Sebastin now awaited a response. “I’m really glad ACCL is around doing what it’s doing,” Stephen said. “I think it’s admirable, I honestly do. I still need to think about it more. I hope it’s okay for me to say that.” It was a strange turn—from computer scientist to political activist in only a few hours. Even though the thought of more diet pill advertising campaigns and the still-fresh sting of Yuri’s offer plagued Stephen’s mind, he needed to reflect carefully this time. He had made too many hasty career changes in the past.
“Look, everybody feels indignant about what’s happening around them. But you’re lucky: You have an opportunity to do something about it. I’ll leave it at that.”
Hopefully, he really would stop the hard sell there. Stephen relaxed for the first time since sitting down, and the conversation steadied for a few minutes to something less taxing. Sebastin was understandably passionate about his work, but it was challenging to keep up with his intensity.
When Sebastin spoke again, it was on a new topic. Stephen would be receptive to anything now, anything as long as I ask without the impassioned ranting. First, appeal to his technical wizardry. I’d bet a year’s salary he’s going to solve this problem, without caring what I ask, before we leave this restaurant. “Stephen, I’m not sure if you can even get this data, but for the 5,000 people’s names you gave me last time, can you tell me which ones are doing well financially and which aren’t? Is there any way you can figure out how to estimate that? I have a gut instinct that tells me there’s probably a lot of income and spending level profiling that goes into deciding who gets put on watch lists.”
As Stephen had anticipated from the start, Sebastin wanted more data. Figures he would mention a job offer first; nothing works better than flattery. At least, though, this was a conversation Stephen was comfortable having.
It took Stephen a few seconds to consider the request. “I could find a way to estimate it, but why do you want it?”
Sebastin was ready for that question. “Maybe the less income you have, the more susceptible you are to being enticed by extremist groups, especially if you already have proclivities leaning that way, like this group of 5,000 is suspected to have? If there are patterns we can easily find, maybe we can have a class-action lawsuit showing unfair targeting across lower income levels. It’s just a shot in the dark, but can you imagine the amount of publicity it would garner?” Play to his imagination. Imagine doing something really big, Stephen. Imagine the good you’ll be doing. Just imagine the difference you’ll make.
“I can get that information. A lot of people check stocks and mutual funds; I can see what they’ve been looking at. Maybe that will find a few people. I could also just check how much people are spending through Ubatoo’s credit card. That will get more. If that doesn’t uncover enough people, I suppose I could see if they’ve started searching on foreclosures, loans, mortgages, bankruptcies, and so on. We can probably infer what we need to know.”
Before Sebastin could respond, Stephen tacked on, “Oh, and by the way, I’m not sure if I mentioned it earlier, but there’s an intern in the data-mining group who worked at the NSA? He might be a good person to contact, too. Maybe he would have some advice.”
A startled look crossed Sebastin’s face. Think. Think. Is there any way to use this? It was too much to think about right now. No. Better to go with his first instinct. “Really? Let’s save talking to him until a bit later. I don’t want to raise any red flags with anyone until we have all the information we need to make a strong legal case. I hope that doesn’t put you in an awkward position, but if we’re going to make a strong case, the fewer people who know what we’re looking into, the better.”
“I think he’s trustworthy, but you’re the boss. When you need his advice, let me know. I’d be happy to make the introductions.”
“Thanks, Stephen. Sounds like a good person to have in reserve. Anyway, everything you said sounds great. One more thing, can you also flag for me the people who have lost the most financially recently, I mean just of the 5,000 on your list?”
“That’s no problem. But, again, I don’t know if that will really be indicative of much,” Stephen said distantly. What Sebastin did with the data was only mildly interesting to Stephen. That was something Sebastin would have to figure out once he had the data. Stephen was already engrossed in thoughts of how to implement Sebastin’s request.
“Well, if you can, let’s just try it. I can only guess, but maybe people who suddenly experience an extreme downturn are the most susceptible to persuasion? If we have the data, we’ll figure out what to do with it.”
And with that, Sebastin picked at his pie and took a long sip of his now tepid tea. I bet he’s already working on the problem. That’s enough for today; don’t push too hard. Besides, if he’s half as good as last time, who knows how many extra treats I’ll wind up with.
Stephen sat in the booth without saying a word. He would stay that way for the few minutes it took to figure out the exact commands required to obtain the data Sebastin needed. This awkward interaction was exactly why he hated having these informal meetings in person. His coffee was cold and his apple pie neglected, the latter a poor substitute for Ubatoo’s handmade croissants.