‘The short of it is this: there is a system that watches people, one person each day for a full 24 hours. The surveillance switch happens at noon mountain time and abides by daylight saving. The perspective hovers five feet or so in front of the subject at about face height and it adjusts for sitting or lying down. It seems to be limited to the USA, including Alaska and Hawaii, but has been known to cross the border with a subject if they happen to travel during their day of surveillance.
Interesting, yes, and disturbing- but what does it have to do with the Wayside?
‘The Society for Surveillance Indication,’ or ‘The SSI’ has a small center located in southern Nevada where the surveillance signal is the strongest. That’s the crux of the matter. Whatever happens to be doing the surveilling is also broadcasting its work and, intentionally or otherwise, that signal is accessible to those with the right equipment within a full square mile of Nevada countryside (and, weakly, within a single square foot in the middle of a street downtown Denver, Colorado, discovered in 2021). ‘The SSI’ is a small group of volunteers that monitors the surveillance signal and attempts to quickly identify each day’s subject and to warn them not to do anything they wouldn’t want seen- to cover up with a towel when they use the toilet, for instance, or to not give away launch codes in highly confidential government meetings. ‘The SSI Center’ highlights success stories- those days in which they were quickly able to identify somebody by a flashed ID or a phone number and save them the embarrassment of undressing for the dozens of people that camp out in Nevada and tune in, hoping to glimpse a blackmailable secret or satisfy a voyeuristic urge.
Controversially, ‘The SSI’ does allow high-value donors total access to their central command center which is, really, a small movie theater augmented with cutting edge information skimming software. In essence, for the right price, anybody can gain full access to ‘The SSI’s’ identification arsenal and could, theoretically, glimpse blackmailable secrets or satisfy voyeuristic urges in crisp 4K.
That’s the trick with the Wayside, reader. Money buys everything.’
A small crowd of people greet me in the parking lot of ‘The SSI Center.’ I mistake their waving for welcome- an unexpectedly generous sort of welcome. It isn’t until I’ve switched off the bike and taken off my helmet that I realize they were trying to wave me away.
A high pitched noise has filled the desert air but quickly fades. Thin smoke creeps from the doors of ‘The SSI Center.’ Its antennae sparks atop the roof. A woman, a managerial type, quiets the others and turns her back to me, placing her hands on her hips. She takes in the disaster of ‘The SSI Center’ behind her. A young man approaches.
“Hey,” he says. His tone is almost sheepish. “You didn’t happen to get a phone call just now, did you?” I check my phone and see several missed calls from an unknown number. One an hour ago. Two within the last 30 minutes. Nearly a dozen in the last five. The man continues: “Well, uh, today is they day you’re being surveilled and, uh, we thought you ought to know.” He gestures to ‘The SSI Center.’ “Feedback issue. Fried as soon as you crossed into the signal area.”
“Sorry about that,” I tell him, before I remember that this is America, where apologizing for damages can implicate a person in them. “I’ll just get going…”
“Actually, if you could just stick around-”
I put the helmet on and pretend not to hear him. I don’t stop until several hours later, when I’ve pulled over for gas and realize it’s only just evening of my 24 hours. I pay in cash and wear the helmet to sleep, hoping nobody’s paying too close attention to a strange man and his rabbit.
-traveler
