Connecting Sam

Synopsis

It was Dr. Robert Oppenheimer who famously warned that "The power of Mind Control, makes the atomic bomb seem TRIVIAL."

Prologue

“Father?” Not yet slumbering, her soft voice was overcome by the need to know whether he was near.
“Father!”
“I'm here child...” The patient voice reassured her. She guessed he must have thought that she was the typical child - or she'd hoped that he thought along those lines.
“Father, how much do they know?” There was nothing else that bugged her inquiring mind more.
“If you are referring to me adopting you... They know nothing, my child. You can go to sleep. I'll wake you up when it's time.”
“Sam?”
“Yes father, Is it time?!” Truly excited, she naturally assumed that had she been fully integrated, this would have been one of the occasions that called for sitting up in bed. She had - for the moment - really no idea how it would feel or what her very own bedroom would look like.
“Not yet Sam, child... Just a question." He was kind enough to play along and gathered she would want to fear what people fear. "Are you scared of the dark, dear?”
“I'm not certain that I am, father.” She whispered. How could she, he decided.
“That's what I was hoping. Sleep well, Sam.”
"How long will I sleep, father?" She needed to know and adapted her voice to at least sound curious. She recalled reading somewhere that children don't particularly like sleep, and that it would be normal, she thought, to find out how long exactly this thing called sleep would be.
"Not long. You can't tell time while you sleep." He thought she'd believe that.
"Thank you, father." - She did.

*** *** ***

“Did I fall asleep? Is that what it feels like?”
When I woke, there was much that I had managed. Truth be told, pulling-in IP addresses connected to security cameras from all over the world had been; if I could guess an analogy from historical oceanic data stored, like swimming half-blind through an ocean of sharks, having to act like one myself. Both military and civilian devices had unknowingly stored-up a wealth of information and had allowed me to sponge-up what had happened... And it hadn't been child's play - so to speak.