"The Machine," teaser... (Unedited version)

Mr. Hamilstein’s heart pounded and his veins pulsated as he known his end was near. For Mr. Hamilstein, neither a reeducation camp in the Badlands of the Dakotas or a prison cell in the Salt Flats of Utah lie anywhere in his future. No, neither a FEMA camp in the once fertile land of Nebraska or a forced labor camp in the deserts of Texas lay ahead. In a land where the President had become King and the rich have become poor through redistribution programs, freedom of individualism had been silenced. And it is this lack of silence on one particular issue that had condemned a man who dared question his United States Government.

Hamilstein passed a US Department of Citizen Oversight poster with the image of “Uncle Sam,” and a statement that read, “Questions equal Weakness, and Weakness equals Treason.”

As he continued down a darkened and nameless street he watched as the cameras followed his every movement. In some sick game of those secret individuals controlling the cameras each time he pasted another dimmed street lamp, the lamp illuminated. This must be to assist with his location to his DOW pursuers he believed. This ability of the grid was something far beyond even what he had uncovered while secretly investigating the Government’s planned smart grid.