Sta.sh
No Strings Attached
by ~elephantstone86Reggie Tallamonte settled into his recliner, and switched on his modest flat screen TV. The coils wrapped around the antenna began to glow green. Being an electrician with WUPC, he noticed the coils weren't glowing as bright as they should be. Still, he might have been on call, but he sure didn't feel like volunteering to work.
The TV hummed to life, tuned to FOX News as it usually was.
"....it's September 2nd, 2019," said the newscaster, "and we go live to the White House where the President is poised to address the nation."
Now there was a man who was proud to be an American. An honest, hard-working, amiable tone filled the room.
"My fellow Americans....."
Reggie had voted for that man. He'd do it again every day, if he could. He glanced at the glowing green antenna. That right there was a monument to American engineering, and it was all thanks to the President of the United States. Not to mention Reggie being gainfully employed! Unlike all the human waste that one commie bastard had been giving his tax dollars up 'til three years ago.
"Daddy!"
"I'll be in soon! I'm watching the news!" he called back.
His daughter Jessi's light, sweet voice called out to him. "Bring it in here, then!"
He grumbled and sat up, feeling the twinge in his spine. He was closing on forty, fast, and his back wasn't what it used to be. But there wasn't anything to be done about that; he'd lied about his income-- well, it wasn't like the government to pry into a man's private life like that, anyway, so he was protecting himself --ten years ago and slipped by the health insurance NAZIs. He lifted up the TV set and carried it towards the dining room. On the screen, the President's face spoke to him.
"Folks, I know a good idea when I see it. And what my predecessor did was certainly a good idea, there's no denying that. He had a good hypothesis...."
Reggie rolled his eyes. Just because the Jackass Party had come out behind in the last election, they had to be coddled like kindergarteners. Well, they deserved it. He didn't work his ass off as an electrician just so he had to pay for some damned darkie's hospital bill, most likely cause he got shot while robbing a liquor store.
He set the TV down on the kitchen island, facing the dinner table, and collapsed into a chair.
"....and when you have a good hypothesis, you take it out and perform all sorts of experiments on it. So President Obama came up with an experiment. However, when you do an experiment, there comes a time when you've gotta step back, and conclude the results of that experiment. Well, that time is now, and I hafta say, I'm finding the results a little lacking."
"Honey," said his wife Mary with a laugh, "you got to move that so I can prepare dinner."
So Reggie dragged himself to his feet and lifted the TV up again.
"Ladies and gentlemen, President Obama's health care reform initiative is not working."
"Tell me something I don't know," he muttered as he set it down on an end table, next to Mary's sewing machine, and again collapsed into a chair.
"Our care institutions are limping, badly. Now, you know that I'm no friend to big business. I was one of the leading Representatives calling for tighter restraint on the oil companies after the BP oil spill. In fact, during my first year in office, I was the one who pushed for implementation of the WiTE Standard, because I believe it's just what America needs as we deal with dwindling oil resources."
Of course the President would know WiTE was just what America needed: his brother was Radial Dynamics' CEO. The President would never sell his country a shoddy product.
"Our health care institutions are sick, and its up to us to give them the care they so badly need!"
"Honestly," said Mary, arranging dishes on the table, "I don't see what was so bad about that health care reform."
"You telling me you want Obama back?" he asked.
"Well, tell me this, Reggie: how are you going to pay for Jessie's school shots?"
"Ain't never had a problem with Doc Carter. He delivered Jessi just fine, didn't he? I'll put in overtime," he added to appease her stern glare.
Jessi ran hollering into the kitchen, holding a lamp. Mary grabbed her by the shoulders and halted the six year old.
"When I said I wanted a lamp, Jessi, I meant in one piece. Don't you run in the house with this....especially when it's on!" She flipped the switch on the neck, right above a coil of glowing green wire wrapped around the lamp.
"Daddy, we gonna go fishing tomorrow, right?" Jessi asked.
He tousled her blonde hair. "Sure thing, sweat pea!"
"Yay!" she shouted as she jumped into a chair.
Onscreen, the President said, "I am going to invest in America!"
The house phone rang from the living room, and Reggie went to go search for it. Ever since they stopped having to be plugged in, the damned things were impossible to find. He finally found it under one of his daughter's thick, cardboard books, only visible because of the dim green light from the coils sleekly built into the grip.
"Hello?" he asked, walking back into the kitchen.
"Reg, it's Barry."
Reggie at once regretted being able to find the phone. Not on account of Barry being black, 'cause he wasn't like one of those hoodlums in the city; Barry worked for WUPC every bit as hard as Reggie.
"Reg, I'm sorry, but we're going to need you tonight. The tower's on the fritz, and you're on call."
He looked at his wife, and mouthed 'work'.
She mouthed back 'Jessi's shots'.
"Right, Barry. I'll be out as soon as I can manage it."
*
As his van struggled at half-power up the dirt road that led to the tower, Reggie tuned the Tri-Fi radio on his van's dashboard to 141.80, hoping to catch the rest of the President's speech, but it was already over. That great man kept things short, and to the point, unlike other politicians. In his place, some mushy health insurance commercial with a tinkling piano and a solemn woman telling him how much he needed health insurance. Bah!
In the evening twilight, he saw the WiTE tower glowing atop the hill ahead. The radio-- well, it wasn't really radio since it got carried along with the WiTE transmission, just like the television and the internet, but he'd been saying it too long to change now --got stronger as he neared it, and the van seemed to run smoother and faster, although it still wasn't at full power. Soon, thousands of those towers would blanket the country, but for now there were only a few, and none of them overlapped yet.
Reggie pulled his van beside the tower and turned the Tri-Fi off, but he left the van humming quietly. As long as it was in range of the tower, and assuming he didn't blow the damned tower up tonight, the van would run indefinitely. He stepped out and instantly got blasted with a cold breeze, so he zipped up his overalls. He walked to the back of the van and hauled his toolbox out. Printed on the door was 'Wireless Unlimited Power Company of Pennsylvania. No strings attached!'
Reggie walked to the base of the hundred metal mast, its coils bathing him in unearthly green light. At chest height, a metal box was bolted to the concrete base. Stenciled on it was 'Wireless Transmission of Energy System. k-42.108s Standard. Authorized Access Only.' He flipped it open and checked the thermonic regulator output. The needle was hovering at 25%. He made sure the regulator caps were screwed down nice and tight, then attached his voltmeter to the transmission leads. The right one was good, but the left....
Dammit, he'd have to climb the tower.
He hauled himself up the metal ladder to half-way up the mast, shivering with the wind, and uncovered the capacitor couplings. There! One of the couplings had slipped loose, and its green coils buzzed and fizzled harshly. He made damn sure there were no holes in his work gloves, then grabbed the handle below and shoved the capacitor up tight. The hum of the WiTE increased, and every light in the town below seemed to glow a little brighter. He even thought he felt a little warmer as the invisible transmissions surrounded him. He sighed and made his way back down the ladder.
*
Reggie was dressed in his best suit, but apparently his nose bleeds hadn't noticed. He dabbed at them with a handkerchief while he waited for the health insurance man to come back.
The door opened, and a black man in a grey suit walked in. He sat behind his desk, leaned back, and clasped his hands in front of his lips. He surveyed Reggie.
"Now," the man said in a deep baritone, "Mister Tallamonte, let's not mince words, shall we? You have a pre-existing condition. Now, that doesn't mean we can't employ you, but this does....complicate matters somewhat. You're not insured through your job?"
"No, sir. I work for a private company. They had a plan, but with the prices they were askin' for, I didn't bother. Then they dropped it after the government said they didn't have to carry it, few years back."
"Who referred you to us, then?"
"Uhh, that'd be Doc....Doctor Carter. He's been my physician since time outta mind."
And you've discussed the issue with your local doctor?" He held his hand out, fielding the question to Reggie.
Reggie began to sweat. "Yes, sir. He took some X-Rays and said he couldn't do a thing, so he told me to....get on up here."
"How long have the symptoms persisted?"
"About three weeks."
"What was the diagnosis?" asked the man offhandedly, as he shifted his chair and leaned over his desk to look over some papers.
Reggie struggled to recite the name correctly. "Osso--Osteopathic de-- degeneration."
The man looked up sharply. "Have you had prolonged exposure to wireless energy transmissions?"
Reggie nodded, and tried to blink sweat out of his eyes. "Yes, sir. I'm an electrician with Wireless Unlimited."
The man sighed and leaned back in his chair.
Reggie stammered, "Doc Car-- Carter, he said there was a treatment. Something new."
"There is, but I'm afraid it's not yet out of the experimental stage."
Reggie stared. "What does that mean?"
"It means that even if we insured you, the company couldn't pay for it."
Reggie's anger started to rise at this darkie, with his nice suit and cushy job. "Why the hell not?"
"It's against company policy to endorse non-standard treatments."
"Well fine then, I'll go in as one of those, ahh, test subjects. I'll volunteer. Let's roll," said Reggie, standing up.
The insurance man held a hand up, urging Reggie to sit down. "I'm afraid the procedure is past the first round of human trials. The next one won't begin for another six months, while an independent review assesses its practicability."
Reggie refused to sit. He roared, "Practicability?!"
"Please, Mister Tallamonte, this is all handled by John Hopkins, not us. It's out of our hands."
To Reggie, it seemed like the walls were spreading out, leaving Reggie alone and isolated in the middle of the room. "But-- But you can't," he whispered harshly.
"Mister Tallamonte, I'm sorry, but--"
"You can't!" Reggie yelled. "I've worked hard all my life! I voted, I put this President in office! I have given everything to this goddamned country, and you can't do this to me!"
The damned darkie hit a button on his phone, leaned close to it, and said softly and swiftly, "Sondra, can you please get security up here?"
Reggie shoved the crap-- that he probably stole, cuz he was a damned darkie! --off the desk and slammed his fists on it. "No! You're going to tell me why the hell you're doing this to me! Why you think it's alright for a perfect-- perfectly good man--" Reggie began to sway, and all his joints lit on fire. He coughed, and hawked up a glob of bloody phlegm on the polished brown wood.
A doughy white security guard stepped into the office. "You called, Earl?"
The darkie looked at Reggie, then smiled two rows of white teeth at the guard. "If Mister Tallamonte won't remain civil, would you please escort him off the premises?"
Growling through the blood in his mouth, Reggie said, "You're gonna accuse me of not being civil?!"
The guard stepped close and planted a hand on Reggie's arm. "Alright buddy, let's go."
Reggie tried to shove him off, but he was too week, and the guard wrestled him out the door.
As Reggie left, the insurance man said, "We'll put your application under review."
*
Six months later, Reggie Tallamonte was dead and buried, and on the WiTE tower's panel box, below the stencil that read 'Wireless Transmission of Energy System. k-42.108s Standard. Authorized Access Only.' was a small sticker that said 'Warning: Prolonged exposure to WiTE transmissions may adversely affect health.'
