Coffee Break Read – Predicting Behaviour

What happens when the hunter becomes the hunted…

“Well, yes, you are right,” the unknown woman said, treating Cista Tyran to a condescending smile. “That was one of the less salubrious acquaintances Kahina achieved in her long career. And interestingly, that also brings us to the project which led to her downfall: Future Data — a predictive behaviour suite which was indeed highly promising in its early trials, but fell down so badly in the final real-world field test that those working on it renamed it ‘Futile Data’.”
She stopped, no doubt expecting laughter, then went on quickly when none came.
Perhaps, thought Grim, that kind of thing had them rolling in the aisles at political conventions. Would explain a lot about politicians if so. He listened politely as the woman explained how Future Data, in which a large amount of public money had been invested, had not only been shown to be faulty, but Kahina herself had contrived to mask the failings by some increasingly desperate measures, even eventually employing a hit man to try to make her predictions come true. Though who she had been targeting was unknown.
Now that little gem was not something that had come out in the trial.
Grim stirred slightly, his professional interest tweaked. This was his field of expertise.
“Do we know who she hired?” The woman smiled at him as she might at a very junior journalist asking an unnecessary question at an unwanted press-conference, a smile that was cold, impersonal and put upon. Enough to convince Grim that this was not a topic on which she wanted to share.
“A man called Archanbor Drummer, I believe, but it isn’t relevant to this briefing.”
Grim nodded and let it go. He knew someone who could tell him if Archanbor Drummer, a.k.a The Drum, had taken on any work in the last couple of years. He was just surprised that news of The Drum making another kill had not filtered through his grapevine at the time. It was the kind of thing that should have auto-qualified for the top line of his personal alternative newsfeed.

From Iconoclast: Mistrust and Treason a Fortune’s Fools book by E.M. Swift-Hook – which is only 0.99 to buy for a limited period.