Uncaught Net

• Dylan Martin, Grade 12
• Short Story
• 2009

Ignoring the neon coloured advertisements, John searched. He was on unfamiliar ground, having been here only once before, and was looking for something designed to be obscure.
His eyes ran through the bickering crowd, past the bright advertisements and into an obscure corner, where he found his contact's calling card. John briefly read the crowd, making sure none of them had noticed what he had. Their quarrelsome conversations seemed to keep them distracted, so John considered the call card unseen.
John stayed hidden for a moment before he made a move. His contact, who used the name Noah, was always the first to admit he was notoriously paranoid about being caught. In fact, that paranoia prevented him from gaining any notoriety, but it did tend to rub off on John, so he waited before approaching the card.
The card had an address on it. Knowing the crowd would not notice his absence, John left without a word. The night's annoyingly high traffic slowed his progress significantly.
His destination looked seedy. Suspicious of the validity of the calling card, John was about to leave when Noah opened contact. Their conversation was short. John told Noah what he wanted, and Noah left.
Noah had access to areas John did not. Not long ago, before the new laws had passed, John had been free to roam those areas. Now they were restricted to those who could pay for access. John wanted to get into a restricted area, and Noah was his way in.
While he waited for Noah to return, John studied the local crowd. There were fewer people here than where he was before, and they all seemed furtive. The colours were all dark, creating a gloomy atmosphere. For the first time in what felt like ages, John could not see any advertisements. He got the feeling they were afraid of the locals. He wondered why Noah would come here. The restricted areas were said to be much darker than this, but John knew that was a lie.
As the crowd started to take notice of him, John worried why Noah had not returned yet. He could understand why it might take a while, but it was uncommon for Noah to take this long. He was in no hurry, but he needed information he could only get in a restricted area.
Noah returned. His brief message was frustrated and apologetic. He left.
The information John needed was blacklisted. He had no idea why and never would – the blacklist was kept secret. But he did know how to get it. The Australian Government may have censored the information, but not all countries did so. He could use a foreign import to get the information; he just needed to use another contact.
John logged off his computer, leaving the problem for tomorrow. The Internet censorship laws were easily beaten with a tiny bit of technical knowledge. Ultimately, they just made people angry. John missed the old days.