Pandora.exe

Imagine, if you will, a software expert working in Silicon Valley on a unique device similar to a larger-scale version of the devices and programs hackers use to mine and steal people's data. Let’s call him the Guru.

Imagine this was a device that contained all of the most wretched and deplorable content, not just the pornography, but the genuinely depraved and repugnant. Imagine, after mining all of the worst of the internet, he kept it locked away. The man would be considered a hero, no doubt. An objective saintly type. The kind you would hear stories about centuries later. Who received many accolades, awards and titles of honour that singled him out from the rest. Not only did his device search and find existing historical content, but it was also programmed to mine for any new content created, store it away, and avoid harming it.

That's the problem, you see. You can't simply outlaw a practice or even put blocks in place to prevent the practice from being possible. Individuals will always find a way, a loophole, a fault in systems and software. That is why it was almost too perfect; thanks to his significant advancements in nanotechnology, that slick black little device was no bigger than the palm of his hand.

*

Debates were sounded and heard regarding the box, its validity, and why it should fall to one man to keep such content locked away. Debates that were contested and countered successfully. The debates did give rise to doubts in some because of whether there can be a truly one-way system. One esteemed and successful hacker claimed that there were design issues. The power required to store such levels of unimaginable horror - millions of documents, written and illustrated, images and videos in both high and low definition, would create surges. In the earliest days, though you will never find a record of these, the prototype suffered a malfunction that saw some of the content it held seeping back out, not just into the darkest recesses of the internet, but publicly for all to access. Though heavily clipped and fragmented, the splices still offered glimpses into the sad tale of a kidnapped man who sought female company but was instead skinned alive and his flesh fed to a group of savage cannibals.

After this information was redacted and expunged, the findings became legend and rumour rather than fact and proof of fault. When the hacker's findings surfaced, there was a furore. However, as the situation was still in the earliest stages, the tech Guru quietly "dealt" with the hacker, enlisting his help to solve the issue. By doing this, he silenced his concerns and highlighted the creator's interest in transparency.

One woman came forward and debated the implications of the device as a victim of sex trafficking in her early 20s; she felt specific documentation or footage of the worst period in her life that left her emotionally and physically scarred for life would be "in" the device.

Another man claimed that the device would spare his life of victimisation and abuse thanks to the deletion of a series of videos he made in his college years.

Eventually, the worries and concerns dissipated. There was always something new for people to get outraged about.

The tech Guru rigorously designed the device and claimed it to be a foolproof, one-way system. Once the device collects and stores content, no one can access it. The belief was that even the Guru did not have access to the inhumane cruelty and debased iniquity inside.

A side effect of the black metallic and plastic box’s technology was an intermittent shrill from it every hour on the hour. Though the Guru maintained that this was but mechanical noises, many claimed it was something darker—echoes of the horrors that lay within.

Charismatic and considered the best of humanity, and due to the extent of the quality and quantity of such crude and decrepit content becoming available daily, the world felt powerless without the Guru's help. The statistics spoke for themselves and left governments with no choice but to ignore the moral implications of the device in favour of dealing with the more significant problems the content posed for humanity. The man behind closed doors was not the same man he was in the public eye. The man was shrewd and had his agenda for keeping the fetishised depravity locked away from the general public. It was more than just a humanitarian cause for him.

A long time ago, when his career was just flourishing, he met a beautiful woman he eventually married. She proved to be a thorn in his side. The Guru focused on success and status; her main goal was to do good. They often clashed in their relationship's formative years over his lack of morals over material and experiential gain. She was beautiful, but her moral virtuosity prevented him from achieving all he desired. Foolishly, upon entering into marriage with her, he gave too much control to her. A divorce would not provide the clean break free from her that he truly desired. While much of the press surrounding the couple's tempestuous relationship illuminated her objections and conflicts with her husband's interests and worldviews, it also painted her as unintelligent and hypocritical.

The pained look of sadness on his face when he announced her passing only helped to give strength to those negative opinions of her. Profoundly flawed but loving were some of the words in her obituary.

Malcolm knew only too well that this was all a smokescreen to help shift interest away from the device. In the wake of her death, there had been renewed interest in the press and social media about her conflicts with the Guru. Interest that wasn't going to disappear.

Interest that pushed Malcolm to make decisions he thought he might be able to postpone until he was ready to put his game plan into action. He had worked hard to get on the Guru's right side because he knew there were issues beyond simple leaks. When the leaks occurred, Malcolm noticed some hidden encrypted files that, at the time, he could not look at. Since working with the Guru, though, with access to everything, he had made a startling but not devastating discovery.

He had expected something scandalous but not nearly as deplorable as he discovered when he decrypted the files. He thought about just leaving it be and not diving any deeper. After all, the less he knew and was aware of, the less he had to worry about. It tore him apart, though, and his conscience pricked him. So, he continued, unsure where his diving expedition would take him but determined to get to the bottom.

Initially, he would use his findings as leverage if the Guru decided to fire him at any time. Still, the extent of the material, beyond the expected porn, snuff, kidnapping, torture, rape, executions and various other depravities from the worst of humanity, forced him to reconsider his gameplan. It forced him to reconsider a lot about his life and the kind of person he wanted to be.

There were rumours about the Guru in his formative years, his predilections, his peccadillos. Although he had made sure those rumours had stayed rumours, and this mainly had worked until Malcom started poking around the device.

Malcolm knew the Guru wasn't stupid, though, so he assumed that Malcolm had seen things he really shouldn't have. He wasn't quite sure what the Guru's plan was, but he was confident that it wasn't for nothing that the Guru had given him such unprecedented access to the recorded evidence of the Guru's immoral tastes.

Perhaps, Malcolm thought, that was all his plan to hold it over him, to incriminate him.

As Malcolm continued to dive deeper, though, some files differed from those collected by the device. Files that the device did not scrape from the internet were manually sent to it by someone—the Guru.

Some were created only within the last year, including one file titled "Fun with Wifey."

As Malcolm's phone buzzed in his pocket, he nearly jumped out of his skin.

"Like what you see?"

He didn't want to open the file but did anyway and was shocked to find footage of what really happened to the Guru's wife. What was even more shocking was that the footage was a deepfake and in place of who he assumed was the Guru himself doing all manner of depraved things to the restrained woman was Malcolm.

"I'm sure you understand your situation."

Another text.

Malcolm sat silently, blankly staring at the screen as the blood drained from his skin.

He felt lost - trapped.

*

Malcolm did not get any sleep that night as he sat back at his desk, trying to figure out what to do next. His conscience was pricking him anytime he came back to the idea of just simply looking the other way. The Guru's wife's death would be in vain. After hours of weighing up the pros and cons of several ideas, he succumbed to the pressure the Guru was placing on him.

"Let's meet"

He sent the text.

He planned to explain to the Guru that he did not intend to do anything about the device, but would no longer work for him.

"My office, 10 am tomorrow."

He had 24 hours to prepare for what would certainly be the end of his career and, more pertinently, his life. At that time, he sent a few letters to important people in his life. People he had not been in contact with for several years—his mom and dad, his childhood sweetheart whose heart he broke. It was his way of making amends in some sense. By the time they received their letters, he could be dead or wiped off the face of the earth with no record he existed.

Enjoying his last night of freedom in this messed-up world, he walked across town from his apartment to the Guru's office tower.

As he waited at reception to be cleared by security, Malcolm thought about his life, all that he had done and failed to do, and the times when he had done anything remotely good.

Walking through the Guru's office door, he felt a sense of calm come across him.

"Take a seat, Malcolm", was the first thing the Guru said as the door closed.

"I am surprised, to say the least. I thought you had more fights in you. Still, it makes my life easier. I know you think of me as this ruthless tyrannical pervert, but it's just human nature. At least by controlling what the public sees and doesn't see, we can stop the perverse enjoyment of the few spreading."

"You sicken me, but I can't fight you. I don't want to fight you. After what you did to your wife—how you implemented me in her death and the countless other atrocities you have hidden away on your little device. Maybe someday someone will come along who is not scared of you, but that's not going to be me."

The Guru just laughed and reached into the drawer of his desk, pulled out a gun, and killed Malcolm without pausing to even think about it.

As the light of life in Malcolm's eyes faded, the Guru just grinned and sat down.

"Melissa, can you arrange for a medical team to come to my office? Mr Reynolds has passed out."

*

Dear mother and father,

I am sorry it has been so long since I've been in contact. Since I left home and turned my back on you guys, I have done many things I am ashamed of. I have become a different man than the one I know you wanted me to be—a different man than the one I wanted to become. You need to understand, though, that whatever happens next, whatever "secrets" come out about my life and what I have been doing, that it was all for you and everyone. What I am about to say will not make sense right now, but keep this letter safe. When the time is right, you will know what to do. I love you both so much. I sent the same letter to Nancy because I wanted to right the wrongs and give her a bright future. That is what I want for you all. I gift you hope for the bad times ahead.

With love

Malcolm

*

The Guru stood in front of the press as he always did, loving the limelight and the attention. Addressing them directly, the Guru announced that the world’s governments had given Pandora's Box the green light and that it would be connected to the internet on a global scale by the end of the year. "We are entering into a brighter, cleaner, fresher future. One where there is hope for humanity to rise above the decrepit gutters we have been diving into."

*

Throughout the year, the world’s internet service providers worked tirelessly to integrate their services with Pandora’s Enterprises and Pandora’s Box, making the World Wide Web a haven.

Sitting at his desk, thinking about how far he had come and looking at the pretty young thing tied up in the corner of the room with her back to him, he finally felt free to be who he was without fear of recrimination. That was until his face became ashen when he received a message that simply read.

"It's Malcolm, sir, the hacker, the footage of his death is being broadcast worldwide, along with the original footage of your wife's murder."

As his phone rings nonstop, he hears commotion erupt throughout his office and outside his window; opening the drawer of his desk, he stares at the gun...

*

Thanks for reading!

Author's Notes: This is for the Legends Rewritten Challenge. Based on the Greek myth of Pandora's Box.

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