The Glass Box Conspiracy

Exhibit B in the police evidence locked relating to the current case of extremism in the experimental journalism of a man only known as 'Jean Paul Marat'. We do not know his actual identity, but we are aware he is a danger to the public consciousness. This follows Exhibit A where our police division was sent a microscopic video camera. We have yet to dissect this to find footage of any kind. What you are about to read is Exhibit B: the newspaper clipping which was found at an underground rally that led to the arrests of 15 dissenters.

From: The Friend of the People,

Published: 1st March, 2050

Friends, I am convinced that we are on the edge of a revolution. Soon, people will not be able to ignore our message in which our want for utopia has turned sour. The self-serving interests of the upper class has, like a rotting apple, decayed our society to the core. With the disappearance of one of our own, we now have evidence to take this further. For those of you who are not aware of what I speak of, please proceed to read the events of the previous two weeks.

The middle class has long been provided with 'disconnected' spaces. For my poorer followers who have no access, this is what it is: an indoor environment covered in transparent glass in which middle class people pay to have their electronic equipment locked up for an hour session. They then lie down on deck chairs with UV-light-repairing blindfolds on to cater to our requirement to repair declining eyesight. Costing anywhere up to £250 per session, this is clearly not made for the people who are actually suffering from constant overstimulation, but those who are afforded the luxury of forever complaining about it.

Well, in recent times we have seen a rise in the middle class finding our ranks at least interesting. We were gaining access to businesses who are now no longer sure that our current government have our best interests at heart. Instead, they are twisting our wants to create a space in which they can exist as criminals without prosecution. This is massively evident in the events which took place over those two weeks within a large disconnected space in central London. At a cost of £450 a session, I am surprised that one of our own had the means to go more than once.

In the midst of February, a man who had previously turned up to my talk regarding the faithlessness of the people for the political ruling class, I met a man named Alex Rhodes. He is a white collar business man who became captivated so much so that he chose to take his own action. We are glad to have him in our ranks since he is an insider. But now he needs our help and even though he is one of them, friends, we do need to help him since he has helped us.

When attending one of these sessions, Alex had noticed that there was a strange sound coming from outside the box. This sound, he described, was a soft moan as if someone was carrying a heavy object. He also stated that nobody else seemed too interested in it. But he went out after receiving his electronics back and his session had finished, to investigate where it had come from. Walking around the glass box, he could definitely see the eyes of the employees following him around and he had stated the reason he gave was that he thought he'd lost some cufflinks on the way in. Eventually, a few steps away from the building, he found a dumpster containing a human body. Worst of all, the person inside had only just died. Fearing that something had gone wrong, he enlisted the help of others within our community to build a small camera which could be fitted to his shoes without being noticed.

He then returned to the building for another session, this time to film what would have been going on in the surrounding area whilst he was under the blindfold. When watching the footage back, he saw that there are high profile crimes operating both just outside and even inside the room during these sessions. These include government officials dumping bodies (what he had feared previously), bribery and shady deals that have never been spoken about. This is very interesting as it is done at a time where all of the average people in our society would be at work and definitely not around these super-rich spaces in London.

In our last conversation, Alex stated he went back to his home that night and set up a website in which he published the video footage he found from the day. It showed these well-known and beloved figures doing things that we have only said they have been doing for years now. This was followed by a chilling message beneath in which Alex calls for an independent investigation if anything were to happen to him. The very real danger was palpable. He knew there was something deeply wrong.

And then he disappeared.

Many people, both our own and otherwise, had seen the published footage and began to question their reality. But this was not without government backlash who sought to discredit Alex Rhodes by stating he had died by suicide because of his debts. Not only was there no evidence of any financial difficulties on his accounts that I had found, but there was no dead body to fulfill the claim he had committed suicide. Am I convinced here that Alex Rhodes is still alive? My best guess friends is unfortunately, no he probably is not. He had defected from his own side to join us and they are unforgiving in that way. They would never give him a platform to speak his side.

Recently, as you know, there has been a riot in the name of Alex Rhodes. A protest in which the police blamed us for it becoming violent. But each piece of footage shows that the police were the instigators of the violence, coming at us with batons and horses. We had no weapons and so bricks were our only option. If you stood by our side or fought from the sidelines, we thank you greatly. Another man was unfortunately accused of being me and taken into custody before he was found to be completely innocent.

So I ask you friends to keep your heads high for I know at this time it is difficult, but we are winning the war. The truth has been exposed. I have currently been collecting money so that I might attend this glass box for myself. I hope you can do what you can to support this endeavour.

"Jean-Paul Marat", March 2050

***

Exhibit C is a partial recording made by a supporter who was in the audience of a government hearing where our leader answers questions for the media and has since made an analysis of it from his own home.

This video was uploaded to the now-defunct page dedicated to the Alex Rhodes footage. It is unknown about whether this man was the infamous "Jean-Paul Marat".

MEDIA OFFICIAL #1: So, sir - what do you think about the videos made by Alex Rhodes that are now taking the world by storm since his disappearance? You have to admit it looks like bad timing for the government.

PRIME MINISTER: Yes, we are sad to hear of the death of Alex Rhodes. He was a shining member of the financial banking community. But unfortunately, he could not keep his own finances in order. His suicide is a huge loss for us all. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

MEDIA OFFICIAL #1: You didn't answer the question, sir.

PRIME MINISTER: Yes, yes, of course. The footage. Ah, well, it has been analysed and it has since been discovered to be doctored...

(Media members collectively gasp)

PRIME MINISTER: It has been discovered that the footage is in fact, what the tech-industry calls a 'deep-fake'.

(Members of the media mutter amongst themselves)

PRIME MINISTER: We will be releasing the breakdown of how we came to find this out in the next few days. No more questions, thank you.

(Video cuts to a man sitting behind a desk in his home, his face is covered with a mask depicting a question mark)

HOST: According to them, the video was doctored. They were meant to release the breakdown in the coming days but it has been a few weeks now and there's nothing that's been released. (Sarcastically) Isn't that surprising?

***

Exhibit D is a letter issued by the government concerning the deep-fake created by Alex Rhodes in order to discredit our governing body and their integrity. This was an expansion of the question answered in our media by the Prime Minister. Though this letter was thought to have been issued on the government's official social media pages, the original version of it has never been found. It is believed that multiple versions exist, possibly doctored by the group following "Jean-Paul Marat" - though we do not have the evidence for it.

"I'm glad that's over." Officer Roberts sat behind her desk and opened her supermarket bought Costa Coffee though she really didn't like the machines as much as the cafe. It was cold but she drank it anyway.

"What do you mean, over? There's a revolution happening out there." Another officer, Wellington - entered the room just as she cracked open the coffee.

"Yeah, but nobody believes them. Everyone thinks they're crazy." Roberts replied.

Wellington looked outside the window and noted that she and Roberts needed to be on the beat. The sun was heavy in the sky though evening was not approaching. Roberts threw her empty coffee cup into the nearest bin. The walked towards the giant glass box and stood outside on duty.

"Can we see some identification please?" Roberts asked a man who stood in line. He proceeded to take out his passport.

He was checked as 'clear' and walked into the box.

Roberts and Wellington stood and watched the sun turn dark.

It was beautiful.