Story - Make Your Mark

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Make Your Mark



Sid stifled a yawn as he tattooed yet another rose on another ankle. He kept his concentration on point though, because Sid -  owner, manager and sole employee of Sid's Unique Tattoos - had heart felt pride in his art.

When he was done he told his client the proper after care routine, gave her a sheet of paper with the same instructions, and a small plastic bag with sample tubes of antibiotic ointment, alcohol wipes, sterile gauze and cotton balls, and a card with emergency phone numbers written large in red in case any of the warning signs of infection set in.

He gratefully accepted the $20.00 tip, both because he could use the money and because it would be evidence of the client's approval of her tattoo in case she decided to sue him in the future. It was a sad fact that avoiding law suits was uppermost in Sid's mind. He had seen too many great artists sink into poverty and give up their shops because a law suit had sunk them.

Sid also kept video records of each transaction, filmed on four tiny hidden cameras, and he paid monthly for cloud space to store them. No claims of improper behavior, unsterile conditions, failure to receive after care instructions or any other litigious complaint could be made without video evidence to counter it.

This thought made Sid remember he wanted to call his mother and wish her a happy birthday. His mother was a lawyer and had given him a punch list of safeguards to avoid disaster. This was about a year after she had recovered from her shock when he told her he was dropping out of law school to become a tattoo artist.

Before Sid could go to the door and turn the Open sign to Closed, a man in an expensive business suit came in. This guy looked like trouble, but Sid kept his expression neutral behind his massive red beard and rimless glasses.

But, as it turned out to Sid's relief, this guy, Frank Heart, was a salesman! He had a line of inks that he and his brother had invented, superior inks that stayed bright, lessened the risk of allergic reaction or infection, and was less expensive than the high quality inks Sid used. He gave Sid a list of artists and their contact information, famous artists in the community that were already using these inks and could give him endorsements. Sid recognized many of the names. He promised he would check it out and accepted several order forms and a selection of samples to try out.

Frank shook his hand, admired his shop, and showed him a portrait of his wife he had inked on his forearm. It was among the best jobs Sid had ever seen. They parted with a feeling of rapport having been established. Sid felt positive about this deal.

Frank Heart, (not his real name), sat in his car and checked off Sid's' shop. He had a few more small shops to visit in the surrounding towns, then he would call it a day. All the major artists, big city shops with multiple employees, and conventions had been contacted in the past three years. As the superior ink became more well known and widely used, they could count on the industry itself to spread the word and they could count on the lower prices, enthusiastic endorsements and long term beauty of the tattoo to sell their product. In fact, a second factory making these special inks would be opening in Berlin too. The plan was to eventually dominate the market worldwide.

Just how special these inks actually were was a closely guarded secret. The organization "Frank" worked for had developed a way to infuse nanobots into the ink. Once enough were injected they would migrate, clumping together in tiny specific nano machines. A transmitter for location, a programmer for the neural networks in the brain, and the ability to shut down the electrical impulses of the heart.

This essentially gave his organization complete control over the person. Between blackmail, direct mental control, and in the drastic case scenario sudden death, the organization was going to do what could never be done by any other method, bring peace and order.

Crime would be eliminated. Unhealthy behaviors would be replaced with healthy ones. Anger and rage would be toned down to mild annoyance. Guns, drugs, and risky behavior would become repulsive. War would end, violence would dwindle, self destructive behavior would stop. Since the nanobots could be reprogrammed at will the behaviors could be fine tuned as the tide of world misbehavior slowly turned. Once the next phase of the inks was perfected it would replace conventional food coloring as safer and less expensive. This would further spread the New World Order to those without tattoos.

The Organization had a vision of Utopia, a vision "Frank" shared. He checked his smart phone and his wife's bots revealed that she was making Christmas cookies and talking to her mother on speaker phone. He had a tough time talking his wife into getting matching tattoos, but it was worth it! He knew where she was and what she was doing every second of the day and night.

Of course the Organization knew what he was doing too, but so what? He was doing their work, changing the world for the better. He felt the surge of pride and joy he always felt when he thought about his small role in this next step of mankind. He drove off, going to the next shop "Make Your Mark", to sell his product.

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