This is just an idea for a short story for Cypherpunk Zero. In comic format I think we could create a really cool thing...
The year is 2038, Jane Z lies in bed staring at the ceiling of her tiny 2 metre X 4 metre apartment, which costs her 66% of her monthly credit allowance. She wonders, how did the world get to this point...? (normal dystopian future type stuff)
She glances over at her virtual reality headset... a tear drips from her eye. She misses her father and mother so much. She spends hours every night reliving memories with them in virtual reality. It isnt the same; especially when the "data vampires" send "consumer specific advertisements" to her virtual reality world; advertising drugs for depression. She knows that maybe the ads intend well, but something about them seem invasive to the sovereignty of her mind. After all, she doesn't consider herself depressed, she has simply missed her parents ever since they were taken away by the Secret Police for publically voicing their concerns about government policy. "Associating with terrorist revolutionaries" was their crime.
She takes a card out of her side table drawer; on the frontside is the name "Cypherpunk Zero" (handwritten to avoid any digital trail). On the back side is a hand drawn map of a specific location, a time to meet, with a hand written note "To live free is to love what could be."
What does this mean? She wonders. Tonight is the night. Her curiousity and desire for a better world gets the best of her. She commits. She puts the map in her pocket and heads for the door... but how will she get to the map location without the totalitarian oligarchical dystopian government (TODG) knowing what she is doing? All forms of communication are monitored, CCTV cameras are everywhere, any mention of revolt or uprising is immediately and brutally taken care of by the TODG and their minions.
Its only 3.5 blocks she needs to travel; surveillance cameras, microphones, and stingrays are on every street corner. The consequences for being associated with any type of revolt would be devestating. But she remembers what her father said to her just before the Secret Police took him away, never to be seen again... He said to her, "When you have nothing to lose, you have nothing to fear... love is all that remains." She glances back at the card as reads aloud "love what could be..."
She takes a respirator mask out of her drawer, puts it on her face, and heads out the door.
She arrives at a old run down post office. It looks like no one has worked here in decades. She can see paper envelopes scattered all over the floor as she peeks in the window...
"Can I help you?" asks a voice in the dark alley around the corner of the building.
She jumps, startled, she gives no response...
"For the love of... The letters wont mail themselves, you know?" the voice says again.
Jane is confused; paper mail is pretty much obsolete, "W-what?"
"I don't blame you. What could be is quite scary. The old postman isn't as free as he used to be..."
His words didn't make complete sense to her, but something in his message spoke to her. "I - I could deliver the envelopes for him..." she said anxiously.
"Well then.. come on in, I'll show you what notes must be delivered." He appeared from the dark alley with what looked like a key ring dangling from his belt. "Oh which is it now?.." he fumbled through the keys searching for the right fob. "Here it is..."
As he pinched the key fob between his fingers, Jane notices a piece of masking tape and black magic marker on the side of the fob reading "Cypherpunk Zero".
She ponders what the words mean as he unlocks the front door to the old post office.
"I do hope you love notes" he says, "you'll have plently to deliver..."