The Dead Zone

Michael Horowitz prided himself on never paying for anything if he could get it for free, but this time got more than he bargained for.

Michael stopped short at larceny, or so he thought, as he’d convinced himself that Internet pirating wasn’t theft. He loved to read, and justified downloading e-books from torrent sites on the basis that greedy publishers overpriced books; he wouldn’t know if the book was worth buying until he’d finished it; the publishers ripped off the authors anyway; and it wasn’t like stealing a physical book from a bookstore. What harm did it do anyone to download an 800 kb file? Everyone did it.

Many of the torrent hosts proved unavailable or untrustworthy. Some bounced straight to pornography while others listed files riddled with viruses designed to divert, harass or discourage. He viewed firewalls, virus protection and VPNs as necessary tools so did not mind paying for them as they made him safe and invisible. Moreover, Michael did not get too bent out of shape wading through the dross, as he considered time spent searching earned him the books. 

Being a creature of habit bordering on OCD, Michael had chosen to focus on specific writers. He loved to binge read an author at a time. He’d worked his way through Michener and Steinbeck and was now focused on the extraordinarily prolific Stephen King. He’d chosen to download King’s works in alphabetical order and, after thirty downloads, had only arrived at the D’s. 

On this day the well known torrent sites were being coy, and he’d been forced to search further afield among the lesser known or new. Michael sat back at last pleased to find the book on a new site to him, TomeTorrrentz. The Dead Zone showed a five star rating with hundreds of seeds. Selecting the destination folder, he pressed download and watched the swarm as the file began to build. 

Before he’d even had time to return from the kitchen with his hastily prepared sandwich, the file had downloaded and was blinking at him from his computer. Odd thing though, as it was a compressed zip file rather than the normal ePub extension. The virus program reported that it presented no problem, so Michael concluded it must be a larger book; he was used to that with King, so wiped his hands and clicked on unzip.

Michael sat in the dark staring at the screen. The site was titled Dead Zone but that’s where commonality with the book ended; this was a website menu. It appeared to Michael to be an online genealogy program offering fields for first and last names, strategic dates and locations, perhaps focusing on death information only, gravesites or whatever. What a waste of time.

Michael searched the downloads folder, highlighted the zip file and outcome and pressed delete, but instead of the file jettisoning to the wastebasket, it merely greyed out. When he returned to the web browser the menu sat there still flashing at him to complete the fields. What the devil? He must have missed a step. 

Before trying to delete the files again, curiosity overcame him and he decided to explore what might be new or different about the program. Tapping in his maternal grandfather's vital stats Michael waited while a series of dots spiraled on the monitor. After a few seconds the screen returned Not Available Try Another Person. How useless. He’d seen the genealogy data up on Ancestors and other programs. Trying again, the computer returned the same message about his grandmother. Useless.

This time he’d try a common name leaving out any vital stats to see whether there was any data in there at all, and prove it was a scam. Michael tapped in ‘John Smith’ and waited. This time the program returned Please enter more details. There are 1.5M entries for John Smith. Michael thought and entered a heavily populated center, London, England. Please enter more details. There are .5 M entries for John Smith. Michael continued, taking a stab in the dark and hedging his bets with time frames until the computer returned with one John Smith and the message Available. Would you like to speak with this person? What kind of a trashy marketing joke was this? He would see this through to the end and then call them on it. Michael hit the ‘Y’ and pressed enter.

A few seconds passed during which the computer hummed and crackled. A man’s voice came over the speakers. Yes?

Michael responded Are you John Smith that lost his life in World War Two and is buried in All Saints Military Cemetery in London?

Who’s asking? Do I know you?

Never mind who I am. Aren’t you ashamed of yourself pretending to be a dead person? What are you hoping to get out of this?

What did you say your name was again? Are you my grandson Nathan?

No! My name is Michael Horowitz, and what’s your real name?

Listen, I’m sorry. I have no friends or relatives with that name in the world now. I’m afraid I can’t help you. Who were you looking for?

Okay. Let’s play this game. I was looking for Andrew Thompson. My mother’s father. Was born about the same time as you in Inverness, Scotland. Outlived you and died in the 1980s. You’re not getting any more than that. 

Hold on. Pause. Says Unavailable.

Yes. That’s what it told me. But all that data is commonly available elsewhere. How come it's not on your site?

Well… Is the data what you were after? You seem to have that. You just can’t talk to him as he’s marked himself out as unavailable. He has a right to do that if he wants. You should try another time. That’s as much as I can do for now. Sorry. Best of luck. Click. Empty air.

Michael stared at the screen. The menu re-appeared. He punched in the details for John Smith who died in WWII and was buried at All Saints. The computer returned Not Available. Try Another person. He sat and thought. What would be the angle of pretending to be a dead person? It was a ridiculous scam. What made them think they could get away with it? On a whim, Michael tried another common name, but this time a woman, Margaret Jones. Following the same procedure he narrowed it down to one who’d apparently died fairly recently during the Covid epidemic.

Available. would you like to speak with this person?

Y

Static. A woman’s voice answered Hello?

My name is Michael Horowitz. What’s your name please and what is your angle?

Before he’d finished speaking the woman’s voice came back Hello? Who’s there? Is that you Jamie? I can’t hear you. Speak up!

This is Michael…

Can’t hear you. Sorry. This is a bad connection. Try calling back.

I said…

Click. Empty air. 

Michael retried with the same result.

Jamie? Is that you? I can't hear you. Please call back.

***

The following morning Michael Horowitz awoke logically denying his experience of the previous evening. Sans breakfast and coffee, and in his undershirt and pyjama bottoms, stubble and bed hair, Michael found himself back at the computer trembling in anticipation. Visits to the TomeTorrenz and Dead Zone websites were listed under history, however, both sites merely returned Sorry (sad face emoji) under construction.

Michael checked the downloads and program files to find the delete had worked after all and they were gone; the wastebasket was empty as per the scheduled overnight cleanup. He sat and thought and then, using Ancestors, looked up Margaret Jones who’d died in 2020 in Cardiff, Wales. Success. There she was. The family tree showed an adjoining line to a spouse but the name was not given as was the custom for privacy; her husband must be still alive.

Suspecting it a lost cause, Michael pulled up the Cardiff phone book. He watched on the screen as his index finger stopped at the address and land line for J. & M. Jones. If it was them, the listing had not yet been changed to remove Margaret. Having nothing to lose but his sanity, Michael punched in the number on his phone.

Ring tone. Ring tone. Click. Jamie Jones. Please leave a message.