Bobby Trap

Sinarta is my hometown. It is a small town on a hill that overlooks the Grange Valley on one side and Lake Naples on the other. On the shores of the lake are flower plantations. Sometimes a cool morning breeze carries the scent of myriad flowers to the inhabitants of Sinarta.

It has often been said that the day Bobby came to town, a jasmine-scented breeze was blowing from the lakeside. It was a cold day in February. Most people were indoors, watching Netflix and drinking hot fluids. Anyone who had business to do outdoors was heavily clad in jackets and trenchcoats and sweaters and scarves and gloves and boots.

I was among the first people to see Bobby. Initially, I thought he was crazy. He was standing outside the Town Hall, besides the statue of one of our town's revered heroes. He was in a white shirt, a pair of black cotton trousers, and black loafers. He was leading a one-man protest.

Bobby had come from Foota, another small town about 40 miles from Sinarta. What Sinarta and Foota had in common was that they were the two biggest, most developed, economic giants, in Kwani County. Sinarta Town hosted the headquarters of Kwani County at the Town Hall. Foota had a fairer climate at all times of the year, which could explain Bobby's outfit that day.

The day Bobby came to town was on a Thursday. I remember that particular detail because on Thursday we always have a FIFA tournament. My friend Jack and I had gone to the central district of Sinarta to play against a few opponents from a neighboring school. Jack was my roommate and we had spent a lot of nights together practicing. We beat them in all matches, and put down our PlayStation controllers 500 US dollars richer.

Jack and I decided not to split the prize money. "Let's spend it together," I proposed as we left the tournament room. "Spend it how?" Jack asked. "We buy a PS5 and use the remainder to pay for electricity tokens," I answered immediately. "Of course," Jack replied as a matter of factly. We were in such high spirits that he had even forgotten that our consoles were ragged and we were on the verge of a blackout.

As we hurried off to the superstore with 500 dollars in our pockets, we met Bobby. He was standing alone on the steps of the Town Hall demanding that the Internet be made a social right. As we were walking past him, he shouted at us and summoned us to him. "Maybe he has something important to tell us," we both thought as we walked towards him.

He began his speech by introducing himself as a social entrepreneur. He said that he started a bunch of technology startups that had made him a lot of money. His latest innovation was a social media application that gave users total anonymity. The County Government of Kwani had refused to grant his company operational license. The application had also been blocked by the same County.

I interrupted him to ask him why the government would do that. He told us that the current regime had mismanaged public funds and engaged in corrupt practices. He had been one of the people that had exposed them. He had done it virtually anonymously. I remembered that that expose had made news some time back. The newspapers had reported that someone of unknown identity had released classified documents implicating the members of the current regime. However, the case had been dismissed in the courts after the Kwani County Government officials had used political muscle to intimidate the High Court judges.

Was he "Whistleblower X"? I wondered.

He told us that the same government he was trying to expose had retaliated by banning his social media application. The government was afraid that his app would be a tool for political opponents to organize themselves. They were hell-bent on impeding public communications and keep themselves in power. "They intercept all of our communications, you know?" he said.

He had me convinced. Jack also seemed to be on the same page. Bobby wanted us to join his protest. I had listened to his message and bought into his vision. I now understood that technology can be a democratizing influence. That is why our apparently corrupt and autocratic government was trying to shut it down. I decided to be a critic of the government.

On that cold Thursday in February, the three of us walked into a Bistro and ordered hot coffee for each of us. We told Bobby about our tournament and the prize money. His eyes lit up. He laid a plan for us. We told him we would not spend the money yet as we thought about his proposal. We would get in touch.

When we got home and discussed Bobby's plan, we knew one thing for sure. This plan was going to land us in hot water. We rightfully called the plan Bobby's Trap.

And yet we decided to go ahead with it, come what may. We called him two days later and told him that we had agreed to create an animated web series and sponsor it with the prize money. The web series would be titled 'The Rude Rebellion' and would be heavily critical of the wrong-doings of the Kwani Government.

"Remember, you are crossing a line here boys. Once you start this project, there is no turning back. Are you boys sure about this?" Bobby asked over the phone, which was on the loudspeaker. Jack looked at me and nodded in the affirmative.

"Yes, Bobby. We are willing to take our chances," I responded hurriedly.

"Okay then. I will link you up with a good animation design agency. They have competitive rates. Ask to speak to Lilian...tell her you are Bobby's friends...she will get you preferential treatment...(pause). Anything else?" Bobby's voice came over the loudspeaker.

"Nothing for now. We will keep in touch," I replied. "Keep my name out of it," he said before the line went dead. In a few seconds, I received a message with the agency's address and contact information. I dialed the number and it was picked up after three dials. I asked to speak to Lilian. The Customer Service agent told us that she was not available at the moment. She would be back in the office in an hour's time. I asked to speak to her Secretary. I was transferred to her secretary who had a warm voice. I booked an appointment with Lilian in one hour.

We met with Lilian in her office and told us we were sent by Bobby. She recognized the name immediately. Apparently, she was a co-founder in one of Bobby's startups.

"Whats the series going to be about?" she asked after the small talk. Jack had prepared a pitch already. "It going to be focused on how our leaders clearly are using internet shutdowns to stifle criticism, maintain their own political control, and use selective digital disruptions to harm particular geographic areas or stymie political opponents," he said.

We handed over the script (which had been done by a hired freelancer over the internet) and the schedules. She went over everything and after ascertaining that all was fine, she told us to wait for six weeks. We paid the rates with our remaining prize money and went our way.

Six weeks later, we released 'The Rude Rebellion' and sent the streaming links to Bobby. According to our plan, we would finance the production and he would promote the series anonymously through a third party. He did not want to be directly involved in this because, in his own words, he had 'more to lose ' than we did. It was true. He had already suffered enough of a setback with the ban of his application and didn't want to endure more suffering at the hands of the government. Although we were in the same struggle, we had more anti-fragility and robustness as we were mere upstarts who might gain a lot in terms of money and fame if our series became a success. We had no downside.

"The Rude Rebellion" went viral. The plot and the graphic aesthetics gave it an appeal, but it was the content of the series that stirred feelings of discontent among many. Among the key-to-actions was using a VPN to access Bobby's application. People converged in the application and started venting pent-up anger and exasperation against the government. It was these stirred-up emotions that were later manifested in organized protests.

Where one man had stood alone, where we three had met, now the same place hosted a multitude of angry protesters. And Bobby watched in anticipation to see whether the government would acquiesce to pressure and lift the ban on his app. We also watched in awe and disbelief. We couldn't believe our eyes. Could a few people spark something this big? I guess that's how things work in Bobby's Trap!