Read The Search for Ball Zero for Free Online Page A

the trees and forest around them. The
treads are so huge that only a couple deer escape and the rest are
crushed into a red wake of forest soup. The treads smash roads,
trees, giant rocks and reach near the tops of trees; whatever is
riding on them must be gigantic.
    At the same time in a nearby city, people
are excitedly forming lines along a main street. Many more are
coming and it’s crowded, like a parade is about to come down the
street. All the people are wearing outrageous clothing with
prominent ads, some streaming live video ads, some with 3D
holographic ads projecting from them. Among the pixelation of ads
protruding from the crowd, many are showing a countdown; all with a
little less than five minutes remaining. Surveying the chaotic
crowd, it can be seen they are here for the opening of the first
warstore.
    The giant treads continue mowing through the
forest. As the giant machine rolls
    by, the treads leave a crater in the Earth
about ten feet deep. Hinting at the size and weight of this beast,
its entire bottom is riddled with bullet dents in the armor, small
blood stains, giant blood splatters and lots of stuff that can only
be described as “meat”.
    Hanging on the side of this enormous Hunter
Killer-like machine is a giant tarp that reads “Grand Opening! 50%
off – Today only!” Above the sign is a logo, “TelNet, the
‘original’ warstore”
    The forest pulls back for a second to reveal
the entire Telnet warstore. It looks
    like a fully-armed apartment
building/Walmart on gigantic tank treads. The outer layer is
littered with machine guns, radars, sensors, the surface looks like
a Death Star. It’s obviously very loud, rumbling and leaving a path
of destruction a few blocks wide in its wake. The epicenter of an
earthquake on tank treads.
    The crowd waiting on the street is getting
feverish now and spilling off the sidewalk. They are intently
focused on whatever is about to happen, yet the mood is
celebratory; like the front gates of Disneyland are about to open
or Black Thursday but everyone is on crack.
    Consumer 1, freaking out, “I can’t believe
it. My whole life I’ve dreamt of shopping at a luxury traveling
store!”

    Consumer 2, “This is better than any old
traveling store.. this is a warstore!” emphasizing the last two
words.
     
    The forest edge starts to rumble, like a
T-Rex crunching through the jungle in Jurassic Park, and the crowd
reacts like someone got a clutch hit in the World Series.
    Some people are trying to stay in line, but
chaos takes reign.
    There is a small, grassy field between the
edge of the forest and the city edge, a
    few hundred yards or so. The field is dotted
with a few random people, but the city street is filled with
thousands and is chaotic.
    Inside a high tech cockpit, uniformed men
and women are looking at readouts
    and pressing important buttons on their
touch screens. The cockpit looks like the deck of a Star Trek ship,
yet they are dressed like they work at Walmart. A map on a big
screen in front shows them closing in on a big X.
    The warstore computer brags about some
reading it just received, “Consumer confidence – high”, in a
typical soothing female computer voice.
    “ Are we all ready to go?”
the Captain says, he’s the only person here who looks and sounds
like he could be in the army.
    “ Uhhh..,” Billy, the 2nd
in command mutters. This guy is obviously more Walmart employee
than Army. Then with supremely faked confidence, “Yes
sir!”
    “ I don’t want to see
another Phoenix. You hear me?”
    The computer interrupts, “Social media
advertising saturation – 75%. Physical ad presence nearing
50,000.”
    Billy, “Yes sir, I’ll double check on the
supervisors.”
    Computer, “Launching Regional Sales
Promotion Virus…”
    On a nearby screen millions of names scroll
by in about a ½ a second. Then the screen flashes. “Virus Defeated.
…Calculating..”
    The captain likes it,”Woohoo, did you see
that!? We were online for