FREEDOM CODE: THE INVISIBLE WAR FOR HUMANITY’S FUTURE: Chapter 3 Hidden Data

Imagining our future with ChatGPT 4o mini

Chapter 3: Hidden Data

Scene 1: The Interrupted Conversation

Beate and Prof. David sat in the small coffee shop, sipping their drinks in silence. The police action had echoed in their minds, and they were still processing what happened.

David kept his eyes focused on his drink, but his thoughts were elsewhere. "I still don’t understand what happened outside the lecture hall. Why was that Jeep behaving in such a strange way? And why was the police chasing it?" He shook his head in frustration. "It didn’t make sense."

Beate took a sip of her own drink, her gaze focused on the street outside, trying to piece things together. "Maybe it wasn’t just an ordinary police chase. There was something off about the way they reacted, almost like they were expecting the Jeep to show up."

Before Prof. David could respond, her phone vibrated. She glanced at the screen. It was an SMS from Mia, her hacker friend.

"What is it about?" Prof. David asked with a little too much curiosity, leaning in.

Beate opened the message, her eyes narrowing as she read the content aloud: “I’ve found something strange in the data. It’s about Prof. David. You need to see this.”

"Strange? About me? What do you mean?", Prof. David asked. He was quite irritated.

Beate typed back quickly. “What have you found, Mia?”

The reply came almost immediately: "It’s about his health data. There’s something he should know. Maybe he is not aware of this."

Prof. David’s face darkened. “I’m not sure I like the sound of that.”

Beate sensed the tension. “I think we need to meet with her.”

Scene 2: The Discovery

Later that evening, they met Mia in a quiet, dimly lit café. She had her laptop open, and the curiosity was rising. Mia quickly gestured for them to sit down.

"You need to see this," Mia said, her voice low. "I’ve dug deeper into the data linked to the QR code. There is more data than you may be aware of, Prof. David. Your health records, genetic information, even personal details… I think that shouldn’t be out there."

Prof. David frowned. "I don’t know what you are talking about. I’ve never done a genetic test. I’m healthy, Mia. What’s going on?"

Mia tapped a few keys, pulling up a document on the screen. "Take a look at this. There’s a genetic profile—it’s yours. It mentions your relatives, even distant ones, hundreds of years back. It says everything about your predisposition to certain diseases and what you are likely to die of. It even gives an estimated lifespan based on your genetic code: you are going to get 88 years old!"

David stared at the screen. Despite the good news that he had still 4 decades to live, his face turned pale. "That’s… impossible! I’ve never given anyone permission to run such tests on me. This data must be a mistake."

But as he scrolled through the document, something caught his eye. A series of X-rays that looked all too familiar. They were from a hiking accident some years ago, when he broke his arm twice and in a very specific way—something that was certainly related to him.

Prof. David rubbed his face, trying to make sense of it. "These… these are my X-rays. This is my data."

Mia shook her head. "But not just that. The health file doesn’t stop there. It includes detailed scans, also blood tests. There’s stuff here I can’t explain. It seems all tied to you. The question is, who put this together and why?"

David leaned back in his chair, his mind racing. "This is insane. I’ve never had any of this done. This must be someone else’s data—perhaps someone with a similar medical history."

Mia didn’t respond. Instead, she stared at the screen, her face growing more concerned. "The more I dig into this, the more I’m convinced this isn’t just a case of mistaken identity. This is a dossier, a comprehensive health and genetic record that’s been created about you—and it’s been circulating undetected."

David clenched his jaw. "I have to find out who did this—and how!"

Scene 3: The Gene Test

David couldn’t shake the feeling that the data in front of him, though unsettling, might have been misinterpreted. He decided to take a step that would, for better or worse, reveal the truth: he would make a genetic test himself.

“I’ll get it done,” he said, resolve hardening in his voice. “We need to see if this data matches anything I actually know about myself.”

Beate was sceptical. “Are you sure? This could open Pandora’s box. You’re already digging into something you might not be able to undo.”

Prof. David nodded. "I have to know if this data is really mine. If it is, then we have a bigger problem. And if it’s not, well, we need to understand who’s behind this and why they’d fabricated something like this about me."

A few days later, David received the results. He and Beate sat down together, the envelope in his hand. With a quick glance at each other, they tore it open.

David scanned the paper, his face getting paler with each line. "It’s my genetic code—every part of it, down to the smallest detail. It’s really mine! But the conclusions are… disturbing."

On top of this, the report showed an expected lifespan of 58 years. Only 10 more years to go! This was much shorter than David had anticipated, based on the previous genetic record they had seen and also based on his family history. His genetic test predicted a high risk of a rare disease, one he’d never considered.

David put the report down. His mind was racing. “I always knew genetic tests could vary, but I didn’t think life expectancy could vary so drastically. The predictions here… they’re shocking, so much different from what I expected.”

Beate looked at him carefully. "Could this change your health insurance rates?"

David rubbed his temples. "Of course! That’s the least of my concerns right now. I can’t help but wonder what other inferences could be made from my genes, and what they might mean for the rest of my life."