[ WP ] The US Federal deficit is actually due to a super top secret massive R & D program the US government pours billions into . You are the newly sworn in President and are being briefed ...

`` Coffee, mister president?'' 
 
 `` No, thanks - that stuff keeps me up all night.'' Davis' waved the attendant away with another one of his campaign-winning smiles. His eyelids were heavy with the affairs of the day. 
 
 `` Coffee, general?'' 
 
 `` Yes. Black. Thank you.'' Air Force One rumbled as it floated above the tarmac and into the night. 
 
 `` I'm aware that you've had a long day, so I'm going to keep this briefing on-point. My name is Adam Pierce. I'm the acting commander of the United States electronic warfare command post at Fort Meade - `` 
 
 `` The NSA headquarters? Nice to meet you, general. I've heard a lot about you.'' 
 
 `` Likewise. Mister president, I've prepared a small file for your review regarding an operation known as the Third Project.'' Pierce handed a plain manilla folder across the meeting table. 
 
 `` As you already know, most federal agencies have been sharing information since the first revision of the Patriot Act in 2002. That was actually quite an endeavor - we fully standardized census and personal data across all government databases. Today, this federally shared information resides inside the various datacenters at Fort Meade. This effort was called the Executive Information Act originally, but we've come to refer to it as the'First Project.' `` 
 
 The two men looked at each other for a moment before Pierce continued. `` You're probably already somewhat familiar with the First Project. In polite company, we usually refer to it as the'F-22 and F-35 programs.' `` 
 
 Davis frowned again. `` I'm sorry - what exactly do you mean?'' 
 
 `` Most of the money from our trillion-dollar air defense programs has gone into creating a massive repository of information regarding every person in our system. The NSA was restructured to support the infrastructure for this program in 2000.'' 
 
 Davis ignored the president's disconcerted expression. `` The information we collected was incredibly valuable - the simple ability to share collective fingerprints, records, and psychological profiles across agencies cut out a lot of red tape. We've used this power to identify and apprehend a large number of domestic threats. But what information we did have was far from complete.'' 
 
 Davis opened the folder, and was immediately greeted with his own face, staring back at him. 
 
 `` We've constructed a model of your likeness from high-definition public security cameras. Any time a person travels through an airport, train station, public dock or highway onramp, the local security network automatically submits their image for processing. The system can recognize individuals with a high degree of accuracy - and their patterns of travel are recorded based on where they've been seen. All of this data is located in Fort Meade. The nation has eyes.'' 
 
 Davis' expression grew more horrified as he flipped through the packet. `` General - there's a lot of data in here. Here, this - this is a map of every state I've campaigned in. This... Hold on, is this from today?'' Davis held up a map of DC - dotted lines demarcated a detailed footpath, ending at the airport. 
 
 `` That's correct. This information is not unique to the acting president - we process several million travel patterns per-day. We also construct psychological profiles from the contents of emails, and we use statistical analysis to create behavioral models from cell-phone activity. This information-gathering system is the `` Second'' project in question. You'll find your own psych profile in there, but it wo n't be useful to you - it consists of indecipherable data that the system uses to assign priority. Dangerous or important individuals are tracked much more closely.'' 
 
 `` I'm sorry, general, this is a lot to take in.'' 
 
 `` That's fine, mister president. We'll brief you in more detail over the coming month. We're not quite finished here, however. The F35 program garnered a lot of public and media flak for supposedly being incredibly wasteful. In 2007, it was determined that we needed a more obfuscatable source of funding - something giant, overarching, completely confusing, and wrapped up in so much bureaucratic slime that it would be easy to slip money under the radar. Hundreds of billions of dollars.'' 
 
 Davis' eyes widened. `` The federal bailout.'' 
 
 The general raised an eyebrow and nodded, clearly impressed. `` Precisely. I know how you must be feeling right now, mister President, but rest assured, this money has been well-spent. In 2012, using the so-called Massive Information Network, we were able to identify and prevent a plot to destroy DC and New York City with a pair of lost W63 warheads that had been loaned to Turkey in the sixties.'' 
 
 `` I'm sorry - are you fucking with me, general? Lost Turkish warheads?'' 
 
 `` Much of the United States' foreign policy for the past decade has actually been aligned with recovering such weapons - it's in the packet. Anyway, Mister President, the reason we're having this conversation is because we need your support regarding a program to fund the Third Project. You will find it on your desk sometime next week.'' 
 
 `` My God, general Pierce. This mess already makes a mockery of the constitution. What more could you want?'' 
 
 Pierce smiled for the first time that night - a thin, predatory smile. His coffee sat untouched. `` Are you familiar with DARPA's artificial intelligence program, mister President?''
