"Good morning Secret Service Agent Barnes, and welcome to Maropolis, the City at Sea (MCaS). We'll update you on our communications. Just slip this ring on your finger and switch to these sunglasses."

"Good, we've got your signals. You're connected and will receive notification soon."

"Maropolis employs a quantum encrypted system as the basis for secure citywide communications. Every citizen of Maropolis is "connected," as is every machine and appliance. It's all wireless."

"Microphones and speakers in jewelry and eyeglasses with pop-up displays have long since replaced palm devices. Everything is voice activated. Everyone in Maropolis has a microchip under their fingernail that links to the other on-body devices, encodes and transmits messages in the form of radio signals, and can perform other functions such as City Positioning System (CPS) tracking. Visitors are given rings. The units use energy generated by nutrients taken directly from the bloodstream of the wearer, just like a cell. Antenna stations relay signals to control computers that forward the signals to people or machines. Receivers decide on voice or text messaging. Internet access is provided by satellite."

"Let's examine design-team messages from a system you saw demonstrated at the History Museum, e-mail."

To: All Engineering Teams
From: MCaS Integration Engineering
Subject: Security
Message: How can we handle security for MCaS? It has to be hacker-proof . We need a high level of privacy and data protection. Where are you on this issue?

To: Integration Engineering
From: Computer Engineering
Subject: RE:Security
Message: Each of the nine zones on MCaS will have a computer center and can back-up additional zones. That gives us redundancy in case of hackers. The satellite group killed spaceborne encryption-- too costly, but that was only for international communications. The infrastructure group will provide hardlines throughout the city. We'll have duel connectivity, hardlines and broadband broadcast. Our current system can handle the interface designed by the Encryption Group.

To: Integration Engineering
From: Encryption Engineering
Subject: RE:Security
Message: On-body microchips will utilize quantum encryption and biometrics. Keys would be sent via photon polarization. Because you can't observe a quantum signal without changing it, hackers would be detected immediately.

To: Integration Engineering
From: Biometrics Engineer
Subject: RE:Security
Message: We've designed on-body, microscopic units that can measure many different biometrics, such as heart rate, blood pressure, body temperature, etc. We can choose any biometric as a key, a bio-signature. The computer won't process any communications without a bio-signature encoded in the message and received independently. It's a two key system, and both keys are as hacker-proof as we can get. Added bonus: people can elect to have real-time biometric data checked. We could spot a heart attack as it began or warn a diabetic of dangerously low blood sugar. CPS would locate them.

"You see Agent Barnes, engineers divided responsibilities but shared information throughout the design phase. Strict integration controls lead to our 'transparent" system today."

Message appears on Agent Barnes' sunglasses, visible only to him: "Agent Barnes, the President's aircraft has arrived."