Hello, my name is Quinn O’Casey, a fellow embedded software programmer here on a worker’s visa in Iran.

You can’t see what’s going on but I think there is some confusion.  The soldiers around me, non-Iranian, I believe, dressed in traditional civilian clothing of the local subculture, misunderstand my job title.

For some reason, they think that I was embedded in Iran for military action.  They don’t understand the term “embedded software,” which puts both of us at a disadvantage.

I don’t know how to hack into the computer system they want to access in order to shut down a strategic part of an Iranian defense network but they won’t let me go because now they think I know too much.

Which is it?  Do I know too much or know too little?

Thank goodness, they can’t tell that I’m sending out this message through an old RS232 link I sometimes use to diagnose my embedded software code.

How is it that I’m with the good guys and they think I’m a good guy, too, but they won’t let me go?

If I don’t return to my regular work after this extended lunch break, I’ll probably be fired and then lose my visa.

That alone will piss off my girlfriend who was just getting adjusted to life in part of the former Persian empire.

Am I calling you for help, you probably think?  All I’m asking is that you inform my boss that I’m having a little difficulty with the local authorities so I won’t lose my job.  He’ll sympathise.

Meanwhile, I’ve got to wiggle out of this situation on my own.

Now the guys are saying something about insurgents ready to detonate the diversions before they make their move.  Also something about satellite-based attacks and railgun placements.  Stealth bombers and EMP bursts.

If I don’t get back to the office before the end of the day, call my girlfriend and tell her to grab a bus for the Caspian Sea where we have a friend who’ll transport her safely out of the country.  She knows where to wait for me in Russia.  She can get you out, too, if you want.