ARD

"I hope you understand that we can't let you take this in there," the guy who had done the security check on Ethan said, picking the cell phone up off of the table and slipping it into a foil pouch. The pat down had felt like being at an airport, but Ethan couldn't blame them, at least there was a good reason for it. "You can keep the rest."

Ethan put everything back in his pockets: his wallet, knife, some change, a bus pass, flash drive, breath mints, and keys. "You're taking my cell but I get to keep my knife?" he asked.

"Yeah, they've all been ARDs since about 2006," the man said. "Don't worry, you'll get it back after the meeting."

"Holy shit," Ethan said. He had heard rumors that the NSA was using cell phones as Automated Recording Devices, but had always dismissed it as a conspiracy theory.

"When they started cracking down on meetings and actions, we did some experiments and were able to figure it out."

"I see. Am I all set, then?" Ethan asked.

The man waved towards the door. "Go ahead."