Another anime song, of a show I really love called .hack//Sign. It really gets into issues with computer games, alternate reality, and AI's gaining sentience. Plus, the score is awesome. I write and run to it all the time.
It had been a pop culture joke decades
ago, being addiction to the computer and the Internet. Graphics of
evolving humans going from hunched monkeys to walking upright to once
again hunched as they sat typing. People would spend over 80 hours a
week online, for job or pleasure, and furniture and computer
accessory for comfort and health benefits while using a computer
became common. Addiction was a strong word, but there was no denying
that humans were using computers more and more. Might as well adjust
for it.
They had no idea what they were talking
about.
Victoria sat next to John while he
slept in rehab. The room was bland, but the fake window showed a
holographic image of a mirror lake, the water so smooth it reflected
the snow capped mountain. There were a few basic devices on the table
next to Victoria. An e-reader. A remote for the TV. A old phone.
All had wi-fi disabled. In fact, the entire complex lacked Internet
and only had the basics of electronics required. There wasn't even a
network connecting the tablets the doctors used to the server, the
physicians had to physically connect the two to upload and download
updated records.
Victoria found the archaic practice
frustrating at times, when John was sleeping she really wanted to
stream music on her phone because the TV would wake him, but she was
limited to games that lacked the social component she was used to.
Though she had to say, it was easier to play Bejeweled without having
to watch your competitor's board or listening to chatter from
observers.
The door opened and she looked from
another lose to the clock to see John's most common doctor enter,
Armin Young.
“What's the damage this time?”
Dr. Young shook his head. “Every
time he connects the damage is exponential. I don't know what
FutureTech was thinking releasing this technology without proper
human testing.”
Victoria didn't say anything, but
shared the sentiment. It had been a year since FutureTech had
released a implant/contact combo. The implant allowed users to
connect directly to the Internet and walk through cyberspace,
displaying the images on contacts. It wasn't completely new
technology, people had been surfing electrons through various forms
of headgear for the past ten years.
But physically connecting with the
Internet using wetware, that was new. It had been advertised as a
more real experience, turning the Internet solid as the brain told
your fingers and toes you were actually touching sad instead of just
watching yourself do so through glasses or helmets.
It was everything FutureTech said it
would be, and people who had gotten the implants had become obsessed.
They would connect to the network and then never disconnect. So many
people died. And when the forensic reports came in, it was discovered
the implants damaged the brain severely. It shriveled, not used to
the sudden influx of use and having to deal with contradicting
signals constantly. The skin was constantly telling the brain it was
lying on a bed, but the implant was instead saying the body was
upright and sitting at a cafe with metal chairs eating a mango salad.
While it was the death of the brain
that caused users to die, it was common thought that if it hadn't
happened people would have starved themselves thinking they were
eating when they really weren't.
Victoria reworded her question. “So
what exactly is his status now?” Now, because this was the third
time she had dragged her brother to the rehab center. The complex's
no Internet of any sort was the only thing that could get him to
disconnect.
Dr. Young sighed. “He's mentally
disabled, think of a person with severe autism. Who is obsessed
with getting his next fix of Cyberspace immersion. But if he connects
again, it'll be his last time.”
Victoria knew that taking John to rehab
was more of a delay tactic than a cure, he was too invested in
Cyberspace and couldn't resist the draw of it. Seeing it through a
crystal visor wasn't good enough for him anymore, he had to directly
connect. In contrast, Victoria was finding the time she spent
immersed was simply for business. Surfing for pleasure wasn't
appealing anymore.
“If, if he's really that bad then he
is incapable of making logical decisions for himself, yes?”
“Correct.”
“Then keep him here. He does not have
the ability to properly make the decision to check himself out.”
Dr. Young signed and put his tablet
computer to sleep. “Miss Radin, while I agree with that plan of
action, you don't have the power of medical authority.”
“Who does?”
“Your brother. He, he probably
didn't tell you this, but he visited a lawyer after your first time
here. They drew up a document of his wishes, knowing what path his
addiction would most likely lead to. He anticipated this and...and
expressively said he wants to die connected to the Internet.”
Victoria dropped her phone.
“That's, that's crazy! He's not in
his right mind! Hell, he probably can't even make a full sentence!”
“At this point, no, but he was when
he expressed what he wanted to happen at the end of his life. And I'm
sorry, but it is not something you can overrule. If John wants check
himself out, he has that right.”
“Well, I doubt he's in a position to
say as such.”
“He also said,” Dr Young woke up
the tablet to pull up a document, “That if unable to voice that
choice to release him after a week.” He handed the tablet to
Victoria and there it was. Her brother's signature and a lawyer's on
a stupid document that looked more and more like a death certificate
to her.
“This is suicidal, aren't you
supposed to prevent that? Report it and make sure suicidal people
don't off themselves?”
“Normally, but in this case it works
similar to a request to not resuscitate. I...I am very sorry.”
She kicked her phone at him and it hit
his shoes harmlessly. “You're absolutely useless!” she screamed
at him and Dr. Young did nothing but bow his head.
“I'll leave you.” He left the room
and Victoria turned to her brother. She ribbed the pillow out from
under his head and started beating him in the chest with it.
“Stupid, stupid John!” she sobbed
before collapsing in the chair.
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Must do more stories around the theme of Cyberspace, for it I love things about it and see it as playing prophet.
That was really scary. Great job.
ReplyDeleteThere are certainly things about technology are scary. I hope the doctor/legal junk was plausible.
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