Before Digital Dreams
This, again, is another work in progress, subject to change (lots), particularly the title. The idea had been buzzing around my brain for too long, had to be put out there. Enjoy and, as ever, let me know what you think :~)
Back in the olden days, way before even my parents were
born, I know it is odd to think of your grandmother having parents but I did, well
back then, they didn’t have palm discs. They had no access to collective
information at all. I mean, they thought their technology was cutting edge,
they really did, but if they wanted to find out something, or speak to someone
that was further away than you are from me now, they had to use a machine. The machines
started off big and clunky, and were attached to the walls of the house with
wires, you couldn’t take them with you anywhere, they were useless really, but
without them we wouldn’t have the advantages we have today. Like the candle
being the forerunner to the electric light, I suppose.
Now the more a person uses something, becomes accustomed to
it, the more they tend to rely on it. It was that way with the forerunner of
the palm disc. The internet, I think they called it. People got fed up I
suppose, having to get to their home or place of work to be able to find out a fact, or listen to a
song, or talk to someone in another part of the world. They began to create smaller and smaller
devices to do the job, tiny versions of their home machines, that ran on
something called battery power, although don’t ask me how that works as I have
no idea. Soon they could speak to people all over the globe, listen to whatever
song they liked, and find out any fact. But it was onerous; to find the exact
thing you wanted took time and patience.
People started to abuse it, use the network to humiliate and bully, to
watch unsavoury things happening to less fortunate people. It turned from a
positive, ground breaking way of drawing people together to a dark underbelly
of illegal and immoral behaviour. You see, there was no one party looking after
us then, every country had its own rules and regulations, but the world as a
whole didn’t, as such. What was acceptable in one culture was unacceptable in
another. Not like now, the internet was a lawless beast, and profited those who
knew how to best use that advantage.
The debate over the use and policing of this internet was
already raging when TechnoSystems (May they reign forever) first floated the
idea of the palm disc. They argued since theft of the mobile devices was
causing such problems within the teenaged community, the safest way to prevent
it was to stop the devices from being able to be physically taken away. There
were rumours that they tested the palm disc first on animals, then on convicts,
do you remember learning about crime and punishment? Before finally floating the product. The
company’s staff members already had the palm discs installed, and could all
give testimonies that the product worked well, that they did not inhibit use of
the hand, and indeed were even friendly to the environment, as they were
recharged by the body’s own electric charge, no need for batteries. That was another hot topic of the day, my
mother told me; we were, after all, a
lot more dependent upon the environment then. We used to go outside almost every
day.
There was no longer any need for tedious searching for that
song whose name you could not recall, for if you hummed a few bars the song
would play, note perfect, directly into your brain, and the details of the
song, composer, writer, singer, instrumentalists would be available to you
(this was before TechnoSystems perfected it of course. The information would
write itself in your brain, and you would have to read it. Things have come
along much further now. Progress).
In the olden days, before TechnoSystems (may they reign
forever), if you wanted a story about a mermaid and a hairpin, you would either
have to search for one or create it yourself. Can you imagine? If you wanted to know what life was like in
other countries, you would have to read about them, find out. I know it is
difficult for you to understand, young one. These words are all from so very
long ago; even I don’t fully understand it. I am just telling you what my
mother told me. But she said that just
wondering was not enough to gain you knowledge. You had to learn. Now of
course, if I want to know what the weather is like in Aberdeen today I know it
is 11 degrees outside with a southerly wind and scattered showers before I even
finish the thought.
Of course some people resisted the idea of the palm disc,
people always do don’t they? And the elite at the time were those that had
spent years gaining knowledge, knowledge of course being power back then, and
they were not happy about the democratization
of learning. People were easier to control when they knew only a little.
But of course, the resisters can’t hold back the tide of progress. Soon every
adult had been fitted with their personal palm disc, older children too.
Different companies started to spring up with their own versions, but
TechnoSystems was by far the most popular, the original always being the best.
They ran a competition, your great grandfather was one of the winners, not that
he knew it at the time, and they gave out 10 000 palm discs to new-born babies.
Of course, now it is as standard as cutting the umbilical cord, but parents
groups at the time were outraged, and your great grandfather’s mother was even
spat at on the street for allowing her baby to be fitted with the disc. People
were convinced that the problems they had had with the internet, most notably
unsuitable images, would transfer to the palm disc, exposing the babies to
terrible peril. TechnoSystems (May they reign forever, of course) protects us,
of course, ensured no such thing could be seen. They studied the 10 000
carefully, and six months after the first trial they announced their findings.
You see, before we had the palm discs, babies could not
communicate at all. All they could do was cry, and the poor parents had to
attempt to extrapolate from the tone of cry, the time and the duration what the
infant’s needs were. All very stressful and time consuming. Now that the babies
were connected, they had merely to think of sustenance and the caregiver would
know immediately to feed them. They had but to feel tired and they would be put
to bed. Their intelligence, when compared to other babies of their age without
a palm disc, was astounding. Whilst non palm babies could not even speak at six
months, palm babies could hold, and sometimes win, entire debates in multiple
languages, sending thoughts directly to the sender. Within weeks of the
findings being released, millions of parents turned up at TechnoSystems offices
around the world, demanding their babies be fitted. The government (the people
who ran the country before TechnoSystems, you remember from your history
download?) were concerned that poorer children may miss out, so TechnoSystems
made the basic fitting free, with apps and downloads costing extra. Demand
surged, and the poorer people who had had badly fitted palm discs applied at
cheaper, imitation companies, clamoured to have their old discs replaced with
shiny new ones by TechnoSystems.
Within maybe three
years of releasing its product, TechnoSystems had a disc in almost every palm
in the world. We used them to communicate, to learn, even to moralise and learn
how to behave. Can you imagine what it was like for people back in those dark
ages, never truly knowing right from wrong? Constantly having to decide for
yourself? Thank goodness we have TechnoSystems to keep us on the right track.
We would be lost without them.
That is of course, the real reason TechnoSystems became the
leaders of the world. Because we need them. Without them we are animals in the
dark, relying purely on ourselves for guidance. Can you imagine the loneliness
people must have felt when they were alone in their heads? Everything else is just circumstances. But
without the virus, TechnoSystems (May they reign forever) may not have ended up
where they are now so quickly.
TechnoSystems had been running for nearly a decade, were
already in a position of power, lobbying the government, richest company in the
world, all of that. So when the virus
struck, they were already positioned to help. I know there are conspiracy
theories, there always are of course, but I know the Leader would not have put
us in any danger, and nothing at TechnoSystems gets past him.
The virus was truly terrifying; you’ll understand more when
you are a parent yourself. It only affected the children, you see. They went to
bed as usual; palm discs glowing like little nightlights while the overnight
downloads began. They were automatic by then you see, we’d pay a monthly fee
and get our downloads automatically at night time. Palm discs were no longer the shiny new
technology they once had been; they were as commonplace as the tin opener by
that point. I suppose, had they been entirely new, we may have gone a different
way completely, had them all removed and gone back to the inefficient data machines of old. But we were
reliant by then, we didn’t know how else to be. My mother told me about it, I
was far too young to remember, but she said she had never actually felt her
blood freeze until that moment, thought it was just an expression. She had gone
to fetch me from my bed when I didn’t respond to her message that I should come
down for breakfast. I was laying there, palm disc glowing red instead of its
usual blue. My eyes were open, but you couldn’t see the irises she said, just a
milky white glowing blue. I was buzzing she told me, like an insect, and I
didn’t respond to her messages, didn’t even respond when she spoke, touched me,
shook me. She ran to get help from the neighbours, and found was the same story
in every house on the street, every street in the town. Every child under 16
frozen in their beds, glowing blue, buzzing.
The adult’s palm discs were fully functioning, except that they would
not connect to the child’s. My mother is a feisty old bird, always was, and she
set off on the march, protesting and demanding help with all the other parents.
The leader came out personally then, to address them. Told them it was a global
problem, that he would fix it.
We were in suspended animation for over 24 hours, and my
earliest memory is my mother sobbing hysterically, pulling me from my bed and
holding me to her. I have that memory saved, I’ll send it to you. I’ve set a
reminder. Of course I couldn’t
understand why she was reacting like that, I had no idea of what had happened
you see. Thought I hd just been asleep. We all did.
After the culprits had been found they were tried for mind
terrorism .oh yes, it was done on purpose. A rival company trying to discredit TechnoSystems
(may they reign forever) . They were easy to catch, after all, every thought
they had ever had was stored on the TechnoSystems database. No need for outdated courts and juries of
course, we had direct links to the thought of the hackers, we knew they were
guilty. They were stripped of their palm discs, and exiled. People say that
they live, out in the world somewhere, that they breed and thrive, but it can’t
be so. How could you survive out there, no disc to tell you how to cook, what
sustenance your body most needs? No disc to sooth you when you are sad, switch
you into sleep when you are weary? It is a story, made up to frighten small
children. You are too old for boogie men now.
We would have still accepted TechnoSystems as the world’s
leaders, of course we would have. But I often think that the virus, awful crime
as it was, helped to get them into power. After the other companies were banned
and disbanded, people soon realised there were no need for governments after
all. TechnoSystems provide all we need
keep the peace, prevent crime. We didn’t need governments anymore. The people
handed over the power to TechnoSystems, and we are all the better for it.
I know you are getting sleepy now my lovely, I can see your
thoughts getting fuzzy round the edges. No, I can send you those memories
tomorrow, I have updated the reminder. Let me upload you a lullaby, my darling.
We can talk again when you have recharged. Don’t worry your pretty head about
viruses, they are a thing of the past. TechnoSystems takes care of us now.
Back in the olden days, way before even my parents were
born, I know it is odd to think of your grandmother having parents but I did, well
back then, they didn’t have palm discs. They had no access to collective
information at all. I mean, they thought their technology was cutting edge,
they really did, but if they wanted to find out something, or speak to someone
that was further away than you are from me now, they had to use a machine. The machines
started off big and clunky, and were attached to the walls of the house with
wires, you couldn’t take them with you anywhere, they were useless really, but
without them we wouldn’t have the advantages we have today. Like the candle
being the forerunner to the electric light, I suppose.
Now the more a person uses something, becomes accustomed to
it, the more they tend to rely on it. It was that way with the forerunner of
the palm disc. The internet, I think they called it. People got fed up I
suppose, having to get to their home or place of work to be able to find out a fact, or listen to a
song, or talk to someone in another part of the world. They began to create smaller and smaller
devices to do the job, tiny versions of their home machines, that ran on
something called battery power, although don’t ask me how that works as I have
no idea. Soon they could speak to people all over the globe, listen to whatever
song they liked, and find out any fact. But it was onerous; to find the exact
thing you wanted took time and patience.
People started to abuse it, use the network to humiliate and bully, to
watch unsavoury things happening to less fortunate people. It turned from a
positive, ground breaking way of drawing people together to a dark underbelly
of illegal and immoral behaviour. You see, there was no one party looking after
us then, every country had its own rules and regulations, but the world as a
whole didn’t, as such. What was acceptable in one culture was unacceptable in
another. Not like now, the internet was a lawless beast, and profited those who
knew how to best use that advantage.
The debate over the use and policing of this internet was
already raging when TechnoSystems (May they reign forever) first floated the
idea of the palm disc. They argued since theft of the mobile devices was
causing such problems within the teenaged community, the safest way to prevent
it was to stop the devices from being able to be physically taken away. There
were rumours that they tested the palm disc first on animals, then on convicts,
do you remember learning about crime and punishment? Before finally floating the product. The
company’s staff members already had the palm discs installed, and could all
give testimonies that the product worked well, that they did not inhibit use of
the hand, and indeed were even friendly to the environment, as they were
recharged by the body’s own electric charge, no need for batteries. That was another hot topic of the day, my
mother told me; we were, after all, a
lot more dependent upon the environment then. We used to go outside almost every
day.
There was no longer any need for tedious searching for that
song whose name you could not recall, for if you hummed a few bars the song
would play, note perfect, directly into your brain, and the details of the
song, composer, writer, singer, instrumentalists would be available to you
(this was before TechnoSystems perfected it of course. The information would
write itself in your brain, and you would have to read it. Things have come
along much further now. Progress).
In the olden days, before TechnoSystems (may they reign
forever), if you wanted a story about a mermaid and a hairpin, you would either
have to search for one or create it yourself. Can you imagine? If you wanted to know what life was like in
other countries, you would have to read about them, find out. I know it is
difficult for you to understand, young one. These words are all from so very
long ago; even I don’t fully understand it. I am just telling you what my
mother told me. But she said that just
wondering was not enough to gain you knowledge. You had to learn. Now of
course, if I want to know what the weather is like in Aberdeen today I know it
is 11 degrees outside with a southerly wind and scattered showers before I even
finish the thought.
Of course some people resisted the idea of the palm disc,
people always do don’t they? And the elite at the time were those that had
spent years gaining knowledge, knowledge of course being power back then, and
they were not happy about the democratization
of learning. People were easier to control when they knew only a little.
But of course, the resisters can’t hold back the tide of progress. Soon every
adult had been fitted with their personal palm disc, older children too.
Different companies started to spring up with their own versions, but
TechnoSystems was by far the most popular, the original always being the best.
They ran a competition, your great grandfather was one of the winners, not that
he knew it at the time, and they gave out 10 000 palm discs to new-born babies.
Of course, now it is as standard as cutting the umbilical cord, but parents
groups at the time were outraged, and your great grandfather’s mother was even
spat at on the street for allowing her baby to be fitted with the disc. People
were convinced that the problems they had had with the internet, most notably
unsuitable images, would transfer to the palm disc, exposing the babies to
terrible peril. TechnoSystems (May they reign forever, of course) protects us,
of course, ensured no such thing could be seen. They studied the 10 000
carefully, and six months after the first trial they announced their findings.
You see, before we had the palm discs, babies could not
communicate at all. All they could do was cry, and the poor parents had to
attempt to extrapolate from the tone of cry, the time and the duration what the
infant’s needs were. All very stressful and time consuming. Now that the babies
were connected, they had merely to think of sustenance and the caregiver would
know immediately to feed them. They had but to feel tired and they would be put
to bed. Their intelligence, when compared to other babies of their age without
a palm disc, was astounding. Whilst non palm babies could not even speak at six
months, palm babies could hold, and sometimes win, entire debates in multiple
languages, sending thoughts directly to the sender. Within weeks of the
findings being released, millions of parents turned up at TechnoSystems offices
around the world, demanding their babies be fitted. The government (the people
who ran the country before TechnoSystems, you remember from your history
download?) were concerned that poorer children may miss out, so TechnoSystems
made the basic fitting free, with apps and downloads costing extra. Demand
surged, and the poorer people who had had badly fitted palm discs applied at
cheaper, imitation companies, clamoured to have their old discs replaced with
shiny new ones by TechnoSystems.
Within maybe three
years of releasing its product, TechnoSystems had a disc in almost every palm
in the world. We used them to communicate, to learn, even to moralise and learn
how to behave. Can you imagine what it was like for people back in those dark
ages, never truly knowing right from wrong? Constantly having to decide for
yourself? Thank goodness we have TechnoSystems to keep us on the right track.
We would be lost without them.
That is of course, the real reason TechnoSystems became the
leaders of the world. Because we need them. Without them we are animals in the
dark, relying purely on ourselves for guidance. Can you imagine the loneliness
people must have felt when they were alone in their heads? Everything else is just circumstances. But
without the virus, TechnoSystems (May they reign forever) may not have ended up
where they are now so quickly.
TechnoSystems had been running for nearly a decade, were
already in a position of power, lobbying the government, richest company in the
world, all of that. So when the virus
struck, they were already positioned to help. I know there are conspiracy
theories, there always are of course, but I know the Leader would not have put
us in any danger, and nothing at TechnoSystems gets past him.
The virus was truly terrifying; you’ll understand more when
you are a parent yourself. It only affected the children, you see. They went to
bed as usual; palm discs glowing like little nightlights while the overnight
downloads began. They were automatic by then you see, we’d pay a monthly fee
and get our downloads automatically at night time. Palm discs were no longer the shiny new
technology they once had been; they were as commonplace as the tin opener by
that point. I suppose, had they been entirely new, we may have gone a different
way completely, had them all removed and gone back to the inefficient data machines of old. But we were
reliant by then, we didn’t know how else to be. My mother told me about it, I
was far too young to remember, but she said she had never actually felt her
blood freeze until that moment, thought it was just an expression. She had gone
to fetch me from my bed when I didn’t respond to her message that I should come
down for breakfast. I was laying there, palm disc glowing red instead of its
usual blue. My eyes were open, but you couldn’t see the irises she said, just a
milky white glowing blue. I was buzzing she told me, like an insect, and I
didn’t respond to her messages, didn’t even respond when she spoke, touched me,
shook me. She ran to get help from the neighbours, and found was the same story
in every house on the street, every street in the town. Every child under 16
frozen in their beds, glowing blue, buzzing.
The adult’s palm discs were fully functioning, except that they would
not connect to the child’s. My mother is a feisty old bird, always was, and she
set off on the march, protesting and demanding help with all the other parents.
The leader came out personally then, to address them. Told them it was a global
problem, that he would fix it.
We were in suspended animation for over 24 hours, and my
earliest memory is my mother sobbing hysterically, pulling me from my bed and
holding me to her. I have that memory saved, I’ll send it to you. I’ve set a
reminder. Of course I couldn’t
understand why she was reacting like that, I had no idea of what had happened
you see. Thought I hd just been asleep. We all did.
After the culprits had been found they were tried for mind
terrorism .oh yes, it was done on purpose. A rival company trying to discredit TechnoSystems
(may they reign forever) . They were easy to catch, after all, every thought
they had ever had was stored on the TechnoSystems database. No need for outdated courts and juries of
course, we had direct links to the thought of the hackers, we knew they were
guilty. They were stripped of their palm discs, and exiled. People say that
they live, out in the world somewhere, that they breed and thrive, but it can’t
be so. How could you survive out there, no disc to tell you how to cook, what
sustenance your body most needs? No disc to sooth you when you are sad, switch
you into sleep when you are weary? It is a story, made up to frighten small
children. You are too old for boogie men now.
We would have still accepted TechnoSystems as the world’s
leaders, of course we would have. But I often think that the virus, awful crime
as it was, helped to get them into power. After the other companies were banned
and disbanded, people soon realised there were no need for governments after
all. TechnoSystems provide all we need
keep the peace, prevent crime. We didn’t need governments anymore. The people
handed over the power to TechnoSystems, and we are all the better for it.
I know you are getting sleepy now my lovely, I can see your
thoughts getting fuzzy round the edges. No, I can send you those memories
tomorrow, I have updated the reminder. Let me upload you a lullaby, my darling.
We can talk again when you have recharged. Don’t worry your pretty head about
viruses, they are a thing of the past. TechnoSystems takes care of us now.
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