text: “The Implant” Stroldt arrived at his apartment at five-o’clock. He had just got home from Kepler Interplanetary’s Corporate Headquarters, where he had been playing logo-guesser--a game where you gain credits by seeing how fast you can guess company logos. He had gained additional credits by visiting the company’s corporate office. He had started getting ready for bed, even though he wasn’t tired. You couldn’t be doing anything else when the implant updates happened, so people just slept through them--or at least laid in bed. He didn’t know what was going to be in the update. Sometimes it was a minor patch, other times, a completely new interface. All he knew, was how long it would take. He got into bed and closed his eyes. He accessed his implant, and the updates began. The implant looks just like a computer screen. The official name for it is the direct neural interface. It is a microcomputer that is placed on a person’s cerebral cortex. You can access the internet, send messages to people, do anything a computer can do. Just by thinking. When he awoke, he was bombarded with a terrible headache--not too uncommon of an occurrence right after an update. He walked over to his food synthesizer. He had one of the older models; which was larger, and took longer. It even had the old Cuneigen Logo. While waiting for his food he sat on his bed and played logo-guesser. He played for a few minutes then got an alert that his food was done. He paid with his implant and sat back down on his bed. Most apartments in the lower city had only a bedroom. There was no need for kitchens, because all food was synthesized. Services like bathrooms were public. There was no need for living rooms, people just communicated through their implants. He closed his eyes and started perceiving an advertisement for Siobdan. He needed to use the telepad later, so he thought he might get some extra credits. Money does not exist anymore. Instead, if you want to use a service, you simply watch an advertisement for that company. You then get specialized credits for use on their products. If you want to use the telepads, you watch a commercial for Siobdan. If you want to use the 3D printers, you watch a commercial for Cuneigen. You can watch an advertisement for a specific company, or watch a commercial for their parent company. This gains credits in the parent company, as well as all of their subsidiaries. So, for example, if you want healthcare, you can watch a commercial for Zuhcroft NLC; or you could watch a commercial for their parent company--Kepler Interplanetrary Corporation. Siobdan, chess, and Logo Guesser were also some of Kepler’s holdings. They are a space mining corporation and are the world’s only trillion-dollar company. When he had finished his food, he opened a chess program. After playing for twenty minutes, the game ended in a draw. He opened his eyes. He had to meet his friends at the theatre. He left his apartment and walked down the stairs. When he saw the line for the Telepad he muttered under his breath. He closed his eyes and sent a message to his friends saying that he might be late. He went to check the news. -Kepler Interplanetary has bought out Vechnosoft NLC. -Massive Hurricane Hits West Coast. More than 24,000 Dead in Las Vegas. -Weather forecast for this week: :) :) :) :( :) :( Someone tapped him on the shoulder. He was next. He entered the telepad and closed his eyes. His most frequented destinations popped up: Kepler Interplanetary Headquarters, the Kepler theatre, and Cuneigen Headquarters. He selected the theatre, his credits rolled down, and his body dematerialized. After he exited the telepad, he looked around for his friends. They were sitting on a bench in the lobby with their eyes closed. He walked over and tapped his friend Rodme on the shoulder. “Oh hey Stroldt.” Rodme said. “You feps ready?” Stroldt said. “Yeah, we were just playing logo guesser.” Rodme said. “More like you were losing at logo guesser.” Tibor said. They all laughed as they walked to line together. “Hey, at least I don’t always get Cunigen’s logo wrong like someone we know.” Rodme said. They continued to joke and discuss what movie to see. Stroldt went to the movie theatre about three times a week, so he had seen every movie that was currently out. His favorite was for Siobdan translocations--the telepad company. Tibor wanted to see the Kepler Interplanetary movie. Stroldt didn’t mind; he needed more credits after playing chess earlier. When he got to the front of the line he saw the cashier. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. She had brown hair and fair skin. She had two tattoos on her face. One on her left cheek of the Kepler Logo, and one on her forehead of Siobdan Translocations. It was not too uncommon to get corporate logo tattoos. Companies would pay you a decent sum of credits every month. “What would you like to see today misper?” She asked. “I’ll take one ticket for Kepler at 17,” he said. He paused for a second, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she seemed familiar. “Please scan your eyes on the scanner so the computer can register your implant code,” she said. “Yes, of course sorry.” “Alright, you’ll receive your credits after the show, here’s your 4D glasses...just kidding they’re only 3D,” she said. He smiled. “Enjoy the show!” She said. “Thanks, you too!” He said, instantly embarrassed. She laughed. He grabbed the tickets and the 3D glasses and turned around to see Rodme looking at him. “Dalkur, xhe was totally flirting with you, you should go ask xer out.” “Eh, there’s a line, plus I don’t want to be late,” Stroldt said. Rodme punched him in the arm. “There’s two people in line, don’t be a walku, flard.” “Fine, fine, I’ll go, grab me a seat okay.” He nodded. ... “So, did you do it?” Rodme said. “Yeah we’re going to go out after this.” “Nice, you got here just in time too, I think it’s just about to start.” “I was going to ask you, did...” The lights dimmed in the theatre. “I’ll ask you later.” --Please be silent and keep your eyes open at all times-- ... When the movie finished, he said goodbye to his friends. He was going to meet his date in the lobby so he took a seat on a bench. He closed his eyes. He had a few minutes to kill until her shift ended, so he decided to look her up before they met. He still couldn’t shake the feeling that he recognized her. He started perusing through the government database. He found a few different “Erishas,” but none that looked like this woman. He then rewound his memory to her face and did a search that way. “0 results” the implant said. “That can’t be right,” he thought, “this woman is a ghost.” He went into his photo editing software and erased her tattoos and searched her face again. “2186 results.” He brought up the first name on the list. She looked exactly like Erisha, but this woman was about twenty years younger. He brought up the second name. She looked exactly the same. He tried another, and another. All the same. These women all had different names, and different occupations, the only thing that they had in common was their place of birth. He looked it up. It turned out that it was a barrier city--one that was locked behind credits. Only the rich could access this part of town. Questions started to rattle around in his head, who is this woman? If she is rich why does she have to work at a movie theatre in a poor part of town, or better yet, why did she have to get those tattoos on her face? Just as he was thinking about leaving, she tapped him on the shoulder. "So, are you ready?" She asked. He paused. "Sure," he said hesitantly. He stood up and they started walking through the lobby. "I'm not sure where to go, I don't do this very often," he said nervously. "I know this nice café close by." "Okay, what are the coordinates?" He said, as he approached the Telepad. She had stopped. "Actually, I thought we could walk." He was taken aback. No one walked anywhere. If you wanted exercise, there was a pill for that. The lights indoors simulated sunlight, and the smog was so bad that you couldn't go outside most of the time anyway. "Umm, okay I guess." She smiled at him, but she could see the look on his face. "You looked me up didn't you?" He paused, and looked down. "Yeah...I did." "Couldn't find anything about me could you?" "Nothing." "Well you haven't left yet so that's a good sign." He chuckled. "I suppose it is." They had arrived at the café, since it was late there was no one else in line. They ordered two coffees. The cashier took two glasses of water and grabbed two pills, she put the pills in the water, and handed them over. He paid for the coffee with his implant, and they sat down at a table and sipped their coffee. They both were looking away for an awkward few seconds. “So...what do you like to do for fun?” she asked, trying to break the ice. “I like to play chess.” “960 I presume?” “Yeah, well, chess has been pretty much solved with the implant. So, randomizing the pieces is the only way to be fair.” “Aren’t a lot of openings for that solved too though?” She asked. “Yeah, but once you get to the mid game it starts to get fun.” He paused for a second. “Kind of gets boring again when you get to the late game though...all endings with nine pieces have been solved.” He said. “I see.” “I like to play Logo guesser too. I have the highest score amongst my friends,” he said. “I also like to go to the theatre...but I guess you already knew that haha.” She smiled. “And what about you?” He asked. “I like to take walks,” she said. “I read a lot too.” “Oh yeah? Did you read that Kepler bought out Vechnosoft earlier today?” “I hadn’t no, but I was talking about books, not just the news.” “Oh. I think the last book I read was in secondary school,” he said. “What’s your favorite book?” He asked. “Gulliver’s Travels.” “I haven’t read that one.” “You should it’s really good.” “What else do you do?” “I go to university,” she said. “Oh wow, what are you studying?” He asked. “I’m studying to become a school counselor,” she said. “Wow, I don’t know anyone who has went to college...come to think of it, I actually don’t know anyone who has a job,” he said. That wasn’t uncommon at all. Most jobs had been replaced by machines. The only jobs that were left were those that required a human touch. There was a long pause. "You know I've had a real coffee?" She said, trying to break the silence. "Yeah right." "No joke." He hesitated for a few seconds. He didn't even know where to start. There were so many questions rattling around in his head. "...where are you from?" He asked, already knowing the answer. "San Dwynwen." "Isn't that a barrier city?" "It is," she said, sipping her coffee. "Ask it," she said, "I know you're dying to." He paused for a second, “why are you here?" "Well, I was born in San Dwynwen, I was a perfect," she said. A perfect is a genetically engineered member of the upper caste. "I went to a great school, I made a lot of money, and I was happy--or so I had thought." He drank his coffee, listening intently. She went on, "have you ever heard of the Sklardu Syndicate?" "Yeah, but I thought that they were just a rumor though. I didn't think there was any crime in the upper city." "They exist." She moved her hair back to reveal a huge scar on her neck. "They did this to me. They removed my implant." "Strepka! Why would they do that?" He asked. "Don't know, didn't a get an itinerary." "I didn't mean-" "I know." She took another sip from her coffee. "I tried to figure out why they would steal it. I researched a lot. It turns out there is a black market for implants," she said. "Sometimes it's trade secrets, sometimes it's a trans person that wants to feel what it is like to be a woman, other times, it’s just money." "Strepka." "I spent the longest time thinking that they had ruined my life," she said. "But honestly, if I could, I would thank them. The implant...it changes you. Changes what it means to be human,” she said. "How so?" He asked. "How does the coffee taste?" "What?" "How does it taste?" "It's really good, you were right about this place,” he said. She smiled. "It's awful, the coffee here sucks." "I don't understand." "What's your favorite food?" "I don't know, I suppose I don't really have one." "What's your least favorite food?" "huh, I guess I never really thought about that." "The implant, she said." It alters your brain, it makes food taste good." "Why?" "I mean I don't know the science behind it." "I mean why would they do that?" "I guess so they could get away with serving everyone 3D printed disgusting food." "But I mean, if it makes food taste good is that really a bad thing? I mean honestly?" She sighed. "How do you sleep?" She asked. "I sleep really well. I get eight hours every night." "And do you dream?" "Of course." "What do you dream about?" "Well sometimes I dream about Kepler Space mining, other times Andrimov Enterprises..." She laughed, then interrupted him. "Those aren't dreams. Those are advertisements. Why do you think that you dream for eight hours about Kepler, and then go to the strep theatre and watch a three-hour movie about it?" She asked. "I guess...I mean...well, I don't know." "Why do you think the government offers the implant for free? Do you think it is out of the kindness of their heart? The government just wants to make money off you,” she said. "If that was true they wouldn't offer government services. Healthcare for example.” He said. She took a large gulp of her coffee. "You know, I had a friend back in the upper city. A best friend really. She was a good person. She had a husband. She had kids. She paid her taxes.” She sighed. “One day, the doctors discovered that she had a pretty serious illness, one that I can't pronounce; one that can't be easily cured by the medpods. The government just dropped her from the plan. Said she was being "let go,”--she said as she made air quotes with her hands. “What the hell does that even mean?" She said. "Did she...I mean" "She's dead." They looked at each other for few seconds. Stroldt didn't know how to respond. He sort-of knew that the government was ran like a corporation, but he didn’t know to what extent. In school, they had learned that in the year 2276 corporations had to bail out the government. Too much debt had been taken on, and the government could not function anymore. Corporations took on the debt in exchange for seats in the legislature. This was known as the Corporate Congress. All of the major corporations were represented. They started to strip regulations from businesses, and this; coupled with the growing robot industry, resulted in an extreme class divide. Erisha looked over at the flag on the wall. "Did you know that there used to be stars on the flag?" "For real?" He asked. "Yeah, have you ever heard the original anthem?” "I thought the Logo Spangled Banner was the original. What did the stars mean?" He asked. "One for each state, they even had arguments every time a new state would enter the union about what the new flag would look like." "I can't even imagine a flag without the Kepler Logo, that thing is everywhere." He suddenly remembered the tattoo on her face, and looked down. "I didn't mean." "I know,” she said. "Why did you-" "Credits," she interrupted. "Turns out you can get a lot of credits for being a walking billboard.” "So you got them-" "After," she interrupted. "Yeah if the uppers could see me now." She laughed. "Turns out you can't do your job very well without your implant. Turns out you need the database, the calculator, all of it." "So they just threw you out of the upper city?" "No. I left,” she said. “Well I had to. I mean, the government offered me a free replacement, but I declined. I guess I realized that people weren’t meant to live like that.” “Like what?” “Well, like...robots I guess” “How so?” She paused for second before speaking. “Have you ever heard about the Ship of Theseus?” He shook his head. “According to legend, the Ship of Theseus was a famous vessel in Ancient Greece. Over the course of the ships lifetime, it had nearly every single piece of it replaced until there were no remaining pieces of the original ship. So, the question is, was it the same ship? Humans aren’t meant to be able to remember everything. They aren’t meant to send messages to people with their mind, or look up people in databases before they actually meet them. They’re not meant to watch advertisements all day long. They’re meant to have their eyes open, to forget, to dream,” she paused for a long while. “Have you ever played a real game of chess before? I mean without your implant. Just two people, on a real chess board.” “I guess I haven’t,” he said. She smiled. She asked him back to her apartment. They talked and laughed as they walked all the way there. When they finally arrived, he saw that her apartment was the same size as his, but she had made room for a living room table. They played chess.