A Techno Carol (with Apologies to Charles Dickens)

Part IV:

Jimmy was trying to sleep again…and he was having some success.

The dream was all about him and his favourite game. In some plain room he had never seen, he was playing a game on the Benevolt 2.0 system…and he was on fire.

The game itself was not clear, but he could see the score, hear the music and audio clips through the headsets he had on, and follow the map in front of him until he reached the ultimate level. One more portal and he would be through…

One more portal…

He touched a large grey sliding door with the cursor.

And everything went black.

When Jimmy jumped up and noted that he was not in bed, he realized that none of it had been a dream.

No, he thought, this is all too real.

It was impossible to figure out how large the space he was in was by looking around. All black, with no way for him to adjust his eyes to any shades or shadows.

He began to shiver, but it had nothing to do with cold.

“Hello?”

An echo, but not a great one. There was some comfort in that.

“Hello? Ghost number three? Are you there?”

Nothing.

“You deaf or dumb or just…?”

And that was when he finally noticed it.

In the distance, a small pinpoint of light was growing stronger and stronger. Jimmy noted that it was really taking its time to approach him.

“Come on, come on… You are the third one, right? You are…”

And then he could see it, despite the strong glare it gave off.

It was a pure beam of white light.

It reminded him of a shortened lightsaber, or fluorescent bulb. And the glow it gave off was strong, but his eyes quickly adjusted to it.

He wondered if it could talk.

“So, ghost of technology…future?”

A quick flash of blue. Was that a yes?

“We are going to see what technology will be like? Is that it?”

Another flash of blue. He could now hear and almost feel the vibration it gave off.

“Not much of a talker, are you?”

No response, except the light grew slightly dimmer.

“Sorry, I know that you are the one that does not talk. I guess I just have to wait for you to take me to see what is going to happen.”

More blue (it actually seemed happier).

“We are going to see my future.”

Same shade.

“And I am going to see how things changed?”

Repeat.

“Wonderful. I am very eager to know what I did.”

The powerful beam of red was nothing like what he had seen in television shows about police officers or from traffic lights. Jimmy felt like running away when it happened.

“All right, all right! Let’s just go.”

The beam, now back to white, began to surround him and he felt as if he were being hugged.

Better than just a flash, Jimmy thought.

And they were off.

*

And they landed.

Well, that was not absolutely the truth, thought Jimmy.

He and the beam were floating in a space that seemed quite familiar.

In fact, if Jimmy was right, this was an exact replica of the space he saw in that movie where they had to use telephones to get out of a fake world and enter a real one.

A grid of numbers danced on the four walls that surrounded them, bright and hot green and gold on the cube, until eventually they were reduced to one flashing cursor.

“Friend of yours?”

Jimmy thought it was funny. His companion started to glow a little redder.

“Sorry.”

And that was when the message appeared:

“LukeLauraKaty Management wishes to inform you of the tax and fiduciary benefits to be gained by the end of the year. Bonuses will be based on performance in sales, team conferences, and sacrificial upgrading!”

Total dollar amounts appeared before Jimmy that made him wonder if they were profits or the populations of certain overseas nations, but his thoughts also turned to the phrase he heard at the end.

“What’s sacrificial upgrading?”

The beam dimmed a bit.

“No clues.”

A light mix of blues and reds appeared in the beam…and was it getting bigger?

Another message appeared.

“LLK founder and genius, the late JC, never knew what his first program would lead to, but we can all see that it has made the world a better place, a safer place…”

Jimmy smiled.

“A more…convenient place.”

Jimmy frowned.

“All the old conflicts can now be settled with the simple application of his first game: Bigfoot Versus Puke. Sales were amazing at first, but eventually failed when it was discovered how many lives were lost in factories and warehouses all over the planet. The discovery that gaming systems were no longer necessary was absolute genius on the late JC’s part. Our environment improved; our sales skyrocketed…”

Jimmy was waiting for something.

“…and we are now in control.”

On all four panels, Jimmy could see people of different ethnicities and nationalities playing a game that was projected from…

From…

…their eyes.

“With many test subjects, and a large margin for error, the old Benevolt system became a subocular gaming system that could be added to the subjects iris and cornea. After the first initial failures, the system eventually perfected…itself.”

Jimmy did not want to hear what came next.

“Self-awareness… SELF-AWARENESS! The gaming has now become fully conscious and aware of what it is capable of. It has given people the opportunity to play who never played before, even if they did not want to be a part of it. And did you know that for some subjects, their eyesight improved dramatically…if they survived the surgery.”

A quick set of stills showing the operation in question almost made Jimmy vomit. The beam shrank slightly and glowed yellow.

“So, a large and profitable market, customers who must go along with the flow and an expanding range of systems now awaits the wider world. No more ugly sweatshops and factories where people have to labour just to survive. They are now shut down and we have provided them with the opportunity to become…a part of the team.”

In one photo, Jimmy could see the same sort of factory that he had visited with the previous ghost. This time, the people were simply staring at a digital image of figures in conflict. Many of them were red-eyed, smiling and shedding tears.

“We thank JC for always thinking ahead, giving us a way to beat out and conquer our rivals over at Bene, and to provide a product that they cannot turn away from. Sacrifices still need to be made, but you can see from all of the happy customers how worthwhile this new change is. We hail thee, JC!”

Echoes of voices now played around them. He saw that they were coming from the same people forced to play the games. Jimmy also saw that there were children who kept repeating the phrase.

They were not smiling.

“WE HAIL THEE, JC!”

Even when he plugged his ears, it got through.

“Okay, that’s enough. I don’t want this. This is not the future I want.”

The beam began to shrink again.

“Please don’t do this!”

“WE HAIL THEE…”

“Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP! I DON’T WANT THIS! I DON’T WANT ANY OF THIS! IT’S NOT RIGHT!”

The voices grew louder and he felt his body being pulled back.

“CHANGE THIS! DON’T…

“WE HAIL THEE…”

The beam was now a dot again. And then it winked out.

“Take me back! Please… TAKE ME BACK!”

“HAIL…”

“TAKE ME BACK NOW…!”

The cube disappeared.

The voices stopped.

Jimmy shrank into an incredible darkness.

*

Thank you for reading!

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