The Armless Young Man

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This journal is property of Aiden Wilmont.

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This is amazing! I can actually write my thoughts on a piece of paper now!

I don't know why I'm crying, because I'm actually very relieved.

Maybe it's because I truly have missed out on everything that people around me have been able to do. But I can do it all now, thanks to my Neuralink device and these robot arms.

It's taken me a few weeks, but I'm finally able to control the intricate movements of my non-human fingers with my mind just how they said I could!

Okay, time to actually start my first real journal entry. I'm so excited.

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It's the year 2036, and I'm writing this with a set of arms that were given to me days ago. My name is Aiden, and I haven't had the best life.

At first I couldn't control my arms at all, and people stared at me and would exclaim at me things like, "Wow nice arms, high five man." I wasn't able to high five the energetic boy who said this to me in the supermarket, but I can now.

I have never had the opportunity to write before. My arms were taken off in a brutal accident when I was too young to remember. All I know is that it was a car crash that should have killed me. My body stops at the elbow on my right arm, and at the shoulder on my left. After that, well, that is the gift I have been given.

Thanks to Elon Musk and his Neuralink project I am able to control my robotic arms and fingers as if they are my own. Ten years ago when I was just starting high school, I had no idea that I would ever have a set of functioning arms, let alone fully functioning fingers and joints.

I thought my entire life was going to be based on the fact that I was armless and needed constant assistance. I felt so useless, like a drain on society.

I feel like I am finally free from a cage that I could not have escaped on my own. A kind of purgatory in the pit of my stomach that I learned to accept as reality.

On a different note, I guess this means I'm the first actual human cyborg. So that's kind of awesome.

I've only read articles on the internet about journaling, so I don't even know if I'm doing it right. Oh well. I'll just give it my best shot :)

My birthday was May 15th, and I just received the best birthday presents I have ever had in my entire 25 years of existence. Today is May 27th, and I can now fully utilize my gifts.

I got a hearty little black book that I'm writing in now; tennis equipment; a Diamond Back Mountain Bike; a set of woodworking hand-tools; and my first smart phone.

The first thing I am doing for my birthday is sitting down to write. The leather on this journal feels amazing. I admit, I was rubbing it on my face because I can't feel anything with my... hands. I have hands now.

Throughout my life, I have had to make do without being able to write or hold onto anything that couldn't be picked up with a freakin' hook because my family could never afford any of the higher tech prosthetics for me.

I'm so lucky to have been chosen to be the first human to try this technology out.

Anyways, I've always wanted to do a time capsule, and now I can actually do that in a way.

As I wrote before, today is 05/27/2036 and it is over 115 degrees outside. In Yreka, CA, along the Oregon border, it has never been hot like this before. It gets into the triple digits in summer, but not like this and not this early.

The other day we were driving back from a trip to see family, and saw the sign with the town's population and elevation.

There was a state vehicle parked next to the sign with bright orange cones and two workers in bright orange vests. My mom said, "Wow I wonder what's going on there Aiden, look." And my Dad said, "Probably our population again. All of our friends have had more kids, and their friends have too."

I really wasn't all that interested, but I happened to look out the window of our car at the right angle and time to see the digits missing from the elevation. "Hmm, crazy."

It took me a minute to realize what was going on. Our elevation from sea level had actually changed enough to warrant an update to the sign from rising sea level. It read: Population 12,578, Elevation _ _ _ _.

I didn't say anything. My parents seemed stressed enough as it is, and my Dad had just lost his job as a truck driver to an autonomous vehicle. Luckily my Mom is really good with finances and we don't have any debt. However, I think we are in for trouble if he can't find another job by the time his unemployment runs dry.

Speaking of which, now that I have arms, I wonder if I will still get disability payments. How will they classify that? Will they make me go to work? I've never had a job before.

I finally have the opportunity to live an independent life. I have so much to think about, and so many things to try. I can learn to drive, go on dates by myself, and- and everything else!

Maybe I could be a writer. That would be fun, and it's something I always thought was off limits for me no matter how hard I tried. There was just no way to write without being able to type of use some kind of pen.

I just made my first cup of coffee without any assistance. Now back to journaling... these things are solid.

I wonder if I punched somebody in self-defense with these stainless steel bearings if the courts would classify that as an excessive use of force? It could probably really hurt someone if I swung it hard enough. I used to feel like I could never protect myself, but now that I've got a hang of my new hands I think I would be okay.

It's time to write a letter to Elon Musk, Bill & Melinda Gates, and the doctors who helped install all of this for me. Despite a minor headache, my new brain implant and robotic features are working without a hitch.

I think I'm going to enjoy my new life. Especially because-

"Hey Aiden, I think someone from CNN wants to talk to you on the phone, come out here for a minute," my Mom is calling.

"Okay Mom, one sec!"

-- Journal Entry #1 of many more to come.