“This electronics expo is great! Check this one out!” said McGee to Henderson. He pointed to a small hinged object sitting on a pedestal under a directional spotlight.
“You have to hand it to these engineering guys. Who’da thought you could make a voice recognition stapler! Freakin’ astonishing!” Henderson shook his head in wonder.
The two gadget geeks moved on to the next exhibit.
“Oh man, McGee! I have to get me one of these!” said Henderson.
The attractive blonde model standing in front of the display said, “Fascinating, isn’t it? A motorized desk chair. It’s perfect for getting from cubicle to cubicle with total ease. Especially when you’re tired from putting in long hours on a project. And not only that, but the control buttons on the right arm of the chair let you get a massage, send emails and microwave popcorn – all with a touch of a finger.”
“You’re kidding! Where’s the microwave?” asked McGee.
“Here, I’ll show you,” said the woman. She pressed a button and a tiny microwave oven popped up out of the left arm on the chair. “I already put a micro-bag of popcorn in the oven. It should be ready in a minute.”
The mini-microwave dinged. The popcorn tasted great.
“Please feel free to take a brochure.” The model handed one each to McGee and to Henderson. They thanked her and continued on their way.
The next exhibit they visited was at the end of the row.
A heavy-set man in a grey suit was writing something in a notebook, but looked up at the approach of McGee and Henderson. There was nothing, at least visible, at this booth other than the grey-suited man. McGee and Henderson were about to leave and start on a new row of cool stuff, when the man said, “Wait, fellas. I have something to show you. I promise you this will be worth your while.”
The man disappeared behind a burgundy velvet curtain at the back of his booth. McGee and Henderson looked at each other and shrugged.
The stout man in grey suddenly came back out from behind the curtain, along with what was probably the most drop-dead gorgeous woman either McGee or Henderson had ever seen.
“She’s...she’s...” babbled Henderson.
“Incredible!” finished McGee.
“She certainly is,” said the man, “and then some.”
“Thank you,” said the woman in a soft tone.
“She’s a robot,” said the man, watching the two geeks to see their reaction.
“No way.” McGee’s eyes were wide open.
“Way.” The robot woman flashed McGee a lovely smile.
“Let me show you something,” said the man. The two friends leaned in closer.
The large man gently turned the woman’s head to the side and he pushed back her shiny dark hair behind her ear. “Input ports,” he said. There were three of them behind her ear, near her hairline.
Pointing, the man explained. “See the top rectangular one? That’s for uploading data. The second, round one is an auxiliary port.”
The round port at the bottom had a small logo next to it of a knife and fork. “What’s that one for?” asked McGee.
“Recharging,” said the man.
“Recharging? Oh – I get it! A joke, right? Like, she eats electricity?” asked Henderson.
“Not exactly,” said the man. He glanced around quickly, and then looked back at McGee and Henderson. “If you go into the back behind the curtain, and plug the red cable there into that port, you’ll see how she works. I have to say, when she’s hooked up - well – let’s just say she fulfills all my hopes and dreams for now - and the future!”
“Okaaaaay!” said McGee, rubbing his hands together. He moved in even closer to the beautiful robot.
“Oh no! Not this time!” said Henderson. He shoved McGee aside and took the robots hand. “I’m going back there with her!”
The robot looked at the man. He nodded. She smiled the most brilliant smile possible at Henderson. McGee looked defeated as his friend headed back behind the curtain with the stunning robot lady.
After a few moments, there was a scream which sounded like it came from behind the curtain – and then there was silence.
“Oh my god! What was that?” gasped McGee? He ran to the curtain and pulled it aside. The robot woman was standing there, still smiling, still beautiful. Henderson was nowhere to be seen.
“What just happened?” cried McGee. “Where’s my buddy, Henderson?”
The fat man in the grey suit finished jotting something down in his notebook and then looked up at McGee. “Young man, you saw the knife and fork logo next to the recharging port, didn’t you?”
“Really? You build it up like a earth shattering invention and you bring me an ear?” Mr. Smith looked even more disgusted than he sounded. Seven months he had been shoveling investment capital into TexTek. Not that his clients would notice $5,000 with returns in excess of thirty million from oil and plastics, but this was a project he had believed in and wanted to surprise them with. Now Richard Saunders walks in with an ear in a cake box.
“B- b- but, it's not the ear, sir. Look c-closer.” Richard wasn't scared, he just stuttered when he got excited. “Do you see the ports behind the ear?”
“How about you tell me what I'm looking at and let's just assume that I can use my own eyeballs.”
“That's a perfect example.” Richard set the white box on Smith's leather blotter and started to pace in the narrow space between the upholstered visitor chairs. “You have eyeballs, but your brain can only see a very narrow range of the EM spectrum. Dogs see a different range, night vision goggles see a different range. Human ears also have a very specific range of sound frequencies that the brain can interpret.”
“Wait a second,” Smith interrupted. “Are you trying to sell me a bionic ear? A replacement ear? Will people have to chop of their own ear to get one of these fancy Whisper-8-Billion ears? I understand that you're building up the limitations of the human body so that your invention can tear down the walls, but I won't sell something that people have to tear down their bodies to get.”
“N-n-n-no. The ear is a mock up, the ports are the invention. You're missing the point. It's not the body that's defective, it's the brain. What I have created is a body/mind computer interface, a BMCI, that allows the user to access the entirety of sensory perception memory that is stored in the human brain.”
“Ok, so I guess the bottom hole is some sort of charger for the device in your head”
“No! Th-the port provides power to the computer.”
“Hmm. This is suspicious. The sign by the USB port looks like Shakespeare's beast with two backs.”
“S-sorry. Haha. Just a little joke. That's how the user couples to the computer. Coupling. . . Anyhow, we at TexTek are putting the finishing touches on the computer program that”
“Wait. What's the middle port? It's got the symbol for a hotel or motel, a place you can sleep, next to it. Can you turn off the recording when you go to bed?”
“W-w-well, the thing is Mr. Smith, your brain never stops working. That's why we have dreams”
“So it records dreams?”
“The BMCI lets you relive your sensory perceptions from dreams, yes, but really, that port is for Daydreaming. We discovered an interesting phenomenon. When a third wire is inserted into the BMCI, the user loses all subsequent input until the wire is removed, with no sense of temporal loss. For all practical purposes, we've created the Matrix.”
“Thank you very much Saunders. And it's Agent Smith.”
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete“This electronics expo is great! Check this one out!” said McGee to Henderson. He pointed to a small hinged object sitting on a pedestal under a directional spotlight.
ReplyDelete“You have to hand it to these engineering guys. Who’da thought you could make a voice recognition stapler! Freakin’ astonishing!” Henderson shook his head in wonder.
The two gadget geeks moved on to the next exhibit.
“Oh man, McGee! I have to get me one of these!” said Henderson.
The attractive blonde model standing in front of the display said, “Fascinating, isn’t it? A motorized desk chair. It’s perfect for getting from cubicle to cubicle with total ease. Especially when you’re tired from putting in long hours on a project. And not only that, but the control buttons on the right arm of the chair let you get a massage, send emails and microwave popcorn – all with a touch of a finger.”
“You’re kidding! Where’s the microwave?” asked McGee.
“Here, I’ll show you,” said the woman. She pressed a button and a tiny microwave oven popped up out of the left arm on the chair. “I already put a micro-bag of popcorn in the oven. It should be ready in a minute.”
The mini-microwave dinged. The popcorn tasted great.
“Please feel free to take a brochure.” The model handed one each to McGee and to Henderson. They thanked her and continued on their way.
The next exhibit they visited was at the end of the row.
A heavy-set man in a grey suit was writing something in a notebook, but looked up at the approach of McGee and Henderson. There was nothing, at least visible, at this booth other than the grey-suited man. McGee and Henderson were about to leave and start on a new row of cool stuff, when the man said, “Wait, fellas. I have something to show you. I promise you this will be worth your while.”
The man disappeared behind a burgundy velvet curtain at the back of his booth. McGee and Henderson looked at each other and shrugged.
The stout man in grey suddenly came back out from behind the curtain, along with what was probably the most drop-dead gorgeous woman either McGee or Henderson had ever seen.
“She’s...she’s...” babbled Henderson.
“Incredible!” finished McGee.
“She certainly is,” said the man, “and then some.”
“Thank you,” said the woman in a soft tone.
“She’s a robot,” said the man, watching the two geeks to see their reaction.
“No way.” McGee’s eyes were wide open.
“Way.” The robot woman flashed McGee a lovely smile.
“Let me show you something,” said the man. The two friends leaned in closer.
The large man gently turned the woman’s head to the side and he pushed back her shiny dark hair behind her ear. “Input ports,” he said. There were three of them behind her ear, near her hairline.
Pointing, the man explained. “See the top rectangular one? That’s for uploading data. The second, round one is an auxiliary port.”
The round port at the bottom had a small logo next to it of a knife and fork. “What’s that one for?” asked McGee.
“Recharging,” said the man.
“Recharging? Oh – I get it! A joke, right? Like, she eats electricity?” asked Henderson.
“Not exactly,” said the man. He glanced around quickly, and then looked back at McGee and Henderson. “If you go into the back behind the curtain, and plug the red cable there into that port, you’ll see how she works. I have to say, when she’s hooked up - well – let’s just say she fulfills all my hopes and dreams for now - and the future!”
“Okaaaaay!” said McGee, rubbing his hands together. He moved in even closer to the beautiful robot.
“Oh no! Not this time!” said Henderson. He shoved McGee aside and took the robots hand. “I’m going back there with her!”
The robot looked at the man. He nodded. She smiled the most brilliant smile possible at Henderson. McGee looked defeated as his friend headed back behind the curtain with the stunning robot lady.
After a few moments, there was a scream which sounded like it came from behind the curtain – and then there was silence.
“Oh my god! What was that?” gasped McGee? He ran to the curtain and pulled it aside. The robot woman was standing there, still smiling, still beautiful. Henderson was nowhere to be seen.
“What just happened?” cried McGee. “Where’s my buddy, Henderson?”
The fat man in the grey suit finished jotting something down in his notebook and then looked up at McGee. “Young man, you saw the knife and fork logo next to the recharging port, didn’t you?”
Nervously, McGee nodded yes.
The man grinned. “She was recharging.”
Whoa! Freaky deaky!
ReplyDeleteIt kept my attention! ;) Bravo!!
Amazing, Lightverse! So good.
ReplyDeleteWhoa, wow! I found myself reading faster and faster to see what was going to happen! So GOOD!!!
ReplyDeletelightverse - Great! Did not expect that.
ReplyDelete“Really? You build it up like a earth shattering invention and you bring me an ear?” Mr. Smith looked even more disgusted than he sounded. Seven months he had been shoveling investment capital into TexTek. Not that his clients would notice $5,000 with returns in excess of thirty million from oil and plastics, but this was a project he had believed in and wanted to surprise them with. Now Richard Saunders walks in with an ear in a cake box.
ReplyDelete“B- b- but, it's not the ear, sir. Look c-closer.” Richard wasn't scared, he just stuttered when he got excited. “Do you see the ports behind the ear?”
“How about you tell me what I'm looking at and let's just assume that I can use my own eyeballs.”
“That's a perfect example.” Richard set the white box on Smith's leather blotter and started to pace in the narrow space between the upholstered visitor chairs. “You have eyeballs, but your brain can only see a very narrow range of the EM spectrum. Dogs see a different range, night vision goggles see a different range. Human ears also have a very specific range of sound frequencies that the brain can interpret.”
“Wait a second,” Smith interrupted. “Are you trying to sell me a bionic ear? A replacement ear? Will people have to chop of their own ear to get one of these fancy Whisper-8-Billion ears? I understand that you're building up the limitations of the human body so that your invention can tear down the walls, but I won't sell something that people have to tear down their bodies to get.”
“N-n-n-no. The ear is a mock up, the ports are the invention. You're missing the point. It's not the body that's defective, it's the brain. What I have created is a body/mind computer interface, a BMCI, that allows the user to access the entirety of sensory perception memory that is stored in the human brain.”
“Ok, so I guess the bottom hole is some sort of charger for the device in your head”
“No! Th-the port provides power to the computer.”
“Hmm. This is suspicious. The sign by the USB port looks like Shakespeare's beast with two backs.”
“S-sorry. Haha. Just a little joke. That's how the user couples to the computer. Coupling. . . Anyhow, we at TexTek are putting the finishing touches on the computer program that”
“Wait. What's the middle port? It's got the symbol for a hotel or motel, a place you can sleep, next to it. Can you turn off the recording when you go to bed?”
“W-w-well, the thing is Mr. Smith, your brain never stops working. That's why we have dreams”
“So it records dreams?”
“The BMCI lets you relive your sensory perceptions from dreams, yes, but really, that port is for Daydreaming. We discovered an interesting phenomenon. When a third wire is inserted into the BMCI, the user loses all subsequent input until the wire is removed, with no sense of temporal loss. For all practical purposes, we've created the Matrix.”
“Thank you very much Saunders. And it's Agent Smith.”
Ooooh! Nice B.Nagel! Creepy but nice! I enjoyed this one a lot!
ReplyDelete