Official Intelligent Beings: How Our Devices Became Us, And The World Consumed Itself (3 page)

“There is no freaking way.”

“I know that it sounds crazy. When we first got into contact with him, he told us that his race, the Phrells, have been searching the universe for years in hopes of finding a planet to inhabit since exhausting their own planet’s resources. Unfort-unately for us, they have finally come to understand that Earth is that place. They plan to take over and will stop at nothing to do so.”

“And can they?”

“Well, Ani Rudh says that he left long before his planet’s army to scout a potential world to inhabit. Now that he has found Earth, he has sent for the army to begin their initial takeover. Luckily, there is still plenty of time for us to properly prepare before they get here.”

“What the heck? Is this some kind of joke? Take over our planet? Why the hell would he summon me and why the hell have you not shared this information with the rest of the world? This is some seriously crazy crap, some end of the world, take over the planet type madness. It sounds like the kind of folklore they used to share in movies and literature before human life was interesting enough to become the main focus of entertainment.”

“I know how it seems, but that is where you come in. You see, it wasn’t until Ani Rudh started mentioning your name that we really began taking an interest in what you were writing. At first we were half wondering if you somehow had a connection to everything that was going on. But after an intense background check, we began to realize that you were simply a key piece to their puzzle and the reason we were able to capture Ani Rudh and store him down here, away from the public eye.”

“Piece of what puzzle?” 

“For some reason, still unknown to us, Ani Rudh discovered your Quacker account. He came to us to find you, believing that we were somehow related. He hasn’t yet shared why he was searching for you. We are almost ready to let you talk to him to try and find out, but we wanted to share everything that we know with you first, give you the facts, and go from there.”

“The end of our planet? Alien life? And, on top of that, the messenger of an alien race trying to wipe us out wants to talk to me, of all people?”

“Yes I know it’s a lot to pro…”

“No! This just doesn’t make any sense. It simply can’t be. There must be some sort of mistake. I don’t get it. I really don’t get it. I think I need some air. I’m sorry I can’t do this.”

Chapter 5.

In a frenzy, Jagz ran as fast as he could out of the room. He stopped at the locked gate that Mr. Herd had opened with his tongue. He leaned against the wall, trying to catch his breath, hanging on for dear life, trying not to collapse. Anxiety began to pour over him. He reached for his UrDg, quickly realizing that he left all of his pills at home. Jagz grabbed his face and let out a loud groan, causing him to cough uncontrollably.

A hand grasped his shoulder, pulling him out of it, bringing him back to the present moment.

“Relax, just breath slowly,” said Mr. Herd. “I know how this may all seem. I understand if you would like to go home and just forget the whole thing. While you can’t erase what you saw, I can send you home immediately, no questions asked.”

“No, no, no. I just needed a moment. This feels like some crazy and twisted dream. I certainly can’t un-see it, so I might as well continue forward. If it’s okay with you, I would like to meet him, or it, or whatever you are calling him.”

“That is okay. I think speaking to him will clear things up a bit. Don’t worry, he is perfectly harmless. We will keep you protected.”

Jagz was led back into the room. As he entered, Ani Rudh still appeared to be staring right at him, as though watching his every move. Mr. Herd assured Jagz that the alien couldn’t see him through the one-way mirror, but Jagz had a creeping suspicion that made him think otherwise.

Mr. Herd pressed a few buttons on the device in his hand. A small segment of the mirror opened up, and he gestured Jagz forward. Jagz was taken into a room directly next to the massive visitor, a simple screen of suspiciously thin glass separating them.

“Right this way.” said Mr. Herd. “I think it’s best if you speak to him alone. We have these reinforced protective screens in-between us and him, just to be extra safe. But don’t worry, I’ll be watching you closely. Just buzz me with this keypad by pressing one three whenever you are done.”

“Okay,” said Jagz with a soft and barely audible tone, too stunned to pay much attention to Mr. Herd.

Just as Mr. Herd left, the door sealed itself behind him, and Ani Rudh began to speak.

“It is of great importance that you and I speak alone. I’m sure they are listening in, but it doesn’t really matter. All that matters is that I can share something with you uninterrupted, without outside influence. I need to be completely certain that you understand what I am about to say.”

Jagz nodded, noting the visitors perfectly clear English, scanning the alien’s body. He couldn’t stop his curiosity, but he also didn’t want to lose focus on Ani Rudh. Or piss him off…

“You are probably wondering why we summonsed you today.”

It hadn’t really crossed my mind to wonder why an alien race hellbent on world domination would have any interest in speaking to me
, Jagz thought to himself.
“Yes,” was his actual answer, half worried the alien could read his mind.

“I’m sure that Mr. Herd filled you in on everything we have shared with him, but I’m also aware that he can’t seem to figure out why we chose you to speak with.”

“Yes, he has no idea,” said Jagz trying to be polite, calm, and focused as a bead of sweat began to drop down his forehead but he managed to catch it just in time to avoid Ani Rudh noticing.

“It is because you possess something that no one else, as far as we have searched, on Earth has. You have a strong desire to expose the truth, to share your true feelings, thoughts, and ideas, with an honest sense of vigor, and no fear of ridicule. Though you may not be fully aware of this, what you are actively doing takes a lot of courage, something that your race has all but lost.”

“I don’t understand. What good is that? And why do you expect me to listen to you?” Jagz asked, quickly realizing that he may have pushed his tone a little too far. He tried to save himself with a modest, “I’m just a regular guy.”

“We hope to get through to your people. To reason with the inhabitants of Earth. To spread the truth about why we are coming to Earth and what is going to happen if you do not seek peace and co-creation with our race.”

“It sounds a bit like you are just trying to take over.”

“You earthlings seem to think that you own the planet. That you are the only race meant to dominate and control your world, simply because you believe you’re at the top of the food chain. But what you have failed to realize is that there are an infinite number of worlds out there. Once you begin to see our unified-verse as a greater whole, beyond your silly idea of a singular universe, you’ll start to realize that your planet is a small piece in a much bigger reality, one that, like many others, can be conquered.”

“But we don’t live in a world of superiority. Everyone here is equal. Up until five minutes ago, I thought that we were the only beings that existed.”

“Ha! For someone who supposedly speaks the truth, you are quite ignorant. You may have been shut off to your ancestors’ past, your people may have done their best to cover up what they have done, but just as your once Kings and Governments have played the game of survival of the fittest, and killed and enslaved for their personal gain, doing with the world as they deemed fit, we too have a game of our own built upon survival. You see, there is no real difference between what your people have done to so many species in the past and what we are capable of doing if your people are not prepared to find harmony with us.

“But we are talking about people here, real living breathing people, people with feelings, people who want to live, people who deserve to live. Good people! How could you want to wipe us out! Why us?”

“That is why I am here to see you. We do not want to wipe you out. We want to reason with you; we want to find a common ground. Sure, we could come in and wipe you out. I’m sure you can imagine, if we can make it all the way out here to your planet, and you can’t even leave your galaxy, that our abilities for world destruction are far beyond your abilities to do much of anything. But that is not what we want. We hope to live in harmony with you. Yes, there will be some major adjustments. You’ll have to get used to changing your life around, to living with a race far more advanced than yours. I can’t deny that things won’t change, but at least you’ll have the chance to live, to learn, and to experience a new way of life from a race far more developed than yours.”

“But our life is perfect here. We have the Beings to provide us with all we need. I don’t think you will be met with much acceptance from a world that already has it all figured out.” said Jagz, beginning to wonder why he was suddenly taking a stance for a society he didn’t even feel a part of.

“You should consider yourselves lucky. As I said, if we choose to, we could easily destroy your planet and take it all for ourselves, but we do not want to do that. Your world might be sustainable, but don’t you want to thrive?”

“I still don’t get what you really want from me.”

“We want you to help us spread our message. We want you to speak the truth, to talk about what you’ve seen here, to let the world know that in one month’s time, we are coming to inhabit Earth, to live amongst your people. We don’t want to fight and take over. We want to bring peace and growth.”

“Sounds nice and all but how am I supposed to trust you? And what more, if I did trust you, who would believe me? I mean, I may not be one of those perfect humans that takes their UrDg every morning and goes about life without a worry in the world, but who is to say that I am okay with you coming to our planet and doing as you please? You say you come with the intention of peace, but I don’t think we will be waiting with open arms. We will have arms alright, but they won’t be the kind you’ll want to be greeted with.”

“Well Mr. Jagz, I do hope you’ll find it in you to see the reality of this situation. I can see how all of this may be overwhelming to you. How someone of your mind might not feel ready to lead your world and influence your people to create peace amongst us. In time, however, I do trust that you will begin to understand the importance of all of this. Let’s just hope it’s not too late,” he paused for a moment, staring hard into Jagz’s eyes, “for you, and everyone else.”

Chapter 6.

“I want to be honest with you Jagz,” said Mr. Herd. “We were monitoring your contact with the Alien. I’m sure you can understand why. We downloaded footage of your conversation onto your device if you choose to share it at any point.”

“Good to know. I figured as much.”

“A necessary precaution. We knew it would be overwhelming for you and we wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything out of line.”

“Crazy stuff, I have to say. Did you learn anything new from our conversation?”

“Why yes we did. Initially, we were not fully sure of Ani Rudh’s plan and your involvement. But now we have a clear understanding. I have already relayed the message to those who needed to hear it.”

“To those who needed to hear it? Do you mean the Official Intelligent Beings?”

“Indeed. This may come as a shock to you, but we have been suspicious of alien activity for some time. The Beings have been gifting us with knowledge from both future and past. But we have a plan of action. The Beings have always been ready for the possibility of an intergalactic attack. Regardless of what he said to you, let me assure you, we won’t let their race come in like they own our world and walk all over us.”

“But Ani Rudh claims that they do not want to fight, that they are here to live with us in peace.”

“Oh my dear boy, I can promise you one thing, no matter what that alien told you, they do not come in peace.” Mr. Herd said as he tilted his head back and held his hands high, as if praising the ceiling.

“How do you really know their real intentions?”

“To understand that you must first understand a bit more of our history. You see, this world of ours was built on an idea, a way of life that was first actualized by our ancestors in the pre-device era, and that idea is freedom of speech.”

“Freedom of speech? Was speech not always free?”

“Not always,” he paused to let Jagz think for a moment. “During P.D. the people were not ready for what freedom of speech really meant. How could they have been? It was a new idea that no one had thought of before. So for over 300 years, humans tried and tried to figure how to to live in a world that existed on free speech.”

“What is there to really figure out? Speaking doesn’t cost anything.”

“Maybe not to you or me now,” said Mr. Herd, flicking his nose, “but there was a time when it could cost you your life.”

“Your life? For speaking? That sounds rid-iculous.”

“Hard to imagine, I know. One of the many reasons of how the Beings have helped us. But in the past, if someone spoke up against authority, it would often mean big trouble for them. They could be thrown in jail, beaten, or worse, they could have their life taken away…” 

“Woah. I had no idea. So how did they implement freedom of speech?”

“They knew the idea was good, that it was one step closer towards equality for all. But every way they tried to grant the people free speech failed miserably. There was no system in place and while some felt free, others felt cheated and caused problems. Slowly, over time, messages of free speech spread around the world through the interweb and, one by one, other nations’ youth became infected with the idea of free speech and equality. These children eventually became the leaders, trying to put into effect all that each individual country believed to be laws governed by freedom of speech. Each of them struggled and each country had uprising after uprising, massive wars, endless fighting, it was awful. They were unable to find balance in such a simple, yet complex idea. An idea that can be quite contradicting if coming from the wrong place.”

“I am not sure I follow.”

“Think about it. It may be hard to imagine a time before now, but you must know some of our history. There was a time when freedom of speech really meant the possibility of freedom for some and oppression for others. How is it possible to have freedom of speech for all, yet have a higher power or ruler who would shut you down for speaking up against them?”

“How did they do that?”

“Simple. Through deception. You see, it was the illusion of freedom that gave most of the people peace. But it was also this illusion that gave other people a reason to rebel and fight. And that only caused chaos. The higher ups in power were playing everyone else, tricking them into believing that they had their freedom, while actively diminishing it. Believing you are free is just as good as the real thing, at least it is when that is the only life you know. ”

“And so how did that all change?”

“You know as well as I do that we would be nothing close to what we are now without the Beings. They have found a way to create peace amongst almost all of the people in this world, albeit a few.”

“Yes, of course,” said Jagz, well aware that he may have been one of those few
.

“Now we are blessed to have actual freedom without any rulers or higher ups trying to control and manage our every move, to convince us that we have something that we do not. Now people have a way of speaking for themselves. There is no one to be afraid of. We all do our part. We can say what’s on our minds, we can listen to what others think, we can be what feels right, without fear of losing our freedom so someone else can keep theirs’. Could you image being locked up or killed for sharing a Quack?”

“No, of course not. That would be absurd.”

“It may seem so, but without the Beings, the world may have very well remained like that. Do you get what I am trying to say?”

“Yes I suppose I follow.”

“And that is why we will fight. That is why we will not let some Alien race, no matter how advanced they are, come in and push us around, take away our freedoms, and tell us how to live. No matter what Ani Rudh said about peace and working together, all his race wants to do is take away our freedom, take away your ability to speak what is on our minds. He wants to tell you what to say, how to be, how to live. He wants to use you to spread his message, to get the people on his side.”

“So what do we do?”

“The Intelligent Beings will never let them control us. The Aliens may have their advanced technology, but they do not have perfect knowledge of war, love, birth, art, death. No, they do not. Luckily, now, during a time when it is truly needed, we do. Never confuse technologically advanced power for truth—truth knows all.”

“I’m not sure how reassuring that is, but I suppose they have never led us astray. So what am I supposed to do? It seems like you are asking me to do something, not unlike Ani Rudh.”

“I have no intention of asking you for anything. I simply wanted to show you what was going on here. You are free to do whatever you want with this information. I would never ask anything of you. I felt that it was of the upmost importance to share this with you. Let’s not forget that they summoned
you
directly, but you are free to go anytime you’d like.”

Chapter 7.

Jagz, overwhelmed, disheveled, and completely baffled about what to make of all of this left Unified Webworks and decided to do something very unlike anyone these days, walk home without the guiding voice in his head.

After a few minutes of being unable to navigate his way on his own like everyone else around him, he turned to his device’s location system, directing him towards home as though he was on auto-pilot.

Had this been any other day, he would not have noticed the sea of people, all the same, walking like zombies in the direction the little electronic voice inside of their head told them to go. Had this been another day, he would not have fallen slightly off of his device’s directional course home.

As he walked, he began to talk up a new Quack.

What would you do if you were given information that could shake up the world? Would you share that information? What if everything that you once thought that you knew, everything that you held so dear, so close, what if that was taken away from you? Would you even notice? Would you feel a huge shift in your life? Would you fight for what is yours? Do you even know how to fight? Do you have any control in this world?

Jagz pressed send, but instantly wished he had not.

Was it too much?
he thought.

With panic coursing through his mind, he asked his device to re-read what he had written, hoping he hadn’t taken it too far. After all, he wasn’t ready to share what he had just seen with Mr. Herd. Not now. Not ever. 

He began to feel fuzzy after hearing his previous Quack, thinking that he really did go to far. It was a bit unlike him. He wished that he could take it back. He thought of what his followers might say—that he had lost it, that they liked his old Quacks better. It was too much for him to handle on top of everything else going on. He started to panic.

He felt a small speck of water drop from his forehead and slowly make it’s way down his nose, and into his mouth. Was it rain?
No
, he thought. In an instance he had the notion to reach into his pocket. He began digging deep, frantically searching, hoping to find one pill, as if by magic. No luck.

The world around him started to shutter. He moved like a wave, from side to side. His vision duplicated.
Where does the world start and where does it end?
he wondered in confusion as he desperately tried to keep his balance.

Jagz lost his footing. He couldn’t keep a tight grip on the ground. Just as he began to collapse, he bumped into someone.”

“Oh my. How clumsy of me,” she replied, nervously looking away. “I’ve got a lot going on today and I just didn’t see you. Silly me.”

She slowly turned to look at him, as if the world was in slow motion, as if there was no moment but this one. Their eyes locked. Jagz’s eyes went wide. Life instantly sprang back into him and the world was at peace again.

She was an inch or two shorter than he was, her hair was a long strawberry blonde with some natural waves of brown tied up in a bun on the top of her head, with braided strands of an aquatic ocean blue falling down her face. Her eyes were like blue-green gems carved from the natural movements of the world, her skin with smooth, she had a slender waste, a perfectly curved bottom and a round and firm but relaxed chest.

For a brief moment, he wondered if he found the pills after all. Peace spread throughout his being. He had not looked at anyone just for the sake of looking, or meaningfully gazed into someone’s eyes, for as long as he could remember. Until this very moment he felt more comfortable seeing everyone through a screen, but not her, she took his breath away.”

Momentarily, having his confidence rebooted into him, he let out a phrase that seemed to have come from outer space, “It takes two to tango…”

“Tango! I love tango! All good music really! And dancing! It’s the only way that I can really stay connected to the world around me.”

“Dancing? People still do that?”

She simply smiled back at him and said, “are you okay? You look as if you’ve just seen a spirit.”

“Well, lets just say it’s been a crazy day and my mind has been elsewhere.” Jagz began to fall back into himself.

“Anywhere but here sounds nice. I like crazy. “By the way, I’m Shera.”

“Oh, I’m Jagz, and as much as I want to apologize for bumping into you and nearly knocking you over, I’m beginning to feel as though I’m not sorry at all,” he said, his confidence building once again.

Shera smiled even wider, her eyes were like two perfectly formed ever changing green crystals, with infinite depth and absolute beauty. “You are just a big ball of funny! Did anyone ever tell you that?”

“People don’t tell me all that much these days, not unless they are responding to one of my Quacks.”

“Oooh! You have a Quacker account? What is your name? I’ll follow you!” She said with some real excitement.

He hadn’t felt such excitement from a person in his entire life. He noted the feeling, he liked the feeling, he cerebrally recorded it on his device. It might even make for a good piece of content someday he thought.

“@JazzIsDead” he replied.

“Jazz is dead? Who is Jazz?”

Just as she spoke, two chimes sounded simultaneously. One on Shera’s device, alerting her that her internal voice command successfully followed Jagz’s account, and the from Jagz’s device alerting him of a new follower.

“My usage name is
NaWonStay
, but I’m just getting started. I mostly use it to read other people’s  Quacks and collect information.”

“What do you collect it for?”

“I like to take the information and look for patterns, try to find links between everyone, find what unifies us, what separates us, and what makes us feel alone. I know most people feel unified, but clearly not all of us do. It’s just a hobby that I have been keeping between my day and night jobs. I didn’t think people would want to read my Quacks, so I have found other ways to enjoy to connect, to relate.”

“I used to think the same thing, that no one was interested in hearing what I had to say. But I shared my thoughts anyhow and, funny enough, over time, more and more people started to respond. As it turns out, there are a lot of people out there who connect with what I feel. I learned to be comfortable with who I was, to not hide from what was inside. You should give it a try. You’d be surprised what might happen.”

She began to blush as a smile formed on her face. She turned her head to the left to keep her rapidly blinking eyes out of his view and said, “you know, the things you say are funny in a sort of profound way. We should be friends. Yes. It has been decided.”

“Friends?” said Jagz. “But we are friends. You just friended me on Quacker.”

“See, there you go again with your jokes. No, I mean like real friends silly—in the physical dimension. Hello. Earth to Jagz!”

An actual friend?
Jagz thought. He almost forgot that they existed. What would that really mean? What would they do? All of his, and just about anyone else’s, interactions were through a screen. It was just easier that way. Somehow, it felt a little less real, a little safer.
Speaking with and spending time with someone in person felt unsettling, at best
, he thought.

But then again, thinking about speaking with her, speaking with the others from today, the secretary at Unified Webworks, Mr. Herd, hell, he even spoke face to face with an Alien! And what’s more, he had thoughts that he wasn’t so eager to share with his Quacker following. But if he couldn’t share everything with them, then who would he turn to? It was all too much. He had to get out of there and take some UrDg. But he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had with her at that very moment and he didn’t want to risk losing it.

“I must be getting back to work. Or to something. Yes, work, that’s what I was doing before I was contacted,” said Jagz as though he forgot what he was trying to say.

“Contacted? What do you mean? By whom?”

“Oh, it doesn’t matter,” said Jagz, trying to think of a way to change the subject. He wasn’t ready to share what he had heard with anyone, let alone a stranger. However, he did feel as though she knew him more than anyone had before. “Besides, I forgot my UrDg, so I must be getting home.”

“You still take that stuff? I’ve got something way better. Are you hungry?” she said. “I have this great meal combination that I’m just dying to share with someone!”

“I suppose I could experience some food right now. Come to think of it, I don’t think I had time for breakfast,” Jagz said as he remembered that he was promised some real food, but either ran out too quickly or it was just bait to get him to come to Unified Webworks.

Jagz and Shera walked together through a park, past all of the others who were mindlessly walking the path that their device laid out for them.

“Look at everyone. So tapped in, completely consumed by their interweb actions, so oblivious to the world around them. You know, I bet they’d walk off of a cliff if their device told them to,” said Shera.

Jagz let out a short and awkward, but genius laugh, considering he had not laughed authen-tically in a long time.

They continued walking, Shera guiding Jagz effortlessly without depending on her device. He trusted that she knew where they were going. He wasn’t one for ignoring his device, but he managed to find the mute button and was able to focus on something other than himself as he strolled down the street, taking in the world around him.

After a few minutes, Shera spotted a street that she said led to the heart of the park, although
park
wasn’t necessarily the right way to describe what it was, it was really just the small amount of greenery left in a city laid deep with electronics.

They walked through a row of beautifully placed trees, so perfectly aligned, so wonderfully identical that someone from another time might have misjudged them for something entirely different than actual forest life. Side by side, they strolled without a care in the world.

Jagz, assuming that they were simply passing through the park and heading downtown to her home, got more and more confused as they walked deeper into the woods.

“I didn’t know people lived in the forest,” joked Jagz.

“There’s a lot that you probably don’t know. But I won’t judge you for it,” said Shera with a sarcastic smile.

As they approached a row of lush bushes that seemed impossible to pass, Shera unexpectedly grabbed Jagz’s hand and pulled him through.

Leaves engulfed them as they pushed deeper and deeper through the thick brush. Just as it seemed that they were completely surrounded, and lost in a sea of green, Shera spotted the opening she was searching for and pulled Jagz through to an open clearing.

“What is this place?”

“Take a seat on the ground and try to relax,” said Shera in a soothing voice as though prepping him for a meditation.

“Relax? I’ve never sat on the ground before. Are you sure it’s okay?”

“Oh Jagz, you are really too funny. Some of the things you say… Are you an alien or something?”

“An alien? Yeah, funny,” Jagz tried not to show any sign of how odd of a moment, of all moments, it was to call him an alien.

“Don’t be ridiculous. I’m just playing around.”

She reached around for her backpack, opened the latch, and pulled out what appeared to be an orange ball of some sort. It was bright, round, and vibrantly colorful. As she guided it towards him, he noticed a faint, but intensifying fragrance. A smell unlike anything he had encountered. The smell, almost too powerful to comprehend, forced Jagz to turn away.

“Lunch is served!” She peeled back what now appeared to be a ball of multiple layers.

“What the? What is that?” said Jagz.

“Huh? Do you really mean to tell me you have no idea what this is? Wait, wait, you have never had any real food before have you? Wow. And I thought I was weird. Here. Close your eyes and open your mouth.”

Jagz hesitated.

“Come on now. Don’t be shy.”

He first looked at her a little confused, but, out of nowhere, a wave of trust washed over him at the sight of her smiling eyes and he gently closed his own and opened his mouth. He heard what seemed to be liquid of some sort squirting faintly nearby and, just as he was about to open his eyes, felt a strange sensation on his lips.

Shera slowly put the mysterious object in his mouth, first rubbing it gently on his lips, allowing it to caress his tongue as the fragrance wafted towards his nostrils. Once she fit the whole thing in his mouth, she told him to bite down.

As his teeth sank in to the mysterious object, he was met with a burst of excitement, which was almost too much to handle. Jagz started to cough, but caught himself, slowly chewing on the magical delight in his mouth. Once he swallowed, he opened his mouth again, hoping for more. He couldn’t get enough. He was in paradise.

“Okay,” she said. “You can open your eyes now.”

“Wow. Just wow. What in web’s name was that?”

“It’s an orange, Jagz,” said Shera, as though it was obvious.

“An orange? Sure, I’ve tasted an orange on my Chook, granted I have never had one on it’s own, but I have never had anything like that, nothing with so much life, pureness in taste, so much excitement, so much joy. Real food. That was magic!

“I knew you’d love it! And there’s more.”

“Where did you get it?”

“Oh, I have my ways. A gal can’t share all of her secrets on the first date.”

“First date? Oh, I had no idea.”

“Relax, silly. I’m just messing with you. Besides, if we went on a date I would hope you would pick the place.”

Jagz pondered this, A date. A real date. He knew she wasn’t talking about inter-web dating, where two or more people shared a holographic experience as though they were eating, drinking, seeing, and feeling the same thing all together. He knew she wasn’t referring to   hypnocyberactive webrelations, an activity common amongst those looking for intimate sexual pleasure in a safe and controlled simulated stimulation.

No, she was not referring to either of those things, but to real dating, something almost unspeakable. Most humans had no need to go on real dates, with the undoing of families and pregnancy now that humans were birthed in perfect order thanks to the Intelligent Beings, dating and sexual relationships were of no interest to most people.