Official Intelligent Beings: How Our Devices Became Us, And The World Consumed Itself (6 page)

Chapter 10.

When Jagz returned home, his high from spending the afternoon with Shera began to fade and fear crept back in.  He pondered his decision as to whether he should share the information with his followers, who, in numbers have jumped to 200,000. He walked over to his cabinet, found his pills, and downed a small dose of UrDg, hoping to get back to the place he was with Shera a few hours earlier.

He began to anticipate the effects as the pill went down, but as UrDg kicked in, he was only reminded that he had not eaten, having assumed that Shera would have brought him something. He was starting to get hungry.

Jagz walked into his eating area and sat down at the Chook 32,000—the old, but still highly functional model, the in-home chef and cook creator that would use all of one’s senses, mixed with a drinkable mixture that housed all of one’s nutritional needs.

By sitting down at the Chook and selecting the meal that he desired, he would be guided through an eating experience that visually stimulated his eyes with highly defined food porn images, tantalized his smell by releasing fragrant aromas and satisfied his taste buds by creating flavors and textures of food with the insert that fit into his mouth. The mouthpiece also released the nutri-tional mixture that nourished the body, specific to his needs.

Normally, Jagz would scan through the list of possible meal creations and come up with something new and exciting. He was a flavor seeker, a hardcover food lover, and his followers were able to see the food combinations that he created and try them out for themselves.

Just like an original thought, most people did not hold the capacity to think up their own food combinations. Jagz, being a flavor seeker, always had a fun new creation—Hickory Smoked Ginger Soy Beef Ribs with a Mashed Wasabi Pea Coconut Slaw, Spicy Lemongrass Maple Shrimp and an Avocado Polenta Ice Cream, Slow Braised Lamb Neck with an Apple Jellyfish Compote and Crispy Rosemary Cardamom Fries, or a Juicy Bison Burger with Deep Fried Asparagus Rings and an Orange Wheatgrass BBQ sauce with a side of Bacon Roasted Sous Vide Brussels Sprouts. The sky and an open mind were the limit to the types of creations one could input and taste on demand.

But today was different. Jagz wanted to try something far simpler than usual. Without considering the confusion that his followers might undergo upon seeing his selection, Jagz turned on the Chook and began browsing for his selection.

He selected an orange.

The machine began to work its magic. But as Jagz ate, he couldn’t help but feel like something was missing.
What happened to the touch when the orange hit my lips, or the aroma as Shera peeled back its skin. Or what about the feeling of peeling the orange and smelling my fingers as I place a fresh slice into my mouth? No, this isn’t right. This isn’t an orange at all. This is a computer simulated version of what a machine thinks an orange must taste like. It’s all wrong. I need real food!

He got up from the Chook, disappointed, and picked up his device, ready for his latest Quack. He was not ready to share everything just yet, but he promised himself that he would when he woke up the next morning.

The act of eating, does it seem natural to you? Being hooked up into a machine, chewing on a piece of material, choosing what we want to eat, having access to anything we want, yet not anything at all. The other day I had my first real peace of fruit in as long as I can remember. It was an orange and it was the best thing that I have ever eaten. Since then, I have struggled to enjoy the “food” coming out of my Chook. Has anyone out there eaten any actual food lately? If so have you had a similar experience?

Jagz released his Quack and fell fast asleep.

When his eyes opened, he looked around and pieced together that he was in a familiar place, in the middle of a field he recognized. He had a sudden burst of excitement, thinking that he must be back with Shera before realizing that this was not the same field he shared a passionate love-making experience. No, this was a much thicker sort of grass. All he could see for miles was greenery, plants, and trees like he had never seen before. All swaying to the natural rhythms of the world. The trees and plants were slowly moving, as though in slow motion, in the cool but gentle breeze. The smells were sweet and fresh and the sun felt warm on his skin.
This must be the place I’ve been searching for
, thought Jagz.

Jagz got up from the grass and started walking through the field, following the sound of what seemed to be running water. He traveled through the grass, swatting what appeared to be insects and looking at some small winged creatures above his head that reminded him of feathered versions of a roasted pigeon dinner that he had. He began to hear voices and squinted his eyes to try and see in the distance.

The voices, which turned out to be the noise of insects and birds chirping, led him to a large pond surrounded by tall grass and plants covered with every vegetable and fruit one could imagine. Lettuce, tomatoes, mangoes, corn, eggplant, oranges, apples, zucchini, watermelon, lettuce, green beans, watermelon, peppers, all there, all together in one place.
Breathtaking,
he thought.

Jagz noticed a figure near one of the mango trees, picking the fruit gently. Eager to have a taste for himself, Jagz walked closer and, as soon as he was close enough, the figure turned and revealed his true identity.

“Welcome to Mother Nature. I am Redemet, the Official Intelligent Being of Food. Would you like some fresh mango?”

“Are you kidding me? I would love nothing more,” Jagz eagerly stretched his hand forward.

“But ah, you see, you can’t have this mango. No, this mango is not for you. In fact, it is not for anyone anymore.”

“Like noneweb, it’s not! What kind of intercrap is this?”

“You must understand, there was a time when anyone that had the desire could get their hands on such a tantalizing and succulent treat, but that time has long since passed. Now, as you know, just about all of the humans on Earth get their sustenance by way of machine.”

“I know, but recently I had some real fruit and now I can’t get enough. I need more. I can’t go back to the chook. I can’t!”

“Not so fast, Jagz. If you start developing a taste for real food, there is no telling what will happen.”

“What do you mean? It was the most delicious thing I have ever tasted. How can you take that away from me, or anyone, that makes no sense. 

“Relax. Let me take you back to an earlier time and show you how things once were and why they came to be the way that they are now. Many years ago, long before you were born, humans traveled around the world for both business and pleasure, going from place to place, developing a taste for exotic things. This craving turned into a quickly growing need to eat what was not native to their tongue. It became fashionable to eat foreign delic-acies no matter the cost.”

“Everyone ate whatever they wanted?”

“Well, what started with only a few in power quickly became a widespread phenomenon. Within a short span of time, eating exotic foods from all over the world became commonplace in homes. Farmers adapted their practices and figured out how to grow just about anything in any climate through the use of genetically modified crops. The world found a way to have whatever it wanted, when it wanted. All of this was going quite well for some time, but the more people craved what was new to them, the faster their urges came for exotic and unknown foods and Mother Nature just couldn’t keep up with the demand for new modified fruits and vegetables. So the native plants in each part of the world started fighting back, changing and adapting in their own way to survive amongst the foreign species. The harder they fought, the harder the humans worked to keep growing exotic food. They kept modifying the foods, creating chemicals, pesticides, and herb-icides, anything that they could to keep their food growing to supply those who craved them. But eventually the plants couldn’t fight back and so they did the only thing that their inner spirit could think of—they stopped growing, they ceased to exist.

“What do you mean? There are still plants today. I see them everywhere.”

“But it is not as you think it is. You see, as the plants began to die off, the farmers went into a complete panic; suddenly all of their specialty foods were going away. It was the exotic stuff that went first, most likely because the plants wanted to bargain with the humans, they wanted to say, in their own way,
we will continue to grow, but only what is native to you, we must go back to the way things should be
, but it wasn’t enough. The humans couldn’t handle it. They quickly grew bored of their native foods again and kept trying to grow exotic foods and import them from around the world. The harder they fought, the faster the plants died. Eventually, all of the plants died off and the humans were left to ration what little they had left. That was, until I came and showed them the way. Humans, I knew, would never be selfless enough to give up what they wanted. No, they would always seek what was foreign to them. Bringing the fruits and vegetables back was out of the question.”

“But what about all of the fruits I see around us now?”

“For me, I can easily grow whatever I’d like. As you see in this garden here, all sorts of worldly fruits of all sizes and variety growing healthy and abundant. But I knew this wasn’t what the humans needed. What they needed was something that could always evolve without actually harming the world. Let the farmers plant the foods necessary to create the nutritional drink that you consume every time you hook yourself up for a meal. Basic things like corn, beans, lentils, tomatoes, avocados, and oranges, depending on what part of the world you inhabit, and design artificially modified plants to keep the appearance of wildlife and to allow for the creation of oxygen, but make plants that would never grow and produce anything edible. Which is why I developed static plants that look like trees and grass, and genetically are in every way, but always stay the same height, always remain the same color, and always provide exactly what they need to provide for humans, something they can’t abuse, air. No more competition, just life.”

“So then where would one get their hands on some real food if they wanted it?”

“It is simply not possible, Jagz. All of the food is grown safely out of reach from humans. It may not seem so to you right now, but I promise you that it is far better this way. Best to accept what is true and keep doing what you do.”

Chapter 11.

Jagz awoke and took a few moments to meditate on his dream. Sure it was just a dream, but it felt so real. Did he really have Redemet visit him? Was what he said really true? Or was it of his imagination? The more Jagz began to wake up and focus on his dreams, the more real they seemed—no longer just a distant image from a far away land, but a very real and visceral experience that cont-inued to challenge all that he knew. He wondered if there really was no way to access food anymore and if that were true, how did Shera get her hands on a perfectly ripe orange? As he pondered these questions, his device called to him.

“Holy crap! Holy crazy webballs, this is abso-lutely wild, 500,000 followers? 6,000 comments on the last post? How is this even possible? I knew my following was growing, but damn, this is nuts!
”

Jagz read through as many comments as he could. He was a little thrown off by some of the negative comments, some people claiming that what he was saying was just downright silly and confusing, that he was changing, that they liked his old posts better, but he didn’t really care because there were so many more positive ones, so many new commenters and followers who loved what he was saying and couldn’t get enough, saying how much he inspired them to take action in their lives, how what he was doing was so real, so incredible, how he was sparking a revolution inside of them, how they wanted to be just like him when they grow upgrade. Still he couldn’t shake the negative comments, even if there were only a few amongst the hundreds of positive ones.

Overtaken by such an instant explosion of fame, and a little overwhelmed by what to do with it, Jagz nearly missed work and considered calling out for the day. He felt a new sensation that was foreign to him, he superior, as if he was better than his job.

When he headed to work, his device continued to chime inside his head, so much so that he had to silence it just to keep himself focused. During work, instead of listening to the usual auto-matically curated  playlist, he asked his device to read him any new comments.

You are a true revolutionary, your words hold weight! #i’llfollowyouanywhere

Said johnnysimpson31.

Your piece on #realfood changed the way I think about everything, I mean everything. We should meet! #noshame

Wrote Sypphonplexus9.

I am so glad that I found your Quacker account, I have been up all night reading all of your posts #truthspeaks

Wrote Calibrum56Wildone.

Meet me in our usual meeting place :) #imyours

Said NaWonStay.

Jagz, recognizing Shera’s usage name, signaled for his device to stop reading. A smile grew. It was the perfect cryptic and romantic gesture and as much as he loved all of his new followers, he loved her post far more.

As soon as work ended, he rushed as fast as he could to their usual meeting place pondering what great adventure might be coming his way this time. Would she bring something new to eat? Would they make love twice? Whatever it was, he couldn’t wait.

When he showed up, a little out of breath, he found her looking a bit sad. But as her eyes found his, he noticed a smile grow on her face.

“Is everything okay?” asked Jagz.

“It is now! I thought you wouldn’t show up, or notice the Quack I sent to you amongst the hundreds of others you received today! You are blowing up. That is incredible! For a second there I thought you had forgotten about me.”

“Forgotten about you?” Shouted Jagz. “I could never forget about you. You’re practically all that I can think about. My life is changing in so many ways, but out of all of the earth shattering changes, you are the most wonderful gift I have ever been given.”

“I’m stunned. I don’t know what to say. You sure do have a way with words, you know? It seems that you’ve developed a passion for expres-sing your feelings beyond what you share with your Quacker following. If I wasn’t so jumbled I would say I’m beginning to think that you actually like me.”

“Like you, Shera? I think I love you.”

Shera blushed, “oh Jagz, you are just too silly. You know that? Too silly.”

“Shera, I’m not messing around. I really do.”

She cut him off, stopping him from saying what he couldn’t believe he was saying and firmly kissed him on the mouth. They went on to share the most intimate, slow, romantic, and sensual lovemaking session that any two people could share—such raw passion and openness, eyes locked onto one another as though they were staring into each other’s souls. Hands firmly grasped onto the back of each other’s head, their lips attached as if to create one human with two symmetrical sides. They rolled around, connected through love, on the ground for what seemed to last for hours, though really only five minutes or so.

“Lets just lay here forever and forget about the world around us,” said Jagz.

“Wouldn’t that be nice? Wouldn’t it? But there is so much to do. I mean look at you. You are becoming a cewebrity! And not only that, but you have information that your ever-growing base of fans simply needs to hear! As much as I would love to melt away into nothing and stay in that nothing forever, there are bigger things going on in this world than you and me, and pretty soon, if what you say comes to fruition, there will be no world to live in anymore. There will be no more of this, no more making love. The very notion of love will cease to exist.” said Shera.

“I know. I know. But I just can’t shake this feeling right now. I need to hold onto it. I can’t let it go. I need you again. I need to be inside you.”

“Jagz, we will have plenty of time for that. First you should really consider sharing the information about Ani Rudh and the Aliens with your follo-wing. It will take some adjusting and they need to know!”

“It’s just, well, it’s just hard to explain. I know that I need to, but I feel blocked. I feel like it just isn’t the right time yet. I just need some time to think about it, okay?”

Noticing that Jagz was beginning to get frus-trated, Shera offered a suggestion. “You know what, don’t even worry about it. Listen, I want to show you something. You know how you asked me where I got that orange, but I wouldn’t tell you?”

“Yes. It’s been eating me alive. Are you going to tell me?”

“No.”

Jagz sighed.

“But I can show you.”