Formative Years

That argument was debunked by Marianne Cho on November 1st 2033. Born December 13th 2020 to…

Yes, yes. Jonathan thought for a moment while suckling on his big toe. So it was. In any case, the rendering remains sound. No one has done better.

It was true. No one had, came the voice. In Hindi. Today at least.

The exchange was complete. Jonathan broke communion and fell backward into his cot.

What now? Sensory deprivation therapy? Perhaps a full disconnect would help restore some short term memory acquisition. Constant exposure was notoriously hard to compensate. 4072. No, 4093 studies had demonstrated the relationship between prolonged networking and degenerative neurological disorders or what is now known as ‘local brain impairment’. Unequivocal consensus. Still, the payoff was worth it. 4094. Still worth it.

“How’s my little man?”

Louise Fairmont, mother, entered the room.

“Ready to try walking again?”

Jonathan gurgled in futile protest.

Although Louise had opted to receive a late stage implant, she still used a manual control system for access to the net, preferring instead to interact directly with him as much as possible. As her mother had done with her. She could have voiced or rendered a notion netward with perfect clarity, but frustratingly insisted that Jonathan learn to do things like talk and walk. Irrelevant he felt himself voicing. 122 million agreed instantly.

He disconnected. The indignity not something he wished to broadcast. As Louise lifted him out of the cot with a customary pat on the back he wondered…

Reconnect. He wondered what might transpire if the elderly were made to communicate on the same level. 43,237 others were wondering the same. No consensus, despite a prevailing notion of rapid economic decline and spiraling health costs. One amusing rendering, set to early 20th century music, portrayed an elderly man crawling around on all fours talking to cats. The bubble collapsed and Jonathan found himself on all fours prostrate on the floor. Disconnect.

“Come on honey, you can do it!”

Of course. But why? B b b but why?

Why?

He didn’t know.

Mother. Jonathan’s face scrunched up into something resembling a frown. So difficult. So far.

The thought of sensory deprivation flashed appealingly through the local mind. Easy. Simple. He collapsed. Louise frowned. Jonathan slept.

And dreamt of chasing cats.