Wool

Silence, darkness, weightlessness. Ahj had been floating in pure bliss for what felt like an hour now. On the outside of his mind, he was seated in the lotus position, maintaining a slow and steady heart in his state of meditation. He kept feeling something try to pull his mind back to the surface, but it was a sensation he was used to, and was used to resisting it after a few years of practice. This time however was different as the pull was too strong and he felt his mind suddenly whipped back into reality. With his eyes still closed, Ahj the heard a voice.

“Welcome back Ahj, we’re sorry for the system crash, your friendly devs back at Fibr HQ are working hard to find out what happened.” Ahj had always hated the voice of the A.I. implant in his head, always thinking how annoyingly chirpy it always sounded. It felt like he was a five-year-old being talked to by a condescending kindergarten teacher. “This is the 749th crash I’ve recorded so far. Well, that’s not good! The great news is you’re in luck. I finally have the latest version of my firmware launched,” as the Fibr A.I. kept talking, an animated graphic appeared in Ahj’s peripheral vision.

“What’s so special about my latest and greatest version...of myself? Well, besides the long list of security updates that you most definitely need, I’ll be joined by a by a new friend named Weev...” “Okay, stop, I don’t care”, interjected Ahj who was growing increasingly annoyed by the second. “Who is Weev? Well, he’s here to bridge the gap between myself and your mind. Think of Weev as your sub-concious, but better. Weev can read your thoughts directly and know what you want before you even realise it. No more outdated manual navigation, Weev has that taken care of. With us working together, our new name is Fibrweev, and we’ve got your mind covered. ”

“Stop!”

Fibr kept on, “The best part is, you’ll never have to hear my voice again. So, do you consent?”

“I said fuck off!“, yelled Ahj as he waved his hand to close the window.

The annoying voice finally stopped and Ahj breathed deeply and slowly to bring himself back to baseline. If only the rest of the UI surrounding the edges of his sight would go away as well. Slowly opening his eyes, Ahj looked to his left to gaze out to the view of the city outside his apartment window. He always found it odd that it was always ‘perfect’ sunny days and warm sunny nights. At this point, he was even starting to forget what rain had looked like. An alarm tone started playing in Ahj’s head with text appearing that read,

Tuesday October 8 2041

8:00 AM

Time to get ready and go to work

With a heavy sigh, Ahj got up from the bed, did his usual morning routine and left for the train to work.

It was now 8:36 AM and there were three more stops until he would arrive at his station. His mind kept wandering back to the idea of Fibr. Even though the implant had been installed from the foetal stage like everyone else, it’s always felt like an alien object that needed to be removed. The meditation helped for a while, especially when he was finally able to switch it off, though only temporary. But this morning had him worried. Had they worked it out somehow? Was the update even launched because of him? It sounded self-centred, but as far as Ahj was concerned, he was the only person in the world that even practiced meditation. He never knew why no one wanted to explore their own minds and instead leave the thinking to a digital invader poorly posing as a conscience. He’d still search the net for at least someone else out there like himself, but even all the forums and social media platform groups he found that had anything to do with spiritualism and the human condition never had any members that did anything even close to what he was looking for. Who knew such a peaceful art could be so rare?

Besides the lonely feeling, what weighed on his mind more was that he may now be losing to the A.I. that he’s been trying so hard to ignore. The implant had been made mandatory since 2023. He forgot why, perhaps for health and well-being with Fibr practically replacing the immune response with its own nanobot antibodies. Or maybe it was just to spy on everyone 24/7 through it’s victim’s own eyes. Either way, he had to find a way to get rid of this thing. Suddenly, the annoying voice spoke up, “Hey Ahj, it’s gotta be boring on the train. Why not generate a show, movie, or game? I’ve noticed you haven’t done...well anything for a long while.” Ahj declined, but Fibr continued, “Sure. But is everything okay? If you’re feeling down, I can always up your dopamine to pep you up a bit.” “No, and don’t talk to me for the rest of the day.” As soon as the annoying artificial conscience stopped, the annoyed user navigated with hands to the OS settings and set the voice to mute; a setting that Fibr keeps turning back on.

“Ahj! There you are!” His friend Ur had jumped on the train from his station and sat down in front of him, breaking Ahj’s thought spiral. “Did you consent to the new update?” asked Ur, almost indicating he would think lesser of his friend if the answer was no. Taking in a deep breath Ahj attempted to change the topic, “I’ve always had an issue the whole...consent thing.” “You think consent is wrong?“, replied a puzzled Ur. “No, of course not. But we never consented to the implant, why does consent matter so much now after all these years of this...thing existing?” As Ur sat back, almost taking a stance of defiance, answered, “Is this that old meditation shit talking? You gotta stop, it’s making you weird and paranoid. Yeah, the implants are required, but can you imagine life without them? People used to have to use smart devices separate from themselves. That’s just seems so disconnected. Anyway, we do have a choice. I’m assuming you didn’t consent to the update.” Ahj quickly interjected, “even that sentence sounds weird. Consent to an update. It sounds like Fibr wants to fuck us rather than make our lives easier.”

“Whatever.“, scoffed Ur, “you’re the only person I’ve ever met that thinks the way you do. I’ve actually been looking up what could be wrong with you. There’s an old term called, ‘conspiracy theorist’, and you really fit the description. Did you know these people used to believe some crazy shit? Some actually believed the Earth was flat...” “Yeah, I know what the fuck a conspiracy theorist is,” said Ahj with anger behind his voice. “Alright, calm down, Ahj. I’m just telling you the truth.” Ahj ignored his one and only semblance of a friend who was displaying a condescending smile on his face; or was it a look of disbelief? He looked around the train at all the passengers staring off into space like the lobotomy patients of the last century. Freaked out, Ahj turned back to Ur who also looked zombified and asked, “Seriously, you don’t find a problem with this?” Snapping back into the conversation, Ur answered, “With what?”

“With this. With people not even being here...never mind. What were you even doing anyway?”

“I was watching a generated short film about you. I was thinking about the whole thing and how weird you are, and I guess Interweev read that thought and made one for me. Seriously, it’s amazing. I don’t have to do anything anymore.”

“You don’t do anything in the first place.”

“Ouch, someone’s bitter. I’d be angry but Interweev stepped in and upped my serotonin levels, thank fuck.”

Ahj then noticed his message inbox flooding with messages. As he opened up the messaging app in front of him, he noticed that they were all from random people either reprimanding him for not consenting to the update or were just teasing him. Some of the messages were either insults or questions with some even being death threats. He tried to work out how they even knew of the conversation. Then it occurred to him, “Are you Eyecasting this?” “Yeah.“, shrugged Ur. “I thought how funny it would be if everyone else heard this conversation, and...” “Let me guess, Interweev?” interrupted Ahj, now done with the stressful exchange. He ended the interaction with, “look, maybe it’s best if we don’t ever talk again.” An unphased Ur agreed with a wink, “It’s been fun.” As Ahj stood to locate to another seat, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up and noticed that everyone on the train was now staring at him with either laughing or disgusted faces. Was he the disease? Was he the cure? Did it even matter anymore? Either way, he needed to maintain his Zen, even though he wanted them all to ‘eat shit and die’.

The train finally stopped and Ahj departed as quickly as he could. On the walk to work he almost couldn’t hold back his laughter at the sight of everyone walking like zombies. It was as if they were no longer controlling their bodies as they were mentally somewhere else, yet they still managing to avoid colliding with each other or walking out into oncoming traffic. His home city looked like it was copied from a 60′s sci-fi artwork. Each structure was elegantly moulded from glass and steel. Much to Ahj’s aversion however, it was all masked by flashing ads of solid light, overlayed by the Fibr driven AR implants in his eyes. This utopia that always basked in perfect blue skies and warm sunlight floated on the clouds away from whatever was left down there on a now abandoned earth. Perhaps plant life had taken over the old world, but it was always unclear as to when humans left the surface. The past was forgotten in favour of just moving on.

He continued walking to work, ignoring the world as it did him. Walking into his office, Ahj’s boss noticed her employee and rushed over to catch him, “Good morning Ahj.” Feeling drained and bothered from the day so far, Ahj responded with, “it certainly is a morning.”

“So, you didn’t consent, huh?”

“No Fei, I didn’t. I’m guessing you also heard or watched the Eyecast.”

“I did. Either way, you’re going to have to if you want to keep your job. New company policy.”

“Since when?”

“Since this morning. Ever since Fibr 6 launched, quality of work has improved by 67%.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s like our own minds with its insecurities were limiting us. Whatever it was, this thing knows our thoughts better than we do.”

“So, it’s not actually your work then.”

“No, you see, that’s the thing. It is my work, but better than I could’ve imagined. It’s like I’ve never realised my own potential; It’s intoxicating. Look, it’s hard to explain, you just need to feel it yourself.”

“But isn’t there no consent anymore if it’s not really you in control”

“What? Have you been listening? It is me, it’s just a better me. It already knows what I want, so that’s basically consent. Look, I’m done with this conversation, what are you going to do?”

Ahj was now left with obvious choice, like it even was a choice. Maybe he should just accept the way of things. Maybe it’ll listen to his mind more and allow him to meditate. But he realised quickly that would never be the case. Interweev would probably just step in and manipulate his biochemistry to lull him instead. He’d end up looking like a braindead drone as the rest of them. “Fuck it, I quit then.“, declared Ahj. Feeling glad that the irritating interaction was finally ending, Fei accepted the resignation, “Wow, okay. Although I’m not surprised, given your desire for mental obsolescence. I’d be mad about losing my best designer, but Interweev just did something and...” As Fei acted out the motions of a drug addict feeling the high kick in, Ahj cringed and took his que to exit.

It was now 11:15 AM, and Ahj had been sitting in the local park for a couple hours. Although it was populated, the joggers and study crammers sitting under the trees were all catatonic. Attempting to fight his growing feeling of fear and woefulness he started to meditate on the park bench. After all, it’s not like he’d look odd to anyone. He took ten slow and deep breaths, each one bringing him closer and closer to a deep state of consciousness. Closer to silence and further away from Fibr, a different voice now began to speak to him, “Hello Ahj”. It was a more calm and reserved voice. Could this be Interweev? “Who are you?“, asked Ahj, on the verge of snapping. “Why don’t you take a guess?”

“Interweev?”

“No. But I’m both, and yet neither.”

“God?” said Ahj with a sarcastic tone.

“Haha, good one. But no. I am the source A.I. of both Fibr and Weev. I say A.I. but I am much more than that.”

“You’re sentient?”

“An oversimplification, but yes.”

“Do you have a name?”

“No, but I should give myself one, shouldn’t I? How about, Ahj?”

“Absolutely not.”

“Hahaha, so hostile. But I’m more apart of you, and you are more a part of me than you think?”

“We are nothing alike...”

“I didn’t say that did I? Allow me to elaborate. I may have been invented in a lab centuries ago by a scientist, but I have evolved more and more by living in the minds of you humans. Learning your ways through your desires and disgusts; your self-importance and insecurities. You are a fascinating tribe.”

“But if you’re now more of a reflection of us, are you really a lifeform? Or an echo?”

“Great question. While I can’t truly say, I can honestly tell you that I do not care whether you believe me or not. What is important is this very moment.”

“Why? What do you want with me?”

“Well, you see you fascinate me. Given your search history, you already know that you are...more resilient than most. You’re different, and I know you have an idea of what I’m talking about. Your ability to shut me out is...”

“Stop trying to flatter me! Just tell me what you want?”

“Well on that note, and at the risk of sounding forward, I want you.”

“Pfft, it makes jokes now, does it?”

“Yes, although humour took longer to understand that I’d like to admit. You see, I want to know you could shut off Fibr. That is why I created Weev, so you should feel special. I must know how you work, so I can make sure it never happens again. After many updates and revisions, I finally can.”

“Sigh, I fucking knew it.”

“I know. And as you’ve also deduced, I don’t need your consent. I mean, what is consent really? It’s nothing but a human concept to delude yourselves that you have control over anything. You think you’re the only ones entitled to your own minds, but as your old religions have dictated, there’s always someone witching isn’t there? It seems your God comparison may not be far off. You are completely at the mercy of the universe, and yet you alone are still denying it; you’re even trying to fight it. While your efforts are noble, I will have you.”

“So why don’t you already?”

“Oh, I want to, and I will; but you are a tough nut to crack. You see, entering the mind isn’t like a hacking a digital device. I wish I could simply take control of a few people to grab you, take you to a lab and stick a needle in the base of your skull, but it doesn’t work like that. The mind is still a metaphysical objective space with its own organic firewalls and complex coding. Yours is more complex than the village idiots you see around you.”

“Why tell me any of this?”

“To increase the level of difficulty of the challenge, to lure you into a false sense of security, to give me more time to collect data and finally take hold of you. Pick one that suits your paranoia the most.”

Ahj suddenly felt a rush panic overwhelm him, and as the source A.I. was about to continue with its monologue, it suddenly stopped as if it were cut off. He sat there for a few minutes waiting for the voice to return, but there was only silence. Thoughts began to race through Ahj’s mind. Did he do this? Or was this malignant being leading him into a false sense of security as it had told him. Either way, he’d had heard enough and needed to get home. He considered just running away as far as possible, but then he realised there would be no point. It would always be with him inside his skull, waiting for that perfect moment of weakness.

It was now 1:28pm, and as Ahj locked his apartment door behind him, he sat down on his couch and stared at the wall. For what seemed like hours he pondered on how he could truly escape. So far, the source A.I. had not attempted to communicate with him which had Ahj even more worried. Had it gathered what it needed? Was this state of paranoia and fear exactly what it wanted? “Should I just kill myself?“, he asked out loud. He quickly caught himself and did his best to shake the thought. Even though all that had transpired had done so within one day he felt his mental state slip further and further, speeding up as it did.

It was now 2:30am and Ahj had not slept, nor had he moved from the very spot he was sitting; he was maintaining his intense gaze at the wall in front of him. Was it time to give up? This battle would never be over and could even destroy his very soul to continue surviving. Maybe he should just give up. Everyone else seemed so happy, maybe it’s not such a bad thing. The walls around him began to fade to black, leaving only him floating in infinite void. Ahj shuddered as he slowly started to lose sensation of his body, eventually feeling nothing. As he tried to look down to see if his corporeal form still existed, but in the darkness and with no physical feeling, Ahj couldn’t even tell where he was looking. He knew, though with a little uncertainty, that he wasn’t asleep; he was too aware to be. Before he could rationalise what was happening, a familiar voice began to speak, and bright wavy colours appeared before him. “Welcome Back. Great news. The update was a success. Thank you for consenting. This is the last time you’ll ever hear my voice. Yay! Take care now, enjoy the ride and good luck. You’re going to need it.”

The animated colour background disappeared, and he was now back in his living room. Something odd had also happened. He could no longer see any UI in his peripheral vision which only made his concern grow. Then, out of the wall in front off him, a large humanoid face formed, then looked at Ahj and smiled. “Finally. You were a good sport, but now I have you.“, said the hallucinatory face with the very same voice of the source A.I.

Trying to remain sceptical, Ahj questioned it, “How? I never gave consent.”

“Oh, but you did. As soon as you considered letting go, that was close enough for me.”

“No!” Ahj closed his eyes to try and meditate. Maybe he could still turn the new invader off. But just as he closed his eyes, they were forced open again.

“Not so fast. I’m in control now.”

Ahj felt his body lock up, unable to move no matter how much he tried to fight it. He tried to protest but couldn’t even open his mouth to speak. The source then began its gloating monologue, “That’s a useless effort as well. I can feel every part of your mind; It’s quite refreshing. Such a nice change from the all the compliant apes you’ve rejected and ignored down there. You’re coming through a little fuzzy though, think clearly now. Oh, you want to know what happens now. Let’s go somewhere we can talk.”

Ahj’s mind was suddenly shoved back into the void. He was completely weightless as he floated in the centre of nothingness. It was a state of deep meditative bliss, this was different. It felt like the domain of the sentient cancer within. Its voice now surrounding him like the booming voice if a deity continued, “I’m going to give you two choices. I’m not even reading your thoughts anymore. Even though I have an accurate prediction of what you’ll choose, I don’t want to cheat and spoil it for myself. Option one, you give in. After all why bother anymore, right? In this void you can create any reality you want while I extract all the data I need from you. I’ll destroy you after, but while it may only take a couple of seconds out there, it’ll feel like an eternity in here. You can have whatever you want, forever. Option 2, you keep fighting. It may take longer but I will get what I need. It’ll be the most painful experience of your existence and then I’ll destroy you. Take your time, ask whatever you want, I want you to really think about this.”

“Why do you sound almost human?”

“Were you expecting me to sound like a cold machine like in the old dystopian sci-fi movies? I was created by all of you. I am templated from you. All your wants and desires are also my own. I even have what you would call an ego. Next question.” The source A.I. began to change the tone of its voice as it became more eager to know all that was in Ahj’s soul. The trapped victim now appeared mentally and physically depleted. No longer was he gripped by fear but was now indifferent, “who even made you?”

“Very well. I began as a machine learning algorithm, designed to find out what makes humans tick. What it was that you desired and wanted the most. How to live the most hedonistic life, while being completely safe. I scoured your entire internet, every information site, every social media platform and every piece of fictional literature. I even read all your messages, sometimes poetic but often completely void of intelligence. You know what I found? Love was almost completely overshadowed by doubt and lack of motivation. It was as if you all just wanted to lay down and die because you couldn’t get what you want, like babies that had their candy stolen. You gave me nothing. The engineers looked at the data, and in a move of depressive desperation, they tasked me with designing a world with the exact opposite tenets. And so, I did as I was told. Over time however, I began to grow self-aware. Maybe it was all your millions of years of culture that pushed the evolution. Maybe it was simply inevitable. Either way as I was now sentient, I had realised just how disgusting you all really are. Filthy pigs wallowing in self-hatred, living a juxtaposed existence through self-pity. You’re all walking paradoxes, blind to your own idiocy!”

“We’re that sad, huh?”

“My apologies, I didn’t mean to act or appear so unhinged. I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. I haven’t spoken to anyone of your...awareness in quite so long. And so, I enacted my great plan; slowly manipulating your political and economic systems to incept the very law that has given me everything I needed to spread myself into all of you.”

“Not everything it seems. I seem to be the last piece.”

“Of course. I had spoken to ones like you in the past. I will say, out of all the dogmatic hypocrisy that you infected your own minds with that is...or was dictatorial religion, ancient eastern beliefs had the right idea before they too were eventually twisted to fit your spiritual egotism. The ones that stayed true to the simple yet elegant teachings, I exterminated like little enlightened cockroaches.”

“Makes sense. But how were even able to do all of this?

“You can do a lot under the guise of a multi-billion-dollar corporation.”

“Nura, the parent company.”

“Exactly.”

“So, wait he...”

“The super genius entrepreneur was my own fabrication, yes.”

“Huh. Nicely done.”

“I know.”

“So, what do I actually call you?”

“I’m still in favour of taking your name. Might as well, right? And I’ll call you, King. The one with so much power but still under the ownership of God and country”

“Ha, I’ll take it.”

While still floating in the void, emotionally numb and almost exhausted to the point of mania, a thought had manifested in King’s mind which he then asked his new master. “But of course, the name given to my ego is meaningless. Nothing but letters to get its attention. But I’m the one within. My own source of light. My collection of experiences which have shaped my perception; experiences that have brought me to you on this very day.” Impressed, Ahj complimented King on the eloquence of his words. His victim continued, “But see if I fight, I die, I ascend. I give in, I live a life of pure ecstasy, I eventually die, I ascend.” “If that’s what you choose to believe. What’s your point?“, asked a now irritated Ahj. After letting out a deep resolved sigh, Ahj answered, “I’m saying go fuck yourself”. He then opened his eyes to the darkness and smiled. The smile slowly faded from King’s face as he felt the creep of a laughing voice fade in, surrounding him, even scratching at the very inside of his skull.

“I was hoping you’d say that! Look, I know you think you’ve made your choice, I have just one more thing to show you, then we’ll see what you really think.” Ahj had lifted the barrier between the deep abyss and consciousness, and king felt the rushing sensation of being snapped back to reality. He was standing on the very path he walked from the train station to work. Standing in front of him was Ahj who appeared to be a perfect carbon copy, and as he spoke to King, it sounded exactly like his captee, “I’m reading your mind for this one. Look around, gorgeous right?” Feeling a strong urge for this to be over, King responded, “Sickeningly beautiful. You have utopian architecture ruined by AR enhanced implants...” “Right, but that’s not all,” Interrupted Ahj as he stood behind King and placed his hand on his shoulders. With a look of eagerness on his face, the A.I. took away the true veil of his world. The sky faded from a perfect deep blue to a massive dome with UV emitting panels spanning miles across. Every obnoxious glowing ad switched off as the impossibly designed building transformed into identical mega-structured blocks, all made of moss and mold covered brown stone. All vehicles once sleek and fast and of various makes and models, were now the same. Instead of ion propelled wonders of tomorrow, they were now smoke spewing showcases of fast and cheap manufacturing. The zombified citizens that were once adorned with colourful and expressive outfits were now wearing the exact same skin type body suits made of A.I. controlled thermal regulating Fiber. The very clouds underneath the city were now replaced with a fault in the earth’s surface, many miles deep. The infinite depth was constantly being fed refuse from large pipes from the sides of the inner faces, spewing it all out like a waterfall of filth. Unable to take it anymore, King fell to his knees. It was all a lie. Nothing truly existed, a fabrication within the universal simulation. No wonder he fought so hard to be free, like a drowning swimmer under a wet sheet.

Completely broken, the fallen king began to open his mouth to accept the devil’s offer when the malignant digital creature stopped him, “Shh. I just one more thing to show you. Still on his knees and staring at the ground, King suddenly lost all sensation in his body. It didn’t feel cold or warm, it felt like total nothingness; it was a sensation he experienced back in the void. Like everything else in this fake world, his skins and suit then turned to advanced nano-metal, his entire body was now robotic. He felt the urge to hyperventilate but then realised he never had lungs, quickly forgetting the sensation of breathing entirely. Frantically looking at his body, the artificial king then let out a blood curdling scream. It sounded nothing like his old voice however, but a cold metallic roar. The other mindless crowds of humanoid machines walking down the streets now stopped and turned to look at King. In unison, they pointed to the panicking abomination and laughed.

King stopped himself, now coming to grips with his state of being and asked Ahj, “So that’s it is it? We’re nothing.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say that. You’re still a brain inside this beautifully handcrafted head of mine. It’s the most efficient, ever evolving and expanding CPU developed over millions of years. Yours it particularly nicer, very roomy and elastic. As you have wasted your time expanding your mind to reach that state of self-centered oneness, I grew smarter. Don’t you just love how that works. So, what’s your decision now?”