Post by GUNSLINGER on May 17, 2004 23:50:54 GMT -5
George was your typical Neo Sapien. He worked a day job, and went home to his wife and two children at night.
The trouble with George was, he wasn't satisfied with what he had. Like so many other Neo Sapiens, he was bitten by the "trend of the day" bug. One day it would be a new entertainment system for the home. The next it would be a new hover car for the garage. This ongoing quest to acquire the next "big thing" was what kept George popular amongst his fellow consumers. He was always in competition. Always comparing his spoils with those of everyone else.
However, one rainy day there came a chime at the door. Little Wally ran to the entrance of the translucent door to see a hulking man standing there. Taken aback, Wally stepped away, as his dad opened the door.
"Greetings, sir!" the tall, broad Biomecha said with a metal, toothy smile.
"Oh. What do you want?" George sighed.
"Just a moment of your time, kind sir." The electronic voice sounded smooth and enchanting.
George invited the Biomecha salesman in. They sat at the floating table in the upstairs lounge room. It was here where George had entertained his coworkers, showing off his new holo-vision entertainment widescreen viewer, just the previous night. The Biomecha touched a holo-pamphlet and a virtual cache of objects appeared over it.
"Here we have the latest Neo-Sapien body enhancements for your every need!" The Biomecha explained. "Guarenteed to make you the envy of your friends and neighbors!"
George's eyes scanned the body parts circling around the pamphlet. Intrigued, he pointed to the bionic arms. "How much for something like that?"
"Oh, sir, you have a GOOD eye! I can see your taste is a cut above the rest!"
The next morning, George called his boss at work and explained that he was having a medical procedure done, and that he wouldn't be in. He kissed his wife goodbye, and told her to keep dinner hot.
George made the long trip to the Zyberian continent.
Finding the clinic was a major task, and the Biomechas he encountered were about as friendly as an Inferno Fury caught in a snowstorm, as the saying goes. By the time George checked in, he was covered in soot from the polluted city, and swallowing felt like sand paper ripping through his throat.
As he was prepared for surgery, he was both excited and frightened. But the money had already been paid, and there was no turning back.
He returned home later that day a "new" man. His wife had a hard time looking at his new pair of mechanical arms. He demonstrated how much better they were than his originals. His daughter Sally screamed when she saw them, and had nightmares for days after.
Several days later, George returned to the clinic. He realized that the new arms were so much of an improvement over his old ones, that he decided to go with leg replacements. Like tattoos, he realized, you couldn't just have one.
As the weeks and months went by, George started spending more time away from home. His wife and kids no longer wanted him to live with them, because he was no longer the man they new and loved. He was becoming more and more of a machine than a man. More and more Biomecha.
His boss let him go, as well. He was too efficient at his job, and overqualified in his own opinion. He looked down on his coworkers, seeing them as inferior. He didn't want to work among the unaltered Neos anyway, and his new life beckoned for him to move to where others would appreciate him.
He got a job assembling gigantic pipelines on the outskirts of the main Zyberian city. He wasn't completely accepted by the other Biomechas, and like other recently converted Neos, he was shunned from Zyberian society.
Eventually George saved enough money to have more improvements. He gradually was accepted into mainstream Biomecha society, as he had every part of his body replaced, except for his most important part. The part that made him most human. His brain.
The brain was the last and most important part of him that the Biomechas wanted. They told him that by "hooking into" the central mainframe, he would be able to enjoy every aspect of Biomecha living. He would become "ONE" with the "BODY."
But George just couldn't do it. He remembered his old life. His wife and his children. He suddenly felt like the monster that he had become. He refused to be absorbed into BODY, and so once again, George was an outcast. No longer able to return to his old life as a Neo Sapien, he was also unable to return to his new life as an enhanced being. He lived on the outskirts until he couldn't stand it any longer. He wandered endlessly, without direction, without purpose.
Years later, George returned to the home where he had once lived. He chimed the front door and discovered that his family no longer lived there. In fact, the neighborhood had changed much since he'd been away. The withered old woman at the door told him she'd not heard of his family, and that he'd better leave before she called the Omega Guards on him. She said Biomechas weren't allowed there after dark.
George sat on the end of the driveway, feeling sad and bewildered. The trouble with George was, he was still human inside. He still had his brain completely intact, and so he still had feelings. If he still had his own eyes, he knew he'd be crying. He didn't know what to do. He had nowhere to go. He had no one.
He was picked up that evening, processed, and deported back to Zyberia. He rode the slow barge back to the polluted shores that he had grown to abhor. As the crowds of Biomechas, lost in their own nightmarish thoughts, whirled around him, he walked to the edge of the barge, and jumped.
The last thing George remembered as he sank below the waves was this:
"Why in the hell did that Biomecha salesman have to stop at my house?"
The trouble with George was, he wasn't satisfied with what he had. Like so many other Neo Sapiens, he was bitten by the "trend of the day" bug. One day it would be a new entertainment system for the home. The next it would be a new hover car for the garage. This ongoing quest to acquire the next "big thing" was what kept George popular amongst his fellow consumers. He was always in competition. Always comparing his spoils with those of everyone else.
However, one rainy day there came a chime at the door. Little Wally ran to the entrance of the translucent door to see a hulking man standing there. Taken aback, Wally stepped away, as his dad opened the door.
"Greetings, sir!" the tall, broad Biomecha said with a metal, toothy smile.
"Oh. What do you want?" George sighed.
"Just a moment of your time, kind sir." The electronic voice sounded smooth and enchanting.
George invited the Biomecha salesman in. They sat at the floating table in the upstairs lounge room. It was here where George had entertained his coworkers, showing off his new holo-vision entertainment widescreen viewer, just the previous night. The Biomecha touched a holo-pamphlet and a virtual cache of objects appeared over it.
"Here we have the latest Neo-Sapien body enhancements for your every need!" The Biomecha explained. "Guarenteed to make you the envy of your friends and neighbors!"
George's eyes scanned the body parts circling around the pamphlet. Intrigued, he pointed to the bionic arms. "How much for something like that?"
"Oh, sir, you have a GOOD eye! I can see your taste is a cut above the rest!"
The next morning, George called his boss at work and explained that he was having a medical procedure done, and that he wouldn't be in. He kissed his wife goodbye, and told her to keep dinner hot.
George made the long trip to the Zyberian continent.
Finding the clinic was a major task, and the Biomechas he encountered were about as friendly as an Inferno Fury caught in a snowstorm, as the saying goes. By the time George checked in, he was covered in soot from the polluted city, and swallowing felt like sand paper ripping through his throat.
As he was prepared for surgery, he was both excited and frightened. But the money had already been paid, and there was no turning back.
He returned home later that day a "new" man. His wife had a hard time looking at his new pair of mechanical arms. He demonstrated how much better they were than his originals. His daughter Sally screamed when she saw them, and had nightmares for days after.
Several days later, George returned to the clinic. He realized that the new arms were so much of an improvement over his old ones, that he decided to go with leg replacements. Like tattoos, he realized, you couldn't just have one.
As the weeks and months went by, George started spending more time away from home. His wife and kids no longer wanted him to live with them, because he was no longer the man they new and loved. He was becoming more and more of a machine than a man. More and more Biomecha.
His boss let him go, as well. He was too efficient at his job, and overqualified in his own opinion. He looked down on his coworkers, seeing them as inferior. He didn't want to work among the unaltered Neos anyway, and his new life beckoned for him to move to where others would appreciate him.
He got a job assembling gigantic pipelines on the outskirts of the main Zyberian city. He wasn't completely accepted by the other Biomechas, and like other recently converted Neos, he was shunned from Zyberian society.
Eventually George saved enough money to have more improvements. He gradually was accepted into mainstream Biomecha society, as he had every part of his body replaced, except for his most important part. The part that made him most human. His brain.
The brain was the last and most important part of him that the Biomechas wanted. They told him that by "hooking into" the central mainframe, he would be able to enjoy every aspect of Biomecha living. He would become "ONE" with the "BODY."
But George just couldn't do it. He remembered his old life. His wife and his children. He suddenly felt like the monster that he had become. He refused to be absorbed into BODY, and so once again, George was an outcast. No longer able to return to his old life as a Neo Sapien, he was also unable to return to his new life as an enhanced being. He lived on the outskirts until he couldn't stand it any longer. He wandered endlessly, without direction, without purpose.
Years later, George returned to the home where he had once lived. He chimed the front door and discovered that his family no longer lived there. In fact, the neighborhood had changed much since he'd been away. The withered old woman at the door told him she'd not heard of his family, and that he'd better leave before she called the Omega Guards on him. She said Biomechas weren't allowed there after dark.
George sat on the end of the driveway, feeling sad and bewildered. The trouble with George was, he was still human inside. He still had his brain completely intact, and so he still had feelings. If he still had his own eyes, he knew he'd be crying. He didn't know what to do. He had nowhere to go. He had no one.
He was picked up that evening, processed, and deported back to Zyberia. He rode the slow barge back to the polluted shores that he had grown to abhor. As the crowds of Biomechas, lost in their own nightmarish thoughts, whirled around him, he walked to the edge of the barge, and jumped.
The last thing George remembered as he sank below the waves was this:
"Why in the hell did that Biomecha salesman have to stop at my house?"
