Cli-Fi
John J. Falco
I cut out all the infodump.
Disclaimer: I just looked it up and there is a real town of Millville California and it actually does exist. It has nothing whatsoever to do with this story. Any similarities to the real Millville are purely by chance as I've never been there myself. With it's population of 700 people I doubt it has a University
She thought long and hard about that word, but it had been awhile since she had heard it. “Spam was a key player in The Disconnect right?” The boy asked his friend.
“That’s what I heard, but written information is lacking on the subject and it’s killing my paper’s reputation. There’s hardly any hard copies of studies about spam on the internet in the early part of this century. It’s almost like we as a society, were scared to talk about it.”
“Do you think deep down that they knew, that it was only a matter of time?”
“Doubt it—.” The growing high-pitched ringing in her ears indicated that she was close to the University and it helped her tune out the ignorant conversation the two teenagers next to her were having about the supposed origins of the Disconnect. If only they knew… she muttered to herself as she heard a ding throughout the bus indicating the next stop was close.
She then, saw the familiar look of the University parking lot from the rusty half-shut windows on the bus, its sidewalks lined with the many bricks that had been abandoned by their users. The conversations suddenly stopped as the passengers all stared out of their windows in wonder and fear.
Daphne Perry picked up her purse and straightened out her skirt as she read the red bold sign in the center of the bus’s ceiling. MAT University. As if that wasn’t enough of a reminder the bus driver called out, “Millville Anti-Tech University. Stop 42.”
As she moved through the bus she tried her hardest to keep a straight face as the passengers stared at her. She heard one of the boys say, “Who in their right minds would want to work there?”
The bus driver grabbed onto her purse as she neared the doors, and breathed heavily as he warned, “A nice girl like you shouldn’t be working there. Despite its name, I know what goes on there. Please be careful.”
“Good Day, Albert,” Daphne smiled and winked at the older pudgy black man as he shook his head. “I’ll be fine.”
As she stepped off the bus into the morning sunlight she carefully dodged, one of storm drains that had been clogged with the bricks that so mesmerized the passengers, but Daphne knew the exact amount of exposure her body could take without side effects. It was only a few hundred feet until she was safely inside the University’s quarantine area anyway, and then she would be perfectly safe. The route to this job may be counter to her healthy-living lifestyle but nothing in this world made sense anymore. Why should her walk to work be any different?
She moved forward, and as far as she was from the cursed devices, her lanky body shook frantically as she tried and failed not to get too close. As she rounded the corner, she swung her back against one of the university columns in order to catch her breath. As she rested, the permanent after-taste that was left by being in proximity to the radioactive bricks felt like some type of rough coating on her teeth. This left a bad metallic taste in her mouth, forever linking her to and reminding her of the horrors of The Disconnect.
Something bothered her about the residue that was now dripping off of her fingertips. The greasy substance that oozed out of her pores felt more like tinfoil than anything else. The ringing in her ears had become more like a wail now, but she knew it would all be over once she planted both feet squarely into the designated safe zone.
The entrance of the University had rows and rows of columns that were covered by a thin protective cast iron shielding that protected all students and staff. Daphne traced her finger along the shield until she found herself tracing the letters: Veeron Technologies.
The safe zone was marked by clear blue tape stretched across trees and other objects that were nailed down. She moved the tape over her head and as she stepped into the zone, the wailing had stopped, her skin had been rejuvenated and her mouth was automatically freshened.
As an ex-techie, she doubted the government’s anti-tech re-training regime that she had been put on by the University Doctor was working as well as it actually was. Yet, being up close and personal to these devices as often as she was. It didn’t surprise her that she didn’t feel 100% better since starting the research program.
She knew it was illogical to be afraid of interconnected devices as her job was supposed to be a big help to the government by tracking any anomalies left over from The Disconnect, but she still had to maintain a safe distance away from the devices, just as much as anyone. This type of dilemma was only maximized by the sheer number of devices that had been purposely left on the large campus.
As her reflection looked up at her, and she saw her long bangs dangling just past her bushy eyebrows from a thousand government mandated different angles. She felt a lump in her throat and neck got tight when she walked past the bricks and maneuvered her way around them. The safe places only helped with the physical effects that the devices had on users. The heightened paranoia and other mental effects did not simply melt away, once she or anyone else for that matter, was in a safe place.
She squinted from the glare of the screens that she used to know so well, and tried to lean in closer. Some of the rumors that were going around the telegraph system were quite ridiculous. Yet, the mad scientist in her wanted confirmation. She was still somewhat curious to see what would happen if she got too close or even if she touched one of them. Would the brick turn on? Would her brains explode from the exposure? No one knew.
She knew that it was impossible to do, but she still longed to look into that black abyss and then see that fare glow of comfort, just to know everything’s alright. Even after all these years, she couldn’t shake that feeling of connectedness, the longing to share everything that was going on with her life to friends, family, and colleagues. Really though, she only wanted to tap, to share, to zoom, to flick, to post, but she knew she couldn’t. There was nothing there.
As she looked back at Albert’s bus which seemed to be speeding away at a never seen before lightning pace, a loud screech interrupted whatever thought she was trying to think. She briskly walked through the column of trees that lined the university walkway into the main campus, and in the opening a frantic crowd had gathered.
College kids were yelling in all different directions as she noticed the spread out pile of bricks on the grass hooked up to some type of charging station. She had heard of hobbyists who had linked together bricks in order to access old-time pictures, apps, or games. She always thought those stories were myths, but then she saw the unmistakable flickering glow of a screen reflecting off the wild-eyed face of the head of the Dean of the School of Sociology and History. “Somebody help him, take that brick away from him.”
When the flickering stopped others were quick to point it out, “What happened?”
“IT DIDN’T WORK!” The professor yelled in frustration.
Daphne had overheard someone explaining it, “He rigged it, then he just turned it on, but it zapped him out. He’s fried and the brick is back to normal.”
“Oh crap, I’ve heard about this, but I wouldn’t even try it on my worst enemy. Why would he do something stupid like try to turn on a brick of all things!”
“He knows the high, is extremely dangerous right?” One girl giggled, “It’s like Meth times one hundred.”
“OK everyone backup, and someone call the authorities,” Daphne had made her way through the crowd in all the commotion and noticed that the man who they were talking about was the Professor Harry Trudge.
“It’s NOT working!” Harry had a manic look in his face, and his usual calm boyish look had vanished. His sleek black hair was frizzled beyond recognition, and his pudgy body was visibly vibrating, “Why isn’t it working, Daphne?! I was sure it would!”
She spotted Carl Franks on the other edge of the circle of students trying to calm people down, she knew the philosophy professor would be able to explain things clearer to her, “What happened Carl?”
Disclaimer: I just looked it up and there is a real town of Millville California and it actually does exist. It has nothing whatsoever to do with this story. Any similarities to the real Millville are purely by chance as I've never been there myself. With it's population of 700 people I doubt it has a University
Chapter One: Bricked
“Spam?” Daphne muttered to herself as she overheard the conversation two teenagers were having. The old rickety bus that she was on seemed to be moving at a snail’s pace through the town of Millville California and she couldn’t help but overhear what the high school students were talking about.She thought long and hard about that word, but it had been awhile since she had heard it. “Spam was a key player in The Disconnect right?” The boy asked his friend.
“That’s what I heard, but written information is lacking on the subject and it’s killing my paper’s reputation. There’s hardly any hard copies of studies about spam on the internet in the early part of this century. It’s almost like we as a society, were scared to talk about it.”
“Do you think deep down that they knew, that it was only a matter of time?”
“Doubt it—.” The growing high-pitched ringing in her ears indicated that she was close to the University and it helped her tune out the ignorant conversation the two teenagers next to her were having about the supposed origins of the Disconnect. If only they knew… she muttered to herself as she heard a ding throughout the bus indicating the next stop was close.
She then, saw the familiar look of the University parking lot from the rusty half-shut windows on the bus, its sidewalks lined with the many bricks that had been abandoned by their users. The conversations suddenly stopped as the passengers all stared out of their windows in wonder and fear.
Daphne Perry picked up her purse and straightened out her skirt as she read the red bold sign in the center of the bus’s ceiling. MAT University. As if that wasn’t enough of a reminder the bus driver called out, “Millville Anti-Tech University. Stop 42.”
As she moved through the bus she tried her hardest to keep a straight face as the passengers stared at her. She heard one of the boys say, “Who in their right minds would want to work there?”
The bus driver grabbed onto her purse as she neared the doors, and breathed heavily as he warned, “A nice girl like you shouldn’t be working there. Despite its name, I know what goes on there. Please be careful.”
“Good Day, Albert,” Daphne smiled and winked at the older pudgy black man as he shook his head. “I’ll be fine.”
As she stepped off the bus into the morning sunlight she carefully dodged, one of storm drains that had been clogged with the bricks that so mesmerized the passengers, but Daphne knew the exact amount of exposure her body could take without side effects. It was only a few hundred feet until she was safely inside the University’s quarantine area anyway, and then she would be perfectly safe. The route to this job may be counter to her healthy-living lifestyle but nothing in this world made sense anymore. Why should her walk to work be any different?
She moved forward, and as far as she was from the cursed devices, her lanky body shook frantically as she tried and failed not to get too close. As she rounded the corner, she swung her back against one of the university columns in order to catch her breath. As she rested, the permanent after-taste that was left by being in proximity to the radioactive bricks felt like some type of rough coating on her teeth. This left a bad metallic taste in her mouth, forever linking her to and reminding her of the horrors of The Disconnect.
Something bothered her about the residue that was now dripping off of her fingertips. The greasy substance that oozed out of her pores felt more like tinfoil than anything else. The ringing in her ears had become more like a wail now, but she knew it would all be over once she planted both feet squarely into the designated safe zone.
The entrance of the University had rows and rows of columns that were covered by a thin protective cast iron shielding that protected all students and staff. Daphne traced her finger along the shield until she found herself tracing the letters: Veeron Technologies.
The safe zone was marked by clear blue tape stretched across trees and other objects that were nailed down. She moved the tape over her head and as she stepped into the zone, the wailing had stopped, her skin had been rejuvenated and her mouth was automatically freshened.
As an ex-techie, she doubted the government’s anti-tech re-training regime that she had been put on by the University Doctor was working as well as it actually was. Yet, being up close and personal to these devices as often as she was. It didn’t surprise her that she didn’t feel 100% better since starting the research program.
She knew it was illogical to be afraid of interconnected devices as her job was supposed to be a big help to the government by tracking any anomalies left over from The Disconnect, but she still had to maintain a safe distance away from the devices, just as much as anyone. This type of dilemma was only maximized by the sheer number of devices that had been purposely left on the large campus.
As her reflection looked up at her, and she saw her long bangs dangling just past her bushy eyebrows from a thousand government mandated different angles. She felt a lump in her throat and neck got tight when she walked past the bricks and maneuvered her way around them. The safe places only helped with the physical effects that the devices had on users. The heightened paranoia and other mental effects did not simply melt away, once she or anyone else for that matter, was in a safe place.
She squinted from the glare of the screens that she used to know so well, and tried to lean in closer. Some of the rumors that were going around the telegraph system were quite ridiculous. Yet, the mad scientist in her wanted confirmation. She was still somewhat curious to see what would happen if she got too close or even if she touched one of them. Would the brick turn on? Would her brains explode from the exposure? No one knew.
She knew that it was impossible to do, but she still longed to look into that black abyss and then see that fare glow of comfort, just to know everything’s alright. Even after all these years, she couldn’t shake that feeling of connectedness, the longing to share everything that was going on with her life to friends, family, and colleagues. Really though, she only wanted to tap, to share, to zoom, to flick, to post, but she knew she couldn’t. There was nothing there.
As she looked back at Albert’s bus which seemed to be speeding away at a never seen before lightning pace, a loud screech interrupted whatever thought she was trying to think. She briskly walked through the column of trees that lined the university walkway into the main campus, and in the opening a frantic crowd had gathered.
College kids were yelling in all different directions as she noticed the spread out pile of bricks on the grass hooked up to some type of charging station. She had heard of hobbyists who had linked together bricks in order to access old-time pictures, apps, or games. She always thought those stories were myths, but then she saw the unmistakable flickering glow of a screen reflecting off the wild-eyed face of the head of the Dean of the School of Sociology and History. “Somebody help him, take that brick away from him.”
When the flickering stopped others were quick to point it out, “What happened?”
“IT DIDN’T WORK!” The professor yelled in frustration.
Daphne had overheard someone explaining it, “He rigged it, then he just turned it on, but it zapped him out. He’s fried and the brick is back to normal.”
“Oh crap, I’ve heard about this, but I wouldn’t even try it on my worst enemy. Why would he do something stupid like try to turn on a brick of all things!”
“He knows the high, is extremely dangerous right?” One girl giggled, “It’s like Meth times one hundred.”
“OK everyone backup, and someone call the authorities,” Daphne had made her way through the crowd in all the commotion and noticed that the man who they were talking about was the Professor Harry Trudge.
“It’s NOT working!” Harry had a manic look in his face, and his usual calm boyish look had vanished. His sleek black hair was frizzled beyond recognition, and his pudgy body was visibly vibrating, “Why isn’t it working, Daphne?! I was sure it would!”
She spotted Carl Franks on the other edge of the circle of students trying to calm people down, she knew the philosophy professor would be able to explain things clearer to her, “What happened Carl?”
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