A witty story about how social media has changed the way people view the world around them.
After getting a CPU and a screen installed in your hand, your online life eclipses your regular life. Everything online is malleable and comforting, while everything offline is drab and dreary. You begin to see the world only displayed on your screen and on social media. There you find others like you, people who see social media as a means to change the world. But when the world does not change to your liking, you become disillusioned. When you find there are people who do not share your opinion, you become distraught and angry. You no longer see social media as a way to change the world politically, so you ignore the political aspect of life altogether which suits you just fine. The political landscape, though, interferes with your newfound social existence, and a political emergency brings social media and unfettered Internet access to a halt. Your life, now turned upside down, has lost all meaning. You struggle to make your way in the post social media world. Fortunately for you, you can get your life back if you agree to have a chip implanted that would allow all your information to be accessible by the state. It is an easy decision, isn't it?
Excerpt
Following the surgery, your right hand, now a mobile device more than an appendage, was constantly in front of your face. The real world became mutable as the world you saw through the screen in your hand could be altered or turned off according to your whim and fancy. This brought you immense joy as you could now document and post your entire life online and ignore the things in life you did not like. At last, you finally felt that everything was right with the world; the world finally made sense to you and you relished the control you had over it.
Like my first novel, this one is short. Since George Orwell's 1984, science fiction writers like you and I have struggled with this issue. It won't be resolved easily.
I don't think we will have devices planted in our hands. But we certainly will have devices planted everywhere they are needed to improve communication, learning and enhance skills. I believe the device you're talking about may be in one eye, with virtual manipulation by hand of the image projected in front.
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Nine New Novellas, Part III is a collection of nine sci-fi/paranormal stories to complement the nine in Nine New Novellas, Nine New Novellas Part II and Nine New Novellas, Part IV.
