Official Intelligent Beings: How Our Devices Became Us, And The World Consumed Itself by Josh Greenfield Read Free Book Online Page B

buzzing. My heart is pounding. I can't remember the last time that I ever felt like this, I’ve gone through such an immense range of emotions today and I’m beginning to think that life is not all that we think it to be. Perhaps there is more to it then our devices let on, more than they can even possibly comprehend. What is real anyhow? What if someone showed you some-thing that completely shook up your World in the most crazy and unimaginable way possible? #WhatWouldYouDo? What if everything that you knew was up for grabs, had no solid place in reality?
     
    Jagz pressed send and continued writing the outpouring of thoughts flowing from the great divine within.
     
    What we are experiencing now through sensory computed experiences, though it feels real, is it the “real” thing? How would we even distinguish what is real when we are so shut off from allowing our senses to experience true emotion? Do you ever wonder if real food tastes better than what we now see as eating? Have you ever had any real food? #shareyourthoughts
     
    Jagz sent out his Quack. Just then, he realized that his hand was a little more jittery than usual. It began to shake more and more, as he slowly lost control it, as though it had a mind of it’s own. A bead of sweat rolled across his brow and dripped down his face into his mouth. He tasted the salt of it and it transported him back to his moment with Shera. Another new sensation emerged. It reminded him of salt, but it was of a greater intensity. His tongue felt as though it was momen-tarily taking a trip to another dimension. It was a complete sensory overload.
    As his taste dulled again, he began to feel a darkness creep over him, as though he was coming down from a trip he didn’t even know he was on. All of his excitement was drawn out of him. His body closed in on itself and his vision revealed spots of black, as he reached into his drawer for a pill.
    The pill dissolved onto his tongue and he relaxed immediately. His fears and worries dissi-pated and his life made sense again. All of the craziness, all of the confusion, all of the fear, all went away, and he was left at peace, he was one with the world again.
    Noticing the time, he grabbed his things and headed to work his night shift at MainFrame MindWorks, where he oversaw High Data Mainframe Processing Devices or HDMPD.
    “Hello, Jagz.”
    “Oh, hi Donyold”
    “Hey, I checked out your Quack earlier. Is everything okay?”
    “No. Everything is not okay,” he replied. How could anything be okay? At a time like this, okay couldn’t be further from the way things are.”
    “That is certainly true and always comforting to hear,” replied Donyold.
    “I’m glad that we are on the same web, things can never be okay, no, because they are perfect, always have been and always will be.”
    “Always have been and always will be,” replied Donyold.
    “Yes and a perfect workday to you!”
    Jagz, without thinking, knew one thing for sure—UrDg was working just as it should.
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 8.
     
    Jagz arrived back at his apartment after work and looked at his device, only to realize that he had done something he had never done before. He managed to go an entire shift without checking his device. He even managed to ignore the usually constant alerts in his ear by muting his device. His head was in a different place. It was in the clouds with Shera, and even though he was on a normal dose of UrDg, it seemed different this time.
    For a moment, Jagz felt confidence rush over him and he wondered why he ever even bothered not taking UrDg. How silly of him. Why wouldn’t he always want to feel this way? What would it be like if he took UrDg with Shera and ate some more fruit? he wondered.
    When he finally looked at his device, he noticed something odd. The number of his Quacker followers had jumped. Nothing too crazy to warrant anything unexpected, but enough to make him think that his account was catching on.
    5,000 new