Screen by Aarti Patel Read Free Book Online Page A

known as the Sacred Touch Company.” He began
to applaud. “We are the largest, most advanced biotechnology company in the
world. The big screen that you are not a fan of, Misha ,
was invented by us years ago…pioneered by the computer programmer and
entrepreneur, Matt Stills. He was a spiritual and technological visionary and
revolutionary. We continue his vision today—toward a more unified and
compassionate world.” The employees of SciTech nodded and clapped in unison. “I
myself have been in the entertainment business for years. You may be familiar
with the multitude of shows I hosted and produced. I owe my life to the big
screen. Growing up, I was called an “ugly nerd” and ostracized at school. In
the big screen, no one could push me around anymore. I was the cool one, the
trendsetter, and I called the shots. Using my extensive background and
accolades from the big screen, I now stand as the proud figurehead for
SciTech.” He bowed to more rowdy applause.
    “The
scientists here at SciTech are the most innovative in the world at running the
big screen and keeping it current to the trends. But today we stand together
facing a bit of a challenge. As the screen developed and spread across a global
audience, copycatting reached unforeseen levels. Television shows that
premiered were consistently knockoffs of previous shows. Electronic books
became dull and redundant, new authors seldom standing out. Musicians rose to
number one overnight and flopped the next week. Only five played out songs ran
on the radio, over and over again. This has all affected the economy over time.
People are not spending as much money in the virtual environments we created
especially for them long ago. We are just not entertaining effectively.”
    Brent
paused to choose his wording carefully. “It seems, people, that real character
is lacking today in the big screen. The screen is becoming devoid of a real
life force, if you will. True creativity. Daring. Originality. Without these
elements, we can’t sell anything. We need character back. Don’t worry, though,
this will all change soon.” Brent gestured to the people restrained in front of
him. “We’ll be extracting character straight from you.”
      
    The
group sat in shocked silence, trying to interpret what Brent McKenna’s sentence
meant. “Oh, don’t be alarmed,” Brent continued, “SciTech has been researching
the process for many years. We identified the parts of the brain that most
contribute to human character, and we can infuse the energy found there into
the screen. The whole thing is much simpler than you would think, using the
advanced technology of our day and age.” Brent beamed proudly and his face
seemed to shine like a brand new yellow light bulb. “The hard part, though, was
finding people who had enough character left to extract. We looked long and
hard. Most people were too far gone in the screen to be of any use. But not you
folks. For some reason, you’ve been bucking the system, which is pretty
annoying. Employers in the virtual world have marked you as essentially
unemployable. We’ve quarantined and examined all your virtual files.” Brent shook
his head at them. “But at least you have a stockpile of character left for us
to 'borrow,' so to speak. We’ve hand-picked each of you, you should feel
honored. When we’re through, you’ll be better adapted to today’s society. Too
much character in one individual is never a good thing. 
    “Don’t
think of yourselves as special just for having character, though. Everyone in
the world has it. Some people have a larger responsibility to the world to
share with others and so they run out of it faster. Take me, for example.
Character is not unique. Using your brain waves as fodder, SciTech employees
will be able to weave your character seamlessly into the screen in real time
using mathematical algorithms and equations. It’s all a bunch of numbers at the
end of the day, that’s what is