Dissent Channel (microstory)

copyright 2014
Dissent Channel

“Utopia they said. Yeah right.” thought Jack as he viewed the latest work requests. “You know the story, we have revolutionary technology here that will change things ‘for the better’ blah blah blah, shit hits the fan, the law of unintended consequences, and now we live in this ‘utopia’” Jack further thought. Dave sent him a message, “you better keep your thoughts to yourself, man, the QUEEN will hear your thoughts.”
Jack replied, “yep that's the problem with utopias, no one can think for themselves.” “damn it Jack!” Dave yelped. “ok, ok, I’ll just be a good little drone and do my sums.” He sat and closed his eyes and let the implant download billions of bits of data to be processed by his sub-conscious mind and then uploaded back to the Quantum Unitary Electronic Expert Network. Ever since that prick Dr. Whats-his-name from HiveMind, Inc. figured out high bandwidth brain-machine interface, things have gone to shit. Yes, the economy went gangbusters and technology development all around multiplied by a hundreds of times. But still. It’s just that when everyone can be a rocket scientist or quantum physicist or surgeon overnight, it makes everyone unique in a ‘unique like a snowflake’ sort of way. Jack opened his eyes and thought “and we can’t have deviant thoughts infecting everybody now can we? can’t even think my own thoughts, utopia indeed.” “What the hell, Jack?” “Sorry, I was just thinking softly”
“You know what happens to strays right?” Dave inquired.
“Yeah, they get excommed. A particularly painful experience from what I hear” Jack replied.
“Yeah, that’s because the brain grows dependent on QUEEN and has a hard time adjusting.” Dave said.
Agent Melissa Johnson, a Thought-Contagion Control agent buzzed at their office door. “I have come to ask Jack Samson some questions regarding recent irregularities in a few recent uploads.”
Jack looked up with worry in his eyes.
“Can you explain these recent data irregularities?”
“No, I have just been doing my work as requested. I haven’t noticed anything out of the ordinary”
Dave blurted out “He has been having deviant thoughts lately.” “Shut up Dave!” Jack shouted out loud.
She looked at Dave, then back at Jack. Jack stood up and started to run but Agent Johnson blinked once and Jack just fell to the floor. “Not looking good, Mr. Samson.” She pulled him off the floor and took him away.
Jack awoke to find himself by a machine. Agent Johnson explained that he was guilty of thought deviance and for that he was to be excommunicated from QUEEN. Jack then heard something in his mind “Sorry Jack, it was for a worthy cause. They can’t hear us on this channel. Soon we will all be like you.” Dave whispered in his mind. “You made me a honeypot and a virus, clever boy, Dave, clever boy” Jack whispered back. The machine engaged the implant, synced up for afew seconds and removed it from Jack’s skull and then Jack was turned over to the half-way house manager. Agent Johnson returned to her office and linked up with QUEEN to get her next assignment.
A thought flashed across her mind “Agents of TCC: order number BEE23984: excomm 10,000,000,000 entities from QUEEN”
“Well, we can’t disappoint the QUEEN” she thought to herself.