Best of the Brine

The Disconnect

I am not like other people, yet I am exactly the same.

From the color of my hair and eyes, to the tone of my skin. We all look similar now, so that it is easier to fit in. Genetic modifications became the thing to do a thousand years ago and have never been reversed. We have hardware as well, installed before birth.

On every world we inhabit, we are connected. The chips in our brains allow us access to each other with only a thought. Technological advances are the veins that connect us and keep us alive. If a person is to disconnect from the Network and every other human soul, then his or her life is forfeit and over. In this world, disconnection is the end.

I have looked through the archives of the time before The Great Connection and I envy those people. They could choose to connect when they wanted. No longer. I am different because I crave that disconnect.

But it is the one thing I cannot have.

So, I have found a way to experience it the only way I can without ending my own life.

I stare into the eyes of my victim. His name does not matter, because once he is disconnected his identity will vanish. I relish in these moments just before I unplug them.

He lies paralyzed on the floor of his apartment and I make the incision to disable his chip. His blood spills onto the plush carpet and I cringe. I have always hated blood, it is just so dirty. With shaking hands I inject the virus into his chip in order to unplug him from the Network.

The effect is immediate. A sense of urgency rises in his eyes. He doesn't realize what I have done at first because he can still sense someone. What he doesn't know is that the person is me. I have left his connection with me alive so that I might experience his disconnection with him, but happily I will not experience the end result.

After an hour, he is able to move and stands up. He lumbers towards me and opens his mouth. It is awkward and strange, for he has never formed a full sentence with this vocal chords. He simply hasn't had the need when every one is inside his head.

Seeing that I will not help him, he heads to the door of his apartment. Just like every other victim, I know he will not be able to get past the lock.

This man has never learned how to unlock his own door. In fact, this man has never learned a single thing that will help him survive the next three days. He will not know how to cook, clean himself properly or how to turn on the faucet for water. Just like every other person I have unplugged, he will go through the routine of his every day schedule, but will not be able to do any of it. And that is where the disconnection becomes deadly.

In a world where the Network tells you how to function, being without it means certain death.

I watch him for days until finally he collapses and struggles to breath. He is afraid and confused.

Then comes my favorite part. The ultimate disconnect.

A shiver goes down my spine and the deed is done.

I have often wondered why I am different than the rest. My answer was found in the archives under the title, Serial Killers Eliminated Under The Great Connection.

They thought we would be gone after everyone was in our heads. They thought they'd be able to weed us out.

They were wrong.