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Book: Human Again: A Dystopian Sci-Fi Novel (Cryonemesis Book 1) by Moran Chaim
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Authors: Moran Chaim
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guns.”
“Not this kind.”
“Good point. This, my friend, is a laser gun.” She stroked it like you pat a dog.
“Cool.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, awesome.”
“There’s nothing cool about it, it's freaking hot at hell, and that's the point.”
“How does it work?”
“Short version? Energy is built into a capacitor that starts the chain reaction for the laser to light. When it reaches the right amount of energy, the shot is released. Since the light wavelength is so coherent there's no diffusion, so this thing can burn a hole through your chest.”
“What about dust?”
“We got ourselves an intelligent creature here. Dust is the enemy, as much as I try to keep this baby sealed and greased, dust will interfere with the lens and cause the electric circuit to heat and burn itself. That's why you're going to learn how to help me fix this baby.”
I was surprised to see it wasn't so complicated. And as futuristic as it was, I could see the paint fading, scratch marks all over it, and loose wires. Everything was designed to be replaced by spare chips, electric parts and whole circuit boards. The important task was to be able to repair the little parts ourselves without replacing the whole card, because spare parts were available, but not unlimited. It was our job to replace them according to the right schedule and not because we arbitrarily wanted to. We had a special device to examine that and keep track of maintenance.
It took me about three hours to learn the basics and go over the tools and parts. I could use the screen to learn more.
I was thirsty and hungry and I needed a break.
“Do you have a simulation bed here?”
“No why? Did I bore you that much?”
“I'm just hungry.”
“Oh I don't eat in the simulation no more; my room is too far away.”
“So what do you do?”
“I just eat the actual stuff.”
“The actual bug juice?”
She started laughing. “Yeah, if you call it like that. Come, I’ll show you. We're getting hungry ourselves.” She patted her belly.
I was hesitant, but she had been nice to me and got me curious. I followed her into the corridor and another level down, where it was cooler. We went inside a much bigger room. It was a hall filled with big metal containers and pipes. It was noisy, like a million bug legs moving and rubbing against each other, which is what the noise actually was. They were jammed into metal containers and just procreated while fighting over food. The food technician explained how they lived inside the container in complete darkness and fed on tempered human waste, algae and other nutrients they vacuum out of the sea. When the mass is critical they let a certain amount of bugs out by showing them the light to a different container. The second container zaps the whole bunch with an electric shock. The bugs fall to the floor and get sucked into the third container, where they’re ground up and mixed with water and more algae. I had to vomit, and I did on the floor.
I told her I’d be back later and she shouted to come back before sunset so she could take me outside, to the actual surface. So I was disgusted and happy at the same time. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I wanted to learn everything about those guns but the sight of the bug juice factory was horrible. And that's the stuff I had to eat for the rest of my life, apparently. I ran in the middle of the street straight to my room, and into my bed. Isaac was there and I didn't even say hello. I just dipped inside the simulation and went to the beach.
The simulation bed became humid because I was breathing so heavily under the cover, but I didn't care. I made myself a cold mango shake and drank it like a dehydrated dog. Then I made myself a pineapple shake. I didn't want to eat something that belonged to that processed monstrosity. After being able to relax a little bit I noticed a flashing red dot in the corner of my sight. It was a message from Shanta, to meet her at 21:00 at
“Not this kind.”
“Good point. This, my friend, is a laser gun.” She stroked it like you pat a dog.
“Cool.”
“Huh?”
“I mean, awesome.”
“There’s nothing cool about it, it's freaking hot at hell, and that's the point.”
“How does it work?”
“Short version? Energy is built into a capacitor that starts the chain reaction for the laser to light. When it reaches the right amount of energy, the shot is released. Since the light wavelength is so coherent there's no diffusion, so this thing can burn a hole through your chest.”
“What about dust?”
“We got ourselves an intelligent creature here. Dust is the enemy, as much as I try to keep this baby sealed and greased, dust will interfere with the lens and cause the electric circuit to heat and burn itself. That's why you're going to learn how to help me fix this baby.”
I was surprised to see it wasn't so complicated. And as futuristic as it was, I could see the paint fading, scratch marks all over it, and loose wires. Everything was designed to be replaced by spare chips, electric parts and whole circuit boards. The important task was to be able to repair the little parts ourselves without replacing the whole card, because spare parts were available, but not unlimited. It was our job to replace them according to the right schedule and not because we arbitrarily wanted to. We had a special device to examine that and keep track of maintenance.
It took me about three hours to learn the basics and go over the tools and parts. I could use the screen to learn more.
I was thirsty and hungry and I needed a break.
“Do you have a simulation bed here?”
“No why? Did I bore you that much?”
“I'm just hungry.”
“Oh I don't eat in the simulation no more; my room is too far away.”
“So what do you do?”
“I just eat the actual stuff.”
“The actual bug juice?”
She started laughing. “Yeah, if you call it like that. Come, I’ll show you. We're getting hungry ourselves.” She patted her belly.
I was hesitant, but she had been nice to me and got me curious. I followed her into the corridor and another level down, where it was cooler. We went inside a much bigger room. It was a hall filled with big metal containers and pipes. It was noisy, like a million bug legs moving and rubbing against each other, which is what the noise actually was. They were jammed into metal containers and just procreated while fighting over food. The food technician explained how they lived inside the container in complete darkness and fed on tempered human waste, algae and other nutrients they vacuum out of the sea. When the mass is critical they let a certain amount of bugs out by showing them the light to a different container. The second container zaps the whole bunch with an electric shock. The bugs fall to the floor and get sucked into the third container, where they’re ground up and mixed with water and more algae. I had to vomit, and I did on the floor.
I told her I’d be back later and she shouted to come back before sunset so she could take me outside, to the actual surface. So I was disgusted and happy at the same time. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I wanted to learn everything about those guns but the sight of the bug juice factory was horrible. And that's the stuff I had to eat for the rest of my life, apparently. I ran in the middle of the street straight to my room, and into my bed. Isaac was there and I didn't even say hello. I just dipped inside the simulation and went to the beach.
The simulation bed became humid because I was breathing so heavily under the cover, but I didn't care. I made myself a cold mango shake and drank it like a dehydrated dog. Then I made myself a pineapple shake. I didn't want to eat something that belonged to that processed monstrosity. After being able to relax a little bit I noticed a flashing red dot in the corner of my sight. It was a message from Shanta, to meet her at 21:00 at
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