Sunday, February 21, 2016

TELE


TELE

It was such a buzz to race full throttle down the narrow streets, up the infinite winding staircases and through the lavishly decorated courtyards. But it had been a busy morning trying to get through the fifty odd door to door emergency electronic cigarette capsule deliveries. As I whizzed through the city, black lava stone walls covered in restless images stretched and blurred into spaghetti-shaped beams of light. There was no time to stop and look though, the orders had to be completed before dusk if there was going to be any possibility of a promotion one day. Half the time it didn't even feel like work, the competition gave the day urgency and purpose, unlike school. In fact, leaving school had been a good move in the end, although it hadn't exactly been a conscious choice, it just kind of happened. Mum knew that she couldn't make a fuss, and besides, she couldn't really afford to pay the fees anymore. After dad had suddenly passed away three years ago, a lot of things had changed, maybe it would have been different if she'd taken him back rather than finding yet another lover.

There they were again, those glossy emerald eyes framed by that lifeless marble mask... no one told me why...

'Come on focus, just a couple more drop offs'...

Anyway, since then school, friends, and life hadn't made much sense. Mum had got married again, obviously, and there was a new baby too. And there I was, the embarrassing leftovers from a failed marriage, out of sight, out of mind. But I didn't care, life was getting better now, I'd been lucky to get a job, and even earn enough credits to buy my own apartment, car and all the Obey baseball caps I could dream of, not bad for a sixteen-year-old.  I also had friends from all over the world, most of them were older than me, but they were far better than the idiots at school.  Tonight was the end of the month too! I'd worked my fastest month so far... so if I was in luck, I might finally get that offer I'd been hoping for.

'That's it, no need to look back.'

Things were great now and they could only get better. Maybe I'd get picked out by Amazon through the leader boards and my GPS track record.

 ...'just one more drop off'

It was getting hard to concentrate after ten hours of non-stop deliveries and I could feel a draining sensation as if my stomach was being strangled. I'd been trying my best to put it off but it was definitely time.

'Better order some food for when I get back.'

I made the order by tapping on my usual, hotdog and chips pizza bookmark from the menu on my wrist interface, I didn't even need to look anymore.

'Should be able to get this last drop done before it arrives'

I'd been trying to ignore the shivers that ran from the side of my face and trickled down the back of my neck. However, this and the dull ache creeping in behind my retinas was normal around this time of day and didn't bother me that much, just needed a couple of pain killers after my meal. Up popped the image of a smiling pizza on my GPS display, it would be about another ten minutes, just enough time. After I'd dropped the last capsule into the post tube of number 46, I parked up at the closest charging station and pressed pause. I let go of the sticky controller and took a deep breath.


Through the slits in the now permanently closed shutter, the spindly being was dimly lit by the beams of dust filled light that invaded the room. As the earth revolved around the sun the beams searched the confines of the dark putrid abode. They first uncovered the untouched books and stationary that the well-meaning but long gone uncle had naively bought. Then the beams waded through the soup of old Nike trainers, Obey caps, T-shirts, Lego bricks and pizza boxes that clung to every surface. As they slowly crawled up the wardrobe, the muted grime ridden reflection of a man holding a baby struggled in vane to attract the attention of the creature on the bed.

The only living breathing object in the room reluctantly removed the VR helmet with two quivering limbs and slowly swivelled round to immerse its filthy stinking toe-nails into the sea of sweat drenched clothes and plastic. "Mum!' it croaked without expecting an answer as it rose to its feet. The movement and newly disturbed stench caused it to retch and belch but there was nothing to bring up. Then under the buzzing and whirring sounds from beyond the potholed shutter, a faint raspy exhalation came from the teenager as it prepared itself for the long journey ahead. 

A squinted glance at the e-tattoo on his wrist indicated that the pizza would be here soon, after which he could take another pill and get back to to his virtually augmented reality life. Unlocking and opening his bedroom door, he was greeted by the glaring alien environment of his mother's new family. The smell of nappies, baby wipes and cleaning detergent flooded his nostrils and chiseled though his sinuses. He tried not to look at the nauseating cream-coloured curtains or the leopard skin sofa and instead focused on the front door. The headache was getting bad now, every drag of his feet seemed to cause his brain to shake and rattle in his skull. Then suddenly a shrilling high-pitched drill sound penetrated the corridor and his throbbing head. The pizza had arrived. 

'Nearly there', he murmured, 'nearly there...'


________


Through the stereo lenses you really felt like you were there, you rarely needed to physically go out and the city even looked better, especially after they'd photoshoped all the rubbish away and covered all the walls with Amazon commercials.

...There it was number 28, 3rd floor, one hotdog and chips pizza.

The only problem with the larger loads was waiting for the customer to open the door, you couldn't just drop it in the post tube. It was better than the last dodgy job though, administering that product had been a far more emotionally draining experience. The pay was worse now with Amazon but after that nasty episode three years back it was better to play it safe.

'Come on, open the bloody the door!'


________


He twisted the handle with both hands, then with all his weight tugged the door inwards. As usual he was greeted by the sights and sounds of a pizza carrying drone. He gazed into the two glossy lenses and wondered who it was this time, maybe it was one of his friends. For a moment he was reminded of something else but he managed to suppress the image. The pizza was lowered into his arms and the drone whizzed off down the staircase. Exhausted by the journey he just stood there for a moment and stared out through the stairway window. Mountains of black bags, glistened in shimmering orange as the setting sunlight squeezed through the smoggy air. Hovering above, drones of all shapes and sizes danced and hummed with the swarms of flies and mosquitos. There below amongst the waste a human form scavenged through the bags for something to eat.





Just then his wrist lit up, each flash accompanied by an urgent beeping sound. A rush of adrenaline released itself into his bloodstream and with half a slice of pizza in his mouth he slammed the door behind him and clumsily shuffled back down the corridor. As he reached his room half the pizza had been gobbled down but there wasn't time to eat the rest. He flung the box into a pile of cuddly toys in the corner and half jumped, half fell back onto the bed and frantically pulled the VR headset on.


________


As the pizza delivery pilot flew through the air she marvelled at the spectacular city below. Everything was perfect, from the multicoloured palazzi down to the crystal clear waters that surrounded the volcano. The Technology Enhanced Living Environment or 'TELE' for short, had given everyone the opportunity to see the city through more positive eyes. After its construction, augmented drone tourism had really taken off, all the unpleasantness had simply been deleted. No one had expected drone usage to spread quite so quickly into other fields though. And when it did, the demand for pilots outgrew the supply, but luckily, the new generation of digital natives were more than up to the task.




'Ah! that's better'

There I was again reflected in the wardrobe mirror, proudly standing there with my tanned muscular physique and red spiky hair. As I chewed the remaining salty hotdog morsel, I watched my avatar's unmoving but reassuring grin. The beeping signal had now transferred itself to the wall display in the lounge so I hovered over as quickly as I could to download the video message. Outside the apartment window, beyond the swimming pool, the pristine augmented environment filled me with pride for my beautiful city once more. This was my reality not that disgusting tramp infested dump I'd left behind. Why did they try to brainwash you with the idea that even the poorest could make it in all those films and fairy tales? It was just a set up for a futile dream for most of us out there. It didn't matter how hard you tried in the real world, only the privileged princes and princesses could pay their way through school. Here I didn't need school or parents, here, I could do anything and be anyone. When I got to the display I sank myself into my black leather sofa and hit download. Sweat gathered in my palms and my mouth went dry as I waited impatiently for the loading bar to make its slow progress from left to right.





Download complete


Dear Amazon employee,

Congratulations!

As you know, automated drone services have proved to be unreliable in recent years and Amazon is now expanding its human piloted delivery services to other sectors globally. After careful consideration of your GPS track record we are pleased to inform you that you have been selected for a drone piloting job in a variety of exotic international war zones. You will be given the opportunity to develop and transfer your already efficient and accurate deployment skills through the delivery of a variety of exciting products. In accordance with current employment laws for your age group, you will receive an extremely competitive virtual compensation of 1,000,000 credits per month. This can obviously be used on all of our virtually augmented products and even on a limited selection of food and drink items delivered free of charge to your door. If you should choose to accept, please click 'proceed' at the bottom of the screen to upload your virtual signature.

Thank you for your time.

Amazon

Proceed


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