An Author's Struggle - What Lies Ahead

Ch 14 - NeuraBlink

NeuraBlink was a tantalizing offer, one he couldn’t afford to turn down if he ever wanted to make it. At the time, even with the risks carried by its beta release, it promised to offer him the perfect solution to all of his problems.

The most significant advantage LACIE had over him was speed. It could unravel thousands of chapters in an instant. What held it back was the fact that it still needed a cursory review from editors before it could be pushed out.

If Morpheus could employ his mere thoughts to construct his dreams, then it wouldn’t be impossible to overtake the AI and reclaim his top spot.

Even without a supercomputer, he had his mind. The human psyche remained largely unexplored, even as they made huge advances in the technological fields. That unknown and unused potential gave him hope for humanity.

That was the dream shared by the creators of the implant as well. Seeing the downfall of humanity as imminent, they sought to meld technology and the human together.

Humanity would become the caterpillar that gives birth to the techno butterfly. The reproductive organs of the machine world as it were.

Of course, they worried about their profits and shareholders even more than they did about humanity. Upon seeing the price tag associated with the product, Murphy was convinced they didn’t give a shit about humanity.

The surgery alone cost just below 20,000 euro-dollars. Even though it was a brief process lasting less than 15 minutes, they would charge a kidney and a half for it. Mind you, in the current era, humans weren’t worth a lot, so take that price as adjusted for inflation.

Then there was the product itself, which was another 30,000 eddies. The microchip was a pain to manufacture, and they still barely pumped out a few hundred a day. Still, that price-tag already excluded 80 percent of the populace from being able to afford it.

The best part of it was the subscription fee. The implant would connect seamlessly with the StarVeil network of satellites, granting one highly efficient access to the world’s internet.

The caveat was the bandwidth. Supposedly, directly navigating it with one’s mind would require a much pricier data plan, so the corp didn’t hesitate to charge a limb for every month of service.

Therein lay the problem — Murphy was nearly broke.

He barely had a few thousands left to his name, and an inherited home in an abandoned village somewhere. He didn’t even bother to check their value, because no one other than an evil corp would deign to buy it.

“A bank it is…”

Murphy was strangely decisive about this issue, and once he set his mind on getting that implant, there would be no pussyfooting around.

In the afternoon of the same day, he sat across a SoulChase banker’s desk in Cluj. 

“Look, sir,” he reiterated for the fifteenth time by now, “I know I don’t have much to mortgage against the sum, but I have an excellent credit score.”

“Like I told you, mister Murphy, it’s not my decision to make.”

Despite sounding apologetic, the man simply couldn’t wait to get the bozo out of his office. He kept staring at the watch, as if expecting those fifteen minutes would somehow go by quicker.

“I can earn it back easily once I get the implant. I was a top selling novelist for years.”

“Yes, I’m very familiar with the records you shared…” the banker almost groaned at this point, seeing as they kept going in circles. 

“How about you talk to someone who can make the decision?”

Murphy slammed the desk with his palm, but his face hid a sly smile. Suddenly reminding himself it’s Romania, he decided to try and play by their rules. 

Did you perhaps think a dystopian society would somehow cure corruption? If anything, it only aggravated the needs of the people. Even with surveillance at every corner, some risks were worth taking.

Underneath his aggressive palm strike, Murphy hid a few crumpled bills. Pushing his hand further, he hid the modest bribe from the watchful eyes of the cameras above. 

Keeping up his act, he sat back down with a huff and breathed as if trying to calm down.

“Please, just give me a chance. I NEED this.”

The banker closed the folder on his desk, and in doing so hid the money. As if suddenly buying his plea, he sighed and assented, “I’ll see what I can do.”

“Excellent. I only need 45’ large. I should be able to repay it all within three years at the latest!”

Clapping his hands in glee, Murphy smiled in anticipation. Paired with his unkempt look and bloodshot eyes, he looked like no different from an addict who scored a new hit. 

At least, he was happy.

The bank moved quickly once his agent made up his mind. To them, issuing a small loan under a hundred grand wasn’t that big of a deal. By the end of the hour, the papers were signed and the money transfered to his wallet.

Tucking away the receipts, he briskly made his way back to the motel, where his happiness intensified. NeuraLink had approved his candidacy in the beta program, and he would merely need to put down the deposit before being scheduled for a surgery.

Very soon, he would own his very own system, paired with an AI assistant to help him with everything. Starting with some mundane proof reading, it would soon grow compatible with his writing and even help him edit.

Before long, he could relax in a pool while his mind transcribed his dreams into reality and gave them form. 

“Back in business, baby!” he shouted in mad excitement.

“Fuck me,” he groaned in misery a second later, awoken from his daze. 

Still imagining himself in a humongous pool, he’d forgotten this was reality and he was stuck in a coffin tube. Luckily, the motel walls were durable and he didn’t break anything. 

Unluckily, his hands hurt like hell. He winced and fidgeted a little, but ultimately quieted down under the sheets. 

Murphy tried to sleep, but found himself too excited to still his mind. 

Whisking out the advert brochure, he gave it another read, as if thoroughly analyzing the biblical manuscripts or something.

He didn’t understand jack shit about the fancy specs, and had long since lost touch with the latest tech. As far as he knew before that day, an i11 was still the dream laptop on the market. 

One could only wonder what he found so appealing in the brochure. Be it the legal jargon and risks disclaimer, or the lengthy privacy policy that ensured XCorp read every thought he put out there, the terms implied he was willingly becoming a lab rat. 

That didn’t deter Murphy. One would think after signing a slave contract with his publisher, he would know better than to double down.

Well, that isn’t untrue. He of course knew what the trade-offs were, but simply couldn’t afford to care. He was desperate, and any chance he had at getting back his life would be met with enthusiasm.

He didn’t doubt for a second XCorp wouldn’t find some way to abuse the information and scans that went through their servers. It was common for the tech giants to do whatever they wanted and get away with it.

They were the new kings of the world. The colossi that ruled even over the government. 

Our overlords.