Technophobe!

Technophobe!

  By M. Crawley

  Text Copyright ? 2013 M. Crawley

  All Rights Reserved

  Author's Note

  Technophobia - the irrational fear of all things technological. Particularly computers. I know a fair few technophobes. Don't we all? Many times I have had to perform CPR on a particular member of my family who tried to send an email. It was horrendous. As this world becomes more and more like one giant microchip (should that be a macro-chip?), it can be an incredibly daunting place to live. That is in fact what this book is all about. Five short stories following individuals whose lives have been somehow skewed by the technology around them. I'm not scaremongering, honest.

  Thank heavens I'm not a technophobe. I stare machines in the face and they unplug themselves in fright. Computers only do what we tell them, and nothing else. Anyway, probably should go - I write this in my kitchen, and the toaster seems to be gnawing at my leg...

  Matt

  (For more news on other upcoming works, as well as articles on science fiction and film, check out Mcoddity.blogspot.com)

  Table of Contents

  Technophobe

  By M. Crawley

  Text Copyright ? 2013 M. Crawley

  All Rights Reserved

  Author's Note

  Everyone's Invited

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Epilogue

  The Android

  Mindline

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Wheels

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Space Dust

  Everyone's Invited

  Chapter 1

  9:02AM

  When Jim returned to his office desk, with a mouldy coffee mug, postcards of famous mob movies, slightly chewed pens and a overflowing inbox tray, the world as he knew it was soon to be very different - but he had no idea of what he was truly walking into that morning.

  He had come back from a three week compulsory break, doing all the things that reminded him nothing of work. As he stepped into the office the smell of permanent marker pens filled his mind and he was back in work mode as if he had never been away. He signed in at the front, had small talk with the older office staff, got himself a strong coffee and sat down. His role was mainly organising databases and financial spreadsheets for a manufacturing company. It was at times a stressful task, but he was not easily stressed - just sometimes a bit fed up. But he had a part in the big machine - Jim's part, and that was his place.

  "Did you see what Marie put on S.N. last night? About her Ian getting laid off?" "Oh yeah. He's a twat though." Laughter muffled by a bit of cake. "All she ever does is talk about him on there, they even talk to each other, private conversation! I'm like, we don't wanna know!" "My Jack put some pictures of him and his sisters on there as little kids, they're from the 50s, come and have a look." "Wow they haven't changed at all!" "Does anyone need anything from the stationary cupboard?" "Just some more staples please darlin'" "That Christoph bloke's set up another S.N. party, anyone else going?" "What is it, Wednesday evening?" Probably, the last one he did was good actually. Even you'd like it Martyn!"

  This was the general sound of what Jim called 'background noise' - everyone's conversations in the office blended into the back of his mind, and every so often he would contribute a sentence to show he wasn't a complete workaholic recluse. Throughout this morning however the initials 'S.N.' was in the midst of conversations. 'S.N.' has set the groundwork for everyone's social and family lives, it seemed. Jim couldn't think of anything to say.

  12:05PM

  Jim stood under the tarpaulin that the building provided for smokers outside in the rain, next to his 2 lunch buddies, Jane and Aaron. Lunch was same as every day - a black coffee and a Danish pastry. Jane had a pasta salad, Aaron had sandwich. Jim waited a few minutes before asking the big question.

  "You know I'm never really in with current trends, but can someone explain to me what S.N. is? I come back from holiday and it's all everyone talks about." Jane smirked at his ignorance.

  "It stands for 'SoulNet', like it's 'networking souls'. It's another social networking site. Just sort of appeared out of nowhere a couple of weeks ago... and it's gradually taking over people's lives!"

  "So I'm not really missing anything then, am I. How's it different to any other site?"

  "It's not really," said Aaron, dropping an olive into his mouth. "It's just another fad. But this one has seriously taken off, I mean SERIOUSLY. Jimbo, do you not read papers, listen to the radio? SoulNet is everywhere."

  "I might have heard it somewhere" he said "but I probably thought it was some kind of new pop band on the kid's scene. I'm useless with stuff like this. I've been part of networking sites before, but I gave them up, they were taking too much of my time. I'm surprised everyone's allowed to use it in the office - all the other sites were banned, why not this one?"

  "I heard that management think it will make more productivity because everyone's in a better mood, or something like that. I don't believe that for a second." Jane always spoke as if she was close to laughter, like everything was a bit of a joke. "You should at least set up an account, Jim, keep up to date with what's going on around. It's good for finding out about local events and meeting new people." Jim was struggling to see what all the fuss was about.

  "No Jane, I gave these stupid things up, they don't enrich my life in any way. I'm not bowing to any peer pressure." He threw his coffee cup in the bin to show he was serious. Jane turned to Aaron.

  "Aaron, I'll bet twenty pound on Jimbo getting an account by the end of the month, that's about three weeks. What do you think?" Aaron had known Jim all his life as they had been neighbours growing up. He thought he knew his friend well enough. He knew Jim was incredibly stubborn, and would avoid all the fads at school, yet seemed to be immune to any resulting ridicule. But SoulNet seemed different to any other fad. It felt more than that, like a way of life. Something about it scared Aaron. He was hopeful that Jim would stay his usual stubborn way, as that was the way his friend was.

  "Alright, you got a bet. Don't let me down, Jim! Our country's in a financial meltdown you know!" He shook Jane's hand in front of Jim. Jim shook his head.

  8:18PM

  The day had finished late - five forty-five pm to be precise - and Jim already had had enough of hearing about SoulNet, about 'S.N', and everyone else's lives, and their multitudes of friends that none of them had met in real life. He decided that evening to binge on search engines and find out as much as he could about this mysterious force that was taking up people's time. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Famous pop stars and socialites had been very vocal about it, and there was an ongoing debate about whether it should be allowed in schools and workplaces. It struck him however to see just how much it had affected its users' lives. People had found new jobs, lost children, and some had even met people through the site and within a couple of weeks had got married. The site had incredibly strong security. It was not possible to hack into anyone's account. What struck him as most interesting is that no-one knew where the site came from. There was no clear country of origin. No individual had said to have created it, or owned any of it as a business. It had no shares, no sole stockholder. It just...existed.