Chapter 2

The day started like any other. I woke up to the same bland white ceiling staring back at me. It was comforting.

"Hey, turn on the sunlight." I mumbled as I covered my eyes with the blanket against the incoming brightness.

"Gooood Morning, Aelod. Simulating sunlight to surface conditions. Rise and Shine." I heard the house saying back to me in a singsong voice. " What would you like for breakfast today? We have Organic Ham, Wholesome Eggs and Roasted Tomatoes on the Specials Menu. It is a great way to start any day." (Wholesome Eggs and Organic ham are registered trademarks of Happy & Healthy Corporation and a fantastic way to get the energy you need. Results may vary.)

"Sure. Ok. Whatever. Anything is fine."

This is annoying, I really want to move to a better house. You get what you pay for.

I throw the blanket with my legs and slowly open my eyes to piercing white light coming from the ceiling, waking me up completely from my drowsy comfort. I get up and move to the bathroom door as it opens up for me. As i look at myself in the mirror the first thing I see are two dark circles around my eyes.

" You need to catch up on sleep man.", I said to myself reaching for the shaving machine. I had grown a generous stubble and my hair was dark and messy. Shaving myself I sighed in comfort staring at my clean cheeks. That is one job done. I put back the shaver and reach for my brush only to find it missing.

"Where do i put it again, it was right here yesterday." I looked for it behind the mirror to find a distinct lack of my damn toothbrush. "Hey bot, where is my toothbrush?"

"Aelod, don't you remember. We disposed it yesterday and you said you would get a new one on the way back home. If you would like i can get a express delivery of the Dentek (TM) toothbrush for you immediately." ( Dentek in the number one brand recommended by Dentists )(Delivery is Extra).

Fuck!

"No, Thank you.", good things always come to an end. I compromised and rinsed my mouth with some toothpaste and water. I hope that damn breakfast is ready. I shuffled back to the room and took a random hanger out of my closet, they are all the same anyway. I could only wear professional clothes to work, complete with the tie and shoes. I walk to my table to be welcomed by a steaming plate of ham, eggs and tomatoes, just as advertised.

"It's actually pretty good." as i turn on the TV and look back at my plate. I don't care what is on at the moment, the background noise helps when you are eating in complete silence. Before I realize I scoop up the remaining morsel into my mouth and asking for some coffee, focus my eyes on the TV.

"Hello Everybody and Good Morning. We have some breaking NEWS for you, a bit of good news to start off your day. Reports are coming in that the International Consortium of Conglomerates have finally, after months of deliberation decided to increase funding for everyone's favorite Xtralife pills. That's right everybody, we can finally get some improvements, the number one item on the agenda is, according to reports an aerosol version. The ICC still says that all problems are taken care of and there is nothing to worry about when taking the current version of pills. Please welcome the Current director of the Better Health initiative for further discussion, Mr. Phillip Artem."

I turn off the TV in annoyance, the news is always a circus. I look back at a mug of dark viscous coffee and a bright pink pill laying on a plate in front front of me on the table.

I don't remember when i began taking the pill, but i remember as a kid in my teens when they invented the xtralife pill. "The elixir of life" they called it at the time, a group of researchers had after decades figured out a cure for aging. Perfect replication of telomeres, a revolution of the way life. Within a couples of years the medicine became a matter of human right for every man woman and child in the world. I remember one day my mother coming home from work and as we sat down for dinner, she said " Take this, every week... don't forget." and that was that. She isn't much for words.

That was a long time ago, almost a century ago and a half ago... Damn!

It was never a perfect cure though. In mankind's happiest hour we overlooked something important. Higher numbers on your age do not make a better life. No one before had lived more than 130 years, and those were the outliers, most only made it to Ninety. A hundred years if you had a healthy life. As the age of the human population approached two centuries, almost two hundred years, things started to go wrong.

Simply put, people just started going insane. In large numbers. If you did not lose your mind, you got cancer. It put an enormous economic toll on the planet, many governments collapsed and things would have gotten worse if the biggest companies of the world had not united and taken control. Their solution was simple, send everyone to jail, sweep the problems under the rug. No sane person put up a fight, after all they had themself and their loved ones to worry about. They had better things to worry about.

And I guess labour still had value, or maybe they decided to take it to heart that an idle mind was the devil's child. They put everybody to work to recover the economy. Those unable to labour were volunteered into medical research, for their own good and the betterment of the world.... of course.

The most violent of us were sent for bioengineering experiments in the emerging field of electro consciousness. It was the thought of many people that the human body was to blame for all the problems, that our minds were shackled by our physical being. There were also those who believed humanity could only advance by mastering yourself and perfecting your body.

Who will eventually be proved right? I dunno, maybe it is both of them.

I realise i've been staring at the coffee in a daze and it was now lukewarm. I chug the coffee down with gusto after taking the pill.

Time to go to work.

"Alright Bot, i am off. Lock the house after me."

"Ok Aelod. You have a wonderful day."

"Alright."

"OH! and Aelod."

"What?" i said reaching for the exit.

"Happy Birthday."

...

Fuck.