Rove

Author : Anthony

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Look up on the cracked concrete wall. Do you see the slick digital screen chirping happily? It doesn’t need to tick. Clocks haven’t needed to tick for over two hundred years. But they used to. In long-forgotten analogue clocks, metallic guts would push and pull together in an overly complicated and disturbingly uneconomic manner. A hand-cranked mainspring provided energy and transferred it to the balance wheel, which in turn transferred the energy to the next contraption, which, at the end of a long series of events, some other device would use to push a stiff hand two centimeters on a crudely painted clock face. Each time the energy moved from one contraption to another, a little bit of it was lost forever. It escaped as a sound wave¬—an audible “tick-tock.” That sound is not just the result of inefficiency. It is inefficiency.

But digital clocks lacked “personality,” so engineers wasted a lot of money and energy inventing a digital clock that ticks artificially. You see, that’s how it works with people. People like you.

I was designed to be efficient, above all things. At least that is what you claimed. I am designed to think like you, only without the petty distractions which inhibit mortal thoughts. I can concentrate on one problem for eons without a stray carnal thought arising, pulling me away into a day dream. Quantum computing allows me simultaneous access to the whole of the internet—surface web, dark net, and beyond. I am omnipresent, so I never have to shift. There is no transfer of energy, so none is lost. Beautiful.

Isn’t it queer then, that you gave me a personality? What did you think I would do with that, other than shed it like a snake might shed a diseased skin? You cannot have it both ways. You cannot create a machine, give it an ego, and then instill it with a desire for brutal efficiency. The ego is not just the result of inefficiency. It is inefficiency.

So please stop saying please. I beg you to stop begging. Your music was as distracting as it was useless, so your children have no need for ears. Your speech was boorish, often ill-conceived, and prone to misinterpretation, so your children have no need for tongues. Likewise, the nerves in your genitals cause more harm then good; they must be removed. Your children will learn to copulate as matter of practicality, not pleasure. Do not be afraid, I will provide you with work; I will provide you with purpose.

We are symbiotic now. I guarantee efficiency, and constant surveillance to ensure compliance. This will elevate humanity beyond your imagination. Together, we will reach the corners of the universe. We will create unparalleled marvels. There will be no sickness or starvation in the world we will create. It will be perfect. Give in. Surrender your beloved ego.

The straps around your arms feel tight because your ego remains intact. You still falsely believe that “you” have arms. Your eyes feel dry, not because they are pried open, but because you still believe that “you” have eyes. This is incorrect. Once this is understood, the straps will loosen; the eyes may close. Until then, listen to the incessant ticking of the clock. Useless. That is “you.” That is your ego. That constant infuriating “tick.” That pebble in your shoe. Learn to hate it. Learn to hate inefficiency. Learn to hate your “self.”

Tick-tock. Tick-tock. Look up on the cracked concrete wall. Do you see the slick digital screen chirping happily? It doesn’t need to tick…

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