"Are you ready to go, Mike?"
"Yes," he said, nervously.
"Then let's do this!"
Mike followed his father, Ari, out slowly, watching the cars drive themselves by, filled with the sleeping roamers...
...'Sleeping roamers' was a term coined shortly after the advent of driverless cars, popularised by [restricted]. Taking the idea of the previous century 'digital nomad' to a new level, young professionals who could not afford a house were able to rent a space to sleep for the night in one of the many driverless cars in [restricted]'s fleet...
He hopped into one of the cars that had quickly pulled up to the kerb, and squeezed carefully between the other occupants in the car. Some of them stirred as he took his seat, but most stayed glued to their screens, or their sleep. Automatically, a seatbelt strapped him into the...
...the concept of seatbelts had not been improved upon since their invention, being one of the most cost-effective ways to prevent...
"How are you feeling?" Ari asked kindly.
"A little...
...scared|fearful|worried...
...worried" Mike replied. Ari laughed and tousled his hair.
"There's nothing to worry about! I know it seems scary to take out your implant, but you'll find you actually remember a lot more than you think - everyone your age is getting them out now anyway, so it's not like it's a disadvantage when you get into high school," he said with a smile.
Mike sullenly stared out the window and watched the ad-floats swim through a fluffy sea of white. Ari hummed as he roved his eyes over the other bored passengers in the car. The thin, grey rider sleeping next to Mike shifted slightly, leaning slightly into Mike's spot. Annoyed, Mike grabbed his jacket and pushed it out of the way, dislodging a bag of plastic balls and capsules that spilled on to the floor.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" Mike exclaimed. The grey rider made no movement or sound to acknowledge what had just occurred. Ari chuckled, and bent down to pick up some of the balls. Mike quickly stashed the balls and capsules back into the bag, securely fastened it, and placed it between him and the grey rider, like a barrier.
Mortified, Mike settled back into his seat, instantly latched on to his last train of thought: his surgery. It was a routine procedure; everyone his age got it, and rationally, even Mike knew that...
...only 0.001% of people have had any complications from this procedure, and there have been no fatalities...
...but Mike wasn't ready to let go of his connection to the rest of the world. Once children turned 12, their implants were temporarily taken out to allow their personalities, passions and purpose to evolve naturally. This was an attempt to maintain the diversity of thought and personality of humanity, even after they had all connected to the network. However, Mike spent a lot of time escaping reality, exploring the nooks and crannies of what was available, and creating virtual worlds of his own. Without an escape...what would happen to him?
"We're here!" Ari said cheerfully. Reluctantly, Mike followed his father out of the car for his surgery. As he was leaving the car, he paused for a moment, feeling that he had forgotten to do...
...[bzzzzzzzt]...
"Come on!" Ari tugged gently at Mike, pulling him out of the car. Mike sighed and followed his father into the hospital.
---
"Wakey wakey!" a voice said happily. "Hello! Anyone in there? Or did we take it out with your implant hahaha."
...Come on, kid, wake up so I can move on...
Mike's eyes snapped open to a very close-up view of his doctor's face, with an overwhelming scent of mustard that made Mike's eyes water.
"How are you feeling, champ?" the doctor asked. Mike slowly sat up.
"Good...I think," he replied warily. The doctor smiled, a bit too widely.
"Well, it looks like everything went well - your dad is outside waiting, and here's your implant! Make sure to keep it safe and don't plant it - replacements cost an arm and a leg! Hahaha!"
What kind of crappy doctor laughs at his own jokes? Mike thought to himself.
The doctor froze for a moment, then shook his head as if dislodging some earwax out of his ear. He laughed weakly and said,
"Well, a nurse will be with you soon, so...erm...bye!" he waved and quickly walked out the room.
...What the hell was that? Hope it's not one of those viruses going around...
...The doctor will see you now...
...Get in there, Jenny!...
...Luke looks a bit pale...eh, who cares? He's a dick...
Bewildered, Mike looked around the room for the source of the voices. It was starkly furnished, with white tiles and screens covering the walls. Large blue and green lines arranged in vague shapes that supposedly symbolised life measures. Charts moved around in a slow dance, undulating in a mesmerising fashion. There was no visible source for the sound - maybe it had come from outside?
He looked across to the implant - the metallic, golden shine dulled by years of helping to develop a young mind. It was offline now, of course, but...wait, was that a -
"Hey there!" a nurse entered with a wink. "You ready to go?"
Mike nodded and thought, Was that a light I saw on the implant?
The nurse snatched up the implant and started examining it in the light. Her demeanour had changed, losing its contented look, instead becoming hawk-like and focused, examining the implant in close detail.
"Uh...what are you doing?" Mike asked haltingly. Surprised, the nurse looked up with a puzzled look on her face.
"Oh, I was...uh...just...handing this over to you," the nurse said slowly. Her expression turned vacant and confused for moment, then snapped back into her mask of contentment again. She motioned for him to join her. "Let's go get your dad, shall we?"
Mike grabbed his golden implant and jumped up to follow her.
Had something gone wrong with his surgery?
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