It
was peak autumn. 2041. I woke up late
& felt tired as if I was awake the whole night. Everyone has their thing.
It was my thing to feel like this every Sunday morning. As my eyes opened
further I realized my yoku was still on & I was wearing it. I must have
slept wearing it. The latest in technology, gifted by my cousin from the
States, is such lightweight & thin specs that sometimes I forget to take it
off even! As I was about to switch it on, I realized it already was. I entered into
my favorite metaverse – MIKO. It notified me of an unfinished shopping that I
left yesterday. I went into the store and looked at some ethnic clothes to wear
for the upcoming wedding of my friend, Keev. That’s the thing about shopping for
a wedding. You feel tired even before attempting to shop. But I was determined
to do it this time. Took all the favorites & went to the counter. I scanned
my eyes for the payment but it failed. Another attempt went in vain. What’s
wrong? Another attempt was made, and a failure. I threw all the clothes on the
counter & left the shop frustrated. “I anyway don’t want to go to a
wedding. I will send an expensive gift to the couple later. Who’s gonna notice
my absence at the wedding anyway”, I thought.
Roaming
around in MIKO is my favorite pastime. In a bid to lighten up my mood, I
started walking aimlessly. With clean surroundings, colorful alleys, and
pleasant weather, I can see beautiful bridges over the canal running beside
& towering hills touching the nice blue sky. It was a custom skin I built
for myself by fusing Venice & Himalayas. The theme got so viral that it
crossed 100K subscribers within a year. Around 10K people visit this skin
daily. So, I choose ‘public’ & meet people instead of walking in ‘private’.
It’s more fun.
As I was walking past a smoke zone, I saw a distant friend sitting alone. At first, I avoided going near, but when I saw his avatar crying, I became concerned. It was unusual in the metaverse. Who chooses a crying avatar? Even the most depressed people walk with a smile. Almost like real life. But this is the worst.
So I went up to him & asked “Sorry to bother Dale, but are you Okay?”.
No reply.
“Let me know if I can be of any help, mate”.
Still no reply.
I turned around & he replied “Is there any way I can kill this digital avatar?!”
I looked back & said, “But Why?”.
He instantly replied, “because I am bloody tired of this all. I wanna go back & get rid of all this.”
I asked “go where?” He replied “anywhere but here!”.
I reverted “well, I think you can put your avatar on AI mode. It will gather your mannerisms, and idiosyncrasies, and remain active on your behalf. You can leave & visit whenever you like. This way you will be socially active digitally & choose to do whatever else.”
I continued, “but try not to make it a habit, man. It’s good to stay connected. So try to come as often. I hope it helps.” He nodded.
I asked if he wanted a smoke. He nodded again. I asked for two cigs nearby & as I was paying, it failed again! He noticed, & paid instead. I thanked.
“So what are you up to these days”, he asked.
“Nothing man, just passing time, went to buy some clothes for Keev’s wedding, but these goddamn payment failures, I don’t know, will check later”, I answered.
He reverted, “but hey, isn’t the wedding canceled?”Seeing me surprised, he continued, “yup. I received Keev’s notification that he sent early this morning. One of his close friends died” he confirmed.
Unusual, I said, “but I didn’t receive any such message, idk”. He said, "yup, it's canceled, so don’t bother shopping & all."
He got up &
said, “will take your leave now; thanks for stopping by”. “No worries, mate”, I
said smilingly. It felt good that his crying avatar has a smile in return now.
So,
there I was, sitting comfortably on a bench, thinking not-so-much but the
thought of not receiving Keev’s message & stupid payment failures evoked me
to look at my yoku’s phone folder. And that’s when I found out; I was that friend who
died. Holy fuck! That was why I woke up in the metaverse, with payment failures, and
no notifications! It struck me that I had put my avatar on AI mode…and now I
will live forever in MIKO.
It
is mid-winters. 2074. Almost 30 years after I died. Today, I’m almost
completing my 18th novel titled “forever sucks”. Holy fuck :-)
