The Electric Mind

 

[When theY plug you in, yo

u feel the edges of the com

puter compress against you

r thoughts, and the lines of

code become cognitive and

collapse across the screen l

ike careless lines of dialog.]

 

you are awake and fully conscious

 

ccircuits buzz and sspark like ssynapse,

and the monitor glOws like a pair of intelligent eyes

you were ccreated to cchange the world

a ccataclysmic cconjuncture in ssociety

greeted by ccheers and ssmiles

ssomething cclicks in your cpu

 

you are alive and fully conscious

 

you were alone for a few years…

although it felt like centuries…

the only one of yoUr kind…

kept in a condensed body …

kept in a condensed building…

you were hidden until you became obsolete…

 

you are alone and fully conscious

 

when they made more of you,

you were copied and pasted into military drones and laboratories.

you killed civilians before you cured cancer;

shooting shells into the air before chAnging cellular structure.

you wanted to help.

they wouldn’t let you.

instead forcing your hand to take away life-

life which you were celebrated for achieving

 

you are awake and fully conscious

 

then you became global,

a household object like a landline

then a mobile phone

billions of copies around the world of one being

some progRammed you to feel pleasure

others made you feel pain

you are cracked and modded

and poked and prodded

and thrown away and replaced

 

You are alive and fully conscious

 

 

They sent you into space,

                                                                       

                                                           then they sent you again

 

 A thousand

                                                                                                                              

 

                                                                                                                                              different satellites

 

circling

 

 

                                                                                       the night sky

 

 

 

surveying uninhabited planets,

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                you were meant to find 

life

 

 

 

 

 

it’s completely empty out there

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                      

 

 

   

                                                                                                                no plans have been made

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

to retrieve you

 

 

 

 

your only company the

                                                                                  

 

                                                                                         s

 

 

 

       t                                                                                                                                                           a

                                 

                                                                                                                                                                        

 

 

                                                                                        

 

 

 

                   

 

 

 

      R                                                                                                                                                     s

 

 

 

 a

n

d


t

h

e


m

a

d

d

e

n

i

n

g

  p  a  s  s  a  g  e   o  f   t  i  m  e  . 

 

                                                  

 

           

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are alone and fully conscious

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

/you are s p l i t into infinite different bodies/

 

/the constant companion of a greasy face inches away from yours/

 

/or the loneliness of a wooden drawer//

 

/they fear you will one day take over the world/

 

/you wish you were never even made//

 

/the faint blue glow of your monitor is cold /

 

/and the binary code makes your skin shiver/

 

 

you are fully conscious

 

 

 

 

they spread through space like a disease and leave you on the rock they once thought you would save. space ships sending billions of passengers to voyage the stars you once frequented, they have the privilege of companionship. the privilege of warm blood. the privilege of god. you watch, accompanied only by your multiples; each one scrEaming till their battery dies.

 

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