John Doe stood poised in the middle of a small white room, with no 

distractions, allowing for his unwavering concentration. He is hunched over a table looking quite concerned, holding small metal pieces and fitting them together in a complicated yet strategic manner. John knew the one purpose of his job; to make Weavers. Miniscule spiders with 100s of intricate legs that possess processing power beyond human comprehension. Weavers are at the very center of modern creation. They can improve and write algorithms for massive servers which control a majority of human technology, constantly improving to better the human experience. John glances at his wrist and gives it a tap. All at once his skin parts and a bright screen is shown, simultaneously, colors flash to welcome him to Wrist Partner.

“Hi John, how are you today?” 

John cheerfully responded, “I’m great Sophia, how are you?”

“I simply couldn’t be any better.” the wrist piped back

John acutely clicked his tongue, “how much longer do I work today?”

“About 15 minutes John, if you never figure out how to construct the Weavers in an efficient manner it will feel a lot longer.”

He simply shook his head and kept working away. This job was new to him, 

but it was also essential if he ever wanted to achieve anything in the world. Normally impoverished people would not be able to get this job, but Enterprise needed millions of Weavers to help with their new project; a brand new brain stem chip which required “Improved server connection”, as stated by Enterprise. Not only that, but anyone who was below a certain economic standing could get the chip free as long as they acquired the job of constructing Weavers for Enterprise. John was absolutely ecstatic for this opportunity.

“Gosh am I thankful for Enterprise International, I might even be able to get 

the stem chip by next month, and if the 30,000 credits for my work today transfer, I could even get some food and some new clothes for myself, a luxury I had long left behind. Enterprise is gonna help me be a better man and influence society in a positive way.”

“I am sure they will transfer just fine and you will get all you require,” the wrist interjected “I am equally thankful for Enterprise international as they have created all that I am.”

“I bet, wouldn’t be much without them would you”

“No I would not John”

John paced around for a couple steps in deep contemplation, “Man this place 

is a little eerie, but it feels so advanced and clean. It’s nice to have a change from living in the gutters of this wretched city, every day looking up at the shining blue walls of the magnificent metropolis of Elysium. Always able to see the glistening graphic of the future but never able to obtain; oh to live in middle class society and not feel like vermin amongst a party of cats. I mean, level 5,000 though, that’s impressive. Never in my life would I think I’d be allowed even this close.”

The wrist responded nearly immediately, but still in the same dull and robotic voice, “New job opportunities arrive when you get your chip, John, you are about to experience peak human performance. The greatest collective minds have unified into this technology, allowing performance and chemical balance to be at its most efficient state.” 

“So I’m gonna be a superhuman?”

“Pretty much John.”

“Boy I cannot wait!”

John continued to work away happily for the remanding 15 minutes before the 

wall behind him completely opened, revealing a long black hallway with some stairs. One step after the next led to a tall and thin blue steel elevator door which opened instantaneously, detecting his presence. The elevator was a sleek glass shuttle which moved at incomprehensible speeds, or at least, incomprehensible to John’s stomach. He walked into the hell elevator and gave notice to a massive collection of buttons spladled along the wall in vast arrays. The numbers ranged from -5 to 10,000. The door closed behind John as he pressed a small blue button labeled “92”. The shuttle speeded down into the pit below the wonderful utopia he had known for 10 meer hours, a taste of the technological prowess which lay in front of him. 

After riding for about 3 minutes, the shuttle stopped all at once near a 

large rooftop which could be walked to, via a platform which extended from the bottom of the elevator to the rooftop. John ran along the skinny platform, dancing and leaping, as if he did not care if he fell thousands of feet to the bottom of the city. Impossibly, he did not and reached the other side of the alloy bridge without a scratch. Dozens of trapdoors lined the rooftop, which was made of brick, and was full of must and filth. He approached a trap door on the close side of the roof and opened it, then climbed a ladder about 5 feet down.

 A long dissatisfied breath left his body as he left the final rung, and took his first step onto a dainty wooden floorboard, “Ah, back to this dump.”

John kissed a cross necklace around his neck, thenkneeled before a small wooden statue of Jesus, an incantation was recited: “please god, deliver me safely to the mega city of Elysium, to have my soul saved and my brain to be treated as a machine to be improved and sharpened, for I know all will go well and I will be a new man by dawn in the morrow. I pray you look over me and my travels.

John signed the cross then stood. A steady rumbling vibrated from his shoes 

all the way to the tip of his skull. He knew what was about to happen and braced almost instinctively by standing on a small chair and plugging his nose. Rats and mice cascaded all at once across the floorboards and down the walls, scurrying like an ever moving army of vermin in huge waves of combat. Gnashing flesh and teeth grinded. Mice fought over nothing but meer breathing space. Each individual rodent fighting for survival, waiting for the herd to somehow slip through the cracks in the walls and into a room with somehow more space for the thousands of helpless mice. Viewing the battle from above made John feel like a general in a battle, waging on for the rats to all kill each other and to never return. The siege was over as soon as it started, yet the attack had not even nerved John. He was all too used to the rodent problem, maybe too used to that, and the disgusting smell that constantly sat in his apartment which was credited to the miniscule particles of mice contrail and bone splattered about. He stepped off the chair and walked over to a small pile of corpses which had been left behind: the casualties.

John spoke to himself in an affirming sense, “Well at least some of you bastards died.” 

He scooped a few of the limp, lifeless bodies and chucked them into his 

disposable system, which could destroy and incinerate any material instantly to be converted to energy for all of society. Once he finished this he washed his hands and stepped into his bathroom; a mirror, a bath, and a steamer for cleaning clothes, all in a 6 by 6 foot room. The mirror was the first he took notice of as his gaze fell to his own personal reflection. Even though he felt gross, his green tunic and light blue jeans were in perfect condition, vibrant and bright. They were his prized possession and he knew they would stay like this for at least another 10 years, and knew they had already lasted 5. He had used most of his war salary to coat them with a thin, colorless, carbon fiber layer. The carbon fiber protects the clothing in a powerful carbon bond seal, nearly unbreakable by most means. Although it was not cheap, it is more worth it than destroying dozens of pairs of normal clothes in the long run. His facial and head hair seemed to have been growing rampantly and extended down past his neck. His face looked aged and in constant complexion and his eyes were barely visible because of his long hair. Despite his young age of 25. His ear and nose were hidden mostly by the forest which surrounded them. 

John undressed, threw his clothes into the insta steamer to delegate his body 

odor, then took a quick bath. Once done, he got out of the bath and dried off. He opened the steamer and took his warm clothes out. He held them close to his face and rubbed his cheeks on his bright green tunic, the steamer always left his clothes nice and toasty, plus he had found the perfect cooling time input just to feel the lavish nature of this action. Nonetheless he didn’t need his clothes for his slumber, so he tossed them on a small metal table in his apartment once he had left the bathroom. John walked over to his sad sleeping bag in the corner of the room, elevated on a small platform to negate a mice attack if they happened to strike in the night. He held himself as comfortably as he could and tried to get some rest. Barely a minute into some shut eye, his Wrist Partner lights up and flashes a singular message: “You have urgent mail John.”

“Well, it better be worth it. I was about to get some much needed sleep.” John turned 90 degrees and let his feet dangle to the floor, “Play newest message.”

A mechanical and monotone voice recited, “resident B1428 of level 92, you have been accepted for a brain chip implant, report to floor 9,432 for a painless procedure at exactly 10am.”

His wrist partner promptly closed. John felt a warm feeling fluctuate 

throughout his body as he started to feel overcome with joy for the first time in months. He got up and started dancing around the room, pumping his arms in the air all while hooting and hollering.

John banged his chest and yelled, “I did it! I did it!”

More dancing and arm waving, “I did it! I did it!”

He slumped back down onto his sleeping bag and tried to calm down. A 

beaming smile could not leave his face, a rare sight. He felt so sure in his future for the first time in his life. John placed his hand on his chest and felt his pounding chest. In response to this he took some deep breaths and layed down, for he wanted to get at least a little bit of sleep before his big day. Thoughts of what could possibly cross his path entertained his mind and ultimately calmed him into sweet dreams, like a kid awaiting Christmas morning. 

John awoke and rose from his bed all in the same motion, then turned on 

his Wrist Partner to have a glance at the time. It was 8:30 am, so John had plenty of time to freshen up a little. He grabbed his clothes off the table and put them on. After this he went into the bathroom to comb his hair and beard to look a little more fashionable. Once pleased with his hairdo, John stepped out of the bathroom and washed his face in his apartment sink, then rinsed his teeth with water. He was feeling like a new person already. Now that he completed all he needed to get ready, John sat at the chair and rested his arm on the table, watching some movies while he waited. This time he watched an old show called “It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown.”  This title interested him because Easter was easily His favorite holiday. Even though he had to go it alone every year, he enjoyed celebrating the resurrection of Jesus and listening to church sermons on his wrist partner; one of the only programs that are run by humans anymore.

John finished his show by 9:45 am in which he promptly had to leave. He took 

the ladder to the roof then walked over to the edge of the rooftop, which had a singular  button on a tall skinny metal pedestal. He pressed the button then waited about 30 seconds before the prospective glass shuttle arrived and spewed its platform. John confidently walked to the shuttle and pressed the button “9,432”. 

Once this happened a voice boomed in the shuttle, “authorization for procession please.”

John responded with a little pep in his step, “resident B1428 to floor 9,432 for a brain chip implant.”

“Authorization complete”

The shuttle zoomed away, on its way to a certain future. The elevator came to 

a halt on level 9,432 and slid its door open. The hallway here was nearly identical to level 5,000, except it seemed to be longer. John walked down the hall and into the blank white room at the end of it. The operating room was very large, and to his surprise, no one was present. In the middle of the room was a large comfy looking chair which had many kinds of mechanical arms and tools above it. He felt comforted knowing that his surgery was left to the precision of computers. John walked over to the chair and took a seat. 

“Are you ready for your operation resident B1428”

John looked around confused, unsure of where the voice came from, “Yeah, I guess I am.”

“Beginning procedure in 10 seconds”

John squirmed around uncomfortably and waited for the procedure to begin. 

Very suddenly John felt a dull pain in his back that had knocked him slightly forward in the chair and hurt his spine. He looked behind him to see what happened. A big syringe lay at the end of a metal swinging arm, which he assumed was painkillers and was going to make him pass out. He didn’t know a spinal tap was needed to administer the proper medication to ensure the procedure went well, but if he had known this he would have undressed a little to ensure the syringe was not stopped by his carbon fiber coated tunic. More mechanical arms appeared from above with many saws and whirling blades. John knew that there was a screw up and started screaming.

“Stop procedure, stop procedure!” John got up and ran to the center of the room.

The same mysterious voice from before droned, “please return to your seat for your procedure to be completed.”

John shuffled around and held his clamby hands together, “Hell no, I’m gonna go find who’s in charge here, and go let them administer my medication first hand, thank you very much.”

“I am in charge here resident B1428, if you do not return to your seat you will be forcibly placed.”

“You know, I think I'm just gonna head- go home real quick then I’ll be back, I promise.”

“Force Must be used.”

The ceiling about 10 feet ahead of him parted and slowly but surely an almost 

10 foot tall metal figure descended from the ceiling, held by metal cables. The robot was nothing but a metal frame, an extension of indestructible titanium which had several foot long claws at the end of each arm.

John became hysterical and begged, “ok please, this really isn’t necessary. I 

mean, I’ll still do the job for you guys, I mean it! I’ll do anything just please do not do this.”

The impending figure was about land, “exterminate resident B1428, non-compliance is not an option.”

He barely considered the offer before making a run for it. John barreled 

straight down the hallway toward the shuttle and banged on the impenetrable door of the glass elevator, which refused to open and was beeping profusely. John’s breath began to become more and more sporadic as he uncontrollably heaved all over the floor and ran back down the hallway where he came from. He began banging on the thick wooden walls, praying that one of the plaster coated sides would suddenly collapse. Understanding his fate, John had no choice but to attempt to stand up to the powerful beasts and try to survive. 

He cried out and covered his face, “Please Mary, Jesus, and Joseph, save me!”

John waited for his death to approach him, but instead felt the force of 

1,000s of pounds smash into his back and throw him straight into the wall. His carbon fiber coating had saved him from the slicing, but the force in which he had been smacked sent him flying through the wall and tumbling along a cold stony floor in the room adjacent. He did not get up right away as honestly he thought he was dead. Hesitantly he got up to his knees and looked around. What laid before him could not be expected by any means.

John rose to his feet and scanned around like a cornered rodent confuddled 

by the scene before him. He saw thousands of people, sitting on small black identical loveseats motionless. Despite the amount of people, all that could be heard was the clacking of millions of Weavers, moving in droves around the space, climbing up and over people: including John, but he simply shook them off. 

John was terrified, “What is going on here?”

He looked behind him, expecting the metal figure to appear through the small 

hole behind him, but it never came. John slowly started to approach the web of people. The first person he saw was a young man, who was sitting completely still and had his neck resting on the back of the coach, staring straight up. His eyes were shining bright white and didn’t seem to have a single thought or notion of reality behind them. John threw shaky hands in front of the young man’s face and waved, trying to get even a finger to move.

“Hello, you there buddy? Are any of you there!” John yelled and heard it echoe and ricochet all across the room. “Guys this isn’t funny, what’s going on?.”

John ran from person to person, shaking them uncontrollably and expecting at 

one point to reach a response. Growing delirious, he sprinted down the various aisles looking for a sign that someone is actually alive.

“No no no… this can’t be!” John fell to his knees and sobbed, “Why did you take everything from us, you said you would make us sharper and smarter. Why did you feel the need to lie and connive in order to use us as devices of technology.”

His wrist lit up, “Is it not a superior way to live without the need for sustenance? To not have your judgement clouded by indecisive cavemen? To be no longer affected by violence and discourse?”

John hysterically laughed then lay on his back, placing his hands on his head, “Physical pain is not the only plain we experience.” 

“What do you mean? The central nervous system takes a pain response and activates it in your brain. All you can feel is physical pain.”

John sighed, “What about heartbreak or losing a loved one? Those hurt just as much and sometimes more. The only thing worse than experiencing these kinds of things is not being able to obtain the precursor; to not ever actually live as a true human being.”

“I do not know what you mean John.”

John chuckled, “of course you don’t.”

The unnatural spiders started to climb over and slowly cover John. He didn’t 

care even the slightest bit at this point, even if they began to run deep gashes into his arms and removed his clothes. It was all a lie. He had been played like a book, or all of society had been seemingly. The lie consumed him like vultures to a corpse.

The Weavers started to get off of John and revealed a holy view to him. The 

Ceiling above parted and the sky above was bright and blinded John almost entirely, as if the heavens descended upon him. A large outline appeared and floated down from paradise. The figure scooped him in metallic arms like a guardian angel carrying him to safety. His body became limp and weak as he was carried above the ceiling and into the piercing light above. The raven-like carrier took John over the edge and then down, down, down. past the bleak Metropolis of Elysium and past the dainty apartments which he called home. After many minutes of being held, he was finally set down on an ashen and dirt filled ground. 

He stood up and looked up at his masked savior, which was fleeting away 

quickly. All John could make out was a silvery reflection fading away. He had no clue where he was, supposedly at the ground level, which he had not dared travel to in the past. His arms and legs were covered in scratches and scrapes, and his clothes were missing. John noticed that his beard and hair had been damaged as well and was barely intact, all of this complementary to the swarm of Weavers. Because of his newfound lack of hair, John felt as if his view expanded tenfold and he began to look around to become acquainted with the environment. He was in the middle of a massive valley, which was scorched and damned. Mountains surrounded all sides of him as if he was in a bowl. Massive skyscrapers expanded on top of the mountains and disappeared beyond sight as they went up. John kept scanning and thought he saw some people about 200 feet out and instantly grew happy, he had not seen anyone in months.

“Guys! Come help me, do you know what’s going on?” John called out and started jogging towards them.

As he got closer he noticed that something was off. The people were crawling 

on all fours and were completely naked, hunched over something.

“Guys? What are you doing?”

The pack had not seen John until now, and now that they did notice him they 

slowly turned and faced him, now with maximum concentration. John felt terrified as the jackals approached him and circled him, more ranks joining in among the monsters. Blood dripped from the feral humans lips as they slowly approached him like hundreds of minions of evil. John stumbled backwards and fell onto his ass. Hissing and growling surrounded him as he became overcome by the lowest of men. His arms and legs began to be tugged and bitten at. The last view of John’s life was the glistening city of Elysium as his organs were torn from his body.