The Beginning

The G-Lens: Guidance Lens. A state-of-the-art piece of technology that made every-day life a breeze. Gone are the days of having to manually search for answers on the web, swiping a card, and messaging your friends. All of that and more can now be done with a simple thought. With the installation of the G-Lens, all you have to do is think of the action you wish to complete and it is done, of course within legal boundaries. Neuroscience has discovered a way to link brain waves, neurotransmissions, and the like to the G-Lens, a device which not only serves to complete tasks for you, but displays them on your retina for only you to see. However, you have to qualify for this piece of tech. First, you have to be of age, sixteen or older. Second, you have to receive a perfect health check-up. And I finally qualified and received my very own lens on the day of my sixteenth birthday. Well, more or less. I may have had to pull some strings and lie a bit about my health check-up, but having 20/20 vision or not isn’t the end of the world.

“Testing, testing. Can you hear me, Von?”

“Loud and clear.” Another voice echoed in my head, the strangest sensation I had ever felt. I replied, “Stephen? Can you hear me?”

I could even hear my friend’s muted laughter when he answered, “How is it, strange, huh?”

The doctor next to me quickly tapped a stack of papers into order and held them out to me, “Okay, calibration is complete. Congratulations, Mr. Ephialtes. Here’s some user information and guidelines. Make sure you read through this as soon as possible and enjoy your new ease of… well, everything.” His monotone, dull voice was a contrast to how exciting this day was. I was finally able to participate in the real world, start investing in the future I chose. There are only those who monitor and those who work: the Arbiters and the Ergasia. There’s nothing wrong with either option, both had their benefits. While I was proud of my parents and all their hard work as Ergasia, I wanted something more and now that I was of age it was time to begin my new journey.

“You know,” Stephen’s words sounded in my mind, “just a heads up and all, but be careful what you think now, okay?” Concern and worry laced his voice, though it wasn’t showing on his face as he simply gazed out of the window as I signed paperwork. After thanking the nurse, the two of us made our way to the elevators and I heard his voice once again, but this time out loud, “Congrats, man. You’re on your way to being one of the elites now.” He elbowed my side with a smirk, “You won’t only have those good looks of yours, but money too. If only we could all be blessed like you.”

I smacked his jabs away and chuckled, “You flatter me.” I switched back to our silent form of communication, a surreal experience as I pulled up a menu in front of my eyes for only me to see and selected the private chat feature. “What’d you mean earlier?”

“If you think about it for a minute, you’ll understand. But try to not think about it too much, got it?”

The worry was back in his voice. I never knew how good my friend was at masking his emotions and thoughts until I had a direct line to his inner voice which slightly quivered as he voiced his warning. He always sounded confident and carefree on the outside, a cool demeanor that everyone was drawn to.

“Ah, you mean the defamation law?” Why would that stress him out so much?

He nodded and slung his arm around my shoulders, dragging me out of the elevator the moment the door opened, “Now quit dwelling on it and let’s go celebrate! My mom invited you and your parents over for dinner for your birthday.”

And just like that, my attention was shifted. Stephen’s mom was known in our neighborhood for her cooking and I got the privilege of being Stephen’s best friend and eating it whenever I wanted. But for my birthday every year, she goes above and beyond. “Then let’s hurry!”

The two of us climbed on Stephen’s motorbike and quickly sped off in the direction of home. My vision, which has always been slightly less than average, all of a sudden didn’t bother me as I could ask the G-Lens what I was looking at. Which stores were we passing? I hadn’t been able to read the name from a distance before, but now I could have the lens tell me the name, the menu, and reviews the moment we passed by. As we came to a stop at a traffic signal, I scanned the faces of the people crossing the road. My lens made a note of the faces I saw, if I were to ever see them again I could pull up this moment.

“Ouch…” my eye glitched, sending a sharp but short pain through my body.

“What happened?”

I shook my head, regardless if Stephen could see me or not, “Nothing, nothing.” I decided to look it up in the manual I received later. Why, for only a moment before the glitch, could I pull up information on the people I was seeing? I tapped the side of my head like you would a tv that was losing reception and it seemed as if all was back to what I knew as normal. “I think it’s just because it’s new, it had a little moment.”

Stephen laughed, “What the heck?”

We continued to drive through the metropolis, soon leaving the bustling city life of Arbiter’s and Ergasia’s that had the privilege of living in such a place and entering into the outskirts of the city where I had grown up. Scraps of metal from discarded AI home helpers, lab assistants, field tillers, and the like scattered the streets. It was here that much of our tech was not only first brought to life, but also where it was put to rest. The hard working Ergasia lived to create and serve. A society of architects and engineers using their creativity and their logic to make an even greater civilization.

My family simply assisted those with great talents, serving as shop hands and salesmen for generations, and for generations we have been proud of our work. I had sorted through and gathered from the scraps we were passing in order to provide materials for the engineers and make some extra cash for myself, but in seeing the men and women behind the creations I formed my own dream: to work alongside the Arbiter’s in political offices or the military in the metropolis designing world changing tech from the ground up. Not only would I get to challenge myself, but the income would be unimaginable!

“Happy birthday, Von!” Stephen’s mom greeted us the moment we arrived, my parents standing behind with smiles on their faces.

“Happy birthday son.” My own mother pulled me into a hug, “You’re on your way to fulfilling your dream. I’m so proud of you.” Tears pricked the corner of her eyes, “You’re all grown up now, huh?”

“Mom.” I groaned but let her hug tighten.

“You and my dear Stephen are both ready to go and change the world!”

“Mom!” It was Stephen’s turn to whine as he was pulled into a hug too.

“I can’t help it,” his mom said, “Ever since your Father passed it’s just been me and you. I was so worried about being able to raise you well, but you found such a good friend and the two of you pushed and inspired each other. I couldn’t be more proud of the two of you.”

My dad patted my shoulder, “Enough of the cheesy stuff, right? Come on, let’s add each other on our contact list. Now that you have a lens, we can chat anytime.”

“Yeah, great…” I drawled out. How many kids would just chat with their parents? “Can we eat now?”

“Don’t rush, that’s impolite!” My mom smacked my back.

I rubbed the sore spot the best I could and pouted, “You’re going to break my back one day, Mom.”

“Come on in, let’s stop standing around. Food will be ready any minute now!” Stephen’s mom ushered us inside, wrapping her arm in mine and guiding me to the seat of honor, the head of the table. “Sit tight, I’ll bring out everything. Don’t move, let us do everything! Today’s your big day!”

She forced me down into the seat and I slumped in resignation, though it wasn’t very forced. I was happy to take the break. I took the few minutes of silence that I had to scan through the papers I had received regarding my Lens.

‘Welcome to your G-Lens! Thank you for your participation in our technology. We strive to create a life free from worries and concerns for people of all standings. Please take a few minutes to read over our manual, security, and safety protocols.

‘How to use: after installation, be careful of over stimulating your senses for the next 48 hours. After you have registered as a user, setup is complete. Simply think of the action you wish to complete and you will receive prompts displayed on your retina to choose from. Discover, chat, and create with ease!’

So far, nothing about the glitch I experienced. Was I over-stimulated? I didn’t do anything out of the ordinary, so that was hard to imagine.

‘Security: we will keep your information within a cloud. If you are ever concerned about who can access your information or what is being stored, please contact us.’

Short and sweet.

‘Safety protocols: thanks to the years of testing and perfecting the G-Lens, you can wear and use it risk free! However, if you experience any discomfort or malfunctions, contact us immediately.’

Would my little glitch be considered a malfunction? A moment of fear ran through me at the fleeting thought I had: what if it was because of my eyesight? They would take away my Lens if they found out, or worse since I lied in order to receive it. I pushed the thought away quickly. I should never even think about my eyesight again, even if it bothers me. I never know when someone from the Arbiter’s will hear my thoughts.

“Stephen, darling, can you run to the store and grab some more butter?” The commotion in the kitchen pulled me away from the manual.

“I can grab it!” I volunteered, ready to try out my new payment method through my Lens.

“No, it’s your birthday, let my son get it.”

Stephen patted my back, “I got it buddy, I’ll be back.”

The table was set, and everyone took their seats. Idle chatter faded, the sun began to fade into the night, and our cheery atmosphere began to shift to one of concern.

“His cough has been getting worse, maybe I shouldn’t have let him go out on his own.” Stephen’s mom began to fret.

“His cough? What cough? What’s wrong?” Was he sick? I had been with him all day and hadn’t heard a thing.

“I don’t think it’s anything major, but I should’ve told him to rest too. He had just seemed better today.” She has begun pacing the house. “I’ll go look for him. The store’s only right around the corner.”

I stood from my seat, “You stay here, I’ll go find him.”

If someone would have told me at the start of my day that it was the day that my life would be changed forever, I would think that would be obvious. I had planned on getting my Lens on this day for the past couple of years. But if someone said that my life would change for the worse, I would’ve laughed in their face. What I didn’t know when walking out of the house that night to go find my best friend was that I had taken the first step to an unimaginable, bleak, grim future; that this was the turning point, the beginning.

I can’t remember how I got there nor how I got home afterwards. But I do remember Stephen’s pale, still face. Emotionless. He was no longer putting on a show for those around him. I remember the rain that slowly began to fall, to hit his cold cheeks and run down like tears. I don’t know how long I stayed next to him, speaking his name and begging for an answer. It was certainly long enough that my dad had to bring us back home. I remember the sound of his mom wailing in grief and my parents sobbing. But I don’t remember if I cried or not.

Whether I knew it was coming or not, it was inevitable. It became the incident that I looked back on for years in anger and disbelief. But at that moment, all I could do was sit in the smothering silence.