A Beating Heart

Kathy wake up; it is 6.30 am, echoed my mother’s voice. I tried to ignore it, but the sound grew louder by the minute and forced me to wake up from the bed. I sighed at the cuboid near my bed and looked longingly at the calendar. It will be quite another ten days before I can visit my mothers. You were born a little late; her voice echoed in my head. Everything was determined by the machine or K – Box, an artificially intelligence empowered technology. This box which was initially designed to help us attain our full potential has now taken over our entire lives. The rules were different and controlled through complex algorithms. Everything was predetermined through genome mapping. We did not have a choice in anything. Our education, employment, love and even our clothes were determined, and we were expected to follow them. Nobody questioned this arrangement and somehow seemed to enjoy the lack of choice. Everything and everyone looked like, and it did not make any sense to me. I wanted to be different. I urged myself to make a decision without considering the consequences. I wanted to fail and learn from my mistakes.

Your train leaves in 40 minutes. The box started speaking again. You need to drink two glasses of water and consume 150 calories. The water is lukewarm, and it is ready. The endless list of instructions did not seem to end. I walked into the bathroom to get ready. When I came out, my dress and breakfast were laid out for me. I gobbled down the tasteless food and got ready. As I walked out, the voice reverted to my mothers. We can choose the preferred voice to add a personalised touch. I choose my mother’s voice as if it can compensate for the lack of love in my life. I am a developer in an IT firm. Most of my day is lost among code and bugs. I wished I had someone to talk to other than the machines. Someone with a real beating heart who would understand emotions. I caught the train to work, and the box beeped my pulse level. Most days, I did not feel human at all. I looked around and saw everyone immersed in their boxes. Do you want to read the paper or watch the news? It asked me. I want to talk to someone; I wanted to yell. I exited the screen and looked outside the window.

A huge towering building blocked the sky, and it was a sight of metal and glass. There was nothing left which resembled the earth in the older movies. A huge billboard sign read ‘ It’s 2119, Feelings are outdated” Upgrade your box today. It was never going to get better, and I would never feel like a woman. I wanted to fall in love with a stranger and experience the beauty of it. It was highly impossible in this age where partners were selected on various criteria in an attempt to create a better human race. The algorithm selected the partner based on the compatibility ratio, and it was as meaningless as others. I shut my eyes and dreamed of an alternative universe. My watch beeped indicating that I have reached my destination. I ventured into the world of codes and forgot about my predicament for some time. The monotony and predictability bothered me the most. Every day was pretty much the same, and it was getting agitated. I did not expect today to be any different than any other day. I was wrong, and something unexpected happened. I boarded the subway after a long day of office. My eyes scanned the subway, and it was buzzing with people and their boxes. I could never really understand the dependency factor. I felt someone staring at me, and my eyes meet his gaze. I could not make out the colour from a distance but found it impossible to look away. Maybe the lack of box or the interest he showed in me, or some invisible factor connected us. My train reaches my destination, and I reluctantly got down.

Right from that day, seeing him become the best part of my commute and even my day. I did not know what love what or if his emotion was called love, but I felt a strange attraction towards him. He someone reciprocated my gaze, and it was the beginning of a beautiful relationship. I did not dare to introduce myself and did not have an idea on how to do it either. I even considered asking my enemy, the box but the instructions were pretty vague. My hatred for machines increased and wondered how to take it forward. We continued speaking with our eyes, and our love grew deeper every day. Every time I saw, my fantasy about our future grew bigger. Currently, we were pregnant with our second child and were debating his name. One fine day, the train was not crowded like usual, and the first communication sparked between us. He smiled at me, and it was a soulful one. He mesmerised me with it, and the wait was worthwhile. Somehow, that single smile gave me the courage to make the first move. Why wait for the hero to make a move? I asked myself. My heart fluttered as I approached him and the rest of the conversation was a blur. He was attentive and almost everything I imagined him to be.

His name was Gamma, and he was a researcher. He asked about my day, my interests and always asked a lot of questions. He is the best thing that happened in my life, and I felt blessed. He did not seem interested or concerned about the box, the algorithm or even the tech world. His interest revolved around people, their interests, their ambition and their perception towards the world. I was surprised to meet someone which so much wisdom and passion for humans. All of our meeting happened in the subway and I wanted to take it further. I was ready, but did not know on how to broach the subject. I started hinting and he responded by joking about it. I figured that he was socially awkward and did not know on how to pursue the subject. I will have to check with my mother station, he said. That was his way of referring to his house. I guessed that he nicknamed it because of the gadgets in our life. I decided to be brave and propose a place and time, the next time we met. My anticipation was killing me and my fantasy took over. At the same time, in some part of the city, Gamma reported to his base about the finding of the day. He spoke about the subject and the reactions he recorded. It was new to him and his database did not contain the information. Report to your station and recharge your battery, the voice dictated. The final data shows good response, discussed the scientists in their weekly meeting. The humanoid robot will be a success, they applauded themselves as her dreams continued.