iDENTITY Read online

  iDENTITY

  Cynthia Kumanchik

  © 2017 Cynthia Kumanchik

  All rights reserved.

  ISBN 13: 9781548279356

  They think I’m this crazy genius, but I created this serum to benefit mankind. Imagine your wildest fantasy come true, the perfect you— successful, admired, even adored. All these things I wanted myself, but then I found a way to share them. My intentions were pure, maybe a little too naïve. Surely no one would believe me. Watching them change, grow, and develop into these incredible human beings inspired me. I even fell in love with one of them. But I never expected them to turn on me, least of all her. My belief in humanity has died.

  Contents

  PART I Celebration

  PART II Transformation

  PART III Vindication

  Epilogue

  Part I

  Celebration

  Maggie

  Voices blasted at her from all sides of the room, breaking the silence and bringing Maggie back to her living room. She shook from the sensation, her heart in her throat, gasping for breath. She opened her eyes and slowly removed her virtual reality glasses to return to the present, having just landed on the moon with a group of rookie space fans. What a rush-- always wanted to go there, thought Maggie.

  The wall monitor brought her back to the present with a variety of sounds and images as a multitude of TV screens screamed for her attention.

  “A meteor destroys Japan, the price of a water bottle rises to $100 a bottle due to drought, and robots protest 100-hour weeks,” blared the broadcaster.

  Her mother appeared on another screen.

  “Hey darling, are you there? Let’s have lunch tomorrow!”

  She nodded and set up a time and place while viewing the other multiple screens, showing the latest blurbs on movies, restaurants, stocks and weather:

  “Robbie Robot Stars in Human/Robot Love Triangle.”

  “Try the new cactus yogurt by Probiotics Foods.”

  “Youth Pharmaceuticals up 50 points.”

  “Dust storms and 125-degree scorcher forecast for tomorrow.”

  But her watch beeped over the rest, as a smiling, six-inch female hologram hovered in front of her.

  Want to be someone else? Instant fame without the pain? Be the new person you want to be Now. Say yes to book your appointment. NEWiDEN.com or call now at 1-888-NEW-iDEN.

  What, can they read my mind? I dread getting up every day to the same old situation. If only I could finish that book, make someone notice me, just this once, she thought.

  Two weeks ago, she lost everything: job, husband, and home. This message sounded very tempting: a sign, a way out of her disappointing life. Maggie, now fully awake, sat fidgeting in her one-room micro-apartment, containing a bed and toilet. She ignored the message, pushed everything aside until tomorrow. After all, she was a procrastinator. Fear dominated her, preventing her from crawling out of her self-imposed box. The little hologram appeared again and pleaded with her.

  “Hello, Maggie! The world won’t stop spinning, but you can alter your course now. Don’t just simulate reality, make it real!” said the hologram.

  “Wait, why me? I’m a nobody.”

  “You’ve been selected. We’ve been observing you and notice you’re struggling. Want to be smarter, richer, famous or loved?... If you could change your life overnight, wouldn’t you?” the woman hologram coaxed her.

  “Uh, yes I want to, but it’s too...” Maggie stammered.

  “It’s never too late and not dangerous. What if you just had to take a pill? Would you do it?”

  “Wait a minute. Sounds too simple. Deja vous all over again. Better give me a better reason.”

  “Ready for a huge cash incentive? Be an overnight sensation? Excited? Optimal just programmed your car, so be there by 10 a.m. tomorrow.”

  “Wait…can’t-- have to find a new job, hairdo, whatever…”

  The hologram disappeared as the message ended abruptly. Maggie stared at her watch in awe. It seems like the decision has been made for me. Should I take a chance?

  She dozed off, dreaming about her last fateful day at work, almost two weeks ago.

  “Emergency meeting scheduled now,” a voice bellowed on her wall monitor.

  In her home office, a startled Maggie spilled her coffee and stopped working on the document. The screen revealed the fearful faces of her co-workers and the worker placement manager in a conference room. Vera’s wrinkled face zoomed in. Her glasses magnified her hard, black eyes.

  “An update from Corporate-- we had to delete staff to cut costs. You’re all terminated as of this moment,” she said.

  The word TERMINATED hit her hard. As the words sunk in, Maggie realized that she was now unemployed and about to receive her last paycheck, sensing the bile rising into her throat. Her pulse rate increased and sweat poured down her face.

  This is the new reality. A year of dedication reduced to 30 seconds, Maggie thought.

  Work became a grind. A constant bombardment of messages interrupted her every hour. Nobody appreciated anything she did anymore. Her career a bust and jobs were hard to find and keep.

  Vera sat motionless, her eyes void of emotion and her expression grim. She now directed her comments to Maggie only. “Employee number 121254320-- your projects are now obsolete, but any work done belongs to the organization. That blog you did last week was a disaster and you missed the deadline. The ultimate disaster—to miss a DEADLINE. LiveItUp.com is about to implode because of you. In approximately sixty seconds, you will receive your final paycheck and your name will be erased from the system forever. Did you really think you could write?” she said with a sneer.

  Maggie cringed and hoped no one else was listening in. Inwardly she calmed herself, not wanting Vera to see her disappointment and shame. Then, she just blurted out her response.

  “You’re next, four eyes-- it’s too bad the company stock has taken a sharp downturn,” said Maggie as she deleted all confidential and important files before shutting off her computer and the virtual wall.

  Maggie breathed a sigh of relief. Usually she cried or blamed herself. But today, the news elevated her to a new high. Over those long twelve months, she stressed over column deletions, condescending e-mails, and yearly pay cuts.

  She worked for LiveItUp.com for a year as a lifestyle blogger, a record-breaker since jobs only lasted for two-month increments or until someone got bored. Her blog, full of tips on robotic dating, growing synthetic flowers, and mind management, attracted many readers, even a mention on the World Now show. Lifestyle was only a tiny portion of the LiveItUp.com readership, overshadowed by entertainment and adventure news. Maggie felt like a scapegoat, dominated by the higher-ups with lavish offices in the prestigious and only business complex left on the West Coast: The Meridian Building. The Meridian rose above the hundreds of skyscrapers in Sun City.

  Being in the news business had its advantages, and Maggie heard the rumors that LiveItUp.com was headed for bankruptcy and everyone would be out of a job. Fewer assignments and more time motivated Maggie to write her version of a love story, inspired by her favorite authors and driven by her desire to entertain. She had spent late nights and weekends working on it for the last five years, perfecting it and only showing chapters to her husband, Seth, the only person she trusted to read it. The blog was saved in a chip on her watch, ready to be reviewed, even published someday. Seth had contacts and promised to help her, but now he was gone.

  “You’re always either working or writing a book that you think is going to be on the World Blogger’s list. Here we are five years later-- we have material things, but no kid to share any of this with. You’ve never moved on from the miscarriage and I’m tired of waiting,” he said to her a couple of mo
nths before his exit. Her biggest regret, never having a child together, turned into a tragic event for both.

  Maggie thought Seth would never leave her.

  “Maggie, my life begins and ends with you,” Seth had said as he glanced deeply into her eyes, reciting the personal vows he wrote and taking her hand in his. Unafraid and daring, he booked the drone ride for their first anniversary; their love soaring to new heights as they renewed their promises high above the clouds.

  But their diverse interests drove them apart; Seth enjoyed adventures like drone diving; Maggie preferred roaming through a virtual bookstore. Now a successful game designer, Seth lived vicariously through his virtual world, becoming a master game player and meeting others in exotic worlds. He met Jillian in their medieval fantasy scenario, where he was a dragon slayer and she was the princess held in a remote castle. Maggie went to bed alone and found him still attached to his virtual reality glasses the next morning. The marriage ended two days later with his crushing text:

  “I’m leaving you, time to experience life before it’s gone.”

  By morning, he had moved out. Her world was shattered and dissolved in an instant. Depression wore her down, causing gray flecks in her long, brown hair and puffy, dark circles formed under her once-luminous green eyes. Her mouth turned down, and in her sleep, tears streamed down her cheeks.

  “I’m such a fool, should have known this was coming. How am I going to keep the house or live? He’s ruined everything for a fantasy woman,” she screamed to the walls. Her only vice, wine became suddenly a very attractive solution and she poured a large glass even though it was only 8 a.m.

  For the next few weeks she wandered around her house in slippers and a grungy bathrobe. The mail piled up and the eviction notice appeared on her door. Seth served her papers and now she had to sell and move. He bought her out and moved in with Jillian. Such a slap in the face. She wanted to slit her wrists and tried it one night in the bathtub. But one little cut and the sight of blood made her sick and the fear of dying was overwhelming. Maybe if she had stopped writing her novel and paid more attention to her husband her marriage would have survived.

  Their private journey now had come to a quick ending. She wanted that back, but now she must move forward. Maggie woke up to see light flooding through her apartment windows, welcoming her to a new day.

  Her watch vibrated and a message appeared: “Are you ready for a new adventure, a new life, a new you? The directions programmed into your car will take you to our office. Get in your car and let it drive. We’ll explain everything when you get here.”

  Maggie stood under the shower head for several minutes, letting the steam and pulsating force energize her body. A final cold spray refreshed her, bringing her back to the present. She chose her clothes carefully, hoping to make a perfect first impression and glanced in the mirror. A smiling, younger woman flashed before her, but only seconds later, she morphed back to her current frumpy self in the plain black suit and flats.

  Now already ten minutes late, she left her apartment and got into her old, comfortable revived Chevy truck, a dinosaur from the past that she inherited from her father. Seth tinkered and put an electric turbo engine and GPS in it. It started up immediately, indicating the pre-determined route, as per the voice on the phone. She traveled from her small burb of Sun Metro through the bustling Sun City (formerly Los Angeles) and exited off at a remote road near the synthetic Sun National Park; its trees, vegetation and wildlife had been destroyed by the 2020 drought and deadly fires.

  Her car followed the windy, asphalt road to the twenty-foot fence. The ornately carved wrought-iron gate, marked with a large O, opened slowly.

  “You have reached your destination,” said the voice-activated navigator.

  Maggie broke into a sweat and her stomach cramped as she proceeded through the wrought-iron gate. Through the entrance, down a long driveway, her car stopped in front of a towering, black glass building, surrounded by tall boulders and sculpted bushes composed of polyethylene-blend plastic. She stepped out of the car and through the sliding doors to the spotless lobby. A thirty-something man with a dark ponytail, white lab coat, jeans, and high-top sneakers greeted her.

  “Welcome Maggie McGinnis! I’m Dr. Neilson. Come in and meet the other guests. We are excited that you’re here now.”

  Breathing deeply, she took in white walls, posh leather couches, and plush carpet. The pristine floors shone and the windows appeared transparent, revealing emerald turf lawns and plastic fir trees.

  “Charlie will give you this bag for your personal items. Please put on this sterile attire and join us in the conference room.”

  He pointed to the women’s lounge.

  Maggie opened the large white door to a vast room with immaculate floors, luxurious white towels, sparkling mirrors, and counters adorned with fresh lilies. Swiftly changing into the white lab coat, pants, and slippers, she stood before the large mirror, checking her lipstick and smoothing her hair before exiting.

  “Here, let me take your purse. Dr. Neilson wants you to forget your present identity and everything associated with it,” said Charlie, who ushered her into a conference room filled with anxious faces.

  Maggie rolled her eyes and sat at one of the tables. Surrounding her were three women dressed in similar attire. A woman with upswept silver hair in a white suit and stilettos stood at the front of the room. Her long, white nails tapped impatiently on the podium. She directed her gaze at Maggie. The woman reminded her of Vera’s condescension and she inched her chair back, ready at any moment to make a break for the door.

  “We have been waiting patiently for you, Maggie. I’m Dr. Alexia Arno, CEO of Optimal. We are happy that you have come today, chosen from thousands of calls we have received.”

  Charlie handed her a tall glass of lime green liquid and offered her a snack from the tray of dried apple chips and tofu sandwiches. Maggie nibbled on a sandwich and sipped the drink. It smelled like sea breeze and tasted like honey as it went down smoothly. Feeling a little light-headed, Maggie now appeared totally at ease, listening to the presentation.

  “Now in the 21st century, the world has gotten smaller and almost no one can go unnoticed, due to the expansion of the G Net, the government’s site that controls all information and social media sites. All your information can be copied, retrieved, and seen by everyone at any time. It’s true, your most intimate moments are now viral. A rotten review from your boss, the fight with your loved one, even that unmentionable you purchased from Drone World… everything is now available to the government, media, and the public to use against you,” Dr. Arno lectured as a video showed some shocking images.

  Maggie looked, mesmerized by the images of ordinary people’s intimate interactions and conversations showing up on government computers, the butt of jokes on social media and company sites. Raw images of Uncle Joe’s open casket, Molly’s underwater birth complications, and a famous model’s bad facelift exposed for the world to see.

  “It had been happening for years, in reaction to terrorist plots years ago. Wall monitors tracking movements, ceiling devices in new homes, and hidden surveillance chips in credit cards, personal computers, and virtual reality glasses all linked to G Net. Nothing is left undetected, even the most sacred-- churches, funeral parlors, and even the bedroom.”

  Maggie had suspected it all along, but was still shocked by the extent and invasion of personal privacy. She cringed to see herself being torn down by Vera, her last blow-up with Seth, and when she hit her neighbor’s car last June. The others gasped as they saw their own personal actions projected on the screen, interspersed with images of hate, war, greed, corruption. Like a secret eye always tracing and inspecting my world, she thought.

  “It’s such an invasion-- no more secrets or escaping our past,” whispered Maggie to the young woman sitting next to her.

  The video segued into the invention of computers with brains, laser healing with the touch of a pen, universal translation devices
, and robot retail workers.

  “Technology has made positive advances, but at what price? Soon the government will be able to read our minds and program us,” Dr. Arno said. “Put on your VR glasses and you will see a different world, one just created for you with a little help from Optimal. Just sit back and imagine a new you.”

  The video instantly became personal when each guest’s face appeared, and then it transitioned into fantasy images of themselves. They exclaimed in surprise and nervous laughter. Maggie saw herself as a famous virtual entertainer, adored by many fans. The experience only lasted a few minutes, but it made a big impression on her.

  “Change your identity and follow your passion, a once-in-a-lifetime dream-- only you know who you want to be. But keep our project secret. You’ll report back to us again in six months so we can see your progress and celebrate your success. After a simple procedure today, we’ll also give you a six-month supply of green pills to maintain your new persona. Please wear your black band so we can track your progress.”

  Maggie squirmed in her seat and looked around her table at a plump young girl, a disheveled woman, and a tattooed waif with a boyish cut looking equally confused. Each guest opened a pouch.

  “If you would like to enter a new world of opportunity, then take a risk. Here is a contract for you to sign, allowing us to perform this identity-changing procedure today.

  “The laser procedure is painless and non-life threatening; in fact, a root canal has been proven to be more painful and invasive. It takes a few minutes, but you’ll have several hours to recuperate.

  “Feel free to leave now. In the pouch, you will find a money card. However, if you stay and want to be a part of our program, share your stories of why you came today. Before we get started, does anyone wish to go?” she asked, her violet eyes intensified by her large glasses.

  A young man raised his hand. “Wait, I don’t understand-- are you giving us a lobotomy?” he asked.