Hey there readers! Part 3 has been written over three separate chunks of 30 min so far. About to be four! I wanted this story to be done in three parts, yet part 3 just kept on getting more and more difficult to nail. I have written and re-written parts, shuffled them around, changing the order of events, scrapped ideas, etc. The main idea never changed though, the original concept always stayed the same, which is awesome! Let's just jump into this and see where we get. The goal is to get to the main idea of the story all out in the third part, and leave it hanging there. Without the main bits introduced, it won't feel right to just stop thinking about this world.
The Entire Life of Brooke (Part 3)
As Brooke's initial excitement subsided, she skeptically scrolled through the Oven's logs from last night. The Oven was a long term project the girl came up with to try and do something good for the world. At least that was the surface reason, that's what she told anyone who asked. The real reason was a lot more complicated, and to some extent was a mystery to even Brooke herself. The one thing the girl knew for sure, she wouldn't be doing this if not for her mother.
Brooke's mom was a professor at a prestigious university, and more than anything was know for being relentless, strict, and unforgiving among her students. This resulted in the weaker ones dropping out, and the cream of the crop to take on everything she threw at them. All who graduated always entered as strangers and left as family, bonding among each-other and with their professor; grateful to Brooke's mom for such an insane, yet fulfilling undertaking.
When she gave birth to a child, Brooke's mother decided to apply a similar philosophy to raising her daughter. While those qualities were great at challenging her students, their viability for raising a child was questionable. The girl's very first memory was her crying, terrified of disappointing her mommy, as she tried her best to read a book way out of her league. Brooke was constantly pushed to her limit academically, but nothing ever seemed good enough. There was no pleasing her mother, no matter how hard Brooke tried.
As soon as the clock hit midnight, on her 16th birthday, the girl packed her things and moved out of the house to live at a student complex. She felt bad for her dad, whom she loved dearly, but her mom was just too much. Sure, Brooke was incredibly smart, and maybe that was something to be proud of, but the trade off was just unfair. Brooke's mom never really allowed her to have a proper childhood. The girl never felt like she was enough, and it hurt. The reason Brooke came up with the Oven, the real reason, it had to do with her past.
Funnily enough, the idea for the Oven was born out of stupidity. It came to her when Eli walked into the apartment carrying a new mobile computer, after just buying one less than six months ago. "This one scans my iris like 30 milliseconds faster, I swear I can feel the difference!" It was so ridiculous how all these big, rich tech companies kept on re-designing, and over-designing things that have been just fine for hundreds of years. I mean, how many more versions of a mobile pocket computer do we really need? How these corporations could keep on fooling people into buying the same thing every few months, was beyond her. There wasn't enough change, there hasn't been a big breakthrough in years, and this was her chance.
Brooke's mom was a professor at a prestigious university, and more than anything was know for being relentless, strict, and unforgiving among her students. This resulted in the weaker ones dropping out, and the cream of the crop to take on everything she threw at them. All who graduated always entered as strangers and left as family, bonding among each-other and with their professor; grateful to Brooke's mom for such an insane, yet fulfilling undertaking.
When she gave birth to a child, Brooke's mother decided to apply a similar philosophy to raising her daughter. While those qualities were great at challenging her students, their viability for raising a child was questionable. The girl's very first memory was her crying, terrified of disappointing her mommy, as she tried her best to read a book way out of her league. Brooke was constantly pushed to her limit academically, but nothing ever seemed good enough. There was no pleasing her mother, no matter how hard Brooke tried.
As soon as the clock hit midnight, on her 16th birthday, the girl packed her things and moved out of the house to live at a student complex. She felt bad for her dad, whom she loved dearly, but her mom was just too much. Sure, Brooke was incredibly smart, and maybe that was something to be proud of, but the trade off was just unfair. Brooke's mom never really allowed her to have a proper childhood. The girl never felt like she was enough, and it hurt. The reason Brooke came up with the Oven, the real reason, it had to do with her past.
Funnily enough, the idea for the Oven was born out of stupidity. It came to her when Eli walked into the apartment carrying a new mobile computer, after just buying one less than six months ago. "This one scans my iris like 30 milliseconds faster, I swear I can feel the difference!" It was so ridiculous how all these big, rich tech companies kept on re-designing, and over-designing things that have been just fine for hundreds of years. I mean, how many more versions of a mobile pocket computer do we really need? How these corporations could keep on fooling people into buying the same thing every few months, was beyond her. There wasn't enough change, there hasn't been a big breakthrough in years, and this was her chance.
As the basis, The Oven was using a theory explored in a few cutting edge studies in quantum physics. Basically, they managed to finally prove the fact that human thoughts do in fact resonate with the fabric of space, on the smallest of scales. Like tiny ripples in a pond. While most tech today requires either gesture, voice, or touch to interface with it, the Oven, if it worked, would only need your thought. It seemed like the bigger companies were too scared to attempt this. Nobody wanted the implant thing to happen all over again, that would be a legal nightmare.
To sum up "The implant thing," there was a tech revolution that tried doing a sort of mind reading a few decades back. The way it used to work was a bad time for everybody, in the end. In order to send their thoughts out, people needed to install a chip in their heads, which would read the brain impulses, and wirelessly send them out. The implants ended up being inaccurate, prone to hacking, and at their peak a leading cause of brain cancer. If you did want it removed, or wanted an upgrade, that would require a brain surgery every single time. The one good thing their existence accomplished, was implant tech being banned all over the world. If the Oven worked, this would mean a new, more accurate way to have tech read your thoughts, and hopefully without the tumors this time.
"I don't get it, so you thought at it, right?"
"Mhm." Eli was in the middle of proofreading his assignment.
"And it seemingly detected it, right?"
"Mhmm."
"And what do we have it do after it detects thoughts? It's supposed to record, right?" Brooke was talking more to herself than to Eli.
"Mhmmm."
"Sooooo why didn't it?" Brooke started to instinctively twirl her hair around her finger, it helped her concentrate.
"Mhm."
Since Eli was being absolutely useless at the moment, Brooke decided to test the Oven herself. After setting up another recording session, a big, red record button popped up on the screen. "Hah, nice touch, makes this feel like such a big deal." Brooke thought. Eli must have added the button graphic last night. As soon as she pressed the button, all of the fans on all of the shelves immediately spun up, filling the room with a loud whir.
"What do you think of this? Probably not much. I love you, but sometimes I wish you were a better mom, mom." At moments like this Brooke always thoughts about her mother. Deep inside all she ever wanted was to finally make her happy, make her recognize Brooke's effort, all the damn effort throughout all of her life, and maybe now, finally, she was close to that happening. As she waited for the machine to process what she just thought, the girl realized that her hands were in pain, Brooke subconsciously clenched her fists, digging her nails into the palms. The fans wound down, and the log popped up on the screen. It read "Thought Recognition - SUCCESS."
Eli finally clicked submit and triumphantly logged off the classroom server. He looked up at Brooke and smiled "So, what do you think?"
"Well, I love the record button, but I didn't see your thought, it didn't record."
"What are you talking about, are you blind girl?"
Eli hopped up from the couch and walked up to Brooke. "Check it." He started scrolling through the Oven's local storage. Brooke watched him dig around in the files with a raised eyebrow, ready to prove him wrong. As much as she hated to admit it, that was a trait she got straight from her mother.
"Here! This is the file, right next to yours! Come on, how did you not see this, genius."
"Alright, open it up." Brooke crossed her arms.
Eli double clicked on the file. "What the hell?" He was staring at a blank text file. Suddenly Eli looked away from the monitor, rolling his eyes at his roommate. "Come on, are you messing with me?"
"Dude come on, you're the one messing around, getting my hopes up." Brooke sighed.
"I'm not messing around, I swear it recorded my thought last night. It said... Don't laugh or whatever, but I was thinking about, well you know, my ma." Eli's voice got considerably quieter than usual. "I'm sure you know what it said. She'd be proud." Eli looked down, his voice getting even quieter. "It also said. I wish she watched where she was going."
The room was nearly silent, only the sound of Tony making sandwiches breaking it up. Brooke was used to Eli bringing up his mom, but it still got to her every time. While Brooke didn't really like her mother, it was still close to impossible for the girl to imagine a life without her.
"I'm sorry man, I believe you. I.. uh. I guess it was just another bug, you know?"
"I guess so. Let's check your file!" Eli tried his best to hide the suddenly stirred up emotions and clicked on the only other text document in the folder. This one had one line of text in it. The text read "Your thi*k of th>s? Null. I frrrrr you. Desire good good goodgoodgoodg%gg mother. PLEASEpleapls."
Brooke quickly read the text. "Honestly, this is kind of creepy." She didn't know how to feel. The text was full of errors and odd artifacts, but it perfectly summed up what she felt, even better than her conscious thoughts did at the moment.
"Your lunch is ready to be served, pardners! Who is ready to chow down!" Tony quickly wheeled into the common area with a tray of sandwiches. The ridiculous robotic voice with a strong southern accent made the two roommates look away from the screen and straight at the robot. Eli laughed "Tony, come on, the Cowboy module? really?"
"I'm just tryin' to find myself, ya know? I kinda like it!"
Brooked grinned, relieved at the lighter mood. she kind of wanted to get away from the oven for a little bit and process what just happened. The fact that it was working was absolutely insane, but there was something else. Something just felt eerie about it, it felt like they stumbled onto something that hasn't really been seen before, like they just took a quick peek behind the curtain of the universe and saw something humans weren't really supposed to. It didn't just read what she thought she fed it, it read her true feelings, something even Brooke wasn't fully conscious of. "Come on, let's chill on the couch and eat, I kind of want to not think about the Oven for a sec."
To sum up "The implant thing," there was a tech revolution that tried doing a sort of mind reading a few decades back. The way it used to work was a bad time for everybody, in the end. In order to send their thoughts out, people needed to install a chip in their heads, which would read the brain impulses, and wirelessly send them out. The implants ended up being inaccurate, prone to hacking, and at their peak a leading cause of brain cancer. If you did want it removed, or wanted an upgrade, that would require a brain surgery every single time. The one good thing their existence accomplished, was implant tech being banned all over the world. If the Oven worked, this would mean a new, more accurate way to have tech read your thoughts, and hopefully without the tumors this time.
"I don't get it, so you thought at it, right?"
"Mhm." Eli was in the middle of proofreading his assignment.
"And it seemingly detected it, right?"
"Mhmm."
"And what do we have it do after it detects thoughts? It's supposed to record, right?" Brooke was talking more to herself than to Eli.
"Mhmmm."
"Sooooo why didn't it?" Brooke started to instinctively twirl her hair around her finger, it helped her concentrate.
"Mhm."
Since Eli was being absolutely useless at the moment, Brooke decided to test the Oven herself. After setting up another recording session, a big, red record button popped up on the screen. "Hah, nice touch, makes this feel like such a big deal." Brooke thought. Eli must have added the button graphic last night. As soon as she pressed the button, all of the fans on all of the shelves immediately spun up, filling the room with a loud whir.
"What do you think of this? Probably not much. I love you, but sometimes I wish you were a better mom, mom." At moments like this Brooke always thoughts about her mother. Deep inside all she ever wanted was to finally make her happy, make her recognize Brooke's effort, all the damn effort throughout all of her life, and maybe now, finally, she was close to that happening. As she waited for the machine to process what she just thought, the girl realized that her hands were in pain, Brooke subconsciously clenched her fists, digging her nails into the palms. The fans wound down, and the log popped up on the screen. It read "Thought Recognition - SUCCESS."
Eli finally clicked submit and triumphantly logged off the classroom server. He looked up at Brooke and smiled "So, what do you think?"
"Well, I love the record button, but I didn't see your thought, it didn't record."
"What are you talking about, are you blind girl?"
Eli hopped up from the couch and walked up to Brooke. "Check it." He started scrolling through the Oven's local storage. Brooke watched him dig around in the files with a raised eyebrow, ready to prove him wrong. As much as she hated to admit it, that was a trait she got straight from her mother.
"Here! This is the file, right next to yours! Come on, how did you not see this, genius."
"Alright, open it up." Brooke crossed her arms.
Eli double clicked on the file. "What the hell?" He was staring at a blank text file. Suddenly Eli looked away from the monitor, rolling his eyes at his roommate. "Come on, are you messing with me?"
"Dude come on, you're the one messing around, getting my hopes up." Brooke sighed.
"I'm not messing around, I swear it recorded my thought last night. It said... Don't laugh or whatever, but I was thinking about, well you know, my ma." Eli's voice got considerably quieter than usual. "I'm sure you know what it said. She'd be proud." Eli looked down, his voice getting even quieter. "It also said. I wish she watched where she was going."
The room was nearly silent, only the sound of Tony making sandwiches breaking it up. Brooke was used to Eli bringing up his mom, but it still got to her every time. While Brooke didn't really like her mother, it was still close to impossible for the girl to imagine a life without her.
"I'm sorry man, I believe you. I.. uh. I guess it was just another bug, you know?"
"I guess so. Let's check your file!" Eli tried his best to hide the suddenly stirred up emotions and clicked on the only other text document in the folder. This one had one line of text in it. The text read "Your thi*k of th>s? Null. I frrrrr you. Desire good good goodgoodgoodg%gg mother. PLEASEpleapls."
Brooke quickly read the text. "Honestly, this is kind of creepy." She didn't know how to feel. The text was full of errors and odd artifacts, but it perfectly summed up what she felt, even better than her conscious thoughts did at the moment.
"Your lunch is ready to be served, pardners! Who is ready to chow down!" Tony quickly wheeled into the common area with a tray of sandwiches. The ridiculous robotic voice with a strong southern accent made the two roommates look away from the screen and straight at the robot. Eli laughed "Tony, come on, the Cowboy module? really?"
"I'm just tryin' to find myself, ya know? I kinda like it!"
Brooked grinned, relieved at the lighter mood. she kind of wanted to get away from the oven for a little bit and process what just happened. The fact that it was working was absolutely insane, but there was something else. Something just felt eerie about it, it felt like they stumbled onto something that hasn't really been seen before, like they just took a quick peek behind the curtain of the universe and saw something humans weren't really supposed to. It didn't just read what she thought she fed it, it read her true feelings, something even Brooke wasn't fully conscious of. "Come on, let's chill on the couch and eat, I kind of want to not think about the Oven for a sec."
Brooke was good at multitasking, especially when both of the tasks involved food. She sighed as she took another bite of her favorite pseudo-beef sandwich. They were both silently chewing their food and scrolling around on their pocket computers.
"Wow, we need to slow down on getting parts and spend more on food." Brooke said as she kept on scrolling through the contents of their fridge, which mainly consisted of expired condiments. "We only have enough for like four more sandwiches. Well, three and a half, if you don't want an upset stomach."
"Damn, I guess we lost track. I'll get more pseudo and algae delivered asap!" Eli was thoroughly enjoying his algae burger. Food always cheered him up, his family was all about delicious home cooked meals.
"I don't know man, I'm kind of tired of the same old. What's the point of Tony and his amazing cooking abilities, if all he ever does is slap some patties together. It's like... if we had a time machine, but only used it to travel one minute at a time, you know?" Brooke was now scrolling through top recipes online.
"Hah, that's true. I miss my mom's lasagna." Eli closed his eyes, as if imagining the flavor. "What about you? Don't you miss any of your mom's cooking?"
"Honestly, the only thing my mom cooked up for me were homework assignments." Eli snickered at the lame joke. "My dad though, he was amazing! He knew how to cook literally anything, and it always turned out delicious. I'm so jealous of -"
The phone app on Eli's pocket computer suddenly rang, interrupting Brooke's train of thought. She waved at the phone, as to signify that Eli should get it. For some reason the boy was not answering the call. He was staring down at the screen, his face growing paler each moment. Finally he pressed the answer button and slowly put the computer up to his ear.
"H-hello?" After a few moments Eli shook his head "Who is this? This isn't funny."
Brooke heard someone talking into the boy's ear, but couldn't quite make out what they were saying. It sounded like a woman. Suddenly Eli's lower lip began to quiver, and his breathing quickened as he pressed the speaker into his ear as tight as he could.
"Mom?"
"Honestly, the only thing my mom cooked up for me were homework assignments." Eli snickered at the lame joke. "My dad though, he was amazing! He knew how to cook literally anything, and it always turned out delicious. I'm so jealous of -"
The phone app on Eli's pocket computer suddenly rang, interrupting Brooke's train of thought. She waved at the phone, as to signify that Eli should get it. For some reason the boy was not answering the call. He was staring down at the screen, his face growing paler each moment. Finally he pressed the answer button and slowly put the computer up to his ear.
"H-hello?" After a few moments Eli shook his head "Who is this? This isn't funny."
Brooke heard someone talking into the boy's ear, but couldn't quite make out what they were saying. It sounded like a woman. Suddenly Eli's lower lip began to quiver, and his breathing quickened as he pressed the speaker into his ear as tight as he could.
"Mom?"
Comments
Post a Comment