Nykaa is watching her favourite influencer Ariana go live. She had been excited about it all week. Her feed was filled with Ariana’s pictures and songs. Suddenly, house alarms blared. The speakers in her room announced, “Nykaa! Mr. Keres heart just stopped. The quick response team has been informed and they’re on the way. Estimated time of arrival is ten minutes.” Nykaa called her mom immediately. “Yes Nykaa. I know”, Arya responded. “But you know how it’s with me. It is quarter ending time and I can’t afford to waste a minute. I suggest you go to the hospital with your dad. Besides, you can watch the recorded video later.” Nykaa sighed, “Mom, this isn’t fair. You know how eager I was to watch Ariana today. You’re using the power differential in our relationship to get undue advantage.” Arya shouted, “Nykaa! Watch your language. Don’t you forget that I made your breakfast today. If you continue behaving this way, I’ll have to ground you.” Nykaa realised that her outburst isn’t going to work today. She decided to take a conciliatory approach and pleaded, “I’m sorry mom. I’m just stressed that I’ll miss out today’s show.” After few moments, Arya responded thoughtfully, “Don’t worry Nykaa. Neither of us needs to go. Let the quick response team do their job. Enjoy your show.” And, the phone beeped.
Ten minutes passed. The door bell rang. The quick response team sprung into action. The body was quickly shifted to the ambulance. Arya told them the situation and they were empathetic to her and assured her not to worry. As soon as they reached hospital, he was moved into ICU. The heart stopped ten minutes ago. So, all the body parts were deprived of oxygen for the ten minutes. That meant, all the cells are now dead. The operator entered the social security number of Keres. The computer flashed his details and the machine started whirring. It’s a 3d printer and it started printing the organs based on the DNA that was associated with Keres. First the heart, lungs, kidneys and spleen. A couple of robots came forward and started the surgery. They cut open the body of patient and started replacing part by part. Finally, blood was pumped in and brain was inserted. The entire process took about half one hour. Then, Keres was moved into memory regeneration room.
Here, the operator retrieved his memory from the database. His most recent memory was from two days ago. The state mandated everyone to upload their memory once every two days. After crushing the agmar rebellion, the state learned that it’s easy to control the citizens if it knows what they’re thinking. There was a widespread opposition to the idea. However, the state prevailed. It argued that the policy is necessary to save citizens when there’s a brain death. It also promised them free treatment in such cases. The civil society celebrated victory for getting these concessions. However, there have been data breaches to the central database. Such data breaches have been very costly to the governments in power as they lost their majority
Keres went through the memory regeneration process and was promptly discharged. He went to the patient waiting room and looked for Arya or Nykaa. He was told that none of them accompanied him to the hospital. He thanked them for saving their life and took the bus back home. But, he kept thinking about how he was left alone in the hospital like a homeless person. Was it all worth it? He spent years trying to build comfortable life for his family. But, there’s no one beside him, except death.
He came back home. They had the customary family dinner at home. Arya asked, “How did the hospital treat you?” He responded with a dry, “fine.” The table became silent again. After about a week, Keres called for a house meeting. Everyone sat at the table, rather impatiently. He started, “I don’t feel loved. I feel horrible” Arya retorted, “Not this again Keres. How much more love do you need? Didn’t we take a vacation last year? Why the constant need for love?” They went back and forth for a while. Finally, Arya spoke up, “let’s go to the doctor that we saw last year” She made an appointment with him for the next day.
The doctor is a warm friendly guy. He had a bright smile and his bespectacled eyes reflected the wisdom the old age naturally brings. He said, “There’s a new therapy we recommend for patients with this condition. It’s a cocktail of chemicals like dopamine, oxytocin etc which can make anyone feel love. It’s especially popular among our young customers. Why don’t you try it?” Keres beamed at the suggestion. He took the appointment for the next Friday and spent the week in anticipation.
The day arrived. He was taken into a room filled with colourful lights. It looked more like a discotheque than a operation theatre. The lady greeted him with a warm smile and asked, “Your first time?” He nodded. She said, “Nothing to worry. It’s just an injection.” After a couple of minutes, she gave him a dose of the injection and he passed out. The next day he woke up, a bit confused. He was feeling even more depressed. It was supposed to make him feel better, isn’t it? Now, Arya is concerned. They visited the doctor again. He started slowly, as if he’s about to break a dreadful news. “I think, your recent operation has affected your brain in an irreversible way. Our chemicals don’t seem to work on you” Arya asked, “What’s the solution, doctor?” Doctor said, “We recommend two regimes for such patients. One is, your family should take couple of months off and spend time with each other.” Arya asked, “What’s the second option?” For all such patients, we recommend a trip to Earth. We found that spending an year on earth can rejuvenate such people. There are some people especially specialised to deal with these cases.” Arya smiled. “It’s decided then. Keres, I’ll book your tickets”
Keres boarded the starship which takes him to earth. As the pictures of trees and mountains flashed across the screen, his mood lifted. He started whistling, after a long time.
