Clock in, clock out. The horde of people chained in cyberspace formed an intangible barrier. Their digital records transferred between molecules cry out for salvation. And their bones crackled in sweat.
Just like everybody else, Jearom Benn practised the way of the cyber. She put her body on lease to Reve Rent three months ago. Not because she needed the credit to appear in her bank account, but for various of reasons that had been buried inside the Non Disclosure Agreement. The moment she had been cybered, as people in her generation say, she was still wondering how her body would react to the foreign data.
It is an undeniable fact that people who rented their bodies to Reve Rent or other cyberspace storage companies, are legally binded to a contract that forbade them freedom to roam in the society. They would have zero access to outside interaction besides with those who were in the same data center facility.
Benn, at her late twenties, had done a dozen jobs and changed her name more than twice. She was eventually tired of evading the the loan sharks after all these loveless years, and decided to hide behind the protection of the data giants.
Reve Rent was the first one that came into her mind. Thanks to the subconscious bombing advertisements and jingles and slogans, Reve Rent had quickly rose from a worthless startup in Nevada to the tech giant located in the thousand acres wonderland of New Mexico, where the sun provided heat energy to its uncountable data center.
The day Benn reported into one of the data center, she was minutely given a set of employee clothing and an injection that soon rendered her operationable. By operationable, it meant she, or rather, her body, has been used as a vessel to carry loads of data from around the world.
If she hadn't thought better, she would think that the area she was allowed to roam was actually quick comfortable and large, about the size of the Central Park with people like her, who had lost control over their freedom but to work day and night in the limited area.
Starting from day one, Benn was assigned the duty to mop the floor with the team A, which at that moment consisted of a group of ten people. Group leader Judy Federals didn't like her at first sight and shoved her away to mop the toilet.
In some sense, Benn was living in a prison without committing a crime but serving the world with her body. The technology that enables people disabled her, but she would gladly accept the work if she was given the chance again. She was making money, minimum pay by doing nothing soul-crashing. She'd waitressed, she'd saloned, she'd even chiefed in a remote diner where customers ate worms and crickets.
She paused on the way to the toilet and looked at the crowd. It wouldn't be odd at all for her to think that everyone around her worked like ants. They were contributing to a central ideas by interacting within a designated area, it wasn't magic at all how the technology worked. It was a thing nature had been doing for thousand and thousand of years, only human didn't harness that knowledge until fairly recently compared to the age of the earth.
Someone grabbed her hair by the root, and pulled hard. Benn cried and felt a hand covering her mouth.
"Now, now, didn't I tell you to mop the toilet?" It was Judy Federals.
"I'm going there," Benn said.
Federals let go of her and slapped her back.
"Aw."
"Don't let me caught you slacking," Federals turned her back and walked off.
Benn didn't understand why Federals hit her on the back. She didn't understand why would the old people hit someone just to make a point. For her, she would just keep her distance and talk until whoever she was talking understand what point she was making, because physical contact was unnecessary and obsolete. She didn't like someone touching her, not even loved one or family members.
Three months in, Judy Federals was removed from the squad without notice, the old lady simply vanished. Benn hadn't seen a shadow of her, nor did anybody. Benn herself had been relocated to a new group, which was responsible for clothes and bed sheet cleaning. It was tedious work, and at the end of the week, she simply flexed her arms and could see the muscles building up. The facility's protocol clearly advise everyone to grow up in size, and Benn figured they must have slipped something in the drinks and foods, besides asking everyone to work progressively toward labor-intensive tasks, to strengthen their bodies.
Last year alone, Reve Rent made up a total of 87% of gross income in the state of New Mexico, it was like the most profitable alternative data farming company in the states. So Benn rationalized that if they were earning that much money, they must be willing to invest in their own labor in order to gain more from the profit margin.
Day in, day out. Benn began to drink less and eat little. She had completely lost her appetite a week shy of five month's working. She looked into the mirror and saw herself, pale but stocky.
Reve Rent suspended her contract when they sent her to the medical unit. Meanwhile, the loan sharks had discovered her location through a leaked employee directory of Reve Rent online.
Benn, at her late twenties, had done a dozen jobs and changed her name more than twice. She was eventually tired of evading the the loan sharks after all these loveless years, and decided to hide behind the protection of the data giants.
Reve Rent was the first one that came into her mind. Thanks to the subconscious bombing advertisements and jingles and slogans, Reve Rent had quickly rose from a worthless startup in Nevada to the tech giant located in the thousand acres wonderland of New Mexico, where the sun provided heat energy to its uncountable data center.
The day Benn reported into one of the data center, she was minutely given a set of employee clothing and an injection that soon rendered her operationable. By operationable, it meant she, or rather, her body, has been used as a vessel to carry loads of data from around the world.
If she hadn't thought better, she would think that the area she was allowed to roam was actually quick comfortable and large, about the size of the Central Park with people like her, who had lost control over their freedom but to work day and night in the limited area.
Starting from day one, Benn was assigned the duty to mop the floor with the team A, which at that moment consisted of a group of ten people. Group leader Judy Federals didn't like her at first sight and shoved her away to mop the toilet.
In some sense, Benn was living in a prison without committing a crime but serving the world with her body. The technology that enables people disabled her, but she would gladly accept the work if she was given the chance again. She was making money, minimum pay by doing nothing soul-crashing. She'd waitressed, she'd saloned, she'd even chiefed in a remote diner where customers ate worms and crickets.
She paused on the way to the toilet and looked at the crowd. It wouldn't be odd at all for her to think that everyone around her worked like ants. They were contributing to a central ideas by interacting within a designated area, it wasn't magic at all how the technology worked. It was a thing nature had been doing for thousand and thousand of years, only human didn't harness that knowledge until fairly recently compared to the age of the earth.
Someone grabbed her hair by the root, and pulled hard. Benn cried and felt a hand covering her mouth.
"Now, now, didn't I tell you to mop the toilet?" It was Judy Federals.
"I'm going there," Benn said.
Federals let go of her and slapped her back.
"Aw."
"Don't let me caught you slacking," Federals turned her back and walked off.
Benn didn't understand why Federals hit her on the back. She didn't understand why would the old people hit someone just to make a point. For her, she would just keep her distance and talk until whoever she was talking understand what point she was making, because physical contact was unnecessary and obsolete. She didn't like someone touching her, not even loved one or family members.
Three months in, Judy Federals was removed from the squad without notice, the old lady simply vanished. Benn hadn't seen a shadow of her, nor did anybody. Benn herself had been relocated to a new group, which was responsible for clothes and bed sheet cleaning. It was tedious work, and at the end of the week, she simply flexed her arms and could see the muscles building up. The facility's protocol clearly advise everyone to grow up in size, and Benn figured they must have slipped something in the drinks and foods, besides asking everyone to work progressively toward labor-intensive tasks, to strengthen their bodies.
Last year alone, Reve Rent made up a total of 87% of gross income in the state of New Mexico, it was like the most profitable alternative data farming company in the states. So Benn rationalized that if they were earning that much money, they must be willing to invest in their own labor in order to gain more from the profit margin.
Day in, day out. Benn began to drink less and eat little. She had completely lost her appetite a week shy of five month's working. She looked into the mirror and saw herself, pale but stocky.
Reve Rent suspended her contract when they sent her to the medical unit. Meanwhile, the loan sharks had discovered her location through a leaked employee directory of Reve Rent online.
