Brain Love

Stories from the “Pod Life”

A story where John Keats’ poetry and crazy transhumanism collide in strange and unexpected ways.

“Don’t you ever get tired of being sad, Steven?” said Jenny.

“Don’t you ever get tired of being happy?” said Steven.

Jenny and Steven were seated on a bench in the park section of their local pod cluster, “Hive 74t4Z,” waiting for mealtime, which was once a day at 2:00pm. Their cluster was part of a vast and intricate hive that looked as though it might have been constructed by prehistoric-sized cyborg bees. It was all built out of the most advanced space-grade titanium, impenetrable, but dull and lacking all color.

“Why would anyone get tired of being happy?” asked Jenny.

“I’d rather be sad with my own thoughts than have a chip in my brain,” he said.

“Ugh! This again,” said Jenny. “Your own thoughts? It’s just a bunch of chemicals in our brains. Your thoughts aren’t any better or real than mine, or anyone else’s. Scientists proved that a long time ago.”

“If all thoughts are equal, then why does the Cloud have to regulate them?” asked Steven.

“Because the Cloud is better at managing the chemicals in our brains!” said Jenny.

Steven looked at her with a relaxed but pensive gaze. He had a typical scuzzy LA look, only his light blue eyes had a tint of wisdom. Jenny was pretty, but in a generic way. Her cheek bones and emerald eyes looked like they belonged to a “deep fake” of the goddess Aphrodite.

Jenny continued to tout the wonders of BrainLove saying, “BrainLove is just a pace-maker for the brain. It makes us have happier and better thoughts. Who wouldn’t want to have their thoughts optimized? Now our minds are balanced, thanks to the most advanced AI system ever conceived, Delphi.”

“You don’t mind eating bugs every day?” asked Steven as he and Jenny got up and made their way down one of the many steely grey corridors that led to the same meal-time hall. “We used to be able to eat steak, potatoes, and all sorts of things. Don’t you remember?” he said.

“I don’ mind the bugs,” answered Jenny. “I think they taste fine.”

“Well, what happens if they cut the bugs off, like they did the steak?” he asked.

“They’d never do that,” laughed Jenny. “Besides, we have the most advanced AI systems to monitor everything and make sure there’s enough.”

“If we ran out of bugs, they’d probably just adjust the Cloud to make the dirt taste good anyways,” chimed Steven.

“As long as we’re happy,” she said. 

William came out from one of the neighboring pods and greeted them as they made their way down the corridor towards the meal-time hall. Jenny and Steven greeted William, “Hey William!”

“Hey, what’s up guys? Are you headed to the cafeteria for some cicadas?”

“Yeah,” said Jenny. “Are you coming?”

“Sure,” said William. “I was headed there too.”

William turned to them, “Hey, what are you guys doing later? I’m going to a dancing robot party. They’re going to be playing some amazing AstroRomanianMicroHouseGothTechnoBeach rhythms.”

“That sounds awesome,” said Jenny. “I love ARMHGTB rhythms.”

They looked at Steven.

He sighed. “Fine, I’ll go.”

“Ok,” said Jenny. “So let’s all meet at Steven’s pod for 8:00pm. We can pre-drink a bit before too—just not too much—I don’t want BrainLove bugging again. All those feelings—ugh.”

“Sounds good,” said William.

“Alright, let’s go have some bugs!” Jenny said excitedly.

The three of them went to get the day’s portion of cicadas. They were served with lima beans and a light cream sauce, with green shallots.

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William knocked at Steven’s pod. He could already hear Jenny and Steven going at it again.

“If it’s just chemicals, the chemicals must have been better,” said Steven. “People don’t seem the same—even compared to a few years ago,” he lamented.

“That’s because they’re happy,” insisted Jenny. “They don’t get all worked up thinking about stupid things like you do, Steven. The more thoughts people have, the more feelings they have—the more unpredictable things become. It’s not stable. People just want stable happy lives.” 

Steven opened the door to William. Jenny and Steven walked out and then the three of them started making their way to the Leisure Complex, 74tlZ. Jenny and Steven continued arguing while William walked beside them, blocking out the conversation with his headphones.

“Sure, ‘stable,’ ‘happy’—one perfect blah!” said Steven. “Our pods are 5 by 10 feet. They make us eat bugs everyday! And don’t you ever wish we had more space or choice?” asked Steven.

“More space?” said Jenny. “We have the Metaverse?” You can go anywhere you want. Just yesterday I was in ancient Egypt watching them build the Pyramids, then I watched Antony and Cleopatra make love. You really need to start exploring the Metaverse. It’s perfect—unlike this world.”

William took off his head-phones. It didn’t matter than he hadn’t heard anything. He knew what they were arguing about. “Just get BrainLove, Steve! This is getting old,” William blurted out. “The bugs taste like steak with BrainLove, anyways. Sitting in the park can be a total trip. The Cloud is regularly adjusted so that we get just the right amount of feeling and experience, it’s never too much or not enough. It even regulates our body temperature.”

“If only I had BrainLove,” sighed Steven. “The bugs would taste great and the universe would be perfect.”