Dawn of the Courtezan: Phase 01 (The Eighteenth Shadow)

by Grafton, Jon Lee

  The Architect disagrees. Marijuana is more socially just.

  Following four weeks of psychological reform treatment with a VCSW (or isolation, should the patient waive their constitutional right to psychological reform), patients are taken to the SAMCL operation chamber. A team of orderlies secures the patient’s head with a contour adaptive bio-brace. The optic nerve is first deadened with a local anesthetic and then the eyelid is temporarily wired open. A twelve centimeter, nanographene drill bit connected to a vibratory emitter bores into the roof of the eye socket until the microscopic speaker at the drill’s tip is embedded within the frontal cortex of the brain. The computer then finalizes placement of the drill by nanosourcing coordinates containing the highest levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The vibratory emitter releases a five second burst of low frequency sound, rupturing that portion of the neural structure responsible for alcohol addiction.

  Short term side effects may include debilitating headaches and blurred vision (non-gender specific). Male SAMCL patients may report an increase in violent tendencies, social anxiety and memory loss. Female SAMCL patients may report chronic depression, lack of motivation, listlessness and mood swings specific to libido.

  SAMCL advocates quote an 89.4% median reduction in post-surgical alcoholic urges across all demographics. Numerous independent studies funded by the Compassionate Reforms Division of the IRS indicate that all minor side effects of SAMCL surgery previously listed in this article can be adequately treated with pain killers, flibanserin, sldenafil citrate, SSRI’s, Ativan, Pleasium, Ritalin, donepezil and tacrine psychopharmacologic therapy.

  For mainstream advocates, SAMCL treatment is the final step on the road to Vision. It creates a more socially integrated and benevolent North American United States citizen.

  Lawrence, Kansas – January 2080 – Two Years Nine Months Before Event.

  Tara Dean was not fond of such statistics. She was not fond of doctors with hair in their ears who smelled of last night’s janebeer, nor mathematics, logic studies, genital implants, poly-hemp products, shoe wearing and confined spaces. There was also little use in her world for the color pink, insect protein or owning a holotablet. Regarding the computerized smooth jazz that played 24/7 over the hospital com…

  She asked a female orderly the first night she was admitted, “Is it possible to turn down the music in my room?”

  The orderly responded with a prismatic smile, “The music is carefully selected as a part of our mandatory calming regimen. Perhaps a tablet of Pleasium would help you to find it more soothing?”

  Tara Dean rolled her eyes, “Pleasium or no, I’d rather tickle a Komodo dragon’s face with a used tampon than listen to this shit.”

  Her relationship with the hospital staff deteriorated from there. It deteriorated so far, in fact, that two months later she found herself physically restrained to her bed with less than five hours remaining before she was scheduled to enter a slaughterhouse chamber. Even as the clock ticked away, Tara’s attitude remained outwardly blase. She had spent the creeping days waiting on a thousand turns of the moon, bored in the formless dark of each night’s passing. The dogforsaken muzak was constantly piped into her room, minute after hour after day after week.

  However, on this final night she was listening for other sounds. Specifically, the clumsy bellow of Spencer Hotshine’s voice beyond her door.

  Poor, sweet, fairly handsome Spencer.

  If she was caught, Spencer could immediately return to being of absolutely zero value. She would forget half her life, get a real job, purchase beige clogs and a fat, orange and blue, striped Felix. Maybe two Felixes? Perhaps a drill to the eye wouldn’t be so bad.

  Yet if her plan worked?

  Poor, sweet Spencer.

  But Spencer’s voice did not come. Her shoulder restraints were painfully tight. The smooth jazz raked her skull. Her long, brunette hair was fastened behind her head, pinned so tautly under the bio-brace that it yanked at her scalp no matter which direction she tried to move. Nurse Fossbender had constricted the brace to a child’s setting.

  If Tara did not escape, Marlene Fossbender would be there in the morning. She would watch the drill go in. Tara could visualize the woman’s gaping face, jowls flapping sadistically.

  No. I would rather die.

  But her plan had not failed.

  Not yet!

  She breathed… in through her nose… out through her mouth. Someone would come. Either a surgical-security escort, the nurse or Spencer Hotshine. In the meantime, she had the company of her own breath.

  Each exhalation was filled with more hate than the last.

  2069 – Eleven Years Earlier. Excerpt from the Non-Clinical Notes on Patient 373-A by Neil Young, RN/VCSW:

  When asked to state her complete name for the record, subject’s first words were, and I quote: “My name is Tara Dean, old man, Tar-a like a tar pit, not Terra like we ain’t livin’ on the moon. And I swear to Dog if you try and hook me up to some kind of brain scanner, I’ll punch you in the nuts.”

  Our therapist-patient relationship has since improved. That said, attempts at modifying subject’s cultural perspectives have so far been unsuccessful. Recidivism probable.

  I believe historical summary of this individual’s upbringing bears examination.

  Subject is an only child. Father died when subject was age seven, circumstances unknown. Mother, Asteria Dean, abruptly relocated family to New Riverside, California, following her husband’s death. Within four months, mother remarries holovision producer, Howard Dean (Any citizen who watches Holovision Weekly is familiar with the infamous adult-themed parties at the Dean Mansion in New Bel-Aire).

  Subject reports “no knowledge” of these events. Polygraph not required.

  Per Federal holoscript records, mother is Pleasium dependent, citing chronic social anxiety disorder. According to the subject’s own account, most interpersonal care from ages seven to fourteen was provided by the family administrator, a Carlyle Johnson, whose tenure in this position preceded the family’s relocation to California. Six months ago, Mr. Johnson was run down in the hovstreet in front of the Dean Mansion by a CNED agent’s speeding hovtruck. The agent was allegedly pursuing an intoxicated boozebum when the manslaughter occurred. No criminal charges filed.

  It is this event (death of the family administrator) that I believe catalyzed this subject’s decision to use alcohol for the first time. Subject obtained a two liter jar of potato vodka from an adult employed by the Dean family as a security guard. The security guard was subsequently arrested and sentenced to immediate L3 SAMCL treatment for providing a minor with narcotics, a decision which the subject states she vehemently protested.

  Before expulsion (school policy for a drug related offense), subject was enrolled at New Riverside Academy for Girls and had perfect marks in all courses. Subject exhibits exceptional intelligence, though instructor histories indicate an established pattern of disciplinary issues beginning at the onset of puberty.

  When I inquired, subject rolled her eyes (her favorite form of non-verbal communication) and stated that she is able to “…hear the answers in a teacher’s head.” It is far more likely that she has a hyper-evolved capacity for learning a/o a transhuman photographic memory. The North American Psychiatric Association’s official position is that there is no evidence to substantiate human precognition. I am in agreement. Still, it is noteworthy that this particular subject has a documented history of educators citing headaches and dizziness in her presence – again coinciding with the onset of puberty.

  When asked about her views on marijuana use as an alternative to alcohol, subject confided that she experimented socially, using jane lifted from her mother and stepfather’s humidor. Subject states that marijuana does not “do the same thing” as alcohol.

  I quote directly, “I liked vaping the jane, fine, okay? I didn’t see any sights or whatever. We were blending in the park, like after Layla hacked the hall drones so we could play hooky, rem
ember? Layla’s good with computers like that, we just walked right by the COD’s! I hate computers. I think I was born in the wrong century, say? Anyway, we skipped campus and got hella-blended. It was fun. Layla’s my only real friend. I guess that makes me a loner. Is it okay to say that? You aren’t gonna, like, lock me up longer for saying I’m a loner, are you? You know that First-Timer’s Holopamphlet to Enjoying Marijuana the Office of the Architect puts out, doc? You get an access code for it at sixteen when you get your pilot’s license, you know? I’ve read it. It’s totes lame! They say that it’s, getting stoned, gonna feel like time slows and the clouds are some kinda environmental inspiration statement about our interconnectedness or whatever? Totally lame BS, doc…”

  Note; it is this same classmate, Layla, who was present at the time of the subject’s arrest. Microdrone surveillance provided by The New Riverside Academy for Girls shows subject consuming alcohol and engaging in light sexuality (heavy petting, kissing, etc.) with Layla in a bathroom stall in the womens’ restroom. Layla realizes they are being recorded, alerts subject. Subject throws mason jar half filled with potato vodka at microdrone, misses target and the glass jar shatters on the tile floor. Another student enters moments later wearing sandals, lacerates her foot, arrest ensues.

  [FOR APPENDIX] Subject’s sexual orientation classified as standard bisexual per 3D genetic cartograph.

  Final observation for this date stamp; per instructions in her father’s will, subject is not permitted to have a combud installation until she turns 21. Implication? Immediate is the fact that we of course cannot sync subject’s routine biodata. Therefore, standard observations on cardiovascular efficiency, plasma-chem content, immune system stability, neurotransmitter levels and frontal cortex signal quotients correlating to behavioral standards; none are available. All neurophysiologic data must be gathered the antique way, through manual testing and entry. I anticipate the length and number of entries, both clinical and non-clinical, shall be extensive.

  At age fourteen (now fifteen – subject had birthday three days prior), this is subject 373-A’s first time in a Vision reeducation hospital. Final L1 treatment efficacy ratio tbd. Date stamp August 4, 2069 Neil Young, RN/CVSW

  Excerpt taken from The Peoples’ Progressive Encyclopedia 2071 Edition 23 Volume 8 Letter Frames 301 – 302:

  The FCAPA or 33rd amendment to the North American United States Constitution was voted into law and signed by President Rubicon Ruby Jamiroquai on January 16, 2043. The 33rd Amendment effectively banned the production, distribution, sale, possession or use of alcohol in any form.

  The sweeping FCAPA laws are considered to be one of the final byproducts of changes in American social values following the San Andreas Geological Disaster of 2041 (see Volume 19 Letter Frames 118 – 147). The event is commonly known as 1.9 Day to signify the loss of 1.9% of the antique United States population in a matter of 42 minutes. 1.9 Day is also recognized as the unofficial beginning point of The Progressive Revolution or PR.

  The PR was the indirect result of an evolution of social norms towards environmentally sustainable energy sources, culminating in Amendment 31 (see Progressive Revolution), which banned the non military use of all carbon based fuels, year 2042. Sociologists and historians say the roots of the progressive movement began in the early 00’s due to the increasingly deleterious impacts of anthropogenic global warming.

  Related historical statistics: A) The remainder of The Ross Ice Shelf, a body of frozen water the size of France, separated from the Antarctic land mass in March 2029, bringing sea levels 2.3 meters higher than those recorded prior to The Kyoto Protocol of 1997. B) Hurricanes, tornadoes and earthquakes claimed 19,487 lives in the antique United States alone between January 1, 2020, and December 31, 2039.

  Feeding on this already established momentum, the unexpected loss of 7.62 million lives in the San Andreas Geological Disaster created an unprecedented social response at the dawn of the 4th decade. Within 48 hours of the SAGD, President Donald Cain (R) (see “Donald Cain”) is impeached by an emergency congressional panel for authorizing the suppression of EPA data that (five months prior to the SAGD) conclusively proved that the process of hydraulic fracturing or fracking for natural gas (see Industrial Gas Drilling) and shale oil was catalyzing the collapse of structural integrity along the San Andreas (and subsidiary) California fault lines.

  Vermont senator Rubicon Ruby Jamiroquai was sworn in as interim president (reelected by popular vote in 2044) and is the first high ranking politician on record to officially change party affiliation from antique Democrat to Progressive, signing Amendments 31 and 32 into law during her first year in office.

  Citing independent environmental science correlations between the livestock industry and Co2 emissions, the so called Cage Free Law (see Amendment 32) banned Federal agricultural subsidies “…for any corporate entity, coop or individually owned farm that knowingly engages in the production of commercially processed meat or dairy products.” All cattle, pigs, goats and related ungulates must be grazed by natural means and permitted to roam freely on parcels of land adequate to their respective carbon distribution quotient (see Mammalian Carbon Distribution Index). Amendment 32 effectively ended the North American cattle industry and radically shifted the food intake of the North American people to a vegetable and organic meat based diet (see Sustainable Foods Revolt and/or Petri-Meats – An Oral History).

  The resulting cultural shift in the common citizen’s perception of global warming (see Environmental Disasters & Adaptive Human Recovery) is generally assumed to have been caused by these three factors: 1) The widespread use of fossil fuels. 2) The CO2 based pollution of natural habitats and water supplies necessary to supply the antique commercialized meat industry. 3) The Office of the Architect assisting in the societal shift towards healthier recreational drug choices that further the environmental harmony of our North American Union (see Architectural Drug Philosophy).

  For more in depth information on the passage of FCAPA laws and/or the 33rd Amendment in 2043 please visit holopage…

  Chapter 1.4 – The Slaughterhouse Rules

  January 2080 – Two Years Nine Months Before Event.

  The green characters of the holoclock read 3:32 am. It was the time of night at Greystone Behavioral Modification Hospital when a band of yellow light cast by an LED streetlamp beyond the window reflected off the polished cement floor behind the nurses’ station. The light made Marlene Fossbender’s face look like a deflated basketball.

  Were it not for the psychologically engineered jazz streaming over the com, the halls would have been quiet as an idling hovcar. Interior microdrones flitted past on an occasional ocean of bleeps, and the auto-jazz merged innocuously with the woeful, dull moans of that day’s SAMCL patients.

  Nurse Fossbender resented the moaning. It had been a long minute since she worked the night shift, but this evening’s opportunity was too fond to pass up. She did not notice the jazz or any of the other sounds. Just the endless moaning.

  It made her hungry.

  Orderly Hotshine walked past, navigating his supply hovcart. The lanky, sheepishly handsome young man’s hair was mud-brown, long in front and buzzed short in back, as was the style of the day.

  He brushed it from his eyes and mumbled, “Hello, Nurse Fossbender.”

  Nurse Fossbender did not even look at him.

  The pink rolls of flesh undulated beneath her chin when she spoke, “Spencer, there’s urine and vomit on the floor in 12A. You’re going to need to wax the cafeteria floor also. Gonna be a long night for you, looks like.”

  “I’ll get it done soon as standards are complete, ma’am,” said the custodian glumly as he ambled down the hall.

  “Uh huh,” said Nurse Fossbender.

  She had the flicker of a thought that there was something different about the boy. In her eyes, this orderly, no, custodian, did not really exist. Males were a product of function, an unfortunate but necessary means to an end.

  Presently,
she could hear three patients wailing loudly in their rooms on the far end of the wing. Nurse Fossbender considered the slaughterhouse headaches to be mythological, psychosomatic, the work of fringe groups and the Traditionalist media. Everyone had heard of “slaughterhouse headaches” on the holovision. They had been around since the procedure was invented. By the time a boozebum/shiner had offended their way to a Level 3 Bmod stint, they practically knew to complain after surgery. The 48 hours of IRS funded, post-SAMCL recovery time L3 patients got to sip on orange juice and roll around whining like whipped cats before discharge was overly generous.

  Boozebums leach off the system.

  If it was up to Nurse Fossbender, they’d be put back on the streets with a holoscript for some Pleasium soon as the drill was yanked from their eye. Besides, it was a statistical fact that the majority of L3 boozebums never even paid the IRS back for their treatment.

  All you people should be breaking rock at Hypatia 5 instead of lollygagging in a feather bed…

  She sneered and pinched her chubby fingers together across the glass surface of the holotab resting in her lap, collapsing a 21st Century Womyn holozine article on weight loss. The article recommended using a new hempbotox lotion to address cellulite. The topic made Nurse Fossbender irritable. She had purchased every weight loss salve available to no effect, though her OBGYN said it was within prevailing norms to be 35 kilos heavy after a cycle of pregnancy hormones.

  What about 185 kilos? If only Lucinda didn’t have that hysterectomy…

  Marlene’s physician recommended that she follow the same dietary regimen as a woman going through antique pregnancy over the nine months of extra-uterine lab gestation, this so her stem cells could be administered to the developing fetus to ward off genetic defects.