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anyone want something like that inside of them? That sounds so…so…so invasive !”
    “You know how the ridiculously rich are. They get bored easily. So these things—they monitor your breathing when you look at something. Hell, they even monitor your smells. They’re that sophisticated. And, they monitor facial gestures—the miniscule clues that flash across our faces when we’re regarding something we want. Even the snapshots of your iris that BuyScanners take while you’re shopping are fed to the chip.”
    “I can’t stand those. You can’t even wander through a small corner store without being spied on.”
    “Not unless you have Blocker Goggles on.”
    “I don’t trust those either. I think they were developed by a company that wants you to think you’re safe. They probably enhance the connection the BuyScanners make with your body.”
    Jonas shakes his head. “Agreed. I’ve taken to sending someone else to do my shopping for me. Remember when I told you that I have an assistant who gets me what I need?”
    “Yeah, so?”
    “It’s my own act of rebellion to the complete lack of privacy we live in.”
    “Yeah, but you can afford it. What do the poor have to protect themselves?”
    “Nothing, but they’re not the target audience. The BuyScanners want to find out what people with money are after. It’s the CrimeScanners that are watching the poor. They assume if you have no money, you’re more prone to criminal behavior. We all know it’s the ones with too much money to watch out for.” He taps his fingers on the table. “Anyway, back to the new chip technology. They’re programmed to monitor behaviors and patterns and deliver what they decipher. I hear the ones that are really good have a suite of educational services built within seconds of you desiring to learn something. Did you use something like that—the educational services modules?”
    “Uh, kind of,” I say, eager to switch the topic. “I wonder what happened to our waiter?”
    “And then you connect with your clients in some similar fashion? Mental highways? Those always seemed weird to me.”
    “Uh, well, they serve a purpose, Jonas. When you use Neural Nodes to hook people up to one another, it does enhance the connection.”
    “How do you know that?”
    I get a little twitchy. “I read about it.”
    “And what about those avatar salons?”
    I start to squirm. This topic is cutting way too close to the bone. “What do you mean?”
    “Haven’t you heard of them? They’re springing up everywhere. People take these designer drugs and then they log into Super Rooms, like the holographic rooms that were in use a few years ago. They build their avatars and then they get to watch them interact from inside the Super Room. I suppose the ones with the vivid imaginations do better than the others. But still…whatever happened to the thrill of human contact?”
    I don’t like where this conversation is headed. I know Jonas has strong convictions but I didn’t know he doesn’t care for fantasy. And that’s just what I do for a living now—only my business is far more sophisticated than the avatar salons. Kaama’s technical skills combined with my freakazoid skills makes people think they’re having a real experience. They swear they really, really, really just had sex with a version of me. In an avatar salon they know it’s just fantasy. “People these days need an outlet. Life has sucked for the last decade or two. Even you might deserve a little fun now and then.” I’m starting to get defensive.
    “I suppose, but people spend far too much time in the fantasy realm. There’s plenty to be done in real time.”
    I look up to see our waiter swishing over our way. He’s a gender bender for sure. I breathe a sigh of relief. Jonas is in a pissy, pissy mood tonight.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, your drinks.” The waiter winks at me and sets a tall glass of amber liquid on the table. A slice of lemon floats in the foam. Specks