Read Love in the Time of Technology 1 for Free Online Page A

out. Wolf went to an obscure part and avoided him although he was sure that Lazer knew of his whereabouts.
    He hoped that the simulation that was guiding her was accurate enough to enable them to escape.
    Wolf knew that everything was monitored but by the time they came back to recheck they would have left. A perfect world did not come by accident. Loopholes had to be closed; individuals who asked too many penetrating questions were silenced and tech glitches were fixed. To the outsider, Genetica showed people going about their work in bliss and there was harmony with their pristine environment. The lawns in the parks were a perfect green; the little clumps of forests that stood in strategic locations in the concrete jungle blew gracefully to the breeze and had a realistic sylvan beauty. The fish in the crystal clear ponds dotting the various mass transit centers and parks looked friendly and welcoming.
    These props were meant to emit a warm atmosphere and put the populace at ease. It made them feel that they were part of a perfect world where everything worked in harmony.
    But this was all an elaborate fiction.
    The lawns, trees and fish were all artificial. The grass and tree leaves were made of a durable polymer that was painted in various hues of green.
    Even the breeze that blew so perfectly was artificial from wind generators.
    The perfect blue sky was also artificial as the climate was controlled. Its people had never seen dark clouds and were not familiar with concepts such as tornados or natural disasters.
    The water in the ponds was made of a transparent synthetic jelly. It could turn into ice within seconds or heat up to high temperatures killing those unfortunate enough to be deliberately pushed in. Nothing happened by accident. The fish that looked so cuddly, warm and sensitive had surveillance cameras in their dreamy eyes.
    Wolf remembered walking through the wooded areas and park with his mentor Zugovsky. He had explained all these to Wolf who looked shocked that this vista of environmental sustainability was all a lie. “Our beloved Genetica is built on fiction. It is easy for citizens addicted to all the tech wizardry to digest it rather than face reality.”
    These props were all built by the Mx Corporation for surveillance purposes. They could all turn violent against its own citizens. The blades of grass could turn into sharp razors slashing and maiming; the fish were robotic machines with listening devices and could even gnaw their victims like piranha. The trees were a marvel of perverse science. They could kill their victims by bringing down chemically poisoned leaves!
    He remembered that they had sat by the pond and Zugovsky had said, “Genetica is doomed by its own super efficiency. It fools itself by not using the planet’s resources assuming that by generating its own artificial resources it will exist forever. Its biggest flaw is that it does not encourage rebirth. There is zero birth rate. It is not able to generate life from within and from without. The tragedy Wolf is that we delude ourselves by believing our fiction.”
    As they walked away he whispered to Wolf that the fish in the pond had two lenses; one for looking at their watery world and another for looking at those above them. Both lenses were integrated with powerful listening devices. But why had he deliberately made disparaging comments knowing they were listening? He had also said something very strange, “Wolf I brought you to that pond because one day it may prove useful to you. The jelly and fish can be tampered with! There is a tunnel under it which will take you out and bring you back to save this place.”
    A short time later Zugovsky vanished never to be seen again, as if he had never existed.
    It all now made sense. By being with him, Wolf was also marked. He had been groomed for chaos so that he would return. He just didn’t know how things would play out and perhaps that was the ideal situation.
    +++++
    Wolf had almost