Blame is so crucial in human existence. Everything has to be someone's fault. Violet's father blames Titus because he has to blame someone. He blames himself for buying the cheaper feed. He blames people but doesn't really blame who is really at fault. Who is really at fault is abstract and not really anyone in particular at all. Society has driven his world to the way it is. The hacker went into her system and destroyed, but really society destroyed the need for thinking. This groupthink that the feed is useful is what is to blame here.
Why can't humans ever be satisfied? Why must we think that our perfectly perfect lives could get better? Because of this we move into this place that will contain feeds. You can see it now with the iPhone 4GS because it talks back, it knows from what you're saying how to respond. Is this cool, or scary? Why do we need technology like this? Isn't the technology we have good enough; doesn't it do its job?
I so hope this isn't where our society is going to, but I fear that it is. A computer that is inserted into your brain at such a young age that it actually controls you body. This scares me more than I could ever describe. I'm the girl that doesn't have a phone attached to her, that doesn't care what's going on on facebook and never twitters. I'm the girl that likes to read books on paper and not a screen, the girl that looks at a map to find my way home on a 24 hour drive instead of looking up mapquest or using a gps. I'm scared that this world is already so reliant on technology and always having something better that there's no way to stop it.
Overall this book scared the living hell out of me. Why? Because it's our society in the years to come. I would like to say that it's beyond my lifetime but in all reality is it? With technology advancing as quickly as it is you never know how far away the next big thing is. I already see our environment on the decline, I know that someday it will be gone and awful as it is in this book. There are so many people who are blind to see how fast the world is deteriorating with our hands doing it. People think in the here and now and not in the future, they do little to think about how their actions will have consequence and what that consequence will be.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Feed Part 4
Titus is in the waiting room waiting for Violet to wake up, her father comes about a half an hour after he's there and goes right in. Titus sees Violet who is covered in wires and her father shows a site where Titus can track her brain functioning. The next day Violet tells Titus everything she still wants to do, though all he could think about was how he didn't want her to go crazy again. Violet and her father petitioned FeedTech to pay for her bills because they couldn't afford it and it wasn't covered by medical. When Titus was at school he talked to Quendy and told her how sorry Violet was and Quendy said she understood that it wasn't her. When she asked if she was okay Titus said that the feed wasn't working well with her brain and Quendy said she hoped that Titus wasn't being weird around her now.
Violet leaves Titus a message for when he wakes up. She doesn't seem herself, using short sentences but tells a story of her mother and then of experiencing mud in the artificial sun. The next message that Violet sends Titus is a long list of everything that she wants to do and things that won't happen, that are happening now. Titus didn't reply back after he finally listened to the message while in class with the hologram teacher who if you didn't look at in the right area didn't even look like a real person. Everytime that Violet tried to talk to Titus he didn't respond and he was growing very distant.
Titus went home with Marty and Link one day to hang out. They played volleyball in the pool for awhile but that was difficult so Titus asked if they wanted to go in mal. He describes the whole experience and they find themselves in an ice cream store, then the mall and that's when Titus decides he's going to go see Violet, who he hasn't talked to for a few days. He puts his upcar on autopiolet and goes over to see her where she can tell he's messed up. She keeps trying to tell him things, like her father stopped her lessons but said he'll tell her anything she wants to know, but Titus doesn't realize because the trees are so green and he could smell the grass right there. When he fell asleep on her lawn she sent him a clip of a memory from earlier that morning. She fell down the stairs and couldn't move her legs and couldn't breathe and her face got rug burn all the way down the stairs. Her feed tech support Nina came into her head then and informed her that no one would sponsor her and so she would not get any free repairs done to her feed. Violet asked why and Nina informed her it was because no one saw her as a valuable customer because she would ask about many different products but never buy any of them. Violet asked her to go away as she sat there and waited for her dad to come and help her. When he came to they were talking about random things, Titus kept waiting for something to happen but it didn't and it seemed like they weren't even dating. He wanted her to grab his hand so badly that he put it next to her hip but she didn't and when he left he wanted her to kiss him but she didn't so he got in his upcar and she waved as he drove off.
She sent Titus her memories so that someday he could tell them back to her in case she forgot them, because who are we without a past? He didn't look at them, when she finally stopped sending them, he deleted them all without opening them. She asked what he thought about her weekend idea but he didn't know what she was talking about so he didn't respond, he didn't do his homework, he went to bed but he didn't sleep. On Friday after school Titus was in his room when his mother called up the stairs that Violet was there, with no response she told Violet to go up. Violet told Titus that she was going to the mountains and asked if he wanted to go but he tried to politely decline. After a few minutes of Violet asking what his plans were he said he would go and she was so excited but Titus wasn't, he was just going along. Violet's father didn't know she was going, especially with Titus and she wanted to keep it that way. When they left she told him how worried she was that he didn't get any of her chats or memories, and Titus lied to her saying that he didn't. They went to this hotel in a college town and Violet tried to have sex with Titus but nothing was happening and they got in a huge fight. Violet saw Titus as this normal kid and her chance to be normal and Titus saw Violet as his girlfriend for a few months. He said that they would have broken up by now if she hadn't been dying and Violet had this eternal image with Titus. After the fight Violet demanded that Titus take her home and he didn't argue. When they got home her arm wasn't working and he tried to help her out of the car but she wouldn't take his help so then her father came out and took her hand but she took it back and got out of the car by herself. She stood there and looked between the two right before Titus got in the upcar and left. The next day she messaged him and said she loved him and wanted to talk if he did, but he didn't respond.
In the summer Titus, Link and Marty went to one of the moons of Jupiter for a few weeks. By this time Titus was dating Quendy and he missed her the whole time he was gone, he kept chatting here though there was a lag between the two planets. When they got back they had a fun summer even though they were all going bald and had less and less skin. People started literally freezing in their tracks because the feed would jam because people would want exactly what they had so the system would freeze while trying to fix itself. When Titus saw this happen to two of his friends it freaked him out and made him think of Violet.
Titus' father went on a trip and he was broadcasting all of the memories to the family when Titus started hearing someone say something about how he didn't have to come if he didn't want to but she wanted him to know when it happened. Titus realized it was Violet's father and that he had sent their address just in case. Titus went to see Violet and when he arrived he was stunned at what he saw: Violet laying there but now moving, not blinking. Violet's father came in and made Titus feel awful, showing him memories from Violet, telling him it was his fault because he took her to the night club. He explained how didn't buy the more expensive feed because what would it hurt in the long run? They got in a huge fight yelling at each other and Violet's father grabbed Titus' shirt and continued to say "fuck you forever and ever. forever and ever." As Titus was leaving he could hear Violet's father "I'm sorry Vi did you hear that? I'm so sorry." When he got home he sat on his floor completely naked and continued to buy pants, the same exact pants and he could feel them as they got ready and were shipped. He stayed up until the wee morning of the hours and saw the sunrise.
Titus went back two days later to see Violet and he sat there and talked to her. He told her news that he could find and random facts, like the stuff she liked. When he told her he had one more story to tell he finally began to cry for the first time. He cried and told her of a girl who met a guy that never really thought until he met this girl. It was a story of their love and adventures and would be PG-13 due to sexual scenes and they loved and lived forever.
Violet leaves Titus a message for when he wakes up. She doesn't seem herself, using short sentences but tells a story of her mother and then of experiencing mud in the artificial sun. The next message that Violet sends Titus is a long list of everything that she wants to do and things that won't happen, that are happening now. Titus didn't reply back after he finally listened to the message while in class with the hologram teacher who if you didn't look at in the right area didn't even look like a real person. Everytime that Violet tried to talk to Titus he didn't respond and he was growing very distant.
Titus went home with Marty and Link one day to hang out. They played volleyball in the pool for awhile but that was difficult so Titus asked if they wanted to go in mal. He describes the whole experience and they find themselves in an ice cream store, then the mall and that's when Titus decides he's going to go see Violet, who he hasn't talked to for a few days. He puts his upcar on autopiolet and goes over to see her where she can tell he's messed up. She keeps trying to tell him things, like her father stopped her lessons but said he'll tell her anything she wants to know, but Titus doesn't realize because the trees are so green and he could smell the grass right there. When he fell asleep on her lawn she sent him a clip of a memory from earlier that morning. She fell down the stairs and couldn't move her legs and couldn't breathe and her face got rug burn all the way down the stairs. Her feed tech support Nina came into her head then and informed her that no one would sponsor her and so she would not get any free repairs done to her feed. Violet asked why and Nina informed her it was because no one saw her as a valuable customer because she would ask about many different products but never buy any of them. Violet asked her to go away as she sat there and waited for her dad to come and help her. When he came to they were talking about random things, Titus kept waiting for something to happen but it didn't and it seemed like they weren't even dating. He wanted her to grab his hand so badly that he put it next to her hip but she didn't and when he left he wanted her to kiss him but she didn't so he got in his upcar and she waved as he drove off.
She sent Titus her memories so that someday he could tell them back to her in case she forgot them, because who are we without a past? He didn't look at them, when she finally stopped sending them, he deleted them all without opening them. She asked what he thought about her weekend idea but he didn't know what she was talking about so he didn't respond, he didn't do his homework, he went to bed but he didn't sleep. On Friday after school Titus was in his room when his mother called up the stairs that Violet was there, with no response she told Violet to go up. Violet told Titus that she was going to the mountains and asked if he wanted to go but he tried to politely decline. After a few minutes of Violet asking what his plans were he said he would go and she was so excited but Titus wasn't, he was just going along. Violet's father didn't know she was going, especially with Titus and she wanted to keep it that way. When they left she told him how worried she was that he didn't get any of her chats or memories, and Titus lied to her saying that he didn't. They went to this hotel in a college town and Violet tried to have sex with Titus but nothing was happening and they got in a huge fight. Violet saw Titus as this normal kid and her chance to be normal and Titus saw Violet as his girlfriend for a few months. He said that they would have broken up by now if she hadn't been dying and Violet had this eternal image with Titus. After the fight Violet demanded that Titus take her home and he didn't argue. When they got home her arm wasn't working and he tried to help her out of the car but she wouldn't take his help so then her father came out and took her hand but she took it back and got out of the car by herself. She stood there and looked between the two right before Titus got in the upcar and left. The next day she messaged him and said she loved him and wanted to talk if he did, but he didn't respond.
In the summer Titus, Link and Marty went to one of the moons of Jupiter for a few weeks. By this time Titus was dating Quendy and he missed her the whole time he was gone, he kept chatting here though there was a lag between the two planets. When they got back they had a fun summer even though they were all going bald and had less and less skin. People started literally freezing in their tracks because the feed would jam because people would want exactly what they had so the system would freeze while trying to fix itself. When Titus saw this happen to two of his friends it freaked him out and made him think of Violet.
Titus' father went on a trip and he was broadcasting all of the memories to the family when Titus started hearing someone say something about how he didn't have to come if he didn't want to but she wanted him to know when it happened. Titus realized it was Violet's father and that he had sent their address just in case. Titus went to see Violet and when he arrived he was stunned at what he saw: Violet laying there but now moving, not blinking. Violet's father came in and made Titus feel awful, showing him memories from Violet, telling him it was his fault because he took her to the night club. He explained how didn't buy the more expensive feed because what would it hurt in the long run? They got in a huge fight yelling at each other and Violet's father grabbed Titus' shirt and continued to say "fuck you forever and ever. forever and ever." As Titus was leaving he could hear Violet's father "I'm sorry Vi did you hear that? I'm so sorry." When he got home he sat on his floor completely naked and continued to buy pants, the same exact pants and he could feel them as they got ready and were shipped. He stayed up until the wee morning of the hours and saw the sunrise.
Titus went back two days later to see Violet and he sat there and talked to her. He told her news that he could find and random facts, like the stuff she liked. When he told her he had one more story to tell he finally began to cry for the first time. He cried and told her of a girl who met a guy that never really thought until he met this girl. It was a story of their love and adventures and would be PG-13 due to sexual scenes and they loved and lived forever.
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