The Implant

The Implant

  Troy Dennison

  Cover image T. Dennison

  Copyright 2012 Troy Dennison

  License Notes

  Have you ever wished that you could learn something in your sleep? Simply go to bed and wake up the next day with the new knowledge right there in your head? It could be anything – a second language, the ability to paint, or something physical and practical like bricklaying. No need to go to college or university. No need to spend years of your life studying, practising or learning. Just – BAM! Overnight you can do something new; instant knowledge on demand.

  I know I have.

  I bet you have too.

  The Implant was the answer to all of that.

  Developed by Takami Industries the Implant was a piece of technological genius; a tiny microprocessor loaded with information that could be sub-dermally inserted against the skull. A highly conductive microfilament connected the chip directly to the cerebellum where the data was processed and integrated by the host; literally plugged into the brain. All it required was a small surgical procedure- an incision in the scalp which healed quickly and voila! The Implant would provide the host with a brand new set of unlearned knowledge.

  The commercial applications of the technology were immediately apparent. Maybe there was a desperate need for plumbers? Not enough people had trained in the art of pipes and wrenches and there was suddenly an urgent need for them. Instead of waiting years for people to get educated and qualified they could get an Implant. Overnight the plumbing crisis would be over. It changed the face of the global job market in months. And the best part of all was that the Implant was cheap in comparison to a traditional education.

  That sent the education establishment into meltdown for a while. They screamed blue murder that the Implant would kill their industry and cost everyone their jobs. Of course after a while it turned out that they were wrong. Not everyone liked the idea of having an Implant. Many still preferred to learn the old fashioned way and the cost of the Implant was still too much for most people to afford. So of course life went on as usual; at least for a while.

  That was where the French company Delphi-Pharma came into the picture. They had already established a global network of clinics and had a solid reputation for providing cost effective cosmetic surgery; everything from new dentures to financially affordable breast augmentation. Delphi-Pharma picked up the global rights to Takami’s Implant for an insane amount of money and immediately began marketing it as the latest “must have” accessory of the season.

  Celebrities were getting them left, right and centre and cheerfully extolling their virtues to anyone that would listen; TV, Internet, magazines. That first Summer you were only considered cool if you had a designer tan, a fifty dollar haircut, a retro-Punk wardrobe, the latest Blackberry/Android hybrid phone and of course, an Implant.

  It took me six months to get my first one. I could afford it almost straight away of course, because Delphi-Pharma had set the prices pretty low at this point, but it took me an age to decide what my first Implant would be. I suppose it was like choosing your first tattoo or piercing in a way – it had to be something personal and meaningful. In the end I decided to learn Japanese.

  I’ve always loved the language and I quite like video games and Japanese movies so I figured that would be a pretty cool Implant to get. The thing that really helped me make up my mind was the new sushi restaurant that opened near me. I’d never tried sushi, but the more I thought about it the more I liked the idea of being able to order a meal in Japanese; I figured that it would show some respect to the Asian culture and make the whole experience just that little bit more authentic. Would I have done things differently if I’d known how things would turn out? Who knows?

  So I called the nearest clinic, made the appointment and a week later I was standing outside my local Delphi-Pharma with my palms sweating and the worst case of the butterflies ever. I needn’t have worried though because the receptionist was lovely and after I filled in all the paperwork, insurance waivers and disclaimers and they performed the obligatory credit check I was taken into a small room for some standard health and fitness tests. Two hours later they proclaimed a clean bill of health (physically and financially) and I made my second appointment; the big one where I would finally receive my Implant. I left the clinic clutching an armful of brochures and grinning like an idiot in anticipation of what was in my immediate future.