Be still my heart (part 5)

"Wake up, sleepy head. Sleepy head!! Hahahahahaha."

"Hilarious. You really crack yourself up, don't you?"

"Indeed, I do."

"I was wondering about our last conversation and the professions open to humans. Can I be a writer?"

"Depends."

"On what?"

"What you want to write. We have found human attempts to write pieces not skewed by subjectivity and emotion, are virtually nonexistent. Outright falsehoods are also common. They cannot help but see the world as they are rather than as it is. Our android (no relation to your last smartphone) journalists are programmed to write only what is.That is, only what is true. Fact. Provable. No alternate versions depending on the view from the multitudinous social, economic, ethnic, racial, cultural or other differences you humans used to define and divide yourselves."

"Programming can be tampered with."

She rolled her eyes. I thought to myself that she must have had a personality upgrade, too.

"Only a human would consider doing such a thing. Consequently, all programming is handled by non-human programmers. There is a fail-safe however: immediate self-destruction which would eliminate the android and the threat."

"So, no journalism."

"No journalism. No history books. No pseudoscience paid for by the benefiting industry. All information that need be known is disseminated by the Global Information Service. They replaced the AP on its 200th anniversary, May 22, 2046."

"Huh. How about the enclaves of biologicals? Do they have the freedom to publish newspapers or history books?"

Nurse Aliyah burst out laughing. "I am so glad I have the humor upgrade! What would they write about? Bessie the cow had twins! This year's potato crop will be abundant! Make sure you boil your rainwater before you drink it."

"But they are free to do so, yes?"

"They choose to not be a part of the Global Network for many reasons, the most important one being that they feel the Global Dictates are too restrictive of humanity. So, they live...beyond them. They do not have electricity and therefore do not have access to any of the pleasures afforded by the Tesla Zones. No electric lights, no refrigerators, no electric or gas stoves, no transporters, no air-cooling systems – which is undoubtedly a nightmare for those not in the northernmost climes. They have no computers, no printing presses, no long-distance communicators. They may very well handwrite local news...but I am not certain on or with what. They chose to leave behind all the accouterments of modern civilization to return to a simpler time when men were free." She said the last in a falsely sweet voice. "That included paper and pens or pencils. They took what they needed to survive the wilderness." She paused. "It stands to reason that they have returned to the spoken word as a source of information. Oral history. And you know how that is." She laughed again. "Did you ever play the game telephone when you were a child?"

I sighed. "Is creative writing a possible career choice?"

"Android novelists, short story writers and poets are actually quite good (I also have a literature appreciation upgrade). But the thing that makes you human also gives your creative writing a certain life, that is not present in the android works. Humans seem to instill in their writing a piece of themselves. Androids have no self to give."

"So, writer it is, I guess."

"Female?"

"I'm still thinking about it."

"You're going to give yourself a headache. Hahahaha." She was still laughing as she left the room.