Chapter 1: The idiot who changed the world
Causation is impossible to determine in history. No one knows who caused the flesh-eating parasite outbreak in 2043, claiming thousands of lives. Some blamed it on the all-female eco-terrorist group 'Gaia', some the Illuminati (LGBTQI chapter). In the chain of events that led to the world as it is today, causation is tough. But, most people worth asking would tell you that the first domino fell in 2048 in Melbourne, Australia. As we all know by now, it was the first city to run the Open-Book beta test run. The sample was geriatric patients who had limited or no mobility left and was itching to communicate with others in a revolutionary way. The pitch was unbelievable; synaptic communication through brain wave transmitters embedded inside the skull. Although banned today, due to reasons I don't think I should repeat right now, or want to, at the time this was seen as an innovation with limitless potential. The Australian psychological association thought it could solve the loneliness crisis brought on by external smart devices of the early millennium.
Subject 13, who had cerebral palsy (the cure was still 3 years away) used it better than every other patient combined. He found that by peering into the mind of his fellow participants he could glean information about human psychology on a much more sophisticated level than just speaking to them. Of course, this was not what the researchers had intended. He was not allowed to peer into their brains, only to understand basic emotions felt during the virtual simulations shown to them. But through a glitch in the early software, and partly his own genetic affinity, he was able to do so much more. Reading their minds; maybe read is the wrong word, more akin to eating and subsuming. If this happened today, the government would capture this person, lobotomize them and transplant their organs to more fitting individuals. But he got away with it, he told me as much the night before his flight.
The second domino fell three years later, in 2051 when Dr. Nobu Takanawa would posthumously win the Nobel prize for his part in curing cerebral palsy. His wife, a senator of the former united states of America, was killed in the flesh-eating parasite outbreak of 2043. 6 months later, overcome with great sadness, Nobu would overdose on a specialized cocktail of heroin, scorpion venom, and hookers. His work on cerebral palsy would be abandoned and go untouched for half a decade until a Ph.D. student interested in his research would dig up his work for her thesis. Subsequently, her paper became the central focus in the field and inspired a new wave of experimental studies that would culminate in the cure in 2050. Subject 13, or Om Kapoor as the world knew him was one of the first to be cured fully, he was 65. He described the moment of his newly returned freedom to me as the best day of his life "I was overjoyed, I could run and jump, and fuck again" he exclaimed to me as he ate his favorite meal; meat pie. Yes, real meat pie, not clean meat. How he had them procure it I don't know, I was almost thrown when I asked the question.
The third domino fell 6 months after that when Om decided to attempt suicide and failed, "I was so high that I missed my arteries and almost cut my thumb off at the bone" he said chuckling. But, seeing my dismay he laughed raucously, slapped his thighs and started wagging his left thumb before me "don't you worry! They put it right back on, good as new" he said as he picked the knife back up and continued eating. Everyone knows why he tried to commit suicide, so I won't dwell on it for too long. Om said he felt useless, at 65 with a body destroyed by years of degeneration he felt his best years were stolen from him. A former athlete in the now-defunct sport of 'baseball' (which had long lost its popularity at the time of his cure) he said that he couldn't "hit a home run", whatever that meant.
The third domino fell and hit the next. Open-Book had successfully gone through beta-testing in several countries, lauded as a treatment for mental illnesses, especially depression. Google was intrigued by this technology and started investing in it. As a test feature, they integrated the software's emotional sharing capacities with their internet-enabled lucid dream hardware. The effects of this technology were enormous, people started to understand each other's emotions fully, couple's therapists went out of business, and therapists in general pivoted towards criminal pathology; most switched to sex crimes. Youdream was the main hub of the empathy culture. Om who was familiar with the technology due to the beta-test, caught on to it before many others and became a Star, unlike the world, had ever seen, and more controversial too.
He started live-streaming his dark thoughts, his absolute despair, his illness, his cure, his dense ball of failures and successes jumbled into one. He was the highest streamed emotion on the planet. Were you feeling unmotivated before an important exam? You streamed Om, his regret would seep into you, motivating you to never feel such regret in your actual life. One hour of Om's feeling could break you from procrastination and change your life forever. It could change the most lackadaisical employee into an overnight workaholic. Nobody wanted to feel that useless.
Christina Diaz, a candidate running for the president of the still intact "united states of America" caught a live stream of his emotions and was moved to tears. She reached out to him, eager to help him and people like him. In the private meeting he had with her, no one has ever reported what was said, om himself said to me, "I don't really remember, I was really drunk and I thought she was going to give me a handy". After this meeting, she wrote the essay that would change the world as we know it. "The purpose of work". Om was 130 years old the night I interviewed him when I asked him about his impact on the cultural and literal landscape, he looked up at the ceiling and said: "I don't understand the question".
The dominoes fell one after another, the essay was picked up by all national media outlets, but more importantly, you dreamers streamed their emotions reading the essay and it resonated with huge swathes of voters. It became the focal point of all political discussions going forward. When Christina became president, she based all her policies on that essay, and the country let her. Here is an excerpt from the document "every sentient, intelligent being, has the right to prove their worth, as long as they strive to work, their worth is infinite". At first, this famous phrase was interpreted metaphorically, referring to the struggle of finding one's place in society as the main motivator of work, a motivation that should be stoked as Om had shown trying to take his own life because he couldn't work anymore. But then, slowly, it was changed, shifted into meaning that everyone's worth was equal to their work. Instead of having infinite value when striving to be useful, people had no value if they did not work.
One of capitalism's greatest strengths was that it placated people's worst tendencies: greed, egoism, materialism. It's rapid rise and dominance was clearly due to these qualities. But in this new era, capitalism's biggest advantage turned out to be that it kept evolving, just like the common cold, capitalism changed itself at the molecular level. Instead of touting the fact that people could chase dreams of success (more like a fantasy). Capitalism was now redefined as the ability for people to fulfill one type of dream, the dream of being useful. It was not until years later did people make the connections between the capitalism of old, and its younger, more obtuse cousin.
Causation is impossible to determine, but we can draw logical conclusions to the best of our knowledge. To the best of mine, Om Kapoor was the reason we have a society that values work above people. Although you probably already knew that. I think it's important for all the missing details to be out there too. The brainwashing of billions is not something that should be celebrated the world over. I would love to blame him but it wasn't his fault. He is an idiot. I know, these words could get me killed, actually, if I was to publish this, whatever it is, it will most definitely get me thrown. More on that later.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Rob_A11yn
Rob_A11yn This is an experimental story I am creating, your thoughts and criticisms are welcome. hope you enjoy it.
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