Too much Tech | Teen Ink

Too much Tech

June 3, 2021
By ljmerriam, Gilford, New Hampshire
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ljmerriam, Gilford, New Hampshire
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The author's comments:

Its all one chapter.

Harold Kusk, a boy born in South Africa, grew up in a household with an engineer father and a model for a mother. He was brutally bullied as a kid throughout his years in school which gave him a chip on his shoulder to get back at this world and change the script to give him power over others. His classmates would excessively go out of their way to make sure that Harold felt worthless and had a miserable upbringing. What his classmates did not know at the time, is that Harold was a genius. One of the brightest minds on earth. As the end of his high school was approaching, he began to brainstorm ideas that would eventually lead him to create one of the biggest breakthroughs mankind has ever seen. 

Kusk's company Laset had unlocked the ability to connect your brain to the digital world. It gives people that have problems with hearing or eyesight hope. It promised to cure all their neurological problems. Many businesses, families, and individuals were amazed. They immediately thought of loved ones for whom this would be useful. People thought of it as something that would turn a troubled life of poor health into a sought-after life with perfect health and incredible intelligence.

What people did not realize at this time was the potential danger of giving a company access to their brain. Another thing that they did not realize is Lasets motive. People assumed the company was only doing it for the wellbeing of mankind, when in fact they were actually doing it for two other reasons. Money. Power.

On May 14th of 2024, the whole world tuned in as Fox News announced the release of the ‘Neuralink AI Brain Chip’. This is the biggest news that the world has ever seen, and it was Harold who was behind it all. He sat on that news set with almost 7 billion sets of eyes locked in on him.

“This will solve all your problems”

“Ease all your pain”  

“And, make life more fun and enjoyable day in and day out!” Stated Kusk.

“That's a bold statement, Harold” Stated the news anchor

“It is, but allow me to tell you more”

“It's for the old and the young”

“The rich and the poor”

“The smart and the dumb” Continued the young genius.

At the conclusion of this briefing, the Neuralink AI Brain Chip became available for preorder. Kusk was able to set it at a very reasonable starting price of $14.99. Almost 3.7 billion people preordered the chip within the first hour. The installation of the chip in your brain was incredibly simple. You would simply swallow it with a glass of water. Once it enters your body it becomes alive and is able to climb up into your brain without you feeling a thing.

Before using the chip to take over people's minds, Harold wanted to make sure that every human over the age of two had it in their brain, and by the end of 2024 that is exactly what happened. People were thrilled by the results as this new technology did exactly what Kusk claimed it would. It helped with sight, hearing, and any neurological issue imaginable. With this, Harold Kusk had the trust of the world. He knew it was time to start getting some benefit for himself for his genius work.

He started by using the chips to build his wealth. He had every bank on earth transfer all of their available money into his offshore bank accounts. He easily surpassed the other richest people on the earth and now held that title by no less than triple. To double down, he got stockbrokers to get him insider trading information. This allowed his money to grow exponentially by the week. 

This of course broke the US economy, but nobody could figure out what was actually going on, because Kusk was the only one overseeing it all. He was controlling each human-like chess piece. And he wasn't playing against anyone, he was controlling both sides!

His next action was to pay back those kids he went to school in Africa. This was simple for him.  He had them all be put in jail for life where they would all be miserable just as he was when he was growing up and going to school with them. This was of course also a headline in the news, a bunch of people getting life sentences all of a sudden with no justification.

These are just some of the things that Harold Kusk did with the power that was far too great for one man to have. The rest cannot be disclosed in this text as they are just so horrid.  These events went on for about six months before someone finally figured out what was going on.

All-star jeopardy player Jen Kennings had a strange feeling one day. As another one of the most intelligent humans on earth, she was able to break loose of the chips control and come back into reality. She saw all the crazy, terrible things happening in the world and realized that the Neuralink AI Brain Chip was responsible for it. She had identified the problem, which was great.  But, solving it would be a whole nother issue.

Kennings knew that she would have to disable the chips all on her own, as Kusk had control of every other mind on earth. Jen would have to devise a plan to break into Laset headquarters and find the control room in order to disable the chips.

First, she would need a mock security guard uniform to get herself into the building. She went to the costume store where she found a police officer costume that would work perfectly.  Next, she traveled to Palo Alto, California which is where the Laset Headquarters are located.  She snuck into the building easily, no questions asked. The real challenge would be finding the control room. After hours and hours of searching, he found a room with a locked door that said 

“Mr. Kusk ONLY”

“This must be it!” Thought Jennings

She pulled out her laser tool (what good spy doesn't have one?) and cut the lock right out of the door.  She pushes the door over easily.  However, as soon as it hit the ground, alarms went off like crazy.

Sh*t!” Said Jen

“There must be another way out of here” She said as she scanned the room.

As she heard loud footsteps coming down the hallway she finally found a hatch and jumped through it. This immediately shot her out of the building and beyond the reach of security. She was ok but ultimately had not disabled the brain chips. Therefore her mission was far from over.  

Although security eventually came, Kennings had a hunch that the control room at Laset headquarters was just a little too easy to access. After doing some research on Kusk, Jen found that he had a somewhat extensive home “office”. She was now quite sure that this is where he was controlling everyone from. This makes sense as he would not want to allow access to this power to anyone else. He wanted it all.

With this, Kennings knew her next stop. The Kusk estate. She traveled to Texas by bicycle so she did not leave any trace of her whereabouts. Harold Kusks' main home is in Texas which is exactly where Jen Kennings found it. Once she got there she was able to reach up to the second story as she had purchased some extremely high heeled cowboy boots when she had gotten to Texas. She climbed into a bedroom window and quietly found her way into the basement.  

In the basement in which she had finally located the control center for the brain chips.  She thought she had a clear path to the “off” switch, but just as she was about to flip it she heard a voice from behind her.

“Not so fast!” Stated Harold Kusk with the evilest of smirks on his face. Kusk grabbed Kennings from behind and threw her to the ground.

“I know exactly what you're doing here Harold.” Said Kennings

“Oh is that right?” Asked Kusk

“Yes, and it ends now!” Yelled Kennings 

“I knew that you knew...remember you have the chip just like everyone else”

“Your brain is just big enough that it doesn't affect you quite as bad as the rest of the idiots out there.” Said Kusk with a chuckle

“Alright then, if you are inside my head, let's play trivia.”

“You should already know the answers to my questions before I even ask them.” Said Jen

“You're on” Replied Kusk

Jennings and Kusk went on playing trivia for hours, neither one able to stump the other.  Both were so smart that no mathematical, scientific, literary, or historical question could stump them.  Eventually, Kennings had a thought. She wondered if this man was such a logical thinker that he would be able to answer a question with some personal touch. Some feelings. Some emotions. She asked him the following question.

“Harold, are you truly happy?”

It was at this time that Harold Kusk broke down. He had all the power, all the money, everything he thought he wanted. However, he was not married, did not have children, and did not have friends. He was not happy. His brain chip could not process this. It fried in his head and ultimately killed him on the spot.

Kennings went on to flip the switch and give everyone control of their lives back. While it took a long time to undo what Kusk had done, the world was now heading in the right direction. Everyone learned a few lessons along the way as well. 



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