Ross SimonsShort Story: Slippery Slope

Nature, Tech, and ValuesBrian Seitz

April 17th, 2011

Slippery Slope

April 17th, 2011

He sinks into familiar imprint in his soft leather chair that’s been at the company almost

as long as it’s been around – 40 years. He opens up the drawer of his antique mahogany text

and hears the dragging sound of wood against wood. It soothes him as he reaches in for his

half-empty bottle of Crown Royal. He pours a few ounces into a snifter class, sits back in his

chair, and sighs. He’s repeated this ritual nearly every day for the past few years. He closes his

crystal blue eyes and contemplates. Against the back wall is an easel etching his company’s

failures in the form of menacing red jagged lines. They slowly made their way to the bottom of

the page, as he slowly made his way to the bottom of the bottle in his desk. He stands up, his

knees in pain, and wearily makes his way over to the door to close it to the office that was once

vibrant and thriving, full of hope and life. “What are you still doing here John?” he mutters to

himself. At 68 years old, he’s watched his chain of grocery stores go through the gauntlet. He

looks back fondly on the day he cut the ribbon the opening of his second store. He remembers

the back room champagne celebration. It seemed like there was no limit except the sky as he

opened his third, then fourth, and then fifth stores in just a few short years. Sprawled across

40-mile radius, he made it a weekly event to visit every store and make the effort to know his

employees and customers.

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His business started its downward spiral when he opened his 7th store. He didn’t realize

this until the 10th store however. As the company grew and more locations were added, it just

became too large of an operation for him to handle. Then Wal-Mart came into town. As a

stalwart of the old order, he couldn’t adapt. Wal-Mart came in with their efficient operations,

their manufacturer contracts, their low inventory turnover period, sophisticated barcode

technology, accurate and high class supply chain management software, effective independent

transportation systems, cross docking, and most of all, its low prices. He knew why Wal-Mart

was putting him out of business, but he just couldn’t accept it, he couldn’t evolve. Items started

going missing. Shipments were too late or too early. He couldn’t keep his costs down or his

margins high. His most talented employees started leaving the company, abandoning the

sinking ship. He watched his number decline from 10 stores, back down to 5, but the damage

was done. He was stuck holding down the fort of the old way of doing business, going down

with the ship like the captain he was.

December 19th, 2016.

BREAKING NEWS: Today, Ford terminated all of their workers in their productions

facilities. They say in a press release, “Our workers have found it increasingly difficult to keep

up with the production capacities of machines. In order to maintain low prices for consumers,

we felt the need to employ an all-machine production strategy, giving us significant cost

benefits”. They did not give word as to if the increased cost benefits would result in lower costs

for customers or just higher margins for the company. Analysts speculate that by 2040 all

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production will be taken over by machines, and that machines will begin being primarily in

control of their own production.

February 21st, 2018

Stockholder’s meeting, Dynamic Computer Systems, INC. (NASDAQ:DCOM)

“We have reached a milestone! Today, our APB supercomputer has replicated itself

entirely without human intervention. It ran a complete production cycle, taking command of

the supply chain, instructing our machines in the production facilities, and making an exact

replica of itself! Similar to human reproduction, we expect our production capacity to increase

exponentially as two becomes four, and four becomes eight and continuing to double until

stopped. We are now exploring the capabilities of APB evolving itself into a stronger computer

through reproduction. We suspect that this milestone will render all previous predictions about

the rate at which technology evolves as inaccurate.”

June 7th, 2022

“Dude, just do it. Do you want to keep being the dumbest kid in school? Everyone

already calls you a tard. We all take it.” He had seen the marketing; he had heard the claims; he

had seen the proof. Though it wasn’t subtly labeled, “intelligence®” they called it. You could not

debate its effectiveness. It basically was intelligence in a pill. Genetic Solutions, INC

(NASDAQ:GNL) explained that the pill made the brain a more effective consumer of energy, and

allowed it to work more efficiently, giving it the capability to process and retain three times the

information of the average brain. There’s just something that creeped him out about it. It just

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seemed wrong to tinker with evolution like that, to tinker with God’s plan. Despite his

objections, he was beginning to feel like he didn’t have any other choice. It had already been

explained to him that if his performance did not improve, he would be put in the affectionately-

termed, “turtle” classes. The way he was beginning to see it, either he could accept it, or fall

behind forever.

March 2nd, 2025

BREAKING NEWS: GENSOL (NASDAQ:GNL announced today that they may have devised

a process to genetically enhance embryos; more to come in the next few months.

June 3rd, 2033

“Now that we know you’re having a boy, it’s time to talk genetics. We looked at your

DNA, and frankly, things could be better. Located in the bedside drawer is our entire catalog of

genetic enhancements…” said the nurse before being interrupted defiantly “But, we don’t—“

“Just stop right there. I know it’s a lot to take in. Just look it over, we believe you’ll make the

right choice. Why leave everything up to chance. Do you want to make your child subpar to

everyone else?” she argued. “Well, no…” the mother said weakly. “Then look it over, no

pressure.” The nurse gave a knowing smile before slithering out of the room. She reluctantly

picked up the book. It was elegantly bound, classic, and yet modern. On the cover there was a

high-quality image of a group of healthy blonde-haired children playing baseball. She imagined

the silky smooth texture of their hair, waving in the wind. Their blue eyes seemed so full of life;

their smiles were perfect. These kids were the epitome of beauty and vibrance, like a delicately

crafted piece of artwork from a long forgotten time. She made her way to the index, reading

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the chapters silently to herself “1. Is genetic enhancement right for you? 2. Testimonials 3.

Physical 4. Mental 5. Emotional 6. Deluxe Packages 7. Price Chart”. She flipped to chapter 1 and

all it said was “Yes.” in a big, bold, arrogant Helvetica typeface emblazoned across its blindingly

white page; no explanation, no argument, nothing. Just “Yes.” The testimonials section was full

of glowing reviews for the procedure that talked about how it changed their kid’s lives forever

in a positive way, and it was the best decision they ever made. Getting a little excited, she

started flipping through the possible genetic advancements, finding herself more and more

excited by the moment. Finally, she had something to level the playing field! Having grown up

with nothing, she was constantly in a battle with her starting place in life; try as she might, she

could never seem to achieve the “American dream”. Here was her son’s opportunity. They even

had deluxe packages! She could provide her child with the necessary genes to allow them to

thrive in sports, music, math, science, art, leadership, whatever her heart could desire. She

enthusiastically flipped to the next page to have her hopes shattered. There was no way she

would ever be able to pay for the procedure without taking a second mortgage.

November 30th, 2036

BREAKING NEWS: Goeb Hazal of Cleveland, Ohio received an arm composed of titanium

today. This is the first purely cosmetic enhancement of its kind. It’s a prototype that increases

Goeb’s strength nearly tenfold and is one of the first examples of bionic limbs that are an

improvement on the human body as opposed to a replacement. The company, Dynamic

Computer Systems, INC. (NASDAQ:DCOM) expects to a further foray into this field. They say to

look out for more inventions releasing in the next few months and to expect brain

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enhancements to be out within a year. Analysts expect future developments to render genetic

enhancements obsolete.

September 24th, 2051

BREAKING NEWS: In a series of recent announcements, GENSOL (NASDAQ: GNL), the

company who developed the original genetic enhancement procedure has created a new

procedure in a bid to remain relevant after losing market share to mechanized enhancements.

It claims that the new procedure will increase the body’s ability to accept mechanized

enhancements and early company reports that the procedure has taken the rejection rate of

mechanized enhancements down 28% to only 6%. Analysts expect this is to entice a merger

with dynamic computer systems. The stock price rose 5% today to $113.67.

May 11th, 2057

“We regret to inform you that you did not get accepted to Harvard College. There were

thousands of applicants this year and the process was highly competitive. The applicants came

from all different backgrounds and 73 different countries. We ultimately had an 8% acceptance

rate composed primarily of those students with bionic enhancements. We have placed you on

our waiting list, and if things change on your side we will reconsider your application. We

challenge you to not give up! Great things are in store for Harvard and we expect our future

students to far surpass the competition both in academics and sports. We look forward to re-

evaluating you soon!”

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December 3rd, 2060

BREAKING NEWS: Bryan Timmons became the first human to be made primarily of

mechanized enhancements today. His body is now 64% machine.

July 4th, 2064

“I’m sorry Mr. Williams, we have to cut you off unemployment. The government has

been very generous in extending unemployment benefits to four years, and we can thank

Dynamic Computer Systems for their hefty donations to the government to allow this, but

unfortunately you’ve reached your limit. We just can’t continue providing benefits. You know as

well as I do that many others need this assistance.” said the Department of Human resources

rep. Her face was emotionless; her movements mechanical; her voice monotonous. He knew

she had given this spiel thousands of times now as did the thousands of other representatives.

“But fuck, did she have to be so god damned impersonal? With robots everywhere nowadays,

was it really necessary to be robotic in our interactions with each other? How dare she try to

portray DCOM as saints! They’re the reason this has happened! I can’t compete with all these—

these—fucking cyborgs. They make me sick. They didn’t have to earn shit. Their rich mommies

and daddies bought them all their skills and talent and I had to work for everything I have. Not

to mention they’re fucking weird. You can hear the hydraulic sounds when they walk, you can

almost see their brain with all it’s attachments working behind their blank faces. They’re hardly

human, even if they started out that way. Fuck that! I refuse to do it. I’d rather die poor,

homeless, friendless and maintain my freedom, than rich and enslaved to new technology. Fuck

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that, I’m taking a stand.” As he glared at her, the viewing glass went dark, marking the end of

the meeting.

March 21st, 2065

“Hey you, yeah, you! Is your loved one at least 85% cyborg? Are you dreading their

death? Do you want them to live forever? Good news! Purchase death insurance from DCOM

today! For a low cost of $24k we will recreate a perfect computer simulation meant to mimic

your loved one exactly. You won’t be able to tell the difference! Upon death, a simple mostly

non-invasive procedure will be done to replace the brain and nervous systems with our

patented eternity® technology. You can assure your loved one it will be completely painless

procedure and they won’t remember a thing! Limited spots available, so call today!”

February 29th, 2072

“Look, Brad. We need to talk. We all love you, you know we do. But this has gotten bad.

We’ve seen you modify your body endlessly, accepting every new proven enhancement. But

you’re 39 and this has got to stop. We brought in a therapist that specializes in these addictions

to help us with this intervention. We’re here for you Brad; we want our little blonde-headed

innocent boy back. We miss how you were as a child, watching you play baseball with all your

friends. You were so happy back then. We want that Brad back.” said the mother, speaking for

both her and his father. He leveled them with a glance. “Do you even realize how hypocritical

you sound? Why do I even have blonde-hair mom? You both are brunettes! My grandparents

are brunettes! I’m blonde because you made me this way, because you thought I wouldn’t be

good enough. You even took out a second mortgage to buy me out of a catalog. Now you want

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to stage an intervention because I’m trying my god damned hardest to keep up with society, to

be good enough?” he retorted, raising his voice with each syllable. “Brad—“ “No, don’t Brad

me. And don’t bring in this BS “therapist”. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m not the unusual

one in this room. You don’t even have jobs. You’re both just hippies, you realize that, don’t

you?” “C’mon Brad, there’s no need for name calling. We love you,” she pleaded. “Look, I know

you love me. Okay? I don’t need your love though; I need you to accept reality. I don’t have a

choice. No one does. Either I continue evolving, continue to enhance, or I fail. We all fail. Those

who are willing to evolve, they succeed.” “There just has to be another way Brad.” “If you find

another way, let me know. I’m out. Have a good night.” And with that, he slammed the door

behind him.

December 31st, 2099

COVER STORY: In our pursuit of technological evolution, have we bound ourselves to

technology? Do we own our mechanized “enhancements” or do they now own us?