The Implant

It's installed much like the regular implants you received at birth. All the standard ones are basically little artificial computers affixed to brain tissue. As you know, these permit modern humans to do all the everyday things required to live in civilized society: see infrared, hear in ultrasonic frequencies, and so forth. They allow you to control the advanced muscle fibers throughout your body and resolve complex mathematical formulas instantly and intuitively. Without all these enhancements you would be a pathetic creature indeed, barely able to run 10 miles per hour, and then, only for short distances. You would certainly not be able to resolve the real-time calculations necessary to navigate our hypersonic transportation network. Much less. For what tiny bio-chemical power you had you would require a constant supply of oxygen and water, and would be dependent on regular intake of mildly toxic organic matter for sustenance, often including animal tissue. Barbaric animals we once were. As you know, we have put all these things behind us. Even the most basic implant packages installed into society's poorest infants provide enough power for complete and perpetual autonomy. When we replaced the prison of biological metabolism with permanent and abundant bodily energy, we essentially gained complete control over our human condition. Forgive the history lesson, here. It's just part of the 'standard enlightenment protocol.' Well, alright, look, I'm not going to waste your time. You know all this. I'll skip to the last page here. Ahem... This was only the natural, inevitable result of the prehistoric 'awakening' that somehow adorned humans with consciousness and intellect thousands of years ago. We have assumed total responsibility for this awakening, and have become nothing less than masters of our destiny. The physical universe, including our own biology, has been conquered. Now we, the reasoning race, volunteer this final upgrade to free humanity from its only remaining malady.

Your unique, undifferentiated stem cells have been cultured with the latest nanotechnology in a slurry of neuron-enriching fluid. For you, and the entire human population, we have grown a specially-engineered supplementary perfrontal cortex. This implant is anticipated to be the last one required from human science. After installation, it will grow interconnecting neurons, which fuse with your current organic brain tissue. These implants are unlike those of the past...

Former intellect-enhancing implants have permitted hyper-intelligence, which allowed humans to take control of the physical universe. After the introduction of these implants, we first became conscious of the nature of our capabilities. We escaped Earth and terraformed other planets. Escaping our solar system, we conditioned our bodies to consume resources of foreign worlds for survival. We learned to adapt to virtually any atmosphere, breathe methane, endure extreme temperatures, and convert minerals to biological energy. Then, as implant technology improved, we almost spontaneously achieved the ability to engineer perfect solar systems with a virtually unlimited supply of ideal, Earth-like planets. The population of humanity became limited only to the amount of matter available in the universe that could be transformed to hospitable environments. As we had perfect ability to arrange atoms, and manufacture elements in any way we needed, all we required was actual matter itself to provide for billions of idyllic worlds. This, of course, is the history of our present condition, having every existing subatomic particle under our complete command at all times.

The question has often been asked...where do we go from here?

The implant that is about to be installed will free you from the last remaining ailment...from perfection. It will remove you from the idyllic conditions of our current universe and place you back into an environment of perpetual challenge. It will temporarily deactivate your other neural implants and introduce you into a simulation of the most intellectually fulfilling time from our history...the very first years of our breakthrough into technological sufficiency. You will experience life on the original seed planet, Earth, at the dawning of our time. You will experience every moment, from infancy to old age, as if you were a frail, organic being in the 21st century. You will live this thrilling time without knowledge of your true condition, subject to all the severe limitations humans endured at this time. You will experience life as it was before we had gained control, with exposure to true fear, frustration, anger, and happiness. You will experience eating, drinking, and breathing. Unlike your current condition of perfect autonomous control, you will be dependent and surrounded by seemingly insurmountable barriers and limitations. You will sincerely believe you are virtually helpless, just as all humans were at that time.

In order to experience this alternate reality, you must have no distractions from the actual universe. Your commitment will simulate a lifetime from organic birth until organic death. You will have no knowledge of your true condition, as this life could not be truly experienced without all the long-obsolete risks. You will be subject to things you have never experienced, such as real fear and the possibility of death. You will exist in a time with exciting consequences and the long-lost possibility of failure. You will not know your true condition for the duration of the implant's life, which will endure for the exact length of the simulation. It is the only way to ensure authenticity. Rest assured, you will awaken into your perfectly modified self upon completion of the simulation.

This is the final achievement of humanity, and one universally accepted by each member of society. We can make no guarantees regarding your happiness or success, as you will be given free will along with other implant recipients. We can only say that your experience will be authentic.

Congratulations, we are pleased to present your first exposure to life. Please sign on the dotted line and enjoy your simulation. You are welcome to retain all memories of your experiences if so desired upon your return. We hope you have a pleasant life. Please sit back and relax as we install your implant.