Cognitive Deviance

5. Empath

March 25, 2045 - 5:00 AM

The alarm buzzed to life in Margo's bedroom. The first thing that came into her line of sight as her eyelids did their best to pry apart was the dim light of the gray morning sky shining through her window. She glanced over to the side to see the time hovering above her night stand in green holographic numbers.

"Shut up," she said, and the alarm went silent. "Thanks."

She grabbed her ThoughtControl piece and carefully adjusted it into her ear. Following a rather satisfying yawn as her body still did its best to wake up, she tapped the tiny button on the edge of the piece and a beep filled her ears and her head as it synced to her own thoughts.

"Good morning, Margo," the piece's automated voice said. ThoughtControl's automated assistant transferred directly into your mind and in a surprisingly comforting tone of voice, like an imaginary friend come to life. Only the wearer could hear its voice. "It's 5 AM, 49 degrees Fahrenheit and mostly cloudy with a twenty-percent chance of rain today. I highly advise wearing a coat. In fact, any clothing at all would be recommended since you are currently not wearing anything suitable for leaving your home."

She glanced down at herself, and sure enough she was in nothing but her underwear. She lazily trudged over to the edge of her bed and grabbed her robe, sliding her arms through the sleeves. "There. Happy?" she jokingly retorted to her ThoughtControl. "Load up my schedule please."

Her ThoughtControl piece projected a small lens in front of her eye. Her list of activities and times flashed across the screen like binary. Then her piece's automated assistant read it off for her. "To start off your morning, you'll be spending an hour at the gym before returning home to take a shower and have breakfast, which is estimated to take you approximately two hours to complete. However, your first day on the job at Psychwatch begins at 7 AM, so please try to be punctual. Good luck with your new job! Have a nice day!"

Margo smiled as she stood up from her bed. "That's reassuring," she said. "Well, better get ready then."

Those hundred and five minutes before her job began were spent rather well. It took her ten minutes to get dressed for the gym, one full hour to exercise as well as practice her self-defense moves once more, eleven minutes to shower, and fifteen minutes to get dressed for work. Psychwatch was known for having a silver color motif, so she went with a light gray blazer and skirt. The rest of her time was spent in her self-driving car as it directed itself to Psychwatch's headquarters.

She hastily scarfed down oatmeal as the city of Philadelphia passed by through her car windows. In the meantime, she also skipped through the radio's channels, never satisfied with any of them.

There you have it, ladies and gentlemen, said a typical pop station DJ. And now up next is the latest hit from—

Look, but don't touch. Eat up the eye candy with Specter's VR Strip Clubs, whether in person at the club or from the comfort and privacy of your own home. Dozens of hunks and hotties, all in need of your attention. What are you waiting for—

I used to work as a taxi driver and this pregnant woman I gave a ride to told me she hated the violence toward children going on so recently, what with the recent reports of physical abuse and threats of school shootings going on. She says they deserve a chance at life and no one should get in the way. Then I asked her where she wanted to go, and she told me to drop her off at the abortion clinic—

Margo changed the station one more time as her car passed by the beloved Rocky Steps. She was only a few more blocks away from Psychwatch.

America 2045, the speaker on the radio said. For years, the rates in diagnoses of mental illness have skyrocketed, with approximately one in three U.S. citizens experiencing it in a given year. Suicide has remained the number one most common death among teenagers age fourteen to eighteen for the last twelve years. The War on Drugs was lost a long time ago, and the rate of substance abuse has followed nearly parallel to the rates of diagnoses. And yet there is still one question that continues to divide American citizens ever since the organization decided to introduce itself to the world: does the world really need Psychwatch?