By Sarah J. Edwards
PART ONE: DATA GATHERING TRICKS
Galaxies.
Heading towards earth.
Stars.
Satellites. So many, resembling a junkyard.
We focus on one branded ‘Bridges Tech’ as it gently rotates.
Leaving it behind, a soft ray of light arcs our magnificent planet.
We descend, getting closer.
A gentle, digital transatlantic accent plays from a Sleep App
Imagine you are free.
Silence.
Floating in space.
Silence.
Now take a few long, slow deep breaths.
Silence.
Feel for a relaxed place in your body.
Silence.
Bring your attention to it...
Night sky.
The lights of America’s towns and cities glow, roads twinkle, providing maze-like connections. Contrasted with rich blue oceans.
Just above Malibu, the Sleep App continues instructions.
...counting slowly backwards from
100...
Silence.
A CHIME rings out.
The moon reflects across the Pacific ocean.
One single vehicle piles along the beach side highway.
Getting closer.
It’s a shining, high-tech car.
Gaining on it.
TONIGHT 7.57PM
Austin Sinclair is handsome with strong features. He’s bloodied and bruised. Eyes and lips closed.
Hair, drenched.
Looks like he’s won his first fight.
“If last week you’d have told me,
the world as I knew it would soon be over. I would’ve probably groaned and said, ‘Oh shit! Did I screw things up again?’”
Cradling his head in the backseat is Carmen Sauveterre. She’s confident and caring, a gentle woman who sees your truths. Austin’s eyes reveal comfort when he catches her gaze.
“The fact of the matter is, sometimes in life you find yourself having to do something you never dreamt of...”
Palm tree silhouettes pass over Austin’s face. His arm flashes a vintage submariner watch and a make-shift bloody bandage.
Austin closes his eyes again.
“...I had invited my morals and reality to once more hold fort in my brain and take life back.”
A data column runs down the right side of the windshield.
Titled ‘Daily Data: It types out...
Austin Sinclair. Head of Neuroscience: Sleep and Dream Analysis.
Underneath a flow of info, continually updates:
Nutrition, exercise, interactions, appointments, hormones, all rated. The cursor flashes.
On the fritz, the screen quickly blanks.
In the driving seat is Watts, strapping. He’s a secret World Security Agent.
Confident.
Rebellious.
Skilled at everything, a natural.
Head to toe black fatigues. He adjusts and speaks through the rearview mirror... “Sinclair...”
He captures Carmen. “How’s our hero looking, Carmen?”
“Can you drive faster?” she presses.
“They helped me get into this
beautiful mess.“
Watts revs up the vehicle.
Barrelling past gorgeous houses, slick boutiques, restaurants and hotels.
Rows of illuminated digital billboards line the roadsides.
Each one introducing ‘Daily Data,’ the ultimate lifestyle app,’ dominated with the same corporate logo ‘Bridges Tech’ in copper, black and white.
“It had a lot to do with this.”
