Love in the Time of Technology 1 Read Free

geneticist of the 20 th century. His ideas about a superior species resonated very well in some quarters. Wolf had met him as a child. Dr Mengele had also visited the Institute on a number of occasions and had spoken to him. He always felt uncomfortable because Dr Mengele treated him like a son. Roneel found that amusing and joked about it.
    Wolf thought that singularity humans would be wise and have long term vision but that was not the case. They seemed obsessed with getting rid of old designed clones and replacing them with singularity humans. They were also preoccupied with producing as many clones as possible.
    Wolf had once seen Fing’s singularity clones in the park. They fought all the time like wild cats despite being calmed down with smart pills. One had even wrenched the tube from the base of the neck of one of them. There was no emotion in his eyes as he jiggled the metallic tube to deaden the neurons. He found out later that he was not Fing’s son and he acted as a guardian for him. He was called Lazer. Even after his minder had zapped Lazer’s hand with an energy prod, he wouldn’t yield until the minder gave him a double zap. There were even some rumors that he was the son of Dr Mengele. That probably explained Fing’s deference to him.
    Wol f shuddered when he thought about him. He had once posted his fantasy on the Genetica- fantasia page where he said he’d like to kidnap a teenage girl from the Fringes as a playmate. He had gone into lurid details. Lazer who was about 16 was always pestering Wolf, 18, for double dates. He felt that Wolf was too passive and laid back and wanted to take him out on adventures. With their superbly designed cloned bodies, Lazer felt they should flaunt it. To him, Wolf was like an older brother who had disappointed everyone with his quiet humility.
    Fing said that they wanted to reward him for his excellent work by sending him on a mountain skiing holiday to Aspen where a glass domed center was recently constructed. “Take a break. You’ll return refreshed to work on the follow-up.” He made a grimace that looked like a smile.
    Fing knew that he loved skiing. GI had got a good deal for the 5 day lift plus discounted meals and lodging , he said.
    He mentioned in passing that Chloe in ‘Bioinformatics’ was also going. He sensed immediately that this was not a match making ploy. She was going to tease out information. They had not dated for a while and he was not sure if they could ever be intimate again. Chloe’s section was notorious for producing a number of strange creations, for example, rats with snakes bodies or horses with wings. Wolf assumed drily that he would be regaled with more outrageous creations when they ran out of things to say but kept his sarcasm to himself.
    He knew that she was a late bloomer and had developed artistic talents; some of her works hung in the GI foyer. He still remembered Roneel’s comments on first seeing and then examining them. “These are definitely the works of a highly intelligent robot, a machine.” Wolf had cackled at this outrageous suggestion. “My take is that she distilled our human narratives and then spat out this spattering of paint with machine like efficiency,” Roneel continued. “She calculated that her droppings would be treated as the equivalent of honey by chemically fazed citizens. It’s just glorified shit. But I won’t spoil the effect for them. They obviously are infatuated with her,” he laughed.
    They should have been cautious to realize that the paintings had listening devices and hidden cameras. In Genetica, anything that hung carefully or casually anywhere had a purpose; they monitored citizens.
    Wolf watched Fing closely.
    “I envy you. I’ve so much work and can’t take a break,” Fing said very quickly hoping that he had not suspected anything. “We’ll definitely have to go together on your next trip. I’ve always been thrilled with the experience of zipping down mountains. We can go