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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Kassiopeia" data-source="post: 3068537" data-attributes="member: 44293">After Shockby Antti HelinHe woke up to the thumping of the veins in his head. He listened to it for a while, but it didn't offer him any real relief. He sat up on the bed, sighed and rubbed his temples. He opened his eyes, and wondered what time of day it was. Everything was covered in a purple haze. (Picture 3) Some limbs weren't where they were supposed to be or what they were supposed to be. He considered that he was dreaming - he wasn't sure since it had been so long since he had dreamed. This realization made him particularly depressed.He carefully lifted himself from the bed and the world started to flow back into its usual shape and colour. The thumping in his head accelerated slightly. He switched the lights on and walked to the kitchen. He had piled all his kettles and pans on the counter before going to bed. He pushed them down to the floor and smiled. He was very proud of his powerful sound system, and he turned it on, full volume. Someone stomped their feet upstairs in protest but he ignored it. He chugged down a couple of aspirins in a robotic motion. He knew it was useless, but he'd promised he'd take them.It was noon. He had business in the city - Nori wanted him to have another shot at this new treatment he'd found on the net - so he found the least dirty clothes he could. Out on the street a Farewell parade was going on. (Picture 1) A tractor with a platform full of children in tow was driving down the main street. He loved children. They were so chaotic and noisy. He had always considered a career in education or daycare, but you couldn't do much of that anymore if you were Shocked. That's why the Farewell parades were being held - the kids on the platform were seven. They'd have to leave before they'd grow up too much and be in danger of getting Shocked too.Besides, he wasn't the bookish type. He had been a baker. He loved kneading the dough and the smell of fresh bread. Machine-made bread was nothing like it, but nowadays you didn't have a choice. He had virii and bacteria and all sorts of poisons wafting off his body, they'd explained to him. Besides, bread was full of carbohydrates, and you didn't want too many of those in your diet. He baked in secret every now and then, but don't tell them. He had lost a friend to obesity too, but a loaf once in a while? He was reluctant to leave the parade and the children, but he had a bus to catch. He found a seat right above the engine.It's so strange, he thought. They can design an entire state exclusively for the Shocked alone, with good old fashioned buses, houses and everything. They live on Mars or put their soul into a computer, and they can only die if they want to, and many other things they had not dared to tell him. But they had not been able to find an MP3 player, or a portable CD player, or even a Walkman, or at least a pair of ear phones. "The only way we can help you with your problem," they had told him, "would also drive you insane." Maybe it wasn't such a bad idea after all. At least they had promised to find him something more secluded than a flat in a block. He had already gotten a couple of notices for the loud noise in the late hours. Maybe Nori could prescribe him some sleeping pills too.The bus stop was a couple blocks' walk away from Nori's clinic. The city was pretty quiet, he wondered if it was actually a Sunday. Not that it mattered, Nori was always available and the buses always ran. He didn't want to know how. He believed the rumour that the drivers didn't really drive them, and that was enough.The appointment with Nori was uneventful. Nori explained to him once again that his condition was most likely psychological, and most certainly a byproduct of his Shock. He had done some reading, though, and argued that no other Shocked one had ever had something like this. Nori ponted out that the Shock was not well known by modern psychology - after all, they had not even found a way to cure the Shock yet, let alone all its symptoms. Why else would they go through the trouble of isolating and furnishing forty thousand square miles for the Shocked alone?The new therapy method Nori had found was also uneventful. He was strapped to a chair inside a big machine - an MRI, he was told, it allowed them to look at his brain - and some electrodes were planted on his scalp. He sat there still for fifteen minutes as electric impulses were shot through his cortex, but the headache went nowhere. Nori wasn't too talkative after the session, but did give him the sleeping pills. Nori also promised him again that they'd try to find him a more secluded apartment. He responded again that yes, it was a good idea and they should hurry. Some people at the Institute of Antiquated Electronics were also working on a replica portable music player based on some blueprints and photographs, which sounded even better.He headed back to the bus stop. He missed the sounds of a city. A real city, not this copy. It was pretty good but not the real thing. Not far enough cars, because they gave you the other deadly carbosomething. He was sad that the true sound of a city was probably lost forever. His generation would take it to the grave with it. He wondered what Chicago was like nowadays. He heard a rumbling, penetrating sound from somewhere far. It was familiar. He walked in its direction and found its source: a construction site. He suddenly recognized the sound, it was a jackhammer. He felt the headache slowly fading away. He got closer and closer and found a bunch of workers. He knew what nanomachines were, but it was probably safer to build things the old way. Knowing what they were and seeing what they can do were two entirely different things, he reasoned.The one with the jackhammer was a cute girl with red hair. He watched her drill for a while and wrapped himself in the sound. She noticed him and stopped.She wiped her brow. "Hello, can I help you?" (Picture 2)"Uh, uh, no. Just... keep on doing whatever it was you were doing." She looked puzzled but smiled. He smiled right back.</blockquote>

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