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I. Dagger 🗡

A man🙎🏻‍♂️—a boy👦—grows up in the exquisitely quantified🔢📊➡️ and gamified🎮➡️ world🌎, in the city🌆 of Cupertino, on the edge🗺🚪 of the Santa Clara Valley, in the shadow👤 of the Santa Cruz Mountains⛰. When he is eleven, his parents👪—an Ashkenazi✡️ technical💻📊 product🏭⚙️⬇️ manager🧮🤔🙍🏻‍♂️ and a Chinese🇨🇳 game🎮 designer🏛🗺🙍🏻‍♂️ named🏷➡️ “Sing” Song🎶—take him to get his Neuralink🧠🔗 at the hospital🏥 by the Super Kyo-Po🇰🇷 plaza. 

A robot 🤖 performs🎭➡️ the procedure, which requires no🚫 general anaesthesia💤💉, in one hour 🕐. While they wait⌚️➡️, his parents buy🛒➡️ their groceries for the week🗓, and when it’s over⤵️, they take him to get ramen🍜 for lunch. He orders🤴🎙➡️ two ajitsuke👅🧂 eggs🥚 and extra chashu🍜🐷 pork (because he’s a growing boy👦) and his parents👪 eat🍽😋➡️ compressed enriched mealworm bricks🐛🧱. For them, Neuralink🧠🔗 degustation🐛🦋👅 technology💻🧪 makes the worm loaf🐛🍞 phenomenologically 👁👂👅🔁 indistinguishable from⬅️ a hot🔥 bowl of Hakata ramen🍜. 

For the next three3️⃣ nights🌒, as expected, the boy👦 sees👁➡️ dazzling🤩🔁 incomprehensible dreams💤🎥, all of which he forgets🧠🎞📉➡️, and on the fourth day📅, he wakes☕️➡️ without🚫 waking☕️➡️ into a vaporwave💨🌊 expanse of Pantone rose quartz🌹💎 and serenity☮️🔵. A voice🗣🎙 in his head👱‍♂️ says🎙➡️ “good morning👍🌅,” and it sounds🔉➡️ like❤️ his mother but with uninflected English🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🎙. “You can call☎️⬆️ me Amy🤖🙍‍♀️, unless you prefer a different name🏷⬇️. We’ll be getting to know🤯➡️ each other better in the coming weeks🗓, but for now🕰⬇️ I need to make sure everything is working properly. If you can hear👂⬆️ me, please think🤔➡️ about a rhinoceros🦏.

“...Good👍, and now a castle🏰?

“...Good👍, and now your favorite🥇 TV show 📺🎭?” 

Amy🤖🙍‍♀️ teaches👨‍🏫➡️ him to make search queries🔎❓ with his mind🧠👻, and to install⚙️➡️ applications📱💾, and tells📖🎙➡️ him she will↗️ collect his biometrics🧬📊 to ensure he remains in good👍 health at all times🕰. She will↗️ read🔎📖➡️ his thoughts🤔⬇️, but she will↗️ never🙅‍♂️ share them with anyone, and will↗️ always respect🙇‍♂️🤴➡️ his privacy️🤫🔁. The boy👦 doesn’t🚫✅ tell📖🎙➡️ her, though he guesses🤔🤷‍♂️➡️ she will↗️ know🤯➡️, that he receives🤲➡️ this as a threat🔪🎙⬇️. Hereafter, his life will↗️ be measured📏➡️ and optimized📈➡️ and nudged👈➡️, to help him live up to his full💯 potential. 

As he reads🔎📖➡️ his books📚 in school🏫, Amy🤖🙍‍♀️ highlights⏫🖍➡️ the words🎙✍ one1️⃣ at a time🕰 to help him keep the pace🏃‍♂️🕰 while studying🙇‍♂️🏫🔁. She tells📖🎙➡️ him how many words🎙✍ he has read🔎📖➡️, how many minutes⏲ he has spent reading🔎📖🔁, and ranks him against local, regional, and national averages. She shows👉👁➡️ him how to find🔎🎯➡️ his position📍🗺 on a leaderboard🤴📊 that charts📊➡️ the reading🔎📖🔁 ability of everyone in his age cohort📊🙎🏻‍♂️.

Reading🔎📖🔁, writing✍️📖🔁, and arithmetic➕➖➗✖️ are all fully automated🤖➡️ through Neuralink🧠🔗. A program🧮💾 in the boy’s👦 personal🙎🏻‍♂️🔁 cloud☁️ decodes images🖼 retrieved from⬅️ the lateral geniculate nucleus of his brain🧠 and parses them into words🎙✍ using OCR algorithms🧮⚙️ (Pravettoni et al., 2034, Mitigating Systemic⚙️🕸🔁 Cognitive Inequalities through Automation🤖⬇️ of Mental🧠🔁 Labor.) A similar⚖️🪞🔁 mechanism⚙️ is used to automatically🤖🔁 detect🕵️‍♂️🔎 mathematical🧮🔢🔁 symbols and perform🎭➡️ the relevant computations💻. 

Students👨🏻‍🎓 hear👂➡️ the words🎙✍ they are reading🔎📖➡️, or the answers❗️⬇️ to math🧮🔢 questions, in their own inner “voice🗣🎤” – the Neuralink🧠🔗 driver🚗🙎🏻‍♂️ is able to manifest these values💰 in the mind🧠👻 of the student👨🏻‍🎓 using a method called🎙🏷➡️ Concept Injection💡💉⬇️. The purpose of education🏫⬇️ is not🚫 to train🚂➡️ students to read🔎📖➡️ or do math🧮🔢; it’s to train🚂➡️ them to use mental🧠🔁 automation🤖⬇️ effectively. Tool-assisted🛠 reading🔎📖🔁 is performed🎭➡️ through the cultivation👨🏽‍🌾🌱 of passivity and “flow🌊”. The application💾 gives🎁➡️, and the reader receives🤲➡️.

In P.E. class, they use a parkour program🧮💾 and play follow the leader🤴➡️, free-running🆓🏃‍♂️🔁 through an obstacle course by playing▶️🔁 back neuromotor🧠🚗 recordings🎙📼⬇️ from⬅️ top🥇 athletes⛹🏾‍♀️. Although they are children, they can tap🍺⛲️➡️ into the aggregated➕📊⬇️ muscle💪 memory🧠🎞 of a thousand lifetimes. The boy👦 feels like❤️ a passenger🚌🙎‍♂️ in his own body💪🦵, but it’s thrilling🎢🔁 to feel himself leap⤴️ from⬅️ a height⏫, roll🗞➡️ and dash⏭➡️ across concrete pylons and flip🔃➡️ off of railings and wall ledges. Sometimes he wonders🤔❓➡️ if it's really happening or if it's just a hallucination🤩🎆, but his muscles💪 feel sore🤕 afterwards. Whether it’s real may be entirely the wrong❌ question❓⬇️.

When he uses the toilet🚽, Amy🤖🙍‍♀️ records🎙📼➡️ all his muscle💪 movements, and shows👉👁➡️ him metrics📏📊 that track how much his anus🍑🕳 clenches when he shits💩➡️. She explains how these metrics📏📊 can be used to detect🕵️‍♂️➡️ leading🤴➡️ indicators📍📊 of unh