born hired

short fiction

by Casper Davies

Bad day at the office ahead of you? — We guarantee you lifelong happiness at work with no effort on your side. Just let our artificial intelligence make all your career choices. How does that sound? — Good?

Who are we? — The Development Corporation of course. The richest and most powerful company the world has ever known. We organise everyone's work. Everybody who matters anyway.

And of course it's free. You'll just need a microchip embedded in your brain to track everything you think and feel.

Does it hurt? — Ask Carl. He's a talented musician. He's in our test program. His mother, Shoma, built the implant that makes it all possible. She's proud now, but what she will learn about him will turn out to be every parent's worst nightmare.

born hired is the first story in the optima neura series. This collection explores the conflict between individual freedom and collective happiness in a world optimised by artificial intelligence.