The Only Way to Win

A Sci-Fi Short Story

When Freddy had gotten the call announcing that Ian’s wife had given birth to a healthy baby boy, his first words were ‘I hope that kid likes baseball!’ He surprised himself. Ian had never been into sports, and neither had his wife. Looking back on that moment a few years later, as he walked into the shopping mall a step behind of Ian, the outburst made sense. The man next to him had a face that belonged in a 1950's newspaper ad for kids-eat-free night at the local baseball diamond. It bore the expression of a man who'd rather be there than here.

Everyone looked a bit de-saturated against the shinning tiles and LED signs making empty promises to the crowds below that if they just spent a bit more money, they too could shine. In this environment, Ian looked nearly grayscale.

Freddy tossed his finished orange soda can into a nearby bin, then grinned as it went in with barely a tap against the metal side. Ian mostly ignored the feat, as he had mostly ignored the black coffee he'd ordered in a drive through over an hour ago. He was still holding the half empty disposable cup.

"Should we hit the food court before we get down to business?" Freddy asked.

"It's three in the afternoon. Didn't you have lunch just a few hours ago?"

"Your point?" Freddy's eyes glazed over and became unfocused, reading something that was projected only into his vision. "Hey, I just got an ad for the pretzel stand. Buy one, get one. I'll buy one and you get one, how about it?" He tapped the small circuit that was attached to his temple.

"Can't you turn that thing off?" Ian grumbled. "Mine's been shut down since yesterday, and it was only on then so I could look up directions."

Freddy shrugged. "How else would I find out about pretzel sales? Besides, I've got the color and brightness settings turned all the way down. My niece found a settings page I'd never even seen before. Now the projections barely impact my vision. I barely notice them." He gestured to the space in front of him, to images Ian couldn't see.

"Sorry, I'm just..."

"Stressed?"

"Tired."

"Hey, that's why we drove a couple hours to get here, right? Well, that's why you did. I did it for a pretzel."

"I thought you were here because you wanted an excuse to take time off work?"

"Oh, that too!" He and Ian were the same age, but Freddy appeared seven years younger in nearly every respect - his looks, his energy, and his career.

"Where is that store anyway?" Ian asked. A nearby kiosk lit up in response, displaying a map of the store and a CGI tour guide in a miniskirt. Ian rolled his eyes. "Do they have to listen to everything?"

"Of course, how else could they afford her?" He gestured to the digital woman. "If we wait a moment, it'll come up with a survey we can lie to, would that make you feel better?"

"No. No, I don't think it would."

Freddy looked at him, his expression, and believed him. "Alright. Let's just go then. I have other things to do today anyway..."

"No you don't"

"No, I don't but..." Freddy frowned. His eyes unfocused again. "Aw, sometimes I think you're not entirely wrong about these things." He pressed the circuit on his face. "There. It's off. In celebration of the occasion."

"Only sometimes?"

"Hey, I do take more breaks from the circuit than most people! Like I told you before, my niece and I found some tricks..."

"Tricks you were advertised? By the circuit?"

"Maybe." Freddy paused. "But where did you hear about your idea?"

"A circuit broadcast," Ian admitted. "But that's different. I found that broadcaster myself."

"Sure you did."

"I did, actually."

"You know what? I think you're stalling." Freddy bounced on his toes for emphasis. "You know this will be difficult."

"I'm not." Ian started walking in the direction of their destination to prove his point. "It's because it's difficult that I have to do this. Besides, other people have done it. It's possible."

"As far as you know. Most of the info we see on these things could be fake, you know."

"You believe some of it."

Freddy shrugged. "Yeah, I'm not immune. I probably know lots of false things."

"That's why you should do this too."

"And then what?" Freddy was the only person Ian knew who didn't mind the sound of his own voice on a recording. Ian had long suspected it was because Freddy rarely spoke like himself. Most of the time he spoke instead with the tone of voice he'd adopted high school, always doing a bit for the class's amusement and approval. Now, for a brief moment, it took on a slightly different quality. "Look at this."

They were halfway into the mall. Freddy took a few more steps into the center crossing, then one more to stand on the edge of the fountain. One teenage girl gave him a startled look. One elderly couple watched him as they meandered down the hall. The rest of the crowd, whose numbers were in the dozens, walked on by, their eyes unfocused or downcast, reacting to things no one else could see. "I am in the center of the mall, balanced on the wishing fountain, and yet, I am nearly invisible."

"Elaborate."

"You may be able to opt out of the circuit. You're very stubborn, and when you say you'll do something I tend to believe you. But what about them? They will still be there, stuck, gobbling up the circuit's offerings. And you'll still be with them. The circuit's whims and fancies will still reach you, just on a delay and through their mouths. The circuit will still dominate your conversations - who knows how to talk about anything else?"

"What do you suggest I should do instead?"

"I haven't a clue." He jumped off the fountain. His voice regained it's typical cadence and grin. "I suggest we get real sad about it. Maybe make a broadcast to the circuit about just how sad we are. Maybe we if we do it in front of the pretzel shop they'll give us a free drink in exchange for the advertising."

"Sometimes I think you're more cynical than I am."

"I make up for it with my winning personality."

Ian shook his head and headed towards the circuit store.

“Do you really think they’ll, you know, go through with this transfer?”

“Why wouldn’t they?”

“Why should they? It hardly benefits the store. It doesn't benefit the creators of the circuit.”

Ian shrugged. “I don’t listen to what the creators have to say.”

It wasn’t entirely true. Like everyone else hooked into the circuit, Ian had seen the creators faces projected into his vision countless times; every update, product launch, and official broadcast was pushed to every circuit device that wasn't shut down.

The man most responsible for the circuit went simply by his last name, Barnes. He had a soft southern accent and looked more suited to fix trucks than sell gadgets. Despite being one of the most public figures of the past few decades, very little was known about his personal life. He could talk for quite a while and say nothing at all. Once in a while a rumor rose up that he hadn’t actually invented anything at all, that he was merely the kind faced spokesperson for less charismatic engineers. The rumor never gained much traction; it was always overshadowed by more important events.

“I never liked that Jake Barnes.” Freddy stated. Another kiosk lit up and begun playing an ad for the latest circuit model, featuring Barnes himself. “Their microphones must be bad. I said I don’t like him.” Freddy took special care to enunciate every word, but the video kept playing.

"Why him specifically?"

"He's... too nice." It was a main selling point of the circuit, the niceness of it all. You knew that there would be a few circuit broadcasts each week pushed to everyone. You knew that, in this one way at least, you were connected to your neighbors. If you didn't know that, the ads reminded you of it.

There had been many other systems prior to the circuit they all had today, but none of them had been able to match good old Barnes and his circuit broadcasts. Technology could be so cold, lifeless, and lonely - he'd softened it into a cozy fireside chat. A fireside chat with millions of people. A fireside chat with millions of dollars in ad revenue.

Freddy shrugged. "Of course, without Jake Barnes, I'd have nothing to talk about in the office. We all see his simple little messages, whether we like it or not. It makes conversation. I suppose you hear all about his chats in your office too."

"I talk about work in my office. You should too, since you don't even like Barnes."

"It's hard to find other topics. I just get a bad feeling, sometimes, when I watch Jake Barnes's broadcasts. He says he likes everyone, wants the best for everyone. I don't believe him. I know he wouldn't like you. He probably wouldn't like me."

“He can't force me to use his products, any more than that clothing store over there can force me to buy their jeans.”

“I suppose you're right.”

They walked into the circuit store and were greeted by a young woman with pink hair and a circuit of the same color glued to her temple. "I'll be with you in just a minute!" After roughly four she returned. "What can I do for you today?"

"I'm removing this." Ian pointed to the circuit on his face.

"And upgrading to..."

"Downgrading actually. To a smartphone." She frowned.

"I'll have to check if we have any in the store, usually we don't stock..."

"I bought one already." Ian pulled a small box out of his jacket pocket. "I've done the research, this should work with your network."

She stared at the box for a moment, then shrugged. "Alright, let me get my manager. I don't know how to do that particular transfer. I've never been asked to."

Ian looked to Freddy as she walked away. "I didn't think this was that uncommon. I've heard of lots of people..."

"Yeah, but you only heard about them because your circuit told you about them. Out here, in the real world..." Freddy trailed off.

"What?"

"They have double circuits now." He pointed to a display the other side of the store. "One for each side of your face. How would that even work? How would you get anything done?"

"You wouldn't. That's probably the point," Ian muttered.

"It was a rhetorical question."

The manager made his way towards them, pink haired employee a few steps behind him. He walked with the attitude of a cars sales man and had the appearance of a man who held band practice in his garage. "Alright, are you the one we're unhooking today?"

Ian nodded. The girl with pink hair nodded. "Sometimes I wish I could be unhooked from the circuit," she said, to no one in particular. "I'm, like, addicted to this thing glued to my face. I'd probably get so much done, if I could just unhook."

"You can," Ian responded. She frowned and didn't reply.

"You should print out flyers. For moments like this," Freddy whispered.

"Not a bad idea."

"That was a joke. Please don't print flyers. I can't be friends with someone who gives out flyers to strangers."

"Okay, this is going to pinch a little, when the nanobots release from the skin." The store manager held up a device the size of a brick to the side of Ian's head. Ian flinched and the quarter-sized piece of metal fell from his face. It landed on the ground and lay there with electrodes reaching towards the sky, like a dead cockroach. "Alright, let me see that smartphone. Are you sure this is going to sync with our network? If not, we are running a deal right now on..."

"I'm sure."

The manager continued to talk without missing a beat. "You know, I have a great aunt that still uses one of these. I'm not sure what network she uses, I'll have to ask her next time she's in town. Is this some trend you've noticed, people taking breaks from the circuit? If so, I need to pay attention to that. Are you planning a big vacation or something? One of those cabin in the woods kind of get-aways?"

"No." Ian didn't elaborate. The manager gave him a slightly confused look, then his total. They walked out of the store ten minutes later, once Ian had booted up the smartphone and made sure it was working correctly.

"You look weird," Freddy noted. "Is this what you look like when you're not stressed?"

"Must be. I feel like I've won something. I feel like I've won a game."

Freddy laughed. "Wouldn't it be more accurate to say you've quit the game entirely?"

"Maybe that was the only way I could win."

"I'm surprised, I'll admit."

"Surprised that I went through with it?"

"No, surprised that everything went so smoothly. I really thought there would be some sort of resistance." Freddy paused, then shuddered. "Maybe I am the cynical one."

"It's done now, whether Barnes likes it or not." Ian shrugged, and Freddy just nodded, slowly. "How about that pretzel? I'll buy one and you'll get the freebie."

"Now you're freaking me out."

"Is that no?"

"It's a really tough decision... okay, you've convinced me."

There was no line at the pretzel shop when they arrived. The cashier's eyes focused on them as they walked up to the counter.

"Two pretzels, please. The plain ones that are buy one get one." Ian pulled out his wallet.

"Sorry, registers are down right now, so we can't take cash or card. We can still take digital payments, though. Just send it over the circuit."