He finished his cup, grabbed his computer, and headed into his office. It was a rare day that he couldn’t work from bed, but he didn’t want to wake Anna. Sitting at his desk, he took the wires with those sticky things on the end and attached them to his temples. He plugged the other end of the wires into his computer. He had been working this same government gig since he graduated college, 5 years ago. He had done this same routine almost 2000 times, every morning. Maybe he’d look for a new job soon, but he was secure here. He had just started a family, and it paid the bills. He needed to focus on supporting his little girl and his wife. He didn’t need ambition. He just needed security. Maybe someday he would look for a new job. With the wires hooked up to his temples, he clicked on the large button on the screen. It read ‘CLOCK IN’.

A bright white light escaped his screen and lit up the entire room.

“BZZZZZZZZZ.....BRRRR....ZZZZZ....SSSSSHHHHHH”

The computer spat noises loudly. The wires coming from his head turned orange with heat. They pulsed and shuddered violently. The computer lightly rocked back in forth. Adam’s eyes rolled to the back of his head and his body went limp.

Thirty seconds passed. The computer started to settle down and the wires relaxed. Adam reached up and calmly disconnected the wires from his head. A message appeared on screen from his supervisor, thanking him for another hard day’s work. He pressed a few buttons on his laptop screen. The screen told him what the government was going to use his brainpower for that day. Apparently, the AI was going to use his brainpower to optimize public crop production and energy production. Thirty seconds of concerted human concentration, and the government could supply its AI with the brainpower to solve complex analytical problems. Since the Internet was nationalized in 2023, the government had spent decades refining a new productivity model. Huge public investment into technology helped them realize this. The Internet had become an accessible avenue to reduce an entire day of work into mere seconds. It was a way for any human being to contribute to a better society while earning some cash. Productivity boomed and the world was becoming a better, more equal place. World hunger, world peace, and many other complex issues had been solved by pure, concentrated, human brain juice, extracted every morning from every adult in the US who wanted the job. And, even more importantly, the government had immediately deposited that day’s paycheck into Adam’s bank account. One of the perks of working this job was same-day deposit. He exited out the browser, closed the laptop, and looked out the window. Another day, another dollar. What else was he going to do today?