Official Intelligent Beings: How Our Devices Became Us, And The World Consumed Itself by Josh Greenfield Page A

I got that orange for us? And besides, don’t you want some real food? I read it in your recent Quack. It’s no different for me. Ever since I tasted real food, I could never go back to that other crap. All I’m asking is for you to trust me. Do you trust me?”
    “More than I trust myself,” he replied.
    “Well then, that will do for me.”
    The elevator doors opened into a small hallway.  She beckoned him to step out. They walked a short way, Shera making sure that Jagz stayed quiet and kept his head down.
    They came upon a sliding door. Shera gently slid the doors open, partially at first, just to make sure that no one was on the other side. Then quietly slipped inside, pulling Jagz with her.
    “I don’t get it. What is all this? Don’t you think someone is going to spot us? I’m not so sure we should be down here.”
    “Oh, come on. Stop being such a sissy. Live a little,” she said, quickly realizing that she could have been a bit nicer.
    Jagz, not wanting to come off as weak, grabbed her hand tightly, looked her in the eyes and said, “no, you’re right. I trust you. Just a little spooked is all.”
    As they entered, Jagz’s eyes grew wide. His head scanned left to right as he looked upon an underground farm. A huge array of vegetables and fruits, not unlike the ones he had seen in his dream grew; mangoes, oranges, apples, beans, tomatoes, eggplants, zucchini, onions, bananas. It was breathtaking , he thought, and there wasn’t a single damn person in sight .
    “We can take whatever we’d like, but only what we can carry in our packs, and we have to be careful not to take too much from one place so as to not cause suspicion.”
    “How did you even find this place? This is a miracle!”
    “It’s no matter. We haven’t much time. We have to make this quick before someone comes back.”
    They loaded up on as much as their little packs could carry. Jagz was sure to take a variety of his favorite fruits and vegetables, hoping to discover what they really tasted like. Shera, already know-ing what she preferred, grabbed her favorites.
    Just as they were leaving, they heard foot steps. “Be quiet,” whispered Shera. “Someone’s coming! Keep it down.”
    Slowly and quietly, she led him out of the main room and back down the elevator hall. They started to hear chatter, and it seemed to get louder and louder and they walked. Keeping as quiet as poss-ible, they tried to hurry to the elevator.
    The sound of shoes doubled, making it seem as though someone was running after them.
    Shera led Jagz back to the elevators as quietly and as fast as possible.
    Upon hearing the increasing speed of the foot-steps, she broke into a dead sprint.
    They ran as fast as their feet could carry them. Just as they got to the elevator, Shera pressed the keypad. As the elevator opened, they heard, “stop! You there, stop! Stop right now! I order you to stop!”
    The elevator doors closed in the knick of time. They shot up, panting furiously to catch their breaths.
    When they reached the surface, their adrenaline was pumping. They were on such a high as the doors opened up. They ran outside as fast as they could towards their usual meeting place. When they got back, safe and alone, they dropped to the ground and rolled around, breathing heavily, scared at first, but their fear quickly turned to laughter. They laughed so hard that they started to tear up. Jagz almost pissed himself hysterical.
    “Holy crap that was close!” said Jagz.
    “I know. What a rush. What a rush. That’s never happened before. Wild”
    “Wild? I’ll say!”
    “Every day is a new adventure with you. A wildly new adventure.”
    “Sometimes you just have to jump off the cliff, take a dive into the great crashing wave of life.”
    And with that, Jagz grabbed Shera and kissed her violently. She ripped his clothes off and they had the most intense, animalistic, lovemaking experience yet, not concerned the least with their moaning and screaming.
    Still