Looking Forward by Kenneth Jr. (snow like ashes .txt) 📗

to the most suitable position to absorb filtered sunlight. The cybernator senses the mood of Scott and Hella and immediately provides a delightful fragrance of flowers with a background of stimulating music. Scott and Hella tenderly touch each other. He kisses her shoulders and she responds. They both begin to breathe deeply as they enjoy a multi-dimensional experience that culminates in an ecstatic sexual climax.

As they relax automatic units gently massage their bodies. These units do not have any extensions or projections. They are electronic means that project gentle contractions into the musculature of the body. All points of the body can be gently or forcefully massaged at the same time, depending upon the training that one has given the cybernator that serves him. Scott and Hella’s muscles are stimulated to develop and maintain strength. As the massage becomes gentler, it gradually lulls them to sleep.

Although they live in a voice-actuated environment designed to meet their needs, they are resourceful, capable individuals. They enjoy muscular activity. Since the cybernated machines protect them from boring, repetitive drudgery, they are unburdened and hence able to enjoy exertion. They often walk several miles in preference to using a cybernated car.

While Scott and Hella are asleep a friend calls. There is no jangling phone to awaken them, for the sensing devices in their environment know they are asleep and report this. The friend communicates his message to the three-dimensional recorder, which is promptly played for Scott and Hella when they awake. Since it is possible to communicate quickly with any person on earth, no matter where he is, there is no problem in returning the call. They invited him to drop by that evening.

Scott and Hella feel a complete freedom to explore new areas of thinking and feeling. They want their values and interests to change so that they may experience a multi-dimensional life. As they seek newer and deeper areas of feeling and thinking, the cybernator senses these altered patterns and responds appropriately. Just as an English butler learned in previous centuries to pick up the moods and needs of his employers “intuitively,” so the cybernators are designed to grasp totally the sensitivities of the people they serve. They sense almost in advance what each person will want. They furnish whatever concert, symphony, or other type of entertainment would best suit the need of each individual they serve. The cybernators never determine what humans should have or want. They always seek to provide what will best meet the needs of individuals from clues given by the pattern of past choices.

Although Scott and Hella are aware of the functions of the cybernator, they interact with it in a highly impersonal way. In the hidden mechanism in the walls, there are built-in, duplicate parts that automatically bypass any defective units in an instant without interruption of service.

The living patterns Scott and Hella prefer can be instantly transferred to any other living unit they visit. Their cybernator is connected to the Correlation Center so that any living unit throughout the world can immediately request instructions on the various patterns an individual prefers. Thus everyone in the twenty-first century feels at home wherever he is—in a space ship, an apartment in the Himalayas, or a living unit at the bottom of the sea. As Scott once expressed it, “The world is my home.”

A Visit to Sumatra

During the afternoon Scott mentions a place in Sumatra he had once visited. On voice command, there emanates from the walls a teleprojection of a scene from Sumatra. As these images change, Scott and Hella experience the smell of the forest, the green leaves of the jungle, and the animal life. These perfected teleprojection images can not be distinguished from the real objects.

The living area is at once transformed. Hanging vines and the lush tropical vegetation of the jungles of Sumatra appear in life-sized, three-dimensional color. Birds fly through their living area, and animals walk by, apparently within reach of Scott and Hella. They appear quite solid, and one can hear the flapping of bird’s wings and the soft padding of an animal’s paws. The sea life and beaches appear in full reality. With gentle breezes caressing their faces, Scott and Hella feel immersed in the breaking waves, and colorful tropical fish that surround them and occasionally seem to touch them. If there is anything they wish to see again or want enlarged, they have only to command the cybernator. They watch underwater plants shimmer past them and see reflections of sunbeams coming down through the water with iridescent shadows.

The newscast during the late afternoon briefly discusses signals received from outside the solar system. A particularly strong transmission is currently being monitored from a star some twenty-six light-years away, near the center of our galaxy. Apparently, intelligent beings are beaming strong signals toward earth. The linguistic system has not been cracked, but the computers are working on it. How soon will they contact other beings in the universe?

Sharing With Friends

Toward evening the cybernator alerts Scott that their friends will be there soon. Sonji and Jahn arrive in a pilotless levitator. It is propelled by highly energized ion particles that are emitted from the underside of the craft in a constant stream. This enables it to go up or down or be propelled in any direction desired. The levitator is not a flying machine. It does not depend upon air currents or any noisy unreliable devices such as propellers, wings, or ailerons. As it gently alights on the balcony, the guests appear to walk through its side, for there are no doors, cracks, or visible openings. Through verbal command the molecular bond of a portion of this outer skin yields to permit them to leave. The cybernator greets the guests and automatically guides them to the area where they are received by Scott and Hella. They make themselves comfortable on the responsive furniture.

These guests are not attracted to Scott and Hella for inconsequential chatter or the social consumption of alcohol. Jahn is engrossed