ARO A short story by Kavya Narayanan
PREFACE
Human beings have been subjected to years of oppression by themselves. Abuse, violence, harassment and discrimination have become so common that we often turn a blind eye to it. When we make an effort to fight back we are subdued by the so-called superior human being. It seems as though we cannot escape the laws of nature that require new laws to be created when traditional modes of exclusion come to an end, much like the laws of the jungle. Will this seemingly endless battle against humanity be erased for good? Or will we be exposed to new threats in the future? Ariana grew up in a middle-class family in San Francisco. She worked hard to became one of the most radical robotics engineers in Silicon Valley. She was working on a project that would transform humans into cyborgs. However, she faced a lot of sexism and harassment at her work place. She was also in a very abusive marriage. Ariana was fed up of playing the victim for so long. She wished she could change her fate through her work, hoping to escape her dreadful reality.
PART ONE
I was working late on a certain cyborg project that day at the robotics company and ended up going home to a complete wreck of my house. Another bad day. Would I ever be free from this torture?
My husband was furious. He shouted at me, complaining about my late hours and how he had to cook himself dinner that day, as if my work meant nothing to him. Was this all I was good for?
He had pushed me onto the kitchen counter, gripping my arm tightly. I was scared he would hit me, as he had in the past. But this time I could not take it. I grabbed the pan on the counter and hit his head right before he raised his arm to attack me.
I ran to my room and locked the door, crying myself to sleep that night. But I was in for trouble once again. My husband had left the stove on while cooking and I hadn’t realized it until my bedroom was full of smoke.
Gasping for breath, I woke up in shock and ran outside. The whole house had gone up in flames. I tried to save my husband but my clothes caught fire. As lay on the front porch, scorched and barely alive, everything turned into a blur.
PART TWO
I remembered bits and pieces of going through the hospital corridors, with anxious doctors looking over my burnt body. I was in and out of consciousness, desperately trying to make sense of their decision.
I had been approved for a special type of surgery, one that I had signed up for at the robotics company where I worked. Since parts of body could not survive the fire, they had to be replaced and altered with machinery and they used my research to carry out the operation.
I woke up in a daze and I hardly recognized myself in the mirror. My body was cold and smooth to touch. I was completely rigid but I felt strong. My mind was racing. I was a cyborg! A new version of Ariana was born that day - I called myself Aro.
I was famous overnight. People started to look at her with respect and I was finally recognised for my contribution. They reacted to me, not as a “woman� but as a brilliant mind. I was finally able to overcome the years of misogyny through the invention of my new self- one that was not defined by gender and all the roles that came with it.
Becoming a cyborg was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. I wondered, wouldn’t the world be a better place if everyone was a cyborg? In a few decades, my dream started to become a reality. With the evolution of humans into cyborgs, society transformed in many ways. Gender roles ceased to exist since everyone had the same capabilities. Those who could not protect themselves earlier were now able to fight against the oppression.
But this dream of mine was short lived. One day, cyborgs from a rival company had attempted to attack me in my own home. Over the years, I had adapted and transformed my cyborg abilities to enhance them. I was stronger, faster and smarter. This time, I was not going to hold back and endure.
I was able to fight them off with ease, even though they were much bigger than me. I felt a temporary sense of relief but wondered why this would ever happen to me. What were they after?
I ran to my laboratory only to discover that it had been destroyed. Wires were strewn everywhere; my research papers and documentation was stolen. All my hard work over the years had been taken away from me. I felt lost and alone in this dreadful world.
I switched on the news to make sense of things, not realising that I was in store for much worse. Several cyborg companies had been targeted. A certain group of cyborgs were trying to hack into the programming systems in order to control every cyborg in the world.
I was devastated to see a future that promised better, turn into a dystopian nightmare, one I felt responsible for. The cyborgs were my creation. But what good were they now? All the freedom in the world would now wither away into oblivion. We were about to become our own prisoners.
I switched on the news to make sense of things, not realising that I was in store for much worse. Several cyborg companies had been targeted. A certain group of cyborgs were trying to hack into the programming systems in order to control every cyborg in the world.
the end
epilogue
Humans thrive in an environment where inequality persists. However, we must not give up on our utopian idea of equality. Technology has often proven to be very beneficial to human beings but is corrupted by society. It is both useful and disruptive at the same time. We are never free of the adversities that threaten us in the future of technology. Therefore, instead of using technology to “cure� the world of inequality, we must use reform in the most basic form we know of- through upbringing, education, change of laws, self-expression, standing up to oppression whether it is inflicted upon us directly or to others we know of. We are not fighting against it in vain.