Revolutio In Digital

Since I have memory you can buy sleep.

This didn't happen in an instant though. It was the government that, in collaboration with several corporations, made our sleep profitable. They grew too powerful, too dangerous, too evil. They manipulated the laws and the people and violated the system so they could make people believe sleep needed to be a new source of income.

They blamed the economic crisis from the previous decade done by president Blaqe and said there was a need to improve the economy somehow. Work was not enough they said. They could have made a better society, but no, they decided to take everything from us.

The last decade was a mess and many people were homeless and crime was rising up. The government and the corporations could have done something about it, but they thought the best way to help us was to make us pay for sleeping. Want to sleep? Work for it and pay every month. If you failed to pay one month they punished you by not letting you sleep for a week and pay double for the debt.

The sleep deprivation system worked with a chip inserted in every citizen. My chip was put in my head when I was just a child. The sleep deprivation chip activated when you were eighteen. At least they had some humanity in them. My parents had many problems because of the chip. During the rough days when money was short and we couldn't afford to pay the sleeping bill, they got violent. Especially with me. The dark times were long and today I'm still living in them.

Many people have died because of this forced insomnia. One neighbor who couldn't afford to pay, jumped from the window of my old building and fell to her death. Insomnia must have been hell for her. I tried to help her, but money was not enough.

Revolutionary groups have tried to fight against the government, its allies and the military forces known as Dark Ops, but it has been difficult because there is no known way to avoid them from blocking your sleep. I mean, I have read about some people finding some sort of "cure", but nothing is certain.

Who am I? I'm just some guy who hasn't slept in days.

I'm an addict and in huge debt, so I can't afford to pay. I was a small-time drug dealer, and I survived doing that. I was good at it and it paid the bills, but since the police raided my building, I had to leave and I've been trying to survive to no avail. I tried to get some money, but it's not enough. My debt is too big for any of my contacts to handle.

Galacta sounded like someone who could help me, but I've gone to her place many times and got no answer. The place where I'm hiding is a location the police don't know about, and they have bigger problems to handle than some good-for-nothing drug dealer. It's risky to visit her, but still worth a try.

I went to her apartment on Purple Street. Purple Street is a place for pleasure and I've gone a lot of times to have fun with Galacta. I think I'm in love with her. I'm such a fool.

I entered her building and it smelled like a bad place. I mean, you can't expect more on Purple Street: Drugs, sex, criminals, theft... I tried to use the elevator but it didn't work. I had to walk until I got to the tenth floor. She lived in room 181. I rang the bell. A few seconds passed until she opened the door.

"Hello, Markos."

"Galacta... I've come many times. Where were you?"

"Here, and there."

"Are you working right now?"

"His time's up," and she pointed inside her place. There was some guy on her bed and he was getting dressed. There were lots of sex toys laying around and some drugs and alcohol.

"It looks like you were having fun."

"It's just work, Markos. You're not getting jealous, are you?" and she raised her left eyebrow and smiled. She was wearing a red wig, and was in her undies.