Deprived of Sight

Sold as a set

Raven followed Eagle down a muddy, dark path and past the kushtaka hackers, until they were very deep in the woods. They walked for ages, years, trudging through the damp underbrush, saplings lashing at their faces, until Raven could hear voices.

“People?” he asked. “Finally?”

“Do you miss them?” Eagle asked.

“I miss their food,” Raven replied.

They came to a clearing and found dozens of people—maybe hundreds—wandering aimlessly, heads bowed, deep in concentration. Staring at their phones.

These people danced an intricate dance, talking to themselves, fiddling with their devices, listening, watching, constantly moving to find a better signal.

“How do they walk around blindly like that and not run into each other?” Raven asked.

“Proprioceptors!” replied Eagle.

Raven wandered among them, the phone zombies, shuffling without purpose. 

“Excuse me,” Raven said, stopping one of the zombies who pulled his eyes from his phone and stared blankly at Raven. “Can you order some food with that thing?”

The Creature Formerly Known as a Person began to tremble. Raven looked into the poor thing’s eyes, they were hollow holes, no eyes at all. The creature began to shake violently as if it might explode.

“That’s okay,” Eagle said quickly. “Go back to your phone. We don’t need food.”

            Relieved, the creature wandered back into the throng, led by his phone.

“How can they see without eyes?” Raven asked.

“The phone sees for them,” explained Eagle.

“So everything they experience, all of their senses, are filtered through the phone?” Raven asked.

“That’s right,” said Eagle. “And everything on their phones comes from the Kushtaka.”

Raven marveled at the sight.

“So they wander around all day being misled,” mused Raven.

“They just want to be led,” Eagle said. “They don’t care about prefixes. As long as they are being led, they are free.”

Raven nodded as if he understood, which he didn’t. And then, realizing he didn’t, he perked up.

“Wait. What?”

“That, Brother Raven, is the paradox of the Internet!” Eagle cried. “War is Peace! Freedom is Slavery! Ignorance is Strength! And one more thing, before we go.”

Eagle reached out and grabbed one of the phone zombie people and roughly pulled him close. Eagle tipped back the man’s head and pried open his mouth. 

“Look,” he said.

Raven looked into the phone zombie’s mouth, a dark hole its face—the creature had no tongue!

“Gak!” Raven cried. “They can’t speak because they have no tongues?”

Eagle nodded.

“Come,” he said. “We have more to see.”