Verruca and The Wildlings — Ep11: What About Shame?
If human emotions are pre-programmed, who must break the code?
Top Controllers in the lakeside town of Rembibi slowly eased the local SHOE programme. Social gathering restrictions were also relaxed. Food shops and Consumption Hubs were allowed to operate as usual. People were now allowed to roam but no one must be on the streets past a certain hour.
Pixel invited a few friends for a short hike to a sunset viewpoint, a hill overlooking the lake. There was magic in the change of lights during these hours; a dance of moods, plenty of ooh-ing and aah-ing from the atmosphere’s performance, the daylight and the dark together painting drama.
“Oooh-wee! I present to you today’s sunset: Tropical Gangrene. The colours of delicious and decay.”
The group enjoyed the view in silence.
It didn’t take long for someone to break the silence.
“Someone posted a sunset on FriendStalker today, the sky was a Metallurgic Orgasm, like hot melted gold smudged with a woman’s lust. Looked pretty cool. Actually, it was my crush who posted it — it was this girl I met in Wavey Island. Nothing happened between us but wow, did I want to live inside her body.”
“If you could inhabit someone else’s body for a period of time, who would you choose?”
“I’d live inside the body of the boss of the world bank and make him send me enough lucre to buy myself an island.”
“I would take over the body of an extreme athlete, and also the body of a disabled or deformed person. I want to experience the potential of different human bodies.”
“I would choose this girl Bombolita Dimpletons. She’s this artist that makes grotesque sculptures of body organs. She also makes smooth music that sounds like the music that takes you to paradise when you die. But then she also decided to become a trapeze stripper. But she is also a kickboxing champion. Then she got busted for hacking this huge tech company. Then she met that hot president of what country during his visit to her prison, he became her lover for 6 years. She did everything she wanted to do. She has no shame.”
“Shame. It’s a funny ol’ thing. I guess we experience shame when we feel weak or ugly, unable or unwanted, wrong or poor. We feel shame for other people’s weaknesses, mistakes, lackings, and losses, too. We are supposed to be strong and capable and abundant and pleasing to the eyes and virtuous and loved, at all times.”
“I think this world is a simulation, and shame is just one of those pre-programmed emotions humans are supposed to feel. It’s a matrix, you know. Shame keeps us small. Controlled. Organised. Civilised.”
