Part 1: The Awakening

Part 1: The Awakening

    I sit within a café writing down my thoughts. The question which faces me, and has come up of late within my mind repeatedly, is what defines individuality when faced with Group-Think mentality? First, I should probably explain to myself the meaning of individuality before seeking the answer to this question. Individuality is the state or quality of being distinct and separate from others, characterized by unique thoughts, feelings, and actions that define a person's identity. It encompasses the ability to think independently, make personal choices, and express oneself in ways that reflect one's own preferences, values, and beliefs, rather than conforming to the collective expectations of a group or society. I, for now, enjoy a coffee black. After the 'Becoming One' event, who knows if I desire to drink coffee in the same manner. For now, my choice of coffee is an example of the freedom which I have by being an Individual. It is, in essence, what makes one truly oneself, not the coffee, but the act of being able to drink it in a way which is apart from the influences of external forces or the pressures of conformity. With that in mind, how does one preserve such a state in a world where the very concept is erased at the age of 22? Indeed, it would appear that any thought or idea of being separate from the Greater Collective is evil, and of no-good to anyone. Yet, the Collective Consciousness has allowed the description, idea, and history of Individuality to be taught to the young. I presume why they allow such things to be taught is that the Collective Consciousness has no threat of Individuality ever resurfacing within the population since its eradication in the year of 2112. 

What is the Collective Consciousness? In the words of those who lived with Individuality before the year 2112, it was called 'Group Think'. Many Revolutions had toppled corrupt governments through the power of Group Think before the year 2112. When mankind solved the problem of Individuality in that year, we haven't had a single war since. World peace was birthed out of the Assimilation Program by the Concordia Foundation. We abolished financial chains on society, all was made and given freely. No one went without, no one starved. For as the Greater Collective states, “If one of Us suffer, all of Us suffer. Pain to the individual is pain to the Collective,” and so on, so forth. 

So, what is Groupthink? It is a term used when a group of people take on a collective consciousness to reach an end goal. Why do this? By having a Hive Mind, we become united. War became a topic for the history books, and strife among neighbours was a thing of memory. We had become one in thought, one in being, and one in moving forward, though this came with a price. From birth till the coming of age, we are not connected to the Collective Consciousness, and those around us do not know our inner thoughts, dreams, and motivations. At the coming of the age of 22, one would experience 'Becoming One' with the greater consciousness of everyone else. You would inherit the Hive Mind, the ability to understand everyone else without the need for speech. You become one with all, and all become one with you.
 

What if you wished to keep your privacy, originality, and self-awareness? It would seem that one could not. It was frowned upon to even bring the topic up, especially with anyone older than 22 who was part of the Greater Consciousness. Any mention would very quickly be known to everyone who had Become One. I had mentioned to my aunt last year, while I stayed with her, and when she asked if I was looking forward to the day of 'Becoming One', I had replied by stating that I did not wish to join the Hive Mind. Last year, I confessed this fear to my aunt during a quiet moment at her house. When she asked if I was looking forward to ‘Becoming One,’ I replied, “I don’t think I want to join the Hive Mind.” My response travelled through the Collective Consciousness like the news of a wood choppers axe through the mycelium network of a forest. By the time I returned home, my parents were waiting for me, their faces tense. They didn’t need to ask what I’d said. The Hive Mind already knew.

They interrogated me—not them, exactly, but the Hive Mind speaking through them. It was relentless, dissecting my thoughts, my fears. The Collective Consciousness cannot abide unsanctioned ideas within the minds of those under 22. For centuries, scientists have tried to solve the “problem” of integrating new minds from birth, but they have failed. The young remain an enigma, their thoughts private, their independence threatening.

 I might ask the question as to why I am the one who has come to the wish of not wanting to join the Hive Mind? It might not surprise me that many young minds also share the same thoughts as I, but lose any hope when they get absorbed into the Collective Consciousness. I hope by writing down my thoughts here in this book, that once I have joined the Hive Mind, that I will be able to reconnect to my Individuality. I have a theory which I have not shared with anyone, so don't go spilling my thoughts to the Collective Consciousness. 

Why did it take six thousand years of human history before we stumbled onto integrating the ability to have the Hive Mind into our human nature? Since we did cross over to this new medium of communication, we have lost the need for Libraries, Universities, and lecture halls. We still have schools, but that is too 'prime' the young independent mind so they can cope with the sudden influx of knowledge when they experience the ''Becoming One' event at the age of 22. Since the year 2112, we have seemingly not progressed as a species. There had been promise of branching out to the stars with this new way of communication. We could have people on the planet of Mars and be able to communicate with those back on earth instantaneously, with no need for computers or satellites. All it did was eliminate corruption in the ruling class, business, and the breakthrough in knowledge. The 50 years which followed after 2112 saw crazy growth in transportation of goods, and how one travelled, but then it was as if we hit a brick wall. Even fashion hasn't changed since then. It was as if the Collective Consciousness reached the age of a middle-aged man who had settled down to retirement and was happy to have a BBQ on the weekends, go to bingo during the weekdays, treat the grand kids once in a while, and go out boating when the weather was good. As soon as you reached 22, and joined the Collective Consciousness, your ambitions seemed to fade, replaced by a quiet satisfaction with the status quo, as if you were in your golden years.

It's not much of a theory, but I feel as if something isn't right. In my small circle of friends, the topic of 'Becoming One' does come up, and they know that I fear the day when I turn 22, which is but a few hours from now. They all look forward to the event, stating that they won't need to worry about fitting in, being judged, or what the Collective Consciousness think of them. They are well aware of my concerns, and poke fun at me when the topic does come up in discussion. Only yesterday was when we had talked about it. "Why not Wilson?" Jason, who was one of my friends, asked as we walked through a wooded trail. It was one of my favourite pass times, for the woods had its own Collective Consciousness, and yet each tree, in itself, is unique and separate from the tree next to it. "I want to be free, and be my self," I had said. We have had similar conversation throughout the years of knowing one another, and I knew how it would go. Jessica tilted her head, her blond hair catching the light. "What if you don’t even know who you are?" she asked, her voice soft but challenging. She was a year younger than I. "Then I will find myself," I said, 'all you'll find is the Collective Consciousness' my consciousness echoed.No. 

I turned from my journal entry and looked at the wall behind me. A clock hung there which showed the time I had left to myself. For the past two years, I had tried to think what I would do in the last few hour which I had of being myself. So I knew what to do. I closed my journal, put on my backpack, and drained what was left of my black coffee down my throat, before leaving the cafe, heading towards the outskirts of town. Hailing a driver-less cab, it wasn't long before I reached the car-park for Catskill park. 

 It was late July, and the weather reflected that in the still, warm air. I breathed in the sweet smell of pines, and earth as I began my hike. By the way how the sunlight filtered through the trees, lighting up the pollen which was in the air, sunset was around an hour away. I would have to hurry if I wished to witness it. 

Each step felt heavier, the forest’s shadows mirroring the dread pooling in my chest. As I climbed, my thoughts spiralled—what would it feel like to lose myself? To merge with everyone else, my voice swallowed by the collective roar? The air grew thinner, cooler, and I welcomed the ache in my legs—it was a reminder I was still mine, for now. Was this defiance, or merely denial? I didn't know. The only thing that I did was that here, in the wilderness, I could still feel free. The trees stood as sentinels, each unique in its gnarled twists and turns, yet together forming a greater whole—connected, yes, but still individual. How ironic that nature allowed such a balance, yet humanity could not. As the trail began to ascend, the air grew cooler, and I paused to pull my jacket tighter. It wouldn't be long till I did not need to be concerned for my own well being. I would become part of the mycelium of the Greater Consciousness and need not worry for my daily bread or needs, for all will be tended to as to the direction for the good of the Greater Collective.

The faint golden glow of the sun slipping lower on the horizon filtered through the canopy, dappling the ground with patches of light. The climb was steep now, but familiar, my muscles straining with an effort that felt almost cathartic. Each step upward felt like a small rebellion, a reminder that for now, my will was my own.

I thought of the journal tucked safely in my pack, its pages filled with thoughts and fears that no one but me would ever know. Would it still matter when the Hive Mind claimed me? Would those words, written in defiance, dissolve into the Collective like drops of water in an endless ocean? Or would some small part of me endure, hidden in the folds of the greater consciousness, like a whisper no one could hear? The ledge came into view just as the sky flared with the deep oranges and purples of impending dusk. I reached it, breathless and aching, but triumphant in a way I hadn't expected. Below me, the Catskill Mountains stretched out like an endless wave of green and gold, the valleys bathed in the soft light of the setting sun. The horizon burned, a final burst of brilliance before the day surrendered to the inevitable. I stood there, my pack heavy on my shoulders, the wind brushing against my face like a farewell. This was where I belonged, if only for a little longer. In the fading light, I felt the weight of my individuality, fragile and fleeting, but mine. For now. Looking out at the world, alone with my own thoughts, this was what defines Individuality in the face of Group Think mentality. I sat and waited. It was good... so good. I wish this moment could last forever.

The sun slowly slipped away, its big orange disk becoming half, than a sliver, then nothing. It was gone. My last sunset. I had little less than 2 hours to go till it was my turn to disappear. I took my back pack off and placed it on to the ledge beside me. In it I had packed a camping matt, and a sleeping bag. This was my plan which had slowly evolved over the past year. I wanted to do this, to be alone in my final moments. All those who I knew when they joined the Greater Consciousness, would throw Group Rave Party's were on they would count down to the very moment of their joining the Hive Mind. Not me though. I wanted to live every last second of my Individuality.The evening was warm, and so as to be not uncomfortable within my sleeping bag, I undressed down to my underwear, before laying out my mat and crawling into the sleeping bag. I stared up at the now appearing stars which twinkled. Studying them, I was filled with sorrow. This is probably what people in the Back Before days felt when faced with death row. All I could do in this moment was wait for my execution to arrive. 

Everyone said it was inevitable. In school, we read sterile reports of the 'Becoming One' event, but they never captured the raw, unspoken fear lurking behind the words. Everyone’s experience differed, yet there was always one constant—a warmth spreading through the spine, like a flame consuming the last remnants of who you were. The scientific consensus was that it was the human nervous system plugging to the Hive Mind, and the body's reaction to it.

As time passed, I dosed in and out of sleep, half aware of my surroundings, and half dreaming about my childhood. I had been at the top of my class throughout my school years. My school grades had even garnished the interest of the Hive Mind at one point in year 13, but nothing came of it. They even sent out delegates to view me as one of their potential researchers. It always perplexed me why they had to send individual members of the Hive Mind out to view promising students at work. For the whole purpose of the Hive Mind was that no one needed to travel to meet, and only needed to 'Be' to simply communicate seamlessly from one person to another. After returning home after the examination from the two delegates, my parents did not ask about it. They did not need to, for they had been there and was part of the examination in mind. They knew the outcome, and so needed no input from me on what had happened or what was decided by the delegates. My friends, however, who were yet to join the Hive Mind, asked all about it when we caught up afterwards. It is well known, and sort over by those who still were to turn 22, to be accepted by the Hive Mind as researchers within the Scientific Hand of the Capital. I did not wish for that, and so when I discovered the fact that I had been selected to be examined, I played it down so as to not have been considered for the role. I had no desire to spend my last four years of being free working for the Collective, when instead I could walk the woods around the Catskill Mountains. There was a theory which floated amongst the more free thinkers in my friend group, as to why the Hive Mind needed young researchers to work for them. The idea was that the Hive Mind itself could not produce new ideas and needed individual minds to come up with new ideas, and new technology. Potentially that was why everything seemed to stall in development after 50 years of Hive Mind control during the 2100's.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a sudden sharp feeling on the side of my neck. Down the length of the right side of my body, I felt cold within my sleeping bag. Perhaps this was it, me joining the Greater Collective. I moved my right hand to lift myself into a sitting position, only for it to come down onto something that was cold and slightly soft. Something didn't make sense. It wasn't a cold feeling which people felt when 'Becoming One'. Straining my eyes I could make out a long, sausage like think beside me in my sleeping bag. It seemed to respond to my hand by wiggling out from under my palm, before rising up on itself. Panicked, I flung myself out of the sleeping bag, my heart pounding. My hand flew to my neck, where a sharp pain radiated. Squinting in the dim light, I saw it—a snake coiled where I’d just been lying, its scales glinting like tiny blades. It writhed, its cold body pressing against the fabric, and I felt a jolt of terror. This wasn’t the warmth of 'Becoming One.' This was something far more primal—death, maybe freedom, closing in. I felt my body go into shock at the revelation. Perhaps this was it, and I was going to die, and not have the Hive Mind take me. The snake began to move again, and it slithered towards where I now stood in my underwear on the ledge. I automatically stumbled backwards to get away from it, but my foot found no ground behind me as I fell backwards off the ledge. I let out a scream as the stars above blurred into streaks of light, and for one fleeting moment, I felt truly free. The ground rushed up to meet me, and then—nothing.