In this world, you don’t own your prosthetic limbs. You subscribe to their function. Work stops. Payment stops. Function stops.

Not cruelty. Optimization.

The contract:

APPENDIX J: Bedrock Synergy Series 3 Prosthetic - User Agreement & End-of-Life Protocol

This End-User License Agreement (EULA) constitutes a binding contract between the Lessee of Biological Enhancement Services (”User”) and the Bedrock Corporation (”Provider”). Activation of the Product constitutes full acceptance of these terms.

1.0 Grant of License: The Provider grants the User a revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to operate the Synergy Series 3 Mobility Asset (”the Product”) for the duration of their employment contract. Ownership of the Product, including all hardware, software, and firmware, remains the sole property of the Provider.

2.0 Data Ownership & Monetization: The User agrees that all biometric and performance data generated by the Product is the sole and exclusive property of the Provider. The Provider retains the right to use this data for research, development, and third-party monetization without compensation.

3.0 Performance-Contingent Operation: The functionality of the Product is linked to the User’s real-time Performance Index and Synergy Score. A sustained drop in productivity, failure to meet financial obligations, or breach of brand loyalty will be classified as a “sub-optimal user state.”

• 3.1 Corrective Actions: Upon a sub-optimal user state, Provider may initiate corrective actions: electrical compliance stimulation; restricted mobility protocol; or chemical stabilization.

• 3.2 Remote Decommissioning: Upon contract termination or Class-A compliance failure, Provider executes a remote asset deactivation protocol. All motor functions cease. Product becomes inert.

4.0 End-of-Life Protocol: This agreement includes mandatory enrollment in the Human Capital Donation Program. Upon the User’s “involuntary asset depreciation” (death), the Product must be returned. The User’s remaining biological matter is considered a voluntary, pre-approved donation to the Provider’s Post-Mortal Strategies Division for R&D.

5.0 Financial Continuity: Outstanding lease balances may be transferred to next-of-kin.

Activation constitutes acknowledgment that the User does not own the limb, only its temporary function.

I wrote this after watching everything become a subscription. Software. Cars. Tractors. Bodies next. Systems don’t stop themselves. Someone has to say no.

In the novel, Mateo stands before a tribunal and places his deactivated prosthetic limbs on the table:

“I’m not here to be fixed. I’m here so this doesn’t get reframed. So when they write the history, they can’t call it ‘legacy hardware depreciation.’ They have to call it what it is: Mutilation. Abandonment. Extraction down to the bone.”

The work of cultivation is refusing to let horror be optimized into acceptable language.

OR, OPTIMISM™ releases [publication date TBD]. More excerpts coming.

—U. Ortego
San Antonio Palopó, Guatemala

https://www.optimism-tm.com/

Every system reveals its deepest beliefs not in speeches but in paperwork.
While working through internal materials for my upcoming novel, I kept returning to this one—an HR-style flowchart designed to turn emotional life into a solvable problem. It’s meant as worldbuilding, but it also felt uncomfortably close to the way real institutions already talk about conflict, compliance, and “friction.”

So I’m sharing it here as a kind of leaked artifact from the world of the book: a document that shows how a society convinced it has solved human nature ends up treating people like malfunctioning devices.

The satire is obvious. The resemblance to reality is accidental.

Appendix N: Bedrock Human Capital

Friction De-Escalation Flowchart (Form 7-Gamma)

For mandatory display in all Synergy Pods, Harmony Hubs™, and collaborative workspaces.

Bedrock Tower has long recognized that “friction”—the spontaneous emergence of unsanctioned interpersonal dynamics—remains one of the most persistent threats to workplace harmony.
To ensure a predictable and emotionally sterile environment, all assets must follow the approved Friction De-Escalation Protocol as outlined below.

Failure to comply will be interpreted as resistance behavior and may affect long-term viability within the Harmony Ecosystem.

[START]

Query 1

Have you detected a sub-optimal interpersonal event (“friction”) within your operational vicinity?

• NO: Continue optimizing your workflow.
  Harmony is a choice—thank you for choosing it.

• YES: Proceed to Query 2.

Query 2

Is the source of the friction a non-compliant asset exhibiting a Synergy Score below the approved baseline?

• YES:
  Maintain optimal social distance.
  Tap your credential chip three (3) times to initiate Asset Protection Response.
  For your safety and the safety of the broader Harmony Ecosystem, do not attempt to interpret the emotions of a non-compliant asset.

• NO: Proceed to Query 3.

Query 3

Have you attempted to reframe the event as a synergistic learning opportunity?

• NO:
  Your perspective is misaligned.
  Complete the mandatory micro-course:
  Applied Framing 101: Recasting Liabilities as Learnings™.
  Failure to complete within 90 minutes will generate an automatic Resistance Flag.

• YES: Proceed to Query 4.

Query 4

Does the friction involve the exchange of unprocessed biological data (anger, sadness, unsolicited nostalgia, unscheduled joy)?

• YES:
  You are experiencing a legacy emotional subroutine.
  Report immediately to the nearest Emotional Recalibration Suite.
  You will undergo a supervised session of Approved Serotonin-Generating Mammalian Exposure (Unit Type: “DOG”).
  Note: Noncompliance will result in a negative biometric notation.

• NO: Proceed to Query 5.

Query 5

Have you verified that your language adheres to Brand Lexicon Compliance (v. 4.2) and employs only approved low-friction terminology?

• NO:
  Your lexicon is degrading local Harmony Metrics.
  Recalibrate vocabulary and reinitiate the interaction.

• YES: Proceed to Final Protocol.

[FINAL PROTOCOL]

If friction persists after all steps have been executed, the system has encountered a recursive synergy failure.

Please complete a Synergy Failure Report (Form 12-Delta) and remain stationary until an Extraction Team arrives to assist you in transitioning to a Low-Stimulus Observation Environment.

Reassignment to a Reduced-Synergy Work Group may occur.
Thank you for contributing to a safer, cleaner emotional ecosystem.