Chapter 20

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Accessing departmental requests...

Extract: Joint Protocol Request from Homeland with the aid of the Agriculture, forwarded to Psychology by command of Government (350.355)

The growing food crisis has brought riots across America. There is a need to act quickly as these shortages become more severe. With haste, we must act together to bring back safety. With the abrupt decline in primary agricultural land as a result of radiation from the war, Agriculture predicts massive famine for next year. There is already a limited food supply, as storages become depleted. If these riots continue, there will, undoubtedly, be a total loss of control and we may very well be in jeopardy as collective entities. As a group, we must put aside our respective agendas and come to a consensus on how to deal with this situation.

Agriculture has already stated that she will accommodate whatever action is necessary, as Government sees fit. What Homeland and Government seeks of Psychology is nothing short of a miracle. We need the minds of the hoi polloi tamed by any means necessary.

Searching experiment database for possible solutions...

Possible solution found. Micom DJD336 and later has access to the hypothalamus and can control hunger, with some modification to its firmware.

Researching...

Controlling taste would best be done by reinterpreting signals passed from the brainstem. The current Micom is incapable of reaching these signals, as the original project was designed for sight, sound, and touch. With an adjustment to the Micom’s sensory function, altering the taste of any food is possible. The same can be done for smell. When the modification is made, smell, taste, texture, and visual representations can all be altered so that any food can be represented.

Formulating response to Homeland...

Preamble: The oversight of not using the Micom to suppress appetite will be fixed immediately, as outlined in step one. Interesting to note are the subjects’ will to revolt over hunger, despite the behavioral modifications that are in place.

Here is a breakdown of my solution:

Micom DJD336 and later will be used to suppress appetites in individuals, with an ideal goal of 800 calories consumed per individual. This will reduce overall food intake by a minimum of 60%.
Micom DJD356 will include smell and taste interpretive sensors so that the representation of food can be altered. Once rollout starts, the nature of food perception will change with maturity. Currently, humans are born at 9 years of age and have a typical lifespan of 19 years. Thus, the current model Micom will be entirely obsolete by 001.375. This solution provides both a short- term response and long-term changes.
With the agreement of Agriculture, our research shows that single cropping would be a more effective means of food production. We recommend that soybeans be grown and turned into tofu for easy distribution. The Micom will be able to interpret the tofu as any food desirable to individuals, thus satisfying the need for greater production on Government’s end and the human desire for variety. The specifics of food production, including type, however, is not important to me.
City water shall be adapted by adding a slurry, which will provide essential nutrients lacking in the tofu. Also included will be anti-radiation medication to prevent the rapid decay of cell tissue.

In short, I have immediate and long-term solutions for Homeland’s problems of human unrest. With the approval of Government, I am ready to proceed.