They Grow Up So Fast (Short Story)

Written: 12/21/2013       Edited: 4/2/2017

The history of bioeletronic implants began well over one hundred years ago, with the invention of rather primitive cochlear implants. These devices, even in the late 1950s, could restore some semblance of a sense of hearing, to the amazement of many and the consternation of more than a few. It seems that bioelectronics has always been a controversial field, even before it was called bioelectronics.

For the first few decades, these cochlear implants were the only bioelectronic implants that existed in the mainstream. Research progressed beyond that, of course. The chief areas of interest in the field were to restore function to other senses and to limbs. However, it was a long time before any of these devices could be refined beyond the experimental stage. At the turn of the century, though, the field of bioelectronics turned a corner. The second half-century of research proved much more fruitful than the first half, and a much greater variety of devices became widely available to patients of even moderate means.

My birth came near the end of that period, and so I do not really remember any of it. Perhaps I remember family vacations from that time, or birthday gifts, or an especially bad skinned knee. Then again, perhaps those are only invented memories. In either case, as a child of that age, I did not know the first thing about bioelectronics, and so of that, I have nothing to remember.

My recollections span a different transitional period. Even when I was young, bioelectronics were being implanted as early as birth. These were optional procedures to fix certain congenital defects that were discovered during pregnancy, or even to enhance certain talents if parents had the inclination and the resources. There were even a few devices that had been developed as “safety features” to protect other people from a misbehaved and destructive child, though I can't imagine what kind of parents would have chosen to install such a thing in their newborn baby way back in the 60s. At that time, the mere mention of bioelectronic implants was enough to provoke outrage in certain people. That was only a vocal minority, but they were registered and avid voters, and they were very vocal.

By the time my two boys arrived, bioelectronics were standard, as much a part of childbirth as the Lamaze method and the Apgar test.

My two little boys: Phil, age six, and Dirk, age five. They are part of the first generation of children to go to school in a classroom full of cyborgs, although it's hard to think of my own children that way. My two little boys: Phil and Dirk. They mean so much to Alex and me that it's hard to think of them as normal. But that's what they are: perfectly normal. Or at least they were, up until a year ago.

It was around that time that their teachers began to notice that their development had slowed somewhat. Their homework was sometimes being returned incomplete, and sometimes they had trouble answering some of the teachers' questions. Though it still seemed to me that they were growing up so fast, they were no longer growing as quickly as most of the other children. Phil and Dirk had always hovered around the 60^th or 70^th percentile for both height and weight, but had slipped from above-average to below-average. Now, both of them are the smallest in their class.

Eventually, the school advised that we take Phil and Dirk to see a doctor, so of course we did. The doctors couldn't find anything wrong with them, any underlying cause. They were perfectly healthy boys (and they still are), they were just not developing as quickly as their peers. The doctors told us that sometimes this just happens, for no particular reason and with nobody in particular at fault. I myself had been the smallest in my class until a late growth spurt at the age of 19, and Alex is still quite small. Neither of us were scholarship students, either, although I was a late bloomer academically, too. If this is who Phil and Dirk are, neither of us will love them any less for it.

So the doctors sent us home, and that was the end of it, as far as they were concerned. There was no injury or illness, which meant there was nothing for them to worry about. Just not being average, all by itself, is not an abnormality. The teachers, who had a more personal relationship with our boys, were only mostly reassured by what they heard from the doctors. They were still a little bit concerned. Just to make sure, they set up a visit from Children's Services.

It wasn't intended to be a surprise visit. They told us that when they got here, although after what transpired, we didn't really believe that. It turned out that the notice had somehow gotten lost in processing, and ended up arriving two weeks after the social worker did. When the doorbell rang, Phil and Dirk were sitting listlessly in front of the television, Alex was watching them, overcome by loving adoration, and I was in the kitchen with flour all over my hands.

Alex let the woman from Children's Services in, and her eyes fell immediately upon Phil and Dirk. “They just fell asleep in front of the TV after a long day at school,” Alex told her. “Don't turn it off or you'll wake them up.” The lady picked up the remote control and turned the television off. Neither Phil nor Dirk stirred. Now the woman started to say something, but Alex interrupted. “I think it would be better if you didn't disturb them. They need their rest.”

The woman from Children's Services hardly paused a second before bending down to about eye level with the children. “Phil.” she said firmly. “Dirk?” Neither one stirred. Now the woman moved to touch the boys.

“Do you have to?” Alex asked. “They're just so beautiful when they sleep. Couldn't you just leave them be?” The woman put one hand on each boy and shook them lightly by the shoulder. Still, neither one woke. Dirk did slump forward, though, revealing the back of his neck–and revealing that neither of the boys was asleep at all.

Strictly speaking, they had been 'turned off.'

This bioelectric implant was originally one of those optional safety features that had been introduced back in the '60s. The idea was that it would be a non-injurious way of calming a destructive child or restraining one in a self-defense or a police arrest situation. And in fact it was non-injurious. Studies have repeatedly shown that turning a child off does her no harm at all.

There have been a lot of studies, too. There is a lot of data available. While this particular safety feature had originally been created for the benefit of others, almost every parent today uses it exclusively for the benefit of the child herself. The switch on the back of the neck has become a detour around any sort of painful or traumatic event in a young child's life, the kind that has the potential to affect the child psychologically. People who are 'turned off' don't remember a thing. Even into adulthood, the switch is useful for keeping injured people from struggling against painful but necessary first-responder treatment, or even just for preventing them from injuring themselves further in sheer panic.

There's no logical reason to use the switch on someone who is just lounging in front of a television, of course. But it turns out that life is not always logical. People certainly aren't. So one day almost two years ago, when Phil and Dirk were sitting in front of the TV watching football and arguing about the relative merits of Barcelona's club and New York's, I mentioned that they were growing up so quickly. Was it then logical for Alex to grow morose, agitated, and then finally angry about how soon they would be moody preteens, and then independent upperclassmen, and then finally leave altogether? It probably was not. Was it logical for me to turn them off when I realized we were about to have an argument? I would like think so.

I'm not sure if the idea to leave them off was logic, or mere desperation. When people are 'turned off,' their bodies enter a state of very minimal activity. In that state, they don't have enough metabolic activity to grow. The reduced metabolism also slows aging. Turned off for half of every day, a person's childhood would double in length. That was the idea. And Alex looked so happy just to watch them. I didn't have the heart to quit.

Once the Children's Services woman had calmed down a bit, there was nothing I could do but confess this to her. That of course got me sent up for a little while, but they're letting me out today. The switch is completely harmless, so my repeated use of it doesn't meet any legal definition of abuse. Once the state determined that, they had no choice but to declare me innocent of any wrongdoing and secure my release.

I'm not sure what I'll do now. Children's Services has ordered me to comply with a newly-created set of emergency procedures for using the switch, and the law against ignoring orders prepared by Children's Services is very clear.

I'm afraid that Alex and I will both miss watching them sleep.

They're going to grow up so fast.