Sentient Illusions - a Sci-Fi short story extracted from a dream (episode 1)

Augmented reality did go very far from what we used to know in our childhood times, we no longer had the need of goofy glasses or bulky helmets. Science helped us develop a microchip that was inserted directly into the cerebral cortex; it not only augmented the audiovisual perception of our surroundings, it could made us smell, taste and feel things as never before. Given the right government clearance level, it could be used to embed knowledge directly into our consciousness.
A powerful tool.

Just as power tools made carpenters and smiths have no need of sweating while they worked, augmented reality had a series of not-so-beneficial consequences in humans, that were solved... With augmented reality.
It all started when some smart children at a tech based University, decided to hook up an anthropomorphic robot to their AR chip, they weren't only able to control it remotely using the internet of things, but also managed to "hack" the reality of others so that they would see those robot as if it was them. Avatars.

Wonderful inventions have the tradition of hiding to the public eye until the creator dies, this was no exception.

They found them because they "froze" at a birthday party, they took them to the hospital, doctors saw that everything was OK... And that the instruments were somehow malfunctioning, returning some strange readings.
Everyone was shocked as their real, organic, bodies were found in their homes when they were taking the avatars for home hospitalization. Obese, anemic, laying on top of their own urine and feces. With a stench so strong that even the AR chips had problems masking the odor.
They died of a hearth attack at the age of 25 and 26... A cause death that was unheard of for over 50 years.

The case was broadcast by worldwide media and social networks faster than an AR chip firmware update.
Of course, the families had no part of the cause of death of their children. Blaming the tool instead of the misuse of it is something so human that it was still impossible to eradicate. Just as it happened nearly a century ago with guns.
Some advocated for the regulation and prohibition of new techs, everything should always be overseen by the high clearance citizens of the world. Others opted for the utter destruction of the robots. Until large enterprises stepped in with a third solution:
They would buy the tech, develop it and regulate it, making themselves responsible of any future misuse.
Of course, nobody says "no" to a nice, fat crypto priv-key.

Googl3 Drones, had been born.

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To be continued.