Post Petrol
In wide spread use until the late 2200's . . . . . . Reminiscent of an era when wealthy flaneurs would congregate over "coffee". They would swipe their chip and an attendant would slip a hand beneath their shirt and connect the hoses of the street-side machine to flanges poking through their skin. Sip, sip, sip - a flush was a sensuous five minute hook up. After detaching, the customer stayed a while longer exchanging pleasantries while the process continued internally. One could leave immediately, of course, it was perfectly safe to do so, but it was simply not etiquette. The street-side dialysis machine flourished during the period when the average life span of early humans first edged beyond 100 years. They were a convenient way to refresh the flesh. These street-side hook ups were soon superseded by the practice of regular (every 10 years) Complete Organ Replacement Therapy. CORT was the precurser of the current, surgical TIR50 (40-50 year periodic Total Internal Refurbishment). So nothing has really replaced the knife and the suture, although the street-side dialysis machine came close. It was one of several non-intrusive therapies which sprang up at a time when surgery was still a crude, costly and time consuming affair. Advances in transplant technology have relegated these quaint, lifestyle inspired machines to the museum. The Nefertiti Company produced a number of these lifestyle technologies including the street-side dialysis machine and the cryogenics drive-thru. Indeed, a "Chilled Mummy", as it was known back then, is still not a bad investment. Even after 600 years of living we could always do with a little more and who knows what break-throughs the future may bring. But for now, these mechanical street-side artifacts serve to remind us of a shorter and, dare I say, more stylish past. |