"As we augment our bodies and our societies with ever more pervasive and possibly
invasive sensing, computation, and communication, there comes a point when
we ourselves become these technologies"
Budapest was the first Central European city to make human augmentation illegal to buy while Hungary was the third country to ban and segregate augmented people. As the result, Budapest and several Hungarian cities introduced a district only for people with augmentations regardless of status. This idea was adopted into several Central and Eastern Europeans countries, while pro-augmented groups expressed their concerns. Two years after the introduction of the segregated districts, the remaining European Union shared reports about abuses within Budapestβs district to the United Nations. They sent a UN investigator to find out the truth behind the reports in the district with their informant, FΓ‘biΓ‘n Alexandra.
Alexandra was a former augmented model for Vogue before the Hungarian government forced her to live in the district and quit her job. She was the districtβs unofficial spokesperson for thousands of augmented people, and it got the United Nationβs attention. The United Nations believed that she had information regarding the mistreatment of augmented people in these districts by the authorities and citizens with anti-augmented views. If the information was accurate, then the United Nations would have enough evidence to declare the districts and possibility the anti-augmentation law as a human rights violation. Of course, they would have needed the evidence.
The United Nations made sure that their investigator didnβt have any problems entering Budapestβs augmented district. And informed them that Alexandra was waiting at a local cafΓ© called MehetnΓ©k (it meant Wanderlust in English). It used to be a popular place for tourists before the district forced the original owners to sell their cafΓ© to the government. Now, it was being run by the government. It wasnβt the ideal place to meet, but it seemed less suspicious than meeting at a park. Plus, they had to go to Alexandraβs place to retrieve the file of complaints and reports.
Alexandra was drinking her coffee while waiting for the United Nationβs investigator to show up.