"This is the third time this week!" he said "I get the feeling that your just going to have to get a new set i'm afraid"

The Television sat in the living room, lifeless, as Matt put his tools away in his box and closed it.

"I just don't understand." said his customer, a Mr. Carlisle "...and it's the same thing again?"

"Yeah" said Matt "Just inside the set, at the point that the power lead is connected to the circuitry. It's been slashed again."

They both stood in thought for a second.

"If I were you", continued Matt "I'd get something like a Phillips or a Sony. I wouldn't bother with one of these new Japanese things. The technologies all there but I'm always getting calls about them breaking down...still, keeps me in business though."

"Yes...yes it must do."

"I guess I should really take one apart some day and take a look at it because, to be honest, I don't really know much about these new models."

"Well you can take this one with you if you like. I'm hardly going to use it now am I?"

When Matt got home and had his dinner, he sat and watched his own TV. It was a British model. He found himself staring for a several hours at countless reality TV shows, shows about saving money, shows about dectectives, shows about auctions. After a while he suddenly remembered the TV that was sitting in his van. He got up and strolled outside to get it.

It wasn't long before it lay in pieces on the floor. All the components were revealed about from one, which was encased in a big chunk of plastic. He pryed it open. This is new, he thought.

He checked the manual and got the helpline number for the English branch. He asked if he could arrange visit one of the factories. He was met with a severe "No!". He decided to ask to speak to whoever was in charge and was put onto a man called Simon Hinton. He asked about the component. Component 12A. "Perhaps you'd like to visit one of our factories" said Simon.

From the outside the factory looked normal and, to be honest, inside the factory looked normal. It was only when Matt was shown, by Hinton himself, to the part of the factory dedicated to making Component 12A that things seemed slightly odd. It was more like some kind of strange science lab, everyone was wearing lab coats, googles, and masks to cover their mouths. Matt and Simon stood gazing through the glass at the lab.

Simon had already guessed the question that was about to be formed into words by Matt.

"You're about to ask me what they are doing, aren't you?"

"Yes..."

"First you have to understand that are corporation is leading the way in technological advances. What may seem strange or...perverse today will be normal tomorrow. We truly are gods in our field."

"But what are they doing?"

"Cloning."

"That's illegal isn't it!"

"Well, who's really to say...but that's not the real question is it. You want to know what and why."

"and?"

"You know, the most powerful computer that you'll ever encounter is the human brain. No human build computer could ever be as close to perfection as the thing you carry inside you're skull...well maybe not your skull but...well you get the idea. If we could harness the power of the brain we could make better and more powerful machines...and could grow the parts. That mere Television set of yours is the start of a technological revolution...and we only need a certain part of the human brain to make it work."

Matt paused to take it all in. It was odd and slightly creepy but...why not...it made perfect sense.

"So why doesn't anyone know about this then?" he asked.

"Can you imagine the reaction! We'd be treated like...like Darwin when he came up with the theory of evolution. We can't have that. No, we have to wait until everyone is used to using this technology, say a few years down the line, and then we reveal what makes it all tick. People won't mind, people will be so used to it by then that they just won't care and for once this new technology is currently only available in England. My boss says that Japan can wait."

Simon was a bit over the top, a bit speechy, but he was right. This was a brilliant idea.

Simon continued "Of course, so far, there have been a few problems."

Matt's interest was reeled in. "Like what?"

"Well, the TV's we've been selling...they seem to work for a while and then, totally out of the blue, they stop."

"That's exactly what happened to the TV that i've got. That's the reason why I pulled it apart and contacted you."

"Yes, and you fix them and a few days later the same thing happens. No explanation."

"So what are you going to do?"

"We've got people looking into it, at each of our factories. Come, i'll show you."

This room was more like a technicians office. It had pieces of canabalised junk every where. Empty metal ribcages. The Japanese girl Miho was looking confused as Simon walked in with Matt following. "Are we any further?" asked Simon.

"No...well...not really." answered Miho as she removed her glasses and set them down next to the TV. She paused before picking up the remote for a video recorder. Near to where they stood was a TV of a different make. Underneath was a video recorder. The TV was on. She pressed rewind on her remote.

"There is something a little odd though..." she said.

"What?" asked Simon.

She pressed play. They were looking at a close up of the inside of the television set which lay on Miho's desk.

"What are we supposed to be looking for?" asked Simon impatiently.

"At this angle you can't see it but the television is plugged in and switched on. The sets have only ever been broken when they were on."

As they watched a sharp piece of metal detached itself from the circuit board and violently slashed at the cord. At first it did very little damage, finally it slashed deep into the cord and sparks flew out. The TV died.

Matt suddenly felt sick. He'd seem this before. He'd been through this before and no-one here even knew what they were looking at. He'd changed his mind. It was sick. It was perverse. It was against all that he believed in.

Simon and Miho were both staring at him.

"Are you all right" asked Simon "You seem a bit shaken."

"Of course i'm fucking shaken. We've just been watching an attempted suicide!"

Simon got in contact with the head of the corporation to discuss the recent, rather disturbing, findings. Simon was now sat in his meeting room with Miho, Matt and a computer which was video linked to Mr. Takagashi in Japan.

"So Simon, what seems to be so important that you would call for a meeting so urgently?" asked Mr. Takagashi.

"Well, sir, it's about Component 12A." replied Simon.

"Have you found out what the problem is?"

"Maybe..."

"Well?"

"Sir, it may sound foolish and please forgive me if it does sound so but..."

"Yes?!"

"We believe that Component 12A, the component made of a very small part of the human brain has, well we believe that it's achieved sentience."

"What?!"

"The broken television sets that we've been collecting all appear to have comitted suicide. They've not only developed sentience but also telekinesis."

"This is ridiculous."

Miho joined in, "It's almost as if sitting in a room while people stare at you all day is causing them to...get depressed. We've got to end the project, sir. There's no way we can continue with this hanging over us."

The official story read that the TV's had faulty parts and in a way, I guess that was true. Mr Takagashi, once he'd been convinced, decided that the best thing to do would be to ditch all research into using genetic material for technology. It's time would come, but not yet.

Simon sat in front of his television and wondered how it must feel to be a TV. You can't move, you can't speak, you can't do anything but stare with one big eye. He felt guilty and sick to the stomach whenever he thought about the video and whether he could have done anything to make things better but he knew deep down that such a creature was never meant to live and that was a hard thing to except in it's self. He switched off his TV gently and settled down to read a book. At least that was safe.

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