Orak, Verum, Scorch, and Felix had snuck out of MysticLand again. But after exploring the monuments of the United Kingdom, the four Mysticals were thirsty and hungry. They went to a cafe and ordered iced teas and sandwiches. When Verum went to pay the cashier, Felix stopped her.
“I want to pay,” Felix said and waved his hand over the contactless card payment machine. Nothing happened. He tried it a few more times but with the same result.
“Nevermind, you pay,” Felix told Verum. Verum counted the human currency carefully and gave it to the cashier.
“What were you trying to do, Felix?” Scorch said as the Mysticals sat down at a table.
“The person before us didn’t use cash or card to make the payment. They just placed their hand above the machine! So, why didn’t it work for me?” Felix said.
“Oh!” Orak said, “Felix, it’s because the person had a contactless payment microchip implant in his hand. It means a very small chip had been injected under his skin. A chip is a piece of specially prepared silicon with different electrical components. It’s a new technology to make payments easier.”
“Walletmor, a British-Polish company, became the first company to sell the chips,” Orak added, “They have sold over 500 implants.”
“But won’t a chip under the skin feel uncomfortable?” Scorch said, “And is it safe?”
“Walletmor’s chips weigh less than a gram. They are only a little bigger than a grain of rice. The company says that it’s completely safe. It works immediately after being injected,” Orak said, “But some people are concerned about the safety and security of the information in the chip. They are worried they can be tracked (to follow a person’s movements) with the chip implants.”
“How do these implants work? Do they need batteries?” Verum said.
“No, they don’t need batteries or any other power source. They work just like debit and credit cards. They can be used in any country where contactless payments are accepted,” Orak answered.
“There’s another company making implants since 2017. It’s BioTeq, a United Kingdom company. Its implants help people with disabilities to automatically open doors!” Orak said.
“While we have to be careful but there are such times when I love how technology makes our lives easier and better!” Felix remarked.