The Future
2342
My name is Austin Smith and I am from a world where nothing is right, what you'd call normal. The year is 2342. Life is much different now in this century. To you, a person from 2010, my world is just a dream or rather a nightmare....
I have no memory of the shade of a tree, of picking velvety petals of a flower, or even of laying in the grass. These things do not exist in my world, not anymore. Everything was torn down when construction began all over the world. Nothing natural was left. When we heard about the advancements that we could make, we wanted to progress as far and fast as we could. That's all we were worried about, progression. We didn't notice the damage our planet was taking. We were blinded by greed and progress.
At this rate, we won't be able to progress any further because the human race will be lost forever.
---
I am one of the few who noticed that something was not quite right. I wanted to say something, to show the truth to someone, anyone. No one would listen. They were all following what the government had to say like sheep. Eventually, I grew silent. Now I walk out of my apartment and see hell on earth.
The only ground I walk on is cement. The only buildings I see are skyscrapers that each have hundreds of floors. There are no vehicles anymore. Everyone either walks or teleports to their destination. This has lead practically the whole population into major obesity.
They don't care. The doctors are able to fix them right up. Already, most people have had their stomachs and hearts replaced with mechanical ones, making them live longer. It's rumored that some doctors are even trying to create mechanical brains.
I am different from these people.
I used to work in the history department. My job wass to figure out what happened throughout history. After World War III, a lot of documents were destroyed forever thus making my job difficult.
One day, my co-workers and I were called into the conference room for a meeting. My boss had an excited expression plastered onto his face. He told us that we were finally progressing like the rest of the world, that the company had found a way to collect more information quicker. Of course, everyone, including me, was excited about this too. We all believed that the next day, we'd walk into our offices and our lives would be easier.
A scientist that had been standing in the background stepped forward. He showed us something that looked similar to a cell phone. He said it was a time machine. All you had to do was type in the day, the month, and then the year. The time machine would send a subject, usually a robot, to that exact day. It would record important events that occurred on a built-in camera. Soon, a few of us realized that we were no longer useful.
All I ever wanted to was make enough money to support my mother and I. That's all I want. Now I have failed and there's nothing I can really do.
---
When I told my mother that I had been laid off, that I'd no longer have that large paycheck, she tried to look on the bright side. She said that I'd find another job in no time. I'm not so sure about that. I told her that I hated this world that we live in. I enjoyed working in the history department because I was able to escape the madness of 2342. Now that my escape is gone, I don't know what to do with myself anymore.
That night, I laid awake thinking. How can I solve this problem when no one will listen to me or agree with me? How can I possibly help the planet when it's just me against the rest of the human race?
I stayed up all night just thinking about what I could do, when the idea came to me, I sat upright and thought some more about it. Would this even work?
---
I'm crazy. I know I am, I kept thinking to myself as I stomped out of my apartment building. I'm crazy! How could I even be thinking these kind of things? Have I finally gone off the edge?
I slid my key into the keyhole of the history department building's door. A single light eerily illuminated the hallway. Carefully, I tiptoed through the building and into the office that I had worked in for years. When I heard the sound of papers rustling, I ducked beneath my desk, adrenaline making my heart pound. I wasn't supposed to be here. I was supposed to return my key, but I couldn't bear to part with it. Giving the key back would mean that I really had been laid off.
I heard footsteps getting closer and closer to my office. I peeked my head over the desk to see who was coming through the window. It was my boss leaving the building. I ducked again and held my breath hoping that he hadn't sensed my presence. After I heard the door slam shut, I fluidly rose to my feet. I waited a minute or two before I opened the door of my office.
I swiftly glided into the office where the time machines were kept. I looked at them with a feeling of dread and excitement. I was going to put the earth out of its misery.
In World War III, the countries almost blew themselves up completely. Finally, one man came to his senses and proposed a treaty thus saving the world from ultimately destroying itself. If I can find that man and prevent him from proposing the treaty, then the countries will successfully kill themselves which means that the world will never see 2342. Nothing will exist after this. The world will not have to be such a horrible place. The world can finally put out of its misery!
I slowly walked toward a machine, I punched in the date: 06-09-2016 . I closed my eyes and hit enter.
I have no memory of the shade of a tree, of picking velvety petals of a flower, or even of laying in the grass. These things do not exist in my world, not anymore. Everything was torn down when construction began all over the world. Nothing natural was left. When we heard about the advancements that we could make, we wanted to progress as far and fast as we could. That's all we were worried about, progression. We didn't notice the damage our planet was taking. We were blinded by greed and progress.
At this rate, we won't be able to progress any further because the human race will be lost forever.
---
I am one of the few who noticed that something was not quite right. I wanted to say something, to show the truth to someone, anyone. No one would listen. They were all following what the government had to say like sheep. Eventually, I grew silent. Now I walk out of my apartment and see hell on earth.
The only ground I walk on is cement. The only buildings I see are skyscrapers that each have hundreds of floors. There are no vehicles anymore. Everyone either walks or teleports to their destination. This has lead practically the whole population into major obesity.
They don't care. The doctors are able to fix them right up. Already, most people have had their stomachs and hearts replaced with mechanical ones, making them live longer. It's rumored that some doctors are even trying to create mechanical brains.
I am different from these people.
I used to work in the history department. My job wass to figure out what happened throughout history. After World War III, a lot of documents were destroyed forever thus making my job difficult.
One day, my co-workers and I were called into the conference room for a meeting. My boss had an excited expression plastered onto his face. He told us that we were finally progressing like the rest of the world, that the company had found a way to collect more information quicker. Of course, everyone, including me, was excited about this too. We all believed that the next day, we'd walk into our offices and our lives would be easier.
A scientist that had been standing in the background stepped forward. He showed us something that looked similar to a cell phone. He said it was a time machine. All you had to do was type in the day, the month, and then the year. The time machine would send a subject, usually a robot, to that exact day. It would record important events that occurred on a built-in camera. Soon, a few of us realized that we were no longer useful.
All I ever wanted to was make enough money to support my mother and I. That's all I want. Now I have failed and there's nothing I can really do.
---
When I told my mother that I had been laid off, that I'd no longer have that large paycheck, she tried to look on the bright side. She said that I'd find another job in no time. I'm not so sure about that. I told her that I hated this world that we live in. I enjoyed working in the history department because I was able to escape the madness of 2342. Now that my escape is gone, I don't know what to do with myself anymore.
That night, I laid awake thinking. How can I solve this problem when no one will listen to me or agree with me? How can I possibly help the planet when it's just me against the rest of the human race?
I stayed up all night just thinking about what I could do, when the idea came to me, I sat upright and thought some more about it. Would this even work?
---
I'm crazy. I know I am, I kept thinking to myself as I stomped out of my apartment building. I'm crazy! How could I even be thinking these kind of things? Have I finally gone off the edge?
I slid my key into the keyhole of the history department building's door. A single light eerily illuminated the hallway. Carefully, I tiptoed through the building and into the office that I had worked in for years. When I heard the sound of papers rustling, I ducked beneath my desk, adrenaline making my heart pound. I wasn't supposed to be here. I was supposed to return my key, but I couldn't bear to part with it. Giving the key back would mean that I really had been laid off.
I heard footsteps getting closer and closer to my office. I peeked my head over the desk to see who was coming through the window. It was my boss leaving the building. I ducked again and held my breath hoping that he hadn't sensed my presence. After I heard the door slam shut, I fluidly rose to my feet. I waited a minute or two before I opened the door of my office.
I swiftly glided into the office where the time machines were kept. I looked at them with a feeling of dread and excitement. I was going to put the earth out of its misery.
In World War III, the countries almost blew themselves up completely. Finally, one man came to his senses and proposed a treaty thus saving the world from ultimately destroying itself. If I can find that man and prevent him from proposing the treaty, then the countries will successfully kill themselves which means that the world will never see 2342. Nothing will exist after this. The world will not have to be such a horrible place. The world can finally put out of its misery!
I slowly walked toward a machine, I punched in the date: 06-09-2016 . I closed my eyes and hit enter.