TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter 1 - Regret
Monday, February 15, 2010
Chapter 1 - Regret
As far as I know I am the last living person on earth. I won’t be for much longer, though. The only thing standing between me and the instant death of the now un-breathable air of earth’s former atmosphere is an encapsulation shield. It’s a high energy protection shield that keeps out light and radiation and keeps in my oxygen supply. I am not sure which will give out first, my oxygen (I am down to one generator and the air is feeling pretty thin) or the encapsulation generator. It is my daily task to keep both of these going. Fortunately, I have not had any problem with the food synthesizers. Unfortunately, I’ve probably gained over 50 pounds in the past five years - eating is my only pleasure. With the right parts and equipment I could fix any of these machines, but now here alone, I am helpless, waiting for certain death.
Every night before I fall asleep I think of Trina, out there in space. What was she doing? Who was she with? Was she laughing that crazy snort, laugh? Was she swearing like a sailor? Was she thinking of me? I wished I could be with her, but I had made my choice. As much as I now regretted it there was nothing I could do to change it.
My name is Notwen Casia. I was born on December 25, 2164. It was a golden age in which the earth was seen for what it was, a single organism in which everyone and everything was an equal part. This could not have happened as long as the illusion of scarcity existed. Scarcity had been the self perpetuating tool of capitalism. Keep them wanting and needing and afraid, and you can control them. It was technology that had ended the illusion. One by one new technologies eliminated want all over the world. The initial breakthrough was achieved by a Belgian scientist, Dr. Francis Etourdi, in which he famously powered a remote control helicopter with energy derived from thin air. This led quickly to cars that were powered from thin air, airplanes, you name it. Fossil fuels became as useless as rocks. Electricity became obsolete, an unnecessary middle man of power. These same technologies led to the synthesis of food from thin air and soon products of all kinds were made this way. The very cars we drove were solid objects one moment and then vanished back into thin air when the user was done with it. . Ownership became an abstract concept that no one could really understand. The effect of this on companies was devastating. Why would anyone need to own anything and if no one needed to own anything certainly no one need to manufacture anything. Jobs disappeared, but that was fine because no one wanted or needed these jobs. Time was spent on creative pursuits. Crime disappeared and so did lawyers, police officers and soldiers. There was no violence. Each person was seen by the other as an extension of themselves.
The very same technologies revolutionized healthcare. Failing organs were regenerated often inside the body of the patient eliminating the need for surgery.
Every facet of human life was improved and then improved again. The Earth itself was the happy beneficiary of these improvements. She was no longer being dug into and dumped on. Everything that was made from this process was disposable, but they didn’t end up in land fills, they simply evaporated when the user was done with them, returning immediately into the ether from where it had come. Entire homes could be erected and taken down in minutes, natural beauty was preserved and people were free to move about as they pleased.
It was a global renaissance in which the needs of every human being and the health of the planet was paramount. Through technology energy, food and water were made infinitely available to all. Starvation and disease were virtually eliminated. Crime and war became things of the past. Every person in the world of which there were now 10 billion worked together.
This was the world that into which Trina and I were born. We had known each other since we were babies our fathers had been colleagues. They were idealistic scientists working in the forefront of this new movement they called technological globalism. It was the new religion in which earth was seen as one living organism and we, earth’s inhabitants were seen as the many parts that comprised the one whole. No one was considered more or less important to the other.
I truly loved Trina and she loved me. Space travel had become as common as a weekend getaway. Many people went to space and rarely returned to Earth. Others came and went as they pleased. Were it not for me and my disdain for Space (ok outright utter fear) I don’t think Trina would ever have come back. But, back she did come with tales of her explorations
It was a magical time. Then, with no warning one Friday afternoon at about 3pm reports began pouring in that vegetation was dying all over the world. Crops were simply turning brown and dropping dead overnight. Then, trees, then anything with a photosynthetic process.
Panic ensued all over the world. A global task force was put together to address the problems. Within a year no plant life remained. The world’s populations were moved to the largest cities which were encapsulated with energy fields to protect them from the unfiltered sun and to hold in the oxygen. Oxygen generators were installed and then the evacuation began. We had already become quite adept at space travel and colonization. More space colonies were created almost overnight and the overstuffed, encapsulated cities began to be freed of their burden.
Trina implored me to evacuate to space with her, but I felt a responsibility to stay and help with the evacuation. Conditions were inhumanely crowded. Trina could not stand it. We fought bitterly. Her last words to me were “I can’t stand it anymore. I need some fucking space.” And with that she was gone.
I know now that I should have gone with her. Not a day passes that I don’t replay our last fight changing the end to me chasing after her, scooping her up in my arms and saying let’s go get some space together or something corny like that.
But I didn’t and as I lie here in bed awaiting the imminent failure of the encapsulation generator, its normally constant whirring sound punctuated now with modulations of lower frequency groans, tell tale signs of system failure. I didn’t know how long I had but I did know that when it failed the encapsulation field would open from the top, unzipping itself like a leather bag, exposing me to the certain heat and radiation of our now dead earth. On the plus side it would be a quick death 1 to 2 minutes, tops before I passed out and then, merciful asphyxiation.
As the concept of my death became more and more real a deep sense of regret filled my entire being. I focused on Trina, holding her imaginary hand, strolling down an imaginary beach that I had never taken the time to stroll with her. She was laughing, kicking water up at me as the waves rolled in.
The generator was designed to diagnose and fix itself. It could no longer fix itself and I had long ago burned through the back up units, so it was now resorting to its final option, cycle down and restart. As it cycled down there was an eerie silence, the white noise, whirring giving way to an empty quiet and then an intense whirring as it cycled back up. It was doing this very frequently now. As long as it was able to complete the cycle down and startup within 30 seconds the encapsulation shield would hold, any longer and my earth days were over.
The generator cycled down.
“I wish I was with her,” I whispered to mysef. I began counting, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.”
The cycle kicked back in, the whirring sounding more labored. Whirring, whirring, whirring and then whirring stopped suddenly. I timed the pause again, squeezing Trina’s imaginary hand as hard as I could.
“1, 2, 3,” I counted.
This time I counted to 26 before a new cycle kicked in. The next would probably be the last. Trina smiled at me reassuringly as she gently stroked my hair with her free hand. The generator cycled down. My began counting began again in the eerie silence, “ 1, 2, 3, 4.”
I thought of how it could have been. Anger surged through me. Who was I angry with? Technology or maybe the arrogance of mankind that thought it could fix the world with technology. That was sure wrong. We had fucked up the world with our technology and now it was leveling one final blow against me. I was mad with myself. I could have made my life about just being with Trina. Instead I let myself be consumed by globalism.
“18, 19, 20. Come on you generator, I don’t want to die. I want to walk on the beach with Trina. I want to tell her I love her. 27, 28. I love you Trina.”
“I love you too, Notwen,” She answered. “Come rescue me,” she said softly.
“ 29, 30,”my counting continued as her imaginary words were still hanging in the imaginary air.
Come rescue you?, I thought. How can I rescue you and why was she in trouble? As I thought these words I looked up to see the a stream of bright sunlight burst through the field as it split open, the shiny case evaporating into thin air. I took a huge breath, the will to live still strong in me despite the impossible situation. As I watched the sun stream in I wasn’t sure what would kill me first, the radiation, the heat or the lack of oxygen. Trina’s words (my imaginary words) ringing in my head, Come rescue me. Come rescue me.
Every night before I fall asleep I think of Trina, out there in space. What was she doing? Who was she with? Was she laughing that crazy snort, laugh? Was she swearing like a sailor? Was she thinking of me? I wished I could be with her, but I had made my choice. As much as I now regretted it there was nothing I could do to change it.
My name is Notwen Casia. I was born on December 25, 2164. It was a golden age in which the earth was seen for what it was, a single organism in which everyone and everything was an equal part. This could not have happened as long as the illusion of scarcity existed. Scarcity had been the self perpetuating tool of capitalism. Keep them wanting and needing and afraid, and you can control them. It was technology that had ended the illusion. One by one new technologies eliminated want all over the world. The initial breakthrough was achieved by a Belgian scientist, Dr. Francis Etourdi, in which he famously powered a remote control helicopter with energy derived from thin air. This led quickly to cars that were powered from thin air, airplanes, you name it. Fossil fuels became as useless as rocks. Electricity became obsolete, an unnecessary middle man of power. These same technologies led to the synthesis of food from thin air and soon products of all kinds were made this way. The very cars we drove were solid objects one moment and then vanished back into thin air when the user was done with it. . Ownership became an abstract concept that no one could really understand. The effect of this on companies was devastating. Why would anyone need to own anything and if no one needed to own anything certainly no one need to manufacture anything. Jobs disappeared, but that was fine because no one wanted or needed these jobs. Time was spent on creative pursuits. Crime disappeared and so did lawyers, police officers and soldiers. There was no violence. Each person was seen by the other as an extension of themselves.
The very same technologies revolutionized healthcare. Failing organs were regenerated often inside the body of the patient eliminating the need for surgery.
Every facet of human life was improved and then improved again. The Earth itself was the happy beneficiary of these improvements. She was no longer being dug into and dumped on. Everything that was made from this process was disposable, but they didn’t end up in land fills, they simply evaporated when the user was done with them, returning immediately into the ether from where it had come. Entire homes could be erected and taken down in minutes, natural beauty was preserved and people were free to move about as they pleased.
It was a global renaissance in which the needs of every human being and the health of the planet was paramount. Through technology energy, food and water were made infinitely available to all. Starvation and disease were virtually eliminated. Crime and war became things of the past. Every person in the world of which there were now 10 billion worked together.
This was the world that into which Trina and I were born. We had known each other since we were babies our fathers had been colleagues. They were idealistic scientists working in the forefront of this new movement they called technological globalism. It was the new religion in which earth was seen as one living organism and we, earth’s inhabitants were seen as the many parts that comprised the one whole. No one was considered more or less important to the other.
I truly loved Trina and she loved me. Space travel had become as common as a weekend getaway. Many people went to space and rarely returned to Earth. Others came and went as they pleased. Were it not for me and my disdain for Space (ok outright utter fear) I don’t think Trina would ever have come back. But, back she did come with tales of her explorations
It was a magical time. Then, with no warning one Friday afternoon at about 3pm reports began pouring in that vegetation was dying all over the world. Crops were simply turning brown and dropping dead overnight. Then, trees, then anything with a photosynthetic process.
Panic ensued all over the world. A global task force was put together to address the problems. Within a year no plant life remained. The world’s populations were moved to the largest cities which were encapsulated with energy fields to protect them from the unfiltered sun and to hold in the oxygen. Oxygen generators were installed and then the evacuation began. We had already become quite adept at space travel and colonization. More space colonies were created almost overnight and the overstuffed, encapsulated cities began to be freed of their burden.
Trina implored me to evacuate to space with her, but I felt a responsibility to stay and help with the evacuation. Conditions were inhumanely crowded. Trina could not stand it. We fought bitterly. Her last words to me were “I can’t stand it anymore. I need some fucking space.” And with that she was gone.
I know now that I should have gone with her. Not a day passes that I don’t replay our last fight changing the end to me chasing after her, scooping her up in my arms and saying let’s go get some space together or something corny like that.
But I didn’t and as I lie here in bed awaiting the imminent failure of the encapsulation generator, its normally constant whirring sound punctuated now with modulations of lower frequency groans, tell tale signs of system failure. I didn’t know how long I had but I did know that when it failed the encapsulation field would open from the top, unzipping itself like a leather bag, exposing me to the certain heat and radiation of our now dead earth. On the plus side it would be a quick death 1 to 2 minutes, tops before I passed out and then, merciful asphyxiation.
As the concept of my death became more and more real a deep sense of regret filled my entire being. I focused on Trina, holding her imaginary hand, strolling down an imaginary beach that I had never taken the time to stroll with her. She was laughing, kicking water up at me as the waves rolled in.
The generator was designed to diagnose and fix itself. It could no longer fix itself and I had long ago burned through the back up units, so it was now resorting to its final option, cycle down and restart. As it cycled down there was an eerie silence, the white noise, whirring giving way to an empty quiet and then an intense whirring as it cycled back up. It was doing this very frequently now. As long as it was able to complete the cycle down and startup within 30 seconds the encapsulation shield would hold, any longer and my earth days were over.
The generator cycled down.
“I wish I was with her,” I whispered to mysef. I began counting, “1, 2, 3, 4, 5.”
The cycle kicked back in, the whirring sounding more labored. Whirring, whirring, whirring and then whirring stopped suddenly. I timed the pause again, squeezing Trina’s imaginary hand as hard as I could.
“1, 2, 3,” I counted.
This time I counted to 26 before a new cycle kicked in. The next would probably be the last. Trina smiled at me reassuringly as she gently stroked my hair with her free hand. The generator cycled down. My began counting began again in the eerie silence, “ 1, 2, 3, 4.”
I thought of how it could have been. Anger surged through me. Who was I angry with? Technology or maybe the arrogance of mankind that thought it could fix the world with technology. That was sure wrong. We had fucked up the world with our technology and now it was leveling one final blow against me. I was mad with myself. I could have made my life about just being with Trina. Instead I let myself be consumed by globalism.
“18, 19, 20. Come on you generator, I don’t want to die. I want to walk on the beach with Trina. I want to tell her I love her. 27, 28. I love you Trina.”
“I love you too, Notwen,” She answered. “Come rescue me,” she said softly.
“ 29, 30,”my counting continued as her imaginary words were still hanging in the imaginary air.
Come rescue you?, I thought. How can I rescue you and why was she in trouble? As I thought these words I looked up to see the a stream of bright sunlight burst through the field as it split open, the shiny case evaporating into thin air. I took a huge breath, the will to live still strong in me despite the impossible situation. As I watched the sun stream in I wasn’t sure what would kill me first, the radiation, the heat or the lack of oxygen. Trina’s words (my imaginary words) ringing in my head, Come rescue me. Come rescue me.
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