A Timeless Journey (5 page)

Before I continue with my first day in the IEF, I like to take a little time to describe the structure where I stayed. This building was the tallest on the air city with 1500 floors divided in 30 levels. As you can guess, each level consisted of fifty floors. It meant I was going to follow my lessons high up somewhere between the floors 1350 and 1400 on a platform in the sky. This was the highest I had ever been without a plane. Only the thought of it scared the daylight out of me.

My apartment was on the floor 48 of the twelfth level, space C, which was the third apartment on floor 598. On each floor there were a total of twenty apartments on the outer layer with the facilities core situated in the middle. The facilities core and the apartment spaces were separated by a circular corridor between them.

The facilities core was the hi-tech brain of the building and all a living space needed, ran from there. The core supplied everything, from energy, to oxygen, internet, disposal of rubbish and liquids and the cubes which were capable of traveling with great speed up and down and also sideways to the apartment entrance. The core was large enough to store dry risers, wet risers, other risers, a lot of high-tech equipment and also the cube shafts. The chairs inside the cube were all equipped with gravity defying technology and it would take charge of the body in a way that protected it from any G-forces as it travelled around the building.

The whole building was hermetically sealed and oxygen was distributed into each space equally through a high-tech, self-run complicated mechanism inside the facilities core. Being so high up in the sky where the oxygen levels together with temperature were low, the hermetic concealment of the building made perfect sense. The only floors with an exit were the parking floors.

On each level, there were five floors for parking and for the GNP, which meant ‘general needs point’ or shops as we know it in this reality. With the technology they had, there was no need for shops as we know it in 21
st
century, which is why they were called GNP. Inside a GNP one could request from the postal service to a haircut, from official requests and legal aid to partnership ceremonies and just about anything else one would order on Holo.

Most of the shopping and ordering was done via Holo virtually. Those who frequented GNP did it mostly to keep the old tradition of shopping alive, or simply because they just remembered to acquire something in that very moment when they walked past one, or to feel a form, or even to collect an order. Official requests to the governing system were the most commonly used in the shops and online. In this reality everyone submitted these request forms almost on the daily bases and the local and world government system replied to each and every one accordingly.

For any issue or request a citizen would have, they had to fill in an official request and submitted it to the system. The system was an integrated computer program built to run local and global politics and responded to every official request without human prejudice. It might be hard for someone who just arrived from 21
st
century to understand the way democracy worked in this reality, however, as my time and adventures in the future progressed, everything started to become clearer.

After the video conference finished and I had been updated as to what to expect in the days and weeks to come, the two law keepers who were assigned to escort me left the room. The screen in front of me transformed into a televised information screen, while I remained seated looking at the information, pictures and videos. The Link’s metallic voice intervened in my head every time I needed an explanation.

For the next three hours, I watched and listened in amazement to the achievements of this new world. By the end of the documentary about this reality, I had a better understanding of how humans lived in the 26
th
century. After the informative documentary finished, Link explained to me that I had to take a few initial tests before I retreated to my apartment for the remainder of the day.

The first test was a simple shape rearrangement task which I found it to be childish. However, once I finished completing the test, Link explained it wasn’t made to offend my intelligence, but to measure the speed of my brain reaction in connection with my visual ability. They had created an algorithm to measure intelligence and this was part one of the test.

The second test was also simple involving mathematical questions, starting from the easy ones with two plus three and two times two and finishing with more complicated questions. This time I guessed that it was to measure the speed of how my brain reacted under pressure during an occurring situation. Link, as per usual, confirmed.

The third test was a memory test. I was asked to confirm what I had heard on the documentary. This test was the hardest in the sense that I had to remember perfectly, everything I had heard and seen so far. Not that my memory was bad, on the contrary, but I still felt confused and overwhelmed by the amount of information my brain had been trying to process since my arrival here.

In my defence, a lot of things in this reality existed thanks to the advanced science, the kind of science which I had never come across before. Hearing about how our human race had evolved in the future, was equal to putting a six year old child who has never been in school through a crash course in advance science.

At the end of all the tests, I was given the results and an approximate date of my release, which was calculated by the system based on the speed of my brain actions and the rationality I demonstrated. I was glad to learn that my date of release was just over three months away. This was the confirmation I needed to believe that I wasn’t going to be here for life as I had feared earlier and it made me happy.

Overall, according to the results, I had an average brain speed, average reaction ratio and very little chance of becoming someone with high quality skills in this reality. However, the final test result didn’t hurt my pride much as I was over 500 years early for this kind of life and I didn’t expect to fit in immediately. The third test was going to be repeated every day until I was ready to be released. Not only the tests were going to be a lot more extensive, but every time I will get a question wrong, it will explain and make me understand why.

7

It was after four in the afternoon when I went back to my apartment and after having my late lunch of pills, I sat in front of the giant screen to explore the world on Holo. I tried to search for my name and other names from my old reality, but Link kindly blocked everything to protect me from knowing the future in case I made it back to the 21
st
century.

Since Link blocked the means of finding out my future, I gave up and thought of watching a film from the future. However, Link explained the word ‘film’ wasn’t in use anymore since it meant a celluloid tape that captioned a motion picture. The word ‘movie’ had also lost its use, as it wasn’t just a moving picture anymore. Instead, it was called ‘tale-trail’. In the future the concept of cinema had changed dramatically. One could virtually transfer itself inside the set and follow the physical trail of the story as if it was a part of it.

A little drawer opened at the side of the rest chair where I sat. Link instructed me to pick up the round transparent mask inside the drawer, put it over my face and enjoy the tale-trail I would choose. Once I placed the mask over my face, the big screen disappeared and I found myself virtually inside the screen. It was an indescribable experience being inside a virtual dark room. All I had to do was look at the direction of an icon and it opened a whole new virtual place, if I can call it
a place
. It was like changing rooms, but without physically moving from the previous room.

Since I had no idea what people preferred to watch in the future, I decided to choose the tale-trail with the highest viewing and the highest ratings. It was then that I discovered the best experience of watching a film. I was there on the set watching as if it was happening live in front of me. The sound and the smell were as real as though I was physically a part of the story.

This tale-trail told the love story between a young couple from two different parts of the planet who meet during their holidays and fall madly in love. The tale described their efforts to transfer their jobs and accommodation close to each other. However, they needed to request permission from the authorities, which was run by an artificial intelligence. They filled form upon form and each request was denied by the system. Eventually they managed to convince the juridical authorities that the artificial intelligence system wasn’t helpful on their case.

This lead to a review by a large group of law specialists who then concurred with the couple and sent the case to the Planetary Supreme Court, which in turn asked from a randomly chosen global jury to repair and update the rules as appropriate. The jury was composed of thousands of on-line jurors with law degree background from around the world and when they failed on a unanimous decision, a global vote was then automatically triggered. Since this couple’s case had become a global issue, the jury decided not to make a decision and triggered a global vote to prove that majority was in favour. After the vote, the majority voted in favour and the couple achieved what they wanted.

After watching the story, I felt confused and I wasn’t sure if this was based on real events or it was simply fictitious. During my sitting earlier that day, I recalled hearing in the documentary that the local and main governments were run by an artificial intelligence system and there were no political parties, no elections or human politicians. The local government was a computer program and if anyone required a service, you would complete an online form through the Holo connection and the system would help you to solve the problem by finding the best lawful solution.

I believe this is a fair system where no human can decide for another human being, based on the momentary emotional state or on the first impression of someone’s looks. This system took care of corruption and lies, as there were no political parties or politicians to spin the truth and talking about the truth, everything in the future was based upon truth.

It is a big difference compare to the 21
st
century where corruption is rife among politicians to protect their own financial interest and the interest of big corporations. The local and the global systems were programmed with every existing law, rule and regulation. Each law had to be approved beforehand via on line global vote. These systems with the passing of time were improved by changing and adding more laws based on new practices.  

If the system came into conflict upon a decision due to a clash between laws, it would refer it to the Planetary Supreme Court. The system then would chose at random a very large jury made up of mostly lawyers and also other various professions from around the world. The jury looks at the problem and when it is ready makes a decision. When a unanimous decision is made, the system would then be updated accordingly.

Every administrative unit had its independent local artificial intelligence system that took care of local government matters. The local government system in itself was connected to the global government system and every decision synced. This was to comply with global policies, for example, health protection, population control and movement, environment preservation and anything else to do with the wellbeing of the planet. There were no more separate countries in the future and the whole planet was an entity living in full harmony. They had no problem with population migrating from one place to another since there were the same standards of living in every corner of the globe. Each city had its own independence and population movement was controlled on the bases of each individual case.

Due to interracial relationships during the centuries, there was almost a unified race and racism was a term of the past and most people in this future didn’t know the meaning of this word. Everything seemed to be fair and just in this future. People interacted with each other in a way, that if it would happen in this century, it certainly would look impossible and weird. From my experience so far, the future was a near-utopic society which made everyone feel good for being a part of. With designated computer programs calculating and deciding the best possible path for each individual, no one had a reason to worry about their future. Instead of spending time worrying, the individual had a lot more time to expand their knowledge as much as they could.

It was around ten in the evening when I decided to go to sleep and give the bedroom a try for the first time since my arrival. I went into one of the rest rooms and since there was no bed, I thought of one and the Link commanded this eight by six foot oval-shaped structure to move up from the floor. Taking my clothes off, I lay on this strange bed that didn’t seem to have any covers. The bed adjusted to my body shape in the same way the gravity chair had done previously, relaxing my muscles and moulding my body shape for comfort. Once I was comfortable, the bed cover closed trapping me inside. I found myself in total darkness. Smooth tiny streams of air started to circulate around my body, leaving a nice sensation on my skin.

One thing I wasn’t able to understand. If I was the only person living in this apartment, why there were two bedrooms or, restrooms as they were called? It was a question Link didn’t answer at the time and I hoped to find out sometime tomorrow searching for it on Holo. Being in such a different kind of bed, I found it hard to fall asleep. Link sensed my struggle and asked me to choose a themed view to help me with my sleep. I went through a few options until I came across the option of a space travel simulation.

Intrigued, I selected this option and the inside of the bed above my head transformed into a starry sky. The bed appeared to simulate the inside of a spaceship travelling through dark space. Soon I fell asleep with a feeling of floating into space among the stars.

Link’s metallic voice awoke me again the next morning. I looked forward to a repeat of the wake-up experience before I took on the challenges of the day. First, I thought of shaving, since I didn’t have a clue how people shaved in this reality. Link being ever present in my thoughts, intervened by explaining what I needed to do. There was this gadget inside the wall which contained a hair removal solution which took care of the facial hair. There was also an option in the steamer wash if I wished to remove any other body hair.

Once I entered the personal room, a box came out of the wall and I rested my chin on it as it locked around my face and throat. Foam came out from the space between the machine and my face, where it stayed on my skin for about thirty seconds. A stream of water or some other kind of smooth refreshing liquid washed the foam away. Once this process finished, I was free of the strange shaving gadget. I eagerly checked the shape of my sideburns which were still there untouched, though perfectly shaped and my face was hairless and smooth. It appeared the foam or the cream, whatever that thing was, had cleaned my facial hair entirely and according to Link, this lasted for at least a week before my beard appeared again.

After another refreshing morning, I was ready to travel at level 28 room where the rehabilitation therapy took place. The door slid opened and I made my way to the cube whilst pointing the Link at the blue dot. In a blink, I found myself at level 28 and as soon as I came out of the cube, a door slid opened in front of me. I walked into the same empty room as a day before. I took a seat on the only chair inside the room whilst the screen switched itself on. However, this time no one was there to guide me, just the test, the Link and my brain, locked in a duel for freedom.

The test contained questions about the way of life in this reality and the whole point of it was to introduce me to the manner people thought and lived. The purpose of this test was also to change the way I perceived this reality. Not only I had to learn about the future, but also I had to radically change the way I thought. Each question had four alternative answers and I had to choose the right one, which wasn’t easy, since all of the answers seemed to be logically correct. Every time I selected the wrong answer, the test would stop and on the virtual screen would appear which one was the correct answer followed by Link’s explanation.

It was the first day of the test – or the intelligence enhancement therapy as they called it – and, despite getting interrupted annoyingly every time I answered a question wrong, which was almost every question, I learned a lot about the future and how everything was set in this advanced reality.

One of the facts that surprised me the most was the non-existence of the banking system like the one we have in this reality. The greed and the following collapse of the old financial system were held partially responsible for the last world war and the destruction of the old civilization. A financial system run by humans was considered the wrong way to do business in the future. The lies, the secrets and the greed which was exposed during the collapse of the major financial institutes, had led to chaos and rioting on the streets of the main cities around the world. This turmoil had then led to politicians losing control of the situation and eventually to the last world war. 

The personal bio microchip (PBM) and the Link were the only systems running the personal bank in this reality. Every individual was a walking, talking financial institution, thus enabling each one to earn and spend in an honest manner as deemed by the legal system. The local and global government systems were the only programs which could create, control and freeze a personal account through the PBM if they detected financial difficulties.

The PBM would collect credits automatically while the individ was at work or earning from his own business and anyone could use the credit as soon as it was stored in the account. The credit was used to buy goods by scanning the Link over any Holo pay point, pay rent and other bills and everything else. The PBM, the Link and the Holo system integrated together was the personal account of every individual. As usual, human mind thinks of the worst possible scenario and at the time, I thought what would happen if Link or the PBM technology failed, or even worst, if Holo went off-line for a long time.

Link assured me there was next to no chance for the system to go offline or to lose power. There was no worry for the power supply to fail. Thanks to the ZPE (zero point energy), the energy supply was infinite and easily manageable. However, Link admitted, in case of a coordinated malicious attack on the Holo network by rogue interplanetary entities, the society would be easily threatened.

There were a lot of rules which regulated the financial system, one of which prevented anyone from borrowing from one another, or from any trading companies. The transfer of credit from one PBM to another was strictly forbidden and virtually impossible to execute in the real world. If you wanted to buy a property and you needed to borrow some of the money, the Global Artificial Intelligence government would study and approve your request form based on your working ability and the personal spending information. The money would come out of a global personal tax fund and the borrower would be charged a reasonable daily amount until the home was paid off entirely.

As for the way business was designed and conducted in this reality was a fair one and only the talented survived. Private loans and credit were unlawful and virtually impossible to obtain. If a business had a cash flow problem, there was no possibility the system would allow anyone to invest without assessing the losses. The success of a business depended on the ability to provide goods or services in a certain high standard, synchronized with the general demand. If the business failed the market, there would be no financial help and the only hope of survival is to downsize, readapt or reinvent completely the business.

The hard currency didn’t exist anymore. Every transaction was virtually transferred between accounts and this was the reason it was called ‘virtual currency’ or VC for short. The average monthly wage was around 3000 VC and the cost of living was always constant at around 2000 VC. This never went up or down by very much, which meant every individual had a lot of credit to indulge oneself with buying fancy things or simply enjoying a night out. There was no much difference in the minimum wage and the cost of living between the cities around the globe. Regardless if an individual lived in a megacity or a city of just a few millions, the pay and the cost of living didn’t change.