A Timeless Journey (7 page)

I was asked by the Link that if I ever had to return to my old reality, not to release any details of how the last big war came to happen and when it started, as this may change the course of events. It was important to the 26
th
century society that events have to happen in the same order for the new world to emerge unchanged and they considered any attempt to rewrite the future a grave criminal act. Ultimately, no one should be able to change the future no matter how painful and cruel it might turn out to be for some.

Nuclear and chemical weapons were responsible for the loss of the life of more than half of Earth’s population. The radioactive pollution around the world had lasted for decades with fatal consequences for some of the war survivors, but the lucky ones who survived had stuck together like never before, creating a world without borders and with fair new rules for all.

After the war, all the big financial institutions and corporations were investigated by the newly created International Task Force organization. The International Task Force organization (ITF), later on, when the borders disappeared and the plan to reunite the world was complete, became Global Law Keepers and nowadays dealt mostly with thought crimes and bizarre cases like mine.

The ITF was created with the consent of all those who survived the war, with the purpose to manage what was left of the world. This task force made by representatives of each country on earth, was then armed with powers beyond national control with the task to unearth all the secrets and create a unified world. It was then, when they found appalling evidence of corruption and corporate control over certain politicians and governments.

After this discovery it was decided that people would work and live for free and all currencies were abolished together with the banking system. In the first few years there was no money in the post-war world and due to this decision, as years passed, the concept of greed disappeared. However, as the new world evolved from the ashes and the population started to grow, the need for a currency became unavoidable, leading to the virtual money system they have today. After the rebuilding era, things slowly crystallized into the world, I was experiencing today.

Reading these historic events, I came across the exact year when the last big war started. I was tempted to learn the fate of my family and friends, but I refused to search if anyone I know would survive the war. I am not supposed to disclose any details of when and how this war started and finished, since any attempt to change the course of the events, it may affect the bright future for all of those who survived.

Looking at the world events of today, it all makes perfect sense of where we are going. Because of the greed, unjustified personal power and selfish pride, the politicians will never realise the destructive path they’re on. This is why this old world of ours, needed a drastic lesson in order to change the way we think and how we act towards each other. The politicians, as much as they would like to avoid conflicts, are unable to see the bigger picture today and tomorrow, when the events will spin out of control, it will be too late for most of us. A society without secrets, like the one in the 26
th
century, is a peaceful and safer society for all. However, no one in power today is prepared to gift us this much needed everlasting peace.

I had lost track of time by searching on Holo for historical past events and it was near midnight when I decided to go to bed. The shock of the horrible course of events I had seen about the 21
st
century, interfered with my need to sleep. As I rested inside the concealed bed without being able to close my eyes, Link decided to take my mind off events by turning the surroundings inside into a starry sky as it had done so often when I found it hard to sleep.

This time, the bed floated in the air and stimulated movements according to the motion picture I had around me. The Link played a virtual space travel and it looked so real, that my body seemed to travel past planets, stars and asteroids like a rocket at very high speeds. Every time it went near a planet or a galactic body, the virtual spaceship would slow down and tour around.

Everything I had in my mind, until the moment the simulated space travel started, disappeared without a trace as I concentrated on the most realistic space travel I had ever witnessed. Link explained to me that it was the most preferred bedtime play on the planet and everyone loved the experience thanks to the weird weightless sensation it gave to the body. After this virtual space travel, it didn’t take long for me to fall asleep.   

9

By the time I had gone through all the questions without a single mistake, as required by the system, it was the 8th of October 2572. I had been locked in the IEF for nearly four months. My 26
th
birthday in July had passed unnoticed. My mind had been distracted by the hunger to learn everything about the future and I had completely forgotten my birthday. What I learned during my time in this facility has forever changed the way I perceive the world today. After this entire time locked in the facility, I felt just about ready to take my place in the new world’s society.

In two days, I was going to have my release interview with the IEF panel and discover if I was ready. They were going to decide where I was going to live and how I was going to earn my living. Before the interview, I had to voluntarily agree to get a personal bio microchip installed in the back of my head. Being from a less developed background, I wasn’t entirely sure if I wanted to go through with it.

With thoughts of returning back to my own reality occupying my mind, I felt that maybe I shouldn’t have to go through this procedure unlike the rest of the population. Link intervened and explained to me that without the PBM, it would not be possible to obtain a paid employment and subsequently, I would be prevented from spending and paying for a living space.

Link also explained there was no income support for healthy people. Those who turned down employment without a valid reason would have their request for income support rejected by the system. The only way to pay for my apartment and any goods was to work. Therefore, if I had to work, the PBM was needed to transfer my pay credit. The laws didn’t cover my unique case and for this reason I wasn’t entitled of any help from the main system.

I would have probably been declared dead by now in the old reality. If I had to stay here, there was no option but to go through with the implant and get on with my new life. Link questioned my uncertainty and asked me to decide carefully. I took some time to think it through and then agreed to accept the implanting of PBM in my neck. Once Link read my positive thoughts, prompted me to put my index finger on the device. The device was going to use my fingerprint as a unique signature to the agreement. I pressed my finger firmly on my wrist to approve my decision.

After registering my fingerprint to the agreement, Link put a request through to the main system. The system accepted the request and booked the next day for the personal bio microchip to be implanted. A video illustration of how a PBM is implanted in a human started to play on Holo. It showed how the PBM would be inserted at the top of my spine where it met the back of my skull through an injection. The Link reassured me if I should decide to return home, there would be no long term implications in my head from the existence of PBM. If I went back to my old reality, the personal bio microchip was designed to dissolve if it stayed disconnected from the main system for more than three years and I would be practically unaffected.

The next day, on the morning of the 9
th
of October 2572, Riviera and the other guy who were assigned with my case, showed up in my living space. I was then driven by a Global Law Keeper’s Emze to a genetic repair centre, a medical facility of the future. Before the PBM was implanted, I had to go through the process of building my unique genetic and DNA map and also a full medical scan. The data was going to be stored in the main system under my new medical records file. The file would be inaccessible to any individual including law keepers. Only if my DNA appeared in a crime scene, the data automatically would lose its privacy.

Every individual on the planet had a personal file of a genetic history and DNA map which was synchronised with the PBM memory. On the Holo device, there was an application which connected with the personal bio microchip and scanned the body once a year for health issues. If the scan revealed problems with the individual’s health, it would automatically book him or her into a genetic repair centre to correct the abnormality.

The same app was used to detect if someone had a type of flu or a common cold. The individual was then referred to the GRC and in a few minutes the illness would be corrected by a gene repairing machine. In the 26
th
century, if a person fell ill, he would be cured within the hour. Anyone, no matter how ill, would be able to return to work the very next day.

I was asked to lay on my back on a flat surface. Out of nowhere, a U-shaped very thin scanning arm, slid up and down my body, from head to toe, running repeatedly multiple red beams. Once it stopped travelling back and forth over my entire body, it created a possible list of abnormalities and future health issues I may encounter. It then stored the information on the Holo application before suggesting a genetic repair.

The fact, the scan had discovered health vulnerabilities at my age, surprised and scared me in the same time. As far as I was aware, I’d always been a healthy person and very rarely have visited my general practitioner.

Link detected my worries and found it appropriate to put my mind at rest.

“You are a healthy person Scott, there is no doubt. The reason of a genetic map of the body is created to study possible complications that might occur in the future based on your genes behaviour. Having a full DNA and genetic map makes it easier to repair the abnormal genes before it becomes a health issue.”

This explained why the average life expectancy in the 26
th
century was at around 120 years and why people looked so young and healthy.

The health system in this reality was free for all and was supported mostly by taxes collected from business. Any credit left unused by the end of the tax year was put into a research fund and paid to those people who discovered innovative techniques. This rewarding method ensured a steady advancement of science and not only in medicine.

Since the genetic repair centres didn’t cost much to maintain, most of the currency went on advanced research programs. The amount of VC paid to the researcher would vary on the importance of the discovery. If the discovery was found to be of a more importance later on, the inventor who made the discovery, or his descendants in case of his death, would receive the extra relevant credit by the main system.

There were no hospitals as we know them in the 21
st
century. Most of the syndromes and viruses were discovered in advance with the help of the Holo app, PBM and the Link device. Once a health problem was discovered, the app would arrange a visit to the genetic repair centre by booking an appointment.

In case of a serious injury, for example a severed body part, there were medical aid boxes in every work, public and living place which contained a device that circulated the injured area, preventing any further damage while on the way to the genetic repair centre. In this reality, no matter if you were at your home or at work, if you were in need of acute medical attention, the advanced technology meant you would be seen and healed in no time. This is why there was no need for an old fashioned hospital as we know it.

Besides the GRCs (genetic repair centres), there was also a different kind of medical institution called Terminal Facilities, which dealt with a grim side of life… the dying. Terminal Facilities were created for individuals who had reached the end of their days and wanted, either to terminate their lives voluntarily, or wait to die with dignity surrounded by love and people who care instead of dying alone. At some late point in life, every individual would be admitted in one of these places never to come out alive.

Terminal facilities were a joint venture between the local governments and private businesses and varied from facility to facility thanks to the unique design thought by the private investor. These facilities took care of the deceased by arranging their funeral and resting place and I will have the opportunity to explain in more detail later on when I will talk about the funeral that I had the misfortune to take part.    

Every person on the planet had a unique DNA and gene map combined. This information was stored in the PBM and synched wirelessly to the Link. The Link itself, connected to the main system through the Holo where the rest of the medical records were stored. A scanning application on Holo would be able to identify if something had started to change in the body by scanning it regularly with the help of the PBM. The bio microchip would transmit the findings to the Link and the Link with the help of the health Holo app would recommend you to the nearest genetic repair centre. The genetic anomaly would then be repaired on the day booked and the person involved avoided going through a common illness, like influenza for example. It was an amazing health system where no one could ring sick or cheat their way out of a day’s work, as the welfare was guaranteed and also recorded in the personal database.

When my genetic body map and the DNA was fully synched together in my health file, I was directed to get inside a machine similar to the concealed bed I had at the apartment. After staying in there for approximately half an hour, I was told that every health issue had been repaired and I was risk free for a long time to come. I found it strange since I didn’t feel anything unusual happening to my body while inside the machine. I didn’t have a scientific clue to what this machine did to me. The only explanation the geneticist gave me was that my genes had been modified and there was nothing to worry for a foreseeable future.

If this machine somehow repaired my faulty genes and help me live longer, I had no reason to complain or question the way it worked.

Eventually, after the genetic works on me, I was ready for the personal bio microchip to be implanted inside my head. As much as I was against the idea of having the government inside my head literally, I had no choice but to accept if I had to see and taste the life in this future world.

I was guided by the Link to sit on, what it looked like a normal chair without the gravity tricks. Once I took a seat, a nurse or a doctor, I wasn’t sure what she was, put some kind of thin plastic collar around my neck. Then the guy who was in charge of the procedure faced me and explained what was going to happen next. After listening carefully, the Link asked for my fingerprint again to approve the procedure.

The guy picked up a small device shaped like a gun with a needle in front of it and moved behind the chair where I sat. I felt a small tickling sensation for a split second in the back of my neck. After waiting for another minute or two for the PBM to become operational, the doctor took the collar off my neck and with an exaggerated pride spoke loudly.

“It has been a success. I welcome the newest member of the planet.”

“Thank you doctor,” I said half confused by the way the doctor talked to me as if he was being sarcastic.

He placed himself in front of me and with a serious look replied.

“I am a geneticist, much superior to a doctor.” He then turned his serious expression into a big smile. “Your PBM is synchronised and your health will have no problems for the next thirty years, minimum. Have an enhanced life.”

I exchanged an approval nod with the geneticist and wondered about the choice of words he had used. Who says “have an enhanced life”? Was life that good in this reality that people said ‘enhance’ instead of ‘nice’? Maybe saying ‘have a nice life’ or ‘enjoy your life’ was something that was a normal occurrence in this reality and enhancement was the upper scale of enjoying life even more.

The choice of words the geneticist used, helped me forget for a while that I had a chip in my head, a chip that was going to register everything I did with my life from now on. Up until that moment, I had no idea that the word geneticist existed as a title for a person who looked after health issues. As it happened, I was seen by one that day.

I left the repair centre and returned to my apartment to rest before the big day tomorrow. I was going to face the panel who after the interview, would decide if I was ready to gain my freedom.