A month spent in Babel had bombarded me with so many surprises that I began to wonder if anything could astonish me anymore. Every day seemed to unveil a new marvel, challenging my sense of wonder.Firstly, the food here was categorized into three tiers: the simplest, the standard, and the luxurious. We gravitated towards the simplest option, as it was the most economical choice for daily sustenance. Alex, ever the scientist, offered an explanation that sounded like it was plucked from a futuristic tome."Aurora, observe," Alex began, his eyes alight with the thrill of discovery. "This singular blue pill encapsulates between 600-700 calories, fortified with a full spectrum of vitamins and every mineral essential for our bodies to thrive. By consuming just three of these pills daily, we provide our bodies with everything needed to function optimally. They're engineered to contain only what's absolutely necessary, eliminating the need for waste. It's healthy, natural, and enables us to
In a world where love and fear danced a delicate duet, the mundane worries of finances often sang the loudest. Causing a fear of having none. Alex approached me for funds to acquire a piece of equipment essential for his research.I know for scientists, they viewed currency not as a treasure but as mere fodder for their quest for knowledge, this request was not unusual. Yet, the weight of his request hung in the air, a silent testament to the perpetual battle between passion and practicality. Our financial stability was a ship on tempestuous seas, yet here he was, asking to add more weight to our burden.Maybe some people were already screaming, "Couldn't you just use what we had to start making money without wasting any more money?"I looked into his eyes, brimming with the innocence and eagerness of a child on the cusp of a revelation, and I couldn't help but smile. My heart made the choice before my mind could weigh in, letting him forge ahead with his purchase. After all, his happ
"In two weeks of tireless effort and a week of anticipation, our movies garnered merely $30. That equates to only six viewers," I confessed, my voice laced with disbelief.Bathed in the soft glow of the sunrise, I was with Alex on our small balcony. As I just got the news from Alex, since he was in marketing, the chill of the early morning air couldn't compare to the shock that coursed through me. The world before us, awash in hues of orange and pink, stood in stark contrast to the gloom that settled in my heart."How is it possible that we've earned so little?" The words tumbled out, heavy with despair and frustration. It felt as if our dreams were slipping through our fingers, moving further away from what we had envisioned. "And what about the idea of selling our movies for $5000 each, as you suggested?" I prodded, searching for a glimmer of hope in Alex's eyes.Alex, unfazed by the setback, offered a comforting smile, his arm wrapping around my shoulders in a reassuring embrace. "
“Nope,” I said firmly to Alex, my voice echoing slightly in the empty space of our small room. The dim glow from the lone light source cast long shadows across the room, making Alex's eager face seem almost pleading in the gloom. “We need to keep money aside for our monthly expenses too.”Alex’s eyes, wide and imploring, shimmered with a mix of disappointment and hope. “It’s just one more piece of equipment, and it’s only $5,000 now. That price is supposed to be $100,000, but I negotiated. I promised to make a movie about his personal life, and he’s willing to part with his one more antique.” His voice was thick with earnestness, each word a carefully laid stone in the path of his argument.“Do we really need that equipment?” I asked, skepticism weaving through my tone.“Yes, absolutely,” Alex replied, his voice gaining strength. “This equipment will analyze our movie—the actors' faces, body language, emotions—and add a perfect soundtrack and sound that will pull the viewer into a dee
“Spaceship?” I echoed, turning towards Alex with a mix of curiosity and skepticism.Alex nodded earnestly, his eyes alight with the kind of fervor that comes from chasing a dream long held close. “But we are starting small, creating a miniature version first—a really small one.”“Do you mean like toys?” I probed further, trying to wrap my head around the concept."Yes," he admitted, cheeks flushing a soft shade of red, a testament to his bashfulness. He cared about my feelings, he wanted to play with his toys and at the same time he felt responsibility with me. "But I will occasionally check the movie production to ensure everything runs smoothly.""Thank you," I replied, my voice filled with appreciation. After all, all grown men were just oversized children. "I've examined the media company, and it's nearly flawless. If any problems arise, I'll contact you immediately. You can concentrate on creating your toys."“Thank you,” Alex said, his voice muffled as he pulled me into a warm e
"Number 10, Alex," a voice called out, echoing in our virtual world. The source was a vibrant bird avatar, known among us as Number 3. In this place, we had abandoned our real names in favor of numbers, cloaking our identities behind the avatars of animals and mythical creatures of our choosing. Yet, sometimes they still called me with name since I said it was okay to use my real name here.My avatar, a miniature dragon, flickered its tail, acknowledging the call. Bear, rabbit, eagle, tiger, and more roamed this space, each avatar as unique as its user. Our leader, Number 1, had chosen a majestic white tiger that stood upright on two legs with white robe."Number 10, have you adjusted well to the sleeping capsule I sent over four months ago?" inquired Number 2, his voice emanating from an old monkey avatar with notably long arms."Yes," I responded, a hint of gratitude in my digital voice. "Thank you for entrusting me with two capsules, each valued at $10 million. My wife would have m
"I'm overjoyed, truly," I confessed, my voice trembling with excitement. "I'm pregnant."This news, I believed, would bring joy to any woman's heart, especially when everything in life seemed perfectly aligned, and the anticipation of a new arrival was at its peak. Two months had passed since we discovered my pregnancy.During this time, Alex had been tirelessly searching for a new place for us to call home. We both agreed that the cramped, fast-paced lifestyle of Babel, with its reliance on instant capsule food and confined spaces, wasn't for us. We yearned for a connection to our roots, seeking out a spacious plot of land, even if it meant settling a bit further from the city where the prices were more reasonable.Eventually, Alex stumbled upon an ideal spot, not too distant from the caress of the sea and nestled within what was once a jungle, which made it surprisingly affordable.Thanks to my diligent savings over the last six months and Alex's breakthrough in his research, we fou
The day dawned like any other, yet it was tinged with an unease that seemed to throb in the very air. My emotions were a tempest, swirling and churning, ready to explode at the slightest provocation. And as if in conspiracy with my internal turmoil, an unprecedented crisis decided to make its grand entrance.This particular morning, I was besieged by a peculiar form of malaise. My tongue was coated in bitterness, rendering me unable to savor a single bite of my breakfast, while a persistent ache gnawed at my back. Amidst this discomfort, the sharp, insistent beep of an alarm from my drone shattered the quietude. It was alerting me to a security breach at our virtual world media company—a problem of a magnitude I had never encountered before.Try as I might, the virtual gateway to our company refused me entry, casting me out time and again. This was a first."Connect to Alex," I commanded, my voice barely above a whisper, directed at the small drone that hovered nearby, its presence a
I looked at the baby he was so cute, but I know I had to act. I dressed him in new clothes and wrote the prophecy about his future role in saving the world on the cloth. He was destined to return here, to build a dome for humanity and fulfill his fate—perhaps he had already completed his mission. I donned the wrist device and fashioned a smaller one for the baby, so we could travel through time together. But first, I had to ensure that the future would be free of problems. The spheres were set to manage the environment, programmed to halt their work when CO2 levels reached 0.04%. As for who would rule in the future, I chose not to decide. The people must learn to govern themselves; some were already training to use the spheres. I couldn't always be their deity; they needed to become self-sufficient. With the baby in tow, I prepared to leave this era, knowing I would never return; it wasn't my place. Together, we activated the high-frequency drive, propelling us into the fourth
On the night the baby was born, the parents was sleeping soundly, unaware of the sphere descended to take a sample of the newborn's blood.It was painless. And the sphere quickly checked the DNA.As the results flashed on the screen, it not fit my DNA. But I saw a connection between myself and this baby—a sibling, perhaps.I didn’t now if I have messed up with the future or I still unborn in this time.Two years later, the woman I believed to be my mother was expecting again, this time a daughter. It was clear then that the baby wasn’t me.All I can do was waiting.In the five years since I came here, we constructed 76,910 domes worldwide, sheltering 500 million survivors from the once 8 billion-strong human population.The disparity was stark: some domes teemed with life, while others stood empty, their ecosystems meticulously engineered and automated, home only to selected wildlife.The advent of virtual exploration allowed people to survey these domes remotely, relocating if they f
"Show me where my parents are," I commanded the sphere with excitement. After long years, I was about to meet my long-lost parents.The sphere generated a screen for me to view, revealing a young man and woman, perhaps around 20 years old, entering the Eden Dome for the first time. They appeared bewildered and lost, their eyes wide with a mix of fear and wonder."Are you sure they are my parents?" I questioned, my brow furrowed in doubt. They were even younger than me. It felt odd, almost as if I should call them little brother and sister instead of parents."Yes, Master," the sphere responded affirmatively. "Your genetic DNA matches theirs perfectly.""But," I hesitated, scrutinizing the image, my heart pounding with a strange apprehension. "Send one sphere to them; I need to ask them something."The distance seemed vast, with our dome situated half a world away, creating a chasm between us."As you wish, Master."A sphere glided toward the man and woman in the distant dome. "Excuse
"Guys, please stop it," I implored, the urgency clear in my voice. "There will be no use."The spheres that had been hovering alongside each of the gang’s leaders and their members suddenly flared into a menacing red hue. "The host is showing harmful behavior. The security protocol will be launched," it announced in a dispassionate tone.Without warning, the spheres emitted a piercing frequency that targeted all guns, weapons, and harmful items. In moments, they disintegrated into fine atom dust, which the sphere then collected and whisked away, presumably to be repurposed as building material.The bear leader's and all gang’s members face registered shock, then eyes wide with disbelief and fear."In Eden, when you make a mistake, there are two options for you to choose from," I continued, my voice steady. "One, we simply expel you back to where you came from. Or, alternatively, you can e
In the dimly lit underground city, I had just finished selling my last can of food. Eagerly, I was about to purchase more slaves, when the bear gang leader approached me with his smelly body odour.Water was precious here; people wash their body once a year.His burly frame cast a long shadow as he strode towards me, flanked by two other gang’s leaders, their footsteps echoing in the small alley.“Alex, the fish seller,” he growled, his voice deep and menacing.“That’s me!” I responded with a cheerful smile.“We want you to take us to the fish factory. Can you, do it?” His eyes, sharp and probing, seemed to pierce through me, daring me to decline.“Sure,” I replied happily. “The owner already mentioned he'd be thrilled to have you all there. He said there’s plenty of food.”“Really?” he asked, scepticism written all over his rugged face.“Yes, take as many people as you can,” I urged, sensing their disbelief.The three of them exchanged looks of shock and disbelief. “Whatever,” one of
I stood in my house, gazing at the sprawling expanse of New York City below, dreaming of transforming it into a colossal dome.However, the architectural limitations soon became apparent, leading to a revised plan of constructing a network of smaller domes, each the size of a soccer field, interconnected like a honeycomb.This design was not only efficient but also practical in case of emergencies, such as shattered glass or structural failures. It could be easily detached and repaired without causing trouble to the entire dome.As the temperature inside the dome needed to be controlled for the plants and for the humans.The first group of eighty slaves, were settled in one of the completed domes. For the time being, they shared a common sleeping area, heavily medicated to aid their recovery and adjustment to their new environment.Each person was assigned a spherical device designed to help them acclimate to this "new Eden."At the night before, I was guiding them out of the undergro
‘No, I cannot move now before I know everything about them. I may wrongly save people and cause trouble. I need to study them more,’ I thought, my mind racing with caution.“Spheres 567, stay on the underground and record everything about their activities,” I commanded, letting them delve into the shadows.Finding one of the human underground hubs, I dispatched another hundred spheres to scout the area. Because humans may concentrate in one locale, and my hunch was spot on.Humans were crafting an underground city, intertwining with the natural caves and beginning to carve out a vast space within the earth's embrace.Through the spherical eyes, I glimpsed a colossal chamber that sparked memories of the largest underground city ever discovered, Derinkuyu in Cappadocia, Turkey, capable of sheltering around 20,000 people along with their livestock and food stores.But the population here seemed to surpass 80,000, with the capacity to house over 200,000. As I used the spheres to map the e
One had to remember where he was from. I had completed my research to elevate human frequency to a higher dimension, allowing passage through space and time. This ambition was fueled by my desire to meet my parents in the future.In my study room, I carefully handled the clothes that had swaddled me as a baby, left at the orphanage door. The fabric held the mystery of my origins. Despite using the gate to the past to uncover who had placed me at the orphanage, no one appeared. The clothes and I simply materialized out of nowhere.I placed the garment on the scanning blueprint machine, aiming to record every atom and deduce the era it hailed from. This information was pivotal for my journey to that specific time.The smart device strapped to my wrist was brimming with data necessary for the impending future war. In moments, the year 2112 flashed on its screen. Was it truly 80 years into the future?Activating the smart device on my left arm, my body began to feel ethereal, as the body
AlexI brought back a child, a five-year-old girl, to my mansion when I encountered Nadine. "Can you take care of this child as you do our own?" I asked tentatively."Who is she?" Nadine inquired, her eyes narrowing slightly in confusion and curiosity.I hesitated, grappling with the truth. The thought of Nadine possibly becoming a cruel stepmother to Aurora's daughter haunted me. But the weight of the secret was too heavy. As she could find the answer by herself anytime she wants."She is Aurora's daughter," I confessed. "I killed Nicholas, and soon Aurora will vanish from this world. This child is utterly alone, bearing no fault in these tragic events.""And her name?" Nadine pressed, her demeanour softening as she gently took the child into her arms, cradling her with maternal warmth.Shaking my head, I replied, "Aurora refused to name her. She's been living like a shadow among the maids, an unwanted soul.""How heartless can one be!" Nadine exclaimed, her face contorting in anger