The Imagined Future (Fictional Short Story)
I wrote this a couple of years ago. I got inspired by a lot of fictional novels with an apocalyptic background. Since at that time, science-fiction was my most favorite genre, I combined all that I imagined and wrote this piece. Enjoy.
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Year: 2395.
“Indonesia is celebrating its 100th anniversary for being our only hope in preserving the trees on the island of Papua and South Borneo . . . The President is currently walking toward the podium and we can hardly wait any longer for the speech . . .,”
The cheers grow louder as the president reaches the podium in the heart of Gelora Bung Karno stadium. The stadium has been renovated twice to increase its number of rows and seats, also its field has been widening. Now, it has become the earth’s biggest stadium and renowned for its advance. Many inter-planet occasions such as The Sun’s Annual Olympic Games and Earth-Mars Advanced Technologies Competition are held annually.
The loud applause slowly disappears as Mr. President is ready to give his speech. The cameras are aimed toward him; the journalists are all silent, including me.
“Mommy, how can we become famous for keeping trees?” I catch a little girl murmurs to her mother. I asked the same question to my parents when I was a kid. They said, “A long time ago, the trees were violated severely. The idea of preserving them was gradually forgotten. Advanced countries’ citizens were far more elated of the advancement of inter-planets technologies. The pollution problems were never actually solved, nor did the global warming. 70% of the human population on earth died of the heat and the unpredictable weather, the 30% remaining moved to Indonesia, including your ancestors.” At that time, Indonesia managed to create man-made islands to fill in every gap between islands, created one giant country called The Great Republic of Indonesia. The anti-ultraviolet protection was generated in 2150 and it made Indonesia looked like a giant bubble from above.
The president begins talking, “Good evening, people of the earth. Today, we are celebrating our most worthy achievement; preserving the trees . . .” My eyes wander around while the president continues talking. A device in my left ear is wirelessly connected to the microphone the president is using, and another is planted in my eye, both devices are being used to record the whole event.
I see my colleague’s name blinking repeatedly on my watch screen. I touch it, then the messages are quickly transmitted to my eyes which are then projected to the air in front of me. “Parking lot. 10 minutes. Important.” I change my recording from manual to automatically locked, then rush to the parking lot. I assume he has something urgent to tell me.
“Jullian! What took you so long?!” he cries. His face looks worried.
“What is it, Allan?” I ask.
“I saw the minister of earth’s defense.”
“Mr. John? So, what’s wrong with that? I’m pretty sure he’s invited by the president.”
“Listen to me, Jullian. They might have seen me eavesdropping on the secret conversation and will probably arrest me in a moment. So, you need to know, Mr. John was talking to Mars’ minister of defense, Mr. Martian. He said — “.
Army Cyborgs are rushing toward us. I’m beginning to freak out but Allan pushes me away, orders me to hide. One of the men injects something into Allan’s vein which makes him fainted. After they are all gone, I step out and find Allan’s watch; I swiftly hide it inside my coat and return to the stadium. I blend in among the audience; I stand next to a young girl who seems to enjoy the show.
I take Allan’s watch from my pocket and wrap it around my wrist. If I activate the watch, the Army Cyborgs who just captured Allan will easily find me. But I have to know what he listened to. He must have the records. “What am I supposed to do?!”
“Excuse me, Sir, do you have a problem with the watch?” The girl interrupts.
“No — I — ,”
“It’s ok, let me help you.” Without warning, she takes it away from me and touches some options on the screen. Since Allan isn’t anywhere near the watch, the signal is directly projected to the air; visible to everyone — including the president. Suddenly, every single one in the stadium was looking at the projection in absolute silence.
On the screen, both Mr. John and Martian are involved in a hot debate about whether or not the earth wants to sell one of the islands of the trees to the Mars government. The debate ends in frustration because John rejects the plan. Then, Martian is pressing some buttons on his watch. He is showing it to everyone in the room, including Allan’s direction. On the recording, Allan is now spotted, then he starts running. Just before the recording ends, Martian says,
“It’s time for a war!”
