Glimpse

Glimpse



By Mordecai J Banda



Greetings, Past, come sit next to me, the street computers might just log you as a suspicious persons if you stand there too long, people rarely stay still in the open anymore. They're too occupied. Is your government tax card active at the moment? You can use mine if you don't have one, they're required if we want to use this bench without reprimands. Before i show you, excuse me while i answer one of the 400 new instant messages i received in the time taken for you to sit down. I'll answer one personally, for old time sakes, but like almost everyone, i have a second brain to help me with that. I could be done with them in a few seconds. Its smaller than my own, but it far surpasses my own natural brain's processing power.I'm done answering the message, Past, it was fromf the striking hackers who wished to be incubated in Planet 3 for the rest of their lives. In their cryogenic state they'll live at least four and a half centuries, safe in the newly constructed underground plug-in zones where the rest of my family is at the moment. They're one of the permanent gamers. There was of course, there some opposition to the proposal by a number of people arguing against the implications on society, but it was half-hearted, to tell the truth, society is from now on forever a dim concept. Even with our vast intelligence, how can we define a society where middle-aged persons are 200 years? Where family is purely a legal title? Where even what used to be a defenseless child could be a mass murderer? Where humans change their bodies with machines and remain with only their brains as their original organ? And even that brain containing hundreds of microscopic implants? How can we? Wait- look at my news feed- oh, forgive me, i forgot to switch on the hologram - there, look at the news channel, i know your surprised that its only blue icons, but now we download news and talk to the reporter personally, that is, we talk to an artificial intelligence. Lets look at a live feed, we can enter it virtually, but i prefer we don't for now. Now look, a news broadcast claims a war might be brewing on Sector 30 30, what used to be South Africa, in your terms. We all know the war will last a few seconds if it actually broke out. The much dreaded World War Three lasted a day, everyone's nuclear missiles ran out because both sides had Orbiting Defense Platforms in space to shoot them all down. The ground forces fought a few hours, the Air force a minute, and the Navy some hours. A total of three human casualties registered, and all enemy countries ran out of military forces and struck an alliance, so there's really no worry about Sector 30 30. I bet you wonder about crime, well that's natural, you expect crime to be disastrous, at present, but here are some shades, put them on, Past. Look at that man instructing his car where to drive to. You can see the personal details scrolling over your lenses. That man, like everyone on this planet, is registered and easily tracked through ways you can imagine without difficulty, and so these days crime is not reasonable to one's self. There are some smart ones who get away with it, but that's a fact of life. Would you believe that I've been awake for a month? The scientists discovered the genes for fatigue some time ago, along with the gene for age. The intelligence gene is reportedly still unfound, but i think the scientists are, for once, holding onto the last fruit of the tree of life, because everyone knows, we are close to immortality. I can see that you are shocked, at what you see and at the fact that i, a mere 9 year-old girl, can talk to you in this manner, i think your real, because i can see that your pulse is quickening and your belly back-flips as your normal, past brain analyzes this pinprick of experience of knowledge I've shared with you. Go home, Past, you cannot understand our way of living just yet. You will, soon enough, because I've given you a look. I've given you a glimpse, of the future.