Falling Ark

by Leigh Snelson

  We both sat there for a long time, thinking the problem over. How do you make sure that people are using the technology correctly?

  “There have already been situations in China, where they have tried to re-create that light stick that can target individual atoms. Except, they used inferior products, they weren’t to know, and it created a nuclear meltdown.” Sam said, breaking the silence.

  “A nuclear meltdown?” I asked. “How is that possible?”

  “It turns out that firing energy at individual atoms is really dangerous. They may have accidentally created cold fusion, but we will never know because they also created a new crater, a mile wide.” Sam continued.

  “There is going to be a lot of this.” I replied. “Inexperienced people, working with technology they don’t understand.”

  I slumped in my chair.

  “It will get better; this is just the transition period.” Sam tried to comfort me.

  “Did you hear about the shipping companies?” Sam asked.

  “No, what’s going on with them?” I replied.

  “Invoices aren’t being paid because companies know they won’t be around long enough to fight for the money.” Sam explained.

  “People can’t do that!” I said.

  “People are doing that.” He continued. “Be honest, if you had a huge invoice from a company that you knew was going to be bankrupt in a few months’ time, would you pay it?”

  “That’s not the point.” I argued.

  “That’s exactly the point. It’s not just logistics either, medicine, food, it’s having huge impacts all around the world. Money is almost becoming worthless.” He explained. “But it’s just a transition period, nobody likes change.”

  “I hope you’re right.” I said, taking a sip from my drink “Otherwise, what was the point in doing what we did.”

  One Year Later

  The world was a different place compared to this time last year. The most stressful thing on most people’s minds back then was earning enough money to pay the bills. I sometimes wish we could go back to those days.

  We were all stood around the holotable in the control room of the Armillary. We had agreed to return the replicator back to Earth and collect our equipment from the moon.

  The United States Government had kindly punched a hole through the cloud of mercenary ships that usually orbited the Earth. They were known for boarding ships and stealing equipment. Some of these acted alone, others were part of larger organisations that were slowly increasing in power around the world.

  The riots had calmed down, at least for tonight, in London. They were just beginning in other parts of the world.

  This time they seemed to be made up of the elderly. A few months previous a company completed construction of a factory to create pills that could double everyone’s life span. Then, following in my footsteps, they made them affordable for everyone in Britain as a trial. The worldwide roll-out was now on hold.

  Just one pill would add a hundred years to your life, freezing your aging process for the foreseeable future. It was a fantastic invention which many people took advantage of. Overnight millions of people stopped aging, which, of course, is not the same as becoming young again. People still had medical issues, poor health, obesity and diseases. The only difference was their bodies would stop deteriorating.

  This meant that changes to the laws were needed to accommodate the new reality, to ensure that the country could survive when the death count quickly dropped off.

  Retirement and pensions were scrapped. The government claimed that until a new upper age limit was determined, they could not fund the current, retired population for a hundred years. People would have to go back out and work.

  The only problem with that, companies were not hiring. It was difficult for anyone to find jobs because the economies around the world were in so much turmoil, people were not willing to take financial risks. Therefore, a million people, usually over the age of seventy had gathered in front of Parliament demanding answers that no-one could give them.

  The news report on the riots finished and we all looked at each other, standing around the table.

  “We went to Machu Pichu last week.” Julie said, breaking the silence and changing the subject.

  “Let me guess.” Hank started. “It was full of people?”

  “That’s right, one of the most remote places on Earth and it looked like the circus had rolled into town. How did you guess?” Tony asked.

  “The same thing happened to me.” Hank replied.

  “You were at Machu Pichu? Did you see all the hotdog venders and T-shirt sellers?” Julie wondered.

  “No, not Machu Pichu, I caught a flying cab to the top of Mount Everest.” Hank explained.

  “It was full of people too?” Derek questioned.

  “It took twenty minutes just to find a landing spot. The skies were full of flying cars waiting for tourists to run out of air and request a ride back down.” Hank said.

  “The world has gone crazy!” Ava confirmed. “We looked at buying a house on the outskirts of London a few months ago.”

  “Congratulations!” Julie said, holding up her drink and gesturing to Ava and me.

  “Well, we tried to move in together, but we couldn’t find a house.” Ava continued.

  “I thought there were plenty of houses now that airports are being dismantled and built over?” Derek asked.

  “Yes, that’s the point. Huge areas of land in the middle of cities are suddenly available and thousands of homes are being built. It has destroyed land prices. People are so desperate for money they are willing to reduce their prices to ridiculous levels.” Ava continued.

  “What’s the problem? You get a very nice, very inexpensive house” Hank asked, not understanding the situation.

  “Yes, but how much will it be worth after we buy it?” I pointed out. “If prices keep falling why buy now? Why not wait until things are cheaper?”

  “If everyone does that, sellers will become desperate and lower the prices further, and still, people won’t buy, just in case.” Sam continued my logic.

  “Exactly. And then you see projects like that floating city concept that can fly to different parts of the world, enjoy sunrise over the Serengeti and sunset over Hawaii, all from your own home. With projects like that being built, now is not the time to buy property.” Tony concluded.

  Another news report started up. This time in Rome.

  “Protestors are out on the streets again tonight asking for a stop to the radical technologies.” The news reporter said.

  “What’s going on in Rome?” Ava asked.

  “It’s the religious groups, they are claiming that everything we have invented, the magical healing, the long life spans, it is the work of the devil, they accuse us of playing God, of bringing Judgement Day upon the world.” Tony explained.

  “Well, I suppose we are playing God.” Derek replied. “Perhaps we should be judged?”

  “It really makes you question if religion can survive a technological revolution like this.” Julie added.

  “Never has the world been so divided on so many different topics.” Sam said. “One of my old business consortiums is thinking about building an ark and leaving the planet, setting up their own colony with new rules and government.”

  “That’s crazy!” Hank replied.

  “It’s not that crazy. Getting away from the mess, the desperation, it’s not the best place to raise a family.” Derek added. “Emily and I are thinking about it. There is a ship being built near our home in Scotland, tour the solar system while the world sorts itself out.”

  “You make the end of the world sound like a vacation.” Hank snarled back. We could tell that this was the first he was hearing of this plan and he was upset that Derek would leave him behind. “We need to stay here and be accountable, lead the world rather than run away from the mess we have created.”

  We all looked around, wondering who was going to be the person to say wh
at we were all thinking. I took a sip from my drink and all eyes turned to me as I cleared my throat.

  “Guys, is it possible that we are the bad guys in this story after all?”

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  I love weird stuff. Science Fiction has long inspired my life. The idea that technology could solve all our problems, while also creating a whole bunch more is a fantastic concept. That is why, at heart, I am a true scientist and problem solver.

  I have spent much of my adult life teaching Computer Science, not because I enjoy coding (which I do), but because I like to encourage people to think through logical arguments, to see the unexpected outcomes of their actions.

  This is also why I enjoy Economics so much, there is usually no correct answer, but only a path of least resistance. There is usually no perfect solution and just like my books, perfection is only a dream.

  I enjoy writing about these situations, different people have different perspectives that adds to stories. Just because a person is 'bad' from one point of view doesn't always make that the correct opinion. I like to subvert expectations, make you second guess and just when you think you understand a character, that is when you see them in a completely new light.