Cyto-Logic (3rd Rewrite)

Chapter One

       

Generations grew from the ashes after the incident. These new humans perfected fundamental technological areas that had never before been seen in the Information Age. They were more perceptive of their surroundings, an obvious effect from eliminating common mental disorders. Each one of these people followed an unwritten rule of dedicating time to intuitive purposes and to make life more efficient. From nanotechnology to virtual reality workplaces, these people strove for a city that will grow from the ashes.

Natalie: 

The low hum of a hovercraft vibrates the air. Then poof, it disappears. I pulled back my curtains and returned to my bedside. My circulation puffers sat along the sides of the desk - white, tan, blue, red, and black. Each contains a different dosage. I opened my mouth, and inhaled the tan one.

  Something crashed on to the plastic floor. It created an interruption in the dead silence. I waited to see if my psychotic brother responded. Not a soul responded. I turned 90 to my right. Nothing. 90 to the left? My headset was sprawled across the floor. If the sensitive instruments were damaged, it meant it was time for a walk outside.

My hair fell in front of me covering my eyes as I crawled towards the fallen object. I give you my gratitude gravity.

Before these headsets were released, the air had possessed a better reputation. “Cleaner and friendlier by the second!” was the motto. Of course, the only people who believed this were the optimistic. There was no way two cities can repair the damages done by the entire world. Now here we are, cooped inside and only allowed to exit if your headsets broke.

Peeking outside, I tried to remember when I last took a walk down the street. Not just some virtual street, but a real one. As a season, fall is quite stunning: the leaves imitated dancing flames as the wind brushed along the old trees. Beyond what I can see is Lake Ontario. In ancient history books, the lake was a vast region of freshwater and wildlife. Now remains something that resembled the depths of hell. Which made me begin to wonder if the textbooks were accurate or not.
            I reached my arm towards the fallen contraption and carefully placed it upon my bed. The lazy muscles in my back relaxed to the light music in the background while I stretched. I walked hazily towards the closet for my familiar red coat. It brung back many memories. My eyes glanced around the room trying to find a photograph of my family that I cherished. They were smiling, my eyes started watering. To this day, I still remember that moment.
            Childhood memories warped back to my head as I slid the photograph out of its old and dusty frame. I flip the artifact over; the back bears the date of my brother's graduation, my actual brother. What a mess he is now. I thought to myself as I inserted the photograph back inside its frame once more. My own consciousness forced me to stare towards my brother's room in pity, not hiding my pain and cowardice this time.

            Grey snowflakes rushed indoors when I shut the door. Immense bodies of fog clouded the skies. I held the headset tightly with both hands towards my chest.

            My mother used to walk with me hand in hand. We would walk to places for no particular reason. She would say “Where would you want to go, Natalie?” and I’d reply “Anywhere with you mommy.” We would walk and walk until we had to get back for supper. Sometimes I would sit myself on my chair and write down the moments I cherished in my notebook, since my mother said handwriting is a talent, not a pastime.

            While I entered the worn out store, I felt a bit dissatisfied from when I realized that I didn’t walk around as much. Instead I went straight to the store. There was no reason to leave for a walk within minutes of arriving here. So I sat down after giving the headset to the man at the counter. The clock ticked and tocked, a noise which I enjoy listening to.

            “Only the sensor was broken, the components and motherboard are fine,” he belted across the empty waiting room.

            “Thanks.” I said as I paid.

            I returned to my seat and snuggled in deeper almost sinking myself in the process. I placed the headset on my head and it clicked into place. There was nowhere else to go, so I headed to my last day of class. There was nothing more facile than that.

-o-

            If you looked around my classroom from my perspective, you’d see an unresponsive bookworm to your left, and a half-crazed extrovert to the right. What a terrible combination. In the distance, you can make out a few specks of white – the professor. Despite the small room, her shoes’ scraping sounds could be heard from Pluto. I had hoped for some sort of improvement in the sound technology with this software in the next update. But I was disappointed that morning to find the same message – Fixed Minor Bugs. I was hoping for some exultation over my requests, but it didn’t go that way. Eventually the professor reached the podium and began our review, because the end of the school year marks the start of The Exam. The Exam.

            The Exam is an alias used by students for the Canadian Employment Directory Program, CEDP for short. My exam would be personalized and based on what I learned in the courses I took. You might be thinking that in the future we study basics that would have been considered degrees back in your day. But sadly we do not learn astro-physics or nuclear biology. Nope, I just learned History. That’s all. I looked really troubled as class ended and I didn’t have a clue on what she had said.

The time said 2 AM so I guess it was time for lunch. I thanked the man at the counter as I made my way outside again. Even the air was hungry, nibbling at the corners of my hands, eventually numbing them in the process. By the time I arrived home to my apartment, I resembled a pale, bleached zombie holding a headset.

The poor thing was wagging his imaginary tail at me. He was like half dog, half brother. I cannot believe that this creature is related to me. I grabbed something out of my snacks stash and tossed it in his room.

Night fell, so did my concentration. Boredom rose out of the depths and swallowed me whole. I crashed onto my bed without a thought about studying, and put on the headset. My vision warped then blurred, along with the painless sensation of my eyes being popped out. I’m lifted off my feet and then suspended in 0 G.

Birds chirped in the distance, nowhere to be seen. I walked straight for the park under a brilliant sun. The system welcomed me as I pulled up my friends list. He’s at the park. Like always, I requested a teleport to him.

He was a laughing mess when I materialized. 
“So the poor dame gives on studying.”

“You’re one to talk; I bet you didn’t even touch your books.” I stared at him.

“Sorry, sorry, it’s just too funny. Hey did you catch that new episode of Hugs?” he asked.

I sat down and stretched my back.

“Nah, I’ve been busy studying, you still watching that weird show?” I responded.

We sat and chatted for a while before I returned to my studies. Truth be told, I which we talked longer if I knew it was the last conversation I would have with him.