THE EDGE OF THE UNIVERSE

CHAPTER 8: 2024

My mind was racing all evening after work. All this talk with Neo made me think about past times. I went for a walk around the city to clear my head. After wandering around for what felt like only a few minutes, I found myself two and a half hours later at the city lake. I sat down at a steel bench, city lights all around me, reflecting in the lake's dark waters. There was nobody else around. Gigantic buildings, thousands of EOLED screens and flashing neon billboards everywhere. What kind of world are living in? And what kind of a world was it in the past? The year 2024 was crucial for what was about to happen in the following 2000 years. The year where it all fell apart.

For what we know, humans back then were pretty advanced. They had developed quite a bit of AI knowledge and used it in many ways as part of their society. Not like today, but similar. Climate change was the biggest problem they faced. They started to change the weather - cloud seeding, for example - which resulted in natural disasters. Mankind had to deal with floodings, tsunamis, earthquakes, tornados, volcanic eruptions, blizzards, extreme temperatures and droughts. It was like scenes from a horror movie. There were too many people and corporations consuming too much of Earth's resources. The gap between the rich and the poor was getting bigger and bigger. People suffered famine and water scarcity. They had to deal with diseases and pandemics. The tension between countries and their leaders grew day by day. Longstanding wars added fuel to the fire of an already fragile society.

Then the unimaginable happened: two atomic bombs were released. The largest and most powerful ones that ever existed - one on the western part of the world and one on the eastern part. A small percentage of the population that survived where the ones in the middle and in the high south or high north of the world.

Somehow the history repeated itself. There was once an atomic war in the year 1945. There was also an ice age that started about 100'000 years ago and ended just over 10'000 years ago. The ice age was also due to changes in the climate.

The people who were left had to rebuild society from the ashes of their neighbors. Presidents, kings, monarchs and dictators did no longer existed. The people of the country became its leaders. They grouped into small communities and used their existing AI knowledge to rebuild everything faster than expected. But they also learned from their mistakes - and the mistakes of their ancestors. The ozone protection film we have today across the sky is an example of this. They learned how to regrow resources before depleting them. They developed eco- friendly processes, businesses, foods and markets. The few companies that monopolized everything were gone. They agreed not to build an atomic weapon ever again. Unfortunately, the one thing that hasn't changed is the unfair disparity between the rich and the poor. That's why only very few people own one switch, let alone all three of them.

I don't know if the world we live in today is a better one. At times, I wouldn't think so. Somehow, compassion, friendship and commitment are harder to find than ever. The electronical components play a bigger part in our daily lives than the organic ones. How will the world look like in the next 2000 years? And am I playing a part in all of this? Will I be able to solve the ultimate mystery of the universe? In moments like this, I deeply miss Grace and Joanna, and my heart aches in new ways all over again. Grace was my pillar of strength, and Jo was my light in the darkness.

All this pondering gave me a slight headache. I took a Youber home since I didn't feel like walking all the way back. I was greeted at the apartment door again by Carl. At least I still have him. I gave him a small pat on the head, and with a heavy heart, I went straight to bed.