What Happened Tomorrow

I Could Love This World

"Why are they always running?" — The Young Man asked, looking down from the roof of a high-rise building.

"I don't know," — the Girl replied with a shrug. — "I guess we're used to it. Just think about it: we're all in a race from the moment we're born. First, it's toys, then it's trying to be the best — in class, in love, in everything. It never stops."

"Yeah..." — the Young Man drawled, staring at the crimson sunset. — "You know, that's a funny word, 'most.' Most daring, most beautiful, most... It's probably one of the few words that can describe the highest degree of something without actually quantifying it. How does it feel..."

"To be treated like I am?" — the Girl interrupted with a grin. — "You treat me well. Thank you."

"You're welcome, darling. I can't say the same about this world, though," — the Young Man said, his eyes fixed on the burning sky. — "It's all about numbers. Things only start to make sense once there's a number attached. We count everything because it's the easiest way to measure value. We even measure beauty now, with numbers. Cheap things are ugly, no matter what they look like. Expensive things, on the other hand, are always 'exquisite' or 'unconventional.' Another way of saying 'ugly as hell,' if you ask me. And it's not just about that! If you don't give your partner stuff, they can blame you for 'not showing love.'"

"I agree," — the Girl said thoughtfully. — "But... are we really any different? No matter what my 'unbiased' opinion is, I don't think I can say I'm above any of this."

"You don't say..." — the Young Man threw up his hands. — "No matter how we feel about it, we're part of it. We belong to this world. It's what we were born into. If you're any different, you're worse than a dead man — at least they don't try to stand out. Realizing that everything you love and care about is worthless... hell, realizing what you actually are, it hurts like hell."

"There's another type of person I just can't understand. I don't really want to judge them, but damn, who am I kidding? I do: career people. They spend their entire lives doing something they couldn't have cared less about when they were younger. But somehow, they're so convinced that this is what they always wanted. And then, the reward — money! If they hate themselves enough, of course. If they actually care to love themselves a little, they stay poor as a church mouse. Ironically, that makes them hate themselves even more, but not enough to stop feeling sorry for themselves. The ones who do have money buy all kinds of crap, trying to fill the emptiness in their lives: ugly 'premium' clothes, a 'chic' apartment, self-driving electric SUVs. Oh yeah, that's worth selling your soul for. A destroyed personality is a great price to pay just to know that, at fifty, when you're surrounded by ungrateful kids and your 'perfect' wife, you've at least got your material shit together. The car drives itself so you can check how many likes you got on a photo of your sunburned ass at some tourist trap in a third-world country."

"Someone said 'marriage'!" — The Young Man smiled. — "Another trap, proudly called a social institution!"

"The word 'brothel' might suit it better, though," — the Girl interrupted with a smirk.

"God, you're right. From a very young age, we're fed these stereotypes about 'appropriate' gender behavior, what boys 'should' be like, and what girls 'cannot' do. And of course, it's always binary — only 'boys' and 'girls.' That's why, by the time they're fourteen, teenagers proudly declare even the slightest hint of attraction to be 'love,' and the smallest disagreement a 'heartbreak for life.' Even though those 'heartbreaks' happen because they can't be honest with themselves and try to make someone else fit into these shoes. And then, miraculously, the 'broken heart' 'heals' at the first party where the amount of alcohol is disproportionately high for the number of teenage consumers..."

"And then, a few years later, when two people realize they hate each other almost as much as they hate themselves, they call it 'a holy union made in heaven.' The holiness wears off after a few years, and the 'match made on Tinder' collapses like a house of cards. Neither of them cares to realize that 'They like my façade, and the sex is good' isn't enough to make a family."

"That's what you didn't let me say. Thanks," — the Young Man grumbled.

"Sorry," — the Girl answered awkwardly.

"No worries," — the Young Man continued. — "The best part is that the end of this so-called 'holy union' is usually contracted during a tasteless ceremony, with money borrowed from the parents of the 'prisoners.' There's really no other way to put it."

"Now, let's say this interpersonal torture continued for another three or four years of emotional turmoil and even produced offspring."

"I. Love. You," — the Young Man said with a broad smile.

"I know," — the Girl replied jokingly. — "And you know what I think of the wonderful people called 'Karens.' Every time I see one demanding to speak to a manager and threatening to sue everyone because she doesn't want to follow the rules, I can't decide whether I want to strangle her or die from laughing."

"Yeah... Me too," — the Young Man said quietly, lowering his eyes. — "But you know... Despite everything, we still belong to all of this, and..." — His gray eyes suddenly filled with tears. "I think I could love this world. I really could, if it weren't for the reason we're standing here on this roof."

Just then, a powerful shockwave rattled the ground. The people's screams and the wail of sirens below grew louder. From the roof of the twenty-story building, the friends watched as a massive brown mushroom cloud rose into the sky. Each second, it grew, swallowing everything in its path.

"And I thought it was just a false alarm," the Girl said through her tears. She walked over to the Young Man and wrapped her arms around him. In that moment, their embrace became eternal. Moments later, the city burned to the ground, taking the crimson sunset and the dying blue planet with it.

***

Federal Agency for Utilization of Subtemporal Transactions

Inter-dimensional Department

Report Date: 05/17/2516

Alternate Reality Description: A confrontation between Russia and the United States led to full-scale nuclear warfare in alt2018. Planetary devastation caused the loss of the ozone layer and the complete obliteration of life on altEarth.

Name: JN0616

Verdict: Timeflow is slower than that of our reality. Further transitioning suspended.

Development Prospects: None

Interference: Impossible