Arynthe's Story

Bored kids

After establishing our society came a time of peace. Kids went to school, adults worked, and a few times a year we all threw a big party. Simple as that. 

I wouldn't consider this time boring as a lot of scientific progress was made in this time. We built spaceships and explored the territory, and the ends of it, together with the Torrayans. The only way we didn't go was the direction of Old Ashiria. We didn't know how the aliens there would react to seeing us back, but we suspected they wouldn't exactly welcome us back. 

However, after a few decades something was brewing among the youth. I could feel it if I walked past a school. They heard legends about the Darkening, that they hadn't gone through themselves, and a dark desire grew inside them. They considered this planet a boring one. Not enough action, not enough fighting. I could read in their darkened eyes that they all had a dangerous yearning to wilder times. 

I ordered the Education & Progress cluster to collect stories from the survivors and put them in the history books used at school. I myself started writing this autobiography. I needed to teach the children that the Darkening had not been a funny game or an exiting adventure at all. They needed to realize that the life they lived now wasn't boring, but paradise compared to what we had been through. 

They wouldn't listen, as I discovered in 47 ar. 

"Mara!" Otoum called out as he stumbled into my office. "Outside... Trouble... The children..."
"Calm down, Otoum," I said. "What's the problem?"
Otoum gasped. "You should see outside."

I walked to the balcony. Outside I saw an enormous crowd that had gathered up in the streets, slowly marching towards the Team Tower. 

I inhaled sharply as I discovered it: "They're all so young!"
Otoum nodded. "And they're not happy, that's for sure."
"What did we do wrong?" I asked, more to myself than to Otoum. "I believe I took well care of the children in our society."
"I guess we'll soon figure it out," Otoum whispered painfully. "They're heading this way and they look like they're in the mood for some verbal violence."

The crowd had now arrived at the square in front of the balcony. 300 eyes stared up at me in silent anger. 

"Good evening," I greeted them. "Can you tell me why you gathered up here?"
"We're bored!" a sharp voice from the back yelled. "There's nothing exiting about this boring planet!"
"Oh, my," I mumbled, and then turned to the people again: "There are theaters, sport halls, online games, nature, enough people to have fun with and enough future to build. I don't see the problem."
"Of course you don't!" a girl in the front shouted. "You made this system, why should anything be wrong with it? Arrogant witch!" 

Now all the people started to swear and curse. I closed my eyes for a moment and forced myself to stay calm. I had to be strong. I didn't move an inch, but I heard Otoum walk back into the building. Wrong action! But I would make it right again, at least, I would try my best. I stood there like a statue until they fell silent. I let the silence intensify for a moment. They knew as well as I did that I was in control of the situation. 

"It's clear to me what you want," I said slowly and coldly. "You want to go back to the time known as the Darkening. Am I correct?"
"YEAH!" 150 voices screamed fanatically. 
"You learned at school that it wasn't a nice time to live in," I continued. "Some people didn't even dare to sleep, because the chances were too high to get murdered every minute you weren't paying attention to the world around you."
"Oh, we don't need sleep!" the same girl of a minute ago replied. "We can just take the same stuff you did!"
"You got any?" the boy next to her screamed. 
"Nope," I said. "I don't. Go away. I will take your wishes into consideration." 

I gave the crowd one last look and then turned and walked back into my office. I searched the plan closet for a plan, but I had never expected this to actually happen, and I hadn't made a plan. I had to fall back to my old style of getting out of nasty situations: improvise.