Fade

Part 1

-- -- Earth, somewhere between Hawaii and California, 2083

    Julia watched the fish and vegetation zoom by.  She felt like Little Red Riding Hood, being on her way to her grandmother's and all.  The underwater cruiser smoothly glided through the water like an eel stalking its prey.
    She was laying on her cabin bed watching the ocean through the glass roof.  It had been half an hour; she should arrive at any minute.
    Julia jumped off, and pressed the button under her nightstand.  The bed covers peeled back, and the mattress and bedding slid in the ground.  She hopped in the empty chamber that appeared where the mattress was.
    It filled with mentalgas, a gas that brain waves can move through.  Lights blared around her like a screen.  She pictured herself selecting the menu that said ARRIVAL.
    A pre-recorded voice said, "You will arrive in thirty seconds, twenty-nine, twenty-eight....".
    Julia jumped out with the help of the trampoline ground, and rushed to her door.  In a couple seconds, the intercom said they had arrived.
    She opened the door and walked outside expecting sunshine.
    Instead, it was gray.
    The sand was gray, the sky was gray, and the buildings, too.  Humans were splashes of gray on a gray canvas.
    Julia turned on her phone to TV mode.  The screen widened,
and extended.  When finished, the live news flashed on.
    "—fading.  No one knows why, but our satellites have confirmed it: the world is fading like leaves blowing away in the wind.  Everyone must evacuate, I repeat:  THE WORLD IS FADING!"
    The screen was just static now.
    Fading?