“Perfection,” The man at the podium intoned, “Heaven, Nirvana, Utopia. Ideals, something striven for yet never achieved,” He took a drink from the glass beside his notes and took the opportunity to eye the immense crowd seated before him. “Until now.”
* * *
Fifty years later.
The world was beautiful. Mankind and nature had found balance at last. Crime was a thing people read about in history books, war too. The air was clean, architecture purposeful and stunning, wildlife abundant...Heaven on earth indeed.
Sam smiled to himself as he continued on his walk through the city. Of course, he always smiled. Everyone did. He'd never seen the city before, having been raised in the country. He wasn't a farmer like his family. Instead he'd found his calling in technology and, thanks to his work in cybernetics he'd been invited to work in the city.
The city, this city, the place where it all began. Sam couldn't believe it. If he'd been born in another time, he would have been filled with fear at the prospect of going to the city alone. Now, he only felt a shadow of that fear. Maybe here he'd even get to learn how it all worked.
Sam blinked three times in rapid succession. Instantly, blue light traced across his vision, creating his personalized heads-up display. He glanced up to the icon he needed and it expanded into the map of the city with his new address marked. He was close, he'd actually gone a couple of streets too far. Sam blinked three times again and his vision returned to normal. He turned around and began retracing his steps to street he needed. A faint hint of embarrassment and loneliness tinged his otherwise tranquil day. In a few moments he'd forgotten about his discomfort.
The building rose hundreds of feet into the air. Sam stood on the sidewalk staring up to where he guessed his apartment was and took in a deep breath. Sam loved taking in deep breaths. It didn't make sense to him, why he liked them, but he wasn't about to question it.
The forty second floor was too high up to take the stairs so Sam enjoyed the swift elevator ride. His apartment was already furnished with everything he needed to get started. He looked inside the fridge and found they'd even stocked that with his favorite foods. The clock on the wall read half passed seven. The Sun would be setting soon. Sam blinked three times and set his alarm for sunrise the following morning and then set about acclimating to his new surroundings. Tomorrow he would begin working for Ryshard Dynamics.
Dawn came and with it an all new variety of emotions: Fear, anger, sorrow, depression...and none of them his.
Sam screamed for the first hour. Cried through the second. They found him sometime during the third, curled up in the back of his closet. Seeing them brought relief, enough to hear and understand what they said, but the other emotions still flooded his mind with the ebb and flow of a storm tossed sea.
“You Sam?” One of the men asked, holding out a hand to help Sam up.
Sam managed to nod and took the offered hand.
“It'll be okay,” The man said, patting him on the back and leading him into the living room where several other people had gathered.
A woman in the room held a glass and gave it to Sam when he was lead to sit beside her. Sam took a sip and then spat it out.
“What is this?” Sam asked, the foreign taste still lingering.
“Water,” The woman said.
“I've never tasted water so awful,” Sam handed to glass back to the woman.
“All water tastes the same,” She said, taking the glass back, “You've just never noticed that you don't like it.”
Sam continued to try and get rid of the taste, opening and closing his mouth and rubbing his tongue back and forth on the roof of his mouth.
One of the men in the room, an older, well dressed man, stepped forward.
“I'm Dr. Ryshard,” He said, proffering his hand.
Sam shook it. His head was beginning to clear and he looked up into Dr. Ryshard's eyes. Wrinkles lined his face and mere traces of black remained in his otherwise silver hair.
“Sorry,” Sam said, “I didn't mean to be late for work.”
Dr. Ryshard chuckled and Sam flinched at the sound, though he did not know why.
“Young man,” Dr. Ryshard said, “Under the circumstances I believe we can let that slip by.”
Dr. Ryshard sat down beside Sam so that Sam found himself sandwiched between the woman on the one side and Dr. Ryshard on the other. Sam couldn't help but notice how small the couch really was.
“What's happened?” Sam asked when Dr. Ryshard didn't speak after he sat down.
“The world is perfect,” Dr. Ryshard said.
Sam looked around. His apartment was a mess. Filth on everything. How he had missed seeing it before was a mystery. The Sun shone dimly through clouds and smog and everything smelled of decay.
“Not anymore,” Sam corrected him.
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